NationStates Jolt Archive

Secret IC:

The War Room buried deep beneath the Fell's palace was full of activity. Every chair around the massive round table in the centre was occupied, and in those chairs sat the most important commanders of the Helfaer armed forces. Although a few talked among themselves, most were quietly reading the handouts left for them.

The massive screen at one end of the room, designed to give visual representations of countries, cities, or battlefields, was currently running a screensaver. Text scrolled across the screen at random heights. It read "Project Trilobite". It was not a name that suggested great importance: the name of a long-extinct sea creature hardly struck terror into the hearts of mortals. And yet it was important, it was significant. Although many in the room did not yet know what lay behind the name, they would soon find out.

The doors opened and a man walked in. A short man, dressed in a grey suit. He blinked in the glare of the striplights and wiped his eyes, then walked quickly to the screen. Plugging a USB drive into it, he tapped it once. The words "Project Trilobite" came up once again in deep red text, superimposed over a black trilobite shape. In the top right hand corner was the flag of Helfaer. The man hesitated for a second, cleared his throat, then began to speak.

"Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to announce that Project Trilobite is in its final stages. Although most of you were never informed of its existence, scientists have worked tirelessly on it for the past five years, perfecting our technology and understanding towards our ultimate goal."

He tapped the screen once more and the image changed to a series of complicated technical drawings. There were whispers in the audience as the assorted war leaders realised what they were seeing.

"These are the schematics for Project Trilobite. Currently, our engineers are building the product to these specifications."

He tapped the screen one final time. It showed a map of Helfaer and the surrounding ocean. Another tap, and a tiny island previously unnoticed by all in the room was surrounded by a red circle. Another tap, and the map zooms in to focus on this tiny, barren slab of rock in the middle of the freezing waters.

"Arten Island. In one month, it will be the site of our nation's first test of a nuclear warhead."

ooc: Test to come next post, later today.

OOC: Tag for interest.

OOC: Oh, my... nuclear weapons... who are you declaring war on?

[ooc: Well, I was going to put it off until after dinner, but I've got nothing else to do... And I'm actually not declaring war on anyone, yet. :) ]


Arten Island - 0830 - 18.2.06

Arten Island. A mound of stones, sand, dirt. An insignificant lump on the iron-grey skin of the ocean. Ignored by settlers for its rain-lashed inhospitality, by conquerors for its lack of subjects, and by businessmen for its lack of resources. No plants, no animals, no life. Even the seabirds flying their timeless migratory tracks shun this place, looking down on it from the ocean skies with cold, inhuman eyes, and not even registering its barren existence.

Strange, that such a desolate island should be granted such a spectacular end.

The boat had come in the night, men bringing ashore a great sealed casket which they had left behind them as they sailed off again into the night. Helfaer, as yet, had no missiles for their bomb. The island was granted a few hours more existence, although what reason it even had for existing no-one was sure.

And then at half an hour past eight in the morning, the everlasting fires of Hades burst through into the mortal realm. With a great peal of thunder, a shattering, rattling roar that could boil seas and split mountains in two, the island had its last laugh and then evaporated. The vast cloud billowed upwards, a great bloated head leading its triumphant ascent as the echoes of its birthing cry crashed over the churning waters.

And out in those waters, a fleet of scientific vessels rolled in the waves as their sensors spewed out page upon page of graphs. The only lasting memorial of Arten Island.

The public announcement was made an hour later, on the royal news broadcast, with a sermon from High Priest Tehenazzar played over the footage recorded from those ships.

"This morning, Helfaer entered a new age. Where before we were mere men, today we have taken on the aspect of gods. The nuclear explosion and conflagration was not merely a scientific experiment, it was a battle cry, and its voice must be echoed in our throats, and its atomic fire reflected in our hearts! Where fools say that nuclear arms are evil devices used for evil ends, I say that they are a gift, a gift that we may immolate the enemies of Helfaer and Leviathan in cleansing fire! Hear us, o world, and tremble!"

OOC: *trembles* I'm getting involved in this.

IC:

To: Helfaer

From: Pythogria

Re: Nuclear Testing

Text: We demand you stop this at once. Nuclear weapons are incredibly destructive, dangerous and wrong. We are giving you 24 hours to stop this and scrap the warheads, or all relations and trade will be stopped.

-Khonsu

To: Khonsu

While your ideals are touching, your righteous fury is misplaced. Your description of our nuclear weapons as dangerous and wrong is incorrect- atomic warheads are a tool, and are therefore only as evil as the one who wields them.

Now, bother me no more. You have already risked my wrath once, and I ask you not to do so again lest I be forced to crush you beneath my bootheel.

The Fell, Monarch of the Ash Deserts, Ruler of Helfaer

OOC: Hmm... OK, I allow this... I'll be able to get you next time!!! (Lol)

From: The Cascadian State Dept.
To: Helfaer

There are too many nations with nuclear weapons in the world now. If a nuclear war were to break out between 2 countries, it could spread to others. Soon the whole world would be destroyed, thanks to MAD- Mutually Assured Destruction. You may think that no one that is sane will use nuclear weapons, but remember, there are plenty of mad people who control nations. Don't forget about nuclear winter.

A small 8 foot long Underwater Autonomous Vehicle follows the boats. An antenna rises out of the the vehicle and initiates a satellite link. Then a video camera periscopes up. It is stealth coated and has a very small profile. It films whoever it can before anyone turns at it or looks in its general direction. A man is sitting behind a console with a joystick directing its travel. He prepares to initiate sinking action.

OOC: Very nicely done, Helfaer. One of the best "Behold, I have nukes now" threads I've seen in a long time.

[ooc: Thanks, Russkya. :)]

IC:

To: The Cascadian State Department

Your statement is partly the reason why we decided to acquire nuclear weapons. As so many nations possess them, having no nuclear arsenal is a severe disadvantage on the international stage, and I refuse to allow Helfaer to be dictated to by hypocrite imperialists.

The Fell, Monarch of the Ash Deserts, Ruler of Helfaer

Once again, beneath the flickering lights of the war room, the same group reconvened. Despite the optimism of the days directly after the nuclear test, they had become darker in their moods. The international response had been decidedly negative- already one nation, Pythogria, had threatened to sever links with Helfaer, and the Seafood Restaurant of Cascadia had sent a telegram of barely veiled threats.

The government of Helfaer now found themselves in a very dangerous position. They had developed nuclear warheads and immediately made such a ceremony of it that much of the world had noticed, and like sharks seeing a struggling bather, moved in for the kill. However, without a delivery system, this new and apparently controversial weapon was worse than useless. And that was why they had gathered.

The Fell, Monarch of the Ash Deserts, Ruler of Helfaer, walked over to the massive screen built in at one end of the war room. Each man at the table bowed their head at the sight of their leader, and waited for him to begin speaking.

"Gentlemen, we find ourselves in something of a crisis. As you will know, we recently detonated a nuclear weapon on Arten Island in our first test of our atomic warhead technology. As you know, it was a great success for our nation."

There was a brief burst of applause from a few of those seated, although most were sensible enough not to clap. The Fell continued regardless.

"However, the international reaction so far has been... less than welcoming. The elite of this world continue to press their agenda of keeping us smaller nations firmly beneath their bootheel. And unfortunately, for a while, they may continue to do so. Despite our new-found nuclear might, we have no way of unleashing it. We need ICBMs, and we need them quickly if we are to survive the inevitable backlash. It is only a matter of time before some arrogant self-professed "superpower" decides to put us in our place."

There were cries of defiance from some of the more brash members of the audience, proclamations of hatred for these apparent enemies.

"Although our scientists are entirely capable of designing a plan for an ICBM, this would take to long. I have therefore devised a plan that will solve two problems at once. There are many nations in the world suffering from an over-full prison system. We do not have that problem, as we put our prisoners to work in the mines. In fact, it could be advantageous for us to have even more. What I propose is that we take advantage of this by offering to take the entire prison population of a nation, in exchange for their ICBM schematics. Not only would it give us a delivery system for our nuclear warheads, it would boost our mining industry and therefore our economy."

Once again, applause. The Fell stepped away from the screen, then walked out through the doors. He had orders to give to Lord Almarxa.


To: All nations of the world

We in Helfaer realise that the way forward for all nations is through peace and co-operation. Because of this, we have an offer for you for our mutual benefit.

Here in Helfaer we are widely recognised as having one of the most effective prison systems in the world. Former recidivists of the worst order leave our rehabilitation centres completely different people. Through labour training courses and group therapy, as well as by having some of the best-trained prison staff in the world, we mould previous criminals into hard working men and women able to put something back into society.

Of course, rehabilitating criminals is a heavy burden on the taxpayer. This is why we know you will jump at the chance to send all of your prison population to Helfaer, saving vast amounts in tax income and leaving you with more to spend on useful things such as schools, hospitals, and stealth bombers. All prisoners are welcome in our state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Centres and all we ask in return is schematics for ICBMs.

Don't hesitate. Reply today- before its too late!

K. Almarxa, Foreign Affairs Minister, Helfaer

President Saltzman would have taken no notice of the reports of another nuclear test along with the usual satellite photographs, except for the little yellow post-it note with the words "Must Read" in red ink stuck to the top of the page. Not only had yet another nation gotten its grubby meathooks on a nuclear device, but they seemed to eager to use it, this would no doubt worry the international community, expecially nations that had not yet developed operational strategic defence initiatives.

Something had to be done to stop such a menace, although small, a menace nonetheless. Saltzman called a meeting with his advisors immediately, the Eagle would need to brandish its talons once again.

OOC: Sorry for the weak "We're Gonna Git Ya Sucka" post, but it's 4:16am here and I'm tired.

Information is acquired, information is looked at, and information is disregarded as irrelevant.

Did it make the news? Barely. Perhaps a few far-off-the-mainstream services would mention it, but overall... Nothing.

Nation number seventy-thousand three-hundred and ninety-five with weapons-grade nuclear capacities.

It's a common weapon. No need to get one's panties in a twist over such a thing.

And compared to the tripledigit-gigaton 'Second-strike-two-continent-annihilation' scale arsenals relatively pacifist nations (I.e. Knootoss) possessed, well...

Why bother with the handful of deterrence-mechanisms in the hands of some upstart? Let them have their fun.

And it'd take a truly deranged individual to consider such a 'threat' (Indeed, if it was a threat, why didn't such an individual recognise the deterrence?) and go stomping around all bad-boy-like (Perhaps such an individual had been the class bully and was still enjoying it, as a national leader?).

There were, after all, vastly more impressive arsenals lying around, in the hands of nations far more likely to use them.

Of course, taking them on would possibly require guts.

The gatherings in the War Room had become more common in recent weeks, drawing together military commanders from all over the Ash Desert. Once again the military commanders of Helfaer gathered beneath the hot, white glare of the striplights. The topic was the same as before: nuclear warfare. They had talked of nothing else for over a month, but then who could blame them? The power to annihilate nations in a single stroke: what war leader would not want that option? Especially when their potential enemies had the very same power at their control.

The plea to the world for access to nuclear technology had not gone well. The great and the good of the world had not seen fit to divulge their secrets, seeking rather to deprive Helfaer of the enlightenment found in the flame and thunder of an ICBM launch, or those same, magnified forces as it lit the sky in its glorious death. No, Helfaer had been forced to beg and scrape to DMG Military Industries for three Peacekeeper ICBMs. The Fell himself had bargained with the outlander traders, and had payed them. Six-hundred million dollars in gold, sent by container ship to avoid a paper trail. Three missiles returned and were dissected in the secure weapons laboratories buried in the Ash Desert, scientists and technicians forcing them, inch by inch, to reveal their innards to analytical eyes.

The same scientist who had first brought news of the construction of a nuclear warhead stepped up to the front of the room, by the screen, and began to speak.

"Gentlemen, as you have already been informed, our nation recently purchased three Peacekeeper ICBMs from DMG Military Industries with a view to reverse-engineering them so that we could manufacture our own. I am honoured to tell you that we have suceeded. The plans for the Peacekeeper are now in our hands, and production of the missiles will begin in a week. Silos are being constructed across Helfaer as we speak. Soon, Helfaer will stand tall among the nuclear powers of this world. Soon, we shall have the power to shatter nations with a single cataclysmic blow."

There was a storm of applause from the generals and admirals. Even the Fell looked pleased. Project Trilobite had been his idea, and now it had come to fruition. The rewards were ripe for the picking.


Three days later...

"Three... two... one..."

And then everyone watching in Helfaer gasped in awe as the ICBM shot skywards. A tongue of flame trailing behind it, it tore its way across the sky like some great dragon of legend, a throbbing roar from its engines spilling onto the land below. The Helfaer National Broadcast station was even now beaming this image around the world to countless destinations.

The missile was, of course, not armed. It would simply splash down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Shipping had been warned of its descent, and the broadcast repeated often that the missile had no warhead, just a slab of cameras and scientific instuments relaying data back to Helfaer. Still, the message was obvious.