NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This is Notquiteaplace's idea. TG him if you want in.

IC:
Sometime in the near future:
Cuba had gone down hill fast since Castro died. If that was possible. HIs successor, a man named Ramirez, had tried to help the floundering economy by ending the communist system and introducing free-market reforms. Oh, it had all looked good on paper, but once the embargos ended and money came in, the market became flooded with foreign goods. Cuban citizens took jobs for international companies rather than Cuban ones. The currency was falling daily, and life was bad.

At least, that's what people had thought, until the bombings began. Terrorists sprung up across the island, and attacked foreigners, shipping, and Cubans alike. They may have communists, fascists, or nationalists, their ideology was unclear. The only thing that was was that they were unhappy, and willing to kill.

Over time, the factions became more clearly defined. Ramirez tightened his control of the government, and used the army, such as it was, to put down any sign of rebellion or dissent. The rebels coalesced into a single group, the Cuban National Front. The two groups have been fighting for months now...

***

Julio Sanchez looked through the binocluars at the ship out in the harbor. He checked the flag. Notquiteaplace, fool gringos he thought. His brother Rodrigo would be out there in the harbor as well, though under the water. The CNA would strike a blow here, and a hard one.

Rodrigo Sanchez swam through the murky water of Havana Harbor. He tried to breath slowly, to minimize bubbles from his scuba gear. He could see the dark oval shape of the cargo ship above and to the right of him. He pulled close the diving sled he'd brought along, and unhooked the device it carried. He swam up to the keel of the ship, and attached the device near one of the propellers. He hit the timer switch and swam away.

***

Julio Sanchez, through the binoculars, saw his brother get out of the water about half a mile away. Bueno, he thought. About time, now. Indeed it was. He heard a muffled boom eminate from the ship. Then water flew into the air. Something inside must have caught fire, for there was another explosion, this time followed by a fireball. With the binoculars, he could see crew running about on the deck, trying to figure out what was going on. Oil started to slick onto the harbor surface. The vessel began to list, and people fell off of the deck into the water. The oil slick caught fire, and it was truly a scene from Hell. Well, Julio said to himself, quizas es la hora para salir, perhaps it's time to leave. The army will show up soon.

Captain Swinney sat on the deck of his freighter, he was headed to Cuba. It always put him on edge, the terrorists didnt like foreigners. There were lots of very dodgy companies there from various nations, no well run company would dare go there, the risk was too high from the start. And now the name of Notquiteaplace was terrible. He wondered when the government would intervene, it was terrible there. But he was carrying some high quality technology exports, computers and the like. The rich few in Cuba liked it and so the National front or whatever it was called hated it. He wished he had escorts. But the nearest military vessel was the Notquiteaplace Eagle class Destroyer "Quasimodo" and she was a good distance.

Or so he thought. His ship was just in Cuban waters.

He focused for a moment on the endless beautiful sea, it was like that for miles, and he spent every day seeing it and never got tired. Never, it was the best part of his job. He stopped to inspect the deck, all was in order. His five man crew were mostly below, except the second pilot, a young kid, about 19 called Yeadon.

"If I looked out for miles I could see a ship for miles" He thought. "like that one".

However now he could see Cuba, his destination and he grew apprehensive.

"Okay Yeadon take her in. It's not like terrorists will actually hit us will they?" He chuckled.

**** ninety minutes later**

The ship slowly chugged into the harbour the crew looked on at the somewhat charming but run down harbour. The water was almost as filthy as Notquiteaplace was, but with a small fraction of the traffic. It was the old dirty boats that ran. Compaired to their run down tub they still looked terrible.

"It needs some investment from some business" he thought "maybe a little doing up and it could be a pretty place", he mused.

THere was a dull thud below the ship. He cusrsed "Why havent they removed those fucking rocks! It's going to need a repaint again! They wonder why there are so few people trading with them, and the few that do mug them, they don't care stupid.."

His words were cut short by an explosion....

******


"Notquiteaplace news reports the death of the entire crew of the Notquiteaplace trader 'Rassel Fowl' at the hands of Cuban terrorists today. A bomb was planted, and the Cuban national front seem to have taken responsibility. As of yet their demands are unknown."

Kirsty turned the screen off, and looked to her foreign and military advisors, Tomas Dodd, her quiet foreign minister stood listening, while Matthew Beasly stood taking notes. She turned to Tom first.

"I want you to talk to Ramirez, I want to make an offer. Im fed up with this state of affairs. Tha's the thrid attack this month, trade with them is drung up, and barring the Haitians, they are our closest neighbour. I have a deal I want offer them.

We will restore order if some of our companies can invest there. Not the ones that have. Reputable and profitable ones, ones that won't risk setting up therer as they aren't dodgy pheonix operations."

Tom nodded, "I agree, it seems like a good idea. I will arrange it for you then." He smiled and she smiled back, a smile that said, "good, then it will happen". Tom was stubborn but quiet and innofensive, he never lost arguements, but had no enemies. He was a perfect minister for foreign relations and Ramirez would do as he asked for certain, he was a weak leader anyway.
"Oh and Tom, he must hold elections once peace is restored, if he meets these we will plow money into the nation and help them rebuild. He might be a weak leader, but at least he means well. He will do what seems good for his nation, Im sure."

Matt turned round.

"I have the logistics sorted I think". She sat silently and looked enquiringly.
"They are poorly armed and trained, but they are defending. I think we need a well equipped force to go in, with small amount of air support. We dont want to scare, and they will have little air defense. However those bombs won;t be much use with so many friendly targets around. We want a single defense fleet deployed, slow, heavy but more than a match for many nations entire navys. The rebels will have little that can touch out larger vessels and our smaller ones are both stonger a nd faster than theirs."
He paused for the main part.
"This will be a war of hearts, fought on the ground. We need level headed troops to protect the innocents and crush the enemies with no casualties. We want to enamour the locals and crush the rebels. I suggest using our main forces. 12,000 power armoured troops will be plenty. It takes a hit in the eye for them to be down with standard weapons and the cubans will have few weapons even at squad support level. A 20mm cannon would tear them apart however, power armour stops bullets and looks frightening, but for the tough jobs, I suggest 2000 light suits, and 1000 of each heavy and medium. 16 regiments in all. Plus some tanks. "
"Is that all"

The cubans are freedom fighters, they will be cunning and brave, they wont be marksmen. Their weapons will be old and weak and would have trouble peircing kevlar, let alone kevlar impregnated titanium. We may have a few men at risk. Though, shot will either kill instantly or leave a wound on the joints the only other weak spot to bullets, which is almost certainly not fatal if medical attention is supplied. The armour will give us an edge in battle, we can expect lots of downed men still, but unless they are unlucky or close, those wounds will be recoverable in a week or two. Though hopefully we wont have to fight for that long. Oh and to make sure we don't lose men to flesh wounds....

Lots of medics, so we can look after cubans. That will help enamour them to us."

"You work Fast don't you?" Kirsty replied. "Off you go, ready the men". This wasn't pleasant business, but at least it was going smoothly, and she had a good team.

Ramirez frowned and rubbed his temple. Notquiteaplace's government was offering to help restore order, but he didn't think they could. Oh yes, they could stop the CNA on the surface, maybe hurt them, but eliminate them? He didn't think so. It would be a protracted conflict, and terrorists just had more patience than nation-states. Even so, it looked like his best hope. He just hoped the Cubans who supported the government wouldn't go over to the CNA because of this. The last time foreign soldiers had been in Cuba had been during the Spanish-American War, over a hundred years ago. Would his people tolerate others? He didn't think he had a choice.

"Javier," he called to an aide. "Please send a message to Notquiteaplace. Tell them we accpet their offer. In exchange for assistance in surpressing the CNA, they may have favored trade status and other economic benefits."

"Si, senor presidente."

Notquiteaplace first response was total elimination of trade barriers to Cuba, before the troops were sent. To avoid stealthy attacks the fleet would deploy on the coast outside Havana instead of in the harbour.

Almost one hundred transports with 16 armoured infantry regiments, 1 commando platoon, two field medic regiments and supplies were sent. Around them floated a simularly large fleet. A couple of dozen nail class stelathy subs darted between them as the larger seadragon subs carrying their anti shipping torpedos kept pace with the transports. Above them two squadrons of interceptors kept patrols on the air. A couple of tank regiments sat within the hull also, and huge numbers of supplies.

The fleet had 9 aircraft carriers among it, varying from the small marlin class light carriers to a pair of huge Orca super carriers they would provide air cover for Cuba against terrorist aircraft. The Notquiteaplace navy was huge and was notquiteaplace's favoured form of projection of power. The fleet made up about 10% of her huge navy however and comprised the most combat worthy ships in the entire Carribean. (OOC: a nation 6 times the size of the US with twice the proportion military spending and a larger GDP per head, hence a navy about twelve times as large).

A couple of the smaller transports headed the convoy with materials for building a makeshift port and base. The only vessels that were ahead were two Eagle class destroyers, sweeping the ocean bottom for subs as the aircraft watched the sky.

The resistance wouldn't dare attack a huge concentration of forces like this, but if they thought the guard might be down things could be different.

50,000 armed forces personnel sat on edge.

THe fleet approached the shore.

(OOC: It's up to you if you stage an attack, if not just RP the freaction of the government to the safe landing)

The telegram had been sent to Ramirez from Tom Dodd.

It read

Dear Esteemed President Ramirez,
I am glad you made this decision. It will be for both our best interests. I look foward to much trade in the future. Enclosed are out military details of what we send. We will deploy the battlesuits (as opposed to standard armoured infantry) and 4000 infantry with the commandos, to attack the rebels. While the rest of our forces will guard various places. Several companies have shown interest in your nation, and unlike the pheonix companies amd fraudsters that have set up already, they believe inlong term profits and that well looked after workforces produce bigger profits.

Please report all intel on the rebels. We will try to expand from there.

Your Sincerely,
Tom Dodd.

Dear Esteemed President Ramirez,
I am glad you made this decision. It will be for both our best interests. I look foward to much trade in the future. Enclosed are out military details of what we send. We will deploy the battlesuits (as opposed to standard armoured infantry) and 4000 infantry with the commandos, to attack the rebels. While the rest of our forces will guard various places. Several companies have shown interest in your nation, and unlike the pheonix companies amd fraudsters that have set up already, they believe inlong term profits and that well looked after workforces produce bigger profits.

Please report all intel on the rebels. We will try to expand from there.

Your Sincerely,
Tom Dodd.

Dear Mr. Dodd,
I fear I do not know much concerning the rebels; they are very good at concealing their movements. I think, however, you will be safe landing. Most attacks by the CNA are in cities and harbors. Once you land, though, I'm sure you will find resistance. I can dispatch soldiers to help you, but I fear that the CNA would use the opportunity to to attack Havana. I hope you arrive soon. Godspeed, vaya con Dios.

Sincerely,
President Hipolito Ramirez

With no attacks apon it the fleet drew close to the coast. The two front transports drew up to the coast finding an area with high water and began unloading pieces of metal and tonnes of concrete and all the machines necessary for harbour construction. Several dozen engineers swarmed over the site and began work.

Meanwhile two smaller transports disgourged a couple of platoons of infantry. The infantry marched out in their mobilized metal plating, the hum of the motors making them audible over the noise of the nearby animals. The plates on their armour didn't shine but instead were covered in dull green and brown paint, camoflaged a little. They clutched large automatic weapons and began moving, heavily sheilded wires and piping showing between the joints as they fanned out, forming a small perimeter. With perfect cnofidence and speed but little haste they looked around at the nerarby jungle and set a couple of portable anit aircraft missiles down covering all points of approach.

The fleet waited as throughout the day several buildings sprang up, and a small area was flattened creating a runway....
****

After three days a small and temprary HQ was set up with a few anit aircraft defenses and watch points surveying round, a port allowing ships to dock and several barrack and store areas for troops. The forces had been unloaded and the transports headed back to Notquiteaplace wfor more supplies.

*****

Private Tankiant was eating his rations in the mess with a few of his squaddies. The food wasn't bad, some Hawdawg C rations, which for stuff kept for so long tasted excellent. Today was Cury day and his squad were sat at the table joking, a little nervously.

You didnt send 16,000 men each with 2 million Archipelago credits ($2.5mil) worth of training and over 700,000 AC, in some cases another 3 million credits even worth of equipment out like that and leave them. There was going to be something big. A fully functioning task force had been sent. Rumours were they would be going out tommorow.He knew that the enemy were poorly equipped and he was going out in the best armour in thwe world, with fine weapons and training, but he also knew they were ruthless, enemy fire was still a hazard, especially from desparate men, and his armour didnt protect him well from bombs, he wasn't wearing a battelsuit, he was justa grunt. It worried him. In battle he wouldn't care, he would follow his commanding officers into battle fearlessly and he knew then that his force would win. But he wasn't sure if he would make it. It was a risk iof the job, one that as a soldier he had to bear in mind with every breath he took, but he couldn't let it beat him.

The problem was, other than a lt of training and a few actions against pirates and criminals, he, like the rest of the army was green, and didn't know exactly how well they would perform in combat. Well, definately, but perhaps not as well as expected.

He hoped his commanders were right....

****

Notquiteaplace forces were ready to move out, just awaiting the intellegence,, information where the National front had been seen most often. Then they would move and attack.

*****

Several larger Notquiteaplace corporations have been requesting permission to set up in Havana, the Notquiteaplace government will assign troops to guard the sites as they will be high risk, we believe this will be helpful for the economy and may help draw out some rebels.

We await the Cuban government on both this and intel.

Message to NQP leadership:
I advise you not to send civilians until the CNA has been defeated, for their own safety. It would certainly ruin the confidence of investors if the companies they supported were attack as soon as the set up, eh?

President Hipolito Ramirez

***

Julio and Rodrigo Sanchez watched the soldiers disembarking. They had fifteen guerrilleros with them, each armed with an AK-47 and an RPG with three rounds. The men crept slowly through the jungle, preparing for a lightning attack. This was a pyschological blow, this one. The CNA knew that they couldn't defeat Notquiteaplace, not in a set battle. They could bleed them to death, though. They would make this war a bloody hell to make Vietnem or Afghanistan seem like a cakewalk.

Rodrigo carried a sniper rifle, and was using it to sight for the RPGs. "Mira," he whispered. "Alli! There! Some poor chumps eating their lunch. I hope they enjoy it." He whistled, and the men carrying their RPGs took aim. He whistled again and they fired off the grenades. They waited a second or two to make sure that the rounds were on target, then ran into the woods to attack one of the AA installations (another pyschological blow; the CNA didn't have any aircraft of its own) and maybe another groups of soldiers, though that might not be possible, as the enemy would be alert, now...

OOC: The AA installations are close in and watched by the base. IF men were eating lunch without any guards in the Jungle, it would have to be some contractors.

IC: Julian set down his stuff,they were still a short walk from where the next little base would be set up and he was tired, so he called a lunch break. He opened the bag to find some more military rations. They were actually better than the sandwiches hsi wife did before the divorce. For Julian this was a different life to his office work, he was happier stronger and richer now. BUt it was risky, but it wasn't like he really cared. The rest of the team were young and still optimistic about life.

He knew the site was nearby but it didnt matter, it was a patrol route marker they were going to set and he had three days to do it. Naturally it would be "Be finished just in time" more accurately, that's what he'd say, it would be done by tommorow lunch he reckoned. He picked up his transmitter and excused himself from the men. He would go squat in the jungle somewhere, because in the wild, nature tended to call stronger, and come back and move on. He left him men chatting over some strange roast meat of some sort. Couldn't knock the varoety of the rations..

He was just pulling up his trousers when heard an explosion and the screams.As well as feet tramping through the bush and he knew what happened.

He hit the dirt, rolled into a bush and waited for five minutes before calling base.


*****

Two platoons of men were out already, forming a perimeter round the base while the rest of the company moved out to sweep the forest. In their armour they weren't stealthy, but they were well equipped.

The enemy would be adept at hiding and moving quietly, so they set their goggles to infra red with a day time adjustment and moved out. This would counter the camoflage effect. The squads were armed with MIWs as usual, but loaded with buckshot. It was fairly good against personnel armour, and they weren't expecting anything too modern. But they had solid slugs loaded too.

A sergeant made a short briefing,

"this will be close up. Your armour will protect you from any small arms fire you receive unless they get lucky and hit the joints. At this range even the lowest tech weapons have a chance here. So look lively. The report says a grenade, which naturally sint the best news either, but their numbers aren't too high. Just one squad spotted so far. Be ready with your own grenades.

Note your squad support weapon is a flamethrower. Be careful with it, the jungle is wet so there's no risk of it catching fire if you don't fire for too long.

Short bursts, just to slow them down for your squad to hit them with okay?"

"Fall out"

The squad seem satisfied with the intel and moved out, trying to sweep the jungle amomst in a line.


****

Despite news of a recent raid, notquiteaplace will be proceeding with a progrma of sweeping areas intel picks up on. The factories set up may infact lure fighters out, but this may not be a bad thing. We will have a few guards in havana, not least in the high risk zones. They will set out tommorow afternoon.

bump, post in a few minutes

Rodrigo swore. Me caga en Dios, why are these foreigners so determined? He and Julio had been unable to carry out their other attacks, due to the NQP troops' quick response. They hadn't even killed soldiers, but only a few workers!

He and his brother had split up their force, and he'd led his half around the enemy encampment, trying to keep in the woods. He was using his sniper rifle to observe a platoon or two of NQP soldiers tramping through the forest. They were trying to be quiet, but their armor made it impossible. This is it, he thought. "Alfonso," he whispered through the foliage. His sergeant appeared next to him.

"Si?"

"Take your men over by that tree. Wait for my signal, then open up on those bolios. Aim for their joints and heads, or else that armor may stop the bullets."

"Si, of course. Your signal?"

"I'm going to use the rest of my RPGs and blow these gringos to Judgement Day."

"Mi capitan, this is suicide."

"I know. But we have to stop them somehow. Vaya con Dios, amigo."

"Vaya con Dios,"

With the conversation ended, Alfonso took four men to his position, and Rodrigo took the other three, and had them load up their RPGs. He took the other men's RPGs as well, so that he wouldn't have to waste time reloading them. He took a deep breath, and yelled, "Para Cuba!" and fired his grenade at the soldiers. His men followed his lead, and fired theirs. Alfonso and his guerrillas opened up with their AKs, and hell broke loose. Rodrigo actually managed to pick up the second tube before he felt an impact in his chest and blackness overwhelmed him.

OOC: I RP'ed your troops shooting back, NQP, because I figured it was the natural thing to do. Let me know if you want me to change it.

Squad 3 was Tankiant's squad, here they were, expecting hostiles any second. They knew they wouldn't have much surprise over the enemy.

He stopped, recognising shapes on his scanner and began talking over his radio to his squad. "Possible hostiles dead ahead and to the right..."
He raised his rifle as he spoke and fired a single shot off in the enemy's general direction. It probably did little more than agitate the foliage but he went down with bullets in the arms, two in one and one in the other both incapacitating him and stopping him mid motion.

He fell.

Around him his squad began shouting and raising rifles, firing their rifles. For perhaps a second as a couple of grenades exploded around them. Two men were hit directly and their armour and bodies were scattered accross an uncomfortably large area. Tankiant noticed that the training was working. Four men were down now, the two direct hits, him, who had felt the blast a little and another close by. The rest of the squad had dispersed, and while the corporal was showing armour damage he was still waving his gun round.

Now came a proper return. The buckshot at this range were lethal. They fired 5 shards the size of a small bullet at high velocity to the enemy, as a single round. And fired in 3 round bursts. They destropyed not only thew cover but anything in the line. One burst hit an enemy, possibly a leader, who was clutching some sort of sniper rifle. His face, chest and his limbs were hit, a perfect, brutal and instantly fatal shot. The enemy were taking more battering despite attacking on two sides.

Another man fell as blood spurted out of his shattered visor and a sixth soldier was hit in the knee. he cursed but somehow remained up.The bullet obviously wasn't too deep.

Tankiant watched while lying on his side among a tangle of broken cables and metal as two squaddies hurled grenades two either side of the enemies on the side, who seemed to be huddled round a tree, meaning they could only fall back. While another two men fired on full auto at the squad in the middle. On an almost straight fire path. The enemy could move closer and be hit harder, fall back and remain in fire arc also. Stay still and die, or run into the grenades.

Once that squad was eliminated they would deal with the troops in front of them.

Ahead of them the wounded man was firing apon his targets. He hit an enemy with a hit on the knee, as he struggled to aim through his pain. The enemy reacted as he was hit in his own arm falling unable to fire any more.

(OOC: You can play the reaction assuming that if the smaller unit was killed that I turn straight onto the larger unit with full force, this has all happened in about 6 seconds so far, it's up to you if you play the rebels all being wiped out, or a couple surviving until my next move)

Alfonso saw the foreign soldiers shooting back into the woods at Rodrigo and his men. Two of the men had been hit directly by grenades. They were dead, no question. He could see the NQP troops fighting back, and a couple more of them went down, hit in the joints by rifle fire. Through the bushes he saw Rodrigo go down from at least three seperate wounds, and the other two with him already dead. The enemy soldiers turned to return fire at Alfonso and his men, who were shooting madly with their AKs. The NQP troops, aside from outnumbering the guerrillas, were to well-equipped and to well disciplined. They fired buckshot into the bushes, and two of Alfonsos men were killed instantly. Alfonso himself felt a couple pellets penetrate his flesh. he gasped in pain.

"Madre do Dios, he swore. Then he saw one of his men, Javier, fall, dead. The last guerrilla with him, a man named Benjamin, turned and ran. Alfonso tried to pick up his rifle to shoot the coward, but he never got the chance. One of the NQP soldiers blew his head off, quite literally, from three feet away before he could fire his gun. Benjamin caught a pellet in the back of his knee, and stopped another four with his back. He screamed and fell foward. He lay on the ground, moaning.

***

Rodrigo groaned and tried to open his eyes. He managed the left one, but the right didn't seem to want to open. He started to shift his right hand to feel what was wrong, but a sudden piercing white-hot needle of pain in his shoulder told him that maybe it wasn't a good idea. He rolled onto his side, and hissed in pain. He saw a guerrilla running away get shot in the back and fall down. Then the jungel was quiet. No more gunfire. I guess that means we're all dead, he thought. There were still several NQP soldiers standing, and wounded ones sitting or lying down, but Rodrigo's brain was too much dulled by pain to count much past four.

He assessed the damage to his own body, and didn't find the news good. He had been hit with buckshot at close range, and the only reason he was still alive was because the bush he'd been taking cover behind had been unusually sturdy. He had at least ten holes in him, though luckily only three were anything more than annoyingly painful. He couldn't feel his right arm, but his left told him that his right was held shut by dried blood, from a wound on his scalp. A brief moment of scratching and picking at it cleared enough of the blood away so that he could open his eye. His right leg was bleeding profusely. If I don't get help soon, I'm dead. He swallowed his pride, and called out to the soldiers in Spanish. At least, he tried to call out. All he really managed was a gurgling cough. Thats when he realized he was hit in the chest, to. Damn, he thought. He tried to call again, and after another couple of coughs, got out a faint "Ayudame, por favor. Agua, yo necesito--" He coughed again, and slipped back into unconciousness.

OOC: Can I be involved?

OOC: I'm fine with it, though you'll have to get NQP's approval.

The corporal was somehow little more than cut a little, though it showed through the hole in his armour. He had been lucky.

He was calm however, and began radioing.

"Squad 1 please come to assist. We have had enemy contact and need some reinforcements until medic arrive"
"base, we need one team of medics.."
"sir", one of the men interrupted, several of the squad were dead, well, three, and two more weren't going top be in action any time soon, but would survive with some care. This one was just up, he had spotted the enemy with his goggles and then gone down.
"Yes tankiant"
"one alive here. Sir"
"Send two squads, we need to interrogate this man. We also need more care than I thought" He said, as Tankiant fell again, unable to stay up.

"just relax and stay still. Any wounds without bullets in, apply pressure."

His squad kept an eye out for enemy while he began applying torniquets and removing armour, trying to keep his men alove that much longer. But within two minutes ten more men had arrived.

"Sergeant"
he snapped at the squad leader.
"yes Corporal, I presume your CO went down, what can I do?"
"Sir, yes he has sir. I would suggest you watch while my squad attends to the wounded, and makes it easier for the medics to work later."

A few of squad one looked slightly shocked even under their armour.

Notquiteaplace had won here, but the enemy were fiercer and braver than they had expected. One had run and only one.

Soon the medics would be here and the squad would be able to be debriefed. It had confirmed the strength of Notquiteaplace but also that of the rebels, and he knew there would be many more bloodbaths before this war was over.

****

"Notquiteaplace reports 3 dead and 3 injured troops in a skirmish near their base. The government reports no change of plan and will be moving soon. Of the injured, two will be going home, but are stable, the third is here to talk."

Tankian's face appears on screen. He is in a hospital gown.

"Well, they came out of the jungle, they were cunning and fast, and knew what they were doing. But our discipline held. I was hit first by bullets and grenade fragments. My fellow survivors weren't as lucky as me though. I mean I have just flesh wounds, wheras they will be in physio for two months plus a month of training before they can return to service. Im in pain, but the doctors told me all the wounds were just flesh. "

He blushes as he says he went down first, and laughs about the wounds.

"Six wounds, three arm and three leg and knee and nothing. "

He stops for a moment before continuing

"I guess I have another purpose then, god is holding on to me for something"

The interview cuts back to the studio and to another news story.

"and in recent news notquiteaplace orca aircraft carrier the "titanius" was mistaken for one of the Cayman islands for the third time this week. This time it was drunks at night, and not just a blind fisherman"

OOC: Before I post again, have you taken Rodrigo to hospital or is he still in the jungle?

IC:

Notquiteaplace Military Leadership:
It is wonderful news I hear today! Your brave soldiers have met and defeated the CNA rebels in battle. I, along with all loyal Cubans, mourn the loss of the brave men who died at the hands of those terrorists, and we know their deaths were not in vain. I hope today was the first step down the road to eliminating the CNA in Cuba once and for all!

President Hipolito Ramirez

OOC: Rodrigo in a high security hospital on base. He will be held there before he is kept for intterogation

There will be some use of sleep deprivation torture on him until he cracks, but notquiteaplace military camps will not be doing anything else, and the staff will not be doing an "Iraq" on them. Once he gives in he will be kept in high security until the Cuban nation can give him a fair trial.

Rodrigo woke up, groggy from pain, painkillers, and sheer exhaustion. He had a bandage over his right eye. His right leg and right arm were in casts, and he had an IV taped to his left forearm. We don't have facilities this nice...which means I've been captured, he thought, and sighed. He didn't remember any interrogation, but that didn't mean one hadn't happened. He raged inside at his captors. After a moment, though, he calmed enough to realized that his comrades would come for him, if they new he was alive. He had to get a message out, somehow. He lay back down, to think. He ended up falling asleep again.

The infirmery staff watchd the man over CCTV. He had guards at his door at all times. Power armoured ones too, he was obviously high priority, as treatment aside they left him alone.

The monitors showed his signs were good and that he would recover, even if his eye would have hugely impaired vision, somehow it had lost a few receptors but was still fine. Infact it was nothing short of miraculous that he was alive. The tray of peices of buck was impressive, he had several pieces of 5mm lodged in his body, or they were. Now they were in a tray.

The man stirred and awoke. He looked around, and seemed to pass out. And the team knew that he would be ready for interogation soon. They didn't want to kill him in the process afterall, they needed to build his body up to get the leverage they wanted on his mind...

The team decided that nw he unconcious it was time to see how his bones were faring. They injected a little general aneathetic so he wouldnt wake up for a few hours and got to work.
*****

Elsewhere the site was busy, accross it men were moving out constantly, three whole regiments headed to protect Havana, with Notquiteaplace the enemy, the new factory sites that were being built were prime targets. Some having as much as whole platoon and a couple of units of armoured support covering them.

Meanwhile 2 infantry and battlesuit company, supported by a couple of armoured regiments, moved through the jungle towards the epicentre of the smaller of the main areas of enemy activity. Rocket mounted tanks carrying napalm and light tanks making the bulk of the armour, while the battlesuits were included at least two flame throwers per squad. The force moved slowly, sweeping the area thouroughly as they moved on the centre. All the troops were looking out carefully. The enemy might spot them first, but they wouldn't be slow to respond this time...

Several fire control teams supported the units, ready to contain the fires one they had destroyed the enemy.

Several helicopters with water buckets also waited at the main base, a mere 15 minutes flight away.

Julio would avenge his brother. Not here, he told himself. Not just yet. He sat in a tree, watching the NQP troops heading toward Havana. His plan was like a web, drawing them in. As soon as his sentries had report the massive incursion into the jungle by the gringos, he'd ordered the CNA to go underground. They will think we have vanished, and when they are most secure, we strike. As he climbed down the tree and headed to his truck, followed by another guerrilla, he smiled. Operation Culebra was going perfectly.

Notquiteaplace forces began their sweep of the jungle. Strangely they found nothing, it was as if the national front had just vanished. Except a few signs here and there of recent human activity there was nothing.

**** a few days passed*****

In Havana several factories were nearing completion and interviews were being held for suitable workers. The wages were low by Notquiteaplace standards, but were still huge rises one what the Cubans had earn't already. The comapnies hoped to attract lota of workers and pick the cream, who would be well paid. The other half of Notquiteaplace's plan was this; that the cubans would become richer as a result of money flowing into their economy, their own industry would grow too and everyone would benifit as a result. Then people would not only be happier and richer but would buy more notquiteaplace goods. Infact everyone should benifit.

The problem was that it would take weeks for the effects to be felt. Months until they were measurable and years until the ripples began to really take effect. Until then Notquiteaplace had to find out what was going on with the terrorists. No attacks had fallen and the thousands of troops felt somewhat surplus guarding nothing.

****

Meanwhile the terrorist captive was near enough full health. His bones may not have healed, but that didnt matter too much anymore. Notquiteaplace would be playing with his mind to extract the information. The translator arrived with a few guards to explain the situation.

In the native tongue he spoke to the captive. He was middle aged man, a top linguist from notquiteaplace, he wore slightly scruffy suit and was balding. He was most unimpressive compaired to the two armoured guards that flanked him however. Not that it was necessary, the captive was still unable to use an arm and a leg, and was tied to a wall in the upright position.

"Hello, I am Benito. I am here to listen as you talk. It is simple really..."

He paused for effect.

"You tell us what has happened to you allies whenever you want and we will transfer you to an infirmery again until you heal, and then to a nice comfortable holding until we have finished our war. Then you will be set free."

He paused again.

"you dont tell us, well, that's okay. But just remember, we can't give you a bed until you tell us. Again, not a problem. As you won't be allowed to sleep."

He smiled and left.

White noise and the occasional bang began to be emitted from the speakers. The guards would be changed regularly, they would wake him up the moment he drifted off.

The prisoner looked at himself for a minute and realised he was on a drip. One that he was unable to move enough to dislodge due to his chains. Infact that meant he couldnt go on a hunger strike....

Rodrigo felt a weight in his stomach. These men knew what they were doing. The CNA had made use of sleep deprivation often enough; he knew how well it worked. He would break, sooner or later. All men did, with time. He was already tired, and the guards wouldn't even give him a chance to try and sleep through the racket on the speakers. He had to think of something, and fast.

OOC: I'll post again as soon as I figure out whta I want him to do.

OOC: I see him as the only way for notquiteaplace to find out what has happened to the CNA. Hence the high security. If you can think of a clever way to escape, then you can, but he's in the middle of a military base which is on high alert and full of guards who he can't even hurt with his bare hands. Plus they are interogating him while he is still barely mobile. He's the main lead now with there being no enemy where they expected them, so notquiteaplace will be holding on to him, very tightly.

I dont' think he would know everything, he's an officer, but not a high ranking one, so he should have an idea what the CNA are doing, if not exactly where and in what numbers they are.

OOC: I see him as the only way for notquiteaplace to find out what has happened to the CNA. Hence the high security. If you can think of a clever way to escape, then you can, but he's in the middle of a military base which is on high alert and full of guards who he can't even hurt with his bare hands. Plus they are interogating him while he is still barely mobile. He's the main lead now with there being no enemy where they expected them, so notquiteaplace will be holding on to him, very tightly.

I dont' think he would know everything, he's an officer, but not a high ranking one, so he should have an idea what the CNA are doing, if not exactly where and in what numbers they are.

OOC: sort of what I was thinking. I though I could have his brother and some guerillas try to break him out, but then I realized that they don't knnow he's alive. Well, I have to go eat dinner soon, so I'll post something in about an hour or so.

OOC: Officially if asked notquiteaplace denies having captives. I mean for those reasons. They don't want him being hunted down.

This next post is just some more detail, the readiness and workings of the force it's logistics and the new awareness of the less cocky NQP forces.

IC: Outside the perimeter of the base things had changed too. A few hidden cameras were dotted around it and there were defence points providing cover and the odd mounted weapon for use if necessary around it. Tank traps around the base only allowed entry and exit by vehicles at two points.

In the port the navy were busy unloading supplies and passengers and hundreds of men ran crates to the large store facilities. Like a constant flow of ants the base was alive, patrols stalked the forest noisily, while several vessels remained anchored in sight of the shore. About a third of the fleet was nearby, while the rest had headed to Havana and several other small ports and areas of high shipping activity. They swept the ares constantly watching their monitors for possible enemy. Aware that their radar far surpassed the enemy, but also that they could appear at any time to attack.

A few aircraft circled the base like hawks watching for prey. Except they were watching for enemy movement instead....

OOC: bump.. you still there? :p

Hospitals were a place of refuge and safety. It was there that wounded men went to be healed. A hospital was a haven from the horrors of war, a lone island of sanity amidst men's best efforts to kill one another.

It was also the perfect place to strike. Julio knew that the secret to striking fear in the hearts of the enemy was not to attack convoys and major installations; they were obvious targets. No, the way to truly bring fear to their hearts was to attack minor things, and show them that they were never truly safe. He smiled. Rodrigo, mi hermano, I shall avenge you this night. He peered at the hospital through his binoculars. Darkness was just falling, and it was the perfect time to strike. The defenders' eyes would have difficulty switching from the light sky to the dark ground.

His men crept as close to the hospital as they could, not wanting to alert the guards prematurely. Julio was here with his hand-picked troops, some thirty men. At the southern end of the hospital, a lieutenant of his named Javier had a group of twenty men, armed with heavy weapons such as mortars and RPG-7s. Their job would be to distract the guards while Julio and his men fought their way inside and killed as many civilians and wounded as possible. Once that was done, they'd run away into the jungles and vanish once again...

***

Nine o'clock. Time. Julio heard a sudden burst of fire to the south. That would Javier. The mortars and grenades exploded, no doubt causing damage. He could see orange glows from fires. Rifle fire signified the defenders' response, and then the noises became too muddled for Julio to tell who was who.

In front of him, the men gurading the perimeter looked to the south to try and figure out what was happening. That was Julio's chance. He shouted, and his men opened up with their AK-47s. Several guards went down as the guerrillas rushed forward, yelling ferociously; he couldn't tell if they'd been hit or were going for cover. Inwardly, he chuckled. His guerrillas must look like something out Mexico in the early twentieth century. Rifles in hand, massive bandoliers of extra ammunition, all kinds of hats. He didn't let himself get distracted, though. That was how men got killed. As his men rushed toward the hospital, he threw a grenade at the door to blow it open, then resumed firing at the defenders...

OOC: Remember that right now Julio doesn't know that Rodrigo is in the prison, so this is just an attack on a "soft" target.

OOC: I'd be patroling. Battlesuits are used more sparingly as the army has less of them than power armour, but they are still in standard units. They are bullet proof and resistant to larger weapons. Though the result depends on the weapon and suit. Even the heaviest suit would be destroyed by an anti tank weapon, adn the suits mount special AFDSABOT 30mm cannon to demolish simular targets, but a heavy suit would have a good chance against a normal 30mm cannon, while a light suit would still be threatened by a grenade.

The area was quiet, squads one and two were on patrol at the moment, and as things had always been, it was still. The people were on usual business and this wasn't a high area. Intel had assumed that NQP installations would be hit first, but they weren't...

Squad one were in medium battlesuits and cut and impressive seven foot figure as they marched through their patrol. While two were just power armoured. The sergeant of squad one was a patient man and didn't seem bothered by inactivity. His name was Robertson and he had served for about seven years with little activity.

There was an explosion, a few hundred yards East near the hospital, and Robertson was on his radio already.

"The hospital, now, squad two, this is one, we are moving to the hospital and would like back up, pwe are ETA 1 minute."

The squad accelerated to a jog, as fast as their suits would go.

They arrived outside the hospital perhaps a minute later. THere was smoke and damage everywhere. The squad looked for the cuprits surveying the area. One of the troops spotted something and began firing his 30mm cannon into it, the enemy were there however as they returned fire. The squad turned and fired their cannon into it, using them as a normal enemy would rifles.

The enemy fired a slavo into them, hitting four of his men with grenades and one with a mortar. The suits didn't break instantly under the grenades, one was gradually teased apart by the explosions before crumbling on a final lucky hit, the wearer status unknown, while another was hit on the leg three times, falling down and staying on it's side. The other two were knocked back and down, but got up again, with damage showing accross their suits, but still functioning. The mortar troop was not so lucky as his weapon exploded killing the wearer. His scream going through the comm channel and chilling the blood of the whole unit. However the squad were deadly with their weapons.

From behind squad 2 arrived, firing at the enemy from both sides, with solid shot loaded into their weapons. The enemy seemed to be in trouble. But to his left 30 more men with AK's had arrived firing apon them...

Julio swore as he saw the men in the metal armor. Those bastards are too tough, he thought. As his men rushed toward the broken door, he ordered ten of them, all excellent marksmen, behind to guard the rear.

"Shoot at the joints, those are the weak spots!" He yelled back at them, and then lead the rest of his men down a corridor...


OOC: sorry for the shortness, but my hands are cramping cause I had to write a massive history paper. I'll post something better in a while.

OOC: the cool thing about battlesuits is that they effectively double the cost of the troop wearing them, hence the smaller number of units. But they aren't powered armour so much as armoured support units. Bullets don't affect them, though other weapons do, depending on the weapon and range. A solid slug shotgun would threaten light suits and medium ones at close range, but the heavy suits need something slightly stronger to be taken down. You are facing medium suits.

As for solid slugs, instead of firing what amounts to 6 5mm shells at the target the weapon can with no compromise to range and with a change in accuracy that can be accounted for, switch to a case which contaisn a single 30mm slug. The weapon was developed for me a while ago, and I didn't realise how effective it would be. But in these quarters, a 30mm slug would cause less civilan casualties, it would also penetrate cover and maybe even the thin parts of corners of walls.

See my wikipedia entry, in my sig. It's got a good explanation now, and Im adding more now.

IC:

The battlesuits. began aiming carefully apon the enemy, their 30mm cannon piercing any cover they took and still impaling them. As the enemy swept into the damaged hospital the battlesuits were moving too slowly to keep up with the almost comical looking enemy. The power armoured troops had to take the lead.

The squad of ten ran in afterwards, their heavy slug shots also tearing holes in the door and into the men behind it. The enemy took careful shots, but were outgunned and at close range, two men fell before the squad reached the doorway. But by the time the rest had reached it there was only a few shards of wood hanging from the hinges, while the dead and wounded rear guard lay some with wounds that had torn through one man and hit another, something much more likely to happen in corridoors than with a spread squad indoors.

The squad advanced down the hall looking for targets. The battlesuits moving behind them having caught up.

The hospital would need redecorating at the least...

Pablo and his nine companions began to grow worried when they saw that the armored men weren't being hurt by their bullets. "Keep shooting, comrades!" Pablo yelled, and flinched as a bullet cracked past his head. Two of his men went down. He yelled for Vasquez. "Go, tell Julio we can't hold! Tell him -" Pablo never finished his sentence, his face blown away from a bullet. Blood splattered on Vasquez's shirt. he turned to run and find Julio. By now, there were only three men holding the door. One of them threw a grenade at the armored suits, hoping to stop them or at least slow them down. He was shot down before he could throw a second, though, and it fell. One of the two men left saw the live grenade fall, but was unable to kick it away in time...

***

Rodrigo was brought out of his thoughts by expolsions and gunfire. His first instinct was to get up and run to find a weapon, but then he remembered the guards, and the fact that his right leg was broken. He swore. He'd have to wait for the CNA guerrillas, if that's what they were, to come to him. ONly they didn't know he was here...

***

Julio and his men ran through a hospital ward, shooting at everything that moved. They'd split into four groups of five, and Julio's and another man's group had just met each other in a hall way when they saw Vasquez, covered in blood, running up to them.

"Madre de Dios, hermano! What happened?" Julio asked.

"Pablo says they can't hold. The armored men are too strong. Bullets don't hurt them. Only explosives. Pablo is dead."

"Shit. Luiz, how many shotguns do we have?"

"Four," the man replied.

"Right. Two with each team. We split up, warn the others, and try to fight our way out. Remember: we are not taken alive."

With that, the two groups ran away from each other, looking for the other teams.

The Notquiteaplace forces decided to split. The squads split into half squads, two groups of three battlesuits and two groups of four power armoured troops. The battlesuit's resistance to small arm fire had done what it was supposed to, scare the enemy, but now the unit had to find the enemy. They picked their way over the corpses and assembled in a blasted out office, before pressing on.

Screams rang out as around the hospital innocents were killed, the squads split up and began looking for the enemy, with each team paired to another, who would stay no more than a couple of rooms away. Each pair had 4 power armour and 3 battlesuits troops.

The troops fanned out and began heading through the hospital searching for the enemy.

The sergeant radioed the next nearest unit "squad one platoon 2 1st company of the 3rd medium suits regiment, and squad 2 reporting enemy at the hospital, they are extremely dangerous. Please send reinforcements to coer all exits. They are capable and well trained but poorly equipped. "

"This is squad 4 of the 3rd platoon, we can arrive by APC at the site in approximately three minutes, by the main enterance. Where are you?"

"We are working your way from the back"

"okay, we can get there and cover the escape route, we can set a trap, you understand Sergeant?"

"yes Sergeant, I do, " He replied.

He began coordinating the two units through his in built suit radio.

"okay, we must cover the rear exit, and close in on the enemy, so that they must face us or go for the front exit. However we can't force them out for three minutes yet. Cover all corridoors that lead to the exit. Examine all branches and make sure none can go back past us."

"Understood, Sergeant"

The replies came through both unit's comms. They coverged apon eachother momentarily as the passages they followed joined up. The squaddies exchanged glances as they marched accross the room, not even slowing down.

The group spread out and began heading towards gunfire, they assessed each corner and moved on as one, steadily but swiftly down the coridoor. Every now and then some plaster fell from a wall of the ceiling as they passed. The screams and noise was getting louder...

(OOC: will post the developements in the torture scenario next, but I assume Rodrigo should be close to breaking soon, as he hasnt slep in days, i will detail what has been going on later.)

OOC: I'll wait for your reinforcements to arrive before I post anything big.

IC:
Vasquez hid under a bed as the armor suits walked by. They walked past him, ignoring the corpse on the bed, and took up a position to guard the exits. One of the things was facing away from him. He had a grendade, and he knew what he had to use it for. He pulled the pin out, and held the saftey switch down so it wouldn't go off prematurely. He rolled out from under the bed, ran to the suit, and tried to tackle it. He couldn't knock it over, but he did manage to get in a bear hug and hold the grenade close into the suit's midsection. As the bullets began to hit him, he screamed "Cuba Libre!" and then everything went black.

As the unit moved through the hospital one of the groups heard a little clink. A man dived out grabbing onto a medium suit. It shook but the pilot stabilised it and turned flailing to get a way from the grenade.

The suit began revving it's left hand circular saw (all suits are fitted with a combat weapon, the small suits get blades, the larger get chainsaws, this is a medium one) to no avail. The pilot almost panicked, but managed to remain calm edging back as the frantic man tried to slow it. Already bullets were raining apon him. The saw cut into him and he started to fall off, but not enough.

The explosion tore through the midsection of the suit, diasabling it and scattering lumps of control hardware and video interfacing around the room.

Inside the pilot was burnt and cut, but somehow not badly injured. The suit flicked it's arm up and down a bit.

"It's okay guys, I hurt like hell, and even if the l,egs were working I couldn't run, but just get the bastards okay? I am in a hospital, what better place is there to be hit?"

The unit chuckled and turned as the suit slumped against a bed.

"My cannon is working, and the arm has 50% mobility, so I can defend myself. I might not have visual, but there's a fucking great hole here. Argh, come on guys, get these arseholes and find me a doctor. Chop chop!"

The squad laughed again, he was in shock and wounded, but if he was able to make cracks like that his condition had to be at least stable for now. They pressed on, radioed command and made a point of looking under the beds and in cupboards...

From outside the signal came.

"this is four, three will be here shortly too, we are outside the main enterance. We will wait here for you to flush them out. FOur will come in and reinforce you from the rear. So they are trapped."

The transmission was silent, and while the desparate rebels were aware they would die, they didn't know how certain it was...

Marcos looked around the corner, and swore as he saw the armor suits guarding the exit. It was their only way out, and it was guarded. "Esteban, come here," he said. Along with himself and Esteban, there were seven other men left of the group who'd attacked the hospital initially. He didn't know where Julio and the others were.

Once he got there, Esteban nodded, understanding their predicament. "Alright men, Julio said we can't be taken alive. I believe him. There are two ways we're leaving this hospital, and that's in a body bag or in chains. I for one would rather die shooting than rot in prison. I'm going to count to three, then we rush them. Got it?" He waited for every head to nod.

"Uno..." The men tensed and chambered rounds.

"Dos..." The men got up to run.

"Tres. Vamanos, compadres!" The guerrillas got up and charged the armor suits, blazing away with their AKs. All were cut down before they got close enough to use their shotguns.

***

Jose Maria wandered down a corridor, alone. He figured he was the only one left now. We were wrong, they're too strong. We shouldn't have fought them. He continued his one-man discussion as he walked the hall, and then stopped as he heard a noise around the corner. He looked, and saw a badly damaged armor suit leaning against the wall, with a corpse of a CNA fighter near it. The man had obviously held a grenade close to the suit, he could tell from burn marks and shrapnel embedded in the armor. A hole glared out at the world from the suit's midesection. Jose smiled. he knew what to do. Not for politics, not for Cuba. For the friends these invaders had killed. He took a grenade and pulled the pin, holding the safety switch tight. He crept along the wall, so that the armor suit couldn't see him. It's eye cameras didn't look like they were working, and he didn't think the pilot could see him through the hole yet. When he was a few feet away, he stood up and ran to the suit. He shouted, "Te mato!" and threw the grenade at the hole. He hoped it went in, as he turned to run. He slipped on blood, and fell face forward. He hit the ground just as the first bits of hot metal from the grenade tore through his back and neck.

OOC: Julio and a man named Martinez are heading for Rodrigo's room, though they don't know he's there, yet, and if you could post some information concerning the guards there I'd appreciate it. Basically everyone else is dead, so...yeah.

The squad stopped as screams of pain rang through their comms. Suddenly they went silent and the signal died. Something or somehad killed their wounded comrade. Reports of several desparate fighters trying to escape rang through the comms also and they figured there couldn't be many left.

More reinforcements were covering the other exit now, waiting like hawks, guns poised to shoot anything that came throuhg the door. The whole squad stood, sweating inside their armour, every second dragging by.

Inside the forces swept towards the main enterance, finding nothing. Suddenly a small signal reached them

"We have lost camera one, we suspect intruders are moving towards our prisoner, with their numbers unknown. We assume they were aware of the camera and realised they would be spotted, but cut it to contain numbers. All units to the interrogation chamber please. "

The squad sped up to a run, they would be at camera one shortly. They just hoped the guards in the room would be enough.

The squad sat in the barracks playing cards, well two did, while two slept. The remaining six were in pairs in various locations, one pair watching the prisoner while Benito asked the same questions he had every day for the last six, two at the doors, and two with the staff. The alarm rang and they two sleeping guard jolted up simealteaneously, while the other two threw down their cards. Johnsonn, the corporal of the squad, cursed louldly and ran to the armoury.

" We don't have time for donning full armour, throw on a kevlar jacket and a helmet, and grab a gun, we have to go straight for the main room."

The squad were ready in seconds and ran the short distance to the prisoner room.The two door guards almost shot them, but then waited at they fell in around them. The enemy would be there any second. On the bright side, they wouldn't know that there would be a bunch of troops waiting round the corner with guns trained on the corridoor.

A guard pulled a grenade out and readied himself to pull the pin and bounce it round the corner. It was a good few metres away and even if he didn't get it right he wasn't about to blow himself up. The corridoor was purposely long here, and armoured, unlike elsewhere in the facility.

"This is guard unit A, we are in position, prepare a cleaning team." Could be heard in the helmets of all nearby troops.

OOC: The prisoner is important to the NQP forces, funnily enough.

At some point I will try to upload a few sketches of power armour, though I have no idea how I will draw battlesuits.

OOC: I'll put some power armour sketches up in the week. Probably in my sig.

Oh and more to the point. BUMP

OOC: *Post preserving bump*

Hello? Malkyer seems to have evapourated. Anyone willing to pick up where he left off. Or even take up a second part?

If not I will wrap it up and continue the plot shortly in a different thread.

OOC: sorry...kinda forgot about this.

IC:

Julio and Miguel ran through the hallway, trying to keep quiet, though failing rather badly. They were running through a medical ward, desperately looking for some way out. "Hey, Julio, have you noticed how this corridor seems different than the others?"

"Yeah, it looks like it's meant to be defended. That's...wait, stop! I hear something," Julio said, and ducked behind a large plant. Miguel pressed himself against the wall, behind a chair. "Voices. They're aren't speaking Spanish."

"It's those bastard invaders."

"Yeah, amigo. I don't think we're getting out of here."

"Then we take some with us, eh?" Miguel smiled. Then they heard a clinking noise and saw a grenade roll down the hall. "Get down!"

The grenade exploded, but the guerrillas' cover shielded them. Julio took a grenade of his own, and tossed it at the NQP guards, trying to bounce it around the corner. It went off, and he didn't see if he hit anyone. Miguel dropped his rifle, drew his two mean-looking knives, looked at Julio, and nodded. He crept along the wall until he was just around the corner from the enemy soldiers. He nodded again, still kneeling.

Julio called out in English "Hey! We surrender! I'm coming to you." He stood, and began walking towards them. Pointing his rifle at where they'd be. There. One of the guards was a little overzealous, and turned the corner. Miguel was upright in half a second, and stabbed the man in the kidney. Julio fired a shot into the man's head from ten feet away, and then Hell broke loose. The guards started shooting. One of them hit Miguel, who staggered and fell to his knees. He threw his other knife at a guard, then slumped over. Julio didn't see if the guard had gotten hit or not, because right as the knife left Miguel's hand a bullet from a guard's gun caught him in the eye...

***

Presidential Palace, Havana

"Javier, can you bring me some more coffee?" Ramirez asked his aide.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you." He'd been awake for many hours, and would be for many more, he felt. After a period of relative quiet, the bastard CNA had attacked an NQP field hospital. This would not go well with the --

After the last groan, Javier pushed the slumped corpse off of the desk, wiping the knife blade on the man's shirt. "Cuba Libre, he muttered. His part was done. He now would wait...

OOC: ah, in that case... I will continue, but Im busy this week, so I may be slow. I will edit this into a proper response later.

The effect will be the guards suffering losses but winning.

Plus I may post that one or two other attacks have happened and our reaction. Notquiteaplace's armed forces are on a learning curve, so each time they fight the terrorists there will literally be notes taken at the debriefing, and extra training given on it to all soldiers, as well as modifications and addtions to the training the troops get. Naturally this will be Rped, but within a fortnight of any event 95% of combat personell will have received training in response to it, with the rest getting it withing a month.

Again, I will RP all this properly later. In this post.

bump for NQP

re-bump.