NationStates Jolt Archive

Mark Hammond was a commander in the Kolvokian Army. He was stationed along the Kloandion border, in command of some fifty-thousand men, consisting mostly of infantry men, armor, and logistics, although he did have at his disposal some mobile artillery, and a handful of fighter bombers.

He had been given complete latitude towards his dealings with the Kloandions. They were old enemies of the Kolvokians, and war had raged back and forth between the two for decades. Recently, however, after a particularly humiliatingly destroyed (mostly by the Kolvokian Third Elites) attack, a civil war had broken out, ravaging across Kloandonio, and leaving them all but defenseless.

The area of Kloandio which Mark Hammond was camped on the border of was particularly desolate, and only about twenty miles wide besides. It had been much wider once, but the Kolvokians had taken their dues after the last war.

In any case, on the other side of Kloandio was Carbandia, a much larger nation, but one without a great deal in the way of military defenses on it's borders, according to intelligence. So, Commander Hammond had hatched a daring scheme, one that would allow him to go down in history as one of the greatest Kolvokian commanders of all time. He would march across the helpless Kloandio in complete secrecy, using the thick forests to hide his advance, take the Carbandian border by complete surprise, and overrun a substantial amount before they could formulate a reaction.

As if often the case with brilliant plans, Hammond's failed to take into account what would happen next. But still, he ordered the mobilization. This part of Kloandio was only sparsely populated, and he was confident that the Kloandions wouldn't be able to do anything about him if they did discover him.
***
Robert Parker was a mere foot soldier, of the lowest rank. His not to reason why, he merely rode in the interior of the APC carrier. His rifle and bayonet, meticulously cleaned, sat beside him, as he began sharpening his combat knife. Robert Parker was a Low Kolvokian, meaning it was near impossible for him to achieve officer class, and that he was, statistically speaking, more likely to die in the coming combat.

Besides that, and the physical differences, the two were about the same, out here in the front lines. When the man next to you may soon be the only thing between you and a ‘Deeply Regret’ telegram, you can’t really afford to give a damn whether he’s High or Low.

He finished cleaning his knife and tucked it away. It would be about an hour before they massed at the Carbandian border, and until then he could afford to catch some shut eye. After all, as the old saying went ‘A well rested soldier is an alert soldier.’ He was perfectly aware that most civilians wouldn’t be able to sleep in conditions such as these, the APC was crowded, hot, and rattling, but then, most civilians hadn’t been through two years of boot camp, where opportunities to sleep in your bunk were few and far between, and you caught what shut-eye you could everywhere else, when you weren’t training.

So he slept, as the troop column wound closer to the border.

(ooc: yes, to all allies that might want to get involved, this is closed..We did all the background work before hand..doesn't mean that you can't watch, if you want to)

ic:
The Carbandian army did not, at this time, have any knowledge of what was coming, as their satelite, and air reconisaince, elements were mostly watching their own borders. This would change, however, virtually as soon as the Kolovkian force passed the border into Kloandio.
*****
Sundswall, the capital
"So what's happening in the world today" asked Gen., and defense minister, Pavel Alekseyev as he came to work, early as usual.

"The Coalition's attack against EVIL seems to be running into more opposition than originally expected, but apart from that the world seems pretty quiet today" replied his aide.

"Well that's a relief", the general replied, refferring, obviosly, to the general quietness of the world, not the coalition's troubles "anything else of interest?" he added

"Apparently a Hatarian liner got sunk, cause unknown, but they claim it was a submarine"

"Survivors?"

"Unclear at this stage, sir." replied the younger man "We are mostly getting this info from radio intercepts, as we, as you are well aware, sir, have no diplomatic ties with the Hatarians"

"Indeed." replied Alekseyev "I'll be in my office, inform me if anything unusual happens, ok?"

"sir" was the simple reply, and Alekseyev headed into his office, to work on the usual pile of paperwork that came with the task of being a defense minister of a nation of over a billion inhabitants.

Commander Hammond crossed the border first, on foot. The crossing took place in the dead of night, in a thick forest. He was followed by his personal guard, also on foot, heavily armed. Once the last of these fifty men had passed, the APCs began winding their way across.

The night crossing in the forest was the initial part of the plan to avoid detection by the Carbandians until it was too late. But, the masterstroke was yet to come. Miles to the west, also along the border, although the site did not reach over the border, a large area of dead wood had been designated for burning to allow new growth. The timing of this inferno, coincidentally, in connection with the usual winds, would shift a huge amount of heat towards the crossing point, FUBARing all but the most refined satellite infrared readings. The trees themselves, in addition to the smoke being blown across their tops, would serve to hide the troop movements from visible recognition.

Meanwhile, the crossing was completed, and the forces involved were regrouping to move across the Narrow Zone, as the thin stretch of land was referred to, and towards Carbandia.

(ooc: yes, to all allies that might want to get involved, this is closed..We did all the background work before hand..doesn't mean that you can't watch, if you want to)




OOC: Its a good thing Carbandia clerified that he agrees to no support. He knows I would have been all over this. It would have gone down like china town!!!!

(ooc: one last post before hitting the hay, it's nearly 2am here)
ic:

A phone ringing in the middle of the night is never a good sign, especially not when the person being phoned is the country's defense minister "What is it?" asked Alekseyev, unsurprisingly a little grumpy at being woken up in the middle of the night like this

"Sir, this is the watch center. We have a large fire on the border heading this way, cause unknown"

Alekseyev scowled, he didn't like the sound of this at all "Which county? Yes..Ok, put the 21st (homeguard) division on standby alert, just in case. After all we can not be too carefull, and you will give me more information as it happens."

"Of course, sir." was the reply on the other end "Sorry for waking you up this late"

"You did the right thing, son" replied the general "it may be nothing, but the point is we do not know", he then hung up.

After considering the situation for a while longer, he decided to head to the ministry, as even if it was "only" a major fire, then the home guard would be needed to help evacuate civilians out of it's way.

OOC: Its a good thing Carbandia clerified that he agrees to no support. He knows I would have been all over this. It would have gone down like china town!!!!
ooc: appreciated, but unneccessary, mate. :)

For the most part, the passage through Kloandio was without incident. There was only one major incident, when a small hunting camp was stumbled upon. The Kloandion hunters faded into the woods, which they were familiar with, and attacked the Kolvokians.

Robert swore as a shot ricocheted off of the APC. It had jerked him out of a sound sleep- nobody slept through gunfire, not after basic training. The machine gun on top opened up, returning fire. There was a moment of silence after the initial burst, and then another shot ricocheted off of a different APC.

Several machine guns opened up at once. This pattern continued for all of about five minutes, before the rifles finally fell silent, the gunfire occasionally punctuated by sharp, sudden, screams from the woods.

To Robert, however, and to the others crouched with him in the cramped APC, their hands resting on their rifles, in case they should be called upon to climb out and fight, not knowing if the hunters' armament was limited to rifles, or if they would produce rocket propelled grenades or Molotov Cocktails, or any other such weaponry that would present a danger to them, it seemed like an eternity ticked by.

Finally, the last hunter was cut down, and the forces began rolling forward again. Soon they would be at the border...

Unfortunately for them, the hmg fire had effectively blown their cover.

While the sounds of rifle fire would not, on it's own, have attracted the attention of the Carbandian border guard patrols, the sound of machine gun fire, especially heavy machine gun fire, did.

Waiting for them, about half a km inside the Carbandian border was a small (30 man) team, in ambush, very well armed, with two medium (81mm) mortars, and two rpg 29's, between them, as well as every member being armed with a Wyvern (assault rifle), and the usual assortement of grenades and such. Their job? Simply to stall the attackers for as long as possible, giving time for their apc's to run to the nearest communication node to get the word out.

Soon enough, the border had been reached by the vanguard. These hundred men climbed out of their APCs while still out of visual range with the border, and stealthily approached it, using the thick vegetation as cover. Mark Malone was the first to cross the border, still alert, and immediately moving behind a tree after he crossed. He was followed, in similar vein, by the other forty-nine men. The vanguard then froze, completely, barely even breathing. This was simply to determine whether or not they had been spotted yet.

Meanwhile, a group of ten tanks, a little more than a mile away, was undergoing the last technical checks before being mobilized to assist the vanguard should they encounter trouble.

"Wait for it..Wait for it" the lt's voice was no more than a quiet whisper, transmitted to the rest of the patrol via short range radio, their enemy's movements were clever, but the Border patrol had some of the most modern night vision equipment available, so they could see their enemies quite clearly, certainly more clearly than they would be seen, themselves, as they were more familiar with the terrain.

"Now"

The order was simple, yet nothing more needed to be said, as the mortars opened up, sending their 3 kg shells skywards, aimed at the enemy infantry, the rest of the team holding fire, the rpg's being next to useless against infantry, but potentially deadly if any enemy vehicle showed itself.

The mortars were, as was no doubt intended, devestating. Armor, training, loyalty, courage, none of these things could stop an 81mm shell. With the first salvo, more than half of the team was killed, leaving only fourteen men. These men instantly split up to minimize the target should the mortars be used futher, scattering throughout the woods.

Each of them determined the most likely area for the shots to have come from, and, in a rough semi-circle, they advanced through the woods.

Meanwhile, the second half of the vanguard, hearing the explosives, began advancing, even as the shattered remnants of the first half began firing on, or at least near, the Carbandian position, hoping the catch them in a crossfire, or failing that, at least force them into revealing their exact location.

(ooc: hard not to love mortars..Cheap to build, light to carry, easy to use, and devastating if used right..In many ways the perfect infantry support weapon)

ic:

The rest (ie the ones not manning the rpgs) of the Carbandian patrol now opened fire with their rifles. After all 14 to 30 were far better odds than the ones they had previosly faced, and every minute the other guys spent held up here was a minute more of preparation time, which, no doubt, would be vital, in the long run.

The vanguard continued to return fire, aiming at the muzzle flashes of the enemy weapons before ducking back to cover. Nevertheless, two more were hit in rapid succession. A moment later, a third was hit as he threw a grenade at what he judged to be the most likely position of the mortars.

For the fourteen (now eleven) to triumph over this patrol now seemed impossible. For them to hold out until the other half of the vanguard arrived, however, and to remove the most lethal enemy assests before they arrived, however, was still deemed possible, and so they continued to fight.

The grenade near missed the mortar, injuring it's loader, who was soon replaced by a un injured member of the team, he, instead, joining the rest in shooting back at the enemy soldiers.

So far the Carbandian team was getting the better of the exchange, with no fatalities, and only a couple of light injuries, all of which were still shooting, but it was only a matter of time till this changed, especially if the enemy troops brought heavier weapons to bear, but the Carbandians knew this too, they were doing what their job was, and were resigned to their fates.

After all there were few fates more glorios than dying with honour for one's country.

Two more men fell, one dead with a bullet through his neck and out the back of his skull, but the other non-fatally, hit in the leg which suddenly decided it was no longer necessary to lend him it's support. He rolled behind a rotting log and continued to fire at the enemy.

Things were looking rather grim, with only ten men left, and one of those bleeding rather badly, but then, O frabjous day, the second half of the reinforcements arrived. Wasting no time, they directed a withering hail of fire at the enemy.

OOC: Please, no spam in this thread, eh?

"Shit" was the first word to come out of the lt's mouth as the enemy reenforcements joined the fray, the border guards returning their fire as much as they could, although, now, four were dead, or incapacicated (ie not shooting)

"Sitrep", he said to his team "what's our ammo situation?"

"All right, so far," replied the teams 2nd in command "luckily for us we're using 3rd bursts, while they are blazing away on full auto, but we won't last forever"

"True. Get that mortar to put a round into what looks like the largest enemy concentration. And where the bloody hell is their armoured support? I want to kill at least one vehicle before we go down"

That last word was barely out of his mouth before both mortars spoke again, aiming at the largest group of enemy muzzle flashes, having kept quiet after the initial barrage

Once burned, twice cautious, as the old saying went. The second half hadn't advanced in formation, and as such, the largest concentrations of muzzle flashes had only been in pairs of two. That said, it didn't save those two.

With a tree between him and the Carbandians, the commander shouted out, first in Kolvokian, then in broken (insert name of most usual Carbandian language here) "You men have fought bravely! There's no need for you to die. Surrender now, and you will be treated fairly."

His men, meanwhile, kept up the fire, and would continue to do so until, one way or another, Carbandian fire ceased being an issue.

The Carbandian lt considered this for a while before replying "And what proof do I have of this?" he asked simply, his team not halting it's fire, either (they understand english just fine, as it, and russian, are the two main languages (they're tought to be bi lingual))

The man considered for a moment before replying, again in unsteady, but careful English.

"I give at you my Allron," he paused for a moment; searching for the right word in English "My bloodoath. My word as a Kolvokian."

Though it was by no means certain that this would be understood by any of the Carbandians, it was the second highest oath a Kolvokian could swear, akin to swearing on a five foot stack of bibles sitting on top of the grave of seven generations of one's matriarchal line, while putting one's genitalia on the line as colateral. In short, it was not an oath any Kolvokian would make if they did not intend to die before betraying it.

"If you surrender now, your men will be treated fairly."

The Carbandian co hesitated, but then decided it would be better for his men to avoid further bloodshed, after all they had completed their mission, to delay the enemy, as they had virtually no chance of stopping a real invasion on their own.

"All right, we are coming out then, hold your fire, please"

The 24 surviving Carbandian border patrol members stood up and out of cover, their arms raised.
(ooc: btw, they are wearing Thor body armour (it's in my storefront) (undersuit+chestplate+helmet) so your troops might wonder at first if they are human or not (which, they are))

****
Situation Room, underneath Carbandian Defense minstry, Sundswall, about the same time

"Phone for you, sir, it's the red line"
Alekseyev frowned at this, the red line was the direct land line to hq, a method of communication never used unless it was deadly serios

Taking the phone he spoke into it "Alekseyev. What? You sure? All right, continue the preparations you have already started, and I'll get support your way, asap"

Putting the phone down and turning to the watch officer, Alekseyev said "Wake up the 1st, and order them to entrain at once, destination: the 21st's defense district. Seems we have a invasion on our hands"

Rather than wasting time asking foolish questions like "by whom?" the operation's center went straight to work, sending out orders to the 1st armoured to head to the trouble spot a.s.a.p., with further support on the way.

The Kolvokians held their fire. Meanwhile, an additional thirty men arrived.

The commanding officer of the vanguard issued quick orders, dispatching thirty of his own men to escort the Carbandian prisoners, who were swiftly disarmed, as well as the Kolvokian wounded, back to the tentative base camp in Kloadnio.

There, those Carbandians who had been wounded were sent to be treated, while the rest were herded into a hastily erected prisoner barracks. It was rather spartan, but no more so than the normal barracks, some of which were still being built.

The commanding officer was the only exception to this, asked to enter Commander Hammonds equally hastily built office.

Meanwhile, back on the other side of the Carbandian/Kloandion border, the vanguard fanned out and ensured that the surrounding area was clear, while others began digging defensive positions, in case it became necessary to hold against another Carbandian force. More forces, meanwhile, continued to cross the border. The plan, at this point, was to secure the immediate area as a staging area.
***
Meanwhile, a declaration of war was issued to the Carbandian government.

The Carbandian foreign minister, Gennady Bondarenko was not a happy man, although given the circumstances this was understandable "Is this supposed to be a joke?! He said, reading the Kolovkian declaration of war

"Apparently not" replied Alekseyev, the only one of the three in the quickly assembled meeting to be fully dressed "guess they think we didn't know that they crossed the border before we got this worthless piece of trash"

President Gurashoy nodded, just as angry as the other two, but not showing it "We won't even grace that with a reply, then. What's the situation?"

"The border guard patrol won't hold them off for long, in fact I'd wager they've been already defeated." replied Alekseyev, turning towards a large map of the nation

"The 21st is already on full war footing, it's co having done this before calling headquarters, as per standard procedure, but if this is as serios as it seems he is going to need support."

Turning back, he added "I have, already, ordered the 1st armoured division, on my own authority, to head towards that area, but it will take a absolute minimum of 36 hours for them to do so."

"What else do we have to send?" asked Gurashoy, himself a ex military man

"I want to send two air wings, one of strike aircraft, the other of our new Illorian designed ISF-35 air superiority fighters over. This would go a long way to gain local air superiority. Also, just in case, I want to put the strategic defense forces (anti ballistic missles and 3 squadrons of Foxhound interceptors) on full alert, in case we face nuclear attack"

"Approved, send them at once" replied Gurashoy, then got a grin, and a evil one at that "Gennady?"

"Yes?" replied the foreign minister

"Instead of not replying, send them this", he then handed the foreign minister a hand written note

grinning, the foreign minister replied "With pleasure"


To: the aggressors from Kolovkia
Nuts
-The Carbandian goverment

(edit: nearly missed the part about the patrol's co)
Kolovkian camp

This may have come as a surprise to the Kolovkians, but the Carbandian lt was female, and quite attractive, although the completely impassive look on her face didn't do much to help with that.

Of course she, and her people, did as told, after all resisting might get them hurt, or worse. That did not mean that they would not use a chance to escape if a one presented itself, however.

Foreign War Minister Thomas White read the reply, and sighed. "But what can you expect? We did our duty, to make this clear. Can we really expect them to understand? After all, they are not Kolvokians."

He tossed the printed out reply into the garbage.
***
Once the immediate area had been secured, several portable SAMs were brought up, in addition to a truck mounted radar array, and a number of heavy machine guns. In short, now that they had the area, they were hell-bent on keeping it.

Preparations were made, meanwhile, for the next stage of the war, Operation Overrun.

OOC: Do you happen to have a map?

At the same time the 21st was digging itself thouroughly in, and "helping" itself to more of the Carbandian strategic stockpiles of weaponry. After all this is what they had been placed for, also calls were being made for the regional reserve (about 3 regiments (around 10k more men, bringing the total, on ground, strength, up to 45.000, including logistics (please note that this figure includes the 1st armoured division, which hasn't arrived yet))) to be brought up.

The Kolovkians would definetly not find the advance from here on in at all easy, or as bloodless as it had, thus far.

ooc: No such luck, sorry..My complete, and utter, lack of drawing skills mean that I don't have a one:(

OOC: Let's get this going again!

IC: There were, unfortunately, no major cities near the borders. As such, Operation Overrun had been discarded for the time being. The new plan, according to Kolvokian doctrine, was known as Operation Rising Dawn. It's name was chosen more or less at random, unlike that of Operation Overrun. The Kolvokian Paranormal Investigation Team had been moved up.

The KPIT's name was a complete misonomer. Far from any of 'that X-files stuff' as it's members often described the line of work their name implied, the KPIT was an elite artillery unit.

The maps of Carbandian railroads had been obtained online some hours earlier to the invasion by an enterprising intelligence officer. It was expected that the Carbandians would have some military railroads not listed on the civilian map, but nevertheless, this attack would damage, if not cripple, the main line of supply until the railroads were repaired.

"Designated Track Five should now be clear of any prescheduled civilian trains," called the Lieutenant. Harry 'Mad Dog' Morton would attack anything that angered him with whatever weapons were at his immediate disposal. During a war with the Kloandoians, when the KPIT was on the wrong end of a perfectly executed flanking manuver, he had abandoned his suddenly rather useless position of telling people where to shoot, and, armed with an officers pistol in one hand and a combat knife in the other, had attacked a tank. The tank's commander had been an old fashioned sort, preferring to open the cupola and gain a first hand view of the battlefield, as opposed to a periscope or similar equipment.

Morton's subsequent hijacking of the tank, one of only two in the flanking force, and his somehow managing to man it to the extent that he had destroyed the second before it's stunned crew could react, had turned the tide of the battle. He hadn't been able to buy his own drinks since.

Twenty pieces of self propelled five inch artillery began firing at a stretch of the track a great distance from their current location. The noise would have been deafining, did the KPIT's standard equipment not include earplugs, hastily crammed into ears as soon as the orders were given to fire. For this reason, the KPIT, in fact, the Artillery Corps in general, had developed a peculiar type of sign language, including all basic commands, as well as usually a number of 'in jokes', curses, friendly insults and general conversation phrases. Known as Artspeak, this varied from unit to unit.

OOC: Or, to summarize, my artillery is methodically attacking Carbandian rail lines, while attempting to avoid civilian casualties.

Unfortunately the C.A.F. had a nasty surprise in store for their Kolovkian enemies.

The 21st had a large battery of M-46 130mm long range guns (40km range, using rocket assisted ammo), and shell tracking radars, available to it, which soon turned to face the enemy guns and fired, six rounds per gun, making for a total of fourty eight in just over a minute, not one of the guns waiting to see if their first rounds hit, as they were aiming via radar direction, and doing what these guns were designed for, and indeed had been used in the past for, counter battery work.

Two could play at this long range artillery duel game.

ooc: works for me..But don't expect it to be un answered, mate..Btw, that's a real life gun, from the good ole Soviet Union..Although the r.a.p. shells were developed later (the guns can still manage a respectable 24km range without them, though)

The shells wreaked some measure of havoc. Two pieces of self propelled artillery were lost, along with their crews. Several other men were also killed or injured. It was unimportant. The KPIT's orders was to inflict maximum damage on the enemy transportation system. Long range artillery duels had their place, but if the enemies could not bring shells up to load into their artillery, it would be a rather one sided duel. Regardless of counterbattery fire, attacks on the railroads continued.
***
From The Armed Republic of Kolvokia; Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs

As you are by now likely aware, a state of war exists between our two nations, and active fighting is taking place. As such, we officially request a diplomatic meeting in order to reach an agreement as to the treatment of captured prisoners, and similar matters. We leave it to you, as the current defenders in this conflict to determine the location of this meeting.

From: the office of President Eduard Gurashoy
We are willing to have these talks, but we would like that a cease fire be put into effect while they take place, as a gesture of good will.
No ceasefire, no talks.
-President Gurashoy

*****
The rails were hit, and severed, but the trains were soon reruited, as there were four back up tracks, that the enemy hadn't identified yet, hopefully. As a last resort there was always the civilian lines, as these were strictly military rails the trains were running on, for maximum efficiency.

As for the artillery duel, the guns weren't going to run out of shells any time soon, there were plenty of piles of those 130mm shells around in the varios equipment stockpiles in the 21st terretory.

The Carbandians had spent a long time preparing for this day, hoping that it would not come.
*****
Airfield, 300km from the frontline

"We have a mission" said a Carbandian airforce captain

"Our mission is to probe the enemy's air defenses in force." he added, turning to the 24 assembled pilots "as you are aware I picked this force deliberately, eight of you fly Shrike strike aircraft, the remainder ISF's for support."

"Intel does not, at this time have a clear indication of what the enemy's defenses are, but it is your job to find out. Good luck" he finished, the aircrew heading out to their planes.

From The Armed Republic of Kolvokia; Ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs
To: The office of President Eduard Gurashoy
Sent at: 13:00 hours, Central Kolvokian Standard Time

As of the transmitting of this message, all military forces in the Carbandian theatre have ceased firing, and ceased advancement. They will only fire if fired upon. We repeat, at this point in time, we leave it to the decision of the Carbandians where the talks will be held.
***
The firing stopped exactly at thirteen hundred hours, CKST. This was not to say that the troops in any way advanced. They still manned the artillery, ready to resume fire again on an instant's notice.

OOC: So... are the planes actually taking off?

ooc: No, their order to will be cancelled as soon as the positive responce about the ceasefire is recieved.
Of course said ceasefire will be used by the Carbandian armed forces to bring the 1st in theater. But they will hold their fire.

To: All Carbandian armed forces
From: Defense minister Pavel Alekseyev
As of 13:00 hours, standard Kolovkian time, a ceasefire will come into effect.
We will honour this ceasefire.
All forces are to hold their fire and not fire unless fired upon till further notice.
****
To: Kolovkian ministry of defense and foreign affairs
From: President Gurashoy
The meeting will be held in the Carbandian capital, Sundswall.
We will, of course, guarantee the safety of your representatives while they are here, and until they have left Carbandian terretory, even if the ceasefire doesn't hold.

The Kolvokian diplomatic team had been thoroughly briefed. They held the whip hand as far as treatment of prisoners went, both because they currently held prisoners, and because Kolvokian honor ensured that they would continue to hold more prisoners.

Three planes had taken off, although only one would actually cross the border into Carbandia. The other two held reserve diplomatic teams. In the event that the first was shot down by Kloandoian forces, the second would carry on the mission. Likewise the third.

The chief negotiator was Lord Henry Maddock, who thankfully made it over the Kloandoian Occupied Zone (or Koz) without incident. The plane carried no offensive weaponry, but had a wide away of ECMs. It constantly broadcasted it's identity, so as to avoid being mistaken for a breach of the peace treaty.

Lord Henry Maddock, a tall fit man, with short cropped red hair and a short red beard, was most notable for his Mountain Tattoos. Though he did not go as far as the most controversial of the Mountain Lords, Prince Halthor his arms, torso, and legs were crisscrossed with intricate black and red designs.

He dressed simply, in a black silk shirt and trousers. His tatoos showed only on the back of his wrists and on his neck. On his left hip he carried a naked sword. The plane reached Sundswall and requested permission to land.

It was clear that Sundswall was well protected, as the whole flight over was tracked by several radars, including two for the newly operational Grizzly missles, but they were just there to make sure that the Kolovkians would not try any funny stuff, like crashing into a goverment building

"Kolovkian air force plane, you are cleared to land on runway four" was the reply from the tower, a small reception could be seen waiting for them there

The plane landed near the reception. A ladder was lowered from the door, and Lord Maddock climbed out. He strode to the reception, and bowed from the waist.

"I am Lord Henry Maddock. I have been chosen to represent Kolvokia in these talks." He gestured to a petit blond woman behind him. "This is my chief aid, K'ala Orlof. She will be accompanying me in the talks, if this is permissible."

The tall man in the center, wearing a uniform of a colonel-general (ooc: four star general) returned the bow and said "I am Pavel Alekseyev, the Carbandian defense minister, and yes, her presence is acceptable, as long as you accept her's" he nodded to a tall, blonde haired, and attractive, woman beside him wearing a black uniform with a colonel's insingia.

Noting the sword on the lord's hip, Alekseyev said "I hope you did not come here with the intent of using that? It might cost me my life, but it will definetly cost you yours, as well as that of the rest of your delegation" this was not really a threat, more a statement of fact, something they both knew, for sure.

ooc: note that the uniform normally follows same colours as the Russian army (ie he's wearing a grey one), with one exeption, the Jannisaries. They wear all black, both uniforms, and, usually, armour.

"This is acceptable, Mr. Alekseyev," said Lord Maddock. "As for the sword, I have brought it for self defense. I am Kolshon, and I will not be seperated from my sword, anymore than I would my arm or leg. I trust this will not be a problem, as I'm certain that Carbandia will have armed guards in the room."

Alekseyev shook his head "I somehow doubt that will be neccessary, although the colonel is herself armed." he added "so shall we go to where the meeting is to be held?"

He motioned to a limozine within a easy walking distance, this clearly being their intended transport, as long as the other's didn't mind.

If one did not know better, one might almost mistake this for a normal diplomatic visit.

Maddock and Orlof nodded, and entered the limosuine. Orlof began reviewing notes, while Maddock sat silently, one hand resting on his sword, the other resting in his lap. His eyes were half closed, but continued moving about the limosuine, taking in each person and feature in it.

He had instinctively placed himself in a seat where he was withing sword's reach of most of the other passengers, as well as the driver. His body seemed at rest, but to the close observer, his muscles were prepared to spring in any direction.

This was normal. He was Kolshon, the most prominent of the mountain tribes, who placed even more importance on martial prowess than the rest of Kolvokia.

"A intersting weapon, may I examine it?" the jannisary colonel spoke for the first time, she had been quietly admireing the weapon's workmanship, herself being a swordsman herself (not wearing a one though, although she does, at the hip, wear a Vyper service pistol (,357sig)) (btw, it's the same colonel that ran the jannisary team in Dephire, just so you know, assuming you hadn't guessed, of course)

A little small talk could only help calm the underlying tension between the two sides, after all.

While she said this the limo headed in town, heading towards the Carbandian capitol building.

Maddock nodded his head. In one fluid motion he drew his sword, twisted his hand, and turned the sword so that the flat lay against his forearm, with the point towards him. He offered the hilt to the Colonel.

"It was forged by Kolvokian smiths fifty years ago. There is no such style in all the rest of the world, though it has similarities to the Japanese katana. Particularly the grooves, which, when the sword is swung, give it its distinctive whistling sound. Be mindful, the edge is at combat sharpness."

Paula nodded, examening it for a while before carefully handing it back to Maddock "A fine blade, indeed. A all too rare a sight in this day" she added, a small smile on her lips as she did so

"Shame I can't return the pleasure but perhaps if we meet again in happier circumstances? After all, who knows what the future might bring, no?"

It should be, by now, quite clear to the Kolvokian (sorry about the repeated mis spelling of your nation's name..wasn't on purpose) delegation that they were going to be treated with all the courtesy that visiting diplomats deserved, irregardless of the current state of affairs between the two nations.

"Thank you. I hope that may become possible." He resheathed the sword, and resumed his earlier stance. But whereas before his face had been smooth marble, now a small smile played around his lips. The Carbandians, or this Carbandian, were capable of appreciating a fine blade, at least. They were not Kolvokians, certainly, but for all that, they might still be honorable.

If that was the case, it would make his duty here much easier, and he could sooner return to his mountain fastness, and his wives, husband, and children.

Arriving at the capitol, the Colonel was the first one to step out of the limo, holding the door open for the others

"If you would follow me, lord Maddock" said Alekseyev, motioning inside "the lord governor is expecting us. I hope you will forgive him for having been unable to meet you at the airport in person"

"Naturally," said Maddock. He followed Alekseyev inside, himself followed by Orlov. As in the limo, his face was once again motionless, except for the eyes, which took in everything. Orlov, meanwhile, remained staring straight ahead, mentally reviewing all of her information and instructions in preperation for the meeting.

Maddock spoke, suddenly. "I had not thought of this before. Will there be press present at the meeting?" In Kolvokia, the press was generally permitted at such diplomatic meetings, but were required to delay the release of the information until it was no longer considered sensitive.

But the was not Kolvokia, and for all he knew, the talks would be relayed in real time.

Alekseyev shook his head "No, but if we reach a mutually agreeable result then we might make a mutual press release" he turned to look the Kolvokian lord in the eye "if not, well, then we shall cross that bridge when we get to it. Put yourself at ease, sir. We are not in the habit of harming diplomats here, even when the nation they represent is not on the best of terms with us"

After saying this he led them inside, there was some security present, as was to be expected, a mixture of the black uniformed jannisaries, and regular soldiers, mostly armed with pistols, only the very occasional smg.

Arriving at one of the conference rooms, Alekseyev nodded to the jannisary at the door, who opened it for them, gesturing inside.

"I am never at ease, Mr. Alekseyev, least of all while I am working," replied Maddock, entering the room. He sat at the conference table, and Orlov sat next to and slightly behind him.

ooc: Sorry about the delay, mate..Been a bit of one of those days.

ic:
A tall man in a buisness suit was waiting for them, although he was in his early sixties, he could still be quite a commanding presence, and not just because of the power he vielded as chief of state.

"Lord Maddock, it is a honour, sir" he said, offering his right hand to the Kolvokian representative "I am Eduard Gurashoy, president, and lord governor, of Carbandia"

Maddock shook the man's hand with a firm grip, and then bowed from the waist. "I, as you seem aware, am Lord Maddock, Protector of Tharon's Hold, and member of the Kolvokian Diplomatic Corps. I hope we can reach a reasonable agreement. Now, to business. The first matter at hand is the treatment of prisoners. Currently, the Carbandian prisoners that we hold are being kept in a small prisoner of war camp. They are being fed adaquetely, if somewhat blandly. They will continue to be treated in this manner, as will any other Carbandian prisoners taken, under two conditions. The first is fairly self-evident. Should they attempt to escape, it will be taken as a violation of their surrender and we will resume treatment of them as enemy combatants. The second, is one of the main reaons that I am here. Any Kolvokian you capture will be captured because he is physically unable to resist capture, presumably due to injury. As soon as any Kolvokian prisoner is physically and mentally capable of making the decision, you must give him the opportunity to undertake Voltok."

"If I may ask, what is Voltok" asked Gurashoy, he was after all unfamiliar with the term "we have not heard the term before, and can we also see proof of how the prisoners are being treated?"

Col. Ridzik kept her face impassive as this exchange was taking place, but she had already guessed, this sounded like he was referring to them being allowed to commit ritual suicide, but, being unfamiliar with Kolvokian customs, she could be mistaken.

"Voltok is the only means by which a captured soldier can maintain his honor," said Maddock. "In sacrificing his life at the point of his own sword, he makes the only exchange he can to mitigate his letting himself be captured."

"Very well, that is what they shall be allowed to do, if they so prefer. But only as long as our own p.o.w's are treated well. If that should change, without reason, then we would be forced to reconsider our own position on any prisoners we may take in the future" the president's tone showed no sign of anger, but he was deadly serios there, it was clear the Carbandian goverment would not take lightly to their people being mis treated

"One question, if that's all right. Why us?"

"Of course. If you were not previously, you are by now aware of our teneous situation with Kloandio. It was recently decided by the Commander of the theatre that the continued civil war in Kloandio, and the resulting movement of undesirables across the Kolvokian border could no longer be permitted to continue. As such, a doctrine for a final and complete occupation and subsequent stabilization of Kloandio was created. Unfortunately, this doctrine called for a two pronged attack, currentlty impossible due to the fact that we are located only on one side of Kloandio."

"Well you could have used more diplomatic means for that..The situation in Kloando helps neither of us, and so it would be in our mutual interest that it would be solved, is it not?"

"You asked me why Carbandia was chosen. I answered, but I see I was not clear enough. Kolvokia thrives on war. We are a warrior people. Since The Republic was forged, Kloandio has fed that thirst for war. With the recent collapse, they are no longer a worthy opponent. Yourselves, on the other hand, are. Had we not needed the bases, we would have attacked our southern neighbors, or our eastern neighbors. As it is," he spread his hands. "Here we are."

Gurashoy nodded "Here we are indeed. So what now? Back to fighting?" it may not be obios, but this was meant to measure the resolve of the other side in this matter

"Of course. It is always back to fighting. The only difference is that sometimes the pauses are longer than others. Speaking of which, is Oh-twelve hundred hours, local time an agreeable time to end the ceasefire?"

Gurashoy nodded "And, of course, your airplane has it's safety guaranteed until it leaves Carbandian airspace, even if it would take longer than that time. As long as it takes no offensive action while in said airspace, of course."

Standing up, he offered his hand to lord Maddock "I can't say that this meeting went completely as I hoped, but it was certainly informative, if nothing else. I thank you for your time, lord Maddock, and I do hope you remember that the diplomatic door is always open"

"Then we are agreed. If you will excuse me, I do not wish to keep my aircrew waiting any longer than necessary." He bowed again, before leaving.

Back aboard his plane, his sat, his fingers steepled, as he considered. He felt he had gained an insight into the enemy. They would fight, as long as they considered it plausible, but they were not Kolvokians. If they were convinced that warfare would ultimately do more damage to themselves and their citizens, they would surrender.

And if what he heard about Base One-Five was correct, that date might be sooner than anyone expected.

As the airplane took off, Alekseyev turned to Paula "What did you make of him, are they serios with this whole thing?", after all people reading was something jannisaries were extensively trained in

"Absolutely. They will not back down unless the situation becomes deeply un favorable for them, and even that is questionable"

Alekseyev nodded, he had guessed as much "Agreed. Guess we had better show them that we are no less comitted to keeping our country intact."

Turning to a aide he asked "What news of the 1st armoured division"

The reply was immediate "Two of it's regiments have already reached the line of the 21st, with the other two going to arrive before the ceasefire runs out"

"Excellent" Alekseyev replied "they won't find us a walk over, that is for sure." thinking for a while longer he added "Order the 2nd mechanized division to entrain, and prepare to head in theater, also order the 22, and 23rd, homeguard divisions to send a regiment, each, to the 21st. It's time to make this serios"

"Sir!"

OOC: Okay, quick comment, quick question. First, for details on M'ror's Breath, as well as some other new P'reshftallen I'll be introducing, check the Base One-Five link in my signature. Second, any complaints if we simply fluid time to the end of the ceasefire?

ooc: Dude, chemical weapons do not a clean war make..*hates those things with a passion*

Could we try not to involve that shit, please? I did not agree to the use of such methods, before hand, and you know it.

ooc: Dude, chemical weapons do not a clean war make..*hates those things with a passion*

Could we try not to involve that shit, please?

OOC: They do in Kolvokian culture. But very well. And the fluid time?

ooc: stupid question, but please bear with me..What do you mean by fluid time?

ooc: stupid question, but please bear with me..What do you mean by fluid time?

OOC: Fluid time is the theory whereby one RL hour can equal one NS hour, one NS year, or even one NS minute. Essentially what I'm asking is, do you have anything you want/need to RP between now and the resumation of hostilities, or is it okay if we just skip to it?

ooc: not ic, but rl, and the time difference between us, can make things difficult when it comes to fluid time, sorry..

Apart from that I have no objections to things being moved forward to the time the truce runs out.

OOC: Actually, fluid time is meant to help with that, as it means there's no solid timeframe, but it works out however you need it to.

IC: Mad Dog Morton glanced at his watch. "All right, men," he said, "Prepare to resume fire!"

Earplugs were hastily crammed into airs, as the barrels swung towards their new monuments. Morton glanced at his watch, and held up one hand. All eyes were on him, as his hand shot forward in the universal ArtSpeak signal for fire.

The artillery boomed back to life. The train tracks were no longer being targeted- not by the KPIT, anyways, although there was another unit, a bit further back, still targeting them. Now the main target was where intelligence suggested the major Carbandian line of defense would be.

Meanwhile, the first of the Ftallen Brhala were being moved up. They would be used as shock troops, to punch a hole in enemy lines to be filled by the more conventional troops. There was Ftallen infantry, accompanied by Ftallen tanks. The tanks were more or less standard, though with somewhat heavier armor and armament then most Kolvokian tanks. The infantry were an elite force, armed with the latest in P'reshftallen.

ooc: My mistake, then. Not the first time I misunderstand..But I agree, that we should, basically, have no fixed ic time happening in between posts..Much like we have, so far, right?

ic:

The Carbandian artillery soon started responding, the guns doing counter battery work against the KPIT being only a portion of the awailable artillery, some fifty guns coming into action now, guided by trajectory tracking radars, the counter volley, even against self proppelled artillery, was going to be devastating.

And this was just the start, the Carbandians had quite a few more rude surprises in store for their Kolvokian enemies.

The KPIT lost several more pieces of artillery, despite the fact that they moved after firing this time. The other artillery took even heavier damage. However, the pounding on the Carbandian lines continued. And the Carbandians would not be the only ones to give rude surprises.

Several pieces of rocket artillery had been moved up, and were prearing to beging 'shoot and scoot' tactics to provide counterbattery fire.

The Carbandians also had several pieces of self proppelled artillery, as well as a full armoured division's worth of tanks, but these held their fire, for now, letting the towed artillery continue it's duel with it's opposing number, but already several of the M-46's were being moved, as they knew better than not to expect enemy counter-counter battery fire. This wasn't world war 1, after all.

Meanwhile a force of eight Shrike light strike aircraft (roughly equalient to the Italo-Brazilian AMX) took off, with both ecm, and fighter (eight isf 34's) support, heading towards the enemy lines. It was time for the air force to join in the fight.

Mark Hammond was eating with his men when an aide burst in. "Sir, they've brought in air power."

"Bastards," said Hammond, standing up. Air power was the weakest point of this invasion, due to doctrine requiring the majority of the air force be held in reserve against an invasion by another enemy. Unable to get more than twenty fighters, though bombers were much easier, he had had to settle for large numbers of mobile SAM launchers and portable ground based radar.

These, at least, were coming online now, and any second, a swarm of surface to air missiles would dart towards the enemy, the majority targeting the enemy light strike aircraft, with the fighters as a second priority.

Meanwhile, five MRLS's along with two dozen MRLS2s had come within range. All were spread throughout the woods before they began firing, the MRLS's firing twelve rockets each over twenty seconds before moving in seemingly random directions, while only one MRLS2 began firing, and it remained stationary, firing a missile every three seconds.

OOC: Much belated bump.

OOC: Another belated bump.

ooc: Eeep..Nearly forgot about this, sorry. Guess it's time to get it back on track.:)

ic:

In the air:

"Sams, break!" the Carbandian aircraft fired their anti radiation missles at the sam missle sites before trying to vanish into a cloud of electronic noise, chaff, and flares, but two Shrikes were not so lucky, both suffering fatal hits and going down, although both pilots did manage to eject.

on the ground:

The Carbandian artillery now went quiet, including the counter battery pieces. Although several weapons had been knocked out by the enemy's mrls strike, this was mostly a case of them making the enemy think they had the upper hand in the artillery fight.

The defending infantry kept their heads down in their trenches, praying that no shell would come addressed "to those that it may concern", and end their lives, although not everyone was going to be so fortunate.

ooc:
losses so far:
around 80-100 soldiers incapacicated, either killed, or wounded too badly to be able to continue fighting (they're well dug in, that's why the losses aren't heavier)

15 guns (all m-46's)

2 Shrike aircraft downed, another 3 damaged to one extent or another.

OOC: I'm taking a wee bit of liberty with timing and setting here, tell me if I overstep myself.

The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you,

Ghengis Khan- Mongol Emperor

It is a simple fact that in war, what one needs to prevail are first the will, second the means, and third the luck.

Matsai the First- Kolvokian Emperor

In the thick forest, the moon, full and resplendent though it was, was able to pierce the branches only at odd intervals. These were carefully avoided by the ten men who slipped through the forest. Clad in black from head to toe, their eyes hidden behind black goggles that allowed them to see out, while at the same time hiding their eyes. They moved- not silently. Silence was not natural in a forest, even one at war. But they moved in such a manner that every broken twig, every rustled branch seemed nothing more than a rabbit or a deer, a gust of wind from the forest sighing at the vainglorious carnage that men worked in it.

All indications were that the Carbandians- who were, after all, fighting a defensive war- had chosen to dig in and wait for the Kolvokians to make the next move. This was something the Kolvokians had never been shy about doing. This was why these ten men were slipping through the woods. Intelligence had made rough estimates at where the Carbandians would have drawn their lines, but the men were taking no chances. They advanced slowly, carefully looking with infrared goggles- which incidentally was the best chance the enemy had for spotting them. That was one reason they were so alert.

The other was the fact that they were a very special unit. They were not wearing any body armor. Even the black cloth that helped to hide them was thin, allowing the cool night air to caress their skin. Each man fully expected to die on each mission they went out on, singing their own death-rites before hand. In the martial culture of Kolvokia, they were at once an elite and a sort of pariahs, having come from a culture otherwise long since merged into Kolvokia’s own.

The one in the front of the group suddenly held up a hand, and the others halted immediately. Several yards in front of where intelligence had estimated, they had spotted a Carbandian sentry. Now it all came down to whether the Carbandian sentry would spot them. If he did, this mission would take one path, if he didn’t, it would take a very different one. Already, the lead man’s hand moved slowly towards the throwing knife on his belt.

The sentry hadn't, being more pre occupied with listening to the sound of enemy shelling, and whether or not one was coming his way.

After all much of the patrolling up and down the line was done by the home guard, not the regular armed forces. And not all of those troops were entirely up to scratch in their training.

In either case the Carbandians were not expecting a commando style raid, and had not made special preparations against such.

The sentry showed no signs of having seen them. Either he had not spotted them, or he was an actor of no small skill in his civilian life. It didn't really matter at this point, provided he hadn't tripped some sort of silent alarm. Still moving in that curious way which was not silence, one of the men- he was called Ina'shib, which means the Terrible Fox- slipped towards the man's left, emerging from behind a tree to place a knife at the man's throat.

"Would you prefer death to being bound?" He asked in a whisper that barely reached the ears of the sentry. "If the answer is yes, simply nod your head. If not, you will survive this night, at least."

Despite appearances, he was not offering to kill the man. Rather, given the angle of the blade, he was offering the man a chance to kill himself. Nodding would thrust the blade into his throat, killing him fairly quickly, though not without some pain.

"If you open your mouth," he continued, in the same whisper, "You will not survive long enough to make sound. The rest of the men remained hidden. At this point, even if the guard did take advantage of the Fox's mercy to manage to raise an alarm, there was a fair chance that the others would escape detection by whomever responded.

Although scared half way out of his wits, the guard had enough common sense to do as told, and he made no move, nor did he nod. After all he was almost certainly more use to his country alive than dead.

That is assuming his sergeant wouldn't kill him with his bare hands after he found out about this.

Remembering his training, he knew that if he didn't report in, command would assume there was something wrong, so he had little to gain by playing a hero, while everything to loose.

The Fox, having given the man what he believed was enough time to make his decision, made it for him, his other hand snaking up behind the man's head to deal a hard blow with the hilt of another knife. After that, it was the work of a few moments to disarm the man, strip him to his boxers to ensure he had no hidden means of escape, securely bind and gag him, and drag him a short ways into the forest. Then, flowing through the hole they thus created, they continued towards the trenches.

They were on high alert now more than ever. The critical moment had passed, and there could no longer be any turning back. Now all that was left was for them to fulfill their assigned roles.

The Terrible Fox was the first. As the others spread out, he drew a pair of grenades. As he approached the enemy position, he threw first one, then the other, at what appeared to be an enemy foxhole. The irony was not lost on him as he unslung a rifle from his back, and went to one knee. Even having given the enemy his basic location, he would be hard to see.

Meanwhile, the group leader and Farad- or Clouded One- had set up portable machine guns, on either side, although slightly behind The Fox. The weapons were, not surprisingly, black.

What they didn't know was that now they had been spotted, their infra red goggles having given them away.

There was no activity in the foxhole, as it's inhabitants hadn't been the ones to, but instead just out of sight behind it a tank commander was watching them through his own night vision equipment.

"infantry, probably enemy, range.." he checked the range finder "700 meters. Load he." the loader moved to do just that. While the tank was a older Merkúr, as opposed to the newer Ridzik, or Mercer's, it could still do a good job of spoiling the other's little show.

OOC: Just out of curiousity, how would passive infrared goggles give them away?

IC: The Fox knew something was wrong. That the foxholes had been empty was unfortunate, but not disastrously so. What was much more unfortunate was that it hadn't drawn returning fire, thus allowing the two with the machine guns to identify and cut down the enemy.

What was most unfortunate of all, was the tank. Simply, there was no way a man armed with a number of grenades and a rifle could take out a tank at this range, no matter how well trained and fearless he was. Machine guns wouldn't be much use, either.

Of course, there were other ways to look at this than as a grave misfortune, especially as the men were spread out enough that even if the enemy had sighted them somehow- most likely through infrared apparatus of their own- it would be impossible to take them all out with one shot of anything that could be fired out of a tank, short of chemical or nuclear weaponry. One of the other ways to look at it was as the first field run for the Mawli. Named after a fabled hero of enormous strength, it had been designed to pierce enemy armor and fortifications. Only one of the men- Fiorne, the Bear- carried a Mawli. He raised it to his shoulder, sighting along the night vision scope. About three seconds after spotting the tank, he pulled the trigger.

And the Mawli picked what was perhaps the least fortunate moment possible to refuse to fire. Thankfully the safety features kept it from backfiring and killing him, but it left the tank alive and well. Moving quickly in an attempt to salvage the mission, Fiorne discarded the charge, and began cleaning the barrel.

ooc: I honestly would not know..But you said something to that effect before..*isn't exactly anything resembling a tech expert, himself*

ic:
inside tank 3, fourth platoon, 51st homeguard division's armoured regiment

"What do you think, they friendly or not?" asked the tank's gunner, watching the shadowy figures through his gun sight

"doubt it." replied the commander "if they were friendly, they wouldn't need to be sneaking around like this"

Moving to the coaxial (kpv) machine gun, he checked if it was loaded, and pulled the charging handle. While the big gun was devastating, it was also slow to reload.

"All right, lets show them that we aren't to be trifled with." the commander stated simply "gunner, target whoever seems to be armed with a heavy weapon, and fire"

"Sir!" replied the gunner. "on target..and it's away!" he spoke as the he fired the big gun.

ooc: I honestly would not know..But you said something to that effect before..*isn't exactly anything resembling a tech expert, himself*

ic: if there had been any question in the crew's minds whether the shadowy figures were friendly or not, the firing of the anti tank missle dispelled it immediately.

The hit was not serios, the tank's heavy armour just stopping the round, but a second round would almost certainly penetrate the weakened armour and kill the crew.

Unfortunately a second shot was not what the Mawli was going to get, as the big 122mm (4,8inch, approx) gun spoke, sending it's high explosive shell his way.

OOC: Er...

The Mawli (based loosely on this (http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/future-weapons/weapons/zone2/e-smaw.html), just as an FYI,) didn't fire. It jammed, and its owner is currently frantically cleaning it for another shot.

ooc: my mistake, sorry..I'll edit the post, then. But you are aware that the sound of a tank going kaboom! will do a great job of setting off alarms for miles around, right?

damn that's one impressive man portable anti tank weapon.

It has been edited.

ooc: my mistake, sorry..I'll edit the post, then. But you are aware that the sound of a tank going kaboom! will do a great job of setting off alarms for miles around, right?

OOC: Well I should hope so! But considering The Fox started chucking grenades, I'd say the stealth portion of this little excercise is just about over, eh?

ooc: the post now should fit better in with your previos one now..Sorry for the mistake on my end..It is quite obvios in hindsight..*curses having english for second language*

Fiorne had finished cleaning the weapon as he saw the turret beginning to turn towards him. By the time it had finished turning, he was loading and raising the weapon. A split instant before he fired, the tank did. A split instant was all it needed. As if the high explosive hadn't been sufficent, the rocket did go off while still in the launcher this time, adding a smaller explosion to the large one.

Though he hadn't fufilled his intention of destroying the enemy tank, he had bought the other nine men valuable time. Already they had spread out into a semicircle, and were advancing towards the tank. Farad lowered a flare gun and fired at the tank. It let out no visible light when it hit, and wasn't sufficent to do much more than scratch the tank's paint, but it let out a large amount of infrared radiation. As it exploded, the leader shed his goggles to avoid being blinded, and drawing a satchel charge, sprinted towards the tank.

As soon as he was within what he considered an acceptable range, he hurled it at the tank. The explosive was shaped, and if it landed where he had aimed- the chances of which weren't as great as they might have been, considering it was dark and he hadn't had much time to do the calculations- he believed it would have sufficent power to penetrate the armor of the turret, and render the main weapon, at least, inopperable, as well as opening an entry point for the others to attack.

The crew was indeed blinded, but the commander opened up with the coaxial machine gun regardless, more in desperation than in the hope of actually hitting anything.

In any case the point became moot when the charge hit, the explosion causing the tank to go quiet, smoke billowing out of the hole it had made.

In the distance the Kolvokian soldiers could hear the sound of a siren going off, it was clear that the alarm had been raised.

The commander, despite everything, nearly managed to take the head off of Clouded One. He grimaced at the near miss, and went to make sure that Fiorno had died. The Terrible Fox, meanwhile, had retrieved both machine guns, and set them up to cover a position behind the shell of the tank. As the leader and Clouded One moved to man the machine guns, the Fox and two others took up position, placing the tank between them and the main body of Carbandians. Two others faded up into the trees- these being the sharpshooters- and the final two took up position in the same foxholes that the Fox had first attacked, in order to guard against a flanking manuever, or attack from the sentries.

As soon as he was lying behind his weapon, the leader pressed a button on his radio, that sent a single burst of what resembled static back to command.
***
Meanwhile, back at the metaphorical ranch, and literal advance camp, Commander Hammond was watching with interest the large hybrid airship- his assistant's insisted that it was not a blimp- now currently a tiny dot in the far sky grow steadily, if slowly, larger.

"And the Crimson King is on board?" He asked. His assitant nodded. "We think so, sir. That's only one of the possible three ways it could be being transported here. It's most vulnerable during transport, so there's a huge amount of secrecy. I'm not even one hundered percent sure what the other two possibilities are."

Hammond nodded. "Good. A couple of hours, one way or the other, and it will be here. Meanwhile, tell First Border to prepare to move out on my order."

ooc: oh, ffs, jolt ate my *bleeeep!!*ing post!

Whats the radar signeature on that airship like?

ooc: oh, ffs, jolt ate my *bleeeep!!*ing post!

Whats the radar signeature on that airship like?

OOC: Honking huge? I should note though, that it's fairly loaded with countermeasures.

ooc: suspected as much..on both accounts.:D But it never hurts to ask to be sure.

ic:
Inside a Carbandian awacs aircraft, patrolling 200km behind the front line. (ooc: it's escorted by both fighters and ecm aircraft, so it's not a easy target(of course the ecm aircraft aren't broadcasting at the moment, but they will if it comes under attack))

"Wonder what this is.." the voice of the radar operator broke the quiet, causing more than a few heads to turn.

His boss came over and looked over his shoulder "What have you got?"

"Looks like either a huyge, non stealthy, aircraft, or a airship coming up close to the former border, sir" replied the operator.

"Interesting." replied the officer "Vector in a flight of fighters. If we are lucky we might be able to down something important"

"Sir!"

****
On the ground the Kolvokian special ops troops could hear the rumble of approaching tank tracks, sounded like a platoon, at least.

Meanwhile, inside the disabled Merkúr, the two surviving crew members (the driver and the loader) kept their heads down, hoping they would get their chance to escape later.

The pilot of the airship yawned. It was bright and warm in the cockpit of the large craft, and even if this thing did move a lot quicker than the airships he had originally flown, it still wasn't anywhere near fast enough to require constant attention. He kept one eye on the altimeter, and the other on the radar, but most of his attention was on he scrolling landscape below. Even Kloandio was beautiful this far off the ground, no matter how much of a hellhole it was down below. Absently chewing on a pen, he was thinking once again about starting an airship cruise line when he retired from active service, when the radio buzzed on.

"Flight 222, this is Forward Base. We're picking up a number of fighters heading your way. We'll take a few whacks at them as they go by, and help is inbound."

The pilot snapped to full conciousness. "Roger that. We'll see what we can't do about giving them a bloody nose for their troubles." He turned to the gunner, who nodded. The air-to-air missiles, and the variety of countermeasures were all ready. Given the size of the ship, its CIWs were more akin to those on naval ships than real airplanes, and it was more heavily armed than most fighters. Still, it was much slower, and much less manuverable, and would take a lot less to destroy than a warship. So basically, unless the backup got there soon after the enemy fighters, they were all screwed.

"Roll out the cannons and prepare to repel borders," called out the pilot, still calm.
***
The men simply waited, one of the men behind the tank dropping his hand down to a belt where a number of grenades hung. "To death," called out the Fox softly. The others echoed this settlement. "To glory." This too, they echoed, though also quietly. The leader, meanwhile, pressed another button on his radio.
***
First Border consisted of seventy-two tanks, supporting two hundred infantry. At the first tone from the infiltration team, they had prepared themselves. At the second, they began to move out. The commandoes had attacked towards the west of the informal lines, and so the First Border began to move towards the center of it. The theory was fairly simple- a feint to the west and then a direct attack to take advantage of the confusion it caused.

Of course, there was another layer to the plan, but that was not as yet known to the men in First Border.

ooc: *mutters something unpleasant about jolt, eating posts, and what he wants to do with whoever is responcible*

Ic:
***
In the air

The Carbandian fighters lit their burners, it was clear that the enemy had spotted them, so they might as well come in hot. Their orders were simple "Down that ship, irregardless of personal risk, or cost", direct from the president himself.

While the Carbandians did not know what was onboard, they had decided that taking it out was worth the price of four fighters and, possibly, their pilots.
*****
Onboard the awacs

"Looks like enemy ground movement" spoke one of the radar operators, this one's task was to watch ground movement over the area "Battalion size, at least."

"So it begins" replied the officer in charge "call the 1st, tell them that they have incoming enemy troops, and give them the area"

"Sir" replied the radar operator
*****
On the ground

The Kolvokian special ops team could now see the siluettes of approaching enemy tanks, the first group was four additional Merkúr mbt's, but following behind them was a second group of two Ridzik hbt's.

In other words they were severly out gunned, and were almost certainly about to be literally blasted out of their position.
***
Sundswall airport

While this was happening, two large, dark shapes were seen rolling down the runway at considerable speed.

The airship's approximate destination having been figured out from it's original route, the Carbandian air force was about to play a trump card.

Two of it's force of Tupolev TU-160 Blackjack heavy bombers were about to try and flatten that site with conventionally armed cruise missles.

The pilot had slowed the airship down as much as he could. With a straight out airship, this would mean a dead stop. With a hybrid such as this, it merely meant a crawl. Though this reduced mobility down to approximately nothing- as opposed to nearly nothing as it had been before- it was considered a decent trade-off for the decrease in time it would take allies to reach it, and the increase in time it would take the enemies to arrive.

“I have those enemies on radar, Captain,” said the radar man. “Closing in at twelve o’ clock.” The pilot nodded, and tilted the controls. Slowly, the massive aircraft began to turn. The reasoning here was fairly straightforward. The airship’s defense counted more on shooting down enemy missiles than avoiding them. Since no reasonably sober pilot could miss the target anyroad, there was no major disadvantage to turning the broadside to them, whereas the majority of the countermeasures were mounted on the side.

“How long do we have until their bastards get here? And how long until our bastards show up to help?”

“ETA on the enemies is just under three minutes, sir. ETA on our boys is just under five.”

“Two minutes? I hope you boys have your affairs together. Way I figure this, we have a slightly less than decent chance of survival.”

“Enemies coming within range of extreme range weaponry, captain”

“By all means, fire, Mister Taganomi.”
a
“Thank you, captain, I am doing so.”

Four missiles roared towards the enemy planes. The pilot flicked on the radio. “Nice day for a ruckus, eh?” He asked in English. Never letting the side down was a concept as integral to the Kolvokian honor system as keeping ones word.
***
As the tanks approached, the Terrible Fox knocked on what remained of the hull on the tank. “If is anyone in there, this would be good time to exit,” he said, in broken English “It would be proper shame to survive thus far, only to be killed by own countrymen, yes?”

His other hand, meanwhile, closed on his sword, while his lips pulled back, showing his teeth in a grin that would not look out of place on a schoolboy embarking on the first day of a vacation.
***
While the tanks and infantry continued to close on Carbandian lines, one of the men was no longer in the advancement. No shirker, he, nor a deserter. His name was Heghlan, and he was one of the most feared men in the Kolvokian Department of Special Operations. He carried a backpack, as did many of the soldiers. Unlike them, his contained explosives, and tools to use them, as well as a few other choice items For the duration of his marching with them, he had worn a patch which declared him to be a designated sniper. This was not terribly far from the truth.

One of the choice items he carried in his backpack was a map of the area, focusing on railroads. The artillery duel had all but ceased, with neither side apparently willing to restart it at this point. But there were more ways than artillery to hurt railroads, and that was only one of the Special Operations Heghlan had been assigned.

He disappeared into the trees, moving forward slowly, and, for the moment, staying behind the main body of forces.
***
“Sir! We have enemy bombers inbound!”

“Of course we do. Scramble interceptors immediately. Hit the air raid siren.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” The aide shouted, scrambling to the siren button. It went off with a shrill screech, urging everyone in the headquarters to dive into one of the covered trenches. The trenches wouldn’t do anything to protect from a direct hit, but they greatly reduced the probability of being killed by shrapnel or by a near miss.

Meanwhile, five planes, the wing headed by Lord Ignacio, one of the best pilots in Kolvokia, leapt off of the runway, heading towards the enemy bombers.

(In the air pt 1)

The Carbandian fighters fired off their chaff, and flares to distract the missles, but kept boring in, each fighter replying, at 60 miles out with two missles, making for eight total, but this was just the start.

There was no reply to the pilot's statement.
****
On the ground the two tank crew members kept quiet, they did not see any reason to trust this invader. After all he hadn't said anything about not killing them if they tried to escape.

The first Merkúr opened up with a single he shell at the very area the tank's wreckage was in. Either it's crew didn't expect any survivors to be present, or it was hoping what was left of the tank's armour would protect them from it.
*****
(main fight, or rather what was soon going to become the one)

Two flights, eight Shrikes in total blasted off from a nearby airfield, armed with a mixture of cluster, and fae munitions, it was clear that the Carbandians were going to try and make their enemies pay dear for risking going out of their close sam cover.

Meanwhile, on the ground, a armoured reply was being mustered against the Kolvokian ground forces.

Some fifty tanks were soon present, most of them being the virtually ubiqutous (sp) Merkúr, the main Carbandian battle tank, but hidden among them were twenty of the newer, and, due to their electro thermal chemical guns, far deadlier Mercer's, having made a high speed run in to make the interception.

Also present, but out of sight, was a considerable number of Carbandian infantry, but they wisely kept their heads down, leaving the task of striking the first blow to their friends in the tanks, and air force.
*****
(Air pt2)
The two Blackjacks weren't actually heading anywhere near the front, as the extremely long range (1600 miles) of their cruise missles meant that they could, and would, launch well inside their own nations sam, and fighter, umbrella.

While they were a tempting target, they would be a extremely difficult one, given that they were not going to be risked in a flight into enemy terretory.

Instead now, well within the range of their AS-15 Kent missles, they now opened their bomb bays and started to launch their missles, one after another, each missle heading dirtside, splitting up into groups of two, and taking different routes to their intended target.

This was little more than a attempt to make the Kolvokians second guess what the real target was. Their real target was indeed the Kolvokian forward base. And with twelve groups of missles inbound from as many routes, it was a good bet that at least some would get through.

ooc: did give how to use those missles a lot of thought..They're basically a gps guided version of the Kent, and each missle had it's route pre programmed prior to the take off.

What the Terrible Fox did next was the stuff of which legends in Kolvokia were made. He had vaulted up onto the tank as soon as he had finished delivering his suggestion to the hypothetical survivors. He hit the ground, rolling, as what was left of the tank was hit, and felt the heat on his back. His shirt, in fact, caught fire, as did his hair. Seemingly oblivious to this fact, he drew his sword as he regained his feet. As the two machine guns opened up hopelessly on the tanks, he charged directly at them, sword held above his head, chanting in the strange overtonal manner of his people. As disturbing as this flaming apparition, singing his own death chant as he charged with nothing more than several feet of tempered steel was, it was doomed to be an ultimately futile gesture.

Terrible Fox's last words, never to be recorded, unless some member of the enemy tank crews was a language buff, translated roughly as follows.

For Kolvokia and my people
I willingly shed my blood.
To the earth I give my bones,
To teach the enemy respect for Kolvokians
I dedicate my death.
***
"Not very friendly, are they?" Asked the pilot. "Incoming."

"All missiles destroyed, Captain. If that's all they've got, this will be a spot easier than we expected."

"Well, we did shoot at them first," said the radar man. "But I don't expect that's all they'll be throwing at us."

"That's no bloody excuse to be rude," said the gunner. "I ought to blast them out of the skies for that slight."

"You ought to blast them out of the skies, period," said the captain. "Why don't you get on that?"

"Well, since you put it like that, I believe I shall." This was in jest, of course. He had been preparing to fire since before the last missiles had been confirmed as misses. "And, eight more away. Two to each fighter. You know, captain, I get the distinct impression that we're slightly outnumbered here."

"Quiet, you, or I'll report you for seditious talk."
***
"Inbound planes and tanks, sir." Came the word over the radio. The tank commander grinned.

"Of course there are. We didn't expect this to be a walk in the park."

"I have a, Merkúr, I think they call them, up front." Said the gunner.

"Load armor piercing!"

"Loaded!"

"Fire!"

The tank boomed, spitting a shell at the enemy tank, and then the turret swiveled. It spoke again, and moved again, never stopping to ascertain the damage each caused, but merely moving to the next target.
***
The cruise missiles caused quite a bit of damage. Though a few were shot down, the majority of them hit. Most of the buildings were leveled, and two missles hit directly onto concentrations of people taking shelter in the trenches. Casualties immediately after the bombardment stopped were seventy-three, with a large amount seriously wounded.

ooc: Sorry about the delay.

ic:
inside tank 1, 3rd platoon, 51st division (homeguard)

"What in heaven's name does that fool think he's doing?" The tank commander's voice was quiet, but from the tone he clearly wasn't sure what to think of the Terrible Fox's actions.

"Attacking us..armed only with a sword" replied the gunner, just as flabbergasted "it'd appear. Orders?"

The commander sighed "As much as it is hard to fault such bravery, we can't risk him getting to our accompanying infantry." with this he pointed the kpv-t coaxial machine gun at the brave Kolvokian soldier, trying not to aim to kill, but given the size of the gun involved (14,5mm machine gun), it was going to be a moot point either way.

The rest of the platoon halted, returning fire with more he shells at the muzzle flashes of the machine guns. The crews felt almost bad about using tanks against a foe that didn't appear to have weapons that could damage them, but orders were orders.

The two Ridzik hbt's broke off, heading towards what was starting to become the real fight. Although slow, the very long range of their guns meant that they could make a difference. Assuming they made it in time.
*****
It came as no surprise to the Carbandian pilots to see their first wave of missles intercepted. It was intended as little more than a test of the airship's defenses, and as such it had suceeded.

"All right, time for the kiddy gloves to come off" commented the flight leader as all four planes opened their bays and volleyed all their remaining missles at the airship. With a total of fourty (yes, ten per fighter) Adder missles inbound, it suddenly became a whole different game for the airship.

Not to mention the fact that evasive maneuvers aside, to try and avoid the inbound missles, all four of the fighters were still inbound at full burner, which, at nearly mach 1,5, was burning the distance between the fighters and their target awfully fast.

However one of them was not as lucky as the rest. Taking a near miss from one missle it broke off, to run directly into the second one, causing it to disintigrate in mid air.

There was no sign of a 'chute.
*****
Inside tank 1, 3rd platoon, first company, 1st regiment, 1st armoured division "The Hammer"

"All tanks return fire" the voice of the Carbandian commander was eerily quiet, as one after the other of the tanks returned fire, trying to identify enemy command tanks by their antennas.

It was a given fact that the Mercer's would be identified as something different to the Merkúrs, given that they looked very different (longer gun, and for another thing the Merkúr has the engine up front, while the Mercer doesn't), but those first few moments of not realizing the tigers in the midst of the normal cats were, hopefully, all they needed.

Meanwhile the Shrikes made their run, aiming for the center of the enemy formation. Both for maximum damage, hopefully, and lesser chance of affecting friendly forces.

The man jerked once, brought up short by the machine gun. For a moment he stood, swaying, then all at once crumpled, dead before he hit the ground. The men manning the machine guns were next to die, firing until the moment the shells exploded. Then went the men who had been in the foxholes, who turned to fight. Finally, the sniper.
***
"Sir! There's something about some of those tanks!"

"D'gar!" Swore the commander. "Clever whoresons." He grabbed the radio. "Note the tanks with longer barrels. Focus on them!" A moment later, a shell grazed the side of the tank.

"Sir, we've lost one of the machine guns," reported the gunner a split instant later. The commander swore again. "It hasn't come down to infantry yet anyways," he said. "Continue firing."

"Sir! Enemy aircraft are firing!"

An instant later, the bombs went off. "Sir, the tanks have been decimated. We're outnumbered now."

The commander scowled. "That's it. Order the Mawli Troops forward."

Out of the forest emerged around thirty men. They were spread out, so as to avoid presenting a single clustering target. Each carried a Mawli. Apart from the calamitous failure in the commando raid, this would be the first time the weapon would see live action. Each man went down on one knee, sighting an enemy tank, and fired.
***
"Sir, large amounts of missiles incoming."

"Naturally," the captain seemed bored almost to tears. "Oh, look a hit. No parachute? A shame."

There were a series of short, sharp explosives, followed by a hissing. "Sir, we have multiple impacts. We're losing gas."

"How much?" For the first time, there was an audible edge of concern in the man's voice.

"Too much sir. We're going down. Slowly so far, but we're definitely going to hit the ground."

"Wonderful. Going down into Kloandion territory. I hope you men are all carrying sidearms." They were. "Where the hell are those escorts, by the by?"

"Sir, they're here!"

Five planes roared at the enemy, each unleashing four missiles, and then another four.

"Sorry we're late," called out the squadron leader. "Terrible traffic, you know."

"Bullshit," said the captain. "If we all survive this, you boys owe us one hell of a drink."

"Shit" the flight leader was now all alone, the other two having been downed in the previos volley, but he was going to make them pay, he was, just, in a position to make his move, which he now did, attempting to ram the airship at full speed.

After all, when he was assigned the mission, he had known that going home might not be a part of the deal. Something he accepted, as long as it was for the good of the country.
****
The Merkúrs suffered heavily, with at least a dozen suffering incapacatating hits, several of those fatal to the crew, but the Mercers had another surprise, the fact that they were equipped with their own anti missle systems for use against this sort of attack.

Still the odds were evened, and might even turn completely if the Kolvokians could get a second volley off, but the Carbandian infantry, seeing enemy infantry out in the open, were not about to give them that chance.

Now multiple machine guns, mortars, and even a few recoiless rifles opened up, mostly targetting the enemy infantry, but a few of the last mentioned were targeting the enemy tanks, especially any that looked hurt, but not out of the fight.

(ooc: Sorry about the long delay)

"Brave bastard," said the captain admiringly as he realized what the enemy pilot was doing. "All hands, brace for impact!"

A moment later, the ship shook, and then began falling rather faster. "Gentlemen," said the captain, "I'm rather afraid the situation has become untenable. Strap on your parachutes and remember protocol." The protocol he spoke of was the fairly straightforward admonishment that once you landed underneath a descending airship, it was generally a good idea to move out from underneath it.

He tapped the intercom as the flight crew began filing towards the emergency hatch. "Gentlemen in the cargo bay, I regret to inform you that our gas pockets have been irrepairably damaged. Currently, this ship is losing altitude rather quickly. Recommend you use the special superheavy parachutes and exit forthwith. Alternately, you could use the personal parachutes and attempt to retrieve the object after the airship touches down."

"Roger that. I think we'll wait till the ship gets a bit lower and then use the parachutes. Just to be sure."

"Acknowledged." While this was going on, the others had exited via the emergency hatch. The captain paused for a moment to salute the pilot who had put him in this situation, before following his crew out.
***
Any Kloandions below likely would have been rather surprised to see the airship coming down, although not at all disappointed. A similar looking airship, the Iron Fist had served in the most recent war with the Kolvokians, almost single handedly flattening several Kloandion cities after air superiority had been established.

They would have been even more startled, however, to see the comparatively small, but objectively enormous shape that dropped out from the cargo bay, or the similarly massive parachute that opened up. Due to the sheer mass of the thing, the parachute did not work as well as it might have. However, it did slow it down enough that it did not sustain any serious damage when it landed, despite taking down several pine trees on its way down. The crew of the machine parachuted down seperately, quickly climbing into the enormous tank once they landed. It moved, slowly, out from under the still descending airship. A few moments later the ship landed, by which time both the airship crew and the huge tank had moved out from under it. It slowly vented the remainder of its gases, creating a not inconsiderable wind.

At that point the machine started heading, still slowly, towards the north, and the nearest road.
***
The majority of the Mawli troops that had emerged were taken out by the enemy infantry. However, they were far from the only infantry, and not even the only infantry with Mawlis. Those left with Mawlis remained in the forrest for the moment, but the rest, approximately one hundred men, emerged now, and began firing at the enemy infantry.

At the same time, a number of Saturators, of both variants, began firing. Dozens of missiles targeted the main concentration of enemy armor. The Kolvokian armor, meanwhile, continued focusing on the Mercers, while, finally, a half dozen snipers opened up from the forrest, focusing on any exposed tank personnel, and those infantry wearing visible command insignia.

The fact that the Carbandians did not wear rank insignias when in field uniforms did make the sniper's job harder, but it was clear that the Carbandians were starting to get the worst of this fight.

As the Carbandian artillery opened up with counter battery fire, playing another surprise card, it's own mlrs launchers, as well as a good number of the 1st's compliment of self propelled guns, the infantry, along with the tanks, began a withdrawal to the next defensive line.

After all it was better to give some terretory that was about to fall, anyway, rather than risk the loss of all of it's defenders in a increasingly difficult situation.

The mortars, as well as the tank's own smoke launchers, now laid down a screen of smoke. While modern vehicle mounted fire control could, almost certainly, see through it, it would make the job of the opposing infantry harder, thus enabling the foot soldiers to withdraw.
*****

The Carbandian attention was too focused on the large fight, and the breakthrough through that trench line, to notice the approaching tank, at least for now.

This was mostly because the whole army was trying to make a orderly withdraw from it's forward most defensive line to the next, not a easy excercise even at the best of times.

"Sir, I've just got a couple of reports in. The airship, which is confirmed to have been carrying the king was shot down. The king, along with his escorts are now making their way north towards our position. In addition, it has been confirmed. We've broken the first Carbandian line of defense. The ranking officer in command of the battle is requesting permission to pursue."

Commander Hammond grinned predatorily. "Permission granted. Let's show them what it means to turn their backs on Kolvokians."
***
"All right, men! The order just came through. Now that we've put the fear of us into them, we're to make damn sure it stays there! The attack goes forward! Armor only!"

Heghlan heard the voice on his radio, not loud enough to carry more than a few inches. For what he was about to do, avoiding detection was vital. He had tied a cloth over his face, more for protection from the smoke than to conceal his identity. He also wore a pair of goggles, treated to keep the smoke from sticking to it. The Carbandian shells and rockets that roared overhead didn't bother him much, nor did the Kolvokian counterfire. They seemed to mostly be shooting at each other, and he was confident that neither of the sides had that bad aim.

Of rather more concern were the enemy infantry and armor. The armor, at least, obviously would have something else to worry about, as the Kolvokian tanks pursued them, focusing almost exclusively on the newer tanks. Despite the goggles, his visibility was almost nonexistant, so he moved slowly and carefully. Since the majority of the Kolvokian infantry- all but him, in fact,- had stayed behind, leaving this portion of the assault entirely to the armor, he didn't believe the Carbandians would be expecting him. He stopped completely when the shape of a tank loomed in front of him. He considered for a moment, and then shook his head, and kept moving, skirting widely around the tank.

ooc: Let me start by apologising for the long delay between ic posts, recently. What with me on vacation from work now, things should improve.

ic:
The result seemed to be almost complete confusion on the other end as the infantry broke ranks to try and escape to the next defensive line, but anyone taking a real hard look would notice two things that made the picture look wrong:
1: nobody was throwing their weapons away
and
2: nobody was surrendering.

The Carbandians certainly were not out of tricks to play yet, as a full company of Ridzik hbt's now joined in with long range direct fire from their 142mm e.t.c. guns. These were, in fact, at the second defensive line, but their bigger guns meant that they were considerably more long ranged than most of their smaller counterparts.

Also joining in was all awailable Carbandian artillery, other than those that were continuing the artillery duel with their Kolovkian counterparts, some 60 guns worth, as well as several additional multiple rocket launchers.

OOC: Taking a few liberties here based on what we discussed.

IC: "One hundred two. One hundred three."

The room was nothing spectacular. It was large, with a bare concrete floor and walls. It had been a warehouse some years ago, and asthetics had not been particularly important. It was the living space of one Eric Sasaki, originally a Kolvokian, lately a resident of Carbandia. Asthetics were not particularly important to him, either.

"One hundred four. One hundred five."

The room was fairly bare, as well. There was a large bookcase filled with old looking scholarly works, from and on both his native country and his current one, a laptop sitting on a card table, and a few chairs. A bathroom- toilet, sink, and shower- and a small bedroom with a cot and a lamp were the only parts sectioned off from the main room.

"One hundred six. One hundred seven."

There was also a fairly extensive, if spartan, set of excercise equipment. Sasaki had been using it for most of the morning, and was currently doing one armed chin ups. He was on the far side of forty years, but fitter than many men less half his age in the world's softer countries.

"One hundred eight. One hundred nine."

He was interupted by a cultured British voice from his laptop announcing, "You have priority mail." He cursed at the interruption, but dropped down, landing lightly on his feet. The mail was the announcement of an update of a flagged category on one of the major Kolvokian news websites. The Kolvokians had blocked access to all Kolvokian based sites as soon as the war had started, but for most of the nongovernmental websites, including this paper, it was no more than a mere symbolic gesture, of no particular use to anyone who was willing to do anything beyond simply typing in the website in the address bar.

He entered the website, and quickly found the relevant story. The papers claimed a breakthrough of at least one Carbandian defensive line, with heavy fighting still going on at the next. Kolvokian papers were not prone to exaggeration, even in wartime.

He grabbed a telephone, and pressed one of the speed dial buttons. When the war had started, he had offered his services as a diplomatic aide, given his understanding of the often complicated Kolvokian honor system. Since there were currently no negotiations ongoing, he had been given a phone number and instructions to call if he had any important insights.

"Hello. This is Sasaki. I need to talk to the highest ranking foreign relations official available. And before you say anything, yes, of course I have a bloody good reason. I know how to end the war."

office of the foreign minister, within a few minutes of the call being made

"What is it?" asked Gennady Bondarenko, the Carbandian foreign minister, of his aide, who soon explained what was happening.

"He says he knows how to stop the war, but we aren't sure if it's not a prank call, sir" replied the younger man, a major of the Jannisaries (ooc: all the high ranking personel have officer ranked Jannisaries around for aides, which double as bodyguards)

Gennady sighed "Even if it is, then it is still worth investigating. And, hell, it's not as if I don't have anything better to do right now.." he trailed off, then turned to his aide "Patch him through"

This was soon done, and Gennady's first words into the phone were "This is the foreign minister. And I do hope that this is not a prank call"

"You won't be disappointed, Mr. Foreign Minister." He was impressed that his call had made it so far up, so quickly. He had expected to be delegated some relatively minor official initially, until he had established that he knew what he was talking about.

"My name is Eric Sasaki. I was born in Kolvokia, but I've been living in Carbandia for the last ten years of my life. This gives me something of a unique perspective. And if it's true that the Kolvokians just broke a a Carbandian defensive line, all you have to do is ask, and you can have a white peace. By the stars, they'll probably pay blood money for the soldiers killed if you ask."

Gennady raised a eyebrow at this "And how would we go about communicating with your former countrymen, then? Given the fact that the last time it was they who contacted us"

He quickly wrote down something and handed it to his aide, who nodded, and left, heading to the president's office. If this was true, then he should know about this, as soon as possible.

"The telephone is the usual method these days," said Sasaki drily. "Or so I'm given to understand. Failing that, either e-mail or other electronic means are becoming rapidly more popular. Or, if for whatever reason, you can't or won't contact them directly, I have a number of friends in Kolvokia who would be happy to pass the message along."

"Very well, we shall try that, then" replied Gennady, as his aide came back with another hand written note, this one reading simply "try it, we certainly have nothing to loose by doing so"

"Son," he added "if this works, you will have, undobtably, saved the lives of a lot of people, both ours, and theirs. People have been called heroes for less"

"I'm hardly a hero, Mr. Foreign Minister. Merely a man with some cultural insight. However, I do have one request. When it comes down to the face to face discussions of the details, if it does do so, I would ask that I be included. Ettiquite is very important to the Kolvokians, and I would not wish the peace talks to fail because of some minor unintentional offense."

"Indeed. We shall be in contact as soon as we get a reply from the Kolvokian goverment." Gennady replied, then, after putting the phone down he started to write a letter to be sent electronically to the Kolvokian goverment.

It should not come as any surprise to Sasaki that the entire conversation had been recorded, and that his location had been tracked. But he was not likely to be harmed in any way, especially not if his information was accurate, far from it, in fact.

Sirs
We would like a face to face meeting with a representative of your goverment at the earliest possible oppurtunity.
We will, needless to say, guarantee his safety while inside Carbandian terretory, as a gesture of goodwill. And will, as well, cease all fire for, at least, the duration of the talks, assuming you will do likewise.
Carbandian Foreign minister Gennady Bondarenko

This was then sent via electronic mail to the Kolvokians, and then the waiting began. The wait for a answer.

"Well, isn't that interesting," said the High Emperor.

"Majesty?" Said Lord Halthor from his customary place behind, and slightly to the left of the throne. It was a mark of supreme trust, even in this honor obsessed culture, that he was permitted to stand behind the High Emperor with a blade on his belt. Or rather, it was percieved as a mark of supreme trust. The High Emperor was perfectly aware that should Lord Halthor decide to kill him, whether he was watching him or not would be altogether irrelevant.

"The Carbandians want to talk," replied the High Emperor. "Curious, how they picked the perfect time. Having just gained a victory, however minor it might ultimately prove to be, we are obliged the hear them out." He pressed a button on the arm of his throne, and spoke, "Mikail, order a full cease fire." He continued, "However, they wish to discuss this in Carbandian territory. The last time we spoke to them was in Carbandian territory, so therefore- Lord Halthor."

"Majesty?"

"You have recently purchased a retreat on that Elysian island, have you not."

"I have, Majesty, and it is at your disposal."

"Naturally. Very well then, send this message."

Carbandian Foreign minister Gennady Bondarenko

We agree to talks, with the intention of ending this dispute. As such, we have ordered a full cease fire to the entirety of our forces in Carbandian territory. However, we must respectfully request that they not be held in Carbandia. Rather, we suggest a more neutral territory, the retreat owned by Lord Halthor on the Dominion owned Elysian Island (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=527363). The Elysian Island Council does not permit weapons on their island, on top of which, you will be the personal guest of Lord Halthor, who will personally ensure your safety.

High Emperor of All Kolvokia

We find these terms acceptable, and our forces shall, as of the time you recieve this message, cease all fire.
We shall be looking forward to meeting the representative(s) that you will send to this meeting.
-President, and Lord Governor Eduard Gurashoy

added to the message, list of Carbandian representatives that are going to be present:
The Lord Governor, himself
Foreign minister Gennady Bondarenko
Three aides, all of which shall be unarmed, as per the rules of the location

(ooc:note that Eric Sasaki is included in the aides)

Two things happened immediately after the transmission of the message.

Firstly the entire Carbadian battleline went silent, at least as far as their guns were concerned. There was actually considerable activity seen, this being teams of salvagers to check if any of the vehicles within reasonable reach were salvagable, and first aid teams to see if any wounded had been left behind.

The latter's job also included tallying the dead, of which there were plenty, on both sides, one would assume.

The second thing was a message to Eric Sasaki, telling him of the result of the Carbandian message, and informing him that the president would like to talk to him, at the earliest possible oppurtunity.

For the second time that morning, Sasaki's excercises were interrupted. He picked up the phone, and listened, and then said, "Got it. I'll be there as soon as possible." He set his laptop to sleep mode, packed it into his case, put a shirt on, and changed from his sweatpants into a pair of dress pants.

He took a bus as close to the presidential residence as it ran, and then jogged the remainder of the way. He presented his identity at the entrance, and calmly waited to be processed.
***
Lord Halthor had flown out here at the earliest opportunity after his meeting with the High Emperor. He had been joined by Lord Maddock, who would be representing Kolvokia in the peace talks.

"It is a beautiful place," Lord Maddock said when they reached Halthor's estate, after passing through customs and adequately proving they carried no weapons. Only one wall of Halthor's house was visible, a sloping face of tinted glass, set into a large hill. Other than that, a small stone courtyard, and a few chairs, nature had not been disturbed. The house over looked the undespoiled sea and beach.

Halthor inclined his head in thanks. "Tell me, Lord Maddock. You have dealt with the Carbandians. What are they like?"

"A good people, in their own way," replied Maddock. "They do not place quite the fierce importance on honor that we do, but they are not dishonorable as such. They do not want this war, and so I think will be willing to accept a white peace."

Halthor nodded. He had assumed roughly the same given what he knew. "They were proving a formidable adversary, as well," he said. "Now, we shall see how formidable they are at waging peace." He grinned predatorily. "In the meantime, my home is your home."

A Jannisary lietenant nodded as he saw Sasaki's id "You have been expected, sir. If you would please follow me, I shall take you to the president"

Without another word the young lt led him to the president's office. There was just the hint of nervousness in the air, as the president was going abroad without the usual escort, and the Jannisaries assigned to protect him were clearly nervous about that.
****
At the airport a Gulfstream V aircraft was being prepared for their trip to Elysian island. Normally a aircraft of this importance would have a fighter escort, but given that it's passenger's safety had been guaranteed before hand, this would not be the case, this time around.

"Mister President, sir, my name is Eric Sasaki," he bowed deeply. "I am the Kolvokian native, and, I am given to understand, I am to be in charge of ensuring that you do not unintentionally give offense. May we get down to brass tacks, as it were?"

Sasaki was remarkably short for a Kolvokian, standing at only five feet ten inches. His hair was beginning to silver, but only just. His eyes flicked over the president and guards quickly.

Eduard Gurashoy was about the same height as he was, looking remarkably fit for a man in his early sixties, which was almost certainly to do with him being ex military, himself, he stepped forward and offered Sasaki his right hand "Pleased to meet you, mr Sasaki. As you may already know, we have been somewhat lacking in effective knowledge of the Kolvokians, as the invasion came quite unexpected"

There were only two other person's in the room with them at that time, the defense minister, Pavel Alekseyev, as his usual in the uniform of a colonel-general of the army, and a single Jannisary major (the president's aide).

While the fact that col. Paula Ridzik was not present might have raised eyebrows, there was a good reason for that. In fact the Kolvokians had not been the only ones to be preparing a special ops mission behind enemy lines, but it had been called off when the ceasefire came into effect. She just had not returned yet, and was unlikely to do so in time for going on the summit.

Sasaki nodded. "No one has complete information about the Kolvokians, except possibly the Kolvokians themselves. The honor system was never codified, and so is difficult for outsiders to study. And Kolvokia prides itself on a low emmigration rate. The first and most basic component is honesty. If a Kolvokian tells you something is the case, it is safe to assume he believes it to be the case. Moreover, they are brutally honest with themselves. That's one of the main reasons you don't see any unfit Kolvokians. It's also the reason the crime rate is so low, and the crimes that do happen so spectacular.

"The second thing to understand about Kolvokia is that they are a very warlike state. Kolvokia was formed in war, and throughout its existence, has very seldom had long periods of peace. The economy, art, literature, all of it is driven by war. There is some work undergoing to prevent the economy from completely stagnating in times of peace, but as it is, war is practically vital for the country to prosper.

"The final major thing about Kolvokians is that they have a long memory. They don't forgive easily, and they never forget. This isn't especially important just now, because you haven't done anything to give offense, but it certainly bears remembering."

He paused for a moment to allow the president to take this in.

"Interesting." replied Gurashoy "So, they are 100 percent on the level about guaranteeing our safety, for instance? Just as we were about guaranteeing their representative's safety when he visited us, earlier? This would make my security people a whole less nervous"

Alekseyev cleared his throat "Still does not mean that we have to like it any more than we do, Eduard. After all accidents do happen, by design, or otherwise"

It was not that Alekseyev didn't trust Sasaki, it was just his job to play "devil's advocate" in these circumstances

"True," replied the president "but it is still a risk worth taking, and a one I feel we should take"

Alekseyev nodded his agreement, there was little else left to say, really.

"So how do we approach their representative?" asked the president "Would it be safe to assume that their head of state will not be there himself?"

"Yes, you can trust for your safety. Even should the High Emperor go completely against his entire culture and upbringing, and order an attack to be made on you with steak knives or sharpened sticks, as a guest in Lord Halthor's home, he will place his body between you and any danger. And without having to worry about weapons, that's just about the best assurance of safety you could have.

"The representative will in all probabilty be Lord Maddock, whom I believe you have already dealt with, Mr. Alekseyev? Again, as a guest, you should greet Lord Halthor first. Trust me, you'll know him. He'll extend both hands, clasp them both firmly. Don't get cute though, if half of the stories about him are true he could crush your hands without much effort. Then the same to Lord Maddock. After that, introduce yourself, last name, first name, occupation, rank if applicable. They will do likewise. After that, Lord Halthor will probably offer you a drink, and there's no real ettiquete for that. As soon as drinks arrive, you can launch straight into business."

Gurashoy nodded, listening to each word carefully "So, what sort of terms can we expect, especially regarding to our p.o.w.'s?"

What he was not aware of was the fact that those p.ow.'s had been in the base targetted by the cruise missle strike (assuming you did not move them), but it was a risk he had decided to take (as to what happened to them, I'll leave it to you to decide..I knew the risk I was taking when I performed that strike)

"There's not really any precedent on POWs. As you'll probably have realized by now, Kolvokians don't allow themselves to be taken prisoner, and they rarely bother to take prisoners. However, I imagine that, should you ask, they will return prisoners of war. Other than that, no terms. Kolvokians will withdraw from Carbandian territory, and sign a peace treaty. As I mentioned earlier, if you make the request, it is entirely possible that they'll pay compensation- except that you'll need to ask for blood money- to the families of Carbandian soldiers killed or wounded."

Gurashoy nodded "No, I think that peace in itself will be enough. After all those people knew the risks when they joined the armed forces."

Turning to Alekseyev "You will get me the butcher's bill once you get it, will you not?" he asked

"Of course" replied the latter "although from first reports, it would not appear to be pretty. There was considerable confusion when the defensive line fell."

Turning back to Sasaki, Gurashoy remembered something "This poses a interesting question. What should our medical teams do if they run into a injured, but not dead, Kolvokian soldiers out there?"

For the first time, Sasaki looked uncomfortable. "Ah. That is a... difficult subject. In all probability, the Kolvokians also have medics out looking for injured troops, but, given the confusion." He sighed. "There is no shame in being treated by an enemy if wounded. I would advise that whatever treatment is practical on the field be given, and that they be left in a visible place."

Alekseyev nodded "I'll make sure that the medics know about this. After all they would feel bad about not treating someone who can be saved, friend or no."

At this moment the aide came back into the room "Mr president, the aircraft is ready", he said, saluting as he did so.

Gurashoy nodded, then turned back to Sasaki "Let's go. We have a war to stop."

Sasaki nodded, and inclined his head. "As you say, sir."

OOC: Okay, I did talk to DMG, and regarding arrival/customs, he says...

[ooc: You don't necessarily have to RP it as long as everyone understands that it happened (i.e. they registered with the Council, they can't have weapons, they have to arrive via Elysian airport or seaport, etc.).]

"I'll hold the fort while you're gone." said Alekseyev "Thankfully it is a relatively quiet day, with nothing all that major clamouring for our attention. Well, at least nothing more important than our nation's security, of course" he added, with a wry smile.

Gurashoy laughed "And people say that we ex army types can't run a country? See you when we're done. And remember we are just a single call away in case you need either me, or Gennady"

"But of course." replied Alekseyev

The two aides, in the distinctive, all black, uniform of the Jannisaries, they being the only part of the Carbandian armed forces to wear all black, led Gurashoy and Sasaki to a waiting limo.

While the security seemed relaxed, it was almost certainly there. And there was no way to tell how many of the people walking around were actually Jannisaries in civilian dress.

After all the 2nd regiment took it's job of guarding the president, and the other ministers, very seriosly, indeed.

ooc: sounds good to me..So shall we continue here, or use a seperate thread for the negotiations?

OOC: I'd say a new one.

OOC: sounds good to me..You do the honours? After all you know the accomodations better than I do.