NationStates Jolt Archive

"Be careful what you wish for..."
The Civil War - Part II

The cemetery was filled with people, mostly men dressed in the black Class A uniforms of the Royal Cottish Army. In the center of attention, a white pine coffin with a Cottish flag draped over it sat, hanging over the two meter deep hole in the ground thanks to the metal frame which would lower it down in a short while. The family of the man being buried, a corporal from the Army who had been killed in action at the Isle of Man, sat on the few chairs on the right-hand side of the coffin, dressed in black and mourning the loss of their son and brother, while the priest on their right spoke of the assured life after death and that the dead soldier was guaranteed a quick passage through Saint Peter’s gate because he had died for his country while remaining firm in his belief in both his faith in the Holy Trinity and in the grandness of the Cottish Realm. Behind the priest, a color guard of four soldiers holding the flag of the Realm, the flag of the Army and two M14 rifles stood, showing the dead soldier their respect for his sacrifice. As well as the family and friends of the corporal, the entirety of the corporal’s company were present, all dressed in black uniforms with their ribbons and such, as well as representatives of the chain of command, namely the battalion commander and the general responsible for the execution of operation “Rask Aksjon”, the invasion of the Isle of Man. They were just finishing Our Fathers Prayer, which was the last thing before the coffin would be lowered into the ground. As if on que, six of the soldier’s best friends in his company, all of them in his squad, approached the coffin and took up positions on both sides, three per side. Meanwhile, the company first sergeant started barking orders.

“Presenter… gevær!” [Present… arms!]

The seven men with M14s standing on a row about ten meters from the coffin prepared themselves to open fire while the trumpeter started playing Last Post. While the color guard lowered their flags and presented their rifles, the soldiers all slowly raised their right hands to their heads, saluting the dead soldier one last time. The six soldiers turned towards the coffin and gently took hold in the flag as they had learned the previous night by the first sergeant, who barked out new orders in rapid succession.

“Legg an!” [Take aim!]

The seven riflemen aimed their rifles in a fourty-five degree angle towards the blue skies while placing their fingers on the trigger.

“Ild!” [Fire!]

Seven gunshots sounding like one pierced the trumpets sound, rattling some of the civilians attending the funeral. The mother of the soldier cried as she saw the six soldiers, friends of her son, fold the flag, which flapped slightly in the mild warm July breeze.

“Ild!” [Fire!]

By the time of the second salvo of gunshots, the flag had been folded enough for only two soldiers to be required to fold it.

“Ild!” [Fire!]

The last salvo rippled over the cemetery, ending the 21-gun salute to the dead soldier. The flag was folded into a triangle now, with the blue and white cross on the side facing up. One of the soldiers turned and presented it to the company commander, a captain. The Captain took over the flag and nodded to the soldier as if saying “good job” before turning and walked calmly over to the family. Meanwhile, the seven soldiers stood down their weapons and returned to attention. The captain stopped at the mother of the dead corporal and bowed down slightly, presenting her with the flag.

“Fra et takknemlig rike. Han døde med ære.” [From a grateful Realm. He died with honor.]

The mother nodded and accepted the flag, clasping it closely to her chest as the captain stood back up and saluted the mother. After the salute, he turned again and returned to his place at the front of his company. The priest stood ready at the coffin now with a small shovel in his hand and a small pile of dirt next to him. Taking a little dirt on the shovel, he placed it on the coffin.

“Fra jord er du kommet,” he said while taking more dirt on the shovel, placing it too on the coffin. ”Fra jord skal du bli,” Another bit of dirt. ”Og fra jord skal du igjen oppstå, amen.”

This little ritual was the Cottish equivalent to the “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” routine used by English-speaking nations, and the last thing to happen before the coffin was lowered into the ground and eternal rest.

“Vi overgir legemet til Atle Schau til jorden, og ber for hans sjel. Måtte han få innvilget den evige hvile i himmelriket på Herren Jesus Kristi side. For Riket er Hans, i all evighet. Amen.” [We surrender the body of Atle Schau to the earth, and pray for his soul. May he be granted the eternal rest in the Kingdom of Heaven, sitting besides our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Kingdom is His, in all eternity, Amen.]

With those words, the coffin was lowered into the ground slowly as the people present sang the hymn “Abide with me”. After that was sung and the coffin was lowered, the funeral service was concluded with a thank you to the people who attended and the condolences to the family from those present. A wake would be held at the parent’s house a bit later for the family, friends and some of the military men, while the majority of the soldiers would go to a pub and hold their own memorial service for their dead brother in arms, honouring his memory and remembering him and his actions over a couple of pints.

The family needed not concern themselves with the expenses for the rather lavish funeral, as everything had been arranged in cooperation with the military. Five hours after the man had been killed, his identity and status had been confirmed, something which had set the wheels in motion. Six hours after he had expired, two officers and a priest had knocked on the door of the family house, bearing the bad news. They had explained that their son had been killed in action while defending the interests of the Realm, and that it had been a quick and painless death. That last bit wasn’t necessarily true, but the military said it to keep the families from worrying about how painful it had been for their son or daughter, saving them at least some of the pain. The officers had also said that the military were offering to help arrange the funeral and to cover all the expenses, saving the family even more trouble. The hatch was that the dead soldier would be buried with all military honors and such, but only one out of twenty cases ended with the family not wanting the military’s assistance with the funeral. The wheels had been set in motion, and less than two days later, the dead soldier had been flown home in a military transport and brought to the local morgue, where he was identified by the family. The body had been cleaned up and made presentable, making the soldier appear to be sleeping. Only the four 5.56mm large holes in his chest and neck and the very pale skin revealed that he was in fact dead. After the identification, the body was released to the family from the military. The family had chosen to bury their son in his black Class A uniform instead of the normal white burial dress, mainly because they remembered how proud the nineteen year old had been to be a part of the military. The family had mourned their son, and now finally buried him. It was the final goodbye, and it took its toll. Fortunately, the son had cared about his family too. The life assurance of 450,000 Rikskroner which the military would pay out was to be paid out to his parents, as specified in his last will and testament. They wouldn’t have to worry about any financial difficulties because the son had perished for the Realm, and the Realm knew how to thank those who sacrificed themselves for it.

The general responsible for carrying out the campaign on Man, Generalmajor Harald Eia left the wake after a few hours, having paid his respects to the family. Initially, he had feared that he would be attacked by the family, but they had been surprisingly unhostile towards him for their son dying under his command for the Realm. The mother had explained that she didn’t blame him or the military or anyone in Cotland for their son’s death, but the terrorists on Man who had killed him. He thought of the conversation he had had with the mother as he entered the black M103A1 HSV sedan.

“God ettermiddag, general.” [Good afternoon, general.]

The general looked in and saw a man dressed in a grey suit sit inside. Looking up on the driver, a corporal from the Military Police, he sent the driver a gaze that said “why the hell didn’t you warn me!” before slowly getting in.

“Hvordan kan jeg hjelpe deg i dag, herr…?” [Who can I be of assistance, mister…?]

“Jeg forstår det slik at du nettopp har begravet enda en av dine soldater. Hvor mange blir det til sammen nå? Syv hundre?”

”Syv hundre og ni, faktisk.” [Seven hundred, nine, actually.]

”Syv hundre og ni mann som har dødd under din kommando. Er ikke det en del? Syv hundre og ni mann som har dødd på grunn av dine feil som hærfører?” [Seven hundred and nine menn, perished under your command. Isn’t that quite a bit? Seven hundred and nine men, dead because of your errors as a commander?]

”Hva forsøker du å si?” [What are you trying to say?[/size][/color]]

”Jeg forsøker å si at det finnes en annen sti enn den som den nåværende regjeringen går på. En som ikke inkluderer imperialistisk krigføring.” [I’m trying to say that there is another path than the one that the current government is walking. One that doesn’t include imperialistic warfare.]

”Det du sier nå er forræderi. Forræderi mot Kongen og den lovlig valgte…” [What you’re saying is treason. Treason towards the King and the legally elected…]

”Det er ikke forræderi! I alle fall ikke mot Kongen.” [It isn’t treason! At least not towards the King.]

”Du taler dobbelt.” [You speak with two tounges.]

”Ikke i det minste. Hør i alle fall på mitt… la oss kalle det forslag. Du har selvfølgelig hørt om situasjonen i Layarteb.” [Not at all. At least listen to my… let’s call it a proposition. Naturally you’ve heard of the situation in Layarteb.]

”Selvfølgelig.” [Of course.]

”Det minner om en borgerkrig, en borgerkrig som er utløst av at folket ikke har fått nok frihet. Det er nettopp det samme problemet som plager oss her i Cotland. Rothsky-regjeringen holder støtt og stadig på med å begrense folks friheter. Vi kan ikke stemme over alt som vi pleide å stemme over, vi kan ikke støtte de politiske grupperingene vi vil, vi har ikke lov til å støtte visse nasjoner… Må jeg fortsette?” [It reminds people of a civil war, a civil war which has been triggered by the people not getting enough liberty. It’s the exact same problem which plagues people in Cotland. The Rothsky government constantly limits people’s liberties. We can’t vote on all the things we used to, we can’t support the political groupings we want to, we can’t support certain nations… Need I continue?]

”Jeg går ut fra at du snakker om sosialistiske grupperinger som Rød Valgallianse og AKP-ml. Begge er terrororganisasjoner med flere gjennomførte terrorangrep mot Riket på samvittigheten.” [I assume you’re talking about socialist groupings such as Red Election-alliance and WCP-ml. Both of which are terrorist organizations with several terrorist actions carried out against the Realm on their consciences.]

”Det er fordi de ikke får lov til å uttale seg fritt! Men hør nå. Min plan er som følger. Vi, altså du og jeg, skal kaste Rothsky-regjeringen fra makten og tilbakeføre Cotland til det demokratiske landet som det en gang var.” [That’s because they’re not allowed to speak freely! But listen. My plan is as follows. We, namely you and I, will remove the Rothsky government from power and return Cotland to the democratic country it once was.]

”Du mener at vi skal kaste hele vårt styresett, altså regjeringen som styrer i nært samarbeid med både Kongen og Stortinget på vannet og opprette en ny sosialistisk eller, enda verre, kommunistisk nasjon der det eneste like med det gamle er i navnet. Og du påstår at dette ikke er forræderi mot Kongen.” [You mean that we are to throw our entire way of ruling, meaning the government which rules in close cooperation with both the King and the Storting away and establish a new socialist or, even worse, communist nation where the only similarity is the name. And you claim that this isn’t treason towards the King.]

”Vi kan la Kongen forbli på sin posisjon, men uten makt.” [We can leave the King in his position, but without power.]

”Hva er så vitsen med å beholde Kongen? For å ha Ham som en gallionsfigur?” [Then what’s the use of keeping the King? To maintain Him as a galleon figure?]

The man was quiet.

”Nettopp. Sjåfør, kjør til nærmeste politistasjon. Vi har en forræder her.” [My point exactly. Driver, take us to the nearest police station. We’ve got a traitor here.]

”Den eneste forræderen her er deg, general,” [The only traitor here is you, general,] the man said, upon which the driver turned with an M2A2 USP in his hand. [I]“Og straffen for forræderi er døden.” [[color=gray][size=1]And the punishment for treason is death.]

The 10x21mm projectile left the pistol at a speed of three hundred and sixty meters per second. With the distance between the driver and the general being barely one meter, the bullet penetrated the skull within a few milliseconds, killing the general instantly. The ball projectile still had a lot of energy left, so the back of the skull cracked open and splattered bone fragments, blood and brain matter all over the rear window, coloring it red instantly. The driver faced the road again and drove off the highway and down to a lake. When the car reached the lake, the two living men stepped out and pushed the car into the lake. It was twelve meters deep here, and the current was pretty strong, making visibility poor. The driver started removing his uniform while the two men walked towards a waiting Toyota Landcruiser by the forest. The general would be reported missing the next day when he failed to both report to his duty station and to answer any calls on the house phone, cell phone and pager. He wouldn’t be found for another four days by divers from the police, still sitting in the rear seat of his car with a gaping hole in the back of his head and a note pinned to his body.

”Tro ikke at vi er borte. Makten skal returneres til folket, uansett hvor mange som må dø før det skjer. Vi oppfordrer den ulovlige regjeringen til å tre av og overgi makten til dens rettferdige eiere. Makt til folket! - Sosialistisk Front”

[Don’t thing that we’re gone. The power will be returned to the people, regardless of how many that needs to die before it happens. We urge the illegitimate government to step down and surrender the power to its rightful holders. Power to the people! - Socialist Front]

The investigation of the death of the Marine General had confirmed what everyone within the upper echelons of the Government had feared. The terrorists hadn't been whiped out like they had thought when the Government concluded the purges of socialists and communists within its ranks. Nearly a thousand people had lost their positions, and upwards of a hundred members of various Ministries and the military had been quietly trialled for treason and later executed, usually by hanging within a Penal Category SERIOUS prison facility. Still, they hadn't managed to eliminate the terrorists. The investigation was transfered from the Police to REAF, the special investigations branch, almost immediately, and unlimited resources were given in order to locate and detain/kill those responsible. The investigation had proven to be a difficult one. The people purged had been the stupid ones, with the more clever terrorists having enough brains to keep ahead of the police. Still, the investigation would go on with full strength.

In a house far from population, somewhere in Hedmark county, a group of people were having a meeting, discussing what to do next. This was the leadership of the Socialist Front, a terrorist organization which had been created through the merger of SV, RV and AKP(ml), the three largest socialist/communist/maoist groups in Cotland. It was a alliance of necessity, but it worked relatively well, dispite some heated arguments and the occational armed standoff between the leaders. At the moment, they were discussing how to best take advantage of the situation in Layarteb, with the five Cottish children arrested in a Layartebian airport, suspected for running drugs (linky (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=492465)). It was clear that they needed to do something about it, but what?

After a night's worth of discussion, arguing and two standoffs, the leaders decided that they should stage a public protest against Layarteb, who they saw as the great enemy alongside Cotland, and create some havoc from there on. The following morning, the wheels were set in motion...

The next morning, a sizable crowd had assembled at a parking lot in the Grønland area in Oslo, many carrying signs with slogans demanding the release of the five children held in captivity on Jamaica. A man with a Palestinian scarf and a megaphone were giving a pep-talk, demanding the release of the children, the removal of Cotland from the October Alliance, dismay to the Layartebian Empire and, to a certain extent, statements against the King of Cotland, although many of the crowd certainly didn't share that sentiment! Still, the man, who was one of the secretive leaders of Socialist Front, served his purpose, enraging the crowd and getting them ready to march on the Layartebian embassy. A number of reporters had been tipped off, and they were present, covering the story. The news that there would be a protest had also been intercepted by the police, who had shown up to see what was going on. Since there was no law prohibiting protests in Cotland anymore, they could do little unless the protest turned into a riot. However, they asked politely some of the demonstrators, a lot of them being normal people with the utmost of respect for the police who just were dismayed with the Layartebian actions, who replied that they were marching to the Layartebian embassy to inform the Layartebians of their dismay.

The information was relayed quickly to the central, who felt it better to be safe than sorry. Seven squad cars were relayed to the Layartebian embassy to complement the police officers guarding the embassy. In total, twenty police officers and two dogs were present twenty minutes after the central got the warning. More units were relayed, including Politiets Beredskapstropp, which was the Oslo Police District's SWAT team. A truck carrying obstacles was also en route, to keep the demonstrators away from the embassy itself. The embassy was also contacted by the Police and by the Foreign Ministry, informing them that a demonstration was en route. Keeping in mind the disaster during the last demonstration against the Layartebian embassy (dispite the fact that it was during a completely different reign and in a completely different city), no chances were being taken.

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A member of Politiets Beredskapstropp

Layartebian Embassy, Oslo, Norway, Cottish Realm

The Layartebian Ambassador to Cotland woke up to the screams and protests outside of the embassy. "When was the last time I remember this." He was the same ambassador that had been in the embassy when it was attacked and overrun by Cottish protestors following the declaration by a prominent Layartebian scientist that aliens had been the first settlers of the planet. The Cottish police were already acting to set up baracades and provide a perimeter front against the 250+ crowd that was forming. "Alright. Everyone." He gathered the embassy staff in the main auditorium. "The last time I saw this it turned bloody and people died. We're not going to take any chances. We're going to continue our work as normal but security is going to be increased. I want those with weapons to walk around armed. I'm not taking chances, again! We're alerting Layarteb City with a communique about the situation. I am sure that there will be reinforcements as soon as possible. For right now, we have about a hundred Marines for security. They're going to be on constant duty so please, assist them if they ask. Keep your guard up and if we are ordered to evacuate, be prepared. Thank you." A communique was sent immediately to Layarteb City and, immediately, an AARG unit was tasked to provide coverage. They would be in the Skagerak in 2 days with enough troops and tanks to secure the embassy, if necessary.

The protests were covered in the morning news as they marched on the embassy. Other reporters were at the embassy, where the police were positioning barricades in the streets and lining up, dressed in the olive-gray mass-duty uniforms and black riot helmets. Long rubber batons nearly a meter long had been issued to the police officers along with 1.5 meter tall shields and tear gas canisters. The dogs were in the background, sitting on the ground, observing along with their handlers. Members of Politiets Beredskapstropp, operating under the codename Delta, were also present, locking and loading their L24A2 submachine guns, really nothing else than modified H&K MP-5/10s. Police officers from the Downtown station, Grønland station, Majorstua station and Manglerud station, codenamed Sierra, Foxtrot, Bravo and Mike, respectively, were present, along with members of the K9 unit, codenamed Victor, Delta as mentioned earlier, members of the traffic unit, codenamed Tango, and some members of the Police Security Service, codenamed Oscar. The whole circus of fifty police officers and counting was co-ordinated by the operations leader on the scene, codenamed Uniform Null-Fem [Uniform Zero-Five], or Null-Fem [Zero-Five] for short. In this case, it was politiførstebetjent [Police Lieutenant] Aksel Schjelderup, a fourty-three year old who was known for his great skill as a operations leader. The control, also known as Null-En [Zero-One] to the police officers, kept informing him about the status. They were marching down Karl Johan now, apparently planning to march past the Royal Palace where the cabinet was to meet later today, Schjelderup remembered as he spoke into the encrypted police radio.

"Har noen informert Layartebianerne?" [Did anyone inform the Layartebians?] he asked the central over the radio.

"Null-Fem, Null-En. Bekreftes. Oscar informerte dem for litt siden." [Zero-Five, Zero-One. Confirmed. Oscar informed them a little while ago.]

"Utmerket Null-En. Tango fem-tre, Uniform null-fem. Status?" [Excellent Zero-One. Tango Five-Three, Uniform Zero-Five. Advise status, over?]

"Tango fem-tre svarer. De har kommet seg inn på Karl Johan og marsjerer forbi Stortinget nå. Det ser ut som om noen av representantene er ute og heier på dem." [Tango Five-Tree responding. They've made it to Karl Johan and are marching past the Storting now. It seems a few of the rep's are out to cheer them on.]

"Mottatt. Hold et øye med dem. Null-fem ut." [Copy. Keep an eye on them. Zero-Five out.]

They were at Karl Johan. ETA was expected to be in thirty-five minutes...

The Emperor recieved the communique with distress. He recalled the last time we had embassy troubles in Cotland and he wasn't pleased. He was hoping that the King would do something to protect the embassy. He trusted his judgement and the Cottish police but no group could hold against superior numbers. Since the last time, the Cottish embassy, now moved to Oslo, had been reinforced and rearmed. No longer did they only carry a limited ammunition cache to protect and hold until a Marine detachment could rescue them. Now they carried a whole armory, in short, to allow them to make a stand at the embassy long enough to not only have Marines come and rescue them but to have those Marines evac as well.

As the riots intensified, they began consolidating and destroying intelligence, after copying what they could to flash drives, encrypted and password protected. The computer analysts in the Empire would be the only one able to crack the codes, should they be delivered by third party individuals. They weren't going to leave evidence around of anything that they weren't supposed to be doing and they worked as hard as they could to do what they could. The vault was opened, for stacking, and then sealed. It would take more than a bomb to open that vault.

With the Marines still a day and a half away, they were getting nervous. There was waiting, though not much of it. It was enough to still unnerve them. The Marines had a whole division on the AARG but they wouldn't need nearly that many. They would come in with a company, at most, via CH-53N Super Stallion II and UH-95A Huey II, possibly escorted by AH-94B Stalkers, if the situation called for it.

The main problem with any rescue operation was that the Cottish constitution forbid foreign military forces within the Realm except with the approval of Parliament. The Emperor had already authorized military intervention to rescue the embassy if it was in danger of being overrun. He would deal with the consequences but the embassy was his territory and he had a duty to protect it, its staff, and its information. He wasn't going to go on a campaign to shoot up the whole city, he wanted his embassy safe and the staff alive. The Cottish Parliament would have two choices: to allow the helicopters to get to the embassy and do their job or shoot them down, which would create an international crisis of epic proportions. Their intentions would be announced before they took off thus giving no excuse for "misjudgement" that they were going to be attacking anything other than the embassy.

The protesters passed the Royal Palace, where a company of His Majesty the King's Guards stood guard, providing the outer perimeter in His Majesty's safety detail. They watched as the crowds passed, but since they weren't moving in the direction of the palace or making threats against the King, the guardsmen simply watched as they passed, their L40A1 rifles on their shoulders but ready just in case the protesters tried something.

The police kept exchanging information with each other continuously, covering every step the protesters took. They were coming close enough for the police near the embassy and the embassy staff themselves to hear them now, chanting slogans such as "Free our kids!" and "Shame on you!", and some even going far enough to call out "Babykillers!", refering to the Layartebian practice of executing even children for serious crimes. The protesters showed some tendencies of violence, being shown when someone supporting Layarteb protested the protest just past the Palace, on Drammensveien. Two protesters seperated from the crowd and started shouting profanity and pushing the supporters around. Things were happening quickly, and before anyone had time to react, the two protesters were assaulting the supporters. One man was seriously beaten by the two, being kicked in among others his head, torso and groin. Five police officers saw what was going on and rushed to the area, batons ready. One protester saw them and ran while the other one ignored the police, continuing to kick and scream at the poor man. Two police officers went to work on the protester, batons working their magic while the shields the police officers had kept the police officers from harm's way. A few seconds of beating later, the man was down and handcuffed by two of the officers while a third checked on the victim. The other two kept curious bystanders from the area and called in an ambulance. The events were reported to Uniform 0-5 relatively quickly. It was a bad omen.

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The Marines, all of them, sat inside of the main auditorium, with their CO at the podium. A large aerial view of the embassy, taken from a satellite overhead only ten minutes earlier, showed the ominous state of affairs. Policemen were between the crowds and the embassy, barracades set up to protect the embassy. They could easily be overrun if they didn't act in their own defense. That was what this briefing was about, primarily. "Alright gentlemen. Listen up. ATTENTION! Better. Now we have a crisis on our hands that has the potential to become a full blown cluster fuck. Understood? Alright."

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"If you look here we've got a lot of land to protect here. I want us arranged as follows. We've got eight squads here and we can act as such. On the four perimeters I want two squads each, Alpha and Bravo to the north, Charlie and Delta to the south, Echo and Foxtrot on the east, and on the west, I want Golf and Hotel. Internal security, civilians that is, will have to be inside the embassy. If it is determined that we must fall back, we will. The VIP is, as usual, the ambassador and his family. Personnel organized by the tier system will be evacuated according to their tier. Unfortunately, those at the bottom will have to wait.

"The Navy is sending in reinforcements but they are still over 30 hours away. They will take up a position in the Skagerak thirty nautical miles off the Cottish coast, in international waters. Cotland is an October Alliance member so we don't suspect they will throw up too much of a fuss to our being there but they will be unhappy about it. Leave that to the diplomats. It is our job to protect this embassy and we will. If it is ordered that we must evacuate, the call will come from me. The codename for evacuation is 'Murmansk.' If that codeword is given, I expect everyone to make their way to the two helicopter pads, protecting all personnel. The Cottish police will do what they can but they won't hold on forever.

"If it is determined that we must evacuate, our evacuation will most likely be by helicopter. An AARG has many Super Hueys, Super Stallion IIs, and Bulldogs to get us out. We will be tasked with defending the embassy until the flag is pulled down and all personnel are evacuated. Understood? Good! Let's go make this happen." The CO was Major John Barnes, an almost retired Marine leader who was a company leader and had served in many wars. As he left, he returned to the command post and immediately searched his number listing for the chief of police in Oslo. He needed to coordinate something and he needed to do it right away.

The call from the Layartebian embassy was redirected from the Chief of Police to Uniform 0-5's cell phone. Picking it up, Schelderup looked at the number. He didn't know it, but it had to be something important if it came to his number. Walking out of the street to avoid a little of the noise, he accepted the call.

"Førstebetjent Schelderup." he answered with his deep authoritarian voice, speaking in the quick Oslo dialect of the Cottish language.

"This is Major John Barnes at the Layartebian embassy. I'm hoping that you and I can have a conversation about what is going on? I would really like to coordinate the forces so that we are on a one-team effort here. I understand that it is your duty to protect us and I respect that. It is my duty to do the same and I don't want to lose anyone, Cottish or Layartebian."

Schjelderup was surprised that it was the Layartebians who called, but thinking it over, why shouldn't they want to coordinate the plan of action?

"Major, it is my intention to do my best to keep the demonstrators from breaking the perimeter we are establishing two hundred meters from the embassy grounds. I intend to use non-lethal force against the demonstrators if they get rowdy, and I will not, I repeat not allow for any lethal force to be used without authorization. As of now, I have a hundred and four police officers, eleven dogs and twenty firefighters on location with more police on their way. Furthermore, I have just been informed that if we are unable to hold the protesters back, the Cottish Army will reinforce us within five minutes. Orders directly from the Cabinet. How will your men respond if the protesters get violent major?"

"If the protestors get violent we're all in trouble. However, I am not authorized to take any action until the protestors come onto embassy grounds. Until that time as the outer gates are breeched, they are in the hands of the Cottish police. If they are to break the grounds, we will be forced to respond with lethal force after non-lethal force is exhausted. That non-lethal force is your own efforts and small efforts on our part. We are all loaded with lethal ammunition but we have non-lethal weapons deployed as well. I am under strict orders to prevent the embassy from being overrun and if they are capable enough of overrunning your police and army, they are capable of taking this embassy. I am not sure how the situation will present itself. We will deploy CS gas if necessary but we will defend our embassy. We will have mines deployed inside our grounds if it comes to a final stand but only because we cannot allow them to take it. It is my hope that, if they do storm our grounds, the CS gas and the first few deaths will be enough to dissuade the rest. If it fails we will respond with lethal ammunition. Our embassy is extremely important and I do apologize for the selfishness on our part but we've been down this road before."

"Very well, I accept that. Let's hope that won't become necessary." Schjelderup replied, remembering the events that took place in Cotlandstad ten years prior. The events had shooken the entirety of Cotland and brought with it quite a few reforms within the Police. Now, those reforms would likely be pushed to the extremes. "I believe that should cover the basics. If there is anything else, I will be available on this number. If you would excuse me...?"

"That's fine sir. I hope we don't have to speak again except to wish each other farwell and a job well done." He put down the phone and looked around the room inside the command HQ. It was quiet except for the televisions that were piping in direct and live news footage from outside the embassy. "Everyone in Oslo is out here." He commented to himself as the Marines took up positions throughout the embassy grounds. Some took up high positions and others took up lower positions. Reinforcements would be there if it was deemed necessary. They would have, roughly, a 125 mile journey that they could complete in about an hour once it was determined to send them in. HV-24C Bulldogs could be there even faster but they were limited. They could land and take off vertically but they were larger than the helicopters, limiting where they could put down. They could; however, go into hover and allow Marines to fast rope down, providing up to 24 reinforcements per aircraft, or three squads.

http://www.lo-oslo.no/1.%20mai/1.%20mai%202002/Youngstorget%204.jpg

In Oslo, heavy clouds started rolling in, carrying with them rain and poorer visibility, just like the weathermen had predicted the night prior. It didn't scare the protesters, many of whom had brought umbrellas and watherproof clothes. The police weren't daunted either, holding their positions, ready for whatever was to come. There were reports of demonstrations in Bergen as well, but with there being few Layartebians and even fewer Layartebian diplomatic stations, the risk of a riot there was virtually non-existant. Therefore, only a few police officers were dispatched to provide a symbolic escort.

"We've got rain rolling in." Major John Barnes said in the command center, looking at the latest weather brief. "This is going to be a problem for us. A big one. This reduces visibility severely. Our helicopters can still make it but it will be a rough ride in and out." They were still entrenched as the embassy continued its daily tasks. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in constant communication via the traditional lines and also by encrypted satellite networks.

Several protesters had cellphones with WAP technology, enabling them to read the papers on their cellphones. The news that the Layartebians wouldn't even let the teens see the lawyers further enraged the protesters, now numbering 500 as more and more came to the area. The Police had cordoned off the area, declaring a four block safety zone around the embassy and watching every road into that zone. Only those who could prove that they had business there and could identify themselves were escorted by the police to the place they were going to. In all, six hundred police officers, a fifth of all police officers in Oslo surrounded the embassy now, along with twelve firefighters, six paramedics and twenty police dogs. In addition, the Army was moving into positions at vital areas outside Oslo, being ready to deploy quickly. Plans were also being made for a company of the Kings Guards, the elite light infantry regiment which was responsible for the safety of the King and Royal Family, to deploy to the embassy as a last line of defense in case the protesters turned violent. However, that wouldn't be done unless the King and Cabinet declared martial law, something which would allow the military to be deployed against citizens of the Realm. That wasn't going to happen...yet...

As the protests grew and grew, the police pushed them further and further away, creating a buffer zone between them and the embassy. The protests were constant, nearly twenty-four hours non-stop. Inside the embassy, those who managed to get to their quarters and lay down found their sleep uneasy and patchy. Screams would awake them, bullhorns would rip them from their slumber, and the inevitable sounds of gunfire were what they dreaded the most. Each and every person outside was a threat to the Marines and to the staff inside. If they had small arms that could be disasterous but even rocks and household items could be weapons with the most brazen hands.

Morning broke on the second day of the demonstration, and with it the crowd that had spent the night on the streets. The news services were filled with information from Layarteb, more specifically that the Layartebians had finally charged the teenagers before a court. That wasn't responded to well, and the protests and anti-Layartebian slogans increased in intensity.

Among the crowd of some three hundred, a twenty year old student with a Palestine-scarf around his neck took a deep breath, preparing mentally for what was to come. He was a student with the University of Oslo, and very involved politically on the extreme left side of Cottish politics. In other words, the side which wasn't very legal. He had joined Socialist Front a few months prior, and he was very excited to be a part of this the first blow against the burgouis and capitalists. Now, he was surrounded by his peers, or so he believed, and about to start the first of the blows. He bent down and picked up a brick from the street, and looked at the stone for a moment, getting ready. Finally, he took the brick in his right hand and heaved it over his head before throwing it towards the wall of police officers behind riot shields with all his power, screaming out "Død mot Layarteb! Makt til folket!" [Death to Layarteb! Power to the people!] at the top of his lungs. Seven of his comrades dispersed throughout the crowd did the same thing.

The police officers suddenly saw bricks flying towards them, dunking into the shields with great force. One even flew over the shields, hitting the helmet of one of the police officers, knocking him down. That, combined with the slogans being heard was enough for the police to take action. They prepared the water hoses and CS gas while starting to move forward, slowly.

"Dette er en ulovlig demonstrasjon! Spre dere og dra hjem umiddelbart!" [This is an illegal demonstration! Disperse and return to your homes immediately!]

That didn't go well with the eight aggitators, who continued to hurl bricks and shout slogans at the police, urging their fellow demonstrators to stay put, claiming the police had no right to force them to leave. A few did as instructed, but the rest remained, joining the chanting and shouting slogans. After a few minutes, the police had had enough. A few CS grenades were lobbed into the crowd and the hoses were started up, spraying down people for a few seconds before the wall of police started advancing quickly, batons raised. The dogs were given free leashes and joined the charging police officers. This was now considered a riot.

"What's going on down there?" Corporal Gates said to the rest of his team. They were facing the main crowd, perched up on the roof of the embassy. "What the...?"

"Get Major Barnes on the comm."

"Squad Golf. Squad Golf. We've got a situation to report."

"Go ahead Golf." The radio operator spoke into the comm. "Report status."

"Roger that. Protests have turned into a riot. We've got policemen being taken down and it sounds like they are chanting something."

"Understood. Hold status."

"Roger that."

Major Barnes was in the CIC listening to the chanting and listening to the chants and watching the situation unfold. "Death to Layarteb! Power to the people!" He said, muffled. He knew what they were chanting and he knew that he had to fix this situation immediately. "Get me a link to the Emperor's office. The situation has just escalated!"

The Emperor was due to meet with the Ambassador from Cotland any minute when the phone rang. "Sir. I have Major Barnes and the JOC online. The situation in Oslo has changed significantly."

"Very well. Hold the Ambassador until I am off the phone."

"Understood sir. Major Barnes. General. Go ahead."

"Yes General?"

"Sir. I have with me Major Barnes on the line, our commander at our Oslo embassy. He has some dangerous news to report."

"Go ahead Major."

"Emperor sir. The crowd has become a riot and the Cottish police are taking hits from thrown objects. Maybe rocks, bricks, I'm not sure. They're chanting something too." In the background, the chants echoed and the Emperor could hear.

"Death to Layarteb! Power to the people! I hear them Major. I have news for you as well. I am to meet with the Cottish Ambassador in under five minutes. If he delivers me good news you will have a Marine force that can reinforce your position significantly and evacuate if necessary."

"Understood sir. Thank you for your support."

"Stay down out there. Thank you."

"Sir."

"Sir." Now the Emperor would just wait for the Ambassador to come.

The ambassador followed the Secret Service agents through the castle and, after a relatively long walk, he finally reached the office of the Emperor. Entering, the ambassador shook the hand of the Emperor, having met the head of state on several previous occations.

"Emperor, I have news from my Government. The Storting has, after careful consideration and a massive debate in a closed session, decided to grant a Layartebian evacuation of the embassy through Cottish airspace if, and it's a big 'if' sir, firstly, Cottish aircraft shall escort the Layartebian ones at all times while in Cottish airspace; second, that Layartebian aircraft shall not open fire against any potential enemies unless they are directly fired upon; and thirdly, that the Cottish teenagers which this whole incident revolves shall be allowed to serve the sentences they are given in a Layartebian court of law in Cottish prisons."

"Mr. Ambassador, I do believe that is a fair agreement. I can accept those terms. The incursion force will consist of helicopters moving approximately 150 miles per hour but we will have a few fast moving HV-24 Bulldogs moving in excess of 400 miles per hour. You should have escorts for both of these groups. The Bulldogs, given their high speed and heavy carrying capacity will be responsible for the initial reinforcements, dropping in up to forty-eight Marines and taking out the ambassador, his family, and other important information. We will have a total of 26 HV-24s embarked on our group so we will be running at least six of them at any one time but given their size we can only land two at a time. Now another matter of importance that I would like to discuss. I just recieved a call from my commander on site at our embassy. You've got a full scale riot on your hands chanting 'Death to Layarteb!' and 'Power to the people!' What is that about, might I ask?"

Major Barnes picked up the phone when it rang. It was the General of the Army calling, with good news. "Major. The Emperor has informed me that the Imperial Layartebian Navy has been granted permission to ingress over Oslo to aide the embassy, if needed. When a rescue mission is announced you will be informed of the following code word, 'Juicer.' When that codeword is given you will recieve immediately support from HV-24 Bulldogs, six of them, equipped with 24 Marines each. They will be on site very quickly to evacuate all high priority personnel and information. Helicopters, slower, will take at least an hour to go from the carrier to your position. They will be carrying a significant amount of Marines. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir."

The police overran the demonstrators, dogs barking and biting those who fought the police, who in turn retaliated with their batons against anyone putting up a fight. Not so with the socialist terrorists, who were all armed with a firearm of some sort. A pair of policemen singled out the student who had thrown the initial brick and moved towards him quickly, batons raised, when the scraf-clad student pulled out a stolen Glock 17 from underneath his coat and shot the two officers dead. These gunshots was the signal for the many terrorists waiting in the rear, armed with anything from pistols to shotguns to hunting rifles and illegally imported AK-74s. They all advanced, having recieved basic tactical training at the training camps Socialist Front had established in the deep woods of eastern Norway, far from prying eyes.

A group of scared civilians fleeing from the area were met by fourty-odd terrorists, who pointed their weapons at them, telling them to go back or die. A few defied the terrorists, and were shot dead on the spot. That was enough for the rest to do as told.

What the police saw was pretty scary. A crowd of about three to four hundred people running towards the police and not away from them. The police had broken the solid wall of shields when they started running down the protesters, so there was little if anything stopping the crowds. Thining quickly, Uniform 0-5 decided to pull his police officers back to form a perimeter two hundred meters from the Layartebian embassy grounds and make that their stand. He also requested assistance from the military. However, they wouldn't be allowed to actually do anything against the civilian populace until the King declared martial law, and the request had to go through the propper chain of command, costing valuable time. With the reports from the police officers closest to the crowds starting to claim they were being fired upon, a lot of red tape was cut and the request would brought forward to the King's desk within five minutes. However, that meant that the first soldiers would be on the ground in fifteen minutes, minimum!

When the gunshots echoed through the riot, the embassy staff got worried. Major Barnes took no chances and immediately dispatched an emergency cable that the protests that had turned to riots had turned deadly and that the crowd was armed. While the crowd had not entered embassy grounds and the police were working their best, it was only a matter of time. The Marines could not act just yet and they would wait it out, hoping that they wouldn't need to see HV-24 Bulldogs or UH-95 Super Hueys on the horizon, landing inside the walls of the embassy.

Five minutes later, and the King had recieved the request to initiate martial law. Listening closely to the reports his adjutant spoke, the King started writing on a piece of paper. The wording was short but consise, stating that the King in accordance with § 22 of the Constitution.


§ 22 – Commander-in-Chief
The King is Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval forces of the Realm. These forces may not be increased or reduced without the consent of the King or two thirds of the Parliament (Storting). They may not be transferred to the service of foreign powers, nor may the military forces of any foreign power, except auxiliary forces assisting against hostile attack, be brought into the Realm without the consent of the Parliament (Storting).
The territorial army and the other troops which cannot be classed as troops of the line must never, without the consent of the Parliament (Storting), be employed outside the borders of the Realm.
The military forces of the Realm may not be used against citizens of the Realm, except when a state of martial law has been declared by the King. A state of martial law must be approved by the Parliament (Storting) within seven days, or the state of martial law shall cease. Under no circumstances may a period of martial law last for more than thirty days.

The declaration of martial law changed everything, and as the news seeped slowly down the chain of command, the King called generalmajor Peter Danielsen, commanding officer of the Army's fourth infantry division which had been pre-deployed to the outskirts of Oslo. The news hadn't reached the general yet, but the assurances from the King that it had been declared made him feel more comfortable ordering his troops to enter Oslo like the King har ordered. Oslo was a city which the King's Guards were to defend, not the regular military. Yet it had happened once earlier that year, with three regular brigades moving into the capital to help defend the Realm against rebellious soldiers. He didn't want his troops to have to face the scrutiny those troops had been faced with in retrospect of the operation, but now he was ordered to. Like a good Cottish soldier he had respectfully protested the orders but acknowledged them and stated his intention to carry them out, hanged up and moved back to his staff in the temporary headquarters the divisional headquarters had established in a school building. Helicopters of the types H-25/A Super Huey, Layartebian-bought aircraft, stood on the large football-field, the aircrews and maintenance personnel sitting next to them, relaxing and thinking about what the heck was going on. Infantrymen were throughout the small town the division's first regiment had been deployed to.

"Mine herrer, Kongen har erklært unntakstilstand i Oslo. Demonstrasjonen har utviklet seg til et opprør mot både ordensmakten og våre Layartebianske allierte. Vi har order fra selveste Kongen om å assistere politiet med å stoppe opprøret. Iverksett operasjonsplan Golf tre fem." [Gentlemen, the King has declared a state of martial law in Oslo. The demonstration has evolved into a riot against both the civilian law enforcement and against our Layartebian allies. We are under orders directly from the King to assist the police in quelling this riot. Initiate operational plan Golf five three.]

The staff officers nodded, their faces serious, before picking up various radios connected to the infantry battalions and helicopter brigade, issuing the new orders.

Less than a minute later, the infantrymen started picking up their weapons and gear and running towards the helicopters, that were far into the pre-flight checklists, the pilots checking the digital readouts and instruments while the crew chiefs checked the Miniguns attached to the Super Hueys. Within two minutes, sixteen Super Hueys had loaded up with troops, roughly fourteen soldiers in each, and had gained enough torque to start lifting off. The helicopters climbed quickly and headed towards the capital. ETA: four minutes, fourty-nine seconds.

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

The situation near the embassy was starting to even out a little. The majority of the police officers had gotten back to the perimeter point and taken up positions, and the three firetrucks were pouring out water into the crowds, stopping them temporarily. CS grenades were lobbed into the crowds, and rubber bullets were fired into the crowds, dogs barking but being held tightly by their handlers. The police had donned gasmasks now, enabling them to hold fast dispite the gas. The two snipers in Delta had taken positions on rooftops and tried to identify those holding weapons, but it was difficult to see in the mass, with visibility obscured by gas and water. Still, occationally, the sound of their L73A1 sniper rifles could be heard, signalling that another armed rioter had been put to death with a 7.62x51mm match-grade round. Still, the rioters ran directly into the wall of shields, screaming and hitting around them, crazy with fear. The police held fast, the ones behind those holding the shields hitting over their heads with long batons. It was evolving into a massive tug of war, involving four hundred rioters and a hundred police officers.

While the sounds of the riot were deafening, the characteristic sound of whipping rotor blades could be heard clearly, first far in the distance, but then getting closer and closer. Many people looked up in the sky and saw that a small armada of helicopters were flying in, moving quickly in low altitude, just high enough to avoid crashing into the buildings or power lines. It was clear that these were Super Hueys, possibly making the Layartebians think their reinforcements had arrived, but there was one thing that didn't match. Each helicopter had the Cottish roundel on the fusilage and were painted in a slightly darker green than Layartebian helicopters. The words "HÆREN" [ARMY] could possibly also give an indication that these were Cottish army helicopters. The Cots had purchased many hundreds of these helicopters from the Layartebians a few years ago, and they were put to good use.

The lead helicopters came to a hover a little distance in front of the embassy, and four thick black ropes were pushed out from the helicopter, followed shortly thereafter by four infantrymen dressed in Cottish pixelated battle uniforms, complete with tactical vests laden with ammunition, grenades and combat equipment, bulletproof helmets capable of deflecting rounds up to 6.8x43mm, and the trusty L42A2 carbines slinged over their backs. The moment the first four were on the ground, another four moved down the ropes, followed by more troops. It took the helicopter twenty seconds to offload the fourteen infantrymen and drop the ropes before it moved off, giving the space for another helicopter. Within a minute, the full company was on the ground and the helicopters on their way back to fetch more troops. One soldier stood fast and pointed at various places, apparently speaking loudly. The soldiers he spoke to nodded and moved off to pass the orders on to other soldiers. Clearly, this man was the commander of the company.

A platoon of infantry, fourty-three men, took up a firing position in two rows behind the police, preparing their weapons and fixing bayonets. The company commander talked quickly with the lead police officer before the latter said something over the radio. The police started to move back behind the soldiers, who were quite a fearsome sight. As the "wall" broke formation and ran back, the rioters followed until they saw the fourty-odd soldiers training their weapons at them. Another two platoons were on the flanks, forming a solid wall of rifles, bayonets and pixelated uniforms.

"Dette er Hæren! Dette er et ulovlig opprør! Dere har å returnere til hjemmene deres umiddelbart, eller ta konsekvensene!" [This is the Army! This is an illegal riot! You are to return to your homes immediately, or face the consequences!]

"Faen ta dere! Makt til folket! Vi er fler enn de! Vi kan ta dem! Kom igjen kamerater!" [Fuck you! Power to the people! We outnumber them! We can get them! Come on comrades!]

The majority of the crowd held fast, but a few with AKs in the forward parts started running towards them, shooting from the hip. The 5.45x39mm rounds hit quite a few soldiers, but fortunately they carried NCS Mk.II armor which was capable of stopping 6.8x43mm rounds. The 5.45mm rounds were stopped pretty efficiently, resulting in the soldiers hit only getting the wind knocked out of them. However, the shooting resulted in the soldiers reacting in accordance with basic training and the rules of engagement. They open fire. L42A2 carbines, L62A2 SAWs and L63A1 LMGs opened up into the crowd, dropping tens of people in seconds. Immediately, the order to cease fire was shouted out, and the shooting stopped six seconds after it started. Fourty-eight people lay dead with another eighty-two wounded, fifty of them badly. The rest ran, but those hundred armed just ran back enough to find cover...

At the embassy, the announcements of Martial Law were comforting. Major Barnes informed the JOC what was going on and was pleased to hear that the naval amphibious force was now in position, off the coast of Norway, sitting in international waters, approximately 26 nautical miles from the coast, 2 nautical miles over the territorial limit of the Realm. Workers in the embassy were too distracted to work, shooting video and taking pictures of the goings-on outside the embassy. Three large firetrucks were covering the protestors in water that came out powerful enough to keep them from standing. Tear gas grenades had gone off and filled the streets with haze and white smoke, which mixed with the water. Chaos was probably the best word for the scene and everyone knew that the word was an understatement. Every now and then, they heard the distinctive sound of an L73 rifle going off, signifying that the army was on-site with snipers. Their targets were probably men with assault rifles, pistols, and other dangerous weapons that could be used against the police and military forces.

The army had come in aboard Super Huey helicopters, Layartebian designed successors to the UH-1 Huey, the longest serving helicopter in flight history. The Super Huey was a digital version with better engines, better avionics, armor plating, better lifting capacity, but the same old weapons. Just as the Huey mounted 2.75" FFAR rockets and 7.62 millimeter machine guns, so did the Super Huey; however, it augmented the FFAR rockets with .50 caliber machine guns. They fly overhead low and fast, buzzing the embassy, providing hope to the Marines inside. As long as the Cottish Army was out there, they were safe. If the rioters managed to breech the army then they were in deep trouble, perhaps trouble that they couldn't get out of, until reinforcements arrived. The Marines had no disrespect for the Cottish Army but their overall thought process was that they weren't as good as the Marines and the Marines had the ILN to help them out, a safety blanket that no one could complete with, especially a foreign nation. When the army soldiers fast roped in, they knew that the situation would be resolved. Then, there was the sound of gunfire from AK-74s and other rifles carrying the 5.45 x 39mm rounds. It was a round that was designed to cause the wounding potential of the 5.56 x 45mm bullets used by the Marines. The 5.45 x 39mm rounds were said to tumble horrifically in the flesh of a human being. However, results against pigs and geltin blocks proved that the round was no more deadly than a handgun round. It was only slightly comforting. The army was equipped with armor but even still, four or more rounds and they were penetrating.

[OOC: Let's add a new element, shall we?]

The rioters that made it away from the killing field, as the street of the main engagements was starting to be known as, quickly spread the word, leading to breaking news articles and broadcasts, shock, anger and litterarily chaos. It wasn't long before the riot had started to spread to other parts of the city, with fires being started and looting beginning. A party of some fifty even tried to sack the Royal Palace, but they were quickly stopped by the King's Guards, who first ordered the people to stop. With them failing to do so, they raised the alarm and took up defensive postures, bayonets fixed while continuing to order them verbally to halt. It wasn't until some twelve rioters had been bayonetted to death, mainly in the throat or chest, by the guardsmen and another six shot dead that the rioters found it prudent to do as ordered. The images were captured by a newscrew transmitting live images to all over the world, and especially Oslo. No one else tried to go for the Palace or anywhere else with Guardsmen providing a perimeter (Akershus Fortress, the Royal Palace and Camp Huseby).

With the added element of mobilization orders of the reservists within Oslo, that chaos became even more stirred up. Most of the four thousand, seven hundred reservists living in Oslo were part of the Military Police or Logistics Corps during mobilization, and thus were lightly armed. However, the three thousand, nine hundred men and women that were part of the Military Police had been extensively trained in how to deal with riots. Therefore, it came as little surprise that one hour after the order to mobilize, which was an integrated part of declaring martial law in an area, collumns of green-clad men with black armlets with the red capital letters "MP", L101A1 Submachine Guns and batons started deploying to areas around the city, complementing the police. Crackdowns started immediately with the MPs conducting most of the arrests with a far more brutal way of detaining the people than the police used. A few smacks with a baton or a dog biting you if you didn't stop immediately when ordered, and being forcefully thrown into the ground and zip-tied was far from the normal approach used by the civilian police. The civilian police took the opportunity of not only taking rioters, but also detaining known gangmembers and suspected drugdealers on riot charges. In Cotland, that meant, at best, prison time in a Category MODERATE facility for up to ten years, or, at worst, a quick drop and a sudden stop from the gallows.

Back at the embassy, a firefight ensued with the soldiers breaking from formation to find cover, returning fire as they moved. The SAWs opened up against the areas where the enemy were taking cover, providing suppressive fire as the riflemen manouvered. Another company was arriving via Super Huey, and they were split up into the four platoons and given different orders. Two platoons would reinforce the perimeter outside the embassy grounds while the other two started flanking the enemy from both sides. The terrorists were well trained, having had the sense to take cover and using bursts instead of the "spray and pray" tactic most terrorists used. However, in open, one on one combat, they wouldn't be a match to the soldiers. That's why they didn't want to allow that to happen...

Watching the slaughter in the streets was something ominous for the Marines at the embassy. They were well prepared and many of them looked through their scopes and sight reflexes to watch the pandemonium on the streets around the embassy. The video cameras of the embassy were recording everything and it would be used as evidence if something happened and the Marines had to open fire. Layartebian territory or not, they would be Cottish citizens being shot in their own country by a military force of a foreign country. The safety of the embassy was the primary concern of the Marines and if they were at risk of being overrun they were under strict orders, from the Emperor himself, to make a stand until reinforcements could arrive. The embassy, under no circumstances, could be allowed to be breeched.

Just as the Cots believed that they were getting the situation under control, the terrorists proved them wrong. In this case, just as they were moving in to kill off the rest of the enemy, the terrorists pulled out their secret weapon. Ten of them had M72 LAWs hidden underneath coats, easily concealable anti-tank weapons. Two of the deadly 66mm rockets were fired against Cottish soldiers, killing several of them quickly and forcing the Cots to dive for cover. The terrorists took advantage of the situation and got out from their hideouts for just long enough to get into a position with a clear line of sight to the embassy grounds less than three hundred meters away and fire the LAWs. A total of five 66mm LAW rockets were fired, the sixth rocketman being killed by a soldier with a clear line of sight.

With the five LAWs being fired, the rest of the up to this point dormant terrorists hiding inside buildings nearby got out of their hideouts and started storming the embassy from the opposite side, firing from the hip at the police officers guarding these sectors. The military was notified, but it was unlikely they could deploy in time. The roughly three hundred terrorists fired everything from 5.45x39mm and 7.62x39mm AKs, 5.56mm G36s and 9mm MAC-10s to 30mm grenades from GP-30 grenade launchers and M72 LAWs at the building as they stormed towards it.

"Holy shit!" One of the men from Alpha team reported. The main protests were to the south but new ones had developed to the northeast and that meant bad news. Now there were rockets inbound. "INCOMING!" He yelled again as the five rockets came flying across the grounds and towards the embassy.

Inside the embassy, everyone was on edge already and when the order came to take cover everyone hit the deck. "GET DOWN!" The building shook as the five rockets hit the northeastern face. Two of them went right through the windows and exploded inside the rooms, killing six people instantly. The other three rockets hit the brick facing of the building and damaged the facing significantly but did little structural damage. "MEDIC!" Someone yelled as they peered into the burning, smoldering, and smoking rooms where six people lay dead and four others wounded, two critically.

Major Barnes looked at the CIC again and picked up the microphone. "All teams. All teams. You are cleared hot against rocket attackers. You are cleared hot against rocket attackers. Make your rounds count." Instantly, all teams acknowledged and now were on the look out for more people with LAWs or AT4s or whatever they would be throwing at them. As he saw the counter attack to the southwest, Major Barnes saw what was going on and immediately began to make preparations. "All teams in south and west. Suppress advancing enemy immediately. I say again suppress advancing enemy. Once they hit the outer wall we're cleared hot. All personnel prepare for evacuation." He immediately called up the JOC and spoke at length about what was going on, about the rocket attacks, about the advancing enemy. They had enough ammunition to make a seventy-two hour stand but that was if none of them were injured or killed. Soon enough he would begin handing weapons to civilians if he had to and he would. Though it was not ultimately decided to send in the evacuation yet, the Marines on the carrier decks were notified that their mission was imminent.

Fortunately for the Layartebians, the Cottish army was in town. Although the troops were on the other side of the embassy complex, the Cots did have airborne assets in the area.

While two platoons of infantry ran as if the Evil One himself were chasing them, two Super Hueys flying overhead were asked for immediate close air support. The Super Hueys were only armed with Miniguns, but in return, each helicopter had two of the beasts manned with four thousand 7.62mm NATO rounds for each. The two helicopters were in the northern sector of Oslo when the call came in, and they immediately went to max speed and flew towards the embassy building. They quickly spotted the demonstrators, but they held their fire, not wanting to hit the Layartebians defending their embassy. Instead, they streaked over the demonstrators and the defending Marines without opening fire, instead making a manouver that had them circle around the embassy building, coming around for the first pass at 90 knots and 50 meters altitude. The Miniguns were trained on the targets and the cabin crew manning them pressed the triggers and waited for that second that seemed to last forever as the electric engines started spinning up the barrels. Finally, some reaction as the Miniguns spat out unholy hell in the form of deadly 7.62mm rounds, their path clearly visible thanks to every fifth round being a tracer. It seemed like four evil orange tounges licked out from the two helicopters and spread death and destruction.

In the first pass, the two Super Hueys fired upwards of eight hundred rounds and killed or mortally wounded fourty-seven terrorists, giving the Marines that were manning the defenses enough time to fully prepare a defense while the Cottish soldiers were double-timing it. The Super Hueys would make at least two more passes, suppressing the enemy who were still running and shooting like crazy, albeit moving at a somewhat slower pace now.

When the Super Hueys flew over the embassy, everything went quiet. The deafening sound alone was enough to drown out their microphones and when the rotorwash combined with the Miniguns it was unbearable. The soldiers stayed in their spots, keeping their loose items from flying around and laid off the shooting. They weren't about to waste ammunition when they had a gunship overhead, that was preposterous. They hoped that it would be enough for the time being. Wary of the terrorists and their tactics, they had installed concrete barricades around the embassy, behind the walls so that if anything came crashing through it would meet an unexpected surprise and that was something that wasn't going to be moving. Since the last attack, the embassy had been built with the idea of stopping suicide bombers, a possible situation in many areas of the world. What they installed was enough to stop a dump truck moving at 50 mph.

While the helicopters flew overhead, unleashing unholy hell upon the terrorists who were being halted, two platoons ran like crazy towards the hotspot, carrying only their rifles and ammunition, having dropped the rest of the heavy gear in order to make better speed. As the soldiers crossed the corner, they saw the carnage their brethren in the helicopters were unleashing. It was a shocking display of brutality, and several of the soldiers litterarily became sick from the sight of blood and bodyparts flying everywhere when the bullets slammed into them. Had it not been for the experienced sergeants who were equally upset but who were professional enough to deal with it later, the Cottish reinforcements would be stopped there and then. Fortunately, they started barking for the men to get going, dragging and kicking them on. The training took over and the men started deploying, taking up positions along corners and behind parked cars and trash bins in the street. They were in the Layartebian field of fire, and they hoped their allies wouldn't mistake the green-clad soldiers for the rag-tag terrorist force.

A minute later, the two Super Hueys had depleted their ammo and returned to the base for refueling and rearming, leaving behind upwards of two hundred and thirty dead terrorists. Somewhere around seventy remained, but they kept firing. A very intensive firefight followed, with bullets flying in every direction, the chatter of light machine guns firing being accompanied by the sharp sound of rifles and the occational deafening sound of hand grenades. Medics rushed to and from, doing their best to heal the wounded soldiers.

In the meanwhile, a convoy was heading into Oslo, consisting of a hundred CTLAVs, a hundred M36A1 Nidaros APCs and some sixty other assorted support vehicles. Inside the vehicles were a full regiment of infantry, ordered in to assist in securing Oslo. Military Police had taken control of the major roads and highways and were making sure their comrades in the regular army got through without too many problems. The situation was becoming controllable.

As the Super Hueys departed and the terrorists found themselves dangerously outnumbered, the Cottish soldiers arrived. Now the Marines were under different orders. They would let the Cottish soldiers handle the mess around the embassy and they weren't going to waste ammunition if they didn't have to, they might need that, despite the situation becomming controllable. They still had fears and they still had worries. The terrorists were well organized and heavily armed for a rag-tag force and that wasn't good. If they were going to become fundamentalist and start blowing themselves up and whomever they could take with them, it would be something dangerous and deadly. Now they would play a waiting game and hope that the Cottish could control the problem before it escalated further. They would have scores of bodies to deal with on the news and that was up to them, the embassy was the priority of the Marines.

Ten minutes after the soldiers arrived, there were only a handful of terrorists still able to fight, and they were being surrounded by a joint force of soldiers with assault rifles, police officers with submachine guns and newly arrived special forces operatives from the Hærens Jegerkommando, who were carrying L114A3 Enhanced Carbines modified to fire the new 6.8x48mm LDC round that was just being introduced to the entire military. Since they were special forces, they had dibs on the first modified weapons.

Supported by the helicopters and the many police officers and soldiers, the operators moved in, using stun grenades to distract the surviving enemies. The moment one detonated a few meters from the terrorists, the terrorists were temporarily deaf and blind, giving the operators a chance to run up to them and knock them down and capture them alive. Using this tactic, all but two of the surviving sixteen terrorists were captured by the three teams of operators that preformed the operation. With the terrorists subdued with rifles at their foreheads, it was time for the police to get in. Nearly fourty police officers came running over, two officers taking up position at each surviving terrorist. In all cases, one bent down and looked in the terrorist's eyes while saying,

"Du er under arrest, mistenkt for medvirkning til terrorisme etter Straffelovens paragraf 147a. Du har rett til å tie. Dersom du velger å ikke benytte deg av din rett til å tie kan alt du sier bli brukt mot deg. Du har rett til en advokat tilstede under alle rettsmøter og forhør. Du har rett til en rettferdig rettssak. Har du forstått disse rettigheter som har blitt opplest for deg?" [You are under arrest on suspicion of participating in terrorism as defined in article 147a in the Criminal Code. You have the right to remain silent. Should you choose not to exercise your right, anything you say may be held against you. You have the right to have an attourney present during all court meetings and interrogations. You have the right to a fair trial. Have you understood these rights as they have been read to you?]

Regardless of the response, the policeman got back up and rolled the terrorist over, handcuffing him or her before both police officers took the terrorist under each arm and dragged him or her away, the operator keeping his carbine at the neck of each terrorist, making sure he or she knew that if they tried anything, they would be shot.

The media were present, filming everything while the reporter, dressed in the dark blue flak-jacket and blast helmet marked PRESS in capital white letters constantly spoke, sending the images to viewers all around the world, and especially to Cotland and Layarteb. The images of the police reading the rights to the surviving terrorists while the operator held his weapon at the terrorist amidst the carnage spoke for themselves, and symbolized the situation. That it was coming under control, and that the Cots had managed what they hadn't the last time around: to defend the Layartebian embassy from being overrun.

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

The two terrorist leaders sat in the same house that they had planned the operation from, deep inside a forest far from Oslo, and watched the situation unfold on television, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"Har vi noen som helst igjen i Oslo?" [Do we have anyone left in Oslo?] One of them asked, looking at the other one with hopes in his eyes. That hope was shattered quickly.

"Nei. Alle sammen ble aktiverte og sendt ut på denne operasjonen. Vi må bygge opp igjen nettverket vårt. Det kommer til å ta tid." [No. Everyone were activated and sent out on this operation. We need to rebuild our network. It will take time.]

"Hvordan kunne det gå så galt?" [How could it turn out this disasterous?]

"Vi undervurderte kongens beslutningsevne. At han i det hele tatt hadde mot nok til å erklære unntakstilstand og sende inn hæren. Det er noe vi må huske neste gang." [We underestimated the king's ability to make decisions. That he even had the balls to declare martial law and deploy the army. That's something we need to remember the next time around.]

"Neste gang? Så du gir opp denne operasjonen?" [Next time around? So you're abandoning this operation?] The other one said in disbelief.

"Selvfølgelig! Vi har tapt dette slaget." [Of course! We've lost this battle.] The second leader said grimly, looking down onto the table for a few seconds before stating with renewed strength, "Men merk mine ord: Vi skal vinne denne krigen!" [But mark my words: We shall win this war!]

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

In Oslo, the riot was being put to death as more and more soldiers and military police reinforced the civilian police. The news of martial law was also being spread, and a curfew was being introduced. Anyone caught outside after the curfew came into effect at 1800 hours local time would be subject to severe punishment. Rioters were being arrested en masse, and checkpoints were being established. By 2130 hours, the riot was over. In its wake, it left more than four hundred and fifty terrorists, ninety-six police officers, fifty soldiers and in excess of nine hundred civilians dead, twice that wounded save for the terrorists, where only fifty survived with fourty of those having been arrested, and material damages which would cost more than five hundred and sixty million Rikskroners to repair or replace. Among the damaged material were more than a hundred police cars, most of the vehicles available to the Oslo police district. For now, the police would have to rely on civilian cars or borrowed cars from the military and other districts to make due. A very large order would be placed with Mercedes Benz in the Fourth Reich within a few days.

As far as the dead terrorists went, they were being searched by the soldiers, stripped of weapons and anything of interest for the intelligence personnel before they were placed in bodybags taken from the emergency stockpile of six hundred thousand the Directorate of Civilian Readiness had stored in a warehouse outside Oslo in case of a large disaster. After they had been bagged, they were loaded onto military M100A1 MTV five-ton trucks and driven to the Institute of Pathology at the University of Oslo for autopsy and identification. The law demanded that anyone killed by the police or military on Cottish soil be autopsied to establish the cause of death. Needless to say, the pathologists would be very busy for the weeks to come.

No sooner had the bodies been removed before agents from REAF and personnel from FO/E, the Cottish military intelligence agency, came to the scene to start the investigation. They were given the unforgiving task of identifying the terrorists and find out why they attacked, how they had been able to plan such a massive terrorist attack, and who were responsible. That investigation was expected to take months if not years to complete, and it would involve massive investigation, interviews of the police, soldiers, civilians and the Layartebians in the embassy, and a lot of wire-tapping and squeezing sources for information. Justice would be served!

Major John Barnes stood on the roof of the embassy, looking out into the street, binoculars in his hands. "So it's over." He stated. "We won. The Cots. They did it." He picked up his radio and called down to the communications post. "This is Major Barnes. Cable Layarteb City. 'Riot stopped. Curfew in effect. Embassy uncompromised. Situation quiet.' Let me know when they reply."