NationStates Jolt Archive

World Wide Press Release

To give our people the home they have waited for so long, the Democratic States have chosen the desolate lands of Estonia suitable to settle down. A military operation, dubbed Urgent Haven, has been prepared in allied nations in the past few months and will commence in sheer minutes.

Thank you for your time,

All for Scandinavia!

Tallinn

Under the bright blue mroning sky, people rushed off to work and children got to school. A remarkable peace settled over Tallinn, the capital of the small Baltic state.

Over the Gulf of Finland, a tight formation of twelve JAS 39D Gripen fighter aircraft, under the code name Blue Sweep, skimmed the wave tops, dodging the few impotent watch stations on the Estonian coastline by blending with the radar clutter of the littoral waters and by emitting passive electronic countermeasures. An effective combination of two IRIS-T AAMs, two RBS-15F AShMs and a single 1100 litres fuel drop tank was armament configuration for each aircraft. The weapon systems operators, the back-seater of each Gripen, fed a flight plan and various waypoints into the computer memory of each RBS-15F. The co-ordinates of the few patrol boats of frigates of the Estonian Navy had been transferred over the datalink by an airborne ground monitoring platform. Withing a hardbeat, all twenty-four missiles dropped from their weapon pylons, falling nearly thirty feet before rocketing forward, on to cripple Estonia's small patrol fleet.

The missiles quickly established their active radar seekers, each taking on a different ship. Some were at full sea, some lay idling at a quay in various naval stations, but only a few caught the sea-skimming anti-shipping missiles on their radar screems. Even if they did, it was too late to even give order to abandon ship. Within five minutes, the small fleet of mainly minelayers, small corvettes and armed ocean tugs was being deluged by a thundering inferno, the flames igniting the skyline.

In a different move, anorther twelve JAS 39D Gripen fighter aircraft, loaded with four anti-radiation missiles each, knocked out the country's tiny air defense network, The blast fragments ripping through the sensitive equipment and human flesh, enabling s full strike sortie of forty-eight advanced BAe Mk.128 LIFT aircraft, armed with laser-guided Mk.82 munitions, to freely consume the Estonian Defense Forces. Barracks, air fields, assembly points, all were pounded in a storm of fire and death.

As dusk settled, the country was disarray and the first convoys of Outer Scandinavian tanks and armoured fighting vehicles were reported to have rolled over the border.

Tartu

A flight of Tiger attack choppers popped up above the treeline, their turreted 30mm cannons spitting out hundreds of rounds per second, cutting down Estonian infantry on sight. Rocket pods flashed continiously, their unguided rockets striking ill-protected adversaries. Under the protective dome of helos, Leopard II main battle tanks and CV90 armoured fighting vehicles stormed forward, firing a mixture of high-explosive 120mm and 30mm grenades at the entrenched Estonian conscripts. Outer Scandinavian foot soldiers in flashy, brand-new camouflage uniforms disembarked from the CV90s, laying down a wave of suppressive fire on Estonian lines. With fragmentation grenades arching towards them and bullets flaring past their heads, the small batallion of Estonian forces collectively surrendered. They were quickly round up and deported behind Outer Scandinavian lines.

Losses on the Outer Scandinavian side were few, but up to two EH101 transport helicopters and one Tiger attack choppers were shot down by hand-held surface-to-air missiles. Nearly nineteen infantrymen made the ultimate sacrifice, their bodies draped over the edge of the Estonian trenches, pointy bayonets on the outer end of their AK5 assault rifles.

Paide

A mixed consellation of eighteen C-295M and A400M transport aircraft soared through the skies, their exhaust fumes mixing through the fresh evening sky. In the cargo bays, paratroopers littered the hardened steel floor, constantly checking the jump harness of both themselves and their nearest brothers-in-arms. Innocent chitchat whizzed through the cabin, but most were deadly serious at heart. This was their first combat jump, and no one particulary enjoyed the rush of adrenaline and anxiety. All prayed, Christians, atheists, agnostics, a few Muslims and a handful of Jews alongside each other. No distinction between race or culture now.

The jumpmaster signaled his company, aboard a shiny A400M, to get on their feet and start the pre-jump procedure.

"Five minutes, start equipment check!"

He moved past the heavily-loaded pallets and concluded a succesful check with a knock on the door of loadmaster's cabin. All moved back as the main ramp was lowered, the howling of the winds drowning out all other noises. Three pallets slid out, disappearing in the darkness.

"Three minutes!'

The red light light flashed yellow and the jump doors were opened. The jumpmaster moved along the line and checked every static line again.

"Sound off!"

"Twelve okay! Eleven okay! Ten okay! Nine...!"

And so it went on past the line, each men yelling over the thunderous roaring of the engines and tapping the man in front of him on the shoulder.

The yellow flashed green, so the jumpmaster gave the first man in the door, the company's commander, a gentle push and shoved him outside, repeating the process until the aircraft was empty. He whispered a silent prayer and stepped out himself, disappearing..