NationStates Jolt Archive

(OOC: What is happening: A Van Luxemburgian Submarine sunk near it's territorial waters, off the coast of Taranto, Region of Italy, Van Luxemburg. I would say it's about 500 km's away from land, and the plan is that Van Luxemburg will try to recover the ship, which is mainly intact, but unable to move. However, another nation wants to capture the submarine, which carries VORTEX underwater missiles, improved Shkval's. I would like one to two nations to play themselves in their quest to capture the submarine, while others help me in recovering the submarine and towing it back to it's base, Toulon. So, for people not having read this part of text, I'll put a short coverage here:

-VL sub has sunk 500 km off the Van Luxemburgian coastline.
-Carriers VORTEX underwater missiles, which are improved Shkval weapons. Secret weaponry, that is.
-Need one to two nations to play themselves, as they want to capture the submarine for themselves.
-Others help me, while I try to tow it back to it's base.
-Crew is (Mostly) alive.
-no Godmoding, No WMD's, MT. (This means no PMT or Late MT, don't even think about FT!)
-keep in mind that VL is not Europe itself, but that it is an island (more like a continent), based off Europe.

Thanks. I hope you enjoy!)

35°57'25 N, 17°49'24 E

The Brabant-Class Nuclear Submarine slowly moved over the seabed, leaving minimal traces on a sonar image. There however wasn't one in the area, and most of the crew of the submarine was alseep, as this was a routine patrol, which, sadly enough, had to be made. The fishes kept out of the sub's way, and the tides didn't battle it. It's only danger was the seabed and it's strange form. This meant that the Navigation offcier was on it's post, aswell as the helmsman and the First officer. Only a minimal number of people were at the conning tower, and the ones who were, were immensely tired, and used strong coffee to stay awake at their shift. This made, that the crew was less than alert, and only watched the maps as a coincidence. At this moment, the First officer was the only one still a bit fresh, and ordered to speed up.

Helmsman. Speed two-zero knots, direction one-eight-zero.

A sleepy voice answered almost half a minute later.

Conn, Speed two-zero knots, direction one-eight-zero.

Slowly, the submarine gained speed, and turned to the assigned direction. It barely made any more noise, and the submarine quietly went on with it's patrol. If anybody would've manned the sonar, they would've picked up a strange-looking object, slightly right of the submarine's heading. It was quickly closing on the submarine. Well, maybe the submarine was closing on the object.

Only seconds later, a screeching sound announced itself outside of the hull, followed by the sound of breaking metal and electronics, escorted by several lights and warnings at the conn. Many sailors jumped out of their beds, heading towards their positions. The commander ran towards the conn, were a shocked first officer was watching his TFT monitor, positioned in the middle of the conn. If this wasn't enough for the crew, the sound of swirling water began to accompany the screeching. The movement of a lift going down would be the best description of what happened next. At a fast pace, the submarine sunk off towards the seabed, still making the designated 20 knots, and still accelerating. Seconds later, it buried itself inside the bottom of the sea, with a broken dive rudder and a leaking ballast tank. Unable to move, but able to work, the crew, of which some were wounded by the impact of it's seabed landing, quickly relayed a few messages.

The first was aimed at the general surrounding traffic, domestic or foreign. It was an automated message, generated by the submarine's CPU.

SOS-35°57'25 N, 17°49'24 E-SOS--39Ft-Subsea-VL Marine-OZ511 "Lago di Garda"-Brabant-Class SSN (Nuclear Attack Submarine)

The second was directed towards the Admiralty in Rotterdam, the IVD in Luxembourg and the Naval Base in Toulon. It was written by the commander itself.

SOS

OZ-511 "Lago di Garda" has hit an unidentified underwater object, and has lost power over it's dive rudders and ballast tanks. Sunk at 35°57'25 N, 17°49'24 E at -39 Ft. Requesting urgent recovery mission. General SOS broadcasted over all channels.

These were loaded up in a radio buoy, and fired out of the designated tube. The buoy quickly headed upwards, and surfaced. It highered it's antenna, and bgean to transmit it's messages. It was programmed to keep on with transmitting for 4 hours, a period of time in which it should've alarmed a lot of ships.

Admiralty, Rotterdam

The Admiralty, a classic house built in the middle of the city, was sprawling with activity at this time of day. It was 12 o'clock, noon. Most of it's personnel was off for lunch in the city, all but the Grand Admiral and it's communications center. Now, These were just the needed men and women for OZ-511. The message was received loud and clear, and immediately put onto the desk of the Grand Admiral Premiere Classe, Henk Eijsens. He read the message while stowing the last of his quality pizza into his mouth, and the contents were enough to ruin all papers on his desk, aswell as his 19' TFT monitor. A gulf of chewed pizza flew over it, coming out of Eijsens' mouth. He read the message again, and then contacted OZ-511's base and the IVD. He specifically asked for a conference call, as it would make more sense than to call them separate.

Hello all. Thierry, may I introduce you to the head of the IVD, Per. Per, may I introduce you to Admiral First-Class Thierry, base commander at Toulon. I bet you heard about OZ-511?

A sad Thierry replied, followed by a shocked Per.

Yes. The Lago di Garda sunk to the bottom of the sea. I've already warned A-576 and a small escort fleet.

Hmm, Yes! I would say it's strange, for such a well-trained crew to crash on an unidentified object.

Eijsens went through his computer, calling up a map of the area, and the specifications of A-576 "Veluwe", one of the 32 Damen Heavy Lift ships.

I think that that object was an underwater lump of rock. It would be enough to rip those accessoiries apart. Now, Thierry, I would like to ask that you send a hopper dredger, a Crane Barge and a hydrological research ship aswell. And make sure you have enough protection.

Yes, sir. I however would like to warn you, the crane barge will severely limit the speed of the fleet.

They have enough time at the OZ-511. They'll be subsea relaxing, I hope. we'll stay in touch, people.

The line disconnected, and Eijsens went on with his job.

Toulon

Cast off!

The ships engaged their bow thrusters to safely move out of port, while the large crane barge was escorted by six High-sea tugs, ready to tow it out off it's safe port, towards the ocean. The small fleet was ready for it's task, and had enough weaponry and equipment aboard to recover the submarine, and meanwhile protect it.

RECOVERY FLEET OZ-511

2 Marseille Class Frigates ZMS Overloon, ZMS Echternach
2 Point Catilan Escort Frigates ZMS Point Catilan, ZMS Valras-Plage
2 Centaur-X DDG ZMS Ramatuelle, ZMS Besse-sur-Isole
1 Le Havre cruiser ZMS Le Havre
1 Brabant-Class SSN ZMS Bodensee
1 U214 D-E sub ZMS Chiemsee
1 Montpellier-Class Helicopter Carrier (Flagship) ZMS Saint-Tropez
1 Mercy-Class Hospital Ship ZMS Modena
6 Abeille Class High Sea Tugs ZMS Abeille XX-XXVI
1 Jules Verne Replenishment ZMS Isole
1 Durance Tanker ZMS Drome
1 Damen Heavy lift ZMS Veluwe
1 Damen Hopper Dredger ZMS Hoogstraaten
1 Damen Research Vessel ZMS Antarctica
1 Damen Crane Barge ZMS Van Deelen

The CCS Windham

Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman is asleep in his office.

The incredibly sleepy CO is said to be at his most alert when he appears to be sleeping, his head encased in a cloud of putrid cigar smoke; however, now he is actually asleep, snoring lightly with one eye open and not watching anything with that eye. Atlantic patrols do get rather boring now and then, and he occasionally rues that he was never quite promoted to Admiral to lead actual fleets but only squadrons that would pale in comparison to those of other nations.

At the one time when he is trying to sleep, of course, alarm klaxons begin to wail, and Richman comes awake slowly as his XO, an ensign, enters the room, coughing under the onslaught of cigar smoke. Richman drums his fingers impatiently until the coughing fit has subsided.

"What is it now?" Richman asks sleepily.

"We've received an SOS from co-ordinates 35°57'25 N, 17°49'24 E... a couple hundred klicks south, sir."

"From what?"

"They only gave the name of their ship sir... it's a sub in trouble, IFF Van Luxemburgian."

"What seems to be its problem?"

"We don't know, we haven't received any other message yet..."

At that point a COMMS officer runs into the room, coughing, and deposits a sheet of paper in the XO's hands. The XO glances at it.

"Ah. The Lago Di Garda has hit an unidentified object and sunk...." The XO goes on with some more details, but Richman cuts him off.

"Thank you, Ensign. Send a message to the Van Luxemburgian Admiralty, we're heading to pick it up."

"But sir..."

"And don't argue, Ensign," Richman says wearily, sinking back upon his bulk and pulling another cigar out of the bejeweled cigar case.

***

Several minutes later, the mighty Battleship Windham has turned its entire length towards the downed sub and is beginning to steam southwards at flank speed, 28 knots, as its escorts -- a small complement of Destroyers and Frigates -- and assorted logistical ships, including hospital ships, supply ships, tugboats, AORs, and so on, turn with it, accompanying it on its path towards the co-ordinates in question. Meanwhile, the COMMS crews relay a message to the Van Luxemburgian Admiralty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: To Van Luxemburgian Admiralty:

We have received an SOS signal from a downed Van Luxemburgian submarine at the following co-ordinates; 35°57'25 N, 17°49'24 E. We are currently 200 km away and moving in to retrieve the submarine; if any Van Luxemburgian ships are doing the same, we would like to request permission to link up with them.

~ Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman
Czardaian National Navy
~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOC: Very interested in joining this. Will get an in character post up soon.

Rotterdam

The High Admiral was working through the remaining papers, waiting for any updates on the situation of OZ-511. An aide attended him on a message from a Czardaian fleet, operating 200 km off the sunken submarine. He immediately dug into his papers, and returned with a small paper, showing the message received by the Communications department.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: To Van Luxemburgian Admiralty:

We have received an SOS signal from a downed Van Luxemburgian submarine at the following co-ordinates; 35°57'25 N, 17°49'24 E. We are currently 200 km away and moving in to retrieve the submarine; if any Van Luxemburgian ships are doing the same, we would like to request permission to link up with them.

~ Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman
Czardaian National Navy
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eijsens quickly answered the message, by writing his version of a "thanks-letter".


To Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman, Czardaian National Navy

We have received your message, and thank you for your support. Our recovery fleet is heading away from their port at Toulon, and is expected to be in the area in some 3 days. We ask you to stay around and wait for the arrival of more information, or the fleet itself. We friendly ask you to not enter the area around the submarine, as we do not know the current situation of it's nuclear reactor systems. However, if you do think you will be able to help in any way before the Van Luxemburgian Recovery fleet will arrive, you're welcome.

Signed,

Henk Eijsens,
Grand Admiral Premiere Classe
Van Luxemburgian Marine (VLM)
Admiralty,
Rotterdam,
Van Luxemburg

OOC: Inspired from Tom Clancy's The Hunt For Red October, I assume? Anyway, define Late MT, and [TAG].

OOC: I haven't read The Hunt for Red October, and saw only a part of the movie. And I consider Late MT: Things that are pushing the borders of MT, on the frontier with PMT. This includes ETC cannons and such. I'm however really loose on this. However, if people start to use Late MT en masse, I'll stop it, ofcourse. It wouldn't be fair considering my tech level, as living in 2006, against MT players working in 2015.

In the Rabelian Commonwealth's High Chancellor's Office
The High Chancellor was sitting at his desk playing StarCraft, as he usually did when there was no business to be done, when he heard a knock on the door. He turned off his monitor and bid the knocker to enter.
"Your Chancellorship, a Van Luxemburgian submarine has gone down. One of our patrols in the area happened upon the distress beacon. We do not know much else, but Admiral Dalren requests permission to send forces into the area to assist. Also, intelligence reports that the sub my be carrying some top secret weaponry," The poor man speaking was barely able to squeak that out.
"Van Luxemburg . . . we don't have any rescue craft in the area, do we?" Asked the Chancellor.
"No, sir." The man was now about to pee himself. The High Chancellor always made him feel uncomfortable.
"Grant the Admiral his request. Inform the Van Luxemburgian government that we are sending ships to help search for their sub. I doubt any of our rescue craft would get there in time."
"But sir, what about the top secret weaponry?"
"We have had no previous relations with Van Luxemburg and I wouldn't want the first impression that we make to be that of a thief. Oh, don't send any ships that aren't already in the area. I don't want any chance of provoking anyone."
"Yes sir!"
The man left the room having managed to keep control of his bladder. The High Chancellor turned his monitor back on to find that he had lost while he was dealing with the situation.

*****************************************************************
TO: The Van Luxemburgian Government
FROM: The Commonwealth of Rabelias' High Chancellor's Office
We have received a distress signal from one of your submarines, a "Lago di Garda"-Brabant-Class SSN. We are sending ships to aid you in locating and securing the vessel. We cannot send rescue vessels at this time, but hope our assistance is still valuable. Fleet details will follow.
*****************************************************************
5 Seawolf Class Attack Submarines
1 Ticonderoga Class Cruiser

ooc: I have just recently started RPing, so if I break any rules of etiquette let me know.

OOC: I'll assure you, you haven't now. I'll mention it when you break anything. :p Now, to make it a bit clear, are you actually supporting me, or are you only trying to get the weaponry?

IC:


TO: The Commonwealth of Rabelias' High Chancellor's Office
FROM: Admiralty, Van Luxemburgian Marine

We would like to express our thanks for your assistance. We hope you could help us in regulating traffic around the submarine site, so that we can quarantaine the surroundings of the submarine, and check for any radiation hazards.

Signed,
Henk Eijsens
Grand Admiral Premiere Classe
Van Luxemburgian Marine (VLM)
Admiralty,
Rotterdam,
Van Luxemburg

OOC: I haven't read The Hunt for Red October, and saw only a part of the movie. And I consider Late MT: Things that are pushing the borders of MT, on the frontier with PMT. This includes ETC cannons and such. I'm however really loose on this. However, if people start to use Late MT en masse, I'll stop it, ofcourse. It wouldn't be fair considering my tech level, as living in 2006, against MT players working in 2015.

OOC: The vast majority of MT nations are actually your definition of late-MT, but I'll stop my complaints and watch this thing play out.

OOC: The vast majority of MT nations are actually your definition of late-MT, but I'll stop my complaints and watch this thing play out.

OOC: And that's why I'm very loose on it...

One of the COMMS officers cautiously enters Richman's office, bearing a sheet of paper, and quietly lays it on the smoke-covered desk before running for the exit and thanking his lucky stars. A little bit too early, as he is accosted by Richman's sleepy voice.

"What have you brought me?"

"A message, sir," says the officer and escapes.

Richman sighs, puffs out a massive string of cigar smoke, and unfurls the sheet.

To Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman, Czardaian National Navy

We have received your message, and thank you for your support. Our recovery fleet is heading away from their port at Toulon, and is expected to be in the area in some 3 days. We ask you to stay around and wait for the arrival of more information, or the fleet itself. We friendly ask you to not enter the area around the submarine, as we do not know the current situation of it's nuclear reactor systems. However, if you do think you will be able to help in any way before the Van Luxemburgian Recovery fleet will arrive, you're welcome.

Signed,

Henk Eijsens,
Grand Admiral Premiere Classe
Van Luxemburgian Marine (VLM)
Admiralty,
Rotterdam,
Van Luxemburg
"Hrm, very good," Richman mumbles. "The nuclear reactor might blow up on us, and they want us to wait out near the sub for three days. Well, there's an easy way to check that; we'll try to get in contact with the sub crew itself."

Richman waves in a passing COMMS officer. "Hoi, man, get a message out to the co-ordinates of the downed sub inquiring as to the state of their nuclear reactors. With any luck the crews are still alive."

"Yes, sir." The officer ducks out and is left with the task of diplomatically informing the sub crews that help is on the way from a Czardaian taskforce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: To: Nuclear Submarine, co-ordinates 35°57'25 N, 17°49'24 E

Greetings! A Czardaian patrol received your distress signal and are currently en route to assist you. Do you have any way of checking on the situation of your nuclear reactors at this time?

~ Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman ::
~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOC: Agreed with Velkya. I'm a 2015-2020 era nation (what most would consider late MT) FYI. Now I shall follow suit with him.

Aboard the H.D.S. Fafnir

The captain's bridge speaker came to life. " Sir we are getting a SOS form an unknown sub about 450 klicks out".
"CIC any of our subs in that area?" Asked Captain Campbell.
"No Sir closest is the 708 about 75 km. to our west" Replayed Lt. Samantha Conrad the officer in charge of the CIC.
Captain Campbell got out of his command chair on the bridge and went down the ladder to the CIC.
"Lt. Conrad get an Identity on that sub I want to know who we are dealing with. Where is the closest rescue vessel."
Lt Conrad checked her computer readout of the Tarlag fleet and after a moment replied. " The Samson is about 2000 km. away just starting the salvage job on the old Vandread Sir".
" Right have communications contact the Samson and get them moving just in case they are needed. Conrad any luck on the IFF.?"
"Van Luxemburg Sir. one of their big Nuke boats sir she is a Barbant Class attack sub."
" Well we have no beef with them signal the squadron to close on the SOSs position and Radio their fleet HQ we are offering help."
"Yes Sir" Replied the Comm officer.
" Lt. SG Greg Richards the ship intelligence officer looked up from his computer screen and said " Sir their may be a problem about 3 months ago the S-405 was conducting deep water tests on the new Kitann AI light attack subs about 40 km. from the SOS sir."
"So what, they did some tests on the AI and they went back to the drawing board. What does it have to do with this?"
"One unit went missing if it went into sleeper mode it still could be active".
"Great just great, no need to get their panties in a bunch with that intelligence. It most likely has nothing to do with this, but lets keep an eye out anyway."

Open message
To Van Luxemburgh
From Captain Colan Campbell
Commander of Task force 34

The Tarlag navy is willing to offer assistance. My Task force and the salvage ship Samson are on route.
Task force consists of
H.D.S. Fafnir Alaska II class BCL
H.D.S. Gorkens Landing Tone class CAG
H.D.S. Queen Mya Essex II class CVS
H.D.S. George Dever Drake class DD
6x Fletcher Class fast corvettes
S-708 diesel - electric long range patrol sub
H.D.S. Brennor J. Morse Fleet replenishment ship
H.D.S. Guernsey Fast Fleet Tanker

ooc: Supporting you. Like I (er . . . the High Chancellor) said, I have no rescue ships in the area, so all I could do is sit there and watch the sub.

OCC Just thought I would add the AI sub. if you want to use it as the unknown object let me know. If you want it to still be active I will only do it with your permission. I also plan to help recover the sub.

3:45 AM Culommian Standard Time.
The Presidential Mansion, Culomee City.

His excellency, the President of Culomee, was fast asleep in his chambers, when he heard a loud knocking on the door. He was awoke at once, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the clock.

"This had better be important" he shouted, "if this is another BS story about UFOs then I suggest you walk away."

"Sir, there's been an incident" said a stern voice from behind the huge oaken doors.

"Come in, then" replied the President. There was a loud bang as the latch on the huge door was released, and the door creaked open. General Anthony Wilkes, the Culommian Minister of Defence strode into the room. "Christ Tony, it's 4 in the morning, just what the hell's going on?"

"We've intercepted radio traffic from the navy's of multiple countries. Apperently the country of Van Luxemburg lost contact with one of their Missile Submarines. They're requesting the help of any country to help recover the sub, and save the stranded men."

The President Frowned "Tony, we haven't been involved in international affairs since this Country was founded. What makes you think I want to start now?"

"Well" replied the Minister "The submarine does carry top secret weponry. And several countries have declared that they plan on retrieving the wepons for their own use. Do we really want them to fall into the wrong hands?" The president was silent. "We have over a billion and a half people in this country, with a world-leading economy. We can't stay in the shadows forever..."

The President sighed. "True...but our navy is in shambles. I mean, we haven't upgraded in years. If this turns into a war..."

"We've just placed an order with this 'DMG' company for enough weapons, ships, and aircraft to compete with any army."

"But how long will it take for that order to be processed? Is it even confirmed yet?" queried the President.

"No sir..."

"Christ......." After a long pause, the president took a deep breath. "Send whatever aid we can muster. I'll contact the leader of Van Luxemburg, to let him know..."



TO: HIGH CHANCELLOR OF VAN LUXEMBURG
FROM: PRESIDENT OF CULOMEE

We have recived word of a rescue attempt to recover a lost submarine contaning Top Secret Weaponry. We would like to aid your search and rescue operation.

We pledge:
2 ARLEIGH BURKE Class Destroyers
2 Los Angeles Class (Improved) SSNs each equipped with 1 DSRV Rescue Sub.
5 IL-38 May ASW Aircraft equipped with sonobouys.

It's not much, I know, but it is all we can muster at this point. The aircraft can arrive overnight, but the ships won't be able to get there for another 72 hours.


Regards,
Robert Lucas
President of Culomee



P.S. I'm not exactly a veteran to RPing (Okay, so this is my first time), so if I mess up or break a rule I'm sorry.

OOC: SEA - I would like to say that I generally play with Late MT, as long as they don't start using over-wank stuff, that would more be PMT than MT. Again, I'm very loose on this.

Rabelias - Thanks.

Tarlag - I actually thought that a rock would be the unidentified object, being large and sharp in the water.

GENERAL: I would now like a hostile recovering fleet first, as I think I already have enough friendly ones.

I also have seen that a lot of other fleets in the area makes that my fleet is ages away, so I couldn't do anything. Let's assume it's only a day away, OK?

IC:

From: Admiralty, Van Luxemburg
To: Captain Colan Campbell, Commander of Task Force 34

We would like to express our thanks for your assistance. We however do not think we will need another salvage ship, but it is always welcome. We ask your taskforce to take up positions and guide traffic around the wreckage.

Signed,

Henk Eijsens
Grand Admiral Premiere Classe
Van Luxemburgian Marine (VLM)
Admiralty,
Rotterdam,
Van Luxemburg



Submarine OZ-511 "Lago di Garda"

Commander Pietro Bardelli was looking at the central TFT monitor before he could answer the Czardaian question. The monitor showed the status of the nuclear reactor, and didn't show too much good information. The reactor was severely overheated, as the cooling blew during the harsh landing, and the reactor control crew couldn't reach their command center, as the door was apparently blocked. From here, he could only stop the engines from performing their propulsion, but couldn't stop the reactor to fully stop. His crew was already busy trying to use heavy equipment to breach the door, but was unsuccesfull due to the heavy door construction. If he wasn't pulled out quickly, the reactor would overheat and blow, creating a huge problem.

To: Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman

Thanks! We greatly appreciate your help. According to my papers, my own Navy would be coming to help me aswell, I assume you have established contact with them? To answer your question: We are in danger of overheating the reactor, and we can't shut it down from here. Added to that is the fact that we can't reach the Reactor Command Center. We need urgent recovery.

P.S.: I hope you got some wine, or anything with alcohol in it ready for us?It would greatly relieve both us and the big nuclear baby... Ha-ha-ha.

Signed,
Pietro Bardelli
Commandeur (OF-6)
Commander of OZ-511 "Lago di Garda"

OCC It is your thread and what ever works for you. The AI sub would be damaged and have only 2 torps. But if you prefer the rock we will go with the rock:D

OOC: Well, the probvlem is, if two submarines scratch eachother at 20 knots, their would be little left of both, and one of the two would fire back, probably. So that would've been a short RP, wouldn't it? :D

[ooc:] I feel sad that a participant has yet to comment on my unusual rank structure. :( ;)To: Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman

Thanks! We greatly appreciate your help. According to my papers, my own Navy would be coming to help me aswell, I assume you have established contact with them? To answer your question: We are in danger of overheating the reactor, and we can't shut it down from here. Added to that is the fact that we can't reach the Reactor Command Center. We need urgent recovery.

P.S.: I hope you got some wine, or anything with alcohol in it ready for us?It would greatly relieve both us and the big nuclear baby... Ha-ha-ha.

Signed,
Pietro Bardelli
Commandeur (OF-6)
Commander of OZ-511 "Lago di Garda"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: To: OZ-511 Lago di Garda

Hmmm... you're right, that does sound like a rather urgent situation. We expect to arrive at your position in about three hours, although we'll be dpeloying UUVs to survey the situation and possibly a few divers bearing a few cases of Czardaian rum or champagne, to help you brave souls make it through the situation.

And yes, we have already contacted your navy; they have a rescue fleet a day away from your current position, and several other nations have promised aid as well, so I believe you people will get out alive.

~ Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Federico Richman
CCS Windham
Czardaian Patrol Group #19
~~~~~~~~~~~~

OCC I see your point on that.

OOC: I guess you do have enough allies. I guess I'll go over to the dark side ;)

IC:

Admiral of the Fleet Joseph Yariz sat down in the office of the Minister of Defence. After sitting there for a few minutes, the Minister walked in.

"I assume this is about the Van Luxemburgian sub?" Questioned the minister.

"Yes...You've ordered a full loadout for the Destroyers Maximillian, and Zeus, and the Submarines Culomee City, and Lucarin, and all sailors stationed aboard those ships recalled from leave?" Inquired the Admiral

"Yes I did." Said the Minister Confidently.

"You've also ordered 2 Special Forces Detachments aboard the submarines?"

"Mmm-hmm"

"Well, with all due respect, just why the hell do we need all that for a Rescue Operation?" Asked the puzzled Admiral.

"Because I said so?" Spoke the minister, somewhat sarcasticly, and with a smile. "You shouldn't be questioning orders."

"Sir?" The admiral said, with a tone of concern.

"You know of the classified weaponry aboard the VL Sub? Do you not admiral?"

"I do, sir..."

"Can you imagine what we could do with that technology? I mean, those VORTEX super-cavitating torpedos can travel at speeds faster than any torpedo known to man. An advantage like that will be hard to ignore." Said the minister. His smile transformed into an evil grin.

The Admiral was taken aback. "You mean we're gonna steal-"

"I prefer the term 'salvage'" Interrupted the Minister.

"How do you plan on keeping the UN out of this? I mean, this violates all kinds of international laws!"

"The UN?!" Laughed the minister. "Those overbearing morons? They don't do anything. I'm not worried about them in the least. As for international law, the sub went down in international waters. According to 'law' the sub belongs to the first team to reach it." Replied the minister, confidently.

"Van Luxemburg will not tolerate this. You want a war?!" Spat the Admiral Angrily.

"Who even said they have to know? I already came up with the perfect plan. It's actually quite simple. They already think we're just helping to aid the salvage team. It won't take too much effort to get to it. When we find the submarine, we set off nerve gas canisters. It won't take long for it to filter through every compartment. The Spec Ops Soldiers storm the place, kill any survivors, and retrieve the schematics for the weapons. Then they plant some C4, and get the fuck out of there. With all the evidence gone, all we have to do, is just fabricate some story about the torpedos going off."

The Admiral was speechless. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He swollowed, and tried to speak. "You...You're insane..." He stammered. "Does the president know about this?" He asked, intent on getting an answer.

"Are you kidding? You honestly think that long-winded sonofabitch would authorize this?" Replied the Minister, still grinning.

"I can not, I WILL not let this happen!" Shouted the now enraged Admiral, and he turned for the door.

"Security!" Shouted the minister. In a second, 6 security guards, armed with M-16 rifles walked into the room. The blood rushed out of the admiral's face. He turned to face the Minister. "It seems that the Admiral has come down with some kind of mental disorder, and made an attempt on my life. His physician will order a full exam, and place him into an asylum until further notice." The guards grabbed the admiral, and began to drag him out of the room. The admiral was furious.

"YOU'VE DESTROYED CULOMEE! THEY'LL INVADE! YOU'LL HANG FOR THIS WILKES! YOU'LL HANG FOR THIS!" This was the last anyone has ever heard from him...

[ooc:] I've decided to bring back one of my old "evil" characters. Enjoy. :p

[ic:]

As the Windham's bulk plows through the white-fleck'd seas, casting waves to port and starboard, some rather unusual activities are going on amidst its complement of two hundred Marines, the usual amount deployed with all patrol groups in case they happen to be needed. Normally they spend much of their time intermingling with the crew, touring other ships, enjoying themselves at the token entertainment ship with its complement of hookers and recreational drug depots, or scuba diving.

But one of the Marines is brooding and plotting revenge. A former Captain in the Army, he was labeled a traitor during the Muesilanian civil war and barely managed to escape surrounded by a loyal cell of followers. For years he has sought to destroy what he views as the immoral socialist economic system of Czardas combined with its social libertarianism -- a combination he has always felt to be evil.

He succeeded in joining the Marines under false name and papers, and many of his loyal followers joined with him, a group of religious conservatives steadily growing in number. Thirty-six such followers are with him on this ship today.

His name is James LaFleur.

***

Sergeant-Marine Pete Jimnamski kneels by the cabin door and knocks five times near the very bottom in an odd rhythmic sequence. Granted approval to enter, the door is opened for him and he walks in with a slight shudder at the surroundings.

There is absolutely no light in James LaFleur's cabin; a shutter has been pulled over the porthole, leaving but a few token traces of light to filter through the gap in the 1000mm+ of armour surrounding the battleship. Jimnamski steps on something hard and brittle, which cracks; a slow, raspy voice says from opposite him, "Sit."

Jimnamski feels a chair behind him and sits down shakily.

"Father. You wanted to see me?"

Thus LaFleur is always addressed. He answers, "Yes. I did."

"What about?"

The sound of a lighter flicking is heard and for a minute a flame appears in the darkness, showing the outlines of a face in black and casting its dim light upon a cigarette, which the lighter moves towards and sets alight, then disappearing again into pitch blackness. LaFleur puffs slowly on the cigarette and exhales into Jimnamski's face, leaving the other coughing.

"You have heard the intelligence, have you not? The Van Luxemburgians have plans for a ... secret weapon ... aboard this sub."

"Yes, sir. I know this."

"I want you and several of my other ... children ..." LaFleur exhales once more, causing the cigarette to flare briefly ... "to ... " He relishes the moment with a long pause. "To salvage these plans."

"Sir? But ... how?"

"You know the plans of the Admiralty. They will fulfill the sub crew's request for alcohol."

LaFleur pauses, the tiny light marking the cigarette descending with his hand.

"All of the volunteers to bring these crates of alcohol to the submarine will be my ... children. You are simply to ensure that."

"What if others succeed in getting in on it anyway?"

LaFleur closes his eyes, invisible to Jimnamski, and stubs out his cigarette with a harsh grating sound on the metal chair rim, the cigarette dropping into a bowl with a dull clang. "Kill them," he says.

Then the room fades into silence and invisibility once more. Jimnamski nods quickly and exits, shutting the door behind him with an eerie silence. As he taps along the passageway, he distantly hears the sound of demonic laughter... or is that just the rigging swaying in the wind? ~

ooc: I think that my ships should be reaching the area around the sub by now, but I'm thinking that I wouldn't be the first there and last I read no one else was there yet. Oh well, here it goes anyway.
ic:
Aboard the RCS Balaena(Seawolf Class Attack Sub)
"Captain, I think we may have the Van Luxemburgian sub on radar, we're heading right towards it," said the radar operator.
"Bring us in close enough to get an idea of the damage, but don't get too close. We don't want their reactor to go off in our faces." The Captain was getting a bad feeling about this whole affair. "And send an encrypted message to the Vice-Admiral telling him our location. He'll relay the location to the Van Luxemburians."
"Sir, I have something topside. I think it's the Czardaians," said the radar operator.
"Makes sense, we've been going passive for the past day so we wouldn't have noticed them. They were closer than we were. Besides, the sub drifted far less than we thought it would."

The rest of the fleet receives the transmission and heads towards the sub.

ooc: I probably won't be on tomorrow or Friday (vacation!). So if I don't post just assume that my ships take up positions around the sub at a safe distance and direct traffic.

(OOC: No problem. My ships, IF I was counting RL time, would be nearing the destination of their journey. And they aren't expecting anything.... :p )

Task Force Rainbow

The ZMS Saint Tropez, an L-model Montpellier-class Helicopter Carrier, silently cut through the waves, splitting waves with it's bow. The crew was not terribly active at the moment, as they weren't on a patrol or dangerous mission. The deck crew was laying on the flight deck, in the shade of some helicopters, ready for departure. The day was hot, and nearing 30° Celsius. The sun had climbed high up into the sky, and was burning down on the people on the deck, aswell as in the glass windows of the ATC tower. Others, mostly guards, walked over the decks in T-shirts, as it was too hot and safe to wear their vests. They loosely held the JK-13 Automatic Rifle, which was recently issued to them. Next to them, the two submarines of the fleet waved up and down, neighbouring the Heavy Lift ship. It's cranes didn't move, and were tied up to the deck. Nobody seemed to be at it's post, or desired position at the moment. But, at that moment, Admiral Jorge Rodriguez didn't care. His men at the Command center were at work, and had calculated that they would get to the disaster site in 1 hour at this pace. His submarines would stay surfaced, and would try not to get into the area where the Lago di Garda was, as the slightest movement would mean that the hull could be ripped apart, as nobody knew how the situation there would be. The experts at the Admiralty were almost sure that it wouldn't crack, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

This is the Saint-Tropez. We ask the Bodensee and the Chiemsee to stay out of the area, and link up with the foreign warships. Other warships stay with us. The auxiliaries will try to recover the submarine. ETA is 1 hour. Helicopters are 20 minutes out. We'll launch a Sea King for that.

On the deck, a Westland Sea King was slowly rolled out. It was an old helicopter, and only in use as a SAR helicopter with the Van Luxemburgian Marine. It was unarmed, except for a 7.62mm MG on one of the sides, only used to take out small arms fire, if needed. It however was removed on this helicopter, as it had been revised for use as a SAR helicopter, specifically. The Sea King began to produce lift, shortly after the engine had started and the blades started to move. Quickly, the deck crew vanished out of the area, and gave the "go" sign. The Sea king took off, made a turn, and sprinted ahead of the bow.

(OOC: Now, the "Evil" RP'ers may go in first, but remember an unarmed Sea King of the VL Marine is hovering above it, planning to launch an UUV.)

OOC:

Is there still room for a...secretly hostile recovery nation? I've alwasy been the good guy, so I just want to be a Secretive Guy on this one..gathering intel from a distance or up close with one of my Experiemental Subs...if thats ok?

OOC: Is OK with me. But, can you detail those Experimental subs out? Specs, info, anything along those lines?

OOC: Is OK with me. But, can you detail those Experimental subs out? Specs, info, anything along those lines?

OOC:
SSH-ASX Hydrogen Attack Submarine (http://hawk.proboards1.com/index.cgi?board=Military&action=display&thread=1103679252&page=1#1147873871)

Hope its up to par. I'm trying to make Hydrogen Purpolson more of a reality, so thats why I use it a lot.

EDIT

Its based off of the Seawolf Specs, so thats why thats there. Thought the Seawolf was a good platform for such a sub.

(OOC: Seeing that fuel cells are already used on subs, I guess Hydrogen power is possible in the coming (few) years. Accepted in. )

GNV Judah

The Captain wandered around inside small room which would be considered the control room of the Hunter Class Submarine. He licked his lips as he stared at the radar. Sent ahead, along with it's sister ship Blake, the Judah was heading back to friendly waters, Geneticon waters. Fresh from teh Hatarian conflict, these two submarines were the only ships in the short war which had done a large ammount of damage. Both had combined to sink 9 carriers. Both were now legends.

The Captain placed his hand on the radar screen, and took a deep breath. Within a few days they would be back home. Hopefully. The rest of the fleet was taking an alternative and slower route. After all, the rest of the fleet had not been heroes. The Captain smiled and stared at the rotating long line that kept swining clockwise in a swift circle.

Suddenly, a small blip appeared. No. It wasn't the sister ship. It was something else, coming into range of the radar. In fact, the sonar may have picked it up and transmitted the data to the radar. Indeed, this blip was the blip of a submarine. The Captained gasped, "What the...?"

An ensign rushed to his side, "What seems to be the trouble sir?"

The Captain pointed to the screen, he said no words.

The Ensign looked startled. They hadn't expected anything in these waters. "I don't know sir. That wasn't there a minute ago."

"I realize that boy."

The Captain stared. His name badge read: Captain Henry Cottline. Among his assorted medals were several badges of bravery. He would likley have more before the week was out, after Hataria. But this was new. What was this blip.

All of a sudden, the communications officer rushed up. "Sir, we're recieving communications from the Blake."

"Put here through."

"Aye aye sir."

The intercom went on, "Henry, this is John. You know, John Cartwright. Captain of the Blake. Well, you knew that already. Anyways, we just got a message asking for help. It seems that a submarine was in trouble in the area here, and this is a distress signal."

Henry paused, then replied, "Ok, we'll help them. But we need to get back to port soon too. Have you noticed the blip on sonar?"

"Yes, it would be the downed submarine I believe."

"Assuredly, let's get to it. Radio back to Genrus and tell them that we're gonna help. They'll agree. Then submerge. We don't know what is in the area. I'll send a message to the ship."

"Ok..." the intercom went dead as John cut communications.

Suddenly, there was quite a bit of bustle aboard the Judah. Hands were running everywhere and sailors were all rushing to their stations. The Captain took his seat in the room and spoke, "Dive to parascope depth."

"Diving to 60 feet. Aye aye sir."

The submarine tipped downward and quickly disapeered into the deep blue water. It relayed a message to the downed submarine a few hundred nautical miles away:

To whom it may concern,
We have picked you up on sonar and are enroute to your position. We will do all in our power to help you, and considering the dangers in recent years you may be in danger from otehr nations. We will protect you against such nations. Rest assured you will not be destroyed on our watch.

(OOC: Seeing that fuel cells are already used on subs, I guess Hydrogen power is possible in the coming (few) years. Accepted in. )

OOC:

Thanks! Thats my view as well, so, you know. :D

IC:

SSH-04 ASX Gladiator - 22 Nauticle Miles Northeast of Submarine Incident - Under Silent

Captain Roger Payne yawned as he viewed the results of the Microwave pulses, seeing nothing. It was a boring assignment, such an expensive submarine used for such a stupid task. But, it was made for Intelligence gathering, and seeing as how a Nations sub had been made immobile, it was the perfect opprotunity to discover the Hydrogen Attack Submarines parameters and abilities.

A good nod to a fellow officer and he walked with care over near the helms station, patting the helmsmans shoulder as everything was in order. Walkling back to the Sonar station and seeing nothing, he continued his short partol across the small bridge of the sub. They had been given coordinates, everything, even the Mapper was having trouble just where to place the immobile sub. Chuckling a bit as he patted the Lieutenants back.

"Take you time, Simpson."

"Aye Captain," Simpson smiles, a visiual bit of discomfort going away.

Stretching and groaning a bit, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Twenty nots was the max on Silent, any higher and the Hydrogen Fuel Combustion would begin to rumble like a kitty. That would alert the sensitive sonars out there that, indeed, something else was here. Thankfully, this mission wasn't a pure test mission for engine specs, and every soul was told how it worked.

Leaning against a pole, Payne looked to his Commander, Frank Hudson. The two exhanged a smile before a small coversation began.

"Really boring Capn'."

"I know," Payne responded with a short chuckle, "I know. But its for the best. Better to come from the sea than hit the land."

"Aye, I agree. I doubt we'll experience anything though. Its porbably all a scam."

"Like the Lunkster incident was? Nooo!" a faine look of shock was given, then a laugh.

"Of course, anythings possible."

CCS Windham

The clear-walled minisub began to descend, hauled into the depths by a crate and bearing within it a small complement of Marines in scuba gear bearing a crate of alcoholic drinks and rescue equipment between them. Sgt. Pete Jimnamski, the leader of the operation, hums a small tune as he looks over his squad; two of its members are not among LaFleur's faithful, but they can be disposed of easily when the time comes. The Otter continues to be steered towards the downed submarine on its battery at some 18 knots, before alighting gently on the bottom; the Marines exit via the watertight hatch and swim into the submarine itself, requesting entry and announcing their nationality.

***

Meanwhile, the diligent COMMS crews sent a message to the ever-nearing Van Luxemburgians.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: To: Van Luxemburgian Fleet

We have deployed a team of divers to rescue the crew of the submarine to prevent their possible annihilation in case of a nuclear meltdown; the submarine itself can be recovered by you later.

~ CCS Windham
~~~~~~~~~~~~

***

A gunship touches down gently aboard the helicopter pad of the Windham, with a single figure emerging, a woman in a blue and silver uniform with the Czardaian dragon emblem emblazoned on it; she stands almost six feet tall, amplified by five-inch spiked heels on her combat boots, her hair dropping in an ebony waterfall below her shoulders as she surveys the scene with cool green eyes. Shortly thereafter, aircrew arrive to escort her up to Semi-Not-Quite-But-Sort-Of-Admiral Richman's office. Coughing slightly at the smoke, she seats herself opposite him.

Richman opens his eyes fully in surprise, then allows them to close again. "Ah, Ms. Finlay, what a surprise. What can I do for you?"

Cpt. Alma Finlay of the 14th Special Operative Division says, "I'll be direct, Richman. Does the name James LaFleur mean anything to you?"

"Yes."

"Well... you know, of course, that the Van Luxemburgians have plans for some kind of secret weapon aboard this sub."

"Indeed, I know."

"Good. We have uncovered intelligence that LaFleur may be planning to steal these plans."

"LaFleur? But hasn't he been dead for years?"

"Apparently not; he went into hiding in Tilooka. But that isn't the point." She removes a dossier from a rucksack and begins to flip through it. "He may have hijacked a submarine and will attempt to take these plans that way; he may have infiltrated himself into this battlegroup or even this very ship. He could have nothing to do with it at all. But we think it's more likely than not?"

"How did you find this ... information?"

"I have my ways." She smiles, almost smugly.

"So... how can we find out for sure? Search the files of every crew member in the Czardaian Navy and see which ones match up?"

"That might be rather difficult. You see, we don't exactly know what LaFleur looks like... all pictures of him and all reports show him either in a gas mask, NBC gear, or with his face somehow obscured. He may use a false name; in fact, we know nothing about him except for what he's done."

"Well, that's helpful," Richman says sleepily.

"However, we do have some hints. He served as a Captain during Muesilania and Scellia, which was some thirteen years ago... that implies that if he started military service at 20, he must be at least 40 now due to the seven years of required service before one can become a captain. We also know that he's from the Dorandor area, and thus likely of Doomie or at very least Roman ancestry."

"Well, good. So why is this helpful?"

"I just thought I should warn you... keep on your guard."

Richman stretches slightly. "But... assuming he uses a Czardaian vessel, which is the only kind he'd have access to... it could be blamed on Czardas anyway."

"Exactly. That's what he wants."

"Why?"

"He wants to destroy us. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd co-operate with Kraven to do it."

"He could spark an international incident that way."

Finlay nods and smiles. "Exactly."

... But the plans go on...

Sea King Saviour 10-7

The helicopter slowly hovered overhead, and opened it's bay doors. From the loading space, a UUV deployed, and fell down onto the watery surface. The container opened, and the UUV sunk to the designated location. It engaged it's engines about halfway, and switched on lighting to be able to see anything. The controller aboard the Sea King took over control from the automatic controls quickly, and steered the UUV down into the darkness. The Unmanned Undersea Vehicle didn't have anything to do with pressure, beyond the pressure limit. It thererfore headed downwards fast, and the submarine appeared into view at the known depth. The UUV made a few circles around it, and saw the destroyed parts, that made it unable for the sub to return to the surface. The picture also made clear that this would be a submarine indeed carrying the weaponry suspected. Larger torpedo tubes announced the presence of the VORTEX'es, but it was one of the least important things for the controller in the helicopter. Standing next to him was his colleague, which was an expert at shipbuilding, and quickly saw that the complete hull was intact, and that there would be no danger of a cracked hull.

Meanwhile, a small LCU moved over the site, and picked up the container, and wiated for the UUV to surface, which happened shortly after. It was towed in at a fast pace, and the LCU returned home, the belly of the Saint-Tropez. It however had to evade the Sea King, which was making large waves and a lot of turbulence to the sailors aboard the LCU. In the distance, they were already able to make out the fleet they belonged to.

They however didn't know others were also able to do the same thing....

Submarine Lago di Garda (OZ-511)

To the GNV Judah,

We're very thankful. We will expect you. Our forces are also nearing, we hope that you will be able to link up with them.

" Captain Campbell we are near the subs last reported position." said the CIC officer. "Other ships are also in the area."
"Hostiles?"
" No sir they seem to be working with the Van Luxemburg fleet."
"Very well have the Mya launch an sonar equipped chopper and confirm the location of the sub. Also I want a CAP of 2 SU-33N's in case some one decides to get froggy."
"Communications raise those other ships and let them know we are here to help." " Helm keep us about 6Km. from the other fleets i don't want any misunderstandings."

Submarine Lago di Garda (OZ-511)

The crew quickly opened up the locks, so that the divers could enter. Then, the lock was closed again, pressured & emptied. After a while, the crew of the submarine was able to open the hatches on their side of the hull. Most of the crew was ready to help down the divers, but Commandeur Bardelli insisted that a few crewmembers would have their pistols ready. He didn't trust foreigners in his submarine, but he knew that, if they would like to know what his submarine and it's weapons could do, they would need to force it out of him. He was the only person who knew where the schematics of everything aboard this one-of-a-kind ship would be, and he carried the code of the security vaults for them. In his mind.

Aboard the RCS Balaena(Seawolf Class Attack Sub)
The comm officer suddenly jerked to attention, paused for a moment and then said, "Captain, the rest of the fleet has taken up positions."

"Good. Did the Vice-Admiral have any orders?"

"Just to stay sharp and keep an ear out for anything suspicious. He said that we need to make sure that no unfriendly nation gets a hold of whatever secret weapon is aboard that sub. He . . . he said we are to destroy the sub if that happens."

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like this mission. We are the closest Rabelian vessel, so I suppose he means us. I don't like this at all . . ."

The Balaena changes course to bring it in closer (but not too close) to the sub and hugs maximum depth (or seabed, I'm not sure how deep the water we're in is.) the whole way.

"Captain...I'm hearing lots of activity ahead...and it sounds like..sounds like.."

"A recover operation," Payne nodded.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot, Capn'. Should we scare them?"

"Why not. Make a ping and lets have some fun."

"Aye."

Captain Roger Payne smirked somewhat as he heard the obvious pppuuuuiiiii of the Microwave Sonar system, which was more quiet than normal sonar, but increased frequency made both the Submarine whom had it, and its targets, more clear on a visiual to sonar level. In this case, the Gladiator's computer would place a 3D image of the surroundings. The Chief Sonar Officer would have had an image slowly reveal itself over a flatscreen moniter beside his position. Payne looked to the Visiual Screen, hearing clearly the puuuu of the Microwave Sonar retrieving back solid objects in less intense frequencies.

Since this was water, the solid objects would become more apparent than in normal situations. 3D images were already being presented on the Visiual Sonar Screen.

"Looks like we got various classes, Sir. I'd say they'd know were here now."

"Mmhmm," Payne nodded, "I know they do. More information for us and less information for them."

"Aye," responded Commander Frank Hudson, "but I'd be careful."

"Agreed. Helm, keep silent to 20 knots on course. Maintain Active Ping."

"Keep Silent at 20 Knots, Helm Aye."
"Maintain Active Ping, Sonar Aye."

Captain Payne smirked, this would get interesting.

Abord S-708
"Captain we got a vessel pinging at 4,000 meters off our port."
"check the war book Mister Lewis. Ms. Erwin bring us to within 1,000 meters of the Van Luxemburg sub." ordered Commander Yongo.
" We have an Anagonia Nuke boat pinging sir. We also have a Seawolf Class out their most likely the Rabelis baot. The Czardas mini sub is on corse and will be linking up with the damaged sub in 5 min. sir."
Yongo walked over to the ploting screen and studied it for a moment. "It is getting crowed down here and that is a pretty advanced boat. Keep a sharp eye out for any funny business. Fleet wants to make these people our allies so if anybody pulls a fast one we can try and stop them."
Ms. Erwin turned her head and looked at the Commander "Sir those are advanced nuke boats what chance does a snapping turtle class have against them."
"We will see, we will see."

ZMS Le Havre

The heavy cruiser slowly moved up and down over the waves, coincidentally at the same pace the Saint-Tropez was following the waves. The Cruiser was not heavily armed, but had advanced Electronical systems aboard. It's crew was trying to ping the location of the submarine, in relay to their position, which meant that they had engaged their active sonar, and were spreading a loud ping over the ocean floor. However, the crew was not used to getting answer back.

Sir, we're having a problem here. Since when does a ocean floor ping back? I'm afraid we're having some visitors. Anagonia, I think. Never heard of them anyway.

A Sergeant, which had command over the sonar room, looked up and walked towards the screen the sailor was seated behind.

That indeed looks like a problem. Alarm the Saint-Tropez, and we'll be investigating it. You still got these UUV's aboard?

The sergeant quickly took his chair, and rolled over to the local intercom.

Attention Capt'n. Anangonian sub in range. Request investigation by UUV.

The Captain answered back in a few seconds, while several other intercoms came to life and began to shout orders.

Roger that. UUV Command! I want a UUV out to sea immediamente! Weapons Control, man ASuW weaponry! Helm, speed up to 20 knots and return to course 270!

At UUV Command, the crane was loading up the UUV, and was dropped out to sea fairly quickly, dumped in the white wash generated by the engines running at 20 knots. The UUV submerged, and made it's way down, evading the towed array of the Le Havre. It now began heading off the course of the mothership, and took it's speed towards the Anagonian Submarine.

"Con-Sonar. New contact, bearing Zero-Three-Two."

Captain Payne looked to Frank, his Commander giving a somewhat worried look. They both knew by looking at the 3D Sonar Mappings what it was. After another Microwave Ping, the contact showed up as a smaller object to the surface vessel that released it. The Surface vessel, identified earlier as a Hunter-Killer Cruiser, had been pinging, and Roger Payne knew they probably responded to the Gladiator's active presence, but he hoped it wasn't what he thought it could be.

"Sonar," spoke Commander Frank Hudson, "identify contact Bearing Zero-Three-Zero."

Lietnenant Simpson,The Chief Mapper, was already placing marked contacts on the map table for a more traditional 2D view of the battlefield. Gazing at the 3D Sonar Screen, and taking in contact variables spoken from many sources, he had his hands full.

"Commander, it sounds like....a....well, it sounds like one of those UUV's, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles....like the ones the recovery fleet is using."

Both Commander and Captain sighed in relief, Captain Payne grinning.

"Commander, I want them blind, and I want to get beside them and surface."

"Aye Captain," he responded with a devlish grin, "lets see what she can do."

Turning to the rest of the bridge, Commander Hudson started speaking orders.

"Sonar, initiate Directive Ping at contact Cruiser Zero-Four, make sure it reaches for the new contact."
Sonar aye, initiating Defensive Ping at Cruiser Zero-Four.
"Helm, make course Three-Three-Zero. Intercept Contact Cruiser Zero-Four. Make Surface Course. Make Speed Thirty Knots."
Make Course Three-Three-Zero, Helm Aye. Intercept Cruiser Contact Zero-Four, Helm Aye. Make Speed Thirty Knots, Helm Aye

Frank smiled to Roger, whom smiled. He loved playing games with other ships.

Outside View - SSH-04 ASX Gladiator

As the Hydrogen Engines increased to Thirty Knots, a rumbling could be heard as the Silent-Mode was breached. It was a soft hum, as if listening to a gentle roll of an engine. Perfectly intuned to hum, but not too loud. Yet, perfectly heard by trained ears.

The front of the Submarine would be emitting a hard-frequency Microwave Directional Ping at the Cruiser who unleashed the UUV. Every Half-Second a ping would be initated, over and over, in a defensive fashion as to confuse most sensors. It was directional, and no where else did it go but to the UUV and the Cruiser.

Trained Commanders would tell that the Submarine was doing something sneaky, and did not want to be found out.

GNV Judah

"Captain, we've recieved a message from the Van Luxemburgians." the com officer handed the long thin strip of paper to the Captain.

"Thank you." Henry read it quickly then crumpled it up. He had the orders for the next move already formulating in his mind. It was time now to make a move. They had to get home, but they would give a hand first. He went to speak but...

"Sir! We have an active ping off starboard!!!"

The news startled Henry Cottline slightly. He didn't know there were other ships in the area besides the downed sub and themselves. Looks like they had company. "Identification?" He snapped the question quickly.

"Looks like something I've never seen before. The computer can't pick it up. Obviously a submarine, but we're not getting any nuclear readings..."

"Diesel?"

"Hardly... in this day in age..."

"Right. Hmmm... open active communication with that vessel. I want to know exactly what's making them run. It may be helpful to Geneticon."

"And the mission sir."

"Ah yes... keep on course. Maintain depth. All engine stop."

"All stop, aye sir."

The submarine screeched to a halt beneath the water.

"Up parascope."

The Captain walked to the parascope and stuck his eyes on the viewer. He swung it around then stopped suddenly. "Looks like we got a crusier up there too... probably friendly. Let's hope so. Contact John and let him know of the developments."

"Aye aye sir."

Message to Strange Submarine (Gladiator):
Wer noticed you off our starboard, and we are very interested to see such a vessel. From our readings, we have never seen such a submarine, and we can detect no nuclear power aboard. How are you rinning that ship? You seem to be awful quiet besides that ping as well...

ZMS Le Havre

Sir, We've picked up the submarine on main Sonar arrays. It's now moving at around 30 knots. Wait, it's changing course.... It's coming right at us! Wait, I lost signal.

Meanwhile, the UUV controller had emerged from the depths, and began to steer on a ram course with the Anagonian submarine. The waters in this part of the Med were clear, and he could vaguely make out the submarine at his camera screen. If the UUV would maintain it's course, it would ram the submarine, or at least heavily damage it. This would mean a few million Euro loss to Van Luxemburg, aswell as a high cost for the Anagonian Navy.

The Le Havre however, began to reverse at full speed, backing out from the area. The ship was braking, allowing the submarine to close in on it, before it would be able to perform a reverse-gear flee.

More Van Luxemburgian ships began to react on the emergency message broadcasted by the Le Havre. The U-214 and Brabant class Submarines began with a difficult intercept course, assisted by another UUV launched by the Cruiser. The ships would begin to close in and create a circle around the Anagonian submarine, so that it would need to move according to the movements of the Van Luxemburgians. In that way, it could perform a full turnaround, which would mean it was guided away from the crash site.

They were however stopped dead in their tracks by the Geneticon submarine moving off the starboard of the ship, meaning the U214 couldn't manoeuver inbetween. The two submarines stayed at a distance, but were still closing in on the Anagonian Submarine.

OOC:

I'm still under the water, waiting for Van's reply so I finish the manuver....sorry, I wouldn't be able to get the transmission since the Microwave Defense Ping is on...hampers any underwaters transmissions...so does the water....hehe.

OOC: Also... he's on MY starboard, and i'm on the port side of him. And there are two Geneticon submarines there.

With all the information coming in, and thhe realization that the UUV would ram them, it was impossible to conclude they'd survive with minor damages. Quickly, Commander Hudson tried to calculate the possibility of a ballast manuver. Pointing at the Helmsman as he did his magic on the keyboard, he turned back and nodded heavily. Looking at the helmsmans screen, he saw what the Computer concluded would be the intercept course, and what evasive manuvers should be initiated.

Gazing to the Captain quickly, and seeing a nod of approval, he snapped at the helmsmen to let the Gladiator take over. All crew were told to hang on...

Outside View - SSH-04 ASX Gladiator

It was in control, its computers knew that its operators had given it permission to carry out its concluded mauvers. It knew too well what was in situation, and knew too well what would happen if the proper manuvers were not met down to percise calculations, harm would come to the operators. Therefore, within this split-second "thinking", it began to take over.

Hydrojets on each side of the Submarine began to quickly pull in water, and thrust it out. Engines went to a full speed as the Hydrojets tilted down to thrust the entire submarine above the UUV's projected path. The Ballast tank was blown, and all air was released in jets that were projected downward to enable proper surface trajectories.

The Entire Submarine tilted twenty-four degrees upward, and within seconds the combined efforts of Hydro-Jets, ballast release, and engine thrusts made the Submarine shoot from the water near the Cruiser....

"....like a large majestic whale enjoying its abilities to soar from the depths, the water flowing past its darkblue slick body in falls and waves......"

Then it slammed onto the surface, a large wave would erupt as almost half its structured body would have erupted from the depths to feel the air of the surface once again. It knew now that it was safe, and as the crew recovered and lifted themselves from surface positions, the Captain would come from the Submarine from the sail top and gaze at his surroundings, along with the Commander.

It had completed its primary objective: "To keep safe the crew, and itself."

Abord S-708

"Sir Target Alpha has increased ping rate and speed. He is moving away at 20 Kt. plus, looks like he is making for the Van Luxenburg CA".
" Communications try and raise the Fafnir for instructions." yelled Commander Yongo.
"Target Alpha is jamming our comm sir I can't get through".
"Helm increase speed to 12 knots I want a firing solution now.
"Helm move us behind him and then sonar I want you to ping once using the old acoustic only ping er. That should give him a surprise".

Abord S-708
" Sir target Alpha just did some fancy maneuvering and breached the surface".
"Dumb bastard was just trying to scare the locals" said Yongo
"Helm get us to periscope depth raise the radio mast and get Captain Campbell on the line. I will have him bring the DD Dever in at the least a modern DD should get make him take notice".

OOC: Okay, I read that wrong. My plan worked however. :p

ZMS Le Havre

The Commander was looking at the surfacing submarine form the bridge, along with most of his bridge crew. As he saw the submarine surfacing, he quickly asked his crew to launch a helicopter, aswell as to send a message to the submarine. The Nh-90, loaded with several armed crewmembers took off fairly quickly, and the message to the Anagonian Submarine was sent even before that.

MESSAGE
FROM ZMS LE HAVRE, VAN LUXEMBURGIAN MARINE

TO ANAGONIAN SUBMARINE

My crew will be landing on the deck of your submarine, please let them in. We would like to discuss a few things with you. Eventually, the commander and some of the crew of your submarine may come over to us. They can be picked up by the helicopter. What the heck were you doing down there?

The helicopter, meanwhile, stabilised off the bridge of the submarine, and waited untill the first Anagonian crew would appear on the deck, so that the NH-90 could land.

OOC: Where are Culomee and Czardas? They were the baddies, weren't they?

Captain Roger Payne appeared on deck of his submarine, followed by two armed crewman trained from the Naval SpecOps. He gazed at the Helicopter and waved them down beside the deckm where a more solid grounding would be. The Two SpecOp crewman watched intently to make sure their Captain would be safe, down below Commander Frank Hudson was sending back a reply.

MESSAGE
SSH-04 ASX

WE ARE HERE FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PURPOSES

Basically, we're here for our own purposes. Its a mission to discover what the hell is going on over here, and to ensure our rights as a Super Power in Naval Matters is met. We welcome any talks.

Frank knew he just sent a firestorm over to the ship, but it was the best he could do. He couldn't reveal ALL of his orders just yet, he had to leave open that piece of mystery. Not being able to discover the makings of the rival Submarine was one of the primary objectives, but seeing as they were halted in their free rights to discover matters, they would have to do it the diplomatic way.

OOC: Anagonia... can you reply to the message my submarine sent...?

Message to Strange Submarine (Gladiator):
Wer noticed you off our starboard, and we are very interested to see such a vessel. From our readings, we have never seen such a submarine, and we can detect no nuclear power aboard. How are you rinning that ship? You seem to be awful quiet besides that ping as well...

Frank Hudson quickly made a reply to a new message he happened to miss. Chuckling a bit at its contents, he opened the reponse box and started typing.

MESSAGE
SSH-04 ASX

OUR SUBMARINE AND WHAT IT'S MADE OF

We run on Hydrogen Power, a Hydrogen Reactor System that runs on advanced Fuel-Cell technology. We'd enjoy sharing the details with you, and how we maintain such silence.

tag

The NH-90 slowly lowered down to the deck, and eventually touched down, it's wheels reaching inwards, to the belly of the helicopter. Two crewmembers quickly opened the large door on the side of the grey-coloured helicopter, and waved to the Commander, asking him to come over, with his complement. Then, the helicopter quickly ferried over to the Le Havre, where a complete deck crew was waiting to lock the helicopter in position. The engines were shut down, and the doors opened. On the aviation platform, the Commander of the cruiser waited. As soon as Captain Payne came out of the NH-90, he shook hands with him.

Commandeur Daniël Boeijen. You can call me Dan, it's easier.

Meanwhile, Dan walked into the Hangar, where another NH-90 waited for it's mission. He passed through a door, and ended up in a small room, which the door named "Conference Room".

Now, Captain Payne. I understand and see your need to be here, but Couldn't you warn us, so that we didn't had to do this? It would've been a lot easier, for both of us. Coffee, Tea? Something else?

Boeijen was silent for a minute, and then went on with his story.

Besides, Why were you trying to keep yourself unknown when we picked you up on our systems? Oh, Surely, you have a great boat there. It does seem quite a lump of technology. Could you tell me something more about your submarine, or is it secret?

Roger Payne was taken in about all that had just happened, so sudden and quick even for him. As he started to take in everything, he was already seated in the "Conference Room" being asked about beverages. He smiled and asked for Tea, he enjoyed the taste himself. Remembering Dan's name, and his first round of commentry questions.

"We had our orders, and it was to establish an image of the area. So, we pinged you and mapped the area in 3D imagry. Its being sent back to Command as we speak."

Listening to the second round of questions, he responded with ease.

"We are allowed to speak of such things, its not absolute secrecy anymore. If it wasn't we would have snuck under you and used you as cover." He winked as he chuckled. "Seriously, we were to keep secret until we were in range to get a map of the area. It was at 'Our own Descretion' how we should choose to go about that. I chose to openly make ourselves known, because I wanted to talk to you as much as youw anted to talk to me."

Captain Roger Payne smiled, "I do believe I am welcoming to any specifc questions about my sub."

Dan listened carefully, watching not to miss anything. He followed Roger's mouth move as he explained his reasons, and welcomed any questions about his submarine. At the moment Dan was about to speak, a sailor came in with Tea for Captain Payne, and Coffee for Commandeur Boeijen. Before Boeijen went on with his question, he stirred the sugar into his Coffee, accompanied by a large amount of milk. He took a sip before he began.

We saw it was quite silent. How do you achieve that? It looks like a Diesel Electric moving at 5 knots, while you were doing a steady 20.

Boeijen took another sip, and then aimed his attention towards a painting of the Le Havre moored at it's base in Toulon, before thinking back to the Good 'Ol Days.

He had been given command of the Le Havre Fairly quickly. He ended up as First-of-Class at the Naval Academy at Den Helder, and had been separated from it's class to achieve command of the Cruiser. He now was stationed in Toulon, close to his place of Birth, Ramatuelle. He remembered how he almost beached the Cruiser at Tahiti Plage in Ramatuelle, at the second journey. The Base Command wasn't very happy with it. They threatened to fire him, and that if he would ever pull such a trick again, he would be fired. However, Dan thought, this would make his mistakes more than undone. He was now speaking with a foreign Submarine officer about the man's sub. And it's specifics. The IVD would die for this info, and so would the Marine, to supply it to their own submarines. However, he was the spill in this project, that he started. With some luck, he could couple the Anagonian and Van Luxemburgian governments together, to build a Van Luxemburgian counterpart to this ship.

Plans are always there...., Boeijen thought.

Roger was well aware of what was going on, and the only reason he continued was because he was given permission to express details to any Foreign Navy interested in the concept. It was experimental, but in wide use. A proven concept after decades of research. Obviously, Command thought it well for future relations to be open of what Captains knew about their ships.

"We achieve that," Payne started to explain, "by using what every Silent Service submarine would use: Sound Hampering Springs and cushions, like the fancy Seawolf Class uses. Added with how silent the Hydrogen Reactor is, its pretty much in the line you expressed it was."

Frank Hudson quickly made a reply to a new message he happened to miss. Chuckling a bit at its contents, he opened the reponse box and started typing.

MESSAGE
SSH-04 ASX

OUR SUBMARINE AND WHAT IT'S MADE OF

We run on Hydrogen Power, a Hydrogen Reactor System that runs on advanced Fuel-Cell technology. We'd enjoy sharing the details with you, and how we maintain such silence.

GNV Judah

Henry smiled as he viewed the message taht had just been handed to him by the com. officer. "Very interesting. Certainly and interesting idea. Very interesting."

He hit a button on the side of the submarine and a red light above his head shot on. He spoke, "John?"

A voice replied on the other end of the intercom, the Captain of the Blake. "Yeah Henry?"

"We got us a hydrogen powered submarine. If I were Geneticon military scientist, I'd want that technology."

"Obviously... did you notice how that ship careened and finally came upright?"

Henry sighed, "Yes, it was a close call. I beleive that the officers on board the cruiser and hydrogen submarine are meeting now, I suggest one of us crash their party and join in..."

John chuckled, "All right, go ahead. I'll control the Judah via intercom once you leave the ship."

"Very good." Henry hit the button again and the red light went off. He walked over to the helmsman... or so they called him.

"Surface, come to new heading 034 degrees."

"Surfacing, aye aye sir. Bringing to new heading zero-three-four degrees, aye sir."

The sub turned and pulled up out of the water. It sent a wave of water rushing over the side of the nuclear vessel, and moments later Henry Cottline appeared on the deck. He jumped into a life boat and chuckled as anotehr officer got in with him. He commented with a smile, "It ain't no helicopter, but it will do the job and get us to that cruiser."

"Yes sir." The officer replied returning the smile.

In a minute, the lifeboat had reached the idel cruiser, and Henry called out, asking to be brought aboard the Van Luxemburgian ship. As he did this, the Judah sunk below the water level again, obviously by John's orders. Henry kept a radio with him to contact John just in case.

Aboard H.D.S. Fafnir

Senior Captain Campbell ran Commanders Yongo's report through his head a advanced sub playing chicken with a rescue operation. He sighed and looked over at Lt. Conrad " this is turning into bad business, the whole operation should be simple but as each hour passes it get more dangerous. Order the Dever to support the Van Luxemburg cruiser one of our new catamaran DD's should make that Angonia sub commander behave. Have communication get permission for me to go over their and sit on any talks they are having."
"Yes Sir I would suggest having one of our intelligence officers ride shotgun. According to Yongo that sub did some some fancy tricks. We should get a good look at it the only thing that can match that sub is our Kraken class."

Aboard the RCS Markovia (Ticonderoga Class Missile Cruiser)

"Sir, according to messages that we've intercepted, that unidentified ship is hydrogen powered. They've already allowed delegates from other ships on board," said the comm officer.

The Vice Admiral replied, "Send someone over. Inform that we are doing so. I want to know exactly what's going on."

A small boat departs heading for the Anagonian sub.

ooc: Sorry, I'm back. Geez alot's happened.

OOC:

Waitin for Van's postage..

(OOC: Yup, but being Euro, I can't post at 1:44 AM. So I'll do it at 8:18 AM. Oh, and Rabelias, the conference is aboard the VL Cruiser.)

ZMS Le Havre

What do you think that is?

The two sailors stood on the bridge, looking over a large ocean, dotted with some ships. One of them was quickly coming at them. It could only be seen by a binoculars, but after some minutes, the two could see the boat without one.

Looks like a lifeboat. Coming from that submarine... Eh? It disappeared! Well, Nevermind. They probably want to visit our Commander and the Captain of that other sub. Warn the deck crew that they get those passengers aboard.

The other guard quickly made it's way to the intercom, and pushed the button which read "DECK". He began to talk politely to the deck crew.

Guys, could you lift those passengers out of that boat, and bring them to Com. Boeijen?

The Deck crew quickly got to work, and lowered a ladder so that the passengers could climb onto the deck of the Cruiser. They were then guided to the conference room, where Com. Boeijen was just about to ask another question.

Hmm, Yes. We had the Seawolf in our inventory a while ago. But, How does your Hydrogen Reactor work? How much power does it release?

To: Commander of the Van Luxemburgh Task force
From: Senior Captain Campbell
Commander H.D.S. Fafnir Alaska II Class cruiser Flag ship Task force 29

I am formally requesting permission to board your flag ship to discuss the actions of the Angonia sub that made a run on your cruiser.
As you are aware the destroyer Dever is moving up to support your ships.
The Dever will be operating in an ASW capacity to prevent a repeat performance.
With your permission I will be transferring over to your ship using a single Sea Hawk helicopter.

"I'm not going into deep specifics, it goes into the ten-thousands of hps, but other than that I couldn't say." He smiled, "It's a very advanced engine for Hydrogen Grade, it basically uses small amounts of Combustion instead of oxydization. Thats how we get the power."

Robert Payne smiled, he was obviously keeping most of its workings secret.

Aboard the ZMS Le Havre

Dan nodded, and wanted to ask the other commanders if they had any other questions, but was interrupted by a Luitenant-ter-zee 1ste Klasse, working at the communications center of the ship.

Okay. We'll have another capt'n in. He should be arriving by helicopter shortly.

At the helideck, the crew was busy rolling the NH-90 into the hangar, to allow the Seahawk to land.

From: Commandeur Daniël Boeijen, ZMS Le Havre, Van Luxemburgian Marine
To: Senior Captain Campbell, Commander H.D.S. Fafnir, Alaska II Class cruiser, Flagship Task force 29

You are welcome aboard our ship. My crew will guide you to the conference room. We hope you enjoy your stay.

ooc: Ooops, yeah, you're right. VL Cruiser it is. So my people went there instead.

The boat pulls up alongside the Van Luxemburgian cruiser and one of the sailors begins using semaphore to signal the deck crew. Those on the boat now wait for a response and to be let on board the ship. The intelligence officer, Martin Wang, was fidgeting uneasily. It would be his job to find out all he could about this hydrogen powered ship and to try and create some type of trade agreement to obtain this technology. He knew the consequences for failure would be dire.

Wonders when he'll get involved again BUMP

Henry Cottline and the officer with him stepped into the conference room. Henry looked around and spotted several officers from several different ships. It seems that this was a much bigger international affair than he thought it had orginally been. Interesting...

"Good day to you gentlemen." Henry said politely, and then took a seat. He would wait now until he was spoken too.

OOC: Sorry, I thought I was waiting for other people to post. Anyways, I'll be away next week.

ZMS Le Havre

While several deck crewmembers pulled the Rabelias Navy Officers aboard, from out of their boat, Dan looked at all the other participants, and began to speak.

So, I think I'm finished with my questions, Does anyone else have questions?

The white and blue Sea Hawk helicopter landed on the deck of the Le Havre.
The side door quickly opened and two seaman guards in full body armor and MP-53's jumped onto the deck. Following in the white dress uniform of the Tarlag Navy was Senior Captain Campbell and his two aids.
"Keep The guards on the chopper I do not want any misunderstandings with our hosts." yelled Campbell over the roar of the choppers blades.
Walking up to the Van Luxemburg deck officer Campbell and his aids smartly saluted. " If you will take us to the conference room we can get down to business".

ooc: I'm just going to assume that all the questions asked while some people were not present were re-asked and answered rather than roleplaying through the same questions.

Aboard the ZMS Le Havre

Officer Wang approaches Captain Payne. "My military has been experimenting with hydrogen power for some time now. We have yet to come up with a practical working model though. You seem to have overcome these difficulties. There will be quite a few questions from our scientists I'm sure. I am curious, you say that this ship uses the same technology as the Seawolf class for its stealth?"

Aboard the RCS Balaena (Seawolf Class Attack Sub)
"Captain, what do you think is going on up there?"

"It doesn't matter. Our job is to keep an eye on that sub and that's what we're doing. Remember that while a hydrogen powered sub may be interesting, whatever is on that sub is dangerous."

The captain was getting tired of how anxious his crew had become. He wondered how long this would last.

Captain Robert Payne nodded towards the Officer as he would ask his questions. This, indeed, would be an interesting pertictiment to overcome with explanations. Even though he was schooled in understanding the Hydrogen Reactor, he wasn't at all in deep as to its specific operational parameters. However, he would know enough, and explain it.

"With respect to my comment on not being able to reveal everything, I can say without a doubt that we use Fuel-Cell Combustion instead of the old way of using Hydrogen Power. While dangerous, it is contained and used in just enough amounts to turn the turbines accordingly." He listend, responding to the seawolf comment. "As for that, we use the same sound damering systems as the Seawolf, albiet modified with springs and rubber mounts to present better dampering technology." He sighed, "I wouldn't be able to go too far into that, however."

ooc: Has this thread died?:confused:

BUMP

OOC: I'm stuck, I don't know any other questions; Someone else should make some questions, before I lift my sub.

OOC:

I know, let's all have a party! Ha ha!