NationStates Jolt Archive

Royal Intelligence Agency, Vancouver:

Benjamin Howard looked up as the man walked up to his desk. "Hey Frank, howya doin?"

"Pretty good, Ben. Got some satellite pictures for you. Dracun." Frank tossed a manila folder across the desk to Benjamin. Benjamin frowned. Recon photos of Dracun were rarely uplifting.

"Nice. Thanks, man." Frank left, and Ben opened the folder. As one of the senior Intelligence spooks, part of Howard's job was looking at and offering a preliminary analysis of satellite pictures. From there, the Directorates of Technology and Operations would decide their own courses of action, usually more dedicated satellite recon and accessing HUMINT resources, respectively.

Ben began to look over the pictures, his expression growing more worried with each photo. Supply trucks at bases? Heat blooms along the coastal cities and bases...Shit. He must have said the last part out loud, because a passing secretary stopped at his desk and asked him what was wrong.

"Janice, please contact the Director immediately. He needs to see this..."

***

Prime Minister Zachary Harrison (http://www.cia.gov/csi/monograph/firstln/955pres8.gif), President Alex Woodruff (http://www.lrradioworks.com/images/seanhannitypic.jpg), and the most of the Cabinet ministers were already seated at the table when RIA Director Riley Jacobs (http://www.defenselink.mil/photos/Jan2002/010920-D-9880W-043.jpg) entered the room, followed by an assistant who carried numerous folders and papers.

Jacobs had his assistant insert a CD-ROM into the laptop next to a projector, and then he began. "It's pretty bad. These are the most recent set of satellite photos from the Dracun Imperium. As you can see, it looks like they're beginning a major military build-up. Truck convoys moving in and out of bases, heat blooms at naval facilities, et cetera."

Trade raised his hand. "Just what does this have to do with us?"

Jacobs replied, "We aren't really sure as of yet; things are just happening too fast."

Defense, at the back next to the President, shouted at Jacobs. "So you're saying Intelligence is incompetent to detect threats?"

"That's not at all what I said, Minister, and I'd appreciate if you'd get your head out of your ass and listen. If someone attacks your lines in battle, you can't begin front-wide counter-attack immediately. You have to assess the situation, figure where your troops will do the most good, and go from there. It's the same here."

Defense seemed to shrink into his chair, ego deflated. Jacobs continued. "Now, as I was saying, we aren't sure this has anything to do with us directly. But, given the Dracun's opinions toward outsiders, they'll probably start slaughtering civilians or something and then we could get drawn in via the CFA. One of my senior analysists, Ben Howard, came up with a hypothesis I thought was very interesting. Mr. Prime Minister, I'll want you to weigh in on this as well. What if they are preparing to make a move against us? It's public knowledge that Kacin has no love for the Kingdom, and with the control he exerts over the populace he could easily brainwash them against us, despite all we did for them after the war."

Around the table, looks of realization dawned upon peoples' faces. One of the ministers, Jacobs thought it was Agriculture, asked "You don't really think that they'll...try to fight us, do you?"

"I don't know, and until we're able to analyze this situation, I won't have an answer. I do, however, want to get agents into Dracun. If we're going to figure out what's going on, and quickly, it's going to have to be through HUMINT," he said, using the acronym for "Human Intelligence, or information collected by agents on the ground, rather than satellites or communications interceptions.

Harrison looked over at Woodruff. The President nodded. "Right, Riley, I want you to do whatever you need to do to figure out what the hell is going on over there."

Jacobs nodded, and the meeting was over.

***

Erich Bremer was one of three RIA agents who arrived in the Dracun Imperium over the course of the next week. Three agents, three different planes, three different destinations and points-of-origin, nine different sets of forged travel documents (three for each agent). The customs officer hadn’t seemed to notice his fake passport. Figuring out who they were, why they were there, and much less catching them would be near impossible for any Dracun counter-intelligence agency, at least for the time being. Right now, though, Bremer had work to do. He hailed a taxi at the Remberance Airport, and headed to his hotel. In the car, he concentrated on what he would have to do.

bump for Dracun

OOC: Excellent post!
IC: Emperor Kacin looked over the Imperial Balcony at Ultra Base. Thousands of troops marched in crisp military march, guns on their right. They wore the imperial black & red uniform of the Imperial Army and it was truly a sight to behold. Most were Zanzilk-Dracunian War Veterans, which would make this all the more pleasant.

Kacin smiled and turned to his closest aide, "Drake, do me a favor... let the Propaganda campaign begin." He turned back to the military parade in his honor.

***
Within an hour, dozens of made up horrific images of Malkyer Troops torturing, and abusing Dracun troops. People called for revenge, they wanted the Malkyerians to pay for what they did and soon they would... for the target of the invasion would be...Malkyer

In a place like the Dracun Imperium, one could learn a lot by just walking down the street. Bremer was on one such stroll when he saw the posters going up. Government workers, it looked like, pasting the things on lamposts, buildings, telephone polls, pretty much anything that wouldn't move.

He walked up to one and read it as the workers were putting up some more along a wall. It was a picture, obviously doctored, of soldiers torturing and abusing Dracun troopers. There were words at the bottom, but he ignored them for the moment. He was too focused on the flag patch on one of the torturing soldier's shoulders. A red cross on a field of blue...the Royal Flag of Malkyer. Dear God, what is happening? Slowly, he looked to the words at the bottom. It was just a simple phrase. "We Demand Justice," it read.

Bremer was a trained intelligence officer, skilled at concealing his emotions. It took all of his skill to maintain his composure, now. He turned to one of the workers. "You think the Malkyeri really did this?" The worker looked at him strangely. He obviously believed the propaganda. Realizing he could have just compromised his cover, Bremer continued. "They just always seemed so goody-goody. Well, I guess it's always the ones you least expect, eh?" Not waiting for a reply, he left. Taking a circuitous and roundabout route, with numerous doubling-backs and changing directions randomly to avoid being tailed, he headed back to his hotel.

In his room, he made a thorough sweep for bugs and other listenting devices. He'd already checked twice since arriving, but there was no point in not being cautious. He took out his cell phone, punched in the three digits to establish a secure connection to Vancouver, and dialed the Director's personal line.

"Sir, I have bad news..."

OOC: You were sort of vague concerning the propaganda, so I took some liberties there. Let me know if it's a problem.

ooc: No it was my bad, it was after a lot of rping on different board so my "creative juices" weren't flowing so my bad.

IC: The campaign began, as more and more posters went up, there wasn't a commercial brake that didn't feature an anti-malkyerian ad. Some showed images of "Malkyer soldiers" slapping and dragging the bodies of Dracun Soldiers across city streets. Every single on demanded that justice should be served, and that one should hate them with a passion. With all those that had remembered Malkyer's help during the "Dark ages", had long left when Kacin had become corrupt and all powerful. Malkyer was now hated by the Dracunians.

Military parades were more common now, showing off the armed forces of The Dracun Empire. There were at least two a day, and they were moving, the anthem played in full climax, while they marched off to their duties which were unknown as of now. Only a few knew and they now lay dead, in Kacin's vast tomb under the city.

Kacin smiled as he watched the 3rd parade today in Imperial City. They saluted him and he pretended like he cared about them and the people. It was all he could do to keep from laughing sinisterly. He turned to highest commander, fresh from the Vladachekian Conflict, Supreme Commander Drake. "How long till we are ready?" He whispered under his false smile.

"We are ready, right now the invasion shall be easy, as of now we are just taking precautions." Drake stood in his perfect and polished white uniform. He stood with his arms behind his back observing the parade.

"Good..." This time Kacin couldn't help but laugh.

High Command, focus hub for the Royal Armed Forces, was a fortress-like compound twenty-six miles from the coast, and some fifty-five miles from Vancouver. On the surface, it appeared as a six-story office building, with shining glass windows and an orderly parking lot. The building extended below the ground as well, into a steel and concrete hive that held all of the most vital functions of the military, and was sufficiently armored to withstand all but a direct nuclear blast. Around the compound was ten miles of government land in every direction, guarded by a full brigade of Royal Marines, with another two divisions less than thirty miles away. There was only one road in and out, with three separate checkpoints. Usually, High Command was the ultimate symbol of calm power and security.

Today, it was a bustling warren of activity, the entire command structure alive and buzzing with the reports coming out of the Dracun Imperium.

Anton Perides, Supreme Commander of the Royal Armed Forces, sat in a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, up from Vancouver to review the situation and prepare a report for the civilian government.

Towards the end of the meeting, one of the JCs asked, "So it's decided, then?"

Perides replied solemnly. "Yes. Alert the Military District Commanders. I'm afraid we must fear the worst."

OOC: this is my 1,337th post. ph34r my 1337 sk1lz, Dracun!

...Sorry. I apologize for that.

ooc:Lol

IC: The various military bases throughout Dracun were in constant action, the Emperor had ordered that the troops be prepared to leave at any given time, over a hundred and fifty warships of various sizes had been mobilized. Also the troops had been mobilized to well over a seven hundred thousand troops of various classes had been mobilized as well. This was turning into the largest mobilization Draucn had ever seen.

A lot of the troops that had been mobilized were veterans of either the Zanzilk-Dracun War, which was also known as the War of a New Beginning or the Vladachek-Certe conflict, which is known as the War of the First Conquest. Most had become bloody hungry, others had become psycho.

Now however Kacin smiled, the plans had been set and now it was time to move to phase 1. "Order them to begin"

The satellite pictures brought no good news. Massive mobilizations in Dracun, the largest anyone had seen in years. From the photos, High Command deduced that anywhere from six hundred- to eight-hundred thousand Dracun troops were being mobilized. With the news from the RIA agents in the Dracun Imperium, everyone knew Kacin had only one target in mind: Malkyer.

The last time Dracun had attacked Malkyer, the Royal Navy had fought a holding action roughly a thousand miles off the coast of Malkyer, to try to keep the enemy away. Though they had eventually won, they had done so after losing almost thirty percent of the Pacific fleet. The Dracun had taken similar losses, but they could afford to lose more. High Command had found a poignant summation of their feelings in the words of that ancient Greek king, who after his battle with the Romans had said "Another such victory and we are ruined!"

This time, High Command opted for Operation Gotterdammerung, a plan specifically designed for an invasion by a numerically superior force. The ships of the Royal Navy sailed north, seemingly to defend the capital, and at the same time leaving the southern coasts relatively undefended as far as naval power went. Admiral Goertz, CinC-Fleet, hoped the Dracun would take the bait. The enemy had strategic surprise, but that would not avail them, in the end. Standing on the bridge of the carrier Erikson, ten miles off-shore from the capital, Goertz gritted his teeth and looked to the west. He muttered to himself, "Let them come." A lieutenant manning a radar station looked at the Admiral with a confused expression.