NationStates Jolt Archive

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Baffin Bay was cold and rough, even for the summer months. The water was gray and choppy as storms to the south, to the east, to the west, and to the north brewed. Hurricanes that turned to depressions often tore up the waters of Baffin Bay, even when they were hundreds and thousands of miles away. Tropical Depression Alberto was doing just that and was expected to pass even closer as it made its way northeast, through the Atlantic Ocean. It had dumped significant amounts of rain on Florida and the Caribbean during its several day bout as a Tropical Storm. It wasn't expected to be very strong but it was definitely churning up the seas.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Operation%20Preparation/td-alberto.jpg

Alberto was moving through the southern edge of Dnalkrad and would definitely churn up the seas of Baffin Bay more. Still, te armada sitting in the seas would have no problems maintaining their profile and their mission. By Saturday, the seas would be the roughest but that would still be nothing for the 194 ships sitting in the waters. They comprised two CVBG, one CVEG, and two AARG battle groups, enough to put the hurt on any nation, small or large.

Though they were there to conduct naval exercises in an Arctic-type environment, they had an ulterior motive, one that was never mentioned, not once. Only a handful of people knew and all of those were the upper commanders, Admirals and the like, there to observe the exercises.

Message to Layarteb:
Huahin would like to enquire as to why Layarteb is blocking up a major international trade route? This route is not just used by Huahin, but many others such as Cotland, and Bjornoya.
However, our AWACS net which consists of Hawkeyes, Airships, and Canberras, will be relaying the co-ordinates of any icebergs which are deemed a threat to your ships.
Huahinian craft are also in the vicinity, but we wish to convey to Layarteb the message that Huahin poses no threat to the Empire, provided that our territorial waters are not entered, unless the Empire has good reason to.
We trust there will be no problem
Ever helpful
Jon Charles
Huahinian Foreign Secretary

The Empire is not covering up any international trade route. Baffin Bay is largely situated between Greenland and Baffin Island. The major bulk of Baffin Bay is restricted waters of the Empire which are non-passable by international routes and have been for some time now. Only the parts that aren't within 24 nautical miles of Layartebian coastal lands and not sandwiched by Layartebian territory are international routes. Therefore, this entire area we are operating in is our own waters. We are fully aware of any icebergs and other obstructions and intrusion of AWACS aircraft into the test area will constitute a violation of the Doctrine of Sovereignty.

Bylot Island was the target, as well as some decommissioned frigates and destroyers. The ships were towed and moored into place on the northern edge of Layartebian waters. They were going to be the targets for aircraft and ships. Submarines would test out their missiles as well, firing them against the target ships, of which 24 were moored down. There was even going to be a remotely piloted submarine moving at a mere 5 knots below the surface. It was going to be hunted and targetted by helicopters, ASW planes, ships, and submarines.

Fighters and attack helicopters would be attacking and destroying mock tanks and vehicles on the island of Bylot, where Marines would be landing as well. The naval exercises were preparation for something bigger, something local, something necessary, something that was inevitable.

Message to Layarteb
Any violation of our 24 nautical miles of territorial waters will likewise be considered an act of war. Baffin Bay is 700 miles across, so we do not expect Layartebian ships to prevent any of our ships, or any ships at all from traversing this major shipping lane. Huahinian AWACS planes have, and always will be in the area to provide iceberg information to ships from all nations. Your refusal to allow us to transmit such helpful information to your ships confounds us, as we only wish to help, and as you must know, icebergs are a great danger in Baffin Bay. I was unaware of any previous problems between our two great nations, and we would very much like to keep it that way.
Jon Charles
Huahinian Foreign Secretary

Message to Layarteb
Any violation of our 24 nautical miles of territorial waters will likewise be considered an act of war. Baffin Bay is 700 miles across, so we do not expect Layartebian ships to prevent any of our ships, or any ships at all from traversing this major shipping lane. Huahinian AWACS planes have, and always will be in the area to provide iceberg information to ships from all nations. Your refusal to allow us to transmit such helpful information to your ships confounds us, as we only wish to help, and as you must know, icebergs are a great danger in Baffin Bay. I was unaware of any previous problems between our two great nations, and we would very much like to keep it that way.
Jon Charles
Huahinian Foreign Secretary



Unfortunately, for this test, the safe zones for Baffin Bay have been expanded greatly between Greenland and Baffin Island. Merchant traffic is being diverted other ways and advised not to pass through Baffin Bay during this time lest they become what they do not want. The tests are highly secretive in nature and any type of monitoring plane will be intercepted and escorted out of the area before it can begin any observations.

Message to Layarteb
Where exactly would boats be diverted? There is no alternate route for boats travelling north of Canada. Surely all 700 miles is not required. If you send us the co-ordinates, we would be happy to redirect our services for the time being.
Jon Charles
Huahinian Foreign Secretary




OOC - I sure hope you're not doing anything nuclear over there :(

The diversion route is through the Hudson Strait, normally closed to foreign passage, albeit this situation requires it to be opened for a temporary basis.

Message to Layarteb
If boats are to be diverted through Hudson Strait, in order to circumnavigate Baffin Island they will have to pass through Fury and Hecla Strait, which is only 10 miles wide at its narrowest point. It is also full of ice making navigation not only almost impossible, but also dangerous, and this is something we cannot allow. Access must be maintained through international waters in Baffin Strait. Anything else is detrimental to Huahin's trade, and dangerous. We cannot put anyone's life in unnecessary danger as I'm sure you should agree.
Jon Charles
Huahinian Foreign Secretary

The Fury and Hecla Strait is not your territorial waters but rather runs between Squornshelous and the Empire with a small 1 nm passageway of international waters. This is the only way possible until this exercise is completed. The danger to civilian shipping passing through Baffin Bay is far too great. Ice breakers keep a passageway open for the time being, allowing merchant vessels a clear path through the strait.

The naval exercises were set to commence at 09:00 on June 16 and they had begun on time and on schedule. The frigates and destroyers went to work practicing their targetting systems, training their missiles and their guns on the various moored targets, many of which wouldn't survive the first phase of the exercises, which would last until nightfall.

The first phase would involve just surface operations, against 10 of the moored ships. Whatever survived would be taken out in the second phase, when they went for ASW as well, looking for the remotely autopiloted submarine. The third phase would involve the Marine lands and bombardments of Bylot Island. The fourth phase would involve advanced air to air tactics and warfare, namely mock dogfights. Finally, the fifth and final phase would involve the sinking of a full aircraft carrier, a retired Wasp LHD that was moored into place in the middle of Baffin Bay.

By 13:30, two of the ships had already been sunk in a haze of smoke and fire. They sustained hits from AGM-205 AMESM missiles and Harpoon II missiles but sunk without much of a fight. Three more were badly damaged and about to sink, after being shelled continuously by 155 millimeter and 203 millimeter rounds from the ETC cannons of the various ships in the fleet. One was on its last leg after taking a full broadside from an Earthquake BBGN. By 18:20 it was doubtful that any of those would still be floating, which would leave only four more vessels, all of which would be gunned and attacked with missiles. They all had operable CIWS systems and would test their effectiveness against incoming missiles and projectiles, though it was doubtful that they would be able to resist them very much.

As the second phase began, with the mission goal to find a remotely operated submarine, things changed elsewhere in the world. The nearest state to the Empire in the region was that of Huahin, a government the Empire had no love for nor did it feel to strongly about. Suddenly, without warning, it seemed that anarchy gripped certain areas of the Huahini realm. In Antarctica, Spizania was invading; Cotland was laying siege to the Isle of Man; Neuvo Rica was capturing the Crozet Islands.

Huahin's Arctic islands were largely untouched, mainly because of two factors. The first involved the inability of any distance state to get their forces into the area without having to traipse through territory of the Empire. The second was because of the extremely strong influence that the Empire had in the area. This was why, perhaps, it became necessary for the Empire to seize the opportunity and secure what it deemed as viable. This revolved around three islands: Devon Island, Ellesmere Island, and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Devon and Ellesmere were north of Baffin Island, in that order; whereas Saint-Pierre and Miquelon was near Newfoundland. Seizing the latter of these islands would be a piece of cake for the Empire as their presence in the area was significant. The job would fall to paratroopers based in Labrador and Newfoundland who would drop in via C-17A Globemaster III and C-130J Hercules aircraft, from altitudes ranging from 1,500 feet to 5,000 feet, the higher being because of the spacing of the various aircraft over the island. For the size of the island, only a brigade of 6,000 paratroopers would be necessary. They had their armor and vehicles dropped in as well, to provide them with additional support from aircraft and from assault helicopters flying from the mainland, only a few miles away on Newfoundland.

The northern two islands would be increasingly difficult to seize. There were several states to the west that could land their forces and push eastward, possibly even overrunning the two islands. The Empire was prepared though, they had plenty of combat forces in Baffin Bay, enough to seize the islands before the rival powers ever got there. Orders were issued immediately and the entire naval exercise in Baffin Bay was called off. Ships were required to immediately make way for Devon Island and Ellesmere Island. One whole Marine unit would land on Devon Island and capture it whilst the other would capture Ellesmere Island. It would be a cold fight and the Arctic winds were definitely going to play with them. Huahini forces on both islands were considered miniscule and nothing to worry about though they were at least decent foes.

Naval aircraft and helicopters would be the prime method of support for the Marines. They had their vehicles but the rugged terrain on the islands would slow them down. They were equipped; however, with twenty prototype tanks, extremely new and extremely powerful. These tanks were the M2032 Sabertooth MBTs, equipped with state-of-the-art systems and significant amounts of armor, far more than anything else out there. They would be tested in action on Ellesmere Island, where the Huahini forces were expected to be the strongest.

It would take no time for the ships to get to their respective positions off the two islands and the landings would commence immediately. It was, perhaps, good that they still had this time. An emergency communique from Cymrea alerted to something catastrophic. Something else had happened in Huahin, not just a simple anarchy caused by corrupt, poorly guided rulers. There was evidence of a catastrophic biological event, particularly in the Arctic Islands. More information would be required but things had to be agreed upon and first was that the Empire only desired the islands of Ellesmere and Devon. The others were not their perogative but if this was a biological event of epic proportions, it needed to be contained. Questions were left unanswered and they would have to be before the Layartebian Marines landed.

*****

TO: Colonel James Julianus Evans,
Commander, 6 Cohort

FR: Major General Franklin Cassius Normanson,
Commander, Legion VII, CFB Cassiar, Cornovia, Roman Columbia

RE: Operation Ravenwing IV


Greetings, Colonel Evans.

By order of the Praetori Legati, 6 Cohort is assigned to secure certain areas of the Arctic Islands, previously controlled by the Great House of Huahin. Because of the specialized arctic terrain training of all units, and the airborne training of the infantry units, 6 Cohort is best suited for this operation.

Your command will be augmented by the additional assignment of 5 Cohort and 41 Cohort, full details to follow. This operation will fall under your senior command; to facilitate this, you are hereby granted a field promotion to the rank of Brigadier, including all the rights and privileges, responsibilities and duties that the rank entails.

Mission objectives are to re-establish order and stability where required to the settlements and cities of former Huahin. The details of which will be left in your capable hands, Brigadier, but full and frequents sitreps to Legion VII HQ and to High Command are expected.

High Command is currently negotiating with the Imperium of Squornshelous for the privilege of crossing their airspace. Prepare for departure, but do not execute until you receive a go-ahead from this office.


Ever in service

[signed]


Operation Ravenwing IV - Brigadier James Julianus Evans, commanding
Assigned Units

6 Cohort - Legion VII, CFB Cassiar
3rd Wraiths (8th CLI)
37th Imperial Cymrean Infantry
1st Light Cavalry
8th Field Artillery
6th Service Battalion

5 Cohort - Legion VI, CFB Aquae Glacia
14th Cymrean Light Infantry
32nd Imperial Cymrean Infantry
1st Heavy Cavalry
7th Field Artillery
5th Service Battalion

41 Cohort - Legion XI, CFB Mount Roosevelt
30th Cymrean Light Infantry
21st Imperial Cymrean Infantry
21st Light Cavalry
14th Field Artillery
41st Service Battalion

Communique to Squornshelous

The tragic and sudden collapse of the Great House of Huahin has left the Arctic Islands in a terrible state of disarray. The Government of Cymrea wishes to request permission from the Imperium to transport emergency supplies and aid to the affected areas.

Cymrean forces would travel from CFB Mount Roosevelt, in northern Roman Columbia, in a direct line of flight due northeast, over the Northwest Territories, and directly out of Squornshelan airspace. Any return flights would follow the same route back to Cymrea.

Cymrean forces will not include any aircraft other than transports. If required, Cymrea is willing to receive armed Squornshelan fighter escorts as a protective measure and to show Cymrean sincerity.

Allow me to offer Cymrea's gratitude in advance.


Ever in service,

Gareth Rhys,
Consul Legatus of Cymrea
21 Iunius MMVI

Communique to Cymrea

We sympathize with your efforts to bring order back to formerly Huahinese territory. We are unable to contribute directly to this effort, due to the constraints of our current military situation, but we will by no means hinder your forces.

You are granted full clearance to overfly Squornshelan airspace en route to the formerly Huahinese territories.

We will, due to Squornshelan legal restraints, provide a token escort of 2 EF-2000 fighter aircraft, which will rendezvous with your transports at our border and escort you to the edge of Squornshelan airspace. There will be two more aircraft waiting for your force upon their return.

Triple-Encrypted Situation Report

TO: Command General Davyd Brutus Hibernis,
Cymrean High Command, CFB Azuria, Cambria, Roman Columbia

FR: Brigadier James Julianus Evans,
Commander, Operation Ravenwing IV, Arctic Islands

CC: Major General Franklin Cassius Normanson,
Commander, Legion VII, CFB Cassiar, Cornovia, Roman Columbia


Greetings, Praetor Legatus.

Transit over Squornshelan airspace is running smoothly, with no concerns.

All of 6 Cohort is now on the ground, with elements on Victoria, Prince of Wales, and Banks Islands. 41 Cohort is expected tomorrow, and 5 Cohort the day after; they will cover the remaining islands formerly held by Huahin with, of course, the exceptions of those islands being claimed by Layarteb.

Operational HQ is located on Victoria Island. Initial fly-overs revealed no surface presence to speak of, and so I have taken the precaution of setting up outside of the main city. The lack of presence is somewhat unsettling, especially since I am receiving reports from command bases on the other islands to the same effect. I have ordered our elite light infantry unit, the 3rd Wraiths Regiment, into the city to investigate.

Further sitreps to follow as new information becomes available.


Ever in service.

Operational HQ, Victoria Island
Day 1, 1744 Hours

Brigadier Evans sat at his desk, grateful for the heat being generated in the mobile building of his command centre. June was kind to the areas near the Arctic Circle, but the kindness was small. A steady wind rattled at the windows, begging to be let inside. Every so often, like at this moment, it got its wish. Lieutenant Rhys-Decimus, a communications tech from 6th Service Battalion, was the one to open the door and admit the chill wind.

The lieutenant came to a crisp stop in front of Evans' desk and stamped to a tight attention, thumping a fist to his heart in salute.

"Brigadier. We've received word from the Wraiths, sir."

Finally. The silence from former Huahin was creepy, and now Evans would hopefully learn why. "Report."

Rhys-Decimus swallowed. "You may want to take this call personally, sir."

A heavy sensation pressed down inside Evans. With only the slightest of hesitations, Evans rose from his chair and made his way around the desk. He gestured to the door. "Lead the way, lef-tenant. And quickly." Without a word, the junior officer spun on his heel and opened the door. Evans strode through it, causing the lieutenant to hurry to catch up.

The chill wind assaulted the brigadier, but it was easily ignored. Something went wrong, he thought. Something's gone right down the shitter. It wasn't far to the communications building and travel time was considerably shortened by his double-time pace. Despite being asked to lead, Rhys-Decimus spent the entire time jogging to keep pace with the much taller Evans.

Very similar to its command-version sibling, the communications building was squat and rectangular and its arctic-camo exterior didn't quite match the summer landscape around it. Evans pushed through the door with alacrity, banging it on the wall as it opened. Evans didn't say anything. He didn't have to, the satellite phone was being held up by another commtech. Evans took the phone.

"This is Brigadier Evans. Go ahead."

"Colonel Victus here, sir." The reception wasn't perfect. A sharp crackling occasionally obscured the words of the Wraiths' commander.

"Report, Colonel."

"It's bad, sir." I fucking knew it! Evans thought furiously. "Sir, I have to report to you that this regiment must be quarantined immediately for the safety of the rest of the operational forces. I strongly advise having a perimeter established and secured around this settlement with nothing incoming, except full bio teams."

"What the hell happened, Shawn? What's going on?"

There came a pause, filled only with rising dread and crackling. "They're all dead, sir. Every last one of the poor bastards is dead."

Evans look around at his comm staff. Their palid faces told him that they already knew. "Hang on, Shawn." Evans moved the phone from his face, but didn't bother to cover it.

"As of this second, everything is classified way the fuck over everyone's head. Is that understood?" The other men and women in the room nodded. "You are all under direct orders not to breathe a word of this to anyone. You'll all be bunked together until this operation is over and sequestered from the rest of the cohort. Everything you've heard could be very dangerous to know. You do yourselves, Cymrea, and all of Rome a great service with your silence."

As one, the commtechs each thumped fist to chest. With a curt nod, Evans put the phone back to his ear. "Go ahead, Shawn."

"We entered the city and broke up into sections with two fire-teams of four each. Sixty-four sections in an eight by eight grid pattern. As soon as teams started entering the city we found bodies just lying in the streets, seemingly collapsed where they were. My initial thought was that there was some kind of civil war in progress, despite satellite imagery to the contrary."

"With the weather being what it is here, the imagery wasn't great. We had to rely on IR and we found no unusual heat signatures, neither too hot nor too cold. And certainly nothing to indicate a violent uprising."

Victus paused. "How old is that imagery, sir?"

"Less than 36 hours," Evans replied.

"Because the bodies look like they're a month old, even with the scavenger animals. Faces are half decayed, half intact. What eyes are left are often as wide open as their jaws. Limbs and torsos are much the same as the faces, and some limbs are gone altogether, though that's probably from the dogs. We've had to exterminate a number of them, too, by the way. They all seem to have gone feral."

Dread was swiftly becoming nausea in Evans' gut. "And your guess is what? Biological attack of some kind?"

"No, sir. I don't think it was an attack. First of all, there's no damage. No debris or shrapnel to be found anywhere. And second, this doesn't fit into the profile or capability of any nation within reach of here. I think this is domestic."

Alarm bells went off in Evans' head. "Okay, Shawn. This is what going to happen. Set up what you can in the way of shelter and an inner quarantine around the city. Keep the boys and girls busy with patrols and fact-finding missions. See if you can't find an origin for this bio-agent - we'll codename it Archangel. Meanwhile, we'll set up an outer quarantine and start sending in the bio teams to try and isolate Archangel as well as keep you Wraiths alive."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"No Shawn, thank you for having your head on straight. If you'd reported back here, we could have all ended up like the Huahinians. And if this goes sideways, I will personally see to it you get a school named after you."

"How about a library instead?"

"That's no good, Shawn. We all know you're fucking illiterate." Evans smiled.

Colonel Victus barked a laugh. "I thought that meant I had no daddy!"

"You just proved my point, soldier." Now it was Evans' turn to laugh. All too soon though, realities reasserted themselves. "You have your orders, Colonel, and I have to quarantine the rest of these islands. Report back when you have something new. Imperium!"

A muted thump could be heard as Victus saluted. "Imperium!" The line disconnected.

Evans replaced the phone on its receiver and addressed his comm staff. "New plan. You will all get on the horn and have the other units set up quarantines and bio team entries. You will be on duty until it's done, so put some coffee on. Go." He turned to Rhys-Decimus. "You will inform shift leaders of the change in schedule and ensure that this doesn't get out before we're ready. And get me the bio team leaders."

"Yes, sir," replied the lieutenant, who was already moving to the door.

"But first, lef-tenant," Evans called after him, bring him to a sliding halt. "I need you to put me through to whoever's running the Layartebian exercises over near Baffin. They'll sure as hell want to know this."

Joint Operations Center, Governor's Island

The JOC was alive and buzzing, more than normal, mainly because of the situation in the Arctic. The collapse of the Great House of Huahin was not so cut and dry as everyone would have assumed. It was far deeper, something far more sinister. The Empire was focusing its attention to the north. Huahinese territories south of the equator were of no concern or conseqence to the Empire. The Empire had been intercepting Huahinese communications and signals since before the start of Operation Preparation and now they are all beginning to make sense, especially with the findings of the Cymrean military. The findings were vague, very vague, but when they were compared with what was intercepted days, weeks, and months prior, things began to make sense, too much sense.

It seemed that somewhere, on one of the Arctic Islands, the Huahinese had a bioweapons factory and it appeared as if one of their weapons escaped. Reports and intelligence showed that the Huahinese were working on a bacteria that was resistant to extremely cold temperatures. Scientists within the Empire had a similar project but were no where near successful. They were on the right path though. They were engineering the protein coat to thrive in cold environments and degrade in high temperature environments. Intelligence and reports from the Huahinese reported high cases of brain fever in one particular settlement on Devon Island. When the Cymrean reports came in it was confirmed, a contagion had gotten loose! The location of the bioweapons factory was still unknown but all they would have to do is follow the trail of bodies.

Eastern Devon Island

The Marines landed to haze and to winds. June was a warm month, though warm for the region. Temperatures were still frigid as compared to those in Quebec or Maine even. They were far north, very far north, way past the end of the river. When the Marines put down on the beaches, they expected heavy fighting and heavy resistance but, instead, were met with none. This didn't seem right and satellite reconnaissance as well as aerial reconnaissance was ineffective because of the thick fog that drenched the entire island underneath a large and thick cloud cover above. Helicopters and fighters flew high enough to avoid ground fire but low enough to make some sense of the terrain but the fog layer was too thick. The troops would be on their own until it passed and so, they advanced, as much as they weren't happy to, at all.

They had a biological response unit with them, a team from Force Storm, the 10th BOF, based out of Layarteb City. Biological & Chemical Quick Reaction Operations was their speciality and the minute information of a strange contagion was intercepted, they were flown out to the battlegroup on MC-11 CSAs at maximum speed. One almost crashed due to fuel loss. The mission was that important.

Southeastern Ellesmere Island

The Marines landed on Ellesmere Island with an almost impossible task ahead of them. They had to secure a massive island and, at the very northern portion of it, Alert, a Roman settlement, the furthest northern populated place in the world. Whether or not Rome was still in communication with the settlement was a big "unknown" but if they were, they needed to be aware that the Layartebians were coming and that the possibility of a major biological event was at hand. They needed to be warned.

Roman Government

The Empire is invading and annexing Ellesmere Island. We understand your settlement of Alert is independent of Huahin and therefore is to remain untouched. We do; however, wish to stress that the possibility of a biological contagion of unknown origins exists on many Huahinese islands. The Cymrean government and the Empire are working hand-in-hand to alleviate this matter but we wish for the Roman government to provide as much information as possible, if any exists.

Triple-Encrypted Situation Report

TO: Command General Davyd Brutus Hibernis,
Cymrean High Command, CFB Azuria, Cambria, Roman Columbia

FR: Brigadier James Julianus Evans,
Commander, Operation Ravenwing IV, Arctic Islands

CC: Major General Franklin Cassius Normanson,
Commander, Legion VII, CFB Cassiar, Cornovia, Roman Columbia

CC: Joint Operations Center,
Empire of Layarteb


Greetings, Praetor Legatus. Greetings, honoured operational commander of Layarteb.

All elements of OR4 are on the ground as of last night. Q Zones have been the first priority after set-up. A report from Colonel Victus (commander, 3rd Wraiths Regiment) states that evidence point to Archangel's arrival and settlement here on Victoria Island from some other point of origin. Reports from specialist teams on the other islands suggest the same is true. All specialist teams, have noted that Archangel's trails invariably lead back to the airfields at every settlement. Every settlement on the Cymrean islands, at any rate.

As per orders, I am carbon copying this sitrep to the Layartebian JOC in order to facilitate maximum joint effectiveness between our two operations.

Given the current circumstances, I request permission to have the Wraiths moved to the outer Q Zone.


Ever in service.

TO: Brigadier James Julianus Evans,
Commander, 6 Cohort

FR: Major General Franklin Cassius Normanson,
Commander, Legion VII, CFB Cassiar, Cornovia, Roman Columbia

RE: Most recent sitrep


Greetings, Brigadier.

Acknowledged. Permission denied.


Ever in service,

[signed]

OOC: The location of JOC is classified but it's all good, for the future...

Encrypted Report

TO: Brigadier James Julianus Evans,
Commander, Operation Ravenwing IV, Arctic

FR: Empire of Layarteb

CC: Major General Franklin Cassius Normanson,
Commander, Legion VII, CFB Cassiar, Cornovia, Roman Columbia

CC: IslandsCommand General Davyd Brutus Hibernis,
Cymrean High Command, CFB Azuria, Cambria, Roman Columbia

SBJCT: Huahanese Situation

The Empire is deeply disturbed of the nature of this mysterious contagion. It has been classified as a level 3 contagion at the moment. Should it be determined to be airborne, it will be moved to a level 4. Symptoms appear to be similar to a brain fever but these are inconclusive as these reports are only intercepted communications in the order of weeks old. We do have credible and hard evidence that the contagion, which you have dubbed Archangel and we have dubbed UBA-228-22B Arctic Fever, is present at a western settlement on Devon Island. The settlement, located at 75°23'51.52" N, 86°36'41.11" W, is home to some 280 people, most of them native tribesmen. We will be conducting a recon of this settlement by air when the weather breaks but until then, out Marines will have a lot of rugged terrain to cross to get to the settlement. Huahinese roads are, unfortuntely, not up to par, and the 16 settlements on this island all have to be approached with extreme caution. We will be releasing the details of our findings, when we reach this settlement. We estimate that, if the weather breaks as it is supposed to, we will be at this settlement in 14 hours with a Quick Response Force.

Operational HQ, Victoria Island
Day 3, 1629 Hours

"Denied? What the fuck?" Evans growled as he finished reading the return message from Legion headquarters. Crumpling the hardcopy, Evans hurled it across the office, then stared at his desk, fuming. The paper bounced off the coffee pot and landed at Rhys-Decimus' feet. The lieutenant picked it up, smoothed it out some, and quietly ran it through the shredder.

Evans took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He stood and made his way to the door.

"I'll be in comms," he called over his shoulder.

"Yes, sir," Rhys-Decimus said to the closing door.

Evans jogged the whole way to the communications building. As soon as he pulled the door open, before he had even put a foot inside, he was already demanding a satphone connection to Legion. While a commtech put the call through, Evans paced like a tiger. If he'd had a tail it would have been thrashing furiously.

After what seemed an eternity to the brigadier, the commtech signalled that she had reached General Normanson. Evans took the phone from the commtech and put it to his ear.

"I've been expecting your call. What can I do for you, Evans?" The general's deep voice occasionally faded or was lost to crackling, as usual.

Evans took another deep breath before answering. "Why will High Command not let me bring the Wraiths out?"

"If it wasn't in the message, then you're not privy to that information, Brigadier." The use of Evans' rank was not incidental.

"With all due respect, General, I think we've established that Archangel's not a local resident. Certainly not of Victoria Island. And it's been three days, twice as long as the apparent contagion period."

Major General Normanson cleared his throat, almost covering some distinct clicks on the line. "You can speak more freely, Evans. This line is now as secure as humanly possible.

"High Command isn't satisfied with that. There's been no determination yet as to potential incubation periods, and regimental inoculations may make the Wraiths carriers."

"Sir, they've been cleared by the bio teams. Blood tests are negative."

"No, Evans, your blood tests are inconclusive. Your field labs aren't quite as thorough as the ones back here."

"So what am I supposed to do, General? Leave those troops there? For how long?" Evans barely managed to keep his voice civil. His ire was rising quickly. Mostly out of frustration and helplessness, but also out of anger at High Command.

Normanson sighed. "You may be aware that the governments of Cymrea and Squornshelous are discussing a land exchange; Squornshelous is interested in those islands, and Cymrea is not prepared to hand them Typhoid Mary. It has a negative effect on international relations, you understand.

"High Command will be sending you some very specific orders, Evans. It's the government's opinion via the Ministry of Defence that in order to be able to present Squornshelous with viable lands, the islands and everything on them are to be completely incinerated."

Evans' voice fairly quivered with anger. "There are eight hundred fifty men and women in that Q Zone. You cannot be telling me that we're not going to do anything for them."

"I'm sorry, Brigadier. I know you were friends with Colonel Victus."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Evans shouted. The commtechs had stopped what they were doing to listen. If Evans was aware of the fact, he gave no sign.

Normanson's voice assumed the tone of command. "Under the circumstances, I will forgive your outburst this one time, Brigadier. But hear this well: you will execute your duties and lawful orders as they are assigned to you or you will find yourself commanding a shovel in the deepest latrine I can find in Sri Lanka. Is that clear to you, soldier?"

Evans took a firm rein on his temper. After a few breaths he answered, "Yes, General. Perfectly clear."

"Good. Expect your orders in the next few hours. In the meantime, you would do well to prepare your artillery units. Legion out." The line disconnected with a sharp click.

Evans handed the satphone to the nearest commtech. "Tell the artillery commanders I want them to take their seige positions and then wait on standby. I'll be in my quarters."

As he stepped into the chilly northern pseudo-dusk he murmured to himself, "I need to think."

[OOC: I made some edits. The CCs will just get sent to wherever in Layarteb I might normally send encrypted messages, and let your logistics units do the rest.]

OOC: Two things:

No. 1, on a humanitarian mission such as this one Cymrea you can assume that the official Roman Government has given you permission. It's a regional area anyway.

No. 2, Cymrea is a Roman Dominion, so technically anything they have is also Roman.

IC:

"Biological contagin?" A. Paullus Iusevius couldn't believe what he saw on the memo. "That's the first I ever heard of that."

The Romans had been on Alert for some time now. Since rechristened "Helios Nord", Rome had attempted to establish a permanent colony on Ellesmere Island with Helios Nord being its capital. Officials had hoped for a city that could effectively hold 20,000 people, but after five years of operation regarding the plan, Helios Nord's permanent population never rose above the ten mostly military personnel stationed there, including Iusevius. They were conducting surveys all across Ellesmere Island when suddenly the Roman Government announced that it had traded the Island- except Helios Nord- to Huahin for the land of Georgia in the Caucasus Moutains, several thousand kilometers away.

The memo reminded Iusevius of Rome's mishaps on Ellesmere. He would then promptly turn to his assistant, Gn. Pomponius Alexus, to ask about these surveys.

"I just got a memo from the Empire of Layarteb that states that there's a biological contagin that may have been going around Ellesmere. Do you know anything about it?" asked Iusevius.
"Can't say that I have," replied Alexus.
"What did we do the day we turned over control of Ellesmere Island to Huahin?"
"We had a team out, like we always do."
"Did we ever hear back from them?"
"No, I don't think we did."
"Hmmmnnnn. Interesting."

The realization caught both workers off guard. Here were 20 people- Roman Military Officers- who have been absent for several months and neither of them bothered to pay attention to their whereabouts. If any of them were found dead both could be placed in jail. "How did we forget all those soldiers?" said a dazed Iusevius.
"I don't know," replied an equally perplexed Alexus.
"What should we do?"
"Well, nobody has to know that they're gone. Or that it was our fault. We can simply say that everyone's accounted for here."
"Brilliant!"

Iusevius then compiled a reply to the Layartebian Government. "We have not been aware of anything strange at Helios Nord, but should anything suspicious crop up we will let you know about it."

Visara Co. Shadow Moses Garden: Cambridge Bay

Epsilon-398-2064 gazed stoically at the flames outside of the lowly Shadow Moses Garden of Visara Co. The warmth of the fire was almost comforting, but with the slightest loss of concentration the megrims of the past 2 weeks rotted away what little remained of his drone-like mind.

It hit with unthinkable velocity, spreading amongst the populace without prejudice or mercy. The meager 254 Epsilons stationed in Shadow Moses Garden were dispatched to try and calm the populace and do whatever it could to contain the monster. The fear however was simply too much for the unstable and beleaguered masses of Huahin. Like lemmings they scuttered into their hospitals and wards by the thousands. By the time the Huahinian doctors and scientists knew what was happening it was too late. In a last ditch effort to try and save Visaran Employees Delta-2915 Mrs. Abbott, regional director and manager of Shadow Moses Garden recalled all Visara employees back to the Garden to try and save who she could.

Epsilon-398-2064 felt a sense of relief, one of the few emotions he was capable of feeling after hearing this order. In 4 days he had witnessed more deaths than a lifetime of service in the Visara Corporation Security Forces. The death did not bother him in the least, he like the others were trained vigorously to remove themselves from such emotions that would detract from their service. What was killing him most was his complete and total inability to help. For four days he walked the streets of Cambridge Bay listening with digitized clarity through his helmet the screams of the dying. Young and old, rich and poor, powerful and weak all fell indiscriminately. Before they reached the final stages of insanity the unclean would beg for death, a way out of the pain and suffering. Epsilon-398-2064 could do nothing; murder was not on the agenda of Visara Co. no matter what the situation.

Epsilon-398-2064 ‘Mr. Tanner’ turned his head as Epsilon-498-9340 approached his station with a new shipment. “Delta-2913 ‘Ms. Abbott,’ is dead.”

The two Deltas, mother and daughter were now gone. Delta-2913 stayed at the bedside of Delta-2915 until the very end. At her mother’s last moments she foolishly removed her protective Epsilon-suit to wipe a tear from her eye. Within hours she was in extreme pain, rambling incoherently. After 2 days she was dead.

Mr. Tanner replied in a single word, “Orders?”

Epsilon-498-9340 paused for a moment to readjust his bulky payload, “There will be no further orders until we find a replacement Delta.”

“What can we hear?”

“Not much besides ourselves, and limited at that. The Tyrandis’ attack on the Huahinian satellites destroyed our most reliable communication. The VCMS Ductile departed yesterday from Resolute headed toward Baffin Bay with the final destination of Esthar. We received an urgent S.O.S. 4 hours ago, and lost contact with the Ductile 12 minutes ago, last known location was recorded as it was entering Baffin Bay.”

“What do we know?”

“What records the Betas and Etas left show detailed descriptions of the disease. In the first stages the victim will feel a mild fever and headache. After half an hour the victim becomes violently ill, vomiting frequently. After 3 hours from the initial symptoms blindness and madness begin to set in. After 12 hours the victim will begin to feel extreme pain within the head as intracranial pressure begins to build after which the victim slowly bleeds to death as blood vessels within the brain burst. The twenty Betas left are currently regrouping to come up with something.”

Epsilon-498-9340 ceremonially dumped his shipment into the growing pyre. The body of Ms. Abbott was washed with kerosene as Mr. Tanner readjusted the bodies so they could burn better. It was as close to a proper burial as the Bjornoyans could afford at the moment. Of the 1,320 Visara employees only 131 remained, protected only by the back-up shipment of Epsilon-suits that featured complicated air-filters. A thought crept upon Mr. Tanner; the employees who he had worked with in this god-forsaken country would be put to rest as one.

Mr. Tanner gazed stoically into the flames.

Encrypted Report

TO: A. Paullus Iusevius

FR: Empire of Layarteb

SBJCT: Unknown Contagion

The Empire is deeply disturbed of the nature of this mysterious contagion. It has been classified as a level 3 contagion at the moment. Should it be determined to be airborne, it will be moved to a level 4. Symptoms appear to be similar to a brain fever but these are inconclusive as these reports are only intercepted communications in the order of weeks old. We do have credible and hard evidence that the contagion, which you have dubbed Archangel and we have dubbed UBA-228-22B Arctic Fever, is present at a western settlement on Devon Island. The settlement, located at 75°23'51.52" N, 86°36'41.11" W, is home to some 280 people, most of them native tribesmen. We will be conducting a recon of this settlement by air when the weather breaks but until then, out Marines will have a lot of rugged terrain to cross to get to the settlement. Huahinese roads are, unfortuntely, not up to par, and the 16 settlements on this island all have to be approached with extreme caution. We will be releasing the details of our findings, when we reach this settlement. We estimate that, if the weather breaks as it is supposed to, we will be at this settlement in 14 hours with a Quick Response Force.

The Empire is pleased to hear that the Roman settlement of Alert is not affected by this disaster. We do; however, wish to send a biological containment unit to the settlement to ensure that no Romans are harmed by this unforgiving contagion. Should the Romans wish to send their own, we will happily provide transportation. We cannot allow this contagion to escape past the confines that it currently has.

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

The weather broke and the Layartebian Marines were going full speed ahead. Devon Island was largely unpopulated except for a few settlements, most of which were at the opposite side of the island, unfortunately those settlemtns were unreachable by sea. The Marines had to traverse the whole island to get there and they would. They grumbled through the Huahin built roads, past military outposts that were abandoned ages earlier. It was like watch the slow demise of a whole society. As the Marines tore through the island, moving westward, they took pictures, looted the outposts, and so on and so fourth, until tey got to the first settlement, the one with the disease, the one with the death!

Bodies were everywhere. The charred remains of one house still smoldered and puffed smoke. The Force Storm team approached very quietly and cautiously. They were flanked by Marines, specially equipped with biological response gear. Had it been the desert, they would have been roasting under the gear, but this was the Arctic. Animals lay dead next to bodies having died seemingly from ingesting the blood of their human victims, getting the same disease that they had. Blood samples would need to be analyzed and the entire settlement would be quarantined. It was secure already, nobody was left alive, so when the Marines moved out and left Force Storm and some armed guards, everything began. Plastic enclosures were set up throughout the settlement to provide working spaces. These bodies had been lying there for weeks, many of them decomposed beyond any feasible or useful means. It would be difficult to gather any information but they would have to work as hard as they could, this contagion was definitely hazardous.

Unforgiven CGN

The Unforgiven CGN moving with the nearest battle group to Devon Island was sitting comfortably in the cold, turbulent waters, moving at 3 knots. Its radar was on, looking for anything that could possibly be out there, anything that could be a threat, anything at all. The navy had no contact with any Huahinese vessels or aircraft whatsoever, something unusual. They were invading a nation with a formidable military and they had yet to launch a single counter attack. Were they trying to draw the ships and soldiers into an ambush? Nobody knew but it was a feeling everyone had in the pit of their stomachs.

When the Unforgiven's radar picked up a contact coming out of Lancaster Sound, bells and whistles went out everywhere. If this was a Huahinese warship it was finally going to have some time for action. However, there was something amiss about it. The radar profile came back as a merchant vessel that was adrift. Its course was right into Baffin Bay and its speed was 4 knots. It didn't appear to have any heading or bearing whatsoever and the waves pushed and pulled it left and right, its rudder making barely any adjustments. It would eventually run aground but still, the ambush possibility weighed on everyone's minds.

A pair of F-35 Ravens were sent to investigate the craft though they wouldn't be able to do much from the air and their speed. They could; however, bring back information as far as deck activity and its name, as well as pictures for a possible clarification. The two birds tasked were Echo 1-1 and Echo 1-2. Both of them took to the skies vertically, carrying a light loadout, enough to destroy the ship if they had to and to shoot down a few enemy fighters but that was about it. They weren't loaded heavy and couldn't sustain a long mission, if it were necessary. Their load outs consisted of a pair of AIM-120D AMRAAMs stored internally, two 1,000 pound JDAM IIs also internally, and two AIM-204A Escape missiles mounted externally. The Ravens were wonderful aircraft, light, rugged, powerful, and stealthy. They could approach their target from high or low altitude, at very high speeds, and not be seen until they passed over the targets, by that time, the bombs would already be falling.

The fly over revealed little except that the ship was the VCMS Ductile, registered to Visara Corporation. This was indeed unusual. The Empire was aware of activity by the Visara Corporation in the Arctic islands of Huahin but a ship, adrift, was a major problem. In light of the contagion that was being identified throughout the islands, the navy was going to take every precaution. Immediately dispatched as a Force Storm team, flying towards the ship in a pair of MH-60S Sea Hawks, escorted by a pair of Stalker gun ships. The team would fast rope onto the ship with Marines by their sides. The ship could be a possible source of contagion and they weren't about to let it run aground and spread the disease further.

Devon Island

The settlement was definitely a mess. It was something unlike anything the men had ever seen. The contagion tore through it quickly and autopsies were showing that people had died within twenty-four hours. Blood samples isolated the contagion to a single bacteria that was, in all of these cases, dead. It appeared to be specifically engineered to survive in cold weather, having a special protein coat unlike anything seen by the scientists at the settlement. It had survived in the cold but eventually degraded and died from the body heat of the host. Its death is what caused the terrible effects, which had been isolated to symptoms mostly to the brain. They were able to get much fresher samples from the animals, all of which died from ingesting the bacteria from the dead people, possibly within a day or two of their deaths. The animals appeared to have all resorted to eating the flesh of the dead. Forensics established that the animals had begun eating away at the flesh within forty-eight hours of the deaths of the hosts and within forty-eight more they were dead.

They were betting on a twenty-four hour incubation period, during which time, the bacteria would remain alive and able to reproduce. Unfortunately, it would eventually begin to die from excessive exposure to the high temperature of the body heat. Its degradation would become exponentially faster and as the bacteria died, it attacked the central nervous system, primarily attacking the brain. It would manifest, originally, as a mild fever and headache, growing worse over time. As the headache grew to migraine potential, vomiting was prevalent. As the brain was eaten away and degraded by the dying bacteria, vision would have certainly been affected, leading to blindness causing panic and possible, acute insanity. As the brain decorated from the dying bacteria, it would begin to swell and the fever would manifest itself to over 106°F, causing serious problems to the host. Pain would have been immense and the eventual cause of death was internal hemorrhaging from burst blood vessels within the brain. It would actually cause a severe stroke, killing the individual. That was as much as they could figure out. They were not yet sure how the bacteria affected the rest of the body but they would get down to it.

It appeared as if all of the people died at different times, with certain sections of the settlement being affected at a given time. Charred houses showed that those who were still alive tried to burn the bodies of the deceased, in hopes of quelling the outbreak, but it was a failed attempt. The bacteria appeared to be capable of surviving in both the air and the water but tests were inconclusive thus far. It was definitely transmitted via blood and bodily fluids. It was still classified as a level 3 contagion because of the mystery surrounding its infection ability.

In hopes of learning what went wrong, the Cymrean government would get a detailed report of the findings of the Devon Island settlement. They hoped only to get a detailed report in return.

Devon Island

The radio was silent for too long as the Marines advanced west on Devon Island. There were two more settlements to hit up, both of them in the west, not more than eight miles from each other. One was a scientific community and, from what they gathered, the other was another community for research purposes. They knew that there was a Visaran outpost somewhere to the west but it didn't show up on any satellite reconnaissance so it could have been underground. The Marines were going to have to tread lightly. They didn't want to involve the Bjornoyan government and they didn't want to get Visara any more involved than they already were. The less hands in the pot, the less it spoils.

Then, out of nowhere, startling all those listening, the radios erupted with chatter. A forward Marine recon team stumbled upon one of the settlements, the scientific community. Panic spread as they were standing in the midst of the most disgusting thing that they ever saw. Bodies were everywhere, the filth alone was grotesque. Buildings still smoked and smoldered. The contagion had struck here too but far too recently. Some of the bodies were just beginning to decay. The recon platoon had to be quarantined immediately and they were definitely exposed to the contagion. If they inhaled any of the bacteria, they were going to be dead in two days.

With the panic and the radio chatter off the charts now, Force Storm teams moved in to secure and quarantine the Marines, at gunpoint. They wouldn't go quietly and they were all inside medical facilities within an hour, being stuck with needles to find out if they had been exposed. If they had been then they were going to be the sources of tests until their lives expired. If a cure could be found it would be found through them.

Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island was quiet, too quiet. Two military outposts were abandoned but abandoned recently. Communications looked as if they had been down for some time, probably going back as far as the last major winter storm that had plowed through the area. Supplies and rations had to be low and it looked as if supplies were overdue. When Marines investigated the outposts, they found that things had gone terribly wrong. The Huahinese government, as it fell from the contagion of the Arctic, was definitely forgetting about these posts. Hercules C4 cargo drops were scheduled but none of them had come. At a nearby airfield, a pair of Lynx helicopters sat, undisturbed for at least two months. They had barely any fuel inside of them.

The Marines pressed on. They would have to secure a major airfield some 82 miles inland, which, if there were any Huahinese soldiers left, that was where they would be held up. It made sense that as their logistics broke down, they would all consoldiate at a single point on the map, definitely this airbase. In its hey-day the airbase held up to 400 fighters including Tornados, Typhoons, and Merlin helicopters. It was big enough to support major bombers and on more than one occassion, Vulcan B2s had been photographed by satellites. Victor tankers sat there as well. It was the largest airbase on the island and there were four airbases in total, two of them being far north, the other being to the southwest but it too had been abandoned ages earlier.

As the Marines approached the airbase, quietly and cautiously, their M2032 Sabertooth MBTs were out in front, flanked by IFVs and APCs and LBTs. They were going to have to put a hurt on the enemy if there were any. With their sensors on, scanning everything, the MBTs approached slowly. Marines kept close to them and held their weapons raised. Two full battalions, 1,250 men were approaching the airbase from the south and they were spread out along a big line, spacing enough to provide excellent protection and coverage. Things were too quiet and they could see fighters sitting cold and quiet on the tarmac, bombers and tankers inside their hangars, cargo aircraft all around. Something was definitely amiss and it manifested in a single shot, a shot heard around the whole island. The Huahinese had definitely set up an ambush.

As the furthest Sabertooth approached the main runway intersection, it stopped and took a fatal hit. The explosion came from the rear and spread forward, blowing up the whole tank within seconds. Something had definitely happened, something terrible. Bullets and rockets began flying next and the RPG team that took out the Sabertooth with a rear shot of two RPGs, began to flank the tank to try to use it for cover, despite it being in flames. Marines immediately opened fire and all of a sudden it appeared that the 1,250 of them were facing no less than 10,000 Huahinese soldiers. Air support couldn't have been called in faster and F-35 Ravens and AH-94 Stalkers would be vectored in as fast as humanly possible.

VCMS Ductile

The VCMS Ductile was adrift and the twelve Force Storm operatives and their ten Marine escorts, were moving throughout the ship, going from compartment to compartment, looking at the same thing over and over. Bodies were everywhere with blood, vomit, and filth just covering the bodies. It didn't appear as if anyone was alive and when the twenty-two men broke into two teams, one headed for the bridge whilst the other headed throughout the ship, looking for some evidence as to what happened. They took blood samples from every dead carcass and they moved on, accurately detailing the ship through video equipment and the spoken word. Back on the Unforgiven CGN a major software program was mapping the entire ship based on specifications obtained through the general ship registry.

Cell phones were still on though half of them were dead. Some still had messages and all of them were collected. Any pieces of evidence that could shed light on what happened was being collected. Cameras, cell phones, documents, diaries, logs, and so on and so fourth, were all being collected and put inside of plastic containers to be hauled back to the Unforgiven for tasking. They doubted that they would find anyone alive on the ship yet they still kept their weapons raised, just in case.

OOC: Not sure if this is what the virus is supposed to do but I thought I'd throw it in here anyway.

IC:

Iusevius had been staring at the Layartebian memo for well over an hour. He wasn't sure how to respond without getting himself and Alexus into trouble. It was then that he heard a loud bang on his door.

"Let me in! Let me in!" said a female voice from outside. The banging continued furiously for several minutes before Alexus had enough and let her inside.

"I should have figured you two boneheads were still working here," said the visibly upset soldier, Cornicen Gn. Aemilia Pernova.
"You should be lucky that there was someone here," retored Iusevius.
"No matter, then," replied Pernova with a huff, and continued deirisively. "Anyway, since you two have been so keen on your duties, you should know that there's a deadly monster rampaging out there."
"A monster? Where?" said an exasperated Alexus.
"I knew it. You didn't know," said Pernova with a laugh. "Judging by how good you keep an eye on the area, I shouldn't be surprised that you lost the other 19 of us."
Iusevius and Alexus frantically looked at each other with bemused looks. They're dead? Uh-oh. "So...this, monster," started a nervous Iusevius, "killed the entire survey team?"
"Don't play stupid with me you poor excuse of a human being!" stammered Pernova. "No, it happily ate McDonald's with us. OF COURSE IT KILLED THE REST OF THEM!" Her face was now turning red. "By Jove, if you two don't get fired for this I'll kill you both."

"I have a memo to reply to," said Iusevius, trying to find a way out of the crossfire. In ten minutes, he assured the Layartebians that the Romans would be sending their own biological contamination team. He didn't bother to send a message to Central Command in Rome to organize such a team to travel to Helios Nord.

"Listen, Gnaea-"
"It's Cornicen Pernova you nitwit."
"Right, Cornicen Pernova. Feel free to make yourself comfortable. We've got drinks and a bed for you to lie on."
"Of course you do. The rest of my team is dead."
"Make yourself at home!" Iusevius now wore a nervous smile. The clock was ticking on his paycheque and on his freedom, and he knew it. Now it was just a matter of time of whethering this storm before the real one came.

VCMS Ductile

Alpha-246-01-999 lay huddled on the ground gripping his knees tightly together with folded arms. Their infernal howling had finally stopped, the demons had finally left, or so he thought. The eerie silence was deafening.

Alpha-246-01-999 brought himself to his knees as the overwhelming heat of the boiler room made even the ascetic priest uncomfortable. Alpha-246-01-999, or ‘Deacon’ as he was known to his acquaintances felt the singe of hell's flames reaching out to him from the desecrated vessel.

Deus Meus, ut quid me dereliquisti?
Quomodo conversa es in amaritudinem?
Alpha-246-01-999 tried to think of better days; his success in the forsaken jungles of the Congo, his evangelical quests in India, his conversion of the pagan tribes on Kangaroo Island. The wear and tear of his journeys and the sicknesses he’d acquired during them show on his face and hands, giving him the appearance of a walking corpse. His latest quest took him to the heathen lands of Huahin to provide religious and moral support to Visara’s employees in the region should they require it.

And then it came, like destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah the Wrath of God struck down upon the masses with terrible fury and great vengeance. Alpha-246-01-999 knew such was the fate of all sinners. They had brought it upon themselves; they were the cause of there own undoing. The arrogant sins of the Huahinians were met with divine justice. At every moment Alpha-246-01-999 preached to the dying masses in a desperate attempt to save their souls, unaffected by the disease that had long ago become a part of him.

But then the curse spread amongst his fellow Bjornoyans. Deacon was confused, the Bjornoyans had done nothing to deserve this. He watched in horror as the curse turned his pious brethren into passion-ridden madmen. God surely would not harm the innocent, what did his brethren do to deserve this? A fiery rage began to build within him as he departed with the survivors from that damnable land. Like old Job, Deacon screamed to the heavens for an answer, and the heavens were silent. For the first time in his religious life Deacon felt afraid.

Timor et tremor venerunt super me,
et caligo cecidit super me:
miserere mei, Domine, miserere mei,
quoniam in te confidit anima mea.
As the demon struck down his fellows one by one, Alpha-246-01-999 crept off to the only comfort he could find, away from the cries of the dying. Alone with himself and God Deacon sang softly to himself, waiting his fate

Sors immanis et inanis
Veni, veni, venias
ne me mori facias
Suddenly, the silence was broken; somewhere above he could hear them, footsteps. Was it his Savior, or merely more demons?

*****

Operational HQ, Victoria Island
Day 3, 1754 Hours

Brigadier Evans had had his time to think, time during which the camp remained busy, but subdued. Now was the time for action, and in a flurry of commands, Evans' plan was set in motion.

The day before, with a call to Legion HQ, Evans put in a request. The request was granted in the form of the 23rd Technical Squadron, from 14 Wing, based on CFB Mount Roosevelt. The Globalhawk UAVs could simply fly to Victoria Island, but Squornshelous might take umbrage to spy planes over their airspace, whatever their previous assurances. Instead, the UAVs would be transported inside An-225 Mriyas. A small deception, but necessary given the narrow timeframe.

Almost immediately after their arrival, the UAVs were prepped and sent into grid patterns over all the Huahinian settlements, generating extremely precise maps of the areas without risking live bodies. The maps were sent to the field artillery units set up in seige positions outside of the former civilian population centres; with the aid of the maps, the gunners were to systematically level each and every city, town, and village, setting them all to a ferocious, cleansing burn. Furthermore, the rubble was slated for high-intensity incineration by specialized bio-teams in protective suits.

It would be a long and gruelling process, but High Command would settle for nothing less than the complete annihilation of all traces of Archangel. The Cymrean government was not the least bit interested in recovering and studying samples of the abhorrent virus. That would be left to Layarteb and Roma Mater. The sole concern of the Dominion Senate was to provide pristine lands for sale or trade. A tragically myopic view, in Evans' opinion, and one that left no room for his friend Colonel Victus, nor even for the entire Wraiths regiment inside Q Zone 1.

Evans' plan was simple but bold, and borderline treasonous. The artillery units were given orders to bombard the settlements in a staggered order. "Somehow", the settlement inside QZ1 would be left until the very last, delayed as long - and longer - as he could possibly manage. This gave Colonel Victus and his elite light infantry less than 36 hours to find something, anything, that would allow the regiment to come home.

Evans wrote and sealed orders for Victus and had them hand delivered by the next bio-team to enter QZ1. The orders outlined the plan and Evans' hope for Victus' success. Included was a time when Victus was to call Evans, a call that would be received in private. That time came none too soon for the brigadier.

"This is Evans. Go ahead."

"Greetings, Jim. Obviously, I've received your orders and the UAV maps." Victus' sigh was lost to crackling. "Teams have been organized to make intensive sweeps of the buildings here, but I'm not sure what more we can do. No one has gotten sick yet, and that's bolstering morale, but there's talk that our inoculations are merely delaying the inevitable."

"Do you believe that, Shawn? What have we been inoculated against that might remotely resemble Archangel?"

"We don't even know what this thing is. And from the sounds of it, High Command doesn't give a shit. How am I supposed to know if we're protected or not? Personally, I think it's in the hands of the gods."

"I cannot accept that. The gods help those who help themselves and unless we do something, the only help we're going to get is that of Arawn or Pluto."

Evans took a breath and steeled himself. "I can only give you thirty hours, Shawn. Thirty-four at the outside. Find something. Find something or QZ1 get burned with you inside."

Victus grunted. "We've known this for a while, now, Jim, and the Wraiths have come to terms with it. We'll do what we can, but we will hold to the Third Oath."

"Come home with your shield, or on it," they intoned together.

"Victus out."

Ikaluktutiak, Victoria Island
Day 3, 1803 Hours

Victus disconnected the line. He stepped back out into the front room of his forward command post, formerly the principal's office of a school that the regiment had converted for their own purposes. Bio-teams had done an admirable job of removing the bodies from most of the buildings, starting with this one here, near the southern edge of town. Those teams deserved commendations, if only for succeeding valiantly at not sucking buttermilk in their hazmat suits. Dead children were something of a sore spot for Shawn Victus.

Someone had cleaned the floors and polished them to a high shine last night. The sound of his boots echoed with a satisfying crispness in the hallway as he made his way to the gymnasium - the makeshift barracks. Victus stepped into the double doorway; the barracks were relatively empty at this time in the evening, with the centuries either in the mess areas or still in the field on assignment. One group in particular, however, was waiting for Victus.

"First Platoon, Alpha Century!"

The gym filled with the sound of pounding boots, reverberating in the open spaces as the platoon dashed from their bunks and lined up in parade rest in front of him. Once assembled, all forty-two soldiers stamped to attention and saluted, fist to chest.

"Stand at ease!"

Forty-two feet lifted and stamped down at shoulder width. Forty-two sets of hands were clasped at the smalls of backs.

"Lef-tenant Williams, has this platoon been fed and watered?"

The platoon commander, an athletic blond woman with the palest of blue eyes answered sharply. "Yes, Colonel!"

"Make this platoon ready for night operations, Lef-tenant. Assemble in the street outside in--" Victus checked his watch. "--twenty-one minutes. That's eighteen-thirty hours."

"Yes, Colonel!"

With that, Victus turned and made for the small classroom that comprised his private quarters. As he did, he could hear Lieutenant Williams barking orders.

"You heard the Colonel, Toon, let's move! Tertius, get that rifle re-assembled yesterday! Rhys, shine your boots on your own time! You're on my time, now! Hustle!"

The school was roughly U-shaped, with a small courtyard in the middle. Victus' quarters were near the tip of one side of the U and was graced with a window looking out into the centre space. Short brown grass grew there, nothing like the lush green of Demetia. This far north, there weren't even any trees, and the sad growth in the courtyard was only a depressing reminder.

The colonel quickly got his gear together. He had determined that with so little time left to his regiment, he would take a more personal hand in its operations. Williams might resent his taking over her platoon, but not too much. Not with their continued existence at stake.

With a final quick check of his kit, he pulled on his webbing, donned his combat helmet and night-vision package, and slung his CM-8 over his shoulder, barrel down. He locked the door behind him and trotted down the hall to join the platoon. A quick peek into the gym showed no sign of them. Clearly, Williams remained as efficient as usual. Resuming his jog, Victus exited the main front doors. Sure enough, First Platoon, Alpha Century was already assembled and waiting. Williams stood in front of her troops.

"What kept you, sir?" she said quietly and with a wolfish grin.

"Good work, Williams," he said. Then he addressed the platoon.

"We have searched through the better part of this town and found little of strategic value. This purpose of this mission is to find something of value. Our very lives are depending on finding something valuable tonight. We're going to be looking in places we've not been yet. Places that are more likely to hold some clue to this chthonic whodunnit we've had the shitty luck to fall into. And unfortunately, we won't know what we're looking for until we find it. But fortunately, the operations commander had the foresight to put Wraiths in this hell-hole..what's this place called?"

"Ikaluktutiak," Williams answered.

"Icky-look-to-what?"

"Ikaluktutiak, sir. The rest of the world calls it Cambridge Bay."

Devon Island

The Marines were quickly encircled by Quick-Response Teams from Force Storm. The quarantine would last no less than ninety-six hours. It appeared, after the final sweep, that nobody on Devon Island was left alive, nobody. The Layartebian Marines were the only living individuals on the island and that was an eerie thought, a thought that none of them really wanted to entertain for a minute longer than was necessary. The island was barren and rough, perhaps the most unpleasant place in the world. None of them had seen Easter Island, which was definitely the most unpleasant place in the world.

The quarantine would be premature. None of the Marines ever showed signs of symptoms and their blood tested negative for the contagion. This could only mean one thing, it wasn't airborne. That was a relief, a big relief. Still, when the settlement was investigated they found that the individual who died last had only died one week prior. That was good news, they had a much fresher corpse to investigate on rather than the old and decayed ones they were messing with at the first settlement. The second was turning out to be much more lucrative in terms of knowledge about the mysterious contagion, which still had no name.

As doctors prodded and analyzed they found a little more information about the bacteria. The most startling piece of evidence was that it wasn't airborne, a relief to all. It could; however, survive in the air for up to four minutes. It appeared that the main mode of transmission, after the initial case, was through vomit and blood. From there, anyone around who inhaled the bacteria was infected instantly. Then, it moved further and further through the settlement, ravaging the populace quickly and effectively. The toxin the bacteria secreted as it died was the main killer, a particularly deadly toxin that attacked the central nervous system in two ways. The first way was that it destroy the brain and the second was that it affect the spinal column as well. It would eventually paralyze an individual but this took longer to do than to actually destroy the brain, hence why the secondary results were never seen. They needed to find a way to neutralize the toxin secreted by the bacteria and to do that they needed a live sample that could reproduce itself so that they could take a few and force their death, studying the toxin and any potential antidotes.

Ellesmere Island

The Huahinese AT4 team scored a direct hit on the Sabertooth and annihilated it and its four crew members. This was definitely not a good start to a prototype tank, slated to become the primary MBT of the ILM. It was an instant morale killer but the Marines would keep fighting. The Sabertooth was the most heavily armored MBT in the world and its frontal glacis could take hits from cannons in the 155 millimeter range and keep smiling. That was evident when a Challenger 2 fired a round at another Sabertooth. I barely dented the glacis. Morale was being restored with each kill and they were doing well. The Challenger 2 was turned into a smoldering wreck inside of seconds as a 125 millimeter round from the ETC gun of the hit Sabertooth pierced right through its frontal glacis and destroyed the tank. They were facing a lot of Huahinese soldiers, many of them a SOF group based on the island. These were the guys who took out the Sabertooth, the same guys who had a date with a 40 millimeter grenade only seconds later.

The Marines were highly trained and they dug in to fight the Huahinese soldiers, right on their own battlefield. IFVs and MBTs appeared from no where but they were quickly dispatched by Marine armor. The airport was an eerie battlefield. Planes sat still and quiet, carefully unharmed by the fighting, though several were disabled by stray rounds. None of them tried to take off, probably from a shortage of fuel. When one brave pilot attempted to start up a Typhoon attack jet, which slug cluster bombs and Brimstone missiles from its pylons, a Sabertooth fired a well placed round from 4 kilometers away. The round turned the Typhoon into a massive fireball, eliminating a Lynx helicopter parked very close to it.

The Marines, surprisingly, took few casualties off the bat. They advanced like a wall, pushing the Huahinese back as they picked them off. Snipers had the most success, using their concealed positions and the chaos of the battle to take out officers and other snipers, many of whom were too distracted to realize what was happening. It wasn't fair to the Huahinese at all and when the F-35s and AH-94s appeared on station, the battle was pretty much over. F-35 Ravens, armed with Brimstone missiles and guided missiles, picked off Huahinese armor out in the open, using their superior firepower to destroy the Challenger 2s and Warriors. The Stalkers made quick work of soldiers and of vehicles as well, using their missiles very effectively.

Joint Operations Command

The Roman reply was ominous. They wanted no help from the Empire though they would seek out a Roman biological team. This was, at the very least, enough to ease their worries. A reply was sent back to Alert. The Emperor had placed a special call to the Roman embassy, desiring an audience with the Roman ambassador, perhaps over Alert and over the fact that the last outpost on it was in Roman hands, hands they wouldn't dare to attack. The Roman Empire and the Empire had a long, peaceful history together and nothing would be done to jeopardize that, not this situation. The Romans had to be aware of the contagion and of the impending doom should an infected individual get out of the islands and come to a population center. The proposal was to quarantine the entire island group but they knew that would be nearly impossible. A plea had been sent to the Cymreans to do the same but their response had not come in yet. If the Romans agreed, all of the islands previously under Huahinese control would be quarantined until all traces of the contagion could be stamped out.

VCMS Ductile

"We've got movement!" One of the Marines whispered to another. They immediately went silent and raised their weapons. They were approaching the boiler room and while it could have made any noise possible, movement noise was definitely distinct, especially on a ship. "Let's go!" They kept low and approached the door, weapons raised, temperatures high, and pulses raised. They had on biohazard gear so they were safe from the contagion, if the individual they approached had been infected but they weren't sure what they were going to find, another factor. Cautiously, they opened the door, wary that anything could jump out and attack them. The first man entered, his rifle raised, looking around the hot and steamy room. The engines were off and silent but there was still power on in the ship, probably from auxiliary generators. The room was large, large enough for several men to hide.

"Over there." One of the Marines whispered as they stepped towards a darkened corner. They cautiously approached, each step carefully placed to give them the best footing possible. "You! Come out with your hands up!" The Marine yelled as he saw the silhouette of a person. "I said stand up! I will shoot you! NOW!" The man had fear written all over him and the Marine could tell he was unarmed but they weren't about to take any chances.

Joint Operations Command

The Roman reply was ominous. They wanted no help from the Empire though they would seek out a Roman biological team. This was, at the very least, enough to ease their worries. A reply was sent back to Alert. The Emperor had placed a special call to the Roman embassy, desiring an audience with the Roman ambassador, perhaps over Alert and over the fact that the last outpost on it was in Roman hands, hands they wouldn't dare to attack. The Roman Empire and the Empire had a long, peaceful history together and nothing would be done to jeopardize that, not this situation. The Romans had to be aware of the contagion and of the impending doom should an infected individual get out of the islands and come to a population center. The proposal was to quarantine the entire island group but they knew that would be nearly impossible. A plea had been sent to the Cymreans to do the same but their response had not come in yet. If the Romans agreed, all of the islands previously under Huahinese control would be quarantined until all traces of the contagion could be stamped out.

"Wha, wha, what?" said G. Cornelius Iucin, the Roman Ambassador to Layarteb after hearing that the Layartebians were ready to assist the Roman biological contamination team to heat to Alert. "We're sending what? We didn't authorize any team. This is the first time I've heard of this- the officials at Helios Nord did not inform us to send a team nor did they tell us there was this contagin. Give me a minute." He put his hand to the phone to pause to catch his breath and then he continued.

"I'm sorry about that," continued Iucin. "Yes, we'll assemble a team and we'll be sending it over to Helios Nord; and please, let's have a meeting so you can brief me of the entire situation, because I need it- the people at Helios Nord have told me nothing." Later, he would place a call to Iusevius, demanding to know what was going on.

"What is wrong with you?" said a steamed Iucin. "We have an international incident brewing here and you didn't even bother to tell any of us?"
"Ummm, well, you see-" replied Iusevius.
"Don't give me an excuse- give me an answer. Your lack of awarness in this entire situation is inexcusable."
"Yeah, but Ambassador Iucin, we wanted to tell you about this whole thing but we never got around to it."
"YOU NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT?!?! PEOPLE ARE DYING, OUR SETTLEMENT IS IN DANGER AND YOU NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT?!?!?!?"
"You and your doorknob of a co-worker are going to be Court Marshalled. Good luck keeping your jobs- or your dignity." Iucin slammed the phone down in disgust.

[OOC: Devon Island is often used to simulate Martian terrain!]


Triple-Encrypted Communique to Layarteb

TO: Joint Operations Command,
Empire of Layarteb

FR: Consul Legatus Gareth Rhys,
Defence Minister, Cymrea

CC: Consul Legatus Giorgius Aurelius Giormani
Defence Minister, Roma Imperium

RE: Archangel


Greetings, Operational Commander. Greetings, Consul Legatus Imperium.

The Dominion Senate has decided not to take a single risk in allowing Archangel to spread. There will be no recoveries, no samples taken, and no exploration into the nature of Archangel. Though Cymrea shall do everything within her power to assist in the discovery of Archangel's origin and in its containment, our primary interest is simply to expunge it.

To this end, all known settlements of the former Great House of Huahin on the Arctic Islands being occupied by Cymrea have been successfully isolated, and mapped through aerial reconnaissance. Orders are currently being executed to completely destroy the settlements through the extensive utilization of our field artillery. Further, every single building and body will be incinerated. For Cymrea's part, fine white ash will be the only reminder that Archangel ever existed.


Ever in service,

[signed]

Devon Island

Devon Island was as secure as it could be, given the circumstances. All three settlements showed signs of infection and they were being picked apart with a fine tooth comb. The dead had lay there for weeks and in some cases, months. There was little of value for them to find but they were doing their best. The entire island was labeled a biological quarantine and nobody that had set foot on the island was allowed off and nobody was allowed on. The Cymreans were burning their islands but the Layartebians wouldn't, they needed to know about the contagion, about its potential, and about its usefulness. An Arctic contagion was of high value and they were definitely going to have to research it enough to make it useful for their purposes.

Ellesmere Island

The airport was a mess. The Marines came under some of the heaviest fire that they had seen in ages. The Huahinese were fighting hard, very hard. As they tore through each footing and stephold at the airport but they were definitely advancing more than the enemy was. The Sabertooth tanks were proving to be far more useful than was previously anticipated. The Marines were good fighters apparently better than the Huahinese SOF soldiers that were attacking them. Their attempts to shoot at the Sabertooths were fruitless. Each round that was fired at them simply bounced off its frontal armor without any dent whatsoever. They retired fire and pierced anything they shot at, Challenger 2s being the easiest target for them.

When the artillery came raining down on the airport from the LW155 guns sitting a mere 10 miles away, the Huahinese were done for and took to a full retreat. The Marines pursued relentlessly, firing back at them, catching them on their retreat and destroying their means of escape. Roads were taken out by helicopters and Ravens using ATGMs and LGBs. The Ravens were punishing and as they came down on the airport, streaking down from 10,000 feet, they launched off Mavericks, Brimstones, and dropped their bombs with such force and percision that the Huahinese were nothing more than flies to them, being swatted down.

The Marines worked to catch the leader, whomever that was, and their 20 POWs were beginning to talk as they ewre being forced to by the Marines standing around them, guarding them with their assault rifles and carbines. They tore through the airport with such lightning speed that the 20 POWs that they had were all sleeping when they raided the barracks. They were rounded up and sorted according to their ranks. The higher their rank, the more information they wanted to solicit from them and they did so, well.

VCMS Ductile

OOC: Bjorn, waiting on you for this one.

Shadow Moses Garden:

Mr. Tanner had stared for hours at the last working computer in the Garden. A lone message sent days afyer the death of Delta 2913:

Due to the current emergency within the collapsing nation of Huahin the Corporation will be sending the VCMS Kinetic, Indifferent, and Jagged to assist with recovering any corporate property that may be salvageable. Do not allow any forces, native or foreign to compromise Visaran interests. Save what you can, destroy that which may harm you, and search known scientific development facilities to recover any research that may be available.

Wilhelm will be very displeased should anything happen to his investments.

-Delta 777 Mr. Baltzer, temporal regional director.

So far any effort to leave the facility had ended in failure, either the parties had not returned or came back dying. In a last desperate attempt Epsilon-498-9340 decided to venture again to the town and search for some food.

Within hours Epsilon-498-9340 returned with strangers. Epsilon-398-2064 Mr. Tanner raised his HK G36 and yelled across to his comrade “Who goes there?”

VCMS Ductile:

Alpha-246-01-999 heard the voices faintly in an unknown tongue. As he lay huddled on the floor the men eventually realized how utterly defenseless and weak this man was, at least physically. After several minutes Alpha-246-01-999 felt something covering his face. The darkness shrouded the dull light from the boiler room. Immobilized Alpha-246-01-999 felt himself being lifted and ascending from the fiery pits of the Ductile.

Even until he lost consciousness he spoke esoterically to himself, “Sic transit gloria mundi.”

ooc: Stupid Jolt, sorry for short post but is a transition, Cym can I assume Epsilon-498-9340 met Cymrean forces and led them to the Garden? The priest will be better off dealing with away from the Ductile so had him moved to relative safety, not sure where you'd take him Lay. Take note he does not have any protection from the disease at the moment.

OOC: He'd be isolated in sick bay on the Unforgiven.

Shadow Moses Garden, Cambridge Bay
Day 3, 2317 Hours

"It's all right," Victus began, slowly slinging his rifle back onto his shoulder. He raised his hands in front of him in what he hoped was a calming gesture as the smallish man in the foreign outfit pointed an HK G36 at him. "My name is Shawn Victus, commander of the Eighth Cymrean Light Infantry. We're here to help."

Introductions took little more than a couple of minutes, after which Victus assigned Lieutenant Williams to assemble a team and lead a search of the building.

"Yes, sir," she said, wincing.

"What's wrong, Williams?"

"Nothing, sir. Just a bit of a headache is all. I'll be fine."

Victus paused and looked into her eyes. "Are you sure?" He imbued his question with a tone of significance. She met and held his gaze.

"I'm sure."

Victus squinted at her, then finally dismissed her with a nod. As she moved off, he and Tanner found a suitable table to exchange information. Tanner spread open maps of the islands and together they plotted wind currents, Arctic Ocean currents, temperatures changes - anything to help them in the effort to find Archangel's origin. In return, Victus promised Tanner that the Wraiths would do everything they could to get the Visarans out of there. After about thirty minutes, Victus's comm chirruped.

"Man down! I say again, man down!"

Victus snatched the comm off the table. "Report!"

"Decurion Killian, here, sir."

"Where the hell is Lieutenant Williams?" Victus interrupted.

"She's the one down, sir. We're down in the basement...I was right next to her...her eyes just kinda rolled back and she collapsed. Medtech is working on her now, sir, but we may have to evac--"

There was an ominous silence, broken by some murmuring from the other end of the comm. Then, "Colonel, Lieutenant Williams is dead. Doc says it looks like Archangel."

Victus was stricken. So many implications assaulted him, compounded by the sudden death of his second-in-command, that he couldn't immediately respond. Killian seemed to understand this and waited quietly on the other end. Then he asked a question he wasn't sure he wanted an answer to.

"How many others are experiencing headaches?" Killian relayed the question to the team. After a long moment, he spoke.

"Everyone, sir."

Victus' eyes bulged as he digested the information. The comm fell unnoticed from his hand, landing on the table and rolling a little. Just then, he felt a lancing pain behind his eyes. He was rubbing them before the realization of what it meant thundered in his awareness. A heavy weight pressed down in his chest and he trembled slightly. He heard a click and looked over at Tanner, to find the Visaran once again pointing a pistol at him.

Inexplicably, Shawn Victus began to laugh. With only a hint of outward inquisitiveness, Tanner asked him, "What's funny, Colonel?"

Victus calmed just enough to speak. "I'm going to...have...a school named after me!" The laughter became hysterical.

A tinny voice called from the comm. "Colonel? What's happening, sir?" Tanner picked up the comm as Victus bent double, clutching his side as his laughter became physically incapacitating.

"I suggest you make what preparations you need to before facing your deity," Tanner said into the radio. "You will all be dead of Archangel very soon."