NationStates Jolt Archive

Arkia, Harakian Coastline, 0600 Hours

The HNS Fortress sat at dock, its first day as a commissioned ship in the Harakian Navy. A massive ship, it sat larger than any of the others assembled, mounting half again as many guns as Haraki's heavy battleships, the Firzhas. It was dwarfed only by the other recently-commissioned ship beside it, Haraki's largest aircraft carrier ever built, the HNS Immortal. Together, they made the other assembled ships look like boats in a bathtub, not an easy task against nuclear and conventional aircraft carriers and battleships.

Assembled in the port of Arkia, Haraki's largest naval base, was a significant portion of the Harakian Navy. Joined together out of the ever-present Third Fleet and a good deal of Haraki's deployable, twenty-four hour standdown navy, it was the largest fleet assembled since the NATO Wars. It's purpose was simple. To destroy the enemies of Haraki, and the enemies of Gholgoth.

It was not alone in this quest. Haraki's land forces were at their least deployed level in recent memory. Whereas several divisions were usually present in other parts of the world, staging interventions, protecting civilians, or what-have-you, the only deployed soldiers out of Haraki and the colonies were a batallion of marines, 1,500 volunteer soldiers, and 40 Dragoons, on a mission to establish a new Harakian colony. Here, in the heart of Gholgoth, Haraki's military stirred. All thirty-five professional divisions had been activated and sent to the coasts, and all those not already deployed to the coasts were now arriving. Just as the fleet had gathered, Haraki's army was gathering.

Outside of Arkia, less than an hour from the waiting transport ships, sat half of Haraki's professional army. A full eighteen divisions, plus ten thousand Dragoons, were encamped, nearly two hundred thousand combat personnel. They were slightly restless, and the presence of so many soldiers inspired incidents, in all areas except the Dragoons. A vast forest of tents and hastily-erected cabins outside the city limits greeted all new arrivals, and anyone driving past on the roads had no doubt what was assembled there. The vast amounts of tanks, artillery pieces, APCs, and other pieces of military hardware made it doubtless. The question in their minds was not what, but why. It had been quite some time since so many Harakian soldiers had been assembled in one place within Haraki. A full fifteen divisions had assembled by the end of Haraki's time in Danteri, and the beginning of the Twelve Hour War, but they had been sent in bits and pieces. They had not been assembled outside a Harakian city for days on end beforehand.

At one end of the camp was the section for the Dragoons. Completely professional and slightly terrifying in their silence, they went about their daily routines without a sound. They were never seen outside without their full-body armour, the black surface keeping eyes off their bodies, and their heads encased in black helmets with reflective protective, shatter-proof glass keeping their eyes hidden and protected. No one really knew what the people inside were like, what they looked like, or what was different about them, but it was clear while they were on duty. Whereas a regular Harakian soldier may have harboured doubts about a certain mission, or slouched while on guard duty, the Dragoons obeyed without question, and did everything to the utmost of their abilities. Their officers had no insignias marking them as such, and yet the Dragoons knew who they were, and obeyed them instantly. They were the finest killing machines ever produced by the Harakian military, and they acted as such at all times.

The rest of the nation was on alert as well. Naval forces had gathered back at Haraki, cautious of exposure in Haraki's common small patrolling taskforces. Haraki's ubiquitous semi-professional soldiers and reserves had been warned of the possibility that they may be called to service, and the industries had been warned that they may have to re-gear for wartime strength and the loss of tens of thousands of personnel in the form of semi-professional soldiers and reserves. It would be a strain on the economy, but with billions of available workers, it would be more than tolerable. And it would be more than worth it, to bring the necessary message to Gholgoth's enemies.

The focus of this latent aggression had not been announced yet, but the Prime Minister in a speech to the nation had informed everyone in Haraki that the rest of Gholgoth was doing the same. Across the entire continent, soldiers were readying themselves to bring the fight to the enemy. Navies were preparing for total war against those who dared to defy Gholgoth. Gholgoth was readying itself for war. Everyone could feel it. Even going about their daily lives on the streets of Harakian cities, there was a change in the air. Something felt different. Around them, the entire continent prepared itself to destroy all in its way. The nations upon it readied their militaries to crush anything between Gholgoth and victory.

The editorial-writers had had a field day with the announcements, theorizing on possible targets and other such things, how likely it was the semi-professionals would be called up, how many soldiers Haraki's Gholgothan allies would bring up. What seemed to be the consensus was that this was to be Gholgoth's contribution to Dreadfire's announcement that slavery was over. Many nations had not heeded his words, and Gholgoth's response was predictable: Then we're coming for you. Another thing the newspapers could agree upon was that the target of this Gholgothan aggression would be overmatched, no matter who it was. Slaving nations were far from the most popular worldwide, and had few allies to call upon. Gholgoth had the vast resources and manpower of the entire continent behind them, a host of allies in the form of some of the most dangerous nations on Earth, and the will and drive to succeed in every form, everywhere.

Although the target was not announced, the wordless message sent from all across Gholgoth, to whoever it was, was clear:

We are coming for you. Dig your graves, ready your coffin-makers. Warn your soldiers that they will never see their families again. Inform your slaves of their impending freedom. Overthrow your government and beg for mercy. Against Gholgoth there can be no victory.

Gholgoth reigns supreme.

Imperial Foreign Office: Regarding Current Gholgoth Foreign Policy.

Deep within the vast sprawling offices of Whitehall, Sir Mavil Whetherly picked up a most unimportant memo detailing some unimportant nation ranting on some unimportant threats in regard to their unimportant egos. Lifting up an attached dossier the foreign secretary sighed and looked over the information in attempt at ascertaining whether or not it had any impact upon the British Empire. "Tea Sir Whetherly?" The maid asked as she entered his office with a rather nice assortment of cakes.

"Yes Miriam, thank you, set it down here please." Mavil pointed to a small ringed stained area on his desk, then returned to his datapad. Gholgoth, now that name sounds familiar."

"I think the BBC reported on them last night Sir Whetherly, something about them blockading slavery and making a big fuss over it as well."

"Oh how quaint." A rather pompous laughter escaped the cabinet minister as he continued to read on. "Oh I think some form of statement is applicable here."

"Good day Sir Whetherly." Mariam said as she left the room, trolley and all.



Dear chaps,

We in the British Empire have noticed your rather recent campaign against slavery and congratulate you in recognising the rule of law and human rights that civilised nations have accepted for centuries. It is so gracious of yourselves to combat the evils of slavery in all their plight, yet his majesty sees your campaign to be quite counter productive and, dare we suggest it, hypocritical.

Perhaps it has dawned on what must be your considerable intellects, that waging total war to end slavery, only continues the poverty and desperation of life, for not only the bonded you seek to liberate, but for innocents and entire nationstates as well, thusly compromising your rather opulent high horse.

Perhaps a more reserved and logical approach may bring more reward in the future?

A Kindly Note,
Mavil Whetherly,
British Foreign Office.

The Kingdom Of Philthealbino

A Message from Sir Smith Foreign Minister for the Kingdom of Philthealbino

We, the Kingdom of Philthealbino, have noticed a considerable build up of military resources in the country of Gholgoth. We fear that Gholgoth is preparing for War against a so far unknown enemy.

Following a small fact finding mission on behalf of the Kingdom of Philthealbino National Library we were able to learn that Gholgoth is strongly against Slavery and is not afraid to flex it's military muscles to remove this cancer from other states.

However, the size of the military build up and Gholgoths willingness to use force has raised some concerns.

We, the Kingdom of Philthealbino, urge the Government of Gholgoth to pursue its push for the abolition of slavery throughout the world diplomatically.

We strongly abhor the threat of violence and fear that in your efforts to remove slavery, you will create a larger humanitarian crisis that ultimately will destroy more lives than you will save.

Given the current situation, and as a matter of caution the Prime Minister has raised the status of the Armed forces to Level 2.

We await your response.

Yours faithfully

Sir Donald Smith Foreign Minister for the Kingdom of Philthealbino (http://www.nationstates.net/philthealbino)

The Kingdom Of Philthealbino

A Message from Sir Smith Foreign Minister for the Kingdom of Philthealbino

We, the Kingdom of Philthealbino, have noticed a considerable build up of military resources in the country of Gholgoth. We fear that Gholgoth is preparing for War against a so far unknown enemy.

Following a small fact finding mission on behalf of the Kingdom of Philthealbino National Library we were able to learn that Gholgoth is strongly against Slavery and is not afraid to flex it's military muscles to remove this cancer from other states.

However, the size of the military build up and Gholgoths willingness to use force has raised some concerns.

We, the Kingdom of Philthealbino, urge the Government of Gholgoth to pursue its push for the abolition of slavery throughout the world diplomatically.

We strongly abhor the threat of violence and fear that in your efforts to remove slavery, you will create a larger humanitarian crisis that ultimately will destroy more lives than you will save.

Given the current situation, and as a matter of caution the Prime Minister has raised the status of the Armed forces to Level 2.

We await your response.

Yours faithfully

Sir Donald Smith Foreign Minister for the Kingdom of Philthealbino (http://www.nationstates.net/philthealbino)

((OOC: Gholgoth is an entire regional alliance, not just one nation.

Btw, nice to see you again. I remember my first RP was one of your's. =P ))

OOC:
I'm sorry for this OOC post, but I'd like to keep watch of this thread for future reference, if that is alright. It's nice seeing you guys...now I'm going back to try and continue my civil war. *Sighs*

Another day, another late night session. Burntfur's rustic wooden office was, as usual, illuminated only by the moonlight and the flickering light of the flaming torches that lined the walls, casting eerie, moving shadows over everything. The hearth behind the splintered wooden desk cast a dancing silhouette of Burntfur's imposing form on the ceiling, larger than life and certainly with more energy than himself tonight. Klarr Viletooth, second most powerful Charr alive today, sat opposite his large desk, his snout firmly buried in some old text that he had borrowed from Burntfur's private library. He had been sitting there for almost a quarter of a twelfth now, and Burntfur still had no idea what he was doing there.

So he simply stared at him intently with his burning yellow eyes, hoping his large, dark furred peer would take a hint and explain himself. The book that had so captured his attentions was an old, first-hand account of some old battle over one of the little islands they now controlled as a result, which wasn't a particularly exciting read from Burntfur's own experience. It was quite clear that he had other things on his mind.

"Did you hear of the mass mobilisations taking place o'er in Gholgoth?" Viletooth asked at last, in a voice so quiet and subtle that a bird outside the window fell off its perch. So, that was why he was here.

"Yes, I did," Burntfur said with a note of finality in his growling voice, hoping that it would end the conversation before it started. It didn't.

"Call this old warrior a fool but I find myself pondering over why they may be mobilising such a large force," Viletooth continued his quest unhindered.

"Quite so," Burntfur nodded. He was determined not to give the nosy old Charr any satisfaction.

Viletooth growled a sigh and slammed the book shut, placing it down on the desk roughly. "One also wonders why we do not join in the celebrations and mobilise our own warbands," he said. Burntfur couldn't tell whether it was a question or just a statement.

"Now, why would we do that?" Burntfur asked.

"Come now, Bonfaaz, it is obvious to all what they are mobilising against even if they choose not to say," Viletooth said. "They intend to take action against the slavers at last. We should be aiding them, as we originally intended!"

"What is obvious, Klarr, is your ignorance in matters pertaining to baldies," Burntfur said, with a sigh. "These humans are a peculiar species, for they are a race of politicians. They say they plan to do one thing, and they proceed to do another. Naught but lies may come from their mouths. You would do well not to listen to them, lest they fool us all yet again."

"Why would they expend so many of their resources on mobilisation then?" Viletooth asked.

"There is a phrase that the humans use to describe such an occasion," Burntfur said. "It is called 'sabre rattling'. That is what this is, presumably for the benefit of that Sovereign League we apparently have a qualm with. This whole campaign has been a political vendetta from the beginning, honour and morality never had a thing to do with it. We were fooled."

"What is a sabre?"

"It is a kind of human sword," Burntfur sighed. "But that is unimportant. We shall not go to the effort of mobilising our warbands until there is something to mobilise against, and certainly not while our continued membership in this organisation is in dispute."

"So we do nothing?"

"We do nothing, and we say nothing," Burntfur said. "Let them squabble with lies and half-truths whilst we sort out our own problems."

"As you wish," Viletooth said, rising to his feet. "I shall not challenge your decision in Council, but I do not agree with it. Which, coming from myself, is quite important if I do say so myself."

"You have made that quite clear," Burntfur grumbled. "Now get out of my office and give me some peace!"

Viletooth mock-saluted, and quickly paced away from the desk, leaving Burntfur to his ruminations in the silent darkness.

Sigma Octavus

The Sigman war machine was on the move, activity bustling all across the massive nation as supplies and manpower were transported to the coast, to their awaiting transport ships.

The port city simply known as Port SO was a veritable clusterfuck of activity, as tens of thousands of highly trained, well equipped SOMI loaded onto ten invasion carriers, each carrying twenty landing craft and ten transport helicopters. In total, twenty two thousand men and women of the Sigma Octavus Mobile Infantry were ready to be the spearhead of the landing force. Supporting these ten transport ships, the first and second fleets of the sigman navy floated at sea, waiting for their charges.

In fleet one, the flagship SOSC War, one of the two remaining Horseman class supercarriers. Directly supporting it, two dreadnaughts, the SOSD Gehenna, a Sigman End class dreadnaught, and the SOSD Remember, an old Doujin that had been updated and modified throughout the years to be more heavily armored than it was originally designed for. Twelve destroyers, two Aegis cruisers, assorted anti-torpedo ships and support ships fell in behind these.

Fleet two carried the other Horseman, the SOSC Pestilence. The second remaining End class, the SOSD Apocalypse, filled it's role as the Pestilences primary bodyguard. Second to the Apocalypse ran the SOHC Leviathan, the flagship from the last successful Sigman invasion, during the NATO/NK war of old. It still sported battle wounds from the war, when it had been one of the great powers of the sea, before the age of Super Dreadnaughts. Fourteen destroyers, four Aegis cruisers and a small number of anti-torpedo ships provided support for their larger brethren. Support ships drifted between them all.

Five Invasion Carriers would go with each fleet, who would in turn do anything to keep the Carriers floating.


Aside from the massive SOMI hustle and bustle sat the much smaller SOHAI and SOET complexes. Each had runways of their own, with different model high altitude stealth planes sitting on the tarmac.

In the SOET complex, the deadly, highly trained SOET worked on their equipment, preparing it for aerial drops. They would go ahead of the main forces and run missions of sabatoge and assassination in their target nation/nations. Their matte black body armor almost seemed to absorb the light in the midday sun, but they were prepared to go in at night and make changes accordingly. Each SOET already carried their own personal gear, their silenced Sigman made weaponry, and all their assorted tools of mayhem. It would be a painful night for their enemies when they arrived.

Very different from the SOET were their rival branch of the military, the SOHAI. The SOHAI had seen very little foreign combat, but their constant training and supression missions at home had prepared them. Each stood a full head taller than the tallest SOET, their heavy armor almost making them look like robots. Each was in fact a living, breathing person, each the shining achievement of the nations various supersoldier achievements. Their chainguns shone in the bright sun, their stark white armor making them and their weapons gleam like massive angels of death. Each carried on a pivot attached to their backpack a three round rocket launcher. When working in squads of three, they could hold positions against infantry, light and heavy armor and even chemical/biological attacks. They were loading into their transport planes, which would fly at supersonic speeds to their target, and drop their load of twelve SOHAI at high speeds with winch cables, then return home.


A white helicopter cut through the sky, making very little noise over the volume of hurried Invasion preparations. It approached and landed upon the War. Stepping out onto the deck of the massive ship, two men looked out into the ocean. Admiral Bett and 3rd SOET General Brigand stood, thinking of the coming battle. Behind them, four white and black clad soldiers carrying short range weaponry assembled behind Brigand. Brigand would be commanding all of the ground forces in the War battlefleet, staying aboard the War until a clearing had been made upon their target beach.

Across a stretch of water, a black helicopter landed, two figures also stepping out. Captain Selten and 2nd SOMI General Mercy had arrived aboard the Pestilence. They were quite the opposite of each other, Selten a seasoned veteran of the seas, an eye patch visible beneath his long graying hair, and Mercy, a gorgeous thirty something brunette in tight fitting SOMI BDUs. Selten took out a pair of binoculars, and it up to his good eye, looked across at the War. His commanding officer, Bett, was a man who he knew would lead them to victory on the seas. All he had to do was usehis own smarts as well as Betts directions to lead the Pestilence battlefleet to a similar victory.

He snuck a peak at the woman behind him, who he could now see had a sadistic grin on her face. Selten had known a good many SOMI Generals, and all but one had been bloodthirsty sadists. He felt that Mercy was poorly named, and almost felt sorry for their enemies in the coming battle. He shook his head, and straightened his cap, knowing that sympathy had no place in battle. He took her as the kind that liked to do 'interrogations'. "Fuckin' psychos, the lot...."

Mercy looked at him, questioning him. "What was that captain?"

He shook his head,"Nothing General Mercy. Nothing."

The ships at anchor were an unusual site for the average beholder at Pascagoula Naval Yard. The markings, even after one looked twice, indicated their belonging to the First (IW) Fleet. This was only odd because the First Fleet was never at anchor at Pascagoula, unless something was dreadfully wrong. The ships didn't, in any way, make up the entirity of the fleet, but were only a rather small detachment, designated Detachment 86. The ships were being stocked with extra supplies and going through regular maintenance, while also being loaded up with ground equipment such as tanks and APCs.

To make the situation that much more interesting, there had been constant air operations from AO-101 to Pascagoula via fixed wing and helicopters, bringing in what seemed to be massive amounts of troops. However, what would be considered massive amounts of troops in Sniper Country wouldn't even make up a full division in other nations. The troops made up the whole of two seperate divisions, namely, the 72nd Marine Division and the 55th Infantry Division. The 72nd carried 5,477 combat ready troops, while the 55th carried 10,648 troops, ready for the coming violence. Each man received a briefing from their platoon leaders, company commanders, division commanders, and even from Commander-General Mark Spitz himself.

The site was something to behold. While Sniper Country could probably be considered one of the more mild nations within the boundaries of Gholgoth, it held its own when it came to honoring their neighboring nations and Gholgothan citizens. What's more, they held a firm belief against the practice of slavery, which, from what the word going around happened to be, was the precise reason for this mobilization. Damien Dreadfire and the Freeks had already engaged Doomingsland in their quest to once again rid the world of the tyranny that was slavery.

While the amount of troops being mobilized in Sniper Country was only a fraction of what other nations were mobilizing, each soldier, as well as those who were staying behind, knew in their hearts and minds they were giving just as much as any other. It was commonly stated throughout the SCAF that one grunt in the Sniper Country Armed Forces was the better equivalent of at least ten troops from the next nation. And they held that reputation in high regard. There was no way they would let that down. For many, it was all they had. For others, it was all they wanted.

The buzz continued around the base all day and all night. All lights remained on at practically all times, with the air traffic controllers being constantly swamped with upwards of twenty aircraft at a time coming in to land and drop off troops or supplies, with another twenty and upwards ready to depart for more. The mood was apprehensive, yet at the same time very comical. Humor was a leadership quality, and the commanders of the troops showed it to the greatest extent possible, playing random songs over the loudspeakers throughout the base, making awkward announcements, and other various ideas to keep the troops entertained. Many, though, focused on their gear and weapons. This would be the first time most were to see actual combat, aside from what they faced in their seemingly continuous training at AO-101.

The order had not yet been given. But when it was, the troops were ready to board their ships and head out within hours. This was it. This was where it all began.

First Fleet – Detachment 86

(2) Forrestal Class Aircraft Carrier
(2) Kitty Hawk Class Aircraft Carrier
(12) Saipan Class Helicopter Carrier/Amphibious Assault Ship
(1) Blue Ridge Class Command Ship
(2) Agamemnon Class Battleship
(3) Hector Class Battleship
(1) Waits Class Arsenal Ship

The War Council had been specially created for the time being. Nominally headed by the Prime Minister and several high-ranking Social Democrat ministers, it was essentially only the name for the involved generals and admirals to meet. Now they met without the presence of the politicians, their approval already granted, to discuss the impending mobilization of professional forces. The Council's chairman, Haraki's Chief of Army and Chief of Staff, General Randolph Kidd, one of the highest-ranked men in the Harakian military, sat at his chair in the small room they had assembled in. It was within the HNS Immortal, serving as Admiral Steven Tyrell's - the officer in field command of the mission and, for the time being, Admiral of the Third Fleet - flagship for the time being, and as such also as the meeting place for the Council.

Around the table were nearly a dozen other generals and admirals. To Kidd's immediate left was the commander of all Harakian ground forces and founder of Haraki's Dragoons, General Adam Shartz, while Tyrell sat to his right. He had a sly grin on his face as Kidd stood to address the council. Mercifully, Kidd kept his opening speech brief. "Gentlemen - and women," he added, giving a nod to the only woman present, Lieutenant-General Victoria Jessop "- you all know why we're here. I want a status report on all currently mobilized forces, plus information on what's going to be mobilized within the next week."

At the other end of the table, Lieutenant-General Dominic Freebird, the Harakian Chief of Logistics, stood up, reading from a paper set on the table in front of him. "Logistically, we're doing fine. We've been loading supplies onto the fleet ships for the last week, and by now we have enough that we should be able to supply two hundred thousand soldiers plus support troops for at least a month, not counting extra supply convoys." Upon seeing Kidd's doubtful expression, he continued. "They're big ships, and we've got a lot of them in port here, plus in convoys at Uses and Susa, which will join us en route."

Kidd nodded as Freebird sat down, and turned to Shartz. "General Shartz, land forces?"

Shartz stood up, placing his hands on the table gently as he did so. As he straightened out, he couldn't help but notice that the rest of the room grew slightly uneasy, with the exception of Admiral Tyrell. "Land forces are in good order. We have eighteen divisions plus ten thousand Dragoons encamped outside the city, another three divisions coming past Uses right now, should be here within a week. That will bring us to approximately two hundred and twenty thousand of the best fighting personnel on the planet, plus additional support elements that aren't part of any set division. The remaining fourteen active divisions will remain in Haraki for the time being, ready to mobilize and be on transport ships and planes within eighteen hours of notification. For this duty they're being moved to the coasts and major ports, where transport fleets can wait for them. In particularly fine fighting form are the 3rd and 72nd Infantry, 3rd Mountain, and 2nd Armoured Divisions. I strongly advise we use elements of these forces to establish a beachhead, landing the Dragoons further along the coast to establish a second beach. As well, we have confirmed mobilization in our old friends Sigma Octavus, and fellow Gholgothans Sniper Country and Illior. As well, the Charr clans ... well, nobody's quite sure what's up with them, but a while back they promised some warbands to Dreadfire for anti-slaving campaigns. I'm not sure if that offer still stands."

He sat back down, satisfied, and Kidd turned his attention to Tyrell. "Admiral Tyrell, the navy?"

Tyrell stood as well, leafing through several pieces of paper he brought with him. "The entire Third Fleet is sitting in port here in Arkia, with elements of the deployable navy assembling in Arkia, Uses and Susa, as well as converging from various patrols around the world. When all's said and done, within a week we'll have several hundred ships here, at least, including more than ten Atherlon battleships, a Firzha, over a dozen fleet carriers, over a dozen - maybe two - more light and escort carriers, the Immortal, and the Fortress. And that's just counting battleships and carriers. Just in case somebody gets any ideas - using the Questarian first strike on that one Doomani naval base whose name I can't remember off the top of my head as a basis - we have advanced radar stations in the offshore fortresses running full-tilt and several hundred land-based planes in the air at all times. Before the week's out, the Mouth will be quite literally full of Harakian ships, and this will be the largest Harakian fleet assembled since the NATO Wars. A formidable force, indeed, especially against our chosen targets.

"Should we need further support later, or to escort some of Adam's reserve divisions, we're assembling the entire Second Fleet inside the Harakian Bay, amalgamating it out of various taskforces present around Haraki and the major colonies. As well, we've got fairly major forces assembling at our largest naval bases in Neo- and New Haraki. Dubbed the Fourth and Fifth Fleets, they're large enough to effectively defend the colonies should anyone decide to invade us there."

"I have to ask, Admiral," Kidd said, interrupting, "what ever happened to the First Fleet?"

"General Kidd, I'm sure I, or Roger, or someone else, has explained to you at some point about this. We don't maintain regular fleets, the way, say, Allanea does. The Third Fleet is the name for the large naval force permanently assembled in Arkia as an immediate response force or defence mechanism. So if there's no First Fleet, it's just because we haven't named one that. It's a very fluid system."

"Of course," Kidd said, nodding sagely. Shartz shook his head slightly, ashamed of his commanding officer. "Air forces?" he said, looking around.

"That would be me," Tyrell responded, remaining standing. "Ground forces are irrelevant for the time being. We can launch long-range bombers with in-flight refueling and we can drop orbital weapons on them, but other than that it essentially boils down to the aircraft launched from my fleet, until we secure proper airfields on the ground."

"All right. Are you good on those counts?"

"All carriers are fully loaded with standard layouts for a ground campaign. We expect fairly minimal naval combat, and even then most of our carrier-based planes can outfit themselves for naval combat anyway. We'll be able to maintain over a thousand planes in the air at any one time, with further waves after that. But given the size and relative strength of our enemies, I don't think this will really be an issue. The amount of naval and naval air strength we're deploying is a bit like squashing an ant with a sledgehammer."

"Understood," Kidd said with a nod. "Anything else?"

"A couple nations sent messages telling us to go through diplomatic channels," Shartz said. "I read copies of them that were forwarded to the Council by the Foreign Ministry. Seems some nations aren't so hot on us going to war without spending months exhausting every diplomatic channel available first. I'm sure Peter Firth will have some nice words for them. One message especially was very condescending. I don't think they realized just who they're fucking with."

Kidd's eyes were drawn to the man on his left. He was an enigma. Most of the time, Kidd thought he would be more suited to commanding a platoon on the battlefront than in command of entire armies. Rumour had it that he trained for combat with the Dragoons, and that he even considered leading them into battle personally. Much of the rest of the time, Kidd thought he would be better suited to commanding soldiers in a different Gholgothan nation, but not as part of Haraki's small, human-rights-obeying military. He was a strange man, and one to be watched. Nevertheless, he had taken ten thousand volunteer soldiers, and turned them into a very formidable fighting force in the form of the Harakian Dragoons, and Kidd had to respect him for that.

"All right, understood. Anything else, come see me personally afterwards. We will most likely reconvene together with the politicians before actually shipping out, but just in case we don't, good luck and good hunting to all those assuming combat commands. Dismissed."

Those around the table stood, and slowly filed out of the room. Tyrell left for the bridge of the ship they were all inside, to talk with the captain. Shartz left for the Dragoons' encampment. Kidd left to have a video conference with the Prime Minister, back in Atherlon. The rest left for their individual commands.

OOC: The first target: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=12532186#post12532186

"Bulldog six six three, Cairns tower, check wheels down, wind two one zero at eight, runway two two, cleared to land," the tower controller at Cairns Airfield cleared the inbound C-130M to land as he downed a glass of water and began repeating the process with multiple other arrivals and departures to the airport. Cairns Airfield was the primary airport of AO-101, and had been swamped with aircraft since the beginning of the mobilization just three days ago. It was usually never this busy at three in the morning.

The base itself was buzzing with life everywhere you went, which was rather amazing, considering the size of AO-101 itself was the rough equivalent to the state of Louisiana in the United States. Troops were prepping for deployment, even though the likelihood of them actually getting shipped out were nil.

The 2nd Infantry Division was placed on Immediate Standby, meaning if another group of troops was called up to go In-Country, they would be the ones. The 23rd Marine Division, 49th Infantry Division, and 202nd Airborne Division were all on Backup Standby, meaning they were the next names on the list to be deployed if it truly came to that point, which no one expected in the slightest. However, the men were getting prepared for any expectation. With their level of training already, there was really no formal procedure for preparing for deployment. Many were packed and ready to go within a few hours, and therefore simply continued with training operations as they usually would. The troops knew what they were doing, and they knew they were good at what they did.

Detachments of the 1st Mobile Armored "Mobile One" Brigade were gearing up for possible deployment and had been placed on Backup Standby, although no troops or pieces from the 13th Mobile Artillery "God's Hand" Brigade had received any sort Standby order.

On the south end of AO-101, the 22nd SOF-D Regiment rested. There was no buzzing, no one was moving around, no helicopters took off and nothing landed. Things were relatively quiet compared to the rest of the installation. On order to get rested up by Commander-General Mark Spitz himself, the troops didn't bother packing their bags or checking over their weapons any more than usual. For the first time in a long time, it looked as if the 22nd would get no action in a military maneuver of this magnitude.