NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC thread found here : http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=403536

IC: The dawn broke over the warm Israeli city of Tel Aviv at 7:05. Grand Admiral Joseph Jacobson was in a rare nervous state. He was about to meet with former Vice-President Bill Veeck at a secret location. Jacobson was able to do this as he was on two weeks leave and he had dismissed his security staff. He had spent the night at a cheap motel about 3 miles from the beach and was awaiting a phone call.

The call was late. Veeck's man ought to have called 5 minutes ago. There was a sudden knock at the door. Jacobson was startled. He peaked through the blinds and saw two men standing there in dark suits. Neighter was Veeck. He could see a Chrysler 300 parked with the engine running.

“Mike? Are you there?” one of them called.

The admiral knew these men were sent by Veeck as the name the Admiral used over the phone was Mike. “I'm here,” he began. “Give me a second.” The Admiral then appeared and got into the back of the Chrysler. The car took him North on the main highway to Haifa. The ride was about 75 minutes. The driver pulled up into an industrial warehouse near the harbor.

Jacobson stepped out of the car and was brought in by the two men. He was taken down a series of steps and then to an elevator. The elevator descended and Jacobson realized he was being taken down to some subterranean area. The elevator stopped. Jacobson didn't know it, but he was now 75 feet below street level. He saw that he was in a large cavernous room. He also saw Bill Veeck waiting for him at the door. Greetings were exchanged, but then Veeck took Jacobson with him down a hall.

They entered a room where there was a long table. Many prominent members of the former IDF cabinet were there. Jacobson was friendly with many of them and knew he could trust them.

“We are going to get straight to the point Yoseph,” began former Defense Minister Jerry Angelo. “We are all in danger. The bastard President Ehud Rosenberg wants us all killed. He was responsible for the assassination of President Williams and now he wants us too.”

“This is all true, let me assure you of this,” said former Foreign Minister Ted Phillips. “We had an inside man on Rosenberg's staff and he warned us just in time. Mossad Chief Ryan Flemming didn't listen to the warning as he didn't believe it. He just turned up dead. We were informed that you are also on the list of those Rosenberg wants dealt with. It appears you have stumbled upon the same information we have about how he rigged the elections. Last time we talked, we both knew it was likely that Rosenberg's men killed the President and now we know it.”

“I assure you that I believe all that you saw,” said an Admiral who wasn't shocked as he had suspected it all this time.

“We need to set a wrong here Joseph,” said Veeck. “Kenny was a friend to all of us and we will miss him. We must make him proud even in death and do what he would've wanted us to do. Rosenberg's government must fall. We are going to have to fight the bastard. The Army and Air Force leaders have been replaced by his loyalists though. We need you to get the Navy behind our effort.”

“I agree that we must do something here,” said Jacobson. “The Defense Ministry has replaced many of my fleet heads. I can assure that I can provide the Grand Fleet, 2nd, 4th, and 5th fleets. The 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 7th fleets are definitely loyal for Rosenberg. The 8th and 9th fleets are wild cards. We will be at a severe disadvantage here.”

“I understand that Joseph,” said Angelo. “I can assure you elements of the AF, Marines, and Army will be joining us. I still have contacts there who have pledged loyalty. We will be outnumbered, but Ted can get us help.”

“That is right,” said Phillips. “I'm going to ask NATO governments that can be trusted for aid.”

“I have contacts in many nations,” said Jacobson. “I'd also like to ask OMP members for aid if possible. We will need a good base outside of Israel. We are too much in danger here. We are safe for a short amount of time down here, but someone may find out about this facility.”

“I agree,” said Veeck. “We are going to have to work a deal out with some allied nations to secretly allow us to stay in exile. I do want you to watch your back. If at all possible, take your 4 fleets and get them out into the open waters. I hate to say it, but you may have to open fire on the disloyal fleets. I've never wanted to kill fellow Israelis, but if we don't, many more will die.”

“Understood sir,” said Jacobson. “I'll try to get my ships out of here by the end of the week, but I will need foreign assistance for it to be successful.”

OOC: May I join? If yes, I'll type up a response later.

OOC: You can join. I'm going to be seeking aid from NATO and OMP nations soon. Can you please give me OOC info on an official in your government who we can discreetly approach and establish back channel comms with?

OOC: Will this affect your EII Claim at ALL?

+tag+

OOC:Tag. I assume the Halibut is going to be seeing some action.

OOC: May join later, I could set aside a base for your troops in my territorries. Just need to think of an incident to occur for my nation to back you up.

OOC: My EII claims will remain the same. I'm probably going to have the resistance government take control of Northern Indiana and using it as a base. As for Halibut, her CO is very loyal to Grand Admiral Jacobson so she will join the resistance fleet.

OOC: The Information reguarding Minister of External Affairs Thomas Jackson has been sent via telegram.

Admiral Jacobson was now living in the bunker facility. It was actually a quite advanced facility and about as secure as he could get inside Israel. He knew that he'd be safer in IDF controlled Northern Indiana and Northeast Illinois. It would be much easier for him to insight revolt and gather support as they weren't as loyal to the new government there. He would also be able to better communicate with world leaders there. He proposed that he and the former Foreign Minister travel to Chicago.

Minister Phillips was quick to remind him that he was needed here to get his 4 fleets out of Tel Aviv and out into the ocean. He would be able to communicate with world leaders at sea. Phillips also reminded him that he himself had to get to Chicago and the Navy would be the safest way to get him there.

Admiral Jacobson saw Phillips' reasoning and he quietly called his 4 fleet CO's to meet him at one of the resistance's other bases. This base was on the North side of Haifa near the Greenmanbry border. It was hidden in an abandoned rail depot that had closed 15 years before. It was in a secluded zone that had gone south during the last great economic depression a decade ago.

He informed the 4 assembled Admirals of the situation and all knew that their CinC wouldn't be asking for help unless he seriously needed it. Fleet Admiral Tad Wertz, the CO of the Grand Fleet was the first to agree. After all, he knew the Admiral would need his flagship, the ISS Ozzie Guillen. Fleet Admiral Robert Izzberg, CO of the 2nd fleet also agreed. Admiral Mordechai Sorenson and Admiral Greg Popovich, CO's of the 4th and 5th fleets, saw the light and agreed to join Jacobson. These 5 Admirals and their 4 fleets totaling 525 warships, 120 SSNs, and 95 logistical ships would take part in the greatest rebellion in the history of the Middle East. The Admirals knew that they would be able to pull it off so long as other elements of the Israeli Navy and Air Force didn't try to interdict and stop them. The CO's of the ships were all handpicked by the Fleet Admirals and they would be fiercely loyal them. Some would be reluctant, but would join when they saw a majority of the CO's going with the Admirals. Besides, there had been open questions raised over the legitemacy of the new government.

Jacobson was fairly pleased with the situation that now stood with by his fleet. He was glad that it now appeared that he would be able to get most of his ships away unharmed, but he knew he would be pursued by parts of the Israeli Navy and AF. He knew he'd take losses and would have to inflict them soon. He also knew that he'd have to immediately begin getting International support for the movement when at sea. It would be the only way for his ships to have access to the OMP bases if it were to become necessary to make emergency repairs. Phillips could help him with that though.

Jacobson was now counting down. His fleets would sail out of Tel Aviv and Haifa Naval bases in 72 hours. The clock was ticking. It wasn't uncommon for multiple fleets to sail out of base at a time without planned operations. IDF Admirals were given much freedom to operate out of base so long as they remained within 500 mile of Israeli waters. That meant that the fleets would likely get a 400 mile head start as the loyal Israeli Naval forces would be sortied to pursue once requests to turn back were ignored.

[Even though it says open, I'm going to ask permission to join anyway. Keep in mind that I have Kuwait, I don't think the Communist government would piss the Empress off by attacking an allied fleet docked there. Oh, and if you need info on an Imperial official, let me know.]

ooc: tag, and permission to join. I know it says open, but saying everyone else is asking I decided to follow suit. I have an official in mind that I could use to represent me, I have a decent army using modern weapons (ironically mostly israeli weapons) and if this gets out into the general stream, or in some way someone gets in contact with Turkimen about this, I'd have reasons for supporting the rebellion.

[IDF, I'll join once Jacobson gets the message off. I can have a couple of ships out patrolling the area, but it will take a little while for a full response. Commodore Fortino will respond with an Expeditionary Fleet, and he will also have some control over long-range bombers from the OMP bases and the PN mainland. Will send info upon request.]

OOC: You may all join in this RP.

FYI, the resistance fleet is made up of this:

Grand fleet:
1 Guillen SDN
3 Netanyahu DN
6 Arizona BBN
2 12 Trives CVN
3 Yorktown CVN
1 Nimitz CVN
4 Charles de Gaulle CVN
5 Begin BCN
2 Payton BCN
4 Kirov CGN
21 Ticonderoga II CG
39 Golda Meir DDG
21 Farragat DDG
20 Ilan Ramon DDG
51 Chicago FFG

2nd Fleet:
1 Guillen SDN
2 Netanyahu
4 Arizona
1 12 Tribes CVN
2 Yorktown
1 Nimitz
3 Charles de Gaulle
3 Begin BCN
5 Cherokee arsenal cruisers
19 Ticonderoga
29 Meir DDG
25 Farragat DDG
18 Ilan Ramon DDG
48 Chicago FFG

4th fleet:
1 Netanyahu
3 Arizona
1 12 Tribes
3 Yorktown
2 Charles de Gaulle
2 Begin BCN
4 Cherokee
18 Ticonderoga
25 Meir
23 Farragat
12 Ilan Ramon
42 Chicago FFG

5th fleet:
1 12 Tribes
7 Arizona
3 Begin
3 Cherokee
10 Ticonderoga II
25 Meir
14 Farragat
30 Chicago

75 Dakota class heavy load fast supply ships
6 Canopus sub tenders

40 Halibut SSN
20 Scorpion SSN
40 Seawolf SSN
20 688 (i) SSN


IC: The Department of the Navy had approved Fleet Admiral Izzberg's request to take the Grand, 2nd, 4th, and 5th fleets out for a training exercise South of Crete. Izzberg had had doubts that they would do this, especially with Grand Admiral Jacobson missing. Of course, he was listed as “on leave.” There was no way that they would disclose that he was missing, especially with the Internal Security Service after him.

Each of the 4 CO's of the fleets had informed the commanders of their ships. Details were withheld during these briefings, but they realized that Grand Admiral Joseph Jacobson, a hero of many wars and mentor to many, wouldn't have taken this action unless he saw it as necessary. Besides, many of these officers had expressed similar views about the legitamacy of the government in the private setting of their wardrooms at sea.

Jacobson's day began at 3:15 a.m. He was picked up by Captain 2nd Rank Hyman G. Rickover III, CO of the submarine ISS Halibut. Jacobson knew Rickover was someone he could trust, and he also knew that he'd be needing this very capable submariner if his move was to be successful. Rickover was trusted with an SSN that carried two nuclear torpedoes during her war patrols and could also carry nuclear cruise missiles. The fact that he was trusted with such weapons meant that the base guards never checked his car. Rickover didn't like the idea of getting into the trunk of Rickover's red Nissan, but he knew that he had no other choice.

The drive into Haifa Naval Base was only 15 minutes even in the light traffic. Rickover didn't want to risk getting stopped for speeding. As usual, his ID was checked at the gates and he was waved through. Rickover now had to get his Admiral to the mighty ISS Ozzie Guillen, the flag ship of the IDF Navy. He could see the mighty super-dreadnought towering over the dockyard. He was sure to pull up as closely to the ship as possible to decrease the chances of Jacobson being seen. This move was unnecessary as Admiral Izzberg had some of the marines from the ship out there with orders to let the Admiral quietly board. The marines didn't salute him as he climbed up the stairs that led to the gangplank. Jacobson was at home aboard this ship. He had led her through many wars and other crisis where her mere presence stopped wars.

Rickover departed and drove off to his sub. He had to prepare his sub for the operation.

Jacobson was met by Izzberg in the CIC. He was sure to make sure that communications with shore were restricted from CIC. It wouldn't matter. There wouldn't be much communications anyways with the ship's stores loaded for 120 days, which was far more than needed. She could carry more food, but much food was kept off the ship to make room for ammunition for her 30” ETC guns.

At 7:30, the harbor pilot, who was still in communications with the bridge, gave the fleet clearance to move. A pair of Farragat class DDGs acted as tugs and helped pull the big ship free. The Grand and 4th fleets would be leaving from Haifa, and the 2nd and 5th would leave from Tel Aviv. The bulk of remaing IDF Naval power was in the Red Sea and thus the resistance fleet had a chance to leave safely.

The 4 fleets each moved at high speeds west through the Mediterranean Sea. They met 30 miles off of the Israeli coast and then the same order came from the bridge of each ship. Bells were sounded for flank speed aboard every ship from the Ozzie Guillen down to every little frigate and supply ship. The speed of the group was set at 27 knots, the top speed of the super-dreadnoughts. The carriers, subs, and escort ships could each go faster and scouting units were going faster at times in a sprint and drift fashion.

The Grand fleet took the lead with the ISS Ozzie Guillen taking a position near the middle of the fleet. The 2nd fleet took a position on the starboard quarter of the Grand fleet. The 4th fleet was on the port quarter while the 5th fleet took a position in the rear. The crews were ordered to get as much sleep as possible. Admiral Jacobson had estimated that the IDF fleet would be sortied out when the resistance fleet got 400 nm west of Israel. He knew that gave him about 15 hours for his crews to rest. He knew that they would take heavy missile fire from arsenal ships and bombers.

Jacobson would have a fighter patrol up at all times, with more up and in a position to intercept once the fleet was 300 nm away. He also knew that both sides would have many Anti-missile lasers, SAMs, and other defensive systems. The missile attacks would have little effect on either side and the true battle would have to be fought with guns. The main IDF fleet would catch up with the resistance eventually at which point a deadly battle would have to be fought. Admiral Jacobson had his 4 Fleet Admirals aboard the Guillen to discuss how to go about this battle. He knew it was innevitable, but that didn't make planning a battle with impossible odds any easier.

Aleser Farris was a Lieutenant in the Kuwait Duchy Guard and his specialty was Satellite Intelligence Gathering and Analysis. Because of that, he oft times worked in the External Security Service's Kuwait HQ, watching real time satellite imagery and analyzing it on the spot. More often than not, this involved simply looking at his large computer screen and cutting our clips from the digital video to send to another section to be converted to large photographs, frame by frame. And because the photo geeks tended to annoy him, he took particular pride and pleasure in making inordinately long clips of extremely boring footage.

So, when he noticed several IDF fleets putting to sea, he guessed for exercises, he pushed a button on his keyboard to make the software splice a copy seperate from the entire day's take. The most onerous task of his job was writing down a report to accompany the data and thus justify his antics, but because it allowed his mischief to continue he tolerated better than he would have under any other circumstance.

Little did Aleser know, he was watching the beginning of a civil war in his own backyard.

*Adulphus Andrews was sitting on the console in room number 47 in the palace. Foreign military action reports were being funneled in on a momentary basis from dawn until dusk, and he had to sit here, look through every last one of them. Most were minor war crimes, nothing that the emergency foreign response team had anything to do with. However one managed to catch his eye. A training exercise of immense proportion was happening in the IDF sector. He decided it was worth a double look, so he called in his secretary.*

"Missus Renalds, get me Arthur Tren."

"Yes sir."

Arthur Tren was Frederian's uncle, and with Frederian being away courting a potential Queen, Arthur was the Head of State for current times.

"You called?" Said Arthur as he walked into the room.

"Yeah, theres a report here I want to talk to you about."

"Yeah?" Arthur looked at the report. "It just says that theres a large group of ships moving around IDF space. Could be anything. So?"

"Yes sir, but I doubt that many ships would be doing just a training manuever around the waters. This seems to be some sort of inside job to me."

"Heh... always the imaginative one Adulphus. Keep me posted, but for now I'm going to think its just a training exercise. Keep 1st and second Falcon active though, and keep te aircraft carriers loaded for the night if it will make you sleep any easier, eh?"

"Thank you sir." Adulphus said, blushing slightly.

Perhaps he was right, it wouldn't be the first tim he overreacted to something like this...

OOC: My EII claims will remain the same. I'm probably going to have the resistance government take control of Northern Indiana and using it as a base. As for Halibut, her CO is very loyal to Grand Admiral Jacobson so she will join the resistance fleet.

The EOL could be of service. We could launch an offensive against said resistance in exchange for a unified Layartebian Indiana.

OOC: Layarteb, I just want to let you know that it is unlikely Northern Indiana will be traded for support. Resistance leader Bill Veeck is a native of Porter County and he would never give up that land.

IC: Admiral Jacobson's fleet was now 375 miles west of Israel and now nearing a position south of Crete. Jacobson knew that the Israeli fleet would be sortied after him very soon. His adjoining Admirals had departed for their individual flagships. Of course, Admiral Izzberg was with Jacobson as the flagship of the Grand Fleet was the ISS Ozzie Guillen.

It happened at 9:30 am Zulu time. Israeli monitors were worried when the fleet hadn't turned at the point they said they would in their plans. Jacobson immediately knew it was time when the bridge phone's yellow light blinked and was accompanied by a 2 note sound.

“Sir,” began a Communication's officer in the Comms room a few decks below the bridge. “IDF fleet command is demanding we turn around.”

“Thanks for telling me son,” said Jacobson. “Don't answer the bastards. Let them eat static.” He put the phone down and then grabbed former Foreign Minister Ted Phillips. It was time to make the calls to the allies who could be trusted. He had to get their message out before the IDF government got out first. He knew he had enough time to do it.

He began by sending his own message to a very trusted friend whom he knew was honorable and who understood the situation.

TO: LORD ROSECRANS
FROM: GRAND ADMIRAL JOSEPH JACOBSON

Dear Phillip:
It has been too long since we last spoke, but I need your help. If you recall
our last conversation, I warned you of my fears that the new IDF government
was illegitimate and dangerous. It appears that I was sadly proven correct.
I have taken 4 fleets and am now fleeing across the Mediterranean for the North
Atlantic. I did this after being informed that the rulers of IDF wanted me dead.
I just barely escaped their assassins and am now desperate for your help.
The IDF Navy will be chasing me very soon and I am severely out-gunned.
I will forever be in debt to you if you can help us.

Your friend,
Joseph Jacobson..

Jacobson sent off his message as Ted Phillips drafted messages calling for aid to various NATO and OMP member nations. Jacobson asked that each message be forwarded to both the foreign ministries and their Naval departments since most of them knew Jacobson. The message was similar to the one sent by Jacbson to Rosecrans. The only major difference was that the other messages had documentation to back up the claims. Rosecrans was already aware of the situation and didn't need any.

With the messages sent out, Jacobson prepared for battle. At a range of 425 nm from the IDF coast, he received reports that all available ships were being sortied to pursue. Luckily, the ships in the Red Sea would need much more time to begin to pursue him. He knew that a battle was inevitable and feared missiles and aircraft would be launched soon at his fleet. He asked his Comms officer to set a fleet wide call to Condition Yellow. He wanted full time BARCAPs up at all times.

Jerusalem, IDF.
President Ehud Rosenberg was furious when he got the call just as he was planning to go to lunch. He knew who was leading the rogue fleet, and he knew their intentions. He immdiately called an emergency cabinet meeting and had the fleet pursue Jacobson. He refrained from calling foreign aid as he was too proud to do so. He also knew that he couldn't appear weak after such a close (and rigged) election. He knew he'd have to dispose of this fleet without letting their true intentions out.

He decided that he'd prepare to announce they were a pirate fleet and ask for world help, but he'd do that later. He had no clue that Ted Phillips was with the fleet and already asking for aid. This mistake would likely come back and make Rosenberg pay. The thought never entered his mind. He had to prepare the IAF for a potential strike on the Resistance Navy.

Mediterranean Sea
Jacobson's fleet wasn't alone now. He had been informed before leaving that a pair of IDF CVBGs of the 1st fleet were patrolling the Western Med. The 1st fleet was loyal to Rosenberg and therefore to be considered hostile. An E-5 Sniper AWACS bird was up and confirmed the existance of the CVBGs. Even worse, a flight of 12 F/A-18I Hornets was heading for the resistance fleet. Jacobson instantly ordered 12 F-14Is to be launched to counter this move and confront them.

The Yorktown class CVN ISS Steve Kerr had received the call from the Admiral to launch 1 squadron of 12 IAI built F-14I Super-Tomcats to confront the 12 inbound Hornets. Most of the IDF Navy was using stealth aircraft now, but they just weren't as capable in a strike mode since they couldn't carry the armaments of conventional aircraft. The ship went to General Quarters when Command Master Chief Tyler Winters got on the 1MC and announced “This is not a drill! This is not a drill! General Quarters General Quarters! All hands man battlestations.” This was followed by the ship's gong sounding for 15 seconds.

In 20 minutes, the 12 F-14s were airborne and heading for the 12 Hornets, who were 450 nm away. The Tomcats refueled from a trio of S-3B Vikings. They then moved in 3 elements of 4. The LPI RADARs were kept off under the order of squadron leader, Commander Ian Newertz. The AWACS guided the birds in on their targets.

The Tomcats closed the range to 50 nautical miles in 40 minutes. They were moving nowhere near top speed at this time. The F/A-18s were now being tracked on the LPI RADAR as F-14s closed in. The first flight of 4 took the lead to confront the Hornets while the other two held back at 50 nm.

Commander Newertz's flight had taken the lead. They were moving at 800 knots for the Hornets. Total closure speed was around 1500 knots. The distance was cut quickly and the tomcats slowed to 450 knots. The 4 Tomcats flew between the Hornets, now in 2 elements of 6. They then turned to see how the Hornets would react. The Hornets turned into them. The Tomcats then turned away only to have the Hornets turn into that maneuver indicating a hostile engagement was beginning. The leader of the 2nd element was able to maneuver himself behind the Tomcat's #2. He had his IR seeker ready and heard the low warbling tone indicating a missile lock. He depressed the trigger loosing a single ASRAAM at the Tomcat. The range was only 1.5 nm.

The Tomcat tired to drop a flare and break right, but the missile tracked in on the port engine and hit home blowing just aft of the aircraft and sending shrapnel through the port wing, elevator, engine, and rudder. The pilot fought for control of his aircraft and tired to run for the safety of the resitance fleet. This was not to be. The hydraulic lines were cut and he was leaking fuel. The port engine caught fire 45 seconds after the hit. The extinguisher couldn't put it out and the plane began to spin. The pilot and RIO punched out at an altitude of 5,000 feet. Both survived the ejection, but they were injured as a result of the ejection.

The three surviving Tomcats continued the dogfight and 2 pilots claimed kills on F/A-18s using ASRAAMs. Commander Newertz was an excellent shot with the cannon. He closed the range with the Hornets to under 1 mile. It became difficult for both sides to use missiles without hitting their own side. What developed was a classic gun dogfight. Newertz had read about the old days when IAF jets used guns instead of missiles and actually found more success. He hoped to do the same here. He lined up the Hornet with his gunsights and fired the trigger. An orange flame leaped out of his gun and the Hornet took multiple hits in the starboard wing. The wing collapsed and the plane spiraled into the sea. No chute appeared. The first death had occurred in the IDF Civil War.

The 9 surviving Hornets were now ready to deal with the Tomcats and 3 birds surviving were downed. No one survived.

The 8 Tomcats of the other 2 elements had their RADARs up and were now tracking the targets for their Phoenix missiles. The Tomcats fired 2 missiles at each Hornet. The Hornets tried to turn and run, but 7 of the 9 birds fell to the missiles. The other 2 flew back to their carriers. The Tomcats did the same.

Jacobson knew these carriers would have to die. He began drafting a plan to do the job without weakening his overall strength to defend from an air force attack.

It was perhaps not surprising that when both the Foreign Service and the Imperial Navy recieved the message from Admiral Jacobson it was forwarded directly to the Empress. She only took half an hour to skim the documents and understand the gist of what the Israeli admiral was trying to get across; the last election had been rigged. The Israeli people had been dupped, the world had been dupped, and she had been dupped. It was an unforgiveable betrayal and the commie bastards would pay dearly.

With that thought in mind she picked up the phone, pressed a speed dial button, and then said, "Admiral, have you read the communication from Admiral Jacobson? Good. Sortie the North Atlantic and Mediterranian Fleets, and order all other expeditonary fleets to make best speed to the North Atlantic or Arabian bases. Also, place all Home Fleets on a defensive footing. And one last thing, make sure that the Assault Fleets are prepared to get underway and ready to take on Imperial Marine divisions. Very well, Admiral Jorgenssen, have a pleasant day."

After holding down the disconnect button for several seconds she hit the next speed dial, "Air Martial McLeod, please place the 6th Air Force on standby for offensive operations against Israeli naval assets. Yes, you heard me correctly. Details will be forwarded to you shortly."

And then finally she pushed one last speed dial button, "Commandant Kerensky, you are hereby ordered to mobilize the Imperial Marines. Which Corps? All of them. Prepare them for immediate deployment. Yes, I will make sure you recieve a report within the day."

Asiya wasn't under any illusions that this would be a cakewalk, but she knew that even if the Imperium was Admiral Jacobson's only allies, they could defeat the pinko bastards.

OOC: Tagged for later post. IDF, could I RP as that SSBN (TSN Krasny Oktyabr) I moved near Jacobson's fleet awhile back? I want to try RPing characters and fewer numbers instead of the usual million-man armies killing each other WW-I style.

OOC thread made http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=8391579#post8391579

No I mean I help you get rid of him (i.e. annihilate his entire resistance there) and in exchange this whole Doctrine of Superiority goes away and I get N.Indiana.

Adulphus sat back in his chair. It had been a few days sense the last report on the IDF. It was getting on his nerves, the lack of information was appaling...*

"Mr. Andrews, I got a packet you've been waiting some time on."

"Thank god. Hand it over Mrs. Renalds, I've been sweating to death over the progress made on this. The response teams still on standby?"

"Yes sir."

"And the navy?"

"Yes sir."

"Good." *Adulphus leaned back in his chair and opened up the miltary breifing. Local survelliance teams had gotten a lot of information. Apparently this was a communist, or near communist government, a selling point for a major pro-rebellion strike. Their were rumors among the lower class of fraud, but that wouldn't hold up in any World Courts. They also had gotten ahold of one radio channel that was seemingly used by the rebel forces. The nail in the coffin though was the thing he'd expected for a while. These were indeed rebel forces. Or some sort of force outside of government control.*

"Mrs. Renalds? This time I really need Arthur."

"Yes sir."

*she again ran off for Arthur Tren*

"Yeah, what now Adulphus?" *he said walking in* "I was in the middle of a rather good lunch." *he winked* "Is this about that IDF nonsense again? I'm about to tell them to stand down if you don't give them any new orders. Theirs already rumblings amongst them."

"Actually sir, I have dire news."

"What now Adulphus?"

"Sir... its confirmed. There is a good percentage of people who believe these are rebels, and there is confirmed fire between two hostile forces. Our spies have picked up a rebel communication line, but its coded so we only got a bit of info about calling for allies on it. Not enough to make sense, but enough to make it look like it is an organized job and not just sort of hashed up pirating organization or some such. I suggest we support these rebels."

"Why? Its none of our business, and you know that His Majesty is the only one who can authorize this."

"I'd have to disagree there sir. Frederian left all of his power invested in you. Your the Executive."

"That doesn't change that we don't have any business going in."

"Look cheif, I'll lead the forces myself, and we'll call it a peacekeeping force that got fired upon. Their communist, their run by the proleteriat, how hard can they be to kill?"

*Arthur sighs* "alright, alright, mobilize the strike teams, I want a message sent out uncoded on the radio line you all found that we're here to intervene. I want for you to meet with the head of... whatever this hostile force is to the IDF government and find out what they want. If their not doing any better then the IDF then it will stay a peacekeeping mission. Understood?

*Adulphus beamed. Finally he was going to get the war he always wanted. Immediately he radioed out to his spies to forward to the IDF rebels*

"Hostole forces of the IDF, this is Adulphus Andrews. We are going to be sending strike forces in as peacekeepers as well as possibly a follow up military support effort. First however, I'd like to have a meeting with one of your main officials. I'll be leading Strike Force Revan Alpha, and I look forward to seeing you boys."

OOC: Need to hire private contractors? If not, Canada will join in to aid the IDF.

The sniper really hadn't had a chance.

Team Ira had been in and around IDF since Vastiva got her chance to land for what had become a three-month shore leave. During the debauchery and fun, HSI operatives had had plenty of opportunity to turn citizens and bury themselves into IDF as a whole.

By the time the the sheiss had struck the rotating blades and the resistance had formed, Vastiva had no fewer then thirty-eight covert teams in place.

Team Ira was the one assigned to... "discreetly keep tabs" on Admiral Jacobson and a few other "interesting" individuals. So it was no real surprise when Team Ira's fourth unit happened to be in the neighborhood during the meeting at 5:22 am that morning.

"Sharon" had noticed the movement first - contact lenses gave an excellent UV view of the area; and it was highly unlikely even in such a place as IDF a single man was really doing high wire line work that early in the morning. Independant confirmation came from "Michael" and "Uriel".

At that point, the gloves had come off.

It had been a hasty plan, but necessity breeds just that sort of thing. "Thaddeus" and "Aster" continued their watch of the Admiral; the rest removed an action case from the trunk of their car and considered options, quickly.

From thirty yards distant, within the decorative foliage beside a restaurant, "Sharon" had lined up the snipers position in the 10x sight of her Attica-III. While "Michael" gave a bit of interference to the attempt with the help of a drunken act, "Sharon's" finger moved to the trigger.

The moment the snipers head came up to see who was knocking on his truck, the trigger was pulled. The forty-centimeter long quarrel buried itself into the side of his head, seemingly a blossom poking out underneath the hardhat.

"Uriel" had started the truck while "Michael" lowered the boom. They had driven it off to a "safe zone" for "cleansing".

"Sharon", in the meantime, had collapsed the Attica-III and walked into a nearby temple, seemingly disconnected from the violence nobody saw.

It would be nearly two hours before the report arrived at HSI Headquarters in Sisu Vaari, just behind the message forwarded from Vastiva's embassy.

--Obsidia, Hamptonshire--

Lord Phillip Rosecrans sat alone in his office in the Defense Ministry. The past four months had been very trying for him. The Grand Duke's fight with cancer threw the future into doubt, his own appointment as Commander-General added nearly infinitely more responsibility on top of his responsibilites as Defense Minister, and now the whole R-B occupation situtation was throwing the entire nation into near chaos.

Increasingly each day became more of a burden upon the Commander-General. Not more that thirty minutes before he had been in a vicious meeting with the Senior Cabinet. Everyday brought another issue that divided the already split group of men and women that lead Hamptonshire. Without any unifying force to act upon them it would only be a matter of time before they would break apart with violent force.

At this moment, though, those thoughts were far from Lord Rosecrans' mind. He was reading a communique sent by Grand Admiral Joseph Jacobson. With these precious few moments of solitary time, he thought about his possible responses. As Commander-General his military authority was supreme, he could declare war or peace unilaterally; only a direct order from the Grand Duke could override his authority.

He read the message over and over again, thinking about what he could do to help out one of Hamptonshire's precious few remaining allies. Fleet Admiral Kirkssen was due to arrive any moment for a private meeting, he had to decide a course of action very quickly.

His train of thought was derailed by the sharp ring of his intercom.

"Lord Rosecrans," his secretary said over the system, "the Fleet Admiral is here to see you."

Damn he thought to himself. He pressed a button on the console and the Fleet Admiral stepped through the doors. As he walked toward the chair infront of the Minister's desk, Lord Rosecrans crafted his plan.

"Before we start anything else Geoff, I want you to read this."

The Fleet Admiral read the message. He paused for a moment and looked up at the now standing Lord Rosecrans. "Phillip," he said, "we have to do something. We can't leave him high and dry."

The Commander-General smiled in relief, he knew that when the chips were down he could always count on Fleet Admiral Kirkssen to back him up.

"Right on. Now...what can we spare him?"

That was the real question. Not matter how well intentioned they may be the Royal Armed Forces were becoming stretched. Missions across the globe, in the Protectorates and the Homeland were starting to take their toal on the Royal Navy. Unplanned situations pretty much had to be handled by Fleets that were coming from or going to other theatres. In that spirit, the two men quickly went to the computer stations located along the back wall of the office.

"What about Eighteenth Fleet?" Kirkssen asked.

"No, they've been on station for over four months. I like Fifth Fleet."

"Nope, Fifth needs to go to Maalestren."

The exchanged continued on for fifteen minutes until they were able to scrap together a makeshift Fleet.

Lord Rosecrans turned off the terminal and returned to his desk. "I'll send a message to Jacobson ASAP." he said "You get the ships together."


TO: Grand Admiral Joseph Jacobson
FROM: Lord Phillip Rosecrans, Commander-General of the Royal Armed Forces

I have managed to patch together a makeshift Fleet out of available units.
The 42nd Fleet Squadron, comprised of aircraft carriers, surface warships
and submarines one hundred and eight ships strong will be on station to
assist you within thrity-six hours. The larger Eleventh Fleet, three
hundred warships, will meet up with your force in seven days' time.

I have ordered Lieutenant Admiral Kenneth Gerstmann, Commanding Officer
of the 42nd Fleet Squadron, to report directly to you pending the arrival
of the Eleventh Fleet and Fleet Vice Admiral Nelson Yardbird.

May God be with us all.

-Lord Phillip Rosecrans

After an hour long discussion with his Admirals, Jacobson decided that a strike had to be made immediately on the 2 Yorktown CVNs. The Yorktowns were now down to 170 total aircraft from the 180 original complement. The overall enemy strength was 2 Yorktowns, 2 Ticonderoga II's, 3 Meir DDGs, 2 Ilan Ramon DDGs, 3 Farragat DDGs, and 5 Chicago FFGs. This was a formidable force to face since many of the ships had the new Laser point defense system from IMI.

There was a limited cruise missile capability in the enemy fleet. This was beneficial to Jacobson, but the aircraft were a serious threat to Jacobson's fleet.

The attack was to be carried out by elements of the 2nd Fleet. The other 3 were to remain on guard for a western attack that they knew would be coming soon.

Fleet Admiral Izzberg was to run the attack from the CIC of his Guillen class SDN ISS Frank Thomas. His ship's 50 F-35Bs would be used in the attack, but the bulk of the force would come from the 12 Tribes class Super-Carrier. The 2 Yorktowns would also help fight. Those 2 ships alone had airwings that outnumbered the enemy battlegroup after 10 of their fighter-bombers were lost.

A trio of E-5As were the first aircraft to leave the IDF carriers. Two came from the Tribes class vessel ISS United. The other one came from the ISS Lexington. These aircraft were followed by 16 squadrons of F-35Cs, 4 squadrons of F/A-18Es, and 6 squadrons of F-14Is. These aircraft had a good numerical advantage over the enemy force, but they had a much larger advantage in cover provided by AWACS and shipborne RADARs. Electronic Warfare was another area where the resistance fleet had an advantage. Their 12 EF-18G Growlers of the 2nd fleet were up and ready to jam enemy RADARs.

The aircraft vectored west. The E-5s began transmitting their high powered RADARs to try and draw out the enemy aircraft into a hail of AIM-54E Phoenix II missiles.

The Resistance planes were smart to run this maneuver. The 2 enemy CVBGs had sent up 6 squadrons of F-35Cs and a single squadron of F/A-18Es. This made 84 aircraft opposing the few hundred Resistance fighters. In the end, it wasn't numbers that would make the difference, but rather strategy.

The enemy lacked the RADAR coverage and EW capabilities of the Resistance. The E-5s quickly acquired the enemy aircraft. Range was quickly down to 150 nm before anyone realized it. The F-14Is didn't have the RADAR to detect the stealthy F-35, but they could take the RADAR picture of the E-5 and upload it into their missile seeker heads. The 72 F-14Is each carried 6 Phoenix missiles. The pilots targetted 2 missiles at each aircraft and fired. The missiles had a 5% failure rating so some pilots had to fire a 3rd missile at some targets. Either way, 84 aircraft had 168 missiles seeking them.

The aircraft knew they were being tracked, but they didn't know missiles had been fired until streaks were seen coming at them 25 nm away. Many planes jinked and tried to dive for the ocean, but it wasn't enough. 51 aircraft took hits and of them, 42 were destroyed.
The other 9 damaged had to disengage. 2 of which fell into the sea on the way back to the carriers. The surviving planes beared in on their adversaries and the remaining aircraft on each side were launched.

What resulted was an air battle that resulted in the loss of all the aircraft from the 2 CVBGs, but at a cost of 3 EF-18s, 13 F-35Cs, 2 F-35Bs, 31 F-14Is, and 11 F/A-18Es for the Resistance fleet. Losses were heavier than they ought to have been in the given tactical situation. The reason was that many fighters were drawn over enemy SAM cover and blotted out of the sky.

Once the enemy aircraft were killed, the Resistance fighters launched their ASMs at the enemy fleet. The result was hundreds of white smoke trails streaking across the sky. More SAMs were launched at Resistance fighters leading to the loss of 15 more F/A-18s that strayed too close to their targets.

The IDF Navy had developed good SAMs, RAMs, CIWS, and Lasers, but they couldn't contend with this many missiles. The result was that all surface ships of the enemy CVBGs were hit. After 2 hours, the only ship floating was the Yorktown class ISS Yukon. She was listing heavily to port and burned out, but she remained afloat. She was useless and thus the Resistance fleet didn't finish her off. There was no celebration or victory rolls made by the Resistance fleet. Thousands of brave countrymen had been killed. While it had been necessary, it was not a pleasant thing, Many former shipmates had gone down to Davey Jones' Locker. IDF Sailors lined the rails as Battlestations were secured. They removed their hats and said a prayer for the dead. The sea was unforgiving, but God would surely forgive those who were dead. Once the prayers over the dead were finished, many sailors broke down in tears. Some friends were unfortunately on the ships that had to be sunk. This was just the first major wave of death. More would come.

Admiral Jacobson couldn't sleep that night. He lay awake feeling remorse over the dead. He knew it was necessary, but that didn't make it too much easier for him. He was awoken by the Comms officer who informed him Lord Rosecrans responded. Jacobson decided it was time to send a response to his friend.


Lord Phillip Rosecrans:

We are currently running at 28 knots for the Atlantic. We thank you for your support. We hope to rendezvous with you in the North Atlantic. Unfortunately, we will have to fight major surface action before we can meet. I am forever in debt to you. Thank you and God's speed.

Grand Admiral Joseph Jacobson.

"Status report," ordered Fleet Admiral Harrington.

"Ma'am, all ships report they are ready for combat," answered her Fleet Comms Officer.

"Very well, please open a channel with Grand Admiral Jacobson," the ice wall, as she thought of it, had descended over her thoughts. Her every thought and word would be absolutely dispassionate until the immediate possibility of combat ceased.

The comms officer paused his actions for a second and then said, "Admiral, you have a connection to Admiral Jacobson's bridge."

She acknowledged this with a slight nod while the bridge stilled, "Grand Admiral Jacobson, this is Fleet Admiral Harrington of the Imperial Navy's 4th Expeditionary Fleet. The Empress has seen fit to order the Imperial Navy to a war footing and I have been instructed to render any assistance you request. At this time my command is making best possible speed to link up with your fleets. Also Admiral, please be advised that once we make it to the North Atlantic we will be met by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Expeditionary Fleets. I'm afraid the 6th, 7th, and 8th are going to be late to the party as they're still forming up in the Arabian Sea. Until then, I'm afraid the only help we can provide is in the form of my fleet."

850 kilometers above the Mediterranean.

ORION 191, a Izistani RORSAT, was passing over the Mediterranean when its powerful RADAR picked up the outbound vessels. The satellite focused its camera on the area and took several images. It then relayed the data to Izistani Naval Intelligence.

Izistani Naval Intelligence, Izistan City, Capital Island.

A analyst was pouring over the processed data and briefing Admiral Gearsburg; "...Well that is a Guillen, and those are those are Chicago's", the analyst said. "Well", the Admiral said, "Thats quite the force they have out, looks like a exercise to me, I'll let the Blackfish know and have them take a look. Perhaps they are testing something". "Indeed sir" replied the analyst, "I'm quite interested myself".


IMS Blackfish, Orcinus class SSN (http://s3.invisionfree.com/Izistani_Armaments/index.php?showtopic=8), 620 kilometers from Rebel fleets.

Blackfish was running at 10 knots at a depth of 300 meters. Commander Davis had just received orders from Fleet HQ to track a apparent IDF exercise, a large one at that. Davis was excited, he always got a weird thrill from his duties and this was no different. He had his navigator plot a course that would intercept the course of the largest fleet. He ordered the Helm to increase speed to 15 knots and go to a depth of 4-0-0 meters. He then retired to his stateroom to read up on the latest naval developments.

Captain August "Mighty" Quinn, brought the VSS Telemachus to periscope depth. The onboard computers recorded, remembered, coalated, decided.

The remnants of the IDF fleet brought back swift memories of actions against a Communist Louisianan fleet, and the three strikes which had left empty water where it had swam.

"Load three. Cestus."
"Aye-aye, sir!"
"Make depth one-zero-zero, speed twelve knots, course six-three true."
"Aye-aye! Helm, one down bubble, speed twelve knots, course six three true!"
"Six-three true, Aye!"

The Pierponts shadow vanished into the waters, running perpendicular to the direction the IDF rebellion had gone.

(TAG. IDF can you assume that a Rosian fleet is watching you guys? Too lazy to post :P)

Admiral Jacobson got little sleep during the night. He was back on his bridge at 4 in the morning just as his fleet was moving past Sicily. They were still making 27 knots as a group.

Unfortunately, the enemy force was going faster than their single Guillen, the ISS Jose Valentin, was capable of going. They were making just under 30 knots, the top speed of their 16 Netanyahu class DN's. He knew that they were at a range of 325 miles, just above the maximum reach of the ETC shells carried by the Netanyahus. They wouldn't fire immediately though since the range would make for poor accuracy, but with each minute the danger got greater.

He knew that his large flottila of ships would have to slow before leaving the Med. The IDF fleet would catch the Resistance there in a deadly battle that the most conservative projections showed would be about 50% losses for the Resistance fleet. This was unnacceptable, but there were few options.

Jacobson was set to have a meeting with his 4 other Admirals over breakfast. They would discuss the situation then.

Ramat David AFB, Israel
At that very moment, the IAF's Tu-160 Blackjack bombers were powering up their engines and storming down the runways. A total of 196 of the Russian origin bombers were taking off. These aircraft shared the airframe with the original Russian aircraft, but they had IDF engines, weapon systems, and avionics. They were loaded with 6 Israeli Defense Industries AS-6 anti-shipping missiles. They were good against heavily armored warships, but they could be shot down without too much of a problem by the Laser defense systems.

The planes were supposed to weaken the Resistance fleet and make it easier for the main Navy to kill them.

The planes took off and only went to 500 knots speed as they crossed over the Mediterranean Sea. They refueled from a few dozen E-787s that were airborne and waiting for them. The planes then went to a higher altitude to preserve fuel. They accelerated to speeds of mach 2.2. They had a good 1,200 miles to the Resistance fleet, but only 950 to the launch points. They would be under SAM protection from the Main IDF Fleet.

Brigadier General Avi Sharosh was personally leading the strike from his post in the air aboard the E-787 he had flying behind the main fleet. He knew this mission had to succeed. The orders came from President Rosenberg himself.

Resistance Fleet
The first sign of trouble came from the Chicago class frigate ISS Gary at the rear of the fleet. Her Aegis IV RADAR was operating and she was quick to detect the many blips now appearing out at a range of 275 nm. Her CO ordered General Quarters for Air Action and quickly relayed the message to Admiral Jacobson on the Guillen.

Jacobson immediately knew that it was Blackjack bombers. He knew IAF doctrine for dealing with Naval Forces. He had a few tricks up his sleeve though. He had 4 of the SUBSAM conversion subs. They were really old Lafayette class SSBNs converted to carry 160 SM-2ERs. They were moving in racetrack patterns at a slow 3 knots only 75 nm away from the Backfires. The order quickly went through underwater telephone and orders came to launch all SAMs from these subs.

The order came a little bit too late. The backfires began to launch at a range of 250 nm from the rearmost elements of the Resistance fleet. 40 of the planes fired their 6 missiles at that point. The rest of the aircraft continued in to get the range to hit ships of the forward 3 Fleets.

The SUBSAMs were beginning to launch at this point. The 4 Lafayettes were at a depth at 160 feet when they quickly fired the missiles. It took about 10 minutes for each of the 4 subs to launch them all. The missiles were IR guided and had no problem tracking in on the bombers on afterburner.

A total of 71 bombers fell to this tactic. Unfortunately, all but 14 had launched all their missiles so the damage to the Resistance fleet was done.

The Lafayettes were now in serious danger. They were far from being the top technology with designs from the 1960s. The IDF Main Fleet responded to their launches and quickly got SH-60s up to their positions. All 4 subs were found with active dipping SONAR. They were fired on and 3 were sunk. The remaining one took a hit from the weak warhead of the Mk-50. It surfaced and the crew abandoned ship before scuttling her. About three quarters of her crew were picked up and then held as POWs.

The F-14Is had been late to respond. They quickly vectored in to intercept and fire their Phoenix II missiles at the Blackjack bombers. Tomcat pilots had to venture into the SAM envelope of the enemy fleet to do this. 15 Tomcats fell as a result, but 42 bombers were splashed. All had fired their missiles though so the Resistance fleet was still endangered by this strike.

1,060 missiles were now bearing in on the Resistance fleet. Every IDF cruiser, destroyer, and frigate had the standard Aegis IV system. SM-4s were fired at the incoming vampires. Jacobson donned a helmet as he stood in the CIC looking over action. He saw that the vampires weren't falling fast enough. His fleet would take hits. He knew that the missiles would fall faster once the missiles got within the 40 nm range of the lasers and even quicker once RAMs got in the action.

The first ship to die was ironically the first ship to detect the air raid. The ISS GARY took a pair of missile hits on her port end. She lacked the laser system as FFGs weren't fitted with them. Her RAM had claimed a 3rd missile coming for her, but the other 2 got by. The first missile struck her near her VLS cells. The missile sent shrapnel through the VLS areas and the aft end of the ship exploded in a fireball. The 2nd missile hit in the same area and had little effect as the first missile had already done the job. Only a dozen men who had forward battlestations escaped the destruction.

The various shipboard defenses had cut the total number of missiles down to 102. Many of these were targeted on larger dreadnoughts, which were the primary targets of the strike.

10 were aimed at the super-dreadnought ISS Frank Thomas. She took 8 hits from these 10 missiles. The first few missiles struck her in her aft well deck. The #4 turret with 4 30 “ ETC cannons was destroyed. Quick action was taken by the turret commander to flood the turret and save the ship from devastating explosion. It had taken 4 hits to do that to the turret.

Three more missile struck the ship in her port side. The missile had been developed to kill dreadnoughts and they bored into the ship's hull. One missile found its way into a weapons storage site aft of the # 5 turret. A cloud of black smoke and even some orange flames shot out of the aft end of the ship as firefighters fought against the fires. Over 350 crewmen were killed or wounded on the giant super-dreadnought. Her engineering and propulsion systems were untouched allowing the ship to continue at 27 knots to get out of danger as quickly as possible.

A final missile found its way to the forward superstructure. Fleet Admiral Izzberg was on his way from the CIC to damage central when the bulkhead ahead of him collapsed in an orange flame. The Admiral was severely wounded by the flying shrapnel from the hit on the port side of the superstructure. He was taken to sick bay where he underwent emergency surgery. The Resistance fleet awaited constant updates on his condition.

Other ships took hits. 1 Netanyahu class ship was heavily damaged by 3 missiles and listing, but she was still moving forward at a slower 18 knots. 8 more destroyers and frigates were lost to missiles and 6 more were heavily damaged and had to be temporarily abandoned. It was eventually decided to scuttle 2 of the ships while the other 4 got underway after emergency repairs.

Jacobson was worried that some of the damaged ships were going to be too slow and would hamper his fleet. He also knew he needed as many ships as possible. He couldn't leave all the damaged ships behind. Water had flooded into some of the Frank Thomas's compartments and she was down to 22.5 knots. Repairs were underway on her and pumps were getting the water out. He needed the massive super-dreadnought if he wanted to defeat the enemy fleet. He had to order his whole fleet to slow down to

Sadly, he also needed Admiral Izzburg. Izzburg was having a drop in blood pressure from his loss of blood. The surgeons were doing all they could, but it was appearing that wasn't enough for him. He had internal bleeding in his brain that couldn't be stopped. The surgeons just lacked the ability to save him. It was unlikely surgeons at the Mayo Clinic would be able to do better. Five hours after the surgeons began their work, it was apparent that the Fleet Admiral was brain dead. He was removed from life support.

News of Izzberg's death struck Jacobson hard. He not only lost a good commander and ally, but he had lost a friend of over 30 years. Jacobson nearly collapsed on the deck of the CIC upon hearing the news. He told his aids to call a meeting of the surviving fleet Admirals onboard the Guillen in 2 hours. In the meantime, Jacobson went alone to his cabin to regain his composure. Well over a thousand of his men had died as a result of the battle. Several ships were lost or heavily damaged. Despite this fact, his move of putting the Lafayettes had saved them from more destruction. Not only were less missiles launched, but the bomber force suffered casualties that were too high for them to come back and try the strike again. In two hours he'd discuss his idea for saving the fleet, and he didn't like it one bit.

Just as he was about to take a rest, Fleet Admiral Harrington of the Scanavian States Navy hailed his ship. Jacobson had no problem accepting this call as he knew he'd need all the help he could get. Jacobson explained that he wanted to meet with the SS fleet in the Atlantic Ocean near Gibraltar.

Harrington sighed, "Unfortunately Admiral, my fleet sortied from the OMP Med base shortly after the first attack upon your armada, which means that both you and your loyalist opposite are going to reach the Gibralter before I do. However, I believe we can use that to our advantage.

"I don't think the loyalists yet know of the Imperium's support for your cause, Admiral. If that is the case, it is unlikely that they will be anticipating any kind of strike against their fleets by the Imperial Navy. Here is what I suggest: The Imperial fleets gathering at the North Atlantic OMP base will launch a massive and obvious alpha strike, given the disparity in numbers the loyalists will have no choice but to attempt an intercept, which will not only mean engaging numerically and qualitively superior forces but will also place them squarely in the path of your fleet's defenses. In the meantime, my fleet will launch its own strike against the loyalists, except my aircraft will stay below 500 feet and will use radar cancellation to make detection near impossible. I suspect when they find they have several hundred ASMs screaming down their throats they will be very surprised.

"So, Admiral, what do you think?"

Sent on NATO frequencies towards IDF Israel

~This is VSS Vadne on course on time, requesting passage clearance through Suez, cargo time sensitive, reply soonest~

~silently, ever so silently, the manyfold HSI agents became one with the surrounding people, became one with the crowds.

Swiftly - they knew the time, they knew the possibilities - they knocked on many doors, in many guises, all making the same offers, opening the same venues.

More times then not, their words were accepted, their offers taken.

A flight of C-71A Progeny aircraft, supposedly on a cargo run between Vastivan bases, landed and made ready to take off again. That their bellies were empty for the moment was known only a few - and might not remain true.

All this, and more, depended on the night, and the actions of a select few...~