NationStates Jolt Archive

As a young boy, Yiorgros Papadopoulos idolized the People's Gaurdsmen who where stationed on his small island. In their beautiful uniforms, they marched through the streets, giving him and his friends candy, and teaching them the basics of soldiering. So it was no wonder that Yiorgros joined the Peoples Army at the youngest age he could, to follow in the footsteps of those brave men he worshiped as a child.

In 1997, however, when the days of the Republic came, Yiorgros joined up with the group of Communist reactionaries, know as the Contosists, after their leader Nico Contos, they soon took the island of Crete, establishing an ad hoc Socialist Republic, from which they had planned to retake the rest of the country. This however, was not to be, as the Contosist Rebellion was dispelled by the Hellenic miltary after a year. Most of the rebels were apprehended, however, some of them, escaped to Cyprus, as Yiorgros did, many years ago.

For the past decade, the Greek government had turned a blind eye to these emirges, focusing on the future rather than dwelling on the past. Every regime had its weakness, a weakness that could be exploited, and their past was theirs. A past that would soon come to haunt them once again, as the emirges trained, day in and day out, in the mountains of Cyprus, waiting for their oppurtunity to come, their chance to return to Athens in glory, walking through the streets, like royals, wielding their power and might over all of the country, as they did in the days of old.

They waited, however, waiting day in and day out until they had their chance to take what was theirs.

Looks good although I don't know where you want to go with this.

OOC: You will see.

K I look forward to it.

Off the coast of Cyprus

The Marathon slid gracefully through the clear Aegean waters toward its homeport in Greece. In its hull, barrels upon barrels of Middle Eastern crude oil made there way to their destination, Greek consumers, ready to utilize the almost magical qualities of the black resource.

Others had different plans.

They waited in this commonly used shipping lane, biding their time until they found the sweet target that they hoped for, a ship, flying the signature white and blue flag of Greece on its mast, coming their way, asking them to shoot it, like a clay pigeon, ready to be fired on. Then they saw it. Lumbering through these coastal waters came a small oil barge, the freighter seemed to be extremely old, an easy target for the three torpedoes and numerous surface-to-surface missiles that their small, PR era Torpedo boat was armed with. They turned on their engine, making their way towards their doomed target.

A blip on the radar suddenly appeared, and it was heading for their ship. Marco wondered to himself what that blip could represent, could it be a band of pirates? Another barge? A whale? Whatever it was, it was coming at them…fast. Marco punched the alarm on the control panel, calling all soldiers to the deck.

“Torpedo one, ready? Torpedo two, ready? Torpedo three ready?” Asked Thomas to the men operating the torpedo chutes of the small boat. They all nodded in affirmation. It was time to raise the curtain on their cause, Thomas thought to himself, as he ordered the crew to fire upon the helpless barge. As he was the steel of the torpedoes glimmering in the ocean sunlight, Thomas felt a pang of regret for the innocent lives that would have to be sacrificed for the cause.

“What the hell?” Marco said to his captain, as he saw three smaller, quicker moving blips coming towards them. The captain immediately ordered a ninety-degree turn of the ship, but it was to late. As he made the order, an explosion rocked the barge, followed by another, and another. Marco and the captain ran to the stern as quickly as they could, only to see oil pouring out from three massive holes in the back of the ship. Suddenly, heat burned the back of their necks, they turned around and saw a maelstrom of fire coming from the bridge they had just been. A new age in Greek history had just begun, and the Communists struck first.

Bump starts with the same letter as Buristan.

"We'll have five cups of coffee, each with exactly two cubes of sugar and three tablespoons of milk."

"For all of you?"

"Yes."

The paunchy Greek waiter scurried away, unnerved by the identically dressed men who answered in perfectly coordinated fashion. Nika glanced back at the sharply clad ensemble of black haired men, and shivered. There was something unnatural about the way they moved and spoke identically, as if synchronized by an unseen clockmaker's hand. He'd seen a lot in his day, from fiery revolutionaries to crusty old feudalists, but never had his wrinkled gaze beheld anything quite so...machine like as this. His hand trembled a bit as he served them their brown brew, and he spilled a drop straight onto an emerald tie belonging to the clockwork people. They slowly lowered their gazes toward it, stared for a moment, and then looked back up. Their eyes were piercing, to use a cliched phrase, and time froze for what seemed like eons but was likely less than a second.

"I'm...I'm...sorry..."

What is it about these men? I've faced down bloodthirsty fascists in my day, these...these...automatons...shouldn't...shouldn't...

Suddenly, they smiled and broke time's lock; events moved rapidly forward.

"It is no matter. We'll be leaving now, however. We thank you for your hospitality."

Coffee in hand, they left as quickly as they appeared, while slapping a green note of sorts in Nika's hand. He slowly began to walk towards another client, still shaking from the encounter.

Yet...

The old man couldn't help but glance back one more time towards the strangers. His gray eyes noted their direction---it was a local headquarters for the Communist Party.

His musings were cut short by the shrill admonishment that could only come from a Mediterranean wife.

"Nika, you bumbling fool! Those men conned you!"
"...what?" he replied, still dazed.
"Look in your hand!"

His wrinkled hands, which he'd just noticed were clenched and drenched in sweat, slowly opened. In his palm lay a green note, with strange symbols of a civillization long gone by or a utopia yet to come. What was most vivid on the note, however, was the message in large, English print.

Petro Bond of the Armandian Combine.

OOC: Armand, are you siding with the Communists?

IC: "How horrible." Demi Fourakis, stuttered as she read the headline in that mornings online newpaper. Demi was Greeces premier environmentalist, and know for organizing multi-national efforts to conserve everything from old-growth forests to underwater reefs.

It now seemed that it was time for her to act. Yesterday's attack on an oil tanker had left the coast of Cyprus as a gigantic oil field, a deathtrap for all wildlife in the area. This was simply unacceptable.

Demi brought up her e-mail account, and began to type a message for the rest of her conservationist friends, not only Greeks, but also Austrians, Austrolasians, Quinntonians, Romans, Wilmingtonites, and Armandians. Her message was brief, concise, yet complete, and she then clicked the send button, warning the world of one of the largest oil spills in human history.

OOC: Yep.

IC:

"Look, we need to talk."

The local Communist party chief looked up from his paper smothered desk at the source of this unwanted interruption.

"...and you are?"
"Friends."
"Ah."
"Armandian friends."
"I see. What do you want?"
"We want to help."
"With what?"
"With everything."

One of the Combiners nodded to the other, who in turn pulled up a large suitcase and placed it on the table. Two others opened the leather bound case, to reveal a large, neatly piled stack of green bills.

"We are willing to wholesale back the Communist party of Greece; with our financial, political, and military support, you might very well bring back those glory days for which you have such affinity. A few things would have to change, however...first of all, our intelligence apparatus has heard rumblings that the oil tanker incident was caused by your paramilitary branches---yes, we know they exist, don't even try denying it. Things like that simply cannot happen; the Combine is staunchly environmentalist. There are other policy changes that could be introduced, but the first thing that must be done is a condemnation of the tanker attack and an offer to clean up the mess."

They smiled, in eery unison, and continued.

"That is, of course, if you take us up on our offer."

OOC: Basically, Bur, I want to buy your communist party. :D

OOC: Basically, Bur, I want to buy your communist party. :D

OOC: The Contosians/Contosists/Whatever I decide to call them, are not exactly working hand in hand with the Hellenic Communist Party, though they do in share an ideology.

IC: The chief couldn't believe this strange turn of events that just happened. What luck, finally, the Communists would have a devoted backer, someone with the assets to bring them back to power. Yugoslavian Communists had been half-heartedly funding the party since their revolution, but a legitamate government finally recognizing the promise of the Party.

"We would be honored to be funded by the Combine, we have had some trouble in the fundraising department lately, as the power party has tied our hands behind our backs, so this would have to be strictly under the table, but I am sure that some sort of understanding could be met. Also, I would like to remind you that the tanker incident has not been properly investigated, therefore, we do not know who did it, in fact, it may possibly be a ploy by the Solterris Administration to give themselves an edge in the upcoming Assembly elections."

Official Press Release of the Hellenic United Militaries

Three days ago, tragedy struck our great land of Greece. Communist rebels operating out of bases in Cyprus, attacked a Greek oil tanker, causing a oil spill off the coast of the island, and killing the crew of the ship. These actions cannot go unpunished, there must be retrobution for these heartless attacks on innocent souls, therefore, this morning, at 600 Zulu time, the Hellenic Air Force conducted aerial bombings on what our intelligence suggested to be Communist training camps and paramilitary bases on Cyprus. The Republic feels that this is a fair reaction to the actions by the rebels, and demands that they turn themselves in or face more retaliation by the Greek government and our allies.

bump

OOC: Can I assume control of your Communist party, Bur?

IC:

Black suits and green ties were an increasingly common site across Greece; with the Communist Party's go-ahead the Combine had dispatched a veritable army of advisors and personell to the small European nation. Like insects, the force of automatons infested the nation, injecting new life into the long stagnant party. With them they brought keen political tactics, an advertising machine, and, perhaps most importantly, money.

The newly dubbed Combine Party was hard at work transforming the image of the old Greek Communist party; once viewed as the party of old, bearded, and bitter Leninists, the party now cast its net onto the younger generation with a vibrant marketing campaign and a new generaton of clean shaven, good looking young figureheads such as former model Mara Darmousli. These new firebrands dropped the traditional Bolshevik rant in favor of the more trendy political blog, favored ecologically produced jeans to a Lenin cap, and would rather chat about the Combine slogan of unity than drawl on about class struggle.

Change wasn't limited to a superficial publicity campaign, however; the very nature of the Party itself was altered. Mao's Red Book and Marx's Manifesto were quietly replaced by the Combine's Black Disk; old timers in the party may have grumbled, but the undeniable success of the Party's new Bosses, along with the lingering threat of violence, combined to quell any major dissent. Along with ideological change came technological change. The Armandians brought with them extensive amounts of technology, ranging from a bounty of high quality Spyrian laptops and palm pilot devices to cheaply produced Dra-Poel campaign materials to Chinese designed Wi-Fi networks. The technology was used to revolutionize the efficiency of the Party, linking together all local chapters, and to make it easier to spread the message to the younger generations.

In order to turn the tables on the Solterris Administration, the Party turned environmentalism, long a key Combine strength, into its major issue for the next election. Greek-born, Combine trained spokesmen blasted Solterris for not following the Progressive example and adopting an extensive regime of nuclear, solar, hydro, and wind power. They criticized it extensively for allowing oil tankers in the Mediterranean in the first place, and even hinted at the possibility that it may have sparked the incident itself in order to discredit the Left. After all, they noted, what proof did Solterris have that the Contosians were behind it? None, they replied, for he had simply leaped to conclusions and launched an unprovoked campaign of aggression.

While in public the Combine Party sought to disassociate itself from the incident, in private, it quietly sought to forge links with the Contosians...

OOC: Can I assume control of your Communist party, Bur?

OOC: You may take control of the party, however, not the Contosians, I want to RP them. By the way, I would recommend that you attack the Soviet Party, they are the other communist party, check my factbook

OOC: Actually, I'm likely going to merge with them...My ideology after all is far from the traditional communist one and closer to the Soviets' model. As for the Contosians, sure, but can I contact them?

Mumbai

Still quite disturbed over the withdrawal of Greek support for the Yugoslav war effort, Union diplomats make every effort to condemn Communist attacks near the Greek part of Cyprus. The last thing India needs at this stage is a Greece aligned with the Holy League, after all. But given Athens' recent refusal to meet with Parliamentary diplomats, a minority of Unioners believe that Greece is ready to climb into bed with Louis-Auguste or one of his cronies anyway. A communist insurrection on Cyprus will, Mumbai knows, be exploited ruthlessly by the governments in Versailles and Moscow, although certainly the destruction of an oil tanker pales in comparison to the destruction of national capitals wrought by the Holy League in Africa. Communiques are sent to Athens expressing regret over the attack and warning of Holy League attempts to turn the issue to their advantage. Some suggest that French agents are even behind the sinking, as it would not be out of character for them to play the role of agent provocateur. Of course, the Indian National Union's bumbling intelligence agencies do not know of any Armandian involvement with Cypriot Communists.

OOC: Actually, I'm likely going to merge with them...My ideology after all is far from the traditional communist one and closer to the Soviets' model. As for the Contosians, sure, but can I contact them?

OOC: You could do that I guess, but bear in mind that the run-of-the-mill Greek Communist is more independent than their Soviet counterpart, you can inititate contact with the Contosians at will.

OOC: Since no one is taking on my request for an environmental RP, I will begin the second stage.

IC: The Island of Crete

The large port was bustling with activity, everywhere, jeeps drove supplies around, dispatched men to different ships, and carried important officers. Across the island, a military airstrip welcomed and dispatched constant traffic, plane after plane flying in and out of the large base, on their way to Cyprus, on sorties to bomb Contosian camps, or to scout island for a possible invasion.

The day had come, the hour reached for action rather than just logistical manuevering, as they did for the last few weeks. The day had come, to begin to fight back against the Contosian menace. The ships, filled with ammunition, troops and other materials for making war, sailed onwards, toward Cyprus.

But given Athens' recent refusal to meet with Parliamentary diplomats,

OOC: What? Where was this

The Quinntonian government would be quite happy to fund the eco-recovery effort.

OOC-I just finally found this. Don't move to war too fast.

WWJD
Amen.

The Quinntonian government would be quite happy to fund the eco-recovery effort.

OOC-I just finally found this. Don't move to war too fast.

WWJD
Amen.

OOC: I was planning on just taking a harbor and stationing in Cyprus for a bit, before I move further into the island.

IC: Greece would love Quinntonian assistance in the recovery mission in Cyprus. We would ask that the Quinntonian organizations Greenpeace and others come to the site and give their expertise.

OOC: Someone should TG whoever is ruling Turkey. In RL Cyprus is divided between Turks and Greeks. Are we assumin that the seperation of Cyprus never occured and that the whole island is one independent whole?

Once news reached Caesar Romulus Magnus of the oil spill, he sends his ambassador in Greece to deliver a message to the Greek government:

"The Caesar sends his condolences to the families of those lost at sea due to this terrible event. Though our resources are somewhat limited by the conflict in Austria, we would like to help you in any way we can."

London

"Wait, what?" Prime Minister Mainwaring set his tea down with an aggrieved clatter of fine china and stared at the aide. The aide, for his part, had the grace to sit still and look generally uncomfortable, while indicating Cyprus with a raised finger.

"Yes, sir. The Greeks seem to have decided to invade." Cyprus, of course, was home to the Royal Navy's main Mediterranean base, as well as a largish Australasian airstrip and dockyard. Were the Greeks to invade, certain interests would need to be protected.

"Ah, yes. Well, I suppose we'll have to call a meeting, then, won't we?"

"The Caesar sends his condolences to the families of those lost at sea due to this terrible event. Though our resources are somewhat limited by the conflict in Austria, we would like to help you in any way we can."

Solterris read the letter, and sent one in return to the Caesar.

Caesar,
The best way that Rome could assist her Mediterranean sister nation is by sending vital aid to the ongoing cleanup off Cyprus. In addition, escorts for Greek ships may become nessecary in case of further attacks, and if Italian assistance in this is possible, it would be greatly appreciated.

The Chinese policy of disengagement towards Europe continues, although Beijing observes events from afar.

The Quinntonian government is requesting that the Hellenic government accept their help in the form of a 500 million USD eco-bond that will be paid out over the next year to Greece in order to help with the clean-up and reconstruction plans.

They do congratulate their friends the Greeks on taking such a tough stance on Communism in all of its forms on the island, and though its forces are stretches rather thin, it states that it cannot reasonably allow these forms of government to flourish in the Mediterranean. The Quinntonian government then places an official request with the government of Germany to support the Greek government in this matter on their behalf.

WWJD
Amen.

Rome
Princeps Senatus Lucius Catulus stared at Caesar Romulus Magnus in a manner of disbelief at what he had just heard from his divine ruler. The two were having dinner together, discussing politics, Austria and now Greece. Catulus watched as Romulus worked on his piece of steak and finally spoke, "You want to help the Greeks?"

Romulus eyed his friend, shrugged and replied, "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Yes, but my lord," Catulus began, knowing he treading on treacherous ground, "with all due respect, you said at your coronation that you intended to return Greece to the Empire!"

Romulus waved his fork at him, "Correction: I said that I wanted to restore Greece to its rightful place at my side. There is more than one way to skin a cat," he said, sipping the wine, "this is one of them. If it works, we will completely circumvent any bloodletting in Libya, which is of use to me! Besides, what is gained if we do nothing? At best, nothing! But this way, we can gain a marvellous friend and eventually, maybe, more than that. Although, the economic Libya would give us would be of great use, but that must wait for now. Send them what we can, allow some of those 'environmentalist' to go and help with the cleanup. Then get our new Navy Chief to give them a few boats to help escort."

"Immediately, Caesar."

Greece
Though Rome does not have the monetary pockets of Quinntonia, Rome offers an aid bond equivalent to 100 million USD paid over the full year. In addition, Rome sends boatloads of environmentalists, scientists, doctors and clean up crews to deal with the oil spill.

The Navy then sends 2 Soldati class frigates, 2 Minerva-2nd series class corvettes, 2 Comandanti class corvettes and 2 Esploratore class corvettes to assist in the escort of Greek shipping.

The Quinntonian government is requesting that the Hellenic government accept their help in the form of a 500 million USD eco-bond that will be paid out over the next year to Greece in order to help with the clean-up and reconstruction plans.

They do congratulate their friends the Greeks on taking such a tough stance on Communism in all of its forms on the island, and though its forces are stretches rather thin, it states that it cannot reasonably allow these forms of government to flourish in the Mediterranean. The Quinntonian government then places an official request with the government of Germany to support the Greek government in this matter on their behalf.

WWJD
Amen.

The Hellenic Republic thanks Quinntonia greatly for their hospitality, and agrees with them on the matters of international revolutionary Communism. We welcome all Quinntonians to help out, and assures the government that their kindness will not be forgotten.

Greece
Though Rome does not have the monetary pockets of Quinntonia, Rome offers an aid bond equivalent to 100 million USD paid over the full year. In addition, Rome sends boatloads of environmentalists, scientists, doctors and clean up crews to deal with the oil spill.

The Navy then sends 2 Soldati class frigates, 2 Minerva-2nd series class corvettes, 2 Comandanti class corvettes and 2 Esploratore class corvettes to assist in the escort of Greek shipping.

We thank Rome for her hospitality to her fellow Classical nation, and reminds them that their kindness will not be forgotten.

Cyprus

The mass floatilla of ships creeped towards the waters around Cyprus, coming ever and ever closer to the Communist stronghold their. When they were three miles off, the bombardment began. Cruise missiles and shells from the battleships twelve inch guns zoomed toward the Contosian camps, knocking them into disarray, but unbeknowest to the Greeks, the Contosians had been waiting for this, and hid deep inside their underground tunnels that mazed through the island like swiss cheese, they had moved their ammunition and victuals into the cave systems after the attack on the Marathon, and where now just waiting for their chance to strike once again at the Republicans, taking their precious time, just sitting and looking for the right time to strike.

The fifty C-130's buzzed ceaselessy on their path over Cyprus. The men inside them hated it, the buzzing never ended, and they were cramped in with scores of supplies and vehicles. For many of them, it was their first jump. When the time came, they made their way towards the door, and one by one, they leaped out at the signal of a green light, towards the land far down below. Out the back, supplies poured from the planes, a sight to be seen, the hundreds of parachutes drifted serenly to the olive filled scenery below. The war in Cyprus had begun.

OOC: Armand, are you ready to initiate contact with the Contosians?

OOC: Yeah.

IC:

The Combine sends quiet feelers to the Contosians, while its Party publicly condemns the assaults as unprovoked and barbaric.

OCC: I trust nobody's gone and taken the Turkish half of Cyprus without telling the Ottomans...

[OOC: Hm? I've been really busy recently, just getting to the RP. Buristan, got MSN? There are some problems here (considering that I have a huge vested interest in Cyprus, RP'ed in the past) that I want to clear up. Thanks.]

The Combine sends quiet feelers to the Contosians, while its Party publicly condemns the assaults as unprovoked and barbaric.

The Combine diplomats were immediately shoved into a car, blindfolded and were driven around the island before arriving at the Contosian headquarters, where they were soon introduced to Contos, quite curious on why the Armandians wanted to meet with him.

[OOC: Hm? I've been really busy recently, just getting to the RP. Buristan, got MSN? There are some problems here (considering that I have a huge vested interest in Cyprus, RP'ed in the past) that I want to clear up. Thanks.]

OOC: Can't, it isn't supported by my browser, Gupta, see telegrams

OCC: I trust nobody's gone and taken the Turkish half of Cyprus without telling the Ottomans...

OOC: Someone should TG whoever is ruling Turkey. In RL Cyprus is divided between Turks and Greeks. Are we assumin that the seperation of Cyprus never occured and that the whole island is one independent whole?

I guess Turkey does have half of Cyprus. I don't understand the political situation well enough at this point to intervene militarily but I'll give you some war bonds once I introduce my main characters and get the German ball rolling.

I guess Turkey does have half of Cyprus. I don't understand the political situation well enough at this point to intervene militarily but I'll give you some war bonds once I introduce my main characters and get the German ball rolling.

OOC: Actually, the RL Turks control a third of the country, while the rest is controlled by the Greek Cypriot government.

[OOC: In AMW, Cyprus is fairly peaceful, with peace having been jammed down their throats by the Brits. The Ottomans have a long RP'ed history of having very close ties to the Turkish Cypriots, as I informed Bur'. I'll get an IC post up soon - this weekend, probably.]

The commandos began to form into their respective divisions, waiting for the order to proceed along with their plans. The bombardment had slowed down, though there were still air raids day and night on Contosian camps, the attacks on other areas had all but stopped. The commandos mission was clear, capture the airport at Nicosia in order to make it easier to get troops on the ground in a hurry. The four hundred commandos, divided into three groups one consisting of one hundred troops and the other two with one hundred and fifty soldiers approached the airport on three sides, the smaller group leading the frontal charge, while the two others came in from the right and the left. The commandos did not expect much resistance, but they took the utmost precautions in case of attack by either Cypriot or Contosian troops.

OOC: The Contosians are not going to attack the airport yet, the Cypriots are most likely there though, does anyone want to RP them, Gupta, see telegrams.

bump

Ottoman condemnation of the Grecian troop movements came swiftly, as few things in the Empire did. It was odd to see them reacting so soon to an international development (they were the Ottomans, of course, notorious for their bureaucracy and laxity diplomatically) but their reasoning behind it was quite easily understood as well. These were the Greeks, the next-door neighbors of the Empire, the other mortal enemy of the Turkish peoples (when one excluded the Sabiri, the Depkazi, and just about anyone else is the world) and thus the Ottomans were almost forced to condemn. But the Ottomans were always out for an opportunity and the Greeks were offering one...

Thus, nearly hours after the initial reaction, statements began to appear that earlier condemnations were "unofficial" and "were not supported by the Sultan's government nor Parliament". It was a typical Ottoman exercise and Turkish diplomats, scholars, and expatriates the world over would have been heaving a sigh of relief at these later messages. If, indeed, the Ottoman Empire and reacted early (for them) and stuck to their guns, it would have meant that the government was functioning properly, which would have been a nightmare for Turks of all colors.

But then came a third wave of messages, addressed mainly to the Turks in Cyprus itself. These were Turks who had always looked to Istanbul and Ankara for guidance, and who had always received the greatest support in response. It would not have been too much to ask, of course, and it would not have been too much to give. But, while events between Greece and Cyprus and the Communists had unfolded, these Turks had been looking northward, hoping that their protectors were, well, protecting them.

The messages that were sent detailed a plan, that the Ottoman Empire was watching for them, and that they would succeed in, at least, gaining autonomy, if not another states. News of meetings between Ottoman officials and their Grecian counterparts began to materialize in certain diplomatic circles and the Turkish Cypriots were soon hopeful that something would indeed occur that would give them, at least partial freedom. Their hopes were not, in the least, in vain.

News was soon in the air, that the Greeks and Turks had come to an agreement regarding Cyprus. While the agreement was not quite clear to other nations in the world, what was was that the Ottoman Empire appeared to be fully behind the Grecian invasion. The Ottoman military, which was being heavily revamped and upgraded, was put on high alert, and Quinntonian-trained officers and several trained corps of solders were sent to positions directly north of Cyprus.

It was clear, however, that the Ottoman Empire was behind the Greeks because of some back door dealings, and that, for the majority of things, the two nations would, most likely, be at loggerheads about everything.

OOC: I feel that I should point out that Cyprus is pretty carved up in AMW (much as it is in RL) and you risk irritating both the Royal Navy and the Australasian armed forces by, er, attacking the island on which they're based.

IC:

Cyprus

"Greek transports inbound," Chief Technician Daniels watched the Doppler readout carefully, noting the C-130 aircraft as they made their slow, steady course for the island.

The Australasian airbase was on high alert, and two dozen aircraft waited on the runway to perform air-interdiction missions should Greek attacks fall too close to home. Already some of their unguided shells had left craters in the land surrounding the airfield, and it was only a matter of time before one went off-course. Accordingly, the Australasian embassy had lodged a number of strident protests with Athens, demanding that all weapons fired upon Cyprus be guided. The missiles were less of a wild-card, striking their targets for the most part. Even so, everybody rather wished that the Greeks would stop firing things at them, and the mood on-base was rather tense.

Two-dozen AS/A-17 Templars formed the ready-airgroup, their missile bays filled with Meteor and ASRAAM. A single large Storm Shadow was mounted beneath each wing. The new navalised version, pirated from the SCALP EG Naval developments when the project was nationalised by the Crown, was designed specifically to attack armoured targets and thin-skinned missile cruisers alike. It came at nearly a million GBP a pop-- a bit over two million ACP-- and was used to attack only high-value targets. Should the Greek shelling cause significant damage to the Free Colony's outposts on Cyprus, they could expect that their battleships would meet a swift end indeed.

The perimeter of the installation was guarded by the 12th Marines, known throughout the armed services as the Dirty Dozen. They were the scum of the Free Colony, offered military service or imprisonment. They were thieves, cutpurses and murderers, kept in line by officers who had been censured for undue harshness in dealing with a junior. A posting to the Dirty Dozen's mess was only a single step from dishonourable discharge for 'conduct unbecoming'. Their comrades were the 3rd Tasmanian Rifles, as polished as the Dirty Dozen were rough. They paraded with swords fixed and stood guard in field dress. The 3rd was as steady as the Dozen were wild, and could trace their service back to Gallipoli.

The Tasmanians manned the base's network of blockhouses, bunkers and sandbagged strongpoints, while the Dozen-- notoriously incapable of holding a fixed position under fire-- formed the picquet line. Any attack would have to sneak past a battalion of murderers to face a bunker system manned by some of the most disciplined regulars of the army. If the communist partisans attempted to storm the base for supplies, they would surely be cut down. Likewise, if the Greeks decided that they would make a clean sweep of the island, they would be similarly disappointed.

Cyprus Naval Base, Australasian Quarter

The Italian naval deployment was viewed with some alarm so soon after the formal truce had been declared. Perhaps Caesar wasn't planning anything more than giving aid to the Greeks, but the Free Colony had seen too much of Versailles to trust Rome further than its famed Colosseum could be thrown.

Two Perth class frigates, the Arunta and Te Mana, deployed for 'training purposes' off of Cyprus, accompanied by the battlecruiser Lion as 'observation ship' and a pair of Collins class SSKs on 'extended patrol'.

OOC: I feel that I should point out that Cyprus is pretty carved up in AMW (much as it is in RL) and you risk irritating both the Royal Navy and the Australasian armed forces by, er, attacking the island on which they're based.

IC:

Cyprus

"Greek transports inbound," Chief Technician Daniels watched the Doppler readout carefully, noting the C-130 aircraft as they made their slow, steady course for the island.

The Australasian airbase was on high alert, and two dozen aircraft waited on the runway to perform air-interdiction missions should Greek attacks fall too close to home. Already some of their unguided shells had left craters in the land surrounding the airfield, and it was only a matter of time before one went off-course. Accordingly, the Australasian embassy had lodged a number of strident protests with Athens, demanding that all weapons fired upon Cyprus be guided. The missiles were less of a wild-card, striking their targets for the most part. Even so, everybody rather wished that the Greeks would stop firing things at them, and the mood on-base was rather tense.

Two-dozen AS/A-17 Templars formed the ready-airgroup, their missile bays filled with Meteor and ASRAAM. A single large Storm Shadow was mounted beneath each wing. The new navalised version, pirated from the SCALP EG Naval developments when the project was nationalised by the Crown, was designed specifically to attack armoured targets and thin-skinned missile cruisers alike. It came at nearly a million GBP a pop-- a bit over two million ACP-- and was used to attack only high-value targets. Should the Greek shelling cause significant damage to the Free Colony's outposts on Cyprus, they could expect that their battleships would meet a swift end indeed.

The perimeter of the installation was guarded by the 12th Marines, known throughout the armed services as the Dirty Dozen. They were the scum of the Free Colony, offered military service or imprisonment. They were thieves, cutpurses and murderers, kept in line by officers who had been censured for undue harshness in dealing with a junior. A posting to the Dirty Dozen's mess was only a single step from dishonourable discharge for 'conduct unbecoming'. Their comrades were the 3rd Tasmanian Rifles, as polished as the Dirty Dozen were rough. They paraded with swords fixed and stood guard in field dress. The 3rd was as steady as the Dozen were wild, and could trace their service back to Gallipoli.

The Tasmanians manned the base's network of blockhouses, bunkers and sandbagged strongpoints, while the Dozen-- notoriously incapable of holding a fixed position under fire-- formed the picquet line. Any attack would have to sneak past a battalion of murderers to face a bunker system manned by some of the most disciplined regulars of the army. If the communist partisans attempted to storm the base for supplies, they would surely be cut down. Likewise, if the Greeks decided that they would make a clean sweep of the island, they would be similarly disappointed.

Cyprus Naval Base, Australasian Quarter

The Italian naval deployment was viewed with some alarm so soon after the formal truce had been declared. Perhaps Caesar wasn't planning anything more than giving aid to the Greeks, but the Free Colony had seen too much of Versailles to trust Rome further than its famed Colosseum could be thrown.

Two Perth class frigates, the Arunta and Te Mana, deployed for 'training purposes' off of Cyprus, accompanied by the battlecruiser Lion as 'observation ship' and a pair of Collins class SSKs on 'extended patrol'.


OOC: Do you want to RP as the Cypriots in the defense of the air port? I need to get that on the road before I can do anything else. Does anyone have a detailed map of the British and Austrolasian installments in Cyprus.

bump

OOC: Eh, sure. I'll need to do some reading though, so give me a bit of a chance to catch up. BTW, you don't need to bump the thread after posting it in the regional board, we'll alert anyone who should know about it via telegram. We've all got it bookmarked or tagged or something, so bumping just breaks the flow.

Solterris read the letter, and sent one in return to the Caesar.

Solterris read the letter, and sent one in return to the Caesar.

Caesar,
The best way that Rome could assist her Mediterranean sister nation is by sending vital aid to the ongoing cleanup off Cyprus. In addition, escorts for Greek ships may become nessecary in case of further attacks, and if Italian assistance in this is possible, it would be greatly appreciated.

The Quinntonian government then places an official request with the government of Germany to support the Greek government in this matter on their behalf.

Günter Shultz expresses his confusion that Italy and not Germany was trusted to protect Greek shippers. He lets the Greek government know of his strong desire to support them against communist radicals and that German ships are much more competent and able to deal with terrorists. Even as he spoke the Samson carrier battle group was sailing from the port in Gaeto Italy towards Cyprus to reinforce Greek efforts and was perhaps a sign of things to come.

In the Mountians of Cyprus

The bombardment finally stopped. After three full days of relentless attacking, the Greek barrage ended, after decimating the above ground networks of the Contosians as well as the Cypriot civilian centers. But the cave complex remained. The complex, which had taken two full years to create held up against the onslaught, it held up allow the Contosians another day of life, another chance to strike at the Hellenic Republic. Inside and outside the caves, the well-trained Contosian troops started forming up, preparing for a fight for the ages, preparing to end the Republic days, one soldier at a time.

Cypriot National Airport

OOC: Since no one wants to do it, I guess I will do it myself.

IC: Aydin and Sotirios held their rifles to their shoulders, as they patroled the perimeter of the airport. According to Colonel Gus Adamou, if the Grecian troops took it, the rest of the nation would fall under the yoke of Greek vassalage, never to be free again. So when Aydin saw a grouping of the Greek troops, what looked to be highly trained at that, he immediately sent out a call on the radio to fall back to the terminal, warning the rest of the two hundred man gaurd force of the Greek approach.

When they arrived, the Colonel worked out a tentative strategy to kill the Greek operation. The Cypriot forces would set up defensive positions at the most defensiable locations of the airport, with the main location of defensive stand at the entrance to the subway system, after a bottleneck stairway that would stretch the Greek attackers into a narrow formation that would be easy to pick away at, they would they retreat into the subway system if the strategy did not work, blasting the doors to disable them, allowing them time to escape to the second standing point, the terminal's food court, full of cover for them and almost none for the Greeks. The Greeks would pay dearly for their misjudgements on their invasion, and would never, so long as the Colonel breathed, ttake this airport.

The Greek commandos approached the entrances to the airport, and set about blasting open the doors of the airport, making their way past the baggage claim areas, and the ticket counters. They slid slowly and cautiously through, clearing every room as they went along, not seeing a single Cypriot or Contosian soldier in the entire airport, that is until they reached the security checkpoint.

When they arrived, they saw a single soldier, a sniper hiding up in the rafters, who opened fire on them as soon as they were within his range. He took down two soldiers, and almost took out one more before the commandos could dispatch him. They were not prepared for that, nor what they encountered next.

They went down a narrow staircase, towards the subway rails, and were suddenly under the onslaught of scores of Cypriot guns, mowing down the first line, soldier by soldier, before they were forced to retreat behind the walls next to the stairway.

"If we just march right at them, we will be slaughtered, it is impossible. What do we do?"

OOC: Any ideas? I don't know how to get past them.

OOC: What about flash grenades? Have any of those? Or smoke grenades? Frags might even be helpful, though they would cause some collateral damage.

Hail Caesar!

Some dredges of Austria's past are concerned over the aspect of communists, no matter where they are they cause trouble, but overall Austria congradulates Greece for its hardline stance.

OOC: What about flash grenades? Have any of those? Or smoke grenades? Frags might even be helpful, though they would cause some collateral damage.

Hail Caesar!

OOC: Tear gas and frag are the standard issue to the Greek soldier, but these are special forces...

Right, so they would be even more equipped. Throw in a combination of tear gas, flash grenades and a few frags, that should disorient them and thin them out a bit.

"Well sir, what about a grenade barrage, it may just disorient them enough to allow us to make a frontal assault on them. What do you think" Said a young Sargent Estradios.

The Captian pondered this thought for a second, before giving him a nod of approval.

"Soldiers, on the count of ten, I want you to throw flashbang, fragmentation and tear gas grenades at these guys, and remember to put on your NBC gear." The troops began a mad shuffle to get on their gear, both their helmets, and body suits.

"Ten...

Nine...

Eight...

Seven...

Six...

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One... Throw 'em away!" At which time grenades of many shapes and sizes came hurtling through the air toward the mass of Cypriots, confused by the mix of flashes, explosions and burning gases.

The Greeks made a charge at them, the horde of them flying down the stairs, though the posionous orange gas, until they opened fire upon the Cypriots, killing them one at a time, so they though, until the smoke cleared, when the troops saw only twenty bodies lay, and the door of the subway train lay in ruins. Shattered glass lay every which way, and so did a uniform with the markings of a fallen Colonel.

They began working their way through the wreckage, toward the subway entrance, a task in and of itself, as the rebels had clearly used it to make their get-away, and rigged it with a series of explosive mines, as well as a grouping of other booby trapopings to slow the Greek advances.

Keep it going, I am waiting for the next installment.

WWJD
Amen.

The Cypriot soliders made their way quickly down the subway tunnel, hurrying along their way towards the terminal. They trudged along hastily, for the intense fighting by the Greek commandos frightened many of the green troops.

“Why do the CO’s want us to hold this place so bad, why is it important? Why weren’t we out in the field when those bastards were bombing our cities to the ground.” Elias, a twenty year old from the interior of the country, the area hardest hit by the Greek naval bombardment, his own village being flattened by a single hour of falling bombs.

“I don’t know, I think it is something about them using it to deploy infantry,” said Nico, a young Sargent, Nico joined as soon as the news broke of the immenient hostilities between the two sides, hoping to follow in the footsteps of his expatriate father, who once fought alongside his fellow countrymen in the Greek Civil War of the 1950’s, ending when his father’s division eliminating the last of the Republican strongholds in the country, in order to pave the way for the Peoples’ Republic. Elias nodded and they walked along the railway, moving ever closer to a final confrontation with the Greeks.

“We are going to have to go around, this is taking too long. I am going to leave fifteen men here, in order to dispel any sort of counterattack that the Cypriots may attempt from in the subway system. The rest of you are coming with me.” Major Argyris Augostos yelled at his troops, in the same manner that he always did. As one-hundred and five Greeks moved out to find a different route to the terminal, news reached the soldiers on the tarmac of the new plan.

“Make your way into the terminal, we are going to engage the Cypriots there. Do you copy?” Panos heard the order on his radio, and singnaled his unit to follow him through the doors of the terminal, just like every other Captian on that blacktop. They trudged through the first doors they found, and reassembled once inside. The units then separated, fanning out across the terminal, to help secure it from the impending Cypriot attack, which seemed to come like to cosmic bodies colliding together, in one gigantic galactic smackdown.

OOC-Ok, who am I supporting in this? Which one is the pro-Quinntonina anti-socialists? The Progressive Coalition, right? How can Germany get involved?

Germany. Where are you?

WWJD
Amen.

OOC-Ok, who am I supporting in this? Which one is the pro-Quinntonina anti-socialists? The Progressive Coalition, right? How can Germany get involved?

Germany. Where are you?

WWJD
Amen.

Are you talking about the election, if you are talking about the election, post on that.

Günter Shultz expresses his confusion that Italy and not Germany was trusted to protect Greek shippers. He lets the Greek government know of his strong desire to support them against communist radicals and that German ships are much more competent and able to deal with terrorists. Even as he spoke the Samson carrier battle group was sailing from the port in Gaeta Italy towards Cyprus to reinforce Greek efforts and was perhaps a sign of things to come.

The new German ambassador Felix von Brückner (see Elections page) indicated to the reigning Greek government (progs?) that the Samson Carrier battle group had arrived and was currently preparing to offer some significant military aid to the Greeks. Brückner indicated that he was strongly supported by Shultz and that he was instructed to offer German aid on the following conditions:

i) No Holy League power will be encouraged or allowed to participate in this war;

ii) Italian ships guarding Greek ships will be informed that their services are not needed any longer;

ii) German missionaries will be allowed access into Greece occupied territories;

iii) and on occupation, Germany and Quinntonia will be given the possibility of establishing a naval base in Greek occupied lands on Cyprus.

Felix von Brückner asks whether the Greek government will accept these generous terms. He adds that acceptance of these terms will open the flood gates of the German treasury and military power. He asks if Greece would like support from a radical expansionist neighbor, who publicly stated the desire to annex the state of Greece. Perhaps Greece would much rather accept help from a powerful friend.

-------------------------
Brückner also continued communications with the Ottoman empire and expressed his desire to conclude negotiations concerning the German naval base. He expressed his interest in the sites around Famagusta and Rizokarpaso and asked if that would be acceptable to the Ottoman empire.

When Caesar Romulus Magnus received the copy of the German missive his face became redder than the red rose. "How dare he," Romulus spat, "HOW DARE HE!" He yelled so loudly that the aid that brought him the paper jumped back a few feet, his eyes so wide that they almost popped out of his head. Romulus crumpled the paper and threw it violently into the fire, after that, he took his frustration out on his chair and kicked it with the side of his leg. The chair jumped and was pushed about a foot and a half away. He turned to the aide, his eyes were like fire, “Tell that sniveling worm to stop putting his nose in our business! Was Germany ever invited to help? No! They asked once and Greece did not respond! Now who’s the imperialist? Germany is acting no more than the big bully on the playground, showing off its great ships and muscle and whining when someone they don’t like happens to be playing in the same playground! Tell Germany that I will not leave Greek convoys, no matter what they say, unless the Greeks request it! Even then, Greece will still receive our help in every means possible! If the Germans don’t like it, they can shove it!
Romulus kicked the chair again, though with not as much force, and regained his composure, “Tell Greece that Rome will go along with whatever decision they make, but strongly recommends Greece not to capitulate to this whining bully! Tell them that I respect their sovereignty as nation of great might, and history!”

Hail Caesar!

Quinntonian diplomats will not touch on the delicate continental balance, and as usual, will defer to their regional ally in Germany. However, if the Greek government had trouble with this decision, the combined USQ and German economies would be pionted to, two of the most powerful and largest economies in the entire world.

Then, the problems of unemployment, over-spending, public debt and lackluster economic growth in the Greek economy was pointed at.

Which eceonomy would the Greeks like to hitch their wagon to, the one that wants only to defend them (Germany) or the one that outlined his plan for conquering Greece in his coronation address?

WWJD
Amen.

OOC: I hate you both!

OOC: I hate you both!

Aaaaw, muffin, is princess going to be all right? LOL! Just kidding bud, all is fair in love and NS.

WWJD
Amen.

Where's Buristan? I'm finally getting involved and now he's gone.

I know how you feel, old friend.

Yes...friend, maybe to symbolize our friendship you could sink all your ships and fly your planes into the sea?

Right after you...

Now boys, play nice.

WWJD
Amen.

"Cypriots, coming out of the tunnel!" Gus yelled into the radio, alerting the others of the Cypriot presence in the terminal. He and his squad quickly found coverr, behind a decorative planter, and begand to fire upon the emerging ranks and files of Cypriots. Gus could not believe how many of them there were, they just continued to pour out of the opening that they had blasted open, two by two, two by two.

Leaftris ordered his squad to make its way toward the Cypriot attack--towards the sound of rapid gunfire and pain--as every other Greek sargent in the airport did. This would be the final showdown, he could feel it.

"Sir, we have opened the subway doors," Pavlos reported to the Captian, who seemed pleased, "What do you want us to do now?"

"We will march on them with all our might, and they will fall, between the guns of Greece."

[snip]

SICTG: The Hellenic Republic would be grateful for German aid in this matter, however, we will not abandon our Roman friend until we have indeniable proof of their desire to take Greece as a vassel state.

OOC: Eurofighter, if specially outfitted for 6 Taurus long range surface to air missiles, is capable of dropping 6000 lbs of explosive per Eurofighter! And thats not counting the hundreds of missiles waiting on the other ships. If Germany got involved in strategically bombing in Cyprus you are looking at potentially tens of thousands of explosives dropped on your enemies! So far Italy has guarded a couple of ships.

IC:
Brückner and Greek Mamilis

Felix von Brückner expressed his concern about the current Grecian strategy in regards to their allies. He explained that the Italians had made their plans in regards to Greece clear on the very day of Romulus's coronation speech. He stressed that the Greeks emphasis on reducing their deficit could not achieved fighting a large costly war without significant monetary support from Christian neighbors. Furthermore, Brückner explained the political landscape of Germany. Currently Germany was offering unprecedented amount of trade with its allies while denying trade to unfriendly nations was becoming talk about more. The current strategy of close association with the Holy League was worrisome for the some in the German government and Brückner told Anargyros Mamilis, Greek head of Government, that he might be unable to prevent fallout to Greece if closer ties with the Holy League were pursued. Sensing uncertainty from Mamilis, Brückner tries to get him to accept the terms of the deals by promising an immediate 200 million Euro bond towards the war effort if the four terms were accepted.

The following ships were prepared to immediately enter the conflict, pending the resolution of the negotiation:


Carrier Battle Group-Samson
1 Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier (85 aircraft) Eurofighter TyphoonB (naval variant with reinforced undercarriage for landing on aircraft carriers)
2 Ticonderoga AEGIS Cruisers
3 Saschen Class Frigates (Destroyers)
2 Bremen Class Guided Missile Frigates
4 Los Angeles Class Attack Submarines
2 Sacramento Class Supply Ships (one outfitted as both supply ship and combination hospital)

OOC: Italy has only been guarding ships because that is all that we have been asked to do! They're running the show here, not me and certainly not you!

BTW, you certainly have weird way of getting allies, pushing them into your corner and all. Though I must confess, it is very convincing!

Hail Caesar!

Hindustanis, for the most part, do not take a very keen interest in the Cyprus affair, events in the Mediterranean being largely outside of Mumbai's ability to influence. Certainly Athens' budding relationship with Rome is a source of concern, since Greece's not so small navy could presumably be redirected to threaten Libya and Yugoslavia, and equally that relationship is confusing, the Italian ruler having stated rather clearly his intention to invade and occupy Greece.

Parliament declares its intention to recognize Ottoman administration over the Turkish-majority Cypriot districts, at least in the interim, and warns against attacks on Walmingtonian sovereign base areas. Of course, should the Greeks decide to attack London's forces, INA troops ought to be the least of their problems.

Further support is pledged to Istanbul in a half-hearted effort to equip the Ottoman Empire as something of a counterweight to Italy (and indeed Greece as well, although nobody says it outright) in the Mediterranean region.

OOC: Hey everyone, I am trying to make a comeback. I don't know if it will be a success, but I am going to sure try.
A AMW-Quality Post coming soon...

Brückner and Greek Mamilis

Felix von Brückner expressed his concern about the current Grecian strategy in regards to their allies. He explained that the Italians had made their plans in regards to Greece clear on the very day of Romulus's coronation speech. He stressed that the Greeks emphasis on reducing their deficit could not achieved fighting a large costly war without significant monetary support from Christian neighbors. Furthermore, Brückner explained the political landscape of Germany. Currently Germany was offering unprecedented amount of trade with its allies while denying trade to unfriendly nations was becoming talk about more. The current strategy of close association with the Holy League was worrisome for the some in the German government and Brückner told Anargyros Mamilis, Greek head of Government, that he might be unable to prevent fallout to Greece if closer ties with the Holy League were pursued. Sensing uncertainty from Mamilis, Brückner tries to get him to accept the terms of the deals by promising an immediate 200 million Euro bond towards the war effort if the four terms were accepted.

The president is quite interested in your offers, Mr. von Brückner, so much in fact that he would like to invite you to meet with him and a select group of aides to discuss the means of a possible alliance between our two nations, two nations devoted to the abolition of terrorism and other radical elements of the world.

Hindustanis, for the most part, do not take a very keen interest in the Cyprus affair, events in the Mediterranean being largely outside of Mumbai's ability to influence. Certainly Athens' budding relationship with Rome is a source of concern, since Greece's not so small navy could presumably be redirected to threaten Libya and Yugoslavia, and equally that relationship is confusing, the Italian ruler having stated rather clearly his intention to invade and occupy Greece.

Parliament declares its intention to recognize Ottoman administration over the Turkish-majority Cypriot districts, at least in the interim, and warns against attacks on Walmingtonian sovereign base areas. Of course, should the Greeks decide to attack London's forces, INA troops ought to be the least of their problems.

Further support is pledged to Istanbul in a half-hearted effort to equip the Ottoman Empire as something of a counterweight to Italy (and indeed Greece as well, although nobody says it outright) in the Mediterranean region.

OOC: Where is your country located?

IC: Though the Hellenic Republic has never had a strong relationship with the Hindustanis, the Foriegn Service feels that the time has come to begin such a interaction, therefore, we implore the Hindustan government to participate in a mutual embassy exchange, so that our fine administrations can discuss their matters discreetly, rather than through public statements.
Thank you,

Pavlos Georgas,

Director of the Foriegn Service

Sargent Estradios looked around the corner and saw a pack of Cypriots hiding behind a tree planter. Silently, he gestured to his squad about their presence. Silently, he withdrew his sidearm from his holster, aiming at the captian of the Cypriot unit, an easy task, since the Greeks and Cypriots wore the same signs of rank.

A loud crack. Captian Varlin fell, and Kudret immediately saw the red liquid pouring from the side of his head. Kudret yelled to the men to brace themselves for an attack, to take cover. In the middle of this order, a smoke grenade rolled out in front of the troops.

“Wait for the smoke to clear!” said another Cypriot voice.

The grey smoke filled the area, and the Greeks flew upon the Cypriots with force, unloading clip after clip at the planter.

Kudret crawled toward the radio operator, and sent out a message, “This is Sargent Sotiris, my company is pinned down near the rendevous point, and our CO has been downed. We need backup.”

“Sotiris, my platoon can be right there. Hang tight.” Nico assured the imperiled Sargent, “Towards the rendevous point, we have some cleaning to do!” They moved out of the food court, immediately saw the fighting in the distance, smoke billowing from it. The platoon ran silently towards the fight when a massive grouping of Greek troops came at them from a hallway to the left. As the platoon fell one by one, a bullet struck Nico’s stomach. As he fell to the ground, he saw the smoke clearing up ahead, where Greeks were celebrating the sight of Cypriot bodies strewn across the floor.

An alliance between Greece and Germany gives Caesar Romulus reason to pause. He requests a meeting with the Honourable President of Greece to discuss the extent of their relationship. Especially if the radically anti-Holy League Germany becomes their ally.Romulus would also like to discuss the matter of Soviet shipping of a mass number of troops to Libya and warns Greece that a strong Soviet presence in Africa does not bode well for the future of democracy and divine rule in Europe.

Hail Caesar!

An alliance between Greece and Germany gives Caesar Romulus reason to pause. He requests a meeting with the Honourable President of Greece to discuss the extent of their relationship. Especially if the radically anti-Holy League Germany becomes their ally.Romulus would also like to discuss the matter of Soviet shipping of a mass number of troops to Libya and warns Greece that a strong Soviet presence in Africa does not bode well for the future of democracy and divine rule in Europe.

Hail Caesar!

OOC: That was a telegram to Germany, no official relations have been made as of yet.

http://getclippings.com/image.php?id=157219

Cyprus

"Fuck!" It was a characteristically Australasian sentiment, expressed in terms no officer of the Royal Army would lend to a discussion with a superior. Brigadier James Chandler frowned minutely at the man in front of him, but ignored the profanity. "Everyone's moving in carrier fleets, looks like this whole bloody island is fixed to blow!"

"Quite, er..." Australasians were loud. "Captain. I assume that most of the necessary changes aboard your ships have taken effect?" Chandler's question was in oblique reference to the ongoing addition of Australasian warships to the Royal Navy.

"More or less. Some of the new regulation paintjobs haven't dried yet, but we're managing."

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, captain. Please inform Rear Admiral Wilberforce that he is to make a sortie-in-strength. All these ships are getting mighty close to His Majesty's Naval Base."

Off the Coast of Cyprus, Two Days Later

"German carrier group fine off the starboard bow, sir." Captain Skerry nodded. The HMS (formerly FCS) Quenfis' fighter group was much reduced since the last AS-12s departed for Gibraltar. A dozen AF/A-18s formed his Air Group, backed by six Merlins and eight Sea Kings. Not exactly a Nimitz' worth of air power, but certainly a respectable deterrent against anything that the Regia Marina could field. These Germans, though...

"Acknowledged, lieutenant." He paused for a moment, considering the situation. "My compliments to their flag, and advise them that these waters border on a protected zone of the Empire, and request that they maintain a distance of one kilometre from the shore. Further request that they notify the Royal Navy..." it was still strange to say "... of any planned actions that will require violation of this perimeter."

The fleet was arrayed around Quenfis like a fan, frigates and destroyers forming an ASW screen for the carrier and her cruiser brethren. The largest ships, proven vulnerable to submarine attack by recent actions against the League, hoped to avoid contact with any diesel-electric subs that slipped past the screen of Collins SSKs lurking further out to sea. Germans, Greeks and Italians alike were trailed by an example the near-silent Collins. A concession was made to the Germans (as fellow NATO members and general commuphobes) insofar as that they were informed of the submarine's presence.

The Royal Navy had been burned at sea twice recently, but emerged with tradition of victory intact. Much like Jellicoe at Jutland, they had been saved by the nerves of their foes. Enemy commanders did not see Eric Longworth or Brendan Whyte when they looked upon the battle order of the Royal Navy. They saw the hand of First Sea Lord Sir J. Sandy Woodward, the ghosts of Jellicoe, Nelson, Hawke and Drake. Three hundred years of proud tradition and a reputation for invincibility in battle.

Here, though, there was no clear enemy. Task forces and carrier groups jockeyed for position off Cyprus, and the British (nee Australasian) fleet had its back to the island. With cannon-fire falling around him, the base Commandant had ordered the fleet to sea and demanded that everyone take a step back.

Meanwhile, Australasian marines recently amalgamated with their British opposite numbers prepared to carve out a piece of land to call their own. The fighting, confused as it was, threatened to spill over from the airport to the entire island. The mission of the marines would be to ensure that it didn't, using whatever means were deemed appropriate for that objective.

OOC: That was a telegram to Germany, no official relations have been made as of yet.

OOC: I was more responding to the possibility of an alliance. Though Romulus would still like to discuss Soviet shipping in the Mediterranean.

The president is quite interested in your offers, Mr. von Brückner, so much in fact that he would like to invite you to meet with him and a select group of aides to discuss the means of a possible alliance between our two nations, two nations devoted to the abolition of terrorism and other radical elements of the world.

Brückner and aide

OOC: Who are you talking through? an aide?

IC: Felix von Brückner informs the aide that the current government is very interested in acquiring and building new friendships and that Germany will be generous to its friends. The armed uprising by communist terrorist in Cyprus could be put down quickly and easily with the assistance of Germany. However, Brückner expresses regret that Greek connections to Italy remain in tact. These connections, of course, will be unneccessary with the probable allaince between our two countries. German entry into NATO was all but guaranteed and German support of Greece would make the entry of Greece in NATO all that easier.

Brückner talked with the aide about the details of the meeting, place, time, etc. At the specified time Brückner arrived and knocked on the door.

OCC: The Indian National Union, also known as Hindustan, occupies much of RL India and Pakistan, in specific the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Sindh, Rajasthan, and the Punjab, as well as a few smaller territories.

IC:

Director Georgas' statement revives Parliament's interest in Greece. Previous interpretations of the state of affairs seem, now, to have been quite incorrect, and Unioners are eager to pursue proper diplomatic relations. The Greek offer of an embassy exchange is immediately accepted. Greek diplomats are invited to come to Mumbai and choose for themselves a suitable location for an embassy, while Parliament forms its own delegation for the trip to Athens.

Parliamentarians hope to accomplish much through the embassy exchange. Mainly they want to make sure that Greece does not become aligned with the Holy League in the present world conflict, since a hostile Greece would make Libya's position all the more tenuous. It is hoped that Unioners will be able to give Athens reason to see India in a more positive light, rather than as the red bogey man that NATO seems to paint it as.

German forces receive the radio message and the following radio summary of the conversation is transferred back to Berlin.

Transcript reads:

Confirmed receipt of compliments. Informed UK forces Italian forces have not violated the perimeter. Will advise of changes. Large numbers of Australasian ships nearby may overstretch UK resources. Advise sharing of German naval bases. Turbulence on island. Advise coordination of resources and manpower as needed.

The building of extensive naval bases along the coast of Cyprus on Ottoman territory continued at a frantic pace. Roads were being paved to the ports, foods was shipped to hastily constructed storage containers, anti aircraft guns placed, and the finishing touches were being put on strips of track for planes. German naval assets were largely being supplied by the joint Quinntopian- German base in Italy but Germany was rushing the construction of the bases on Cyprus and hopefully soon Germany could be supplied by Cyprus bases alone. Offers were sent to Australasian ships that if the current British bases were not large enough they could be supplied, in part, by Germany. Most naval assets were at sea but as ports gradually began to be completed ships began to sail and dock. A constant air patrol was maintained and Germany was ready to enter the fray at a moments notice.

Five Greek patrol boats floated down the Pedieos River in Nicosia, a common occurrence in the city these days. Usually, they would dock and quickly accomplish their objectives, usually the capture of a Contosian financier or sympathizer; however, this was not the case today. According to a Turkish informant known as Ibrahim, the Contosians owned a substantial cache of various weapons and explosives in the city, just ten blocks off the river. The objective of the mission was to secure the cache and wait for a squadron of three Chinook helicopters and four Apaches to come and take the weapons back to the Nicosian International Airport for use by Greek troops. The raid would be a walk in the park, Captain Sarris explained.

The soldiers disembarked their vessels, and made their way down the street. Almost as soon as they made it one block into the city, the squadron came under gunfire. The troops quickly separated, taking cover under anything that they could, be it trees, rubble from the pre-invasion bombings, or around street corners. The attack was coming from a variety of locations, an apartment building, a storefront window, and a truck retrofitted with a heavy machine gun on the back. Captain Sarris radioed the headquarters, informing them of the ambush.

“We are pinned down, nine blocks from the objective, we need heavy support now! Can you get some?” The officer on the other side was pushed to the edge of his seat, never had he heard reports of gunfire in this run-of-the-mill type of mission. He quickly checked the location of the Chinook escorts. They were only twelve miles from the pinned down soldiers.

“Yes, I will order some air support your way, what is your status.” The captain looked around, suddenly it caught his eye, and one of his men, Corporal Metopolis lay on the ground, grasping at his abdomen, withering in pain while a medic tried frantically to staunch the wound.

“One wounded sir, he has been shot in the gut. I am not sure of his condition,” Sarris said, “I think he may need to be medivaced.”

“They are on their way. I will find a location a rendezvous point to pick up your boy, hang on Captain.” The officer looked at the GPS of the area, an apartment building on the southbound side of the boulevard looked just big enough to land a Huey helicopter, a tight fit, but the next land-able area was a plaza seven blocks away, in the heart of a Turkish, anti-Greek neighborhood.

Sarris received the news, and looked up at the building. It was ten stories, and in it were numerous hostile forces, intent on killing as many Greeks as they could. He motioned to his men to cover him as he ran across the street to where Metopolis lay.

“I have ordered a medical helicopter to take evacuate him; do you think we can get him to the top of that apartment building across the street?” Sarris asked the medic.

“I am not sure, but we have to try, he will die if we don’t do anything.” Replied the medic.

Private Cholas overheard the conversation, and he quickly offered his services to the two older men, “I want to help, what do I need to do?”

Sarris fired a burst of shots are the men in the truck, hitting one of them in the shoulder. He looked at the fresh face, without a hair on his chin, and could not help but think of his younger cousin, who just signed up for the Army seven months ago, and would be finishing basic training in just two more months.

“Can you cover us as we make our way across the street and through the building, we will need it.,” Sarris asked. Cholas nodded in affirmation, and they started across the street.

Cholas sent sprayed bullets at every Turkish fighter in his line of sight, while Sarris and the medic carried Metopolis across the street. To Sarris, each step seemed like an hour of horror. Finally, the three of them reached the other side of the street, and into the safety of the apartment building.

“Well, hopefully that was the hard part.” Sarris said to the medic, “Carry him on your shoulders, and I will watch your back for you, okay?” The medic nodded in approval, and slung Metopolis—who muttered a loud grunt—over his shoulders.

The two started up the stairs, making it up a few flights when Sarris heard the sound of a machine gun down the hall. That must be where the Turkish machine gun nest is, Sarris thought to himself.

“I am going to take out that those Turks, without it, the Turks will be helpless,” Sarris told the medic, “stay here.” Sarris handed the medic his rifle and un-holstered his pistol. He crept down the hallway toward the sound, and saw three Turks, one guarding the room, one feeding the ammunition belt into the gun, and the other operating the machine. Sarris hid just outside the doorway as he thought of a plan.

Official Message of the Hellenic Republic

The President is please to announce that he will be accepting the offers of German aid in the war against our enemies in Cyprus. President Solterris believes that our two nations see eye to eye on the issues of world affairs, especially when dealing with the threat of terrorism. In addition, the President asks that the Chancellor meet with him at the Presidential Retreat on Lìmnos to discuss a more formal bond between their nations.

OOC: You must have missed my earlier post. I already have my ambassador guy at your door. Or are you ignoring him and trying to send a mission that you do not want favourable relations with Germany?

IC: Felix von Brückner informs the aide that the current government is very interested in acquiring and building new friendships and that Germany will be generous to its friends. The armed uprising by communist terrorist in Cyprus could be put down quickly and easily with the assistance of Germany. However, Brückner expresses regret that Greek connections to Italy remain in tact. These connections, of course, will be unneccessary with the probable allaince between our two countries. German entry into NATO was all but guaranteed and German support of Greece would make the entry of Greece in NATO all that easier.

Brückner talked with the aide about the details of the meeting, place, time, etc. At the specified time Brückner arrived and knocked on the door.

Ceasar Romulus is rather disappointed by Greece's decision to arrange an alliance with Germany, but unlike the German chancellor, Romulus knows that he does not affect Greek policy. Romulus does hope that Mr. President will not allow German imperialism to jeopardize their fledgling friendship.

Romulus' hate for Germany is quickly on the rise.

Hail Caesar!

OOC: I did miss that. I will respond. Sorry.

IC: The secretary came over Solterris's intercom, “Sir, Mister Von Brukner is here, may I send him in.”

“Yes, you may Mia, thank you.” Solterris replied. A large German man stepped into the room, “You must be Mister Von Brukner, welcome to Greece.”

Felix von Brückner frowns and grabs Solterris's hand and gives it a good firm grip.

As soon as Brückner steps into the office he begins speaking in a blunt German manner.

"Solterris. Lets get right down to business. I have explained my position and the benefits of German participation in this peacemaking operation. Will you accept the German offer or do you have another offer?"

http://getclippings.com/image.php?id=372515

Felix von Brückner frowns and grabs Solterris's hand and gives it a good firm grip.

As soon as Brückner steps into the office he begins speaking in a blunt German manner.

"Solterris. Lets get right down to business. I have explained my position and the benefits of German participation in this peacemaking operation. Will you accept the German offer or do you have another offer?"

"Would you be averse to a complete alliance, including mutual sharing of intelligence in Cyprus and anywhere else that our nations happen to be, also, ask that you make an attempt at amends with Roma, I do not want that sort of instability to plague the Mediterranean, all I see in these alliance systems is the roots of a global conflict that will endanger us all."

"Rome and the Holy League are a great threat to peace and security. Germany wishes to build friendships in order to guard against the Holy League. Rome wishes to reestablish control over your territory and catering to Rome's interests will stop her ruthless desire for more territory. And it is not only Rome we must deal with. The entire might of the Holy League, including Mother Russia, must be considered. Alone we will not be able to halt their advance but if we develop more friendships we can stand against them. Do not be deceived. They will destroy us if they get the chance.

And is not only against the Holy League that we must be wary against. Quinntopia and Germany have long stood together against the Soviet menace. Greece is in a precarious position and sorely needs our help. Do not let her down, Solterris, in her time of need."

HMS Quenfis, off Cyprus

"Incoming message from the German carrier battlegroup, sir. They've advised us that Italian ships have not broken perimeter, and are standing off under German surveillance."

Captain Skerry leaned against the bridge rail, glancing at his near-empty flight deck and under-armed fleet. Indeed, the Royal Navy base at Cyprus lacked enough dockspace for the Australasian fleet-- reduced though it was-- to resupply in large numbers. Base sharing with the Germans would be exceedingly convenient, and much appreciated by the commanders whose crews had yet to receive any shore-time due to lack of space.

"Please thank the German commander, and inform him that..." Skerry trailed off. How many ships was it? "three destroyers and a frigate require resupply and dock-time, nothing too exciting."

RN Base, Cyprus

When the order to deploy finally came and was passed along to area commanders, it had an undeniable feel of the 'over the top!' command of the Great War. Marines, trained as a crack special-forces team though they might be, still hadn't been deployed in direct combat for the duration of the war. Odd, then, that their first combat mission in over two decades was a move to carve out territory on the southwest tip of Cyprus' landmass.

Five hundred marines, their Steyr carbines and L85A2s carried in trembling hands, climbed aboard their FV432 Bulldogs and dogged the hatches shut. The fifty armoured personnel carriers, their cargoes thus secured, rolled out of the small naval base along the main road, which branched every so often as roads tend to do. Obeying radio commands, groups of two or three Bulldogs pealed off from the group at intervals, setting up camps and securing the area against insurgents, various armed groups and, if necessary, unco-operative civilians.

In the small communities (villages, really) encountered by the marines, locals were given a choice. Relocate into an apartment complex built in place of your village and become citizens, like the Gibraltarians had before, of a Royal Navy base, or move. In either case, the citizens would be amply compensated for their lost goods, and if necessary farmland would be set aside on the base's outskirts. If they chose to relocate, a modest home would be built for them, with connections to Cyprus' electrical and water infrastructure. However, this land was sorely needed by the British Empire, so in the name of the King...

It all felt a little like the 1780s in India, really.

Von Brukner, I understand the threat that the Communists and the Holy League poses the welfare and safety of Europe and ultimately the world, and I would love nothing more than to blot them all from the pages of history as they sleep, however, it is my governments position that all diplomatic solutions must be exhausted before we can resort to war, so much so that it took an outright terrorist assault for us to be able to strike the Contosians, with the minimal amount of force that the Commies in the National Assembly have allowed for. If I did in fact try to take out the theocrats in a preemptive strike, many members of my military, whose loyalties lie to the POR would outright refuse the order, crippling my government in the face of the Romans at which point they would likely strike at me.”


To the British Empire

Though we find the expansion of your holdings on Cyprus to be reprehensible, and we officially call for the end of the land grab, the Hellenic Navy, Air Service and Army needs a base from which to launch a campaign in the southern portion of the country, a hotbed for Contosian activities, thus the Republic requests permission to use some of the base as the staging grounds for a joint campaign against our common terrorist enemy.

To the Ottoman Empire

Though announcing this with deep regret, the Hellenic Republic is afraid that due to recent agressions by the Turkish populations of Cyprus, the autonomity originally bestowed upon them must be taken back by the republic. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Foriegn Minister 5000 National Street, Athens, Greece

To Greece

"The current German government does not intend to wage war on either the Holy League or the Soviets without exhausting diplomatic solutions. The proper procedures must be followed before Germany will enter a war. However, we recognize that diplomatic solutions sometimes fail at resolving disputes and in those special cases harsh measures must be used to resolve the conflict. The Soviets have begun an assault of biblical proportions upon the lands of Africa and it may be neccessary for all free lands to oppose that menace. If they are not checked in Africa there is no telling where they will go next. While I do not completely understand your domestic situation, having just recently arrived here in Greece, I will tell you that Germany and her allies will protect you from any reprisals from Rome.

Also, if you need a base to conduct operations into Cyprus you are welcome to use our base, which is rapidly reaching completion."

To Britain

As the British ships enter the German base they greeted by cheers from German naval officers and sea men. Hundreds of Germans cheer and wave from the ships and shining new constructed dock. The German people were disgusted by the Soviet aggression towards Africa and applauded their brothers who were willing to take a stand against the gospel crushing Soviets. Upon arrival to the dock, the German commander greeted the British commander and invited the Australasians to stay as long as they wanted. They were also welcome to any food and accomodations the base had to offer.

OOC: I was under the impression that Cyprus was going somewhat out of control, with Contosian militias running amok and stuff. I'm just, erm, pacifying the natives? As for fighting communists, I don't think that any of the big stuff has happened yet, as in no agreement to deploy peacekeepers, no attack on Soviet shipping. But we're getting there, I suppose.

Cyprus

It had been a long time since the Royal Navy pulled into port to the sound of cheers. Captains operating outside of their command structure called their men on deck and ordered them to parade, which they did, waving their caps in the Mediterranean breeze. The docks, partially occupied by German naval units, were swiftly nearing completion and the port facilities appeared to be growing. This was the world that the British Empire wanted to build, and many in the Royal Navy felt as though partnership with the Germans would be worthwhile indeed.

Naval officers of the Royal Navy, sent out into the town on shore-leave, complemented their Teutonic hosts on the beer, the food and the atmosphere. They could get used to this life, eating hamhocks with the Germans, sharing their beer, and seeing once and for all which race could drink more, the Scots or the Germans.

Elsewhere, the atmosphere was not nearly so convivial. The British base's territory had expanded significantly, and civilian contractors were already pouring concrete to extend the roads. They were guarded by the Royal Marines, who wasted little time in laying claim to the territory around and sending out search parties to locate Contosian enclaves. A few isolated firefights had broken out, during which the British essentially camped inside their Bulldogs and ASLAV vehicles and fired controlled bursts towards their assailants. As yet, the Contosians did not seem to employ explosive devices such as those seen in Africa, and with tensions mounting there in the three-way war between isolated British units, French armies and encroaching Soviets, it was only a matter of time before tensions began to spill over unless they were contained immediately. To this end, the Contosians encroaching into British territory were crushed mercilessly, killed or captured by elite Royal Marines and a few teams of SBS who, it seemed, had crawled out of the woodwork for a counterinsurgency campaign on Cyprus.

The Greek government, then, was given 'full operational use' of the expanding Royal Navy base, its complaint in the matter studiously ignored but still present in everyone's mind. Quiet inquiries were made; what could Britain do to lessen the, ah, sting of losing about eleven square kilometres of land? Would use of the expanded base at any time be necessary here, or might we be looking at something more like Britain sponsoring Greece into NATO?

OOC: Can you all send me a gif of your positions in Cyprus, I am going to make a map of the campaign, including Contosian strongholds as well as the bases of the belligerents, if you could send me it soon that would be great.

To Greece

"The current German government does not intend to wage war on either the Holy League or the Soviets without exhausting diplomatic solutions. The proper procedures must be followed before Germany will enter a war. However, we recognize that diplomatic solutions sometimes fail at resolving disputes and in those special cases harsh measures must be used to resolve the conflict. The Soviets have begun an assault of biblical proportions upon the lands of Africa and it may be neccessary for all free lands to oppose that menace. If they are not checked in Africa there is no telling where they will go next. While I do not completely understand your domestic situation, having just recently arrived here in Greece, I will tell you that Germany and her allies will protect you from any reprisals from Rome.

Also, if you need a base to conduct operations into Cyprus you are welcome to use our base, which is rapidly reaching completion."


Though I think it may be folly, our policy on Rome has been to keep them closer than our friends, to an extreme point. As we speak, my intelligence is attempting to infiltrate their ranks, however, no sucess has been made. I trust that you will not divulge any of this to anyone at anytime?" replied Solterris, "As for Africa, I have no chance of aiding Republicans their, the pinkos in the National Assembly are raising a ruckus about the Cypriot campaign as it is."

OOC:
My computer is literally refusing to copy and paste images necessary to generate a map, sorry. I'll work on it...
*hates his old computer and wants a Macbook Pro*
For informational purposes though, feel free to just take the current British sovereign territory of Akrotiri and expand it by a few square kilometres (I stated roughly eleven, but if that seems too large to you then feel free to shrink it). The other territory remains unchanged in size.

OOC:
My computer is literally refusing to copy and paste images necessary to generate a map, sorry. I'll work on it...
*hates his old computer and wants a Macbook Pro*
For informational purposes though, feel free to just take the current British sovereign territory of Akrotiri and expand it by a few square kilometres (I stated roughly eleven, but if that seems too large to you then feel free to shrink it). The other territory remains unchanged in size.
OOC: Fo so'

My government would naturally be willing to form an alliance with your government but it is concerning that the opposition parties in your countries have such power that they could destroy the dream of a grand alliance against the aggressive secularists. What can the German government do to help you with your party politics?

"I am afraid that any sort of formal military alliance would be indeed very difficult, as it would take three fourths of the Assembly's approval, however, according to the Constitution of 1995, I do not have to answer to anyone but my own conscience on the matter of Friendship, Non-Agression and Rite of Passage Pacts, and as my CHP controls the Commerce and Currency Commitee, I also could influence the creation of an economic agreement between our two esteemed nations."

Nico looked at the pile of cigarettes on the table, and then up at his chief liutenant Yiogros Papalous then to his brother Elias, who looked quite displeased.

"Yig, are you a fucking idiot, these things look horrible," Nico said to Papalous, "Do you seriously expect me to smoke these?"

"Sir, it is all that the locals could sell me, the Republicans bombing campaigns took there toll, not to mention that they control the Nicosian airport. Now what is our plan of attack, I believe that if we could some how mount an assault on the new extension of the British base the Cypriots would once again view us as heroes, and our ranks would be filled thicker that ever."

"I would agree with you, Yig; what is your plan?" Nico asked, forgetting all about the cigarettes, "If we could get in one sucessful attack, I believe that our Red bretherin the world over would support us with weaponry, soldiers and most of all money."

Elias cut in, "--I heard one of our comrades mentioning his brother as being stuck in some sort of prision compound that they put all of the Limassol natives in when they occupied it. If we could contact him, he could recruit an inside force, a force to help us break in."

"It is risky, but I like it." Nico proclaimed.

OOC: with your permission Gurg?

"Would you be averse to a complete alliance, including mutual sharing of intelligence in Cyprus and anywhere else that our nations happen to be, also, ask that you make an attempt at amends with Roma, I do not want that sort of instability to plague the Mediterranean, all I see in these alliance systems is the roots of a global conflict that will endanger us all."

Brückner shakes his head and looks hard in Solterris's eyes. "Well you must have some way of gaining support for an alliance with Germany. Why else would you offer an alliance if you were incapable of following through on the offer? As a joke! I am in no mood for games. Let us stop playing cat and moose shall we?"

Brückner is aware that he is standing in the middle of Solterris's office and that he was not offered a seat. He did not show any discomfort but he was not used to standing for long periods of time and feared that if the negotiations continued for several more hours he might show signs of weakness.

Bruckner shrugged off those thoughts and leaned forward and whispered intently, "What do you want Solterris? Money? Booze? Women? Will any of these help expedite an alliance between our respective countries?"

Brückner shakes his head and looks hard in Solterris's eyes. "Well you must have some way of gaining support for an alliance with Germany. Why else would you offer an alliance if you were incapable of following through on the offer? As a joke! I am in no mood for games. Let us stop playing cat and moose shall we?"

Brückner is aware that he is standing in the middle of Solterris's office and that he was not offered a seat. He did not show any discomfort but he was not used to standing for long periods of time and feared that if the negotiations continued for several more hours he might show signs of weakness.

Bruckner shrugged off those thoughts and leaned forward and whispered intently, "What do you want Solterris? Money? Booze? Women? Will any of these help expedite an alliance between our respective countries?"


Solterris walked over to a switchboard and turned of a switch. "A little German help in Greek domestic affairs certainly would. If somehow I could show my people once and for all that the Communist not only support the Contosians, but all kinds of terrorism abroad, then I could push for an emergency election for the seats of key members of the Communist party, who with a little help from our voters would never see the inside of the Assembly again," Solterris said, "do you understand what I need."

Many parts of the British base were highly defended, two feet thick concrete walls which rose to a height of ten meters, gaurded by a multitude of alarm systems and guards; here in the newly occupied sector, all that stood between the base and outsiders was a chain link fence rimmed with military-grade barbed wire.

Geoffroi and Bret hid behind a jeep, waiting for the patrol of three men to leave the area, so that they may begin the first stage of the liberation of the Limassol compound. The Contosians had promised that they would free the area before moving on to take over the base, freeing Cypriot territories from their long-time invaders. The patrol left and Bret made his move. Staying low to the ground, Bret slithered towards the fence, wire cutters in hand, as Geoffroi kept lookout with a Smith & Wesson six-shooter. When he reached the fence, he clipped apart the links, almost feeling the pressure of eyes upon him, until he had made a hole large enough for one man to duck through.

Emmanouil saw the hole in the fence, and he immediately cut towards it, followed immediately by his squadron. The thirty of them cut their way down towards the opening and one by one made it through the hole. He shook hands with the two men who had opened it, and they quickly showed them to their lodgings, where they would stay the night, before creating havoc tommorow, havoc that would scare the British to their bones.

Outside Limassol

As prison camps went, the Limassol Temporary Housing Commune was pretty damned nice. Portables-- those mass-produced, low houses transportable via eighteen wheeler-- stood in neat rows with well packed dirt roads connecting them. Running water, supplied by an above-ground pipe connected to Limassol's own water grid, was beginning to flow to the families living there. Temporary power lines, this time connected to a small group of generators running 'round the clock, ran just above head level. The few guards wore berets rather than helmets and rode in Land Rovers. They freely interacted with the populace, which was not really given to acts of violence.

Certainly, there was dis-satisfaction amongst the Cypriots. They were mostly Greeks, and though not particularly nationalistic in the main, they did object a bit to being uprooted from their homes. Accordingly, the British troops made efforts to engage the locals in conversation on both personal and policy level. A 'provisional council' meeting was held once a week, at which the displaced Cypriots were encouraged to come and meet with British civilian and military officials to air grievances or discuss future plans.

In the near distance, a rather respectable apartment complex was under construction. The Crown, though a bit strapped for cash after the series of conflicts that had gripped the world of late, was paying for the construction of a new housing unit for the displaced Cypriots. It wasn't the typical block concrete construction, either. Architects that had overseen construction in London-- architects who worked in glass, steel and a modernist style-- were brought in to make the housing complex a welcoming place. Ambitious plans were weighed against cost requirements, and those that passed were submitted to provisional council for review. The winner so far, it seemed, was a design that incorporated two medium-rise housing units, a public square and a small park. It weighed in at around three million pounds, with much of the preliminary work being done by British and Australasian Corps of Royal Engineers.

The Engineers were busy, as was usual for them. In addition to building housing complexes, they were tasked with improving the new demarcation line, clearing ground for airstrips, and erecting temporary buildings for the base itself. Converted Chieftan tanks mounted with bulldozer blades scraped the hard soil level, followed by surveyors with their plumb lines, levels and theodolites. Regular infantry followed on behind, digging ditches, building mounds and generally performing grunt work. In their inimitably British style, they grumbled endlessly.

"I signed on to kill bloody Frogs," Private Morag said peevishly, knee deep in soil. He jammed his spade into the dirt and lifted, carrying with it a respectable mound. "I signed on to get away from the bloody farm," he continued, "not do the same bloody work as I did at home!" The man beside him, another private, nodded fervently.

"Y' know, if we still had Mainwaring in charge, we'd be slogging our way through France, killing bastards," he replied. "T'were bloody Strathairn that folded over King Looey's nukes, not Mainwaring. Y'know what? I bet that it was Strathairn what killed 'im. Or maybe his whore, whatsername? Lloyd?" He jammed his own spade to earth, extending the three-foot deep trench a bit as he did so. "I don't like her, she 'aint right somehow. Figger anyone with pink hair in government 'aint all there, you know? Why--" his monologue was cut short by a sharp rap on his helmet.

"Private Jones!" The grating tone made both men jump to attention, their spades falling into the dirt. "Privates Morag and Jones, about face!" They spun obediently, years of training forcing them to act on impulse rather than thought. Upon turning, they found themselves staring into the eyes of Sergeant Piers, a lumpen man with pale skin and watery, muddled eyes. He grimaced at them and smiled, revealing substandard dentistry.

"Latrine Six-B flooded out this morning, and I do believe that I just heard you two volunteer to muck it out. My thanks, boys. I was about to ask one of our sapper friends to do it! But you've saved them the trouble! Off you trot, now."

Outskirts of Limassol Settlement

"Bloody hot out here," Corporal Kaawa, lately of the Australasian 4th Fusiliers and now of the 2nd Queensland, hefted his unfamiliar L85A2. He sat on the top of a Land Rover, balanced precariously on its metal tube-frame. A pair of binoculars hung about his neck and a boonie hat-- his helmet hung from a hook, deemed too hot for the weather-- adorned his head. Unlike the men of his fire team, he wasn't suffering from sunburn. Being of Aboriginal descent did have its up sides, he decided.

Private Fenning, red as a tomato, drank liberally from his canteen. "When's our patrol up, Corp?" Kaawa chewed his lower lip contemplatively before checking his wristwatch.

"We've got another hour, George. Get comfortable." Fenning, along with two other privates of fire team Echo, groaned.

"Well, who's up for some five card stud?"

Brückner nods his head and says, “Yes of course. Those communists must be stopped at any cost. They must not be allowed any further inroads into the Greece state. Stern measures should be taken so that they cannot be allowed to continue to propagate their message of radical secularism and corrupt the Greek people with their lies. Stern measures must be taken.”

Brückner stares into Solterris’s eyes. Brückner’s eyes are hazel covering up the black pit inside. Like Germans of a different time his face is cold and his eyes somehow radiate a sense of uncaring for the pain of others. “Stern measures are sometimes necessary for the preservation of society. I believe that we are of one mind on this issue. Are we in agreement then? We shall take care of your communist problem and ensure that you will continue in power. In return you will agree to a bilateral alliance between our respective countries. Also, in return for German participation in the ongoing Cypriot affair we would like more land for our military bases on Cyprus. Our government’s mandates is an expanded role in the Mediterranean and I would like access to Greek military bases in the Mediterranean to supplement the growing German presence on Cyprus. The growing participation between our respective countries could prove beneficial to your political fortunes and to mine. What do you say then? Are we in agreement?”

Brückner put out his hand and waited for Solterris to accept the deal.

OOC: Good job Gurg. That bit with the British sailors was funny.

In the dark of the night, the thirty men snuck in easily, despite being laiden with firearms, explosives and munitions. When they were inside, Geoffroi lead them around the corner, to a lodge.

“You can stay in here tonight, tomorrow, you will have time to prepare for the assault. A few of the nationalists know you are here, but other than that, none know of your existence.” Geoffroi told the thirty of them.

Underneath the mattresses and floorboards, they hide the weapons, in between walls, they stashed their explosives. They were ready for a fight, a fight at the British doorstep.

Solterris shook Von Brukner’s outstretched hand. He then lead the man out of his office.

“I will know when the time to act is, I believe that it will be quite obvious, no?”

Brückner shakes Solterris's hand and says, "Exactly, for someone with ambition the answer should be perfectly obvious. I will need several days to get ready and then we shall see the beginning of the end of the communist party in Greece." Brückner then follows Solterris out of the office and back to his quarters at the embassy.

He greets the large Germans dressed in business suits at his door and indicates for them to join him inside. One of the guards opens the door and Brückner goes inside and into his study, with the guards following him quickly behind. Brückner sits down behind his desk and indicates for his guards to have a seat. As always they remain standing.

Brückner smiles for a moment and then says, "Hans have the weekly bug sweepers found anything in this office this week?"

Hans, the smaller German on the left replied that two bugs were found and destroyed.

Brückner nods and continues. "Excellent, I expect nothing but the best from you and as always you fail to disappoint. But the important mission is now on the verge of completion. We must ensure that our months of planning were not in vain. Our country, our order and our God need us and we must be strong to endure the wills and ways of this world. Soon we shall ensure that the truth is protected from the corrupting influences of the radical secularists. Now bring them in."

The guards nod, turn around, and exit the room. When they are gone Brückner laughs silently and murmurs something inaudibly under his breath about sentimental foolishness. A few minutes later they return bringing with them two dark skinned men. The brown-eyed dark haired and dark skinned men were in tattered rags and blood was upon the rags. They were heavily bruised and large shadows hung beneath their eyes. They coldly looked at Brückner, standing proudly, when suddenly their legs were kicked out from underneath them.

"KNEEL PAGANS!" The larger guard shouts into one of the prisoners ears, as he forces them to kneel. The prisoners spit on the ground in unison and they lift up their heads eerily at the same moment and cast a defiant gaze at Brückner. One of the prisoners mummers and begins to speak before Hans cuts him off with a sharp box to the ears. "Be quiet dog, until your master speaks to you", commands Hans.

"That is quite all-right Hans I think they have learned their lesson", Brückner says while leaning back in his chair. "I think they understand what is at stake. Their lives and those they care about."

Brückner laughs deep and loud. He picks up a large Roycelandian and lights it. He breathes in, sighs contently, and then leans forward while breathing the smoke into faces of the kneeling captives, whose eyes begin watering almost immediately.

"Second hand smoke is bad for a person they say. It is interesting. It is much worse to be inhaling the smoke second hand than to be receiving it directly. One would think it would be different but sadly it not." Brückner takes a few more puffs from his Roycelandian, occasionally blowing the smoke into the captives eyes. After a few minutes of puffing and contemplation he begins speaking once more.

"And so we are brought once again to our present circumstance. You know what will happen if you fail to cooperate. I will not have to remind you. But before we continue I will say that your family sends me their regards. Your wife and children are in particular doing well." Brückner takes a puff on his Roycelandian and exhales. He licks his lips and smile appears on his face.
The prisoners cough and one of them cries out, "May God have mercy on your soul." Hans walks to his side and hits him on the side of the face with his fist. The prisoner coughs out blood and Brückner only laughs at the man.
"Be that as it may, you know what to do. If the mission is a success we will provide for your loved ones. Ensure that it is a success. Well off with you" and he waves his hand and signals for them to be taken away. The guards lift them from their feet and escort them out of the office. The prisoners look sullen and broken yet a determination born only of the most desperate of situations fills their eyes.

When the prisoners are gone Brückner continues to smoke his cigar. He laughs to himself and murmurs, we shall take care of them indeed. With that thought he begins to laugh and does not stop.

Several days later

At 10:45am during nap time a van stops outside Second Corinth Elementary school. A man gets out and the van continues on to its next destination. A grim faced man with a brief case walks over a nearby picnic table, sits down and waits. He mummers to no one in particular Dear Ayla please forgive me but I do this for you. He sets the briefcase down and clenches his hands tightly in his lap. A tear slowly forms in his eye when it suddenly leaves him and is never seen again. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and stood up for it was about to begin.

It begins

It began slowly and quietly as very solemn men began to congregate in urban centers within Greece. Their dark skinned faces could be seen beside banks, schools, cafés, and libraries. They were all invariably carrying briefcases and looking nervously at their watches. Tick tock tick tock . The second hand moved slowly inching closer to its goal. Time slowed down as thoughts of their sons, daughters, wives and fiancés flooded into their minds along with the mad laughter of a demented soul. As they painfully think of their little ones, the second hand reaches its goal. With one accord they take their briefcases and proceed into their destinations.

With a loud boom it is over quickly. Hundreds lay dead among the shattered remains and broken skeletons of buildings. The event began with a boom but ended with the screams of those who lost their family members. One lady with disbelief ran towards to the small motionless figure. She sat down and lifted his body onto her lap. Blood covered his small frame, and his dead unseeing eyes did not meet her searching eyes. She cried and buried her face in his chest. Her tears dripped and fell onto his unmoving frame. No longer would he play basketball. No longer would he smile and give his mother a kiss at bedtime. She lifted her head from her chest and lifted her gaze to heaven and asked one question. Why? [i] Nothing but the sobs and screams of those around her was heard.

At each site of destruction, the following can be found. It reads, [I] Greeks wake up from your dreadful existence! Throw off your chains and unite. The capitalistic system exploits the worker and subjugates us all. We will have no more of it. We will overthrow the system and free you. We intend to completely destroy the foundations of this society so that in its place we can form completely new forms of governments. We shall unite and form pysteraries and be truly free and social beings. Unfortunately this cannot happen without bloodshed, but fear not Greeks, we will not rest until the streets are awash in the blood of capitalistic supporters.

-The Communist Party of Greece

At the same time, a letter was passed to Solterris. It read, It is done. The Communist party has now been so heavily slandered that a hundred years of moderate sanctimonious preaching will not undo what has been done in a few minutes. Your people do not care a whit for terrorism in other countries but now that it has happened in their country they will begin to care deeply about terrorism. Now rally your people and destroy our foes.

With a few explosions the Greek people experienced great tragedy but perhaps a greater tragedy could be found in mad laughter and a cursed fig tree.

Athens, 2 Hours after attacks

The smoke of the bombs and the stench of blood still rose from the dozens attacks that had broken out across the city. The firefighters and emergency crews tried desperately to quell the flames and save the victims, but there were too many, and too few of them.

Thousands of people of every walk of life had poured onto the streets. Women and children ran around with pitchers of water, blankets and wash clothes, in a vain attempt to comfort the dying, a vain effort to stop their screaming. Men and adolescent boys crawled through the rubble, working hand in hand with the emergency crews, clearing out the rubble, and praying to find survivors in the pile of debris and death. Without enough helicopters to transport the wounded to the overloaded hospitals, paramedics seized the news choppers. Traffic report pilots transformed into angels of life for many a suffering victim.

Slowly, from neighboring communities, more and more emergency teams trickled into the wounded city. Young men clad in camouflage, from the nearby military base, came and began patrolling the city in armored HumVees. Talk of a curfew circulated the city, for no one knew how many more attacks there would be.

Which of the communist factions did this? The Combineers, or the Soviets? Rumors abounded. It had to be the Slavs, nay, the Turks must have done the deed. Was it true, Solterris dead? The Prime Minister, who had lead the nation through so much, gone?

German ambassador Brückner publicly expressed shock and outright after hearing of the attacks. He is quoted as saying in Christlich Wochenzeitung :

"I cannot comment in detail on the situation as we have just learned of the great tragedy. Nevertheless, information on suspected terrorist groups and their supporters is pouring in, which we are sharing with the Greek government as soon as it comes in. That is all that I will say for the time being as this is still the initial stages of the investigation.

But to the Greek people I would like to express our deepest sympathies and reiterate that the German people stand firmly our Greek brothers, especially now in these uncertain and traumatic times. To the families of the victims we extend to you our most heartfelt sympathies.”

After Brückner was finished speaking with the German newspaper he promptly sent letters to Solterris asking if he needed any support in dealing with “this great tragedy”. Now that the unfortunate obstacles are past, Brückner explained, it was important to move forward quickly to remove opposition to anti terrorism. Brückner believed that there was significant evidence to move strongly against the communist party and ensure that it no longer threatened the lives of Greek citizens. Furthermore, in such extreme situations citizens would not complain about strong measures used to reign in the terrorists.

What the hell is going on? Aleka Karamanlis though to himself as he read the press release in front of him. I gave no such orders for an attack, I must respond. Aleka opened up his computer to begin writing.

As you Greek citizens already know, today our nation suffered the worst single attack on home soil in its history, at the hands of cowardly terrorists claiming the approval of my Combine Party. I assert this claim to be wholly untrue, and take offense to it. The Party has played a pivotal role in Greek politics since the creation of the Hellenic Republic and wishes to continue so in a peaceful manner—but I feel that at this time is would be unsafe for us here in the country until our good name is restored. Therefore, I announce my departure to safer pastures for the time being; I plan to return, some day soon, when exactly I do not know, but soon. Consider this my farewell for now my comrades, goodbye and good luck in these dark days of our democracy.

Aleka sent out this memo and grabbed a few things, a picture of his family, some Combine party documents, and went in his safe to retrieve fifty-thousand dollars cash and a handgun, and made his way to the helipad atop the Combine complex.

As he stood atop the complex, Aleka saw the smoke rising still from three fires, and a train of police vehicles moving towards him. He stepped into the small chopper and looked down as the features of his wounded homeland grew smaller and smaller around him. The police reached the complex, and the gate had just been knocked down.

So long, Hellas, perhaps we will meet again.

Onward, to Yugoslavia, onward, to an uncertain future

When Brückner was asked about the Combine party comments by the press, he indicated that the investigation was still ongoing and would not comment on the matter except to say that the German government would assist the Greek government, if asked, to hunt down fugitives and rebels of the Greek state.

Unless the Greeks were unlucky they should be able to shoot down the helicopter but Brückner offered his assistance if needed. Other than that he stood back on the sidelines and let Solterris consolidate control over the Greek government.

Rome, Italy

Ceasar Romulus offers his condolences to the Greek government for this "horrendous tragedy" and is willing to help Greece in any way they can in bringing those responsible to justice. Romulus also takes the chance to denounce the cowardly and evil ways of the Combine and all Soviets and proclaims that they must be stopped before their villainy spreads to infect the whole world. Right now, the Holy League fights for the freedom of Europe, Africa, and the all peoples, and through the aggressive policies of the Soviets, NATO has joined them in their fight. This is not the time to be timid, Romulus reminds Solterris, this is the time to stamp out our mutual enemy so that our children might live in peace.

However, several officials in the Roman government are suspicious of the bombings and the claimed responsibility of the Combine Party. Why bomb a target that was in no way connected to the government? The Combiners weren't any kind of amateur revolutionaries, if they were Soviets worth their salt they knew how to bring about a revolution and this just wasn't it. This bombing was made to kill the highest amount of civilian life, not to spark a soviet revolution. It was supposed to cause a public outcry, not rally people to a cause. Something didn't add up, and it was too much for some officials to accept. So the order went out to a small group of men in Greece, it was time to go to work.

Hail Caesar!

It was probably no coincidence that a pair of L-20 Putin fighters scrambled from bases in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia within minutes of Aleka's flight. Indeed, Yugoslav pilots were ordered to intercede against any threat to the helicopter as it headed for the Socialist Federal Republic.

[Time's up, got to run]

OOC: Just to be clear are you violating Greece airspace? Are your fighters within Greece?

Parliament also sends Greece its condolences, and, being no stranger to terrorist attacks themselves, Unioners can certainly empathize with the people of Athens. Of course, it is not only the human toll that makes Hindustanis cringe. They feel strongly that the attacks will be pinned on some kind of communist group, and this may well add fuel to the fire with regards to the heightening tension between NATO and the Soviets. The government in Athens is at the same time reminded that Parliament wants nothing besides a positive relationship with Greece, and that it is by no means necessary to align itself with nations that have in the past held Greece's conquest as a stated objective.

Belgrade's response to the whole issue is also a source of concern to Unioners, who would prefer to see Greece and Yugoslavia on good terms. It is a mistake, Unioners believe, to do much to antagonize Athens in light of the delicate world situation, and if NATO was turned against Yugoslavia there wouldn't be much that India could do to salvage things. But it is up to Yugoslavians to decide how to run their country, after all, and Parliament can't dictate policy to the Lav.

The Parliamentary Constabulary and military intelligence speculate as to the origin of the Athens bombings. Certainly Greek communist or Cypriot involvement is considered plausible, just as Yugoslav or Turkish responsibility is ruled-out. Some are given to rather more conspiratorial sentiments, even going so far as to draw a parallel between the bombings and the Reichstag Fire. Of course, given that the INU has very nearly no intelligence assets in the continent of Europe, nothing can be known to any degree of certainty.

Condolences also emerge from the Strainist Party, expressing solidarity with the Greeks in this time of crisis and offering any assistance needed in locating the perpetrators.

There is, however, certainty within the Party that the Greek Combine is not responsible for the attacks, despite the supposed claims of responsibility... even the language of the notes uses terms drawn from the anarcho-socialist lexicon rather than the far different ideology pushed by the Armandians. An offshoot, perhaps, unhappy with the Greek communist movement's leaning towards the Combine and away from the Igovian view, but even that is doubtful: the bombings seem to have had no strategic purpose other than the destruction of the innocent, and if the Greek leftists had somehow believed such tactics would trigger a revolution, one would think their leadership would have sprung to declare the new system, not fleeing to Belgrade in panic.

Given the international situation at present, Party officials believe responsibility likely lies with a foreign agency. Having itself fended off attempts at infiltration by both French and Russian agitators in the past, the Party is convinced that the bombings must have been perpetrated by Holy League agents hoping to secure the Mediterranean against the rising Progressive tide.

Yugoslavian fighters skirt the fringes of Greco-Macedonian airspace, one with L'Angelot Maudit BVRAAMs armed, the other Grom-B AGM, and radar sets tracking the inbound helicopter while watching for interception attempts. The pilots have no current authorisation to enter Greek territory but are flying under orders to protect the helicopter by force if necessary.

Presumably the one aircraft is intended to disrupt aircraft bound for the helicopter, while the other is watching for ground-based SAM or AAA radar signatures to threaten Aleka.

Belgrade, meanwhile, has joined in sending supportive messages to Athens while, quietly in Macedonia, Sova-15, Kontraobaveštajna Služba, Organ Zaštite Naroda, and Uprava Državne Bezbednosti personnel wait on the ground to meet Aleka.

Yugoslavian fighters skirt the fringes of Greco-Macedonian airspace, one with L'Angelot Maudit BVRAAMs armed, the other Grom-B AGM, and radar sets tracking the inbound helicopter while watching for interception attempts. The pilots have no current authorisation to enter Greek territory but are flying under orders to protect the helicopter by force if necessary.

Presumably the one aircraft is intended to disrupt aircraft bound for the helicopter, while the other is watching for ground-based SAM or AAA radar signatures to threaten Aleka.

Belgrade, meanwhile, has joined in sending supportive messages to Athens while, quietly in Macedonia, Sova-15, Kontraobaveštajna Služba, Organ Zaštite Naroda, and Uprava Državne Bezbednosti personnel wait on the ground to meet Aleka.

Solterris looked at the radar screen, so the Yugoslavians want to take Aleka off my hands, do they?, he thought, Well good, he will do no harm there.. Solterris looked over at his Minister of Air Defense, who had a grave look on his face.

“What do you want me to do, Your Excellency?” The Minister asked the President.

“Do not engage, let Aleka leave, with his Slavic friends, but make sure that you get some footage of the events. I want to see where Aleka lands, and who is there to greet him, do you understand?” Solterris responded.

“Yes sir, I will get some eyes in the sky right away.”

Leonidas Air Force Station, North-eastern Greece
Semir was playing a game of cards with a few of his friends when the Station Director sent him a call upon his beeper. Semir was to report to his F-14 Tomcat immediately, and await briefing for an emergency mission. When he got their, he saw that his navigator was already dressed, and their jet was fueled and ready to head out. The Director was there, and he handed him the mission brief, his job was to tail some helicopter and get pictures of its landing site and pictures of the people at the site. There was one stipulation, however, Semir was not to fire any weapons whatsoever, even if the escorts of the helicopter took aggressive action.

Well, that is weird, Semir thought, as he flew into the sky, and his navigator began to track the helicopter.

In the dark of the night, the thirty men snuck in easily, despite being laden with firearms, explosives and munitions. When they were inside, Geoffroi lead them around the corner, to a lodge.

“You can stay in here tonight, tomorrow, you will have time to prepare for the assault. A few of the nationalists know you are here, but other than that, none know of your existence.” Geoffroi told the thirty of them.

Underneath the mattresses and floorboards, they hide the weapons, in between walls, they stashed their explosives. They were ready for a fight, a fight at the British doorstep.

Geoffroi and the others had been in the camp for about a month now, during which time they had rigged explosives in a variety of places, mostly checkpoints where the loss of British life would most likely be the highest. They had armed around twenty or so camp residents, to fight alongside the thirty of the invading force. The time had come, Geoffroi thought as the sun rose above the chain link, electrified fence.

He grabbed his weapon and his detonation remote. As soon as the first explosive went off--that was the signal--the rest of the fighters would emerge, and the attack would begin. His bomb was placed just outside a British mess hall, ready to blast the unsuspecting Frogs into oblivion. As he pressed the button, hot shrapnel flew in every direction, masked in a cloud of dust. The attack had begun, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

Above the Ottoman Quarter, Nicosia, Cyprus

The helicopter hovered above the small shacks of the city. Matteos, the pilot, thought to himself about how far the operation had come in the past seven months since the initial invasion; on his first tour of duty—he had been one of the first Greeks to land on the British bases in the southwest—random fighting between the Turkish and the Greek Cypriots had been commonplace, now however, firefights between the two were quite rare.
To be sure, the city was not perfect, lately the Turks had taken to shooting at the Hellenic troops, and the Greek nationalists, who were at first on the side of the Hellenics, now resented the occupiers, for rather than bring about the Greek annexation that the nationalists wished for, the Hellenics were slowly establishing a cooperative government between the two ethnic groups. Matteos looked down, a group of Turks were playing football below him. He smiled. Matteos loved football. He looked over too his right, thinking of his days of the pitch.

Ali had been playing football in a vacant lot when he heard the blast, a helicopter with the Hellenic flag upon the side of it was spinning down to the ground, billowing tar-colored smoke from its side. Ali and his friends began to run, the helicopter was heading straight for them.

Ali and his friends got out of the way just in time, the wounded bird slammed into the dirt field where they had just been. A man inside of the helicopter began to scream. It sounded so primal, it was not the yell of a man, but of a child, a child who felt scared, and alone.

Samelios was patrolling the Ottoman Quarter when he heard the blast, and then looked upward just in time to see the helicopter fall from the sky. He quickly yelled for the driver of the HumVee; Samelios was manning the 50 cal turret, to find the crash site, and call the headquarters at the airport to report the accident. Samelios did not know what caused the crash, if it was a malfunction or something malicious.

Correspondent News Wire, Nicosia, Cyprus

For the third week in a row, the Hellenics have conducted air strikes in the mountainous regions of Cyprus, upon what it says are training camps for Contosian insurgents. No verification of the validity of the claims can be made, however.

Firefights between the green Cypriot Security Forces and Contosian fighters occurred for the first time in ten days yesterday in Polis Latsi. The exchange left four CSF soldiers dead and one Contosian. According to sources inside the CSF, some of the troops—who had just finished their training program under the Hellenics—fled the fight as soon as the shooting began.

Official Decree of the Hellenic Republic

The Combine, Communist, Soviet and all other left-wing factions are hereby banned from operation within the Hellenic Republic.

The flying of flags from the former Peoples Republic of Greece is hereby outlawed.

The use of the closed-fisted salute is hereby outlawed within the Hellenic Republic

Any advocation of left-wing ideologies is hereby outlawed within the Hellenic Republic

All government officials, military and non-military, must take an oath of alliegence to the preservation of the Hellenic Republic.

All seats of the National Assembly formerly belonging to members of the Soviet or Combine Parties now belong to members of the Coalition of Hellenic Progressives until the next election is called.

The Writ of Habeus Corpus is hereby suspended in order to protect the population from further terrorist attacks.

Anyone suspected of terrorism may be tried under military jurisdiction.

Anyone suspected of terrorism will be treated as an enemy combatant, and does not have the rights of a POW.

Solterris picked up his phone and dialed Von Bruckner. The time was ripe, Solterris thought, Greece is ready to take her place in the family of nations.

Not the best of news for Belgrade. Greece now appeared to be a real rather than potential enemy. Perhaps good news for Aleka, who now was likely to be at the centre of a new top secret government department dedicated to the over-throw or at least undermining of the oppressive and dangerous Hellenic Republic.

UDB and Sova-15 personnel would be assigned to Aleka's protection, and the Greek was invited to share intelligence with these and OZNA.

Few efforts were made to reinforce JNA units on the Greek border, but some extra work on static fortifications -mainly Hoxaesque bunkers- was undertaken along possible access routes for a Hellenic invasion force.

Belgrade's ambassador to Athens, meanwhile, lodges notice of official disapproval over the blanket ban on all left-wing activity.

Sithin and Constance join Belgrade in complaint... such blanket measures seem at the very least premature, and at most dangerous: exactly the sort of response which might be hoped for by those who, unlike Greek and Cypriot leftists, have motive to have staged a bombing and blamed it on the Communists.

If Greece is truly concerned for its security, it is the radicals with feudal sympathies who ought be curtailed, not those who embrace Progressive politics and the love of one's fellows such beliefs entail.

Reading the decrees, Nikolas Papavilis eyes began to well up with tears. He remembered, fifteen years ago, when as a bright-eyed college student he had protested the unjust regime of the People's Republic. He remembered meeting Solterris at a rally, and thinking how that man would help him change the face of Greece someday. They were close friends, and despite their heated debates in the National Assembly, they would usually share a glass of wine or two after work. Though they vehemently disagreed with one another on some issues, they had held a common bond in their regard for the Republic.

But now, it seemed things had changed. Once a fellow warrior for democracy, Solterris was no better than Premier Arcopolis, for he had taken away some of the rights most dear to Papavilis's heart. No more could they share wine as old friends, rather, with Aleka gone, Greece needed a warrior for freedom, a hero who was not afraid to stand up to the autocrat that Solterris had become, and that hero was Nikolas.

He sent a message to Aleka,

Mr. Karamanlis,

It is I, Nikolas Papavilis of the Populist Party, I write you with the need for honesty, honesty that I feel I cannot get from my friend in the President's Manor. You must tell me, did your Party have any hand in the attacks, in the Marathon attack, or any connections to Contos and his rebels? This knowledge is vital, for the recent actions of Solterris have led me to worry about the safety of our lands. I fear that another Dark Time, like the reign of Arcopolis, may be upon us if you or I do not act quickly. So I ask you to rally the support of other nations, for I fear that if I leave to do it myself, I may not be able to return to lead the resistance in the National Assembly. Please, shout to the Slavs, to the Germans, the French, the Quinntonians, you are in a race against time I believe, to get the support of the NATO nations. If those nations decide to side with our foe, I feel that there may be no hope for Hellenic Republicanism without bloodshed, that is why I ask you to go grovel at their feet, not as a Combineer, not as a Communist, but as the Republican that I know you are. Many times, I have viewed you as my arch-nemisis in the Assembly, when you and I would lead our factions in great battles remenisent of the Civil War, but now I extend my hand--despite my hesitations--to you for the good of Greece.

Sincerely,

Nikolas Papavilis, Chair of the Populist Party, Assemblyman.

Reading the decrees, Nikolas Papavilis eyes began to well up with tears. He remembered, fifteen years ago, when as a bright-eyed college student he had protested the unjust regime of the People's Republic. He remembered meeting Solterris at a rally, and thinking how that man would help him change the face of Greece someday. They were close friends, and despite their heated debates in the National Assembly, they would usually share a glass of wine or two after work. Though they vehemently disagreed with one another on some issues, they had held a common bond in their regard for the Republic.

But now, it seemed things had changed. Once a fellow warrior for democracy, Solterris was no better than Premier Arcopolis, for he had taken away some of the rights most dear to Papavilis's heart. No more could they share wine as old friends, rather, with Aleka gone, Greece needed a warrior for freedom, a hero who was not afraid to stand up to the autocrat that Solterris had become, and that hero was Nikolas.

He sent a message to Aleka,

Mr. Karamanlis,

It is I, Nikolas Papavilis of the Populist Party, I write you with the need for honesty, honesty that I feel I cannot get from my friend in the President's Manor. You must tell me, did your Party have any hand in the attacks, in the Marathon attack, or any connections to Contos and his rebels? This knowledge is vital, for the recent actions of Solterris have led me to worry about the safety of our lands. I fear that another Dark Time, like the reign of Arcopolis, may be upon us if you or I do not act quickly. So I ask you to rally the support of other nations, for I fear that if I leave to do it myself, I may not be able to return to lead the resistance in the National Assembly. Please, shout to the Slavs, to the Germans, the French, the Quinntonians, you are in a race against time I believe, to get the support of the NATO nations. If those nations decide to side with our foe, I feel that there may be no hope for Hellenic Republicanism without bloodshed, that is why I ask you to go grovel at their feet, not as a Combineer, not as a Communist, but as the Republican that I know you are. Many times, I have viewed you as my arch-nemesis in the Assembly, when you and I would lead our factions in great battles reminiscent of the Civil War, but now I extend my hand--despite my hesitations--to you for the good of Greece.

Sincerely,

Nikolas Papavilis, Chair of the Populist Party, Assemblyman.

Nikolas,

I promise you that my party had nothing to do with the attacks: as far as I know. I am afraid that your window of opportunity to do anything in the National Assembly is quickly disappearing, as I expect any day know for Solterris to appoint Coalition cronies to the available posts in the Assembly. If he does this, he will have an absolute majority, one that will be able to do his bidding unhindered by the protections put in place by the Constitution of 1997. I will do my best here on the outside to rally support for the Republican cause, and I plan on establishing outposts in Washington, Belgrade, Paris, Berlin and other hearths of influence. I believe that I have so far secured the loyalties of the Slavs, who are quite accommodating to me, under the belief that I plan on marching on Athens to establish a Second People’s Republic. This, however, is not my plan; rather, I simply wish to establish a free republic in our ailing nation.

Sincerely,

Aleka

Aleka sent the message and wondered what was going three hundred miles away across the border.

Athens

When Timon first moved to Athens in 1996, he had nothing but 500 GRD’s in his savings account. But soon he stood at the helm of one of the most popular partisan newspapers in the nation, the Populist’s Pulpit. Know for its sardonic pieces about the coalition, and shrewd commentary on the state of affairs within the nation. Never had Timon been an agitator of any sort of Communist revival, or anything of the sort, so he thought to himself, what was his true crime? Why was he in jail as a Contosian sympathizer? Was had Solterris done to the Republic? Was this any better than the days of Arcopolis that his parents warned him to stand against? No, the Days of Panic were back in Athens once again.

As soon as Nikolas heard of the jailing of Timon Raaniklos, he knew that his old friend had taken his crackdown too far. Something had happened to Solterris, and he had to be stopped at all costs. Nikolas sent messages out to his connections in other nations, pleading for help with his nations sinister situation. He got his secretary to organize a press conference on the subject, and ordered her to invite all of the international journalists who were in the nation covering the events that were happening.

The time had come to choose sides, and Nikolas Papavilis was choosing freedom.

Correspondence from Cyprus

Greek and Cypriot troops rounded up a large number of Contosian combatants who were holed up in mountains around Kidaai, but only after losing 76 of their own men in the effort. The southern offensives as of late have been markedly mild than they were before, with fewer casualties than in the early stages of the campaign. The worst of the fighting now seems to be centered Lampousa, where Greek soldiers fight alongside the Greek National Brigade, a Greco-Cypriot unification group, against Turkish rebels. Lampousa is a multi-national city that has been a powder keg for quite some time regarding the issue of ownership, for the Greco-Cypriots considers it an enclave of the Greek Zone, while the Turks believe that it is rightfully theirs. More on this as it develops.

OOC: What’s this I hear about the Ottoman sector? Did you invade the Ottoman sector of Cyprus without telling anybody? Or was it just a joint military patrol with the Germans?

Brucker responded to Solterris that he was happy to offer to Solterrris on behalf of the German government a full mutual defense pact although he stated that an alliance would be preferable. Bruckner told him of plans to start a new European lead alliance to replace the failing NATO. The idea of a new European alliance was gathering political steam within Germany and he told Solterris that he was instructed to get support from Greece for the new alliance, which would consist of Portugal, Germany, Greece, and Poland. Britain, which was increasingly becoming hostile to Germany, would of course be excluded. In fact, Bruckner explained to Solterris the deteriorating relationship and asked him to avoid military cooperation with the British. Soon the European powers would be powerful and a golden age would once again commence, said Bruckner, but we need to be strong together against the Soviets and the League, and their patsies, which unfortunately now included Britain.

Other statements regarding the alliance were sent to their appropriate areas in Portugal and Poland.

Within Cyprus the German military began coordinating raids with their Greek counterparts and Eurofighters began bombing runs to eliminate centers of resistance in the mountainous regions. There was no cooperation with the British and the British were publically warned to not expand their illegal military bases. These statements echoed the earlier Greece statement that the British bases were “reprehensible”. Privately the message was much softer but the message remained the same. To the Greeks, the Germans asked if it was permissible for German military bases to expand into Greek controlled sectors, so far the German bases were lodged only in areas controlled by the Ottoman government. They did not want to expand in the Ottoman controlled territory as Germans did not want to make more political concessions to the Ottomons and allow more Turkish immigration into Germany.

OOC: There is no Ottoman sector that I know of, but I have been playing this thing with RLish ethnic boundaries, a Turkish and a Greek zone. Officially, the Greeks are fighting off Turkish insurgents who are in line with the Contosians, but as we know, nothing that the Solterris regime does lately could be called honest and truthful. More or less it is a land grab by the Greeks. I was hoping that Gupta would respond with umbrage and flip out, possibly sending in his own troops, thus giving this a whole new level of craziness.

IC:

Solterris thought over the proposal that Bruckner offered him, it was tempting yes, but the British bases in Cyprus were as tall as the trees from which the island earned its name, therefore, he informed Bruckner that he planned on keeping his relationship with the Brits as somewhat cordial, for at least as long as it took for his troops in the south to be able to stand up against a dual Contosian and British threat in the region.

A military alliance however, would be quite beneficial, for both parties involved, in these days, one could never have to many armed friends around to get rid of infestations, so Solterris asked Bruckner if he wished him to draft the paperwork, or if the German would do it himself.

Certainly, the Germans would do no harm by increasing their security troops on the island, perhaps the two nations would administer a dual base, one that the two of them could use not only for the Cypriot theater, but also as a check for the rising Soviet presence in Africa and the East. Solterris also floated across the possibility of German assistance the HRG's increasingly hostile north border.

OOC: Yeah there's definitely an Ottomon sector... Maybe I'll send a TG to Gupta later...

I trust nobody's gone and taken the Turkish half of Cyprus without telling the Ottomans...
OOC: Hm? I've been really busy recently, just getting to the RP. Buristan, got MSN? There are some problems here (considering that I have a huge vested interest in Cyprus, RP'ed in the past) that I want to clear up. Thanks.
Ottoman condemnation of the Grecian troop movements came swiftly, as few things in the Empire did. It was odd to see them reacting so soon to an international development (they were the Ottomans, of course, notorious for their bureaucracy and laxity diplomatically) but their reasoning behind it was quite easily understood as well. These were the Greeks, the next-door neighbors of the Empire, the other mortal enemy of the Turkish peoples (when one excluded the Sabiri, the Depkazi, and just about anyone else is the world) and thus the Ottomans were almost forced to condemn. But the Ottomans were always out for an opportunity and the Greeks were offering one...

Thus, nearly hours after the initial reaction, statements began to appear that earlier condemnations were "unofficial" and "were not supported by the Sultan's government nor Parliament". It was a typical Ottoman exercise and Turkish diplomats, scholars, and expatriates the world over would have been heaving a sigh of relief at these later messages. If, indeed, the Ottoman Empire and reacted early (for them) and stuck to their guns, it would have meant that the government was functioning properly, which would have been a nightmare for Turks of all colors.

But then came a third wave of messages, addressed mainly to the Turks in Cyprus itself. These were Turks who had always looked to Istanbul and Ankara for guidance, and who had always received the greatest support in response. It would not have been too much to ask, of course, and it would not have been too much to give. But, while events between Greece and Cyprus and the Communists had unfolded, these Turks had been looking northward, hoping that their protectors were, well, protecting them.

The messages that were sent detailed a plan, that the Ottoman Empire was watching for them, and that they would succeed in, at least, gaining autonomy, if not another states. News of meetings between Ottoman officials and their Grecian counterparts began to materialize in certain diplomatic circles and the Turkish Cypriots were soon hopeful that something would indeed occur that would give them, at least partial freedom. Their hopes were not, in the least, in vain.

News was soon in the air, that the Greeks and Turks had come to an agreement regarding Cyprus. While the agreement was not quite clear to other nations in the world, what was was that the Ottoman Empire appeared to be fully behind the Grecian invasion. The Ottoman military, which was being heavily revamped and upgraded, was put on high alert, and Quinntonian-trained officers and several trained corps of solders were sent to positions directly north of Cyprus.

It was clear, however, that the Ottoman Empire was behind the Greeks because of some back door dealings, and that, for the majority of things, the two nations would, most likely, be at loggerheads about everything.

I don't really know what Gupta was doing. What were you guys talking about? However, from my reading of the text he sounds like he has territory in Cyprus and is supporting your invasion. Did a deal go bad? What exactly is happening? Please make it crystal clear what is happing so I can respond to it adequately.

But yeah this will affect the relationship between Greece and Germany if you invade his sector... which is completely under his control. So if you want to take the land controlled by him you will actually have to fight him because he would have troops already on Cyprus. Just to let you know, despite Bruckner supporting you, Germany would look very negatively on the attacks and there would be no alliance. In fact Germany and probably the USQ would come out and support the Ottomons if Greece invaded the Ottomon sector of Cyprus. Although you would have hidden support among the Germans I don't see how that would protect Greeks from German fighters and subs. I think that Turkey could probably remove Greece from the island on their own and with German and USQ help it would be all but inevitable. Attacking over a small island is one thing, but attacking a large country such as Ottomons may not be the best decision. Turkey has 71 million and Greece has just over 10 million so its pretty obvious, to me at least, who would win.

Also, can we make sure that Gupta is active so he can respond to what you are doing. Failing that we will probably have to get someone else to RP Turkey's forces.

[OOC: I think the above indicates that the Ottomans didnt have a zone on Cyprus, but rather backed the Greek advance onto the island while maintaining its close ties with the Turkish Cypriots in hope that such a zone, or at least an autonomous Turkish region on Cyprus, might emerge in the future].

No I don't think so. The reason Germany has a military base on Cyprus is because Gupta let me have one there in exchange for more Turkish immigration into Germany. Germany never invaded to get the military base, and I think this is important to mention. In any case I think Gupta should be here to make some comments so that we are all clear on what is happening so we have a good foundation for RP. I suppose we can change German history to say that Germany developed an agreement with Cyprus instead of Turkey but before we do any of this or proceed I think we need Gupta to clear and explicitly state what the situation is.

[OOC: I think the above indicates that the Ottomans didnt have a zone on Cyprus, but rather backed the Greek advance onto the island while maintaining its close ties with the Turkish Cypriots in hope that such a zone, or at least an autonomous Turkish region on Cyprus, might emerge in the future].

[OOC: Bingo. If I recall correctly (and I'm pretty sure I do), the island was reunified by the British, who had bases there, as I've stated before (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12256368&postcount=37). The Ottomans and the Greeks, via TG, had come to an agreement that the Turkish Cypriots would not be harmed, etc. and many since have returned to Turkey.

Essentially, while the Turkish Cypriots are still very close to the Ottoman government, there is no officially independent Turkish part of Cyprus.

The military base in itself was because the western part of Cyprus was administered by a Turkish Cypriot government who were still nominally part of Cyprus overall, but had a sort of semi-autonomy, which was guaranteed by the Grecian-Ottoman pact I mentioned earlier (Which, come to think of, has been violated. Hm.) The real reason the Ottomans made this agreement was because they wanted to focus their attention on the middle east, which they have been doing. However, that autonomy (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12842250&postcount=92) has been withdrawn, which does make the Ottomans rather angry.

Hell, might as well get an IC part along this as well. Sorry for the wait, guys.]

Protestations took quite a while to emerge from the Ottoman government. This was not a lack of work on the part of the government or such, but simply more of a fact that the eyes of the Empire were upon the Middle East. Quinntonian support for Ottoman reintegration of the Jordan had made the Ottoman government ramp up its actions there - Ottoman agents now infested the streets of Amman and Aqaba, and Ottoman sponsored protestors (of whom there were many, considering that the Sultan was of the ancestral ruling line of Jordan, the Hashemites, himself, and this appealed to the people there) were given clandestine support by the Sultan, in Istanbul, and Parliament, in Ankara.

However, soon the government noted that it had kept it's eyes on Jordan and Iraq far too long - while the fall of United Elias was indeed an important event, it was not the only even which involved the government of the Ottomans. When news reached Istanbul and Ankara that the Greeks had broken the treaty that the two nations had signed, which guaranteed autonomy to the Turkish peoples of Cyprus, there was an uproar in both the streets and villages of the Anatolian plains and the large cities where the government was housed. In Izmir, over three hundred thousand protestors joined together in the streets to argue against the "mistreatment of their brother peoples", the Cypriot Turks. In Adana there came rumors of atrocities committed against Grecian people and the collusion of government forces in such. Similar reports came from Samsun and Konya, both cities with medium-sized Greek populations.

And yet, the total inaction by the Sultan only made the masses angrier. There was burning of effigies of His Holiness, the Light of the World, Abdul Hamid III. And yet, he sat in the Topkapi Palace, frozen, unable to accept what had happened, far more focussed on the Jordan, far more interested in the new alliances with Quinntonia, far more interested in the fact that his troops now had powerful modern equipment and powerful modern weaponry, unknowing of the fact that that weaponry was in the hands of the already deployed soldiers along the south coasts of the Empire, unknowing that the new Quinntonian guns were being turned to point at Cyprus...

And then he acted. Messages of protest flew to the government of the Hellenic Republic, demanding they return the autonomy guaranteed by treaties of the past. Ottoman ambassadors in Quinntonia, Germany, Beth Gellert, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Spyr, in the lands of ancestral Ottoman allies and enemies alike, began to lambaste the Hellenic government. "They do not keep their word!" they said, passing out copies of the treaty (though its wording was already known by those with good intelligence services), "They deny their people basic rights!" said others, pointing at the repulsion of the Writ of Habeas Corpus (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13333948&postcount=121) that had been passed before. "They are liars and treat us badly!" shouted others, both to those who cared and those who didn't. All the diplomatic force of the Ottomans began to put endless pressure upon the Hellenic government to cease their actions and adhere to the treaty of before.

Unbeknown to the Sultan, however, the powerful modern Quinntonian weaponry on the Southern Coast of Anatolia was being turned towards Cyprus...

(((Thank you for posting. This may change things a little bit. I was under the impression that the Turkish government gave Germany permission for the military bases. I don't think that you should have given permission for an area that you didn't control. Just because Germans are in South America doesn't mean I neccessarily control them. But its too far in the past to change now.)))

Bruckner stated that any military assistance or cooperation would depend on Greece's alignment with Quinntopia and Germany and a refusal to cooperate with outside powers, especially including Britain. If Greece continued military cooperation with Britain current military cooperation with Germany would be immediately suspended. But if cooperation with Britain ended Greece could join the community of nations. Germany was jealous ally and despite Greece's progressive policies, an alliance with a country who was a friend to Germany's enemies was impossible. Bruckner urged Solterris to reconsider.

Rumours of abuses in the Ottoman sector lead to investigations around the area surrounding the German military base. And the Turkish government was informed that the German military bases on Cyprus would accept any refugees and would help to send them back to Turkey promptly.

[OOC: Theoretically, I should be the one RP'ing the Turkish Cypriots, so I would be the one to give you said permission, due to their autonomy, and the Ottoman government would be the one who realistically would be calling the shots, but, as you said, it's too far in the past to matter.]

(((Why should you RP them? What do Turkish Cypriots, who probably aren't even Turkish citizens, have to do with Turkey?)))

[OOC: As I've stated repeatedly, the Turkish Cypriots, in AMW, at least, as do many Muslims, look upon the Ottoman Empire as their ancestral protector. Your problem is that you are associating "Ottoman" with "Turkey", when, in AMW, there's a massive break from RL. Remember, the Ottoman Empire, a powerful Turkish state with a long historical tradition, a state that once ruled the entire east of the Mediterranean, still exists. There is still a Sultan in Istanbul, a man who has the support of thousands across the world. Due to the fact that United Elias, overall, was comparatively a secular culture, the Ottoman Empire emerged, for a while, as the only real Muslim state in the Middle East (including those damn Sabiri), and thus, as the protector and overarching state of Turks and moderate Muslims the world over. These particular Turks in Cyprus have long ancestral ties with the Ottoman Empire - many of their forefathers came from Anatolia in the past. Moreover, in previous RP's involving Cyprus, I've made it clear that the Turkish Cypriot leaders are very much in cahoots with the Empire - almost to the level of being puppets (though not really, and I'd imagine that saying such would insult them). Fleur - stop association "Turkey" with "Ottoman", because AMW is nothing like RL in this respect - the Ottoman Empire brings, with it, wealth, tradition, and ancestral respect, which, I would imagine, is echoed throughout the Mediterranean. Oh, and the "I should be RP'ing them" was emphasizing that I've failed in my duty at RP'ing them, not that something is wrong and so I am not. It's been my fault that throughout this RP, I haven't been RP'ing the Turkish Cypriots, which I have done in the past (as Buristan could testify, I'd imagine).]

[OOC: Bingo. If I recall correctly (and I'm pretty sure I do), the island was reunified by the British, who had bases there, as I've stated before (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12256368&postcount=37). The Ottomans and the Greeks, via TG, had come to an agreement that the Turkish Cypriots would not be harmed, etc. and many since have returned to Turkey.

Essentially, while the Turkish Cypriots are still very close to the Ottoman government, there is no officially independent Turkish part of Cyprus.

The military base in itself was because the western part of Cyprus was administered by a Turkish Cypriot government who were still nominally part of Cyprus overall, but had a sort of semi-autonomy, which was guaranteed by the Grecian-Ottoman pact I mentioned earlier (Which, come to think of, has been violated. Hm.) The real reason the Ottomans made this agreement was because they wanted to focus their attention on the middle east, which they have been doing. However, that autonomy (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12842250&postcount=92) has been withdrawn, which does make the Ottomans rather angry.

Hell, might as well get an IC part along this as well. Sorry for the wait, guys.]

Protestations took quite a while to emerge from the Ottoman government. This was not a lack of work on the part of the government or such, but simply more of a fact that the eyes of the Empire were upon the Middle East. Quinntonian support for Ottoman reintegration of the Jordan had made the Ottoman government ramp up its actions there - Ottoman agents now infested the streets of Amman and Aqaba, and Ottoman sponsored protestors (of whom there were many, considering that the Sultan was of the ancestral ruling line of Jordan, the Hashemites, himself, and this appealed to the people there) were given clandestine support by the Sultan, in Istanbul, and Parliament, in Ankara.

However, soon the government noted that it had kept it's eyes on Jordan and Iraq far too long - while the fall of United Elias was indeed an important event, it was not the only even which involved the government of the Ottomans. When news reached Istanbul and Ankara that the Greeks had broken the treaty that the two nations had signed, which guaranteed autonomy to the Turkish peoples of Cyprus, there was an uproar in both the streets and villages of the Anatolian plains and the large cities where the government was housed. In Izmir, over three hundred thousand protestors joined together in the streets to argue against the "mistreatment of their brother peoples", the Cypriot Turks. In Adana there came rumors of atrocities committed against Grecian people and the collusion of government forces in such. Similar reports came from Samsun and Konya, both cities with medium-sized Greek populations.

And yet, the total inaction by the Sultan only made the masses angrier. There was burning of effigies of His Holiness, the Light of the World, Abdul Hamid III. And yet, he sat in the Topkapi Palace, frozen, unable to accept what had happened, far more focussed on the Jordan, far more interested in the new alliances with Quinntonia, far more interested in the fact that his troops now had powerful modern equipment and powerful modern weaponry, unknowing of the fact that that weaponry was in the hands of the already deployed soldiers along the south coasts of the Empire, unknowing that the new Quinntonian guns were being turned to point at Cyprus...

And then he acted. Messages of protest flew to the government of the Hellenic Republic, demanding they return the autonomy guaranteed by treaties of the past. Ottoman ambassadors in Quinntonia, Germany, Beth Gellert, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Spyr, in the lands of ancestral Ottoman allies and enemies alike, began to lambaste the Hellenic government. "They do not keep their word!" they said, passing out copies of the treaty (though its wording was already known by those with good intelligence services), "They deny their people basic rights!" said others, pointing at the repulsion of the Writ of Habeas Corpus (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13333948&postcount=121) that had been passed before. "They are liars and treat us badly!" shouted others, both to those who cared and those who didn't. All the diplomatic force of the Ottomans began to put endless pressure upon the Hellenic government to cease their actions and adhere to the treaty of before.

Unbeknown to the Sultan, however, the powerful modern Quinntonian weaponry on the Southern Coast of Anatolia was being turned towards Cyprus...

Nikolas Papavilis looked at his morning news brief, and saw the news of the Ottoman reaction to Greece's actions in the Cypriot theatre. He could not help but yelp with joy. In the eyes of the world, Solterris may have just gone too far, stepped over one too many lines, and they were angry. Nikolas reached in his desk and grabbed out a fresh ream of Populist Party stationary, and began typing up a response to the news.

Members of the World Stage,

As you well may know already, the armies of the Hellenic Republic, in conjunction a variety of Greek Cypriot nationalist groups, began an offensive in northern Cyprus, an area that has been deemed the domain of the Turkish inhabitants of the island. This illegal operation shows once again President Solterris’s utter disregard for the rule of law. A few months ago, after an attack on my nation’s capital, a tragic attack that left countless dead and wounded on her historic streets, President Solterris began a less internationally criticized crusade to rid my nation of her liberties and banish Socialist and Communist sympathizers from any seats of power after a hasty, haphazard investigation that turned up at best circumstantial evidence linking them to the attacks. He now seeks to tear these same liberties from the hands of the people of Cyprus, both Turk and Greek alike.

My land’s history is a rich one. In our valleys and fields, Western civilization was borne and bloomed. The great philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates nursed their ideas in her welcoming bosom. The Athenians created democracy, but now an Athenian seeks to destroy it. As a Greek I cannot allow this to happen. As a human, you cannot allow this to happen.

Please send the message to President Solterris that his actions are not acceptable, and that they do have consequences.

Sincerely,

Nikolas Papavilis

Papavilis sent the message to every nation that he could, hoping that this statement would show the nations of the world that not all Greeks are on the side of Solterris, and that there are non-communist alternatives to this despot, primarily Papavilis himself.

(((Thank you for posting. This may change things a little bit. I was under the impression that the Turkish government gave Germany permission for the military bases. I don't think that you should have given permission for an area that you didn't control. Just because Germans are in South America doesn't mean I neccessarily control them. But its too far in the past to change now.)))

Bruckner stated that any military assistance or cooperation would depend on Greece's alignment with Quinntopia and Germany and a refusal to cooperate with outside powers, especially including Britain. If Greece continued military cooperation with Britain current military cooperation with Germany would be immediately suspended. But if cooperation with Britain ended Greece could join the community of nations. Germany was jealous ally and despite Greece's progressive policies, an alliance with a country who was a friend to Germany's enemies was impossible. Bruckner urged Solterris to reconsider.

Rumours of abuses in the Ottoman sector lead to investigations around the area surrounding the German military base. And the Turkish government was informed that the German military bases on Cyprus would accept any refugees and would help to send them back to Turkey promptly.

Solterris looked at the position statement of the German government. damn, this is going to make thing so much more difficult. He thought to himself. The Greek troops had been using the British bases as supply centers for their FOB’s in and around the Contosian strongholds in southern Cyprus. The loss of British cooperation would be unfortunate, but the loss of German support would be even more devastating, not only for his campaign in Cyprus, but the security of his regime, and his economy, which had been slumping since the Athens bombings.

The president had been thinking about establishing permanent roots on the island for some time now, and he saw that now would be the perfect time for him to establish the base that he had been planning for all along…

Larnaca, Cyprus

The plan was simple, a three stage building process, take the Harbor and the surrounding area, including the Larnaca International Airport, Archbishop Makarios III hospital, and the Michaels Beach Number 2, Sveltos, Henipa and Lenios hotels, at which they would house soldiers, airmen and other residents of the base. After this, they would build a system of airfields and radar stations on the outskirts, which with the correct planning would render any air attacks on the base complexes impossible. Finally, they annex the city, making it forever bonded to the mainland, and forever a thorn in the side of the nearby British sovereign base.

Having been one of the few states to openly condemn the crackdown against Greek leftists, the Armandian Combine continues its public criticism of Solterris' authoritarian regime, accusing it of attempting to impose a dictatorship built upon foundations of murder. Pressure upon its Sphere allies to add their voices results in the Strainist Party issuing a similar response, if somewhat less harsh... the Choson People's Republic of Dra-pol is, given its limited presence in international trade, left to answer at its own pace.

Under Combine direction, the Sphere also begins attempts to influence Greek and Cypriot socialists, including those recently fled to Yugoslavia, to consider a coalition arrangement with Nikolas Papavilis' Populist Party. The inability of Contosian and Combinist factions in Greece to rise up in significant fashion against Hellenic crackdowns has raised severe doubts in Constance about the extent of popular support for local leftist movements, while Papavilis seems in a stronger position to challenge Solterris and emerge victorious. A Populist government, with supporting socialist elements, would accomplish short-term regional goals: preventing Greece and Cyprus from becoming puppets to the Holy League and NATO, and providing an environment in which leftist factions would have more freedom to spread their message and build support for direct rule in the longer term. There is some hope that the Sultan in Istanbul can be convinced to push his supporters on Cyprus into such a coalition as well, though efforts here are not particularly forceful... the Ottomans are, after all, well located to present a military challenge to Solterris, and increasingly motivated in that direction by his abuses of Cypriot Turks, providing a back-up plan should efforts to cooperate with the Populists come to naught.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6903/combinesignatureur5.jpg (http://z7.invisionfree.com/A_Modern_World/index.php?showtopic=65&view=findpost&p=15977959)

Belgrade, deliberately quiet on the world stage since the Tsarist destruction of the Black Sea Fleet, which is yet to recover its full strength, begins to rejoin the ranks of those opposed to Solterris.

Encouraged by booming arms sales, with custom up massively in Libya, West Africa, the FUARL, Dra-pol, and Central Asia, and Hindustani technical co-operation, the Yugoslav state and the JNA are apparently stronger than ever, if light half a brownwater fleet. Belgrade is interested in once again improving ties with the Ottoman Turks, not least because the Socialist Federal Republic commands that large nation's over-land trade connections with whatever European nations it might wish to do commerce... while the reverse is true for Yugoslavia's Asian connections. The Hellenic situation, Belgrade feels, is a threat to both parties and their interests.

It also means that larger Socialist forces are available for deployment to the Federal Republic's border with Greece, and this is beginning to come into effect.

Radical Yugoslavian newspapers even see fit to insinuate that a connection may exist between the current Hellenic establishment and the terrorists of the KLA, with the apparently unsupported implication that Solterris wishes to destroy Yugoslav unity. Macedonian publications are especially vocal, hoping that opposition leaders might consider fuller recognition of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia in return for Yugoslavian support for their cause.

Meanwhile, Yugoslavia says that it is prepared to consider the hosting of Shining Sphere agents interested in observing more closely the Hellenic situation, a mildly-worded gesture that once again carries deeper implications.

While Lav has always been nervous about the Soviet elements he has been obliged to entertain for the sake of national security, he does not consider the Yugoslavian people especially vulnerable to Combinist teaching, nor does he consider Strainist ideals seriously far from compatible with the Socialist Federal Republic's existing order. A continued failure to find any workable accord with the United States -Belgrade and Washington almost appearing to be on two different planets using incompatible language bases- means that, when it comes to forming major international ties, Aidarov feels able to consider only the Sphere and the British Empire as significantly unexplored avenues of advance.

News from the Balkans is by no means pleasing to Parliament, and the recent actions of Greece, a nation that Hindustan tried to court as an ally against the Holy League, are the source of particular concern. Though careful to remain quiet on the issue from an official perspective, for fear of alienating the Greek government and driving it closer to Europe's most disagreeable powers, Hindustan joins Yugoslavia in seeking closer ties with the Ottoman Empire, an effort made more important by the inaccessibility of ports on the Adriatic and Greece's ability, if so inclined, to bar Indian shipping from the Dardanelles. If things continue down their present path, some Parliamentarians fear, it may only be possible to reach Yugoslavia through the Ottoman Empire, and, as was the case before, the survival of the Lav's state in a climate of hostile and well-armed continental powers is seen as a very high priority.

Parliament approves the export of the Brahmos missile to the SFRY, albeit a version with somewhat less-capable avionics and slightly reduced range, still probably quite adequate for employment against Italian and Russian warships but less dangerous to the INU in the event that the technology ends up somewhere unintended. Extensive technical documentation is also flown-in, well before the first shipment, in order to give domestic manufacturers enough time as possible to establish their own production facilities. It is hoped that the presence of the Brahmos in Yugoslavia's arsenal will help to negate the naval advantage enjoyed by most of Belgrade's prospective opponents. And although Hindustan lacks the maritime power to take-on Mediterranean nations frigate for frigate, while at the same time maintaining a presence in West Africa, a submarine flotilla based in Libya stands ready to come to Belgrade's assistance if the need arises.

For now, Mumbai avoids public condemnation of Solterris's government as it does support of Greek and Cypriot leftists, holding out hope that present tensions in the region might be de-fused through diplomatic engagement and shows of good faith, and that Germany might be replaced by more favorable nations as Greece's major benefactors. At the same time the INU remains unequivocal in its intent to defend Yugoslavia's sovereignty, and if Greece proves unreasonable, Parliament is apt to take a more active role in regional politics.

The pleas of Nikolas Papavilis and his fellow Greek and Cypriot leftists were met with some surprise, as well as pleasure, among Parliament in Ankara, and the court of the Sultan in Istanbul. Many Ottomans, reasserting the ancestral hatreds of the past, had pressured His Holiness to bring the full weight of the Ottoman Empire's military force onto the "rogue Greek menace" as a way to "get rid of those Greeks once and for all". Nationalist and other right-wing elements in Parliament began to meet in back offices, looking to perhaps pass a bill that would meet their own opinions of the Greeks, who, like the Sabiris and Kurds, shared the most ancestral hatred with those on the Anatolian plains, especially in the hearts of Turks in small communities.

Reports continued to flood of atrocities being committed against those of Greek ancestry, but they were becoming few and far between - Ottoman government forces had managed to put a halt on the rioting, for the most part. The Sultan, along with his left-wing and moderate coalition government, managed to quickly pacify the anger of many, excepting the ultra-nationalists, who continued to want direct Ottoman rule of Greece. In response to many of their claims, key Ottoman military units, who had previously been in the Jordan, inciting support for the Sultan, were recalled to the southern coast of Anatolia, including famous general Muhammad Abdullah Khan, a man of Arab descent, but a follower of the empire, who quickly took direct control of the situation.

Meanwhile, Ottoman agents quickly attempted clandestine support of Greek and Cypriot opposition figures, including passing money, as well as old Ottoman military equipment, especially among those groups to whom open war seemed the best option. These plans were masterminded by Anwar Rashid, as well as Khan, who had agreed that the best policy towards the Greek situation was a proactive foreign policy that included military involvement. Naturally, this was opposed by His Holiness, but under pressure from both the military (in the form of Khan) and the foreign office (in the form of Rashid), he bowed, and Ottoman money began to flow to Greek opposition groups, while Ottoman units continued to flow towards the southern coast of Anatolia.

The foreign office met Yugoslavian appeals for a closer relationship with interest and, indeed, some warmth, as both sides were aware of their geographical relationship and limitations. Rashid suggested that, perhaps, a coordinated deployment of soldiers along both borders would be best, as, if war with Greece would occur sometime, it would be best to be working together, than against each other. Meanwhile, Ottoman investors began to finally paid some attention to their Yugoslavian neighbors, and many of the top companies in the Empire began to work their economic wonders in that nation.

Similarly, the Empire was very congenial to the Hindustani, pointing out that closer ties benefited both countries. Rashid was quick to note that arming Belgrade, however, went contrary to Ottoman aims in the region (as relations between the two countries, while friendly, were far from warm) and that, was military force the preferred option, the Ottoman Empire, with its large population and modern Quinntonian weaponry, would clearly be the superior power in the region. Similar ideas were pointed out to the Sphere, noting that the Empire is probably the best ally in the region.

The Empire also began to make appeals to their Quinntonian allies regarding the situation, noting the fact that they were the main Quinntonian allies in the region, as well as the best bet for stability. The latter point also made its way into discussion with the Slavs, Hindustani, and the Sphere.

Needless to say, Belgrade all but falls over itself in the dash to accept even a reduced Brahmos, not unaware of the possibility of regional forces conspiring against the deal. VTI and other defence manufacturers hasten to prepare plans for modification of the JNA's Brom mobile missile launchers, which have served well despite being armed with missiles based on Cold War era Russo-Soviet technology. If Yugoslavian Brahmos missiles can be given Brom's mobile flexibility, even the Tsar would have something to worry about as the system deploys in conjunction with L-20 fighters and small SSKs, and preliminary studies are under way with a view to adapting the new Kobra Class fast missile boats for Brahmos-derived missiles.

Belgrade agrees to deploy new mobile forces in southeastern Bulgaria in co-operation with Ottoman movements, Lav saying that good nations will not be intimidated by the might and cruelty of bad governments.

OOC: In a rush, got to go!

The Roman Empire, and undoubtedly Tsarist Russia, are more than slightly concerned at Yugoslavia's acquisition of the Brahmos missile, whether somewhat downgraded or not. The Roman military is determined to procure some kind of counter to the impressive Soviet missile and implement Rome's spy network in attempt to capture the plans of the Brahmos and hopefully even the tide.

OOC: I won't clutter this thread with this storyline, but it will be a while before I create a new one to deal with it.

Hail Caesar!

Needless to say, Belgrade all but falls over itself in the dash to accept even a reduced Brahmos, not unaware of the possibility of regional forces conspiring against the deal. VTI and other defence manufacturers hasten to prepare plans for modification of the JNA's Brom mobile missile launchers, which have served well despite being armed with missiles based on Cold War era Russo-Soviet technology. If Yugoslavian Brahmos missiles can be given Brom's mobile flexibility, even the Tsar would have something to worry about as the system deploys in conjunction with L-20 fighters and small SSKs, and preliminary studies are under way with a view to adapting the new Kobra Class fast missile boats for Brahmos-derived missiles.

Belgrade agrees to deploy new mobile forces in southeastern Bulgaria in co-operation with Ottoman movements, Lav saying that good nations will not be intimidated by the might and cruelty of bad governments.

Ever since Solterris's coup d'etat, he had been ordering weekly shorties over southern Yugoslavia, in order to monitor the rapid buildup of Slavic forces on their border. Every week, more and more troops were stationed along both sides of the frontier, and the area was soon becoming one of the most militarized areas in all of Europe. All that was needed was a little spark, and then the whole region would go up in flames.

The revelation that the Slavs had gained access to a new cache of offensive missiles worried the top commanders of this peaceful theatre, they were within range of the heart and sole of the Greek nation: Athens. If Athens were to be targeted, who knows what would ensue, perhaps the countrysides, long a haven for the Populist and Communist opposition parties, would pull out of the CHP-dominated regime, leaving it with only a skien of legitimacy.

The arrival of the BrahMos in Yugoslavia ought not concern the Greek regime overmuch... it is an anti-shipping weapon, a force equalizer to challenge the blue-water fleets of the Caesar and Tsar, and not much of a threat to its other neighbours. Inded, this will be the case made by Sphere representatives amongst the Ottomans, eager to see friendship between Belgrade and Istanbul while forging the Yugoslavians into a force which can gut League fleets in the Mediterranean, a theatre out of their own reach.

If Solterris is concerned over bombardment of Greece, he ought instead worry over technologies Lav might bargain out of an increasingly-friendly Sphere, such as Strainist V99 rocket systems or the long-ranged gunnery mastered by the CPRD, either of which might allow delivery of massed fire deep into Greek territory.

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6903/combinesignatureur5.jpg (http://z7.invisionfree.com/A_Modern_World/index.php?showtopic=65&view=findpost&p=15977959)

Parliament, not expecting such strong reactions against its decision to supply Yugoslavia with the Brahmos, moves quickly to dispel Greek and Ottoman concerns, not eager to see a move meant to improve Belgrade's security situation turn into a major incident. Official communiques emphasize the fact that the Brahmos is an anti-ship weapon with minimal land attack capability, so Greek cities, or any cities for that matter, should not feel overly threatened. By equipping the SFRY with the Brahmos, the INU means to correct a serious maritime imbalance in the region, and Parliament points out that Yugoslavia's principal antagonists in the area, Italy and Russia, both possess sizable surface navies and have used those to bully and intimidate Belgrade on numerous occasions. The Brahmos, says Parliament, will primarily allow the Yugoslavs to compete on a more level playing field against the Mediterranean's frigate navies, and has nothing to do with enabling Belgrade to lash out against its neighbors.

To the Ottomans, the Brahmos deal is explained as only the most recent in a series of bilateral exchanges between the INU and the SFRY. Mumbai, at least, has no plans underway to challenge Istanbul's position in the region, and, if anything, most Unioners would prefer to see the Ottomans' position improve to as great an extent as possible.

Italian spies trying to steal information about the Brahmos may find their work redundant, given that, if Italy wanted to acquire modern, high-speed ASMs, it would only have to contact Holy League partner Russia, from whose technology the Brahmos was actually derived.

OOC: I've Been Banned (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=552442&highlight=Buristan) and I need you guys to help me out and back me up as a legitimate RPer. I could really use the help. Thanks

Indeed, Da'Khiem's Sphere allies are quite correct to suppose that Drapoel weapons would present a greater threat to Yugoslav allies, and may yet do so. While every attempt is made to keep Choson-Yugoslav relations quiet (largely at Belgrade's request, Da'Khiem caring little for the SFRY's attempts to endear itself to the west), the fact of two-way arms traffic has become quite significant.

There is no question of Drapoel superguns being sold to Yugoslavia in the immediate future, as Da'Khiem is keen to dominate the cut-price space-launch market and fears that Yugoslavia's capabilities would quickly put it ahead of the CPRD if only it has its own Dragon's Throat, but Dra-pol's experience of the sort of national siege that Belgrade faces in prospect should war with the Holy League reignite is of undeniable value. Unified People's Army officers have already toured Bihać Air Base in Bosnia, while Yugoslav People's Army representatives got a similar look at HARTS facing Quinntonian Dra-pol.

The fact that Drapoel KJ-1 Feda Kwong attack jets are patrolling the Westgaard Line and ROK border with Grom-B air-to-surface missiles under their wings can only escape international attention for so long before the question of what Belgrade got in return comes to light.

The black asphalt simmers in the heat of the noonday. Along its windy path are chiffarobes and racks filled with clothes and other goods. And behind them rise tall house, topped with Hellenic blue roofs, lined shutters f the same hue.

IF you follow one of the bigger cracks in the road’s surface, you see a wheelbarrow filled with melons. They are covered with flies and rot, for their owner cannot take care of them, her is busy on a side street, busy with his own business of decay.

Across the street, a sky blue roof collapses, killing a family of four that lives on the third floor. They knew it would be coming, after all, how long can a building stand when one side is missing due to the bomb blasts that are commonplace all across Lampousa’s streets.

This street marked a boundary, between the ethnic Turkish Abu-Ata-Bakr neighborhood and the Greek Ichthys sector. It now is marked clearly, by sandbags of machine gun nests, the crack of explosions, then the sound of childish screams, for a school was just attacked on the Turkish side, probably out of retribution of last week’s Church bombings on the Greek side. The newest attribute of this boundary, one that was once lined with both Turkish and Greek goods, is the stench of decay and rotting flesh. Market Lane no longer holds stalls and kiosks; it is now the home of the merchants of death.

Athens, Greece

Solterris looked at the newest aerial photographs of the Yugoslavian border, and threw them on his desk.

General Alabafis, I think the time of action has come. Our men are ready; their morale is high. Let us begin the final assault on the Red presence in our slice of the world. I am ready to begin missile and air strikes upon our northern border.”

“Yes, sir, bu—“

Do not question me. Do your job!” Three hours later, Greek fighters stationed in the northern airfields began a journey northwards, as other young Greeks aimed cruise missiles straight at Skopje, and at the major chokepoints along the Greco-Slavic border.

News of Greek military airplanes and cruise missiles preparing to strike at Yugoslavia elates the entire Roman government and Roman generals. Greek diplomats are quickly met with offers of aid, no matter what kind it may be. Military aid may be limited in quantity, with both the Regia Marina and the Army busy with the Soviets in Africa, but the Regia Aeronautica may be able to offer more substantial aid to a Greek war effort.

Hail Caesar!

As sirens wail in Macedonia, gunfire and even artillery shelling sounds in Bulgaria. The Greeks have, it seems, struck at precisely the right moment -or wrong, depending on one's perspective- as Army-General Bojan Javoric and some eight hundred men under his immediate command are engaged by semi-elite airborne troops outside Sofia.

Javoric's sister, Prime Minister Miroslava Javoric Goranov, had just been arrested by the Uprava Državne Bezbednosti -the UDBA-, and his daughter Bojana had, essentially, attempted to defect to the United States. The world didn't yet know the details, but PM Goranov stood accused of intrigue against the Slavic fraternity and treason against the Socialist Federal Republic for anti-Socialist economic policies that had seen her borrow heavily to sustain Yugoslavia's average 6.1% yearly growth during a time of international conflict and high resource prices that had hit the nation's vital industry hard.

Belgrade suddenly owed untold millions to international banks and other lenders, chiefly in the west, and Marshal Lav blamed his Prime Minister. Her whole family was under suspicion as rumours of fraud and embezzlement were circulated by the KontraObaveštajna Služba, or KOS, and Army-General Javoric, veteran of Operation Barikada, wasn't going down without a fight.

In Novi Sad, Vojvodina, the President flew into irate action, saying that Goranov must have debts in Athens, too, and that the whole western world was going to follow Greece into war in order to recover what it feels owed and destroy Yugoslav market-socialism in order to turn thirty million souls into hapless consumers of their decadent wares.

The border

Recent military build-up on the Greek border served well, however, and L-20 Putin interceptors on CAP responded to early warning provided by ground-based radar with comfortable 600km range as well as forewarning by reconnaissance-configured L-20s that were mirroring Greek actions in flying risky sorties over the border regions.

The nimble little fighters, also known as Novi Avion and Yu-Supersonik, were flown by pilots with great confidence, experienced against Austrian, Estenlandic, and Italian enemies. Some had even flown for the Libyan air force against the French under a programme nominally supposed only to train Libyan pilots. The Yugoslavians certainly felt that they had the edge in experience, and also had faith in their modern little fighters and especially were keen to deploy the L'Angelot Maudit and even better Meteor missiles recently acquired from India. In the Atlantic battles, Meteor had been decisive in smashing French and Russian forces in two engagements, and now it would be deployed again.

Cruise missile launches caused more alarm, and four Super Orao fighter-bombers were scrambled with air-to-air loadouts in hopes of engaging them. Skopje was not well protected by Belgrade's distant Red Sky ABM battery, and had to rely on its fighters. The Super Oraos would be no match for enemy fighters, but were ideal for chasing down cruise missiles and engaging with no fewer than four 23mm cannon and ten Komarac short-range missiles, said to be the best in the world.

On the ground, 152mm Nora-C artillery tubes opened up on known Greek batteries within range, and smaller 122mm howitzers began to shell border posts.

Belgrade, in truth, had been toying with a plan to invade Greece in a first-strike operation, but, it seemed, had been beaten to the punch!

This did mean, however, that Hellenic forces were faced by several mechanised brigades and heavy tank formations in Macedonia and Bulgaria that would not otherwise have been present, while, on the other hand, semi-elite airborne forces that were supposed to spearhead the theoretical invasion by dropping in the enemy rear were instead engaged with something of a domestic insurrection.

(OOC: No time for more tonight, but this looks like being interesting! Do you have information on the Greek military somewhere? I'd like to see what sort of fighters were facing, and so on. Have to rush off!)

Akrotiri

It took a fair bit to get Britain's Cypriot holdings to do much besides sit and be peaceful, but the odd cruise missile strike on a neutral nation would do the trick. Meetings were called in the Akrotiri Base Area, No.212 squadron's Typhoons were scrambled, and a lot of people generally ran around without a clear idea of what to do. It was all rather shameful for a military organization, but Cyprus wasn't a front-line base and most of its staffers were MPs, engineers or civilian contractors. Actual combat troops were in short supply, not counting the numerous Royal Navy crews who were experienced at sea, and not at all on land.

Amidst this chaos, Major General Robert O'Neill, Governor General of Cyprus, was essentially reduced to switchboard operator, staff co-ordinator and air-traffic controller, all on the not quite princely salary of a two star general in the British Army. To his credit, he handled it all fairly well, and the MPs found themselves issued assault rifles and told to guard the perimeter. No.212 squadron's CAP schedule was doubled, one of the Harrier squadrons off of HMS Quenfis was tapped to take up the slack, and the meetings all got attended. In general, Akrotiri base continued to function despite the low level warfare going on outside, and it was slowly turning itself into the most secure part of the Balkans/Hellenic Islands region.

London

Censure from the Foreign Office was quick to appear, full of chiding for the Greeks' 'anticipatory' and 'unprovoked' attack on a neutral nation. Although the connection wasn't established beyond doubt, the Foreign Office didn't lose the chance to note that German, Italian and Greek diplomats had been meeting with each other--patently untrue, but Greece had been holding talks with both--and that Germany seemed intent upon allying itself with the Holy League.

Perhaps more ominously, a more official notice came some days after the initial bombing. The Solterris government was informed, very politely but also very firmly, that should any further attacks take place, the British Empire may be called upon to enforce neutrality and keep the peace 'using all reasonable force in the interests of humankind'.

Although Yugoslavia had been contemplating a pre-emptive invasion of Greece -a repeat of Operation Barikada, which was aimed at preventing Austrian accession to the Holy League- President Larionko 'Lav' Aidarov had not given approval by the time Hellenic jets appeared in southern Macedonian skies.

Belgrade was aware that its enemies to the north, east, and west might intervene if Yugoslavia became entangled to the south. Though the SFRY has more than two and a half times Greece's population and the Yugoslav People's Army has extensive combat experience against Austria, Italy, the Estenlands, and, in a second hand fashion, France, it is not a force designed for offensive warfare in a serious way, hence its failure to intervene in Hungary, and Belgrade has a healthy respect for Hellenic military tradition and the Greek fighting man.

At sea, the Yugoslavian navy rather lets the side down. The army has far more experience than Greece's, the air force too, but after losing most of the Black Sea Fleet there are few who feel that the Greek islands are within reach of JNA forces given the Hellenic maritime reputation.

Several Yugoslav submarines, though, at sea for operations planned against Italy and French Algeria, are now re-directed towards the archipelago. With up to half a dozen effective SSKs, there is some hope that the maritime war is not unwinnable despite Greek advantages. In any case, Brahmos certainly arrived at the right time.

Parliament does not respond to Greece's attack on Yugoslavia, a nation that the INU considers a close friend, as strongly as might have been expected. Though quite outraged over what most see as a League-sponsored attempt to get rid of one of continental Europe's last "civilized" nations, Union diplomats are well aware of Germany's close relationship with the Solterris administration, and stern action, they fear, might draw Berlin, typically hostile and quick to anger, into the conflict on Greece's side. NATO association, they worry, could even bring Quinntonia down on the SFRY, an absolute worst-case scenario that Unioners plan very much to avoid. Increased association with monarchist, imperialist Italy is not necessarily seen as a bad thing, and public opinion is expected to turn against the Solterris government if it becomes apparent that he is towing the Roman line.

The INU's representatives in Quinntonia are not caught entirely off-guard by the present state of affairs and they move quickly, hoping to convince Washington that the prospective Balkan conflict is one best solved diplomatically. It is hoped that Germany's stubbornness over the issue of Portuguese sovereignty, coupled with a recent, and potentially quite disastrous, nuclear test over the North Sea, have conspired to limit that state's influence on Quinntonian policy-makers.

There is widespread confidence in the YPA and its ability to defend Yugoslavia's frontiers against Greek invasion. Indeed, few believe that Athens, on its own, stands to achieve victory against the Lav's significantly larger and very well-armed state. The real challenge, as far as Unioners are concerned, is to limit the list of participants, and to conclude the fighting as quickly as possible, before the Holy League and NATO have a chance to become involved.

OOC: Will get up a post soon. Sorry, been a little busy.

*Cough cough*

Hey, the JNA won't turn the tables on Athens and annex the Greek mainland on its own, you know!

...wait, maybe it will ;)