NationStates Jolt Archive

The thick mist rolled over the ocean's surface. As the beam from the lighthouse swung idly in the gloom it illuminated momentarily the silhouette of a large vessel the guard on duty jumped to his feet and ran to the radio.

Reaching the radio the guard called the head of homeland security, General Dielk.

"General there is a….." unfortunately for the guard that was as far as he got. A knife had silently appeared out of the darkness and efficiently slit across his throat.

The guard slumped forward over the radio and the unknown assassin disappeared back into the darkness of the lighthouse building.

Down on the water things had taken a turn for the worse the large pirate battleship opened fire on several docked vessels which did not stand much chance against the intense fire power.

The Lamehken sirens blared to life and the army instantly woken was mobilised to the defensive turrets within minutes.

Back on the water several patrol craft came into range and launched torpedoes into the lager craft.

As quickly as the attack had begun the pirate craft began to turn and leave several more torpedos slammed into the ship's hull and detonated. At this point the ship lurched violently to one side and began to take on water. A gapping hole now appeared on the starboard side just visable above the water line. Two more torpedos slammed into the rear of the ship brining it to a halt.

"What is our status," The fully awake General Dielk asked in a subdued manner into the radio, "How did that ship manage to get in?"

Admiral Kellul, now also wide awake, was standing on the bridge of the Manticore, Lamehk's first aircraft carrier.

"The enemy vessel has been neutralised and a commando team is just preparing to board, though I have no idea how it got in. Tides are usually higher at night this time of year," Kellul paused and suddenly it dawned on him, "There is a full moon tonight maybe the higher tides allowed them to clear the reef."

Dielk suddenly realised that this was not just a fluke raid and that the pirates had planned this for a reason.

"Admiral, has the lighthouse been secured?" General Dielk's concern could not be hidden from his voice.

"Yes General two teams have been dispatched and have secured the lighthouse though we are still not sure how they managed to reach it or if there are any pirates still on the island."

This news did not improve Dielk's concern.

"Thankyou Admiral, I am sure you quick thinking prevented any other plans the pirates might have had. Inform me of the commando teams findings. General Dielk out."

"Yes sir, Admiral Kellul out"

***********************************************************************************

In the light of day the full damage toll was assessed. The pirates it seemed were not out to cause widespread damage. Out of the three destroyers hit by the capital ships onslaught one was sunk the other two had taken heavy structural damage.
The only casualty form the nights raid had been the lighthouse guard.
What disturbed Dielk the most was the discovery that enemy capital ship had been devoid of all necessities to support a ship of that size including ammunition. It was obvious that the large ship was merely a distraction, but for what.

Dielk entered Lamehk's military instillation, hidden just outside Hotek, and immediately realised that something was amiss even before the computer technician gave him the report.

It appeared that at the same time that the pirate ship opened fire someone had broken into the top-secret instillation and down loaded fleet schematics and other data concerning Lamehk's military capabilities.

Dielk reviewed the video surveillance but could not gain anything from it. All that was present was a shadowy figure efficiently down loading the data then leaving.

Dielk headed quickly to the centre's communications room and contacted Emperor Malus.

"Sir it appears that the pirate raid was a distraction as I feared. Several top-secret files on Lamehk's military capabilities have been stolen. I suggest we notify Yallak right away." General Dielk spoke professionally.

"Yes agreed that would be wise," Malus was glad that there were Yallakian vessels currently located at the south island, "Inform them immediately of the events that have occurred and wait for their advice."

"Yes Sir, right away."

To: The Yallakian Empire
From: General Dielk

There has been a disturbing incident last night concerning the pirates. Several Lamehken Vessels have been sunk and information regarding Lamekhen military capabilities has been stolen. We require your assistance regarding this as soon as possible.

General Dielk, Lamehken Homeland Security.

Encoded Imperial Transmission
Priority: Urgent
To: General Dielk, Lamehken Homeland Security
From: The High Council of Arrandin

General,

Such a bold action by the pirates is most disturbing. We must deal with this quickly.

An Imperial Battlegroup is already in the nearby vicinity. Inform them of the details and co-ordinates of this incident and they will dispatch a taskforce to assist. In the meantime I will organise a ground team to head to Lamehk and they will see to the recovery of this information and perhaps arrange a more permanent solution to this pirate problem.

This will soon be resolved….

Signed
Lord Erkal, Foreign Affairs Minister

General Dielk walked quickly into the council chambers holding the latest reply from the Yallakian Council.

"Sir. You should probably see this." Dielk said handing the piece of paper he was carrying to Emperor Malus. "I have already sent a message to the Yallakian Battlegroup and have replied to Lord Erkal as well."

Malus read the reply thoroughly before returning it to Dielk. "Excellent. Have you informed them of our plans to set up an exclusion zone around the Pirate Island to stop any interactions between the pirates and other parties?"

"Yes Sir," Dielk replied formally, "The encrypted transmission includes our current deployments and immediate response."

"Good," Malus said not one bit disappointed with the Generals current service, "Let me know if anything else of significance occurs."

"Understood Sir." Dielk saluted and left the council chambers.

To: Admiral Arisâ Levrin
From: General Dielk, Lamehken Homeland Security
Priority: Urgent

Admiral, I have been told to inform you of a recent pirate raid on Lamehken shores. Data concerning the Lamehken Fleet and it's current military capabilities has been stolen and we require your assistance in dealing with this issue. Lamehken ships have already begun creating an exclusion zone around the island to prevent any leakage of the lost data. The frequency and security codes the ships are currently operating on following this message.
All of Lamehk's military is at Yallak's disposal, as per our treaty and we do not wish to leave you to fight our battle alone.


Signed

General Dielk

To: The High Council of Arrandin
From: General Dielk, Lamehken Homeland Security

Thankyou for your hastened response. Lamehken ships have already begun creating an exclusion zone around the island to prevent any leakage of the lost data. Your Battlegroup has been informed of the situation and we are currently making plans for the arrival of your task force. All of Lamehk's military is at your disposal, as per our treaty and we do not wish to leave you to fight our battle alone.

Signed

General Dielk

It had taken less than two hours once the call from General Dielk had come in for Admiral Levrin to divide her battlegroup in two and personally take half of it to the western island of Lamehk – the enemies fortified stronghold.

‘We have cleared the Lamehken blockade, Admiral,’ the nearby Lieutenant informed her.

Levrin nodded her acknowledgement and then glanced down at the tactical map before her. It showed the island straight ahead with a large concentration of pirate vessels in the area and the ring of Lamehken vessels surrounding it. Now rapidly closing the gap between the two forces, the Admiral’s ship the IYS Iorlaas, escorted by a carrier, two battleships, four cruiser, five destroyers and four frigates, fanned out into a standard Imperial attack formation.

‘Make ready to engage, Lieutenant,’ the Admiral ordered, ‘bring all guns to bear and launch all fighters.’

Beyond the fleet, Imperial transports were closing in, all but ready to deploy the 3rd Legion to cleanse the island.

Uh is this closed, or open?

From deep within the bowels of the Pirate Island blips began to appear on a radar screen. The lowly pirate monitoring the screen suddenly snapped back to reality from his day dreaming and immediately sounded the alarm.

Moments later Dread Pirate Skullcupone, a persona he had created for himself to sound more intimidating than Steve, Strode into the control room.

"Status" Steve's voice rang out through the small room as if a large bell had just been rung. It carried with it a sense of self-importance and confidence that few had or would expect to come from Steve if they actually knew his real name.

"Captain Skull, an armada of ships has appeared on our radar. We are reading seventeen in total sir." The underling scurried back to his radar terminal rat like after delivering the report.

Steve was taken aback, however he did not show it to his inferiors. It was unlike Lamehk to send a military force so soon and even more out of character to send a group so few in numbers.

"Sir," The underling at the radar began once more believing that the punishment for speaking before being spoken to would be less than that for withholding the information he had aquirred, "It appears the group consists of mainly carriers as I am reading very large signatures."

Steve strode over to the screen and slammed the underling's head into it, for speaking before being spoken to, before taking a look at the now smeared screen for himself.

The Lamehkens, it appeared, had made two fatal errors in their judgement. One there were very few support ships, at lest it seemed that way, as many of the signatures were abnormally large. Second, it appeared that the fools believed that they could take the island with air power only. Sure the anti-ship turrets would be extremely venerable but they were replaceable and no landing craft had yet appeared on the radar.

The underling regained consciousness and sat up in his chair groggily.

"There is something wrong with the radar. Have it fixed. In the mean time alert the Crew. I want those ships sunk or captured within the hour." Steve glared at the filth beside him as he gave his orders. Knowing better than to disagree with the Captain, over the functional status of the radar, Jourel nodded and sent an alert to the Crew.

"Darkblade" Steve shouted while turning away from Jourel. Almost instantly a man clad in a black cloak that hid all of his physical attributes appeared beside the Captain. Any feelings that the Captain was not a confident leader was quelled at his control of Darkblade.

"Yes Captain," Darkblades voice slid through the air as if a slight breeze had carried it.

"Alert the sentry posts to a possible air raid and be prepared for a ground assault." Steve was unfazed by Darkblade's abilities.

"It shall be done," Darkblade replied and disappeared into the gloom once more.

To: Lamehk
From: Pythogria
Re: Need help?
Text:

Pythogria is willing to send six cruisers, eight subs, and two transports filled with ground forces to remove the pirates from the island.

OOC: this thread is open...to a point. I will not stop people posting if they feel as if they can contribute to the enjoyment of the post by all, however the main flow of the post has been pre-planned and will explain future events rather than being a stand alone thread.

The pirates ran quickly to the armada of ships docked at the islands only functional wharf. The fleet of twenty-eight destroyers, fifteen frigates, fifteen cruisers and as many as thirty torpedo boats and various other craft of similar or smaller size were mobilized almost simultaneously with an excessive amount of hooting and other animal like noises coming from the blood thirsty crew. Behind the main fleet a large battleship,The Darkwater, followed closely behind its escorts not wanting to miss the imminent carnage. As the flagship headed towards the ensuing battle, their enemy’s vessels began to rapidly enter visual range. As they moved ever closer it became clear that the Lamehken ships were not carriers at all. The fact was that Captain Judilk did not believe them to be Lamehken at all.

Quickly the captain hailed the mainland and was put through to the war room.

“Sir, the ships out here do not appear to be of Lamehken origin. The fleet consists of a large number of unidentifiable craft. There is also a rather… Davie Johns locker look at the size of that thing!!”, gasped the Captain, “there is a massive battleship that appears to be their flagship. What are your orders?”

Steve was caught completely by surprise by this latest development and this time he could not hide it from those around him. Strolling quickly over to the radar screen he once more slammed the sniveling worm’s head into it before looking once more at the mystery fleet.

“It appears that Lamehk has found itself an ally - either that or some unlucky soul has stupidly wondered into our waters. Proceed as planned”, he demanded, “however I want that battleship taken unharmed.”

Bridge of the IYS Iorlaas

Admiral Levrin hovered over her ships tactical map, drawn to it only moments ago as it had begun bleeping out an alert as the pirate vessels began moving. ‘Captain Tipolaus,’ she demanded, moving her hand in a swiping motion through the pirate forces on the 3D tactical map, causing them to disappear as her hand temporarily distorted the image in that area.

‘Admiral,’ replied the officer, turning around to face her. His black uniform was crisp and spotless, quite the contrast to the large scare running down from his temple to the bottom of his cheek, a relic of the Kraven war. ‘All ships are in formation and reporting ready to engage.’

‘Good,’ she exclaimed, ‘then lets end this quickly.’

***********
The Imperial vessels sliced silently through the smooth waters that surrounded the island, the sun reflecting brightly off their metal. At the forefront of the fleet were the three battleships, while the other craft kept pace beside and behind. Now only minutes since they passed the Lamehken blockade, the Yallakian vessels were in range of the enemy.

Thunderous explosions shattered the tranquility of the area as the Imperial fleet opened fire on the pirates with their main guns, lobbing massive shells across the ocean towards the incoming craft.

With the battle well underway the Lamehken blockade slowly tightened its grip on the pirate island. No ship was going to escape from the island. The orders were simple. Hold the barricade and prevent any pirate vessels from escaping. They were only to engage in the main battle directly if hailed by the Admiral of the Yallakian fleet.

While the blockade was moving in ten troop transport from Lamehk were preparing to serge forth and land to start the harder part of the battle.

The Yallakian transports were just reaching the limits of the Lamehken fleet as it began to move away from them, closing around the island. General Sarhane, commanding officer of the third legion, watched all the action from his landing craft, as it came in behind the Lamehken transports.

‘Twenty minutes to landfall,’ he yelled out above the growing sound of the Imperial battleships relentless gunfire, ‘check weapons and secure your helmets.’

A spray of water washed over the front of the craft as it passed through the wake of the heavy warships. 'Hold on, its going to be rough from here.'

From the bridge of the Darkwater the carnage was as instantaneous as expected however the pirates were not expecting it to be there own ships that were doing all the sinking and burning.
Four cruisers had taken direct hits and were now either burning hulks or slowly beginning to go down, their crews jumping chaotically into the water, many of those themselves on fire or missing various limbs. Eight of the destroyers were also hit, two were written off but the rest still maintained forward momentum however most had their main cannons disabled. Of the fifteen frigates only 2 received minor damage and were now leading the retaliation.
All the remaining ships brought their cannons to bar and unleashed a pitiful retaliation attempted.

The smaller boats fared far better than the larger ones with no casualties sustained. The lead group of about ten was now in torpedo range and they quickly let lose each of their four torpedoes.

With the patrol boats the swarm of Jet Ski riders were shouldering the hand held rocket launchers and preparing to target the enemy ships main guns.

Shells hurtled down around the Imperial vessels, sending up torrents of water into the air as they did so. The Khorland-class battleships and Sentai-class cruisers shielded the smaller Yallakian craft from the incoming fire, taking several hits in the process. One cruiser, taking multiple hits into the forward deck area from the pirate’s barrage, was now pouring smoke from a hole in the port stern.

Admiral Levrin watched the proceedings with growing irritability. Had she underestimated the enemy? She didn’t think she had, even though they possessed more vessels than she had anticipated. So what was it that was nagging at her? They’re not firing at this ship – how odd.

‘Captain Tipolaus, order the fighters to commence their attack, priority target being the enemy command ship.’
‘And what of the incoming attack boats?’
‘Let them come.’

Even after the attack boats released their torpedoes, the Imperial heavy ships remained on course. Using sonar, the ships tactical computers tracked the incoming weapons and displayed their location on the bridges tactical map as little red dots. The torpedoes closed quite quickly on the Yallakian ships, moving closer and closer together as they narrowed in on the relatively small front profile of the vessels. Only at the last minute did the battleships and cruisers veer to the side, deploying countermeasures and bringing their super-cav CIWS to bear on the fairly bunched weapons. The IYS Iorlaas rapidly showed the red dots disappearing and being diverted by decoys, until only a few weapons survived, or remained on course, to reach the fleet. A couple slammed into the battleships causing only minor damage to the vessels extremely thick and strong armour, while another exploded into a cruiser, tearing open a gap in its side. The crew that survived the impact quickly evacuated the damaged area of the vessel and sealed the compartment shut, preventing water from penetrating into any other parts of the ship.

Now with the torpedo threat averted, for now, and the enemy attack boats almost on top of them, the Yallakian ships opened up with their two inch anti-air/fast ship chain guns. From where the Admiral stood the water around her ship looked like it was awash with rainfall as hundreds upon hundreds of rounds thrashed out at the tiny boats and the jet skiers they carried, who’s hand held rocket launchers were proving useless against the Imperial ships.

Barely audible over the continual pounding of the fleet’s main guns, eight squadrons (96 planes) of Darkfist strike bombers soared in towards the now occupied pirates, loosing off a volley of anti-shipping missiles as they did so. White smoke blanketed the skies as the missiles streaked out at the enemy below. Directly beneath, the Imperial fleet joined its planes in sending off their own wave of warheads.

“All hands abandon ship, this battle was lost before it had even begun!” Captain Judilk’s shrill voice bellowed out over the few functional loud speakers of The Darkwater

Moments later an anti-ship missile slammed into the bridge annihilating all stationed there.

Of what remained of the pirate fleet few of the ships got of better most billowing smoke and taking on water.

The retreat was sounded on all of the ships that could still issues such an order and the remaining crews evacuated their posts to take their chances in the ocean or one of the many smaller evacuation craft.

Using the burning hulks as cover the surviving crew headed for the island.

The background of smoking ships made for an impressive backdrop as the Lamehken landing craft dropped their ramps and the infantry troops filled out.

The air quickly became abuzz with automatic gun fire from the two encamped gun turrets located in the dune system just before the tree line. They were slightly raised off the ground to allow greater visibility over the fore dune in front of them.

Knowing that this would be the case the Lamehken soldiers moved quickly and on mass into the dune system leaving the injured where they lay until such time as the turrets were disabled.

Reaching the fore dune and receiving some small reprieve from the automatic fire Lt Katel ordered his men to lay low whilst he crawled along the dune to get a better angle.

Two of his best snipers followed and while the enemy were still concentrating fire on the last of the infantry leaving the ships they quickly set up their shots and nailed each of the gun men between the eyes before Katel lobbed a grenade into each of the encampments.

With the beach secure the remaining troops set up rough fortification in the tree line and tended to the wounded while waiting for the Yallak transports to arrive.

Imperial Yallakian Fleet, Lamehk
On board the IYS Iorlaas

‘Admiral,’ exclaimed Captain Tipolaus as the pirate command ship was disintegrated in an array of shell and missile fire, ‘the remaining enemy ships are withdrawing.’

‘Leave them,’ replied Admiral Levrin, ‘the Lamehken fleet can deal with those cowards. Signal General Sarhane to commence his landing and then move the battlegroup into bombard position of the island.’

******************************

Imperial Transport Craft Four-Two

‘Affirmative Captain, Sarhane out,’ said the General loudly into his communicator so Captain Tipolaus could hear him properly against the noise of the dozens of Yallakian landing craft and the sound of the men and equipment being readied.

A mere three minutes later and the transports hit the shallow waters of the beach, their front ramps burying themselves deeply in the sand as they dropped open. What the Imperial soldiers found upon pouring out of their craft was not what they had expected. Instead of bullets and shells having at them they found dead and wounded Lamehkens littering the area and the pirate defences already smoldering.

Ordering his men to assist the wounded and bring their equipment ashore, General Sarhane headed over to the nearest Lamehken with a pair of his officers.

‘Take me to your commanding officer,’ he demanded.