The Kingdom of Xharn Starts Nuclear Program (MT Open) [Archive]

Xharn

03-12-2005, 02:38

City Location: Xharnia (Capital of the Kingdom of Xharn)
Time: 12:00A.M (Xharnian Standard Time)
General Location:Royal Palace Of King Azure IV and his Family.

King Azure IV was sitting on his throne watching a T.V. screen with the image of the traitorius Barons that had betrayed him and started the Xharnian Civil War. They were being forced to line up in front of a fireing squad of 10 Royal Infantry Men.

The King watched as the fireing squad of Royal Infantry men took aim with there M-18 rifles and let the Barons have it. The Barons fell to the ground dead. The King took note the families of the Barons were being dragged to there fate as well. King Azure IV was pleased that they were all accountied for. King Azure IV smiled and thought no chance for a son or daughter to avenge there parents.

The King's supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson knocked on the large throne room double door. "Your Majesty, May I come in?" said, the young Advisor. King Azure IV sighed and said, "You may come in Supreme Advisior."

The Doors were opened by two of the Royal Elite Guardsmen. These Men were taken at birth and were raised by the Royal Military from the time they could walk. They were all considered the Special Forces for the Xharnian Military.

The young Supreme Advisor was still shaky. He had just seen his predecissor Baron Zholof the ring leader of the Baron's Rebellion executed and feared the King might want to kill him to for being an aid to the old Supreme Advisior.

Carl Von Ericson saids, "My lord, When our Kingdom had help from foriegn troops to crush the Baron's military many people believe we have shown a weakness. The Royal Military feels that this was an insult and that we are now considered a weak nation under a weak ruler."

The King Azure IV was silent he to felt that the Civil War had hurt his nation's prestige and his own the King saids, "How might we fix this problem."

The Supreme Advisior saids, "I recommend starting a Nuclear Program we should try to build Nuclear powerplants and generators and eventually get to start devolpment Nuclear weapons to better defend our country from Foriegn oppurnists."

The King liked this idea and saids, "Good thinking, I may not have to shoot you after all. I want you to get this project started right away"

The Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson bowed and said, "Yes, Your Royal Highness."

Supreme Advisior Carl Von Ericson walks away heads off to find the Minister of Industry and the Supreme Royal Commander of Xharns Military forces...

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Several months later....

The first Nuclear Powerplant was under construction. The Top archiects and scientists of the Kingdom of Xharn were sent there to help in the construction and devolpment. They were all under offical order from the Royal Government not to reveal anything on what they were doing. The fear of something leaking out to outside nations could be distarious for the Kingdom.

The 1st Xharnian Royal Army was sent to the construction sight to shoot anyone that tried to enter or leave these places. The place had fences, Guard Towers with snipers, and even S.A.M.'s were position there incase of spy air craft...

Axinon

03-12-2005, 02:54

Axinon Intelligence Agency -The Citadel

"Sir, take a look at these new satellite images"

"What is it private?"

"Look at these photos. It appears that this country is building something top secret. Look at these defenses..."

"Hmmm... what country is this?"

The photo analyzer looked at the tags, entered the co-ordinates in his computer, and replied "The Kingdom of Xharn, sir"

"Hmm... this appears to be some sort of nuclear reactor."

"What should we do??"

"Calm down Private. Axinon has a policy of not doing anything about other countries' nuclear programs. This country seems stable, if just a smidge repressing. I'm going to send this up the chain of command, but I'm fairly sure all we're going to wind up doing is adding Xharn to our list of nuclear powers and move on."

Red Tide2

03-12-2005, 03:08

Official Message From Tech-Com Corporation to the Kingdom of Xharn
"We have been informed from our colleagues in the Red Tidean Goverment that you are constructing a nuclear reactor. We were wondering if you would like some of our reactor designs? Here is our most commonly used one:

Automated Nuclear Power Reactor(ANPR)
"The ANPR is a fully automated power plant, with the only manpower requirements being the one to construct the plant. It follows the standard design of most modern nuclear reactors with one exception, there is no staff, the entire plant is maintained by robotic equipment controlled by a 'supercomputer'. This ups the cost in the short term, but saves money in the long term as there will be no need to pay worker wages. The cost of the designs is 800 million dollars."

We hope this satisfies you and that you will purchase from us in the future. Thank you for you time."
End Message

Usea-Jason

03-12-2005, 03:19

"Hmmm?" The intellegence officer noticed a odd building in the Kingdom of Xharn,A neigbourh to the Union of Usean Soviet Republic.

"Charlie?look at this!"As the officer called over a comerade,"Look at those defences!""What ever there building,It must be important.We'll call the commander."

Xharn

03-12-2005, 03:20

A Coded Message is sent to response....

To:Tech-Com Corporation
From: The Royal Xharnian Foriegn Relations Agency

The Royal Government is highly intrested, They have agreed to pay the 800 million dollar cost for the designs.

Signed:
Minister of Foriegn Affairs Jothan Pike
Head of The Royal Xharnian Foriegn Realtions Agency

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 03:29

Late One NightCarl Von Ericson was dead tired as he turned the key to enter his home. Overseeing Xharn’s nuclear programme was taking its toll; too many nights he had come home late, to a wife who was unhappy at his long working days and two children who had long since been put to bed.

My children are growing up without me, he thought. But if I don’t succeed at this, they won’t grow up at all.

Von Ericson stepped from the garage into the pantry, and then took a turn into the kitchen. He reached over, flipped on the light and nearly leapt out of his skin.

A woman – one who was most definitely not his wife - lounged seductively on his kitchen table, bare legs drawn up closely – but not too closely – to her body, which was clothed in a very well cut business suit, incongruously perched atop a very short “business” dress. She had jet-black hair and very dark lipstick; in her hand was a long, elegant cigarette holder from which she drew long, lazy puffs.

“Hello, Mr. Von Ericson,” she purred with a South Slavic accent of some kind – was it Serbian? “You’re home late from work – as usual.”

“Who – who are you?!?” Von Ericson stammered.

“That,” she said, exhaling a cloud of smoke, “Is unimportant. What is important is the business proposition that I have for you.”

“Which is?” he asked, somewhat less timidly. In spite of the intimidation he felt from this woman – both sexual and otherwise, he was regaining his courage.

She stretched out her legs, slipped them over the edge of the table, but slightly open rather than folded, leaned forward to reveal an impossibly gorgeous cleavage for a woman wearing what was supposed to be business attire, and with a wicked smile softly said, “I have something that you want.”

He sputtered at the directness of this statement. “But – but – but – I’m a married man!” It was more to assure himself of his fidelity than anything else.

She laughed, her laughter sharp like jagged ice. “Of course you are, Mr. Von Ericson. What I meant was that I have something else that you want,” she cooed. Slowly, she unscrewed the cigarette at the end of her holder, casually tossed it into the sink, pulled a silver cigarette case out of her suit coat pocket, opened it with an audible snap! that broke the painful silence, deftly slipped out another unfiltered cigarette, snapped the case shut just as loudly, quickly turned it sideways and with an equally casual flick of her fingers produced flame from the case alarming close to his body – apparently it had a built-in lighter – smiled as he staggered back a step, gracefully lit up the cigarette, pocketed the case and blew a long stream of smoke into his face.

“You are attempting to provide your government with a nuclear weapon. Of course you will succeed – sooner or later,” she began, and it was all he could do to keep his jaw from hitting the floor, “But sooner would be better for everyone concerned, especially your wife and those two beautiful…” she positively crooned out the word, “… children of yours.”

“I can help,” she said, and with that she leaned back on the table, holding herself erect with one arm. Her breasts jutted out quite emphatically at that angle.

“You… can help?” Von Ericson asked tremoulously.

“Of course,” she lilted in her Slavic accent. “The organisation I represent can supply your with blueprints, centrifuges, enriched uranium, plutonium, even more exotic ingredients like tritum and lithium deuteride,” she took a long draw from her cigarette and blew out another puff of smoke. “All you need do is take the money that would ordinarily be spent on the effort and give it to us – nicely laundered, of course. We will make sure that you make every milestone ahead of schedule and you will be a hero. Wouldn’t that be nice?” she finished.

“Uh,” Von Ericson said, fighting the tightness in his throat, “I’ll have to think about it.”

“No, you won’t,” the vamp said, waggling her cigarette holder. “There’s really nothing to think about. You get your bomb, we get your money, and – I’m sorry that I forgot to mention this – you get your wife and children back.”

Carl Von Ericson’s heart went cold. “Where are they? What have you done with them?!?” he demanded.

“They are safe,” she said, “And we have done nothing with them – yet.” She looked him straight in the eye through long, black lashes. “Of course, I can not vouch for what will happen if you don’t make a deal.”

He realised that he had been had.

“All right,” he said. “You and your people – whoever they are – have a deal.”

“Good,” she said with a laugh. “And now one more thing,” she purred.

“What’s that?” he said, an icy hand around his heart.

She reached out, took his necktie, pulled him very close, so close he could smell her musk perfume, and then suddenly reversed their positions, so that his back was to the table and she was pressing down on top of him.

“Think of it as a guarantee,” she said, unbuttoning his shirt as she spoke. “Or, if you prefer, the… consummation of our deal…”

Across the yard, the camera shutter whirred repeatedly. It didn’t miss a beat.OOC: Who said running the Mob can’t be fun?

Red Tide2

03-12-2005, 03:30

Official Reply From Tech-Com Corporation the Kingdom of Xharn
"We are wiring the plans now. It was the pleasure to do buisness with you."
End Message

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 03:40

Official Reply From Tech-Com Corporation the Kingdom of Xharn
"We are wiring the plans now. It was the pleasure to do buisness with you."
End Message“Not as much of a pleasure as it was with us,” purred Sonya, drawing deliciously on her cigarette.

Yiddisherland

03-12-2005, 03:41

To: His Royal Majesty, Azure the Fourth, King of Xharn

Via the use of spy satellites and operative within your government and your military, it has been brought to our attention that you are attempting to begin a programme that will result in the production of nuclear armaments. We respect this decision and encourage its further development to defeat our common enemies, the United Nations, Democracy, and Populist Rebellions. As another monarch, we see these to be our mutual enemies, and for the time being, find it in our best interest to make an offer of friendship.

We are prepared to offer you any assistance that will be required in the design and construction of atomic and hydrogen weaponry. We are able to provide you with one metric tonne of weapons grade plutonium and 500 litres of tritium, a hyrdogen isotope (atomic mass of 3 as opposed to 1) required in the production of hydrogen weaponry. Due to the success of our weapons programme we are willing to send several leading researchers to assist you.

[signed]
His Imperial and Royal Majesty, David the Fourth, by the grace of God Emperor of Yiddisherland; King of Israel, Jerusalem, Judah, Egypt, Jordan, Archduke of Yiddisherland; Duke of Haifa, Gaza, Golan, Damascus, Rotesschild; Grand Duke of Kraków; Prince of the Sinai; Margrave of Moravia, Upper and Lower Silesia; Defender of the Faith.

Usea-Jason

03-12-2005, 03:45

"Hmmmm....That is interesting."Information Commander Dimitri Sucoren replied.
"This defence is only used for a highly classefied project.Leutenit,How old are these photos?","A day old, Sir."said the Leutenit."i'll get this to high Command,You may have found something."As the Commander sent the E-mail to the higher ups.

Xharn

03-12-2005, 03:45

To: Tech-Com Corporation
From: The Royal Xharnian Foriegn Relations Agency

The Money is being wired as we speak. Thank you for helping our little project.

Signed:
Minister of Foriegn Affairs Jothan Pike
Head of The Royal Xharnian Foriegn Relations Agency

_______________________________________________________________

Back with Von Ericson

Carl Von Ericson knew he was in trouble. The King Azure IV would have his skull on a pike if he failed to create a Nuclear program and weapons like he promised. These people seemed well prepared they had kidnapped his family and managed to somehow get pass the Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core (X.R.I.C.) Agents outside that constantly have the house monitiored. He hoped they lived up to there promise or he would definatly tell the King everything especially if it would give himself a quick death rather than a torture session with the X.R.I.C. torturers.

Red Tide2

03-12-2005, 03:51

[/INDENT]OOC: Who said running the Mob can’t be fun?

OOC;I just saw this... what mob? You'll probably have some competition from the Red Tide Mafia.

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 03:56

“Oh, don’t worry,” cooed Sonya. “I’m not one to kiss and tell. Unless you do, that is.”

“As for our business deal, what would become of our reputation if we didn’t deliver?” she laughed.

OOC: The blackmail is intended to make sure that you don’t double cross us. As for our promises, we will certainly deliver – at cost and ahead of schedule.

Von Ericson nearly wept when the van dropped off his wife and children in the driveway; by then his business ... “partner” had long since disappeared. Embracing his wife, he felt a pang of guilt - but at least he had her back.

Xharn

03-12-2005, 03:58

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 03:58

OOC;I just saw this... what mob? You'll probably have some competition from the Red Tide Mafia.OOC: Narodna Odbrana, of course. Our whole “country" is one big syndicate. Look us up... ;)

Usea-Jason

03-12-2005, 04:02

As the Military advisers overlooked the photos,SSu Mikoyan was still not getting the answer he wanted.
"Look,We must ask the Xharnian goverment what that is and why it is near Our Boarder!"As he slammed his fist down.

--A few Hours latter---

His Royal Majesty, Azure the Fourth, King of Xharn.

Yesterday,Our spy sattelites Spooted a Huge Deffence surounding a building Near Our boarders.We know That it is Strong Enought to survive most bomb attacks and is highy fortifyed.What we don't know is what it is being used for,and Will it harm the People of our land.

Supreme Soviet Unifyed Jason Mikoyan.

Xharn

03-12-2005, 04:10

To: Supreme Soviet Unifyed Jason Mikoyan
From: The Royal Xharnian Foriegn Relations Agency

That is our first attempt at building a Nuclear Power Plant. We are starting a Nuclear Program in The Kingdom of Xharn. It will not be harmful unless someone sets off the Reactor and it blows up.

Signed:
King Azure IV
The Supreme High King and Ruler of the Kingdom of Xharn

Yiddisherland

03-12-2005, 04:15

A convoy of thirteen military trucks bearing the imperial standard of David IV drive up towards the gates of the Xharnian Nuclear Research Facility. Two men in their fifties get out of the lead truck, and approach the security clearance gate clearly having an argument in what appears to be some dialect of German.

One man, introduces himself to the guards in an extremely heavy German accent, "I am Doctor Rudolf Eisenstahl and this is my colleague Doctor Johann Lindemann, we are here on be half of HIRM David IV, and we wish to see the director of this facility. This is of utmost importance."

Usea-Jason

03-12-2005, 04:16

--Near the Boarder--
As peace talks start,A Team from the SNBT(State Nuclear and Biohazard team)Arive at the boarder to keep a Eye on the plants Progress,and if possible, Help incase of a emergance.

Xharn

03-12-2005, 04:30

The Royal Infantry man guarding the entrance saids in english, "The director Joesph Marklin is at the entrance awaiting you along with Field Marshal George Garabaldi."

The Gates open and the Guards in the Guard towers lower there sniper rifles. The security was tight with the S.A.M. positions around the Plant still at ready. The 1st Xharnian Royal Army had the place surrounded with infantry men marching in large patrols of 20 every several hours, around the clock twenty four seven..

Axinon

03-12-2005, 04:38

--Near the Boarder--
As peace talks start,A Team from the SNBT(State Nuclear and Biohazard team)Arive at the boarder to keep a Eye on the plants Progress,and if possible, Help incase of a emergance.
OOC: I know you are a new country, but it is always a good idea to spell check your posts before posting

IC: President William McConnel was sipping his morning cup of coffee when the weekly report from the AIA. Headlining the report was a briefing called "The Kingdom of Xharn starts Nuclear Program"

He read the files, which turned out to nearly all be about this matter, and wrote a letter to the Secretary of Defense.

Add The Kingdom of Xharn to our list of confirmed nuclear powers. Keep an eye on this country for 6 months or so to see if it shows any signs of being a threat to the world. Assuming it is not a threat, take no action.

Yiddisherland

03-12-2005, 04:47

The trucks drive into the compound and park, and the two men continue on foot towards the main entrance, once again continuing their argument "und warum hast du denn meinen Hund getötet!?"

Dr. Eisenstahl reaches out his hand, and says, "Hello Mr.Marklin, Field Marshal Garabaldi. We've brought with us some basic schematics, that you may or may not find useful, as to how a hydrogen bomb should be designed. We've also brought one tonne of weapons grade plutonium and the 500 litres of tritium oxide, as specified by our Emperor. We look forward to working with you."

Dr. Lindemann says, "We are unsure as to how far your programme has been developped, but we are looking forward to working with you to further this research. We also authorised to import more fissionable materials should you denied access to your sources by a beligerant neighbour state or rebel group."

Xharn

03-12-2005, 05:00

The director Joesph Marklin saids, "The Plant has not been acitivated yet. We are trying to check to make sure everything is in order. The King wants to be present at the activation and he wants to broadcast the activation across the rest of the Kingdom."

The Field Marshal saids, "We are also under a deadline to have this thing activating soon."

The Field Marshal looks at a two people at the edge of the entrance. They are wearing sunglasses and have on black suites and seem to be very indimating. (Out of character comment: They are Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core Agents or "X.R.I.C.")

Mirkana

03-12-2005, 05:31

To: The Kingdom of Xharn
From: The Armed Republic of Mirkana

Thanks to our new alliance (we are both members of the AFH), Mirkana wishes to aid you in developing your nuclear arsenal. We have a small, tactical nuclear arsenal of our own, and can provide both equipment and enriched uranium. About the only thing we won't provide is a testing ground.

Xharn

03-12-2005, 05:37

To: The Armed Republic of Mirkana
From: The Royal Xharnian Foriegn Relations Agency

We would appreicate your help. We could always use more Uranium and equipment for when we start to create more Nuclear facilities.

Signed:
King Azure IV
Supreme High King and Ruler of the Kingdom of Xharn

Xharn

03-12-2005, 06:42

OOC: Bump..

Nairatsa

03-12-2005, 07:20

An antwerp bounces by on a nearby hilltop, bubbling to itself.
It pauses, wuffles and bounces on.

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Internal Communique of the Infocratic Democracy of Nairatsa (NIM Eyes Only):

Our long-range scouts have returned reports of nuclear activity in the distant
kingdom of Xharn. No intervention is necessary at this time, though there
have been unconfirmed sightings of meddling by Narodna Odbrana, the storied
consumerist mob.

Deep-cover agents will remain passive in the area for further observation, by
order of the NIM director. Advanced methods unnecessary at this time.

-He- has been apraised.

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(OOC: An upstart minor nation, we're a democracy, but largely infocratic, or
curiosity-centric. Sneakyness is our stock in trade for now. NIM = Nairatsa
Info. Main. If you do not know what an antwerp is, go play Quest for Glory.
They explain it better than I ever could.)

Xharn

03-12-2005, 07:43

OOC: I would really hate to be the head of (X.R.I.C.) if the King found out how many spies and other assorted covert personal have been snooping around his Nuclear Program and getting away with it.

IC: The King Azure IV had just recieved a report from his Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson about the progress of the Nuclear Power Plant. The extra materials had been sent to underground storage facilities to be used to start up the Nuclear Weapons Program. The King Azure IV read this and was pleased. He told Carl Von Ericson to take an additional 50 Million Zeni to help with the construction of the soon to be missile site.

The Supreme Advisor Carl Ericson bowed and headed out. He was about to start his payments to the Narodna Odbrana. He hoped the X.R.I.C. agents would not find out he was comprismed that could lead to his execution...

Xharn

03-12-2005, 08:54

OOC: I know this is double posting but who cares..

IC:

The Kingdom of Xharn had the materials and the money to make a weapon but they lacked a delvery system or a missile design. The Xharnian Royal Military wanted to take there weapons research under ground.

Thus they began the construction of the Hive a small underground city of tunnels that was to be located right under the City of Xharnia. It was hoped this would confuse spy satalites and hopefully spies. The operation would be long and hard but the benieft of having a top secret area were workers and scientist researchers could be locked away and build and design top secret weapons for the Xharnian Royal Government.

The King Azure IV had ordered that every dissident or political prisioner be sent to the digging site and thus began a massive slave labor effort to dig the tunnels needed. This would lower the cost for the construction effort and the Xharnian Elite Royal Guardsmen were given the task of watching these dissidents and criminals for the good of the Kingdom.

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 09:18

A Few Days LaterCarl Von Ericson was, as usual, in a hurry. With an important briefing to attend, he had his secretary call for a government-owned limo; that saved him the need to deal with the long lines to get in and out of the parking garage. At a trot, he came down the front steps of his office building and piled into the waiting vehicle. The two burly XRIC agents clambered in after him.

He’d gone a few blocks when he noticed something unusual: the driver was a woman. His heart nearly stopped when he saw that she had jet black hair; it started up again when he noticed her sallow skin and – gratefully – the relative lack of lipstick. Nor was she chain-smoking. What a relief, he thought.

His relief very quickly evaporated when one of the two burly XRIC agents withdrew a silver cigarette case from his inner jacket pocket and opened it with a distinctly familiar snap!. The man smiled slightly, offering Von Ericson an unfiltered cigarette. Nervously, Von Ericson refused. He then offered one to the other XRIC agent, who smiled slightly and took it. The first guard snapped the cigarette case shut and flipped it up to serve as a lighter, which flared to life, startling the hapless government official as the man lit his comrade’s cigarette, and then his own.

The three of them then sat there, the driver and the big XRIC agents, all in mirrorshades, saying nothing.

Von Ericson had the distinct impression they were all looking at him. He was right.

The driver’s hand came up and back sharply, presenting Von Ericson with a large manila envelope; her gaze, as far as he could tell, never left the road.

Von Ericson wasn’t quite sure what to do. The two XRIC agents simultaneously lowered their cigarettes and turned to face him. The smell of those cigarettes’ smoke was frightening familiar.

Von Ericson gulped. He took the envelope.

“Those are the names and addresses of our front companies,” said the driver, clearly speaking with a Japanese accent. “Listed are the no-bid contracts that you will offer them, the final negotiated prices – all very reasonable, considering the work being done – and a list of deliverables, including the dates. Everything is set up to look as it should; none of it would make an accountant think twice. You will look like a very shrewd, very efficient project manager; your King will be pleased with the work.”

Von Ericson nodded. The driver continued: “Don’t bother trying to trace the payments afterwards; you’ll get a headache working your way through the maze of transactions. Just sit back and relax, knowing that your nuclear weapons program is in good hands.”

The limo slid to a stop. The XRIC agents extinguished their cigarettes, got out, and held the door for the government official. One gestured toward the steps of the building where he was scheduled to have his meeting. Von Ericson gulped and proceeded towards the door.

Halfway up the steps, his curiosity got the better of him. He turned to see the limo disappear around a corner; the XRIC agents were nowhere in sight.

The limo’s plates were – of course – illegible.

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 10:05

One Month LaterFor the first time since he had “hired” Narodna Odbrana to “assist” Xharnia with its nuclear program, Carl Von Ericson was having real doubts.

Actually, he’d been having doubts all along, but now he was really worried.

He’d received the blueprints that the shadowy group had given him, and they were nothing like the Yiddisherland schematics. The Yiddisherland designs were huge, hulking monstrosities with mammoth yields. The designs he was getting from his secret source, on the other hand, were tiny.

Not just tiny in the sense of being lower yield devices, but tiny in the sense of being very small packages - small and incredibly efficient.

That worried him. He knew the King, and the King would want big bombs; big bombs to make him one of the big kids on the block. If Von Ericson showed up with these tiny little bombs, the King would be very, very angry.

He meant to take it up with his “partners” immediately – if only he could figure out how to make contact with them.

It was with that thought in mind that he made his way to the parking garage late after work one evening. On his windshield he saw a flyer:
Introductory Offer!
Half a dozen falafel sandwiches, a pint of tabbouli salad, and a pint of hummus for only $19.95! Great deal to introduce your family to Middle Eastern cuisine!Funny, Von Ericson thought, I did agree to bring dinner home tonight. And, for some strange reason, the idea of a falafel sandwich seemed irresistible.

He found the place without difficulty. The bell rang as he entered; other than the woman at the counter, no one was there. He approached the counter, looked at the woman – who was wearing a modest chador, but one that did not cover her face – and said: “I’d like the offer on this flyer.”

“Of course, you do,” crooned a frighteningly familiar voice from behind him. He turned, knowing who he’d see.

“I understand you have a problem with our deliverables?” said the dark Slavic woman. Behind him, he heard beads clatter as the counter girl retreated into the kitchen.

“Uh, well… yes!” stammered Von Ericson as the woman casually adjusted his tie and his lapels. “They’re too small.”

“Carl, Carl, Carl,” she said softly, brushing his hair back behind his ears. “Large bombs are for men who need to compensate for… other things. We both know you have no such need – no, not at all.”

Von Ericson turned beet red. “It – it isn’t me,” he said, through that familiar tight throat. “It’s the King.”

She laughed. It was a melodious, musical laugh. It was a laugh that would have made the king order the execution of every man, woman, and child within 5 miles had he heard it. “Well, that’s obvious. Of course, it’s the King,” she purred. Carl gulped as her fingers began walking down the front of his jacket. “Unlike you, he has plenty to compensate for – or perhaps I should say that he has very little.”

For King and Country, Carl Von Ericson was about to offer a patriotic objection, but one of those fingers that had been approaching the danger zone came back up and touched his lips.

“You tell him,” the woman said, “That any idiot can build a big bomb, which is why every idiot out there has one. But,” she said, as her fingers began to stray dangerously once more, “The real art and value is in building smaller ones. Nuclear devices,” she purred, as Carl Von Ericson nearly went critical himself as her hand finally found its destination, “Scale up very easily; scaling down is difficult. Big bombs require big missiles,” the devilish woman continued, pressing her mouth to his throat, “Which, while they appeal to some men, are a tremendous drain on a nation’s treasury. Small bombs, on the other hand,” and here Von Ericson had to stifle a load groan, “Can be delivered much less expensively, and in a multitude of ways – by aircraft, cruise missiles,” here she paused to run her fingers deeper into his hair, “Artillery,” another meaningful pause - this time complete with the groan Von Ericson simply could no longer suppress - “And even suitcases. Tell him that you’re starting small so that your nation can get a head start on miniaturisation, and that you can always give him bigger weapons with a few months extra work.”

“And on that note,” she said, lowering herself to the floor and pulling him down with her, “I think we can end this conversation.”

Xharn

03-12-2005, 10:08

The Hive Project..

The Criminals were busy digging deeper into the underground of the City. They had already completed several major tunnels and were being worked from sun up to sun down by the Elite Guardsmen. The Cruelity of the camps was also well known and rumors of any kind of criminal being sent there was quite rampant.

The People however did not know they were working on a secret project. The cover story was they were working on a subway system for the Royality of Xharn. The people were more than willing to believe the propaganda especially with the X.R.I.C. and the Royal Enforcers making enemies of the Kingdom dissapear..

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 10:18

OOC: BTW, I’ve just made your delivery systems’ problem considerably easier; smaller weapons, accurately delivered (by cruise or stand-off missile), make a frighteningly effective deterrent.

Ballistic missiles are for… well, I won’t say it. ;)

Xharn

03-12-2005, 10:29

OOC: I wondering how you figured out the personality of the King that fast. I was going to say, He would want primarly large yield warheads...

IC: On the orders of the Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson, The smaller designs were put into use. The Labs at Xharnia were to build the first series of Nuclear bombs for aircraft. The next series after that would be the cruise missile version for the Navy. The Finally version was the suitcase bomb meant for the X.R.I.C., The Goal have mulitplies ways to cause major damage with accuracy for the Kingdom of Xharns side should a conflict every erupt with another Nuclear or Non Nuclear power.

The Hive was nearly completed soon, The Nuclear Weapons program would be moved from the easily spotted labs in Xharnia to the underground tunnel city of the Hive. The "Forced Workers" were a problem, They knew all the tunnels and secret passages and escape routes. The King Azure IV demanded they be dealt with.

Carl Von Ericson had a problem, He was ordered to have the Workers mass executed to keep the Hive a secret..

Narodna Odbrana

03-12-2005, 11:24

The Next DayCarl Von Ericson was having a bad technology day.

First, his desktop computer had problems booting; then the notebook he took from the loaner pool wouldn’t connect to the mail server. That d_mn_d Macrocosm Wingdings! he cursed. Maybe our first nuke…

His fond thoughts of retribution were interrupted by a knock at the door. A pale young man with curly black hair poked his head in the door. “I’m from the I.T. Department,” he announced. “Here to fix your computer.”

In a minute, the young man managed to get the loaner notebook to grab Von Ericson’s mail. “That should get you going while I perform major surgery on this one,” he said, jerking his thumb at the desktop.

“What did you do?” asked Von Ericson.

“Oh, I turned on the Chat Client. The Mail Client requires some of the Chat Client’s code to be resident in memory. Stupid, I know, but that’s Macrocosm for you. Me, I’m a Lugnuts fan…”

The I.T. guru then ducked underneath the desk and began wrestling with the balky desktop. Soon, Von Erickson heard cursing, but it wasn’t in any language that he recognised - something … Slavic?!?

A chill ran down Carl Von Ericson’s spine, but before he could do anything, his Chat Client popped open.SONYA: Hello, Carl :D
SONYA: Want to see my avatar?”No!” he shouted. “I refuse…” Von Ericson cut himself off when he saw the I.T. guru looking at him with amusement. He then looked back at the keyboard and began typing furiously.CARL: No! I refuse to get involved in cybersex. Even I have limits!
SONYA: Even with me, Carl? :(
SONYA: Come on, let me expand your horizons further. ;)
CARL: No! I refuse! It’s … unnatural.
SONYA: Oh, Carl, I’m hurt. I thought we had something special.
CARL: We do…
CARL: No, we don’t. I’m married!
SONYA: I know. I so love married men…
CARL: You – you –
SONYA: Come on, Carl, say it – you know you want to… ;)
CARL: You’re just trying to trick me into talking dirty to you!
SONYA: LOL. And your point is..?
CARL: It won’t work.
SONYA; Then I will simply have to molest you in meatspace – you give me no choice.
SONYA: See you in the parking garage tonight. ;)
SONYA: Now, in the meantime, I understand that you have a personnel problem…
CARL: ?????
SONYA: Those convicts you’ve been ordered to liquidate.
SONYA: We’d like to take them off your hands. We know someone who is willing to pay $$$’s for the labour.
CARL: You want to buy them off us?!?
SONYA: Of course!
CARL: But that would be slavery!
SONYA: What’s a little slavery between lovers, Carl?
CARL: We’re not lovers.
SONYA: R2. I have the pictures to prove it. :D
SONYA: Carl?
SONYA: Carl?
SONYA: Carl, my love stallion?
CARL: Stop that!
SONYA: Me <--- got a rise out of you (as always). ;)
SONYA: Yes, we would like to buy the convicts. All of them.
SONYA: You can tell the King you had them killed.
CARL: But…
SONYA: You’re not a mass murderer, Carl.
CARL: 1 sec.
CARL: Can you guarantee they won’t talk?
SONYA: Absolutely.
CARL: How?
SONYA: We’ll be taking them far, far away.
CARL: 1 sec (thinking)
CARL: No chance the King will find out?
SONYA: None. Deal?
CARL: 1 sec (thinking)
CARL: Deal.
SONYA: XOXOXOXOXOX!!!!! See you tonight in the garage, Carl! ;)
<SONYA has disconnected>Carl Von Ericson looked up to see the I.T. guru dusting his jeans off as he rose from under the table. “It’s fixed,” he announced. Before Von Ericson could speak, he headed for the door, opened it, started out, and then leaned back in.

“Sonya scares the cr_p out of me, too,” he said.

Usea-Jason

03-12-2005, 19:29

--Near the Border,Close to Xharn's capitol--

A Large convoy of trucks arived at the rendevoux site.The first few trucks started to set up a defencive line as the rest of the crew were told the orders.
The State Deturand Force(SDF) Team Delta will initiate Plan code 48,A Deturand incase of Nuklear Attack.
The Team knew what to do.The Launchers Arived on time with there specal Cargo.

--A half hour later...--
To the Kingdom of Xharn,As you have Noticed,Short ranged missles are placed within rande of your capitol.This is mearly a precation,and a deturant.We wish not to go to war,yet we wish to not be defenceless if something were to happen.We ask that you not take any offence to this action,and any other defencive action as a act of war.

The Supreme Soviet Unifyed Jason Mikoyan,
Of the Union of Usean Soviet States.

Axinon

03-12-2005, 21:09

It was another slow day for the President of Axinon. With the economy booming, the DMG Satellite Crisis a long gone bad memory and approval ratings over 70% William McConnel was lounging in his estate near the Blue Mountains. He had left Extrilla just yesterday, leaving the day-to-day running of the country to the Prime Minister of the Senate.

He was still getting all the major intel reports, so he was not at all surprised when an AIA agent walked into his room with another thick folder of intelligence briefings.

On top of the stack was a briefing labeled Update on Xharn's Nuclear Program

He slowly looked over the files, two in particular caught his eye.

Usea-Jason deploys short-range missiles to Xharn frontier

Xharn appears to be building underground facility; government says it’s a subway system.

After carefully reading the files, McConnel called back the AIA agent.

"Mr. Rodfelk, do we have any operatives in Xharn?"

"No, sir"

"Try and get an operative in Xharn, preferably in the nuclear program but at least in a position to see and report any transactions made by the Xharnian government."

"Yes, sir"

Within 7 hours, John Larvonic had flown from downtown Extrilla, into Exinon, d4s_Speigel, into Mondoth and was finally on a jet that would take him directly to the capital of Xharn. He had flown under a different alias on each leg of the flight, and he carried nothing to suggest his Axinonian origin, save a quarter-sized transmitter to communicate with the regional operations base, an old converted Iowa-class Battleship flying the Dreedaneese flag.

Usea-Jason

03-12-2005, 21:18

--SDF Basecamp--

With set-up almost compleat,The hard part began,the wait.

--SNBT camp,Same time--
"Sir?"A young officer said.A Scientist came over."Is the Equipment Busted?","No,the amount of raidioactive matterial as lowered?Why?"

--Rive,The capitol of the USSUJ--
The SSu had a ton of paperwork,Yet two caught his eye.

Deturant team is redy.

SNBT is reporting that Raioactive Signals in Xharn base has droped.

Both were incuraging anf frighting at the same time.

Xharn

03-12-2005, 21:51

The King Azure IV recieved the message from the The Supreme Soviet Unifyed Jason Mikoyan,Of the Union of Usean Soviet States.

The Message said that he had short range missiles pointed at the capital. The Royal High Command's intellegence confrimed the message as a true statement. The King Azure IV was unsure what to do. He called his supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson. Carl was litterly dragged in by the two Xharnian Royal Elite Guardsmen. The Supreme Advisor bowed and asked what was troubleing the King. The King gave him the document about the act of aggression from the nation of Usea-Jason.

Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson read it and suggested, "Just solve this through diplomacy. War would only ruin our capital and leave there nation as a nuclear mess. The international community would see our nation as monsters and sanction us. We must try to get the diplomatic community on our side."

The King Azure IV after much banter about destroying the enemies of the Kingdom finally agreed to try it Carl's way.

To: The Supreme Soviet Unifyed Jason Mikoyan
From: Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson
We have not acted aggressive or hostile to you or your countrymen, Yet you place offensive weapons right in our back yard. We demand you dismantle these weapons or we shall be forced to set up a detterent force of our own.

Signed:
Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson
Minister of the Kingdom.

______________________________________________________________

The Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson then begins to carry out his deal with the Narodna Odbrana. He sends large prison transport buses with armed Royal Enforcers to pick up the "Workers" For extermination. The Workers were told they were being sent to another country to work on some other construction work. This was to keep them from rioting. The sad fact was the buses sent them to hidden location points were Carl had notified the Narodna Odbarna the exact location to where there workers would be. The Enforcers were ordered to stay and wait for the Narodna Odbarna to take the "executed workers."

Jenrak

03-12-2005, 22:35

Consider this a tag. The subscribe feature isn't working for me.

Xharn

03-12-2005, 22:49

Stevid

03-12-2005, 23:11

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/stevid.jpg
Stevid MoD and Foreign Office

Though it is not in Stevid's best interests to intervene with the governmental wishes of Xharn and their attitudes towards nuclear power stations and weaponary- however we cannot stress the fact that the Stevidian Government is more than slightly worried at the growing tensions between the two nations of Xharn and Usea-Jason. Both of which are becoming closer and closer to the stage that war might break out. Since the nation of Xharn has made no secret of their intensions to build nuclear weapons in the very near future, it is possible that a small scale nuclear war could start between the two nations.

The MoD and Foreign Office of Stevid and over fifty other nations from around the world are more than aware of the events that unfolded during the Feline Catfish crisis that ended in the desturction of an entire fleet. Stevid was lucky to survive the tragedy and never wants to see it happen again.
So Stevid has to state that is is against the nuclear weapons program that the Xharn military wishes to start. We say this in the interests of the environment and the effect it will have on the populations of the two nations.

Stevid will in no way intervene with Xharn plans to build power stations and weapons, for it is not our right to breach international law and sovereignty that the nation of Xharn can legaly claim. We just feel that it is a radical step to be making now for Xharn, esspecialy now that tensions are high.

We hope Xharn does not feel that we are being hostile towards them, or that we will step in a forcably stop you from doing what you want. Stevid is a nation founded on peace and we intend to keep it this way.

We hope this might change your mind on the matter..... if not.....then God bless.
______________________________
Signed
Stevid MoD and Foregin Office Staff

Xharn

03-12-2005, 23:24

To: The Stevid Government
From: The Royal Xharnian Foreign Relations Agency

The nation of Usea-Jason started this by deploying short range missiles near our borders and is threatening to use them as a detternt from our Nuclear Program. We have never threatened any nation with Nuclear war. Our Kingdom is mearly trying to devolp suffienct power for our people and have a decent military weapon to keep other hostile powers at bay.

Signed:
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jothan Pike
Head of the Royal Xharnian Foreign Relations Agency.

Axinon

03-12-2005, 23:33

OOC: Is John Larvonic flying covert or comerical? (sorry if I misspelled)

OOC: Commercial

Xharn

03-12-2005, 23:42

The Xharnian Royal Airport...

John Larvonic flight was one of the last to successfully be allowed into the country. The Kingdom of Xharn had offically annouced that all foriegn travel was to be restricted by the Royal Government untill the crisis with Usea-Jason is resolved.

John was sent throught a massive inspection and security detail by both Royal Enforcers and X.R.I.C. agents meant to check for possiable spies and smugglers. It would seem like a little execessive but the Kingdom of Xharn feared that Usea-Jason might try to send in covert agents as sabatours or spies to find out more of Xharn's military secrets...

Yiddisherland

03-12-2005, 23:53

To: The Office of the President of Usea-Jason

In response to the militarisation of your border with Xharn by the deployment of short-ranged missiles, we issue you with an ultimatum. If you do not withdraw your missiles and the majority of the ground forces that accomany them we will GIVE the Kindom of Xharn weapons far superior to those that they are developing. It is likely that we will give them 12 x 2.5 Megaton Hydrogen bombs fitted into ICBMs. We will also target two additional ICMBs at every major city within the control of your nation if you do not comply with our demands within the next 72 hours. We may may also launch an attempt on your life.

We hope that you will do your part in reducing the tensions the region, and will make the right decisions in withdrawing these forces from your border. We sincerely hope, for your sake and those of the civilians living in your country, that you will comply with our demands.

[signed]
His Imperial and Royal Majesty, David the Fourth, by the grace of God Emperor of Yiddisherland; King of Israel, Jerusalem, Judah, Egypt, Jordan, Archduke of Yiddisherland; Duke of Haifa, Gaza, Golan, Damascus, Rotesschild; Grand Duke of Kraków; Prince of the Sinai; Margrave of Moravia, Upper and Lower Silesia; Defender of the Faith.

Axinon

04-12-2005, 00:15

John Larvonic walked off the plane and headed towards customs. The line was longer than usual, but it didn't phase him. He had successfully gotten through the screening process of the always vigilant d4s regime, he felt this could be no worse.

When he reached the front of the line, he went through a standard metal detector. No problems there. He than had his carry-on luggage and pockets checked. A few books, a CD player, a Palm Pilot, a half eaten bag of chips, some loose Mondothian change and his passport were all he had on them. The guards looked at these for a while, especially the palm pilot. When it appeared they were satisfied that all was normal, a pair of X.R.I.C. agents walked up to him and led him into one of the side rooms that the agency was using for interrogations. One of the men pointed to a folding chair, and said "Sit down"

Larvonic sat, and casually surveyed the room. Bare concrete walls, no window. One of the agents sat between him and the door, another sat behind a desk. The one behind the desk asked "What is your name and where are you from?"

"My name is Christopher Garnell and I am from The Republic of Mondoth"

He was unfazed by the room, the two huge men who sat around him. He was one of Axinon's best, and he was ready for the tough questions that were certainly to follow.

Xharn

04-12-2005, 00:15

1st Royal Xharnian Aircore Base....

The Sargent driving the truck saids, "Do you think the foreign powers saw us drive this thing here?"

The Colonel that was seating shot un saids, "I bet you a million Zeni that they did. We are suppose to be a detterent force in case of an attack by Usea-Jason. If we wanted to make our presence secret we would have moved this cargo at night and tried to use less suspicous transportation. The goal here is to get international attention so the Soviets of Usea-Jason decide not to attack. If that fails we have enough fire power here to level several cities."

The Sargent saids, "So, The goal is not to bomb them sir."

The Colonel saids, "Of course not, Nuclear war would only lead to useless destruction of us and Usea-Jason."

The Sargent saids, "Alright sir, We are on the Air field should we set up the weapon?

The Colonel nodds and saids, "Take the truck inside the hanger with the C-14's."

The Two Military Transport trucks enter into the main hanger of the Airbase with there cargo at ready.

Xharn

04-12-2005, 00:20

Axinon

04-12-2005, 01:32

"I come from the west end of Mondoth City, the capital. I work for a construction company, specializing in building large buildings like stadiums, mosques, etcetera." was his reply

Xharn

04-12-2005, 01:44

The X.R.I.C. Agents continue to asks different questions about his background, age, religion, how long he planed to stay inside the Kingdom and if he was going to return to his country.

They also had a tendancy to repeat speific questions trying to see if he would slip up and say somthing contridactory to his prior report and they also continued to look for any signs of military and or other violent forms of occupations or background.

The X.R.I.C. even sent a photo of this Christopher Garnell to X.R.I.C. Central Command HQ in hopes of finding something in the data banks that proved Christopher was some kind of Spy for Usea-Jason...

OOC: This is standard when a threat of war is breaking out...

Nairatsa

04-12-2005, 02:34

As the workers were rounded up and loaded onto the busses, one gave a last, thoughtful look back at the forest, and shrugged a perfectly average Xharnian shrug. He muttered something quietly under his breath that, had anyone been listening, would have sounded rather Carribean, then borded the bus, for parts unknown. He gracefully stepped onto the bus, and half-smirked to himself, thinking: "I suppose I did earn this assignment. Manual labor, indeed. *Sigh* How was I to know she was the potentate's daughter? We have contract work in another country? Heh. Right. Here we go again."

Meanwhile, on a hillock distant from the Aircore, a bush twitched in a decidedly peculiar manner, and a little rubbery noise was heard. A similar wuffle was heard from a different hilltop, convieniently near the SDF base of Usea-Jason. Quietly, observers from Nairatsa realyed streams of information back to their distant base.

A patrolling soldier of Usea-Jason finds a small, silver arrow, neatly embedded in the turf along his usual patrol route, with a note attached, written in ink on leather, that says simply:

Tell your leader: I'd not do that if I were you. It's bad for buisness.

(OOC: What do Xarnians speak, and I'm sorry this post is so removed from the original.)

Mirkana

04-12-2005, 02:36

To: Kingdom of Xharn
From: The Armed Republic of Mirkana

I have good news for you. Recently, the Darvainian conflict has ended, freeing up many Mirkanan assets. In addition to the uranium shipment, two tactical nuclear warheads, previously earmarked for use in Darvainia, are en route to your facilities in Xharn. Please allow them to enter your country. I doubt you will have difficulty telling the difference between a civilian 747 and four tiltrotor transports with fighter escort.

We have also sent one nuclear weapons expert, Colenol Darren Garov, to assist in the development of weapons delivery systems.

General Ken Remmol

Axinon

04-12-2005, 03:53

Larvonic continued answering the questions with remarkable consistency, knowing in the back of his mind that one slip up could mean certain death.

After close to an hour, the X.R.I.C. agents seemed to be satisfied. They walked out of the room, motioning for him to follow.

Xharn

04-12-2005, 08:19

OOC: Xharnians are forced to speak only English. It was imposed upon Xharnian society by King Azure II who thought if every one spoke only one langauge it would unify the Kingdom. Thus English is the only language spoken on penalty of being arrested for ten years and suffering heavy fines...

IC: The King Azure IV was pleased his allies had finally given him two tactical nuclear warheads. The Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson was silently glad. The Supreme Advisor Carl Von Ericson knew the King would not have him kill now that he had successfully managed to create a Nuclear Energy and Arms Program for the Kingdom of Xharn. The King Azure IV was even getting the Warheads and delievery system he wanted.

The King Azure IV saids to his Supreme Advisor, "You have done well Carl. You have managed to successfully coordinate our efforts and give the Kingdom of Xharn respect and prestige with the rest of the international world. I think I shall give you the title of Baron Carl Von Ericson for your amazing achievement."

The Supreme Advisor bowed and saids, "As you wish your majesty."

The new Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson saids, "All that needs to be settled is the problem with Usea-Jason. I recommend we send a diplomat to clam there fears. That would please the international community and make us seem as reasonable people that can handle the responablity of wielding Nuclear capabilities."

The King Azure IV saids, "Then let it be so. You obviously know what your doing."

To: The Armed Republic of Mirkana
From: The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson.

We shall allow your entry into Xharn air space. We ask that you take your equipment to the Xharnian Royal Airport from there our top researchers can take the tactical nuclear warheads to our most secure facilities untill we have created a successful delivery system to use them.

Signed:
Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson
Minister of the Kingdom.

another message was sent to the nation of Usea-Jason.

To: Soviet Usea-Jordan
From: The Royal Xharnian Foriegn Realtions Agency

The Kingdom of Xharn would like to send an ambassador to your nation and have peace talks. In the hopes of standing down both are armed services. War is not benifical for either one of us. We would like you to respond and advise us were you want the peace talks to take place.

Signed:
Minister of Foriegn Affairs Jothan Pike
Head of the Royal Xharnian Foriegn Realtions Agency

________________________________________________________________

The X.R.I.C. Agents could find nothing agaisnt Mr. Christopher Garnell, As Larvonic headed out the head X.R.I.C. Agent saids, "We will be watching Mr. Garnell please try to not to cause trouble while in the Kingdom of Xharn. Thank you and have a lovely day."

The X.R.I.C. Agents let Garnell out of the room and seem to leave him alone as he leaves the airport...

Mirkana

04-12-2005, 19:24

Usea-Jason

04-12-2005, 20:03

(ooc-I was not avalable to post,plz take no offence

Mondoth

04-12-2005, 23:00

Tag: My names getting tossed around, so I thought I'd check in.

Xharn

05-12-2005, 00:28

Xharnian Royal Airport
Colenol Garov stepped out of the tiltrotor onto the tarmac. He scanned the airport, and noticed several squads of Xharnian troops arriving.
The Mirkanans were unloading their nuclear warheads and the uranium supplies. Garov knew how those warheads had nearly been used in Darvainia. That conflict, Mirkana's first in years, had finally ended.
"Careful with those warheads!" Garov blurted out.
"We know!" shouted back a lieutenant.
The Xharnian captain had arrived.
"Colenol Garov, I presume?"

The Captain introduced himself, "I am Captain Jame Reevis, I have been assigned to escort you and your cargo to the Hive."

The Xharnian Soldiers were not ordinary Royal Xharnian Army soldiers they were Xharnian Elite Guardsmen, The Elite troops Xharn had to offer these men and women were trained at the early age of five in basic combat training. By the age of 15 they were taking advance combat training.
The product seen before Colonel Garov was a highly professional unit they moved in quickly to secure the air port and the Nuclear Warheads that the Mirkanaian Government had so generiously donated to the Xharnian Nuclear Weapons program.

Usea-Jason

05-12-2005, 02:34

(ooc-Srry,Im not ussually on sundays,)
--At the Political Capitol of Helios--
The SSu just returned from a sudden trip to help another Soviet Allie when he sees the disturbing notices."Why didn't anyone notify me!?!"He yelled at his Second Soviet.

--At the SDF base camp,Same time--

"Hey,Sergi,What do you think there doing over there?"3Lt.Artem,"Best if we don't get any action."1Lt.Sergi responded."Your right...."."Sergi,Its the SSu,We have new orders."Another officer said.

--At Helios--
"Finally he picked up."Jason has hoping to get King Azure IV on."Yes, Royal Azure the Forth,Before you respond,I have to say I'm Sorry for not informing your Goverment of my leave.Now as for the Deturant force.."

--SDF base camp--
"Hey,We never orderd a Helo Extration?"

--At Helios--
"As We speace,the missles are being withrawn.We are hopefull that you accept our apolgey,So we can be allies...."

--SDF base camp--
"Command,We have control of the site."A man reported over the radio."Now launch at the target,then return to base with the Cargo."The commander said,with a texan accent.

--At Helios--
As the SSu was about to hang up,The Soviet Personal defence Squad(SSuPd)Busted into the room and graped Jason Mikoyan."Mister Soviet,This Way."The Lead said Moving him to the Helicopter."What is happening?!?"Jason Commanded,"A missle is inbound,and about to hit."

Axinon

05-12-2005, 02:49

Tag: My names getting tossed around, so I thought I'd check in.

OOC: Sorry, if thats a problem I can change it...

It could open up some interesting RP's, like if Xharn decideds to go to your government for information on Garnell or something...

Axinon

05-12-2005, 03:08

IC: Larvonic left the airport and hailed a taxi. He was in Xharn, the problem was now going to be infiltrating the government. After riding to the nearest hotel and checking in, he laid down in bed and went to sleep.

The next day he woke up. There was a letter for him. It simply said:

Dial monkey bottle safe box washington number 1245334334 4325434 405435442 34333 dynamo at microphone boulevard 750 little street null.

The green puppy is healthy and well, nevermind the smallpox outbreak. No snipers here!!! I love you so much. Hope you call

I hope to see you soon.

Yours Forever,
Sarah Incogammen

He stared at it for a second, and then realized it was in code. He looked at the name. Incogammen meant that he would need to use cipher 5. After de-ciphering the message, he realized that he was told to

"Dial safe number 405435442 at 7:50."

He pulled out his palm pilot and slipped the apparently normal quarter into a concealed slot on the back. This activated the secure data link with the DSS Invincible, the command ship. There was a message waiting for him saying:

Ok, here's what you have to do. We need you to slip into the "Mighty King Azure IV Government building" and install this attached program into the computer mainframe. This will allow our team of hackers to crack into almost all of the Xharn government network, and read their files. This should give us a better idea of what is going on in there.

May Gnochin be with you.

Dan.

Usea-Jason

05-12-2005, 03:10

--Helios,Political Capitol

As the Helicopter Rose up,The SSuPd knew they did the right thing.The Helicopter wes 14 miles away when it hit.The City of Helios was engulfed by a massive fireball.

Xharn

05-12-2005, 05:55

OOC: Let me get this straight your own forces fired upon your capital? Mine have been on stand by but we have not yet given the order to launch a strike on your capital?

IC:
X.R.I.C. Central Command H.Q.
Location: Classified

The X.R.I.C. Agents were looking through there main frame at different profiles of the lastest entries into Xharn. The one that stood out was a Mr Christopher Garnell. There had never been any Mondoth citizens that have ever entered the Kingdom of Xharn before. The higher ups thought this was fishy and an order was sent to the external X.R.I.C. agents to have this Mr. Garnell watched. His photo and his personal information was faxed to the many sub deparments of the X.R.I.C. The head of the sub deparment decides to send a message to the Republic of Mondoth.

To: The Republic of Mondoth
From: Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

The Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core would like inquire about one Mr. Christopher Garnell, He claims to be a citizen of your country and he story has been solid execpt, We have been on heighten alert thanks to the Usea-Jason conflict. We have never before recieved a citzens from your nation and we would like to inquire upon his background if he posses any. We are just trying to figure out if he is a smuggler or another illegal arms dealer.

Signed:
Minister of Intelligence Baroness Alice Rose
Head of the Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

________________________________________________________________

OOC: The Royal Palace is going to be heavily guarded by both X.R.I.C. Extermination Squads and Xharnian Royal Elite Guardsmen...

IC:

The Royal Palace was as usually heavily guarded. The Palace had a direct route to the Hive which meant not only did it defend the King and his family but also the most secret facility in the entire Kingdom.

The Xharnian Royal Elite Guardsmen constantly patroled the outside. They even had snipers on the top of the towers and walls of the palace. The X.R.I.C. also had a few of there own people mointoring the outside with highly senstive cameras. They could detect infra red and that was not including the the laser trip ware alarms and the guard dogs.

Narodna Odbrana

05-12-2005, 08:18

A Remote Country LaneThe line of busses rumbled to a stop along the country lane. The passengers craned their heads and pressed their faces to the window to see what was going on. Looking out, they saw several vans parked in a row along the opposite shoulder of the road; drivers and guards appeared to be getting off the busses and going to the vans, to be replaced by new drivers and guards.

Odd, thought the fellow with the vague Carribean accent. A change of drivers and guards was not that unusual, but the fact that it was being done out along a deserted country lane was. I wonder what they’ve got going on.

After ten or fifteen minutes the caravan of busses started up again, rolling further and further into the countryside.A Few Miles Away, Further Up the RoadSonya sat in her red Porsche, parked along the side of the road. A fashionable silver and indigo earbud rested adjacent to her left ear; any passers-by – there were none along this deserted stretch of country lane, but what was the point in taking chances? – would have imagined that she was simply a very careful driver who had pulled off the road to converse on her cell phone. The reality, however, was somewhat different. The earbud’s wire led to a new Ares SK7000 notebook nestled in the passenger seat, complete with a wireless broadband card. With strong built-in IPSec encryption beneath the feeble WAP encoding her Xharnian ISP provided her, there was little chance of the VoIP communications stream she was currently utilising being intercepted, but just for good measure the entire transfer was hidden by means of steganography inside an innocent set of peer-to-peer file transfers initiated by a program called “Sharez” – a program which one of Narodna Odbrana’s front companies had released a few months back as GPL'ed Open Source. The front company had promptly closed up shop - as planned - in the face of umpteen zillion lawsuits by outraged record companies and movie moguls; yet GPL'ed Open Source lives forever – this particularly pernicious piece better than most - and with a simple plug-in that only Naradna Odbrana operatives possessed, internal communications between field operatives could be concealed as the innocent theft of copyrighted materials - a few MB's of data among EB's of unlawful and yet ultimately unstoppable traffic.

It was just one more way in which the former Serbian terrorist organisation turned for-profit syndicate worked to make crime pay, and pay big time. Not to mention the fact that it helped corrupt the next generation of recruits years in advance by seducing them into thinking that theft was not only acceptable, but even fashionable.

The voice on the other end of the encrypted call was none other than that of the Grandmaster. At the moment, he was not a very happy camper, but he didn’t raise his voice a single decibel. Of course, the Grandmaster never raised his voice a decibel; that was simply not his style.

“This delay is most unwelcome,” he said. “And the worst part of it is, we have no idea how long it will last.”

“Not with Soviets of one stripe or another involved,” she replied bitterly. “The whole lot of them seem to have an unfailing ability to mess up perfectly good money-making opportunities.”

“But you have the goods in hand, right?” asked the Grandmaster.

“Yes, we do,” Sonya replied. “All transactions are complete; we have delivered to the Xharnians everything they wanted, and they have paid in full; we have taken delivery of everything we wanted, and we have paid them in full.” She sighed. “As much as I hate to pull out, we could do so at this moment without a loss of integrity – or a excessive amount of complications.”

“Except, of course,” replied the Grandmaster with only the slightest hint of sarcasm, “For the fact that we can’t get our goods out of the country.”

“Or our people,” the field operative replied, “At least not easily. The Xharnians have got this country locked up as tight as a drum. Thanks to the Soviets and this d_mn_d war scare, that is.”

“Do you have any ideas?” the old man asked.

“None that wouldn’t involve breaking the rules in a major way,” she replied.

The Grandmaster paused for a long moment. “If it comes to that, you may break the rules. But only as a last resort.”

“I understand,” replied Sonya.OOC: Xharnia, we never did agree on a price for the convicts, but assume that whatever you recieved was fair compensation; Baron Von Ericson (congratulations on the promotion, BTW) may either keep the money himself (we can help him find good, safe tax-free shelters overseas, if he’d like) or he can return it to the King as money saved by prudent management (boy, will the King love that!). If you can think of other things we can do for you, let us know. You’ve been a good customer, but things are getting a little too hot for us to stick around too much longer.

As for getting the convicts out of the country, well, that is going to be a problem. We don’t want to “break the rules”, but if we have to...

One more thing (well, two): Just how many convicts are there? That will affect our method of extraction.

Larvonic - even if he manages to hack the Xharnian defence network - will have a very difficult time unearthing our role in all of this; he may come up with a list of front companies and find out that none of them actually exist, but it will take a lot more work to go from there to finding out who owns all those companies, where they got their materials and equipment from, etc.

Xharn

06-12-2005, 00:30

OOC: Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson will probally take half of the proceeds and give the other half to the King. That would please the King and give the Supreme Advisor and his family some retirement and inheritance money.

As for other bussiness, I believe we could work out a deal, The Kingdom of Xharn is now going to try and develop a Nuclear Submarine next. We would be gratiful for a designs for one or a stolen one would work as well. The Kingdom would gladly pay for that or for a lessening of the fee. We could probally help you get out of the Country with your agents and cargo.

As for how many criminal workers you have: 10,000 of them. (We needed a large slave/work force to build the Hive with it's underground Nuclear reactor, tunnels, hidden storage facilities and other assiocated experimental areas. plus some of them were needed to help set up the reinforced Iron/steel plating to protect the Hive from bombing should war break out..)

IC:

The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson was quite glad. The Kingdom was doing well both politically and internaly. The Supreme Advisor was given a leave of absence to be with his family at there new estate outside of the city. The Supreme Advisor Baron Von Ericson heads towards a personal helicopter. The Supreme Advisor is escorted by two Royal Elite Guardsmen who are to guard his person untill he reaches the landing pad at his new private estate with his family.

Carl is thinking about the next task his King wants done. The designing of spy satelites and nuclear submarines. The Supreme Advisor recommends just waiting untill the economy adjusts to the newly increased military budget but the King gave him a direct order and as the Supreme Advisor knew the King orders must be followed.

The King Azure IV looks upon his Supreme advisor from his window at the palace. The King was secretly afraid of Carl now. The Supreme Advisor was becoming a national hero to the peasants and subjects of the Kingdom. The King was becoming worried that this popular figure would eventually get the repuation of becoming the true power behind the throne. That King's paranoia suggested that his Supreme Advisor had become a threat to the Kingdom of Xharn. (The King's Divine Right to Rule.) The King Azure IV sends a message to Baroness Alice Rose. The message was a direct order to have a double the amount of agents to watch Carl at all times...

Axinon

06-12-2005, 01:14

OOC: Am I correct in guessing that there are other government facilities connected to the mainframe? My current plans revolve around that... If it is not the case then I'll need another plan of attack.

Xharn

06-12-2005, 02:42

OOC: The Royal Palace's mainframe is connected to the Hive which has a connection to all Royal Government facilities the trick is getting in and out alive...

Axinon

06-12-2005, 04:19

OOC: Darn, no way I'm going to be getting into the hive or royal palice with no special equipment... time for plan B

IC: William Larvonic could almost feel the eyes following him as he approached his target. He could not see them, but his "6th sense" told him that he was being watched. Fortunately, he had learned a few tricks for shaking any would-be pursuers. He took a turn into a dark back ally, and then another turn. He looked around. And he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye Larvonic saw, for a brief second, a man dressed in black staring at him. He slipped into a nearby store and pretended to be enthralled with some Xharnian hat. The man in black took a position opposite the store, reading a newspaper. The front exit was no good. He spotted a rear exit. His course was set.

Three hours later, after slipping his shadowers through a complicated series of maneuvers, Larvonic arrived at the school that Carl Von Ericson's eldest child went to. Luckily for Larvonic, his child brought a packed lunch and packed it in his locker. While no one was looking, he slipped a little bit of powder into the main course.

Larvonic then plugged a wireless adapter into a school internet router. Hiding in a Janitor’s closet, Larvonic typed the following e-mail to Carl Von Ericson.

Dear Baron Carl Von Ericson,

I don't want to draw this out any longer than I have to. I slipped a pill of Nanoexonide into your eldest son's lunch. Nanoexonide is a poison that is 100 percent fatal unless the proper antidote is applied in a certain time, in your son's case 3-4 days. I need a program installed in the Xharn Government Mainframe. If you install this program, and I WILL know if you install it, I will give you the antidote. Do not go to your government for help, Nanoexonide is a new, unique poison that only the top chemists from my home country know how to cure.

If you do not believe me, the first signs of Nanoexonide poisoning appear within 6 hours of exposure and include chills, nausea and sneezing.

The program is in the attached file.

For the sake of your son, I hope you install this program soon.

From:
Codec 4

Larvonic than slipped out of the school again, leaving no trace of his presence save the poison. When he finally put enough distance between himself and the school, he let out a sigh. He was not heartless, and it troubled him that the only way to achieve his mission was through an innocent child. But he had to do what he had to do.

Mondoth

06-12-2005, 06:45

OOC: Sorry, if thats a problem I can change it...

It could open up some interesting RP's, like if Xharn decideds to go to your government for information on Garnell or something...
OOC: Don't worry about, it boosts my ego to see my name used instead of some one else.

IC:
Message from the Mondothian Dept. of Citizenry
To: Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

Recent terrorist attacks have destroyed our main database of citizens and Passport Issue and as such we are incapable of processing your request at this time, As soon as the databases are reconstructed from hard copies and backup files we will forward any information on Christopher Garnell as it becomes available. For now all we can say is that he is not a criminal in Mondoth or any of our allies and was not born in any Mondothian hospital or medical facility and that he has not contracted any major communicable diseases. Unfortunately this does not rule out mr. Garnell being a naturalized citizen or having been granted citizenship under any refugee statutes. Our technicians are working diligently to reconstruct the citizenry databases and we should have a more complete record available in the next week or two.

Narodna Odbrana

06-12-2005, 07:05

At the Supreme Advisor’s OfficeDear Baron Carl Von Ericson,

I don't want to draw this out any longer than I have to. I slipped a pill of Nanoexonide into your eldest son's lunch. Nanoexonide is a poison that is 100 percent fatal unless the proper antidote is applied in a certain time, in your son's case 3-4 days. I need a program installed in the Xharn Government Mainframe. If you install this program, and I WILL know if you install it, I will give you the antidote. Do not go to your government for help, Nanoexonide is a new, unique poison that only the top chemists from my home country know how to cure.

If you do not believe me, the first signs of Nanoexonide poisoning appear within 6 hours of exposure and include chills, nausea and sneezing.

The program is in the attached file.

For the sake of your son, I hope you install this program soon.

From:
Codec 4“D_mn, is that printer down again?!?”

Stefan had heard this ever since lunch, and had been the consistent target of angry looks from the staff at the office of the Supreme Advisor, but he had no choice. The e-mail he had intercepted from the anonymous person claiming to have poisoned the Baron’s son had placed an important asset at risk; that required direct and immediate action. So he was staking out the Baron’s office, knowing that Von Ericson would be back shortly.

Sure enough, shortly after 1:30PM, the Baron came in from his working lunch, greeting his staff. He even traded glances with Stefan, although it was obvious that the Serb programmer was someone that Von Ericson clearly didn’t want to see.

After a moment, Stefan set down the various pieces of the Plextar printer he’d been fiddling with and slipped over to the Supreme Advisor’s office. He knocked, heard a gruff acknowledgement, and swiftly slipped in, closing the door behind him.

“Have you read your e-mail yet?” asked Stefan. The Baron, not having looked up to see who he had invited into his office, flinched atthe recognition of his voice, and then looked up painfully.

“Why?” he asked with an air of resignation.

“Just read it,” said Stefan. Von Ericson saw the concern on his face and turned white. He popped open his e-mail client and asked, “Which one am I looking for?”

“The one sent by someone called Codec4,” Stefan replied. He waited.

Carl Von Ericson read the e-mail. Then he raised his hand to his temple and rubbed his eyes. “Tell me this wasn’t you people.”

“This wasn’t us,” said Stefan. “We apparently have a new player in the game.”

“Who?” asked Von Ericson.

“I have no idea,” said Stefan, “But you can be sure we’d like to know. To that end, I recommend that you do as this ‘Codec4’ demands.”

The Baron’s eyes grew wide. “But – but – but,” he stammered, “That would be treason!”

“It would if you weren’t ordered to do so by the X.R.I.C.,” Stefan said, presenting a fake I.D. card. “Of course, it’s a fake – but it gives you some cover in case anybody starts asking questions. Just say that I told you I was from Bureau 17 – a subdivision of the X.R.I.C. so secret that even the King and Baroness Rose don’t know about it.”

“Will that story fly?” asked Von Ericson uncertainly.

“Sure, why not?” replied the Serb programmer with a wry smile. “We created it this morning in the X.R.I.C.’s internal files. All they have to do is search their records for it.” Stefan displayed obvious pride in this latest coup.

“I assume there’s a price for this favour,” said the Baron, resignation in his voice.

“No,” Stefan replied, “There is not. We are acting out of self-interest, both in preserving a valuable client and in covering our tracks. At this moment we have no idea whether or not this ‘Codec4’ is after you or us, but we don’t want to take any chances. So you may consider this a form of service after the sale.”

Von Ericson couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “So you’re going to protect me from this person?”

“We’re going to find out who this person is and eliminate him,” said Stefan coldly. “That should produce a result that is to everyone’s benefit.” Then, after a moment, Stefan continued. “There is something that you can do for us, however,” he said. “Something that is in your interest as much as it is in ours.”

“What is that?” asked the Baron suspiciously.

“You can mark some 600 standard shipping containers as critical to your nation’s secret weapons programme, and order Customs to let them be if they run across them,” Stefan replied. “You don’t want the King to find out that you didn’t kill those convicts when he ordered you to, now do you?”

After a minute, Von Ericson quietly said, “No.”

“Good,” said Stefan. “In the meantime, Sonya asked me to pass along some news.”

“Which is?” asked the Baron, flinching at the mention of his erstwhile paramour.

“She may have found you a ballistic missile submarine.”OOC: Axinon, what were you thinking? Don’t you remember that one of our guys (Stefan) was a member of the Baron’s I.T. department?!? You’ve got to believe we read the guy’s e-mail...

Xharn

06-12-2005, 07:55

The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson heads out of his private office and heads down towards the secret entrance to Hive. (The Basement of the Royal palace.) The Supreme Advisor knew his sons life was on the line and this had to be a fast operation. He reaches the first secruity system a hand print identification pad with camera's and guards standing near by.

The Supreme Advisor puts his right hand on the pad and after a short scan the system in a femine voice saids, "Hand print verified. Please follow the red arrows to the next room for a retinal scan."

The Supreme Advisor hates this part he walks up to the machine that looks like some mechanism used by an eye doctor. The Carl puts his face on it and the system scans and lets him throught with out hestation.

The final test was the voice recognization. Carl saids, "This is Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson operation code: 602239685." The Femine voice saids, "Welcome Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson to the Hive."

The Supreme Advisor runs towards the Central Computer system. He uses his cover story of being ordered by X.R.I.C. to get past the standard guards and the lesser X.R.I.C. agents.

Finally Carl makes it to the primary computer he starts to log in to the system and starts loading up the program into the main Xharnian Government system.

The Supreme Advisor saids, "I hope this saves my son. I also hope my life will not be forfiet for this little endavour."

The X.R.I.C. Guards watching him do not understand what he is saying. Some are suspecting the Advisor to the throne is going mad...

Narodna Odbrana

06-12-2005, 09:09

Finally Carl makes it to the primary computer he starts to log in to the system and starts loading up the program into the main Xharnian Government system.

The Supreme Advisor saids, "I hope this saves my son. I also hope my life will not be forfiet for this little endavour."At That Very Moment...Stefan knew that he had to work quickly.

Two things had to happen, both unobtrusively. The first was for Stefan to feed Codec4’s Trojan false information. That was the easy part: when he had first intercepted Codec4’s message to the Baron, he had uploaded the program to Narodna Odbrana’s headquarters and ordered it decompiled by the one of the organisation’s many Grendel superclusters – in this case, a cluster of 1024 blades running a 64-bit custom Lugnuts kernel on quad Iridium processors. He’d then classified the job as Priority Alpha and then gotten the Grandmaster to approve placing the organisation’s colossal “Hacker@Home” network at the disposal of the Grendel cluster’s Master machine – itself a smaller 16-way Grendel cluster – as a computational reserve.

“Hacker@Home” was Narodna Odbrana’s secret weapon. There were literally trillions of laptops, handheld devices, and home computers out there in the great wide world that had been loaded with various iterations of Macrocosm’s shoddy Wingdings OS – a system that was painfully easy to compromise, especially when deployed out-of-the-box by the typical casual user or poorly-paid electronics store technician. “Hacker@Home” – Stefan’s pride and joy, for he had been the prime mover behind the project – used the “Seti@Home” paradigm to give Narodna Odbrana a very small “slice” of the computing power of those trillions and trillions of machines; when an especially thorny computational problem presented itself, the ordinary Joe in the world’s glass houses simply chalked it up to “a bad day on the Internet” or – in more esoteric circles – Mercury going retrograde.

“Hacker@Home” had achieved many things, not the least of which was the discovery of the quantum multiverse and how to pass between different “cosms” (a/k/a “breaking the rules”) by taking advantage of the weakened fabric of reality at the confluence of geomantic currents (popularly known as “ley lines”), a secret unearthed through the now-famous Fortean Query #152, which in turn was a consequence of the notorious but often overlooked Jatinum Spade incident (the whole subject of which we will speak of no further in this story, expect to note that when Sonya told Carl Von Ericson that the convicts Narodna Odbrana had purchased were going “far, far away”, she really meant it). But its first and most commonly useful capability lay in the fact that it could untangle even the strongest cyphers in a matter of minutes.

Most strong encryption programs were predicated on the notion that an attacker would use only a small handful of machines to crack a cipher; none considered the possibility that there would be someone out there who could unleash a few trillion CPU’s on the problem and have cycles to burn on solitaire while they waited the requisite 27 minutes for the crack to be completed. Breaking codes and hacking systems was child’s play for someone to whom almost the entire world’s computer supply was nothing more than a ready pool of resources waiting to be gobbled up.

By the time Stefan’s conversation with the Baron was completed, the Grendel cluster had decompiled the program; Stefan’s buddies at headquarters had managed to write a shim to allow Stefan to feed false data into the Trojan, and the “Hacker@Home” network had managed to decrypt all of its internal keys to boot. Its secrets laid bare, the modified Trojan was passed along to the Baron in place of the real one, and – dutifully loaded on Xharnia’s top-secret mainframe, it was ready to act at Stefan’s behest to deceive and betray its master.

Of course, to feed the Trojan bad data, Stefan had to have a way into the mainframe system itself. But that was also pathetically simple: to link the Hive with the Royal Palace, Xharnia had laid a highly secure bundle of fibre-optic cables between the two locations. The conventional wisdom in the I.T. industry was that fibre-optic cables could not be tapped. That conventional wisdom was wrong.

Tapping a fibre-optic line, it turned out, required nothing more than an ability to temporaraily divert the photons travelling along the filament onto a different path – usually through immersion in a liquid whose refractive properties were identical to that of the cable (as was the case with several liquid polymers) and then splitting the photon stream, usually by inserting a prism into the grotesquely widened “strand”. After the stream was split, the diminished signal could then be boosted back to original strength before sending those precious little photons back onto the original filament and on their merry way, the owner of said “secure” system none the wiser.

The second thing that needed to happen was for the Trojan program to inform Stefan as to the location of the recipient of the communications stream. This was less of a problem than appeared to be the case: Stefan had already mapped the entire IP address space of Xharnia, which would tell him which ISP was hosting Codec4’s machine. At that point, it would come down to whether Stefan could crack the ISP’s routing tables to ascertain which physical connection was being assigned to Codec4’s IP address before Codec4 disconnected. If so, then Stefan would be able to relay the information to Kiko’s unit, which would move in to perform the “wet” phase of the operation.OOC: I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it... and yes, Narodna Odbrana does possess the ability to travel between parallel universes in the quantum multiverse - but to be fair I only use that capability to get them into or out of a scenario, never to achieve advantage within in.

I mention this unusual capability because it does help explain some of the more peculiar things about the organisation’s nature - not to mention its past, present, and future (assuming that one can distinguish between the three...)

Xharn

06-12-2005, 09:43

The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson fearing the enemy program might try to enter into the highly classifed files. The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson orders the private Programer of the mainframe to begin a new encripytion codes. For the following files:

Nuclear Project
Military Operations and positions
X.R.I.C. operations and information
The Royal Xharnian High Command Data

The Baron hoped he could protect these files at least...

OOC: He does not know about your little set up and thinks he should save all that he can...

Narodna Odbrana

06-12-2005, 10:04

OOC: He does not know about your little set up and thinks he should save all that he can...OOC: Excellent. That makes the whole situation more believable...

A Few Minutes Later...“The Trojan is in place,” Stefan told Kiko via VoIP to her handheld, which was at that moment clipped to her belt, with a single wire running up to her earpiece. “Now all we can do is wait.”

Kiko looked at the two big men accompanying her, the same men that Carl Von Ericson had at first mistaken for XIRC agents. All three carried X.R.I.C. I.D. cards and belonged to the fictitious Bureau 17. In addition, each wore mirrored sunglasses that doubled as miniaturised heads-up displays; these too were connected to their handhelds through discreet wires, and provided a series of navigational maps and building schematics, pilfered from the Xharnian Urban Planning Board.

The two men checked and re-holstered their weapons; they each carried a pair of 9mm automatic pistols beneath their voluminous charcoal grey suit coats, each loaded with Teflon-coated bullets and equipped with a short silencer. Kiko carried just a single 9mm automatic, holstered in the small of her back, beneath her royal blue blazer; but she had other, deadlier weapons at her disposal.

Xharn

06-12-2005, 10:35

The Baron keeps trying to encrypt everything he can. He hopes he can get to dissident and Criminal files. The fear of some unkown power having knowledge of what Xharn does to it's criminals scares the h_ll out of the Supreme Adviosr Baron Carl Von Ericson.

_____________________________________________________________

The Baroness Alice Rose was dissapointed in Mondoths report. It meant that arresting Mr.Garnell could not be done without some sort planted or faked proof of sabatoge. The Baroness smiles and thinks of ways to incrimante Mr.Garnell and bring him to Xharnian Justice..

OOC: Does not want his government to be penalized for crimes agaisnt humanity with the Forced Labor Camps...

Usea-Jason

06-12-2005, 19:48

--International Teveviosion Message--
A grey haired man was on the screen.He Started Talking with a Texan Accent.
"As of 9:45 Am Usea Central Mean time,I Dublya B. Geogrear, and my group of former Big bussness owners and political Tycoons have destroyed the Union of Usean Soviet Stated goverment.We Captured one of there Nuklear Deturant Groups and used its Nuklear Missle to destroy the Political Capitol of Helios.Now with Most of the goverment yout of the way,We will use the remaning missles and the Captured men to Recreate the United Capitolist State of Usea!"
He then left the screen.

--Saftly Outside What was Helios--
There was the wrecked Chopper.The Status of the occupents is unknows.

(ooc-It was terrorist! Will the Soviet States be replaced?)

Narodna Odbrana

06-12-2005, 22:29

A News Flash“This just in,” said the XBA (Xharn Broadcasting Agency) anchorperson. “A nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine has run aground on Xharn’s Outer Banks... (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10045765)”

OOC: Merry Christmas!

Axinon

06-12-2005, 23:18

OOC: I did forget about your man in the IT department, silly me. But the e-mail is un-traceable, as it was sent from a stolen laptop behind the school. The actual operation of the program will be carried out on board a converted Iowa-class battleship miles away.

Is the "false information" gibberish or incorrect information

IC: On board the DSS Invincible, a single computer screen went blue. The hacker behind the screen let out a yell. After pinging the Xharnian Government mainframe for 3 hours, the vulnerability opened up by the program had been revealed.

The commander in charge of the operation sent one simple message to Larvonic.

Mission Accomplished. Get out of there.

Xharn
Upon reading this, Larvonic let out a smile. He went to the nearest post office and mailed a package to the Baron. It was express mail and contained a bottle marked "Nanoexonide antidote"

With the remaining money, he got on a bus to go to the cost. It was there that an unmarked helicopter would pick him up and take him back to the Invincible.

Xharn

06-12-2005, 23:45

OOC: Remember the country is still on lock down and if the helecopter is detected it will be fired upon.

As for Usea-Jason we probally would not care about the capitalist taking over. It means bussiness can be done between our nations.

IC: The Baron was heading off to pay for the good news that he recieved his wife however was told to adminster the antidote when it came to the house.

Narodna Odbrana

06-12-2005, 23:56

Is the "false information" gibberish or incorrect information(?)OOC: Disinformation, of course.On board the DSS Invincible, a single computer screen went blue. The hacker behind the screen let out a yell. After pinging the Xharnian Government mainframe for 3 hours, the vulnerability opened up by the program had been revealed.Meanwhile...Stefan scowled. “Kiko, stand down,” he said.

“And the reason for that would be…?” asked the Japanese woman, seriously miffed.

“Because they’re offshore,” said Stefan. “Talk to you later.” And with that, he broke the link and opened up a secure channel to Narodna Odbrana headquarters.

“Get me the Grandmaster,” he said with extreme reluctance.

Thirty Minutes Later”Well, at least we know who our interlopers are,” said Stefan. “Quite a nice setup they have there – a converted battleship just outside the territorial limits.”

The Grandmaster lit another cigarette and nodded. “Anything we might do would certainly create an international incident of the sort that would be very hard to deny.”

Stefan considered the possibilities. “I don’t suppose that we could arrange for a tragic accident at sea…”

“Not without calling in more favours than this is worth,” replied the Grandmaster. “Just continue to feed them false information.”

“Sooner or later,” mused the Serb programmer, “The Xharnians will discover the Trojan. Then they will ask questions about how it got there. That could be embarrassing to Baron Von Ericson.”

The Grandmaster considered this. “Could you arrange for the mainframe to crash in a day or two? That would shut down the Trojan.”

“A crash would only take it out of memory,” replied Stefan. “When the Xharnians went to reload the system, they would reload the Trojan as well.”

“Unless it was somehow removed from the backup archives,” observed the old man. “How often do the Xharnians upgrade their system?”

Stefan smiled. “Not often; the last upgrade was a month ago. I could overwrite the nightly backups with yesterday’s system archives until the crash.”

“Then there’s your solution,” said the Grandmaster. “See to it.”

Narodna Odbrana

07-12-2005, 00:09

Along a Deserted Country LaneThe prisoners were getting restless, and the one with the vaguely Caribbean accent was beginning to worry. No, not beginning – he’d been growing increasingly concerned about what was happening as the day wore on. They had come to a stop about two hours ago, just before sunset. It had begun to drizzle, and he and his fellow passengers were given a light meal consisting of sandwiches and juice. For many of the men this was not enough, and soon they began complaining that they were still hungry. The guards – four to a bus – ignored them.

Most of the convicts didn’t notice, but the busses were being driven ahead, one every twenty to twenty-five minutes. Eventually, it came to be the turn of the bus carrying the man with the Caribbean accent. The driver climbed back in, got behind the wheel, threw the bus into gear, stepped on the gas and ignored the torrent of curses behind him as the vehicle lurched forward. After about a quarter of a mile, the bus came to a dip in the road, and here the driver turned down a long, tree-lined drive.

Work in another country my _ss, thought the man with a Caribbean accent. Tell me that this isn’t trouble. He began looking around for something that could serve as a weapon. Not surprisingly, that effort came up empty.

The drive opened out into a field, complete with a farmhouse, a series of outbuildings, and a very large vehicle shed. The other busses were nowhere in sight, but there were plenty of cars parked in front of the farmhouse, including a positively sweet little red Porsche. The living room window was open; inside, in front of the window, a woman with drop-dead looks paced back and forth smoking cigarettes and speaking into an earpiece. The convicts roared vulgar come-ons, inviting the beauty to share various pleasures with them; inside the farmhouse, of course, she heard nothing.

The man with the faintly Caribbean accent was paying the woman no mind, even though she was gorgeous. He was looking at the vehicle shed, whose interior was well lit. There were loads of men waiting there, with crates stacked up on one side of the shed and several semis parked outside. There was something odd about the trailers on those semis. It took the convict a moment for his mind to connect the dots; the semis weren’t pulling ordinary trailers – they were hauling flatbeds, each with 2 TEU’s ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEU). What were all of these shipping containers doing out in the middle of nowhere?

I have a bad feeling about this. he thought. Very, very, very, very bad…

The bus pulled inside the shed and lurched to a stop. Behind them the doors to the shed begin to lower, The driver braked the vehicle, threw it into park, grabbed his jacket, and – followed by the four guards, disembarked from the bus. Instantly, alarm bells rang in the head of the man with the vaguely Caribbean accent. Why have the guards left the bus?!? Then, as he gazed at the front of the bus, he suddenly knew. Too late, he began to stand up, began to cry out. Too late.

The driver had left what appeared to be a coffee thermos next to his seat. He had carried the thermos on board less than five minutes ago – not an odd thing for a new driver to do in advance of a long drive. He had then removed the cup that doubled as a lid – also nothing strange for a man who was going to drink coffee as he drove – but he had never removed the inner cap and poured himself a cup. Odd.

Now, his journey at an apparent end, he had disembarked in a hurry – and left the coffee thermos next to his seat, outer lid removed. Why had he brought it on for such a short journey? And why had he left it when he’d gotten off the bus?

As the man with the vaguely Caribbean accent began to shout, a thick red smoke suddenly began to issue from the “coffee thermos”. Men cried out, rose out of their seats, tried to rush to the front of the bus, tried to pop the windows, tried to open the emergency hatches. Of course, none of these things helped them. The red mist filled the bus and men began to fall to the floor unconscious. In less than three minutes, all motion in the bus had ceased.

By then, of course, everyone in the garage had donned gas masks; once the convicts were all unconscious, they opened the doors, entered the bus, and swiftly removed its passengers. The unconscious felons were placed on gurneys and swiftly wheeled off into another room in the shed; the driver, now wearing a mask, backed the bus out of the shed and took the bus back up the drive, where he turned away from the rest of the caravan, thereby clearing the way for the next bus.

Meanwhile, the convicts were secured with restraints, injected with I.V.’s, and fitted with oxygen masks. Each was then lowered into a container roughly 7’ × 2½’ × 3’, which was then sealed and loaded into one of the standardised containers. Here, they could be kept alive – but sedated – for several hours, enabling them to make the next stage in their journey.

As each standardised container was loaded, it was hefted by a forklift and placed on the flatbed of a waiting semi; when two such containers were loaded on its flatbed, the semi would pull away with its human cargo, bound for a barge landing on a major river nearby.

Xharn

07-12-2005, 01:02

The Supreme Advisor finally makes it to the Royal Treasury. Carl then begins to access the codes and assorted securtiy systems to get inside. (Think Fort Knox but with twice the amount of armed personal.)

The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson manages to reach towards money that goes towards the military budget. He grabs several million Zeni and saids to the guards, "I need extra money to finish a final transaction for our the final devolpments of our Nuclear program."

The Guards let the Supreme Advsior through without question as he gets into his private limo and heads off waiting to be contacted.

The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson wonders what how he is going to get the custom agents and X.R.I.C. agents from examining the "Cargo" out of the country. Carl suddnely gets an idea and calls the head of Customs around that area and gives them a warning some highly radoactive materal being sent out of the country for disposal.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The Custom agents and X.R.I.C. agents were told of dangerous nuclear material was being sent out of country for disposal the orders were not to go near it for fear of the radiativity of the cargo.

Axinon

07-12-2005, 03:00

The deck of the DSS Invincible was in chaos. With the special operations subs promised by the Citadel not on hand, the crew had to improvise. Larvonic needed to be pulled from Xharn and the window of opportunity to do so was closing fast. The primary option was a helicopter extraction, but Xharn was in lockdown, any aerial retrieval was sure to meet resistance.

After much discussion, the captain of the ship suggested "Why don't we suppress the anti-air defenses. We know where the AA batteries are. Our spy satellites tell us that much. This IS a battleship, and most of the weapon systems are still operational..."

So for the last 30 minutes, technicians had been feeding locations into the targeting systems on the ship. The problem was, the SSM launchers on board the Invincible had not been used in over 30 years. While they were theoretically supposed to be in working order, there was much speculation as to whether or not they would actually work.

Meanwhile, inside the bridge, an intense debate was going on.

"I tell you, firing tomahawks at Xharn is the number one way to blow our cover!"

"Why not, we have nothing to loose. Xharn a small navy, one we should be able to hold off, if they can even find us with no spy satellites."

"Its too risky I tell you!"

But the plan went on. The ship sailed into Usea-Jasonian waters and fired. A couple of the launchers malfunctioned, but enough missiles were launched to sufficiently suppress the Xharn aircraft defenses. The helicopter was launched and Larvonic was en-route to the pickup spot.

Xharn

07-12-2005, 03:13

OOC: You forget, I do have a Aircore...

IC: The Tomahawks missiles that headed for the anti-air defenses ended up facing a series of S.A.M.s that were positioned to protect the Flak cannons and the other Anti-Aircraft defenses several postions were destroyed but the attack alerted the local Airbase a Squadron of 20 F-14's were heading in to search and destroy.

The Xharnian coastal defense forces were notified of these attacks and the Navy was notified. The Attack had offically turned the nation of Usea-Jason into an enemy of the Kingdom.

The King was notified of the attack.

OOC: I plan to start a war thread between me and Usea-Jason.

Axinon

07-12-2005, 04:35

On board the Invincible, the mood was somber. The attack had done some damage to the air defenses, but as the latest new photographs showed, it did not do enough to facilitate an airlift. They would need some other way.

The ship, fearing a counter attack, fled the scene. The SAM batteries were activated just in case, but the command decided to flee rather than fight.

Meanwhile, Larvonic glanced at his newspaper that he bought.

"Nuclear Submarine beached near Xharn; Origin Unknown"

He noted this information and continued to wait for the bus to arrive at the cost.

Xharn

07-12-2005, 04:44

IC: The Xhanians failed to find out who had fired and destroyed several Anti-Air sights but this confirmed one thing. That Usea-Jason was plotting to invade the Kingdom by taking out the Air Defenses.

The Xharnian Royal Army begins to moblize and heads towards the borders of Usea-Jason. The Sight of thousands of Infantry men and tanks heading out of there bases towards the border could be seen by many an observer

The Royal Xharnian Elite Guardsmen also sent there battalions to reniforce the Army as it advances and prepares to attack there neighbor...

OOC: Side note, In the Death of God Emperor Rp. I am playing as Xharn in a PMT situation. Do not relate same events as they would be considered different times.

Mirkana

07-12-2005, 06:33

When word reached Mirkana that war had begun between Xharn and Usea-Jason, there was only one thing to do. Mirkana would aid its new ally Xharn. The 1st and 2nd Airborne Divisions, now considered Mirkana's best troops, headed off to Xharn. Meanwhile, maps of Usea-Jason were consulted as General Remmol considered how Mirkana could invade.

Aboard the MNS Tempest, somewhere between Mirkana and Xharn...
"Are you planning to reprise Abberjabber?" asked Admiral Nina Koskov.
"It's on the table," answered Remmol over the teleconferencer. "But there are many ways to invade a country."
"Well, considering that Abberjabber was a resounding success, I would not be averse to doing it again!" interjected Lieutenant Baxter, the Admiral's aide.
"In the meantime, you are to conduct naval operations. Keep in touch with the Xharnians. If you see a non-Xharnian warship, sink it. There is some chaos in Usea-Jason since the nuclear coup."
"Excluding that carrier off our port?" Koskov chuckled.
Remmol laughed. "Yes, I would be quite upset if you sank the Poseidon. Oh, and if you learn of any foreign navies in the area supporting Xharn, keep track of their ships, so you don't sink them."
"Will that be all?"
"Yes. Please inform Captain Dolores of these orders, then contact Poseidon and inform Commodore Thorman. Stronghold out."

OOC: Good thing the Invincible has fled.

Xharn

07-12-2005, 06:46

The Mirkana's help was greatly appriecated. The Royal Xharnian High Command was fuming about this sneak attack. Within an hours time a message was sent to the new regime of Usea-Jason:

To: Usean-Jason's Government.
From: The Royal Xharnian High Command

We had hoped our governments would have been able to live in peace with one another. The fact this unprovoked attack came from nation's waters show you have attacked Xharnian Military installations. Thus the Kingdom of Xharn has declared war upon the nation Usea-Jason.

Signed:
King Azure IV
The Supreme High King and supreme Ruler of the Kingdom of Xharn

Nairatsa

07-12-2005, 08:50

(OOC: My, my, you all post quite fast, particularly The Mob. The Carribean gent's name is Hunter de Rais, or at least, that is his current cover. Xharnia, let me know if that is not a suitable Xharnian name. Narodna Odbrana, it seems that this situation is getting a little 'hot' for either of us....my man will have some rather pointed things to say about any cross-dimentional travel, as well. Now, on to the plot, as I've at least three scenarios I should be noting involvement in.)

First, in the midst of nowhere, on a convict bus......

As the convicts fell to the floor around him, Hunter mimicked their actions, though long hours of sailor's breath-excercises and a temoprary subdermal toxin scrubber would have allowed him to do quite a bit more. His guise forced him to remain limp as the Mob's agents hauled him towared the container, then injected, masked, and tied him down, like so much bulk cargo. As the steel doors clanged shut, however, the drugged Xarnian farmboy fell away, silently replaced by the cold, calculating demeanor of a master spy. He immediately swept his surroundings and, failing to find anything of interest, began work on his bonds.

Even before all traces of the first van were removed, he had slipped a legnth of nanofilament cord (Essentially, NF cord is drastically sharp, flexible wire, with "safe" slightly wider/flatter bits) from his shirt's hem. With some deft finger-and-teeth-work, he dragged the invisible line across his wrist restraint, and casually prised his arm free. The rest of him soon followed, and before long, he had tended to the other prisoners as well; though he left them comatose, he unbound them, and nearly withdrew their sedative drip. Apprising the container around him, he decided that he would no longer take advantage of his host's generous hospitality, purely for manners' sake.

With the assistance of a dim chem-light (his shoelaces), Hunter took a thin needle from the sole of one of his boots. Threading the side of the needle, he slipped it between the container's doors, and sliced small portions off of his side of the door (the needle acts as a pivot point for a low-tension, high precision cutting device; akin to a cheese wire) until he could manage to work the latch to the container door....revealing yet another container. "Hm. The standard shipping crates from before. Let's not see where they're taking me, shall we? I have pressing social engagements, after all." The slightly frustrated semi-mercenary crept out of his pod, slunk through what room there was, and arrived at the container's door, finally.

The "highly radioactive materiel" that was one of the Nairatsan best pulled the door trick once more, slightly more neatly, then, almost as an afterthought, used the wire to delicately carve on the interior: "Like Scaramouche, I split the sky." He smirked, and then sauntered out, pulling the unravelled string of his shirt behind him, a string lashed to the sedative drips of all the inmates he dared take time for. Hunter neatly leapt to the access walk, nano-wire delicately in hand, and crept topside, where he wasted no time in availing himself of the nearest railing. The minimal splash went unnoticed over the clamor of the overloaded customs docks, and the scramble of hastily-approving inspectors.

A bit of hard, deep water swimming brought Hunter to the far shore, soaked to the bone, but wearing an immutable grin. He crept along the forested shoreline, taking note of the boat's title and registry as he went, and hoping he had not wasted his emergency beacon by clipping it to the other container. "Who was that woman, and her awfully well-organized mob? Not X.R.I.C., to be sure; they've never opted for slavery before. This bears watching." He crept off into the night, in search of new clothes, and some answers.

Elsewhere, between a pair of well-tanned individuals in a dense spot of foliage along the Xharnian coast, and in scope range of the MNS Tempest,

"Hm. This is beginning to heat up a bit. Three active, and at least one quiet
interest beyond our own. Mira, issue the general missive to all official
operatives. They ought to keep on their toes, and quietly slip away as
possible. Post it in the usual way."

"And the unofficial ones?"

"Heh. Ordering that lot won't do any good, anyway. Particularly Hunter and
Frin. We'll keep at this until they're out too, though. They'll hear it, if they
care to listen."

"Right, sir."

*A rubbery noise is heard from another, nearby bush, then little more,
although the forest seems a touch emptier than it used to...*

An undisclosed area, somewhere near a certain submarine:

A pair of dark blue eyes winked into existance underneath a feathery bush. The owner of those eyes gave the sub a critical once-over, and chuckled noiselessly to themself. This would not be the first time a front nation had been used for something underhanded, even without their knowlege. The sub looked far too new and well-kept to have been in Davy Jones' locker for two solid years. "Odds are, she's stil got her full compliment aboard. I wonder who paid for this, and how much?" The eyes winked out, concealed behind a portable data link, which had taps into many of the more interesting 'nets across the 'verse.

As bits drained from the Xharnian treasury in the form of a certain Baron's latest hard-currency withdrawl, the eyes registered amusement, and a touch of annoyance. Tapping the Xharnian 'net had been nearly trivial, simply requiring some Van Eck chicanery combined with a touch of port reassignment; King Azure IV now had three active links, one to his desk, one to his laptop, and one to his non-existant PDA. Yet, it remained a mystery exactly who he was funneling money to. Obviously this "Sonya" character, a snip of information courtesy of the loaner pool and some well hidden busrt traffic, but she surely was not an independant agent.

With a small shrug, the eyes came back into view, the laptop flipped closed, and it's data shuffled off in an odd little way (ask if you'd like specifics). It was more pressing to investigate the war, and the nuclear action around it. Leave Hunter to these meddlers; he would find something interesting about them in time. More pressing matters await, including observing Xharn's latest round of allies, and nuclear deployments. Perhaps the opportunity would arise for a little bait-and-switch of Nairatsa's own. The eyes crept off down the line, to a more secure vantage point, and continued their long-distance observation of the salvage.

(OOC, again: Hunter "had a bad feeling about this?" Heh. Incidentally, the Nairatsan Intel. service teaches sarcasm.... Hunter got full marks. I also made some assumptions about stacking.... I didn't want to eviscerate anyone, or have to explain how he'd manage to pry another container off his own. Also to Xharn: As a seperate thread, or is this going to become the war thread as well?)

Xharn

07-12-2005, 10:13

OOC: The name is acceptable. The Thread, I want to start a seperate one for the war agaisnt Usea-Jason but I want ask Usea-Jason if starting seperate thread is ok....

Narodna Odbrana

07-12-2005, 10:29

A Few Minutes LaterBaron Von Ericson was riding home in his limousine when his cell phone rang. It was his secretary, Dorothy. “Sir, a woman dropped by from the XRIC; she’s going to bring some documents over to your estate this evening.”

Then Dorothy paused for a moment before continuing: “Did something happen to your son?”

Carl Von Ericson felt a lump in his throat. “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” continued Dorothy, “The woman said that, in light of what happened at your son’s school this afternoon, she’s put in a request to increase security for your family. She also recommends that you hire tutors to home school your children. Did something happen at school today?”

The Supreme Advisor’s brain raced to come up with an explanation. “Yes, there was ... there was a threat made against my son’s life.” He hoped that his lie had been convincing.

There was a moment of silence on the line, and then Dorothy spoke consolingly: “That’s terrible. Do you want me to make some calls to help you find a tutor?”

“Yes,” said the Baron, “That would be a big help.” As the phone call ended, Von Ericson felt tremendous relief.At the Farmhouse“Go over the details of the plan one more time,” said Sonya

Hourame set down her tea cup and went through the process step by step: “We sedate the convicts and pack them for shipment here, loading them into TEU’s where they will be sustained with oxygen and glucose until they can be safely unpacked.”

She continued in businesslike fashion. “We ship the containers to a nearby river landing and load them onto barges along with other TEU’s containing some of the very cargo we’re telling Xharnian Customs is actually in the containers.”

“Manifests have been prepared for submission to Customs,” Hourame said, “With appropriate paperwork to indicate that the exact nature of the cargoes in question is classified by order of Supreme Advisor Von Ericson, and that the containers are not to be examined. That should assist us in our efforts.”

“And then?” asked Sonya.

“We take the cargo downriver to the nearest seaport and load it onto seagoing vessels for export from the country,” replied the Yekruti woman. “Once outside Xharnian waters, we divert the container ships to the transfer point.’

“The old MASLO drilling platform 250 nautical miles offshore, at the very edge of the Barandian Triangle,” added Sonya. “I’d wager that the Xharnians have no idea of its significance.” Sonya stared out into the rain for a moment, and then turned to Hourame. “The funny thing is, I haven’t been told where the convicts are going. Usually I’d expect my uncle to share that information with me, but for once he’s being very quiet about his plans.”

Hourame kept her silence. She knew exactly where the convicts were going, but that would be her operation, and only a few people knew about it. Sonya was not one of them.

“How many people can we fit in a TEU?” Sonya asked, interrupting Hourame’s moment of reflection.

“Eighteen,” Hourame replied.

“So to smuggle 10,000 people out of the country…” began Sonya, extracting a cigarette from her case as she spoke.

“We will need over 550 TEU’s, more or less,” finished Hourame, “Which we’ll split among two or three vessels, each with a capacity of five or six thousand TEU’s.”

Sonya nodded her head. “Not quite a needle in a haystack, but at only 3-4% of each ship’s capacity, it will be unlikely that anyone will find out what we are doing.”

Narodna Odbrana

07-12-2005, 11:32

The rest of him soon followed, and before long, he had tended to the other prisoners as well; though he left them comatose, he unbound them, and nearly withdrew their sedative drip. Apprising the container around him, he decided that he would no longer take advantage of his host's generous hospitality, purely for manners' sake.OOC: Uh, that’s not going to be possible.

A standard TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) is 20’ × 8’ × 8½’ (length × width × height). The “caskets” are – as indicated earlier, 7’ × 3’ × 2½’ (again, length × width × height). They’re packed into a steel lattice for ease of access, with the long end running across the width of the container; the convicts lie face up. A little math should tell you that there can’t be more that 6” clearance on either side of the container (that’s measuring from the outer edge of each “casket” to the exterior of the TEU, so part of that 6” would be taken up by the container’s corrugated steel skin. Consequently, side to side, there couldn’t be more that 3-4” of inside clearance at the head and foot of each “casket” – and most of that would be taken up by the lattice (think of three “shelves” with rollers in between to facilitate ease of loading).

The same is true measuring from the floor of TEU to its ceiling: three 2½’ “caskets” would stack 7½’ tall, while the container itself is 8½’ tall. Again, that leaves 6” of clearance on top and on the bottom (just as with the sides). This actually means that the “caskets” have to be a little less that 2½’ high (like 29½” or so), but what’s a fraction of an inch among friends?

Finally, from the front of the TEU to the rear, six “caskets” lie side to side on each of the three stacked levels; at 3’ of width apiece, this leaves 2’ of space on either end. Again, allowing for a 2-3” corrugated metal skin on either end, this leaves only about 19” of free space front to back. This is probably not quite enough for the “vending” equipment (for the sedatives, oxygen, and glucose - roughly 24” in width, at the front end of the TEU [opposite the door], running side to side and floor to ceiling), but again that simply means that each casket is actually only 34½” wide – but again the difference (from the 3’ given earlier) is trivial.

The upshot of all this is that even if Hunter found a way to slip the lid off his “casket” – which is impossible because there’s no place for the lid to go (in fact, there’s no way to even pop the lid off – you’ve got just a fraction of an inch on any side of the “casket” to work with), he’d be boxed in on all sides by caskets and the corrugated steel walls of the TEU itself. Those “caskets” are packed in like sardines...

Hunter can get out when we unpack the containers, but until then I see no way to escape.

Finally, on a trivial point, the I.V. drip contains a mild dose of sedatives; even if Hunter held his breath against the knockout gas, how did he avoid going sleepy-bye from the drip?The sub looked far too new and well-kept to have been in Davy Jones' locker for two solid years.You’re right on one point; the reports of its demise were, as Mark Twain would put it, greatly exaggerated. But it hasn’t been well maintained, either. Mothballed is more like it.

As for who took it from its original berth, or how it ended up getting reported as scuttled when it was actually stolen, and how it was stolen from the party that stole it first, well, all that’s a very long story. "Odds are, she's stil got her full compliment aboard."No, it really is a Mary Celeste.

Narodna Odbrana

07-12-2005, 13:06

That NightIt was about 7:30PM when Baron Von Ericson’s door rang. The butler answered, and at the Baron’s instructions led the “X.R.I.C. agent” into his study.

Carl Von Ericson’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the familiar face, the familiar calves, the familiar hips – through a very tight skirt, of course. But he felt a flush of anger at this woman’s brazen behaviour: to come to his new estate when his family was present! He gathered his courage and began to excoriate her.

“Sonya,” he said in a harsh whisper as soon as the door was closed, “You have no business coming here right in front of my family…”

“Maritsa,” said the woman brusquely. “I’m Sonya’s sister. And frankly,” she added coldly, “I have no idea what she sees in you.”

Von Ericson was too startled to be insulted. “Sister?”

“Twin,” she said. “Now, as for business…” she handed him an envelope, drawn from the black leather pouch whose strap was slung over her blazer. “These are the results of our trace of the programme that was loaded onto your mainframe. They clearly indicate that the data was downloaded to a vessel offshore.” She fished another envelope out of her pouch. “These are satellite photographs that we took of the vessel that was transmitting the packets through a wireless link. Pathetic, really – they spent three hours hacking into your computer, giving us plenty of time to trace the data stream back to its source; they’d have been better off if they’d broken up the traffic into bursts, rather than hacking away at it endlessly. Crude, very crude.”

He opened the envelope and was stunned to see photos of an Iowa-class battleship; maps fixed its location off Xharnia’s coast, but then showed it entering the waters of Usea-Jason, discharging several missiles, after which it moved off into international waters at full speed.

“Do you know whose vessel this is?” the Baron asked.

“It’s the DSS Invincible, registered to a country called ‘Dreedan’ - which no longer exists, by the way,” Maritsa replied. “That leaves us at a dead end, except that one thing is likely - the ship didn’t belong to Usea-Jason.”

“This is terrible!” exclaimed Von Ericson. “We’ve declared war on the wrong country.”

“And this is a problem because…?” quipped Maritsa sarcastically. “Look, the King will need you now more than ever – and you will get many more opportunities to look good in his eyes. Although at some point…”

“At some point what?” asked the Supreme Advisor with a frown.

“Never mind,” said Maritsa. “We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Mind if I smoke?” she asked, already popping open her silver cigarette case with a loud snap!, deftly extracting a cigarette, screwing it into a cigarette holder she’d suddenly removed from her bag, lightly it with a quick motion, and then snapping the case shut again, tucking it neatly into her suit coat pocket. The familiarity of the series of actions sent shivers up Von Ericson’s spine.

“As I was saying,” continued the Slavic beauty as she pulled up a chair and sat down on the opposite side of Von Ericson’s desk – only in Maritsa’s case, with her shapely thighs tightly crossed – “War was inevitable anyway, so you’d might as well profit as best you can from it. As for these unknown interlopers, we have arranged for your mainframe computer to crash tomorrow.” The Supreme Advisor was about to object, but she cut him off. “This is to cover your tracks with regards to the Trojan they ‘asked’ you to plant; after the system is restored, there will be no trace of their activities – or yours.”

Carl Von Ericson was relieved, and then suddenly had a disturbing thought. “They got to me through my son,” he said. For that matter, you folks did the same thing – only you used my whole family! “What’s to stop them from trying again?”

“It is nothing,” said Maritsa dismissively, with a wave of her cigarette holder. “We have planted a cover story that there was a threat to your son’s life, made in an attempt to extort you into helping a foreign power. A request has been made for additional security for you and your family, and I recommend that you have your children home-schooled for now,” she added. “Didn’t this secretary of yours – Dorothy, is it? – tell you that?”

“She did,” admitted the Baron, “But I am concerned that it will not be enough.”

Maritsa laughed. “As of this moment, you have better protection than King Azure IV. Much better, in fact,” she said with a shake of the head.

Von Ericson breathed a sigh of relief. “So what of this submarine? Can we use it?”

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” advised Maritsa. “It is not in good shape. But it should provide you a model to use for your own designs. And – if your Navy has not had time to tell you yet – it has a full load of 16 SLBM’s, each MIRV’ed three times, to the tune of 550KT per warhead. Your King will be ecstatic,” she laughed. Then she pulled out a slip of paper. “Here is our price.”

Carl Von Ericson looked at the slip of paper and turned white. “This is … far more than I had expected.”

“You’re getting much more than you expected, Baron,” she replied. “Normally, we don’t sell on time payments, but if you were to transfer several series of bearer bonds of various maturities to these banks,” and with that, Maritsa produced another envelope full of documents, “That will be sufficient to cover your purchase. Don’t worry – our economists calculate that this is not only a price your country can afford, but that it represents a substantial savings over what you would have spent developing the technology on your own.”

The Supreme Advisor found himself reluctantly agreeing; the King had committed Xharn to a costly arms race that would likely have bankrupted the country without the sweetheart deals his new “friends” were giving him. But that led him to a dark thought. Dare I bring this up?

“You know, Maritsa – may I call you that?” he began. She nodded and blew out another puff of cigarette smoke. “I’m concerned about the King. Every time I give him what he wants, he asks for more.”

“And this surprises you?!?” laughed Maritsa. Her voice, like her sister’s, was music to the ears – but there was an ugly undertone to it. “He is an arms junkie, this King of yours. He is hooked on weapons, and will always want a bigger fix.” She drew from her cigarette holder again. “But that is not our concern; it is yours.”

Von Ericson felt a surge of anger. “You’ve played the pusher to his addiction, and you say this is not your problem?”

“Correct,” said Maritsa tartly. “We are not responsible for your King’s … appetites.”

The Baron looked at her bitterly. “So we’re stuck. I’m stuck. Azure will eventually bankrupt the country to get his ‘fix’ as you put it.” Von Ericson sagged back into his chair. “And you give us no hope.”

Marista blew out more cigarette smoke, tapped the ashes into the water glass on his desk, drew in again, and after a moment tilted her head back and languorously blew out more smoke, taking an impossibly long time to empty her lungs. Then she fixed him with a gaze that pierced him to his soul.

“I am not,” she began, “Normally in the business of counselling our clients. But because my sister fancies you, and because you have been such a good customer, I will make a rare exception. After all, a bankrupt Xharn wouldn’t be able to continue buying our wares, now would it?”

She leaned forward and smiled, that same seductive smile her sister Sonya had given him the night they first met. He shivered as the memory ran through his mind. “If I were you,” she said, “I would get rid of your King and take over the government myself.”

He was shocked.

She saw his face and grinned. “As I said earlier, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.” She exhaled more smoke. “I trust that when the time comes, you will ask us for help - assuming, of course, that you need it.”

Then, before he could react, she rose, looked at him, reached out, seized his tie, and – tightening it so that he couldn’t move his neck, leaned far over the desk and gave him a long, wet kiss, probing his mouth with her tongue in a way that made his entire body ache.

As quickly as it had happened, it was over. She straightened up, looked at him disdainfully, and said, “No, I really have no idea what she sees in you.”OOC: Sorry for the triple post, but I don’t believe that I’ve pre-empted action on anybody’s part by moving things along in this way.

UPDATE: The parts in blue were modified at the request of Axinon, to reflect the fact that the DSS Invincible isn’t registerd to them, but rather to a now-defunct country called ‘Dreedan’.

Nairatsa

07-12-2005, 17:52

OOC:
Right, simplest point first. A military coup in another country is quite a thing for an essentially mercenary organization to suggest. I'd suspect a mob would be more willing to act as an unscrupulous supplier to all sides in a prolonged conflict than to stabilize a nation. Just a matter of curiosity, and no, I'm fine with your advancement of the plot.

Second, that particular pair of eyes was referring to the "delivery" capacity of a fully loaded boomer, not the crew. My nation is more interested in where it is going than where it has been, although there will be some looking into that as a matter of course, and as to who exactly 'mothballed' it instead of sinking it as previously supposed. Sinking is very much harder on a sub then long-term docking.

Third, Hunter has a temporary subdermal toxin scrubber, as holding your breath only goes so far outside of a good arguement. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in the post previous.

Fourth, well, with some more detailed specs on the fill level of the containers, I can deliver more detailed escape methods. Further, the crates must have enough internal space to accomodate felons of every shape and size; ample room for a door-shaped slice of the cntainer. I stuck Hunter in one of the doorward edge crates, for a little additional simplicity, and to avoid exceeding the tech of Xharnia dramatically for his escape. If that's a little too fortunate for your tastes, assume that he cut his way through a number of other crates, and possibly drip lines, until he wormed his way into one adjacent to the door. You have said the vending equipment is on the end opposite the door,

...this leaves 2’ of space on either end. Again, allowing for a 2-3” corrugated metal skin on either end, this leaves only about 19” of free space front to back. This is probably not quite enough for the “vending” equipment (for the sedatives, oxygen, and glucose - roughly 24” in width, at the front end of the TEU [opposite the door]...

..so I assume there remains the ~19" of rear-end (at the door) room. assuming only clearance of 6" on that side, modify the escape as follows (the below replaces "....revealing yet another" to ".....take time for" :

(Assuming the 'vending equipment' is relatively hard and firm, and without resorting to lighting the oxygen and going out in a blaze of glory)

....After trying (and failing) to force the lid from his coffin, Hunter resorted to the simple expedient of slicing a door in the side of his crate, casually topping one of his container-mates with the resulting steel. He wormed his way towards the door of the larger container, forced the other felons aside for a little more breathing room, and gave the container a quick once over. "Hm. The standard shipping crates from before. Let's not see where they're taking me, shall we? I have pressing social engagements, after all." With a flick of the wrist, the irked semi-mercenary cast the needle into the sliver of air visible between the external doors of the crate, and patiently worked a slice at a time free until he exposed enough of the latch to provide a dignified exit.

The "highly radioactive materiel" that was one of the Nairatsan best paused, and almost as an afterthought, used the wire to delicately carve on the interior: "Like Scaramouche, I split the sky." He smirked, and then sauntered out, negligently pulling a nanowire noose through all the liquid lines he dared take time for......

That should be a bit more feasible based on the stacking. If you want me to be pickier, drop Nairatsa a telegram. I do not want to clutter someone's nuclear program with the semantics of a spy shimmying.

Nairatsa

07-12-2005, 18:47

OOC: Double posting; sorry if this clips anyone's wings, but it shouldn't. We're largely observatory here, anyway. MASLO drilling.....oil, I assume, and no longer active?

Yet another undisclosed location in the vicinity of the grounded sub:

A pair of eyes, now aided by some micro-focal contact lenses carefully scrutinized the Xharnian Navy's salvage operation, noting every feature of the purportedly sunken and pillaged sub's nuclear armament. This latest dose would obviously only serve to pique this despotic ruler's appetite for destruction and its toys. "These nations always seem to drop into that track sooner or later." Frin sighed, dramatically. "Let's see what all they manage to 'discover' next." The eyes turned in the direction of the recently-fortified Baron's estate, and bemusedly marked the changing of the visible guard. That target was out of reach for the time being, and someone apparently had more than one bird in the air, gathering satellite traffic of all sorts. This area was almost too hot to even be present, much less functional, but that's what makes it interesting.

The rumors about the Baron's son, and the attempted extortion had reached even here, but the spy had quickly dismissed them as incomplete. Who would want the Baron's son, when the King is as easily taken? For that matter, who would want either? Usea-Jason had shown no propensity for spycraft, and the other shadow player had come to the table far before the Baron was noble. Mirkana simply didn't make much sense in the blackmailer's role. Barring new intervention, Axnion was the only country left with known operations in the area, motive, and stealth enough.

A quick probe into some 'anonymous' smtp records yielded a few affairs, one personal ad from the Xarnian ministry of the interior, and an unusual e-mail mentioning the Baron's son, this one more notable than most for it's mention of the exotic nano-agent, and the thorough stealthing job this particular trace revealed. Probably Axnionian. But then, who else?

Frin bundled all this into the latest round of reports, chuckling softly, noting Hunter's absence only in passing. The eyes returned to their vigil, ceaselessly watching the Xharnian survey of the sub, and lisening to the steady quiet whisper of data through a pair of compact earbuds. Interesting, indeed.

Axinon

07-12-2005, 20:58

OOC: The DSS Invincible flies the Dreedaneese colors, and is one of the "Dark Ships" that the Axinon Navy obtained through various scorces. It is, for all practical purposes, untraceable to Axinon. The DSS stands for Dreedaneese States Ship.

Usea-Jason

07-12-2005, 23:02

(ooc-Srry i go on in the afternoon EST,

and Xharn,I wouldn't mind a new topic war.)
Ic-
--Near the Xharn border--
As the First Royal Xharn troops came in,the USSUJ forces didn't reallise that war was oponthem and didn't fight.The 3rd Mobile group was still inline with the SSu.

--Hiyo Mt.--
The Freshly made Dictater of Usea-Jason Dublya B. Georger,Called all mercinariey forces from all over the land,Since the army wasn't doing anything.The Principality of Belka also supplied Troopes inorder to regane control of there former Colony,

Drexel Hillsville

08-12-2005, 00:51

"Xharn is at war, sir, with Usea-Jason." O'Harn said as he walked into the Admiral's office. "What do you suggest?" O'Riley asked. "Project Phantom Stalker maybe?" He suggested. "Hmm... Make it so.," ordered the Admiral. "Yes Sir!" came the reply as O'Harn walked out of the room.

Narodna Odbrana

08-12-2005, 02:20

MASLO drilling.....oil, I assume, and no longer active?OOC: Correct on both counts.

Re: Hunter’s escape: actually, I misspoke myself when I said there were 2’ clear at both ends, as the math clearly demonstrates: 6 × 34½” (for the “caskets”) + 2 × 1½” (for the outer walls) + 24” (for the “vending compartment) + 1” (for the barrier between the “vending compartment” and the storage compartment) = 235” = 19’ 7” front to back, leaving only 5” (less the total of all gaps between “caskets”) at the rear. Allowing for those gaps, let’s say that leaves 3” in all.

Hunter could probably cut his way through the “casket” wall, pulling it inward (since it can’t drop outward). There’s a 1:6 chance that he’s in the rearmost “casket” in his “layer”; I’ll be generous and give you that (besides, I don’t want you damaging too much cargo; it lowers my profit for the operation). With 3” working space, Hunter could easily get at the latch with a monofilament, so we’ll assume that’s how he made his escape.

But, all in all, wouldn’t it have been easier for him to cut his way through the top of the “casket” and straight through the TEU wall? ;)

Since it’s a couple of hours’ drive to the landing, I’m also assuming that you waited until the container was moved to the barge before making your escape. So I guess you don’t get to see where we’re taking our cargo after all. :pOOC: The DSS Invincible flies the Dreedaneese colors, and is one of the "Dark Ships" that the Axinon Navy obtained through various scorces. It is, for all practical purposes, untraceable to Axinon. The DSS stands for Dreedaneese States Ship.Noted and correctedA military coup in another country is quite a thing for an essentially mercenary organization to suggest. I'd suspect a mob would be more willing to act as an unscrupulous supplier to all sides in a prolonged conflict than to stabilize a nation. Just a matter of curiosity, and no, I'm fine with your advancement of the plot.We wouldn’t be staging the coup; Baron Von Ericson would. As far as sales to all sides go, we have little hope of selling anything to Usea-Jason (and we don’t like Soviet states for historical reasons – not to mention that they’re bad for business). Getting a Head of State who’s a regular client represents a good opportunity for profit maximisation. Think different(ly). :D

Along the CoastThe barge pulled alongside a container ship of Yekruti registry called the Edirne. Several minutes later, stevedores began to work winches to haul the TEU’s from the barge to the larger vessel. Within a few hours, the entire cargo was stowed away about the Edirne and she was ready to put to sea.

The Xharnian Customs officer examined the Edirne’s bill of lading. Looking at the section’s of the manifest listing the cargoes that had been taken on by the barge, he frowned.

“Is there a problem?” asked Captain Ecevit, skipper of the Edirne.

“You’ve got two or three hundred containers here that haven’t been inspected,” the Customs officer began, “But I’m seeing a note that says that I should make a call before looking at any of them. May I use your ship-to-shore phone?”

“Be my guest,” said Ecevit, but deep down inside he was worried. That’s all I need – some d_mned thing to delay my departure; I’m already half a day behind waiting for that wretched cargo. I don't need a long run-in with Customs to add to that.

A few minutes latter the Xharnian official returned. “I guess that’ll be it.”

Puzzled, Captain Ecevit asked, “What do you mean?”

“My boss told me that the containers you took on a few hours ago are not to be opened. ‘No inspection to be undertaken by order of Supreme Advisor Baron Von Ericson.’” He shook his head. “Where are you taking that cargo, anyway? Just curious.”

Ecevit looked at his manifest. Now it was his turn to frown. ”Well,” he began, “I hadn’t noticed it until now, but we’re just taking them offshore to an abandoned oil rig. Odd, that.”

The Customs officer laughed. “That explains it. My boss hinted that I wouldn’t want to look in those containers, even if I had orders to do so. ‘Not if you value your b_lls,’ he said. I’m guessing that you’re hauling radioactive waste out to sea for dumping. I’d tell my men to steer clear of them as well. I’m sure they’re lead-lined,” the official said, “But things like that have been known to leak.”

It all made sense to Captain Ecevit. The order from corporate headquarters to wait half a day for the cargo to arrive, the suggestion that he wouldn’t want to ask too many questions about why he was being delayed, the remark about this being an ‘urgent’ shipment from someone who was willing to pay a lot of money - no questions asked. There were international compacts against the dumping of radioactive wastes at sea; corporate was right. Best not to ask questions, and best to have his men stay well clear of those containers.

Which they did.

Xharn

08-12-2005, 02:45

The Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson knew Maritsa was right. He had to prepare for the fact that the King Azure IV Rolanda would eventually want more weapons that would bank rupt and destroy the Xharnian Economy. The Nuclear program and build up was increadably expensive. The good news was the Kingdom had managed to convert about 70% 0f the Kingdom's power and energy needs from Nuclear energy.

Nuclear powerplants and reactors had started to poping up in different regions inside of the Kingdom powering entire cities and towns...

The Supreme Advisor decides he better start gathering allies for the day when he would have to betray the Royal family for the good of the nation. The peasants would say if he failed that he was a devil trying to kill the Divnely chosen King but unlike the simple peasants and commoners. Baron Carl Von Ericson saw things in a more down to earth realism.

Axinon

08-12-2005, 03:54

"What do you mean it won't work?!?" ship commander George Noldsham yelled at a mechanic.

"It won’t work. Won't raise, won't fire."

"Well, get it working. Last thing we need is to get in a firefight and have a main turret not work."

Noldsham was worried. His missile strikes had failed to suppress the Xharn air defenses, but according to files obtained from the Xharnian network it had been enough to spark an invasion of Usea-Jason.

He was more than a little annoyed too. The files extracted from the computers largely made no sense. While they had successfully pulled the complete makeup of the Xharnian army from the network, the files obtained on the nuclear program, other than the weapon designs themselves, were leading nowhere. One file showed that Grobsky Uranium INC had sent a shipment of uranium to Xharn, but the AIA headquarters assured him that Grobsky had sent no such shipment. Either the Xharnians were the worst bookkeepers in world history or someone had compromised their program. He suspected someone inside the X.I.R.C., although he had no idea of how they would find out about his intrusion attempt. There was only one thing to do. Attempt to re-insert a fresh file into the system, this time not relying on a third party. But Larvonic was too hot to do anything useful inside Xharn again. That left Noldsham back at square one.

Then an idea hit him.

A few minutes a new e-mail was sent, this time from a new IP address, directly to the king himself.

To: The King of Xharn
From: The crew of the DSS Invincible

Your royal highness,

We, the crew of the DSS Invincible, would like to offer our services as a merchant raider in the coming war to eliminate those spineless commies of Usea-Jason. Our ship is in good working order and can outrun anything that Usea-Jason is likely to field. Our guns, outfitted with the latest ETC technology will wreck havoc on the Usea-Jasonian fleet.

We will be waiting for your response.

Attached to this e-mail are a virus and a 3D schematic of the ship (with the spy suite removed and replaced with more weapon systems, of course).

Nairatsa

08-12-2005, 05:12

OOC: Yes, it would have been more convienient. Hovever, to cut through something, he has to be able to either wrap it with the nanowire, or have a pivot point on the other side of it to work against. He'd have to grip the needle firmly enough to drive it through the TEU wall, and steel is still stronger than flesh. It took him that long to completely free himself and unlimber his tools.

I was unaware of your dealing history with the other nations involved. *Shrug* If you can not or will not sell to the other parties present, a stable arms pact does make the most sense. Are you entirely sure that he will not balk as soon as the imminent threat is removed?

Hunter will be paying quite a bit of attention to that container ship; he's rather capture adverse, as you may have guessed. Given that he's pulled at least a few sedative lines free, what're you planning on doing with....eh, I'm sure I'll see later.

Axinon: I didn't ever think that was an Axinonian ship, just that you were likely meddling in-country.

Somewhere in the remaining Xharnian foliage:

Frin calmly noted the construction of yet another Xharnian power plant. They're dropping those things in all over the place. We'd best add something to at least a few of them. There was a soft rustle of undergrowth, and a thin barreled sniper rifle spat forth a low-power listening device to the concrete innards of the putative plant. A few similar deliveries and the latest round of Xharnian power plants sported their own Nairatsan passive listening posts. Undetectable, unless you pulsed a specific frequency to a crystalline reciever, at which point they'd divulge their accumulated contents.

Settling back down and setting up the ear buds, Frin tapped into the ambient data streams, and kicked back. The slow flood of information carried some interesting bits, among them some wrangling between Xharnian poiliticals, expressing concern that the newest Baron was a little large for his role. Xharnian folklore may elevate it's leaders to a divine height, but their politics was as dirty as any. Then, a portion of the king's incoming external mail caught Frin's interest. The Nairatsan culled the note from the digital morass, paring the attachments off the note as a matter of course, for later review. The spy's eyes whirled as they read, looking for profit in the recent Xharnian turmoil.

Alongside the customs dock, within sight of the Edirne:

Hunter was more than slightly curious. His container had been shuffled as a street hustler might a ball under a cup, and a less experienced agent would have lost track of it entirely. After a quick trip to his well-buried stash, he was significantly better clothed and armed, his nanofilament wire augmented by a compact shoulder-slung sniper rifle, a hefty high-velocity pistol, and a bandoleer of blast-forged carbon knives. His convict rags were gone, in favor of neatly tailored black velvet shirt and toolkit-laden slacks, and his thick boots were cast aside in favor of supple leather and alloy mesh. He had also taken time to unpack a small stealth subpod, which now churned along well behind and under the container vessel, a steady trail of breath bubbles the only noticable sign of it's presence. His small craft was virtually undetectable, though it required constant vigilance lest he be drawn into the rotors of the larger ship.

Let us see how deep the rabbit-hole goes, thought Hunter. Become a spy, they said, see the...*Smirk* Nevermind. Ah well. Here we go again. I wonder what that Serbian wench with the car is about. Slave labor is always profitable, but in return for what? Might this have to do with Xharnia's nuclear program? If that is the case, who..... Hunter, dark thoughts and all, continued on into the night, toward the rendevous point.

OOC: I asume the divided cargo is not all arriving at the platform simultaneously?

Update: Frin is snooping unencrypted general traffic, and some specific lines, not god-moding all internet traffic.

Narodna Odbrana

08-12-2005, 06:24

Over the Internet (Concealed and Encrypted)“Good work in moving those convicts, Sonya,” the Grandmaster said to his niece. “But for now I think we need to step back a bit and see how the fighting between Xharn and Usea-Jason plays out.” He tapped ashes from his cigarette into the ashtray on his mahogany desk. “That’s why I’m withdrawing everyone from Xharn except for you and your sister, Maritsa.”

Sonya was shocked. “But we have tremendous potential here!” she protested. “Especially if this war results in a change of government within Xharn.”

“I appreciate your position,” said her uncle patiently. “And I will be forthcoming with aid if you need it. But I need your operatives somewhere else.” He paused for a second, and then said in a level voice. “I’m sure you understand.”

She wanted to yell at him, to pound his chest in a temper tantrum like she had when she was a little girl and he’d denied her something that she wanted, but she knew that would do her no good. “Yes,” she said with resignation. “I understand.”

“That’s a good girl,” the old man said. “I am proud of what you have done, and I know you will do much, much more for us in the future.”

Narodna Odbrana

08-12-2005, 08:03

Aboard the Abandoned MASLO Drilling PlatformHourame looked out over the grey seas before her. Below, Stefan, his jacket flapping in the stiff breeze, was arguing with one of the other technicians. He is a coward who is terrible in his handling of people, she thought, but in his field of expertise he is unmatched.

Her attention returned to Kiko, who was standing beside her in the control tower holding a sheaf of papers with a look of concern on her face. “All right, Kiko,” Hourame said with a sigh. “Tell me about our runaway.”

“According to the Xharnian prison records, his name is J. R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._%22Bob%22_Dobbs),” she said.

Hourame smiled. “Quite a sense of humour, this one.”

“You think?” replied Kiko. “At least we have a photograph taken when he was convicted – assuming the files weren’t tampered with.” Kiko wasn’t discounting any possibility.

“I’m sure I don’t need to ask this, but for the sake of formality I will anyway,” continued Hourame. “How did you I.D. him?”

“We dusted the container for prints, and ran those against what the Xharnians had,” Kiko replied. “We’re comparing against international data, but I don’t expect a match - or a living one, anyway.”

Hourame nodded. “So how did he escape?”

“First, he woke up in spite of the sedative,” Kiko began.

“So he has – or had – a subdermal toxin scrubber,” observed Hourame. “How many players out there outfit their agents – any of their agents, it doesn’t matter how many – with those?”

“Perhaps a dozen. No more,” Kiko replied. Continuing, she said: “He then cut his restraints with a monofilament – we could tell by examining them, pulled his I.V. - removed his nasal, and then went to work on the cabinet.”

“I don’t suppose there are any people who use subdermal toxin scrubbers who don’t issue monofilaments?” asked the Yekruti woman.

“No,” said her Japanese lieutenant, “So that fact doesn’t narrow our field of players any.”

“DNA from the I.V. and nasal?” Hourame asked.

“Trace amounts of blood and mucus,” Kiko said. “We’ll hear from the lab tomorrow.”

Hourame smiled. We might get a break, she thought. Fingerprints can be changed, but DNA is forever. Well, almost forever – but if we’re dealing with a player who can alter DNA, we’re operating at a whole new level. “What did Mr. ‘Dobbs’ do next?”

“He cut his way through the side of his cabinet and accessed the door lock,” replied Kiko. “Lucky for him, he drew Slot #6 – furthest back on the bottom. Had he drawn Slot #7, he’d have had to go a long way to get to the door.”

“Through five other cabinets,” observed Hourame, shaking her head. “And so after that he slipped away, right? Do we know when or where?”

“Our best guess is sometime after the TEU’s were loaded on the barge,” Kiko said. “He was careless – or deliberately wanted to gum up the works – and cut a few I.V. lines. Maybe he was hoping that the cons in those cabinets would awaken, start screaming, and blow the whole operation. I guess he didn’t count on them doing what most live burial victims do - freaking out, hyperventilating, and exhausting their air supply. In this case, the poor b_st_rds all tore their nasals out and suffocated. We’ve deep sixed those cabinets to maintain sanitation,” she added. “Anyway, their time and manner of death gives us a rough idea of when he left, and that’s why we think that it happened on the river.”

Hourame gazed out across the water. “Could he have followed the cargo down the river to the Edirne, and then followed her here?” she asked.

Kiko laughed sardonically. “He could have stowed away aboard the Edirne if he wanted. H_ll, he could be on board this rig right now.”

Hourame looked at Kiko. “This guy’s a professional, so we need to be careful. Circulate his picture, double up the guards, and ask Boris to fly us in extra men and some dogs.” She then turned and gazed back across the water. “Of course, he could have followed at a distance – on the water or in the air.” After a moment, she looked at Kiko. “Let’s have Boris get a radar array out here and a crew to run it. We probably can’t stop him from finding us, but we can give ourselves enough warning to get off this platform if he calls in backup. See to it that we have a fast escape prepared.”

Kiko nodded, and then asked: “And the cargo?”

“We do what we always do when we’re caught smuggling, Kiko,” answered Hourame. “We flush the cargo before we bolt.”

As Kiko left the room to contact Boris, Hourame glanced up at the clock. The Barandian Princess will be here in sixteen hours, she thought. That’s about fifteen hours and fifty-nine minutes too long for my liking.OOC: The cargo will arrive in three instalments over the next half day; the first – brought by the Edirne - has already arrived and been unloaded (which is when the breakout from TEU #107 was discovered). There are still two deliveries yet to come.

Xharn

08-12-2005, 08:41

The King Azaire IV was reading war reports. The information suggested that the Xharnian Invasion forces already controled the outer ruins that was once the capital of Usea-Jason.

The King was pleased and just ordered that his Supreme Advisor Baron Carl Von Ericson meet him at the palace to discuss Usea-Jason's fate should they be defeated by the Royal Military...

The Supreme Advisor's stomach turned at the thought of all those innocent Usea-Jason's being murdered for a pointless war that Usea-Jason did not start but was set up to look like they did.

The King listened to his Field Marshal's reports frequently trying to hear if more postions had fallen to the Xharnian Military that was now fighting on several postions inside of Usea-Jason..

Nairatsa

08-12-2005, 11:48

OOC: Nairatsa doesn't supply it's spies, by and large. They do. Also, a subdermal scrubber is far from the only way to defeat a slow sedative drip. As for the DNA, our agents usually are fairly tidy. I'd give you roughly a 1:100 on finding any, 1:5 on it being partial if you do.

You will not find him in any database, but the picture you have does bear enough resemblance to him to ID his current face by it. His prints, on the other hand, are entirely fake.

Pressed up against the underside of the Erdine:

Hunter idly wondered what had happened to those men he'd cut the lines to. They had their chance. At the least, they made things a bit uncomfortable for the folks upstairs. Perhaps one of them even managed to get free. He shrugged, clinging to the hull of the contianer ship. An oil rig; how mundane. Now, a cargo chopper lift would have been interesting. They do know what they're doing, though. That gave him pause. How many nations have female field operatives, and are slick enough for this? Entirely too many, even if you thin out those that disdain slavery and the pre-nuclear fiefs.

As the ship slowed to a halt, having finished it's approach, Hunter suddenly dove deep, heading for the nearest inversion layer. When he felt the flash of overly warm water, he levelled out, and sped over to one of the platform's legs. Briskly standing down the pod, Hunter mag-clipped it to the support beam, and took stock of his situation. The rig is open to me, but likely that would merit little more than a quick trip back here, with a few pounds of lead along for the ride. With the way they've crated those men, they'll need at least a decently large cargo hauler to play catch with. In the meantime, I think some music is in order...

Hunter pressed himself flat against the rig's massive column, and inched upwards, carrying his rifle from before. A quick aim and barely audible 'piff' later, and he dove for the pod, where a pair of aquatic headphones would relay the guards' smoke break conversations as he waited. Hopefully, the tight-beam device would relay some useful tidbits, or, at least the guard schedule for the next few hours.

Well underwater, he kicked back, and thought on his erstwhile captors. What I know of these all reads like a deranged personal ad. He smirked.
"Aquatically talented secret agent seeks Serbian highly traned female slaver, arms dealers preferred, pacifists need not apply." They must have a rather large presence in the area to shuffle such things past customs. That, or a fair amount of clout on the inside. Either way, he knew he needed to get topside eventually, and some answers in the bargain. He field-stripped his rifle, swapping the listening devices out in favor of compound sedative/hallucinogen darts, and began to wait.

In a waterfall, somewhere in Xharn:

Frin scaled the slippery rock and vaulted easily into the small cave behind the falls. Waiting for the agent there was an assortment of advanced computer hardware, some rations, and toolkits whose contents ran the gamut from lockpicks to shaped microcharges. Powering up some of the more unusual bits of hardware present, Frin began to meticulously dissect the Invincible's attachments. The virus was laid aside at first, in favor of a point-by-point comparison of the satellite images of the battleship to the layouts provided by e-mail. Predictably enough, they'd peeled off the bulbous, sensor gear, replacing it with the original spec. Other than that, Frin found little remarkable about the schematic, unless you were interested in how closely you could stare down the deck guns.

The Nairatsan fired up a spare, unconnected compact, and ran the viral attachment. Let's see what's packed inside of this little egg, shall we? Odd. It's either running stealthed, or has not altered the file tree at all. Flipping mode on the compact, azure eyes watched as the trojan weaseled it's way into the heart of user identifiction and went dormant there. Some deft software analysis and one wiped compact later, and Frin was typing away on another terminal. Backdooring the Hive, eh? That should be an interesting listen.

As the lines of a new sniffing filter spooled out onto the screen, Frin hoped the King was unlucky enough to open the schematic. They'll have to route the traffic out through a public link, to have any chance of hiding it in the noise. That will be all the chance I'll need. The new filter in place, and rigged specifically to record the cloaked traffic of the viral control, Frin left the stash, ear-buds in and alive with the usual data flow.

OOC: Nice name, by the way, though I was thinking S. Mackenzie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spuds_MacKenzie). Hunter will likely wait there until he catches enough info, or the next ship makes it's appearance. My nation has a wiki (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Nairatsa) now, so if anyone wants a bit better snapshot, it'll do. Xharn, I assume something like this (http://tonova.typepad.com/thesuddencurve/images/oil_rig.jpg) for the platform.

Usea-Jason

08-12-2005, 20:04

--The Belkan Mainland--
The war was slowing,The Capitolist were not useing what they should.The Belkans would wave to take a stand
(ooc-The principality of Belka is the made up Mother country of The USSUJ)

--The Soviet Usean Jason Embassiy,kingdom of Xharn--
Only a few people Were left in the embassiy.Most have gone home to be with there families.The only One left was Ryoko Gruevach.The embassiy was still reseaving messages from the main land.

Axinon

09-12-2005, 02:05

Axinon High Command - The Citadel

"Admiral O'Conner, I would like an update on the Xharn situation." said William McConnel.

"Well, it appears that Noldsham has started a war between Usea-Jason and Xharn."

McConnel swore loudly. After calming down a bit, he bluntly said "He will be court marshaled when he gets back. In the meantime, what information do we have?"

"Well," replied O'Conner, "we've managed to tap into the Xharn mainframe, but it appears that our trojan was compromised by some unknown agency. We believe that it is the XIRC. We've sent a second trojan, but the e-mail it was sent in has not been received."

"Very well..." McConnel said flatly, "inform me of any new developments. I will be in town."

"See you around Will"

"You too George"

Usea-Jason

09-12-2005, 03:08

The Deserted USSUJ embassey,Xharn--
Ryoko,The last employ in the building,Kept a close eye on the war,Even though she was in enemy territory.She then desided to call the king of Xharn to open up talks for peace.

(ooc-Im off for the night.)

Mondoth

09-12-2005, 03:11

To: The Republic of Mondoth
From: Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

The Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core would like inquire about one Mr. Christopher Garnell, He claims to be a citizen of your country and he story has been solid execpt, We have been on heighten alert thanks to the Usea-Jason conflict. We have never before recieved a citzens from your nation and we would like to inquire upon his background if he posses any. We are just trying to figure out if he is a smuggler or another illegal arms dealer.

Signed:
Minister of Intelligence Baroness Alice Rose
Head of the Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

Message from the Mondothian Dept. of Citizenry
To: Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

Our Database has been rebuilt enough to make a reasonable certain statement that the suppossed citizen of Mondoth 'Cristopher Garnell' has not recieved a passport from Mondoth under that name. Due to the current state of our databases we cannot be absolutley certain but it would not do harm to treat him as a hostile agent at this time.

Axinon

09-12-2005, 03:52

The original trojan, in spite of its compromised state, recovered its full value in intercepting this message:

To: Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

Our Database has been rebuilt enough to make a reasonable certain statement that the suppossed citizen of Mondoth 'Cristopher Garnell' has not recieved a passport from Mondoth under that name. Due to the current state of our databases we cannot be absolutley certain but it would not do harm to treat him as a hostile agent at this time.

Within minutes, Larvonic received a text message over a secure link to his PDA.

"The Beans are Spilled. We're going to get you out, until then LAY LOW!"

Narodna Odbrana

09-12-2005, 07:37

OOC: Nairatsa doesn't supply it's spies, by and large. They do. Also, a subdermal scrubber is far from the only way to defeat a slow sedative drip.Whatever the case, very few nations have operatives who would have had the means to escape from the situation Hunter found himself in. I would bet you’re on the short list.As for the DNA, our agents usually are fairly tidy. I'd give you roughly a 1:100 on finding any, 1:5 on it being partial if you do.You didn’t say you were scrubbing the cabinet, so you didn’t scrub the cabinet. Odds are we’ll get what we need, but…You will not find him in any database…No doubt, but we didn’t expect to. Nonetheless, the DNA data may prove useful. …but the picture you have does bear enough resemblance to him to ID his current face by itIt had better! It was taken when he was convicted, and he hasn’t had a chance to change it since. Of course, he can always use a disguise, but for now, his face is his face…His prints, on the other hand, are entirely fake.… And his prints are his prints, unless you can explain how he managed to change his prints from what they were when he was printed on arrest and conviction – which would have been what they were on the day he escaped – unless he changed them in prison, and then you’ll have to explain how.

Like his face, he’s stuck with his prints for the moment. Sorry.

Aboard the Abandoned MASLO Drilling PlatformThe sky grew increasing grey and the sea increasingly choppy as the afternoon wore on. Two more container ships, the Elmer Gantry and the Bessarabia had come and gone; their cargoes had been stacked on the platform extension MASLO had build for that very purpose – to hold equipment that might be needed for other rigs in the area. When MASLO had discovered that its original estimates of the value of the offshore reserves in this area were overly optimistic, the company had sold it platforms to other parties, who had sin turn old them to additional parties – and so forth – until they ended up in the hands of yet another of Narodna Odbrana’s many front companies.

Sometime after dark, a heavy-lift helicopter arrived with a couple of dozen more security guards and eight to ten highly-trained police dogs. Shortly thereafter, the platform’s entire complement was turned out for a top-to-bottom sweep of the platform.

As the harsh beams of the guards’ electric torches swept the platform, Hourame watched from the control tower. The Barandian Princess would arrive shortly after dawn; between now and then she’d get some sleep, but first the Yekruti operative wanted to check in with Stefan.

The Serbian I.T. wizard was pouring over the data being pulled in from satellite systems as well as onboard radar; a meteorologist was assisting him in analysing it. “What are we looking at, Stefan?”

Stefan set down his coffee cup, looked up at his former housekeeper – who was now his boss – and said: “The weather is worsening; we should see a full gale by tomorrow night. Lots of static build-up as well, so we’ll have a nice light show.”

Excellent, Hourame thought. At least the weather is cooperating.

“I’m turning in, and I recommend you get some sleep as well,” the woman told her charges, eyeing both Stefan and the meteorologist. “Tomorrow will be a very busy day.”OOC: With both the wind level and wave action increasing, the background noise aboard the platform will increase. You will need to take this into account in your RP.

Axinon

10-12-2005, 02:04

Better late than never, George Noldsham thought.

He had just recieved a personal e-mail from the Citadel, saying simply:
"Quark-Class Spec Ops Sub AxS Cloaked Dagger to arrive at your position in 1 day."

Noldsham started staring at sattlite photos, trying to pick out the best spot for a extraction...

Xharn

10-12-2005, 09:03

OOC: Keep in mind the defenses around the sea's are going to be high thanks to the war with Usea-Jason...

IC: The Xharnian Radar stations were on full Alert. The fear of another attack was high and on several beaches there were citizens errecting large tank traps on the beachs. This was done in case the Usea-Jason military decided to launch a counter invasion from the sea.

The Beachs also had several large battery emplacements and machine gun emplacements anyone trying to land here by ship or by plane was going to have a nasty surpise with the increase of defenses that were being put up for the defense of the Royal Government.

Nairatsa

10-12-2005, 18:35

Meanwhile, in the heart of darkest....erm, I mean back at the undisclosed location:

Frin mused over the latest set of trojanesque traces, including one particularly interesting partial:

To: Xharnian Royal Intelligence Core

Our Database - rebuilt - to make - suppossed - 'Cristopher Garnell' - not recieved a passport - hostile agent at this time.

Yet another agent, or more of the same table of players? Frin mused. Apparently the war was marching on, apace with Xharn's rapid nuclear deployment. This should make the Baron and King the best of friends, yet political tension seems to be running high...particularly around those two. This should be worth watching. Frin stretched, and flipped open the compact uplink. Wonder if Usea-Jason has left anything behind here in lovely, damp Xharn? TNight fell on Frin pouring over property records and claims, seeking 'salvagable' Usean assets.

Usea-Jason

10-12-2005, 19:10

--USSUJ Main computer intolation,Outside Helios--
The once impregnable computer system,the Pride of the Scientice that worked on it,Was not.The attack on the city destroied the power supply and back up generators only worked to keep the memory going.All the old Soviet Recordes and the Belkan Colonie records were unnoticed,Yet ungarded.The only way to get the information is to connect to it itself,with no connection to the internet.

Mirkana

10-12-2005, 20:26

Aboard the MNS Tempest

"Admiral, wake up!"
Koskov opened her eyes to see Lt. Baxter standing over her bed.
"What is it?"
"General Remmol needs to speak to you."

Koskov quickly got dressed. She headed to the shower, then reconsidered - Remmol wouldn't know if she smelled. Baxter set up a vidscreen for the Admiral. General Remmol's face appeared, as well as windows showing Captain Dolores and Commodore Thorman, both of whom were similarly groggy.
"Good morning, Admiral. Did I wake you?"
The Admiral was feeling rather grumpy, and Remmol preferred his troops to be frank. "Yes."
"Oh, sorry. Anyway, I have new orders for you all. We have gained new satellite data on the deployment of Usea-Jason's nuclear missiles. You are ordered to destroy them."
"Sir, do you have a battle plan for us?" Thorman
"Negative. I've been rather busy planning our ground assault, but I am confident you and the pilots will come up with a suitable plan. Don't forget that you have five Strikehawks on each carrier. Stronghold out."

Many admirals would have gone immediately to work on the battle plan. Not Koskov. Not only did she want sleep, she knew she couldn't develop an attack plan in her state.
"Baxter, inform the pilots and start looking over the missile data. Wake me in four hours."
"Aye, sir."

Nairatsa

11-12-2005, 03:49

Whatever the case, very few nations have operatives who would have had the means to escape from the situation Hunter found himself in. I would bet you’re on the short list.
OOC: Thanks. (Particularly for the lattitude.) Sure enough, I forgot to mention any scrubbing.*Shrug* You get full DNA, then. As for the face/records/prints; I meant that his current prints are not really his prints, and that I've not fiddled with the records (or tried to) of Xharn regarding him, so the picture is the same as his current face. Both are unchanged since his arrest record. Incidentally, what does Hourame look like?

Upside-down, under a certain platform:

Hunter somersaulted underwater, for what seemed like the nth time. "Boredom is the enemy of stealth." He smirked. At least, that's what they say. Personally, I'd claim being impatient. Grudgingly, Hunter admired the efficiency of the operatives above. Those guards have been unusually close lipped, and between that and the wind I might as well have read lips from here. At least I know they're Serbian. Presumably the same group as earlier...they don't job out security. Interesting. The hacker they have appears to be top-notch, too, if idle chat is to be believed. Regular, heavy patrols, with intermittant dog-sweeps, and a full guard sweep on the horizon. I'll have about two minutes, then luck will swing the day. He snickered. What's a dance without the devil calling? The agent primed the pod's self-destruct, tied it to shaped charges on the remaining three 'legs', and set it to allow little more than a quick romp upstairs. If it takes any longer than that, I'd best use the remote, or I'll be swimming.

A quick check of the phones, and Hunter bolted for the sky. He laid just under the surface, clinging to the metal rungs of the on-rig ladder as the guards passed, an unnoticable blemish on the already storm-tossed waves. Checking his weapons one last time, he began flying up the ladder, passing glove-over-glove as if conjuring himself upwards. After flipping comfortably over the railing, Hunter clung to the shadows, and the familiar touch of darkness. Though the storm raged outside, he calmly snuck along the catwalk behind a thin set of infrared glasses. He had some rough idea of where the original living quarters were, and made for them, forced often to turn back, or duck into some shadowed room, barely a step ahead of the infrared signatures of a sure death. Clinging to the celing as yet another guard passed, Hunter thought: A little too far in for the wind; I'll have to start watching for the dogs. He snapped a tiny capsule marked "ODrA - Scent Neutralizing Agent", and poured the contents over himself. That should give me a few minutes. A cautious dentist's mirror revealed a pair of burly agents around the corner, flanking a door.

Well, there's something worth looking into. After checking to ensure that neither had any obvious deadman switch, Hunter unslung the tranquilizer rifle, and sent two darts worth of liquid sleep into each sentry. They fell quietly, as he sidled up to the door. Hm. Carded. Let's hope this works. If not, I paid an awful lot for a useless piece of plastic. Unstrapping a thin metallic sliver, he held it to the slot, and watched as lights raced around it's edge. When they came to a stop, he quickly swiped it, holding his breath. His breath released with the lock, and, shouldering his rifle, he popped into the room. A lady's room, complete with a rather suprised, and sleepy, Hourame. Hunter was slightly the less shocked of the two, and quickly brought his rifle to bear.

Hunter: "Hi."

As he pulled up a chair, he glanced at his watch and smirked. "Your guards seem to be having a few hours nap, so I thought I'd stop by."

Hunter neatly pulled a florid bow. His wary eyes, and the barrel, never left her. "Bob Dobbs, though I prefer Hunter de Rais; Professionally curious Nairatsan. And you?"

(OOC: The obvious questions. What syndicate/country she is with, where the containers are bound, what they're about in Xharn, how profitable it is, and any sub-questions that arise from those answers. (He is a mercenary of sorts, after all) If he feels threatened, he has a remote with deadman switch. Incidentally, he holds no grudge for the slavery bit.)

Narodna Odbrana

11-12-2005, 21:16

On the Abandoned MASLO Drilling PlatformUnstrapping a thin metallic sliver, he held it to the slot, and watched as lights raced around it's edge. When they came to a stop, he quickly swiped it, and held his breath. His breath released with the lock, and, shouldering his rifle, he popped into the room. A lady's room, complete with a rather suprised, and sleepy, Hourame. Hunter was slightly the less shocked of the two, and quickly brought his rifle to bear.

"Hi."

As he pulled up a chair, he glanced at his watch. "Your guards seem to be having a few hours nap, so I thought I'd stop by."

Hunter neatly pulled a florid bow. His wary eyes, and the barrel, never left her. "Bob Dobbs, though I prefer Hunter de Rais; Professionally curious Nairatsan. And you?"For a moment, neither one of them moved.

Then the woman’s eyes flew wide open. Before Hunter could react she seized the covers that had fallen away when she had sat up sharply in her bed just a moment before, pulling them all the way to her chin to hide her less than properly-clad body from this strange man who had suddenly breached the security of her cabin; after all, what else was a proper Yekruti girl to do?

Well, actually, there was one other thing…

She screamed.

At the top of her lungs, she screamed - a long, high-pitched, piercing screamOOC: What does Hourame look like? Through infrared goggles, I would describe her as a big red and orange blob with darker patches...

Yekrutis are a Turkic people, FWIW.

Nearby…Kiko had been making her own rounds, flitting quietly from shadow to shadow. She had taken care to keep her movements random, as well as to avoid her own men; when one or another had approached her position, a soft whisper in her earpiece had kept him from being surprised and her from being shot. For she was dressed in black, head to toe, including gloves and hood, in garb that was traditionally associated with Japan’s ninja but that had, in fact, been first employed by members of the yakuza long before the cult of Amida Buddha had adopted it.

It was in this state that Kiko, patrolling the rig’s upper level, heard – or maybe simply sensed – Hourame’s scream. Perhaps it was something primal, a woman recognising a signal universally known to all women, for whom the constant possibility of rape was an inescapable reality of life. Whatever it was, Kiko knew instantly who and where it had come from.

“Level Two, G3! Converge!” she shouted into her earpiece. Except that this was not where she went; she threw herself down a hatchway to Level One.

After all, in the absence of a helicopter, whomever had invaded the rig would have had to come from the sea, and to the sea they would have to return.OOC: FYI, the guards have shotguns – automatic shotguns, drum fed, 240 rounds per minute. As for your darts, I’ll assume they’re armour piercing, since my guards all have Kevlar torso armor.

The dogs are Rottweillers, not German Shepherds. In fact, they bear a striking resemblance to Roman camp dogs (the original “dogs of war”).

Good luck. I hope you can high-dive.

Nairatsa

12-12-2005, 04:09

OOC: I see. Or, I don't. Hunter will not be using darts on belt-fed shotgun wielders with war dogs, just banking that in the time it takes them to get to the room, he can make a quicker exit. From the platform, using one of the doors as scale (and assuming it is a standard door), each 'level' is 10-11 feet tall, and each 'platform' is two levels. If level 1 is the lowest, level 2 is one floor from the base of the platform. The platform is 55-60 feet high (each mark on the far leg is one foot), so a dive from 2 would be 70-75 ft (~24m), at most, and the sea is choppy enough for surface tension to be low. Hunter can do that, though it would be tempting to use Hourame as a human shield.)

Hourame's general disarray (not to mention ear-splitting scream) caused Hunter to turn aside, and briefly blush. ...And there's the hand of fate, right on time. *Smirk* Here goes nothing. A flicker of air, and a dart wisked her conciousness away, her scream trailing off abruptly. Seems I'll have to do a bit of kidnapping, just to find out who these folks are. Hunter wasted no time in tossing her over his shoulder, sheet included, slapped one of his leg wraps to the floor, and dove for the bathroom. The room shook with the cacophony of thunder as he covered the unconsious agent. A large circle of floor tore free, accompanied by portions of the celing and most of the furniture. The guards and dogs outside the just opened door were briefly blown back by the concussion of the blast, affording the Nairatsan precious moments more. As if the scream wasn't loud enough.

(OOC: His 'wraps' are essentially ankle-weights comprised of well-shaped charges with a dual fuse. Removal followed by concussion sets a very short timer.

Not one to waste the split-second he had, Hunter paid quick homage to Lady Luck, tossed his remaining wrap to the floor below, and flicked on his deadman switch. He followed through the remains of the floor an instant later, throwing himself and his female baggage towards the base of the platform. As they plummeted, Hunter caught the briefest glimpse of a black-clad form on the level below, and impishly waved. The waves rushed to greet them, Hunter straightened for the dive, and twisted into the sea, crushing Hourame against his chest as they went. The crash as they hit the surface was expected, but no less stinging for it, and Hunter shook the pain from him as he dived for the pod. He held Hourame's breath until he had freed the craft's spare oxygen cylinder, slipped it over her head, then quick-started the submersible. Recklessly, he flipped the thottle full immediately, sacrificing stealth for speed, and tore off into the night.

Assuming Hourame bore some form of tracker, he slipped out of his wetsuit and discarded the sheet, wrapping her in the metallic, insulating fabric. After nearly six and a half hours of hard riding, he slowed, and checked his course. The nearest island will be checked first. I'll have the best chance with one of the far shoreline caves. Dropping the pod lower to ensure more stealthy running, he flipped off the explosive trigger, rendering the platform's charges inert. As they entered the cave, he slowed to a crawl and slipped the pod into it's underground dock. Tossing Hourame over his shoulder once more, he climbed out of the grot, giving his baggage a brief once-over as he went.

(OOC: Fairly far from anything populated.)

Once they were safely under a mountain's cover, he threw a blanket over her, and slapped a stimulant patch to her neck. Pausing to re-arm, he checked the two of them over for injuries, found none, and took up residence atop a nearby stump. As her eyelids fluttered open, he said, somewhat sarcastically: "Hi. Let's try that again, shall we? Sans screaming, if at all possible." He poked at the small lantern glow and awaited her reply.

(OOC: ....and I still haven't even managed to find out what nation she's working for. Sheesh. Sorry, I meant to snap this off faster, but other things interrupted. Now that they're in a better lit environment, what does she look like? )

Narodna Odbrana

12-12-2005, 07:56

Hunter will not be using darts on belt-fed shotgun wielders…OOC: Drum-fed, not belt-fed; they’re modelled after the Atchison Assault Shotgun, a fully-automatic 12-gauge with a 25-round drum. The thing looks like a cross between a shotgun, a Tommy Gun, and an AR-15. 70’s vintage technology, although the U.S. military is only starting to show interest in the concept three decades later.

The monsters are affectionately called “room brooms”.…with war dogs…Enquiring Nairatsan minds just let that one fly over their heads. Have you wondered for even a second why we’d use Rotts when Dobies and Sheps make better sniffers? There’s a clue there to the mystery you seek…His 'wraps' are essentially ankle-weights comprised of well-shaped charges with a dual fuse. Removal followed by concussion sets a very short timer.For a country with a pop of less than 20 million, and an age of less than two weeks, you sure have one H_ll of a lot of exotic hardware. I’m beginning to consider tightening your leash a bit, son. So far in this RP we’ve seen Hunter produce: A subdermal toxic scrubber.

A monofilament wire.

A personal mini-sub with an inexhaustible supply of oxygen.

A collapsible rapid-fire sniper rifle that can shoot four darts capable of piercing Kevlar faster than a man can drop a shotgun to fire from the hip.

A vast array of other projectiles for said überrifle, including data taps, bugs, tracking beacons, rappelling line, etc.

Spats that double as shaped-charge explosives.… And that’s just what we’ve seen Hunter – who happens to be a super-athlete and acrobat who can hold his breath for over three minutes (and who will probably turn out to have been raised by Shaolin monks before this whole things is over) – produce at the drop of a hat (you’ve got another agent out they’re who’s almost as handy). Plus he happened to have the great good luck to get busted for a serious crime in Xharn and subsequently assigned to work on the Hive detail.

And this is in an MT RP. Sweet Jesus, I’d hate to see what you could come up with for PMT.

You may consider this your last warning: I will start employing some serious deux et machina and pulling in some of the goodies that we don’t normally permit ourselves to use in an MT RP (gadgets, gizmos, and artefacts culled from every possible timeframe and milieu from FT to Lovecraftian fantasy) if you continue on this course (remember my explanation of what is meant by the expression “breaking the rules”?). Remember, you’re up against an outfit designed to RP in any setting, from ancients to fantasy. Don’t make me go John Woo on your _ss.As they entered the cave, he slowed to a crawl and slipped the pod into it's underground dock.Underground dock?!? You have a base with an underground dock on Xharnian soil?!? When in the last two weeks of your nation’s existence did you manage to swing that?

It’s deux et machine time, kiddo. You lose.Now that they're in a better lit environment, what does she look like?As I said, the Yekrutis are a Turkic people, so you’re talking wavy to curly black hair, brown eyes, olive skin. A bit pudgy for European tastes, but Middle Eastern woman are considered more attractive when moderately well fed.

Along the Xharnian CoastHourame sat quietly for a full minute, surveying her surroundings; obviously, she was somewhere on the mainland. At a minimum, she thought, we are 250 nautical miles from the platform. It would have taken at least six or seven hours to travel here by hydrofoil – nine or ten by boat; either she had been out for at least a day, or this annoying James Bond wannabe had stuffed her into a helicopter somewhere along the line.

Either way, I’m not getting back to the rig before the Barandian Princess gets there – but neither is he. The situation assessed, she finally spoke.

“My name’s Betty Crocker, Mr. Dobbs,” the Yekruti woman said in a voice surprisingly devoid of any accent but dripping with sarcasm, “And I’m with the Lilliputian Secret Service. Now what were those other questions you were asking? They seem to have slipped my mind.”

Then she sneezed. Recovering, she asked her captor: “Do you happen to have anything more modest than this ridiculous outfit you stole from the set of ‘Barbarella’? I don’t do tin foil at all well, thank you.”On the Abandoned MASLO Drilling PlatformKiko shook her head slowly.

“I’m sorry, Stefan,” she said to the Serbian programmer, “We will have to proceed without her.”

Stefan dropped his brow into the palms of his hands and pressed their heels against his eyes, as if this would help him see. Without looking up, he said: “This is a complete fiasco. The Grandmaster is going to be furious.”

Ah, but our dear Nadia will be delighted, thought Kiko. Of course, she said nothing. It would be exceptionally cruel to remind Stefan of that just now, and she wasn’t in the mood for exceptional cruelty. She decided that focussing everyone’s attention on the work to be done would be the best thing for morale.

“How long until the Barandian Princess gets here?” Kiko asked.

Stefan looked up, and then looked at the wall clock. “Three hours,” he replied.

“Since I doubt that anyone can sleep at this point,” she said, standing up, “Let’s begin getting ready for the cargo transfer.”OOC: H_ll of a sub you’ve got there – one that can high-tail it at 250 knots submerged!!!After nearly an hour of hard riding, he slowed, and checked his course. The nearest island will be checked first. I'll have the best chance with one of the far shoreline caves.Methinks you forgot Post #92 ( http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10049644&postcount=92)“We take the cargo downriver to the nearest seaport and load it onto seagoing vessels for export from the country,” replied the Yekruti woman. “Once outside Xharnian waters, we divert the container ships to the transfer point.’

“The old MASLO drilling platform 250 nautical miles offshore, at the very edge of the Barandian Triangle,” added Sonya. “I’d wager that the Xharnians have no idea of its significance.”Just one more one your list of übergizmos - and one more thing I owe you for.

Believe me, I’m counting.

Xharn

12-12-2005, 08:27

OOC: Wow, My Nuclear Program has become a full fledge spy action novel with a hint of underworld and Military additions.

IC: The Xharnian Government recieved a report from the Usea-Jason diplomat at the embassy saying he wanted peace talks with the King.

King Azure IV was hesitant to do this but he decides since the Soviet Government was overthown there would be no harm in at least talking to the diplomat of a fallen government.

________________________________________________________________

A Government owned Limosine was sent to the Usea-Jason Embassy with orders to pick up the Diplomat and bring him back to the Royal Palace unharmed. The Limo was guarded by four black sedan's that was a clear indiactor X.R.I.C. agents were involed in the diplomats protection.

Usea-Jason

12-12-2005, 12:54

OOC-Yeah,It has.And the diplomat in the embassy is female.

Axinon

12-12-2005, 23:33

It was dark and cold. William Larvonic had been walking day and night for the last three days to shake his Xharnian pursuers. A stolen Kalashnikov in one hand, and a half-empty water bottle in the other, he walked down the shoreline, looking for a cave or something to hide in for a while.

His appearance, once neat and handsome, had been reduced to what one would expect of a caveman. He was walking toward a cave, when he heard voices from inside. He stealthily slipped behind a rock and loaded his '47. He waited for a few minutes. The voices continued, but they seemed not to have heard him. He was planning to leave when he heard two words that piqued his interest.

"Betty Crocker"

Having not eaten anything in days, and remembering that Betty Crocker was a major food company, he jumped to the conclusion that they were talking about food.

Slinking to the mouth of the cave, he saw a light inside, as well as the outline of two people.

"Put your hands over your heads, I'm armed" yelled Larvonic, aiming his Kalashnikov at the larger figure.

Usea-Jason

12-12-2005, 23:44

--USSUJ Embassy,Xharn--
THe limo arived at the Embassy,With it,Two Xharn officials."The Xharn guys are here,Already?"Ryoko Gruevach(gru-va-CTH),Tecnically a Leutenate in the State Diplomatic force,Went over to the limosine."Are you the delagate?"The first official said."The only one here."Ryoko Responded,As she got in the limosine.

Nairatsa

12-12-2005, 23:52

"Enquiring Nairatsan minds just let that one fly over their heads..."

Well, I assume you lo-jacked your agents and cargo, thus, tracking is unnecessary. I did like the 'room broom' idea, and apparently so does the FBI (they've confiscated something remarkably similar to what you describe, except it used 50 cal shells, and fewer of them.)

Before you break out the 'deus ex bat', consider this: My nation has a significant portion of it's covert assets here, and they are of a "One MacGuyver, not mass intimidation" bent. As for the population, look up Britain, home of Mr. Bond (60 mil.). Also, I possess a fairly focused populace; and a nation of five million, newly born, does not start in the dark ages.:

* A subdermal toxic scrubber.

Not unfeasible: It is MT, imho. If you want me to nuke it in favor of spiking all my agents with counter toxins, so be it.

* A monofilament wire.

This was a PMT goodie I gave him to pop the cage. I could have had him simply cop something from the Saint and pull a micro torch. It seemed a bit too infeasible.

* A personal mini-sub with an inexhaustible supply of oxygen.

No, it just has a compressor, and a surface tube to draw from. These, too, exist. I did not enumerate this any more than I would enumerate what, exactly, Hunter did while waiting.

* A collapsible rapid-fire sniper rifle that can shoot four darts capable of piercing Kevlar faster than a man can drop a shotgun to fire from the hip.

Collapsible? Also, it is not so much a sniper rifle as a more accurate MP5. It's good to 100ft or so, and that's the longest it's been used from. He aimed for the head, not the torso, fired one each, then the other for insurance.

* A vast array of other projectiles for said überrifle, including data taps, bugs, tracking beacons, rappelling line, etc.

Hunter used the ladder, visible in the pictures. No data taps, and I've not mentioned any beacons since he got free of the container. (I do not plan on using that, anyway) He does not have any fireable ones, and the darts are not armor piercing. He has three clips of bullets, one conventional, one darts, one bugs.

* Spats that double as shaped-charge explosives.

Plastique with an unstable fuse is an artifact of WWII. I'd bet the anarchists cookbook has a recipe for it, for that matter.

Frin is a electronics specialist, and has really only used the aforementioned rifle, and a data processor on par with what I'm using to type this. As for the 'dock'; it's a metaphor. He just jammed it into the nearest convienient bit of rock, more or less, in the nearest convienient cove.

Finally, luck does not play into it. Hunter took someone else's place in the convict dole; it is relatively easy to break -into- prison. (Read: it was a convienient way to break into the RP, just like conjuring an oil platform was convienent for you.) So he's an acrobat; look at any major agency's physical fitness test. I did miss the 250 mile bit entirely, though; the post has been edited to reflect this.

*Deep Breath* (And it's a diving skin suit with the standard mesh weave; not 'tinfoil. :P)

IC:

"'Fraid not, Miss Crocker. All I've got is that 'tin foil' and blanket. For some reason, I don't trust you with the heating pack, and I'd rather not be naked, myself."

(OOC: Fair's fair, Hunter is roughly 6'1", with an athletic build, darting dark green eyes, and slightly severe Eastern European looks. He has dark brown, slightly wavy hair.)

"Most folks call me Hunter, and I'm no mascot. As you'd have heard, if you weren't busy screaming your head off. " *Smirk* "Me on the recruitment posters. Right. Here." He threw her a compact, with a fixed form letter on the screen. "E-mail your people, and let them know that you're not dead. If you'd be nice enough to tell me something of value, starting with your name and real country of origin, we may find some mutually profitable ground. You can ditch the false flat tone, too. I know you're with that Middle-Eastern lass." (No, he doesnt.)

"Oh, I am sorry about the break-in, and the floo...oh, you were asleep for that bit. Nevermind."

As Hourame was about to speak, presumably to loose some pithy retort, a certain Axinonian burst through the foliage. Hunter swore, sulferously. Wonderful. Look, fate, I know we've had our differences, but this is a bit too much to bear. He kept his hands and his rifle behind him, and froze, keeping his body mass between it and Larvonic.

"With a New-Russian made Kalashnikov rifle, it seems. And you are?"

(OOC: If I ever get to actually ask Hourame anything, it's in #119.)

Axinon

13-12-2005, 00:14

"My name is Jon Winderson" Larvonic said, eyes never coming off the man that stood before him. "Listen. I have no desire to use this gun, but put your hands over your head. Otherwise..."

Nairatsa

13-12-2005, 00:17

"Well, Jon, I'm Bob Dobbs." Hunter slowly released the rifle, and raised his hands a touch above his head.

"Why are you waving that at me? We have done you no harm, and mean you none. "

(OOC: He is still keeping an eye on Hourame, as if concerned for her.)

Axinon

13-12-2005, 00:28

"One can never be too cautious... for all I know you are another XIRC agent, out to get me like the rest of those fools. Now down to business. You were talking about food. Where is it? I need some. Give me some."

An almost animalesque glow was in Larvonic's eyes when he said this. He had gone without food for two weeks during training, but marching through hostile territory on an empty stomach was not easy, and Larvonic had enough of it. The thought of any meal was one that almost consumed him.

Nairatsa

13-12-2005, 00:35

*With a barely perceptible smirk* "No, I'm not X.R.I.C., and neither is she."

After taking careful mental note of the haggard man, Hunter slowly reached for his pack, then halted. "What rations I carry are in my pack. If I give them to you, will you let us free? For that matter, what have you been doing out here to have none of your own?"

Axinon

13-12-2005, 00:47

"Lets just say that the XIRC is not a big fan of Mondothians," Larvonic said. "I'd appreciate any rations that you can give me."

Larvonic did not let his eyes wander. Keeping his sights on the man before him, he watched and waited for his response.

Nairatsa

13-12-2005, 00:51

"Odd. I'd always heard that Mondothinans were welcomed with open arms." *Shrug* And easily-forged passports, but who'se counting. Hunter slowly fished a handful of solid rations free of his pack, and lightly lobbed them to Larvonic's feet. Adding his canteen to the pile, he held his hands up again, and open.

His eyes never left Hourame, and his thoughts never left his rifle.

Axinon

13-12-2005, 01:05

Larvonic slowly dropped to his knees. Still looking at the unknown man, he stuffed rations into his pockets with his left hand while holding the AK-47 in the direction of the man with his right arm and shoulder.

After getting all of the solid food packs into his pockets and strapping the canteen to his hip, Larvonic rose to his feet, without the use of his hands, and said "Thank you for the food. And now for my end of the bargain. Goodbye. Hope the XIRC doesn’t find you."

And with that, he started walking backwards toward the front of the cave, crouching somewhat to stabilize himself.

Nairatsa

13-12-2005, 01:15

(OOC: For reference, that compact logs, and will not send until Hunter tells it to. It's usually used to send a well-hidden burst signal to home from a captive Nairatsan, and is essentially a fixed-data device with a variable address field. Incidentally, Narodna, by what you said in another thread (the FT/PMT/MT thread) all his toys are purely MT. All are built today (with the exception of the scrubber) no unobtaium or handwavium.)

With a noticable smirk: "You, too. Good luck in making it to Mondoth; I hear the border crossing takes forever nowadays." Hm. Another country heard from, it seems.

After Larvonic was out of sight, and the sounds of his passing had merged into the night, Hunter sighed. He brought down his hands, and adressed Hourame once more.

Somewhat more quietly than before: "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you were about to tell me who you are, exactly what and who that shapely Serbian and company are working for, and I was about to be happier for not wasting my time by borrowing you." He flipped the small heating element in Hourame's blanket on. "I think your real name would be a good place to start."

(OOC: The questions are in post 119. If she continues to be obstinant, give me a chance to retort before you nudge the plot along too far.)

Meanwhile, off and about....

Frin paged through reams of deeds, claims tickets and titles, but only the Usean Embassy's official holdings caught the Nairatsan agent's interest. Well, if all else fails, try the direct road. Folding the compact closed, Frin flitted into the night, arrowing toward the last Usean asset in Xharn. Perhaps they left something in haste? An insecure data link, if I'm lucky. Useless furniture if not. Either way, the floor plan shows little fortification, and their guard was recalled months ago.

Axinon

13-12-2005, 01:45

Larvonic walked out of the cave. The people he ran into seemed genuine, but it was hard to be sure. For the sake of knowing, he took out one of his mini-bugs. About the size of a half-dollar, each one was waterproof and quite powerful. He then took a nearby stick, used some putty to attach the bug to the stick, and let it float in. "The currents are going into that cave for now, as the tide is going in... the bug will not be visible on the stick, and that cave is littered with them anyway" he thought to himself.

He then began rapidly but silently putting distance between himself and the cave. After a few minutes, he lodged himself in a fissure in the rockface, a position that provided good protection from both the wind and any unfriendly eyes that may be looking for him. He then reached into his pocket to pull out his headphones. He plugged them into his PDA, and set it to "bug".

He wasn't quite ready to be picked up just yet, he still had some intel to gather.

Narodna Odbrana

13-12-2005, 05:34

OOC: Curse you all for posting so much without giving me a chance to do anything!

In the Seaside CaveThroughout Jon Winderson’s bizarre appearance, Hourame had remained silent, but as long as the Mondothian was close enough to see her face, she had tried looked as scared as possible, with the slightest hint of desperation in her eyes. “Bob Dobbs” or “Hunter de Rais” or whoever he was had been busy trying to keep from getting shot by parcelling out his rations to notice. Thus, the secret agent from Nairatsa or wherever was startled to hear his captive suddenly start sobbing.

“You’re – you’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” she began. “Just like all those other girls – I heard it on the news! Bob Dobbs, serial rapist, escaped while in transit…”

“We both know that’s just a cover,” said the spy.

“And they say that you’re insane!” she howled. “You think you’re some kind of a secret agent, and you try to seduce the women you abduct! That’s why you’ve dressed me in this sick latex thing,” she cried, blurting out the words among the tears that were rolling down her face. “That why you have that little mini-sub down there near the ocean! Because you’ve got this perverted James Bond fantasy!” Finally, with a dramatic flair, she finished, “Mother always warned me about men like you!”

“Nice act,” said the Nairatsan, “Just like that perfect English accent of yours. But I’m growing impatient. Tell me who you’re working for.”

“Oh my God! I’m going to die!” she wailed.

Nairatsa

13-12-2005, 05:59

OOC: Sorry about that, we started a rather rapid back-and-forth after he posted right before I did. If she still clams.....give me one sec. more, please. I assumed Larvonic was an agent with his back to the wall, (or a loon with a rifle) and Hunter is sympathetic, to some extent.

"Quit that, or I'll dart you again."

As Hourame's dramatic cries fell off to a muffled sob, he continued:

"First, 'Bob' was only guilty of a minor felony, barely enough to merit Hive labor. Second, I highly doubt your mother, inestimable woman though she may be, warned you about me." He shrugged. "If you'd rather not wear the warm, relatively dry wetsuit, or the blanket for that matter, go naked. I can stand it." He smirked. "Although I doubt your mother would approve. She would, however, applaud your acting. Given that most Liliputians do not possess such an accent-free English, and that your panic is out of proportion for a member of their Secret Services, the best you'll get from me is a B-. For inconsistancy; I'd have to be a millionare for all the gear, and who on earth is James-......Nevermind."

He smirked and leaned against the wall. "Look, I've been relatively nice so far. I did not shoot you back there. Hell, I didn't even blow the daylights out of that ship of yours, or the offshore base...well, mostly. That's excruciatingly nice, for me, and it's been a long day."

He rolled his eyes at her, then his expression turned flat. "Now, Miss. Name and agency."

Xharn

13-12-2005, 06:30

The Minister of Intelligence Baroness Alice Rose, was very angry. She wanted to capture this "Chirstopher Garnell and gave orders for him to be captured using any means nessicary execept killing him of course. She wanted to play with this one and make him talk. She would find out why he was here and how this could benieft the Kingdom of Xharn...

__________________________________________________________

The Limo heads towards the Royal Palace, The 3rd Xharnian Elite Royal Guardsmen Army of the second Legion was guarding the Royal Palace they lacked any tanks or heavy weapons but they had snipers and covert commando squads all around the palace. This was not adding the X.R.I.C. Extermination Squads that normally guarded the palace with it's usually snipers laser targeting sensors motion dectors and everyone's favorite fingerprint and rentia scan. The Royal Palace was a huge armored fortress that was impossing in the center of the city of Xharnia...

Narodna Odbrana

13-12-2005, 23:22

In the Seaside Cave"Look, I've been relatively nice so far. I did not shoot you back there. Hell, I didn't even blow the daylights out of that ship of yours, or the offshore base...well, mostly. That's excruciatingly nice, for me, and it's been a long day."

He rolled his eyes at her, then his expression turned flat. "Now, Miss. Name and agency."Behind the blubbering, Hourame marvelled at her “competitors”. The two men had virtually admitted to each other that they were spies – and they were total strangers! Were these men imbeciles, or what?!?

She also wondered what kind of of a man - even a hungry one - who would stumble upon another holding a scantily-clad woman at gunpoint – and then just walk away. She had hoped that the “Mondothian” – and she was sure that this was “Christopher Garnett”, the same “Mondothian” who was wanted by the X.R.I.C. – would have enough good sense to eavesdrop on the conversation at the mouth of the cave. Hence, the damsel-in-distress act. It was a calculated risk, since it had a strong likelihood of p_ss_ng off Hunter de Rais or whoever he was. But if it pushed some machismo white knight button in the starving bumbler of a secret agent who had just come and gone, well, that might just make it worth the risk. After all, stupid or not, her would-be rescuer did have a Kalashnikov...

Consequently, she continued to sob until de Rais began to show signs of losing his patience, and then she took her sweet time blotting her eyes and planning her next move.

She would feed him a load of b_ll. Of course, he expected a load of b_ll, but that only made it more the right thing to do: in deceiving someone, it was always best to give them precisely what they expected…

“Hurry it up,” said Hunter, moving the gun in such a way as to remind her that he held the power of life and death over her. “I haven’t got all night.”

She spent another moment – just one more moment – wiping her reddened eyes one more time and waiting for “Garnett” to rush into the cave to her rescue…

Axinon

13-12-2005, 23:53

William Larvonic stared at the food packages. He was all but positive that the person he encountered in the cave was some sort of special operative. Weak and not thinking clearly, Larvonic had decided that a confrontation would be counterproductive. But his bug was in place. He could hear everything going on in the cave. If something really... bad happened, he could go in to do something. But his primary concern was eating. He carried a portable poison kit, and was testing the food to make sure it was good to eat. After checking for Cyanide, Arsenic, Nanoexonide and many other poisons, he came to the conclusion that the food was safe. He then started munching on a granola bar and thought of his next move.

His bug had gotten in range just in time to hear the woman crying something about Dobbs being a convicted rapist. "Fat chance," he mumbled to himself. Almost any ordinary felon, save the most hardened mass murderers, would have began to crack under the steady aim of an AK-47. Not this one. His demeanor indicated that he had a special operations background.

Larvonic put the granola on his lap for a second and typed a short message to the Invincible.

'Christopher Garnell' have reached shore of Xharn, no XIRC agents in area. Encountered a man in woman in cave. Received rations from man, poison tests negative. Man's demeanor matched that of a person with a spec ops background.

Request any and all information on Bob Dobbs.
Request information on pickup. Am at sector 225412'c'

And with that, Larvonic returned to his munching, listening and waiting.

Nairatsa

14-12-2005, 01:43

(OOC: Hunter has an unholy amount of focus when it comes to a task at hand. When Garnell/Larvonic was no longer an immediate threat, he sidelined him entirely. And, yes, it does lead him to do things as strikingly unintelligent as basically saying "Why, hello there fellow spy, lovely weather, isn't it?" from time to time. And Hourame 'knows' we are strangers how? Just curious.)

After slicing his way free of near-certain death, breaking into and back out of a heavily guarded barge, and a foray into kidnapping, Hunter was a bit irked. The spy knew that the stimulants would have her a touch jumpy, and make the world seem overly vivid. Each detail would leap to her eyes as if conjured there, every nuisance and threat magnified, yet she remained obstinant. Hunter gave her credit for that, and inwardly smirked. Though she is stubborn, her technique needs work.

He recited to himself: "After the bad acting comes the delaying tactic, to allow you to appraise avenues of escape, for some nearby agent of yours to act, or simply to harry your captor into carelessness." The 'Manual for Capture Situations' nearly line for line; it's as if I was back in the Academy. A glower made it's way across his already stern features, as Hourame daubed at her eyes. We'll have the lying up again, unless she decides to be different. Let's change the script a bit, shall we? One of his knives slowly came free of it's sheath, and the steely rasp pulled Hourame's eyes to the blade. For a moment, time stood still. After the shadow of honest fear crossed her features, Hunter began cleaning his nails with the razor sharp edge. He laughed at her, a deep sardonic snicker. She didn't bolt; must not have a viable escape plan.

"As much as I enjoy having portions of the 'Generic Spycraft Manual' acted out; my patience does have a limit, and not even a poor actor takes more than a second to snap back out of character. Honestly, I expected better." He added, calmly, "Last chance." She would be expecting, hoping perhaps, that he would wait and allow her to continue her charade, or trap her in a lie later. Hunter, however, had never been one for 'by the book', and though he was a gentleman, he expected returns for his trouble.

She didn't look the type to be suceptible to threats of violence, or to coersion for that matter, so Hunter fell back on an old favorite of standover men. He crossed the cavern lightning quick, and before she could so much as utter a word in protest, she was wrapped tightly in the blanket. A quick step down to the base of the grot, and Hourame found herself head-first into the water. The most capable spy he had ever known could withstand such for fifteen seconds, without the shock. Hunter gave her half a minute.

(OOC: He is watching her to ensure she does not drown, but will stop only just short of that; his rifle remains close to hand on a shoulder strap. Usea-Jason, if you're still active in this thread, could you let me know where your embassy/consulate is?)

Axinon

14-12-2005, 02:31

Larvonic took a glance down at his PDA, and he was surprised to see a prompt reply.

Reply. DSS Invincible to 'Christopher Garnell'
Attached are the FILES on Bob Dobbs.
Your pickup will be in the form of the AxS Cloaked Dagger, in ~20 minutes.

We want to capture this(these?) foreign operative(s?). 14 trained soldiers will accompany you to the cave.

He stared at this message for a second. Although 'Dobbs' had shown kindness to him, he could not disobey a direct command from his superior.

He stared into the darkness. It would be a long 20 minutes.

Narodna Odbrana

14-12-2005, 03:27

In the Seaside CavernWondering what sort of society the “Mondrothian” came from – one that presumably cared little enough for its women that men could do with them as they wished – and silently heaping a pile of curses on “Mr. Garnett’s” unknown home country, Hourame prepared to launch into her (first) story.

All of that was rudely shoved to the wayside when Dobbs/de Rais finally got tired of playing the game. The knife was predictable; of course he’d escalate – that was to be expected. She allowed herself to look scared – that would fit the next part; but then her captor quite irrationally failed to follow up on the obvious threat to mutilate her, choosing instead to seize her, roll her up in the blanket, and hefted her over his shoulder to head for the base of the grotto.

The old cold water trick, she thought. I’d better make this convincing.

Head thrust into the water, Hourame held her breath, letting a few bubbles out and thrashing to suggest desperation. As she felt him jerk her out of the water abruptly, she drew a small amount of water into her nose. It burned, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She routinely used a neti pot to clean her nasal cavities – her people had done that for centuries - and so she was quite able to expel the fluid from her sinuses, coughing hard for good measure. It was refreshing to spray some of that water onto her tormentor.

She didn’t play up the hacking – she didn’t have to, since coughing often accompanied nasal cleansing. Fortunately the fool had dunked her head first into salt water, which didn’t hurt quite as much as fresh water did – but it was uncomfortable enough all the same.

He was startled by her yell. “What did you do that for?!?”

“To get you to tell me the truth,” he said evenly.

“D_mn you, I was telling the truth!” she shouted. He grabbed her and shoved her head under water, this time for a minute. Expected, she thought. She spluttered a lot when she came up – best to make him think she was closer to her limit than she was.

When the coughing stopped – it was more genuine, in spite of her efforts, she raged at him. Genuine anger will be more convincing, she thought. “You’re going to kill me doing that!” she roared. “My name really is Betty Crocker. No, wait!” she cried as her grabbed her again. “It’s like that old joke about Ella Fitzgerald marrying Darth Vader to become Ella Vader;” she yelled in rapid-fire fashion. “My parents were Yekruti immigrants who came to Xharn when I was young. I was born Betty Melek; I married a Xharnian man named George Crocker – he was the brother of the famous Xharnian singer, Joe Crocker.” She paused as if to see if her captor recognised the name. “You’ve never heard of him? Well, he’s only big in this country.”

“I don’t believe you,” Dobbs/de Rais said, this time adding a hint of menace.

“It’s true!” she cried, adding a note of forlorn desperation to her voice, “My husband died five years ago and I was left with nothing. I thought his brother would help out, the way Yekruti families help each other, but he just wanted to drink, chase models, and snort toke or whatever that stuff is called.”

“I’m not buying this,” said Bob/Hunter sceptically. “Your accent is too good…”

“I was just a newborn baby when I came here – really!” she protested. “I grew up in Xharn, so I speak English as well as anybody else.” She continued on before he could interrupt again. “Anyway, one of Joe’s acquaintances – this oil baron – he gave me a chance to work for him as an accountant. I didn’t have experience as an accountant, but he said that would be O.K.”

Rather than dunk her again, he listened. Probably wants to see where this will lead.

So she grimaced. “It turned out there was only one thing the s_n_f_b_tch wanted me to account for, and I refused,” she said with obvious disgust. “But his H.R. director told him that he couldn’t fire me without making himself liable to a big lawsuit, so he had me transferred to this oil rig to ‘inventory the supplies out there’. _ssh_l_!”

Hourame then added an ever-so-slight whine to her voice. “It’s cold out there on that platform! And I had nothing out there except this T.V. – that’s where I heard about you.” Before he could protest, she stepped in: “O.K., so maybe you’re not this serial rapist who thinks he’s a super-spy, I don’t know. But they said that, and they told women that we should try to humour you if we were captured – you know, play along with your fantasy.” She looked down with a hint of shame, and then looked up. “So I lied about being a Liliputian spy,” Hourame said contritely. “But that’s it! The rest is true.”

“I should have known not to trust those people on the T.V.,” she said bitterly. “I mean, they make things up, what with that corporate scandal and the story about mining cottage chesse in Northern Xharn...”

“I’m still not buying this,” the secret agent said, hoisting her up to dunk her again.

“I swear to God, it’s true!” she howled. “I was up there sorting through at all these crates for about two weeks and then suddenly all these guys show up with guns – I think they’re X.R.I.C.; I mean they’re really scary,” she said, wide-eyed, “And they lock me in my cabin, saying ‘If you’re a good Xharnian citizen you won’t tell anyone what’s going on here’ – which is why I tried to play it cool and not tell you anything. Well, not at first,” she confided. “I was scared when you said you were ‘Bob Dobbs’ because I remembered all the awful things they said about you,” she continued, ignoring the possible Nairatsan agent’s jaundiced eye. “But if I have no choice because you’ve got me at gunpoint and then at knife point and then try to drown me - and no one’s going to save me - well, I don’t see how anyone can hold that against me.”

There was silence.

“But really, Mr. Dobbs or Mr. Eraser or whoever you are,” she insisted, “I just worked there. I don’t know a thing about what all those guys with all those guns were doing.”OOC: BTW, I rinse my sinuses once a day, so I'll attest that you can get used to having water up your nose pretty quickly - even if it still is pretty uncomfortable.

Axinon

14-12-2005, 05:01

OOC: Please, people.

First:
First, "possible Nairatsan agent"? A bit left-field.

As Hourame was about to speak, presumably to loose some pithy retort, a certain Axinonian burst through the foliage.

Second, just try and go with the flow. Nairatsa, just let the time of the dunking drop. N.O. did let you get away with holding breath for three minutes, at which time it is virtually impossible to remain capable of high thought, much less normal function. It is not critical to the RP. As for N.O., remember that Nairatsa is a fairly new nation, and this is probably his/her first RP. There is a fine line between advansed technology and godmoding. For the most part Nairatsa has stayed on the right side of it. Really, just try and stop making OOC criticisims of each others characters. If they are a little... above average, its not the end of the world.

Remember, it is not if you win or loose, its how you RP the game. You both are better writers than myself. If you two could stop the OOC bickering, this could be a very good RP.

Please?

Usea-Jason

14-12-2005, 22:41

(ooc-Srry,I go on at 3-5 Est.)

--At the Royal Xharn Palace--
Ryoko was astonished at the Xharn palace on that high alert.After the Fingerprint and Eye scan,She finally made it to were the king of xharn was suppost to meat her.She hoped to find news on what trully is going on over there.

Axinon

15-12-2005, 03:12

Larvonic let a faint smile cross his face. Nothing like a little torture to liven up a dull exchange between people. Of course, he knew that the man would not push his captive over the edge, from what he had overheard, she had some value to him, for one reason or another. He knew that no operative would let their captive die on them.

He looked down at his watch. It had been 3 minutes sense he received the message from the ship.

Narodna Odbrana

15-12-2005, 06:58

OOC: Nah, save the medallion for later; we wouldn’t know what it meant anyway. I have a better idea...

In the Seaside CaveThis guy is ticking me off royally, thought Hourame, icy cold water streaming from her hair. It was standard practice for Narodna Odbrana to torture its own field operatives as part of their training, but that never made a rough interrogation any more enjoyable. Still, she retained her scared, desperate demeanour – perhaps made a little more genuine by the fact that, whatever this fellow’s name or nationality really was, his impatience might just lead him to push matters a tad too far. What, is he on some kind of schedule?!?

It was time for her second story. He would certainly take this for a lie as well; the third story – or the most convincing one after that – would be the one he’d accept. Of course, if he went by the book, he’d likely kill her and throw her body into the sea, but that didn’t change the fact that – for now – her duty was to play out the rest of the game.

Coughing and spluttering, shaking from the cold, she began anew: “All right, all right, I’ll tell you what you want to know.” He paused, and she caught her breath. This has to be delivered in exactly the right way.

“I work for a .. a criminal syndicate; it’s called … it’s called … the Black Hand,” she said, pacing the cadence of her answer for maximum effect. Better to use that name, than the more common one, Hourame thought. “We .. we bought you and all the other convicts … from the Xharnian government as … as slaves; they packed you onto busses and … uh … gave us the keys so we could … we could take you wherever we wanted.”

Bob/Hunter lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“We took you to that farmhouse and … we drugged you and … we packed you into caskets and … uh … packed those into standard cargo containers; we … uh … we … we … used those to ship you out to … to … the old drilling platform … uh … to transfer you all to another ship,” Hourame continued.

“So where were you going to take us?” asked her captor.

“Uh,” she began, “We were ... we were going to ship you out into … uh … uh … the ‘Barandian Triangle’. Yes … yes, that’s right … the ‘Barandian Triangle’.” She continued, her stammering made somewhat easier by her shivering from the cold water. “Ships and planes … ships and planes … uh … well, they … they … uh … they just seem to disappear out there…”

“So you bought us in order to just kill us by sinking our ship out in this ‘Barandian Triangle’?” asked Dobbs/de Rais.

Is he believing this? thought Hourame. No, he can’t be swallowing this story.

“No, we … we … uh … well … uh … ships and planes don’t really disappear … exactly,” said the Yekruti woman. “They end up … uh … they get sent … uh … they go to another ... uh ... dimension … well, actually … it’s kind of more like … more like … more like … more like a ... parallel universe, yeah, that’s it.” She looked off into space like she was thinking. “Except that it’s … it’s in a different era than ours.”

He looked at her with a slightly amused smile, but said nothing. He’s not buying it! Hourame thought.

“No, really … it’s true, I swear!” she protested. “This other world … it’s in … well … it’s in the 16th Century. Actually, … it’s 16th Century East Asia.”

“And why would you need 10,000 slaves in 16th Century East Asia?” Dobbs/de Rais asked in seemingly mocking fashion.

“As … as … conscripts!” Hourame said, blurting out the last word. “We intend to train them to use 16th Century weapons like … like … like swords and halberds and pikes and … and … they had muskets back then, right?” she asked, toying with him. “Yeah, I think they did … muskets and … and pistols and … and blunderbusses. We need an army of 10,000 men, and everybody used conscripts or criminals for that sort of thing back then,” she finished in a sudden rush.

“And this army is for…?” teased her captor.

“We’re going to send it to … to … to Vietnam. It’s going to land at … at Hue and march inland with a Vietnamese force, past the lost Kingdom of … of … Champa. You’ve probably never heard of Champa,” she said apologetically, “But it really did exist. Back then.” Hourame paused. “Really.”

Shouldn’t he be dunking me about now? she wondered.

“And then?” Bob/Hunter asked.

“We use it .. we use it to … to invade Cambodia. That will set off a war between the Vietnamese and Cambodians.”

“And so you’re backing the Vietnamese?” the spy asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Yes … er … no,” the Yekruti woman stammered. “We … we … we’re … we’re … we’re double crossing the Vietnamese. We want the Cambodians to win. To do that we … uh … we gave them … we gave them … we brought a … a former Khmer Rouge general named Khieu Chea - you’ve heard of him in the news, right?” she said. “He was supposed to have been executed recently for crimes against humanity, but that was a double. Yeah, we broke in and replaced him with a double.” Hourame pasued before resuming: “Then we took him back in time and gave him … advanced muskets … uh … yeah, that’s it. They were snap- … er … what’s the word … er … ‘snaphaunces’, yes, ‘snaphaunces’. Kind of like flintlocks, only different,” she finished.

“You want me to believe that you’re starting a war in 16th Century Southeast Asia with what would be advanced weapons of that time?” her captor asked sceptically.

“Yes, because … because … well, this ‘Khieu Chea’ guy, he’s a real military genius at guerrilla warfare. But … he’s also … uh … a genocidal maniac and we can’t trust him,” she blurted out. “So we want to makes sure that he attacks the right enemy – the Vietnamese instead of the Khmer Kingdom. That’s because … well, … because we control the Khmer royal family. We used … holograms, yeah, that’s it … and an Indian actress to play the part of a Hindu goddess … it was … Durga? … Yes, Durga,” Hourame continued. “So they are doing what we tell them to do. But the Kings in … Phnom Penh, is it? … yeah … they can’t take on the Vietnamese. Only a protracted campaign of genocide could roll them back,” she finished, “So the Khmer Empire can survive and come to dominate Southeast Asia.”

“And why would a criminal syndicate want that?” the man asked.

“So that we can control all the drugs. That and … and … uh … well, … so that … by the time the 21st Century comes around, we can have a super-advanced puppet state in Southeast Asia. One with all the drugs and guns and electronics and fissionables that we could ever hope to sell, right there for the taking.”

There was silence.

“That’s it?” Bob/Hunter asked.

“Yes, yes, that’s the truth!” she said loudly. “Don’t put my head under water again!” Don’t throw me in the briar patch, Br’er Fox, she thought, laughing inside. On the outside, she assumed a stupid grin.

“In the 16th Century,” the presumed Nairatsan mused. “In a parallel universe.”

“Yes,” she added eagerly. “Really. Honest.” She gave another broad smile.

A long minute of silence passed.

“I believe you,” Dobbs/de Rais said in a matter of fact way. “It’s crazy enough to be true.”OOC: LOL. Have fun.

Narodna Odbrana

15-12-2005, 07:51

OOC: This should be a harmless double post.

In the Seaside CaveHourame’s mind reeled. He believes it? Impossible! She had cooked up an entirely convincing story about being a X.R.I.C. agents responsible for killing off the convicts who had been working to build the Hive by drugging them, packing them in containers, loading them into a leaky old ship, and losing it in the infamous “Barandian Triangle”. She figured that would be the story he’d buy, and then he’d kill her, and that would be the end of it. The operation would be safe.

But he believed it! She was aghast. Dear God, what would I have had to tell him to get him to dunk me and think I was lying?!? she wondered. Would I have had to tell him about our first journey to this other Earth through Antarctica’s terrifying Mountains of Madness, followed by the trek to the horrible Plateaus of Leng and Tsang, our alliance with the evil and misshapen T’cho T’cho dwarves of South Asia, the hideous bloated elephantine “god” Chaugnar Faughn, the subsequent journey via aportation to the indescribably terrifying island of R’lyeh off Okinawa - home of the Great Cthulhu itself – so that we could travel by electrical storm to the Dragon’s Triangle, our current entry point into the saner 16th Century Earth of which I’ve just informed him?

No, that would be laying it on just a little too thick, she mused. Although maybe then he’d think I was lying. But he believes me! Oh … my … God!

She was stirred from her reverie by the man’s next question.

“You haven’t told me your name,” Bob/Hunter asked.

“Uh, oh, well,” she said, not quite thinking about it, still shocked beyond belief. “I really am Betty Crocker.”

She came out of the water coughing, sputtering, and cursing like a sailor.

Nairatsa

15-12-2005, 08:35

(OOC: And here I had a perfectly good post ready to go there, if it took you too long. *falls off his chair laughing* That was pretty good; downright hilarious, actually. Give me a minute or three to recover, and then I'll post. Seems I was right about the dialogue. As for the pendant, I think your country would have some idea, given their unique position, and I think I'll leave it on him. The double-post is fine, and better dialogue than what I had, anyway. Narodna, I left Hourame out of most of the discussion intentionally; I do not know what she'd say, so I left it for you to write.)

Hunter, meanwhile, was almost laughing. That was far, far too ludicrous to be anything but true. For that matter, it's no less ridiculous than anything I've been up to lately. As the agent of the Black Hand thrashed, he reminisced a bit. That incident with the Sultan's daughter was purely reasonable, if you step back and take a look at it, and that snowfight in the Turkish Bath....now, that was an entertaining story. I really must remember that the crown jewels are not for wagering at games. Heh. I never did find out where that Prince got those self-dealing cards..... It was about then that Hunter finally remembered his captive. Pulling a slightly azure Hourame out of the water, he said: "Now then, I'm sure you can't be enjoying this. Name?"

Hourame was still somewhat dazed by the fact that Hunter had believed her, and nearly got dunked again for her trouble. "Hourame. *Splutter* It's Hourame."

Hunter loosed a bit of restrained laughter. "Ah. Much more appropriate to your features than Betty, after all." He put her back on his shoulder, and carried her siginficantly more gently than before, back to the center of the grot. he unbundled her slightly as he set her down, extended his hand to her and added: "Now then, we can start over, properly. Hunter de Rais." They shook, lightly, each still unsure of the other, and Hunter cranked up the heat on the blanket. "I am sorry about the water bit, but it is fairly standard, and I'm not all that patient a man. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until I can get a fire going to dry off, but the blanket should keep you reasonably warm in the meantime." Hunter gathered a quick bundle of the driest sticks in the water below, including a certain over endowed twig. With a little flint work, a well-kept blaze was going in the firepit Xharnian trappers had dug long before Hunter was born, and the bug expired with an unnoticed pop.

"The operation you all have going out there is fairly slick." Hunter held up a hand to ward of Hourame's ready comment. "Oh, and don't worry, I don't hold a grudge for the slave bit. That sort of a risk goes with the felonius cover, though usually it doesn't come with the opportunity to see new -times-. Had I held it against you, I would have blown the works up." He paused, largely for dramatic effect, and continued. "Incidentally, the floor of your room wasn't structural, was it?" Noting Hourame's puzzled look, he went on. "It's more or less gone now, though you'll have to take my word for it."

"What? Gone how, gone?" Hourame asked.

"Gone in the same way that, say, Chernobyl is gone. Along with, likely, most of your wardrobe."

Hourame said nothing, simply delivered an exceptionally eloquent glare.

Hunter shrugged, and nonchalantly quipped: "It was the easiest way out. Even the most prepared people rarely expect you to go through the floor. The celing, yes, not the floor." He set his rifle aside for a moment, and picked up the compact. "You're stuck with the dive-suit for now, and I daresay it's more modest than your other option." Ignoring Horuame's scowl, he peeled a pair of rations off of a camoflaged portion of the wall, and tossed one to her. On some level, this caused him to think of Garnell, but he set the thought aside. "Eat. When those stims wear off, you're going to find that you're awfully hungry. If you don't eat something now, you'll try to chew my arm off then. Oh, and be careful about that, your sense of balance will be off for at least another hour." When she did not immediately open the food, he added: "It's not poisoned. I could just as easily shoot you as poison the food, and I plan on returning you alive. I think our organizations stand to benefit from one another, and I doubt I'd be able to convince yours of that after killing one of their field agents."

He closed the compact, reopened it, then handed it to her. "If you want to let your people know that you are alive, and will remain so." *Shrug* "It's for short burst-traffic only, so keep to the form letter." He stirred the fire a bit, then turned back to her: "It's monitored, of course." *Smirk* "I would like to keep in touch, after all." He stretched, finally letting muscles sore from the day's events relax, then spoke. "16th century riflemen, eh? Better than Xharnian labor camps, I suppose. Nice touch with Durga." Hunter's mind was still awhir with the implications of her exposition. "Now, how do I get you back to your people in such a way that neither of us get shot, and we both profit?"

Narodna Odbrana

15-12-2005, 14:57

(Still) In the Seaside Cave“So that really is your name - Hunter?” asked Hourame. Hunter nodded.

“And you really are from Nairatsa?” she added. Again, the Nairatsan agent nodded.

“I’m sure that our database has something about your country, even though – no offence – I’ve never heard of it. And it’s not like I have access to our database right this moment,” the Yekruti woman said. “If you want me to advise my people to seek a … business relationship with you, we’ll need to know somewhat more.”

“What about your operation?” asked Hunter. “Don’t you have a ship to catch?”

“I’ll never make it,” Hourame complained. “What time have you got?”

He glanced at his watch. “It’s after 6:00 AM,” de Rais said. “What time does your boat leave?”

“In about an hour,” she replied. “No, I can get back to my people in other ways,” she said enigmatically.

Hunter nodded, and then asked – slipping back into the style of English used back home in Nairatsa: “And I don’t suppose you’d be telling me some of those ‘other ways’?”

“’You’d be tellin’ me?!?’,” she said with a raised eyebrow, exaggerating his cadence and lilt to mock him. “What, are you practicing for ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’?”

“And what might that be?” asked Hunter quizzically.

“You’re serious?” Hourame said with surprise. “It’s … oh, never mind. I’m sure that I can tell you later,” she added. “No, I think the best thing would be for you to take me to the outskirts of the nearest town. I can make a phone call…”

“In that?” the Nairatsan said, referring to her Barbarella get-up.

“I’ll just call X.R.I.C., tell them that I’m with them, and that I was on a special op,” she said with a shrug. “No problem.”

His eyes opened slightly with an expression of surprise. “You’re going to fake being an X.R.I.C. agent?” Hunter asked.

“Sure, why not?” the Yekruti woman said with a shrug. “I’m in their records as a X.R.I.C. deep cover operative. It cuts through a lot of red tape.”

Hunter eyed the woman again. How big are these people? he wondered. “Can you get me in?”

“To the database?” she asked with amusement. “I suppose … for a price. In the meantime,” she continued, “Can I hitch a ride back to town on that sub of yours?”OOC: You can handle the (inevitable) action scene to follow, since Axinon should be ready to try and move in with a squad of marines about now.

FYI, Hourame is trained in hand-to-hand combat (though more judo than aikido or tae kwon do). She's a good shot with a pistol as well, and can exercise a fair amount of stealth. Obviously, she’s not Kiko’s equal - but Kiko is a first-rate yakuza/ninja fighter, so gauge accordingly.

If we escape, I'll add a little more dialogue in the sub on the way to a beach oustide the nearest port (which will be the same one where the Edirne was docked). Essentially, we’ll have each other’s business cards, and we can talk about opportunities later. And yes, we could use privateers and mercenaries - especially if you’re good at sailing a galleon or a handling a cutlass... (now how’s that to get your pirate blood pumping?!?).

D_mn. It occurs to me that now I really am going to have to create a factbook or NSWiki entry (probably the latter). Like I need more stuff to do...

Axinon

16-12-2005, 01:37

Larvonic looked at his PDA, and saw that another message had arrived:

AxS Cloaked Dagger has arrived

Larvonic walked down to the beach, and saw a group of soldiers wading out of the waves. Ten in all. Larvonic walked up to the leader (the one with a red stripe on his wet suit) and said "Hello. I am the agent." As he said this, he held out a card. It was a normal playing card. It was the ace of spades, and the Mondothian flag was on the back.

"Everything seems to be in order," said the commander, who Larvonic recognized as Sam Sampson (a hero inside the Axinon Military for his service in the DMG Satellite Crisis). "Lead us to the cave," Sampson said.

"Yes, sir"

Larvonic took a look at the soldiers. They had all unpacked A-1 Assault Rifles from waterproof cases, and were now standing idly. Not wanting to waste another moment, Larvonic led them toward the cave.

They reached the mouth of the cave in about a minute. Sampson would do all the talking, with nine marines going in to support him. Larvonic and another marine would wait outside to deal with any escapees. The AxS Cloaked Dagger was near at hand to transport any captives to their end location, which was as of yet undetermined.

Nairatsa

16-12-2005, 01:50

(OOC: A Slightly piratical bent on proper Queen's English. :p Though I'm all for sidlining the laws of physics for RP, let me explain a bit about what his stealth sub; it's essentially a high-powered drive screw in a tube, with handles, and bolt-on air tanks, then streamline the concept. You really can't talk while riding it, so there will not be much in-flight dialogue. Unless, of course, you were considering hijacking whatever Axinon brings to the party. As for combat, I think Hunter will toss Hourame the rifle if he feels there is enough threat. His knives, nanowire (yes, I will break it out again) and unarmed skill should serve, in a pinch. As for the buisness opportunity; I'd need some reliable way (one-time portal, perhaps) of providing Hunter an exit before tossing him into an 16th-cen. firefight. You can have quite a cast of extras, though. And the dive-suit is not that bad. This is more like it. (http://comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/on/oneill-fusion-5-3-wetsuit.jpg) I used 1 Infinite Loop's Wiki page as a template; it works pretty well.)

Hunter smirked. "That would be a far more stylish way to travel than the convict deal ever was, though I'd rather be found in a less known guise." He shrugged. "As for the sub, she's already pulled over five hundred nautical miles today. We'd be as fast swimming. Let 'er get a half-hour or so more sun, and then we'll be off." He stretched, and prodded the fire back to life. Adding one of the larger hunks of drift, he continued: "And yes, you can come along. I never was the sort to refuse a lady a ride, after all. Though, I warn you, it's not exactly comfortable. Just fast." He grinned.

"In the mean time, I'll take a bit of a nap." He cocked his pistol and tucked it under his head, then tossed the rifle to her. Noting the extremely competent way she held it, he nodded approvingly. "So ye do know how to handle one. Good. Always did favor women with skill." He tipped his hat down over his eyes, and was off to sleep in a flash.

(OOC: Axinon, it seems we're up to the point where you have to post next in this chain. If I get time to kill, I'll go update Frin's whereabouts, so there's no rush....and there you go, nevermind. Wasn't it 14 soldiers?)

Axinon

16-12-2005, 02:20

OOC: I'm not sure of the dimentions of the cave, but if my post is way off because of them, tell me OOC and I will correct it. Oh, and I changed it to 10 soldiers, don't think you'll complain though.

IC: The Axinonian marines slipped into the cave. Deploying so they could cover each other, they proceeded as quietly as 10 grown men could in such small space. As they moved ahead, they saw a fire and two silhouettes, just as Larvonic had said. With five aiming their rifles at one and five at the other, Sampson called out "Put your hands over your head! You are under arrest by order of the President of Dreedan. Do not attempt to resist."

Nairatsa

16-12-2005, 19:10

(OOC: Think of it this way: it's got a wide mouth, (40 ft wide) narrows (to 19-17 ft, halfway in) wide and then remains that way the rest of the way in. It is roughly rounded at the end, where Hourame and Hunter are (5 ft from the back wall). It is fairly (20 ft) tall all the way in, and is not all that deep (50-60 ft) From the mouth of the cave, to roughly 10 ft from the back wall, there is a V of water, that drops off fairly quickly (much faster than a swimming pool.) The way you've placed your men (10 is better than 14, for N.O. and I) is reasonable. I'm working under the assumption that they're clustered at the sides, not swimming in the water in the middle.)

(Rest of post will be up after I proof it one or two more times. Scratch that. Axinon, any body armor here, and if so, what?)

Axinon

16-12-2005, 21:48

OOC: No body armor. This entire op is being paid for by Axinon's "Dark Army" and if the dark army recieved major funding, the public government budjetory records would show major abnormalties. Consequently, "Dark" marines do not have body armor, except in extremely hazardous operations

And yes, they are deployed along the edges of the channel, not in the channel. The A-1 can preform in water (it is a advanced devient of the AK-103), but the gunpowder would be unreliable, to say the least. The secondary armament of the marines is the Aquos Waterproof Handgun, but I do not think that would cut it.

Nairatsa

16-12-2005, 23:22

(OOC: Right, then. The rifle Hourame is using is essentially a MP5 variant. Hunter has a brace of well-balanced knives in a bandoleer, and is wielding a .50 cal handgun, a high-caliber Desert Eagle take off. It's waterproof. The wire shark mesh in the wetsuit is fairly heavy-grade, but Hunter is unarmored.)

Yeah, right. And I'm the Queen of the May. Hunter smirked under his hat, as Hourame kicked him 'awake'.

"Wake up, you lazy bastard!" she hissed. "We're under attack!"

Hunter simply said. "Ow. Nag, nag, nag." No peace beyond the line, indeed.

Making as if to raise his hands, he nodded to Hourame. He dropped to a crouch, swept a leg and kicked the burning driftwood into the sea, plunging the cave into smoky darkness. As Hourame shouldered the rifle, Hunter rolled into the sea, snapping off a few shots as he went. One of the Axinonian soldiers clutched at his shoulder, another crumpled as a chance bullet took him between the eyes. What in the world is he up to? Hourame wondered. He had better not be running. Her doubts were assuaged a moment later when Hunter burst from the water next to one of the Axionian Marines. A brief glimmer at his neck, and the man fell, hands clutching vainly at his severed throat. The rifle burst into life behind the smoke, and Hourame entered the fray. Her hail of bullets silenced two of the men permanently, catching one low in the torso, and the other square in the heart. As their comrades fell, the Marines opened fire, aiming low in an attempt to capture the quarry largely alive.

A silvery glint against the dawning sky took another Marine low in the shoulder, and Hunter sprayed the man's rifle at the remaining Axinonians. Larvonic had the good sense to duck, but the rest were not so lucky, one more falling to the crossfire. As he swam to the next pair of legs, Hunter took a quick mental count. Four at least down, and from the sounds of it, a fifth. I'd wager there were eight, at least, and they're bound to start shooting out here, soon. His next thoughts are unprintable, as a hail of gunfire tossed the water around him. The Axinonian had seen his brethren fall to something out in the waves, and had resorted to the simple expedient of unloading his rifle into the nearby water. This discovery, however, put his back to Hourame. As Hunter dove for an outcropping of rock, she launched one slug into the man's back, straight through his lungs.

He quick-primed the stealth sub, but as he lay still, a bullet took him through the calf. By the rood, that stings. Remind me why I gave her the rifle? He sighed. Because it was the proper thing to do, after all. She's in no shape for hand-to-hand, with those stims, I'm surprised she can even aim. Hourame heard his sulferous swearing, and loosed a stream of bullets toward the cave entrance. As the soldiers ducked, she dove behind a stalactite, lying flat as she changed clips.

Hunter pulled his bandoleer tight around the wound, teeth gritting as the pain washed over him. He threw his second-to-last knife at one of the remaining soldiers, and was rewarded by a satisfying thunk. How many of these guys are there? He yelled "Do ye yield, yet?", then ducked back under the waves as a hail of gunfire reduced the rock nearby to dust.

(OOC: That's six shot near the center of mass, one shot in the shoulder, one knifed (the same one?). Hunter shot in the leg, Hourame unharmed. I'd bet Hunter has two to three bullets left, one knife in hand, and Hourame has one standard MP5 clip. Hunter is in the water beyond the cave's mouth, now, and Hourame is fairly back in the cave.) (Didn't mean to post losses, just since I lost count in the middle....)

Shazbotdom

16-12-2005, 23:33

OOC:
Added Subscription for a possible later post.

Axinon

16-12-2005, 23:56

OOC: Just an FYI, generally not a good idea to post others losses. And Larvonic is not one of the ones who went into the cave.

IC: Sam Sampson thought he had seen it all. But nothing could prepare him for the sheer power of his adversary. However, he was unphased. Its just like in DMG he thought to himself. Those damn fool rookie soldiers can't even aim a gun right. Need to talk to McConnel about that when we get back.

Over the gunfire, he yelled to his men: "Activate Bateye"

He ducked down and flipped a switch on his hand, just as a projectile flew over his head. The smokey haze of the cave suddenly withdrew to the advanced night vision/anti camouflage goggles.

He took aim and fired. He hit his target, in the leg. But it did not finish his foe. He did not expect the next move though. His foe had dove underwater. But there was a silver lining. He saw, just where his foe had been, a bobbing something in the water. Don't have time to figure out what it is, better eliminate it.

He fired several rounds straight into the object.

Xharn

17-12-2005, 00:11

The King Azure IV and his court awaited the Usea-Jason ambassador in order to see what she had to say about her nation's actions. The Invasion of Usea-Jason was going good so far execept for the arrival of some enemy forces from Belkan...

Usea-Jason

17-12-2005, 01:45

She bowed a bit as the King came in."Sir,"as she started to speak,a aid told the king something.the king emeitly left."What was that about?"She asked.the aid said,"they found the Former leader of Usea-Jason,and he is here."

At the Same time...
the Xharn Coper landed,and the SSu got off.Xharn troops Quickly tried to subdue him,to no availe."Don't even try."SSu mikoyan resounded."I demand to see the Leader of Xharn,King Azure the Fourth!" his swith demand shoked the troops there.

Xharn

17-12-2005, 02:07

The King and his court watched everything they were all amused and hoped that they could think of a way to use this to there advantage the old leader alive could split Usea-Jason into civil war thus ending the war with the capitalist and the Soviets fighting for control...

Usea-Jason

17-12-2005, 02:12

Xharn Royal Palace

They meet.and when they got in,they got to busness."Why is Xharn almost compleatly invaded,Why ar there Belkans running amuck and what the hell are capitolist pigs in control.Sorry just a little upset at the way things are going."

Xharn

17-12-2005, 02:19

The King responds, "We invaded because they fire upon our defenses at night with cruise missiles. The Captialist took over once Helios was burning with Nuclear fire. We do not know why Belkan is attack but we are going to attack if they threaten Xharnian Controled Usea-Jason."

Usea-Jason

17-12-2005, 04:27

"These Cruse missles,you say,where did they come from?"Jason said,"From a ship in Usean waters."Responded king Azure."Usean ships dont carry cruse missles,We use carrier jets for that...and the carriers here on the other side of the Country...this was not us!"Jason stated.

Nairatsa

17-12-2005, 08:09

(OOC: U-J: I've asked this before; I assume you didn't see it, or I missed your reply. Where is your Xharnian embassy? Sorry about the casualty bit. I sort of assume that if you shoot the stealth pod, you'll hit the fuel cell/solar panels on it. That, and I assume your rounds are high-velocity, or armor-piercing. That's rather likely to end explosively, so...... Axinon, sorry if I didn't represent Sampson accurately below. I assumed he had full marks in the forms of martial arts taught to Marines. I also take a little artistic liscence with your country's geography, let me know if that works.)

The stealth pod decided that it had had enough. Though it was designed for stealth insertion and extraction, it was not built to withstand high-powered rifle fire. The bullets riddled the solar panels with holes, tore merry hell out of it's sleek lines, and finally, one pierced the thin carbon fiber casing of it's fuel cell. A spark leapt to the hydrogen gas stored therein, and an explosion shattered the dawn sky, sending a plume of smoke heavenward, and sending tremors through the ground.

Hunter heard the bullets thump into the craft, and barely had time to bite out a bitter expletive before the shockwave washed over him. Though muffled by the water, it nearly knocked the Nairatsan unconcious. The cave celing was not so insulated, however, and dust showered all those present as large chunks of the roof broke free to tumble into the water below. As the roof fell, Hunter's quick reflexes barely saved him from an untimely burial, but forced him to seek deeper shelter, further out to sea. When the dust settled, the cave mouth was largely gone, a narrow side passage all that remained of the original entrance.

The cave remains were ominously silent.

Hunter, for his part, arrowed up behind Sampson, and pulled a knife to the man's throat. Noting the slight markings that denoted some rank, he bent Sampson backwards, pinning the man's arms at his sides, and forcing the rifle from his hand. Sampson, a talented fighter in his own right, threw his weight into Hunter, knocking the smaller man back a pace, and freeing his arms. Both men immediately dropped into a low crouch, Hunter careful to keep the other man between him and the remaining shooters. The Nairatsan flicked a light slice at his opponent, but the Marine dodged with surprising agility, bringing his palm down on Hunter's wrist. Not skipping a beat, Hunter flickered a kick at the man's jaw, sending him stumbling backwards.

They returned to their croutches, and began throwing well-timed blows faster than the eye could follow. One would dodge the other's knife only to run into a palm. The returning roundhouse would be danced away from, only to encounter a well-placed knee. So it went, back and forth, neither gaining a clear advantage. They fenced back and forth across the remains of the cave entrance. Hunter quipped to his adversary: "You might as well yield. My X.R.I.C. countrymen will be here shortly, and then this game will be at an end, Dreedanese military or no."

Sampson simply narrowed his eyes. "I doubt it. If you were X.R.I.C., you'd have taken the woman straight inland, to them, not interrogated her here, out in the open."

Hunter largely ignored his response. He'd been listening to the man's accent. Not Dredaneese, to be sure. I can't quite place it. Yet. Let's see...the terrain here is too even, where's a decent...Aha. "Eh. I had no desire to do my work where there's a crowd. Yield. Your style's too ham-handed to win, anyway."

Hunter dodged the answering blow, and Sampson snarled. "It's enough for you, boy. That flickering form's largely defensive, anyway. A gaping weakness."

"Merely a matter of style, Lieutenant....or is it Chief? It's hard to tell these days. Oh, and it's Corsair, not 'flickering'." I'd place money that he's from the islands on the border of Axinon. Which side of that border is anyone's guess.

They closed again, tossing blows, until Hunter doubled over from a well timed kick. As Sampson approached his adversary to deliver the fatal blow, the young officer suddenly dropped flat and locked his arms around the larger man's ankles. Bracing his feet in the fallen rock, Hunter pulled himself taught shadow-quick, and flipped the other backwards. Sampson's head met ground with ferocious speed, giving off an audible crack.

Hunter threw himself into the water, to the accompanyment of gunfire.

(OOC: No, she's not dead, just possesant of enough good sense to act it.)

Narodna Odbrana

17-12-2005, 13:02

OOC: Let’s see if I can help out…

In the Seaside Cave (But Not For Long...)When the stealth pod exploded, Hourame had just one thought: That thing’s going to take down this cave! Sure enough, dust filled the air and large chunks of rock began to crash down around her. Not fancying the idea of being buried alive, the Yekruti woman sucked in her breath, threw Hunter’s rifle back over her shoulder - making sure as she started to move that its strap would keep it close to her body - and rushed for the water as fast as she could.

With the cacophony of sound around her as well as the smoke and dust obscuring their view, the Anixonian marines never heard their quarry escape, not even when her body struck the water in a fashion that was considerably less graceful that she’d have preferred – primarily because she couldn’t gauge quite where the water began while running blind. Not that they’d have been able to fire if they’d been able to see or hear the woman’s flight; they were all too busy covering their heads as the ceiling crashed down on top of them.

To avoid injury, Hourame pushed herself down into the icy water as far as she could go. Fortunately, the cave was narrow enough that there was little chance of becoming disoriented; she was quickly able to judge which way to swim to reach the sea. A few hard strokes and…

She felt a hand close around her ankle, throwing off her movement. Turning in the water, the Yekruti woman saw a large shape reaching toward her: one of the marines had apparently followed her into the water. He and his buddies could have killed us if they wanted – but they didn’t, Hourame thought. So I’d wager that his orders are to capture us.

She was willing to stake her life on that wager. Her bizarre encounter with Hunter notwithstanding, capture was usually synonymous with death.

The fleeing woman let the marine get his arms around her, misleading him into thinking her a helpless female. At the same time she kept her hands low, groping at him with her left as though she were trying to fend him off. It wasn’t hard to find his pistol, but Hourame had no idea if that would work underwater; for future access, she unsnapped the covering flap and moved on. A moment later, however, she found something that would work.

Before the marine had time to stop her, Hourame had pulled his combat knife from its sheath and then jammed it sharply downward into his right buttock. The man impulsively let go of her and tried to remove the offending piece of steel from his outraged posterior; coming away as this happened, Hourame’s hand found his holster once more and deftly withdrew the pistol. Then she was away, kicking and pulling hard at the water toward the open ocean.

A second later her head burst from the water, but Hourame could not be sure that she wouldn’t be a target if she took a second here to survey her surroundings; rather, with another gulp of air let she pulled back under the waves and moved further out toward the open ocean. A few seconds later, she broke the surface once again, took another gasp of air, and – in the grey light of dawn – looked shoreward to take stock of the situation.

Hunter was fighting one of the marines hand-to-hand in front of the cave mouth. She was about to raise the pistol to take a shot - she had an angle on the spy’s adversary – the two men closed and then it was over, with Hunter victorious; a second later the Nairatsan was arcing into the waves with bullets striking the water all around him.

Although the thought occurred to her that she could easily slip away at this point, she decided that such a course of action would be inappropriate; instead, she jammed the pistol down the front of her wetsuit – not the best place for it, but the safest – and dived beneath the waves, heading in the likeliest direction to find Hunter.OOC: You may proceed from here, Nairatsa. You can also have your rilfe back.

The fellow I stabbed doesn’t have to be dead; then, too, he could have been one of the guys already wounded in the earlier firefight.

Also, I didn't mention it, but Hourame will have various cuts and bruises from swimming past sinking rocks, etc.

Usea-Jason

17-12-2005, 17:21

(ooc-the embassy is in the Xharn capitol,and the diplomat is at the Xharn palace)

Axinon

17-12-2005, 18:45

OOC: Very good. The one little thing is that Axinon is an island country, not unlike Australia. Otherwise very good.

IC: Larvonic saw the fighting going on around him. He saw 'Dobbs' and Sampson fight in front of the cave. He would have helped, but at that very moment the cave, the roof of which he was standing on, exploded. Thrown viciously to the side, he was knocked out for a few moments. He woke up fast enough to see the conclusion of the fight. Sampson hit the ground hard. His first instinct was to rush to the aid of his fallen comrade, but he had learned very well in basic training not to listen to his first instinct. Instead he called to a marine standing nearby "I need your trench dagger". The marine handed it to him, and Larvonic put it on. "Tend to the wounded, I have work to do."

With that, Larvonic threw himself into the water, in hot pursuit of 'Dobbs', preparing to complete what his largely incompetent support crew could not. With a trench dagger attached to one hand, and a Aquas Waterproof Handgun strapped to his side, he put his years upon years of swimming to work, to capture his foe, dead or alive.

After a few minutes of hard swimming, Larvonic had caught his foe. Treading water about 10 yards from 'Dobbs', Larvonic yelled out "It's no use. Give it up. You can't get away from me with that bloody leg. Surrender to me, or I will have to kill you."

OOC: a trench dagger is a ~8 inch long metal spike attached to brass knuckles, it was originally designed for trench warfare in WWI and can reliably penetrate the steel helmets worn by soldiers as well as the skulls under them.

Nairatsa

18-12-2005, 01:07

(OOC: Thanks Narodna. It is a touch hard to coordinate two fighters in an action scene; I was just going to have her provide support at an opportune moment later. Though, Hunter is likely to be a bit busy to notice the rifle; Hourame can keep it for the time being. Axinon, post edited to suit. Hunter's knife is a obsidian/carbon-fiber composite. Basically, a surgical edge that's stronger than steel, and about 4 inches long. )

Behind him a quiet flicker marked Hourame's graceful slip into the water. That's either Hourame, or I'd better swim a touch faster. If it isn't, I'll come back for her as soon as I find out how those men slipped into a nation at war. Hunter pulled hard through the waves, arrowing in the direction he suspected the 'Dredaneese' had come from. Dredaneese my ear. They're Axinonian, or I'm the Black Prince. Hazily before him, Hunter saw the distant outline of a wind-swept craft, it's sleek lines belieing it's stealth intent. And there we have it.

As Hunter appraised the mini-sub, he heard 'Garnell' splash into the waves behind him, and redoubled his efforts. The pain from his leg, however, kept threatening to drive him unconcious. Nevertheless, he fought bravely on, reaching back to tighten the makeshift tourniquet anew. He had forced it to the back of his mind during the fight with Sampson, but blood loss had finally caught up to him, causing the edges of his vision to haze red when he kicked.

Thus handicapped, 'Garnell' easily overtook Hunter, and shouted: "It's no use. Give it up; you can't get away from me with that bloody leg. Surrender to me, or I will have to kill you.". Hunter simply laughed. He dove, depending on the water to shield him from the man's bullets, and readied his knife.

Surfacing five scant yards from Garnell, he quipped. "Come, then. That Marine of yours fell; we'll see if you fare better."

He saw Hourame out in the surf, silently working her way toward the Axinonian, and hoped she would make it in time. Hunter knew he was in no shape to defend himself from the relatively fresh man, even if Garnell had recently been starving. We could do with a bit more noise, but thankfully the incoming surf is loud, hopefully enough so to keep her covered until it is too late..... As Garnell spoke, the Nairatsan kept careful watch on Hourame out of the corner of his eye, counting down the distance between her and the pair.

"Just yield. You're in no shape to fight."
12 yards. Still far too far away to spook him.

"Yield, yourself." Hunter rolled his eyes, and added, in a voice laden with sarcasm. "Ah fed you, and -this- is the thanks I get? That's gratitude for you."
8 yards. Dangerous. Wind, don't fail me now.

"Orders are orders. You know that, Dobbs. It's obvious."
5 yards. Here we go.

Hunter smirked. "You could, Axinonian, you could." Steadying himself, he gestured to the sub and added: "Why don't you just tend to your wounded, and leave me this nice little toy you've got here?"
2 yards. Either he turns to her, or she takes him....

Garnell's response went unheard, as Hunter ignored him in favor of slowly going for his pistol. I'll get one shot at this. Better make it count. As Hourame came up behind the startled spy, instinct and training agreed. The Axinonian agent whirled to meet the new threat. Discounting Hunter momentarily, he brought his knife up to bear, but was quickly batted down by Hourame, using the butt of her purloined pistol. Meanwhile, the Nairatsan snapped off a brace of shots. The first flew wide, skipping harmlessly into the waves, but it's pair, last in the magazine, made a sickening thump as it impacted.

As Garnell crumpled, Hunter beckoned Hourame past the man, shouting: "Leave him. If he's dead, so be it. If not, he's out of it for the moment, and time is of the essence."

The two of them made for the sub, as quickly as their injuries would allow. As they crept up on the stealth ship, however, Hunter quickly discovered that the craft retained it's full compliment of crew. That's a touch chancy at best. I'm out of bullets, and I've no idea what she's managed to scrounge...is that a pistol? While they swam toward the conning tower, Hunter turned to Hourame with a question on his lips. "Why'd you bother swimming after me? You could have bolted, and been half to town by now."

(OOC: If any of those assumptions were unwarrented, let me know. Edits: (Oh. That makes much more sense.) Scene at the sub altered to reflect the fact that the sub has crew; I'll leave the decision to try it or not to Narodna. From what Narodna said, Hourame was further out in the surf and swimming toward Hunter. Hunter was swimming for the sub, from near the shore, and Garnell/Larvonic had jumped into the water between them, forming a triangle. Also, I have no idea if your sub has a conning tower. )

Axinon

18-12-2005, 01:58

OOC: The sub the Axinonians came in was hardly mini. It is a special operations submarine, and is about the size of a small attack submarine, albiet with all weapons systems sacrificed to stealth. Also, I'm fairly sure that Hourame was further out in the water than Hunter, so for her to grab him, she would have to go around the two of them.

A second later her head burst from the water, but Hourame could not be sure that she wouldn’t be a target if she took a second here to survey her surroundings; rather, with another gulp of air let she pulled back under the waves and moved further out toward the open ocean. A few seconds later, she broke the surface once again, took another gasp of air, and – in the grey light of dawn – looked shoreward to take stock of the situation.

Hunter was fighting one of the marines hand-to-hand in front of the cave mouth.
Finally, Axinon trench dagger attaches to the hand via a locking mechanism, so it won't fall off while in use. The odds of being shot off are slim.

The reason I brought the size of the sub up is that it does have a crew. That is how it was able to sail over half a mile to the cave from the pickup point after the marines disembarked

Axinon

18-12-2005, 05:50

Larvonic chuckled silently to himself. His shoulder was bleeding. There was no way he could catch 'Dobbs' now. His shoulder was a bloody mess. But while he limped to shore, he was laughing to himself, like he had just been told the funniest thing in the world.

Man, I really danced with death there. Whoever 'Dobbs' is, he's good. I'll catch him again soon. And when I do, I'll make sure I come out on top.

A few minutes later, with some help from some flotsam he was able to grab onto, Larvonic reached the shore. One of the remaining 3 non-crippled marines walked up to him.

"How's Sampson doing?" was the first thing he asked the marine.

"Not too good. Fractured skull and a severe concussion. He will live, but recovery could take weeks or months. You don't look too great yourself."

"Tis but a flesh wound" Larvonic replied, howling with laughter.

"Looks like you could use a trip to the psychiatric ward too. Hold still for a second."

The marine took a pair of tweezers and removed the bullet lodged in Larvonic's shoulder. Larvonic grimaced, but then smiled widely.

"What is wrong with you???" the marine asked in disbelief, "You are supposed to be screaming in pain."

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport. Just put some of that plasti-heal stuff we swiped from that unknown nation in DMG on my cut and bandage it up, will you??" Larvonic replied.

"Ok, ok" the Marine replied, placing some plasti-heal on Larvonic's wound and then bandaging it.

"I'll find you, somehow" muttered Larvonic, to himself.

Nairatsa

18-12-2005, 08:02

(OOC: Axinon, that wasn't yanking your characters around too much, was it? I figured I ought to check, just in case. U-J: Thanks, that'll let me post what Frin's up to next.)

Narodna Odbrana

18-12-2005, 09:19

OOC: You know, we’ve been pretty blasé about moving in and out of Xharn’s territorial waters without being seen, considering that he’s at war and has specifically ordered a nationwide lockdown.

It’s time we changed that and gave him a chance to get into the fracas… ;)

Ten Minutes Earlier
Five Miles AwayBelow the old lighthouse, Stephanie Koenig was walking her two mastiffs, Bram and Shelley.

Stephanie had rented the cottage next to the lighthouse four months earlier because she needed to be alone as she wrote her latest novel, tentatively entitled High Tide. Her genre was horror, and she was famous for having a flair for the creepy – but then that alone would not have distinguished her from thousands of nobodies who dressed as Goths and hung around in basement nightclubs. No, Stephanie had two things they didn’t have: a talent for writing and extreme discipline.

When she was in “creative mode”, as Stephanie called it, she would find a place where she could be completely alone – preferably one with an eerie air. The cottage on the coast was perfect, what with storms rolling in off the sea, the eternally moaning wind, the relentless pounding of surf against the nearby cliffs, and the constant haunting cry of the gulls.

Then the author would settle into a routine: get up before the dawn, walk her dogs, feed them, eat a light breakfast, and then spend the morning writing. She often had vivid dreams, and writing in the morning helped her recall them. Last night her dreams had been especially inspirational: she had dreamt of a dusty, foreboding, timeworn plain inhabited by a race of vicious cannibalistic pygmies who worshipped a monstrous, bloated, elephantine god that was fated to devour the entire universe at the end of time. Those might not be elements that Koenig could use in her current tale, which was about a dashing man with an English accent and a mysterious woman of vaguely Turkish ancestry locked in a desperate life-and-death struggle against ancient, eldritch forces from beneath the sea – but then again maybe they were…

The sun had risen, and Stephanie was about to lead her dogs back up to her creative retreat when she heard the explosion. Not a loud, sharp explosion, but a dull, distant, and somewhat muffled whump! Nonetheless, she recognised it as an explosion, and she stood for a moment, listening to its echoes.

A boating accident? the author wondered.

Stephanie always carried her cell phone with her – it was foolhardy for a woman living alone not to do so; unhitching it from its holster, she dialled “9-1-1”, waited for the operator, and then – telling the woman on the other end of the line where she was - she reported what she had heard. The reclusive author was thanked for her call; hanging up, she looked out over the grey water, still partly covered by the morning haze, and then headed back up to the cottage with her dogs.Five Minutes Later
Many Miles AwayStephanie Koenig’s call had been routed to the Xharnian Coast Guard. Under normal circumstances, the Coast Guard would have agreed with her assessment of the disturbance as a likely boating accident; these were not, however, normal circumstances. There was a war going on, and the country’s shores were being carefully watched.

Thus, two hydrofoil patrol boats were dispatched to the apparent source of the explosion, along with a pair of Coast Guard choppers; in addition, a platoon of infantry were rushed to another helipad to board a pair of heavy-lift helicopters, which were then dispatched to follow-up after the vanguard together with two escorts, both helicopter gunships. These assets all began to converge on the scene of the desperate life-and-death struggle between the covert operatives of two foreign countries and a major crime syndicate.On the Deck of the Stealth SubHunter turned to Hourame with a question on his lips. "Why'd you bother swimming after me? You could have bolted, and been half to town by now."”They say that there’s no honour among thieves,” Hourame said with an impish smile, “But betraying your partners is really bad for business. It’s important to maintain your good name and reputation.”

“Now,” she continued, “That aside, why did you lead us to this submarine?”

“I thought we could take it and use it to escape,” Hunter said.

It was not a small sub, she saw. Maybe it had looked smaller at a distance. “Um, Hunter?” she asked.

“Yes?” he replied.

“Don’t you think it has a crew that might have other ideas?” Hourame said with an arched eyebrow.

No sooner had she said this than the hatch at the top of the conning tower popped open, and a sailor with an assault rifle thrust his upper torso into sight.

“Now that you mention it…” began the Nairatsan.

Hourame had already drawn the automatic pistol she had taken from the wounded Axinonian marine; she squeezed off a shot that struck the man in the shoulder, causing him to lose his balance and crash back down the hatchway, probably into the man coming up beneath him. That gave Hunter and Hourame time to hurl themselves back into the water before that next man could clamber up into position and loose a volley of shots in their direction. Fortunately for the two operatives, they had anticipated this by ducking underwater; equally fortunate was the fact that the sailor was not all that great a shot - being, after all, a sailor.

But not all their luck was good: after three or four plunges beneath the water, each putting more distance between them and the sub, they noticed two rubber rafts surging through the waves, powered by small outboard motors: their rivals were off the beach and heading back to sea. Worse still, the men up on the conning tower were waving and pointing toward the swimming operatives, and in response to this signal one of the rubber rafts was veering off toward them, the Axinonians on board bent upon the completion of their mission.

It was then that Hourame and Hunter heard the rythmic thumping sound of approaching rotor blades.OOC: Axinon, if there’s any reason why your people wouldn’t return to their sub, please tell me; likewise if two boats for 11 men (with orders to recover 3 more people) is unreasonable, let me know and I will modify.

Also, please decide (and indicate, if possible) how many of your wounded and dead (if any) you are leaving behind and how many you are bringing back, as well as their division between the two boats.

Finally, with your sub this close inshore, I doubt you can submerge; I would say that you need to move about a half mile out to sea before you can do so. At 5-10 knots, this will take 4-5 minutes (not counting the time required to recover your shore party, should you choose to do so). Once under way, I doubt you can be moving at more than 15 knots in under 5 minutes (IOW, before you are free to submerge). Also, I’d expect you won’t have the option to dive deep to avoid the incoming Xharnian assets until you get still further out to sea (to where the water runs at least 40-50 fathoms deep).

Xharn, you may command the approaching vessels and aircraft. I assume that the helos (both standard Coast Guard SAR/ASW aircraft, similar to the British Sea King) will arrive 5-10 minutes before either the troop transports or the hydrofoils. The troop transports are a pair of Chinook equivalents; the gunships are similar to either Apaches. Blackhawks, or Hinds. The hydrofoils are probably Pegasus-type craft, outfitted primarily for ASW.

Once the Axinonian sub is sighted in Xharnian territorial waters, your fleet may move to interdict. Axinon, you will need to decide if you want to bring your battleship into play against any Xharnian naval assets that show up in response to the submarine sighting.

Axinon

18-12-2005, 20:11

OOC: No problem with your posts, other than the issues that you've already corrected. My soldiers are notoriously inept, as my Army regurlarly recieves the short end of the sick when millitary budjeting time comes around. The marines are little better. I think the Xharnians troops are reasonable, and I still have about 4 marines and Larvonic capable of fighting. The dead bodys will be burned but all equipment and wounded will be taken with the team.

The two boats are reasonable. There are currently 6 marines and Larvonic alive, Sampson is unconcious and another one is in critical condition with blood loss, but has been bandaged. Special ops "rubber" boats would be reinforced with thin layers of Kelvar, to be harder to sink. Larvonic is in the lead boat, equiped with a "Designated Marksman" A-1 he took from a dead comrade. 2 marines as well as Sampson are in that boat too. 4 marines and one unconcious marine are in boat 2.

I will post IC soon, but I have a lot of homework to do.

Nairatsa

18-12-2005, 21:23

(OOC: Says the one going to be smuggling a barge. :P You're right, though, we probably should have been at least consulting Xharn when we were sneaking about. I will be heading out of town soon, bound for parts internet-less, and will likely not be back until the first or thereabouts. If Hunter's still in the fray, I'll just hand him over to Narodna, so don't worry about trying to hurry anything along on my account. I figured I'd let you all know, though.)

Axinon

19-12-2005, 04:46

OOC: Sorry, homework took longer and then had to watch Football (american). Redskins vs Cowboys, couldn't miss it. Anyway.

IC: Larvonic looked over the edge of his inflatable raft. He had taken a "Designated Marksman" A-1 from a dead marine. He looked to the sub, far out in the waves. There was commotion, perhaps someone attempting to board the sub. Then a splash. Two figures hit the water. They stayed below for a few moments, and then re-surfaced closer to the raft. The two figures repeated this a number of times, seeming to be headed toward the land.

Turning to the marine piloting the craft, Larvonic said, "Head towards those two figures." To the other Marine on the craft he said "Hand me a cartridge of sleep bullets."

Loading the sleep bullets into his A-1, he took aim at the shoulder of the nearer figure, the man, and fired. The bullet impacted in the upper arm. Slightly off target, but placed well enough.

He could not see what happened to his foe as at that very instant a hydrofoil appeared on the horizon. He heard a marine behind him yelling into his transmitter "Invincible, Cloaked Dagger, two hydrofoils inbounding at point o 5, sector 422"

Larvonic detached the magazine of unused sleep bullets, and changed back to the normal rounds that had already totaled a mini sub. He also grabbed a hand grenade, ready to lob if the boats made it to attack range.

On board the DSS Invincible

"Hmm... it appears that Xharn has sent two hydrofoils to investigate activities in the sector of operations" said the captain.

"What should we do sir?" asked a private, "should we launch Harpoons?"

"...Yes, lets. And then run."

And so, the DSS Invincible launched two Black Harpoon light anti-ship missiles. One quick change of course later, and it was headed out into international waters at top speed.

OOC: A sleep bullet is a round desinged for Spec Ops use, specifically live capturing of dangerous opponets. The round is designed so that it will not cause too much damage on impact, it merely breaks the skin and dilivers a large amount of "sleep compound" to the bloodstream of the victim. It would not cause nearly as much damage as a normal round. The next post is up to you, or N.O. if you leave to non-internet land earlier. IC Larvonic does not know about the... subdermal toxin scrubber?

The Black Harpoon anti-ship missles are based on the US Harpoon anti-ship missles but sacrifice a little bit in power to increce accuracy agenst a fast moving target.

Narodna Odbrana

19-12-2005, 07:15

OOC: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I knew that I could get you to fire on the Xharnians! Now you are t-o-a-s-t…

Xharn, I’m going to take some liberties with your people. You may order me to amend if you wish, but realistically, given the situation

Along the Xharnian CoastThe hydrofoils never knew what hit them.

The spume hurled aloft behind a streaking hydrofoil makes it a big, fat radar target for any incoming anti-ship missile. Seconds apart, two huge explosions blew the hydrofoils into very small fragments, one right after the other, with the near certain death of every hand on board.

But while the hydrofoils never knew what hit them, the stealth sub did.

Although its skipper had ordered his boat to turn and head for open water, there was simply too much distance to cover before he could reach a point where he could dive – and that would have even been true had he chosen to abandon Larvonic, Sampson, and the marines to their fates. But he didn’t.

Not that it really mattered.

The two Coast Guard helicopters swung overhead, the stray shots from the marines and the crew of the submarine having no effect on either craft. From two directions, each dropped a pair of active homing torpedoes, bracketing the sub on all sides. Striking the water only a couple of hundred yards from the submarine and pinging like mad as soon as they hit, it took only a few seconds for each of the four fish to acquire their target.

As soon as they did so, the torpedoes abandoned their pre-programmed behaviour – to move in a lazy circle – and accelerated toward the hapless submarine. Unable to dive, unable to fool the torpedoes with passive or active countermeasures at this depth and speed, and surrounded by converging torpedoes on all sides, the sub’s fate was clear.

Their first duty taken care of, the two Coast Guard helicopters, circled out to sea to try and gain a visual on the vessel that had fired the two anti-shipping missiles. No such luck – DSS Invincible was too far away. They were, however, able to call further SAR assets to pick up the survivors of the ill-fated hydrofoils – if there were any – as well as to alert the Xharnian Navy that a much more powerful vessel – and, far more importantly given the King’s current conversation with the Supreme Soviet of Usea-Jason, a ship armed with cruise missiles - was lurking in the area.

That left the two transport helicopters and their gunship escorts to deal with the soon-to-be stranded marines.

Directed to the speeding rafts by their higher-flying Coast Guard brethren, the two attack helicopters streaked in low, prepping rockets and mini-guns for what was certain to be a slaughter of the remaining Axinonian marines. As they did so, the troop transports began to settle toward the ground further back, landing on open stretches of beach to either side of the place from whence the marines had taken to sea, each discharging half a platoon, and thus putting 80 men down near the cave where the extraction force had first encountered its quarry.At Xharnian Navy Headquarters“Get 4th Fleet out to sea as fast as possible, and scramble planes to get a radar fix on that ship,” shouted Supreme Marshal Dylan Hunt. “I want that intruder found, cornered, and sunk. No excuses!”In the WaterHunter grunted as the low velocity slug struck his arm. It was one more wound, even if a minor one, and all of these injuries were beginning to make this a very bad day.

“Dive!” he and Hourame cried to each other, almost simultaneously. Yet diving wouldn’t do much to take either one of them out of danger: getting run over by the oncoming raft was not a pleasant thought, considering that it would expose them both to the possibility of getting sliced to ribbons by the propeller.

The only sure way to avoid getting run down was to get out of the way of the dinghy; unfortunately, their pursuers knew that, and would likely anticipate just such a move. This produced a simply yet lethal guessing game: the agents in the water would attempt to guess which way the rubber raft would turn, and the marines in the raft would attempt to guess which way the agents would swim.

But until that final decision, each side had but one optimal strategy.

The marines gunned their engine to attempt to run over their enemies and slice them to bits, while the couple blew as much air out of their lungs as possible in order to go as far below the waves as they could before striving with all of their might to shoot out to one side or the other of the onrushing dinghy.OOC: The “roostertail” hurled up into the air by hydrofoils moving at top speed makes them easy targets for cruise missiles. Given their small size, even a light anti-ship missile is more than enough to demolish them completely.

But a submarine in the shallows that can not dive is dead meat when confronted by even one ASW helicopter, let alone two. This encounter can realistically have but one ending (as can the coming encounter between the two helo gunships and the poor rubber dinghies).

As for the DSS Invincible, even a quick sprint out into international waters isn't likely to result in a clean escape from the massed forces of the Xharnian Navy. Remember, Xharn is at war; once they realise that this unknown intruder is probably responsible for starting the war (which they most assuredly will), it will be a point of honor to catch and sink it. So what we have is a “Sink the Bismarck” situation; while the modified battleship may yet escape, it probably won't do so without engaging one or more additional Xharnian vessels - and maybe an entire fleet of them.

A swimmer in the water is in a perilous position when someone wants to run them over with a motorcraft. Getting deep enough to avoid the whirling propeller hanging below such a vessel is hard, given the natural bouyancy of the human body. That's why the best thing to do is dive as deeply as possible and then shoot out perpendicular to the course of the boat. For this to work, the direction you choose must be totally random; that maximises your chance of being missed.

(BTW, the last thing in the world I'd have done when diving off the sub would be to swim back toward shore. I mean, that's where the marines are, right?

I imagined that Hunter and Hourame would swim perpendicular to the shore, directly away from both the sub and the marine extraction team. In my mind's eye, this is toward the lighthouse and away from the nearest Xharnian port/air base - but that's just how I imagine things working.

However anybody else may imagine it, however, just keep in mind that the fugtives would never swim back toward shore.)

Usea-Jason

19-12-2005, 23:55

--SNF Riketz II 3rd fighter Squadron"Sea Dogs"--
A Flight of 6 A-6F "Intruder"Attack jetswere on a training mission when."Sea Dog Squadron,there is a unknown ship 9 miles east on your 10 o'clock.it isn't Xharn so don't fire unless told."the jets turned to see."H.Q. we found the ship,yet were bingo on fuel.We have to come back."Replyed the flight lead.

(ooc-the Usean-Jason navy dosen't use cruse missles because of its air power fixtation.there fleet is mostly carriers of all kind with planes that do the work for them.on the Rikets II they also have a few Prototype ASW UAV's,yet they have not been tested for bad weather.)

Axinon

20-12-2005, 02:39

OOC: You forget one thing though; an Iowa-Class is a fairly fast ship, and a surface fleet with aircraft carriers is unlikely to catch one, especially one supported by orbital weapons.

IC: After seeing the rescue sub detonated by helicopters, the crew of the trail boat knew they were facing an uphill battle, but not an unwinnable one. His air force background on display, he yelled at his comrades "Aim for the guns with your grenades".

He pulled the pin of his grenade, waited a second, and lobbed. The grenade exploded practically on top of the rocket hardpoints, skewering the rockets with shrapnel and detonating a few. The explosion crippled the helicopter and set it crashing into the ocean. The other copter was not deterred, however. The pilot of this one wisely stayed out of throwing range, and rained flack down on the raft. The pilot of the raft took evasive action, but the longer the fight went on, the more it would favor the far more firepower endowed chopper. After one and a half long minutes, a shot hit one marine in the head. The fateful bullet went on to penetrate the kelvar-reinforced inflatable tube, and the marines on board jumped ship. The marines split up, swimming in different directions. The helicopter was unphased by this tactic. Over time, it picked off all but one of the marines, the remaining one surviving by slipping unnoticed onto a very small island near the shore.

Meanwhile, upon seeing the one helicopter hit the waves and the other chase down the other boat, Larvonic ordered the crew of his boat to abandon pursuit of 'Dobbs' and flee the scene. The boat made a beeline along the coast. After getting a suitable head start on their Xharnian counterparts, and avoiding any helicopter entanglements, the crew came ashore, punched holes in their raft with bayonets, threw it and the engine into a pool of deep water, made a makeshift stretcher for Sampson, and marched rapidly inland. They soon encountered a forest, and it was there that they set camp on top of a hill. Sheltered by the trees and protected by the steep slopes, they drew straws to see who would get the first watch.

The Citadel

George O'Conner looked at the files. There was no doubting it. He would send an e-mail to the king of Xharn at once. Something was wrong with the Xharnian bookkeeping.

To King Azure 4 of Xharn

Our analysis of your government's bookkeeping has detected several irregularities in your countries bookkeeping. For instance, your records indicate a purchase of 3 tons of heavy water from Ubercorp. Our intelligence network has confirmed that Ubercorp has sent no such shipment of heavy water. We believe that your nuclear program has been compromised by some unknown agency. We can help you. Please respond soon.

Shadowfax

The Axinon Executive Mashion
William McConnel looked at a large blown up map of the world. Axinon was too far from Xharn for the navy to be any help in the case of a major action. He had an idea though.

To: The Trintarian Republic of Mondoth
From: The Democratic Republic of Axinon

Dear Mr. Stanwin
I have a small request. Our nations have been on friendly terms, the anti-satellite missile launch incident notwithstanding. Right now our country is involved in a combat operation on foregin soil, and our current power in the area is virtually nil. Although right now we have no need for power projection in the area, we may in the near future. Your territory is much closer to the zone of operation. With your permission, we would like to station our fourth battlefleet in one of your harbors for a time not to exceed 3 months. Any and all costs of oil, food, matainence, etc will be paid in full by the Axinonian Government. In addition, we will pay you 450 million universal standard dollars for the services listed.

Respectfully,
William McConnel

OOC: The message to Xharn has been routed so that it is very hard to trace to the citadel.

Narodna Odbrana

20-12-2005, 08:32

At Narodna Odbrana HeadquartersWith Stefan gone, Peter had been assigned the task of monitoring the Xharnian governmental network. Consequently, he was in the course of drinking his second cup of coffee that morning when he saw the alert: content analysis of King Azure’s e-mail suggested that a message had arrived that should be checked out further.

All such suspicious e-mail was routinely held until it could be cleared. Sometimes that might take as much as an hour, but today it happened in just a minute or two. To King Azure 4 of Xharn

Our analysis of your government's bookkeeping has detected several irregularities in your countries bookkeeping. For instance, your records indicate a purchase of 3 tons of heavy water from Ubercorp. Our intelligence network has confirmed that Ubercorp has sent no such shipment of heavy water. We believe that your nuclear program has been compromised by some unknown agency. We can help you. Please respond soon.

ShadowfaxA quick look at the header revealed that the source was untraceable. No matter. Peter simply sent a delivery receipt to “Shadowfax” and hit the “delete” key.

He then called the accounting department and ordered the records corrected, so that the purchase of 3 tonnes of heavy water was recorded as having been made from yet another shadowy front company owned by his organisation rather than Ubercorp, and – for good measure – the necessary paper trail to show that the front company had indeed delivered the item in question was correspondingly created.

All in all, then, it was just another dull morning at the ranch.Along the Xharnian CoastThe lieutenant in charge of the infantry force that had landed on the beach near the now-collapsed cave watched in utter disbelief as one of the men on one of the rafts threw a hand grenade over 500 feet from a sitting position on a bouncing rubber raft at a fast moving aerial target and – with perfect accuracy and timing – squarely struck one of the gunship’s rocket launchers. The incredible feat – surely one that would go down in Ripley’s as the greatest grenade toss in history – intimidated the second gunship pilot into focussing all of his energies on the rubber raft that didn’t have an Olympic-calibre grenadier, even to the point of uselessly picking off the swimming survivors after the raft had gone down, one doomed individual at a time.

But in spite of the bone-chilling terror he felt at the prospect of going up against an enemy who could probably only be killed with Kryptonite, he knew that he had to try. We need to know who these people are. he thought. The fate of Xharn may well depend on it.

Thus, his initial reaction when he saw the first boat speed away was to radio the two ASW/SAR helicopters. He requested pursuit of the raft – at a safe distance, of course – by one of these two aircraft while he ordered half of his men back into the transport helicopter; the remaining men were to search the beach for survivors or clues as to the identity of these foreign intruders.

Once in the air, the troop transport had no time overhauling the rubber raft, although as his chopper approached the scene, he saw that the intruders had ditched their raft and were moving off into a forest. I’ll need a lot more men to seal off the area and comb the woods for these people he thought.

A few quick calls, and he had what he needed: two companies of infantry and two special police battalions, equipped with tracking dogs, along with four more helicopter gunships and two spotter planes. He was also told that special team with radio triangulation gear would be arriving by the end of the evening.To: The Trintarian Republic of Mondoth
From: The Democratic Republic of Axinon

Dear Mr. Stanwin
I have a small request. Our nations have been on friendly terms, the anti-satellite missile launch incident notwithstanding. Right now our country is involved in a combat operation on foregin soil, and our current power in the area is virtually nil. Although right now we have no need for power projection in the area, we may in the near future. Your territory is much closer to the zone of operation. With your permission, we would like to station our fourth battlefleet in one of your harbors for a time not to exceed 3 months. Any and all costs of oil, food, matainence, etc will be paid in full by the Axinonian Government. In addition, we will pay you 450 million universal standard dollars for the services listed.

Respectfully,
William McConnelOOC: Thinking of escalating to full scale war?

At the Abandoned MASLO Drilling PlatformThe Barandian Princess had pulled adjacent to the rig and was taking on the 550-odd containers found there with all due haste. Kiko – now in charge of the operation – was checking the weather charts with Stefan.

“How does it look?” the Japanese operative asked.

“It’s shaping up to be a real beauty,” said the Serbian programmer; the meteorologist who had been assisting him nodded. “A perfect storm. Did you bring your Dramamine?”

She did her best to ignore the jest. “Be ready to leave in an hour,” she said. “And that means everyone.”

Stefan raised an eyebrow, but Kiko didn’t give him a chance to ask his question. “Given that we’ve been compromised,” she said, “I’m leaving no one behind to get caught once we’re gone.”
In the WaterHunter and Hourame broke the surface. They expected to see the Axinonian raft speeding by, to see it turning to try and run them down again.

The first expectation was met; the second was not. The raft did indeed speed by, not too close but still closer than either would have liked, but then it veered off and headed down the coast. A moment later, one of the ASW/SAR choppers took off after it, tracking its progress.

Not far off, the wreckage of a sunken submarine lay half-submerged in the shallows. The crew were beginning to evacuate the boat, which had not been deep enough to subject them to the kind of lethal flooding at extremely high pressures that usually killed a sub’s crew to the last man, thus giving the majority of them a change to abandon ship. In the distance, more Xharnian vessels were approaching; the crew would soon be prisoners of the Xharnian Navy, and with their capture would begin to provide answers to the obvious questions their presence raised: who were these people and what did they want?

But that was not the only wreckage in the water. Aside from the two blasted hydrofoils, now just pools of flaming oil and debris, the remains of a helicopter gunship dotted the surface amidst more burning fuel and lubricants; one or two survivors bobbed in the water, trying to stay afloat until rescued. The other chopper was methodically but somewhat pointlessly hunting down the swimming survivors of the other raft. Why not just leave them for the troops waiting on the beach?, though Hourame. Apparently the warrant officer flying the second gunship valued revenge more than his career.

On the beach, one of the two transport helos took off to follow the surviving dinghy. Hopefully, he’ll call for reinforcements and track these annoying fellows down in the next day or so, the woman thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Hunter’s question: “So … now that we have no means of escape,” he began “Do you have any ideas about how to get out of this mess.”

She smiled. “I’m formally in their database as an X.R.I.C. agent, remember?” she paused and continued: “So we’ll let them get us home.”

“What about me?” asked Hunter suspiciously.

“Oh, don’t worry,” the Yekruti woman answered. “You’re with me.” Then, as they began to swim for shore, she said: “Just let me do all the talking.”OOC: I’m only playing Xharnian forces until Xharn notices what’s going on here and takes over...

Axinon

21-12-2005, 01:34

Message from the DSS Invincible to Marines. Highly encrypted over radio bands

"Ok, Xharn appears to be preparing to seal off the woods, but according to charts of the area, it will take them at least two hours at best to do it. The prime escape route seems to be along the western ridge; the terrain is too rough for the troops that they are deploying to deploy rapidly, especially considering the location of the nearest military base. After scaling the ridge, head west some more, into the canyon. We'll update you when you get there. Until then, maintain radio silence. We will tell you of any change of plans, and if worst comes to worst we execute 667 manuvers."

On the ground with the unit

Knowing that they were the hunted, the group took off. Heading west, they walked down a narrow but foot deep creek. The thick canopy protected them from aerial observation and the water protected them from all forms of scent-based tracking. The slow deploying Xharnian trap would not be able to catch them.

OOC: Right now I have no desire to start a full fledged war agenst a new nuclear power, but I have some ideas for extraction and they all involve a functional navy in the area. The navy, if Mondoth approves, will be flying the Dreedaneese flag, and are all Sarzonian made (Portland Iron Works) ships. No unique Axinon ships will be used in the force.

Narodna Odbrana

21-12-2005, 03:42

OOC: First part of a double post, but a harmless one.

In the Forest“It’s a wilderness area,” said the Xharnian colonel in charge of the operation, spreading his map out on the hood of the Humvee as he spoke to his civilian counterparts. “Civilian” was all a matter of perspective – these men were effectively the commanders of a paramilitary police force. “Combing it is going to be difficult, but there are only so many ways out.” He pointed to the canyon exits and the passes. “So we move to block those off right away – we’ve got transport helicopters available to put men in those positions before these intruders can possibly get past them.”

“Next,” he said, looking at the Xharnian Army officer next to him, “We erect SAM and AAA defences. These guys have a powerful ship out there – maybe more than one – and so we can expect them to try and extract their men via helicopter. Naturally,” he continued, “They know that we will attempt to stop them, so they’ll bring fighters along for the ride. That’s why we need for tight air defence.”

“Of course,” he added, “Last time they wanted this agent of theirs, they fired cruise missiles to suppress our air defences, probably using satellites for targeting.” He looked squarely at them man who would be running their anti-air assets. “So this time you need to move your assets around and use your gatlings and flak to defend your missile batteries. Don’t let these b_st_rds get a fix on you.”

“Won’t the Navy be looking for them?” asked the officer quizzically.

“Yes, but let’s not rely put all our eggs in one basket,” replied the colonel. “I want you to be ready in case something gets through.”OOC: Don’t assume that you have a mobility advantage here because you’re elite. The Xharnians know the ground and have transport helicopters that they can use to move men around (which is the best way to get in and out of a wilderness area like the one you’re describing). You, in contrast, have a wounded man to drag around, which is really going to slow you down.

On the BeachHourame and Hunter trudged ashore, hands in the air, taking care to follow the orders of the Xharnian soldiers facing them with levelled weapons. “We’re X.R.I.C.,” said the Yekruti woman – but all the same she never lowered her hands. They were bound until the search was complete, answered all the questions the soldiers had about the cave – yes, they had tracked “Garrett”, the missing “Monrothian” spy, to this cave, only to stumble upon the extraction team. They had blown up some of the foreign spy’s equipment – a mini-sub, they thought – knowing that the blast would attract more Xharnian troops. Anytime a question proved too thorny to answer, Hourame claimed that she would have to defer answering that particular question until cleared by her superiors, and pressed the soldiers to check her credentials so that they could be released and return to base for debriefing.

About thirty minutes later, the call came back from their “handler”, a woman named “Cynthia”, who claimed that “Betty” and “Bob” (yes, he was that Bob Dobbs, who was not a sex criminal at all, but a really deep cover agent working this case, as an examination of the X.R.I.C. files would reveal – if you had the right clearance to see the right files, etc.) were in fact X.R.I.C. operatives, that they were to be released, and that the soldiers on the scene were to cooperate with them as long as they were present, after which they were to furnish the pair with transportation to a certain hotel in the nearest town – no questions asked, of course.

Thus it was mid-afternoon before Hunter and Hourame arrived at a swank establishment called the “Royal Crown Hotel” (presumably to distinguish it from the “Ducal Crown Hotel”, Hunter quipped). They had assisted in interrogating the surviving men from the submarine, most of whom claimed to be Dreedaneese. Their stories had begun to fall apart once they were isolated from one another and – with Hunter’s keen ear for accents – the more obvious Axinonians were confronted with the reality that their captors knew that they were lying and that they had better talk if they wanted anything approaching kind treatment. By the time the two “X.R.I.C. agents” left, more than a few had begun to spill the beans and admit that they were actually Axinonians.

At the hotel, the pair drew odd looks as they walked down the hall in their aquatic garb, yet both were too tired to do anything but ignore the stares. Stopping in front of the door to a suite, Hourame inserted the electronic key, pushed the door open, and passed the Nairatsan the key. With a slight smile, Hunter pushed the door open for her and held it, beckoning her to enter with a bow.

“Sorry, Hunter,” she said without skipping a beat. “I have my own room.” She waved her room key teasingly. “Get a shower, call the concierge and have some clothes sent up for you – you know all your proper sizes, right? – then get some sleep,” she ordered, and then before he could object, she said: “It’s just after 3 … shall we call it dinner at 9?”

With a bemused look, Hunter smiled slightly and said, “Sure.”OOC: This should give Hunter and Hourame a chance to exchange information on their respective groups and begin the process of forging a business relationship.

Hourame will even be nice and pick up the tab. Of course, she still owes Hunter one for the “boarding” - but we can save that for another adventure.

Mirkana

21-12-2005, 06:14

In orbit over Xharn
As it just happened, a Mirkanan EMP satellite was nearby the Axinonian Rod of God launchers. While the nationality of the satellites was not clear at first, they WERE attacking Xharn, Mirkana's ally. Signals were sent from Mount Skyward, and a camera zoomed in on the satellites.

The flag of Axinon was clearly visible on the body of one of the satellites.

The attackers identified, the Mirkanan EMP satellite promptly detonated.

Off the coast of Usea-Jason
Luckily for Usea-Jason, the Mirkanan fleet had been having problems with their attack plan. The local air defenses were both strong and intact, and the silos were reinforced. It was questionable whether the Mirkanans had the right equipment to even damage the nuclear weapons.
A Plan B involving EMP weapons to fry the nukes was being prepared when word came that Usea-Jason was NOT responsible for the attack. Furthermore, Axinon had just been seen bombarding Xharn from orbit, and there was high activity in Xharnian waters. The MNS Tempest and MNS Poseidon set course for Xharn.

OOC: I'm not supposed to determine the effect of my weapons on you, but unless your satellites have heavy EMP shielding, they should be fried beyond repair. Maybe one or two were outside the EMP blast when it happened.
Oh, and the Mirkanans won't care if the fleet in Xharnian waters is flying the Dreedaneese flag. Rather than reconsider, they will simply assume that Dreedanee is allied with Axinon. Mirkanans are both paranoid and trigger happy.

Narodna Odbrana

21-12-2005, 06:46

On the Abandoned MASLO Drilling PlatformThe wind continued to rise as the Barandian Princess was loaded, lashing the waves to ever-greater fury. Fortunately, the combined crews of the both the rig and the vessel were able to get work done before the sea state reached the point where further effort would have been impossible. At that point, the last men, dogs, and equipment were taken off the platform, after which the container ship cast loose from the rig to make her way into the teeth of the storm.

“We need to travel about 50 nm toward the centre of the storm,” said Stefan, still a little green as he waited for the Dramamine to kick in.

“Unfortunately,” said the captain, “In the face of this storm we will probably only be able to make about 5 knots.” He shook his head slowly. “So we won’t be there until early evening.”

“Then I guess we have to wait,” said Kiko. “Let’s make certain everything and everyone is secure, that the dogs are in the kennel and sedated, and that everyone’s stomach is prepared for our trip.”OOC: I decided not to double post; this gives everyone a last chance to react to what I’m doing at the rig (which, if you’ll recall, is 250 nm off the Xharnian coast and now beginning to be hit by the coming storm – a storm that will reach full gale by this evening).

Narodna Odbrana

21-12-2005, 07:49

What we are going to do is stage a demonstration on this position with ROGs and GROGs, to distract the bulk of re-enforcements to this area. We are also going to attack the communications center of the base. If we take out the communications center, the Xharn troops should loose contact with each other and their superiors for a time, plunging their position into chaos. This will prevent any effective re-enforcement to the canyon position. The conditions on the canyon right now are foggy. With the confusion, you should be able to slip past the advance infantry and into the canyon.

In orbit over Xharn

The maneuvers had taken a week but they were done…OOC: O.K., I’m confused. Conditions are foggy “right now”, but setting up this operation will take a week?!?

If so, then it seems quite unreasonable to expect conditions to remain foggy for an entire week until Axinon’s satellites are in position. Then, too, if it will take a week to prepare this extraction, then you will have to last through a week of cat-and-mouse manoeuvres to escape. Thus, Xharn should get to RP that effort, so that he has a chance of catching you.With the attack co-ordinates entered from the Invincible, the 5 Rod of God and 2 Guided Rod of God launchers started releasing their deadly projectiles. Minutes later, they approached the ground. The majority were headed for known anti-aircraft emplacements along the Delta Pass as well as major troop formations, but a few headed directly towards the computer mainframe and communications center of the Xharn regional military base. Moving at over 400 meters per second, the tungsten rods would spell certain doom to all that touched them, and many objects nearby too.Two questions and an observation: First, how do you know where the base’s mainframe is (or, for that matter, if it even has a mainframe)?

Second, this RP is MT. Do weapons of this kind exist in the present day?

Finally, while I am not Xharn, if I were, you should know that I would consider bombardment by hypersonic masses dropped from orbit to be the functional equivalent of a nuclear strike and respond accordingly. I mean, were talking weapons that are capable of vaporising bunkers, so how is this different from nuking somebody?Anyway, if Axinon’s next major move is a week away from fruition, I will go ahead and wrap up Narodna Odbrana’s involvement in this RP so that I can move on to other things (it’s just hours away from reaching fruition in thread [vs. RL]). Let me know.

OOC: So, Axinon, does one good delete deserve another? I’m not sure any of this applies any more...

Usea-Jason

21-12-2005, 22:16

OOC: You forget one thing though; an Iowa-Class is a fairly fast ship, and a surface fleet with aircraft carriers is unlikely to catch one,
(ooc-the Carrier"Riketz II" was NOT looking for it,It stumbled upon it.)
(Ic-)
--The Carrier Riketz II--
The Sea dog Squadron saflly returned,As a group of Ea-18 "Growler" EWP and a Excort of MiG-29k "Fulcrum" Fighters went to were the Ship was last sean.

--In space--
A UUSS Soyutz Space Capsule with two Cosmonauts abord When..."Petrov,Look over there."Said Capt.Sergi Alexandrov to his brother Petrov."What is that?!? It Just went up in flames!""Quickly,we have to call comand!"
(ooc-Sergi is in the air force while Petrov is in the navy.This was the first time family went up to space in U-J)

--Mobius Flight--
Flight lead Mobius One,A ace from the last war,Was excorting the "Electric's" to the ships last position."This is dull,How about you One?"Said Mobius Two."We have sight of the Ship.It seems to be not ours or Xharn.We'll keep a close Eye on it."Responded Cougar Four,the Ea-18 flight lead.

(ooc-Ea-18 is a Electronic warfare version of the F/A-18 Hornet,a carrier Fighter.The MiG-29k "Fulcrum" is a Naval Version of the Famous MiG Fighter.Both have a Mach 1 capabilities,and able to catch up.)

Axinon

21-12-2005, 23:30

OOC: Generally, ROG launchers have been consitered fair game for MT RPs I've been in so far. If you object though, I can change it. I don't want to start a fight over what is MT and what is not. And I would NEVER EVER put the flag of my nation on a sattlite. The way I know the layout of the base is simply that my group has cracked the Xharn mainfaime. All of our info on the nuclear program is utter BS, but everything else is more or less accurate. As for EMP, my sattlites are increadably durable (think naval grade armor) and are EMP hardened.

By demonstration I ment Orbital Artillary demonstration.

As for the Aircraft Carriers bit, I ment that the Xharnian navy could never catch it not the UJ navy.

As for the manuvers, the only people who knows Axinon is Axinon are the two secret agents.

Anyway, if you have problems with anything, I can change it. In all actuallity, my last post was not that well thought out, and If you wouldn't mind I'd like to mulligan it. But, other people have already posted so if that won't work thats fine too.

Thank you very much.

Narodna Odbrana

22-12-2005, 07:14

In all actuallity, my last post was not that well thought out, and If you wouldn't mind I'd like to mulligan it. But, other people have already posted so if that won't work thats fine too.OOC: Go for it. Make sure you let us know the timing of events, since we have multiple actions underway.

BTW, how many officers and men survived on your sub (remember that it was surfaced when sunk)? And how many casualties were there overall (including those among the captured who are wounded?

Usea-Jason

22-12-2005, 15:01

--Cougar and Mobius Flights--

"There it is,The ship."Cougar Four Stated."Unidentified Ship,State your name and Country of origin and Intentions!"Responded Mobius One.

--Xharn--
"I think that I should tell the world.I need a press confrence!"SSu Mikoyan stated.in a few minouts,Press from all over the region and even the world came in anticipation of a Unbenounced press confrence.

Narodna Odbrana

22-12-2005, 17:54

In the Barandian TriangleAs the afternoon wore on the wind began to rise to a screaming gale. All around the Barandian Princess, the gray seas surged. Most ominously, ahead of her, lighting flashed repeatedly, accompanied by the sharp crash of thunder.

The Barandian Triangle was rising to the occasion.OOC: I figured that I’d give folks one last chance to catch up with the Barandian Princess - if they dare (not that I want this - I just figured that doing so would be fair). Satellite snoops, be aware that the merchant ship is under heavy cloud cover; sonar contacts will also be difficult given the wave action. In fact, even tracking by surface radar or visual observation will get increasing difficult as it gets stormier and as night approaches.

At the Royal Crown HotelAt 9 o’clock precisely, a knock came at Hunter’s door. He had just finished knotting his tie and adjusting the holster of the 9mm automatic that had curiously been sent up to him along with the finely tailored suit delivered by the concierge. I’d bet they don’t do that for everybody, he mused. I’ll make a point to leave an extra tip at the desk when I check out.

Thus accessorised, he opened the door to find Hourame waiting there. Her outfit was not what he’d expected. Perhaps it was that still-unidentified Slavic bombshell who’d he seen shoehorned into that strapless evening gown back at the farmhouse, but he’d imagined that all the women in this organisation dressed provocatively. Hourame was dressed elegantly – she’d turn heads, to be certain – but her garb was that of a well-heeled woman from a moderately traditional Moslem country; no face covering, but no skin, either; a headscarf – loosely wrapped, so some hair was visible - though not a lot – and a pair of elegant but not especially showy earrings dangling down, matching the bangles that were barely visible on her wrists. Was that the faintest hint of lipstick? If so, it was definitely – and deliberately – understated.

Not that her dress was by any means drab; there were beautiful patterns and vivid colours, although – keeping with the style she presented, nothing was overdone or gaudy. The effect was conservative but still very flattering.

“Are you ready?” she asked. Hunter nodded. “Good,” said Hourame. “And before I forget, that suit works well for you.”

It was an expensive suit, of the kind a man with exquisite taste and money to burn might wear. The quality and cut prompted Hunter to ask Hourame a question as they walked down the hall toward the elevators and the restaurant below: “Do your people always dress like this?”

She smiled. “Business formal, unless circumstances dictate otherwise, and even then a certain professional appearance is considered appropriate,” Hourame replied.

Hunter looked at her with a pained look. “Well, I suppose that explains the ‘Barbarella’ remarks.”

She said nothing to that – perhaps not to let the subject rest but because they had arrived at the hostess stand. “Two, no preference – unless you smoke, Bob.” When “Mr. Dobbs” indicated that he did not, they were seated, offered drinks and appetizers. “I don’t drink, but don’t feel constrained by that,” Hourame said as she ordered herb tea.

“Thanks, Betty,” said Hunter, ordering his favourite drink. The toxic scrubber would make sure that he stayed sober, although he still intended to sip his drinks, more for appearances than anything else.

Once the waiter had departed, Hourame reached into her bag and withdrew a small object that looked like a piece of modern art. She handed it to Hunter who examined it, raised an eyebrow, and then looked at her.

She placed it on the table, touched her finger to a shallow depression on one side, and said: “Say something. Anything. Just make sure that it’s more than a few words.”

He paused for a minute, slightly puzzled, and then said. “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”

Her finger came off the object. “There,” she said. “It’s programmed.”

“What is it?” asked Hunter.

“A very sophisticated white noise generator. It’s designed to create sound waves that cancel out our voices - which it now recognises - beyond a certain distance. Past five feet, and you can only hear a faint, garbled murmur,” she said matter-of-factly. “You can keep it when we’re done – I’m sure you’ll find it useful. Consider it a gesture of goodwill, in anticipation of future business deals of mutual benefit.”

“Where did you get it?” asked the Nairatsan.

“A nice little planet with lots of interesting toys,” Hourame replied. “So why don’t we begin by telling each other a bit about our respective organisations. Where is Nairatsa, and what are your people like?”OOC: Between this post and the next, Hunter and Hourame will exchange information about each other’s organisations. We’ll pick up again near the end of that discussion…

At a Military Base Near the Coast“I’m here for the prisoners,” said Maritsa, displaying her X.R.I.C. credentials. “We’re to take them to a more secure facility for questioning.”

The sergeant at the desk looked at her I.D., asked for the transfer order, examined that, and then nodded. “You have transportation?”

“Of course,” she smiled coolly. “Where do you want us to park?”

The sergeant waved a corporal over. “Corporal Miller, could you show this nice lady where to park to pick up some prisoners?”

Fifteen minutes later, the Axinonians filed down the steps and were ushered into the vehicles that were parked in the underground garage. X.R.I.C. agents were everywhere, armed with shotguns and equipped with earbuds to keep them in touch with one another. Once the last prisoners were aboard, the trucks rolled out, escorted by four Humvees, painted to resemble the civilian model.OOC: Again, I need a count on the number of survivors - including wounded - taken from the Axinonian submarine.

Usea-Jason

22-12-2005, 19:53

--Xharn--
Breaking News "This is news team 9 at the Xharn Royal palace,as a press confrence is about to begin.No detales are avalable,yet sorces inside the capitol say that it hase to do with the war.Wait,its starting!

The Supreme Soviet Unifyed Jason Mikoyan aproched the pedistul.

"I am The Leader of the Union of Usean Soviet States,Jason mikoyan.Reports of My death were greatly exagerated.I survived thanks to Xharn forces.Now A few things I would like to anounce.First,The Country of Usea-Jason is under My control,not anyone elses.Second,the attack that started this war,was not caused by my forces,yet by a third party,So the war has changed.Not a war of invation,Yet a allieship between the Soviet Usean Armed Forces and the Royal Xharn military.We will weed you those responible together.Third,The group knowed as the 'Capitolist states of Usea-Jason' were responible for the attack on helious,Using nuklear weapons stolen form a deturand force.These terrorist will pay.All belkan forces in Usea-Jason will leave now,you have no reason to be here.as of now,all Soviet and Xharn forces in Usea-Jason will stop fighting and team up to crush this group that hopes to breack all we have made.Thank you,and Bless you all."

Axinon

22-12-2005, 22:02

OOC: this would be a lot easier if we were all in the same time zone... just out of curiosity what time zone are you all in? Just curious. The sub was surfaced, but there were a lot of torpetos, so... there would probably be around one or two dozen survivors. Of course, they are not going to divulge information willingly, so... I'll just have to wait and see what you do as Xharn. As for the number of the prisoners wounded, I would guess most of them as the sub was gutted by the torpetos, which would cause shrapnel (as the sub was not designed to resist attacks either, as I said all was sacrificed to stealth)

I will be posting IC later, but I'm guessing that no one will be online before I re-post anyway

Narodna Odbrana

22-12-2005, 23:20

OOC: this would be a lot easier if we were all in the same time zone... just out of curiosity what time zone are you all in? Just curious.OOC: GMT +5:00The sub was surfaced, but there were a lot of torpetos, so... there would probably be around one or two dozen survivors. Of course, they are not going to divulge information willingly, so... I'll just have to wait and see what you do as Xharn. As for the number of the prisoners wounded, I would guess most of them as the sub was gutted by the torpetos, which would cause shrapnel (as the sub was not designed to resist attacks either, as I said all was sacrificed to stealth)I figure 20% of the crew, because it sank fast. Shrapnel is unlikely, as most subs have a double hull just as a normal design feature (to control bouyancy). Probably half are injured in some way, and half of those seriously.

No one talks easily, but when you're in a foreign country, your cover story is blown, and there's little hope of going home unless you cooperate, it's tempting. Someone's going to crack within the day.

Anyway, they're not going to be questioned by Xharn. "Bureau 17" has them...

Usea-Jason

23-12-2005, 03:29

(ooc:-5:00 GMT)

Axinon

23-12-2005, 04:15

OOC: Yeah, you are probably right. Hope they do not crack too fast though. Your estimates seem very reasonable, and the sub had a crew of around 80 or one hundred. At least some of the sailors would probably die resisting, however. And the sailors DO have a very detailed story about Dreedan made up, written by one of Axinon's top counterinteligence agents.

IC:
He didn't know where he was going.

He didn't know why.

All he knew was that one moment he was running to grab an RPG launcher to fight the helicopter off with, and the next his head flies into a wall. Then he woke up on the ship. The room he was in was dark. Then a man, about 6' 3", 210 pounds walked in and motioned for him. He was marched along with the other prisoners into the cars. And that was where he was now.

The pain in his head was unbearable. As his consciousness began to fade once again, he thought of his girlfriend back home. He could hardly take it...

On board the DSS Invincible

The news of the loss of the sub was sobering. A storm was brewing, and the morale of the crew of the Invincible could sink little lower. The ship was on the outskirts of the system, keeping under the clouds to keep any unfriendly eyes away.

Then all of the sudden, two airplanes appeared on the radar. On the international communcications standard channel, a radio message came over the system.

"Cougar Four Stated."Unidentified Ship,State your name and Country of origin and Intentions!"

"Cougar Four, this is the DSS Walterwiggle. Our intentions are our own. We are in international waters."

OOC: Although the ship is under the same storm, the only way it will find the Barandian Princess is if she veers way off course to go into the Invincible's area.

In the forest

The marines were close to their goal. Another two miles, and they would be at the canyon. They were making good time. But then, they heard a noise that made their harts sink. The sound of a helicopter overhead. They knew what it meant; Xharn was cutting off their best escape route. They could not see the chopper, but it did not sound too big. But it's crew would be big enough to pose a major problem to Larvonic's crew. And it was Larvonic's crew now. Although Sampson was technically the commander, his concussion prevented him from fully carrying out that role. The canopy of foliage protected them from the choppers hostile eyes. But it was only a temporary reprieve. They would have to face or outmaneuver this group sooner or later.

Narodna Odbrana

23-12-2005, 04:54

OOC: GMT +5:00OOC: Oops, I lied.

GMT -5:00, just like Usea-Jason (U.S. Eastern Time Zone).

Narodna Odbrana

23-12-2005, 05:00

OOC: Although the ship is under the same storm, the only way it will find the Barandian Princess is if she veers way off course to go into the Invincible's area.OOC: It's your call. The Barandian Princess is steering a straight line from the old MASLO platform directly into the heart of the storm. It's up to you to decide if that's toward or away from the DSS Invicible.

You decide, then I'll post (unless you want to post getting a radar contact with her. If so, decide on the time: she'll be in position to do her thing between 8:00 and 9:00 PM local time).

Alphinon

23-12-2005, 05:11

OOC: Remember what happened last time I tried to aprehend one of your agents? I just posted that to avoid any confusion. I do not have any intent on confronting your ship, and if anything I would be interested in seeing how the army of Xharnian felons preforms on the 17th century? asian battlefield. You guys are near the center of the system, correct? If my ship is on the outskirts that would put very far away indeed.

Oh, and I'm in EST too. I guess I just am usually on earlier?

Narodna Odbrana

23-12-2005, 06:38

OOC: Remember what happened last time I tried to aprehend one of your agents?OOC: Don’t be scared… ;)

At the Royal Crown HotelHourame had just finished telling Hunter the history of Narodna Odbrana – “Defence of the People” – and Crna Ruka – “The Black Hand”. Contemplatively, the Nairatsan agent lifted his drink – his second of the night – and took a sip. Finally, he asked the question whose answer he’d been dying to know all day: “So how do you create a doorway to another universe?”

“We don’t,” the Yekruti woman said with a smile. “Nature does it for us.”

He looked puzzled; she continued: “There are places where the veil between the worlds is exceptionally thin. Ley lines and old faerie roads; places of power and mystery.”

“You sound like a mystic,” Hunter said.

“The old mystics were good observers of the world around them,” Hourame replied. “They might not have been able to explain what they saw in scientific terms, but they saw things nonetheless.”

“So you find these places and … pass through them?” he asked.

“It’s not quite that simple,” she replied. “Often, a passage is only open under certain conditions – on the winter solstice or fall equinox, at the full of the moon, in a storm – and even then there may be other requirements for its use – like whistling loudly or walking widdershins around a campfire. In other words, the passages are only open to the right people, in the right place, at the right time, and then sometimes only if you’re dressed the right way, doing the right thing, or whatever,” Hourame finished.

“So how did you manage to discover this?” Hunter asked.

“Credit Stefan,” she said. “He’s an insanely great database programmer. The ancient mystics relied on tradition; we compile data and subject it to statistical analysis.”

“What kind of data?” asked the Nairatsan.

Hourame laughed. “Myths, legends – urban or otherwise – folk tales, anecdotes – and a lot of the stuff you find in the grocery store tabloids.”

“You’re joking,” he said. “That garbage isn’t real!”

“Not as published, no,” the Yekruti woman said. “But there’s usually a germ of truth in the weirdest tale.”

“And so this is how you go back to the 16th Century?” asked Hunter.

“On a parallel Earth,” she corrected. “One where many of the contemporary pressures placed by the world community on certain states to refrain from certain ‘unseemly’ behaviour – gun running, drug smuggling, selling nuclear materials, human experimentation, etc. – don’t exist.”

“So you’ve got suppliers there who don’t have to worry about every do-gooder nation in the world invading them if they offer you their services,” observed Hunter. “Sweet.”

“Actually, we’re trying to create a supplier – an ideal one,” Hourame explained. “Hence, the intervention.”

“Nice place to visit…” wisecracked the Nairatsan.

“It’s actually quite a thrill,” Hourame said. She then sipped her tea and added: “Now if only some of your people see it that way. We’re weak on military skills, Hunter,” the woman said. “We could use a few freebooters and mercenary captains.”

“And so the ship you were waiting for...?” Hunter asked.

“Is going to do a ‘Bermuda Triangle’ number,” finished Hourame.In the Barandian TriangleNight had fallen; a full gale had risen. The waves were rising and falling like ridges; as they broke around the hull, spray engulfed the deck.

“How soon?” asked Kiko, bracing herself against each lurch.

“There’s a huge EM disturbance a point or two off the port bow,” replied Stefan. Kiko looked to the ship’s captain. He nodded, and gave the order to bear down on it.

A minute later, they rose to the crest of a very large wave; fortunately, it wasn’t close to breaking. That was when they saw it.

Ahead, a luminescent column of air rose up out of the ocean. Nearly continual lightning strikes lit the storm cell; behind it, a think wall of cloud served as a dramatic backdrop.

“Send the distress message!” shouted Stefan, who was watching the magnet attached to the table in front of him begin spinning wildly. The meters and gauges around the meteorologist who was helping Stefan began spiking, and a second later stuck at maximum. Not waiting to hear acknowledgement that it had been sent, Stefan howled out: “And shut down all electronics!”

Then the cabin was plunged into darkness – except for the whitish blue glow of the column. The ships engines continued driving forward – they were replicas of long obsolete systems that were far less vulnerable to EM fluctuations – and at the same time the storm cell bore straight down on them. The lighting grew brighter and brighter as it reached around them to engulf them.

And then they were gone.At the Royal Crown HotelHunter was lost in thought for a minute. He believed all this, but would the Council? As he pondered this question, his eyes fell upon the big screen T.V. He noticed Hourame watching as well, with a slight smile.The storm raging offshore has apparently already claimed one victim: an aging container ship called the Barandian Princess sent a distress signal just 30 minutes ago, moments before it dropped off the radar screens of a number of nearby vessels. Xharnian Coast Guard officials say that a search will be mounted as soon as the storm breaks, but for now no rescue attempt is possible.

The ship was in what many people call the Barandian Triangle, an area noted for the disappearance of literally hundreds of planes and ships over the years…Hunter turned to Hourame. “Yours, I presume?”

Hourame smiled and reached for the tab. “Of course,” she said. “This as well…”

Usea-Jason

23-12-2005, 15:20

The storm was bad,"Riketz,we can't continue to pursue,were RTB."The two flights left the area.Mobius one was concern,that ship didn't look all to well."Hey,tower,did we try the Huckibein yet?",the tower retorted,"They have not been tested for bad weather.""Well,this is a good time as any."

Narodna Odbrana

24-12-2005, 04:28

Narodna Odbrana

24-12-2005, 04:45

Somewhere in the Western PacificThe sky was pitch black; the air was still; the waves lapped gently against the hull of the Barandian Princess. She lay motionless, engines quiet, and without lights - save for the yellow glow of an occasional oil lantern flickering within a hurricane glass here and there.

On the bridge, Stefan looked at some instruments and his compass; the instruments were still rocking erratically, and the compass was still spinning, albeit slowly. Kiko looked at him and asked, “Are we still in the EM field?”

The Serbian programmer nodded. “Yes. And with the cloud cover, I can’t even begin to guess where we are. In the worst case though,” he said, putting the best light on the situation, “Sunrise is probably 10 or 12 hours away.” He looked back at Kiko. “My mid-morning, I should be able to fix our latitude, at least.”

Kiko looked at her useless watch. It read 9:30PM, but that was almost certainly wrong. It did mean, however, that her people – and with Hourame gone, these were indeed her people – would be tired after a long and harrowing day.

She turned to Boris, who was smoking a cigarette. “Set a minimal watch; keep an eye out for land or anything that looks like a shoal or reef. Then have everyone who isn’t pulling watch get some sleep.”

To the vessel’s skipper, she then said: “We can raise the masts and rig the ship tomorrow. If we can be underway on full sail by mid-morning, that would be ideal.”OOC: Unless someone can give me a plausible explanation for how they could have followed the Barandian Princess, I will now consider the ship to have “escaped” from this thread. And if in fact someone has followed her, we should still create a new thread for that action…

Xharn

25-12-2005, 05:43

OOC: OK, I am back, Had a lot of work to do thanks to the holidays. I would like to thank Narodna Odbrana for Rping my troops better than myself.

IC:

The King Azure IV was listening to several high ranking X.R.I.C. agents they were telling him about certain problems. The Xharnian Coastal defence force was under attack and a lot of strange things were happening it seemed the international community had a hand in causing some disruptions inside of Xharn.

The King Azure IV sends a deal of orders to Carl Von Ericson. They entail the message of increase security and prepare for war agaisnt the hostile powers responsible for this catrosphe. (pardon spelling)

Axinon

27-12-2005, 05:09

OOC: Sorry I wasn't on the last two days, holidays and all.

IC: The ridge was enveloped in fog when Larvonic stealthily slunk up to it. Using the Bateye he took from a dead comrade back at the cave, he scouted out his opposition. A group of 30 infantrymen, and a rather large transport helicopter. The helicopter was barely armed from what he could see, but his bateye read would not be reliable for this, as cluster missiles or guns packed close to the body would be hard for the hypersonic waves to pick up. His crew was back in the forest. If he had a silenced rifle and a ghile suit... but he didn't.

As silently as he came, Larvonic slunk back off the ridge and into the woods. Hiking 300 yards into a dense thicket of trees, he greeted his comrades. In barely more than a whisper, he said "there are about thirty of them. It is very foggy on top of the ridge, and I think we can get around them. They have a chopper, but that could provide a soundscreen for us."

Ten minutes later

The fog was thickening. The crew was up on the ridge, looking down upon their final obstacles. Larvonic knew the time to act was now. The thick fog would foil any IR, Visual, or Laser-based sensors. The Helicopter was warming up for takeoff, probably to pick up more troops. Larvonic crept to a point fifty yards to the left of the rest of the group, and placed three hand grenades and a stick of dynamite on the ground. Setting the dynamite stick to be remotely detonated, he slunk back to his group. He then pointed out the best escape route. Along a line of brush, there was a navigable path down into the canyon.

He pointed this path out to his comrades, and there were nods of assent. The group prepared to move the second the helicopter moved, the explosive device armed if somehow the soldiers walked too close.

Nairatsa

28-12-2005, 09:00

OOC; A post; I'm still not 'back' yet. Narodna, nice handling of Hunter so far, a few things I would tweak, but nothing too major, and it is too late now as is. Hunter will catch the tab; a gentleman never lets a lady pay.

I'm not going to attempt following the Princess; at least, there is no feasible reason for me to do so outside of a possible pact for real freebooters. I do need to know what sort and magnitude of EM disturbance you mean here; I have at least one highly technical agent onsite, and there is a range of possibilities here, from it playing merry hell with gear nearby, to it being detectable from afar. (The disappearance of an Xharnian ship will no raise much attention by itself.)

One minor mention, though. If Hunter wants something to get done; the rest of the council doesn't need to believe it (this will be in the wiki later). Unless you need us to levy military, and we simply do not do that; even if I am missing an opportunity that would raise my GDP by three orders of magnitude. Four or five, and we'll talk. Also as an aside, from seafaring roots, Hunter is not exactly a skeptic......corsairs were often very superstitious. Other than that, Nice RP; I wish I had the net time to hop back in now. :/ (Can't wait for the first.) Hourame didn't use the messager to tell her people she was not dead?

The conversation gap you bridged will live on the wiki. Assume Hunter gave her sort of a general overview, skipped a bit around how the government works, represented himself as a middling agent of the NIS, and so on. If you'd like to know more accurately what he'd say, let me know. He will, of course, keep his low-profile weaponry on him at all times. (And incidentally might want to ask Hourame to help him better dress that leg.....though I'm up for ignoring it if you are.) Also notable, he will likely still have that medallion on, and will probably have made some comment about her regional roots based on the dye pattern of her clothing.

And yes, I look forward to Hourame's repayment for her 'apprehension and encouragement'. ;)

Oh, and to Axinon, go for it. Just do it 'quickly', and don't try to take more than one. :P As for that whole RoG/GRoG buisness, as I see it, they're theoretically available now ('unobtanium' if I followed the metaphor) so PMT/FT (in numbers). And I'll try to keep the OOC shorter in future. Promise.

Narodna Odbrana

28-12-2005, 10:21

I do need to know what sort and magnitude of EM disturbance you mean here; I have at least one highly technical agent onsite, and there is a range of possibilities here, from it playing merry hell with gear nearby, to it being detectable from afar. (The disappearance of an Xharnian ship will no raise much attention by itself.)OOC: Like a really big electrical storm. You might be affected, but you probably wouldn't think it all that strange; it did happen in the Barandian Triangle, after all...Hourame didn't use the messager to tell her people she was not dead?They knew as soon as the Xharnians made an inquiry into her status as an X.R.I.C. agent. She sent them a quick note from her room after the pair got back to the Royal Crown Hotel.Also notable, he will likely still have that medallion on, and will probably have made some comment about her regional roots based on the dye pattern of her clothing.Ah, I had forgotten. You may have a parting conversation on the way back up to their rooms. She is Moslem, from Yekrut (a Turkic country where Narodna Odbrana has a sizaeable presence); the former Serb nationalist group went merc after two world wars, a civil war, and two periods of being pursued as outlaws (once under the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the interwar years, then again under Tito). Smuggle enough, traffic enough, extort enough, and soon ideology takes a back seat to profit; after a while in the back seat, it gets shot and stuffed in the trunk.

IOW, she's part of the new generation of non-Serbian operatives, needed for the organisation to take advantage of the new opportunities available to enterprising businesses in the era of globalisation.

That should be enough to let you finish this encounter. Then it's farewell until we meet again (and we will meet again).

Usea-Jason

02-01-2006, 22:55

With the Removal of Belkan Forces From Usea,The SSU was taken to the Temporarry capitol of Jasonsgrad.The only group left opposing the Soviet goverment was the terrorist.

Xharn

02-01-2006, 23:04

The news that Belkan forces had retreated pleased the King immensely.

The King orders the Royal Xharnian Aircore into action...

The Supreme Sky Marshal sends orders to the different wings and Talons in the Royal Xharnian Aircore.

Soon a Massive bomb/paratrooper drop would ocur towards the Captilist stronghold of Toyoko...

Usea-Jason

03-01-2006, 19:32

As the Royal Xharnian Aircore mobilised,the State Air Defence Forces(SADF) was to plan a co-oprative attack with the Xharn forces.This was to be the strike to end the Usean-Xharn war.

Axinon

04-01-2006, 05:15

Cloaked by the fog, the Axinonians made their move. As the helicopter rose gracefully into the air, the team scrambled across the ground toward the canyon. Larvonic was the first to reach the edge. He grabbed the rim with his hands and began to climb down the rock face toward the bottom. In moments his teammates were also over the edge. After minutes of hard climbing, Larvonic's feet touched down on a ledge. He whispered to his comrades this information, out of earshot of the soldiers hundreds of meters above.

In moments, they were all sitting on the ledge. Larvonic's PDA's elevation meter showed that they were only a third of the way down the huge canyon. They would proceed after they caught their breath. Until then they would wait.

Axinon

07-01-2006, 04:11

IC: After a long hour trek down the canyon wall, the team was at the bottom. According to Larvonic's maps, the way south lead straight to the sea. That would be the expected maneuver. The other path led to Usea-Jason. Larvonic knew they had but one chance. March into Usea-Jason.

On board the AxS Juan Carlos

The crew of the Juan Carlos was working overtime. A convoy of humvees was taking Axinonian POWs to a facility. The captured crew of the former sub knew that their death was preferable to them revealing their nationality to the enemy. Everyone in Axinon's special operations wing worked under that knowledge. So none of the sailors would be too surprised by the actions.

"Forgive me comrades" the missile operator on board the ballistic missile submarine thought, pressing the button that would terminate the captured sailors.

Out of the U-VLS tubes on the submarine launched a quartet of high-yield conventional ballistic missiles. The humvees were traveling down a road with no tunnels, no turnoffs. The missiles would adjust their path in flight. A kill of the small convoy was all but certain.

The submarine promptly dove and assumed a new course and heading, scrambling out of the way of any unfriendly ships, not that there would be any in international waters far from Xharn.

Twitch2395

07-01-2006, 04:49

In our most recent SR-71B fly over of the country Xharn and noticed a nuclear reactor being built.

The Dictatorship of Twitch2395 supports Xharns actions, and wish them good luck.

Signed
Twitch,
Dictator of Twitch2395

Usea-Jason

07-01-2006, 23:20

(ooc-Not too active now and days.)

Axinon

09-01-2006, 22:18

After hours of marching, Larvonic and his team reached the Usea-Jason border. As the border was in chaos from the conflict with Xharn, they were able to slip in undetected. After more marching, they arrived at a small town.

Larvonic walked into a store. He walked up to the front desk and said, "Hello. I'd like to buy some cloths for me and a few friends. Problem is, I only have Xharnian Zeni. Can you accept that? I'll pay 30 percent extra for your trouble."

Usea-Jason

09-01-2006, 22:43

ooc-Hold on,The Usean Eva is Way different from Xharn money,Expecally in the Rural areas connected by Rail.All Cities in U-J are connected someway or another

Axinon

09-01-2006, 23:17

ooc: sorry. fixed that.

Narodna Odbrana

12-01-2006, 13:18

Outside the HiveThe truck convoy rolled up to the guard station at the main gate: four Humvees and five trucks. In front of the closed gate, a Xharnian soldier walked up, under the watchful gaze of two more soldiers, automatic weapons levelled; above and to one side, guards in a tower trained a machine gun on the gate area.

The soldier motioned the driver of the lead Humvee to roll down his window; doing so, he asked for the necessary papers to permit entry. The driver wordlessly handed them over.

Scanning them for a moment, the guard pursed his lips and let out a low whistle. “X.R.I.C., eh?” Glancing back at the trucks, he said in an offhand way: “I wouldn’t want to be one of those poor Dreedaneese b_st_rds.”

Then he signalled to another soldier in the control booth. The gates slid back, the dragon’s teeth fell, the barricade rose, and the convoy passed through and into a tunnel that led to the most secure military base in the whole of Xharn.On board the AxS Juan Carlos

The crew of the Juan Carlos was working overtime. A convoy of humvees was taking Axinonian POWs to a facility. The captured crew of the former sub knew that their death was preferable to them revealing their nationality to the enemy. Everyone in Axinon's special operations wing worked under that knowledge. So none of the sailors would be too surprised by the actions.

"Forgive me comrades" the missile operator on board the ballistic missile submarine thought, pressing the button that would terminate the captured sailors.

Out of the U-VLS tubes on the submarine launched a quartet of high-yield conventional ballistic missiles. The humvees were traveling down a road with no tunnels, no turnoffs. The missiles would adjust their path in flight. A kill of the small convoy was all but certain.

The submarine promptly dove and assumed a new course and heading, scrambling out of the way of any unfriendly ships, not that there would be any in international waters far from Xharn.OOC: Forgive me, but I’ve been occupied elsewhere (specifically, in 16th Century Southeast Asia)…

Axinon, did you really mean to launch a ballistic missile strike on the Hive?!? I appreciate the desire to keep covert ops covert, but come on! You’re taking track-covering to whole new levels….

No matter; when I wrote that post I anticipated that you’d either try to spring your guys or erase them (why do you think I took them to the Hive?); you see, there were two convoys – the very visible one believed to be transferring the Axinonian prisoners to the Hive, and the not-so-visible one taking them to a very different place…

Outside a Certain (Very Familiar) FarmhouseThe storm that had engulfed the Barandian Triangle – and opened the way for the Barandian Princess to begin its strange journey – had now crossed the coast, albeit in much diminished form. Rain splattered the ground and lightning arced across the sky, crashing into the ground in booming thunder.

”It was a dark and stormy night”, thought Maritsa. Perfect.

The Humvees were pulled into the vehicle shed and the Dreedaneese sailors were hustled out and down the path to the waiting farmhouse; those that could not walk were hauled along after the rest in litters. In just a few minutes they were in the large downstairs family room, now periodically lit by eerie flashes of lightning.

One by one, the prisoners were escorted up the creaking steps to some unknown room upstairs. What made the whole ritual even spookier was that there were no sounds coming from their destination to indicate what was happening to them.

At last there was just one sailor in the living room below. He sat nervously, thinking of his girlfriend and wondering whether he would ever see her again.

Any second now, and I’ll probably be dead, he thought. They’ll be wanting to eliminate us as a liability if they can’t spring us out, and this doesn’t look good.

Then it was his turn.

He mounted the creaking steps. Jeez, he thought, this is just like something our of a grade “B” horror flick. But even as he tried to make light of the situation, he felt his skin start to crawl.

They were taking him up to the attic.

Lighting crashed, its glare the only light in the room. That Serbian bombshell in black was standing near the centre of the room, but she didn’t look very sexy right now. In fact, she looked like some demented axe-murderer out of a Stephanie Koenig novel: her hair was hanging down in slightly dishevelled fashion over half of her face, and her dark lipstick looked like blood; her shining eyes and Slavic features added to the effect.

Man, this is creeping me out! thought the sailor. And this room! Christ! his mind reeled. There was something sickening about it; its shape and angles just seemed ... wrong.

The guards brought the man to the place where the woman stood, and now he could see that she was standing next to some big Victorian mirror whose rim was covered in some kind of grotesquely ornate filigree; some of the shapes it suggested were sick, twisted, even obscene. But he really wasn’t paying any attention, because another thought had seized his mind.

Where in the H_ll is everybody else?!?

Maritsa looked at him with a lunatic glean in her eye and his blood ran cold. In a quiet voice, she whispered: “Are you ready to take a trip?”

“Where?” the Dreedaneese sailor croaked.

“Why,” she said with a deliciously evil voice, “Through the Looking Glass.”

Then the lightning exploded, illuminating the room in searing white, and as it did, his guards shoved him into the mirror.

Into it … and through.

The Plateau of Tsang

12-01-2006, 18:20

In a Jungle Clearing, SomewhereThe Dreedaneese sailors sat in a circle, bound with ropes made of hemp. The men with the fine Italian suits were nowhere to be seen; they had been replaced by some kind of foul race of vaguely Asiatic pygmies with malevolent eyes and unusually pointed teeth. Amongst them was another Slavic woman – one who called herself Nadia. Unlike the creepy femme fatale who had ordered her goons to through them through the mirror – and what was that about? – this one wasn’t playing Goth.

No, Nadia looked like a cross between Tarzan’s Jane and Natasha Nogoodnik (a character from certain Cold War era television cartoon series), which still made her disturbing, but not in the same way: she was fashionably dressed in cool gear from Freddie Bayer and RAI and Erehwemos, designer logos included. Then again, for a woman who had obviously spent some time in the jungle, she looked a little too pallid – and, like her pygmy pals, her teeth and eyes also seemed a bit too feral.

Which, in its own way, made her just as weird as her psycho axe-wielding comrade.

Things would get weirder still.

The pygmies looked like a bunch of stone-age savages; they had crossbows, blowguns, and long, sharp knives. There weren’t any pistols or other modern weapons, which was both good and bad, at least as the Dreedaneese saw it: on the one hand, it meant that nobody was likely to shoot them; on the other hand, it meant that there was nothing they could wrest from one of the captors and use to start shooting their way to freedom.

And that was neglecting that looking-glass thing, which made them wonder if escape was even possible.

Nadia or Natasha or whomever she was sat in what looked like a director’s chair, feet kicked up on a collapsible footrest. A coconut half with a section lopped off the bottom had been scooped out and scored along the edges; it was now in its second life as an ashtray. Yeah, this was clearly the same outfit, change of scenery and Jet Black’s 77 Dwarfs notwithstanding. H_ll, even some of the pygmies smoked. Didn’t anyone tell these guys that nicotine stunts your growth?

Incongruously, the she-boss was dining on what appeared to be a steak of some kind. A very rare, very succulent steak, with yams and some kind of field green: the smell drove them crazy, as they hadn’t had much if anything to eat. Rudely, the witch refused to share; when finished, she handed her designer mess kit to one of the dwarfs and then lit up once more, sipping some kind of tropical concoction – and probably an alcoholic one – as she spoke.

“So,” she began, “What country do you men hail from, and who do you work for?”

“We’re Dreedaneese,” said the senior surviving officer. “We…”

“I don’t want to hear your lies,” Nadia snapped. “You’re not Dreedaneese. Who are you?”

“I told you,” insisted their spokesman, “We’re Dreed-”

“I have no time for games!” she snapped. Pointing to the officer who had taken it upon himself to speak for all of them, she commanded her minions: “Him first.”

They rushed him and pushed him down into the jungle mat, face first. In a second they had stripped him naked, trussed him like a pig, and then – to the horror of his companions – jammed what looked like a blowpipe with a sharp spine up underneath the skin of his back.

The man screamed horribly, and continued screaming as the pygmies jerked the stick from his back and slapped a viscous yellow syrup over the wound; the pipe, for its part, dripped a foul, grey ichor. The wounded officer gasped for breath, but received no respite: in a second, the pygmies had hauled him to a nearby tree and hoisted him up into the air, leaving him to dangle face-up about thirty feet above the ground.

The woman smiled sadistically. “He’ll need a … playmate.” She looked at the men on the litter. There was one, moaning with fever. “That one; we’ll never get anything out of him.”

Obediently, the vile little men swarmed around this second victim, dragged his litter to the same stop and placed it directly beneath the trussed man. They bound the sick man to his litter, even though he couldn’t move. Then they withdrew.

“I will come back tomorrow,” she said, knowingly. “Perhaps then your attitude will have changed. We shall see.” Then she turned to the pygmies.

“Feed them,” she ordered, and then trudged off.

The men were tethered in place, with one hand free but limited by a line in such a way as to allow each of the sailors to eat, but so as not to let them get at their other restraint. Not that any of them wanted to eat; they appeared to have been fed a mash made principally of insects.

Once the men were tethered and fed, the pygmies withdrew - although it was obvious from time to time that they were still watching from afar.

Time passed.

It was late afternoon when the trussed officer began to moan, and then eventually to scream.

NationStates Jolt Archive

The Kingdom of Xharn Starts Nuclear Program (MT Open)