NationStates Jolt Archive

"Fire!"

With the general's command, the howitzers on the hill erupted as one. Dozens of shells shot through the air in a ballistic arc before plunging into the city below. Pillars of smoke rose into the sky shortly after they impacted. Other black pillars of smoke sundered the otherwise featureless horizon, artifacts of the last salvo of artillery.

"Fire!"

Another salvo was cast into the sky, the shells passing through the growing wall of smoke at the edge of the city below before slamming into the enemy held port district. Amongst the flames and rubble, the enemy's armor began to try to escape, speeding through the streets and heading north. Though the course would take them down a road between the high hills and the large bay that the city was built on. They would be completely open to attack and very vunerable to the howitzers on the hill, but if they could get past the hill they would have an unobstructed path to the nearby 10th Tactical Air Base.

"They're running! Compensate and fire again!"

Again, the firebase on the hill let loose a cacophony of reports. This time, however, the shells were not the only objects screaming through the air. This time, they were joined by the F-5Es of the 101st tactical fighter squadron. Though one of the Tiger IIs had a freak encounter with one of the firebase's 130mm HE shells and plummeted from the sky in a shower of burning streaks, the rest continued unabated, showering the firebase with small bombs. Almost immediately, the firebase's anti-aircraft guns opened fire in defense of the small camp.

"Put out those fires! Arm the SAMs! Keep firing on the armor!"

The firebase was in chaos after the air raid, but the artillery continued to rain down on the enemy T-54s without pause. At the same time, infantry and M-60s rushed down the hills and into the battered city. Though heavy resistance was encountered before even a few blocks were secured, most of the enemy armor was fleeing to the north along the bayside road and most of the enemies encountered were lightly armed infantry. Without armor support, the Sistani troops dispatched them without much trouble thanks to their own M-60s. After several hours of heavy fighting and several more air raids, Chabahar was more or less securely in Sistani hands.

For the Sistani forces occupying Chabahar, the first night was hell on Earth. Enemy forces still inside the city had been initiating skirmishes all night, and the 101st tactical fighter squadron had made several strikes against the Sistani forces. The more often than not, the targets were buildings being used as field headquarters for the Sistani commanders. Most of the other strikes were targeted against the firebase on the hill.

As the first dawn of the occupation came, pillars of smoke still rose into the sky as countless fires still burned within the city and outside. From the hilltop firebase, it was easy to see the devastation caused by both the Sistani attacks and the enemy air strikes. Throughout the base, wounded artillerymen received treatment from field medics amongst piles of bloody bandages and empty bags of saline. Standing between a pair of disabled howitzers, General Bagheri stood with a pair of binoculars and looked west, discussing strategy with his lieutenants.

"I suggest that we gather our remaining armor and artillery and make a frontal assault immediately. The sun is at our backs and they've been routed once. Their morale and forces are not sufficient to hold us off."

"True, but we cannot afford to lose many vehicles or troops. Yes, we captured several enemy T-54s, but we also lost several M-60s. However, we seized many civilian vessels and a number of military patrol boats. I advise an amphibious attack across the bay."

"No, no. Both are too risky. We don't have the equipment for a proper amphibious assault and they would be expecting a frontal assault right now. We will go with a multi-pronged attack. Tomorrow morning, we will sortie most of our armor and infantry for a dawn frontal assault. However, tonight we will move another group of armor and infantry to the mountains to the north of the air base, while using the captured boats to ferry forces to Konarak, Pozm Tiab, and Kurdim. During the night, the ferried forces will move to surround the airbase and begin their assault as the main force engages the enemy."

"Waiting a day? But they may get reenforcements from the military. We cannot wait!"

"We wait. Even if they get reinforcements, they will be hit from all sides. We cannot lose."

"And what of the constant airstrikes? They could kill us all if we do not act now!"

"When we captured Chabahar, we captured several large artillery rockets. If we aim carefully, we can disable the runways and capture the jets on the ground."

"Fine. Do what you want, but when we get killed, I told you so."

"Keep up that kind of talk and I'll shoot you where you stand."


Several hours later, the artillery rockets, clearly of Soviet manufacture, were taken up to the hill and set up facing the northwest. With aid from scouts on the ground and meteorologists back on the hill, the rockets were carefully aimed at the 3000m runway that sat just over the horizon. As soon as the calculations and final adjustments were finished, the first rocket was launched.

Cheers erupted from the firebase as the FROG-7 rocket shot into the sky, trailing a long tail of white smoke. Not long after, the rocket slammed into the ground near the runway. As soon as the report made it back to the firebase, the remaining rockets on the old Soviet trucks were launched as quickly as they could be, each slamming into Chabahar Air Base. When the smoke cleared, the base's two runways each had a number of rather large holes.

The next day passed relatively uneventfully. Several more skirmishes broke out in Chabahar, but the insurgency was quickly put down with brutal efficiency and much collateral damage. The fighting intensified during the night, but the results were the same. When dawn came, the Sistani forces were all in place.

It started with a flash, just as the sun began to peek over the horizon. A fraction of a second later followed the report. In the following seconds, each the howitzers collected to the east of the 10th Tactical Air Base answered the first shot with one of their own. The shells sailed through the air for more than a minute before slamming into the airbase and cratering the ground. As the first artillery shells landed, the speeding delta formation of antique tanks from the cold war opened fire as well.

With more shells impacting the base every second, the enemy forces were in chaos. The enemy forces, however, were quickly roused into the defense of their isolated base. Anti-tank guns were manned, tanks were fueled, and world war two vintage tank destroyers were rushed to the front. Though hastily and haphazard, the enemy forces were able to hold off the Sistani frontal assault without much issue. Shots were traded, tanks were destroyed, and black smoke quickly made visibility in the hellish battlefield almost nil. Fortunately for our heroes, General Bagheri had several aces up his sleeve.

While the enemy forces were busy with the primary Sistani force, the units that had been hidden in the mountains or ferried to other points along the coast behind enemy lines were able to move into the base as one with almost no resistance and hit the unprotected enemy flank at will. Soon after, the enemy forces surrendered. The base was captured with all aircraft on the ground intact.

This glorious victory would aid the Sistani forces greatly in the future. Not only because they now had aircraft and more newly captured tanks and artillery, but because the stunning victory over the socialist forces would lead to recruitment lines in Chabahar and the surrounding area becoming flooded with new soldiers. Soon, the Sistani forces would spread across the nation like a wildfire.

After the capture of Chabahar, the Sistani forces quickly expanded their influence. With the thirty F-4Es, eighteen F-5Es, and flood of new recruits gained after the victory, the surrounding countryside and towns were easily annexed. During the expansion to the west, the coastal towns of Humedan and Jask were easily taken thanks to close air support provided by the F-4Es and growing support for the new regime. Expanding to the north, Iranshahr and Bampur, as well as the towns between them and the coast, were quickly overrun and pacified. After Iranshahr were Zahedan and Bam.

After Ban and Zahedan were captured and added to the growing empire, the resistance became heavier and momentum slowed. None the less, the Sistani forces managed to capture Bandar-e-Abbas and the surrounding area after weeks of bloody fighting. After the fall of the city, Sistan now controlled most of the old Iranian navy and the 9th Tactical Air Base. From there, Sistan had nearly uncontested control over the Iranian coastline, and proved it with amphibious invasions of cities all along the coastline including Bandar-e-Bushehr and Bandar-e-Khomeyni. With the coast in control and with it the 6th Tactical Air Base, the Sistani forces could focus on moving inland.

Secret IC: The Emirate of Alif Laam Miim questions the intentions of Sistani forces in Persia, whether they be noble or vile. If yours are of the true faith, we shall consider assisting your rebellion.

"Tigerhawk Squadron this is AWACS, callsign Zulfiqar. 08th Tactical Airbase at vector 032. Twelve miles."

Screaming through the sky over central Iran, the F-5E Tiger IIs of the recently captured 51st Tactical Fighter Squadron based in Agha Jari shot towards the airbase that was located near the city of Isfahan.

"Zulfiqar, this is White Three. The airbase is in sight. Fighters are on the runway."

"White Three, you are cleared to bomb the runway. However, do not, I repeat, do not, attack the planes on the ground. We want those intact when we take the base."

While White Flight switched to an attack vector and armed the 1000lb bombs mounted on each of their four wing hardpoints, Red flight, Green flight, and Black flight covered the Whites from any attack from any enemy aircraft. Below, several F-14As were waiting on the end of the runway to take off.

"White Four! Pickle! Pickle!"

As White 4 shouted, the bombs strapped to his plane dropped off, plunging through the sky on a one way trip into the runway. Hitting the other airstrip, White 3 dropped his bombs as well. As they passed over the waiting F-14As, the bombs impacted the concrete strips and left large craters. The F-14As wouldn't be going anywhere.


"Tigerhawks, this is Zulfiqar. Our radar has just picked up multiple squadrons inbound. Vector 340."

"Roger that, Zulfiqar. We'll go play with them. Red Flight, lets go. Red One out."

"This is Green One. We're tagging along."

"Black Two here. We'll hit Sepah Air Base and then join."

White Three. We'll finish up here and be with you ASAP."


Together, Green and Red flights turned to the northwest and shoved their throttles forward as far as they could go. Unlike Black and White flights, Red and Green were armed with air to air missiles.

"There they are."

"Damn, that's alot of them."

"I hope Black and White finish up soon. We're seriously outnumbered."

"Red One, fox one!"

"Red Two, fox one!"

"Red Three, fox one!"

"Red Four, fox o-"

The two Sistani flights of F-5Es played chicken with the two squadrons of F-4Es. As the four planes of Red flight launched their AIM-7 Sparrows, the enemy Phantoms did the same. Unfortunately, Red 4 lagged behind and was taken out by one of the F-4s before he could turn away. Like Red 4, three of the enemy F-4Es were splashed as well.

Meanwhile, Green flight passed beneath the initial carnage at a lower altitude, each plane pulling an Immelman turn to come behind the much less maneuverable and speeding Phantoms.

"Green One, fox two, fox two!"

"Green Three, fox two!"

"Green Four, fox two!"

"Green Two, fox two!"

From behind and at a much closer range than Red had done, Green flight launched their missiles into the rear of the enemy formation, their heat seeking AIM-9 Sidewinders homing in on the large tailpipes of five of the Phantoms. Though the enemy aircraft tried to break off and dodge, it was too late.

"Shack on the target. Eight down so far."

From there, the fighting became a fierce melee, the outnumbered but more maneuverable Tiger IIs dogfighting with the Phantom IIs in a scene reminiscent of World War Two. A spray of 20mm here, a Sidewinder there, a stall and engine flameout mixed in for variety, and the enemy Phantoms were quickly brought into more reasonable numbers. Though Red 2 and Green 3 went down as well, White and Black flights quickly managed to link up with the others and even out the fighting. After their arrival, the enemy F-4s took several more losses and peeled off to escape. Having much more powerful engines than the light Tiger IIs, the Phantoms were able to get away without much chase.

"Tigerhawk squadron, this is Zulfiqar. The enemy has routed. Please wait for your replacements before returning to base. Our ground forces should rescue your downed pilots soon."

"Roger Zulfiqar. We'll keep station until they arrive."



The next day, the ground forces poured into the disabled bases, and Tigerhawk squadron was once again in the air, this time providing air cover for the troops. Though the battle for Isfahan was the biggest so-far, the enemy had taken heavy losses since the campaign began, and most of the air force bases in Iran were now in Sistani hands. While the fighting lasted for three days without pausing, the defense of the city was futile against the Sistani onslaught.

Soon, Sistan would move on Tehran.

For Alif Laam Miim, there was no response.

The victory in Isfahan was total, but had come at a heavy cost. Though the airbases around the city had been disabled the day before the ground battle began, forces from Tehran and other bases in the north of the country had dealt devastating losses to the Sistani air crews and ground forces. The heavy losses had forced the Sistani revolutionaries to halt their advance and regroup, delaying the push towards the capital by weeks. To gather the forces required for the Tehran campaign, the Sistani military had to quickly put down insurgencies throughout their newly captured territories so that the troops required to hold the areas would be free to be redeployed. More often than not, this was accomplished with brutal acts of unwavering violence. Several entire villages were leveled by airstrikes or artillery, and whole neighborhoods of some of the major cities were equally flattened.

Human rights violations aside, the forces were gathered. Though the Socialist forces had also regrouped, the battle would come. Tanks, APCs, and light vehicles poured into Isfahan from all across southern Iran. With them came aircraft that landed at the quickly repaired airfields and several new dirt airstrips carved out of the barren Earth. Infantry flooded into hastily prepared tent cities by the thousands, and most importantly of all, water trucks made the journey to the city from desalination plants and rivers near the coast.

As the day of the final push to Tehran came near, the gathered forces began to move north. Though slowly at first, the blitzkrieg gathered momentum fast as the first villages fell to the Sistani juggernaut. At the city of Kashan, the first major battle of the Tehran campaign was fought. During the ensuing air-battle, the surviving Socialist air-forces were absolutely crushed by the much more numerous and better equipped Sistani airforce. With the skies completely under Sistani control, the battle for the city on the ground was practically a cake walk as enemy armor and troop concentrations were hit from the air like the fist of an angry god before they could threaten the Sistani troops below.

After Kashan, the Sistani campaign blitzed Qom, and the situation was much the same. The previous months of fighting had seen the Socialist airforce fall into ruins, most of the aircraft captured on the ground by the Sistani troops after the runways were disabled or shot down in the sky to become black skid marks on the desert floor. The Socialist ground forces were less affected due to a seemingly never-ending series of retreats, but large caches of vehicles and weapons were captured as bases were overrun. Though few captured Socialists joined the Sistani forces, the Sistani ranks swelled exponentially as the Islamic civilian population joined the revolution to take the fight to their former masters. Each village, town, and city captured meant more and more recruits as the coming Sistani victory seemed more and more real. To put it simply, the Sistani troop numbers after Kashan was taken were much higher than before, even after losses due to combat. Needless to say, Qom was mowed over like a tuft of grass.

By the time the army had reached the outskirts of Tehran, the population of the city and the rest of the territory still held by the Socialists was up in arms, further aiding the Sistani cause. Though almost the entire remaining Socialist military was gathered at the capital to defend the falling government, the popular uprisings and Sistani war machine meant that the Socialist military was forced to resort to guerilla tactics before the first Sistani tank had even entered the suburbs. Days of constant airstrikes and brutal fighting later, and the Sistani forces had captured the Majles building. Though there were still Socialist forces throughout the city and the northern half of the nation, the capital had been captured and the Socialist government deposed. The Socialist forces remaining would be dealt with in the coming weeks and months, destroyed utterly should they fail to surrender within the first week of the fall of their government.


Though there was still fighting to be done, Sistan had won. The Persian Empire was reborn.

Advisor: "Sire, the Sistani have given us no reply. Their campaign in Persia is somewhat finished, and they have yet to reveal themselves. It appears that they may be true followers, but we canot confirm it - after all, they toppled a socialist regime, and violently hostile one at that. Could it be one worse evil comes or not?"

Emir Jalal: "Stop your babbling; it's enough to have your report every morning, but do you have to keep asking questions like I'm an idiot? If they don't reply, consider ignoring them and their progresses until they explicitly threaten our interests. And let us hope that they don't cross our bad side, because war is the last thing that we would need at this time."

Advisor: "Yes, Sire. But shouldn't we take concern that this may be a violent revolution that ultimately seeks to topple the political structure in all of Arabia? What if this is the work of Jews?"

Emir Jalal: "The Jews have Israel, and as long as they are beneficent in their guardianship over the Holy Mosques and the true believers, there is no reason to concern with anything that they do. And I doubt it. Persia is a land of Shia, which I believe to be the worse problem - Islam needs a strong authority, not one crippled by political infighting and senseless extremists claiming that Allah commands their violence."

Advisor: "So we should leave them then?"

Emir Jalal: "Of course. Why trouble a child exiting the womb with more pain? We should leave them alone until they reveal their true intentions. If they want anything until then, they will ask. Let us therefore hope that they will ask with words instead of arms."

Advisor: "Yes, sire."

In the weeks and months since the capture of Tehran, the Socialists had been completely routed, with large numbers smuggling themselves into the territory they still controlled in the United Arab Emirates to the south, just across the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, Sistan's new government began to carve themselves a new command structure. Though for now, the nation was a dictatorship masquerading as a monarchy under a man known as Cyrus Mansur, who styled himself 'King Cyrus III'. Later, perhaps, Sistan would test the waters of democracy, but for now there was no room for such instability.

As the new government pieced itself together and the Socialists fled to the UAE, the huge military that had been gathered during the Iranian campaign was put to work in repairing the damage that had been dealt to the infrastructure during the conflict, as well as expanding it for the better. Better road systems were constructed for the benefit of both the civilian population and military uses. To further aid the transportation system, an extensive network of railroads was begun with separate lines for freight and passenger trains. Several of the lines were high speed lines modeled after the Japanese systems, while others were short haul commuter trains. In addition, seaports were expanded and the nation's shipbuilding industry was flooded with cash from the over full coffers of the corrupt Socialist government. Rounding off the transportation system expansion was a similar expansion of Sistan's aerospace industry and airports.

While the massive public works projects were underway, Sistan's top military leaders began planning the invasion of the UAE to eliminate the Socialist fugitives. The former Iranian navy was nowhere large enough to conduct a proper amphibious invasion, so hundreds of small freighters that had been damaged during the revolutionary war were bought by the new government and converted for military use under the cover of huge tin warehouses built directly over the slips to protect them from aerial or satellite observation. Though most became landing ships of various types, several became crude missile cruisers, anti-aircraft ships, ASW platforms, and even a few aircraft carriers that resembled the world's first, carriers created by equipping coal haulers with flight decks and converting the hulls of battlecruisers canceled due to the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.

Several more weeks passed before the ships were finished. When they were, however, the most experienced troops in Sistan were shipped to Bandar Abbas and loaded onto the hastily prepared warships. When the time for the invasion came, the fleet departed Bandar Abbas under the cover of a cloudy, moonless night. Splitting up and sailing some hundred or so kilometers south, the fleet parked itself off the coasts of Khasab, Mina Saqr, Ra's al Khaymah, Umm al Qaywayn, Dubai, Mina Jabal Ali, and Khawr Fakkan. With dawn still several hours away, the assault began all at once. Aircraft took off from the crude carriers, mostly F-4Es and F-14As, to strike at military targets throughout the area. The 'missile cruisers' cast missiles into the skies like a burning fireworks warehouse, each aimed at targets that had been scouted out by agents on the ground and spy aircraft in the weeks before. The landing ships opened their modified bows and produced countless landing craft to assault the beaches, while LSTs took to the beaches themselves and unloaded tanks directly onto the sands.

Taken by complete surprise and totally overwhelmed, the Socialist forces on the Musandam peninsula had no options but to withdraw as quickly as they could, leaving behind most of their equipment. For the unlucky, escape was not even an option.

When dawn came, smoke was everywhere. In front, behind, to the right, to the left, all along the horizon. The stench of burning rubber, oil, and bodies, was everywhere. The Socialists had been routed from the Musandam peninsula easily, but some put up a fierce initial fight. Those that stayed beyond the first skirmishes died in scores. The Sistani landing forces took heavy losses too, after the initial surprise was lost at least, but nothing like those the Socialists took. The Sistani forces, however, immediately took up the chase and moved south, further into the UAE. The first casualties of the invasion hadn't even been cleared from the beaches when the Sistani forces overran the first inland villages.

Like all blitzkriegs, the key to the Sistani assault on the UAE was speed and momentum. With total air superiority, heavy close ground support, and many more forces following behind the vanguard, the Sistani forces didn't even stop to secure the towns and villages as they moved, leaving the occupations and supply lines to the forces in the rear. Dubai, on the other hand, required major forces to secure. Because of this, the Sistani vanguard did not even attack the large port city, instead moving further to the south. When the second wave of Sistani troops and armor hit Dubai, however, the streets became rivers of blood and bodies. The Socialist forces holding out in Dubai were surrounded by the Sistani ground troops on all sides but one, and that last side was the sea. Unfortunately, there were Sistani forces there too. Running was not an option, and the Socialist commanders refused to surrender as well. For the Dubai Socialist forces, the only escape was death.

In Abu Dhabi, the combat was much like the combat in Dubai. Unlike Dubai, the Socialists in Abu Dhabi had competent commanders, well maintained equipment, and natural defenses. After the Sistani forces overran the outlying areas of the city, the Socialist forces blew up the bridges connecting the island city to the mainland. The Sistani forces could do little more than sit and wait on the other side until engineers could be landed in the north and sent down. For now, Abu Dhabi and the Socialists inside were relatively safe.

Several days passed before the engineers and their equipment made it to Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, the Socialist defenders prevented the engineers from doing any work, assaulting all attempts at bridging the water with small pack howitzers, mortars, and rockets. Small, mobile, and easily hidden, the Sistani forces were unable to neutralize the artillery. Though they tried using everything from their own artillery to air and missile strikes, it quickly became apparent that the Sistani forces would have only two options to take the city. The Sistani military would have to stage a massive amphibious assault from the sea and the canals, drawing forces from occupied towns and cities and sacrificing most of the captured territory, or they could wait it out and lay seige to the city as though it were a castle town during the crusades.

After deep deliberation, it was decided that Sistan could wait on Abu Dhabi.

While a large portion of the forces left Abu Dhabi, many remained. They were joined by naval assets off the coast that would prevent any aid from reaching the beseiged city. Meanwhile, the rest of the forces continued through the United Arab Emirates like the Mongol hordes of the days of yore. Though for the most part unchallanged, the Sistani troops were unable to destroy the Socialist forces, and many escaped into neighboring Saudi Arabia as the last corners of the nation fell to the Sistani troops.

At the same time, Sistan began to take a look at the middle east in a greater scope, and prepared to take a specific chain of islands far to the south.

Weeks passed the forces in the UAE waited out the seige of Abu Dhabi and battled insurgencies. In Iran, much of the damage from the revolutionary war had been cleaned up, some even completely repaired. Better still, new factories had been constructed to produce weapons designed during the reign of the Islamic Republic before the Socialists took power. Zulfiqar main battle tanks, Tosan light battle tanks, Azarakhsh fighters, and a pair of newly designed propeller driven light attack aircraft built around powerful air cooled radial piston engines.

Meanwhile, Sistani forces assaulted the beaches of several islands in the Arabian Sea just off the Horn of Africa. Socotra, the Brothers, and several uninhabitable rocks became the stomping ground of thousands of Sistani boots. Though the islands were for the most part uninhabited, the troops made sure that things stayed that way. However, most of the Sistani forces on the islands were engineers, and as more shipments came to the islands the engineers began to fortify them, constructing new airfields, ports. garrisons, and batteries of guns and missiles that many navies would have trouble matching let alone single ships. The paint on the new airstrips was barely dry when Sistani F-4s and F-5s began using them to launch patrols of the surrounding sea.

While the Sistani factories stamped out military hardware and Socotra became a commanding beacon of power in the Arabian Sea that even the gods themselves would hesitate to attack, the siege of Abu Dhabi continued relentlessly. For the Sistani forces, casualties increased by the day and most of the time was spent waiting. For the people holed up within the besieged city, things were not quite as pleasant. Casualties mounted even faster, food was running out, and the constant barrages from the Sistani artillery was destroying the remaining infrastructure. Water was becoming hard to get as the local desalination facilities took hits, and ammunition for the Socialist forces was quickly running out. The siege could not possibly last for much longer.

Meanwhile, the factories in Iran were pumping out the first completed units which were then shipped to military bases in the southern half of the nation for final testing and crew training. Continuing with training, many of the recruits that had joined the Sistani forces during the revolution had reenlisted into the newly reformed formal military. Hundreds of thousands of men entered new basic training camps, MOS schools, and eventually active duty bases. Much like the revolution in which the Shah was deposed and the Ayatollah became the ruler of Iran, the military had been purged of forces loyal to the old regime when the new regime came to power. Socialists were executed by the thousands as the new military took shape.

For the Army, the new regime meant new equipment to replace the haphazard collection of old American, Soviet, and European hardware that decades of embargoes and political falling outs had created. For the Air Force, the story was much the same as with the Army, but the new hardware was even more significant. In addition to the new Azarakhshs, new fifth generation aircraft were in the works that would take the best elements from aircraft from around the world and combine them into weapons that would be more than a match for hardware produced by any other nation. For the Navy, however, the changes were the biggest. Under the Shah, Ayatollah, and Socialists, the Navy had always been the smallest branch of the military. Under the Sistani regime, this would change completely. The Navy would take the forefront of the military. Hundreds of new hulls were being laid down at new facilities throughout Sistani territory. When the new warships were completed, the Sistani navy would be second to none, and the crude warships converted from commercial vessels during and immediately after the revolution could be scrapped or sold to someone more needy.

Soon, the Persian Empire would span the globe.

More time passed, and yet the siege continued. The defenders of Abu Dhabi were dedicated, at least that much was apparent. Unfortunately, all good things must end, and even though they had put up a valiant effort and held the city in the face of Sistani aggression for several weeks, the time for surrender had come.

Food was nigh nonexistent in the battered city, water was stagnant and unhealthy, scars from shelling, bombing, and fires showed throughout the city like a black eye on a disobedient woman. Bodies were left in piles in the street to bake and rot. Disease was running wild with no working hospitals or sanitation programs to contain it. To put it simply, Abu Dhabi was among the closest approximations to Hell that could be found on Earth.


It was noon on the fifty first day of the siege when the commander of the local resistance drove up to the shore of the canal that separated the city from the Sistani forces. His jeep was shielded under the protection of a large white flag that billowed in the wind. With a megaphone, he requested to meet with the commander of the Sistani forces.

After some brief negotiations via megaphone from the opposite shores, it was agreed to meet in the center of the canal in small rowboats. As agreed, each of the commanders and their staff rowed into the salty water, aiming towards each other's boats. In the center, or at least fairly close to the center, the boats met and were tied to each other before anchors were dropped.

For what seemed to be forever, the opposing commanders argued their demands, each trying to get an agreement favorable to their side. In the end, the commander of the Socialists in Abu Dhabi did not have many chips to play with, and agreed to surrender the city under the condition that he and his men be spared. After the surrender was agreed to, the two commanders parted ways to prepare for the end of the siege.

As the Sistani forces crossed the canal for the first time, the real work began. The Socialists were gathered and disarmed, festering piles of corpses were burned to prevent the further spread of disease, and damaged buildings were razed by army engineers. Medical and food clinics were set up throughout the city to bring relief to the sick and starving population. Temporary bridges were constructed to re-link the island to the mainland until the original bridges could be replaced.

In all, there would be years of work before Abu Dhabi would recover completely, but the Socialists had been defeated. The healing could now begin.

Riding the wave of momentum that had been created by the conquests of Iran and the UAE, Sistani forces began to move into neighboring Iraq within hours of the deal between their government and The Great Sixth Reich. In exchange for control of Iraq, TGSR was granted treaty ports near the cities of Humedan, Deyyer, and Tarif. In addition, TGSR would pay a reduced price for Sistani oil.

In Iraq, many of the villages welcomed the Sistani troops with open arms. More often than not, however, the Sistani forces were met with gun and rocket fire, be it from the rampaging Vineyardians or Islamic insurgents. Regardless of who was doing the shooting, the response was always the same. Overwhelming force. Though the Sistani forces would work hard to prevent any collateral damage, eventually buildings that had become enemy strongholds would have to be destroyed. Most often, the building was struck down from above by an A1K Qeshm, a light, propeller driven attacker powered by a single radial piston engine and carrying 500lb bombs. Other times, the job was done by the only bomber in the Sistani arsenal at the time, the B1K Tigershark, a slightly larger version of the Qeshm with a lighter gun load and a focus on bombing. Occasionally, the strikes would be carried out by jets, but for the most part the jets were busy patrolling the skies for any Vineyardian aircraft that might try to prey on the Sistani forces below.

Though the Sistani forces had a huge numerical and equipment advantage, casualties were still fairly high. Part of the problem with fighting an insurgency is that your men are clear targets and your enemies blend in with the population. To prevent attacks, the Sistani forces would impose strict curfews, and occasionally attempt to disarm the populace. Sadly, this more often than not made things worse rather than better. Even so, progress was made. As the Vineyardian forces were driven from towns and villages or destroyed outright, the Islamic insurgencies calmed down a bit. They were still unhappy with being occupied by foreigners, but at least these foreigners were neighbors and somewhat more reasonable.

Regardless, the Sistani forces in Iraq would have their work cut out for them.

Abdul al Nasir stared out of his office to the Riyadh skyline. He could only grimace. While his job had always been stressful, the new times were putting a new set of grey hairs on his head. Finally his Foreign Minister broke the silence.

"Abdul, we must do something."

"I know, Khaled, I know. I just don't know. I mean what can we really do. We don't have many options for a situation like this. Sistan is a larger nation than us and has more power, plain and simple," Naisr replied. He looked deeply into the eyes of Hosseini and saw fear. For Khaled to be afraid he knew the sitation must be urgent.

"There is still the issue of the fighting to the north. We cannot ignore it. It is inevitable that it will spill over onto us," Khaled said rrankly. "Where is Heitz? We could use his advice on this."

Nasir looked out onto the city again, "I'm not sure, I think he's on his way. I talked to him about five minutes ago. He said he was coming."

Benjamen Heitz soon walked through the oaken doors of the Prime Minister's office. He looked displeased, though he rarely looked otherwise.

"This is some serious shit."

"The vulgarity Ben? And yes, it is," Khaled turned his gaze to Heitz. The elderly man was one of the few Jewish ministers and was the war hero of the group. He had been the Commanding General of the revolution, but no longer looked the part, time had taken it's toll.

"We need to dispense forces to the board immeadiatly. Send the central garrison. We don't have many men, but it's the least we can do. I also reccomend raising the alert level and putting all Air Guard planes on stand by," Heitz turned to the Prime Minister.

"That serious?" Nasir asked. His gaze looking down woefully at the general.

"Yeah, it is."


To: The Sistani Leadership
From: The Riyadh Office of Prime Minister Abdul al Nasir

While we have had few relations in the past, something which we regret, The People's Republic must now begin communications with Sistan on unfortunate circumstances. Our intelligence reports Sistani forces entering Iraq, and while we currently have no issue with this, the people of Arabicia fear the spill of violence into our borders. We urge Sistan to come to a quick and peaceable solution to the fighting.

Abdul al Nasir, Prime Minister of The People's Republic of Arabicia

Following the notice the Central Garrison at Riyadh, some 3,000 men were moved to guard the northern borders. They were moved to be stationed at the northern outpost at Ra's al Khafji and were supplement to the 6,000 men already at the outpost. Ben Heitz appointed Lieutenat General Azari in charge of Operation Lightning Wall.

The Operation was a defensive plan only. The short summary of the operation was that any forces entering the borders of Arabicia were to be intercepted immeadiatly and asked their origins, should they be hostile Azari was given the power to engage enemies. Azari hoped it wouldn't come to that.

It had been a few weeks since the Sistani troops entered Iraq. Since then, the Sistanis had spread to every corner of the nation due to a complete lack of any organized resistance. In the cities and towns, there was plenty of insurgency to deal with, but that didn't prevent the passage of forces outside of the settlements. As such, the Vineyardians and insurgants were for the most part surrounded. Movement was restricted by curfews and martial law, and enforced by constant air patrols. Slowly but surely, the hostile forces within Iraq would be whittled down.

In the mean time, other Sistani forces brought aid all across Iraq, gaining the goodwill of the population both Shia and Sunnii. Even the rampaging Vineyardians were given aid provided they agree to disarm. In all, the tactic was working for the most part. It would be a slow process, but things would be better by the day.

Perhaps the only exception was the area near Basrah. Instead of getting slowly better, the situation got quickly worse. The Vineyardians in the area still had much of their equipment, and had been running night time raids on the Sistani forces, causing lots of trouble and creating casualties before retreating into Kuwait just as the first rays of the sun rose above the eastern horizon.

Day after day, the raids continued. Eventually, it was decided that something would have to be done. Sistan would invade Kuwait.

In a scene that seemed at home in the early nineties, tanks poured across the Kuwait-Iraq border from the north. With them were dozens of Sistani attack aircraft and fighters. Taking a page out of the playbook of the Third Reich, the Sistani forces rolled over Kuwait like Germany did Poland. Like Iraq and the UAE, there was still insurgancy and the undead military of a former nation to deal with, but Sistan had the resources to deal with anything that could be thrown at them.



Diplomatic Telegram
To: Prime Minister Abdul al Nasir of Arabicia
From: King Cyrus III of the Persian Empire of Sistan
Subject: Re: Iraq

I understand that you are concerned, but I would not worry. We are simply cleaning up the mess of the previous administrations. Fortunately, our forces are more than sufficiant to deal with the renegade military units and insurgancy, and I do not believe that the conflict will spill into Arabicia. Never the less, I will try to wrap it up as soon as possible.

-King Cyrus III
The Persian Empire of Sistan

To: King Cyrus III of Sistan
From: Prime Minister Abdul al Nasir

While we thank the Empire of Sistan for their assurances of the safety of Arabicia, we do currently question the true safety of our north eastern border. The most specific issue being your nation's entrance into Kuwait. We respect your right for your troops to defend themselves, but we ask that you withdraw forces from Kuwait as soon as possible as it works against that nation's sovreignty and may be considered an act of war upon the nation. The last thing we in Arabicia want is a war between two of our neighbors.

Abdul al Naisr, Prime Minister of The People's Republic of Arabicia

Days passed, and the Sistani strangleholds on both Iraq and Kuwait tightened. After the Kuwait based attacks, neither Tehran or the generals in the field were in the mood to play nicely with the insurgencies or Vineyardian forces. Though there was still a major effort to keep civilian casualties and collateral damage to a minimum, attacks were met in kind with ruthless efficiency. For those who would dare attack Sistan, quarter was a resource that was running out fast.


Diplomatic Telegram
To: Prime Minister Abdul al Nasir of Arabicia
From: King Cyrus III of the Persian Empire of Sistan
Subject: Re: Kuwait

Though your concerns are noted, I am afraid that there will be no withdrawl from Kuwait. Kuwait lost all right to its soveriegnty when it failed to control its border and allowed attacks on my forces to be staged and launched from inside its territory. However, I would not worry about any war between Kuwait and Sistan. Sistani forces have already dealt with Kuwait's pathetic war machine and deposed its weak government. From now on, there will be a strong government controling the area.

-King Cyrus III
The Persian Empire of Sistan

Still more weeks passed. By this time, most of the insurgency had ended. The only problem left to deal with in any significant quantity were the pockets of renegade Vineyardian forces still holed up in the south. Fortunately for the Sistani forces, new Zulfiqar tanks were quickly deployed to the front to replace the old Soviet models that had previously been the workhorses of the Sistani army. In Iraq, the Vineyardians were still something of a problem, due in part to the huge area involved that the Vineyardians could, and did, hide in. This made tracking them down and destroying them, before and after raids, rather difficult. Fortunately, the Sistani forces had plenty of time to deal with them, and were even bolstered by the former insurgents who had formed local militias to help against the Vineyardians.

In Kuwait, the situation was a bit different. There was little area to hide in there, so the Vineyardians had resorted to guerilla warfare within Kuwait City. Unfortunately, the Kuwaiti insurgency was also very strong within Kuwait City, and the city was a constant battleground between the three factions. The Sistani forces had much better equipment and training, but were outnumbered by several orders of magnitude. To help even the odds, there were squadrons of Sistani attack aircraft and light bombers in the air above the city at all times, ready to strafe enemy troop formations or drop bombs into hardened targets at a moment's notice.

Worse still, large numbers of the Vineyardian forces had crossed the border into Arabicia and begun staging operations against Sistani forces from the Arabician desert. In response, large numbers of Sistani troops were deployed to the border areas to quell them, occasionally chasing the Vineyardians back to their camps in Arabician territory.

To the foreign observers, it appeared that the Sistani troops were following the international laws for combat to the letter. Well, the units observers were attached to, at least.


Diplomatic Telegram
To: Prime Minister Abdul al Nasir of Arabicia
From: King Cyrus III of the Persian Empire of Sistan
Subject: Border Incursions

Vineyardian forces are staging attacks on my forces from your side of the border. Though my forces have been limiting their actions to chasing the Vineyardians back across, I will give the order to move across the border and annex the territory if you cannot control it. Unless you wish to see your kingdom in my hands like Kuwait, I advise you to deal with those who would use your frontier against me.

-King Cyrus III
The Persian Empire of Sistan

Red Tide was in need of resources, especially that all important commodity: Oil. The massive mechanized armies of the Corporate Dictatorship drank up huge amounts of fuel with their exercises. New conflicts arising in the Middle East drew notice from the Corporate Dictatorship. A message was sent to Riyadh.

Top Secret Message
To: Prime Minister Abdul al Nasir of Arabicia
From: Goverment of the Corporate Dictatorship of Red Tide
"We have noticed that you have had some... problems with the nation of Sistan. We come here with offers of resolving that problem. With your permission, we will send a Field Army(875,000 men) by ship and a Dreadnough Battlegroup for protection purposes. All we ask in return is that you allow our Corporations to drill, ship, and sell at least a part of your oil fields. We are also willing to chip in a 800 million dollar incentive for allowing this. We hope to hear from you soon."
End Message

The insurgency was winding down quickly. Tehran had decided to end things immediately, and so the insurgency was put down brutally. Quarter was no longer granted to captured insurgants or Vineyardian troops. Instead public executions took its place. Afterwards, the corpses were impaled or hung in public, in full view of the population. At the same time, the general public was recieving aid from the Sistani forces and new government offices and services were set up by the Sistanis in both Iraq and Kuwait. The people were now part of the Persian Empire whether they liked it or not.

While order was being restored, Sistani forces were moved out of the cities in growing numbers to be relocared to the border with Arabicia. The Arabicians had done nothing to stop the Vineyardian attacks, choosing to invade a defenseless Yemen instead, completely disregarding Sistani protests. It seemed that they would have to be put into line by force.

On a direct request from our allied Arabicia, we're sending in an air wing of 50 Lavi-fighters. They will patrol the borders to Iraq and Kuwait, as well as the east coast of Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile one battle group [1] from Eilat is on their way to the northern border of Saudi Arabia.

[1] OOC:
The Battle group consists of :
200 Merkava MK4's
15 MAR-290 (long-range artillery system link ( http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/vehicles/self_propelled_artillery/290mm/290mm.html)
SPYDER - Air Defence Missile Systems
Nimrods (Air and Ground Launched Precision Guided Munition)
LAHATs (Laser Homing Anti-Tank Gun)
LAR-160 (Light Artillery Rocket System)
Supply vehicles

The Emirate notes with complete disgust at the reckless disregard for public welfare in your atrocious murders of peoples without proper trial.