NationStates Jolt Archive

[ooc:] Continued from here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=9849713#post=9849713).

[ic:]
To: Kari Alhoun, Czardaian Foreign Minister
The Libertarian Concordance of Czardas
From: President Jason Horton Garner
The Armed Capitalist Republic of The Silver Sky

Ah yes, that is fine, we're still trying to gather enough people who want to be in the embassy, shouldn't be more then a day or two more though.

Ah, yes, well most of us Skyians enjoy the wide expanses of the open ocean, probably the reason we have such a large navy, and we also like big things, probably the reason we have so many Neptune-Class Super Dreadnaughts.

Ah, so they have, well I guess it's time we got some "researchers" into their nation.

Also representatives and a taskforce from We Buy It Inc. have prepared to head to your nation, they're are happy to annouce that the take over of the Arms Manufacturing and Uranium Mining Sectors have procceded smoothly, although they're wait for the go ahead from you and the companies to overtake the oil sector, they also extend an offer to the Ore/Metals Mining sector.

And for reference the Representative will be Chief Operations Officer Francisco Diaz. He is excited to be able to finally travel to a foreign land.

Thank you,
[Signed]
President Jason Horton Garner
~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Foreign Minister Kari Alhoun, The Libertarian Concordance of Czardas
To: President Jason Horton Garner, The Armed Capitalist Republic of The Silver Sky

Greetings! We will eagerly await your delegation. Czarna is divided by a wide river that is accessible from our joint base on Khûfi Island, so if they wish they can even come by boat. (However, as the buildings are located atop a hill, they can't take it all the way.) We hope they will enjoy their stay in Czarna. The embassies, as well as Congress Hall and the other major buildings, are located in the Old City of Czarna, with many interesting stairways and footpaths descending the large hill atop which it is built, as well as many museums displaying artifacts from Czarna's 2400-year history as former capital of the Cvarken Empire (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Cvarken_Empire) in ancient ages.

On a more somber note, we are also planning to send our own "operative" divisions into The Warmaster. You may have heard of the Czardaian Special Operatives before; whether you have or have not, if you wish to work together on this send a message to Capt. Alma Finlay of the 14th CSOD. If you think it would be better to work apart, then that will be fine as well. However, working in conjunction has proved to give better results than working apart in the past, but it is your choice.

The company representatives will be allowed to take over the oil sector. Unfortunately, with Shenyang's recent missile attack on us, our oil rigs had to be called in, but the drilling sites are still open and ready for use. However, we urge We Buy It Inc.'s task force to be well-defended in case Shenyang or another enemy nation will attempt to seize the subaqueous oil fields. On land we have oil fields in the extreme south beyond Ardaja, near the border of a neutral nation, where production is still going on. The pipelines and centers have been reinforced with SAMs and SSMs, and we would like to request that Czardaian guards stationed in the area can keep their current positions.

Besides that, we will be waiting for you. Our own diplomatic delegation will leave for the Armed Capitalist Republic within several days, when there is no longer a threat of attack from any aggressive nations. We would like to warn you that a large air or sea armada may be in the vicinity of the Czardaian coast.

~Kari Alhoun, Czardaian Foreign Minister
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun leans back in his chair, sighs. War breaks out, and immediately everything becomes so many times more complicated. Well, it is good at any rate that diplomacy and peace still have a place in a world dominated by war and battle.

OOC: I was going to make one, but oh well, I like your title better, weird but better.


IC:

Of Nations and Corporations, Making Friends and Expanding Markets

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To: Kari Alhoun, Czardaian Foreign Minister
The Libertarian Concordance of Czardas
From: President Jason Horton Garner
The Armed Capitalist Republic of The Silver Sky

We're sure they will enjoy their embassy, they should be leaving within a few days as they need to say some good byes and other things. Although with most of the historical items and artifacts in our nation was destroyed during the Nexian Wars about a century ago, so they might not appreciate history as much as other people.

While we have yet to assign a unit to The Warmaster mission, but you can know that we will work in conjunction with Czardaian Special Operatives.

Don't worry about the task force, We Buy It. Inc. is equipped to fight a small war, they should have no problem, and yes, your troops can keep their positions. The fleet will skirt the blockade to the south before hugging the coast north towards Port Khufi. Several dozen transports and plans are currently leaving for Adraja International Airport, COO Franciso Diaz expects to be meeted at the airport, he will arrive via Boeing 747.

Thank you,
President Horton Garner
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Combreth Harbor, 0800 Hours, We Buy It Inc. Headquarters Naval Docks]

The day was off to a good start, birds sang and a light breeze blew across the harbor, from the building you could see all of the Military docks a mere 10 miles away, ships in sizes ranging from patrol boats to a massive "Neptune" a Neptune-Class Trimaran Super Dreadnaught and flagship of the First Naval Armada.

Although it was a spectical to behold one person's concentration wasn't on the Neptune but rather the much smaller docks closer to the building, large transport ships we being loaded by cranes of all sizes, although several frigates, destroyers and cruisers patrolled the harbor they were no military ships, rather they were military grade privately owned ships, or to be more specific, the private naval forces of Hostile Takeover Inc., although they current mission wasn't hostile at all.

The fleet made up of several dozen transports, 16 frigates, 8 destroyers, 4 cruisers, two Atlantic-class Trimaran large battleship, two Antietam-class BBGN and a single Victory-class Trimaran fleet carrier, the Mary Rose, slowly exited the harbor, they would be joined by another fleet of equal size and begin their jounery towards Czardas, although they were official commercial, they had the backing of the government, the entire 1st Naval Armada our of Comberth and the 2nd Naval Armada out of North Point were ready to deploy at a moments notice to back up the private fleet.

"The fleet has left Mr. Diaz, you're ride is also ready." Francisco Diaz COO of We Buy It Inc. turned around to face his secretary, Ms. Jessie McNeal, "Thank you, Ms. McNeal, why don't you take the rest of the week off." Ms. McNeal's face lit up instantly, she had a party to attend with her boyfriend, but she would of had to work through it, now she could go. "Thank you Mr. Diaz! I hope your trip is enjoyable." She quickly left the room.

[We Buy It Inc. Private Airfield, Comberth Harbor]

6 C-116 Loadmaster "C-Wing" Heavy Strategic Cargo Planes taxied on the runway along with 24 C-115 Fastrider Supersonic Cargo Transports, a further 6 C-116's were already in the air, along with their escort of 144 F-133 Valkyrie Air Superiority Fighters, all painted in Hostile Takeover Inc. colors (Red, Black, Gold), again military grade weapons in the hands of a private company, what could go wrong.

Mr. Diaz was greeted by the huge site as his limo pulled right up to the 747, he boarded and took his seat, he opened his laptop and continued to gather information on Czardas from his "sources", he wanted to be as informed as possible and make a good impression, cause not matter how you put it, a fate of a company and even a nation depended how he could do his job.

The vast air armada began it's flight, refueling mid-air once, many of the pilots were ex-military and had either retired, honorably discharged, or even quit because of the better pay from We Buy It Inc., most of them, especially the longer employed ones, have had training equal to the elite troops of the Silver Sky Republican Military.

[Nearly 24 hours Later]

The vast air armada arrived off the shore of Czardas, west of Gelta to be percise, the continued to fly towards their destination.

Several calls went out from the various squadrons to air traffic control, "This is Flight 001, requesting permission for Cargo Squad C116 to land." "This is Flight 001 of C115 Squadron, requesting permission to land." "This is Red Leader of Groups F113 requesting permission to land."

"This is Flight COO01 requesting permission to land."

Ardaja International Airport, several hours earlier

All of Terminal C has been prepared for the landing of a full-scale air armada, cleared of people, with various hangars and gates available for the aircraft. This in itself is not unusual—Terminal C has launched Czardaian air forces in the past when the military base nearby, which can hold a total of 2160 planes itself, is not in operation. However, this time what is coming is not a military operation. That is, not exactly.

Foreign Minister Kari Alhoun has come in person to welcome the Armed Capitalist Republic's delegation. He has read all the messages from The Silver Sky, of course, as well as researching their considerable entry in the Czardaian intelligence database. As one of the nations near Czardas, The Silver Sky is definitely one of the more detailed entries in the Czardaian network.

He sits in one of the chairs near Gate 21 of Terminal C, where the 747 has been relegated to land, and glances at his watch. It should be coming in fairly soon. Almost as he thinks that, a message from the control tower rings in his ear.

"Foreign aircraft detected within radar range, signatures The Silver Sky. Should we intercept?"

"No. Let them land."

Several minutes later, the calls come in to the control tower. The armada is given authorization to land, and Alhoun gets up abruptly, pushing his greyish brown hair back with one hand as he waves to the rest of the diplomatic group—guards, members of the Foreign Office, CEOs, members of the Council of 400, and more, to follow him as he goes towards the staircase across the way, to descend onto the tarmac to welcome Diaz and the rest of the Silver Sky's delegation.

The planes after receiving permission began to land, first the cargo planes, the F-133s stayed high in the sky, approaching 70,000ft, with radar deactivated, they wanted to seem as harmless as possible.

After the C-115's and C-116's landed and began to unload their troops, several carried ST-37K1A1 MBTs and M-89 IFVs, they along with several other vehicle types fanned out across the runway, troops clad in military grade Helljumper armor ran about the vehicles.

The 747 gets lower and closer to the runway, then the wheels screech as they make contact with the pavement, the engines quickly hit reverse thrust inorder to slow the plane. It taxied off the runway and towards the gate. Mr. Diaz could see the F-133's land, a marvel of engineering as they were, they were no match for the next fighter The Silver Sky was to hopefully receive from Soviet Bloc, but he couldn't let enemies know that. Anyway....

The plane finally docks with the gate, Mr. Diaz gets up and streches his legs, he turns to the guards and then to the delegation for the embassy, they nod and he procceeds towards the front of the plane and exited it.

He headed down the stairway towards the Czardaian delegation.

From the gate, Alhoun watches the cargo planes land, troops spilling out of each. He directs the Special Operative Captain, Louis DeMarce, to descend with the members of his division to meet them and find out where they plan to go. DeMarce nods curtly—Special Operatives rarely defer to authority by saluting—and gives a brief command. Czardaian SpecOps, sixteen in all, follow him down the stairway towards the Silver Sky's troops as they make their way across the field.

Meanwhile, Alhoun himself and the remainder of the party walks briskly through the sunlight towards Diaz and the members of his delegation. Alhoun hopes greatly that everything is in order. He glances unnoticeably towards the road at the edge of the terminal, where the limousines to transport the delegation into Czarna are waiting. Then his alert eyes flick back to Diaz, who is now descending the stairway of the huge aircraft.

Cordial as ever, Alhoun meets him as he steps off the stairway, appraising him with the same glance.

"Greetings. Mr. Diaz? My name is Kari Alhoun. I am the Czardaian Foreign Minister. Pleased to meet you."

The Division Commander of the We Buy It. troops was not a man like many probably expected, but rather a woman, by the name of Rebecca Bock, or Major General Rebecca Bock to her troops, she was a rather beautiful at that, easily defind by the curves of her body armor and two large breast, but that's beside the point.

She spotted the Czardaian Spec-Ops descending the stairs. She quickly motion to several of her company commanders, they hurridly ran over to her. "Ok we got what looks like some Four Eyes coming over here, although we're supposed to be friendly, I don't like it when these Spec Op types get all snotty and shit, got me?" She said to them, they quickly nodded and turned to face the Czardaian Four eyes.

They looked at each other for a few moments before General Bock spit on the ground right in from of the Czardaian Spec Ops commander. "And you might be?" She asked as she stuck out her hip and struck a slightly alluring pose, much like a model.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the 747 the meeting was going much better, "Pleased to meet you." Said Mr. Diaz as he shook Alhoun's hand. "These are the delegates for the embassy." He motioned to the group behind him.

"I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friend ship." He said as he scanned the group of delegates behind Alhoun.

DeMarce is generally a good-natured man, equipped like most Czardaians with a highly sardonic sense of humor. However, unlike many soldiers he has an erudite contempt for certain activities, and spitting tends to be one of them. He says in a very grave voice to Maj. Gen. Bock,

"Taking your method of introducing yourself as accurate, my name is Captain Louis DeMarce of the Czardaian Special Operatives. Kindly do not assume that I take orders from Colonels or Generals or anything of the sort." He proffers a hand in greeting with a slight, unnoticeable gesture of contempt.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun glances over the group of delegates behind Diaz. "We all hope so." The other members of his delegation come forward and begin introducing themselves to Diaz and his own delegation. Alhoun watches the meeting with one eye, glancing occasionally towards where the SpecOps and Skyian troops are meeting.

After the formal introductions have been completed, Alhoun gestures towards the limos. "Shall we make our way towards Czarna? I have a feeling that with the threat of war in the air, there will not be quite as many anti-government protests today, so we'll be fine in that regard."

"Ah so you're a Captain," Maj. Gen. Bock says with a very slight air of relief, she had though she would have meet with some general or something, generals tend to have a sense of arrogance, especially when it comes to high ranking female officers. "I don't assume anything for you information. I'm Major General Bock."

She gripped the Captains hand and gave it a firm shake, as she did this she motioned with her eyes to the company commanders. They got the message and relaxed and introduced them selves to the other Czaraian Spec Operatives.

She again looked at Captain DeMarce, "Now that introductions are over, hat do you want with us?" She asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diaz nods his head, "That would be a good idea.", he quickly took a look towards Maj. Gen. Bock and shook his head 'I hope she didn't piss them off, she may be the best we have, but she sure as hell is arrogant most of the time.' he thought as he walked towards the limos

He turned and tapped Alhoun on the shoulder, "I sure hope they get along." he said as he motion to the little 'meeting' going on.

DeMarce glances at her with deep irony. "We've been sent to direct you to quarters where you can stay until further orders reach you. We're not sure exactly what We Buy It Inc.'s order to you were, but I don't believe they would have asked you specifically to stay at the airport."

He glances towards the other gathering, moving towards the limousines, "Ardaja Military Base is several miles away and if you so choose, you can stay there. You could conceivably find accomodations within the town itself, but I'm not all too sure there are very many establishments that would contain a parking garage large enough to hold such...vehicles." He looks over the assortment of military-grade vehicles behind Bock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun laughs slightly. "Ah, don't worry. It's very difficult to annoy our Captain, Louis DeMarce. He tends to get along with most people."

They approach the parked limos. Another sixteen SpecOps on motorcycles are waiting to act as a guard. They are armed, but throw friendly greetings towards the delegations approaching and move aside to allow the delegations entry to the cars. Cordially they help the various members into the limousines. The journey ahead is fairly long, and they want to make sure their guests are comfortable.

"Ah, well our orders are to consolidate and construct defenses around all oil production facilities and pipelines and ore mines in the area, but we were told to stay put for a bit, so I'll take you up on that offer, I hope you have rooms for 2,500 extra troops and a few hundred vehicles."

A LV-08 armed with twin 15.5mm HMGs pulled up behind her along with 3 others and 2 ST-37K1A1s. She board the turret of the LV-08, "Show the way Captain." She motioned to her company commanders to leave before turning back to DeMarce, "Oh, do you want a ride? I can show you some true military vehicles." she said with a wink of her eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diaz laughed "It's not your troops I'm worried about, it's Maj. Gen. Bock, she can be a bit...hostile at times."

As he boarded the limo as several LV-08s pulled up near the limos showing off their large machine guns and ATGM launchers. Diaz turned to Alhoun, "I hope you don't mind them," He motioned to the vehicles, "It's standard procedure, nothing I can do about it." He said with a slightly apologetic torn.

DeMarce looks at the military vehicles as they pull up, several hundred of them in all, many already filled with soldiers. "Two thousand five hundred troops? Ardaja currently has 165,000 stationed there. You'll fit right in, if they even notice you."

General Bock mounts her vehicle and turns to DeMarce, saying, "Oh, do you want a ride? I can show you some true military vehicles."

DeMarce chooses not to notice the wink. "Thank you. If you have room for a few extras, we will join you. Of course, the rest of the Special Operatives have their motorcycles, if you don't have enough of your...vehicles...to hold us."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun looks over the vehicles. "Standard? All right, I don't think it'll be a problem, anyway. The Czardaians know we're allied by this point."

The SpecOps wave greetings to their new comrades in the vehicles, introducing themselves as Alhoun climbs into the limo himself. They will be in Czarna within three hours. Gradually the motorcade begins to pull out of the airport and head towards Czarna.

"That's good, the less noticed we are the better." She said as she looks over the group of 'vehicles' and counts the empty seats. "Yeah, we should have enough, four to a vehicle for your guys, 4 vehicles, load up. Though your guys will have to show the way.

"Oh, and we have another 5,000 ready to arrive by planes within 3 days and the last 12,500 within two weeks. Just an FYI."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah, we know too, it's just that since I'm a COO I get 'protection'," Diaz says as he rolls his eyes, "Some times it's nice, but most of the time it's damned annoying."

Most of the guards wave back to the Spec Opes, before starting after the limos staying just slight behind and to the sides. Some admired the scenery while most just talked about the last soccer game ove their headsets.

DeMarce climbs in, although not before giving some last orders to his troops. "Climb aboard those empty vehicles there. You know the rules—don't tick off the Skyians too much, they're here to help us you know..."

The ops grin and clamber aboard their vehicles.

DeMarce's acerbic streak of humor has not quite dried up yet and as he climbs into the vehicle, he says to Maj. Gen. Bock, "I'm sure you've been briefed on Czardas and everything to do with it. However, some insider warnings—there are several people you should never cross. I think all of them have been stationed on stealth missions in The Warmaster right now, however. So you'll be fine."

He looks at his personal GPS, shuts it off, and says, "Right, first of all we should leave this place...aka, follow that motorcade." He motions to the departing limos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun says, "I know what you mean. At every single diplomatic function I go to they insist on bringing along at least a dozen well-armed troops and enough equipment to fight a small war. It can get very tiresome."

He glances out of the window at the passing countryside. The road from the airport heads above Ardaja, a large city of nearly a million inhabitants with strong economic bases, including one of the main oil production centers in Czardas. The road is currently ascending that ridge, a service road a bit above the main highway, wide enough to accomodate the whole motorcade plus their "protection". Alhoun looks down at the sun-dappled roofs, many red in the traditional Czardaian fashion, but with many huge skyscrapers jutting out from the mass of houses and apartment buildings. The bustling city is also the main base of Czardas's more conservative faction, but today there are no demonstrations, in part because of the war and in part because of the hour. It is 8:30, at which time most demonstrators, having protested and rallied most of the night, are sound asleep.

Alhoun watches as the cityscape rolls by. He has seen Ardaja from above before. It seems to have grown since the last time he traversed this route last year. He thinks about Czardas—the millions of lives controlled by fate, the decisions of other countries. He wonders what will happen to those millions in the end, and instinctively looks ahead at the lead SpecOp motorcycle.

"Pfft, I don't go around pissing allies off, at least not on purpose." She says as she smiles a disarming smile.

The vehicles turned and followed after the motorcade, though not too close.

Some of the troops began idle chat with the Czardaian Spec Ops.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diaz looked at the town, he scouted over the skyscrapers and looked to pick out a location for the oil companies HQ in Czardas. Several buildings looked fine, but he'd have to make a return visit later to be sure.

"So, do you have a family?" Diaz asks Alhoun hoping to start some idle chat.

DeMarce smiles back for the first time so far. “I think we’re going to enjoy working with you, General.”

He turns his attention to the road. “Now, those limos are turning on the highway service road that goes above Ardaja, but we’re heading straight in this direction. If you haven’t already researched this, our base is divided into two parts, with the military and airforce installments on a ridge above the naval area on Lake Ardaja, the outflow of which is the Tamalik Canal, which leads to the sea.”

As the motorcade turns up the service road, the military vehicles continue straight, set on a course for the base itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun raises himself from his thoughts. “A family? No. I was an only child, and I have never quite had the reason or the time to marry and raise one of my own. It’s a very difficult job, actually, being a government member of a state without one.”

He looks at Diaz. “And you? Do you have a family?”

"I think we will too Captain." Says Maj. Gen. Bock as the vehicles head towards the base, she watches the motorcade until they go out of sight and then looks back at her troops, most of them seem bored and jet lagged, some are making idle talk with the Czardaian Spec Ops, though most are bored.

"So Captain, what made you join the military?" She ask DeMarce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, I see." He says as Alhoun finishes, Diaz goes into thought for a minute, he then comes back out, "Well, I was the youngest of a family of three, I joined the military for a brief time, we and one of my brothers, Felipe, were out on patrol one night during a small riot on one of the southern islands, a haven for facist, a IED went off near out Bradley IFV, the armor saved me but Felipe was killed in the blast, I was injured in the leg and then honorably discharged when I was 25 because I couldn't carry the weight I needed to. I joined We Buy It Inc. a short while later, and rose through the ranks quickly."

"My other brother, Omar Diaz faired better and is now commander of the 1st Marine Heavy Division, the elite of the elite, but I haven't seen him in 5 years. And as you I haven't seen the need to raise a family."

"Me?" DeMarce shrugs. "What makes anyone join the military? A belief in human rights, in equality and freedom. In the glory of living and dying for one's country. I was young and idealistic then. I was trained as a shocktroop, and after several successful missions was promoted to a Special Operative. Then war came, as you undoubtedly know. Scellia attacked us, and I came to see that real war was nothing like the glory of battle I had imagined."

He shrugs. "By then it was too late, of course. I couldn't quit, not when Czardas depended on me. I eventually got used to killing enemy soldiers. I stopped thinking about it after a while, and it became easier. For valor I was promoted to Captain, and here we are."

He glances at Bock now. "I'm guessing you've spent some time in the army yourself. Why did you decide to join We Buy It Inc.'s forces instead?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun thinks for a minute, reflectively. "The military…funny you mention it. I was a member myself once. I led an infantry division during the Imperial Galactican war, the one battle we won—Aurdania. I was injured and my division was completely massacred. We still joke about it sometimes in the Foreign Office. After that I was pretty much unable to serve any longer and went into diplomacy instead, joining the foreign office department and serving a term or two as ambassador to Ouranberg. I was elected to the post of Foreign Minister six years ago, and believe me, it's felt like longer, a lot longer."

Alhoun smiles at the memory of the hundreds of diplomatic functions and condemnations he has attended and made, the nights he worked for hours, the messages drafted and replied to.

"Me, military? Well, yes, but only for a short while, during a practice operation I was supposed to command a small platoon and capture an "enemy" ship using some RIBs, I found them to be too noisy, and had an arguement with my CO, I went ahead and didn't use them anyway, we managed to capture the ship for a bit, but I was still discharged for disobeying orders. But when high command found out they wanted to apologize and re-instate me, but I already had accepted a offer from We Buy It Inc., it included a large sum of money and salary, along with command of an entire regiment, so I said yes right away."

She took a breath and gathered some more thoughts, "I haven't exactly expirenced large scale combat, but I have been on a few classified missions with some very minor firefights before."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, I see." Says Diaz, "The life of a COO is also very tire some, but I bet you get to deal with a greater variety of people." finishes Diaz before he becomes lost in thought.

He smiles to himself slightly. "You haven't? Well, you're not missing much, I can tell you. It's not pretty." He shakes his head, lost in thought at the memory of thousands upon thousands of missiles streaking towards him over a charge of thousands of soldiers and tanks, blazing across a hill towards his position. Something in him changes as he continues, "Two hundred thousand soldiers. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. It really is."

He had seen them cut down by fire from around him that day on the hilltop. 200,000 dead. More, perhaps. Nobody really knew how many people died during Scellia's first assault on Czardas's southern borders. What is known is recorded in the history books, and that in itself can fit in a few paragraphs.

The conversation trails off into silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, I've dealt with people it's hard to believe," says Alhoun. "One 'diplomatic' meeting ended with the other delegate condemning me and my nation of 'godless heathen homosexual perverts' to burn and rot in Hell. Then there was the time I had to meet with someone from a foreign country and neither of us spoke any languages in common; the translator was inept and, I've always suspected, drunk. Let's just say that the results were deplorable and we never succeeded in making any diplomatic contact with them.

"But I must be boring you by talking abot this kind of thing constantly... What kind of experiences have you had as a COO? I don't actually get to meet too many of them...Like all stressful jobs, it must have many interesting experiences."

Maj. Gen. Bock remains silent after DeMarce stops talking, after several very long seconds a high pitched beep is heard, Bock blushes and reaches for her pager, "Sorry about this." She quickly reads the message.

*Flash message, To: Maj. Gen. Bock*
Charlie and Bravo Regiments ready to be deployed\\Stop//
Should arrive in 24 to 36 hours.\\Stop//

Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, and Hotel Regiments being readied\\Stop//
Should arrive in 3-5 days. \\Stop//

2nd division off shore, 50 miles from Mariosz\\Stop//
2nd Fleet patrolling Czardaian oil rigs\\Stop//
Transport waiting for permission to disembark\\Stop//

She put her pager away, and turns to DeMarce, "I'm gonna need transport back to the airport within 24 hours, or I need permission for another 2 of our regiments to land at the base we're headed, can you arrange that?" She asks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That's almost as funny as the alleged time where the (former)Roach-Busters leader almost commited nuclear holocaust cause he was drunk." Diaz laughs as he remembers several conversations from the past."

"It's not boring, it's rather funny, and let me tell you being a COO is the most boring or hard, depends on the day, I've ever seen, every day it's "Do this, do that, make sure every thing goes ok, blah, blah", the most exciting thing to happen in the last year was when several works decided to paint a frigate the color of their favorite footbal team, or the time where a destroyer accidentally rammed a aluminum hulled ship full of people protesting our off shore oil drilling, although they all made it off their ship was pretty much a slowing sinking pile of aluminum foil, the destroyer only need a replacement of it's upper bow and forward gun."

"That's all right," says DeMarce. He watches her as she reads the message on her pager.

"You want the regiments to land at Ardaja Military Base? Right. I can arrange for that, it's simpler anyway than transporting them back." DeMarce glances out of the window to guess the distance; the convoy is starting to enter heavily wooded, beautiful natural areas, with huge mountains looming in the distance, the trees concealing training missions and firing ranges. Even from here the "pop"s of practice fire can be heard. The base is near.

"Just give me a sec." DeMarce flips open his GPS-enabled communication device, dialing a one-touch number and stating, "This is 00861 requesting permission for Skyian divisions to land in Ardaja."

He is silent for a moment; it becomes evident someone is talking on the other end. The acerbic and good-humored manner has vanished from his voice completely.

"Two divisions."

A longer silence.

"Am en route to Ardaja now, within 5 km, accompanying convoy alpha-alpha-delta."

After a time he flips the device closed and turns to Bock. "All right, you've got permission to land your remaining forces in Ardaja. You ought to be able to get the GPS co-ordinates when we arrive, which will be in a few minutes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun smiles. "That's funny. Although, being Foreign Minister is one of the most difficult jobs there is around. I learned long ago that diplomacy is the fine art of getting somebody to accept something they don't want and convincing them they want it. It's a lot harder than it sounds, especially considering the number of extremists around today."

"Ah thanks alot, that should make it much easier." Bock smiles.

"Say, what kind of tanks and vehicles does your army use? A picture would be welcome, since we will probably be fighting in close proximity it would probably be best if we knew what kind of vehicles you use to minimize any misidentification of forces." Says Bock as the sound of training fire reaches her ears, 'Ah, the sweet sound of rifles and the smell of gunpowder, just like home.' she thinks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah, it's kinda like fighting a war with words, except without the threat of WMDs, or at least most of the time. Yeah extremist are a problem, as I've said a few of the southern islands are a haven for facist, while the extremist communist party has control of a few counties in the north west, of course we've managed to appease them for now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Off shore of Mariosz]

Nearly 100 transports were off shore waiting to unload troops, under the command of a single cruiser and several destroyers and frigates servering as escort.

*Flash message from the SSRS 'Haxfield' to Mariosz port authority*

Requesting permission to unload cargo//STOP\\
Cargo contains military grade weaponry, we request a secure dock//STOP\\

[200km from Czardaian shore, headed towards Mariosz]

Over 200 Silver Sky Republican Naval ships carrying 100,000 troops escorted by cruisers, destroyers and frigates, they headed towards the coast, intent on deploying their forces for the defence of Czardas, a message was sent out to Czardaian Port Authority

*Requesting several dozen docks and permission to load military personal and weapons*

"What type of tanks? We use only a few types, most of them standard. After we made peace with Scellia we bought some of their tanks from them, it made up their primary ground force...those were Bolos, plus more standard Scorpion and Emperors...those are our own designs, like our planes. I don't have any pictures offhand, but you'll see them when we reach Ardaja. We have nearly a thousand tanks there anyway.

"As for other vehicles...our military-grade armored jeeps are fairly similar to these, along with some trucks and mobile missile launchers.... we really don't have a very strong ground force base around here, but it does the job when we need it to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun continues, "Although Czardas is kind of a nation of extremists itself, extreme anarchists, that is. They don't tolerate too many other kinds of extremists, such as fascists and ultra-communists. Although, that generally isn't a problem unless they all start working together suddenly, which itself is rare."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Secured Transmission from Mariosz CNB to The Silver Sky Transports

You may dock in the southern harbor at Mariosz to unload your weaponry and troops; this provides an entrance to Mariosz CNB harbor which you will be allowed entry to to dock your ships inside (under the city) to keep them secure if you wish.

~Czardaian High Command

Secured Transmission from Mariosz CNB to The Silver Sky Naval Republican Fleet

You may dock in the southern harbor at Mariosz to unload your weaponry and troops; this provides an entrance to Mariosz CNB harbor which you will be allowed entry to to dock your ships inside (under the city) to keep them secure if you wish. There are more than 30 free docks in this area, it being used primarily for military purposes. We think your ships will have quite enough room here.

~Czardaian High Command

"Bolo's!? Those weapons of mass missile bait? I feel sorry for those crews." sigh Bock. "So, you don't really have a strong army, I guess thats where we come in." Smiles Bock.

"So tell me about your self." She says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, well, generally we don't really mind extremist anarchist, they aren't organized enough to do anything. And yeah, facist and communist working together is indeed rare although they managed to do it in that incident I told you, coordinated communist and facist uprisings, although it failed and they ended up hating each othe more then ever."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*We thank you for your speedy response, we say begin docking within the next few hours.*

DeMarce smiles as he replies, "We've got them, but only officially. They're mostly scrap metal. Far too large to do the job correctly. We haven't used them since the last major war, and with only about 100 of them anyway they don't do much damage; it's a running joke about launching Daggers from the roofs. An Emperor can do the job just as well and it's half the size."

He continues, "About me? There really isn't much to say. I'm a native Ardajan myself, was brought up in this part of the world, the southern mountains. I always had dreams of fighting for freedom and justice as I told you earlier. Let's see: I came from a middle-class family, mostly PCP members, staunch taxpayers and volunteers during the Imperial Galactican war. Finished school, majored in history in college, joined the Army, very little out of the ordinary in fact. I suppose you'd imagine the life of a Special Operative to be full of drama and imagination, but that must come from reading all those stories about the 14th Division, locally titled 'those crazy people'. Mine is almost depressingly ordinary." He almost laughs here. "But we're coming to Ardaja now, turn left here."

The convoy turns onto a dirt road leading down through the trees. After several moments, the road begins winding downwards at a series of switchbacks. DeMarce glances down through the window at Ardaja Military Base as it rounds one corner of the ridge. The sight never fails to amaze him, even after years in the military.

The main base consists of a number of low-slung buildings, with a few taller control centers sticking out like spires from among the buildings and housing complexes. These are built into the cliffs themselves atop which the rest of the buildings, as well as hangars and airfields, are situated. Below the cliffs is a semicircle of bluish-green, part of Lake Ardaja. Docked on this lake are about 40 transports and hospital ships, along with a few frigates and destroyers. The base is a hive of activity, with everyone preparing the quarters for the incoming troops. The main part of the base, with the administrative complex and living quarters, is still about 70 feet below the convoy, which is winding down the roads that lead into the valley where the base is situated.

The whole installment is larger than it looks from above, which would make it very large indeed. It is situated itself among a naturalistic setting of trees and rocks, a huge untouched forest, except for the firing ranges and training areas in the mountains that go up for thousands of feet behind it.

From the base distant cheering can be heard as the convoy begins to wind its way down the ridge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That would be kind of amusing in Czardas. The common international opinion is that Czardaians have never heard of authoritarianism, which is probably true, in my opinion. There is really no such thing as fascism, and Communists are not as prevalent as they were in Czardas. Besides, with rebellion being not only legal but encouraged, to change the government, there are minor rebellions every day which result in the installments of new regimes in some provinces. Unless these grow violent, we rarely have problems, as the regimes anyway are generally replaced within 2-3 days. This means that Czardas is in constant political turmoil, except in wartime..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All right, you may begin docking whenever you arrive.

~Czardaian High Command

Maj. Gen. Bock laughes.

She looks over the base, it's beautiful compared to what she's been around, she's been used to the towering skyscrapers of the city, not the quaint forest or calm lake. She looked over the sprawing base, say personal moving about busy, it made her smile. 'Nothing better then highly trained troops acting happy.' The sound of cheering slowly reaches her ears.

"Are they cheering for us?" Ask Bock as she turns to DeMarce with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, must be kinda hard to run a country with new leaders every 2-3 days." remarks Diaz.

"I think they are, actually," says DeMarce. "Czardas hasn't had too many allies since the last war, and even then there weren't too many, nor were they really strong enough to do much to the enemy forces."

He goes over what he knows of the enemy armies, and adds quietly, "Poor naïve idealists."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"It isn't really," says Alhoun. "No group has ever been large enough or organized enough to topple the leadership itself, which is the Governing Council. Besides, as the people can all voice their opinions anyway and break away to form their own states if they can submit an appropriate constitution and have at least 50 other people who wish to join them, such rebellions are very rare and invariably used only as a sign of political expression."

"Ah, yeah, I'd personally have a few strong allies then just a lot of small ones that just bitch and moan in diplomacy."

She hears DeMarce say "Poor naïve idealists."

"What do you mean by that?" she ask him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, yes, I see, you have a very lax political systems if I do say so myself."

DeMarce gestures towards the base. "These people. Idealists. They cheer when they see armed forces approaching them for war. They think war is all glory and honor. Well, I can tell them it's not. They think the allied army charges down the hill and saves the day... in the Imperial Galactican war we charged down the hill, got lost in the forest. It turned into a battle of individual soldiers, man against man. And the forest was ablaze, too." He laughs bitterly at his memory.

"You probably wouldn't know. You haven't seen too much large-scale combat. Personally, I'd be very surprised if any of us survived this war."

He relapses into silence as the convoy winds its way onto the flat top of the precipice which is part of Ardaja.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lax? Participation is mandatory," says Alhoun. "We enforce that, actually. Everyone who doesn't participate in the political system has to send us either an excuse or a fine. They can do anything else, but they pretty much have to participate."

Maj. Gen. Bock's face goes from relaxed to serious, "Well of course. Do you seriously think they would have actually joined the armed forces if they knew what they were in for?"

"I may not have seen large scale combat, but I have seen vicious hand to hand combat, you've probably never heard of this, the government and We Buy It. tries to keep it secret, but during my first deployment as part of We Buy It.'s security forces we had to keep watch over a manufacturing plant pumping out SAH-27As from Soviet Bloc, this plant was located in a highly communist area, needless to say they didn't like us."

Bock pauses and collects her thoughts on that night.

"They wanted us out, badly, they decided to gather some military assualt rifles, AK-74's, and others, along with bayonets and swords, they stormed the command room late and night, we and my company were the only ones on station, we, 310 strong had to fight against 900 die-hard communist, it was vicious hand to hand fighting for several hours, before an armored company showed up and the attackers fled, 700 communist dead or wounded, only 50 of us were able to stand and fight, that's right, 260 troops dead or seriously wounded, after the night was over it totaled 250 dead and 10 wounded, it was because we didn't have the medical facilties to treat all of the wounded because the communist chose to blow up the plant hospital with a few packs of C4, if they hadn't the numbers would have been much lowered."

Bock lifts her armor and her undershirt to expose a few lower ribs, with her outer hand she points to a long, but very faint scar running from the front of her lower chest to her side.

"That is from a sword one of the commies tried to dice me with, luckily my armor prevented it from going any farther, I also have a small bullet wound on my uppper right arm from where a 7.62mm round got past my armor and into my flesh."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I meant lax as in.....well....yeah, that probably wasn't the best way to put it." Diaz smiles sheepishly and laughes nervously.

DeMarce is at last, to some degree, satisfied. So she has actually done something of note to become a Major-General. Generally one wonders about such things, he thinks.

"So you had three hundred against nine hundred?" DeMarce recalls memories of one of innumerable Special Operative missions. "Count yourself lucky you were not only three. I once was on a mission like that. Me and two other Special Operatives from different divisions—Lt. Dorakov from the 14th Division, and a Sgt. Red Wolf, at least that was what he always called himself, we never found out what his real name was. We were selected for an exclusive infiltration into an area of suspected genocide somewhere to the south of here."

DeMarce thinks for a moment. "It was just the three of us and from infiltration, it quickly turned into an all-out battle. We eventually split, each taking different passageways, pursued by heavily-armed guards who were protecting the secret, several hundred of them per man. At any rate, we were eventually holding a narrow doorway against this army. They could only fit 5-6 at a time down this corridor, all armed with heavy submachine guns and armor. We cut them down in rows, so many rows it seemed as though it would never end and our arms got tired. The hallway was coated in blood. Then they began attacking us from the other side. We had to make a triangle—Dorakov on one side, he was always the best sharpshooter, with us two on the other. Eventually they managed to hit and explode my cartridge box. Of course, then a Czardaian Air Patrol chose to show up, and they basically evacuated the building. We had to be airlifted out of the place."

DeMarce smiles. "I think they lost about 400-500 men that night. Not pretty. If their training had been better, we probably would have been goners. Highest kill ratio of any of my missions though. You get used to cutting them down after a while. It becomes a mechanical action. You cease to think of them as living, breathing humans like yourself."

He examines his right hand. "They had to replace most of my hand after that battle. Red Wolf lost one of his eyes. Dorakov emerged unscathed, only to be killed a few months later on another infiltration mission."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alhoun chuckles along with him. "That's all right. I can mostly guess what you mean. We do have a somewhat 'lax' one in your terms, but that's only because if we didn't, the people would probably try to overthrow us, considering it a violation of their rights. Strictness is not considered a virtue in Czardas, where maybe half the capable population works and even fewer pay their taxes..."

"Ah I see, and yes, it does become a mechanical action after a while, just pulling the trigger finger and swinging your bayonet, any way, you know those couple of soldiers I had with me when you came down and we meet, well 3 of those were from that night, yes out of 50 soldiers left I lost another 46 from other missions after that night, those 'lucky' 2 received numerous bullet wounds in other various secret actions, while the other, basically had his entire arm replaced after a mission, which is still classified, where he "was injured by a grenade, or so the official records say, but those were not grenade wounds, something cleaved his lower arm off cleanly, no way in hell a grenade can do that. I'm surprised he even lived, apparentally what ever cleaved his armor off was also very hot and pretty much melded his blood vessels close preventing him from bleeding to death."

"Oh, and don't think that's all I've done, I would tell you more, but somethings are very secret," She lifts her hair and points to a small blinking light on the back of her neck, "You see this, this is a "Sign of Commmitment" or so they call it, it was implanted in me when I was sent on my first secret mission, if I was to be captured my CO's could send a electical impulse through my neck and to my brain, effectively killing me, they decided to keep it there as insurance that I wouldn't talk about anymore of my exploits, if I do and they find out, I'm as good and dead."

She lowers her hair, "Along with that, they can erase my existance entirely, infact, they probably already have, or at least most of it, I don't really exist out of my unit and the circle of We Buy It.'s forces."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, I see, well The Silver Sky has high taxes and pretty much non-existant welfare, so you have to work, although We Buy It. and it's subsidarys keep wages pretty high, so most people work for a fair amount of money."

DeMarce raises his eyebrows slightly. "I see. Yes, Czardaian Special Operatives are trusted to use their own willpower to avoid telling the truth to their captors. If any." He laughs harshly. "Of course, we're also trusted not to be captured. And it doesn't happen that often. The last time a CSO was captured was about twelve years ago, and I'm pretty sure that his captors got nothing out of him. We never heard of him again, at any rate.

"Although, if you fell into our hands, this so-called 'Sign of Commitment' wouldn't do you much good. You see, we have these." DeMarce pulls what resembles a cell phone from his side, at least from the outside. However, instead of buttons or a screen, it contains a long metal slide atop of which is a dial, with numbers on the right-hand side: a military-grade wireless deactivator.

"We can turn off any electric devices on a set wavelength." He slides it down to the wavelength with a marking beside it for "electric and electronic body implants" among other things. The device is activated by pressing down on the dial, and his thumb hovers over it, a slight smile dancing in his eyes.

"I won't do it, of course. Just so you remember." He slides it back into his belt. "It's proved very valuable. We can turn off security cameras, computers, elevators… If we want someone to become a Czardaian operative in a country where all citizens are implanted in this way to monitor their activites, simply slide it to that wavelength and deactivate."

DeMarce continues, "As for our lives…well, we don't exactly exist either outside of the records. Special Operatives are expected to keep their identities secret. Those with families are not called upon to do duty as often, and when they do go it is masked as 'business trips'. Many of us lead double lives. Some exist only for the division." He breaks off abruptly. "But I think we're coming into the base now. It looks like they're sending out a party to meet us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That might be part of the problem… Czardas spends a good amount of money on social welfare. Maybe that's why so many people don't work." Alhoun laughs. The momentary discomfort has passed.

Bock smiles, "Alright, let's see how happy they are to meet us."

~~~~~~~~

"Ah, yes I see, the capitalist in out name represents the fact that we beleive that if you want to get ahead in the world, you should have to work, so far it's doing good and the nation is better then ever."

Ardaja Military Base

Special Operative Shrike, Captain of the 19th Special Operative Division, is one of the more unusual members of that section of the Czardaian Army. Shrike—who goes by no other name—is a woman of about average height and nondescript appearance, which is excellent for her purposes. Shrike has been trained for one thing only: espionage. Working jointly in the Special Operatives and the National Intelligence Department, Shrike has gone on so many spying missions abroad as well as locally that she is something of a legend among SpecOps, up there with people such as Alma Finlay, Andreas Dorakov, Red Wolf, and Enigma.

Instead of being summoned for a spying mission, Shrike remained in Czardas at the outbreak of war, partly due to her injured leg. Now she is serving as a temporary advisor to the leaders of the base. Labeled by her division as cruel, heartless, sadistic, and icy, she revels in such descriptions: after all, war is all of those things and more, and it is also what commands them all.

The call comes in from Central Command. Shrike picks up her cellphone and flips it open, answering. "Hello. General?"

"We've got allied troops coming in escorted by the 12th SpecOp Div, go and head the official delegation to meet them."

"Right." The 12th Division…Shrike had some "friends" there. She wonders why they had been selected, then with a gesture of distaste, she radios the rest of her division and makes her way out of the building towards the convoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the military vehicles come in, Czardaian soldiers and recruits walk out into the grassy area where they are supposed to park, glancing at the division of We Buy It Inc.'s soldiers. The vehicles draw to a stop, all of them parking in the huge area, above a precipice leading down towards Lake Ardaja. The huge, low-slung buildings all around make for an imposing sight as Louis DeMarce climbs out of his vehicle, looking around the group of soldiers in front of him.

At last he spies a familiar face, coming through the crowd towards him, thronged by two dozen Czardaian Special Operatives. Shrike has specifically put on the face she had when DeMarce first met her. Trained as a spy as she is, she can alter her appearance completely within seconds. DeMarce steps forward and shakes her hand, saying, "I've brought you some allied troops there," gesturing towards the vehicles.

"You don't say?" Shrike says. As the Skyian troops approach within hearing range, she adds, "These pieces of scrap metal and half-trained people that call themselves soldiers are our allies? Oh dear."

Maj. Gen. Bock hears what Shrike says clearly, she walks towards her and stares her in the eye, "We are hardly your allies, we own most of your nation, as of a few days ago we produce your weapons, we produce and ship your oil, any metals coming in or out of Czardas are owned by us."

She pauses for a moment over looking the base and the troops that have gathered around, "I take it these rag tag assortment of civilians with guns and poorly built vehicles are yours, you should really fund your military better." Finishes Bock with a evil smirk.

Shrike smiles. Antagonizing others is one of her favorite pastimes. "So you produce all of our weapons now, I see? Well, no wonder. Look at your so-called 'soldiers' and their equipment. I shudder to think the state the Czardaian military would be in if we were anything like you.

"As for the military funding, perhaps you should take a look at your own military budget. They give you twelve trillion dollars and this is all you can do with it? We spend a quarter of that and we've done better in wars than most."

"So, you don't want your troops to be the best of the best? Is that what you're saying?" Bock ask, her smirk never leaving her face.

"Military budget? For the last time we are neither commanded by, or funded by The Silver Sky, we are not soldiers, we are Mercenaries, we're not here as your allies, we are simply here to secure our companies new holdings, your allies, The Silver Sky Military, are currently in Mariosz unloading their weapons and troops, if you want to antagonize them, be my guest."

Shrike continues to smile. "Unfortunately, you have yet to prove to us anything. Remember that you are talking to soldiers who have fought in many more wars, and gone on thousands more missions than you have ever even dreamed of. The Czardaian Special Operatives are legendary.

"As for your status, if you are affiliated in any way with The Silver Sky you are considered our allies, unfortunately. That means we're supposed to provide quarters for you and your vehicles. But as long as I'm a senior advisor and commander of this base, you'd do well not to degrade and antagonize us. No matter how much We Buy It Inc. is paying us, if you anger us we will not hesitate to show you the...consequences." Shrike's low, alto voice never changes its tone, but her eyes become bright, hard, and cold as she says the final sentence.

Snapping out of the cold manner, she adds, "Oh, and my name's Shrike. I take it you're the commander of We Buy It's forces? 'Pleased' to meet you."

"Ok, so we're allies, and for the record I do not go around atagonizing allies for fun, we should get along fairly well, though I'd be curious as to what those consequences." Maj. Gen. Bock smiles.

"As for our stay we'll probably only be here for a week at most, once the rest of my troops are here we'll leave and set up positions around We Buy It assests, I'm Major General Rebecca Bock, commander of the 2nd Heavy Armored Division, 'pleased' too meet you also."

Bock looks over what looks like the living quarters and says, "How about you tell use where are quarters will be and where to keep our vehicles? After 12 hours of flight time a shower would do wonders."

"The 'consequences'?" Shrike smiles slightly. "The punishments we reserve for spies and traitors to the Czardaian cause? I doubt that you'd be very interested in seeing those."

She continues, "Your quarters are to be located in the 4th Barracks, which is that smaller white building past the Command Centre. As for those vehicles, just go across that road through the middle of the base and leave them with our Scorpions and H-49Ex2s. You can't miss them."

([ooc:] A Scorpion is a light, heavily armed tank, completely black. The H-49Ex2s are armored transport cars with mounted revolving guns.)

"I'll lead you and your troops to the quarters when you're finished. And as for the showers...well, after a while you get used to going without them for long periods of time, when you go on long missions. There are times when you simply can't take them, hard times I agree, but you get used to them."

"Ah, ok, thanks." She turns and motions to her troops who turn the vehicles towards their parking spaces.

"And yes, when on a mission showers are very hard to come by, which is why I intend to take a long one, with the several nations knocking that your door showers might be hard to come by in the next few weeks." Says Bock as she smiles.

Shrike and the Special Operatives wait at the edge of the lot near one of the security posts for Bock and the soldiers to return. When they are back, Shrike begins to guide them along a walkway leading towards the very edge of the cliffs where the residential building is, while explaining a bit about the history of the base.

"Ardaja was our first military installment built after the War of 1933, which you may have heard of—our first major war in which we were defeated by invading enemy forces and subject to long periods of isolation. In the last battles of that war we were driven back up this river, building and manning defenses along the banks to guard against their navy. When Czarna fell several months later, this temporary camp was fortified and served as the home of the provisional Czardaian government until we managed to get the treaty signed allowing us our territory back. At any rate, during our rebuilding most of the Czardaian army was stationed here, eventually sent out to various missions to build bases and near-impenetrable defenses to prevent a horrible invasion like that one from ever happening again..."

As Shrike goes on in this fashion, the walkway comes to the very edge of the precipice; over the railing is the 160-foot precipice going down to the lake, a semicircle of clear blue narrowing into a river that winds away down towards the plains. In the lake are a number of ships, primarily transports and supply ships with a few combatant ones. Every now and then a stairway comes up from the right, leading down to a door into the subterranean barracks housing most of the Czardaian troops stationed in Ardaja; defenses, stairways, fire escapes, and windows line the cliff face. The base is several times larger than it appears from first sight. Beyond the stairways are buildings—administrative buildings, hospitals, supply rooms, hangars—and then airfields, and then mountains jutting up thousands of feet until their tops are lost in the clouds.

OOC: Sorry, jolt has been doing weirdo stuff, some times when I log on it says all threads with new post have been veiwed, it makes it hard to keep track of shit.

Respone will come.

OOC: Sorry, jolt has been doing weirdo stuff, some times when I log on it says all threads with new post have been veiwed, it makes it hard to keep track of shit.

Respone will come.
[ooc:] That's ok, I've had similar problems. Once I was away overnight while 5 subscribed threads were updated, but it told me I had no new subscribed threads. Since then I've always checked on the "Subscriptions" link afterwards.

"Hmm, sounds like Ista Fortress, it was a major holdout during the Continetal Wars, it's a collection of mountains jutting out of a land filled with rivers, it was never taken, and thus the enemy could never take the southern panhandle of the continet, eventually a counter attack drove the invades away."

Bock walked towards the the edge and looked down, upon seeing the defense she is impressed, and looking up into the clouds, "Very tall, reminds of CINDER." she says.