NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC:TG Me or Cravan to enter, I don't want more than a couple people to enter on either side, kay?
Whyatican Numonica
With his crew on shore leave, Whyatican Grand Admiral Salazar sat in his very luxurious field office in the recently rebuilt Naval Shore Leave Section of Numonica. He watched the view of the waves lapping against the beach, and pulling away again. Because of the First and Second Kraven Wars, Numonica was wrecked. Oil spills still occasionally showed up in the waves, and there was a red tinge to the water, real or imagined. For one of those few moments in his life, he relaxed. Being a Grand Admiral of the Whyatican Navy was an extremely stressful job, and shore leave as a godsend. He didn't hear the beeping from his portable link to the Command Relay for some time, as the last thing he wanted was new orders.

Begrudgingly, he pulled the small electronic device out of it's metal case and flipped it up. It said across the screen,
Gather up your crew, get repairs finished, and assault and capture Cravanian Arterus.
He pressed a button that signified that he acknowledged the order, and he went to his large stationery Command Relay linkup. He punched the button for "Return to stationkeeping", turned off his linkup, and went back onto his beach patio. He thought to himself,
As long as I serve Kraven, there's always going to be a war..I serve Whyatica, not Kraven, damn them..

He called for a meeting of the top Admirals of the fleet, and they met in his office to determine plans for this Cravanian island..

"We believe their ships are docked in the port on the southern side, and as such we are going to come in from the south and assault them with a fast air strike and sink as many of the escorts as we can. Preliminary intelligence indicates that there is a Cravanian Super-Dreadnaught docked here, and that they have one of their chemical lasers here. As such, all planes will need to fly exceptionally low and be as stealthy as possible. Once we have cleared out their harbour, we will be landing there with the 33rd Sturmpanzer Battalion. We're going to assault the port city, and attempt to force their surrender before we enter into guerilla warfare. If it descends into serious guerilla warfare, we will be forced to burn the island to the ground. Any questions?"

"No, Grand Admiral." echoed throughout the room.

Nine hours later, all crewmen returned from their shore leave in Numonica and entered their vessels, and the mighty Whyatican fleet, seven hundred in number, exited the Numonica ports, a fifty-four hour jaunt across the seas ahead of them..

Sergeant Michael Forester, a young Marine stationed in Desanna, lay down in the soft sand of the beach and let the breeze sweep over him. It was paradise, with palm trees surrounding him and swaying in the breeze. He had heard rumors of the Imperial Command centers in Cayanace, and he wondered if this place was even more of a paradise.

He lay there, without a care in the world. He knew he had left his rifle someplace in the forest behind him, but he didn't care. All he did care about were the two native girls dancing before him in grass skirts. He watched them sway back and forth, in perfect unison. He sat up, and looked around at the bay. The massive INS Impregnable sat anchored in the lagoon, along with a few cruisers and a battleship. He looked down the shore, and saw the naval facilities and the airbase on the island.

Then, he stood up and looked behind him. There it was. The guardian of the island, Divine Shield. It towered above the treetops, the radar towers at its base constantly scanning for incoming aircraft. The weapon itself looked about as intimidating as a radar tower, with a simple ball on top. But it offered much more than that. Divine Shield was the Cravanian anti-air chemical laser system, deployed all throughout the Cravanian homeland. Due to increased tensions with other nations in the area, a pre-fabricated one had been brought here. It was a carbon copy of the ones in Cravan, but had the disadvantage of a massive blind spot due to treetops. He knew they'd probably never use it, anyway.

He reached for his rifle, and kissed the two native girls on the cheek. His CO was probably pissed at him for straying from his post, but he could care less. His tour would be up within a few months, anyway.

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

Rear Admiral Petethol sat in his command chair on the bridge of the Impregnable, watching the monitors with care. It was a clear day, with visibility stretching for miles and miles. And not a worry in the world. What could go wrong in this paradise...?

Bump

"This is the SotG Aegir. We're leaving dock now. It's been fun boys." The large ship and the cargo ship it had been escorting began sailing away.

"Run on full alert boys," said the captain of the Aegir. "Law hasn't been fully established here, and there's a decent chance that pirates will try a run on the freighter."

"Pirates," said the Tactical Officer, "I've had plenty of them, thanks."

"Yeah? Well tell that to them if they attack. I'm sure they'll apologize and look for someone else to attack."

OOC: That post is okay to state your guys are leaving (from another thread, Why), but just know that this is only semi-open.

OOC: That post is okay to state your guys are leaving (from another thread, Why), but just know that this is only semi-open.

OOC: Sorry. Gone now.

100 Nautical Miles from Cravan-Held Island
"All stop." said Grand Admiral Salazar as the fleet steamed to a stop, almost exactly one hundred nautical miles from the Cravanian island they were going to assault.

"Commence Operation Star Child!" he said to his bridge, and sent across the fleet's portable Command Relay.

The fleet's flagship, the WSS Wake Island, fired off a massive salvo of anti-ship missiles at the Cravanian ships docked, and the rest of the fleet followed suit with their long-range naval guns. Hundreds of shells, at least 4,000 missiles, and a very few torpedos were launched out in this initial salvo. Submarines rushed ahead of the fleet at their maximum safe stealth speed, aiming to trap the Cravanians in if they attempted to escape the massacre ahead of them. To complement this assault, 500 Vanguard Virage were launched off of the massive Gorgoroth class ultracarriers, loaded down with enough missiles to make your head spin. They shot ahead in formation at the Cravanians, firing Air-to-Surface missiles at the Cravanian fleet as the ship-launched missiles streaked through the sky..

Sailors not on current active combat duty watched the guns firing off, and one man on a destroyer said, "Shock and awe, baby, shock and awe..."

On the bridge of the WSS Na'ib, Salazar prepared to give his customary pep talk to his bridge officers, the finest crewmembers originally from lesser ships than the Na'ib.

"Men, we come to crush a pathetic enemy, one who stands against us in Al Kharif, in Pythogria, everywhere we turn they stand before us. We will destroy them today, lads, for the glory of Whyatica! Our fleet will emerge victorious as we have countless times before! We have never fought a losing engagement, sailors, keep that in mind as our brave men fight and die on that island," He pointed to the barely-visible shoreline of the Cravan-held island,

"We of the Navy have been charged with our task, our duty for Whyatica. We destroy our enemies to gain glory for ourselves, and nothing will stop us. For the Whyatican Empire!" Salazar yelled, and the bridge crew echoed, "For Whyatica! For Whyatica!"

He finished his speech at an absolutely beautiful time, as the bridge crew could see the missiles streaking overhead...

"Sir! Massive force detected to the south!"
"Put it up on the main display. Sound General Quarters."
"Aye, sir."

A real-time feed of the force appeared, and instantly Petethol's eyes widened in horror. He gasped under his breath, "Whyatica..."

He stood up, and began to shout orders.

"Why the hell didn't we see this!?"
"Our radar wasn't actively scanning, sir. We missed them..."

He watched in horror as shells fell around him. Several impacted the battleship anchored in the shallow harbor, almost instantly sending it to a semi-submerged grave. Fires raged across its decks, with men jumping for their lives into the warm, now oil drenched waters.

"Prepare our cruise missiles for use!"
"Aye, sir!"

A salvo of two missiles was launched from the twin tubes, and two reserve missiles were loaded. They streaked towards the enemy fleet, flying low and hoping to hit something of value.

"Sir, we have tactical nuclear weaponry on board. Your orders?"

He took a moment to think.

"No... no, that would only cause retaliation on a larger scale."

He then looked to the weapons operators.

"Are those guns ready yet?"
"Aye. Firing solution acquired."
"Well don't wait for my order! FIRE!"

The guns of the Impregnable rotated into precise firing position, and adjusted for elevation. They ripped open, but instead of the usual deafening roar of cannons, an extremely audible crack was heard with each firing of the weapons. Tungsten shells were propelled down-range by the massive rail-guns, and a short pause for cooling fluids to coarse through the coolant systems of the massive guns took place. Then, the guns came back to life, sending a second salvo straight to the enemy fleet. In all, between the massive guns and the smaller guns, about ninety-six tungsten shells flew at the Whyatican fleet. The guns prepared for a third salvo of three shots each gun.

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

Forester heard the whistle of the shells, and watched as they impacted the water, sending up massive towers of water. He took the gun from his back, and started running towards the base. He watched as the Divine Shield system came fully online, spraying the air with constant beams hoping to shoot down one of the missiles coming in. It would wait less than two seconds to cool, then immediately pick more targets and send an energy beam almost the speed of light at them.

He watched as some of the first cruise missiles reached the fleet, impacting the cruisers with great force. Some also went straight for the airfield, and luckily the planes and the field itself survived, while massive plumes of smoke rose from buildings which were far less fortunate. He heard the sirens, and watched as every plane stationed there was scrambled.

He ran as quickly as possible, praying that he would get out of this alive.

"Grand Admiral, we have caught the Cravanians completely off guard, their battleship is out for the count and their flagship has returned fire.."

"All hands, brace for impact. Return fire and get the submarines on the other side of the pincer. Our aircraft should be well within range, order them to dump their ATS missiles on the Cravanian fleet and then engage the Cravanian warplanes if any have launched. Get our fleet moving ahead to close the beartrap, we need to sink their Super-Dreadnaught.."

The Cravanian railgun shells could not be effectively defeated by CIWS, and the majority of them impacted the outer tiers of the Whyatican fleet, destroying 11 Hannibal class escort destroyers and severely damaging two Morsky-Orol class light cruisers. The priority was given to the missile cruisers, since the minor missile capacity of the INS Impregnable was nil compared to the heavy battleship WSS Wake Island, which boasted eight thousand times the missile capacity of the Impregnable.

The return fire came instantly, a half-dozen eighteen-inch shells at each of the cruisers and destroyers, and at least two dozen 25" and 18" shells at the Cravanian super-Dreadnaught. Vanguard Virages made low sweeps over the battlefield, unloading AtS missiles at airfields and dockyards. They pulled back up to dogfight altitude, and detected the Cravanian aircraft attempting to intercept them. 75 Vanguards led the charge, firing "Stalker" class AtA missiles at them, as the other Vanguards were equipped for air-to-surface battle and had to return to the carriers after unloading their missiles.

The submarines formed a picket line around the possible escape routes of the Impregnable, and waited for her to show up above them, where the submarines would fire keel-breakers out of their vertical launch tubes..

Forester listened as the defense laser charged up, having found feasable targets. He watched as it accurately tracked the Whyatican fighters, effectively pumping enough energy to power a small city into each one it targeted. He also watched as the skies filled up with flak and other anti-air munitions aimed at the Whyatican force.

*******************************
Meanwhile, the missile cruisers managed to get an entire salvo off before succumbing to the Whyatican barrage. Both were sunk instantaneously, as were the destroyers. Luckily, the Impregnable herself had managed to get her maneuvering jets active, and gracefully avoided the shells. She sustained some damage from the shock, but overall was unscathed.

"Admiral, we're picking up some activity at the mouth of the harbor. Probably subs, but we can't be sure."

The admiral smirked.

"Bringing subs into a harbor as shallow as this is one of the worst mistakes one can make. Prepare the anti-sub torps. Also... load a water slug... Just to rattle them up."

Fold out panels located just under the waterline opened, revealing Triton's hidden anti-sub tubes. One was filled with a water slug, and the pressure from the blast would possibly cause the subs to scatter long enough to break through. Meanwhile, the usual payload of torpedoes were kept in the other tubes, awaiting firing. The water jets of the ship were completely online by now, and she was moving with great agility.

She fired another salvo, sending Tungsten rounds at the Whyatican fleet while 20mm CIWS spit rounds into the air. Meanwhile, her VLS launchers were readied for a salvo of 100 missiles, readily aimed at the Whyatican ships. They fired, spitting missiles out constantly. When the aft launchers were empty, the foreward launchers erupted...

The defensive laser shredded a Vanguard Virage upon impact, and the airwaves quickly became filled with chatter.

"What the hell was that?"

"Green 14 took a hit from the Cravanian defensive laser!"

"No shit! Unload your missiles and get back to the carriers!"

The Virage wings, dodging and weaving against flak and 20mm CIWS shots, fired off their AtA loads against the launching Cravanian fighters, but it was a massacre because of their defensive laser. Nearly two wings had been annihilated, 24 Vanguards fell to defensive fire. They turned tail and retreated back to the Whyatican aircraft carriers, rearming and refueling for a second round against the Cravanians..

The submarines, underneath the waterline, shook and shuddered from the water slug, and their various Captains realized they had been detected. They pulled away from the shallow harbour, and one submarine, WSS Axis, fired off it's version of the PGT.1 TORER torpedo, targetting the waterjets of the Impregnable. Axis, too, pulled away with the rest of the submarines, to safer waters..

The missile wave from Impregnable was met with heavy interceptor fire, utterly destroying dozens upon dozens of missiles, leaving 24 for gun-based 30mm CIWS fire. Each CIWS system locked onto a missile, targetting it and spewing hot lead fire at the Cravanian missiles, and one missile survived and impacted the prow of WSS Riot, a Hannibal class destroyer. The ship was set on fire, and it pulled it's way out of the ship formation as it burned, so no other ships were damaged when the ship exploded. Two Morsky-Orol class light cruisers took hits from railgun shells and began to list heavily to the side, continuing to fire as they fell..

The three Super-Dreadnaughts of the fleet fired their heavy guns at the escaping Impregnable, attempting to put enough holes in it that if the ship got away, it would be in no shape to repair. As the Impregnable left harbour, the entire fleet surged forward in an attempt to secure the harbour for landing. Hundreds of StS missiles began to fire across the Cravanian shoreline, raking across airfields in an attempt to destroy grounded planes, wreck airfields, and troop concentrations. The defensive laser itself was targetted with 75 "Knight" heavy StS missiles in an attempt to bring it down.

So far, the Whyatican plan was moving on schedule..

"Sir! Incoming transmission from Command! They're ordering us to pull out!"

Klaxons sounded as the water jets were hit. The ship shook violently, knocking some crewmembers off their feet.

"Status!"
"We've lost some of our maneuvering capabilities, Admiral. Fires reported on some of the lower decks."
"Isolate them and put them out now!"
"Aye, sir. Auto-extinguishers active."

The ship's speed had dropped dramatically, reducing it by a whole ten knots. It also lost some maneuvering capabilities, and the main asset of speed and maneuverability had been taken from the ship. Rounds landed all around it, covering the decks with water.

"Sir, we can't take any more. That last one landed too close!"

The Admiral had one of the most painful looks on his face anyone could imagine.

"We can't just leave our boys on the island..."
"We'll be back, sir."
"All right... Take us out.", he said, emotion drained from his voice. The ship managed to break through, and went as fast as possible to sea, hoping to outrun the enemy fleet. He looked back as he saw the laser enveloped by a massive hail of shells. It fell soon afterwards, bringing the marines' hopes down with it. They also lost hope as their air support was called out to friendly airfields. The marines vowed one thing, though:

The locals and resources of this island would never, never fall to the enemy. They would make sure of that.

"Grand Admiral, the Cravanian Super-Dreadnaught has broken out and is escaping at high velocity."

"Ignore it. It's of no threat to us anymore, and we can commence landings now. Order the fleet to pull up, continue shore bombardments, launch Firebirds and commence strategical bombing of infantry positions. This island is mostly jungle and we can expect fierce resistance from natives and Cravanians. We can also expect that the Cravanians will come back and attempt to retake the island, so all hands are to remain on red alert until all resistance has been settled on the island and we can rule out the possibility of a Cravanian retake attempt. Move out, gents!"

The fleet moved out, with the logistical & amphibious assault ships pulling to the front. Capitol Police prepared for landing, loading their GPMGs and splitting off into their various squadrons. The first landing would consist of a Brigade of Capitol Police, 100,000 CP landing and securing the beachhead for others to follow. The shore bombardment continued as the assault ships closed in on shore. At the predetermined drop point, hundreds of dropships dropped out of the amphibious ships, carrying 25 Capitol Police each. Simultaneously, thousands of VTOL aircraft carrying 25 Capitol Police launched off of the assault ships, and they fired their 30mm cannons at the shore, attempting to remove as much resistance as they could before the CP landed.

Four wings of Firebird strike bombers shot off of Gorgoroth carrier catapults, and they rocketed to strategic positions on the Cravanian harbour, dropping thousands of pounds of dumb bombs and the like on Cravanian positions, attempting to dislodge them from defensive positions and cause chaos as the first of the Capitol Police disgorged from dropships and VTOL aircraft. Dropping gangplanks onto the beach, the first of the red-eyed demons, the Capitol Police of Whyatica, landed on Cravanian territory, locking onto Cravanian soldiers and firing bursts of their GPMGs, and hundreds of dropships repeated this process, and their armour support was coming soon..

As the Capitol Police landed and unloaded on the defensive bunkers, something was missing. And that something was return fire.

Cravanian marines knew that a fight for the beach would be suicide, so they had decided to pull back inland and lay in wait in the jungles. Anything they could find was salvaged, and some had taken heavier weapons from vehicles to mount them on various positions around the island.

Most of the beach was smouldering, with very little left of anything there. Smoke rose from the ruins of the airbase, and off in the distance smoke could be seen where the defense tower had been. The place had been devistated, but the fight for the island was just beginning...

As hundreds of thousands of Capitol Police landed on the quickly-secured beach, they set up defensive perimeters and began to move wreckage out of the way for a makeshift helipad. A dropship hit the shore with a massive bulldozer, and that began to move tonnes of beach wreckage, creating defensive positions in case of Cravanian counter-attack. The first of the mechanized units hit the beach, Diablo and Leman Russ class tanks, and Basilisk 205mm self-propelled artillery. Helicopters launched from the logistical ships began to airdrop tonnes of supplies down, where Capitol Police began to set up defensive bunkers and supply depots. They prepared for their next major push into the Cravanian jungle, and still more Capitol Police disgorged...

On the Gorgoroth class aircraft carrier WSS Riyadh, three wings of Gargoyle class heavy bombers launched, loaded to the brim with napalm and other chemical explosives. They spread themselves out over several kilometers of jungle, dropping thousands upon thousands of gallons of napalm over estimated Cravanian retreat positions. The Whyaticans would burn the jungle down to force the Cravanians and any hostile natives out. Trees were a renewable resource, after all...

The navy's work wasn't over yet, though, as the shelling of the jungle began. Shells filled with incendiary charges fired from the massive 30" anti-fortification guns of the Zealous class superdreadnaughts, setting ablaze hundreds of kilometers of jungle, spewing a plume of thick smoke in the air recognizable from a huge ways away, it spoke very clearly to the continent of Arterus,

The Supreme State was here..

--Although it goes without saying, secret IC--

Satellite initiating....
Uplink confirming....
Connecting to Net....
Connection Accepted
Encryption system activating...
Encryption complete. Uplink complete.

In orbit, one of Cravan's many satellites flew over, snapping off hundreds upon hundreds of photos from all angles and zoom levels. Silently and secretly, it gently passed through space, acquiring targets of interest and other key areas.

These images were immediately transmitted to Imperial Command, located in Cravna, Cravan. Eventually, the photos made it to the desks of major players in Cravan's military, and even made it to the Emperor's desk. Planning of bombing raids and other air attacks were constantly being planned, with key areas in mind. They looked over the photos, seeing miles upon miles of forest and jungle burning, knowing that the Corporation was using incendiary rounds to clear out any other resistance. It was unknown exactly how many Cravanians and natives died. But casualties were undoubtedly high.

And right now... They couldn't do anything but watch...

"Grand Admiral, we believe that all major resistance has been eradicated. The island is de facto under our control."

"De facto control is not enough, I want full control. Continue the aerial raids of the jungle and deploy the Imperator brigade. We can begin initial drives through the jungle now, and deploy the Harvester Mechanized Infantry brigades, we can begin to harvest the trees while we search for Cravanian resistance. We can assume they've formed self-sufficient cells, so we're going to have to hunt down as many cells as we can and starve out the rest. Fire one more incendiary bombardment. Move out!"

The mighty 30" anti-fortification guns of the Zealous superdreadnaughts rang out once more, sending more incendiary munitions into untouched parts of the jungle, setting them ablaze as well. Now that the temporary mulberry docks had been set up in the wrecked Cravanian port city, and the repairs of the Cravan docks were beginning. The first Harvester Mechanized brigade was deployed, it was a unit to carve up trees and generally collect natural resources in potentially hostile areas. It consisted of 75 Harvesters, 35 Leman Russ MBTs, 40 Diablo LBTs, and 7,500 Capitol Police. They set out into the jungle, and the Harvesters started to spin up their massive tree-chopping blades, and they took the head of the formation as they chopped down hundreds of trees in a very short time. They advanced, always prepared to be ambushed by Cravanians or natives..

"There they are.", one man whispered to another. They were approxamately 100 meters away from one of the harvesting teams.

He looked back at his squad of twenty men, eleven of them marines. The others were natives who had been given guns, in hopes of holding off the invaders. It, of course, was not likely. But they damn well could try.

At that moment, one of the marines perked up. His camouflage made him blend perfectly with the jungle, and he remained low. But he was alarmed. He heard something. Seconds later, roughly 5,000 natives came running from the jungle, spears and other weapons held high.

"Sir, we have to help them!"
"They're as good as dead, private. Prepare to head back to base to organize an assault."
"Yes, sir.", he said, anger in his voice.

*****************************
Imperial High Command
Cravna, Cravan

"How long until we can begin bombing of the area?"
"We want to survey it more, first, sir, but a few hours."
"I want those port facilities leveled in the next two hours. We need to cripple them, and buy some time. I also want a few napalm strikes in the area around the port, since our boys wouldn't be stupid enough to stay there."
"Yes, sir. We'll prepare for it right away."

The officers got to work, planning the air campaign ahead.

Upon sighting the native army, the Harvesters rushed ahead at full speed, their blades carving up any trees or unlucky natives that were in the way. The Leman Russ battle tanks fired their 30mm secondary cannons at the native charge, as well as their mounted machineguns. The Diablo light battle tanks fired their 105mm ETC guns at the charge, while adding their own firepower to the mix. The Capitol Police slowly disgorged from their APCs and began to advance upon the native advance, firing their GPMGs at them with deadly accuracy.

The advance through the jungle had occured with frightening speed, carving up two dozen square miles of jungle and they chased out native pockets and possibly Cravanian cells alike..