NationStates Jolt Archive

Original thread: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=376172
OOC thread: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=7565330

OOC: No TAG's or OOC comments allowed! Violaters will be reported to the mods.

*********

With the sentry bots under fire from the subs defensive systems, the remaining bots fired their 4 five foot long torpedos in unison before being mowed down by retallitory fire. This massive underwater activity gave the approaching Supremacy class subs a positive ID on the enemy's location. With 2 torpedos armed and ready to fire, the legion of 18 Supremacy class subs that formed a literal circle around the enemy's position preapred to fire once they were within range.

On board the sub Pit Viper, a grizzled and battle hardened Sentinel commander by the name of UNIT-C187267 gave his orders to the other subs in the picket line. After extensive study of the sea floor and the area around the enemy sub, he ordered a full advance at maximum speed. The massive explosions taking place underwater had given them an exact location of where their foe lay, and after a small and semi unsuccessful launch by the underwater sentry bots, the Supremacy subs prepared for combat. Lord Dreadfire's orders were clear, and he did not care for the collateral damage.

Knowing this, UNIT-C187267 got on the radio and openly ordered his subs to slow as they were now just outside maximum effective combat range of the enemy. The circle around the enemy sub had been tightened, and knowing full well that he was going to lose some of his subs, UNIT-C187267 ordered weapons hot and full steam ahead into the engagement zone. Amidst a hail of defensive fire that was still active against the virtually wiped out sentry bots, the Supremacy class subs moved into range of the enemy sub and locked on their weapons. Using modified torpedos with on board AI and remote killswitches, each sub launched their first volley of torpedos, 18 in all. With their second torpedo tube locked and loaded, they waited momentarily then fired again, sendin another 18 torpedos into the icy waters. 36 torpedos flew towards the one enemy sub, with 2 waves of 16 moving in unison with eachother. After engaging, the subs began evasive maneuvers as they encountered more enemy fire.

In the air, the OA-10's that were circling above the exact location of the intruding vessel, transmitting coordinates to the two AMF fleets that were rapidly closing in. Several of them disembarked and returned to the decks of their respective aircraft carriers, but nearly 1/3 stayed above in the skies.

*****

In Crimmond, Lord Dreadfire had already begun making preperations to send nearly half of his assult forces in Crimmond to the new war effort. Confident that the sub's origin will be linked to it's owner, Damien prepared his declaration of war for firing upon troops that were headed to the fight in Crimmond. Snarling and mashing away at his keyboard, The Destroyer sent word to his closest friends that yet another conflict had been started, and he sent explicit instructions that the owner of this sub would pay in blood.

***********

~From the desk of Lord Damien the Destroyer, Supreme Warlord of the Excessively Armed Empire of Automagfreek~

Open message to all Automagfreek allies.

Dear friend of the Excessively Armed Empire,

Automagfreek's garrisons en route to resupply our forces in Crimmond have come under attack from a submarine of unknown origin. Our forces are currently engaging the sub, and it is only a matter of time before we discover the true owner of this vessel. I ask that on behalf of the Excessively Armed Empire that you assist in whatever way possible to aid us in this conflict. The main contingent of our armed forces is occupied at the moment, and although we are confident that our remaining legions are more than capable of handling any threat, we ask for whatever aid you could provide. Search and rescue operations are underway to salvage wreckage from this attack, but we are not so sure we will find much of anything.

Make no mistake about it, the nation responsible for this attack will become just another red stain in the history books.

Thank you for your time,

http://67.18.37.14/40/9/upload/p984672.jpg
---Damien the Destroyer---
-Supreme Warlord of AMF-

Prime minister Jim F. Tuesat of Celack walked up to the podium in the press room of the Celackian parliment. He looked left and right at the crowd of reporters in the room. He took a deep breath to compose himself

How many time must I send our men to die? Wheter I tell the public or not, men will die. Sometimes it better for the innocents of Celack if I lie and keep it a secret. Eventually it will leak, like the last time. I barely got re-elected because of that. If the public is to find out how many more times I have done it, I will never walk these halls again. However, if I speak truthfully, our enemies will know and our people will die in the streets by bombs or enemies bullets. I don't help at all, how can be consience be clean? I doomed many innocents to death, possibly by sentinals. Here I go

He cleared his throat and began to talk into the microphone.

"My fellow Celackians, as some of you are aware, our ally and great friend, the Excessivly armed republic of Automagfreek was attacked earlier today. This was unprovoked, and Automagfreek is already attempting to find the culprit. We would support them militarily if not for two things, outside of our control. Firstly is that our forces are in a state of repair right now and would not be ready for a prolonged drawn-out conflict, which would be certain, for anyone who dares to attack Automagfreek would undoubtly be a strong nation with a large defensive force. Secondly we don't know who to attack. We are willing to providing aid by supplies for the military of Automagfreek, free of charge, should Damien want it. Any questions?"

A young reporter for Celackian Newsnet stood up

"Sir, is it possible we'll see a situation to the Willack controversy."

Tuesat winced inside. He kept poker faced however.

"No. As I said earlier, we will commit military forces to the cause."

"What will you do if Damien uses the sentinels?"

"We will withdraw support. Damien knows we are opposed to war crimes on that level or any level and we always have been."

"What about the POW camps of the last CapApian war? Were those not war crimes?"

"Yes they were, but they disguisted most Celackians, including the government. The tortures and executions were carried out by insane commanders, who have been charged and convicted. No further questions."

Tuesat left the stage and went to his office where he began to compose a message for Damien.



******Transmission*******
***** Top Secret******
*Encryption code : NATO31872A31*

To: Lord Damien the Destroyer, the illustrious leader of Automagfreek, and friend of Celack
From: Prime minister Jim. F. Tuesat of Celack

Despite what I said in the news conference,I am willing to lend you military support in your quest to avenge your men. I can send you several teams of Spec-op troopers. This should never reach the public’s ears. For obvious reasons.

*****End Transmission****



o.o.c. what part of no TAG’s doesn’t IDF get?

Automagfreek was one of a cadre of old nations, nations that had been around long before the landmass that comprised Safehaven2 and other allied nations was even discovered. Even then AMF ws a famous and powerfull nation, one to be treated with respect. The Macabees was also a member of the cadre of nations that had been around before Safehaven2 and they to were deserving of much respect and attention. The Macabees was special though, to Safehaven2 at least, they had been one of the Havenites strongest and most trustworthy allies. While there was a time when Havenites and Macabeans fought each other in a bloody war since then our soldiers had fought together. As such the placing of the Macabees in danger was something that could not be watched from the sidelines. As such action had to be taken immediatly.

The city of Macando was a well off port city. As in most ports the harbour was filled with dozens of ships from an equel number of nations. Macando was a small scale melting pot basically. The city also held a good sized naval facility were a sub contigent and a few surface ships were based. Out of this facility that small sub contigent knifed into the open sea. They wouldn't be alone out there and they wouldn't be a small contigent anymore. A total of 30 Orca submarines and one Nike class sub headed out to do what they could do to stave off the danger. Heading out they were to position themselves a little more than halfway from the AMF fleet to the Macabee mainland. Once their they began dispensing their little toys, and they began dispensing them in the hundreds getting reloads a nearby "Merchant" ship. A total of 900 of these "toys" went into the water. The subs, with the first part of their mission over put 40 miles between them and the toys.

Ellison Chaknov was worn out. With the recent move back to APTO, there was so much to do. And now this. If the Freeks weren't such respected allies, they would not get the help she was about to give.

She sat down to her computer, ran a hand through her hair and began recording her video message.

"I am Ellison Chaknov, daughter of Hermili Chaknov and leader of Sigma Octavus. I would like to offer condolences for the uncalled for attack upon your soldiers. I would also like to offer help. Many times in the past have the sentinels swept entire nations clear while the forces of Sigma Octavus offered whatever help they could. Fighting alongside Sentinels is often the high-point of our soldier's military careers.

I am putting a number of SOET on high alert as well as several platoons of our SOHAI. A battalion of Viper tanks is also being prepared.

I wish that all goes well for you and your nation, Lord Dreadfire, and hope that our nations' relationships never falter."

She finished recording and sent the video out to her secretary. "Have this sent to Damien. Tell General Hidachi to ready SOET, SOHAI and some Vipers. And get me coffee."

President's Cabinet room
President Kenny Williams called the meeting into order once Admiral Jacobson came running into the door.

"I apologize for being late," began the CinC of the IDF Navy. "Mr. President, I want permission to sortie out the Kerguellen fleet."

"Why is that?" asked Williams. He would approve the Admiral's plan, but he wanted to hear a good reason first.

"The Atlantic Fleet is very good, but we may need more ships to protect AMF from an invasion. It is apparant that someone attacked AMF ships. The only plausible reason is that someone is planning to attack them and we are bound to protect them," concluded the Admiral.

"What do you have at Kerguellen," asked the President.

"I don't have any Guillens," began the Admiral. "I do a large amount of other capital ships. The largest of which are the 12 Tribes class CVNs and the Netanyahu dreadnoughts. I also have a good collection of cruisers, and tin cans along with many subs and support ships."

"What aircraft are on the carriers?" asked Williams.

"I'll take this one," said Sec Def Jerry Angelo. "We don't have any F-14Is with the Kerguellen fleet, but we do have older F-14Ds, F/A-18Es and the F-35C JSF with the carriers there. Our main force being sent though is the Atlantic fleet. I've advised Admiral Jacobson and he agreed with my decision to keep the Med and Red Sea fleets around IDF. The Indian Ocean fleet is still holding off of the HLF coast, but they aren't doing much now as that is winding down and they can be deployed. The Pacific Fleet is mainly under refit, but that is one of our smaller fleets anyways."

"Will the Atlantic and Kerguellen fleets be sufficient Jerry?" asked the President.

"For now, I'd say yes Sir. Of course, in the future we may need more. On your order I can have Admiral Jacobson activate the reserve fleet. We can have them sailing in a few weeks. I have ground and air forces along with the other fleets already mobilized for the big war game being conducted in the Negev and Sinia deserts. We also have them up on the Golan Heights right now as another part of the excercise."

"It sounds like we are in good shape then," said Williams. "Get the reserve fleet ready and prepare the merchant marine. Even if we don't get pulled into this war I want them able to send supplies to AMF."

"Yes Sir," said Jacobson. "What instructions do you want me to give Vice-Admiral Kooperman?"

"Tell him to only fire if fired upon," said the President. "His job isn't to get involved in a war yet. We may not even fight if this develops into a war between AMF and whoever commited the attack. Whether or not we fight will depend on how the other side plays it. For now, we are just sending our ships out in a show of support. I don't want to get into a war now."

"Understood Sir," said Jacobson. "If you'll excuse me I have to get some work done Sir."

Kara class cruiser S-40

"Tovarishch Kapitan! Message from the Freek group to the north-east!"

"Eh?" asked Captain Marlborough. "Alright, what's it say then?"

"Message reads: 'Have been attacked by hostile vessel of unknown origin. request any vessels in area assist.'"

Marlborough's face went pallid. "You're sure of that?"

"Positive, sir," replied the W/O emphatically. "It's in plain language on the international emergency band."

Marlborough rubbed his face with his hand. "Jesus Christ almighty!" He paused. "All ahead full. Starboard fifteen, steer course zero four zero. Air ops, get the helicopter up with sonobuoys. Sound Action stations."

"Sound action stations aye."

"Starboard fifteen, steer zero-four-zero aye."

"All ahead full aye."

"Sparks, get a message back, tell them we're coming and we'll loan them our services. How are the Silexes?"

"Warmed up and ready sir," reported the weapons officer. [i]S-40 surged forward, accelerating to cover the 100 miles separating her from the Freeks.

The is the cruiser S-40 calling Freek forces under attack.
We are approaching your position from bearing approximately
200 degrees, your perspective. Will aid as you request.

Encrypted Message to AMF over NATO channels.


To:
---Damien the Destroyer---
-Supreme Warlord of AMF-

12th Fleet and W-11 Fleet are enroute. 4th and 5th Fleet and W fleets 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 have been given orders to support and supply as you direct. We are also rerouting a convoy of munitions and supplies.

2nd Fleet is being recalled to our waters at this time.

Vastiva stands ready to aid in any form you direct.

Namaste,
General Riva Sola al-Din


***

"Send all of our relevant OVERSIGHT data to AMF by fast courier. Complete, no editing. This act is heinous and cowardly - the perpetrators will be discovered, rooted out, and destroyed."
"Yes, my Sultan!"

Rear Admiral Hektor Tumenlov made his way up the last few expanded metal steps leading to the bridge of the RNS Voraslav, a Project 2.451-class command ship. He straightened his uniform as he entered the bridge, receiving a handful of salutes of which he promptly returned, "What is it, Captain?"

An officer near the helm of the ship motioned for the Admiral to move closer, "Sir, we received an emergency communication from Automagfreek. It appears that some of their vessels have come under attack from a submarine or other submerged weapons platform of unknown origin. They're requesting assistance."

The admiral nodded, approaching a large LCD flat panel monitor, he glanced at the real-time map using information gleaned from the ARSB's Global Defense Net. He grunted, "We're over four hundred miles away..."

The captain nodded, "I know. We sent a communique back to headquarters and we haven't received any reply yet. Its up to you."

The admiral rolled his eyes, "Send them a transmission and ask if they require our assistance. You might as well head towards their position as I highly doubt command will care if we end up thirty miles from our intended course."

The captain nodded, "Aye, sir." He turned to face a command console, routing orders to the rest of the ships in the 9th Expeditionary Fleet. The admiral surveyed the bridge for a minute, watching the officers and enlisted seamen at work before turning and heading back towards the conference room...

===================
TRANSMISSION


This is Soviet Bloc 9th Expeditionary Fleet, bearing 130 at 414 miles. Heading towards your position at 27 knots. Fleet will halt if assistance is not needed. Please respond.
- Captain Alexei Komrosky, 9th Expeditionary Fleet

As the MPSA headquarters erupted in a frantic frenzy of movement and diplomatic action. The transmission from Lord Dreadfire had been received, and even the name Automagfreek was enough to make well seasoned ears prick up in attention. Council Koda was alerted immediately, and as he drafted his response he thought how fortunate he was, that this form of action no longer had to ran past the legislature.

Official response of the esteemed and legitimate government of the Grand Ideocracy of Momanguise

Dreadfire, it appears that you have been attacked in your own waters by this temporarily unknown nation. This act of cowardice cannot be allowed to pass. We will follow you, my brother, to the sacking of the final city and the salting of the earth. When the final opponent is cast down, I will shake your hand over the corpse of his nation. We stand by you, and our forces await your command.

Koda the Dread,
Supreme Leader of Momanguise
~The Ruin of Ages~

Talking however was for politicians, action was for another breed of man entirely. As the urgent messages sped from Sangradia, the fifth black sea fleet made full steam for the co-ordinates named. As the men kissed their wives goodbye, running hands through children’s hair, Admiral Fenet stood aboard the bridge of the TPS Indomitable. He looked out over the preparations, the machines of death, and he spoke softly through his clipped mouth. 'Enjoy the light while you can', he murmured, 'For the lamps are going out, and we will have no choice but to embrace the darkness.'

Vice-Admiral Kooperman was enjoying seeing the sun-rise at 6:58 a.m. from the starboard bridge wing of his mighty Guillen class flagship, the ISS ORDONEZ. His Atlantic fleet had divided into 3 elements during the transit across the Mediterranean. The Forward group was moving freely through the Atlantic ocean. It had cleared Gibraltar only 12 hours earlier. The flag group, or second group which included the Admiral's ship was steaming 10 hours behind and was now moving at 28.7 knots on a westward heading in the Atlantic Ocean. The 3rd and final group was steaming 6 hours behind the Admiral's group moving at a quicker 32 knots, but soon to slow down to pass the Straights of Gibraltar.

Passing so close to Macabees territory was dangerous so aircraft were up from the forward two groups just in case an attack was launched. The aircraft were in defensive position to make sure that their actions were anything but hostile. IDF's ships would not open fire on Macabees or any other RWC nation unless fired upon. Admiral Kooperman had been sweating it out the past 14 hours and not sleeping. He wasn't going to get real sleep until the 3rd group got a good distance away from Spain. He didn't want a conflict and his group was just sailing to show the flag and show symbolic support for AMF. Even if AMF got into a war it was unlikely the IDF fleet would join in. That suited Kooperman fine though.

Admiral Stevens Commander-In-Chief of Republic Navy Operations looks at a map. Decides to send a fleet into International Waters near Macabees. he oreders the 2nd Fleet for the mission.

2nd Fleet
-------------
RNS Thomas Tinder- John C. Handstand Class Carrier
RNS Fredrick Stevens- John C. Handstand Class Carrier
RNS Texas- Calcom Class Cruiser
RNS Mississippi-Calcom Class Cruiser
RNS Farrget- Liberty II Class Destoyer
RNS Deersent-Liberty II Class Destoyer
RNS Foodstone-Suppy Ship
RNS Deports-Suppy Ship
RNS Forter-Goldstar Class SSBN
RNS Garraner-Red October Class SSN
RNS Romeov- Red October Class SSN

As the battle raged under the sea's, the CHN Oublier finally made visual contact of the AMF ships, the morning being quite clear. Immediatly, the Oublier sent a hail to the AMF ships, to make sure they didn't think it was an enemy reinforcement.

"Torpedo in the water," yelled the SONAR supervisor. Again, the sound of the splashes as the torpedoes left the doors of the submarines made enough noise to rouse any competent submarine captain. However, the number this time was by far too large for the SCIWS guns to protect against. Like surface CIWS, SCIWS was a last resort weapon, capable of taking out a number of misiles and torpedoes that came close to it, but if twenty were hitting at the same time, there was little doubt about the fate of the craft. However, SSN34 would not go down without a fight. It had opened and reaadies its doors for snapshots, and now was the time to take them. As the weapons that would seal its fate came in the captain ordered the active SONAR to ping once. That ping painted the entire scene for the submarine for kilometers around, and although it painted its position for the enemy, it now could deliver these snapshots with accuracy.

The foward eight tubes pushed their torpedoes into the water around them electrically, and soon enough eight MT-2 SuperCavitating torpedoes were in the water. Each Freek submarine around them would receive two MT-2 torpedoes. That meant that only four submarines were actually targeted, however. The MT-2s had their wires stretched for as long as possible - for as long as SSN 34 survived. However, they would use the SONAR/LIDAR guidance to successfully engage the enemy submarines around them. The hybrid propulsion steamed it for some of the way at seventy knots, however, during the ending phase the torpedoes began to make turns for two hundred knots, using its "water RAMjet" to push it to this velocity. Their ultimate success relied on their technology, not SSN34.

SSN34 was dead, no buts about it. However, the captain would leave no trace for the Freeks to pick up once they brought the ship up to the surface and searched it. In the mere minutes he had he ordered the interior of the submarine set on fire, and he ordered his men to commit suicide. Only the hardliners complied, but those hardliners opened fire inside and killed those that didn't wish to complete their orders. Then the hardliners killed themselves. As the interior burned, and the dead stunk around him, the captain decided to die with his ship. It was all set, even before any thoughts of conflict had begun. His men, inside their pockets, held indefication, that pointed them towards the fact that they were mercenaries, and inside the fireproof black box held papers which outlined the foreign purchase of the Toledo class Nuclear Attack Submarine. The SCIWS guns blasted as the torpedoes closed, and although the torpedoes fell one by one, their were just too many of them. A single torpedo struck in the ballast tank, denting the titanium frame, however, a second torpedo struck aft and hit through the frame, and another torpedo hit next, and then another, and so continued the hell, as the SCIWS guns continued to fight, until they were put out of action by the incoming torpedoes. As a final twist, the Baldur nuclear reactor inhibitors failed, and the nuclear propulsion begans its final meltdown. The explosion that would come would shock the waters for miles around the submarine, and any SONAR man listening in would have his brains scrambled. The submarines around the area would also probably die in the process - but that was just the irony of war; the victor in one battle, was not the victor for long.

----

In the capital it was decided the fifty SSNs sent out to litter the ocean in intervals would better be served if they fought in a group. They would sit, silent, one thousand kilometers from the Macabee coast, and await the AutoMagFreek naval machine.

CTF-3, CTF-4, and CTF-5, were already preparing for war. The strength of the Empire lay in her navy, and it was now time to test it. This would not be a war in the style that her enemies wanted - this would be fought in the style of Macabee warfare. This would neither be an easy war for any NATO armies that came to pillage the golden hills of the Macabee nation; it would be hard, difficult, and it would kill the better of their armies. Who won this war was not in sight yet, but who won it would obviously be the better man.
OOC: Tell me when your 1,500 kilometers from my coastline.

Admiral Kooperman was finally contemplating sleep. He had been making trips to the head every 30 minutes for the last 4 hours since he was now being kept alert by heavilt caffinated Navy coffee. The forward two groups were now what he could call a safe distance from Spain. While it was possible for a strike to be launched on his group, it was less likely. His third group was the only group still in a serious danger, but that danger was lessening with each passing run to the head.

The only real damaging attack that could be launched was an air attack or long range missile attack. Well, that is why I have the Aegis ships and the Tomcats the Admiral thought. His group's final waypoint was to go on to the coast of AMF on the side away from Macabees. The point of this maneuver was to show no hostile intent while also giving the IDF fleet a chance to swing around if AMF was invaded. Admiral Kooperman wasn't thinking about that now. He still doubted anyone would be crazy enough to invade AMF after the FWS and Austo-Hungary incidents. It would be a good workup for his crews anyways. Time at sea was always good for the morale.

-Office of the Central Directorate: Schultaria Prime, Schultaria Prime

While most of Elliot's staff was making preparations for the inauguration celebration, the Central Director was spending a rare moment in peaceful relaxation. After spending nearly a month refining domestic policy with Director Joan Covey and Director-to-be Haarvekord, he was mentally exhausted to the point of being nearly incapacitated. He didn't seem to notice the pairs of people streaming in and out of the hallways, nor did he really want to give much attention to the particulars of the upcoming weekend's events. "I need some sleep, that first stroke should have been my death knell. How can I be so stupid to push myself?," he thought while burying his head in a pile of manila folders.

"CENTRAL DIRECTOR SIR!"

A senior lieutenant stood in the doorway, his voice projecting the 30 meters from the elaborate entrance to his desk. As Elliot struggled to shake off his malaise, he noticed the uniform of the figure that had addressed him was one he dreaded the most: SID 8 - Otkron. Drifting from feelings of disoriented lethargy to anxiety, he called for the soldier to come forth, "I know the news your group provides me has never been good, please tell me that you aren't like the others."

Noticing the semi-despondent look on the Director's face, the Otkron officer flatly replied with a tinge of sympathy, "I am not at liberty to open this message. It is specifically cleared for Directorate eyes only; if I was to look at this message I face, under penalty of the Schultarian Code of Military Justice, 5 years of compulsory classroom rehabilitation and removal of my citizen status as a potential agent of espionage sir." Placing a thin stainless steel briefcase in the middle of the office, the officer crisply placed his right hand in full salute, bowed, and headed out of the room in double time.

"Just what I need, an intelligence briefing. Twenty five years of doing this and it still isn't easy." Placing his thumb on the center of the case, the locks disengaged and the package swung open. An audio recording immediately started to play as he brought the item back to his desk.

"This is a package of raw intelligence solely for the eyes and ears of the Current Central Directorate as of 17:22 Today Schultarian Central Time. SID 8 has made all necessary operations to insure the quality and integrity of this message had been transmitted in its fullest form to all interested parties. The format of this package has been developed in three formats: the automatic response mechanism as featured in this case, an electronic copy in the form of an Icen data crystal, and a fifty page hard copy summary of the collected data."

Watching the satellite video of the Freek convoy being attacked, Elliot shook his head in disgust. It wasn't the Schultarian mindset to think about military options yet; he would wait until more information came through the channels of NATO and his closest allies.

The five teams sat in the briefing room at the base. They glanced at the other teams but they said not a word to each other. The were too well trained and experienced. They knew that if the six teams were gathered in the room together, a blacker than black mission was needed to be preformed. It was five teams now. The sixth was still MIA from the last mission, most of that team suspected dead. They, supposedly, gave their lives so that the rest of the men could escape to the extraction chopper. The only found survivor was in an institution, recieving treatment for his PTSD.

Their CO entered. He turned on a projector and began to speak.

"Gentlemen, you have no doubt have heard about the situation in AMF. Our official government policy is no-military aid. Another government policy is that your not military. Ergo your going in for special missions, pending authority from Dreadfire. We're going to split you up. Teams Alpha, Beta and Delta with be airlifted to an AMF base. You will be under their control for the duration of this conflict. Teams Epsilon, Lambda, and myself will depart aboard the Severian and we'll be under Celackain control. My group will be the first ones in and will mostly be reconaisance and intel. The other group will mostly be involved in sabotoge, assinations, things like that. Alpha, Beta, Delta, your plane leaves at 0500 tomorrrow morning sharp. Be on the airfield at that time with all your gear. Epsilon, Lambda, we shall depart as soon as the Severian reaches port. It's ETA is 3-4 hours. Be at the harbour with your gear then. Dismissed."

Two OVERSIGHT techs watched the mobilizations around Macabees.

"Now, why would they be mobilizing so heavily? No one has said or done anything to them."
"Yep. Fascinating. Now hush, I'm watching the game."
"Well, it just seems odd..."
"Of course its odd. And I'm sure you'll report it."
"The computers take care of that."
"Yeah, and you can add a notation. Which I'm sure you have. Now, hush, I'm waiting to see what the outcome is."
"Mmmmhmmm. And how much do you have riding on this?"
"About a weeks pay."

High above, the satellite continued its work, silently.

It was early morning in Romenko City, the capital of Sarctic. Larf was having his daily coffe routine, in front of his desk, in a bathrobe. He always loved to be reelaxed at his job, as disturbing as it sometimes was when he met with foreign dignitaries. Before him was the daily report, containing news blips, quiet reports from outposts, and daily updates on the revision Sarctic's armed forces had undergone.

It was at this very peaceful morning that the front gate had baely opened before a car had sped through. It was this quiet day that the car came to a screeching halt at the steps of the Presidential mansion and had dumped its occupant, a military garbed man with papers in his hand. The man had rushed through the front door guards and up the marble steps, through the President's newly refurbished cherry doors.

The President glanced up at the soldier stumbled across the room to pull a sloppy salute and fling a folder of papers at him, before snapping the salute and taking off back through the doors. Larf set his coffee down and took a glance at the folder's heading.

For Higher Eyes Only

With a wide eye stare, Larf opened the folder and began pouring over some of the reports that had filtered thrrough the closed networks of the world. By the time he was done, a call was made for the first of the reformed Sarctic Ground Squads (SGS) to be ready to go at any moment, as well as a few Sarctic Air Wings (SAWs) and a single unit of the Sarctic Aeronautical Brigade (SAB). Nothing would be deployed, not until some more information filtered through his allies, and importantly, NATO.

"There's something bad going on in the far West," Trabian told Manus. "Seems that the humans are bringing trouble to our doors."

The EnheilRas sighed, and wiped his brow. "This is why we must always guard the West more than the East. The humans can never be fully trusted. They've yet to separate themselves from the common animals."

"There seems to be worse news brewing in the East though, EnheilRas. The Kingdoms are beginning to fight each other. Many many lives will be lost," Teel informed.

"Our land is ripping itself apart," Manus exclaimed. "Teel, send word to Riga and Dorin, I want them to be able to fend off any refuse the inner-fighting of Melkor's realms spills out. I'd like the Soulpyre and the Azurewrath to be informed and be able to intercede if possible. Orcs are our primary concern, always.

"Trabian, I would like you to meet with Gaia's Chosen and meet with this human to the West that has been assaulted. It's a new addition, so it's unlikely that they have been properly sealed with the Grid. Set them up, and if it comes to a war they want, you have full permission to allow the Raging Bear to be involved, which shall fall under the direction of Ikorum to direct," the EnheilRas ordered. "Work together, and we will succeed. We already have enough problems with the Dornmaster and those dimensional interlopers."

HMS Platypus was on a routine patrol when the first sign of trouble had begun, a Macabeen sub had gone rogue and left a trial of wreckage on its path toward the region of ARDA. The Platypus (named so because of its strangly shaped foward sonar array) had been tasked to track the sub down so but it was to explicitly remain outside Ardan waters. It been going through a routine scan of the sea when it had heard the rogue sub fire, at that the Platypus headed for the last known position. They had been half way there when the Freek subs had taken it down. Captain Collins decided that the area was getting too hot for comfort, the shape of the playpus made it far harder to detect and there was no reason for it to be fired upon but Collins wasnt taking any chances "Radio naval command, encription TAG and tell them the rogue sub has been destroyed by the Freeks and that we are going 100% silent for a week while we monitor this situation from afar. I want us all on maximum guard, no agressive menouvers but trail that AMF fleet, this is most likely just reinforcements for the crimmond campaign but we will track it just to be sure"

Operation: Burning Citadel

Admiral James Genedy looked out at the calm, blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea through the bridge of his flagship, the TSN Dragoon. Purchased recently from the naval geniuses of IDF, the Guillen-class superdreadnought would serve the Imperial Navy fine for this monumental clash of powers.

"Sir!" reported a communications officer as he held a dispatch from TCENTCOM, "Priority Orders have been received, marked for your eyes only."

"At ease sailor." said the old commander, as he took the highly encrypted message to his personal quarters.


MILITARY DISPATCH
MOST URGENT AND TOP SECRET
PRIORITY: FLASH

FROM: Praetor Conrad Davidson, TCENTCOM
TO: Admiral James Genedy, 1st Expeditionary Fleet
RE: Orders for 11/28/04

TEXT AS FOLLOWS:
In accordance with NATO charters, the 1st Expeditionary has orders to stand by for immediate deployment, due to a recent attack against an AMF convoy.


OOC: Sorry for crappy post, will make a better one later.

Newman grimaced. The Automagfreek fleet is under attack, he mused.

"Navy Command is going to have a field day with this," he muttered. In a loud, commanding speaking voice, he boomed his next order to his communications officer.

"Mr. Hopkins, open a channel to Navy Command. Notify them of the attack and request instructions."

"Aye, sir." Newman fidgeted in his command chair. He knew Navy Command was going to want to proceed with caution. The last thing Sarzonia wanted was a war when it could be avoided or should be avoided.

"Sir, incoming message from Navy Command. Secure channel."

Newman looked, puzzled. "I'll take it in the situation room, Lieutenant. Captain Barker, you have the bridge."

"Aye, sir," Barker said.

Newman stood up and walked briskly to the situation room that was just to the right of the bridge entrance facing forward. He walked over to the communications station where he received all top secret communicades.

"Admiral Newman," he said as he turned on full encryption.

"Admiral, this is Admiral Brandy Lake. Your orders are to set a course to rendevous with the Automagfreek fleet to see if you can render any assistance. If they don't require it, you may resume your naval exercise."

"Hmph," Newman mused. He was about to take his Third Fleet and Napier's Sixth Fleet into a combat exercise. Perhaps he would get that opportunity again later, but for right now, real life took priority. He walked deliberately onto the bridge. As soon as he crossed the threshold onto the bridge, Captain Barker stood up. Her shrill voice echoed through the bridge.

"Admiral on the bridge."

"As you were," Newman said.

"Helm, lay in a course to rendevous with the Automagfreek fleet. Standard air cover. When we get closer, launch two full squadrons for escort and defense purposes. I want all anti-aircraft batteries ready in case there's more trouble where that came from."

"Course plotted and laid in, sir."

"Engage."

So much for a simple naval exercise, Newman thought.

With that single spoken word, the Sarzonian fleets changed course.

<Royal Palace, McLeodia>

Rushing into the Throne Room with a bulging folder in his hand, his suit creased and tie hanging at a bizarre angle nowhere near vertical, the Royal Defense Advisior Lord Nelson Blakeney-Mountbatten started his report to the King over the telephone.

"Sir, AMF seems to be mobilising again. Somebody seems to have attacked one of their fleets headed westwards. Satellite recon shows evidence of a massive sub-surface battle followed by what our analysts believe to be a total meltdown of a nuclear submarine. At this time we have no idea who the aggressor is. NATO seems to be rallying behind the Freeks, and several of our allies have already joined Dreadfire's cause.

Forces from DPUO, IDF, Sarzonia, and Momanquise have all been placed on one form of higher alert or another. It may well be unrelated, but it seems that the Macabean Empire is also mobilising, but on a vast scale. It looks to me like its a defensive act. I wouldn't go so far as to make a judgement that the Macabeans are guilty of this attack, but it sure as hell looks suspicious.

All of this leaves us in a right pretty pickle. If it is the Macabees that the Freeks go after, we are duty bound to defend them. However, that brings us into conflict with allies from our region, the CAP, and the OMP. As far as I can see, we have a limited number of choices:

1) We condemn the attack, then put everything we have into finding out who actually did it. We mobilise absolutely nothing, we stay at the same alert, and we try and find out who's submarine it was that hit the Freek fleet. When we find out, we kill 'em.

2) We condemn the attack, and flood the area with evidence of a rogue group, possibly of Fedral Union origin, attempting to bring down the NWO after being refused membership. If it works, we join in the fray and bring them down once and for all. If not, we cut our losses and pretend we know nothing about the incident.

3) We go to amber alert, mobilise the Navy, and start deploying ground troops to the Macabees. If it turns out that isnt Dreadfire's target, then we get some practice at rapid deployments, if it is, we protect one ally, but potentially lose far more.

Obviously these options all take us into war, which we should be trying to avoid, but it seems that this world will never be at peace. We have to do something, or chaos will rule the world again"

The King listened intently, standing outside his hotel room in Serafima. After a moments pause, he replied - "Prepare a statement. Condemn the attack, and offer our assistance in investigating the incident. Don't make any deployments just yet. I'm heading back now, and will be in country today. Get together any evidence you can, and sort out a meeting of the Council. We'll sort it out then"


<Official Transmission>
To: Lord Dreadfire of AMF
From: King Michael Mcleod

Sir,

It has been sometime since we last met in discussion, and I must firstly say that I am truly sorry it took such a terrible event to cause this message to be written. I have no qualms with your nation, and hope that as an ex-member of NATO, you can see that I mean you no harm.

In order to catch the fiends responsible for this most heinous act, I am more than willing, with your permission of course, to deploy a salvage vessel to the site of the submarine sinking, to attempt to gather usuable evidence.

I await your reply,

HRH Michael McLeod
King of McLeod03

Transmission to Freekian fleet under fire, Metus level 5 encryption
Freekian fleet, this is the Ineffable 2nd navy. We are routing fifteen Domination class submarines, and an Antarctica carrier with frigate escort at full speed to provide you with additional cover, ETA 4 hours.
The rest of the 2nd fleet is proceeding at normal speed, and will be joined by the third in a matter of days. When the perpatrators are found we sall not hesitate to aid you in our pursuit of vengeance.

Official Message of the Macabee Empire Concerning Recent Attacks

We are well aware the the a Freek military navy was subjected from heavy fire, from a Toledo class SSN. We wish to make public the fact that although the news of the rogue submarine was kept in low profile - even from our own officers - private messages to respective governments was given, as proven by CommunistRevisted- deployments to hunt the submarine directly after said messages were sent. Consequently, the Empire's government has suspicions that the attack was made by the rogue submarine.

We do not know how the Freek government will react to this news. However, we do offer payments to the family of the death, payment for whatever was lost, or has to be repaired, and anything else to patch up relationships. Although their will be no way to be sure that it was the rogue submarine, it most probably was - and in our deepest sympathy, we give our apologies.

[signed]Jonathan VI