NationStates Jolt Archive

C.C.S. Richards (SSGN-133)
Gamma-class guided missile attack submarine, Chevrokian Republic Navy
Just off the north coast of Terra Recedentia

Captain Jeremy Bouchard was now quite well aware that something was wrong. Very wrong. He had, only minutes before, been quietly asleep in his quarters onboard the Chevrokian attack submarine C.C.S. Richards. Now, he was laying on the cold, steel floor, with a massive headache. As he put his hand to his head, it felt wet, and as he took it off, he saw blood on it. He also noticed that red lights were flashing, and the klaxon blaring. That part was obvious; the ship was on general alert. He stumbled to his feet, and leaned into his bathroom to grab a towel, which he used to try and clean the blood from his forehead.

As he opened the door to his quarters, Jeremy saw crew members scrambling to the front of the ship, many of them had cuts and bruises as well. He barked at a sailor who just happened to be passing by.

"Sailor!"
"Yes, Captain?"
"What’s going on?"
"Sir, we’ve run aground. Pretty bad too. Bow compartment’s flooding, but they’re working on getting it sealed off so we don’t lose the ship. We’ve gone to the surface so that if we have to get off the ship it will be much safer."
"How did we run aground?"
"Well, sir, we hit some underwater formations that aren’t on any of the charts. There shouldn’t be anything here."
"I know that you…" the Captain stopped himself from saying "you stupid bastard." "I mean, why did we run aground? Where are we?!"
"I don’t know, sir, I only work in the missile room. You’d have to ask somebody in navigation, sir."

The sailor then dashed off to help in the bow section of the sub. "Damned smart-mouthed enlisted men," the Captain thought. As he worked his way forward, he then remembered that the sailor said that the sub had surfaced. Hadn’t anybody bothered to look outside? He turned and climbed the long ladder to the conning tower. As he opened the hatch and climbed out, he saw a rather suprising sight. Land.

Land? There isn’t supposed to be land here. The Captain remembered that the charts they had been navigating by for the last several days had a large "Uncharted" label in the area where they were tasked to sail through. But Jeremy hadn’t expected there to be land there. "You’d think in an era of long-range reconnaissance planes and satellites that we’d have found all the land on this planet," he pondered.

Soon afterwards he dispatched a message to the Chevrokian Naval Command:

Fleet Admiral Donnell -

Have run aground and have taken damage in the northern area of "Uncharted" waters listed on the Chevrokian Oceanographic Map Series 2, Number 8. Also have found land nearby, which I believe is also uncharted and unknown. Damage is under control, there are many injuries but most are minor cuts and bruises caused by the sudden stop.

-Captain Bouchard
CCS Richards (SSGN-133)

Presidential Complex
Duntovostok, capital of ChevyRocks
Later that day...

"New land?" President Johanson said, looking rather confused standing behind his desk, after Fleet Admiral Donnell had reported to him the message sent earlier in the day from the attack submarine Richards.

"That's what they're saying, sir," said the Admiral.
"What does the land look like?"
"They didn't say anything about it in their first message. We got another message just a few minutes ago after we asked Captain Bouchard, he said they can't well see the land nearby, but that there really isn't much to see, at all."
"How about the crew of the sub?"
"Pretty much all minor injuries, scrapes, cuts, bruises and the like, some concussions as well. A few of the crew got some broken bones, but nothing worse than that. Quite lucky, really, the insides of our subs are not forgiving to the human body."
"And the sub itself?"
"It's got some pretty extensive damage to the bow, but it's still afloat and will be able to limp back to our port in the Irathrian district."
"Well, that's good to hear," the President said. "You know, Charles, this new land could be an opportunity for resources. Especially if there's any oil there."

Oil was certainly a big issue for the Chevrokians. There were oil fields in the northern part of the mainland, but the oil was seriously difficult to extract and refine, so while the supply wasn't so much the problem, the penalty was price. There were oil platforms offshore and nearby the Irathrian district, but due to the terrorist activities several months prior, they were still not back to operating at full capacity.

"Well, sir, I wouldn't get our hopes up yet," the Admiral said. "The best option, for now, would be to send an exploration team to this newly discovered land, see what's there. Worst thing would be that there's nothing useful there in terms of resources. However, it could be useful to construct refueling stations, an airstrip, a port for ocean-going vessels, and a few military installations for security. A sort of stopping point for long overseas journeys."
"Quite so, Charles. Very well, send an exploration team. Be sure to brief me on their progress."

Base Camp
Northern Terra Recedentia

The first of the Chevrokian teams to arrive in Terra Recedentia were the NERDs. Short for Naval Engineering & Research Division, though many of them were honest-to-God nerds. Geologists, oceanographers, computer technicians, even actual rocket scientists. That wasn't all they did, of course, they were trained to fight, if necessary. Certainly not as well as the Republic Marines or any of the special ops groups, but better than the Army, who many joked "couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag." They had set up a small camp and began to explore the area, but hadn't gotten very far.

Alot of that had to do with a lack of equipment. They had flown some two days over to the location in a squadron of CB-75 amphibious transport jets, which were excellent for the job. Thing was, that they were more or less just converted bombers, which meant that their fuselage was too narrow for heavy equipment, and anything that could be carried had to be assembled on site. So the NERDs weren't able to bring any Humvees or other trucks, just motorbikes and small bulldozers.

The dozers were being used to clear a patch for a rough runway, which would be later used for wider-bodied transports, namely C-130s, carrying the heavy equipment they would need to make real progress.

Main Office
Presidential Complex
Duntovostok, ChevyRocks

President Johanson was getting a bit impatient. He had heard small updates on the expedition to Terra Recedentia, but nothing major or solid. Fleet Admiral Donnell was to give the important update.

"Mr. President, you wanted an update on the expedition?" he said, as he entered Johanson's office.
"Yes, I did Admiral," he said. "Please, tell me how it is progressing."
"Well, sir, it's progressing much faster now. We are now able to land C-130s near base camp, thanks to a temporary runway that was constructed. Now that we have heavy equipment arriving, we can start work on a permenant runway, and start building other facilities. One thing we found, the waters nearby are rather shallow, especially for large ocean-going vessels, likely the reason why our sub ran aground. It may prove difficult to have a port nearby, though there is a river present, so we may be able to work with that."
"Good, good," the President said. "Now, have they found any kinds of resources present?"
"Not particularly...no, sir. Um, lots of dry dirt and sand, some short bushes, not really the best place for growing things. So far, no major finds of mineral deposits or petroleum."

The President pondered for a moment, trying to make justification for the expedition, despite not having found anything of interest yet.

"What about the land we haven't explored yet?" the Admiral said.
"Good point, Admiral. We should get some recon flights up over there, and check it out."

ooc: This is quite good. Keep up the good work. Is it possible somewhere down the line for another nation to RP in this new territory?

ooc: This is quite good. Keep up the good work. Is it possible somewhere down the line for another nation to RP in this new territory?

OOC: Certainly, the sign-up thread is here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=492701

Base Camp
Northern Terra Recedentia

Construction progress was being made at the Chevrokian camp, finally. Especially since the runway had been finished. Commander Rick Stevenson stopped for a moment, hearing the whine of jet engines approaching. Not that it was particularly unusual, there were fairly consistant arrivals and departures of the CB-75 Hydrolifter amphibious transport planes, which threw up huge roostertails of water spray when they conducted their takeoff run. But this one was different...much bigger, Rick guessed.

Sure enough, looking out to the west he could see a fairly massive aircraft on final approach. "C-150," he noted, one of the Republic Air Force's big strategic airlifters. And the arrival of C-150s meant the especially large equipment could be set up, which would make proceeding at the site much easier.

No sooner did the C-150 land and taxi off the runway did a second plane catch Rick's ear. Another different one; much, MUCH louder. Heading west and turning around to final, he could make out the shape as it thundered overhear. Huge delta wing, canards forward, long fuselage...gotta be a Valkyrie. One of the easiest planes to identify due to it's distinctive shape. "But what is it doing here?" Rick thought.

Unknown to him at the time, the particular Valkyrie on approach was an RB-70E of the 2nd Strategic Recon Group, being flown by a Captain Jeff Thomas. Some time later, while he was inspecting the installation of a power generator, he saw the great, white Valkyrie thunder back into the sky, turning to the south. South? As far as he knew, there wasn't anything to the south.