NationStates Jolt Archive

The Citadel
Imperium, New Britain

More troops, you do realise that the Conservatives are going to hammer our defence deployments in Parliament next month when we review the budget, don’t you? Lord Salisbury shook his head, having returned from a restful trip to Reloria only to face the prospect of sending more troops, ships, and aircraft to Irathria. For years the UK had deployed only token peacekeeping forces abroad and had done very little for even colonization efforts but now with new nations and colonies seizing land in the continent the UK found itself under continual threat of having the vital sea lanes that kept Kingsland alive being cut off.

In truth, Tetley knew that he had little other choice regardless of the politics. And so while he scolded his defence secretary and the Admiralty in the back of his mind he scrambled to remember where ships and fleets were deployed. Finally, with his cabinet secretary and representatives from the Admiralty standing in silence he gave a slight nod of his head. Very well, you deploy the troops and Dr. O’Daniels and I shall defend the deployment in Parliament.

Ashford Archipelago

Unlike the landings in the King John Islands, choppers from the airfields outside Port Melbourne lifted off at high noon before reaching the Ashford Archipelago and depositing troops and supplies on the numerous islands – although most deployments were small in fitting with the small sizes of the islands.

By dusk, however, more significant movements had been made as smaller amphibious assault vehicles were hastily launched with men and material for the colonization of the larger island and for reinforcing the troops recently deployed. At the same time the Royal Air Force began to fly proper combat air patrols over the islands while long-range off shore patrol vessels and two Royal Navy frigates monitored the waters off the archipelago.

It took only hours, but by midnight local time the flag of the United Kingdom was flying from all the islands in the chain, although all involved realised it would take years before a proper industrial society would arise on the uninhabited islands. But such was the cost of colonization.

Site of Careila

Situated upon the large Bay of Sedgwick the future location of the island’s capital and the newest territory of the United Kingdom buzzed as the helicopter-carrying assault ship moored off the coast in the depths of the bay unloaded its cargo in wave after wave of heavy transport aircraft. From a small observation post atop a hill overlooking the natural harbour Percival Collins crossed off an item on a piece of paper clipped to a small board. There are the first generators, he muttered to nobody in particular, though a small crowd had long ago assembled behind the short and rather pudgy individual who wore a pair of circular glasses down on his nose.

Percival Collins was a blood relative of the late Prime Minister Collins, whose tenure in office had been short but still formative for the relatively new United Kingdom. His successor – and predecessor – had awarded the younger cousin of his arch-rival with a small posting far from the Home Islands where he could possibly wreak political havoc by invoking his cousin’s name. Yet for all the politicking in Imperium the younger Collins could care less – Careila offered him a chance to be king of his own dominion, even if he couldn’t quite use that phrase himself.

Careila guarded the entrance to the Tovey Sea, which fed into a long estuary claimed jointly by No Endorse and the United Kingdom through its home country of Kingsland. Hence, Collins had asked for a significant naval presence to guard the valuable harbour and the numerous small islands that ran from Florentinian Ramissle right up north to Kingsland. Overnight nearly three dozen small 155mm artillery pieces had been dropped on the northern and southern most island plus three dozen for Careila itself.

For now, however, Collins was more concerned with the establishment of the dock facilities and the electrical system. Later this week the first engineers from the government would arrive to construct wind turbines on the northern hills of the harbour, which would provide power until a larger nuclear facility could be completed in several years time. Already, Collins had also begun to publish brochures and put forth television and radio advertisements encouraging persons from all over to move to the United Kingdom’s newest colony.

Although no infrastructure yet existed, Collins envisioned Careila as a major shipping port and for the time being it would come to service smaller patrol craft of the Royal Navy through a contract recently negotiated with the Admiralty. In addition he hoped to win the contract for a new oil and liquid natural gas terminal that would receive shipments that he could then arrange for to be piped north through the island chain up to Kingsland.

Several kilometers away from Collins, among the thick vegetation stood a near-naked individual, his skin tanned and decorated with white and green marks arranged in an asymmetrical fashion upon his chest and arms. His face was covered with black marks, those all symmetrical. Unbeknownst to both Collins and the United Kingdom in the mountainous highlands an iron-age agricultural society had emerged since Homo sapiens had first arrived on the continent.

Through brown eyes he counted the steps taken by the men with odd coverings and in particular the fat leader who wore sparkling jewels that covered his eyes. Gripping a light wooden staff tipped with a barbed iron tip the youth slipped back into the bark and leaf when another odd person arrived, gripping a strange contraption in his hands, carrying it as if light as a feather but attached to it the burdens of deciding life and death. The youth sensed this all and faded into the trees to return to his village and raise the alarm. Visitors had come.