NationStates Jolt Archive

Lost Kinsmen

The lands of Azerbaijan and Daghestan were always items of interest for the Eurasian Federation, since the people who habited these regions were of similar background to Turkic groups of the Turkey and the other regions of the Federation. When the time came to take this region, the Federation sends its grand armies to free their long lost brethren from oppressive rule of the regional warlords.

The 1st Eurasian Army Group was deployed to take over these regions and restore law and order, Plus to add two new states to the grand federation of Eurasia.

[OOC: I am making a claim to that land, but I'm willing to roleplay a bit for it, the specifics we can work out later. If you have AIM, give me a holler (hellbovine3), or drop a TG, I check those every so often. Off hand, I'm thinking of some sort of low-level stuff, imagining insurgencies/seperatists, that sort of stuff, followed by independance and a government later.]

The Army Corps of the Eurasian 1st Army Group enter the Azerbaijan, a land full of chaos and warlords, since the central government of Sparta has fallen apart. It was now the duty of the Eurasian Army to restore order and crack down on the warlords. Their first mission was to win the hearts and minds of the people, and then crush any troublemakers such as the warlords. The Eurasian Forces send a simple message to the warlords stand down now or face the wrath of the federation within 48 hours.

Battle of Order for the 1st Army Group

3rd Army Corp (Base in Iran)

4th Army Corp (Base in Iran

Ex of the Army Corp
40,000 men arm with AK-105 and RPGs
800 T-90
600 T-95s
1000 Type 98 Main Battle Tank
1200 BMP-4(Troop transport)
600 Jaguar 2 Tank destroyer [with TOW]
800 G5: 155mm towed gun Howitzer
100 The PzH 2000 155mm self propelled howitzer
200-2S6M Tunguska Anti-Aircraft Artillery
200 TOS-1 Buratino 220mm Multiple Rocket Launcher
100 Ka-52 HOKUM B / Alligator Attack Helicopter
200 MI-24P (MI-25 AND MI-35) HIND ATTACK/TRANSPORT HELICOPTER)

6th Paratroop Crop.

7th Paratroop Crop.

8th Paratroop Crop.

9th Paratroop Crop.

ex of Paratroop corp.
6,000 arm with AK-105, AT-15 Khrizantema and RPGs-7
100 9P148(Anti Tank Amour)
200 BMD-3 Airborne Infantry Fighting Vehicle
100 MI-28A/N HAVOC ATTACK HELICOPTER
100 Ka-52 HOKUM B / Alligator Attack Helicopter
20 C-141 Starlifter(Air Transport)

Encrypted Communique
Recipient: Eurasian Premier Nasir bin Abdullah al Assad
Sender: The Emperor of Layarteb
Subject: Azerbaijani Campaign

The Empire is aware of the pacification campaign that the Eurasian people are engaging in Azerbaijan. We wish to offer our support to the Eurasian people, especially in this time of difficulty considering the devastation of the Great Earthquake, which seems to have all but leveled Istanbul. The Empire has long supported Eurasian campaigns and we wish to assist in this campaign as well. The Empire would be happy to send two, small groups of special operations forces, 12 men each, to assist in operations in Azerbaijan.

Sincerely,

The Emperor

.:. telegram .:.

Encrypted Communique
Recipient: The Emperor of Layarteb
Sender: Eurasian Premier Nasir bin Abdullah al Assad
Subject: Azerbaijani Campaign

The Eurasian Government will accept your offer of help, once again our people in debt to your nation. Also Istanbul, shall be rebuild and restore to its days glory in due time, rest assure of that.

Sincerely,

Premier Nasir


With the 48 hours up, and no word from the warlords. Just the Eurasian High Command give the go ahead for massive series of air strikes to break will of the warlords. Soon, waves of A-10s flew in to Azerbiajan and begun a massive attack run on warlord lines, they use their Vulcan cannons to gun down troop formations, drop cluster bombs and napalm on warlord strongholds. The attack runs will last for four days, before the Eurasian Army itself moved in and crushed the remaining warlords forces.

Fighter Wings
200-SU-37
400 MIG-35 FULCRUMS

Attack Wings
200 A-10C Thunderblot II
80 AC-130U Spooky

Support wings
20 SuKC-1 Stormfuelers
2 E-5A Bateleur AEWCAC

A Layartebian Carrier Escort Group in the Mediterranean Sea was a normal occurrence. There was one based out of Hammerfest, in Norway, Cottish territory and another in Massawa, Eritrea, Hirgizstani territory, and that latter one wasn't in port. Instead, it had been moved to the Med when the fighting in Azerbaijan broke out in the beginning of the winter. It had a small detachment of aircraft, nothing too powerful but certainly not weak. However, it wasn't just carrying the standard assortment of sailors, pilots, and aircraft. It was also carrying two Operational Detachments of the 5th Special Operations Group, the "Green Berets" as they were known. The two, twelve-man teams, were specially trained and highly motivated soldiers that were experts in counter-insurgency (COIN) work. That was just what they were dealing with in Azerbaijan, an insurgency against the Eurasian occupation forces. When the approval came from the Eurasian government for them to go in, the men suited up their gear and boarded a HV-24C Bulldog transport. From there, they flew to Incirlik Air Base, in southern Turkey, which was under the full and total control of the Imperial Layartebian Military. Dozens of aircraft were based there and from Incirlik, it was 565 miles to Nakhichevan and 755 miles to Salyan, versus over 1,000 from the Med.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Lost%20Kinsmen/azerbaijan-political-thumb.jpg (http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Lost%20Kinsmen/azerbaijan-political.jpg)
Azerbaijan Political Map

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Lost%20Kinsmen/azerbaijan-geography-thumb.jpg (http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Lost%20Kinsmen/azerbaijan-geography.jpg)
Azerbaijan Geographical Map

At Salyan, one of the ODAs would meet up with Eurasian forces and travel towards Baku, the capital. At Nakhichevan, they would help Eurasian troops pacify dozens of rebels that were entrenched in the mountains to the north of the separated part of the country, which was wedged in between Iran and Armenia, the latter of which being part of the Roman Empire. It was a tricky situation and the Eurasians had to contain all sorts of rebels and warlords, some dedicated to a fanatical Islamic interpretation of the Koran and others who were pure nationalists. There was an estimated 4,000 to 10,000 rebels to deal with throughout Azerbaijan and most of them were hiding out in the mountains and in Baku. It would be a daunting task to defeat them, many of which were armed with Spartan weapons. Some of them had armor, others had anti-aircraft weapons, and they all had heavy machine guns and mortars. Whether or not they were excellent fighters was unknown, for now. The Eurasians had just begun their campaign and, if it was anything like Afghanistan was, it would be a bloody fight with rebels who knew the ground better than their own families.

A few hours after taking off from the Vampire CVN, the HV-24C Bulldog touched down on the runway at Incirlik and taxied to the tarmac area, where it would refuel for its return flight. The twenty-four SF soldiers climbed out of the V/STOVL transport, weapons in hand and packs on their backs, and moved towards a hangar, where a makeshift briefing area had been set up for them. They were both part of a group that specialized in Arabic and Farsi but because of their location, they were also proficient in Turkish, Dari, and several other languages, between the twenty-four of them. Azerbaijani was descendent of Turkic, which included Turkish. They would have little trouble conversing with their Eurasian comrades or the local populace in Azerbaijan. Like true, SF, they weren't interested in always gunning it out and destroying everything. They weren't Marines. They were successful because they blended in with the local populaces, they spoke and ate with the locals, and they were all individual soldiers who, when combined, could do the job of a battalion of men.

"Gentlemen, have a seat." Their Lieutenant Colonel had already arrived. He had been promoted through the ranks and was now second in charge of their operations group, which oversaw most of the Middle East and North Africa. The Caucasus was now part of their scope of operations and this would be their first assignment there. "Alright we're going to discuss this in two sections. So let's go over it easily. ODA 501, you are assigned to Nakhichevan and ODA 502 to Salyan. Let's begin with Nakhichevan.

"Nakhichevan is an atmospheric, semi-desert region that is separated from the main portion of Azerbaijan by Armenia. The Zangezur Mountains make up its border with Armenia while the Aras River defines its border with Iran. It is extremely arid and mountainous. Nakhichevan's highest peak is Mount Kapydzhik at 3,904 meters and its most distinctive is Ilandag or Snake Mountain at 2,415 meters, which is visible from Nakhichevan City. According to legend, the cleft in its summit was formed by the keel of Noah's Ark as the floodwaters abated. So we're dealing with a land that is very old. Eurasian forces have entered Nakhichevan and have reported a significant amount of rebels to their north, using the mountains for protection. This won't be easy since they already have the high ground and you'll be fighting your way up, through oxygen starved areas, where the locals have lived their entire lives. They are definitely more adept than you are with that but you have the advantage in that you are a special operations soldier. You can shoot better, further, and faster than they can, you can communicate better, and you are far more intelligent. When you link up with Eurasian forces you'll be moving throughout the mountains and valleys to pacify resistance. Air support will be unknown, the Eurasians are handling the air sector and Incirlik is pretty far away but we'll have aircraft in the area, over the Black Sea, for you, in case they are needed.

"Salyan is pretty near the Caspian Sea and about 120 kilometers from Baku, on a straight line so you're looking at much more than that. You will link up with Eurasian forces and travel into Baku with them. Once Baku is secure, the rest of the country will fall apart. Terrain, for the most part, is going to be flat with some rolling hills to the west of Baku and Älät. Resistance is expected along the entire journey but, aside from the small hills, there is little high ground to worry about and Eurasian forces will have armor and air support along the entire way, this being their main thrust.

"Rules of engagement are simple and standard. You may shoot any combatant that you see. Do not engage civilians, if the Eurasians want to, let them. You're not there to do their bidding, only to assist their takeover of the country and we want it as quick as possible. Official presence is non-acknowledge so remove those markings." The men removed the Velcro patches from their left arms with the Layartebian flag and remove their unit insignias too. Everything was Velcro, just for this purpose. "Good. Good luck men. You'll be flying out on a pair of CV-24s in about an hour so the rest of the time is yours." The short briefing was over and the two ODAs shook hands and separated, to different areas of the warm hangar. The men made sure that their gear was in order, their NODs were functional, and their weapons were clean and perfect. They had hundreds of rounds of ammunition on them and each team had enough firepower to level a division of enemy soldiers, let alone rebels.

Composition of an ODA
18A SF Officer

Rank: Captain
Team: 1, Alpha, Red
Primary Weapon: M37A4 Special Assault Carbine [6.8 x 48mm] with 25 rounds ready & 300 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (2), M58A1 Stun Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Advanced PDA, binoculars, maps


180A SF Executive Officer

Rank: Sergeant Major
Team: 2, Bravo, Blue
Primary Weapon: M37A4 Special Assault Carbine [6.8 x 48mm] with 25 rounds ready & 300 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (2), M58A1 Stun Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Advanced PDA, binoculars, maps


18Z SF Operations Sergeant

Rank: Master Sergeant
Team: 1, Charlie, Green
Primary Weapon: M37A4 Special Assault Carbine [6.8 x 48mm] with 25 rounds ready & 300 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M58A1 Stun Grenade (1), M62A1 White Smoke Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Advanced PDA, binoculars, maps


18F SF Assistant Operations & Intelligence Sergeant

Rank: Sergeant First Class
Team: 2, Alpha, Orange
Primary Weapon: M37A4 Special Assault Carbine [6.8 x 48mm] with 25 rounds ready & 300 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M58A1 Stun Grenade (1), M62A1 White Smoke Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Advanced PDA, binoculars, documents, maps


18B SF Weapons Sergeant

Rank: Sergeant First Class
Team: 1, Bravo, Red
Primary Weapon: M89A2 Designated Marksman Rifle [7.62 x 51mm] with 20 rounds ready & 180 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (2), M62A1 White Smoke Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Binoculars, laser designator, M68A1 Claymore anti-personnel mines (2)


18B SF Weapons Sergeant

Rank: Staff Sergeant
Team: 2, Charlie, Blue
Primary Weapon: M89A2 Designated Marksman Rifle [7.62 x 51mm] with 20 rounds ready & 180 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (2), M62A1 White Smoke Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Binoculars, laser designator, M68A1 Claymore anti-personnel mines (2)


18C SF Engineer Sergeant

Rank: Sergeant First Class
Team: 1, Alpha, Green
Primary Weapon: M76A1 Tactical Shotgun [12 ga] with 7 rounds ready & 140 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M63A1 Concussion Grenade (2), M61A1 Incendiary Grenade (1)
Additional Equipment: C4 plastic explosives, detonation cord, door-breeching charges (2), M68A1 Claymore anti-personnel mines (2)


18C SF Engineer Sergeant

Rank: Staff Sergeant
Team: 2, Bravo, Orange
Primary Weapon: M76A1 Tactical Shotgun [12 ga] with 7 rounds ready & 140 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M63A1 Concussion Grenade (2), M61A1 Incendiary Grenade (1)
Additional Equipment: C4 plastic explosives, detonation cord, door-breeching charges (2), M68A1 Claymore anti-personnel mines (2)


18D SF Medical Sergeant

Rank: Sergeant First Class
Team: 1, Charlie, Green
Primary Weapon: M37A4 Special Assault Carbine [6.8 x 48mm] with 25 rounds ready & 300 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M58A1 Stun Grenade (1), M62A1 White Smoke Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Medic & surgery equipment


18D SF Medical Sergeant

Rank: Staff Sergeant
Team: 2, Alpha, Orange
Primary Weapon: M42A3 Squad Automatic Weapon [7.62 x 51mm] with 100 rounds ready & 600 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M58A1 Stun Grenade (1), M62A1 White Smoke Grenade (2)
Additional Equipment: Medic & surgery equipment


18E SF Communications Sergeant

Rank: Sergeant First Class
Team: 1, Bravo, Red
Primary Weapon: M42A3 Squad Automatic Weapon [7.62 x 51mm] with 100 rounds ready & 600 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M59A1 Red Smoke Grenade (2), M61A1 Incendiary Grenade (1)
Additional Equipment: Radio backpack, satellite communications gear


18E SF Communications Sergeant

Rank: Staff Sergeant
Team: 2, Charlie, Blue
Primary Weapon: M37A4 Special Assault Carbine [6.8 x 48mm] with 25 rounds ready & 300 rounds stowed
Secondary Weapon: M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistol [.45ACP] with 10 rounds ready & 60 rounds stowed
Grenades: M57A1 Fragmentation Grenade (1), M59A3 Yellow Smoke Grenade (2), M61A1 Incendiary Grenade (1)
Additional Equipment: Radio backpack, satellite communications gear


The hour passed quickly and the twenty-four men were ready for action. They kept their weapon's loads light, opting away from the heavy and powerful 12.7 x 99mm sniper rifles that many of their brethren brought into battle and went for the semi-automatic M89A2 over the bolt-action M36. This was all done for a variety of reasons but, overall, it was for their own, personal liking. They were arranged into various divisions. They could be a single, 12-man unit, two 6-man units, designated by number, three 4-man units, designated by letter, four 3-man units, designated by color, or six 2-man units, which was simply done by splitting up the 4-man units. They were more than just organized and they used the single team, teams 1 and 2, alpha, bravo, and charlie units, and red, blue, green, and orange units, to break themselves down. Normally, they operated in two 6-man teams but certain situations called for them to break up further.

They boarded into four MV-24s, which had been flown in for the operations, six men per transport and waited at the edge of the runway. They would take off conventionally, giving them increased range but they would be landing at their drop points vertically. The long journey would be done under escort, the entire way, and, once they reached enemy territory, they would be flying down at a mere 100 feet AGL. It was night time and the pilots were the best at night time flying. Their MV-24B pilots were part of a special regiment in the army that was dedicated to low-level flying, especially at night, in support of SOG and BOG units. The four MV-24s would each be escorted by a pair of F-35A Ravens, equipped with air to air and air to ground munitions. A further flight of F-39C Super Eagles, based in Greece would be providing additional escort.

They made the bulk of the flight at 13,000 feet and 450 mph, giving them a little over an hour in the air to the first target and over two hours for the second. Once they were 50 miles out from enemy airspace, they dropped down to the deck but were limited by a maximum speed of 317 mph at sea level. The aircraft slowed down but kept their throttles to the wall, providing for maximum forward speed. F-39s stayed high overhead, above 30,000 feet, orbiting at 400 mph, cruising on barely any engine power, their air to air munitions hoping for a target. The F-35s, keeping close to the four Bulldogs, kept up with them, at the same speed and altitude, spaced no closer than 200 meters from the Bulldogs. The stealth of the F-35s would allow them to hide in the larger RCS signature of the Bulldog, which, though it was stealthy for its design, was a lumbering beast. External munitions hung from its and the Ravens' wings, particularly rockets and Brimstone missiles. Their internal cannons had full magazines and the M74 Miniguns on their sides, each fed by 3,000 rounds, scanned the darkened terrain for any sign of the enemy.

When they reached enemy airspace, all of the aircraft activated their IR jammers, which would allow them to evade shoulder-fired missiles. Everyone kept a close eye for launches and they knew that the enemy would have them. The enemy didn't know they were coming but they had a long way to go through the two drop points. The first point was right out in the open, making it hard for them to keep up the surprise but when they were there, the pilots of the Bulldogs whipped their aircraft around and went into a ground hover, just 150 feet above the ground. They descended rapidly as the doors were flung open and the six men in each aircraft stood ready to jump out and touch the ground, weighed down by heavy rucksacks. The other six aircraft continued over Roman Armenia, clearance to overfly coming almost before they took off from Incirlik. As the MV-24s circled around and descended to the surface, the F-35 Ravens kept an orbit pattern, all four of them evenly spaced every 500 feet at altitudes of 200, 700, 1,200, and 1,700 feet. They were low to the ground, real low but that was because they had to make sure that the Bulldogs weren't being engaged. It was all over in a matter of seconds, the twelve men diving out and lying prone on the ground, weapons shouldered, and the Bulldogs lifted off into the air and, following the F-35s, exited Azerbaijan at maximum forward speed. When they crossed back into Turkey, they climbed to 13,000 feet and refueled at awaiting KC-130J Super Hercules tankers. They would land at Incirlik without a scratch.

The other flight stayed over Iran, flying at their cruise height, until they were 50 miles from Azerbaijan. Then it was down to 100 feet AGL for a short cross to Salyan. The six aircraft were not going in by surprise either. The rebels had seen the other Bulldogs and when the same aircraft showed up over Iran, rebels in hiding had reported it back. They would be waiting for them as they crossed back into Azerbaijan, their course plotted through simplistic observations. They passed overhead at 317 mph when they were in Azerbaijan and just 8 miles from Salyan, rebels opened up on them. Anti-aircraft guns, primarily .50 caliber heavy machine guns, lit up the sky with tracers and a pair of Stingers were launched at them, both failing to track because of their IR jammers. The pilots used up half of their Brimstones on the way in, destroying several vehicles with machine guns on them and a pair of tanks that were in their path. The Ravens did more killing, using their Brimstones against a pair of AAA sites that were in their path. The MV-24s landed just as quickly as the others did, offloaded their forces, and high-tailed it out of enemy airspace, as fast as they could, climbing towards 13,000 feet, to escape both AAA fire and MANPAD fire. Unfortunately, bullets were flying through the skies in the thousands. A few managed to tag one of the MV-24s and it developed an oil leak. It would have to land and land fast. It would put down in Iran, it could get that far, and the F-35s would land with it, as the other MV-24 returned to its airbase in Incirlik, refueling along the way. The other MV-24 would be out of service for some time, mainly because of the oil leak and the inability to get repair technicians there for at least two days. It seemed obvious that they would need some sort of forward operating base for the mission.

More contact was made and a request for a small base in northwestern Iran was forwarded to the Eurasian government. They wanted to deploy four F-35 Ravens for CAS, four MH-60G Pave Hawks for CSAR, eight AH-94A Stalkers for CAS, and four MV-24B Bulldogs for CSAR as well.

The Eurasian General Staff given the go ahead for the ground forces to begin, ground commanders were given standing orders to win the hearts and minds of the locals and not to kill them.

Just the 1st Army Group made its move and broke into two formations

The 1st formation head to take over Nakhichevan region, it was compose of 3rd Army Corp, and 6th and 7th Paratroop Corps.

The 2nd formation head to take over Baku, it was compose of the 4th Army Corp and 8th and 9th Paratroop Corps.

Both formations were heading at full speed to their targets. As the advance, the air force continue its campaign to crush warlords strongholds for the coming ground assault.

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE
TO: Eurasian Premier Nasir bin Abdullah al Assad
FROM: The Fuhrer of the Hirgizstanian Commonwealth
SUBJECT: Azerbaijan

Naturally the Commonwealth has kept a close eye on developments in Azerbaijan as of late, and I believe that once these lands are under Eurasian control there will be much profit to be made. Oil is a big natural resource in Azerbaijan and it could well end up be another large scale producer close to the central Middle East.

Naturally, as the worlds two biggest oil producers, this presents an oppurtunity of note. The Commonwealth would, naturally, be willing to help out in Azerbaijan militarily from our bases in Eurasia if the promise of oil contracts for Hirgizstanian companies could be agreed upon.

As well as business interests we are also worried and yet intrigued by intelligence that suggests the Soviets [Nerotika] may become involved. Dealing a blow to them would also be considered a very highly regarded prospect.

In any case I eagerly await your response.

The Fuhrer.

MESSAGE ENDS

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE
TO: The Fuhrer of the Hirgizstanian Commonwealth
FROM: Premier Nasir bin Abdullah al Assad
SUBJECT: Azerbaijan

The Eurasian Government agrees to your terms for help and the contracts will be granted to your companies.

Tikrit, Eurasian Iraq

As soon as the green light had been given from Hirgizstan City, OPERATION CASPIAN EAGLE was under way. COH bases in Iraq and Iran had begun to mobilize their forces. Tikrit, though, was slightly under-manned. Part of the 30th Army was still in Roman UAE, and only Air Cavalry and some some Air Force assets occupied the base, as well as some special forces, recently returned after the end of the Gulf War.

The first Layartebian SOF were on their way into the Middle East, some would probably end up staging from Tikrit. The first COH SOF that would go in would be Delta Force, CSAR and a HAF Special Tactics Squadron. They would, naturally, be ferried by some HAF Special Ops Squadrons. But they would receive their own briefing.

There were twenty five men in all, sitting in the small briefing room at the base in Tikrit. The Delta Force operators were all bearded and fairly unkempt looking. All were just a few days out of Ruweis in the UAE, having handed over to the Airborne Army Commando's. The CSAR boys were predictably, clean shaven and bright eyed and the STS controllers were a mix of clean shaven and rough looking guys. They all sat in little groups on top of tables and chatted with each other.

They had been waiting for a few minutes when an Army Colonel, dressed in desert DIGIPAT and wearing a Delta Force unit patch on his left velcro pad, with a Rangers combat patch on his right, walked in with a lap-top under his arm. None of the guys already in the room stood or saluted, they barely acknowledged him. In the regular forces they would have been punished and shouted at until their ear-drums were ready to burst. But this was SOF-'small on formalities', as some Officers quipped.

The Colonel was busy setting up the rooms overhead projector to his laptop when an Air Force Major entered the room, wearing the strange, but eye catching, blue, dark blue, black and grey HAF Digipat uniform. He wore a 160th SOAR combat patch on his right velcro arm pad and a 5th HAF Special Operations on his left. He nodded to a couple of the STS boys before sitting down on a chair beside the desk the Colonel had his lap-top on.

The SOF guys didn't sit down until a map appeared on the white-board from the overhead projector, with OPERATION CASPIAN EAGLE written across it.

The Colonel smiled and began his briefing, "Gents, this is Azerbaijan, formerly the Sparta Dominion and for the next few weeks or months this will be your playground. You have 4000-10,000 rebels to kill and a vast, rolling landscape in which to do it." A couple of the SOF guys smiled.

"You'll be the first COH forces on the ground, to be joined by other teams shortly. It has yet to be decided whether any conventional COH forces will be committed. That will depend on how things go. As you all know you'll be working alongside Layartebian and Eurasian forces. This is Eurasia's show, so we'll basically be following their lead.

Your code-name will be Alpha Six-Two-Six and your initial target will be the border town of Zangilarr. We must secure this town quickly and decisively so that rebels cannot use it to attack Eurasia and to ensure that Allied forces have a staging post close to a friendly border. Layartebian and Eurasian forces will be on our left, taking Nakhichevan and Eurasian forces will also be on our right, driving to Baku, the capital.

So, to recap. You must take Zangilarr, eradicate enemy resistance and ensure rebel forces cannot re-enter the city once it is taken. You are to hold Zangilarr until follow on forces reach you. You will have access to round the clock air-support and you have the call-signs of Allied forces should you need them. Expect to spend 24-36 hours alone inside Zangilarr so kit out appropriately. I have organized another detailed briefing on the city itself and the surrounding area by a Grey Fox agent who will be returning from there within a few hours. That briefing will also allow you to view real-time images from the city itself.

As far as I know nobody in the entire COH military speaks the local language, so we're hard-up on that front. We should get some conversation cards before H-Hour but don't count on it. Try Farsi, Arabic and Russian if you have to, you might get lucky. ROE's are simply, shoot any rebel. Many will be dressed in Spartan Army uniforms, so study up on those before after this. As for civilians, engage if you have to. If the Eurasians start killing civilians then you are weapon's free across the board. But if they do not follow your ROE's, i.e. only if you have to. Just remember this is the former Sparta Dominion, they do not like outsiders and even if they aren't shooting at you, they still won't like you. Of course no insigina as per SOP and do not identify yourselves to anyone but friendlies.

Insertion will be by HALO from an MC-130 at approximately 03.50 hours tomorrow morning, thats seven hours from now. Emgerncy extraction will be by Pave Low at the points marked in your GPS maps. Mission abort code-word is 'Apple', repeat, 'Apple'. Now, Gents, you have a few hours before your briefing with the Grey Fox agent, I suggest you get your shit together. Major Igram, anything to add?" The HAF Major shook his head and the Colonel nodded at the men who filed out of the room, talking quietly.

The 1st Formation begins to run into rebel forces in the countryside of Nakhichevan; these were mostly hit and run attack on the advancing Eurasian troops, nothing too serious for now. But then the 1st Formation forces finally reached Nakhichevan itself; they found no rebels in the town, just the locals.

The locals explain to the ground commanders, that the rebels decide to fled into the Mountains in order to stand a better chance against the Eurasians and the locals told them there about 10,000 rebels hold up in the mountains all heavily armed. This shocked the Eurasian officers who Intel reports said there was less then 10,000 rebels overall. Just the Eurasian ground commanders call in for more air strikes on the mountains and begun to act accordingly with the new information.


The 2nd Formation begun to run into full out clashes with heavily armed rebels, who were able for short time slow down the Eurasian advance to Baku, new Intel reports shown that there was roughly 25,000 rebels in the region around Baku. Most Eurasian Commanders begun to ask how were these rebels able to hide their numbers for so long. The Eurasians Commanders called in more air strikes and kept on pushing forward to their target and the rebels kept on using their hit and run tactics, plus road side bombs or full out gun battles with Eurasian troops as they enter a town on the way to Baku.

The ground in Azerbaijan was cold. It was a diverse land with 9 of the 11 climate zones. Where ODA 501 put in, in southern Azerbaijan, there were a few climate zones. In the plains between the Aras River and the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, the climate was largely varied. It was a semi-desert terrain there and on the surface it was cold along the river, in the winter. In the summer it could get quite hot and in places not near the river it could be rather hot. The same climate existed where ODA 502 put in because it was all plains there. However, in the southern portion, as the altitude ascended, the climate got worse and worse. The higher up they went, the colder and snowier it got. ODA 502 wouldn't have to deal with the mountainous terrain that ODA 501 would have to deal with and neither would they have to do deal with the the same enemies that ODA 501 would have to deal with, particularly one enemy.

When conflict in Azerbaijan broke out, the Ministry of Intelligence identified a single group in southern Azerbaijan, a group that was very shadowy and very quiet. The group was named "Sepah-e Pasdaran" or "Revolutionary Guards," in English. They were a terrorist group that staked high in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains and possibly even into Rome. It was tough to tell. They had first appeared on the radar after the Republican Liberation Army was destroyed. The Ministry of Intelligence had done quite a bit of research into the RLA, particularly how they had been trained and where. Certain bank trails led back to Sepah-e Pasdaran but that was it, nothing too conclusive. They weathered underneath the radar thereafter, nevering having made any statements against the Empire. Their communications were intercepted but little gave any details. They were a terrorist group, on the terrorist watch list, but they were not harmful to the Empire, at least stated.

However, they surfaced once more, in the Falkland Islands. After the Layartebian invasion, seizing the Varsolan territory following links between a corporation in the Falklands to the nuclear bombing of Saint George's, they popped up again. SP, as they were abbreviated, had linkages with the Varsolan corporation but, still, no evidence could be formulated to link them to the bombing. They had no contact with the weapon, especially since it had come from Teh Ninjan territory and through USB during the chaos that ensued following the collapse of Teh Ninjas. The bomb trail went cold thereafter but it was directly linked to the Varsolan corporation on the Falkland Islands. The war left the islands decimated and hundreds of people were indicted for the bombing, most of whom were executed.

Now, with the Eurasians steaming into Azerbaijan, it was an opportunity to connect some pieces of a very unorganized puzzle. ODA 501 was tasked with apprehending several leaders of the SP and they weren't going to let the Eurasians know too much either. ODA 501 only came in with a secondary set of orders, which they would deliver to the Eurasian commanders and the Emperor would make only mild respects to the Premier. The main thing, out of anything was that they be disarmed and destroyed. The Eurasians would definitely undergo that but the Layartebian forces would have to take their own iniative, so to speak. There were no real links between domestic, Layartebian terrorism and the SP but there was enough suspicion to make them at least wary of the situation. However, if they turned out to be bogus, the Empire couldn't let on that it engaged in an active campaign against an Islamic group or else every Islamic group would begin to target the Empire. Domestic terrorism was enough to deal with, they didn't need international terrorism either.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Lost%20Kinsmen/nakhichevan-01.jpg

ODA 501 put down in a barren part of the area. They would move a few kilometers and meet up with Eurasian forces, which were currently moving northward, into Nakhichevan and fighting an uphill battle there. Once they linked up, ODA 501 would begin their quest with the Eurasian forces of pacifying the mountainous regions. It was treacherous up there and the winter wasn't going to abate either. Sepah-e Pasdaran were definitely dug in and they were definitely expecting a fight, a brutal fight and they would get it, whether or not they expected a Layartebian SOF team, that was unknown.

ODA 502, on the other hand, was put down in a forest area. Eurasian forces were moving northbound, along the road to Salyan, which led all the way to Baku. Once the ODA linked up with Eurasian forces, they would spearhead the move into Baku, where fighting was expected to be heavy. Initial estimates put only 10,000 rebels in the whole country but now it was revised. There were about 10,000 in southern Azerbaijan and at least 20,000 to 30,000 in the main part of Azerbaijan. At least 1,000 of the 10,000 belonged to SP, which made it that much more of a difficult war for the ODA and the Eurasian forces, especially sicne this would be fighting in caves with people who knew the terrain like the back of their hands.

00:35 Hours, Tikrit, Eurasian Iraq

Two hours after the first briefing the 25 men of Alpha 626 were again gathered in the same room as before. This time, however, instead of wearing a mix of different uniforms and Arab civilian clothes, they all wore what was known as Abyssinian DIGIPAT. It was basically a mix of woodland and desert DIGIPAT, blended to create a pattern suited to working in areas where greenery and desert were intermixed, like in Abyssinia. Azerbaijan was fairly similar.

After the initial briefing Alpha 626 had gone out into the SOCOM complex in a corner of the base. They had each gone to their separate buildings to take out weapons and sort out their kit. At quarter past midnight the AH-60DAP and MH-60J carrying the Grey Fox operative returned and the team once again walked toward the main SOCOM building, where the briefing room was.

Now they were siting waiting for the Grey Fox operative to brief them. Naturally the Delta operators had come into contact with Grey Fox guys before, but they were always a sight to see. They were deep black operators, lone wolf's for the most part, chosen not only for their abilities but for their look, their ability to blend into the public of an enemy nation.

The SOF Colonel was the first to enter the room and he quickly set up the lap-top again, the projector blasting a huge map of Azerbaijan onto the interactive white board at the front of the room.

A few minutes later a dirty, dishevelled man wearing traditional Muslim dress walked into the room, his beard long and his head covered by a Pushtun hat. His dark eyes sat deep in his skull and he nonchalantly looked around the room, taking everything in as he strode to the whiteboard.

He looked like he was from Libya or maybe Greece, he looked very much the part of an Azerbaijani, who were a very mixed race, with much Persian influence in the south.

He picked up the interactive pen on a shelf by the board and clicked it on the board, the map zoomed in close to Zangilarr. However, it was actually marked on the Satellite image as 'Zangelan'.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c88/Karl187/Zangelancopy.jpg

The Grey Fox operative began in a quiet, but confident voice, definetly of Greek origin, "As you can see your target is not Zangilarr as our NIA maps show, its actually Zangelan, at least according to natives and the signposts I came across.

As you can see from the picture its nestled in a very long valley between two fairly high mountains. There is a train-track that shadows a river, which you can also see. The good thing about the location is its not on the mountains so you won't need to pack any emergency oxygen tanks. But I advise you wear your thermal suits under your uniforms, it is extremely cold.

Another good thing is that most rebels I encountered spoke Arabic, and I assume most of you do, so that will not be a problem. Even better news is that there are little or no civilians in the town, apparently they have been travelling north since the conflict began and I encountered none.

The main town," The operative drew a crude red box around some buildings nestled on the left side of the river to indicate it, "is quite small. The largest buildings are administrative ones and the rebels have occupied most of them, with a few outposts at compass points in the outlying buildings. They have heavy MG's and sandbags on all the roofs, plus two Flak Cannons on the roof of the town hall and courthouse.

The rebels themselves are armed with a mix of AN-94's, AK-101's, SVD's and PK LMG's. They have a healthy supply of RPG's aswell, but I saw nothing larger than that. Most appear to be wearing Spartan Army uniforms, with a few wearing essentially what I'm wearing only with Spartan pattern chest rigs for their ammunition.

Additionally I have found a new insertion point for you, just here. Its an old military airfield, with some canabalized planes sitting on the side of the tarmac. It is unoccupied and down a fairly substantial rise from the nearest town buildings. It is, however, patrolled by a few rebel units. I suggest still HALO-ing in, but pack silencers and at least one mag of subsonic ammo to subdue the patrols and secure the airfield. Once down I suggest you bring in some FMTV's to get you around quicker. They'd be better than Hummer's over the terrain.

Emergency extraction point will remain the same, I checked it out and its good. Very remote and shielded by clumps of trees and the mountains.

I didn't, however, get a chance to get up the road that goes North-West out of the town, it was too risky. So I have no idea of what the roads are like there, but I found out there is more enemy units operating up the valley. Luckily however, the terrain is utterly impassable for armor, so you shouldn't have any trouble on that front.

I will, however, be going with you on the op, to be your eyes for re-inforcements.

On such short notice thats the very best I could come up with. Good luck for the op, I'll see you on the plane."

Nakhichevan HQ

After two weeks worth of heavy bombing and key air strikes on rebel strong holds in the mountains, the Eurasian forces were given the go ahead to root out the rebels in the mountains.

The 1st Formation forces begun there full out assault on the mountains, most of the troops in the formation were trained for mountain fighting. Just they were ready for the battle that is before them, as soon as they entered the mountains the rebel mounted a full out assaults on the troop conveys and conduct hit and run attacks on the Eurasians who were able to fend off these attacks with light losses so far.


The March to Baku

The 2nd Formation continue it March up to Baku, as the Eurasians marched forward, the encounter more heavy resistant from the rebel forces. But for it was nothing too serious for the Eurasians forces to handle. Most of the rebel forces were busy digging into Baku and around the city, and waiting for the coming attack. Yet the Eurasians kept up their air strikes to weaken their hold over the city.


With news of Roman handover of Georgia and Armenia to the United Federations, the Eurasian General Staff quickly give out orders to the 2nd Eurasian Army Group (same format as the 1st Army Group, just different unit numbers and etc). It also broke into two formations one heading to garrison Georgia and one to garrison Armenia. But to the shock of the Eurasian Forces, these regions were already up in arms against their new rulers. The Eurasians Commanders quickly called in air support to take care of any major rebel strongholds and to gather Intel on rebel movements.

Est. Size of the two rebel movements

Georgian National Army-20, 000 supporters, heavily armed (spread all over the county)
Armenian Peoples Liberation Army-12.000 supporters, heavily armed (same as Georgia)

Nakhichevan

ODA 501 had moved through the semi-desert of the Nakhichevan plains and hiked through the 4 kilometer route towards the Eurasian forces without any hassle. They kept a close eye on the mountains to their north and they kept a close eye on the darkness of the night. Their breaths lifted into the air like cigarette smoke as they kept on their course. It was cold enough for that but not cold enough for snow, fortunate for them, despite the fact that the plains often didn't see snow in the winter.

The Eurasian forces were marshalled at a headquarters in Nakhichevan. For two weeks there had been a sustained bombing campaign and now Eurasian forces were ready for the uphill battle into the mountains and crossing through, into Armenia, where rebel forces, in the order of some 10,000 were hiding. Who knew how many more would be in Armenia but it was estimated that at least 12,000 enemy rebels were stationed throughout Armenia. Things were terribly difficult and were going to be more than difficult for the Eurasian forces. It was fortunate that ODA 501 was with them. They would spearhead the fight, using their special tactics and skills to forge through the mountain passes.

Eurasian forces would be providing air support throughout the battle and that was fortunate but they wouldn't be the only aircraft in the air. Based almost 600 miles away, in Incirlik was a sizeable force of Layartebian aircraft, including the B-10 Badger, F-35 Raven, and the AC-27 Sledgehammer, a close-air support aircraft that replaced the AC-130 Spectre and Spooky. These aircraft were close enough to be flown over Azerbaijan and Armenia. Aerial refueling tankers would help them stay on station and now, a new weapon was being delivered. Still new, still untested in combat, it was the AGM-224 Advanced Hard-Strike Weapon (AHSW), pronounced "Ah-shoo," and it was a beauty. Still completely classified, the weapon was a 3,000 pound, 20 foot long monster that had a range of up to 250 miles. It had a terminal velocity of Mach 6 and it came equipped with three weapons, an 800 pound BROACH warhead, an 800 pound thermate TH3 incendiary warhead, and an 800 pound thermobaric warhead. The weapon was pure balls and, guided by GPS, it was capable of putting its warhead within 9 feet of the target. There were eighty versions of each sitting in Incirlik Air Force Base and, because of their size, they would only be carried by the B-10 Badger, whether externally or internally, up to four or three, respectively. They would be called in eventually to reign far more than death on the Pasdaran terrorists in the north.

Salyan

ODA 502 had met up with Eurasian forces without much contest either. They were required to neutralize a small outpost along the road into Salyan but they were well equipped to do so and the four poorly equipped rebels didn't see it coming when two 7.62 x 52mm and four 6.8 x 48mm bullets whizzed right into them from distances of up to 500 meters away. They didn't hear the shots, they were suppressed, and they saw no flashes on the horizon. They only fell to the ground, lifeless. The M89A2 Designated Marksmanship Rifle was the main death dealer and its powerful scope and excellent rifling meant that its bullets were true to their targets, as far away as 800 meters and, in one instance, as far away as 932 meters, the record kill-shot for the rifle.

They swept through the outpost immediately thereafter, weapons drawn, awaiting someone to pop out on them and attack them but no one jumped out at them at all. The outpost was barren except for those four and that was good for ODA 502. It was meager and filthy but they did mange to collect two documents of importance though they couldn't read Azeri. It would be brought to the Eurasians for translation. The outpost was an ammunitions cache though with dozens of 60mm mortars, grenades, rocket propelled grenade, and mines. It was too big of a cache for them to leave intact and blowing it up would be part of their fun.

The twelve of them rigged the ammunition into a single area and modified some of the fuses on the grenades and mortar rounds, linking them together with a single radio detonator, something simple, cheap, and expendable. When they were 400 meters away, they detonated the weapons cache, turning the outpost into matchsticks and pebbels. They were in Salyan an hour later, meeting up with Eurasian commanders about the March to Baku.

0205-0455 Hours, Tikrit, Eurasian Iraq and Eurasian Iran, Zangelan

Tradition. Praying. Superstition. Preparation. Checks. Double Checks. Triple Checks. The basics before going into combat. All professional soldiers go through the motions before the off. Drinking a shot of something, reciting a unit motto/creed/mantra, praying or perhaps ensuring you have a lucky charm of some sort. Then comes looking over any intel, checking the mission brief and then the kit as many times as possible before you are ready.

Then, of course, comes the time honored tradition of 'hurry up and wait'. But thats were the courses of regular units and SOF diverged greatly. SOF hsd times they have to keep, 'deadlines' that have to be met. There could be no delays or fuck ups.

So the minute the MC-130E was fuelled and sitting on the tarmac, lights on (for now) and rotors spinning, Alpha 626 were driven out from the terminal to the rear ramp. They shuffled and waddled onto the plane, past the Load Master, Crew Chief and Jum Master. They waddled up into the cargo bay and sat heavily on the canvas seats, bathed in a red glow. Each man wore the Land Warrior HALO suit, which was simply a facial oxygen mask and parachutes linked up to the rest of the standard SOF issue Land Warrior equipment.

Not too far away in another hangar, a second MC-130E sat bathed in the glow of bright overhead lighting, with ground crew working around the rear, sliding FMTV's into the plan on their drop pallets. Three in all, armed to the teeth with the cut down cabs, were loaded into the cargo area.

It was exactly 2am when the first MC-130 carrying Alpha 626 went wheels up. The flight to the DZ would take just over two hours, across Eurasian airspace.

In the cockpit, bathed in the glow of the different instruments, the two pilots kept checking in with various Eurasian airports and aircraft nearby, ensuring there were no mis-haps.

It was very cold over Eurasian Iran and it would not be sun-up until about 8.30 in the morning. Even then it would still be cold. In any case the sun-up time left Alpha 626 with the guts of four hours of darkness in which to secure the town. They would be fighting against the time, but what was new?

Far into northern Iran the MC-130 climbed to 12,000ft before the red jump lights in the dark cargo bay came on. All of Alpha 626 stood up, plus the Grey Fox Agent, known by his callsign as 'Apollo'. The rear cabin was pitch dark except for the jump lights. The Crew Chief and Jump Master both wore their helmets with their Interactive Visors down, so they had their NV already on. Now the 26 men wearing the LW-HALO equipment switched theirs on and the cabin was bathed in a greyish black and white [COH Night Vision systems are 10th Generation+ and show up images as greyish black and white, this corrects the loss of depth perception that occured when using green-light versions].

A few minutes later the Jump-Master hollered into each man's ear via his intercom, "Ready?" Each man checked the one in front and stuck his thumb up. The red jump light went out as the rear ramp went down and as the wind rushed into the aircraft the Jump Master yelled, "GO, GO, GO! and the line of men began to waddle toward the end of the ramp, jumping off into the dark night.

As each man jumped off, they steadied themselves for a controlled descent, before pressing a button on their wrist controls, turning their Active HUD's on. Immediately, over the grey NV, a real-time compass, small menus and objective/team markers flickered onto the screen. Below each man the DZ was outlined as a big yellow square, which they descended toward.

The altimeter's automatically opened the parachutes at a pre-set height close to the ground, allowing the men to drop neatly onto the DZ, which was a piece of overgrown ground to the side of the main airfield strip.

As they hit the ground they soon righted themselves, coiling up the chutes and stuffing them into backpacks to leave no trace. Next they opened their drop bags and grabbed their weapons, bringing them up and ensuring the silencers and subsonic ammo mags were attached.

All 26 men held a circular position, talking to each other about what they could see or couldn't see. The night was quiet and still, nothing stirred except the odd gust of wind flying down off the mountains.

A few seconds after landing each man had brought up a real-time thermal satellite image of the area. Their thermal suits made them appear a light blue, barely visible except for Apollo who wasn't wearing one.

To the bottom of the airfield a patrol of two men moved slowly away, while another of three was ambling up at the top of the airfield. The team immediately split up, five Delta boys heading toward the bottom and five to the top of airfield. The STS and CSAR boys stayed put with Apollo who was guiding the teams in using the real-time feed.

The bottom end of the airfield was covered in grey stones with loads of weeds, which eventually gave way to an area of loose soil and scrub plants, falling away down an incline. The Delta boys moved slowly, crouched low. Apollo spoke in their ears, guiding them in.

As they came to where the rise began they could make out the two rebel soldiers walking slowly away. The team switched to thermal imaging and the two rebel soldiers were picked up easily. Two silenced 7.62 SCAR-H's with silencers and subsonic ammo trained on the two men. With a slightly audible 'poof' the two rifles fired, and then again and again and again. Subsonic ammo was notorious for not killing at ranges above close-quarters. So even though each enemy soldier had four bullets in him, a couple of guys moved forward to where the bodies lay, putting one bullet in the heart and the other in the forehead of each rebel.

The same happend at the top of the airfield. On a search of the bodies a mobile phone was found, fairly rare for this part of the world, but almost certainly of intel value. Apollo would take a look at it.

So it was at 0505 Hours when the Team Leader checked in, saying, "Insertion successful, DZ is secure. Repeat, DZ is secure, over." A few hundred miles away another MC-130E came off its station and headed low over northern Iran toward the mountains of Azerbaijan.

Zangelan, Azerbaijan

The second MC-130 could only be seen on approach by Alpha 626. Its IR lights were on and via NV it was lit up like a buzzard wearing christmas lights, but to the naked eye there was nothing there.

The big plane dropped out of the air quickly, its propellers whining and gnashing. The runway was bumpy and the big plane hit the end with a thud, its rear ramp down, and as it quickly taxied three huge pallets with the FMTV's flew out the back onto the tarmac and within two minutes the big plane had jumped up into the sky again and was banking back toward Eurasia.

As the plane banked up into the sky Flak and AA Tracer fire opened up from the town up ahead, arcing into the sky and the flak exploding. But the MC-130 was fine, whoever was firing was betting on the plane climbing normally, but the 130 didn't, it stuck close to the mountains.

Before the plane even landed Apollo had left the airfield and had took up a position overlooking the town. He had taken the team's sniper with him, who carried an M-600 LWISR, loaded with .408 BWMMG ammo.

Rightly enough the town was very small, with a few minor outlying buildings and houses, all abandoned looking with doors flapping in the wind and broken windows looking like jagged teeth.

Via the thermal satellite feed the team could see most of the action was around four buildings on each side of the town square. There was an enemy position on the roof of each building, plus a whole load of rebels milling about in the square itself.

The CSAR boys would stay at the airfield with the FMTV's, there was no point in driving them up into the town only to have them blasted to pieces by RPG's. To destroy the enemy position called for a co-ordinated attack from different sides to cause the maximum amount of confusion.

So the STS boys and the Delta Support Gunner, carrying a heavily modified M240G, took up position on the banks of the river, opposite Apollo and the Delta sniper on the other side of the town.

The other 8 Delta boys would wait in a position where they could see the town square.

It was 0530 when the first .408 bullet crashed out of the barrel, the noise echoing across the valley, rumbling up and down the mountains. The round came down from a position in the hills, laterally and straight into the chest of the Flak Gunner on the roof of a building. The bullet tore through his chest, expanding as it went, before punching out his side, creating a hole the size of an outstretched hand, through which flew out blood, bone fragments and part of the man's organs. He slipped off the chair beside the triggers and thudded onto the ground, probably with the shot still ringing in his ears.

For a few seconds nothing happend, the rebels looked one way and then the other, before another shot cracked out and hit the AA Gunner, on another roof, square in the chest, sending him flying off the seat. That got them going. They began pointing at the hills looming over the town and shouting wildly before the heavy chatter of an M240 and five SCAR's opened up from the other side of town. The odd .408 shot rang out aswell, and Apollo was talking into everyone's ears, running a commentary of what was going on.

The eight Delta Force men burst out of their positions close to the town square, taking up different positions at the sides of buildings and lying on the ground, before themselves opening up on the enemy positions at the town square. The heavy report of 7.62 and 5.56 rounds echoed across the valley, interspersed with the clunkier, metallic sound of Russian made weaponry firing in response. The dull clunk-poof-thud-bang of an MM-1 Grenade Launcher could also be heard, and the explosions were creating chaos amongst the enemy positions. Heavy MG's on the roofs of buildings soon opened up, firing at shadows, before being silenced by the sniper, and every time Apollo called out 'RPG' a .408 round blasted.

The barrage of fire lasted about two minutes before it petered out, nothing left to shoot at. Every half minute or so a .408 round cracked out from the hillside as rebels popped their heads up or tried to make a run for it.

The STS and Support Gunner, and the rest of the Delta team entered the town square, which was covered in bodies, blackened concrete and with fires and smoke here and there. The three FMTV's rolled up the main road a few seconds later, Delta operators taking over from CSAR and driving the vehicles to positions around the city.

Mortars and MANPADS were found in buildings full of rebel supplies, they were obviously expecting a Eurasian assault. Radios cackled and buzzed, unaware enemy ears were listening.

So as the first rays of morning peeked over the mountains the town of Zangelan was again silent, although its ownership had changed hands.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE

TO: Eurasian High Command
FROM: COH MIDEASTCOM
SUBJECT: Zangelan


Have successfully taken the town of Zangelan, are holding it for follow-on forces.
Town is open for Eurasian advance, if wished.
If not, we ask permission for the COH Air Cavalry to move into the town and use it as an FOB.

MESSAGE ENDS.

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE

TO: Eurasian High Command
FROM: COH MIDEASTCOM
SUBJECT: Zangelan


Have successfully taken the town of Zangelan, are holding it for follow-on forces.
Town is open for Eurasian advance, if wished.
If not, we ask permission for the COH Air Cavalry to move into the town and use it as an FOB.

MESSAGE ENDS.

To:COH MIDEASTCOM
From: Eurasian High Command

Permission is granted, to use Zangelan as forward base for your operations.

Zangelan, Azerbaijan

The counter-attack had come in waves. The rebels used their most rugged vehicles, which were trucks and jeeps and the odd dirt-bike. Most wore ragged Spartan Army uniforms, while some just wore civilian clothes, carrying assault rifles.

They didn't stand a chance. They had no armor in the valleys, there was no way to move it due to the terrain, so they had to rely on their feet or their loud vehicles. However, their counter-attack hadn't come immediately. Alpha 626 had managed to take out several AA, Flak and MANPADS positions in the mountains nearby. It had been easy to spot them using thermal satellite feeds, the ground was freezing, so any humans stuck out easily as big red and yellow blobs of heat.

Apollo had been working his way down the river, watching the settlements, when he had reported a convoy of light vehicles moving south. Zangelan had obviously fallen out of contact, only one explanation.

But the HAF Special Tactics Squadron had been on the ball. They had set up two AC-130U's on station, and used them to decimate the advancing rebels. They had eventually retreated as dusk came on, but the AC-130's didn't let up, the huge red tracers lighting up the sky like dragon's breath.

It was a few days later when MIDEASTCOM finally received permission to begin normal Counter Insurgency Operations. The unit tasked with the main effort was the 57th Air Cavalry Brigade, of the 20th Air Cavalry Division.
The terrain in the south of Azerbaijan prevented ground armor-based operations from being effective, but the high mountains and low valleys provided the perfect terrain for helicopter warfare, the Air Cav's speciality.

It would take a day for each formation of helicopters to make it to Zangelan, having to travel through Eurasia, stopping at least once to refuel on the way. However, C-130's were bringing in Air Cav troops and supplies, and a FOB was rapidly under construction at the old airfield. Once the first helicopters arrived, operations could start.

Naturally the Brigade could not fit itself into the small airfield at Zangelan, but with any luck pushing rebel forces out of the mountains would free up more land and possibly more bases.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORBAT FOR 57TH AIR CAVALRY BRIGADE, 20TH AIR CAVALRY DIVISION (57 Br./20 Div.)

7100 Troopers
500 UH-60M
150 CH-47D
150 AH-1Z
15 AH-94A Stalker
7 RAH-95A Shadow
150 MV-87KG Dragon
3 AH-53 Serpent

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: If you guys need air support within range of Zangelan, its avaliable.

OOC: OK should we begin the ascents into the mountains?

OOC: OK should we begin the ascents into the mountains?

OOC: Yea, lets begin the assault into the Mountains...I'll a post coming up soon.

Nakhichevan HQ

The Assault on the mountains had begun when the General Staff give the go ahead of weeks of heavy bombing of rebel mountain strongholds. The troops of the 1st Formation begun to pour into the mountains, they had the fire support of MI-28A/N HAVOC ATTACK HELICOPTER and the Ka-52 HOKUM B / Alligator Attack Helicopter which will prove useful in terms of clearing out the rebels and transporting Eurasian troops to point A to point B.

As the Eurasian forces advance into the mountains, they have begun to encounter heavy resistant from the rebels. These rebels were well armed and ready for the Eurasians, they manger to shot down two attack helicopters with their Anti Aircraft weaponry. The Eurasian Mountain Infantry Divisions had their work cut out to root out these rebels; it was becoming a uphill battle to take out the rebels. But slowly but surely the Eurasians were turning things in their favor.

The Eurasian officers looked over the papers from their counterparts from the Empire. The papers had a list of weapon deports station throughout the region. This was a great find for the forces of the Empire and Eurasians now they had a idea on how to cut the rebels and deny them from their supplies deports.

The road to Baku

The Eurasians forces were within two days of the city, itself. But as they progress closer to the city, they encounter more resistant from the rebels forces that were beginning to deploy RPGs and another anti vehicle weapons to take out Eurasian troop transports. But the Eurasians were able to take out their attackers and turn the tide against them, yet the firefights with the rebel forces were becoming more intense as they march forward.

Armenia and Georgia fronts

Eurasians forces were encountering heavy resistant from the rebel forces, but it was mostly hit and run for now. The rebels were only probing for weakness within the Eurasian, so far they found none for now..most of the rebels forces had already move in to mountains and were dig in for the long haul. Yet some rebels were left in the cities to keep the Eurasians busy for now.

Nakhichevan Front

ODA 501 set off with the Eurasian forces, ascending into the Lesser Caucasus Mountains under the cover of Mi-28 Havoc and Ka-50 Hokum attack helicopters. Within an hour of the battle, two helicopters were downed by shoulder-fired missiles and they were slowing down the advance already. The powerful weapons of the rebel forces were dug in well and they used caves for protection. They had heavy machine guns and even powerful 23mm anti-aircraft guns. Well prepared, they wouldn't give in without a serious fight. The initial climbs put them on an ascent towards heights between 500 and 2,000 meters, initially. They'd be almost as high as 4,000 meters by the time they were crossing into Armenia.

ODA 501 led the assault up to the first level, which was up to 2,000 meters. The ascents were steep and rugged. The mountains were arid, rock, and dusty. Helicopters passing overhead kicked up whirlwinds of dust and obscured their movement forward. Equipped with the best weapons available, even ODA 501 had to take it slow. They used their 40mm grenade launchers against some of the deepest caves and moved forward. They were equipped with various types of rounds, high-explosive, thermobaric, illumination, and signals. The thermobaric rounds were the most effective but they were also the least carried. They had to conserve those for when they really needed them and, instead, they stuck with the high-explosive rounds.

With Eurasian air support on call, the screams over the radio echoed the gravity of the situation. Hard-hitting helicopters and close air support fighters tore through the air, dropping flares and firing their weapons. The ground shook with each bomb hit and the air was filled with noise and sounds that drowned out their radios at times. Roars and wooshes overhead shattered their ear drums as they passed overhead, sometimes 50 feet above the ground level.

The worst push came about 15 miles from the border. They were about 1,250 meters above the ground when ODA 501 rounded a corner. Almost instantly, the entire pass shook and rock began to give way. Bolders around them shattered, splintered, and turned to dust as powerful 23 millimeter bullets slammed into them at speeds in excess of 900 meters per second. They were fired from a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun, sitting inside of a cave across the pass, only 400 meters away. The men immediately drew back and took cover in a cave they had just cleared. The rounds stopped but they could tell that they were trapped. Eurasian forces weren't nearby, they were taking an alternate route. "Shit!" The team leader said to himself as he looked at his PDA and saw that they were completely trapped. "SHIT!" The six of them, from team A, were trapped, big time. Team B was moving out with the Eurasian forces. "Alright. What do we have in the air?" More cannon rounds tore through the rock around the pass and they heard voices, not voices of their own, Azeri voices. "AMBUSH!" They had been led into an ambush and the men immediately pulled out of the cave and took up their positions. Two dozen rebels appeared from both directions, firing wildly into the air but they were taken out by the powerful gunshots of the ODA. The men were in serious trouble. "Come on what do we have?" He was asking the communications sergeant and he was already on the radio.

"Viper Command. Viper Command. This is Echo One. We need air support. Over!"

"Echo One. Echo One. Viper Command. Repeat."

"Air support. We need air support!"

"Understood Echo One. What's the threat?"

"Dug-in rebels. Heavy anti-aircraft cannons. Heavy machine guns. Lots of them!"

"Roger that. Report your position." He gave the position and waited. The PDA sent the information through the satellite networks and it went right into Viper Command, based in Incirlik Air Force Base, 600 miles away. "Roger that. We're set here. We've got a flight of Badgers in the air right now. Patching you in."

"Roger that Viper Command. Awaiting." The men hunkered down as the assaults continued. Rebels surged to them from various angles as the firefight ensued. Minutes went by and nothing came over the radio. They called again and again but the aircraft weren't available yet. The flight of three B-10s was inbound at Mach 1.8, 60,000 feet in the air, tearing up the airspace over Turkey. The three of them had an eta of 30 minutes and that was how long they were going to have to hold out. "Thirty minutes!" The communications sergeant yelled into the radio. "We don't have thirty minutes!"

"Sorry Echo. That's the best we can do. Patching you into Lobo One flight now."

"Lobo One. Lobo One. This is Echo One."

"Roger that Echo One. We've got you. Report status."

"We're in deep trouble here. Is thirty minutes the best you can do?" The three aircraft were carrying two external fuel tanks, both of which were almost empty. They were supercruising at Mach 1.8, 1,188 mph. With that, the flight leader gave the order to drop the tanks and go to afterburner. They pushed the throttles up and the first afterburner stage lit, pushing the aircraft forward to Mach 2.15.

"Just pushed it up to fifteen. We're inbound now. Buster."

"Roger that. What are you carrying?"

"AGM-224s. Nine of them. We've got three thermobaric and six BROACH." Gunfire echoed in the background. "Do you copy?"

"We copy. Just hurry up!" The ODA was in a major firefight. Two grenades went off just feet from them and knocked the communications sergeant over. The B-10s screamed inbound with their internal weapons armed and ready. The missiles had a 250 mile range but they had to identify the target first and that meant they had to get close, real close. Gunfire continued to echo as the ODA took up their defensive positions, protecting the pass. The 23mm gunfire tore through the air over their heads as the gunners tried to take down their cover and engage them with the heavy machine guns, of which a powerful KPV was tearing into them as well.

The firefight was intense and every bullet the ODA placed was on the mark. The rebel forces were beginning to organize their attacks and with ten minutes to go, the ODA was really in a battle of wits. They were outnumbered by at least 200 rebels to their 6. They moved up to a fallback position and set off Claymores as rebel soldiers attacked their first position. The mines sent out thousands of ball bearings, tearing through the flesh of their enemies and kicking up dust and rainstorms of rocks and pebbles. Ten minutes were a long time in a firefight and the ODA was trained to put up a heavy fight. Bullets tore through the air like fire flies on a hot, summer night. Orders rang out as the ODA held their position. "Echo One. Echo One. Lobo One. Come in."

"Lobo One! Where the hell are you?"

"Descending now. Report situation."

"Bad guys everywhere. We're pinned down. We've got a 23 mike-mike on the ridge to the east of us and we've got bad guys all around us. Reuploading position." He pushed a button on the PDA and their position went up to the bombers instantly. "Got it?"

"We're locked. Report enemy positions." The communications sergeant took cover and began to tap the stylus on the PDA to give out the enemy positions. He had the 23mm position marked and their own as well as the enemies. "Received. FLIR shows a lot of enemy positions by the 23. We're inbound hot now. Take some cover!"

"Roger that." The men hunkered down behind the rocks as the B-10s descended to 20,000 feet. The lead aircraft was carrying the thermobaric missiles. He locked up the 23mm with the missile, using the GPS guidance of the missile.

"One away!" He verified the coordinates and squeezed the trigger. The bay shot open and the missile droped into the airflow of the Badger. Its rocket motor fired two seconds later and propelled it forwards. The pilot had set the missile to direct attack so, instead of climbing to its lofted trajectory, the missile tore straight forward, descending towards the target, increasing its speed through Mach 2, towards Mach 6. The missile streaked through the air and shook the ground as it passed overhead. They didn't see it or hear it until after it hit but the results were in their eyes. The missile smashed into the cliff side at Mach 6, penetrated, and exploded. The 800 pound warhead collapsed the entire cave network and the B-10s tore overhead, turning around for a second shot. The sounds followed after the explosion and the ground shook as half of the cliff collapsed. The ODA advanced.

Baku Front

ODA 502 moved with Eurasian forces towards Baku. They were encountering resistance and they were at least two days from the city. The documents they brought from the outpost revealed two stashed weapon's caches and they directed in the B-10s after they were done with southern Azerbaijan. The powerful BROACH warheads they put into each weapon's cache shook the ground. The warheads penetrated right through the ground, into the bunkers, and exploded. The exploding munitions and warhead sent a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire itno the sky as the ground shook again. The B-10s roared overhead and resumed a CAS station. They would refuel, if necessary but it looked like they would be out of ammunition before the time came.

Southern Azerbaijani Front

The big orange behemoth's were really a sight to behold. In the few relatively short years they'd been in service in the COH military they had become famous. The publi loved them and enemies literally shook at the mere mention of them. They're proper name was MOP, Massive Ordnance Penetrator. But since the Gulf War people had taken to called them 'Dubai Busters'.

45ft in length, weighing 30,000lb, the orange munition was not inconspicuous.
If the orange color and the sheer size wasn't an insult to the enemy in itself, the manufacturers always stamped a little message below the info plate on the frontal surface, it simply read 'Bye Bye, Baby!'

The flightline in Tikrit was busy as usual. Outgoing cargo aircraft, ferrying supplies to the new FOB at Zangelan, and Air Cav helicopters flying out to their stations created a buzz in the sky, rotors, turbines and all sorts of noise mixed into one. But the B-52's as they were wheeled out, engines running, MOP's tucked into their belly's, simply drowned out everything else.
The big birds, while old, were proven and had seen more missions than most other aircraft in the entire HAF. While most other nations had moved on to 'better' or 'more advanced' aircraft, the HAF and other allied nations still used the venerable Stratofortress'. No other aircraft could rival their sheer destructive potential.

Zangelan itself, had been busy. Air Cav troops had taken over the town itself, and the airbase was getting a face-lift by the engineers as helicopter after helicopter arrived, interspersed by the odd C-130.
So far no rebel aircraft had ventured down south, but there were a number further north, they had been easily picked up on radar, but hadn't ventured close. The Eurasians, advancing further into the country, would probably take care of them.

That wasn't the problem in the south though, the problem was bunkers. The Spartans had built an extensive cave network in many of the mountains near the border with Eurasia, hoping to use them if any attack had been forthcoming. Now it seemed the rebels were preparing to do exactly that. They needed to be destroyed if any corridor in the south could be opened to the interior, and the Air Cav birds wouldn't stand a chance if they tried to run what was virtually a gauntlet over the mountains.

So the Air Force had been called in. The rebels would never see it coming. They might hear the B-52's just before their little hovels were eclipsed and they simply ceased to exist.

After the arc-light strike the satellite views over the mountains in the south was simply spectacular. Smoke billowed out of craters and cave openings all over the place and Air Cav birds swooped in and mowed down anything that moved. Dazed rebels, blood trickling from their nose and mouths and ears stumbled from cave openings, only to find themselves staring up at 7.62 Gatling Cannon's or looking up the mouth of a Cobra's 20mm Cannon. The rebel tunnel network in the south had virtually been decimated.

OOC: Where was that city?

Guys don't forget that Sparta Dominion's capital was actually the fictional city of New Sparta, and you'll have to deal with millions of liberated slaves.

Kreynoria;12338792']Guys don't forget that Sparta Dominion's capital was actually the fictional city of New Sparta, and you'll have to deal with millions of liberated slaves.

OOC: where is this city?

OOC: Odd it FUBAR'd the replies.

Nakhichevan HQ

The assault into the rebel mountain tunnel networks was proving costly; another four helicopters were shot down, yet the Eurasian forces were able to recover the crews in time. The Eurasian Commanders call in for more air strikes to take out the caves and strongholds of the rebels. The Eurasian Mountain Divisions were making some headway with the support of the special operations forces of the Empire. It was only a matter of time before the Eurasians forces crush the rebels in the area for good.

KIA: 80, MIA: 180, WIA: 400

The road to Baku

The Eurasian forces were finally within range of the city, after two days of heavy fighting with rebel forces. The Eurasian Commanders call for massive artillery strike on rebel lines, in order to weaken their defenses, before a full out assault on the city itself. Soon massive artillery bombardment begun, it was going to last at least two days before the Eurasians even dare to enter the city.

KIA: 100, MIA:200, WIA: 600


Armenia and Georgia fronts

The Eurasian Forces were able to clear out the rebels from most of the cities in the region, yet they have not move on the mountain areas yet. The Eurasian Commanders didn’t to attack the rebels on their home terrain at the moment; they decide it was best to bomb the living hell out of the rebel positions in the mountains before moving in. Just waves of B1 bombers came in and drop their bombs to destroy the cave networks and waves of A-10s made their attack runs on rebel supply lines and deports.

KIA:20. MIA:80, WIA:180

Southern Front

The Air Cavalry were doing what they did best, and that was using the helicopters to get quickly into, and if they needed, out of places of interest. So far the mountains had proven relatively barren and deserted. Rebel stragglers from the caves that were bombed were still gunned down every so often as they tried to make their way north.

But so far the biggest fight had been in the only other southern town, at least the only one worth any note, Mamedbeyli. It lay directly north of Zangelan, along a train track that snaked through an area the mountains ended before the Eurasian border, a natural demarcation line of sorts.

The town was bigger than Zangelan, and full of civilians. The rebels had set up around the town on the surrounding mountains, but a day of air strikes had seen to them and now the only rebels left were manning trenches in front and behind the town. With the loss of only two helicopters and seven troopers the Cavalry had the town secure within a few hours.

But the fight to secure the place was not the problem. The problem was slaves. The civilian populace were a mix of town locals and refugees from Zangelan. Once the Cavalry had arrived the slaves, visibly marked and poorly clothed and treated, produced COH Military Information leaflets that had been dropped all over the mountains. They said explicity that All slaves will be freed upon arrival of allied forces. The slaves ran forward, not heeding their 'owners' calls and admonishments. They greeted the Cavalry troops with crying, kissing and all sorts of emotions poured out.

The civilian populace actually had to be guarded during the night from slaves hell-bent on exacting their revenge on their tormentors. The Cavalry troops found the entire debacle interesting yet entirely fucked up.

The capture of Mamedbeyli meant the southern corridor was finally open. There were no other settlements in the south due to the huge peaks and barren landscape to the west. Now Eurasian, Layartebian and Hirgizstanian forces had a clear area of movement over the mountains which would let them emerge into the interior of the country, ready to bring the fight to the rebels in force.

Nakhichevan Front

ODA 501 was locked in an epic battle against SP forces. Attack helicopters and fighter-bombers of the Eurasian forces were flying to and from the battlefields, slamming enemy forces hard. ODA 501 was moving along the ridgelines and mountains. They were fighting uphill but they were making progress. Layartebian B-10s based in Incirlik had been the most effective. They have dropped dozens and dozens of bombs on SP positions and destroyed cave hideouts with powerful concussion bombs and penetrating warheads. Bombs were brought in close to ODA 501 but they were experts. They called in the strikes and vectored in the bombers. The SP terrorists were falling behind in their attacks but their heavy ordinance slowed the advance of ODA 501 severely. Eurasian forces were working on flanking positions and the other half of the team was calling in their own strikes.

Baku Front

Baku was still far away but ODA 502 was moving with Eurasian forces on a highly successful and quick-paced advance. Rebel snipers were the biggest threats to ODA 502 and the Eurasian forces but they were firing back. Every time they saw a muzzle flash, they shot back and every time they got pinned down, they vectored in attack helicopters and fighter-bombers. The ground was shaking like an earthquake from the bomb impacts and the aircraft overhead. The Caspian Sea would run red with blood by the time they were done.

Nakhichevan HQ

The Eurasian Forces were finally making headway in the mountains the tide had finally turn in their favor and now the rebels were on the run. Since their tunnel system was mostly taken out already by heavy bombing or rooted out by Empire and Eurasian Forces. It was only matter of time before the Eurasians forces finish off their rebel foes.

The road to Baku

The Eurasian Commander finally gives the go ahead to storm the city after two days of have artillery bombardment. Now all the major Eurasian army units begun to pour into the city, with heavy air support, they begun taking on the rebels street by street, they were intend of crushing the rebel hold over the city brutally and effectively. Just the battle of Baku had begun.


Armenia and Georgia fronts

The Eurasian Forces were able to establish total control over most of the major cites and the rural areas of the two nations. But mountain war continue to drag on, as the rebels show no sign of giving up yet, but the Eurasians continue to hammer their strongholds and press ahead to crush them.

Southern Front

The advance had been going extremely well on all fronts. The Eurasians and Layartebians were destroying resistance in Nakhichevan and the Eurasians had advanced to the outskirts of Baku. However, the vast interior of the country was relatively untouched, and there was much resistance between Mamedbeyli and Kubatly in the west.

Kubatly, however, was a cakewalk compared with Dzhebrail, on the border between the region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the rest of Azerbaijan. Under the Spartans the Karabakhans had been subdued, but now that the wheels had come off they were re-asserting their independence and the rebels were trying to keep them cowed while fighting the allies. Thus Dzhebrail was used as a huge staging base for raids in the High Karabakh.

The Cavalry lost six helicopters and over 50 men trying to take the city. But the rebels were entrenched deep, and were using military bunkers and flanking fields of fire to great effect, as well as using Russian AA missiles.

So the Air Force were called in and an Arc-Light strike essentially reduced the city to piles of rubble. The Cavalry simply flew in and took over the dead city. Any rebels who had survived had retreated into Nagorno Karabakh, deciding to take their chances their instead of against the Hirgizstanians.


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OOC: So should we RP Nagorno-Karabakh as hostile to us or perhaps fighting with us? I believe in that country (in RL the people there consider it a country, although the UN do not recognize them) they are mostly Slavic, not Azeri. So any thoughts?

There was an image of its location posted in the Operation Helot thread, but it appears to have expired. If I remember correctly, it was located in the central-eastern region of his country.

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OOC: So should we RP Nagorno-Karabakh as hostile to us or perhaps fighting with us? I believe in that country (in RL the people there consider it a country, although the UN do not recognize them) they are mostly Slavic, not Azeri. So any thoughts?

OOC:Actually your right...that region would be hostile to us..so yea,we have to take of them too.

Nakhichevan Front

ODA 501 had moved far ahead of the pack but that was on purpose. The Eurasian assault had put a massive hurt on the Pasdaran terrorists and they were retreating northward, into Armenia. They abandoned their base of operations, which was precisely where ODA 501 was. The SP terrorists put up a brutal fight but they were overwhelmed. When B-10s carrying powerful strike missiles and guided bombs came inbound, they took off running for the hills. Eurasian helicopters were chasing them away but, as far as ODA 501 was concerned, they were set. Both teams had joined up and all twelve men began to scour the base for anything that might be useful. Overhead, helicopters whirled and fighters soared but, on the ground, in the middle of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, there was some semblance of peace. Two SP terrorists had been captured, alive, though wounded. With medical treatment they would be fine. Another 182 lie dead around the base, most from the powerful missiles and rockets of helicopter gunships but the ODA had killed many themselves.

The two captures were low-level terrorists, nobody too important. One worked in operations and the other in training. They would be able to shed some useful light though on what their training methods were and what type of operations they planed on in the future. However, that would be at a later time. Two MH-60G Pave Hawks, deployed to a forward airbase in Turkey was inbound with a quartet of MH-6M Little Bird escorts. They would extract the ODA and the prisoners but they still had four hours before the helicopters would arrive, giving them plenty of time to look around. Each team took one prisoner and one section of the camp and began to explore. It was a large camp, large enough to support almost 10,000 fighters, a chilling and deadly revelation.

One of the terrorists, the operations one, had shed some light on how many SP terrorists there were at this camp. "There are 4,580 here." He said in Farsi. "We have more camps." He continued. They did have more camps but they were minor and only fractions of size in comparison to this one. Eurasian forces had already torn two apart with gunships and fighter-bombers and two more were in Armenia. They would be annihilated eventually. "We train others here too." They were talking, some, mainly because they thought that the Layartebians who seized them weren't Layartebians but rather some international force who meant them little harm. If they cooperated, they would be set free, or so they were told. They believed them and the men spoke a host of languages that the terrorists spoke, Farsi being one of them. They took a sort of private tour around the camp and, by the time the six helicopters arrived, the two ODAs threw the terrorists on board and hundreds and hundreds of documents. They swept through it and filled six large, laundry bags full of papers and photographs. When the helicopters touched down, showing the insignia of the Imperial Layartebian Air Force, the terrorists knew that they had been duped. Thrown aboard and hooded so that they could not see, they went towards their own doomed future...

Baku Front

Further east, near Baku, the Eurasian forces had begun their assault. It had been shelled for two days straight by arterillery and aircraft so most of it was in ruins. Still, there were thousands of enemies in its streets and buildings and nothing short of a nuclear bomb would erase them all from existence. That was why the conventional armored force of the Eurasians was moving into the city from all four directions. ODA 502 was with them, spearheading the assault. They stayed out front, with the heaviest tanks and most elite infantry. They spotted snipers and mortar teams and either engaged them or directed fire. Linked into the Eurasian aircraft overhead, they could, in effect, control and conduct the whole battle. That was why they were elite special forces because they had the skills and wherewithal to do the most grueling of tasks with the most efficiency. With Hirgizstani forces assisting, it would be hours or days before the city fell, versus weeks. The Eurasian assualt was definitely not weak nor was it calm. They wanted the city and the country and would achieve it...

Nakhichevan Front

The Eurasian Forces were busy mopping up the remaining rebel troops within the mountain ranges and other Eurasians army groups in the Armenian side of the mountain range were already waiting for the rebels to try to fled into that region..they will be greeted with Eurasians soldiers armed with assault rifles.

Baku Front

The Eurasian forces were engaged in street-to-street fighting with the rebel forces, they were slowly but surely progress to take total control of the city. The Eurasian Commanders order four Para troop divisions to land around the city to prevent the rebels from getting out alive and to establish a perimeter around the city.

Armenia and Georgia

The Eurasians force continue their mountain campaign against die hard rebels in the mountain range for the most the rebellion in these two regions has been quell for now..

Southern Front

Nagorno-Karabakh (or the High Karabakh as its people call it) is a strange place. A land-locked province of Azerbaijan, and an enclave of slavic peoples. The Spartans of course, had kept them in line, ensuring their breakaway tendencies were mericlessly crushed, but now that the Spartans had fallen they had re-asserted their independence.

The mostly Azeri rebels in the south had been fighting not only the Hirgizstanian forces, but also the Karabakhan slavs. The Azeris had good positions as the High Karabakh was a land-locked province, so they were essentially hemmed in. But their enclave of hostility proved a problem with the Hirgizstanian advance, because suddenly straight through the Karabakh was the quickest line of retreat, and instead of trying to avoid it the Azeri rebels had retreated in force straight into a hornets nest of slavic hostility.

The Hirgizstanian Air Cavalry, advancing from the south, had established bases in cities right up to the border of the Karabakh. There were so many problems in the cities, especially to do with a lack of food, destruction and the freedom that was suddenly granted to thousands of slaves, some of whom were bent on revenge, and others simply with nowhere to go.

Makeshift camps had to be set up not only for the COH troops but for people who had lost their homes, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent were doing a stellar job in hostile territory. Luckily the fires of an insurgency hadn't been lit, the flight of the Azeris had been so quick and complete that few, if any, where left in the southern mountain areas. Most had been called to the High Karabakh.

COH Special Forces were the only allied forces in the High Karabakh. The problem was it was hostile not only to the Azeris, but to the Allies, thus the battle between the two rebel forces was being watched closely. The Karabakhan slavs knew their area much better and had taken over much of the military equipment from their 'capital', Stepanekert, which lay basically in the centre of the province. They had tanks, artillery, aircraft and other heavy weapons, against the Azeris who had at most some jeeps with heavy weapons. The Azeri rebels everywhere else were too busy fighting the allies to even think about helping their comrades against the slavs.

So the COH SOF watched the battles rage in the cities of the Karabakh for days. The Azeris were basically being slaughtered in the mountainous south, the slavs used artillery to devastating effect and had used a number of old Mig's and a couple of bulky Russian helicopters to attack the Azeris in inaccessible areas.

All the while the COH would let the two forces fight each other, wasting their time, their men and their energy on each other, while information was gathered about the High Karabakh, and then just when the slavs won, it was inevitable, and they relaxed, they would be utterly destroyed.

Nakhichevan Front

The two MH-60s had touched down at the forward airbase safely. Though the Eurasian forces pushed onward, towards the north and through the rest of Armenia and Georgia, pushing back the Pasdaran terrorists, the few that were remaining. The documents had yet to be analyzed but the men looked them over cautiously on the flight. With their prisoners safe, the twelve men picked a little bit of the documents out of the sack and read some of them, to try to get initial estimates on what was going on in the war. They wanted intelligence, as much as they could gather and they hoped that the documents showed them something, something that was viable and something that they could work with, or pass on to the Eurasians. However, they found something else, something totally different, something totally out of the blue. One particular document contained the name of a company, a company they knew quite a lot about, given its recent history. The name of the company was Totalis, a Varsolan corporation, based on the Falklands Islands. This was the same company that was directly linked to the bombing of Saint George's. The subsequent information gain from the corporate headquarters led to the Layartebian invasion of the Falklands and the eventual downfall of the Varsolan state. Apparently, this place was linked directly to that company. Things were definitely feeding out...