NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This RP is only semi-open, unless you were cleared to participate in the OOC thread, you many not send ships or deploy troops. Official statements are welcomed though.

Somewhere near the Virgin Islands, the Southern Sea

Captain Peter Goodman stood near the one of the bridge windows and watched the rolling swells as he drank his third cup of coffee of the morning. It was only 4 AM. Goodman was skipper (and owner) of the Tolvanic flagged fishing vessel Challenger and was a living legend of sorts. He'd started out as a hand on his uncle's boat when he was just 14. When he turned 18, he'd entered the Tolvanic Navy, serving four years, before returning to work for his uncle. That was nearly 25 years ago and now he owned his own boat and employed ten men of his own. Things were hard for an independent fisherman these days, the big corporations like Ian Lassiter's Southern Star Fisheries, made it hard for men like him. The mere thought of Tolvan's richest man made him nauseous, something the sea had only managed three times in his nearly 35 years as a sailor.

The waters he plied were some of the richest fishing grounds in the world. The Southern Sea fishing grounds were one of the main reasons Tolvan was settled in the first place, and the only reason anyone lived on the godforsaken collection of frozen rocks know as the Culver Islands. But fish weren't the only things that lie beneath these waters. The Southern Sea was home to an estimated 6% of the world's petroleum reserves and Tolvan (mostly through Ian Lassiter's Tolvanic Petroleum) controlled nearly 85% of it. That made these highly sought after waters.

Recently the nearby nation of Delesa had begun reinforcing their garrison on the Virgin Islands. Not that Tolvan cared; the Virgin Islands were much further away from the richest parts of the Southern Sea and posed little threat to Tolvanic hegemony of these areas. What annoyed Goodman were the increased Delesan patrols and their obnoxious and extremely arrogant officers.

In response the Tolvanic Navy had stepped up patrols of the area and augmented the garrison on the Culver Islands. The islands now supported an entire brigade of Tolvanic paratroopers as well as two squadrons of F-36 Reaper attack aircraft and a squadron of F-22T Raptor air dominance fighters. Goodman wasn’t particularly worried about the Delesans, he was more worried about the recent bad weather was changing the migration patterns of the striped Halibut.

OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=523423)

Delesian Virgin Seas

The HMDS. Poseidon crept at a pace of 3 knots, several hundred meters under the surface. Her skipper was Commander James Torres, a graduate of the Royal Naval University at 18, and had been captain of the Poseidon for some 23 years. He had first served as the junior officer onboard the Poseidon during the Kreatvye war, rising through the ranks as his superior officer left for high positions in the Admiralty. The Poseidon was a older SSK Victoria Class Long-Range Patrol Submarine, although she was old, the Royal Navy took care of her own, and was equipped with state of the art technology, the reason behind the maintaining of the modified diesel submarines, was they could run more silent then the modern nuclear subs when using the electric engines.

Recently, the war in the Atlantian Oceania region, where Delesa is located, had taken a turn for the worse by the SDL nations, hence more oil was in demand to run the war machine, and Delesa with its Delesa West Trading Co. which handled the oil exports had requested that the Delesian government expanded the sea boundary, which extended in a small nation's oil reserves, so that the demand could be met. And with the expansion into unknown waters, patrols had been lengthened, spreading into this new area. The navy was on orders to 'protect the national interest' which to Captain Torres, that it was his duty to ensure that the DWT Co. Tankers went about their business with out any hassles. It was amazing what bribes made the government do, sending war ships to protect the oil industries. The pay offs must be huge, and he wasn't seeing a penny of it. A crying shame, since he was in command of the sub and not the government when he was out at sea. A smile ran across the Captain's face.

He was located in his small closet of a room, reviewing orders to escort a nearby oil tanker. There was a knock on the door.

"Enter." His XO popped his head in.

"Sir, sonar is picking up something on sonar."

"It's took early to be that tanker."

"Well it isn't loud enough to be a tanker sir."

"Alright I'll be right there." He placed on his white peak cap and stepped out of his room. The moment he reached the control room he ordered battle stations, and to rise to periscope depth. He looked out the periscope and whipped it around, the cross hairs resting on the port side of the vessel. "Give me a firing solution, and surface, she doesn’t look too dangerous. But one can never be too suspicious in this business. Run up the Delesian flag. Raise the vessel; inform her that she is in Delesian water, and on a convoy route. She is either to turn around and leave, or prepare to be boarded. Also prepare the boarding party." The Captain stepped back and allowed his XO to have a look.

"Aye sir!" Replied the XO; his order's being relayed to the respective people.

Open Ocean somewhere in the Southern Sea

Lt. (j.g.) Brian McCoy checked the surface plot for the at least the tenth time in as many minutes. McCoy was the ordinance officer, and current OOD, on board the Tolvanic frigate Squall. The Squall was one of several Tolvanic vesses dispatched to the Southern Sea to counter the increased Delesan activity in the area. In face High Command had even sent a carrier strike group, centered around the Pelican to the area.

As the ship rolled to port again, it only served to reaffirm McCoy's hatred for this part of the world. To him anyone who sailed out here everyday by choice was a damn fool and quite possibly a madman to boot.

The Poseidon surfaced in a splash of water, the wet decks reflecting the afternoon sun. Sailors scrambled up the now open hatches, raising the Commonwealth flag on the mast and preparing the boarding crew. Captain Torres appeared atop the conning tower, binoculars in hand.

“Sir, we have word with naval command, they claim that the ships in this area are Tolvian, sir they are British descendants, like the most of us.”

“First they are not us, and that’s a good enough reason, and second, they aren’t British either, so I want those firing solutions.” He raised the binoculars to his face. “Ahead half speed, put us right beside her Lt.”

“Aye sir.” The officer relayed the orders down the hatch. The Victoria class submarine cut through the sea, pulling along side the fishing vessel, which had not replied to the repeated calls of the Poseidon. Mooring lines with hooks on the end were tossed across, which were met with axes. These people didn’t want to get boarded. Shots rang out from the boarding crews MP-5s high into the air. Lines were thrown back across this time, not cut. Small plank ways were laid down, the marine boarding party rushing across, screaming at the fishing crew to get down, which they did reluctantly, even with a few light encouragements. After several minutes, the marines were done a quick search. The radio crackled in the captain’s hand.

“Sir, nothing but a few small arms. We have the captain locked in his cabin. Do you want us to bring him back?”

“Yes, please do.” Replied Torres. He climbed down the tower and onto the deck. At the same time his marines stumbled with getting the other captain onto the submarine, he had a bleeding nose.

“Look is the meaning of this?!” He ordered.

“My good sir, you can not be on my boat and order people around. These are our seas, and your sailing on them. We are allowed to inspect any vessel that comes into our seas.”

“Yeah well you didn’t have to have your soldiers crack me in the face!”

“Captain, my boys don’t just hit people for no good reason, you probably weren’t listening.” The fisherman grumbled. “You had disobeyed a direct order to turn around, and leave these seas. Why did you continue your course?”

“Our nets were out, e had to bring them up first, I didn’t know these were… you the hell are you?”

“Oh my apologies, I’m Commander James Torres, captain of the HMDS. Poseidon, the boat you are currently standing on, in the service of the Royal Delesian Navy of the United Commonwealth, and you sir are the enemy at this time, so keep a civil tongue when on my boat.” Torres turned to face the marine officer. “Go check out the nets and see if they are wet.”

“Aye sir.” Turning and walking off with some men.

“Well I’m in international waters!” Claimed the captain.

“Not according to the official statement from our government that extends out sea boundaries. And Delesa as my motherland land in currently at war with other nations of the region, I hear by arrest you and your crew for spying on the United Commonwealth interests, which includes the oil shipping lane your vessel is… parked on.” The marine returned, giving a quick salute. “Yes?”

“She’s as dry as a desert.” Torres faced the fisherman.

“As I was saying captain, your under arrest. We have a nice little cell back in Port Hustlings for you, and a wonderful parking spot for you ship.” James Torres waved a hand in the air; the fisherman was grabbed by the arms and escorted back to the fish trawler. “Lt, I will give you my marines, and some sailors to take aboard this ship and follow me back to port.”

OOC: I had a lengthy IC post typed up, but Jolt ate it, so here's an abreviated version.

What the Delesans didn't know was that Captain Goodman had managed to contact a Tolvanic freighter several knots west of their location just before Delesan troops had barged onto his bridge.

The freighter had relayed the message to a patrolling Tolvanic frigate as soon as it had been recieved. Once the message was away the ship altered course and left the area at flank speed, they had no desire to be boarded by the Delesans any time soon.

The message had soon reached the desk of COMSOUSEAFLEET (Commander Southern Seas Fleet) Admiral Timothy Cole. After consulting with the Minister of Defence and the Joint Chiefs he had ordered the Pelican battle group to move from its patrol pattern into the Southern Sea proper. In addition he had asked for, and was granted, reinforcements from the Mainland. The Shrike battle group, as well as several submariens and other surface ships were redeploying from other patrols to positions close to the Culver Islands. In addition he had ordered the activation of the islands' National Guard units and put all Tolvanic military personnel there on alert. The next step was to secure the oil fields to the southwest of the islands. Two patrolling frigates were reouted south to cover the oil platforms and tankers plying the waters near them. In addition, he was drawing up plans to begin putting detachments of Marines on key platforms and tankers. Already a full Marine battalion was en route from Tovlan, via C-17 and would begin deploying within 30 hours. If the Delesans tried to escalate this incident, they would be met with force.

Delesian Times front page:

Tolvan Fisher Captured
http://www.navy.gov.au/spc/maritimepapers/piama16/images/image008.jpg
Tolvan fishing vessel just outside Port Hustlings in chopper seas

Port Hustlings - Earlier yestarday, a Royal Delesian Navy submarine, HMDS. Poseidon captured and arrested the crew of a Tolvan fishing vessel, believed to have been in new Delesian waters, to be more precise, in the oil tanker route from several new DWT oil rigs. The vessel was brought into harbour under the barrels of serveral destroyers and the captor, a Victoria Class SSK submarine. The crew has been transported to the Naval Intel Headquarters, where it is believed that the National Secret Police and the Naval Intel are working together to find out the true purpose of the vessel's intent along this vital supply line.

Although many protesters claim, she was just fishing and that she had no communications with the marine dispatches about the new Delesian sea claims due to a nasty storm that destroyed the radio equipment. Reporters and the rest of the public have not been able to view the ship apart from the images as she came into port, then straight into a covered, sealed concrete dry dock.

The Admiral of the Submerged Fleet, Admiral Karl Rex stated ealier on the behalf of Commander James Torres, captain of the HMDS. Poseidon, saying in the report from the captain, that the boarding part first met resistance in the attempted first boarding, and that ealier the ship had failed to acknowledge requests from the HMDS. Poseidon to leave the Delesian seas. Hence, Commander James Torres acting under the laws of the sea set down by the admiralty many years ago, acted on the guess that the vessel was an enemy, disguised as a civilian vessel, waiting for a lone DWT tanker to fall into the trap sinking the valuable oil, much needed in the AO region where Delesa is located, or spying on tanker routes for a future attack. Although no offical release has come from the navy or the government about the findings onboard the ship.

Read more pg.A3 Capture

TBC Evening Report

"Good evening, I'm Charles Downing live from TBC NEws headquarters in Brayton. Our top story tonight, Delesan naval forces have seized a Tolvanic fishing vessle in international waters and impounded the ship and detained its crew. We now take you live to Parliament, where Prime Minister Hutchins is addressing the nation."

"Citizens of Tolvan, I stand before you on this day with grave news. As an island nation Tolvan's fate has always been interwinded with the sea. I myself am the son of a fisherman, my father was the son of the fisherman, and his father before him. As a result we have held the right of free passage upon the sea as almost sacred, our very existence depends upon it."

"However, earlier this morning that right was violated in the most vile and aggriegous manner. The nation of Delesa illegally stopped, boarded, and impounded a Tolvanic flagged fishing vessel operating in international waters."

"We are aggressively pursuing all options to secure the release of the ship and crew. Also as a deterrent further such actions, I have ordered the deployment of three carrier battle groups and other additional ships to the area to bolster our presence over the Sothern Sea. In addition I reinforced the garrison on the Culver Islands to nearly divisional strength."

"At this time military force is an unlikely option, as we would all prefer a peaceful resolution to this affair. However, I would advise Delesa not to misinterpet this restraint as weakness. Tolvanic soldiers shed blood throughout the world to destroy tyranny in the Second World War. Any further escalataion will be met with swift and decisive force. I believe I speak for us all when I say I do not want that. To that end I am calling on the world to denounce this affront to the freedom of the seas for what it is, piracy."

"I am not an unreasonable man though, and thus I would like to invite representatives of Delesa to meet with myself and my advisors and attempt to resolve this matter."

"I spoke earlier today to the families of the detained fishermen. I told them that though their loved ones were being held in a foreign land, the thoughts and prayers of all of Tolvan were with them."

"To the crew of the Challenger we will not rest until you are home. Take strength in knowing that every resource of the Commonwealth is at work to secure your release."

"Good night my friends."

OOC: glorified bump

SS Laine Gillis

The tanker Laine Gillis slid smoothly through the waters fo the Southern Sea. The ship rolled only modestly, despite the five meter swells, the massive weight of the ship's cargo of crude oil holding it steady.

In addition to it's 17 man crew the ship carried 11 Tolvanic Marines. The Marines had been dropped off off on baord about six hours ago via a CH-53 transport. The reinforced rifle squad was mainly armed with R-15 rifles but also had a M240 machine gun, a SLM-36 Super Stinger MANPADS, and a couple shotguns.

This detachment was just one of nearly a hundred scattered throughout the Southern Sea guarding Tolvanic oil platforms and ships. The Delesans would have to think twice before attempting to board a defended vessel.

Whiskey Four-Five Foxtrot, Nimrod MRA4 (http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/nimrod/) Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft
Approaching waypoint Alpha One-Five, South Atlantic

"What I wouldn't give for a beach, warm sand, a couple of beers right about now," the captain remarked to his copilot as he looked up at the panel mounted over his head. He heard a chuckle in response from the man, who was busy at the moment studying a catalog containing pictures of what professed to be 'quality service sidearms for every military officer.' The price of driving a $48 million ISK aircraft, with nothing better to do than stare at open ocean for hours on end.

One of the pilot's fingers clicked a switch into place, then he looked back at the panel of instruments before him. A prominent red light had disappeared. "Ahh, call that a negative Yankee-Zulu. Looks like we'll hold together."

"Copy that" he heard in response through his earphones. Back at base someone was no doubt perturbed at the call pertaining to an electrical problem in one of the secondary circuit breakers. There were far more important things to attend to, such as overseeing the giant C-16 Pelican (http://phoenixdynamix.proboards38.com/index.cgi?board=Aircraft&action=display&thread=1099026916) being wheeled out of its hangar and prepared for launch from the Kindu Army Air Corps base, far behind in Africa.

The problem wasn't earth-shattering though, so the mission was still on.

It had taken only mere minutes for the conclusion to be reached at Torrinos Army Air Corps Base (headquarters of the Bautizar Defense Corporation) that rising tensions between the Delesians and Tolvanic had the potential to escalate into a shooting war in the South Atlantic. Three entire carrier battlegroups being redeployed was almost certain to turn heads, as was publicly-declared news of a sizeable troop redeployment to bolster a far-flung outpost's defenses.

Neither piece of information was welcome amongst the eight corporations, all of whom by now had sizeable investments in the new African colonies that were springing up. Anything that had the potential to inflict sizeable delays in the movement of personnel, that could cause airships and transports to detour around a shooting zone and add hours (if not days) to their transits, and could sever the State from the colonies on which it would soon rely for its industrial might, was guaranteed to cause concern at the highest levels of government.

A shooting war in the South Atlantic would be a shooting war astride the main shipping artery for airships and strategic transports going to and from the African colonies. Right now the State needed a firm hand on the situation, to let the people down below on the waves know that someone other than themselves cared about this situation, and was keeping a sharp eye on what was going on. The crew of Whiskey Four-Five Foxtrot had all this and more in mind as the jet aircraft rumbled on over the open ocean. Occasionally one of them glanced aft at the ordinance bay, remembering the payload of air-defense missiles that had been loaded on board as a 'just in case' measure.

St. Myhre (capital), Delesa

"Sir we have just recieved information on this Tolvan. They are claiming this vessel innocent, and that they are calling our act of defence as piracy. Although they are asking for a peaceful solution. 'At this time military force is an unlikely option, as we would all prefer a peaceful resolution to this affair. However, I would advise Delesa not to misinterpet this restraint as weakness. ' And sir, they fought in world war two with the commonwealth." reported Admiral Tervor Jackson, handing his boss the transcript.

"The commonwealth? You mean the old commonwealth? Like the United Kingdom?" the face of Lester Geddie, the Prime Minister, cringed.

"Yes sir. They are descendants."

"So we find ourselfs, in this modern era, with information and technology surrounding us, and now two nations, descendants of the same homeland, fighting on our own turf?'

"It would appear so."

"We'll I am going to ignore that fact, and we are going to continue with the same plan. I want that vessel stripped top to bottom. And the crew treated well enough they will give us some anwsers."

"And if these people are telling the truth?"

"Well this is one big misunderstanding, and we can be glad no one has been killed yet." the Prime Minister sighed heavily. An offical statement will have to be made.

Broadcasted on the TV channels all over the globe, anywhere Delesian TV is picked up, on radios, and in the next days newspapers.

Defending Our Homeland!
We as a proud and noble people, will not stand to being name called by these... people. If they want to name call, it will be a one sided confict, as we, as a nation will not stoop down to their level.

In defence of this 'boarding', as it was not piracy, as we don't intend to steal any goods that might be onboard, will be explained in good time, and in perfectly good reason. Delesian people I can assure you we did no wrong. Although if these name calling people want to escalate this escapade, then so help us god, they will have the brunt of the United Commonwealth's power come down on them like the Delesian Lion on it's prey.

They claim 'we have held the right of free passage upon the sea as almost sacred, our very existence depends upon it'. Well let me be first to tell you, the world just dosen't work that way. And if you stray into our sea territory, you will have to face the consequences. If their life depends on the sea, as we too are a multiple island nation, and you over fish and destroy your fish population, you can't just go into another nation's sea. Especially when our trade routes are so important to us. These people should have some to the government for a fishing permit, as we are under very tight security at this moment due to our regional war, that every citizen knows about.

Let it be known that we boarded that vessel, now known as the Challenger was boarded with the intentions to ensure that the ship was not a war vessel, or contained weapons or surveillance equipment, and when our own HMDS. Poseidon encountered resistance initially, the Captain, Commander James Torres was taken by more suspicion and justified to take the necessary actions to ensure the safety of the Delesian saliors onboard the near-by and closing oil tanker CDS. Winnipeg. And now the vessel is in Delesian authorities as well as the crew, under going investigations by the government.

Prime Minister Hutchins, I wil take your warning into consideration, but don't be fooled that the Delesian people and I will stand by and allow you to threaten our cause.

On this note, I now have given the authority necessary to the naval command to dispatch an entire Carrier Strike Force, Task Force Charles, from the 3rd Fleet, as well as additional support from the naval fleet operations and the submarine fleet.




Carrier Force:
1x Nimitz class aircraft carrier (Aircraft: Plenty)
2x Iroquois class destroyers (Aircraft: 2 - H-3 Sea King helicopters)
1x Arleigh Burke class destroyer (Aircraft: 2 - SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters)
2x Halifax class frigate (Aircraft: 1 - CH124 Sea King helicopter)
2x Ticonderoga class cruiser (Aircraft: 2 - H-3 Sea King helicopters)
2x Protecteur class auxiliary vessel (Aircraft: 3 - CH124 Sea King helicopters)
2x Virginia class submarine

And 4 CP-140 Aurora Aircraft are used as extras launched from land based airports.
As well as 2 more Virginia class submarines, Protecteur class auxiliary vessel, and 2 Los Angeles class submarines are sent to patrol the oil route, now known as Oil-Way 1. Only a single Virginia class submarine protects the Protecteur class auxiliary vessel.

Kincaid Island, Culver Islands

Lt. Max Reid watched as the last of the M8 Hellcat light tanks (http://www.military.szm.sk/zbrane/tanky/m8ags.jpg) rolled off the C-17 transport and onto the snow covered tarmac of Lynard Air Base. The M8s were part of the 1 Battalion, 41st Armor Regiment, the airborne tank battalion assigned to the 2nd Airmobile Division. In addition several dozen Ranger CVRs and nearly 100 M225 (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/images/m113-001.jpg) APCs that had recently been pulled out of storage and sent to the islands to provide the paratroopers with armored support. While less capable than the bigger Spartan III IFVs, they were much lighter and better suited for the rugged tundra of the Culver Islands.

The deployment to this frozen hellhole was fully expected to be temporary, in fact Reid hoped to be home in time for the Tolvanic Rugby League playoffs next month.

Torvaln Army Air Corps Base, Corporate Police State of Bautizar
Headquarters of the Bautizar Defense Corporation

The Bautizar Defense Corporation may have been a privatized military corporation, but it still abided by strict military regulations and everything that made it a de facto branch of the State. It extended all up and down the ranks. Which is why the two soldiers guarding the imposing metal door stamped to attention and saluted the chairman of the corporation, Fleet Admiral Sir Anton La Guardia Baxtiore. It was common knowledge that the man's brother was the general in charge of the African campaign, an honor and distinction to any soldier. Which may have also helped the soldiers outside straighten their backs a little more.

"Gentlemen," he said as he entered the room, a construct graced with wooden paneling and comfortable chairs. There was a fifteen-foot-high screen at the far end of the table away from the doors. And there was an officer manning the podium next to the screen, ready to commence the day's brief as the various generals and admirals in charge of running every aspect of the corporation began to take their seats.

Finally the lights dimmed as the screen came to life, the lieutenant producing a laser pointer to gesture to the screen. There was a satellite photo there, an overhead shot of an airstrip with several airplanes sitting out on the tarmac. What caused the officers to straighten up in their chairs was the unmistakeable sight of tanks and armored personnel carriers lining up off to the side. "This picture was taken eight hours ago sir. The aircraft were flown in aboard C-17 transports ..."

Whiskey Four-Five Foxtrot, Nimrod MRA4 Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft
Approaching waypoint Sierra-Two, South Atlantic
Sixty miles off the Culver Islands

The Nimrod was back, having relieved the previous one in its airborne patrol pattern. A total of six Nimrods were now being deployed on an around-the-clock basis throughout the area, with airborne tanker support meeting them on the way to and from the Kindu Army Air Corps Base. This range was a stretch, even for sophisticated aircraft such as these, and all the flying time caused the engines to suck up fuel. But that was the last thing on the captain's mind as he listened in on the internal communications channel being used by the intelligence officers in the back of the aircraft.

"New source, designate contact as Romeo Two-Five ... classify as a ... looks like a Golf-band radar?"

"Affirmative" someone else remarked over the channel. "Air-search radar, extreme long range right now. No chance in hell that they've got us. Pilot, come right to new course zero-zero-eight and climb to sixteen thousand feet." Dutifully and without comment the captain began to bank and climb, moving the aircraft to triangulate the signal and narrow down its source. Unbeknownst to him, overhead in the space above a reconnaissance satellite had been moved into position earlier on the previous day, its groundward-pointed antennas listening in on sensitive communication exchanges and detecting the various radar arrays in use.

A few minutes later they had more clarification: a shore-based air-search radar, probably from a surface-to-air missile array. Someone marked it down as the crew moved on to classifying more arrays as they came up. The task seemed never-ending.

**Secret IC**
200 km above Oil-Way 1

The Tolvanic Bureau of Orbital Reconnissance (BOR) KH-15 moved through space at nearly 50,000 kph, a snail's pace when compared to vastness of space. The satellite had been retasked and moved into a geosynchronous orbit over the Delesan shipping lane where the Challenger had been seized. The satellite's mission was to simply watch and record the paths of Delesan tankers and their escorts. This type of information could prove to useful later.

Breckerton, Tolvan

The men assembled in this opulent house are among Tolvan's wealthiest and most powerful, yet few people would know them if they passed them on the street. That made this meeting much easier to plan to carry out.

The man who had called this meeting, and owned the mansion they resided in, listened intently as several of his colleagues debated the recent "incident" with great vigor. The man had said little the entire evening, preferring to listen and observe.

Finally he had enough. "Shut up all of you! YOu argue like a bunch of school children."

With that the parlor fell silent.

"Now, here's what we will do."

State Radio Broadcast
13 April 2007

- Begin Excerpt -

... officials at the Bautizar Defense Corporation today confirmed the deaths of three more personnel, killed in an attack on a forward operating base in the colony of Gorjen Bautizar. With casualties reported to be on the rise, it came as no surprise to many here in the capital to learn that officials within the Wiyrkomi Corporation are reportedly re-evaluating the corporation's position that restricts its personnel in the colonies from carrying weapons.

At government center, where debate over the African campaign has remained subdued and peaceful, there was an unusual scene today as officials of the Bautizar Defense Corporation appeared before the Chief Executive Panel in a rare-closed door session. After conclusion of the meeting news emerged that the State's military arm has gone to an "increased alert level," citing a deteoriating security situation on the African continent (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=523617) and in the Southern Pacific.

- End Excerpt -

Commonwealth Press
www.commonwealthpress.tol

BRAYTON - Responding to continued requests from members of the Opposition, Prime Minister Hutchins released a complete listing of all Tolvanic military units deployed to the Southern Sea.


2nd Airmobile Infantry Division
2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment
17th Provisional Mechanized Brigade
Culver Island Provisional Fighter Wing (36 fighters, 12 support aircraft)
Carrier Battle Group Three (six ships)
Carrier Battle Group Six (seven ships)
Carrier Battle Group Nine (six ships)
Surface Action Group 2 (six ships)


In addition, Prime Minister Hutchins continued to reiterate that the Tolvanic military build up was aimed solely as protecting Tolvanic interests in the region and preventing further incidents with Delesa.

Also today, Ian Lassiter, owner of South Seas Fisheries and Tolvan's wealthiest man, stated that he is prepared to personally neogiate the release of the captive Tolvanic fishermen.

There has been no reply from Delesa so far.

Finally, the Tolvanic Navy announced today that it would begin to form escorted convoy routes throughout the Southern Sea in order to provide further protection for merchant ships and oil tankers in the area. Also, Tolvanic ships are now barred from approaching within 100 knots of Delesan waters.


OOC: Bautizar we're in the Pacific, Tolvan is located near where RL New Zealand is located and the Southern Sea is, well south of that.

ooc: i didn't know you had tried to contact

St. Myhre, Delesa

"Sir, here we have Tolvanic army units being deployed, he have several large aircraft flying in and out."

"Yes I can see that. Thank you." the prime minister picked up his glass of whisky.

"Prime Minister, we have a call from a Ian Lassiter, asking about the release of the Tolvanic sailors. He's the owner of the fishing business down there."

"Why the hell wouldn't the government handle something like this, instead they have private enterprise do it for them. Tell him I'll take his call after this meeting is over in 8 minutes. Your dismissed." with that Lester Geddie took the sip.

Pacific Ocean, Approximately 160 KM North of the Virgin Islands, 2345 Hours

CNSS-2109, the Courageous, one of the newer nuclear submarines in service with the Pacific Fleet, prowled silently underneath the roiling waves of the Pacific. It was roughly two years old and heavily equipped to perform the plethora of missions tasked. It had already undergone some intense service in its two years. In a skirmish a few months earlier, an exploding torpedo had severed its towed array and caused severe damage to the boat's watertight bulkheads. Repaired and refitted extensively, the Courageous had put to sea again for the first time since the incident, its crew hoping for better luck.

Its routine cruise had taken it through several of the more interesting environs of the Pacific, mainly to calibrate its towed array and to test some of the new electronic equipment. Running close to the surface at some ten knots, its electronics antennae and periscope extended out onto the surface, the Courageous received a message from the headquarters of Commander in Chief, Submarine, Pacific Ocean.

The CO of the warship, Commander Nathan Forwick had just turned in for the night, catching some much needed rest after a complicated series of maneuvers performed during the day. Reading in his compartment, he turned with annoyance at the beeping intercom system. Depressing the receiver, he spoke. "What?" A soft voice spoke clearly, informing the skipper of the arrival of the urgent message.

The Captain frowned and glanced at his chronometer. With a sigh, he climbed out of his bed. Placing the book on his desk, he checked himself in the mirror before exiting the room. A few minutes later he was in the command room. His executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Christopher Stein turned and offered a cup of coffee, which the Captain accepted with a grateful nod. When the message was thoroughly decoded and double-checked by the signal technician, it was handed to the Captain.
FR: CINCSUBPAC
TO: CMDR FORWICK, CO CNSS-2109 COURAGEOUS

NOTE LARGE FORCE BUILDUP IN PACIFIC NEAR AND AROUND VIRGIN ISLANDS BY DELESA AND TOLVAN.

COURAGEOUS'S MISSION AS FOLLOWS:

1. HEREBY AUTHORIZED TO USE ANY FORCE NECESSARY TO PROTECT 5CN SHIPPING IN AREA - CURRENT COUNT OF FIFTEEN NONCOMBATANT VESSELS IN AREA UNDER 5CN FLAG
2. EXPECT AND EVADE HEAVY WARRING NAVAL PRESENCE
3. COLLECT ELINT ON WARRING FORCES
4. ANALYZE NAVAL SITUATION FOR POSSIBLE FURTHER DEPLOYMENT OF 5CN ASSETS INTO AREA
Forwick's eyes shot up in surprise. The Courageous was technically on a post-refit shakedown cruise. Under normal circumstances, such a warship would not be immediately thrown into harm's way, especially against what was generally perceived as third-rate navies and as a strategically non-vital area. He shook his head and handed the message to his executive office, eliciting a similar reaction.

Knowing better than to question the orders of his superior, especially one with a more accurate picture of the situation, Forwick sent his boat into action, directing his helmsman to turn the ship south. The boat accelerated to twenty knots. It would reach the waters around the Virgin Islands in a few hours.

Virgin Seas, 22 KM North of Virgin Islands, 0200 Hours

The crew aboard the supertanker, the Prestige, were uneasy. It was a large ship at nearly 260,000 tons deadweight. Although it flew the flag of the Five Civilized Nations, its presence in water with a brewing conflict was not something the crew or its owners cared for. Possessing one of the largest shipping fleets in the world, the Five Civilized Nations shipped a significant portion of the world's oil. With the expansion of the Delesian oil drilling operations, a few Five Civilized Nations flagged supertankers had been contracted to provide transport. If it wasn't for such moneymaking opportunities, nothing could hope to induce such an expensive ship into the area. With the usual tiny crew for such a computerized vessel and only a nominal security force aboard, it was in no position to fend off attackers or boarders. The Captain of the ship broadcasted a message ahead towards the Virgin Islands, informing the Delesians of the tanker's approach. He prayed silently that nothing would happen.

ooc: if your approaching the Virgin Isles, then your coming loaded already with oil and are about to unload it.

Virgin Seas, 21 KM North of Virgin Islands, 0213 Hours

A CP-140 Aurora flew through the night sky, cutting the clouds with the four engines. Whiskey-Delta was one of the many CP-140s in the air on a constant basis, due to the escalated escapade. Even before Whiskey-Delta landed, Whiskey-Charlie would be up in the air, heading for the patrol area.
There weren't alot of clouds out, rather the pilot enjoyed flying in the clouds, it was something he just enjoyed. But as the plane shot out of the cloud, the moon shinning brilliantly, it's reflection clear on the clam sea's surface. But then out of the corner of the co-pilot's eye, he spoted a abnormal reflection, and tapped on the pilots sholder.

"Looks like we might have a visitor!"

"Looks like your right for a change!" the pilot laughed, and brought the plane down, closer to the surface, but still plenty high, then turned towards the ship. "It doesn't look like a war vessel. Could one of those rent-a-tanker ships."

"Or it could be Tolvanic moron!"

"Well the only way to find out..." the pilot put the plane into a slight dive, and roared over the deck of the vessel. "They didn't shoot us." The pilot knew that there was a vessel to be expected, but didn't bother to tell his co-pilot, a running joke between the two. "Alright, radio back to Naval HQ, we have made contact."

Virgin Isles Naval Operations Base

A young able seaman sat in front of his computer screen, the green screen lighting his face. He lifted his hand to ear piece.

"Sir, Whiskey-Delta has picked up the 5CN tanker. She is 21 clicks and closing at 15 knots. No other contacts, she's by herself."

"Alright, send out the greeting party." But in reality, the party was already on their way out, two Visby Class Corvettes, HMDS. Southern and HMDS. Northern. There were to escourt her back to port, to ward off any unexpected visitors.

(OOC: Supertankers are slow, very slow.)

Virgin Seas, 20 KM North of Virgin Islands, 0214 Hours

The Captain of the Prestige, Marcus Cantor, flinched noticeably when the aircraft, whatever make and type it was, buzzed over his ship. For a second, he waited for the thud of a weapon colliding with his ship and the massive explosions that would destroy the ship. Filled to the brim with crude oil, an explosion would have been a pretty, but destructive force. When nothing happened, he and everyone on the bridge breathed audible sighs of relief. It seemed that they had passed the first test.

The communications/sensory officer reported that the aircraft spoke up. "Sir, the IFF transponder identifies that aircraft as a CP-140, whatever the hell that is. It's probably some four-engine patrol craft."

Captain Cantor turned to his communications/sensory officer, glaring daggers for not informing him earlier of the aircraft's presence. He mentally questioned whether the other man had really sent out the necessary information ahead to the Delesian maritime authorities. As worries consumed his usually rational mind, Cantor allowed his trained crew to continue their duties, not knowing what else to do.

After roughly fifteen minutes, the same officer reported the presence and closing of two Delesian corvettes. Trying not to show the tension in his mind, Cantor picked up a communications transmitter and spoke, sending a message to the approaching Delesian corvettes. "This is the Five Civilized Nations flagged supertanker, the Prestige, owned by the Lux Organization. We're carrying the equivalent of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil. We have a draft of 21 meters and request navigational help. Our charts of this area aren't that up to date and the upload link with satellite tracking systems don't help with depth sounding. We can make roughly seven knots if we have the proper directions and we steer clear of hazards."

60 knots from the Culver Islands

Two F-22Ts, call-sign Oscar Four and Oscar Five, slowly approached Bautizarian Nimrod. Each Raptor carried a standard air to air load out of six AMRAAM and two ASRAAM missiles, plus a full load of 20 mm cannon ammo.

The pilot of Oscar Four, Captain Carl Stone, thumbed his mic and began to address the patrol plane.

"Bautizarian patrol plane, this is Tolvanic fighter patrol Oscar, be advised you're operating near Tolvanic waters and in close proximity to a potential combat zone. We advise you to alter patrol pattern to the northeast to avoid any nastiness. Oscar Four, Over."

Carrier Battle Group Six

The seven warships of CBG 6 were assigned to patrol the northeastern portion the Southern Sea to prevent any further seizures of Tolvanic vessels. At the moment the entire task force was moving at just 10 knots, using a large rain squall to mask its location from any prying eyes or sensors in the area.

The Battle Group was built around the carrier Pelican and it's escorts. These included three Resolute class destroyers, two Storm class frigates, and one Fast Replenishment Vessel. In addition the attack submarine Ghost was operating somewhere near by, loosely under the operational command of the Battle Group commander.


Somewhere near Oil Way One

The unmanned drone had been launched from the deck of an ordinary looking freighter nearly four hours ago. The small remote controlled plane was constructed primarily from fiberglass and was virtually invisible to radar, not that it mattered it was flying low enough to evade most any radar system anyway.

Once the drone was over the preselected are it jettisoned its payload. Once the sensor package hit the water, it deployed a small anchor which quickly tethered it to the ocean floor. Once the drone was in position, the cable began to retract, pulling the package completely underwater. The sensors themselves now sat two meters under the ocen surface. Finally, a small antenna was extended out of the water. The bouy's powerful sonar systems would keep tabs on everything moving in the area for miles and relay that data back to NDI (OOC: Tolvanic CIA) analysists via satellite.

ooc: Alright didn't know they were that slow, thank you

Virgin Seas, 20 KM North of Virgin Islands, 0213 Hours

The two ship silhouettes raced across the seas, the ships designed to minimize the optical and infrared signature, above water acoustic and hydroacoustic signature, underwater electrical potential and magnetic signature, pressure signature, radar cross section and actively emitted signals, so in other words, they were a deadly force. And what were they doing? Escort duties. The two vessels HMDS. Southern, and HMDS. Northern had seen combat before, during the Vetakan Seas operation the crews had witnessed the use of a nuclear torpedo, which sank one of the Azazian Royal Navy ships in a bright white flash. And now the two ships were performing escort duties for the DWT Co.

HMDS. Northern / Commanding Vessel

Commander Steve Jones was standing on the bridge, the light from the consoles barely lighting his face. He was a vet for many offences for the Commonwealth, and had seen his fair share of death, but it was the sea that called him back. And of course the great benefits of being in the Royal Navy. Not to mention the opportunity to command this Visby Class Corvette state of the art vessel.

“Sir we have visual.” The Prestige had been on the Northern’s screens for 22 kilometers, another bonus of this vessel, that her sonar stretched so far, but it had to clam seas and no jamming, but it was working completely at this time. This puppy could run 15kt for a long period, then 35kt for a short period. That kind of speed was a eye catcher.

“Run the number and name.” replied the Captain. The procedures were clear in this part of the book, when approaching a civilian ship, it is mandatory that the DRN vessel ‘run the plates’ to ensure it’s the intended vessel, and not a fake ship trying to get inside Delesian seas.

“It’s a match, registered to a 5CN company. She’s clean.”

“Alright lets move in and put the baby in the cradle. Tell the Southern to bring up the rear. Send a message to the tanker; tell her to follow us, as we will lead her in. And attach a copy of the sea floor for this area. They can give it to their other ships as well. In the meantime, raise the alarm and bring every one to general quarters.” The Visby class corvette was designed with the idea of ASW in mind, hence why they were doing escort duties, as submarines were going to be the biggest threat here, as the could slip past these cheap civilian sonar units, if any, then just creep underneath the tankers using the noise from the loud tankers to cover there own. Sneaky, but the DRN command thought of that one, and were prepared.

Brayton, Tolvan

Robert Donovan had been in his new job for just three weeks when the Challenger Incident, as the press was calling it, had happened. Donovan was Tolvan's newest Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing Victor Keyes in the largely do-nothing position. Tolvan had little use for diplomacy and foreign relations. Frankly, most Tolvans could less what happened overseas and were content to leave other people alone as long as they in turn were left in peace.

Donovan was a career diplomat, meaning that up until this point he had done little more in his professional life than help Tolvanic companies secure trade deals overseas, and even then the Commerce Ministry had speaheaded most deals. It was no secret that Roger Burke, the Minister of Commerce, was among Tolvan's most powerful men, and was the only Cabinet Minister to keep his post when the Naitonalist Party was voted out of power two months ago.

Donovan saw this crisis as a chance to vault his ministry into the prestigous position it's counterparts held elsewhere.

With that thought he picked up his phone and dialed the number for the Delesan Prime Minister again, maybe this time he could get past that dumbass switchboard operator.

Virgin Seas, 16 KM North of Virgin Islands, 0220 Hours

"Whoever's calling the shots, obviously have never heard or operated with supertankers before," muttered the Captain crossly, a look of frustration on his face. It was evident from the transmission from the corvette and from the uncalled for buzzing of the bridge by the patrol aircraft that whoever was in charge had little to no idea what he or she was doing. The monstrous ships known as supertankers had notoriously poor maneuverability and had stopping distances measured in several kilometers. Although they could operate at sustained speeds of roughly 15 knots, it was not wise to do so in the cramped, uncertain littoral zone.

The Captain turned to his navigator who was poring over the charts transmitted over by the corvette. In an exasperated and impatient tone, he spoke, questioning the navigator. "Well? How's it look?"

"Sir, this is shit . . ." responded the navigator, shaking his head, "We're going to need to stand out to sea. The littoral zone of these islands are terrible for deep-draft ships like our's. It's not deep enough. We're going need to keep at least five to six kilometers from the islands before we hit their deep water port."

"I knew these bloody buggers have never had contact with a supertanker before," cursed the Captain angrily. Picking up the microphone, he spoke into it, transmitting another message, trying not to have his impatience and vexation show in his voice. "According to your charts, we're going to need to stand out to sea at least five to six kilometers until we get near your deep water port."

Without waiting for the corvettes to acknowledge his message, he gestured for a few able sailors to keep an eye on the two corvettes taking station fore and aft of the ship. The helmsman slowly made a turn to starboard, turning the wheel. The giant ship's rudders shifted ponderously, as the ship slowed to six knots.

An encrypted message was also sent back to headquarters, where it was forwarded to the Navy. Information about the contact would ultimately reach naval assets in the area.

St. Myhre, Delesa

The Prime Minister's office was a mess, the press had practically camped out side, and now the Prime Minister's phone line was always loaded, may it be his wife, or the Leader of another foreign country. The young female operator was trying to keep up but usally had to cut lines so that more important calls could get through, priority lines included internal branches. Finally later at night, when the lines slowly began to slow down, did the operator understand who the person phoneing all day was, and finally told Lester Geddie that the Minister of Foreign Affairs from Tolvan was on the line, not that the Prime Minister was in any state to return any calls, but he picked up the phone, although slamming the phone down on the receiver did seem tempting, he held it in and spoke confidently into the mouth piece.

"This is Prime Minister Geddie, and what can I do for you?"



Virgin Seas, 16 KM North of Virgin Islands, 0220 Hours
HMDS. Northern

"What the hell does he think he is doing?" Commander Steve Jones' face was beginning to turn red. Not only was he baby sitting, but the jerk at the commands of this... tub thought he was calling the shots. Jones liked to be in command, and if the Captain of the Prestige was in his navy, Steve Jones would have been on him like shit on velcro.

"Sir, he is carrying our oil. And it's not like you know what should be done." offered his XO. Now that sent the Captain over the edge. He tossed his mug across the bridge and out the open door.

"Fine, we'll let him do his thing, give him the coordinates that he is to meet up with the smaller tankers to begin the off-load procedure. Set course to intercept the tanker and increase speed to 8 knots. Inform the Southern to follow suit."



Oil-Way One Passage
HMDS. Covert - SSN 773 (Los Angeles class submarine)

The Covert was completing a surface run to recieve any news from command. And when the Captain was about to give the order to dive, a thump was heard in the Forward Main Ballast Tanks by an engineer doing a quick inspection. The order was givening to stop engines. And the submarine sat still for minutes while the crew tried to figure our the problem, if there was one. And just as the crewman was about to be labaled insane, one of the sailors up on deck spotted something aft of the tail of the submarine. The order was given to go and return the object back to the Covert. But what remained of the machine was little to differ from your daily garbage, as the hull of the Covert smashed what ever it was. But due to protocol, and the fact it did look as though it did once resemble some sort of listening device of sorts, it was radioed to command and then command in return ordered the Covert to return the object to the submarine tender in the area.


ooc: i took it for granted there were several of those things, so i just ran one over, if you dont agree with me finding it, tell me

Brayton, Tolvan

Foreign Minster Donovan sat down at his desk once he heard Geddy's voice.

"About fucking time", he thought to himself.

"Prime Minister Geddie, this Robert Donovan, the Foreign Minister of the Commonwealth of Tolvan. How do you do today sir?"

Somewhere on the Culver Islands

The technician in the battered looking CONEX container, glanced up as Bouy 014 went dead. He pulled up the telemetry in the minitues prior to the loss of the signal. The faint prop sounds were consistent with the popular 688 class nuclear attack subs.

The man turned to the other NDI tech sitting in the container, "Some dumbfuck Delesan sub driver just ran over one of my bouys."

The other man merely shook his head, "Call it in I guess."

The first tach picked up the secure sat phone and dialed his supervisor to inform of the loss of one of the bouys. It really didn't matter there were plenty more, they were all placed in international waters, and they were built with parts you could easily find in any hardware store and on the Internet, nothing in them could be traced back to Tolvan.

St. Myhre, Delesa

"We Mr. Prime Minister, this... uneasy tention between us has caused some press chaos, the reason being behind your problems getting through. My apologies, but my phone has been off the hook almost all day. How about your day?" Lester enjoyed this small chat, but he knew soon enough it would boil down to the fisherman issue. But these were two civilized people, and should act accordingly.

Naval Operations Intelligence Headquaters, Port Hustlings

The interesting object found by the submarine had been returned to the sub tender then flown by chopper to the aircraft carrier, where it was put on a larger aircraft and flow to the airforce base, where it ended up in the labs of the NOI. Scientists pulled the machine apart, what was left of it and after several minutes, they came to the conclution, there was no mistake it was a buoy that was used to listen to naval operations, and since it was found near Oil-way One, it was someone watching what was happening on the route. And there were plenty of nosey nations that would what to know whats going, to this couldn't be pinned on the Tolvanian government, but rest assured, everyone knew, once this made it to the top brass, then to the Prime Minister, he sure would use it against them even if it wasn't theirs.

Brayton, Tolvan

"My day would be much better wihout the damn press hounding me constantly about those errant fishermen. Surely you can understand that?"

Crowne Beach, Kincaid Island, Culver Islands

Crowne Beach was the only suitable landing beach in the entire Culver Islands, and for that reason it was quickly becoming the most heavily fortified. Every inch of the beach was pre-sighted for artillery and mortars, several dozen steel obstructions littered the beach, hundred of mines were in place both on land and in the surf, and nearly seven kilometers of barbed wire was woven throughout the 1.3 kilometer beach. In addition the machine gun nests and bunkers being built on the ridge overlooking the beach were connected by a series of trenches. No one thought the Delesans would try invade no matter how the Challenger Incident turned out but a little preperation was always good.

Virgin Seas, 14 KM North of Virgin Islands, 0223 Hours

“At least the buggers know when to leave things to the professionals,” muttered the Captain of the Prestige crossly. He was still irritated by what he perceived as the inability of naval officers to fully come to terms with the size and bulk of his massive ship, echoing a similar sentiment from the naval officers commanding the escort warships. Keeping a close eye on the helm and on the other seamen on the proportionally tiny bridge of the supertanker, he waited, silently praying that nothing would happen. Slowly but surely, the heavily laden ship turned into the straits between the Virgin Islands and the province of Juno.

The mammoth ship kept to the center of the channel, its twin propellers pushing it forward at a steady seven knots. When it neared the offloading point, it slowed, eventually stopping after several kilometers. The ship's crew prepared to pump it's cargo into the hulls of waiting smaller ships.

Pacific Ocean, Approximately 30 KM from Virgin Islands, 0345 Hours

Still advancing at twenty knots, the Challenger was approaching the Virgin Islands, many of the boat’s crew taking some rest before the inevitable stressful anxiety of operating in what could be a war zone. In the control room, Commander had his eyes closed, catching a quick nap. The submarine’s weapons crew carefully checked the readings on all of its weapons, ranging from torpedoes to the various missiles carried aboard.

A flash transmission from command arrived suddenly, giving more details about merchantmen operating in the area. The signal technician carefully woke up his skipper and handed him the message.

FR: CINCSUBPAC
TO: CMDR FORWICK, CO CNSS-2109 Courageous

MERCHANTMEN IN AREA AS FOLLOWS: 6 SUPERTANKERS NAMED AMERIGO, MAJESTY, ODYSSEY, ORION, PRESTIGE, AND SEA STAR OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE LUX ORGANIZATION - 250,000+ TONS EACH, 22-28 CREW PER - ALL NORTH OR NEAR VIRGIN ISLANDS, IN SERVICE TO DELESIAN OIL INTERESTS, HEADING SOUTH
7 CONTAINER SHIPS NAMED CEPHEUS, EMPIRE, MASTER OF THE WAVES, SAMARKLAND, SEA JUNK, TORCH, AND FLOATING TRIDENT OWNED AND OPERATED BY GLOBAL SHIPPING - 150,000+ TONS EACH, 12-16 CREW PER - IN TRANSIT THROUGH SOUTHERN SEAS, HEADING WEST
1 CRUISE SHIP NAMED THE AZURE SEAS OWNED AND OPERATED BY GLOBAL SEAWAYS ARCTIC LTD - 70,025 TONS, 1548 PASSENGERS, 593 CREW - NEAR CULVER ISLAND, HEADING NORTH
1 PASSENGER LINER NAMED THE PACIFIC ENDURANCE OWNED AND OPERATED BY CROWN JEWEL CRUISE INTERNATIONAL - 130,642 TONS, 2461 PASSENGERS, 1085 CREW - 130 KM EAST OF VIRGIN ISLANDS, HEADING WEST
ALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF SITUATION. SUPERTANKERS ARE OBLIGED TO REMAIN. CONTAINER SHIPS TRYING TO HEADING WEST AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. CRUISE/PASSENGER SHIPS ARE ATTEMPTING TO PUT INTO NEUTRAL PORT IN REGION TO AWAIT TERMINATION OF HOSTILITIES.

CNSS-1998 BEIYANG EN ROUTE, ETA 0600 HOURS.
After reading through the information, the Commander sighed. It was a dangerous situation with supertankers in the mix and innocent civilians in the mix. If anything happened to Five Civilized Nations flagged merchantmen in the region, the environmental degradation and human losses would be severe. The insertion of Five Civilized Nations warships might calm or ignite the smoldering conflict.

Within a few minutes, he called general quarters, waking those resting and preparing his boat for combat. Slowing to a less detectable ten knots, the Challenger slipped into Delesian territorial waters, its towed array functioning, as its sensory crew plotted the position of all the ships in the area. Having entered Delesian waters, it slowed to steerage, maintaining a position that permitted it to keep tabs on the northwestern end of the waters around Virgin Islands. Almost immediately, the passive sonar picked up the positions of five of the six supertankers in the area, lined up in a relatively straight line as they approached the Virgin Islands from the north.

Slowly but surely, the heavily laden ship turned into the straits between the Virgin Islands and the large island of Juno.

ooc: :eek: it's the province of juno, yeah it isn't really clear on the map as it isn't even in the same font as the key... but i'll go fix that. Been meaning to do that for months...:p

ooc: now i am freaking sick...

St. Myhre, Delesa

"Oh yes, quite. But we did pick this line of work, it has its ups and downs."


Devon, Naval Command Outpost, Eastern Virgin Isles

Devon was a small place, less then a thousand people. And yet the strategic position of the town was so cruital to the integrity of the Commonwealth homeland. The even smaller outpost had but a single dock, a wooden dock. Like one you might see at the beach nothing more.

But like most things in the world, looks can be deceiving. The small building that the Department of Defence had there was loaded to the brim with the best equipment that the department could buy. Meaning that the lack of personal was no problem, as the station ran itself apart from the timely repairs. A young operator, who would rather sit behind a desk in one of the most remote places then be on the front line of the conflict, sat back in his chair. His ipod plugged up to the speaker system, much like the MC1 in a submarine. The other operator was dancing at his station, using a pen as a microphone. Then a small blip showed on the screen. Ofcourse the operators were in the moment opf the music, and didn't even bother to notice the blip. It was 3rd Fleet Headquarters that noticed the blip first. The small station was also monitored in Acton. And when the Admiral heard the news from his own personal before the station had phoned in, he began to grow weary of the lack of disipline of the local recruits that thought they were good enough to man such an important installation and that none of the experianced officers were there that shift. But from his desk he ordered a P-3 Orion to investigate. Although is wasn't all that necessary, as the contact was heading straight from them at a speed of 20 knots. That was loud enough for the simplest of instruments to pick up. So at the same time he ordered a Visby Class Corvette and a Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser to intercept and identify. The two ships were more then enough to handle a single contact, the Visby could probaly do it herself but a Seawolf Class Attack Submarine was also ordered to change her patrol to intercept behind the the other two ships. If this was a enemy, she was dead in the water.

Brayton, Tolvan

"I suppose so."

"Now what can we do about this little squabble our nations have found themselves mired in?"

St. Myhre, Delesa

"I was hoping you would know, as it was you who had phoned."

Brayton, Tolvan

"It has become apparent to me that the poor navagational skills of a few Tolvanic fishermen and the short-sightedness of one Delesan submarine commander has triggered an international incident where there really is no need for one. I propose that you release the fishermen to our custody for trial for impeding Delesan commerce and you cour martial your sub captain for his rashness. They all get a slap on the wrist and we resolve this crisis?"

Convoy Foxtrot Six

Commander Paul Baines looked out the glass of the TCS Godwin's pilothouse at the choppy, gray seas.
The Godwin was a Shaw class destroyer and one of the six escorts protecting the nine merchant ships that made up the convoy. In addition to his ship the convoy included the LHD Assan, which was loaded with ASW helos and a squadron of F-35B VTOL fighters, another Shaw class destroyer, the Jenkins, a Resolute class destroyer, and two Storm class frigates. The Shaw's were older vessels, first built in mid 1970s, for the express purpose of convoy escort duty. Despite their age the ships still featured the most advanced ASW suite in the Tolvanic Navy, including torpedoes and Cutlass ASROCs. In addition they carried Rapier ShMs and two 127 mm guns for ASuW and a 64 cell VLS loaded with SM-3 and ESSM SAMS. Even though they were approaching thrity years old and were considerable larger they were still cheaper to operate then the smaller, more lightly armed Storm class frigates. In fact the Tolvanic Navy was even considering building moreShaws nearly fifteen years after the last vessel had been commisioned.
Baines loved his ship and loved his job. Even if the Shaws weren't as flashy as the AEGIS equipped Resolutes or as fast as the Storms, they did their job well and what was more important than protecting the country's shipping?

Virgin Seas, 21 KM from Virgin Islands, 0420 Hours

The Courageous was rigged for ultraquiet, its noise masking systems operational. Commander Forwick was almost sure that someone had heard her sprint into Delesian territorial waters at twenty knots. In the past ten minutes, he had quietly maneuvered the Courageous closer to the second of the massive tankers, the Majesty, knowing that with the submarine’s advanced technology and the presence of the tanker, it would be almost impossible to detect his boat outside of a thousand in one chance of a overhead direct MAD contact. It kept its position at a depth of some two hundred meters, ensuring that it had room to run and maneuver. The Commander should be keeping an eye on the situation, but he was distracted by other things. Having received a report from one of his Chiefs, he headed forward to the torpedo room.

“Sir,” murmured the weapons officer, standing in front of his commanding officer. “Apparently someone back in Command thought that we were going to run into trouble on our shakedown cruise. I noticed something odd about an hour ago. The markings on one of the torpedoes seemed different. I checked out its warhead. It was a nuclear torpedo.”

“Why did you not notice this earlier?” replied Commander Forwick with an angry look.

“Sir, whoever in Command ordered these torpedoes aboard was good, really good,” answered the subordinate officer. “The torpedoes are almost identical to the standard Spearfishes that we carry. The only difference was the warhead.”

“So how many of these things are we carrying?”

The weapons officer swallowed hard before responding. “At least four of them have nuclear warheads, Sir. I have a team checking over the rest of them.”

“Yield?”

“Ten to thirty kilotons.”

The career submariner nearly gasped in horror. He did not expect his boat so armed. He sighed heavily, shaking his head, mulling his options. He knew that someone in Command had equipped his boat with nuclear weapons. With few viable choices, he spoke. “How are we loaded out?”

“Six standard Spearfishes and two Apparitions ready to go in the torpedo tubes, Sir. We’ve also performed a systems check and preliminary warm up for both the vertical launch system and the anti-air launchers. They’re ready whenever we may need to use them, Sir.”

“Keep me posted, Chief.”

“Aye, Sir.”

With quick strides, Forwick made his way back towards the control room, just in time for the sonar technicians to begin calling out contacts.

“I have a possible contact, bearing seven thirty, range twenty-three hundred meters, roughly one hundred meters deep,” reported the first operator, barely able to discern the sounds of an opposition submersible. “Sounds like a Seawolf Class SSN, but I’m not sure, could just be some flow noise. Designate possible contact as Sierra Six.”

“I have two surface contacts, bearing oh three hundred and three twenty, range thirty-three hundred and thirty-two hundred fifty meters,” reported another operator, “Tentatively identifying the first contact as a Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser and the second as a Visby Class Corvette. Designated as Sierra Seven and Eight. Sierra Seven and Eight are making turns for ten and twelve knots respectively.”

Forwick cursed colorfully, using language that some of his younger crewmen had never heard before. He knew that his command’s last minute sprint had undoubtedly been detected. The opposition had deployed assets to intercept. He frowned, his eyes turning again to the operational orders sent by his superiors. Trading a look with his executive officer, he finally spoke. “Keep an eye on that possible Seawolf. If it indeed is a Seawolf, it’ll be far more dangerous foe than those surface ships. Now we wait until one of those buggers tries something.”

With his boat’s state of the art technology and weaponry, anyone who tried to intercept would have their hands full.

St. Myhre, Delesa
Prime Minister's Office

Lester Geddie half heartedly laughed at what the Tolvanian Prime Minister was asking.

"I believe that would be out of the kquestion my good sir. Although your intentions are noble and as I do want to bring this... mishappen to an end soon, we can not and will not release your prisoners to your justie system. Trespassing on our waters is an offence to our laws, and they shall be given a fair trial. You would be welcome to send a government lawyer. As for disciplining my submarine captain, that also would be impossible. As he was doing is duty, and following his orders. I can asure you that we do not allow torture of non-combatants, so your sailors are safe and are being well taken care of."

Brayton, Tolvan

Donovan had expected this, but there was nothing to lose by offering the Delesans a quick way out.

"You see Mr. Prime Minister, I'm looking at a report from our GPS system that indicated the Challenger acquired a position fix just 27 minutes before she was bored. The system recorded the coordiantes and indicates the ship was a full four nautical miles outside Delesa's internationally recognized territorial waters. Naturally the other nations whose shipping plies these waters would most unsettled to learn of this fact. To that end I am prepared to destroy these reports completely, provided we reach some sort of accomodation of course."

St. Myhre, Delesa

"I am quite sure that my naval forces dont not make regular to stray out of our seas, and board a vessel presumed to be spying. I am quite sure that if i were to ask naval headquarters and find the report from the captain, and the digital records from the submarine's mainframe, that my vessel was operating in our sea zone."

HMDS. Liberty / SSN-25 - Seawolf Class Submarine

Captain Carver Finn was surrently resting in his state room, his XO in command. They had been on a continuous patrol for a lengthy period, refueled at sea by the sub tenders and the constant fear od an enemy around every corner had put a strain on the entire crew, especially the captain. There was a slight rap on the door, the captain awake ordered them to enter. It was his XO, a bead of sweat on his brow, but remained professionally calm.

"Sir, possible submerged contact we are picking it up on the TB-29A. This is right about the area for the 5CN submarine, but it could be someone else." the captain was off his bed in a flash, grapping his cap on his way out of the tiny room. Once he made it too the control room, the sonar operator had new information.

"Sir, we have lost the contact, she either heard us or our buds up top and went silent, or there isn't anything there at all." well, you wouldn't take the second option in this line od business.

"General Quarters, Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, but don't open the outer doors." it could have been luck, maybe they heard him, but he wasn't going to give them any information. "Slow to 3 knots, and rig ship for depth charge." he planned to let the surface vessels make contact and confirm indenty before Liberty announced herself.



By the time the two surface vessels reached a approximate location of the contact, they began to call out to the vessel to identify it self, stateing themselves they were from the Royal Delesian Navy. Failure to comply would mean the situation to turn nasty.

Brayton, Tolvan

"Perhaps your captains should be more aware of their location in the future. I have no doubt our ship was in international waters and we need to resolve this dispute quickly and quietly."

St. Myhre, Delesa

"There is no doubt in my mind that this situation needs to change for the better and soon, but if you continue to critize my Armed Forces, there will be consequences. Our navy is one of the best, and well trained. We take pride in our navy, and will not allow some..." the Prime Minister was at a lack of words, "fishing community to criticize our fleet. If this is the reason you have phoned, then don't bother to continue this conversation, and just hang up now, and let the guns deside, since your words aren't helping the situation."

Port Hustlings, St. Myhre
Southern/Eastern Fleet Command Naval Headquarter Docks

Only the pride of the two fleets where allowed to dock in this harbor. Its was one of the more protected docks, heavily fortified and guarded. And for a good reason, as there was also the largest secerts here, held deep in the concrete bunkers and dry-docks in the back. The harbor floor was deep, dredged so far down that submersibles could pass under the bigger keels of the Leo Class Battleships with ease and space to spare. Large naval guns surrounded the port mouth, ready to unleash a storm of metal on any unwanted guests.

Ofcourse this wasn't the port the Port Hustlings was built around and known for, but rather several kilometers out of the city limits. this military purpose only bade was constructed first durring 1801, when King Charles IV was feeling his nation slip underneath him, slowly losing his power. So in an attempt to show the people he was still king, and still had power, he constructed the largest castles and ports in Delesian history at the time to scare the people. Well it was of fine design, and withstanded the beating it received durring the Revolution War or First Failed Coup War when the Separatist naval forces pounded the walls for a month. The capture of the fort only came when the Loyalist forces ran out of food and attempted to flee along the beach to the next Loyalist stronghold. Then again when Loyalist forces attacked the defending Separatist forces. Sections of the walls came down under the presure of the howitzers and naval guns. After the war the fort was abandoned and forgotten about. But in 1863 it was rearmed, rebuilt and reoccupied durring the Socialist Revolution. Generals and Admirals this time were able to see the possiblity of the fort and fought for its surrival, so since then the fort as been kept up to date. And in 1943 the port recived major overhauls to deepen the sea bed and increase the number of ships able to stay, and many reenforced concrete dry-docks built from the threat of Kreatvye bombers.

So the base was well built and now a major force, a sucide mission for an attacker if the defender used the fort properly.

In the back, in the dry-docks, still thought to be empty from the Kreatvye War, sat 4 of the large Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Submarine side by side. The national flag and naval ensign hanging on the conning tower. On the sides on the walkway and borders sat many of the ADCAP torpedoes, harpoons and many other weapons. Crates of food where stacked waiting to be loaded, the crews coming back from leave. These bad boys where preparing, preparing for what they where built for. And unknown even to the sailors and dock workers, in the a back supply room, behind locked doors, sat a single 30-mega ton nuclear warhead, waiting to be loaded into the verical tube of the lead submarine. Only time would tell if it would be needed.




TO BE CONTINUED...

Delesa;12604160']HMDS. Liberty / SSN-25 - Seawolf Class Submarine

Captain Carver Finn was surrently resting in his state room, his XO in command. They had been on a continuous patrol for a lengthy period, refueled at sea by the sub tenders and the constant fear od an enemy around every corner had put a strain on the entire crew, especially the captain. There was a slight rap on the door, the captain awake ordered them to enter. It was his XO, a bead of sweat on his brow, but remained professionally calm.

"Sir, possible submerged contact we are picking it up on the TB-29A. This is right about the area for the 5CN submarine, but it could be someone else." the captain was off his bed in a flash, grapping his cap on his way out of the tiny room. Once he made it too the control room, the sonar operator had new information.

"Sir, we have lost the contact, she either heard us or our buds up top and went silent, or there isn't anything there at all." well, you wouldn't take the second option in this line od business.

"General Quarters, Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, but don't open the outer doors." it could have been luck, maybe they heard him, but he wasn't going to give them any information. "Slow to 3 knots, and rig ship for depth charge." he planned to let the surface vessels make contact and confirm indenty before Liberty announced herself.



By the time the two surface vessels reached a approximate location of the contact, they began to call out to the vessel to identify it self, stateing themselves they were from the Royal Delesian Navy. Failure to comply would mean the situation to turn nasty.
Virgin Seas, 19 KM from Virgin Islands, 0530 Hours

The situation had developed in the last hour or so. The total nuclear warhead count was at six. Five of them on Swordfish torpedoes and the last on top of a Titan cruise missile. Commander Forwick was not pleased with the news.

"Sir, the opposition ships are closing. They've arrived at our last known position," reported the sonar technician calmly, a wry grin on his face. "They're off by quite a bit. And with current sonar conditions, unless they get a direct MAD pass over us, it'll be high nigh impossible to find where we are. The closest ship to their position is one of our supertankers."

"How far off are those two surface ships?" inquired Forwick, feeling a sense of relief at the developing situation. "And the supertanker?"

"The warships are roughly fourteen hundred meters and the supertanker twelve hundred," was the answer.

"Damn't, they're too close. With even the least powerful ordnance we're carrying, we could blow the supertanker to kingdom come."

"Sir, I suggest we move away as fast as we can, while putting all of our efforts into finding and eliminating that Seawolf," offered the executive officer. "As you said earlier, one submarine is more dangerous than those two surface ships."

"That's a good idea," responded Forwick with a nod of thanks at the helpful advice from his second in command. He turned to his helmsman. "Maintain speed. Make your heading oh nine hundred." After his order was confirmed, he sat back in his chair and waited.

The Challenger Class SSN turned port heading east. Heading away from the gaggle of ships behind it. In the meantime, the Majesty continued its slow waltz into Delesian waters, a large, virtually unavoidable target in the midst of the ocean on the dawning of a new day.