NationStates Jolt Archive

Somewhere off the coast of Barkozy..

A silhouette tore through the clouds. The clouds obscured the sky very well, leaving nothing but a dreary white nothingness for the crew of the Meriwether. The seaplane slowly descended from the clouds well in view of the freighter. In the plane was a single pilot who smiled as he looked upon the prime target below. When the plane closed in and blew by the freighter, the crew looked astonished. The captain came out to see what happened, and the crew pointed at the plane as it turned around to go back the way it came.

"What do you think, captain?", said one of the crewmen.

"I don't rightly know, but you guys need to get the GPS working again so we can know if we hit national waters."

The crew went off to their work, but the captain watched the plane fly off with a horrified look on his face.

Hours later..

The seaplane eased onto the calm waters in a small cove in North Barkozy. It had cleared up, making for a beautiful evening. The pilot got out of the airplane after he slowly beached it. He then walked to the shack and cranked the radio. After a couple minutes of this, he called his base.

"There's a big fat ship heading north from Carlstown port, position KF1668 going slow."

"Roger that, thanks for the heads-up."

Midnight, that same day

Two F-5 fighter jets flew loudly through the night sky.

"We've got that boat in sight. Get ready to attack." said one of the pilots

Most of the Meriwether's crew was asleep, save the single man on his watch for the night. He heard the jets come in for their run, sounding the alarm before the aircraft could drop their ordinance. This certainly didn't save the ship, though, when a pair of bombs slammed onto the deck from above. A fire started on the deck, and before the crew knew what was happening, the ship sunk, leaving them with their lifeboats. The crew was fortunate, however. They all survived and also managed to send a disress call home.

OOC: This is a Haven Rp, meaning you guys can hop in, but please do not escalate this thing without my permission.

Venture Island Naval Command
"Admiral, we still have no contact with the Meriwether. We believe her GPS systems failed somewhere near the Barkozian archipelago."

Admiral Robert Jones paused briefly, looking at the reporting ensign. He said, "Dispatch the Interceptor. Use the last known GPS coordinates."

"Aye, sir." The ensign saluted and left the office smartly, headed to the communications room. He entered the room after inputting his identification number, saluted the officer in the room, and sat down at his console.

He logged in, and ran a communications program. He plugged in the channel for the Interceptor, a frigate, and typed out Admiral Jones' orders.

Interceptor, Venture Island Dock
On the bridge of the Interceptor, a heavy frigate, Captain Carl MacArthur vaguely heard his communications officer saying, "Captain? Captain, we have a transmission from the Command."

"Yes, yes, route it to my screen." MacArthur said, almost falling asleep in his chair. The ship was docked for refueling and the ground personnel were being slow about it.

His command screen showed in bright green text, "DLY X506Y800 SR MERIWETHER" which roughly stood for 'Deploy to coordinates 506,800 and run a search-and-rescue operation for the Meriwether."

"Comm, send an affirmative response to Command and prepare to undock."

"Aye, sir. Response sent. The dock workers are signalling that they're done."

"Navigation, move us to coordinates five oh six by eight zero zero at maximum speed, we'll be running a search and rescue operation for the freighter Meriwether. Bring all scanning online and get the helicopter manned."

"Yes, sir. Undocking...now."

The Interceptor slowly pulled itself free of the dock, forcing tugboats to get the hell out of the way else they be crushed. Two helicopter pilots ran to the helipad on the rear of the vessel, preparing to run search operations in coordination with the frigate. The last known location was about 200 nautical miles off of the Whyatican coast, and the frigate slowly accelerated to the sprint speed, 38 knots.

4 hours later
Interceptor arrived in the location, only to see the burning hulk of Meriwether some miles away. On the bridge, Captain MacArthur said, "Bring us over to the wreck, get firefighting operations ready! Launch the helicopter, rescue anyone in the water! Keep active scans going for possible hostiles! Move, move move!"

The bridge crew didn't even respond as the ship began to move again. Outside on the helipad, the attack helicopter the Interceptor carried had a cable attached to it with a life-vest on it, for S&R operations. This would be a grim day in Whyatica, and a great day for Whyatican mass media..

A single aircraft appeared on the Whyatican radar screens well before being spotted. It closed range fairly quickly, and then fired a missile at the helicopter as it came within visual range.

IWNS Interceptor
An alert blared on the bridge as the RADAR detected an incoming fighter.

"Captain, unknown fighter approaching, it appears to be an F-5 Freedom Fighter. They have not identified themselves and they are coming on a beeline for the helicopter."

"Send the normal warning message, continue on approach to the Meriwether."

"Aye, sir..Captain, the fighter is firing on our chopper!"

"Fire RAM, lock on StA missiles and destroy the fighter!"

"Aye, sir. RAM locking on."

A rolling airframe missile leapt from a box-mounted launcher on the side of the Interceptor, followed by a second one for good measure. Unfortunately, both missiles streaked by their target, one nicking the side of the missile, which sent it careening slightly to the left. The missile exploded off the side of the attack helicopter, which sent shrapnel through the glass of the cockpit. Both pilot and co-pilot died instantly as shrapnel blasted through one side of their head and out the other. The helicopter, pilotless, began to slowly cruise down into the ocean, carrying one crewman from Meriwether on it's life raft. The crewmember wisely detached himself from the helicopter cable and hit the water, picking up three more crewmen on the small life raft.

Shortly following the destruction of the Whyatican attack helicopter, a vertical launch cell fired off one surface-to-air missile at the enemy F-5, shortly followed by two more missiles for good measure. Small dropships dropped from the side of the Interceptor, each with two sailors on it. The dropships moved out, picking up sailors that successfully managed to escape the burning wreck of the freighter.

The Interceptor's anti-air gunners ran to their stations, preparing the 5" dual-purpose naval gun for use against the Barkozian F-5. CIWS systems locked onto the fighter, but held their fire for the SAMs had not impacted or missed yet.

The three SAMs streaked through the sky, one exploding too early and showering the fighter with fragments, and the other two impacting the plane, sending it up in a ball of fire that killed the pilot and destroyed the plane. Wreckage of the plane fell to the sea, spreading burned ashes through the waves..

This would mean war, no doubt, and cameras onboard the Interceptor caught every second..

Interceptor
"Captain, confirmed destruction of the enemy fighter. I also believe that the fighter came from a Barkozian airfield."

"Yes, yes..How are the rescue operations proceeding?"

"We've rescued everyone we can, sir, the boats are coming back to the crane to load."

"Good..When the boats are loaded, set a course to Venture Island, Parliament is going to have a fit over this." Captain MacArthur said, drifting again. He really needed sleep at this point, and he said, "Commander Gates, you're in command until I awaken, I'm taking a break."

The Commander looked at MacArthur and said, "Yes, sir."

As MacArthur walked to his quarters to have a nap, the Interceptor finished loading the rescue boats, and it began to make a wide turn and head back to Venture Island. While this was going on, tactical officers sent reports of the combat with video feeds to the Naval Command..

Venture Island Naval Command
"Admiral, we are recieving feeds of the Interceptor's mission."

"Display it." Admiral Robert Jones said.

The men in the Naval Command room saw the attack helicopter of the Interceptor exploding from an impact with the missile, and they saw the surface-to-air missiles locking onto, firing at, and destroying the Barkozian F-5. After that little sequence, Admiral Jones said, "Get me Grand Admiral Aykroyd." The ensign responded affirmatively, saluted, and left the room.

Admiral Jones' Planning Room
The door slid open to the planning room, and Grand Admiral Dan Aykroyd entered the room. He had to duck slightly to get through the doors, as Aykroyd was 7'2", making him too tall for most doors in Whyatica. He said to Jones, "Now, Admiral, what is it you wanted to speak to me about?"

Jones threw Aykroyd a folder, with a title of "The Meriwether Incident". He said, "I want to push the Parliament to declare war on Barkozy."

Aykroyd flipped through the folder, reading stuff that he had already read.

"That region has no central government," Aykroyd said, leaning forward, "How can we be expected to declare war on a 'nation' that's in effect a collection of warlords?"

"We can't pinpoint which militia did it, but we can declare war on the region and tell the other warlords that they'll either ally with us or be destroyed. All the warlords are poorly armed and we can destroy them no problems. We're continuing to have border clashes with the warlords in the archipelagos. Why don't we just invade?"

Aykroyd pondered this, and thought to himself, I can gain glory through this one..Perhaps even a promotion.. He said to Jones, "I'll bring this case to the Parliament. Given this evidence, the Centrists will probably jump on it, get approval for the war fast so they can remain in power."

Jones looked at him and said, "Yes, sir. One more thing, sir, I want to be in command of one of the battlegroups."

Aykroyd thought about the possible loss of glory, and said, "Permission granted."

Aykroyd left the command room, headed for the Venture Island airport to the Whyatican capital, Miana..

[ARALONIAN GROUND DEFENCE FORCES BASE, VARONA, HAVEN ARALONIA]

Commander Jon Kvapil stood atop one of the towers in the recently established “city” of Varona, or rather, one of the towers in the recently established ground forces base in that recently established city. He could see one of the oh-so-loved battleships – probably one of the new Duke classes, he thought – that the government put so much funding into. And what about the army and air forces? Look at our equipment, the army is so small and the Air Force just gets things second hand from the Navy! Paah!

“It seems to be a fine day, is it not, Comrade?” Ivan Ryanovich Golovko appeared through a hole in the floor that led to a ladder. “To be out in the cold North Aralonian winder such as this, da?”

Kvapil gave a sharp bark of a laugh. “Indeed, it may be so. But look.” He turned to Ivan Ryan'ch. “War may be starting, comrade, and we have only been here for one year!”

“Indeed, so?” Golovko smiled. “Then we shall receive orders from the High Command and be dispatched to this new combat zone, da?” He waved a hand at the tanks driving around on the tarmac below him, the drivers maneuvering their tanks. “And look at them! So full of like, unlike us, eh, Comrade?”

“Indeed, it was so.”

But alas, the completely unexpected occurred.

One of the tanks stopped in the middle of its maneuvers. Yelling could be heard from the soldiers scurrying out of the top of the tank. Amazingly, nothing could be seen happening.

The explosive-reactive armor on the tank, all of it, exploded, sending ceramic pieces flying everywhere, knocking over some of the running soldiers. The ammunition then exploded as well, sending pieces of the tank flying everywhere, the turret being blown apart. Finally, in a final spectacular explosion, the fuel tank exploded as well, sending fuel everywhere. The windows of the tower rattled as the pressure wave reached Kvapil and Golovko.

“What the hell is going on down there!? Get medical teams and fire fighting crews there on the double!” Kvapil was grimacing at the sudden total failure of that tank. He would have words with High Command about this, no doubt about it.

Whyatican Parliament, Miana
Grand Admiral Dan Aykroyd stood at the speaker's podium of Parliament with a small speech prepared for them - He advocated going to war with the Barkozian militias. Set in two semi-circles around the podium were the Parliament members, 440 strong. Above, the Emperor and his personal aides sat, watching the goings on of this emergency session of Parliament. The Emperor had no power in the Empire, oddly enough, but he expressed interest to sit in on this session as it was called by Grand Admiral Aykroyd for the express purpose of war.

Aykroyd cleared his throat, and said, "I have called this emergency session of the Parliament, to speak to you about the Meriwether Incident. Today, our freighter Meriwether was attacked by a Barkozian fighter jet, believed to have launched from their homeland. She sank, with all but three of her crew escaping to the open sea. While the frigate Interceptor was conducting search-and-rescue operations, her attack helicopter was attacked by the same Barkozian fighter jet and destroyed, killing both pilots. Today," he paused, "I move that this Parliament issue a declaration of war against Barkozy, in retaliation for their blatantly military assault on our civilian freighter and our military assets."

A Parliament member from the 23rd District said, "As I'm sure you know, Grand Admiral, the Barkozy Island has no central government. How, then, do we declare war on a non-entity?"

"Intelligence has discovered that the attack was likely launched from one of the northern coastal militias," Aykroyd said, lying. Intelligence hadn't discovered anything yet, much less which militia did it.

"I propose that we dispatch the 1st Assault Group to the Barkozian Archepelago and begin aerial strikes to obtain intelligence as to their abilities and neutralise the armed militias." Aykroyd continued.

"Won't this waste more Whyatican lives needlessly, Grand Admiral Aykroyd? Where will the killing end?" said a Communist Parliamentary member, the Communist Party member in Parliament.

"The killing of innocent Whyaticans will never end unless we stop the Barkozians here, Mr. Congressman, and we have the power and the opportunity to do it. The Barkozian militias are underarmed, underfunded, and unenthusiastic. We can destroy them in conventional war any time.."

The Emperor watched these proceedings, and he pulled his aid close enough to just barely be in earshot and whispered, "Grand Admiral Aykroyd is foolish..The man who fights for survival will fight harder than the man who fights for vengeance..He does not know this, and thousands of Whyaticans will die as a result. Fools.."

On the floor of the Parliament, Grand Admiral Aykroyd finished his little monologue with, "And now, Whyaticans of Parliament, I ask you to vote on this, this declaration of war against all hostile Barkozian militias. Thank you." Aykroyd left the podium and the Parliamentary Hall for the vote.

Twenty Minutes Later
A gofer exited the Parliamentary Hall, to find Grand Admiral Aykroyd with his eyes closed, leaning against a wall. He said, "Grand Admiral?"

Aykroyd opened his eyes, and said, "What is it?"

"The Parliament has made their decision, Grand Admiral, and they wish for your presence."

Aykroyd followed the gofer into the hall, while thinking This quickly..?

Dan walked onto the speaker's podium, and the Speaker of Parliament said, "Grand Admiral, we have voted on your proposal, and it is the decision of this Parliament," he made a dramatic pause, "that a declaration of war be issued against any Barkozian Militia involved in the attacks today, and let me tell you, Grand Admiral. This war is to be limited. Cripple the militias and get out, we won't have a quagmire here, not now." It was an election year, after all.

Aykroyd, satisifed, said, "Thank you." and left the Parliamentary Hall.

The Bridge of the FMS 12 Seas

"Captain, the radar has picked up something weird" an aide informed his commander.

"It might have something to do with the weird signals we had picked up earlier, can the radarman compare the posistions?" the Commander replied.

"I'll get on it"
The aide walked briskly out of the room, and went down the stairs, the air was cool outside, and he was happy to get back inside. He informed the randarman of his task, and he completed it prompty. The aide took a walkie-talkie out, and called the captain.
"Sir, the directions match. What shall we do?"

"This might be a merchant vessel, but the least we can do is scout it out." he turned off the walkie-talkie, and talked to the wheel man, "Set a new course!"

Blue-42 Alliance Meetinghouse, Red Lake, Barkozy

There was much commotion in the meetinghouse as everyone wondered why Karlburg asked them to come on such short notice. Karlburg walked out of the small office and when he fired his shotgun into the ceiling, the commotion stopped. He then walked to the podium and cleared his throat.

"There's been a lot of stuff happening very recently that will concern us all. Just hours ago, one of the nations, Whyatica, declared war on every militia in Barkozy. I suspect that they're gonna hit Lane or Myron first, which doesn't exactly hurt us, but we've got to get ready for a fight immediately. I am calling up every militiaman on the list, as should you guys. I've hired somebody to check out the situation that caused Whyatica to go to war. Be really careful, guys, and be ready for updates on the wireless."

When he stopped talking, the people in the meetinghouse roared in speculation among one another. Karlburg walked back into the office and turned on his satellite TV before taking out a piece of paper and writing a letter.

Robert Myron's compound, North Barkozian coast

Myron sat at his desk with a phone in his hand as a woman walked in.

"Not now, i'm busy.." Myron spoke.

"This is really important!" She said,

Myron diverted his attention to the phone.

"So you're saying I lost a plane? Do you know how much those things cost? Don't lose another one of them, or you can find some other job." he said, just before hanging up.

She walked downstairs and Myron followed her, taking a glance at news on the TV. He quickly ran to watch the screen intently.

Two hours later, on the radio.

"As a result of the threat of Whyatican invasion, Myron's militia has declared allegiance to the Whyatican government, as have a number of his allies further to the South. The Blue-42 alliance has declared that it will resist a Whyatican invasion by all means necessary, as have several other militias, such as Lane's boys and the Maro Port Union. The Port Union has declared the Ferry closed to all shipping traffic, and it is expected that port facilities will be destroyed, though no measures have been taken to that effect."

Imperial News Network
"Today, a wide-scale mobilisation is occuring within the ranks of the Imperial Whyatican Armed Forces. Thousands of men are being called into reserve duty, while the 3rd and 5th Infantry Divisions are arming and preparing to go to war in Barkozy. Less than one day after Parliament issued a declaration of war against all hostile Barkozian militias, several have declared their allegiance to our government, and it is unknown if the government is going to give them special consideration beyond 'not-shooting-at-them.' On the other hand, many more armed groups have declared that they will resist our troops by any means necessary. Today in our studio, we have Major Jack Thompson to talk about what he expects for this oncoming war. Major?"

Major Jack Thompson walked into the studio. He was fairly lean, being an officer, and carried an air of importance about him. One could tell that he was aiming for a promotion just by the way he held himself in great regard.

He shook hands with the host, Caroline Li, and sat down in a chair, leaning forward.

Caroline said, "Major, what can we expect from this war?" She, as was her style, was cutting straight to the chase in this case, as everyone wanted to hear what might happen.

"Well, Ms. Li, our intelligence has determined that the Barkozian militias currently opposing us are poorly armed, underfunded, and that they're scared to death about fighting a modern force like ours. Our casualties will probably be minimal."

"What is the government's position on the militias aligned with us?"

"We're going to provide economic aid to any militia allied with us. We're going to assist them in reaching the 21st Century, so to speak. Overall we're aiming for a standard of living increase in any of the allied militias."

"What about the hostile groups? Won't we be lowering the standard of living there?" Li was done with the softball questions now, as was obvious in the tone of her voice.

Thompson hesitated for a second and said the government's party line, "We'll be liberating them from madmen who choose to run their little sector of land like their own playthings, Ms. Li. As far as I'm concerned, any Barkozian civilian that does not pick up a gun is off limits."

"You didn't answer my question, Major."

Thompson was getting visibly annoyed now, and he said, "Ms. Li, I was under the impression that this would be a simple question-and-answer setting for any Whyatican who wished to know about the coming actions."

"Then you thought wrong, Major."

Jack was becoming angry, and he stood up. He looked like he was about to slap Caroline, and he simply walked off the stage to a parade of 'boo's from the audience.

Venture Island Naval Base
The First Assault Group was prepared for launch now, 489 ships strong. Two active divisions, the 1st Infantry and the 22nd Armoured had been raised from military bases across Whyatica for this 'police action' as some were calling it. Aircraft carriers were loaded up with fuel, aircraft, munitions, and the like as the divisions boarded assault carriers for the coming amphibious landing. One wing of high-altitude bombers was prepared for a separate mission of land's marked as land belonging to the 'Lane's Boys' militia.

Five high-altitude strategic bombers taxiied off the runways of the Venture Island Air Force base, headed at supersonic speeds to the Lane's Boys militia lands. They would drop leaflets warning the Barkozians to evacuate the area before the aerial bombardments commenced, and that would be the only warning for the Lane's Boys, for the amphibious landing was scheduled for 48 hours after the leaflet drop, in Operation Retribution..