NationStates Jolt Archive


[Earth II] Nocturnal Woes: The Brazilian Tragedy

Layarteb
10-06-2007, 00:05
OOC: Open to all who are conquering land in Brazil and who want to be involved with conquering land in Brazil and who own land in Brazil or who just want to be involved. It was a fancy way of saying that it's open to everyone. Just something for now to get it started, well my storyline anyway. Click the maps for color and bigger ones.

The Venezuelan revolt in April 2007 sparked new fear in the eyes of the government. Though an abysmal failure on the part of the rebels, the morale and political victory extended as far north as Greenland. In excess of 616,000 people were killed, rebels included, and over 500,000 were wounded with over 342,000 rebel POWs. It was the single largest loss of life in any military campaign in the Empire. Though the revolution in the late 1970s cost over three million lives, it was not a single battle or war. This had been the bloodiest for the Layartebian Empire. A lot of men and women had died in Venezuela as a result of war since the late 1960s and it seemed that, after the final uprising in the 1980s, that all was well. With the collapse of the drug lords in Venezuela, the land had been returned to peace, only to find themselves enthralled in war just a few months later. Post-war intelligence really revealed a lot in the Venezuelan Uprising of 2007 that was a massive piece of a puzzle that loomed since October 2005. The rebels had been trained by the Sepah-e Pasdaran (SP), the premier terrorist group in the world operating in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Very shadowy and quiet, they were destroyed when Eurasian forces seized the southern Caucasus, a war that Layartebian Special Forces had fought in, bravely. There was a big linkage though. The SP was linked through a lot of Layarteb's domestic problems. The SP was linked straight to Faysal Abd-Al-Malik Behnam, an Afghani war lord and drug lord who was a major player in the Layartebian drug problems. The SP was linked also to Totalis, the Varsolan corporation on the Falkland Islands that was directly linked to the movement, transfer, and funding of the atomic bomb that blew up Saint George's in July 2006. It seemed that the SP had their hand everywhere and there was even credible evidence to link them to the captured mercenaries who tried to blow up the Layartebian nuclear power plant in Salem, New Jersey.

There were a lot of unanswered questions though and most of those lied across the border, in the Amazon Rainforest, in northwestern Brazil. Across the border in Amazonas and Roraima, which both bordered Venezuela, the last remnants of the Free Venezuelans had moved. They had trained there and they had escaped there. The Free Venezuelans numbered over 800,000 by the lowest estimates and over 1,250,000 by the highest. A total of 972,022 had been killed, injured, or captured in the fighting in Venezuela, which ended on May 5. On May 6, a revised estimate for the Free Venezuelans was provided by the Ministry of Intelligence that put their numbers at 1,000,000. That left at least 28,000 remaining and 28,000 was a big enough number to be a problem. Unfortunately, they weren't within the bounds of the Layartebian Empire. They had escaped to the south and to the east, in Brazil, into sovereign territory that wasn't under any bounds of the Empire.

The territories had been part of the Empire of Neuvo Rica but had since fallen apart. Further to the east, there was anarchy in the states of Amapá and Pará. Further south it was anybody's guess. But in Amazonas and Roraima, it was rather stable. There was a functioning government in place with a clearly defined executive, judiciary, and legislature. There was a functioning military although that was minuscule compared to the colossus that stood to the north and to the west. They had a small air force, no navy, and a small army. They were well-developed, for such a small nation that was just about 5,500,000 people. Called the Federal Republic of the Amazon, the territories were indifferent to the Empire. They weren't friendly at all but neither were they hostile. They were a problem though as they let the Free Venezuelans stage from their territories, although it seemed more that they were incapable of stopping them anyway. The Free Venezuelans had a military armada that rivalled that of any small country.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-climate-small.jpg (http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-climate-large.jpg)
Climate map.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-landuse-small.jpg (http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-landuse-large.jpg)
Land use map.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-shadedrelief-small.jpg (http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-shadedrelief-large.jpg)
Shaded relief map.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-topography-small.jpg (http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/brazil-topography-large.jpg)
Topography map.
Cotland
10-06-2007, 01:35
Government House
Castries, Saint Lucia, Caribbean Realm
A month ago

The small delegation of men were being led though the cavernous halls of the lavish Government House in Castries, passing several pieces of ecsquisite art designed to impress those who passed by as they were being led towards the large double oak doors in the end of the long corridor by a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties with shoulder-long auburn brown hair, dressed in a white linnen dress that hinted to the femine forms the thin cloth concealed. The woman was the secretary to the Governor of the Caribbean Realm, who had his office behind those double oak doors, and who the delegation was on their way to meet.

Eventually, they reached the doors which were opened almost immediately to allow them entry. Inside the plush and comfortable office, an aging, corpulent, bald man dressed in a beige suit stood from behind the desk, greeting his visitors. Rikard Lie, His Majesty the King of Cotland's Governor to the Caribbean Realm as his title was known as officially shook the hands of all three men and let them sit down at the sitting group near the window overlooking the park outside and the Caribbean Sea in the distance before offering them refreshments and a good cigar as a good Cottish host should. It was only after this ritual they started the meeting, speaking in Cottish.

{Translated from Cottish}

"So gentlemen, how may I help you today?" The Governor asked with a smile, shifting his seat slightly in the comfortable leather chair he sat in.

One of the men, dressed in a blue blazer over a white shirt started.

"Sir, first of all I'd like to thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. We know that you are a busy man, but rest assured: you will not regret having taken the time for this meeting."

The Governor chuckled a little at this brash statement.

"Quite a tall statement. I trust you can back it up?"

"Indeed we can sir. Let me start at the beginning. We are as you know from the city of Belém, in the territory of Pará in what used to be the Nuevo Rican Empire. All of us were born there after the Realm took over those territories fifty years ago, and chose to remain behind when the territories were traded to Nuevo Rica fifteen years ago. We are all still Cottish citizens, and there is a substantial percentage of Cottish-decended people living in both Pará and in Amapá, the neighboring territory.

"After the fall of Nuevo Rica, total chaos erupted. The military left when they didn't get any more pay. When the local governments were unable to continue to sustain society without the funding and subsidies from central levels, they tried taxing us more, but that didn't go well and riots erupted. The police hadn't been given any pay either, and their taxes were skyrocketing too, so they didn't stop the rioters. Quite the contrary. They joined the riots, which spread across the territory and ended in the local leaders being dragged into the streets and killed. This in turn paved the way for the state of total anarchy that we are experiencing now. There is no law or order. People are being killed in the streets for no reason, women are being raped, drugs are rampant, and the streets have been taken over by gangs. People are dying by the hundreds every week, and it has to stop!

"That, sir, is why we've come to you. There are some five hundred thousand people of Cottish decent living in those two territories - Pará and Amapá - and they are living in a warzone. We need your help."

The Governor took a sip of his coffee - Colombian Bogotá Blend, imported from Layarteb - as he thought the situation over. Being a Cot, he felt that his country should take immediate action to rescue their citizens, but the realist inside him asked why they should take to all this trouble, getting involved in a peace-establishing operation that would undoubtadly require vast military and financial assets, and tie the Realm down for at least five years.

"I appreciate your situation gentlemen," he said, "But why exactly should I recommend to Oslo that we take action? What is in it for the Realm?"

The men looked at each other and reached a silent decision before another one of the men spoke.

"We are aware that there is a Russian interest in this area as well. They are keen to establish territories close to Layarteb, I am told by a reliable source, and they are eager to seek out anyone of Cottish decent."

That made the Governor set his coffee cup down on the table, a sign that he was seriously concerned.

"The Russians? That changes the situation significantly. If the Russians are to take control of those two territories, they will no doubt track down every single Cot and put them through the most horrible of tortures before they kill them. Additionally, it would seriously jeapordize the security of not only the Empire of Layarteb, but also the Realm itself."

The Governor stopped talking for a moment, thinking through the whole thing once more.

"Gentlemen, if, and I say if, the Realm is to assist the Cots living in these territories, it will require a long and continued effort that will last for at least a decade. It will involve bloody and costly peace-establishing and peacekeeping operations, which will involved the Cottish military, which in turn will require me selling this idea to the Prime Minister, who will have to sell it to the Storting; and it will necessitate the addition of those territories to the Realm. Most likely as a protectorate at first, and maybe eventually add it into the Realm completely. In short, it'll require a lot of resources and political goodwill. However," He picked up his coffee again, "I am willing to try. Are you, knowing the means that are necessary and their consequences?"

The men looked at each other again and whispered quietly but quickly to each other before looking back at the Governor. The first man to have spoken nodded and said, "Yes sir, we understand them well and we are eager to see our flag wave proudly over Brazil again."

Border between French Guiana (Empire of Layarteb) and Amapá (Cottish Brazilian Protectorate)
Current day

The tanks rolled up slowly towards the checkpoint that marked the border crossing between Layarteb, a relatively civilized society, and Amapá, a society currently embroiled in anarchy, moving in collumns and driving at a leisurly 30 kph. The checkpoint was just coming into view, and it was clear to the commander of the lead tank that if he wanted to, it could be destroyed within seconds as it only consisted of two lightly armored vehicles, Layartebian M2008A1 Dingos, and some eight men according to the thermal sensors and the venerable Eyeball Mark I. The border guards were from the Imperial Layartebian Defense Force, local soldiers that were tasked with the boring job of protecting the borders of their country, but they had heard the tanks for some time now - it was difficult not hearing thirty-two tanks and sixty-four infantry fighting vehicles coming towards you - and were out looking at the approaching spectacle.

The border guards had to be confused, the tank commander thought as his tank rolled up towards the checkpoint, which wasn't really more than an opening in the triple-layered electrified fence with barbed wire here and there. The tank was an M51A2 Sabertooth main battle tank, made in Layarteb - more specifically the vast armor plants in Ireland - and sold to Cotland, so a relatively familiar sight to the Layartebians, but the paint job and markings on the sides weren't what they were used to. So, it was a puzzled Layartebian soldier that looked on as the lead Sabertooth came to a halt in front of him, making the rest of the tanks and vehicles in the collum stop, and a man dressed in a camoflage-patterned tank suit with a L105A1 (MP7A1) personal defense weapon in a holster on the hip, and with alien distinctions climbed out of the turret and hopped down onto the paved ground next to the soldier, smiling at their allies' confused looks.

In understandable but accented English, the tank commander spoke.

"This is border crossing Alpha sixteen, correct?"

"Yeah it is. Who the hell are you?"

"Lieutenant Colonel With, commanding officer, Tank Battalion 75 of Brigade 75, Royal Marines, the Realm of Cotland. I believe you've been told that we'll be passing though here? These are my papers, authorizing me and my men to pass by the way."

The Lt Colonel handed the Layartebian lieutenant a piece of paper issued by the Layartebian Ministry of Defense, which the lieutenant promptly read.

"Yes sir. You're cleared to pass." The Lieutenant said, handing the paper back to the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Good. Then we didn't take the wrong passage down there. Have a nice day, and don't let the Russians bite you." He said with a grin before climbing back into the tank. It was an excellent way of staying fit and strong, the officer thought as he got back down into the safe surroundings of armor steel and put his helmet back on before ordering the collumn to proceed onwards. With a mighty roar, the Sabertooth's engine revved back up and started rolling forward again, through the Layartebian border defenses. It was now entering hostile territory...

International waters, off Belém

In internation waters off Belém, the main force that was to take control over Pará was starting to arrive. Centered around the battleship Ragnarok, the 3rd Fleet's 4th Amphibious Assault Battle Group was arriving with Royal Marine Brigades 88 and 89, which was to occupy and restore order to Belém with the assistance of elements of the 3. Commando Regiment of the Special Forces. A similar force was arriving off Macapá, also carrying two brigades of Royal Marines (Brigade 2 and 57).

The plan was simple: a simultanious amphibious assault where the forces would be landed on the beaches and into the city itself via helicopters, where the airlifted Marines and special forces operatives would occupy the most important areas and hold fast until reinforced by the landing forces. Once this had been achieved, they would begin systematically securing the cities. Meanwhile, the forces that were pouring over the border would spread further inland, with the objectives of Santarém and Altamira; and two regiments of infantry from Brigade 72 would be airlifted to Carajas and Maraba, respectively where they would establish Cottish garrisons and secure the cities.

The thing these cities had in common was that they were all blessed with large airbases that the Nuevo Ricans had used for their air force when that nation-state was still around, and that were projected for use with the newly formed Royal Cottish Air Force-Brazil (RCAF-B).

The Cottish Governor had contacted the Cottish cabinet and explained the situation, putting extra stress on the reports of possible Russian involvement. This had sparked Prime Minister Rothsky into high gear, and after gathering the support needed in the Storting and within the Military, he had put it to a vote in the Storting where the move to give Pará and Amapá protectorate status and intervene militarily to reestablish peace and order had been passed with 120-34 votes. So, from there it had been to gather the troops necessary and get permission from the Layartebians to move said troops though their territory, which had been relatively easy. So, with all this cleared, they just had to wait until the troops had moved into position before they started the operation, which had been named Operation TALON.


Operation TALON
ORDER OF BATTLE


ROYAL MARINES
-Brigade 02
-Brigade 28
-Brigade 57
-Brigade 72
-Brigade 75
-Brigade 87
-Brigade 88
-Brigade 89

SPECIAL FORCES
--3. Commando Regiment

_______________________________________________________

Marine Brigade
Personnel (Infantry): 3,456
Personnel (Crew): 1,434
M50A4 Invader IFV: 64
M51A2 Sabertooth MBT: 32
M74A3 CMPLV: 53
M68 MTV: 240

Commando Regiment
Personnel (Officer): 288
Personnel (Enlisted): 864
Personnel (Support): 2,448
Layarteb
10-06-2007, 02:01
Any immediate incursion into the Federal Republic of the Amazon was completely out of the question. The Empire didn't need to start a major regional war just because one country didn't have the means to comply with the biggest in the hemisphere. Diplomacy would be the first option although it would be overshadowed by military action. The Empire had its secrets and it had many of them. On May 7, it added another secret to the already teeming vault. As a Layartebian envoy flew to Manaus, the capital in Amazonas, four Layartebian helicopters flew to a point just two miles over the border with Venezuela. It was the Layartebian way of dealing with problems and issues. Diplomacy was never ruled out but while the diplomats talked and made nice, the enemy always grew in numbers, capabilities, and strength. It was during that time that their defeat was crucial. So while the diplomats talked, played nice, sipped tea, and talked about the finer points of shark fishing, Layartebian soldiers talked, played nice, sipped tea, and talked about the finer points of shark fishing. The only different lay with the fact that while the diplomats talked with each other, the soldiers and the enemies fought with each other. Bad words were the harshest point of one conversation whereas bloodshed dominated the other.

The Ministry of Intelligence had mapped out a number of Free Venezuelan strongholds in the Amazon and they had to be hit hard and properly. There was a distinct advantage with fighting the Free Venezuelans where they camped and where they hide. Of the 5,500,000 people that lived between the two states, a total of 3,400,000 lived in Manaus and its suburbs, which had grown to great prosperity underneath the Empire of Neuvo Rica. That left 2,100,000 to cover the remaining 1,796,051.7 km² of territory. That put a total of 1.17 people per square kilometer. Sparsely populated was an understatement. The Amazonian people were relatively peaceful but, compared with the Layartebians, they were on the level that the Mayans were on and that wasn't too high. Their comprehending of the world was far less than the Layartebian comprehension but it was based around invariably different concepts. The Layartebian line of thinking had grown since 1215 and possibly even before that whereas in the backwards, rejected lands of the Amazon, the thinking had grown since before recorded time but it hadn't yet passed into the twentieth century. So when the Free Venezuelans came in, they dominated wherever they settled and the local populaces were helpless to defend themselves. At the same time, they weren't totally rejected either. The Free Venezuelans were good to their hosts and their hosts were good to them. The relationship was shaky at first but over time it grew quite solid, especially now, that the Free Venezuelans had no where to go. Times had changed and so had circumstances.

So, just after midnight, local time, four Layartebian helicopters quietly snuck over the border. Their pilots flew without instrument lights on and without aircraft lights. Everything to them was a shade of green through their night vision goggles and they flew so low they shook birds right out of their nests. Two of the helicopters were MH-100A Explorers used for transportation and light attack while the other two were RAH-70 Arapahos, used for armed reconnaissance. None of them bore any markings and they were specially made without serial numbers or identifiers of any way. They weren't registered nor were they part of the Imperial Layartebian Military. They belonged to the Ministry of Intelligence and flew with the Clandestine Operations Group. Inside of the Explorers were eight men each, two teams of soldiers from the 11th Black Operations Force, "Force Lightning," specifically tasked with counter-insurgency operations. Based out of El Salvador, the group had gained their first successes when the Ynoga Province was being secured during the 1990s. Their contributions made the casualty count lower than what it could have been and now they were being employed again, to fight against the Free Venezuelans.

They could get with the locals, coax them onto their side, and they specialized with helping indigenous populations. That was the nature of their mission and they were more than adept at it. They were the most professional of any group in the world although their presence wasn't known to any country in the world. When they went out for a mission, they bore nothing that could trace them back to the Empire. They were ghosts and when they dropped into an enemy country they were there for a long stay. They never planned on making it a short stay and thus, they were well equipped to live off the land, as they said. So, when their helicopters crossed into enemy territory, they crossed in without permission, without any sort of identification, and without a timeframe. That was how they liked it and when their Explorers dropped to the ground and touched down softly, they jumped out as nomads in a foreign land. For all sixteen of them to be on the ground it was just a matter of seconds, less than ten in total. The Explorers lifted up right after and spun around, heading back to Venezuela as the Arapahos kept their weapons pointed in front of them, just waiting for someone to fire at them. Usually they weren't spotted and this time was no exception. They entered completely clandestinely and they began their mission for the Ministry of Intelligence without so much as a peep and without being spotted.

Clandestine operations were a necessary part of the way the Empire waged war and fought its enemies. The use of clandestine forces had been the staplepoint of the Empire since day one. Their use kept most wars small. The Empire had helped the Eurasians in many of their wars through clandestine operations, including Afghanistan, Caucasus, and India. The operations were pivotal to the success of the Eurasian forces. Now they were back fighting for the Empire, rather than a third party. They were fighting against an enemy that was their own, an enemy that looked into their faces from the protection of a border and thumbed their nose. The enemies of the Eurasian forces were enemies in their own right and though the SP wasn't outright known to be an enemy to the Empire, it turned out, after the fact, that they were one of the biggest enemies the Empire had.

They touched down in the black night as four teams but as one force. They each had separate operating areas and they would be on the ground for weeks before any real results could be seen. Layartebian forces were coming if the government wouldn't help and if they would help, they were coming anyway. Layartebian forces were staged all around the borders still and they were staged throughout Venezuela still as the war was barely done. Sporadic gun battles still erupted throughout the countryside as the Free Venezuelans fled but they were few and fare between. The goal was to now bring that battle across the border and to eradicate the last supporters of the Free Venezuelans, which could be over 28,000 of them. In contrary, the Layartebians could be bringing over 500,000 people, at minimum. The sixteen men that were now within the confines of the Amazonian Republic were a force unto their own and the 28,000 Free Venezuelans should have been worried.
Layarteb
10-06-2007, 04:29
The Federal Republic of the Amazon inherited a good chunk of the Neuvo Rican military although it didn't have enough people to man everything, which meant their force was small. They had over a hundred aircraft although most of them were helicopters. Their aircraft were outdated though as their air force consisted of 16 F-15C Eagles, 6 EF-111N Aardvarks, 4 AC-130U Spookys, 16 F-15E Strike Eagles, 8 A-10N Thunderbolt IIs, 24 AH-1W Super Cobras, 16 MH-60N Black Hawks, 8 UH-96A Panthers, 12 MH-6J Little Birds, 2 KC-10A Extenders, and 8 C-130H Hercules'. In their army, they had another dozen AH-1Z Vipers, 4 RAH-66A Commanches, and 12 UH-60L Black Hawks. They had a few short-range propellar transports such as the C-12 Huron and even the venerable C-47 Skytrain. Their air defense network was comprised of various point defense systems such as the Bradley Linebacker, M163 Vulcan, and the SLAMRAAM. Their army contained M1A1 Abrams and M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, M2 Bradleys, Warrior IFVs, Stryker APCs, and various other vehicles. With a standing army of 55,000 soldiers and cavalrymen, they didn't have much of a force. They had more equipment than people, that was a simple but hard fact. Their air force and army was all they had and they didn't have much to keep it upkeeped anymore, which was why they were looking to the north. The government was hoping that the Empire could help them, could reinforce them, and could prop them up through their arms shipments. They looked towards the meeting with a sense of urgency. If they could get upkeep from the Empire, perhaps they could allow the Empire to squash the Free Venezuelans, though they posed little to no threat to the government. It was definitely going to be an interesting outcome.

In a bunker in northwestern Amazonas, a couple of miles from where the black forces had landed. The bunker was one of two that remained that controlled the air defense network of the flailing republic. "What do you got?" One of the men asked in Portugese as he got up, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Tracks?"

"It's tough to tell. It's near the Venezuelan border. We don't have any definitive. Maybe ten miles from here?"

"And you say they came over the border and disappeared?"

"Yeah. A few seconds ago. Wait. There they are. Heading north. Back towards the border. We don't have anything to engage."

"Why are they here?"

"I don't know. I don't even have a positive identification. Could be nothing. They were faint contacts. Really faint."

"Altitude?"

"Very low. Too low really."

"I'll inform command."

"Right." The bunker was manned by only four men, four men to cover an air defense zone that should have had no less than forty people covering it. Two of them happened to be taking a break on the surface, smoking cigarettes and talking to each other about whether or not the Empire was going to chase the Venezuelans across the border. Neither of them thought it was likely but they did entertain the possibility, after all, there were more Layartebian forces in Venezuela than their nation could muster, even arming civilians. When word got up to the central military command that they had an intrusion across the border with Layarteb, things began to change in their conversations. They were curious when they got back inside why the helicopters came over the border. They knew them to be helicopters based on their altitude, speed, and quick turn around time. Command was interested, very interested and they wanted the preliminary data on the desk of President Roberto Fraga by the time that the Layartebian envoy landed. They had less than two hours to compile the data into something usable and there were four of them there, all of them no where near up to the task. They were told though that the defense of the Federal Republic hinged on their success. They accepted the task with honor and pride and while three of them worked on it the fourth worked on getting the fax machine up and running. It hadn't been used in years and needed to be cleaned up before used, the dust coating it in layers upon layers.

While they worked on that the four teams were moving through the thick vegetation of the rainforest. The area was dominated by a tropical rainforest that was in relatively flat terrain will little deviation whatsoever. There were some mountainous areas to the north in Roraima and northern Amazonas, along the border with Venezuela. Though, in the northwestern part of the state, there was flat terrain, terrain that the Layartebian forces had landed in, terrain that was forgiving. They walked through the rainforest quickly because they were headed elsewhere. Two of the teams were going to a major Free Venezuelan outpost just eight miles from the Layartebian border and the other two were going to two separate locations to the east, one being a small marijuana farm and the other being an abandoned helicopter base that contained a pair of UH-1 Hueys, neither of them in good condition but air worthy, nonetheless. All four teams would be in their positions by first light, which was the necessary effect. They wanted to be in position before the sun rose in the morning this way they could observe the targets throughout the day and attack during the night.

With their M73A2 Enhanced Carbines, M77C4 Tactical Assault Pistols, and M36A1 Sniper Rifles, the sixteen of them trotted through the jungles with their weapons in hand. They hoped not to encounter any Venezuelan rebels or Amazonian soldiers because their rules of engagement limited them from action, unless absolutely necessary. They were there, strictly on a reconnaissance role and any action had to be approved by the Ministry of Intelligence, after all, they were their on the Ministry's mandate. They weren't there on the beheast of the Ministry of Defense but rather the MOI instead, on orders that came directly from the Minister himself and the Emperor. Few in the Cabinet even knew about the mission and it was designed to be as secret as possible. The envoy that was coming knew absolutely nothing and all he knew was that he was there to negotiate and that the Empire wouldn't act until a negotiation could be settled.
Cotland
10-06-2007, 14:34
Vigiá, 30 km north of Belém
10 June 2007, 05:30 hours
Operation TALON, Phase 1

In the wee hours of the morning of the 10th of June, Operation TALON commenced with the simultanious landing of troops and equipment on the beaches off Belém and Macapá, where four full brigades of Royal Marines, close to twenty thousand men in all, would be landed on the beaches. The early morning fishermen in the boats were surprised when they came down to their boats in the morning to find a vast armada in the horizon, with small specks of grey and green moving towards them, growing for every second that passed. Shocked, they stood and watched in awe as the specks grew into the size of HLCACs, Invader amphibious assault transports and other landing craft, all laden with naval infantry, and all aimed directly for the beach.

The HLCACs came first, moving at a speed of more than forty knots as the 400 ton heavy piece of military machinery quickly transitioned from the sea and onto the sand, moving quite a bit up the beach before coming to a halt and releasing air from the cushion that allowed it to move over all sorts of terrain. A few seconds later, the HLCACs were resting on the breach, allowing the four M74A3 CMPLVs and sixty troops that had been transported in the cargo deck of each vehicle to be dismounted. The CMPLVs immediately drove off, struggling in the sand but eventually reaching the firmer ground twenty meters ahead, where they speeded up and started moving off to establish a perimeter and to scout the area ahead. The majority of the troops that had been landed would move along and start establishing a perimeter while the rest, who were members of the brigade logistics battalion would organize the landing zone, keeping a sense of order in the chaos. A pair of Royal Marines quickly rounded up the few fishermen that were on the beach and told them that the Cottish were there to restore law and order, and that they had to return to their homes and remain there until it was safe.

In the meanwhile, twenty M50A4 Invader amphibious assault vehicles rolled up from the sea, moving easier across the sandy beach thanks to their tracks and powerful engine pack. Each Invader carried eighteen Royal Marines - two squads - and they too rolled up and towards the south, heading off towards Belém. A battalion of Royal Marines would secure Vigiá before they too rolled along, heading towards Belém to secure it.

Downtown Belém
10 June 2007, 05:40 hours

Belém was a city of some 1.41 million inhabitants inside an area some 1,070 square kilometers in size, giving a population density of some 1,317.76 people per square kilometer. It was a crowded city, with many large buildings and a lot of poverty even before the Empire of Nuevo Rica collapsed. Even under the Realm, the city had experienced poverty, something the Cottish had been unable to completely eradicate before it traded the area to Nuevo Rica. It had been a mix of poor political commitment, lack of funding to undertake the social reforms needed, and a general unwillingness of the people with money and power in Pará to support this - they needed the poor people to work in their factories for next to no pay. That was something the Cottish were hoping would change now, even though locals would still be in political control as the Brazilian Protectorate as it was becoming known as in Cottish political circuts would be a mostly autonomous area, with its only limitations being accepting His Majesty the King as the sovereign of the areas, letting the Cottish maintain military bases there, and letting the Realm handle the foreign affairs of the territories. Apart from this, they would be mostly self-sufficient. The territories would even have their own military, even though it would be trained and influenced by the Cottish, and swear an oath of loyalty to the King, thus hopefully ensuring its loyalty.

However, first they had to secure the city, and for that purpose, they needed to get troops there quickly. Thus, the virtual air armada of helicopters streaked over Belém, approaching from the north, carrying a lot of troops. A little over a thousand Royal Marines to be more exact. The helicopters were escorted by H-11/B Reaper gunships, carrying 70mm CRV-7 unguided rockets and AGM.19/A Brimstone anti-tank missiles on the small wings on the sides, and a healthy loadout of 30x173mm depleted uranium ammunition for the twin-barreled cannon in the nose, ready to assist the Royal Marines with deadly fire from above if necessary.

The helicopters split up into groups, transporting their troops towards the designated landing zones. From here, the Royal Marines would quickly move to invade and occupy the important areas that would need to be secure in order to take the city. These points included, but weren't limited to the city's fortress, the mighty Forte de Castelo which had a number of old but still very usable M114 155mm howitzers that the Nuevo Ricans had used for coastal defense along with a pair of bigger and older M115 203mm howitzers for those bigger threats, and smaller M3 105mm howitzers for smaller threats that didn't warrant the use of a 155mm; the two airports in the city, which would be needed to airlift in supplies and troops, and station fighter jets and helicopters; the city hall and other government offices; and the port facilities, to allow ships to travel up here to offload their cargo instead of having to offload it in a makeshift port in Vigiá and drive it down the perilous jungle road where it could be attacked.

Coming to a hover just half a meter over the ground, the Super Stallion II remained relatively still as the fifty-five Royal Marines inside scurried out of the cavernous cargo hold and fanned out in a defensive perimeter, constantly guarded by the three enlisted men manning the powerful L103A1 Miniguns in the doorways, waiting for a potential enemy to emerge. None came, and the helicopter was empty of troops within twenty seconds, letting it lift off again and assume a holding position over the fortress as the Royal Marines split up into the nine-man squads and started making for their pre-determined positions, their brand new weapons of Doomani origin at the ready.

Ten minutes later, all the squads that had been deployed to the fortress had reached their objectives and secured them without a single shot being fired. The fortress had been empty, and while they had found plenty of ammunition for the large artillery pieces and heavy machine guns in the fortress, the small-arms armories had been cleaned out, leaving not even a single round left. The administration building had been cleared out too, with papers littered everywhere, broken furniture and blood marks on the walls. Clearly, there had been looters here, but they were long gone. The fortress was empty, save for the company of 144 Royal Marines that occupied it.

At the city hall, the Cottish Royal Marines had stumbled upon a band of armed, hapless civilians that didn't want to leave their newfound home, something a lieutenant in the Royal Marines had experienced first-hand when he was shot dead in a spray of rounds fired from the insurgent's - the Cottish automatically labelled anyone opposing them an insurgent - FN FAL. Of course, he and those along with him were killed almost instantly in a spray of 6.7x53mm rounds fired from the L130A1 Tactical Rifles - the Cottish designation for the Doomani DR-83M Tactical Rifle - that the Royal Marines carried into battle. While the Royal Marines had cleared out the enemy quickly, they had still taken a fatality, and that wasn't good. It showed that the at least some of the locals were willing to kill to keep law and order from returning, and that meant that the Cottish would need to use the peace-establishing techniques that they had rehearsed. It meant the use of limited force against threats, and it involved winning hearts and minds, a technique the Cottish were well trained in. However, first they had to take the city.

An hour after they landed, the Cottish Royal Marines had secured their objectives and were digging in, holding their positions as they waited for reinforcements. It would be another fifteen hours before those reinforcements in the form of two brigades would arrive, at which time they would begin securing the city itself.
Layarteb
10-06-2007, 18:25
The Layartebian envoy would land in just an hour and the men inside of the bunker were hastily working on getting everything ready. They managed to get the fax machine working but it took the better part of the hour. With Layartebian black agents moving throughout their country, the Layartebian envoy on his way, and the Venezuelans flooding back in their country, they had more on their shoulders than just the world. They were so distracted that they didn't see the most damning piece of evidence that proved Layartebian involvement in an expanded campaign within their sovereign borders. Their radar was tracking another small target, this one operating at 20,000 feet and just 81 mph, too slow for an aircraft such as a fighter but not too slow for a drone. It was an MQ-1B Predator UAV, doing reconnaissance throughout the night. The Predator was relatively stealthy but the advanced radar system employed by the Neuvo Rican military could detect them and the Amazonian state had inherited this system. The drone was unarmed and was performing a simple reconnaissance mission over several targets that the MOI suspected to be Venezuelan strongholds. As the drone surveyed its targets using its powerful sensors to look through the dark night at the targets. The operators were sitting over a thousand miles away, comfortably in a closed environment, deep underground, piloting it through remote communications, communications that worked uninterrupted. They collected data as the Amazonian soldiers tried to put everything together, ignoring their panels. It was comical, in a way.

The first to reach their target was the third team, which went right after the helicopter base. It was in the middle of a clearing and it was pretty large. The clearing had been cleared out by the Neuvo Rican military years before. Now it was becoming overgrown due to lack of maintenance and only half of it was occupied. Reconnaissance had shown that prior to the incursion of the Layartebian black agents so they knew what they were walking into before they even stepped foot into the jungle. On such a clear night like this, they had the benefit of near total darkness. They kept low and dared not make a single peep themselves, using just hand signals to communicate. The base was barren except for a few buildings on the total opposite end and a single guard tower on their end. In the middle was the small tarmac for helicopters and the two UH-1N Hueys were sitting on the tarmac, silent. They could only see their tails as they put their backs against the guard tower. With his hand, the leader of the four men motioned for them to move into the building and up to the top, to watch over the camp. It was the perfect place for them to be and they knew this before hand.

The door wasn't locked and they first opened the door but did not enter. The leader was the first one in and with his carbine, he pointed it all around and up too, up the stairs, waiting to see if anyone was around. After he was inside another entered and then another and finally, the fourth. They shut the door behind them and left it unlocked but rigged a small, empty, glass jar that they found lying on the ground to fall over whenever the door was opened. They would be able to hear it roll around or they would hear it break, which gave them an indication that someone had entered the tower. It wouldn't give them much time to react but they wouldn't be caught by surprise, which would be catastrophic for them. The first floor was bare but full of garbage and papers. They moved up the spiraling staircase just as slowly. With their weapons pointing upwards, they made sure to place their feet for each step. Their boots made sure they weren't going to make any noise as they climbed the rusty, flaking stairs. The tower was only about thirty-five feet high and the top of it wasn't like a tower, per say, it was more like a square room, like the rest of the tower. It was big enough for all four of them and it gave them a commanding view of the whole base.

When they got to the top, they carefully surveyed everything and then set down on the floor, keeping away from the two windows that overlooked the base. The leader and one of the other men moved over to them and sat against the wall, with their backs to the wall and kept low, low enough that their heads wouldn't stick up, over the top of the sill. The other two kept up overwatch positions, making sure that, should anyone come up the ladder, they didn't get too far to the top. They looked at their watches. The base was only about three and a half miles from the drop point. Now that they were in position, they began to begin their reconnaissance. They had fiber optic cameras with them that had nightvision capability and zoom allowances. They could survey the whole base and transfer everything the cameras saw to small hard-drives stored on the camera adapter modules. The hard-drives were like flash drives in a way, they were removable and it would take over 4,000 pounds of force to crush them. They were heavily based on the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium, which was rated at just 2,000 pounds. Each minidrive held 16GB of data and they had four in each adapter and they carried two adapters with them, giving them a total of 128GB of storage space. On even the longest missions, including those that lasted over two weeks, they barely used up a single adapter, let alone two. They would also transmit the data to the MOI once they were done surveying the target.

Who knew how long that would be though. They were on stationed for as long as the MOI told them to be there and that was fine for them. They packed enough supplies for fourteen days before they had to move out and resupply themselves. The helicopter base was quiet at that hour of the night. If there were Venezuelans there and they imaged there were, they were sleeping. That was fine for them. Using their fiber optic cameras, the same ones that they used often to check under doorways to see if a room was clear or not, they identified various targets throughout the base, including the two helicopters, which they would take care of themselves. They were carrying C4 explosives with them, which they would attach to the helicopters. The end result would be two large fireballs. The Free Venezuelans themselves had no heavy equipment. They possessed no armor and no aircraft. The two helicopters they had here weren't necessarily theirs but neither were they part of the air force. They were rotting hulks left over from the Neuvo Rican military that just never got claimed after the dissolution. That was about all they had. Their were other pieces of equipment lying around the country but most of it was in such disrepair little of was actual usable. As far as the MOI knew, based on satellite reconnaissance and other pieces of the puzzle, just the two helicopters were all that they possessed. The capabilities of the Amazonian Air Force, on the other hand, was not speculation, it was accurate.

It was so that when the Layartebian envoy landed in Manaus, he was taken straight to the President's office, which was in the center of the town. It was early in the morning, too early for most people to even be awake. It was still dark out and it was still early morning when his plane landed. Due to the urgency of the matter, the President agreed to the meeting because it would be the best time to conduct business without the interference of cabinet people or protestors. The visit by the Layartebian envoy was completely secret but somehow, the media in the Federal Republic of the Amazon always found out when a foreign dignitary was visiting. The presence of a Layartebian envoy would, undoubtedly, spark crticism by many of the people, especially in Manaus, which wasn't pro-Layartebian at all. Inside of Manaus, the Amazonians were wary of the Layartebians. They knew what happened in southern Mexico. They knew what happened in Quebec. They knew what happened in Venezuela each and every time since the 1960s. They knew what the Layartebians wanted now that the Venezuelan revolution was over and the revolutionaries brutally destroyed. They knew that the Layartebians would want to chase the Venezuelans into the Amazon and seize control of the land to stomp them out, that much they knew. They didn't trust the Layartebians and neither did the President; however, he would entertain the envoy for his own good.

"Good morning Mr. President. I am Jonas Sparrow here on a personal delegation from the Emperor himself. It is good to finally meet you after these long weeks of correspondance." Both of them had spoken via phone and secure e-mail throughout the past three weeks, as the Venezuelan forces tore through the Venezuela countryside. "I apologize it has to be so late in the night but secrecy is of the utmost importance."

"Yes Mr. Sparrow. I agree. Please. Be seated." He said as he stood himself. "A cup of coffee or tea before we begin?"

"Coffee would be fine for me sir."

"Luís. Two coffees please." He buzzed to the aide that was inside of the main room, which led into the Presidents office. When he brought in the coffees, he left, shutting the door behind him. "Alright Mr. Sparrow we are now alone. I suppose that, now with all of the actions in Venezuela that such is the main reason for your meeting?" The President spoke fluent although accented English. His accent didn't do much to disrupt any understanding of him though. "I trust that you are here for a purely diplomatic means?"

"I am Mr. President. Venezuelan rebels used your countryside both before and during the uprising in Venezuela. Whether or not your law enforcement or military was in the know-how of this is of little concern Mr. President. I am not here to make accusations. I am here to resolve a problem once and for all. Venezuelan rebels had left Venezuela, fled under the cover of their own defeat. We suspect that at least 40,000 of them remain, a small number considering what we have found, which is over 950,000 sir. We believe that those 40,000 have left themselves in your countryside, far removed from civilization and far removed from your own watchful eyes.

"Mr. President, 40,000 is a low number for our standards. For yours that is a dangerous number. You would be unwise to allow them sanctuary as they will turn on you as they turned upon the Layartebians. I implore you to expell them. To allow extradition. And to aide us in putting these insurrectionists to justice for the thousands upon thousands that they killed."

"I imagine you are aware that we do not support them?"

"I am. As I said. I am not here to accuse you of anything Mr. President. Your state is a beacon of democracy in the world and it should be looked upon as such."

"I am glad. It would not be wise for future cooperation for such to happen." The envoy sensed some tension in the President's voice. "Now. The Venezuelans. At the moment. Do not pose us any threat although I would agree with you that they cannot be trusted not to be a future problem. My country is indifferent to the Layartebian Empire but I, myself, am finding it difficult to be such a way. I, personally, want future cooperation, trade, and agreements with the Empire Mr. Sparrow. However, I want for my country as well."

"What is that Mr. President?"

"Our country, as you know, was once part of the great Empire of Neuvo Rica. Since its dissolution, we've been left with a military that is, sad to say, under par. We have no unkeep and more equipment than we can man. We need to modernize. Our law enforcement needs proper equipment as well. We are growing in population and we are a peaceful place. However, we need to protect our borders. To the east, anarchy reigns. To our southeast, it is a nightmare. Whatever remains of the Neuvo Rican Empire in Brazil, we are the only place that is not dominated by greed, violence, and chaos. It won't be long before those in the other territories will get bored. They will want to come to the Amazon Republic. Some will come for sanctuary. Others will come to escape those who seek them. Still, others will come to spread their ways to our humble and peaceful land. I cannot allow that to happen so, you see, Mr. Sparrow, I will need to have a defensive force that can repel them."

"I see Mr. President. Perhaps the Empire can, in fact, be your benefactor."

"That is where I am aiming Mr. Sparrow."

"I see. Perhaps we have some common interest here. If I may?" He took a sip of the coffee, which was still scalding hot. "It is in the best interests of the Empire to have the Venezuelan rebels either in jail or dead. We cannot allow them to roam this Earth as free people. At the same time, we cannot allow a state on our borders that is dominated by a complete and total lack of law and order. Therefore it is in our best interest to ensure that your state remains as stable as possible, which is, obviously, in your best interests. We, we do have something here that we both can agree upon."

"Yes. We can."

"Mr. President. What can be done about these rebels, if I may ask?"

"With the proper equipment we can defeat them. We can ensure that they never see the light of day again."

"You will imprison them?"

"Those that survive the hunt."

"What of their punishment?"

"Mr. Sparrow we do not believe in the death penalty here. We do not see how a state can condemn the act of murder if it practises such an act itself. They will be in jail for longer than a lifetime though."

"This leaves us in a problem. If they can breathe than they can rebel."

"We cannot extradite them either if we know they will be executed."

"They will be. We need that assurance."

"That Mr. Sparrow I cannot give. I can promise you that they will not go quietly and that many will fall victim to our bullets."

"Yes sir. They shall. But the ones that remain will naturally harbor ill-will. Should they be alive they will focus that ill-will towards your government primarily. After all, you robbed them of their safe haven."

"They will be safely behind bars and they will not be freed."

"I will have to consult my ministries on this Mr. President. These rebels are traitors to the Empire and treason is a capital punishment."

"I understand Mr. Sparrow but your ways and our ways differ. I cannot allow our ways to be promptly changed due to your internal problems."

"Mr. President. Our internal problems are just that. Ours. Your interference with them isn't a happy thing."

"Mr. Sparrow, I believe that our meeting must end now. Please take your leave. We will convene again in the afternoon. After we can consult our respective parties. I thank you for the audience Mr. Sparrow."

"And I Mr. President." They stood, shook hands and Mr. Sparrow was shown out of the building. He would be staying at a major hotel during the time that he was in the Amazon Republic. With him were eight men from Force Victor, the 4th Black Operations Force. They were tasked with bodyguard operations and this was the perfect place for them.
Whittlesfield
10-06-2007, 22:52
Ever since the concept of the Pampas Republic of Whittlesfield had been around, the states of Santa Catarina, Parana, and Rio Grande do Sul had been part of the Republic. But when independence was finally declared, Uruguay was the only part of the mainland to become part of the Republic. These occupied lands were under the control of Romania, and had been for quite a while. But these lands were Whittlian, and now that the Republic had been created, these lands should come under the control of the Whittlian Government.

It was already known that the Romanians weren't keen to give up the land, but it was hoped that negotiations would take place, so that a mutual agreement could take place. Also, if these lands came under Whittlian control, it would give direct land access to Paraguay, which was currently in a state of chaos, and had several citizens that were sympathetic to Whittlesfield.

Somewhere near the Brazil-Paraguay border...

Speeding through a jungle track on a 4x4, a Whittlian agent had been meeting contacts to find out the willingness of the local population to join the Republic, and he had found nothing but good news. He had also hidden stashes of weapons in the area, to arm local militias should the need arise.
Layarteb
11-06-2007, 00:26
The President didn't bring up the information about the helicopters because it was a bargaining chip that he could use if he had been backed into a corner. Mr. Sparrow returned to his hotel unaware that the incident ever happened so, when he picked up his secure phone and called the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had only the conversation he had to report. "Sir. Yes. It is Jonas Sparrow. Good sir. Good. Well it wasn't either way sir. The President is very interested in the future of his country. His military and law enforcement are ill-equipped since the fall of the Empire of Neuvo Rica and he is worried that his borders will become porous with the chaos around him. He wants to know if we can help bolster their defenses to protect them from the chaos around them. At the same time, he does not trust the Venezuelan rebels in his countryside and wants our help to stomp them out. However, by our help, he means arms. He'll be the one to do the job. There won't be extradition unfortunately and they do not have a death penalty. Basically if they are caught they will be in jail just don't know for how long sir. He is not receptive to our intervention. No sir. I didn't bring it up yet. He is aware that we do not want a chaotic state on our borders so he is wary that we will do what we have to do to prop him up and his government. No sir I understand. I will bring it up. We will meet again this afternoon. Yes sir. Thank you sir." He ended the call and laid down in the bed, hopeful to get some rest before the meeting in the afternoon. His bodyguards would wake him up when the time came.

Throughout the wee hours of the morning, as the sunrise drew nearer and nearer, the other three teams from Force Lightning got into position. The team going to the marijuana farm arrived second and put themselves in a position in the middle of the farm. They looked through their binoculars to the farmhouses themselves, where they could carefully watch the Venezuelan rebels and ensure that, should they come out of the house, they were in a plain line of fire and sight to them. The two going to the outpost arrived last but they were also the furthest away from the drop point. One team took up an overwatch position, hiding in the high trees of the rainforest to overlook the outpost while the other team stayed on the ground relatively close to the outpost, hiding in vegetation, to get a careful look at the outpost. There was activity, even that early in the morning with over a dozen Venezuelan rebels keeping a close eye on the perimeter. Most of them were smoking but all of them were carrying assault rifles or light machine guns. They had a few armored jeeps around and the outpost itself looked like a military encampment fit for over a thousand soldiers.

"See?" The commander said to his men as he looked through the binoculars. The sun was beginning to rise in the distance and they were looking at the rebels who were well armed. "Looks like some BARs. AK-47s. M16s. A few M30s. They're well armed. They've got a lot down there." He whispered. "Alright let's get some pictures alright? We'll send them back via satellite in a few hours." They kept their eyes on the outpost as the sun began to rise. Throughout the countryside, people awoke. Some of them were rebels, other were normal people. As they did, the sky began to turn a dark shade of gray. Rain was coming and the weather reports put a strong thunderstorm over the country for at least the better part of May 7 with scattered thunderstorms looming through May 8. May 9 was supposed to be clear, hot, and humid. Two days of rain meant that they would be without much air cover, if it was needed. MOI pilots were skilled, highly skilled but they were still limited by the capabilities of their aircraft. However, the F-20A Tigershark and the A-17 Interrupter were both all-weather aircraft. These were the main aircraft employed by the MOI, in addition to the A-16 Invader, although that was not "all-weather" at all.

The MOI intended for a tactical, aerial strike against the outpost. There was even talk about using artillery guns like the M2014 Hail Storm, which had the range to fire deep into Amazonian territory and take out the outpost but that would mean the Amazonians would know, without a glimmer of a doubt that the Layartebians had attacked them. Therefore, the plan called for using an aerial strke with F-20s or A-17s in the thunderstorm. The loadout would consist mainly of incendiary munitions but there would also be the use of plain iron bombs. The less sophisticated the strike was, the harder it would be to pin it on the Layartebians. They would come inbound with 500 or 1,000 pound bombs loaded with Thermate-TH3 warheads, which was enough to light the entire area on fire quickly and easily. Those would complement standard Slick-series bombs, which were produced throughout the world.

The loadout for the F-20s would be simple, four 500 pound bombs on their inner wing pylons, two 500 pounds bombs on their outer wing pylons, a pair of wingtip Sidewinders, and that was it. They could load up to four 1,000 pound bombs on the inner wing pylons too, if necessary and some may take off with such a loadout. A-17s would be flying with a similiar light-attack loadout. They would carry gunpods or 500 pound bombs or even CRV7 rockets. They could carry a thousand pound bomb on each inner wing pylon but they wouldn't, it would add too much drag for the propellar powered aircraft. It would be essential for the F-20s to bring air to air missiles though, since they could encounter Amazonian aircraft and, should they, they would need to defend themselves. No aircraft was to be shot down, even though none of them had any markings that could distinguish them. They would have to fly from Layartebian territory since Layartebian territory nearly surrounded the state, except for some Roman territory to the south, which would give up their "clandestine" nature. They couldn't risk flying over Roman territory or even requesting it for fear that someone in the Amazonian government might find out and then it would mean war between the two states and the Empire would be forced to do a full-on attack, levelling the country.

The rains began around 8:00 a.m., local time. They were light at first but with the first few bolts of lightning and cracks of thunder, they picked up heavily. The men of Force Lightning that were exposed to the outside managed to get themselves underneath panchos that would keep them dry but they were still lying in the mud and what not. They would dry out eventually and if they could stay dry, overall, they were fine and that was tehir intended goal. As the four teams went about their reconnassiance, another MQ-1B Predator took off from an airbase in Colombia near the city of Tunja. It would fly over the Colombian countryside at maximum altitude and cross over, into the Amazon and carefully monitor the situation through the rain, which they hoped would ground most of the Amazonian Air Force. Should they get any fighters into the air, the MQ-1 would have to retreat, although it was carrying four AIM-186C Wizard missiles, which were derived from the FIM-186A Wizard, a replacement for the FIM-92 Stinger.
Layarteb
11-06-2007, 03:55
As the Layartebian envoy entered the President's office in the early afternoon, he was walking into a hornet's nest that not even he was aware of, especially since the President was prepared to use what evidence he had. After reviewing tapes, the MQ-1 had been seen and now it was personal. The President accepted the envoy into his office without a glimmer of what was to come. "Mr. Sparrow. I am glad you could come back. Please. Have a seat. We have much to discuss."

"Thank you Mr. President. The Emperor sends his personal greetings and wishes to convey these sentiments. We will provide arms and support for the Federal Republic of the Amazon under the following conditions. First, that Layartebian forces may assist with the defeat of the Free Venezuelans in your countryside and, secondly, that your government ensure that no rebellious groups hostile to the Empire make their homes in your lands." The President was immediately insulted that he was being told how to run his own country and the envoy knew this.

"You come in here thinking you can make such demands? With your conduct!"

"Mr. President?"

"Your conduct since the beginning has been one of deceit!"

"I do not know what you are talking about?"

"Don't sit there and play dumb with me Mr. Sparrow! Just last night four helicopters crossed the Venezuelan border and set foot on Amazonian soil. Then they lifted up and returned! You come in here to make demands. To demand and tell us what to do? You are brazen Mr. Sparrow!"

"This is a heavy accusation you make. What proof do you have as there have been no helicopter flights sanctioned across the border. This is an outright lie, a farce, and I do not appreciate it Mr. President. I came here with the utmost honesty and you disrespect me and the Empire in such a way?" He threw the file down, onto the table and stood up. "What is this? Your 'proof'?"

"It is! Read!"

"I'll indulge this for arguments sake." He picked up the folder and began to read. "This? This is what you have prepared? This proves nothing. How do you account for this? How is it that you can account that these are immediately belonging to the Layartebian military? Perhaps these are the Venezuelans? Perhaps these are YOUR helicopters! There is no proof that they are Layartebian in any way at all. How am I not to see this as your helicopters ferrying Venezuelans or their own? Our satellite photographs have found them in possession of several Hueys. This is rubbish and proves nothing! You have nothing!"

"This is not it!" He passed over the other information, about the MQ-1 flight. "This is a drone of yours!"

"This is anything. You do not see any markings on it? How can this be ours if it has no markings?" The Amazonians had photographs, albeit poor ones, of the Predator flying over their airspace. They were taken from a radio communications aircraft, flying in the same vacinity. "These could be your own? How am I to see this as definitely Layartebian? I see no flags. No markings. Nothing. This is rubbish. All of it is rubbish. I do not know what you aim to do except drive a wedge through negotiations that came with peace in mind. You take us and spit on us. Now what do you wish from us? You want our money. You want our guns. But you won't accept our help. No. You will only take from us but give us nothing! You have shown me the face of the Amazon Republic, a face that I am apalled to see. Good day Mr. President!" With that he stood and so did the body guards. They stormed out of the President's office, returned to their hotel room, packed up their belongings, and returned to Layarteb City, where he would give his report. The Amazonian President was more than angered with the way that he had been deceived by the envoy and he immediately ordered his military to engage and destroy any intruders in their airspace or on their soil, including Layartebian forces.
Cotland
11-06-2007, 13:35
Belém, Pará
07:09 hours, 10 June 2007

While the Royal Marines were busy securing various areas, a team of Special Forces operatives that had been inserted two weeks prior to conduct the critial job of aquiring information and intelligence on possible enemies, good routes of approach, potential allies and similar things moved quickly through the abandoned alley, reaching the non-descript door that was their objective. The team commander, a weathered man of some forty years of age and an operator with experience from among others Siberia and Saint Lazare India stopped his men and motioned for them to assume the pre-planned positions. He used hand-signals, because it was just too risky to speak as the enemy could hear them.

In the last two weeks, the Special Forces had singled out more than six hundred individuals that posed a serious threat to the future stability of Pará, and that needed to be rooted out. This was, however, easier said than done, as the vast majority of these individuals were members of the street gang that dominated not only Belém, but also all of Pará: the Mala Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13. This street gang wasn't like any other gang the Cottish forces had opposed over the years, which wasn't few. The difference between them and MS-13 was that MS-13 was an extremely well organized organization with a vast amount of members, believed by the Cottish military intelligence community to total well over 100,000 individuals worldwide, and governed by an extremely strong sense of loyalty to the gang, where the members were willing to do absolutely anything for their gang, including killing their own family, not to mention Cottish soldiers. They were extremely well armed, having raided the old Nuevo Rican arsenals when the Empire collapsed, which meant that they had in their possession assault rifles, light machine guns, explosives, and even a number of anti-tank weapons. They were a dangerous foe indeed, and one that needed to be eradicated. What worked to the Cottish's advantage was that MS-13 wasn't well trained in military tactics or in how to handle a weapon safely or accurately, something which would be used for all it was worth.

A four-man section of the eight-man team outside the door in the break of morning prepared their L127A2 Advanced Special Applications Carbines that had been purchased from Doomingsland not long ago and rotated to the Special Forces outfits a few weeks prior to the team deploying to Belém, and checked that the weapons were locked and loaded, that the red-dot aimpoint scope was working, and that the suppressors were in place. Confident in this, the section nodded to the commander who would remain outside with the second section while the first section cleared out the first floor of the building. The commander nodded back, and they got ready. The door's primitive lock had already been picked by the team technician and checked with an optiwand to determine that there were no hostiles in the immediate room inside. After a final check with the optiwand, it was deemed clear and the section got the go-ahead to enter.

The door opened silently, revealing an empty corridor inside, but that didn't mean that the four men rushed inside. No, they advanced calmly and silently, their weapons constantly at the ready, set to fire a two-round burst at any threatening suspects. Advancing silently, they stopped at the first door in the five-story building and checked it. It was open, and there were someone inside.

Two seconds later, one of the operators ripped the door open while two of the operators quickly stormed the room, shooting dead the three people inside with accurate two-round bursts to the chest and head. A 6.7x53mm projectile hitting the head of an enemy combatants wasn't a pretty sight, the operators decided after assuring themselves that the enemies were dead. Half the head of the suspects was missing after the round pierced just underneath the left eye at a velocity of some 795.8 meters per second, upon which the blended metal round and the kinetic energy generated caused for the bullet to expand and send the brains and most of the bones in the back of the skull flying. At least death had been instant, the operators determined as they looked at the bodies of three young men, the youngest not even eighteen yet, but still carrying an FN FAL in a sling over the shoulder like the other three, and donning the distinguishing mark of MS-13: the tattoos.

While shaking their heads and wondering what the hell had caused these three to go ahead and join that gang and thus get themselves killed, the commander and the second section arrived and wondered what the hell they were waiting for before he noticed the dead teenagers. Looking at them for a few seconds, he too thought about why before the mission crept back into his mind. Telling the men that they had a mission to accomplish, the operators got back to their professional mindset and resumed clearing the five floors, firing two-round bursts at the remaining seventeen enemies in the building.

In the fifth floor, one of the two objectives of the mission had been accomplished: they had taken out the sniper nest and observation point that directly overlooked the front and side of the City Hall. This observation post was a good 500 meters from the City Hall with a direct line of sight, and it would have given MS-13 an excellent observation post to co-ordinate strikes against the City Hall and the Cottish forces there. Not any more.

Meanwhile, down in the basement, the second objective was discovered, right where intelligence indicated it would be. Crates upon crates of small-arms, ammunition and explosives were stored here. A quick count revealed that there were some one thousand assault rifles of the types FN FAL, M4A1 and FN F2000, two thousand pistols of the makes Beretta 92FS and Colt M1911A1, fifty M72A9 LAW anti-tank launchers, ten FIM-92 Stinger MANPAD launchers with thirty missiles, one hundred fifty thousand rounds of various calibers, five hundred hand grenades and nine hundred kilos of C4 explosives! It was more than enough to arm a small army, and the Cottish weren't sure what to do with it. So, they did the only sensible thing: they called Command, in this case the operations room in the Ragnarok class battleship that served as the flagship for this operation and currently steaming off Vigiá, and asked for instructions.

Instructions came though quickly. They were to sit tight and defend the position until such a time when a convoy of Royal Marines and trucks could come to relieve them and transport the confiscated weapons back to the Fortress where they would determine it's future use. Simple enough orders to follow, especially since there were only two entrances and no windows in the first floor: the front door and the back door. Taking no chances, the special forces team rigged up a pair of Claymore anti-personnel mines at each door and posted two sentries near each door, in hastily created defensive positions made out of furniture, while the remaining four would have defensive positions in the upper floors where there were windows to fire from. They would rotate the positions every hour unless something happened.

As for the weapons dump, the demolition expert used of the confiscated C4 and rigged the dump to be able to be blown by remote detonator. If the building came under attack and the Cottish were unable to repell them, they would fight the enemy for long enough to get clear of the building before blowing the dump. They'd rather destroy it themselves than let the enemy take it back because it was just too big and important for the enemy to be allowed to recapture it.

Similar operations were undertaken all over Belém, Macapá and the other villages and cities the Cottish were taking over. The sixty Special Forces teams that were deployed to Pará and Amapá were all either capturing important places like radio stations, television stations, telephone switchboards, and power stations, or taking out enemy MS-13 leaders that could mount a credible counter-offensive - the organization was spread out across the invaded areas, or doing like this team and taking over important enemy supply points and ammo dumps. The vast majority of the operations were successful as the Cottish had superior training, equipment, motivation, and most importantly, the element of surprise. They had taking the enemy by surprise, crippling their abilities to operate jointly on a national scale. Resistance would now be limited to individual city, or in some cases as low as burrough, cells.
Layarteb
14-06-2007, 02:41
OOC: Oh yeah it's graphic...

May 7 was definitely a trying day for the future of any relationship between the Amazonian Republic and the Empire. The President had, essentially, accused the Layartebian envoy and his country of lying to them and conducting a secret war within his borders, a claim that he couldn't necessarily prove in earnest. The presence of a spy drone and four helicopters wasn't enough and the envoy refused to comment on either simply stating that it was madness and outright lies. What did he know?

Throughout the afternoon, the Force Lightning soldiers kept their eyes closely on the targets, keeping a list of what weapons they saw, how many people they saw, and what capabilities they had. They watched supplies, change of rotations, and the general demeanor. It wasn't lax by any means but neither were they alert and ready for an assault. They were vigilant but not enough. Had they known they were being watched by anything other than satellites, they may have been acting differently but that wasn't the case. Nightfall was fast approaching and, at a secret airbase in Venezuela near Biruaca, which was just 180 miles away, a flight of four F-20A Tigersharks, flown by MOI pilots, were being loaded with munitions. With a combat range of just 500 miles, it put the two aircraft well within their means. All four of them were to be taking off with a single 300-gallon centerline fuel tank, two BLU-129 Incendiary bombs, two Mark-82 Slick bombs, and two AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. It was a light load out but they had only a minor target to hit, which was the outpost, just a smidgen into enemy territory. Both aircraft would drop their tanks before they entered Amazonian territory and both of the tanks would be recovered by MOI personnel in the Clandestine Operations Group. They were designed to withstand hard impacts from low-level, subsonic drops, and they were equipped with GPS beacons in them for recovery. The Tigersharks would drop them at no faster than 350 mph and no higher than 500 feet AGL. Half of the tanks fuel, 150 gallons or 990 pounds, would actually go to increasing the range. That was a total of 22% more fuel, which was what they needed, especially since they could average only about 0.22 miles per gallon overall. The Tigershark was an outdated but maneuverable and reliable design and its employment with the MOI was perfect. There was no trail that could link them back to the Empire and even if they were downed and inspected, they would appear more to be from a mercenary force than anything else. Linking it back to the Empire would require espionage of some level and that wasn't likely within the secret hideouts of the MOI.

As the aircraft prepared, the four men at the helicopter base called in their final report before the scheduled attack was to commence just after nightfall. The number of Venezuelans was just about 40 and they were armed with 16 M1918A2 BARs, 4 FN FALs, 8 M30A1s, and 9 AK-103s. Many of them donned fragmentation grenades around their bodies and they all wore sunglasses. It seemed as if that was their only uniform requirement, Ray Ban sunglasses. The four men of Force Lightning cracked jokes here and there about them as they observed through their binoculars and fiber optics cameras. The men of Force Lightning and every other SOF and BOF team donned Oakley sunglasses, provided to them as a sort of "uniform" requirement as well. In the Amazonian rainforest they had no uniform. They wore pants or shorts and t-shirts or whatever else would make them more comfortable. They used SOV-3000 Dragon Skin body armor, which was Level IV certified. There was testing going on for SOV-4000, which would be Level V but that was still a few months from being perfected enough for combat deployment. The SOV-3000 vests were still a leap above anything else out there. The SOV-2000 Level III vests could stop in excess of 17 rounds fired directly at it of high-caliber ammunition. One test using just 7.62 x 39mm and 9 x 19mm rounds from an AK-47 and an MP5 stopped over 120 rounds. It could even withstand an M57 Fragmentation grenade, although the grenade blast tore the vest to pieces making it completely unusable, there was no penetration by the fragments. The SOV-3000 vests were even tougher! The SOV-4000 vests would be able to stop anything short of a .338 Lapua round. The vest even stopped three high-end Level IV rounds that are considered illegitimate because of their penetration and power. These armor systems were saving lives all throughout the military and the SOV-3000 vests had been issued to all SOF and BOF personnel first. SOV-3000 vests had been issued to all Marines and Army infantry as well. Defense Forces used SOV-2000 vests and the SOV-4000 was strictly going to be for the SOF and BOF since SOV-3000 vests were considered beyond satisfactory in keeping soldiers alive.

As the four men counted down the hours, the sun was going down. Soon it would be completely down and then the Tigersharks would take off and head for enemy airspace. They would never rise about 300 feet AGL once they crossed the border. This would be a night of action. The helicopter base would be swept by the four men, ending with the destruction of the helicopters. The four men observing the marijuana farm would raid it in the middle of the night using knives, fiber wire, piano wire, and their bare hands. They were to move through it silently and kill all of the Venezuelans, seize whatever documents they could, and torch the place and its field. At the outpost, the men would simply wait. The original plan was to move through it as well but the numbers were over 80 and the four men did not feel comfortable yet with the layout of the outpost. The outpost would be completely levelled by the airstrike, which promised to drop 12,000 pounds of munitions on the target in just under a few seconds. Satellite reconnaissance allowed the four pilots to divy up their targets and a powerful GPS device within their aircraft would allow them to select through their targets on their HUD. They could coordinate the strike in a single pass, which was preferential. They used intelligence from the men on the ground to decide what bombs could go where for what targets. It was simple after that, all they had to do was fly there, drop the bombs, and get out of enemy airspace. They would be in and out in just a few minutes. The best response time the Amazonian Air Force had was fifteen minutes from point of contact to get into the air and then at least another ten to get over the outpost. By then, the F-20s would be long gone from enemy airspace, if they were even detected. With the order to be ready for further Layartebian intrusions, that response time may have gone down to just eight minutes but still, the F-20s wouldn't be there past ten, if even that long. Once over Amazonian airspace, their speed would be 600 mph and their flight time would be just under 30 minutes. Thirty minutes was a long time. Once the aircraft were given clearance to take off, the four men at the marijuana farm would make their move. They figured that they could easily sweep through the two houses and barn in just ten minutes, kill everyone inside, and get what they needed to get. Setting everything ablaze afterwards would be a piece of cake given the amount of gasoline stored at the farm for their cars and other explosive materials.

At 21:50, the aircraft were given their clearance. That was when the third team, which was at the marijuana farm, moved out. Their weapons were on their backs but, in their hands, were their knives or wire weapons. They began to crawl forward, towards the camp. They would each go a different way. One would take each house, another would take the barn, and the last would cover the grounds. The four of them were going up against ten Venezuelans, which wasn't bad odds at all for them. Three were in the barn, one was in the first house, two were in the second house, and the other four were roaming around outside. The rain had momentarily let up for them to strike but that wasn't enough. The ground was wet and muddy and they crawled through it to get to where they had to go. They were under the cover of near total darkness, the waning moon barely gettings its rays through the thick, storm clouds above. Breathing quietly and carefully, the four men went their separate ways, using the ground as their shadow, crawling as slow as they could crawl. They didn't have to move too far and when they could, they moved faster, cutting their travel time exponentially.

In the barn, the three Venezuelans were heavy on the booze already. They sat around a table in the middle of the barn, which had a dim, kerosene lamp for light, and played poker. Two of them were thoroughly smashed and four empty bottles of rum lay on the floor around their table. The whole barn stunk of the stuff as the third man, who wasn't sober in any respect, threw down his flush. They laughed for a moment and then realized he won. Tempers flared but they lost the hand fair and square, after all, one of them had dealt, not he. He was the new guy, so to speak, and they treated him as such. The black ops agent smiled as he stood up and put his back against the barn. In his right hand was his SOG Knife and in his other hand was a loop of fiber wire, a wide enough loop for him to throw around someone's head. He could, in effect, kill two people in a single swoop and that was his goal. He carefully moved off, to the edge of the wall and peaked around with one eye. The least drunk player had his back to him and the two drunkards were facing each other. Nobody faced him directly. They were too drunk to know much and it was evidence. They could barely sit anymore as they both poured each other more rum. They would be in a drunken sleep within minutes but he couldn't wait that long. He acted by crouching down and sneaking around the corner, quietly and quickly. He vanished behind a hay stack and the drunkest of the three of them suddenly paused and looked to his left. He stared for a moment, his head bobbing around from the liquor. "Ehh nada..." He said as he returned to his cards, which were garbage but he played anyway. He didn't have much money left though.

The black ops agent moved slowly around the hay stacks and hid in the shadows, behind the lighted area around the table. He would use his knife on the least drunk one and his fiber wire on the drunkest. The other would be killed second. He would have to act quickly and he knew that as he moved closer, croching the entire time, keeping as low as possible. He came at an angle, trying to avoid their peripheral vision and, at the same time, stay in the shadows but, sooner or later, he would have to step into the light. He did with a lunging motion, a motion that put the knife right into the back of the neck of the least drunk player and the fiber wire around the drunkard. Quickly, he pulled the knife out as he tightened up on the fiber wire. The immense strength he had in his arms was enough to hold the wire in place as he lifted the drunkard out of his chair with little effort. With his knife clear in just a matter of seconds, he jumped forward, yanking the drunkard onto the table. The knife tore right into the other's neck as he tried to stand up to find his assault rifle. By this time, the wire had cut into the drunkards neck and he was not only choking to death but bleeding too. The more he tightened up, the more the wire cut into him. It took less than thirty seconds to kill all three of them and it would take another minute to hide the bodies in the shadows, behind the hay stacks. He dared not leave the barn though.

Outside, the four Venezuelans roamed around independent of each other, making it too easy to kill them. The black ops agent stood to a crouch himself, with his knife in his hand. He approached the first Venezuelan from behind and grabbed him from behind. He put his left hand over his mouth and, with his knife, quickly slashed across his neck with a deep cut that nearly went all the way to his spinal cord. He withdrew it quickly and rammed the knife into the Venezuelan's chest, tearing through his rib cage and sternum without effort, piercing and exploding his heart. The Venezuelan dropped to the ground, dead, in just seconds. Now he looked for his neck victim, who was standing, facing him, about fifty yards away, smoking a cigarette. The other two were on the other side of the houses, which meant that they couldn't see him kill either of these two Venezuelans. He moved forward, through the darkness, towards the Venezuelan in front of him, who couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. For the four Force Lightning men, they could see everything with their night vision goggles. The black ops agent stopped just twenty feet from him, close enough to hear his heart beat but he still couldn't be seen. Holding the tip of his Ka-Bar knife, he hurled it forward, tipping end over end, towards the Venezuelan. The knife was aimed right at his chest but rose higher and caught him just above the trachea, right, dead-center, in his throat. He fell backwards and attempted to pull the knife out as blood filled his lungs and his throat. The cigarette dropped from his mouth, blood on the end of it and he began to suck in air through the new hole in his neck. The Venezuelan was dying but still capable. The black ops agent simply moved over to him and, with a powerful strike, drove the heel of his boot into his neck, crushing every part of it. The Venezuelan died shortly thereafter as he pulled out the knife and turned his attention to the other two, who were on the other side of the house. They had moved closer to each other and were talking about the Brazilian humidity, which meant that he'd have to get them both at the same time. It would be difficult since they stood near an exterior lamp. He would need a distraction and he would get one easily. He moved closer to the side of the house and saw both of them. One faced him and one had his back to him. He moved closer, the knife in his hand again. He would throw it, strike the one facing him, and then get the other one with piano wire. He waited until he was almost within arms reach when he threw the knife, which landed right on target, through the Venezuelan's throat, just underneath his chin. As the other one looked at him, miffed by what happened, the black ops agent tossed the piano wire around his neck and grabbed both metal handles, which kept the wire from putting into his own skin as it was metal. He yanked hard on it and, because it was so thin, it was like a razor blade. As he pulled the one Venezuelan to the ground, the other flailed around on the ground, the knife right in his throat. He was in too much pain and dying too quickly to react and fire his weapon. Both of them put up little struggle.

Inside the house with one person, which was right where the two Venezuelans were standing and smoking, the black ops agent, found it all too easy. He entered the house through a window towards the rear of it around the same time that his team mates swept through the barn and killed the second Venezuelan on the grounds. He had his target neutralized before the other two ever fell. He put his knife away and moved through a small kitchen with the piano wire in his hands. He could hear the Venezuelan in the other room, listening to a radio, drinking rum, and shouting. He was listening to a soccer game being played in Suriname and from what the announcer said, the Venezuelan team was winning 1 - 0 against the Suriname team. It was yet another pefect distraction though it didn't matter either way. The black ops agent, who happened to be the team leader, moved to the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. To the right was an open staircase to the basement and just in front was a large living room. The bedrooms were upstairs. As he prepared to enter the living room, he was startled by the Venezuelan who shouted louder than the radio, "¡META!" The Venezuelan team scored another goal. He jumped up and heaved the bottle of rum to his lips. The team leader moved into the living room and he stepped on a loose floor board. It creaked, which startled the Venezuelan to turn around and see the man creeping up on him. He didn't have much time to react. The team leader swung at him, catching the bottle, as intended, which ripped through the air as it tore from his mouth, taking two teeth with it. The Venezuelan reached for his sidearm but couldn't get there in time as the team leader landed another swing against his nose, breaking it and sending it backwards. As he went to stand up and yell, the team leader flung the piano wire around his neck with a single loop and ran his right hand around again, encircling his whole neck. He yanked as hard as he could and lifted the man up, causing the most bloody death the Venezuelan could have imagined. The piano wire sliced through his neck and spinal vertebrae like nothing and the weight of his own body being lifted up only made it worse. His head came clean off and landed beside him as his body slammed back down, onto the ground.

Inside the other house, which was just across a small path, the fourth man entered. He entered last and all of the others were dead by the time he climbed through the window of the identical house. There were two of them in that house, the last two left. One was on the second floor, asleep while the other stayed on the first floor and looked over maps and other documents. He was a higher ranking officer in the Freen Venezuelans and so he would be last. The black ops agent ascended the stairs quietly and carefully, staying on the carpeted portions the entire time. He moved up to the top of the stairs and noticed that, to the right, over the head of the other, was the bedroom and he could hear the snores echoing. There was no carpet there and the floor would likely creak the entire time. Carefully, he stepped forward and the floor creaked as he expected. It didn't startle the sleeping Venezuelan. He took a few more steps and another creak, this one louder. The Venezuelan on the first floor simply looked up at the ceiling, expecting the other to be awake. "Fernando? That you?" He called out as the black ops agent moved quickly to the bed and with his left hand, he picked up a pillow from the floor, evidently tossed there by the sleeping "Fernando." He threw the pillow over the man's face, smothering him and waking him up at the same time. The pillow would muffle his screams as he drove the knife down, into the man's heart. He stopped kicking and fighting moments later as death took over him. The black ops agent kept the pillow there and made sure that he was dead before he removed it. Successful, he moved to the edge of the steps and looked down. "Venga aquí. Necesito su ayuda." [Come here. I need your help.] He yelled from the stairs. The Venezuelan approached the steps and began ascending them. It was the perfect trap. He hid to the left of the stairs, in a small nook as the last Venezuelan came up the stairs. When he got to the top, he turned to the right and looked into the room. He saw the dead man on the bed but before he could react, the black ops agent was behind him and grabbed him. He put his hand over his mouth and tilted his head hard to the left, putting the tip of the knife against his pulse. "Hable y yo le mato. ¿Entiende?" [Speak and I kill you. Understand?] He asked and the Venezulean tried to shake his head but couldn't. He understood. "Bueno. ¡Sueño!" [Good. Sleep!] He pulled hard on his neck and quickly cut off the blood to his head and he quickly lost consciousness. The agent acted quickly, using plastic tie wraps to restrain his hands behind his back and, using a piece of the Venezuelans vest, put a gag in his mouth and tied it behind him. He restrained his legs too and, effectively, hogtied the Venezuelan.

With all four of them successful, the team leader made one click on his microphone. It echoed into their ears and then the other three clicks rang out. All was safe. "I have a capture in the second house. Looks like a leader. He's going to wake up soon."

"Roger that. On my way. Three and four. Begin burning."

"Yes sir." As the team leader moved across into the second house, the other two began to prepare the place for burning. The barn would be easy, simply spill the kerosene lamp on the ground, which was easily done. The hay ignited immediately and, with a full case of rum, he soaked the floor and the wooden beams with the potent alcohol, which lit quickly thereafter. The other found a can of gasoline and began to run circles around the marijuana field. He took the can into the first house with him and soaked most of the first floor before continuing into the basement and up to the second floor. By the time he got into the second house, the Venezuelan was awake and the two agents were standing over him. They cut his legs free, stood him up, escorting him out of the house, and carefully watched him.

"Watch this." The team leader said as he tossed a cigarette into the first house. It caught the puddle of gasoline at the door and lit up the whole house in a matter of minutes. The second house went up just as fast and both burned hot and fast as the barn was nearly levelled already. The field caught fire moments later and the entire place was burning out of control. "Let's go!" They vanished back, into the rainforest with one extra person, a prisoner who they would interrogate throughout the night.
Cotland
14-06-2007, 11:38
Belém, Pará
10 June 2007, 19:46 hours

At the end of the first day, Brigades 88 and 89 had reached Belém and split up into company-sized units. Between the two brigades, there were a total of forty-eight companies of infantrymen, each numbering one hundred forty-four well-trained and well-equipped Royal Marines. The companies were organized into battallions, with four infantry companies forming a battalion. Add to this three vehicle companies, driving the M50A4 Invader amphibious assault vehicles that could support with heavy fire and ferry the infantry around, a company of tanks and a small support detachment, and you had a Royal Marine Regiment. Two regiments along with a logistics battalion and a command detachment formed a Royal Marine Brigade, and there were two of those in Belém right now. The infantry companies had each been given a sector of responsibility where they were to establish law and order, with a battalion - four companies - being held in reserve for deployment to hot-spots along with the tanks and assault vehicles.

The general population greeted the Royal Marines with joy and relief, happy that at last there might be a reprieve from the sheer and utter hell they had lived in for the past six months. Perhaps there was a hope that they could start living normal lives again soon after all. As Royal Marines patrolled their new turfs on foot, more and more civilians came out to thank them, offering them sweets, drinks and of their food. They were giving from their need, like the old poor lady in the Temple gave of her need, showing their gratefulness. The Royal Marines, elite troopers as they were, for the most part politely declined the offers, saying in acceptable Portugeese that they were there to help the locals return their country to normality and that they didn't need anything in return - the warm emotions the majority of the locals were showing were sufficient for them.

Of course, not everyone greeted the Royal Marines, as was shown in a street in the outskirts of Belém where a platoon of Royal Marines, thirty-six soldiers, were amushed by an MS-13 gang about fifty strong and armed with military-grade weapons. It was a fierce firefight, but in the end the Royal Marines with their superior tactical training, better doctrine and equipment, and the fierce dedication and spite of death prevailed, having killed some thirty-five of the enemy with three friendly casualties, of which none were fatalities. They were stabilized and immediately placed on a helicopter and flown out to the Nightingale class hospital ship that was on station off Pará and accepting casualties from all over the invaded territories.

Belém, Pará
14 June 2007, 03:40 hours

Four days later, the Cottish had pretty much fortified their positions in Belém and started not only distributing humanitarian aide, but also more offensive operations against MS-13, setting up checkpoints, establishing networks of informants (courtesy of the military intelligence), increasing patrols and conducting raids against suspected MS-13 positions.

In a raid the previous night, Cottish special forces had captured not only an arms cache and a drug distribution center, but also fifteen insurgents, of which five were on the "black" list, meaning that they were in the upper echelon of MS-13 in Belém according to military intelligence. These five had been put on a helicopter and flown out to the battleship Ragnarok, where an interrogation team had set up shop and conducted intensive interrogation. The team was a black team, meaning that it didn't exist, and so it used methods that normally weren't used. It wasn't torture per se, but borderline. It didn't take many hours before the first one began to squeal like a rat, telling the Cottish everything they wanted to know about MS-13.

Normally, an MS-13 member wouldn't speak about anything to the authorities because of the death penalty the gang had for speaking, but those rules were intended for use against police interrogations with due process, not a military interrogation with sensory deprevation, a lot of shouting, threats of various nature and intimidation. As a result of these unconventional interrogation methods, the Cottish were given a lot of information that would allow them to take down MS-13 and their operations in Belém once and for all.
Layarteb
15-06-2007, 02:21
OOC: More graphicness...

Like lightning and clockwork, the four Force Lightning teams had sprung to action at 21:50 hours, local time. The marijuana farm was burning by 22:03 hours and the helicopter base was burning by 22:08 hours. The fourth team had moved through it quickly, using their suppressed weapons to kill everyone they saw. Charges placed on the two UH-1s turned them into bright, burning spectacles at 22:07 and 22:08 hours. Little remained of a huge ammunition cache that was detonated with the helicopters and the bodies were left right where they were put down. The four men simply vanished into the rainforest as if they had never been there.

At the outpost, the two teams didn't strike; they waited. At 22:20 hours, the four-ship flight of F-20s broke into enemy airspace and quickly sped up to 600 mph, turning on their afterburners as they accelerated past 425 mph. At their speed, they moved at 10 miles each minute and it was just 10 miles to the target. Flying low, at 300 feet AGL, they tore over the rainforest, bending trees as they flew. Their bombs were armed and ready and the pilots had adhered to strict radio silence. Flying a heavy right formation, they kept a closer enough separation that they could appear as a single target but wide enough that they could still evade in the event of ground fire. Once they released their bombs, they would pull up in a sharp inverted loop and level off at 2,000 feet before breaking back down to 500 feet and escaping enemy territory, afterburners on the whole time. MOI pilots were precision pilots and maneuvers like this could be done in perfect synchronization without any risk to the pilots, especially at night, where night vision goggles let them see everything.

As they echoed behind them, the four aircraft zoomed overhead, tearing over the eight Force Lightning agents, who wore ear protection due to the noise that would accompany the four aircraft. A jet aircraft produced an average sound between 110 and 140 dB at 330 feet. This would be loud, no matter how they cut it or how far up the aircraft were. It just wasn't enough. So, when the aircraft tore overhead, their ear plugs did enough to reduce the sound below dangerous levels but their heads still vibrated and echoed as the four aircraft dropped their bombs and yanked hard on their sticks, pulling over +6Gs, contrails coming off them as they pulled upwards, to escape the damage zones of the bombs. All of the bombs found their targets and the brilliant explosion was something that none of them would ever forget. The incendiary munitions detonated after the iron bombs due to their ballistics and did extensive damage, spewing thermate-TH3 all over the area. What few structures the outpost had immediately lit on flames and the Mark-82 bombs completely leveled them, raizing the entire outpost to the ground in just seconds. Nobody would survive the ordeal and those who lasted through the initial blasts were burned alive by the intense fire. The eight men reported screams for at least two minutes after the bombs had fallen. People were burning to death.

The flight of F-20s had been detected once they pulled up to escape the bomb blasts. Little could be done though, they were out of range for surface-to-air sites, due to their altitude, and though aircraft were immediately scrambled, the four aircraft dove for the deck and exited enemy territory before the Amazonians could ever get a single aircraft into the air. The intrusion wouldn't go unnoticed by the Amazonian President or its parliament but, in the Empire, it never happened.

May 7 ended with just around 23 hours of Layartebian involvement behind enemy lines. Over 100 Venezuelan rebels had been killed between the marijuana farm, the outpost, and the helicopter base. Two UH-1s were completely out of commission and so was the outpost, which ceased to exist anymore. The four teams moved onto their next assignments and the third team took a minor detour. They had a capture, a high-ranking Venezuelan rebel. His name was Felix Chavez and he was a very wanted man within the confines of the Empire. "Felix. Felix. Felix." The team leader began as they restrained him to a tree, his legs and arms outstretched. The position was very painful. "I don't feel like speaking Spanish. You'll forgive me. I know you speak English." He spat on the team leader, only to get a fist in his throat, momentarily cutting off air to his lungs. He gasped for air as his face began to turn purple but it subsided quickly. "Do it again and I castrate you. Understood? Good. Now. You're captured. We got you. Finally. Thought you could run from us. Well I guess you were wrong. Were you?"

"Fuck you. You can't do this. You can't come here."

"But we have. We are."

"You've invaded a foreign country. There is no limit to the evil that the Empire will undertake."

"You fucked up first. You used them to hide. You're cowards. You're defeated now. So. There's just one thing now. Do we take you back for trial. Public hanging maybe? You know we do that to traitors still. Or. Do we just kill you here? You can decide but it better be fast. I've got to pee."

"You think this is all a joke," he laughed. "This isn't. You'll fail here. The Amazonians. They'll beat you."

"They might. But you won't see it either way."

"As long as I know it."

"You know shit. You think this tiny republic can fight the Empire? What are you smoking? Maybe some of that grass we just burned down. Millions of dollars? Financed your campaign didn't it?"

"It still is." He laughed more, knowing that he was dead. "It still is.

"Fine then. How many are left?"

"Just me."

"How many escaped?"

"Just us."

"I hate hard-heads." He punched him hard in the groin, almost causing him to black out. "I can do this all night. Into the morning. All afternoon. And back into the night."

"Fuck you." He gasped more. "I won't say anything."

"You all say that. You all talk eventually. You see. Whatever you tell me. That might lessen the suffering you're going through. You're dead already. It's just a matter of how much pain you want to endure." Over the neck hour, the Venezuelan was punched, kicked, burned with cigarettes, and, even at one point, made to eat a spider. He didn't talk though and his pain was considerable. He had bruises that bled and those wounds were only harped on as a source of added pain. "You're getting boring. You keep saying the same thing." The leader said after he kicked him in the knee, sufficiently breaking it. "That has to hurt." He said after he heard a crack. "So. Do I have to keep breaking stuff? Fingers are next. Well. Maybe I'll just cut them off. How many are you?"

"A lot. Thousands."

"HOW MANY!" He proceeded, with his knife, to cut off the Venezuelan's thumb. He screamed in pain but the wound was quickly sealed with a hot cigar that one of the men had lit to burn him. "How many? I'll make you eat this." He held up the bloody thumb. "I bet it tastes good. You probably pick your ass with this one."

"30,000."

"See? That wasn't hard. A new record. An hour and a quarter. Alright. What arms?"

"Guns."

"Fine how about the big toe." He reached down and sliced it off to a shrill so high-pitched and loud it scared even the most fearsome beasts in the rainforest for as far as his voice travelled. "You scream like a girl. Careful. I might make you eat this one too."

"Stop. Stop." Two hours had gone by when he finally cracked. He was missing three fingers, six toes, his nose and both knees were broken, his elbow had been dislocated, he had forty separate burn marks, and he had eaten two spiders. He wanted death and he was willing to get it as best as he could. He detailed their arms, their movements, what they wanted to know. He told them about the relationship with the government, though there wasn't one, and he told them about benefactors. All of it was carefully recorded and remembered and, finally, when they had no more questions, the team leader patted him on the head.

"Good boy. You see. I was going to take your ear next. Alright. Well. You've outlived your use. Gas can." The Venezuelan's eyes widened as the team leader took the gas can, which didn't have much left in it and poured it on his legs and waist. "You're a filthy traitor and, for that, you'll watch as your bottom burns and your torso lives. Go to hell!" He said as he tossed the cigar at his leg. Immediately, everything below his waist ignited and burned. The fire sizzled and melted his pants right onto his skin, his belt too, and then began to burn through his skin, deeper, through his muscle, and right to his bones. The fire spread upwards but slowly as he wore no shirt. He suffered immensely as it destroyed him and killed him, slowly. He, like those at the outpost, burned to death, although they died much, much, much quicker than he did.
Pushka
16-06-2007, 16:46
Voronej, Evenkia Okrug

The President of Russian Federation stood on a podium at the gates of Kremlin with a crowd of reporters lined up about a meter below him all anxious to hear his speech. Igor Stepanov did not speak to the press in public unless it was absolutely necessary, a busy man such as himself had far more important things to be concerned with so he usually would send his word through the Russian Democratic Party spokespeople or the PPIA Presidential Public Information Agency. So it was no surprise that a journalist from almost every corner of the Russian Federation was present on the red square. As the last few notes of the national anthem were dying down and the security personnel took their places along the side of the podium Igor began to speak.

"Здраствуйте дамы и господа...так сразу к делу. Как вам известно Империя Нова Рики перестала существовать как государство. Это бросило милионы граждан, этой однажды великой страны, в хаос нескончаемых боёв за тереторию. Российская Федерация много раз поддерживала принцип всемирной стабильности словами и действиями, наша кампания и аннексия территорий в Мексике тому примером. Там где была война мы зделали мир, там где была нестабильность мы зделали стабильность. Люди Автономной Центрально Американской Республики опять рады жыть в своей стране, они рады тем возможностям которые Федерация дала им. Мексика это был экспиремент и он удался, теперь это наша обязаность использовать то чему мы научились штобы пренасить благо другим нестабильным территорям во всём мире. Неделю назад я выступил перед Парламентом и попросил их анаксировать несколько территорий в Южной Америке, они проголосовали и подписали декларацию, Россия опять идёт на войну и опять наша цель это пацификация конфликта, это благо человечества. Товарищь Берёзов останется чтобы ответить на ваши вопросы, мне предётся уйти. Добрый вечер дамы и господа."
Hello ladies and gentlemen...alright lets get to business right away. AS you all know Empire of Nova Rica stopped its existence as a governed body. That threw millions of citizens of this once great nation, into chaos of endless battles for territory. Russian Federation man times supported the principal of global stability with both words and actions, our campaign and annexation of territories in Mexico is an example. There where used to be war we made peace, there where used to be instability, we built stability. People of the Autonomous Central American Republic are once again happy to live in their nation, they are happy with the opportunities that the Federation has given them. Mexico was an experiment, and it succeeded, now it is our responsibility to use that which we have learned to bring prosperity to other unstable territories all over the world. A week ago I stood before the Parliament and I asked them to annex several territories in South America, they voted and approved the declaration, Russia is once again going to war and once again our goal is pacification of a conflict, it is the prosperity of the human kind. Comrade Berezov will stay to answer your questions, I have to leave. Good evening ladies and gentlemen."

Igor stepped down from the podium and his security detail escorted him back to the Kremlin, he did have a lot of work to do and lots more was coming his way.
Pushka
16-06-2007, 19:49
Undisclosed Location, Russian Federation Military HQs

"Ну чё господа, давайте говорите, я слушаю."
So what gentlemen, go ahead talk, Im listening.

Marshall Zhukov and several of members of the highest ranking military brass set around a 6 by 3 meter table composed of LCD screens. The screens showed the satellite map of South America, the three territories Russian Federation was about to invade were highlighted in yellow along their border lines. Oleg Sobakin an Army-General and head of the Voronej military district took a sip of water from the glass standing beside him and began to speak.

"Товарищь Маршал, я придлогаю идти по провереному плану который сработал в Мексике. Первая ступень это десант и спецназ. Десант сбрасывается, захватывает порты и главные города побережья, потом приходят корабли с наземными силами и мы начинаем захватывать територия элемитируя очаги сопротевления. А спецназ в то время занимается пропогандой, нахождением потенциальных союзников в рядах местного населения и проводит спец операции по устронению лидеров противника."
Comrade Marshall, I propose going by a proven plan that worked in Mexico. First stage is the paratroops and special forces. The paratroops gets dropped, takes up ports and main cities along the shoreline, after that the ships carrying main ground forces move in and we start taking territories eliminating the resistance chambers. And the special forces during that time are busy with spreading propaganda, finding potential allies in the ranks of local population and carries out special operations of removing the opponent's leaders.

Хмм, Валера всё ещё на Комчатке, но я уверен что седьмой отрьяд и без него справится.
Hmm, Valera is still in Kamchatka, but Im sure that the Seventh Squad will be able to handle this by itself.

Marshal thought to himself as he listened to the General. Once Sobakin was done talking he looked at him and decided to speak himself.

"Я что то такое и представлял, проблема в том что Президент непозволит массивных приченений ущерба метному населению. Как быстро мы сможем перебросить на место достаточно еды и воды для населения?"
I imagined something like this, the problem is that the President will not tolerate great collateral damage on the local population. How fast will we be able to move to the location enough food and water for the populace?

This time General-Mayor Leontiev rose up, he was the head of all logistical forces of the operation and the commander of the 18th army.

"Достаточно быстро как только у нас бует база операций. Я рекомендую перебрасывать всё по океану из Мексики и провизию и главные наземные силы."
Quickly once we have a base of operations. I recommend moving everything by ocean from Mexico both the provisions and the main ground force.

Marshall Zhukov rose up.

"Всё стыкуется, я раздам приказы, встречаемся здесь же завтра и посмотрим на всё в деталях. Все свободны."
Everything clicks together, I will issue the orders, we will meet here tomorrow and look at everything in detail. You're all free to go.
Cotland
17-06-2007, 00:20
Outskirts of Belém
25 June 2007, 12:00 hours

Operation TALON was well underway, and with the landing of twelve C-15/A Kondors and twenty-four C-12/J Super Hercules transport aircraft at the airports near Belém, all of which had been secured fifteen days ago, the surge of Cottish land forces in the area had been completed. A total of six Royal Marine brigades were in the area, along with almost a full regiment of special forces. A total of thirty-two thousand nine hundred forty soldiers were on the ground, re-establishing law and order. In the last five days, in a series of offensive operations, the Cottish had eliminated an estimated 96 % of all MS-13 operatives in Belém, Macapá and the other cities they had liberated, and established the Brazilian Protectorate Interim Ruling Council (BPIRC) to provide some resemblance of normality.

That ruling council, which was based in Belém but which consisted of councillers from all the major cities and towns that the Cottish had liberated and cleared, had decided that the first priority had to be the restoration of a police force to relieve the Cottish soldiers who, despite their effort and good work, were a fighting force and not a police force. So, on June 20th 2007, the BPIRC officially re-established the police force under the title of Royal Brazilian Police Force (RBPF), where some sixty thousand former police officers from the time of the Empire of Nuevo Rica were re-hired and, after a quick five-day refresher course where they learned which procedures from old that were still allowed and which weren't, re-qualified in the firing range, underwent a quick practical exam under the careful supervision of selected Cottish Military Police and civilian police officers, and sworn a sacred oath to protect and serve the people of Pará and Amapá, and obey the commands of the BPIRC, the police were sent out on the streets again. They would initially supplement the Royal Marines, conducting joint patrols and what-not, but eventually, in a few months when they had stocked up enough experience and public credability, the RBPF would start conducting autonomous patrols. By then, they'd be supplemented by newly trained police officers from the newly re-established Pará Police Academy, which had instructors from both the Cottish civilian and military police, where they learned the basics of law enforcement, the Common Law that was implemented in the Brazilian Protectorate (it wasn't that uncommon from the Nuevo Rican Common Law), ethics and morals of the police force, and the penalty of corruption and otherwise not doing their jobs properly.

The RBPF would be armed with surplus ex-Nuevo Rican arms and equipment, with Colt M1911A1 .45 ACP pistols as their standard sidearms, aging M4A1 carbines for heavier weaponry, and ex-Nuevo Rican Army helmets and tactical gear over their olive drab fatigues that served as uniforms for the RBPF. The fatigues were ex-Nuevo Rican too, confiscated in a warehouse that somehow hadn't been looted and stripped of all Nuevo Rican markings and instead fitted with a green ermlet with the police crest clearly marked.

The re-establishment of a uniformed police force meant that the Royal Marines wouldn't be hindered by having to conduct menial law enforcement tasks, which was a real morale killer for such a highly trained elite fighting force, and greatly welcomed. It also meant that the Cottish would recieve some support, although it was yet to be determined whether this new supporting force would be as supportive as it was hoped, or if it would suffer from the same scourge as most Latin American police forces: wide-spread corruption and a reluctance to do their job properly. The answer to that came on June 25th, when a joint patrol of a nine-man squad of Royal Marines and twenty RBPF officers on patrol in the outskirts of Belém were attacked by a large force of MS-13 insurgents packing assault rifles, light machine guns and grenades.

The patrol was in a street with buildings on both sides when suddenly two pickup trucks drove up and blocked both entrances to the street. As the Cottish squad leader, a lieutenant sensed that they were about to be ambushed, masked men appeared on roof tops and in windows on both sides of the street, opening up with automatic weapons fire. The Royal Marines and RBPF officers were outnumbered, outgunned and in the open, taking casualties almost instantly. Not having anywhere to take cover, the men would surely be killed if they couldn't take down the enemy. Sure, the Royal Marines wore SOV-3000 Dragon Skin body armor, certified to stop up to 7.62x63mm (.30-06) rounds, but it couldn't take sustained damages for very long, and the insurgents didn't seem to be saving the ammo. As the lieutenant was organizing a defense, the RBPF leader, a Captain, decided the Cot was taking too long and decided to take action himself. Quickly, he organized three teams, each of six men, and told them to clear out the buildings. The RBPF officers, all of them experienced police officers, did as ordered and quickly stormed three different buildings, clearing out the resistance inside the buildings with sprays of 5.56x45mm rounds completely on their own initiative. The Cottish lieutenant would have ordered this, had he not been hit to the head by a 7.62x39mm round from an AK-47 thirty seconds into the engagement and lost his life. Still, while two Royal Marines dragged their fallen leader to safety, trying to save his life, the remaining six Royal Marines joined the fight, storming a building on their own and clearing it.

Sixteen minutes after the ambush started, at 12:16 hours, the joint RBPF/Royal Marine force cleared the last building and dragged the surviving insurgents, bleeding from non-lethal wounds and restrained with plastic zip-ties, into the street along with their own fallen. The ambush had cost the joint forces two Royal Marines and six RBPF dead, with an additional two and five wounded, respectively, and a total of thirty-two insurgents dead and five captured. The RBPF had proven itself as worthy of the trust the BPIRC, and the Cottish government, had placed in them. However, the RBPF also showed a darker side that day, as the RBPF Captain pulled out his M1911A1 and executed three prisoners before the surviving Royal Marines could stop him, telling him that they needed the prisoners to interrogate and get more information. The Captain, although grumbling and arguing for the execution of the prisoners on the grounds of vengeance and the lack of prisons in Pará at the time being, listened to the advise (and the Cottish rifles aimed at him) and replaced the pistol to its holster, grumbling while they waited for the CMPLVs and five-ton trucks that would take them, the prisoners and the fallen back to the base, where the Cottish sergeant who had stopped the Captain would report the events of the day to his commanding officer, who would put it further up the chain of command.

Similar reports would be recieved from all over Amapá and Pará, where they would state that yes, overall the RBPF are loyal, fearless and well enough trained and equipped to face off the MS-13 and any other internal threat that might arise, but they are also very brutal towards the insurgents/criminals with very few prisoners being taken, and would most likely need re-education when things returned somewhat to normal. It would be of some concern to the Cottish civilian administrators that assisted the BPIRC, who worried themselves about public opinion at home and in the world at large, but the military leaders weren't so concerned - after all, they were eliminating the enemy, weren't they?
Layarteb
17-06-2007, 00:21
It was early morning, May 8 when the President was awoken in the middle of his sleep. "Sir. Sir." The aide rushed in, speaking Portugese. "Sir. You have to see this."

"See what?" He groggily asked, his wife awoken as well. "What time is it?"

"Just after three sir. We've had another intrusion."

"Where?" His eyes widened and his pulse jumped. "Was it from Layarteb?"

"We're unsure sir. We can't prove much except that a single contact came across the border just after ten. We have reports of three fires burning in the jungle. One is at an old military outpost we know to be, well sir. We need to go into the briefing room."

"Alright." He got out of bed and left the bedroom, shutting off the lights so his wife could go back to sleep. Presidents rarely slept more than four hours a night and President Fraga was no exception to the rule. He walked off to the briefing room where the country's generals had been assembled along with the cabinet secretaries. "What's the situation?" He still wore his pijamas while everyone else wore suits or military uniforms.

"Sir. At approximately 10:20 last night, a single aircraft penetrated our airspace around this zone." He pointed to a map of the country and the zone where the F-20s had broke into their airspace. "We lost them on radar after that though. Then they popped up again around here. Which is the location of that military outpost. Here's imagry taken from an F-15. The outpost was definitely bombed. Now there are also these two targets here and here. One is an abandoned helicopter base, which is now leveled. There were two Hueys on the ground but neither of them exist anymore. Blown to bits sir. There is also a small farm here. It was, by all accounts, a marijuana farm. We don't know much about it except that it's been burned to the ground. So far only the outpost looks as if it was bombed. Whatever that aircraft was it leveled it completely."

"Layartebian Air Force?"

"We can't be sure. The radar signature has been run through all of the processors but we can't pin it down."

"A new stealth plane?"

"Or old. You see, the Layartebian Air Force operates sixth generation aircraft on the surface but we fully know they have seventh generation capabilities. Their F-22s are actually their least capable aircraft although we don't have any evidence to the contrary. It is only a widely held assumption based on accounts from their wars and even a few shoddy photographs we've obtained of something that is very F-117ish but looks far more capable with possible air to air capabilities. We have a lot of research conducted by our engineers and who managed to escape the annexations and expansions. They'd roll over us in a minute and a half sir. I'm sorry to admit that."

"That's the hard knowledge. So what can we do to defeat them?"

"Well sir. The Empire has ceased its expansions. Public opinion to outright war is low. The people are sick and they are tired of it. Venezuela only reinforced that. When the Emperor announced realization at last year's Fleet Week, they thought it would be an end to war. It wasn't. There was Grenada. There was the Falklands. Then the drug wars. Then Venezuela. It's been non-stop chaos. The people are tired and an expanded campaign into the Amazon will only drive public support further down. What we need to do is show the Layartebian public that their government is waging a secret war in our sovereign territory. It may do something in a propaganda war."

"Interesting point of view. So we do that by what?"

"Shooting down everything they send to us. Maybe a captured Layartebian soldier? They are operating forces in our borders. They're definitely special forces but it isn't out of our reach to capture some of them. They could easily be held for crimes against our state."

"And if they demand the release of them they'll have to admit their in the wrong. If they lie it just keeps it going."

"SO we need evidence. Flat out evidence."

"Yes sir."

"Get me that evidence. I hereby authorize the engagement of any intruding aircraft within our airspace. If we can force them down in one piece we're good. If they're in pieces make sure a piece of it says 'Layarteb' on it. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"And get me a fucking soldier."

"Yes sir!" The briefing ended as the sixteen men of Force Lightning pushed onto their next objectives. For the first two teams, which had laid waste to the outpost with their airstrike, both of them split up and headed in separate directions. One would go to an Amazonian communications site, which was definitely not Venezuelan-controlled. The other would hit a Venezuelan storage depot. The other two teams would stick to smaller targets. The third team went after Venezuelan commanders hiding in the Amazon Rainforest and the fourth team would shift its focus to undermining the Amazonian military. The orders came as the Emperor was informed of the treatment given to his envoy. Granted, the Empire was in the wrong, it was still a matter that he had to react against.
Layarteb
18-06-2007, 04:08
"What do you see?" It was once again the dead of night and May 9 was fast approaching with each passing minute. The four Force Lightning teams had all moved into their respective positions and now the first team had parked themselves in a few trees that overlooked the communications post, which was buried deep underneath the overhead canopy. They communicated wirelessly through their radios but never spoke higher than a whisper. "I've got four total. Lights are on and it looks like their watching a soccer game. I don't see any booze but plenty of cigarettes. They've been here for a while."

"Any ideas on relief?"

"We don't have time for that. We have to get through this point quickly. We're already behind schedule from the river." They had to move around a piranha-infested river, which slowed them down at least a half hour. "We can go in with pistols. Suppressed. Charlie and Delta. Stay high and keep a watch. Bravo. Down on the ground with me."

"Yes sir." The two men slid down from their trees and approached the small building quickly. It was just a wooden-framed house that had to be fifty years old or more. It flanked a large radio antenna that stuck up at least eighty feet. They could relay communications there to anywhere else in the Amazon Rainforest and this site had to be neutralized immediately. "Alright. You enter through the door. I'm going into the window."

"Got it." The two soldiers approached their objectives. The windows were open, thanks to the summer heat, and the door was locked and closed. It was a poor example for an entry door and could easily be pushed in with a swift kick. The television was loud enough that it would mask their communications to each other, which was good since they couldn't use hand signals here. "NOD off." They removed their night vision googles and both of them held their pistols tightly. "Go!" The team leader reached into the window and fired a few rounds, which echoed throughout the structure and the immediate area. He didn't hit much but it was a distraction while the other soldier kicked in the door and immediately shot one of the four dead with a quick double-tap to his skull. The other three scrambled for their weapons as both men engaged again, dropping two of them quickly, in rapid succession. The fourth was a little more difficult to kill since he had ran to the other side of the shack and was out of the field of view of the leader but not for the other, who, with another quick double tap, placed two rounds in his heart. Eight shots had been fired and four men were down. The communications post was as good as in their hands. The house had a small basement, which was used for sleeping but it was empty. It was sufficient enough to put the bodies down there for now as the other two kept close watch with their bionoculars. "Alright. We're in. I'm getting the code books." He quickly picked up a set of code books that gave them free and total access to the entire Amazonian communications system. It was a great find as he looked over at the giant communications machinery, which humed. "Turn off that fucking TV!" He said as the other man flicked off the switch.

"I hate soccer."

"That makes two of us. Let's get out of here."

"Yep." They pulled out a small charge of explosives and put it on the back of the radio equipment. It weighed only about a pound but it could turn the entire communications gear to rubble in a single millisecond. They used their pistols to shoot up the rest of the radio gear and even pumped a few bullets into the main machinery. Sparks flew everywhere as the humming stopped. "Wait. I have an idea." The second man quickly ran to the basement and was down there a few moments before he came back up. "We've got sixty seconds to get out of here."

"Gas?"

"Gas."

"Good. Good." They ran out of the post and immediately back towards their trees. The countdown felt silent shortly before zero and then, with a roar, the small charge in the basement went off, exploding the gasoline barrel. At the same time, the charge went off on the radio set. The entire shack was turned to cinders as the force of the two explosions tore through the air. "That's that." They moved out immediately and began walking towards their next objective, which was a few miles away.

Miles away, at the storage depot, the four-man team found themselves in the middle of an area swarming with Venezuelan rebels. The storage depot wasn't that small and it had space for a pair of medium helicopters. They had called in for a Predator mission over the depot because of the large number of buildings. They needed EO support and they could only get that from above. An MQ-1B Predator would be perfect for the job. It would fly in armed with two AIM-227A Viper missiles, which were lightweight air to air missiles developed for use on helicopters to provide added firepower against fixed-wing aircraft that a Wizard missile lacked. The MQ-1B had taken off from a makeshift airbase in southern Venezuela but it had flown into the Amazon through Colombia, to throw off the Amazonians. The Viper had been certified for UAVs just two weeks prior and the MQ-1 would be the first to use it in combat as it snuck into the Amazonian's airspace at 25,000 feet. It could fly up to 29,000 feet and as fast as 150 mph but it was only doing 90 mph, conserving its fuel for an extended loiter time. The Predator was a stealthy aircraft mainly due to its construction and its size but the inclusion of a pair of air to air missiles added both drag and a stealth-diminishing factor. It was that reason that the aircraft was detected on radar.

The Amazonian Air Force was immediately alerted and a pair of aircraft were scrambled, both of them F-15C Eagles, based over a hundred miles away. Loaded with six AMRAAMs and a pair of ASRAAMs, the two fighters scorched into the air without drop tanks and immediately climbed to the interception altitude of 25,000 feet to go to Mach 1.35 for the interception. Their rules of engagement required them to make some sort of visual confirmation on the intruder and their air defense system wasn't as advanced as the Layartebian system, which could actually ID aircraft based on its radar signature. Both Eagles were workhorses but they were outdated compared to what the Empire could throw up at them.

On the ground, the four men had little idea that the two Eagles were coming their way. Instead, they watched their datalink and kept notes as the Predator flew high above. The depot was crawling with over a hundred Venezuelans armed to the teeth with rockets, machine guns, grenades, and a few mortars. The four man team looked at the base as a major obstacle and, at the same time, a major target. It was too big for the four of them to hit safely and they would have to call in an airstrike for it. They still kept the Predator overhead though, doing reconnaissance through it.

The F-15s, doing 935 mph, were moving through the air like spears. They had only thirty-five miles to go for the interception as the Predator did its loitering. The sound barrier had been broken not long after they took off and zoomed up to 25,000 feet. Inside their cockpits, they trained their radars on the Predator, which was still to ofar away to be detected, due to its size but, it had an RWR built into it and that RWR lit up like a christmas tree.

"Shit! We've got incoming. A single F-15C Eagle. It's a strong signal so it's getting closer." The drone operator said. He said in an arcade-like cockpit in the middle of an MOI base, piloting the MQ-1 from far away. It was a tense environment without the presence of the fighter but with it there was a definite problem. Because of the nature of the operation, they weren't given the advantage of penetrating, Layartebian radars so they were, in effect, on their own. Had the F-15 never lit up its radar, the MOI operators would have never known it was there. Even still just one of the F-15s had its radar on while the other kept quiet, a perfectly tactical maneuver. The operator could tell there was no lock yet but he knew what was coming. "Request permission to go 'Master Arm'?" He asked.

The man in charge was the director of all South American operations and it was, ultimately, his call or not to engage the aircraft. He could go either way, he had been given that priviledge although he did pick up the phone to call his superior, the Minister of Intelligence. "Yes. It's Johnathon. I have an incoming fighter to our Predator. We're well inside of enemy airspace. Roger that. I will. Understood." He hung up the phone and looked around the room. "Alright. Evade the fighter. Return to friendly airspace. If we are engaged we have permission to fire back."

"Yes sir. Master arm is on. I am changing to a northern course immediately. Top speed and altitude."

"Good." The drone pilot pulled around on the stick and transmitted an abort message to the datalink on the ground. It was a simple message and the Force Lightning soldiers on the ground knew that things could go very wrong.

Encrypted

Abort! Abort! Enemy fighter inbound.

The four men kept hidden where they were but knew that the skies above them were about to become very chaotic. The MQ-1 went to top speed and maximum altitude, flying out of enemy airspace. It had a long way to go though and the F-15s would definitely catch up and, if they close enough, they could easily detect the Predator. Ground tracking was still watching it but it wasn't giving up a lock. It was just searching, guiding the two F-15s towards the target, which was now moving at 150 mph at 29,000 feet, its maximum forward velocity and altitude. The F-15s closed to now within 20 miles and inside of 10 they would detect the Predator. The drone pilot had already set all of his settings to a dogfight engagement. The Predator wasn't super agile but its low-speed and small size meant that it could maneuver in and out of the turning radius of the Eagle. At the same time, the Predator had a weak jamming capabilities. They carried no expendables but they did have an electronic jammer inside of them that could be used to confuse a missile but it wasn't the most capable system. It would work best in short-range engagements, which was what the hope was. The Predator had a very weak IR signature, which meant that even all-aspect missiles would have problems tracking it and IIR missiles would have just as many problems. Radar missiles would work best but, because of its size, they had to be used in very close. The AMRAAM had that capability but the Predator could evade one, perhaps.

Finally, the F-15s came inside of 10 miles and they detected the Predator. Immediately, the lead F-15 locked up the drone but didn't fire a missile, not yet. He had his ASRAAM selected but it had a weak tracking signal. The two fighters zoomed towards the Predator, which used its TV cameras to zoom in on them and get an identification. "Sir. There are two of them. One has me locked up."

"Keep on course."

"Yes sir."

"Here they come. Passing over."

The television cameras were fed to a large 360° screen in the war room and they watched as both F-15s zoomed overhead, momentarily lost and then returned to the field of view, flying away, engines hot. "I've got one target locked up myself. No warning." That meant the fighter was locked up through IR only and that gave no audible or any warning to its RWR. The Predator maintained course as the two fighters flew away and turned to the left, to come around for a second pass. The fighters zoomed by at a much lower speed, slowing themselves down to engage the Predator, which was moving well below their stalling speed. "Here they come again." The fighters strode by about a quarter of a mile to its left and the cameras watched as they flew away to set up an engagement. They had positively identified it as a Predator drone and they knew that it was Layartebian, despite the lack of markings. Who else would be flying them over their airspace? The two Eagles moved to four miles behind the Predator and one of them fired an ASRAAM. "INCOMING! We've got a missile! It's a heater! No warning!" He immediately activated the ECM system and dove the Predator downward, not that maneuvering would do much as the missile honed in on it. Failing to track, the ASRAAM passed right overhead and kept going. Soon, the two Eagles came inbound and flew overhead. "I'm engaged. Engaging."

"You have permission."

The drone pilot set up on the level at 28,000 feet and locked up the Viper on the lead F-15. As it passed overhead, the Viper growled much like a Sidewinder, indicating a good lock as the Eagles went to afterburner. "Fox two!" He yelled as he fired the missile. It lifted off the pylon and tore forwards, towards the Eagle, accelerating quickly to Mach 2.85 very quickly. The missile maneuvered forward and sped after the two F-15s, which were just passing over 400 mph. The missile had a perfect lock on the rear of the Eagle and smashed right into the rear of the lead Eagle, exploding just a few feet from the rear of the aircraft. It had a 16 pound blast-fragmentation warhead, which meant that the warhead was really 16 pounds of explosive and metal fragments, which was more like a shotgun, which went off with the missile. The explosive warhead sent hundreds of metal shards forward, into the rear of the engine at a velocity in excess of 20,000 mph. The shards tore right through the right engine, damaging the left one in the process but continued forward, severing the fuel lines, and even catching up to the fuel tank itself. This was followed by the explosion itself, which was from the plastic explosives in the missile. The Eagle turned into a fireball in midair as the missile effectively destroyed it with a powerful shot. The other Eagle barely escaped the explosion as the drone pilot shouted, "Splash!" He had a smile on his face as he pulled the drone up to 29,000 feet to avoid the falling wreckage. The other Eagle zoomed out of the picture and came back for another shot, reporting the downed wingman to the ground control center. The mood there was somber now. The Eagle turned around and set itself up behind the Predator at 12 miles and selected its AMRAAM. The Predator RWR lit up with the lock and the pilot knew that he wasn't being targeted by an ASRAAM anymore. "He's targetting again. God I knew slewable hardpoints!"

"Easy there."

"Yes sir. Lock is on. He's firing. I can see it! Shit! Diving!" He pulled the drone back into a dive but a much steeper one as the ECM system tried its best against the AMRAAM. It didn't work and the missile exploded just behind the Predator causing damage to it similar to the Eagle. The wreckage rained down on the rainforest below and the drone pilot kicked the side of the cockpit. "Fuck! Sorry sir. Couldn't evade it!"

"Understood. Let's go fill out the paperwork. I'd better call the boss," the director said as he dialed his cell phone. "Sir. We've got a problem. Yes our drone is down. It was engaged and downed one enemy F-15. The other caught us with a radar missile. No sir an infrared missile was first evaded. Yes sir. You'd better wake the Emperor. There will be damage control. No sir. No markings. Understood." He looked around the room. "Let's get some coffee. Things are going sour fast." He smirked as he looked around the room.
Layarteb
21-06-2007, 01:42
"Mr. President! Mr. President! We did it!" The aide ran towards the President's open office door with a piece of paper in his hand and a smile plastered from one ear to the other. "We did it sir! We really did it!" He kept running, bypassing the bodyguards and completely ignoring the fact that he was on the phone. "We did it!" He said one last time as the President, annoying at the rude interruption put his hand over the phone.

"What? I am on the phone!"

"We shot down a spy drone!"

"Excuse me ma'am. I'm going to have to call you back. I apologize. Something has just come up. Yes I understand. It is of the utmost urgency ma'am. Thank you." He put down the phone and stood up. "We shot down a spy drone?"

"Yes sir. Just twenty minutes ago. Our F-15s shot down one attempting to run from them. It got one though."

"We lost the pilot and aircraft?"

"Yes sir. A new missile. It's no Stinger. No Stinger could destroy an Eagle with a single blow."

"No. No it can't. What evidence do we have?"

"We're recovering the wreckage now sir. Pieces of it. Small and large nothing too great but it's wreckage!"

"Yes it's a start. Good work. This is good news. Get me something so that I can personally call the Emperor and put his entire policy on the spot, so to speak."

"Yes sir!" With a smile the aide left and the President returned to his phone call. He was speaking to a high-ranking minister in a neighboring country, attempting to forge some sort of alliance and relationship but things weren't looking good. The anarchy that reigned around the Amazonian Republic had countries from all over the world looking at it, including the Cottish Realm and Russian Federation.

"Ma'am. Yes I am sorry for the interruption. It seems that a Layartebian spy drone just found itself in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. No ma'am. I'm going to be getting to that shortly. Yes..." He continued as, far away, soldiers from the military began to comb through the rainforest, looking for the wreckage of the downed UAV. As they did, the legislature reviewed a last minute bill that proposed to surge the military to just over 300,000 infantrymen, which would be four-fold boost. As they did that, reserves were called up, bringing the total standing army from 55,000 to almost 95,000. Armor and infantry were prepared for an inevitable battle, as the leaders saw it, with the Empire. They would begin moving out to reinforce the border. Everything was kept as hush-hush as possible but, as in every free society, the newspapers caught wind of what was going on and published articles read: "War?" or "Who Comes Here?" The Empire surely saw those.

Far away, in the deep jungles, as the communications station was blown to smitherines, another Force Lightning team had come across a small bridge that connected two major roadways together. They had rigged it with explosives and turned it into cinders just as quickly as the communications post. The storage depot would have to be hit with an aerial strike, given its size and population and that was going to happen before the sun rose but they were still an hour away from May 9, when the flight of F-20s would launch. Given the shoot down of the UAV, they were armed with wingtip Sidewinders and they would make sure that they kept a close eye on their radars. A flight of A-17A Interrupter aircraft would be joining the F-20s on the mission and they would be attacking just as powerfully as the F-20s though they would be armed with two gunpods and two rocket pods each where as the F-20s would carry incendiary and blast bombs. It would be the second active incursion into Amazonian airspace and it would come after a UAV was shot down. The MOI had conducted 15 reconnaissance flights on or around the Amazonian Republic and thus far just that one ended in failure. They remained confident about future flights.

The other team set out hunting down and finding Venezuelan rebel commanders. They weren't easy to find because they were well hidden and few people knew where they were. Those people were usually close to them and everyone interrogated or interviewed up to that tier was completely unable to reveal any details, whether they wanted to or not. Night yielded little hope for them since most people were sleeping and daytime was almost too dangerous for them. They would be working on a hard mission to get to the commanders, eight of which they knew to be alive and plenty capable of leading an offensive against Layartebian forces, should they choose to invade.
Layarteb
22-06-2007, 03:58
It was the middle of the afternoon on May 9 when President Roberto Fraga phoned the Emperor. The calll routed right to his secretary who answered in a sort of country-girl accent and voice. She was new and had lived in the state of Kentucky all of her life. Now she was in Layarteb City, seeking a more wealthy life and she found it here. "Good afternoon. How may I direct your call?"

"My name is President Roberto Fraga of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. I am placing a call to the Emperor of Layarteb of the utmost importance."

"I'll see if he's available. Please hold one moment." She hit the buzzer. "Sir. I have a President Roberto Fraga of the Federal Republic of the Amazon on the phone now."

"Thank you Andrea. Please put him through."

"Yes sir." She returned to the phone call, "Sir? The Emperor will take your call."

"Thank you ma'am." The call transferred to his line and the Emperor sat down in his chair before he picked up the phone. He muted the television set and ignored the headlines about "Possible Layartebian Spy Drone Crashed in Amazon Republic."

"Mr. President. I appreciate the call. How may I be of assistance?"

"Mr. Emperor. I am in a tough bind here."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Well sir. To be frank. Why do I have multiple radar tracks of aircraft coming across our border? Why are military targets destroyed from aerial bombardment? Why do I have the wreck of a spy drone in my rain forest. Mr. Emperor, I do not mean any personal disrespect but this secret war must end."

"I am afraid you've got the wrong impression."

"Do I?" The Amazonian President's blood began to boil as he was force fed lies from the Emperor. "Explain it to me then."

"The Venezuelan rebels that have taken refuge in your countryside. As you know they controlled military targets inside of Venezuelan for some time. They did get their hands on several fixed and rotary wing aircraft and are basing them in areas that our forces have yet to converge upon. They are also basing them within your rain forest. The targets you see coming across our border are actually these rebel aircraft. We have confirmed that they fly north, at very low altitude, towards the border and, at last minute, climb to radar coverage and simulate a flight into your territory. The Layartebian military would pursue and defeat them but that would violate the sovereignty of your republic."

"That's nonsense! This secret war being conducted by your intelligence services has violated our sovereignty already."

"There is no secret war Mr. President."

"I don't believe a word of this! You asked us to cooperate only to spit in our faces."

"Mr. President. I don't appreciate your tone."

"My tone? You have declared a state of war upon my republic and my people."

"I have done nothing of the kind Mr. President. The Layartebian military is NOT in your country."

"I wish I could believe you sir. But I cannot. I only wish you have chosen a more diplomatic avenue."

"Mr. President. We did. You threw our envoy out accusing the Empire of conducting a secret war. Now you accuse me of the same thing. We tried diplomacy but you spat it back in OUR face. The Empire is not willing to let this issue rest. The Venezuelan rebels within your borders are enemies of our state and they will be brought to justice, whether by you or by us. I am still willing to conduct this peacefully but these insults and accusations only galvanize my resistance to cooperation. The more you insult me the less I can support your own ideals when it comes to punishment. I might have been willing to cooperate with that issue but I will have to re-evaulate my own judgements based on this conversation. I suggest you do the same President Roberto Fraga. Have a good afternoon." With that, the Emperor ended the call. Annoyed and irritated at the rashness of President Roberto Fraga, he buzzed his secretary. "Andrea. If President Fraga calls back I am in a meeting. Let him stew on our conversation for a few days."

"Yes sir." She went about her business as the Emperor called the Minister of Foreign Affairs to inform him of the situation. The hope was for a resumption of negotiations on the Venezuelan situation but while that happened, the MOI would continue its own war. The Venezuelans had to be stopped with or without the help of the Amazon Republic.
Pushka
22-06-2007, 20:48
3 kilometers south east of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

The soldiers of the 2nd Polk of the 7th division of VDV (Russian paratroops) were slightly rocking side to side as their AN-124 transport aircraft hit more turbulence. The things were looking grim on the horizon, the clouds were gathering it was going to rain soon just in a few hours after their drop. The naval fleet was still pulling up around the continent, parts of the 19th flotilla of the Pacific Fleet currently based in the Central American Autonomous Republic's port city of Manzanillo. The naval unit was carrying 1st, 4th and 5th infantry divisions; 2nd A/R (artillery) division; 3rd tank division; and 3rd and 4th batteries of the 3rd PVV (anti-air defense) batallion of the 8th Gvardia
that was stationed in Mexico. The 7th Division was specifically trained as a 24 hour global response unit, its ten thousand men were trained to fight in any environment and establish a foothold inside the enemy territory allowing the main force to pull in. So far all was going smoothly, Salvador suffered minor bombardment as a squadron of Lu-25 Black Mariah VTOL aircraft that took off from the "Alexandr XIII" Indestructible class aircraft carrier, pounded the spotted SAM sites in and around the city early in the morning.

As the cabin began to shake more violently responding to more turbulence the yellow "ПРЫЖОК" (JUMP, rus.) sign lit up. Making sure their AD-142 Yastreb were tightly secured to their uniforms they prepared to jump. Below them was a jungle not too far ahead of them was a clearing running up to the city limits. They arranged themselves in rows as their commanding officer stepped out infront and looked at his watch. The bay doors started opening unmerciful wind blowing inside the airplane, the jump light went green.

"Пошёл!"
Go!

The commanding officer yelled out over the sound of the blowing wind as he sent the first pair of paratroopers out of the bay. Four seconds later he did it again and again until he was left alone and jumped himself.

Same thing was happening all over the place as some 100 AN-124s and 2 AN-225 were unloading their bays that included 10000 soldiers and 700 T-04A Paradropable Tanks. The siege of Salvador has begun as the Russians quickly descended from the skies.

OFFICIAL ORBAT

Units involved:


Main Invading Force:

-parts of 8th Gvardia: 1st, 4th and 5th infantry divisions; 2nd A/R (artillery) division; 3rd tank division; 3rd and 4th batteries of the 3rd PVV (anti-air defense)

Notes: Due to arrive in four days.

Supporting Forces:

-VDV: 2nd Polk, 7th Division, currently assigned to Mexico City Federation Military HQs under oversight of the 8th Gvardia command

Notes: Initial strike force

-parts of the 19th flotilla of the Pacific Fleet

Notes: Will deliver the main invasion force as well as provide air support and defense of the shoreline. 19th Flotilla operates at 35% capacity which includes:
--Indestructable class Aircraft Carrier:1
llium class Destroyer: 2
Seydlitz class Cruiser: 1
Kristík class Battleship: 3
Grospek class Heavy Guided Battle Cruiser: 3
Paramount class Air Defense Vessel: 1
Pepperbox class Logistical Support Vessel: 8
Lu-25 Black Mariah STOVL Multi-Role Aircraft: 125
Marines: 3000
AVT-12 Assault Transport Craft: 40--

-11th Bomber Division operating out of Airbase #47 located on the territory of Central American Autonomous Republic.

Notes: Will destroy enemy strongholds with high impact bombardment, the division operating at full strength can have 10-15 bombers above the battlefield at all times.
Layarteb
23-06-2007, 02:27
OOC: Pushka what's your timeline? I'm running in May right now and Cotland is in June.
Pushka
23-06-2007, 13:00
OOC: June 22nd is the start date and its still June 22nd as far as I am concerned.
Layarteb
23-06-2007, 20:21
OOC: Alright makes it easier to know where everyone is. My invasion won't actually be until the beginning of June, around the same time Cotland invaded his territories and about three weeks before yours.
Layarteb
23-06-2007, 21:29
"General. Glad come in. Have a seat please." The Emperor returned the salute and sat back at his desk. "We have ourselves a situation. You are aware with the Amazon. Are you not?"

"How could I not be? We fought the Venezuelans back across their borders and now they don't want us to come in and get them."

"That summarizes it well. We're limited by our actions here. I don't want an international crisis but neither do I want to let these rebellious traitors go free. The current president, President Roberto Fraga is entirely uncooperative and intelligence sources within his administration confirm this wholeheartedly. The only way he'll cooperate is if these rebels are hunted, caught, and tried entirely in their own courts. If they are even convicted, they aren't going to be in jail for more than a few years. Their legal system doesn't consider them terrorists or criminals. Charges against them are going to be weak. They'll have border violations, which could warrant deportation but, knowing we'll execute them, they just won't do that. They won't welcome our help, despite our capability to arm them against anarchists and outlaws through the Brazilian countryside. They are problematic."

"Yes sir. Lack of cooperation is the least of our issues."

"I agree. However. The same sources confirm that the vice president, a man by the name of Ranieri Santoro, is entirely in opposition with President Fraga. He wants to cooperate with us for a multitude of reasons. He expects an invasion should they not cooperate and, at the same time, he wants Layartebian arms to secure the borders of the republic. We're hoping for some sort of coup but I doubt that's going to happen on its own. Congressional support for the president remains firm and unwaivering. The people agree too."

"So where does that leave us?"

"It leaves us in a bind. We need diplomacy to work. Risking yet another war, so close after Venezuela, will throw down the popularity ratings of this government. The people are already sore and fearful with these terrorists. The Venezuelan situation pushed their fear levels even higher. Us invading a sovereign country? That'll only make things worse."

"Are we going to invade?"

"If we have to. We will. Currently we are using the diplomacy avenue. I hope it will be successful but I have my doubts."

"Understood sir."

"Good. I'm glad. That is why I'm sending you to Manaus."

"Why is that sir?"

"Because we cannot wait forever. The Venezuelans are regrouping and, I'm being informed, that they are building tunnels and what not. They plan on attacking again and, should they, we have to be fully prepared. So we must eliminate them right now. While we know where they are, while they're at their weakest. In sixty days, they could be ready for a second attack."

"Sixty? That seems like a very short time."

"Yes. It is. The Amazon is full of old Neuvo Rican military installations that were abandoned. The government hasn't been able to control and conceal them all. There are a lot still out there, with a lot of weapons to be had."

"That's understandable. What are my orders?"

"Simple. Nothing for now. Get an apartment. Rent a hotel room. Whichever you need to do."

"For how long?"

"As long as necessary."

"What's my further course of action?"

"Nothing. Our embassy will handle everything for now. You will check in and you will be treated properly there. An MOI contact within the embassy will brief you further."

"Understood sir."

"Thank you. You've been our best and most successful warrior Jack. Please. Don't fail the Layartebian people here."

"No sir. I won't." BG. Delaney left the Emperor's office, knowing what he was being sent there for and why. He was an assassin, that was simply put. He was going there to assassinate President Fraga. The Emperor had made it clear that he wouldn't cooperate but his direct successor would.
Pushka
24-06-2007, 05:00
June 22nd, 9:15 pm local time, 2 kilometers west of Salvador city limits

The 3rd rota (90 men) of the 2nd Polk has successfully landed on the wide patch of grassland in between the jungle and the city, they have proceeded to gathering up around their commander for a final breathing before battle, not too far from them other rotas that just landed were doing the exact same thing. Their leader Lieutenant Voronin made them stand at attention and made sure non were missing before he began to talk about the real business at hand.

"Так, начнём...главная задача Седьмого полка в этом конфликте это захват порта города Сальвадор и удержания его до прибытия главных сил вторжения. Второстепенные задачи включают захват Аэропорта, админестративных зданий, станций метро и железнодорожных станцый...и конечно же уничтожение врага. Враг этот вооружён и опасен....так что ещё?...а да самое главное, наша рота будет в составе отряда, численостью в пять рот, который будет захватывать сам порт...ну всё, с Богом, начинаем марш поддержки с воздуха неждать танки если смогут то помогут. Шааагом марш!"
So lets start...main priority of the 7th Polk in this conflict is taking the docks of Salvador city and hold them until arrival of the main invasion force. Secondary priorities include the taking of the airport, administrative buildings, metro stations and train stations...and of course destruction of the enemy. The enemy is armed and dangerous...what else?...oh yeah the most important thing, our rota will be in the unit, made up of 5 rotas, that will take the port...thats it, with God, we start the march, don't wait for air support, the tanks will help if they can. March!

The column started marching in the direction of the city, nothing good was expected ahead. Salvador was a city of over 2 million, its was rather large with clusters of high rises sticking their necks out all around the area. If the enemy was ready they could give the Russians a hell of a battle but the orders were set in stone, take the port, there could be no excuses.

The 3rd rota soon joined the stream of other troops, ten thousand of them that divided themselves between three separate points of entry surrounding the city from all sides. The soldiers kept marching it was gonna get hot real soon. Strangely although it was quickly starting to get dark not one electric light could be seen in the city and the rain began to fall creating a familiar drum beat against the soldiers' helmets filled with sorrow and understanding.

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

June 22nd, 7:22 pm, Salvador Electric Powerplant Unit 3921


Achai Santos was smoking a cigarette outside the plant gate, the sky was still clear but on the horizon a storm was looming. The plant was surrounded on all sides by electrified wire fence, it was too big of a perimeter for the fifty nationalist radicals, calling themselves "Sons of Freedom", to monitor but it didn't matter, they could hold all the other groups similar to them hostage simply by threatening to blow up the only means of power for the city in an event that they are attacked. However there was someone that had other intentions, that someone was close by but yet Achai could not see him, he was so near him but yet Achai could not hear him breathing, he could not hear the sound of a trigger being pulled and then...then it was too late for him.

He was thrown four meters backwards from there he was standing his brains ended up splattered all over the ground. And only then did a camouflaged figure grasping an AD-142SV Voron rose up from the tall grass. The rifle had a suppressor on its barrel, any noise was barely heard. As the man rose up he did not say a word but like ghosts 10 other men appeared out of the ground behind him. The sun was shining on their backs as they began to move towards the gate. Almost gliding along the ground they made it past the gate. Now only 30 meters of concrete paving separated them from the small gray door that acted as plant’s main entrance.

They weren’t noticed, with a lock pick and ten seconds the door was quietly opened revealing entrance into the lobby and two more corpses waiting to happen. The two men standing behind the lock picker opened very silent, very precise fire from their AD-142SK “Dyatel” silent special carbines. The 9x39 mm rounds traveling at 300 m/s made virtually no noise but hitting their targets in the face with 780 Joules of energy they cut the heads clean off the would-be freedom fighters. Two more dead, three dead total, a long way to go. The next room would provide new challenges, but the Otriad 7 was ready, even with its leader on a mission thousands of miles away.
Cotland
25-06-2007, 00:37
It was day 30 of the Cottish precense in Brazil, and things were rapidly improving in those areas where the Cottish had established control. More and more RBPF officers were out in the streets, clasping down on crime and helping the inhabitants of the cities, villages and towns to return to a state of normalicy. Day 30, or July 10th, was a day that marked another milestone in the history of the Brazilian Protectorate. The Interim Ruling Council finally decided on a curriculum to be taught in the schools that included not only the normal values for the people of Pará and Marapá, but also the values of the Realm of Cotland. The two weren't all that different, although there were certain differences that had made for some heated debates both internally in the council, but also between the council and their Cottish "advisors" from the Interior Ministry, ranging mostly around the history, social studies, and religious curriculums. Still, they had settled at a compromise that all sides involved could agree to. So, it was decided that with the curriculum in place, the schools would open on August 18th. Of course, refurbishing the schools that had been heavily damaged in the period of anarchy had started already, but they wouldn't all be completely done until at least some time in mid-September. However, that was details.

Another important event of July 10th was the establishment of the Royal Brazilian Defense Force, which was a territorial defensive force consisting primarily of light infantry with helicopter support that was to assist the Royal Marines in maintaining the rule of the Ruling Council, and thus effectively the rule of the Realm of Cotland. The RBDF would consist of some sixteen light infantry brigades of 4,864 soldiers each, and eight aviation regiments of three hundred and sixty helicopters, seven hundred and twenty aircrew and a passenger capacity of 3,456 personnel each, divided into eight divisions of two brigades and one regiment each. The soldiers would be recruited from volunteers in the population who would be trained in a strickt eight-week training regime carried by the Royal Marines where they were taught basic soldiering skills such as closed order drill, weapons proficiency, loyalty and the ability to understand and carry out orders, and other more specific skills such as urban combat, jungle combat, and infantry tactics in such areas. At the end of the eight-week basic training, the men would be well enough trained to provide the Cottish with a pool of soldiers 84,000 strong to bolster their own numbers. The men of the RBDF would be armed with aging, but still operational weapons confiscated and/or captured from either the enemy or old untouched weapons bunkers that had been discovered all over the place, mostly in the form of M14 7.62x51mm rifles for the standard weapon for the infantry, M1911A1 .45 ACP pistols for the squad leaders, NCOs and officers, 7.62x51mm FN MAGs as platoon-level machine guns, and M224 60mm mortars and M21 7.62x51mm sniper rifles for the company-level mortar section and sniper section. They were powerful weapons, which while old would give the RBDF the punch they needed.

On the more local level of things though, things were starting to look far better. The Cottish return to Pará and Amapá had given the secured areas the stability the people needed to get things started anew, and one of the first things to get done was reconstruction of all that which had been destroyed during the anarchy. Flocks of unemployed men were employed as unskilled laborers in the various construction firms that were given contracts from the Interim Council and funded by the Cottish government, albeit under careful scrutiny from the National Accountants to ensure that nothing went away to corruption, which was a federal offense and thus under the purview of the Realm to punish - the punishment was death. So, with that, litterarily thousands of unskilled laborers were finally able to put in a hard day's work and go home to their families at night, happy with finally having something to do and certain in the knowledge that they would recieve a decent-sized paycheck every fourteen days for their hard work which helped rebuilt their home state, and happy with the evening's news report that stated that the Interim Ruling Council had finally agreed upon a national curriculum which would be implemented in time to reach the opening of the public schools, which was set to August 18th. Furthermore, they said, every child should be registered in the local community center so that they were guaranteed a place in the school, which was completely free of charge and open for all. The registering wouldn't cost a dime, and the reward for taking the trouble was the knowledge that their children's future was guaranteed.

[OOC: I had a really long and good post written, but Jolt ate it, so you'll have to be content with this one.]
Layarteb
26-06-2007, 03:12
http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/People/jdelaney-02.jpg

Manaus was 3,125 miles from Layarteb City, which wasn't too far away but far enough to warrant an inflight movie and a full meal service. The Layartebian Airways 737-700 lifted off the runway at Layarteb City IAP with a full load of 149 passengers, all in one class. BG. Jack Delaney had been a late addition to the flight, secured through a phony company that was really just a front for the Ministry of Intelligence. An opening allowed him to catch the 21:30 flight to Manaus, which would land at 04:45 in Manaus, on May 10. He would use the lateness of the flight to rest but he wasn't sleeping, after all, that pleasure had been stolen from him ages ago. The 737-700 had enough fuel to fly almost 3,900 miles, which meant it was perfect for the task of flying to Manaus. There were at least two flights a day to the capital city and Delaney managed to get onto the last one of May 9. The next flight wouldn't have been until 13:00 on May 10. He brought only a small amount of luggage, enough for a few days. If he needed to stay longer, he would have the clothes washed as he fully planned on staying in a hotel rather than an apartment. It was simply more convienent and he didn't have time to work for a stay visa. He didn't want to be there longer than a week.

When he landed, he went through customs, as usual. Despite the increased tensions between the Federal Republic and the Empire, he passed through customs without much of an effort. He didn't speak Portugese but they spoke Spanish, which was good enough for him. As he neared the airport exit, he hastily remembered his cover name as he saw a man holding up a white piece of paper with it on it. "Mr. Rojas?" He asked with a seedy voice.

"Yes. That's me. Are you my driver?"

"Yes. I am instructed to bring you immediately to the Layartebian embassy."

"Yes. That is correct."

"Please. This way sir." He was a driver for the embassy and he definitely had driven MOI types here and there but he wasn't a spy himself. He was just a driver, a low person on the todem pole. The streets were largely empty at that hour of the morning and the driver seemed unusually alert as he moved down the asphalt highways and roads, straight to the Layartebian embassy. After showing his ID card to the guard at the gate, he was let right in and parked in a space with no reservations to it. Though he tried to open the door for BG. Delaney he wasn't able to, since Jack was out of the car before he turned off the engine. "Sir. You should have let me open the door."

"Manuel. I'm not that important of a man. I'm just a lowly businessman from Arckell Industries."

"Yes sir." He stood by as Luis Rojas, Director of Operations for Arckell Industries, a chemical manufacturing company that just so happened to invent Arckell plastic explosive, walked towards the embassy. Arckell was a fictious company. The plastic explosive really had been developed by Manchurian Global but couldn't be sold under their name as they were a non-weapon based corporation. Instead, it was sold under Arckell. Mr. Rojas was in Manaus about rubber, a simple and easily overlooked topic that bought him entry to the country without any hesitation. He entered the embassy with a smile and approached the secretary at the desk.

"Good morning. My name is Luis Rojas. I am here to check in."

"Yes sir. Please step over to that counter over there." He walked over to the counter and put down his bag.

"Good morning sir."

"Good morning. Early enough for you?"

"Too early if you ask me. Alright, may I see your passport?"

"Yes sir. Ma'am. Here you go." He handed over the false passport and she began to stamp it and bring up his record in her computer database. As she did, a note popped up on her computer. "Sir. Do you have a meeting this morning with Jeffrey Harmond?"

"I do. He and I are old college buddies. I wanted to get breakfast with him."

"I'm glad to hear that. Yes he is available and when you are done here we'll send you right up there."

"Thank you." The check-in process was another fifteen minutes as the woman behind the counter began to type in some more information. She was sweet and definitely not from anywhere south of New York. She put in what data she had to, including check-in time, information on his description, and what he was carrying. She reviewed his arrest record, to which there was none, and finally, finished up and cleared him. She handed him a piece of paper, which was more like a brochure. It contained the address of the embassy in English, Spanish, and Portugese. It contained directions, emergency numbers, and other important information. Then, he was led to Jeffrey's office. He entered and sat down. They weren't college buddies and as he sat down he looked over at the wall. "So what do you have for me?"

"And you are?"

"Mr. Rojas. How do you do?" He stood to shake his hand. "You are expecting me."

"I am."

"Good. Well. What do you have?"

"What group are you with?"

"Is that really important? I'm here to pick up a package. You're here to give me a package. Why don't we just skip the pleasantries and do this?"

"Because I need to know you check out."

"I check out. Now, the longer you keep me here, the longer you keep me from my duty. So you can fuck around now and take your sweet ass time and prolong me from my job or you can just give me the package and end this. The longer I wait, the more I'm going to get impatient and when I get impatient I like to occupy my time breaking peoples' bones."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. Threats are for people who don't intend to carry out any of their own actions. That's a promise."

"You're not a scary man Mr. Rojas. You look more like a desk jockey."

"You've got about thirty seconds before I lose my cool. Give me the package now or lose your arm. I'm not going to repeat myself."

"Once again another threat." BG. Delaney stood up and showed him his stature, which was, nothing short of a brick wall. He didn't show any muscles, he didn't have to, his shoulders were broad enough, his arms were thick enough, and his frame eclipsed the desk jockey.

"I'm getting later by the minute."

"Fine. Fine. Here you go." He pulled a briefcase from the ground and put it on the desk. BG. Delaney looked it over and proceeded to open it up in front of the MOI contact. The briefcase revealed a sniper rifle, taken apart and stored carefully inside. "What the..."

"I told you I was here for a purpose. You want to keep it up? I've already lost my patience and I've killed guys three times your size in seconds."

The weapon was an M107A1 Designated Marskman Rifle, a development of Doomingsland Defense Industries that fired a 7.80 x 63mm bullet 1,200 meters at 1,021 meters per second. The weapon included a large suppressor, a bipod, and an advanced scope. He looked it over and shut the briefcase. "Why are you here?"

"That's classified." He looked him over and smirked. "Don't ever fuck with me again."

"Yes sir." He left the embassy and made it over to a hotel in the center of the city in just ten minutes. The hotel was tall, about twelve stories, and he occupied a room on the eleventh story, high in the sky. The semi-automatic, rotating bolt rifle was carried by him all the way up to the floor and once he was there, he settled down, unpacked his encrypted phone and dialed in that he was there. His mission would continue and the MOI contact that he ran into during the early morning would be his contact and his liaison in the Federal Republic.
Pushka
26-06-2007, 21:17
OOC: Is that Delaney?
Layarteb
26-06-2007, 21:24
OOC: Is that Delaney?

OOC: Yes that is.
Layarteb
27-06-2007, 02:29
May 10 was a Thursday and the sun peaked its head above the horizon at 05:57. Solar noon would be just 5 hours and 59 minutes later, at 11:56. In those six hours, BG. Delaney, posing as Luis Rojas, had but one appointment. It was a breakfast appointment with Harvey Saigon, an alias. He was just one of four active spies within the borders of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. When the territory had been Neuvo Rican, they had all been spies within the Neuvo Rican territory. When Brazil turned into a disaster zone, they consolidated in the one surviving, sovereign state, which was here. Now they worked from within, coordinating with Jeffrey Harmond in the embassy.

BG. Delaney was a fifth spy, so to speak, although his mission was far more short term than any of the other four, who all had reputable jobs, homes or apartments, girlfriends, friends, work buddies, drinking buddies, etc. They were practically citizens of the country. All of them were fluent in English, Spanish, Portugese, and several native languages. BG. Delaney was known only to the one spy and known only as his alias, which was Luis Rojas. The spy world was a world where people spoke very personal conversations, had intimate moments, and saved each others' lives without ever knowing each others' true identities. It was hell on relationships and few spies in the Ministry of Intelligence were actually married and the large majority of those who had been married were now divorced, an uneasy undertaking in Layartebian courts but inevitable for most. Spies would spend months away from home in foreign lands and infidelity sometimes came with the job. Despite it being strongly frowned upon in Layartebian society, if it was for defense of the Empire and its citizens, suddenly it was ignored. It was a double standard, per say but the rationale was simple. Infidelity between a simple couple was an immoral and improper act but, if it was to save over 1.25 billion people, it was a necessity sometimes. It made little sense to those caught up in it but for BG. Delaney it made all the sense in the world. That was why he never became a spy but stayed, instead, in the service of the Emperor as the leader of the most elite black ops team in the entire Empire and the world, a world where nobody knew his name and his exploits sometimes made headlines and shook countries down to their foundations.

As he walked out of the hotel at 08:30 hours, he looked up at the sun, which was beating down through a cloudless sky. The temperature was a balmy 79°F and it was going up to 87°F throughout the course of the day. That wasn't too high on the temperature scale but the humidity was already at 60% giving a heat index of 81°F, not much of a rise but as the day went on and it climbed to roughly 70% with a temperature nearing 90°F that could push the heat index over 100°F. That was when things became dangerous. Too much exposure without proper hydration guaranteed heat or sun stroke and fatigue was imminent. BG. Delaney knew this as he walked towards a small café about six blocks away. He had his sun glasses on and a jungle boonie hat, shielding his heat from the piercing sunlight. He had a bottle of water in his hands and looked more like a local than a tourist with his shorts, open, short sleeved shirt, t-shirt, and sandals. Despite his open garb his pistol was well hidden at his side and so was a knife on his other side.

The trek to the café was quick and painless and he found his contact waiting there for him. He sat down and before the two of them could speak, a waiter approached them both and asked, in Portugese what they would have. The spy spoke for BG. Delaney, knowing he didn't speak Portugese at all. The waiter abliged the requests and disappeared off quick enough. "Don't know Portugese I see?"

"No."

"That's fine. My name is Jamie Smith. You're Mr. Rojas I presume?"

"I am." BG. Delaney took off his sunglasses and extended his hand. "So what am I doing here Mr. Smith?"

"You don't know do you?"

"Enlighten me. And maybe later you can tell me why I want to kill Harmond."

"You too?" He laughed. "He's pathetic. You see. Harmond is nothing but a desk jockey and he scorns field agents because he wants to be one but he can't on the count of his inability to be discrete. So that's where he lies. He likes to push what power he has, which isn't much, and always oversteps his bounds. I had to pull him aside once and slap him around for almost blowing my cover to a secretary he wanted to sleep with. Needless to say, he's still here. Much to my chagrin."

"Sounds about right. I wanted to break a few of his bones."

"You're not with the ministry are you?"

"No."

"Alright. I got it. So. You don't know why you're here."

"Well I can take a pretty good guess."

"We're at liberty to talk. Nobody around here knows much and the government isn't keen on the spying business. Just don't yell."

"Understood. I'm here as an assassin."

"I couldn't have explained it better. Here's our food. Say 'obrigado,' it means thank you." The waiter handed them their food and they both thanked him, to which he smiled and replied that they were welcome. The food was excellent and BG. Delaney soon found out why the spy had chosen this particular café. It was within visual range of both the capitol building and a police station. "Response time is under sixty seconds."

"Not much time."

"No. You'll do it on May 12 and be on a plane that day. You've got tickets already so it doesn't look suspicious."

"From where?"

"That's simple. Your hotel."

"My hotel? That's a little obvious."

"Not particularly. Your building is to the east, in a direct line of the sun. Anybody looking up at you is blind as a bat."

"Strategic."

"Planned. Your target is."

"Fraga."

"Right on."

"So I should get comfortable?"

"Yes. We'll meet again on the morning of the 12th. This place. At 08:00."

"Understood." They finished breakfast and parted their ways.
Layarteb
28-06-2007, 01:41
As the assassination plan loomed overhead, the Empire attempted to open new lines of communication to the Federal Republic of the Amazon. The goal was to open avenues for diplomacy and cooperation. Compromises had to be made and the Emperor was still willing to negotiate. Studies and polling suggested that any war into the stable republic would only turn out bad for public opinion back home. Despite the authoritarian nature of the federal government, the Emperor wasn't willing to disregard a whole population, especially when they numbered almost 1.3 billion, a high figure. With public opinion already falling due to the wave of terrorism that struck the Empire since 2005, the Venezuelan disaster, and further problems arising globally, the government didn't need to add another factor to an already long list of waivering public support, which, at its height, remained over 90% for close to 17 years. Things had begun to slip though and now that the opinion rating was in the low 60s, the Emperor had to hold onto everything out there. Public opinion in the Republic fell below 30% quickly after the terror campaign of the RAF. The Emperor didn't want to see the same.

So as the Amazonian President stonewalled him and third parties were used, BG. Delaney sat in waiting. His mission was clear and it wasn't going to be altered unless the spy told him that morning. That was still two days away, plenty of time to roam around the city and act like a tourist. He didn't need to do much except wait. To any assassin, waiting was a part of the job and it was almost second nature to them to expect it and to make the best of it. BG. Delaney had spent weeks sometimes waiting for a single shot against a target that was over 1,000 meters away. He'd wait two days now for a shot that was about the same distance.

As he did, the sixteen men of Force Lightning tore through the countryside. Some moved towards Manaus but that was just one team and only because they were hunting a notoriously high ranking Venezuelan commander. His name was Raul Chavez and he was the de facto leader of the Venezuelan rebels. Intelligence put him anywhere within a 200 mile radius of the capital city, Manaus, which wasn't helpful. That was a lot of area to cover, 125,600 mi². For a team of four men that was like hunting a fly on a farm with a spoon. It wasn't easy and interrogations weren't particularly fourthcoming. They pinpointed his general area to just within 200 miles of the capital, 200 miles!

Smoke rose here and there from the jungle as houses, farms, military targets, and Venezuelan bases burned from air strikes and ground forces. The Amazonian military was waging a secret war against the Layartebian black forces and losing, miserably. Thus far the only shoot down was the Predator and none of the black forces had been seen, let alone caught. They killed between 200 and 500 Venezuelan rebels in just a short while, which was promising, but it would take a war or a concerted effort by the governments of both the Empire and the Amazon to stamp out the remaining 28,000.
Layarteb
28-06-2007, 03:52
May 11 was one of the bloodiest days for the Federal Republic of the Amazon. Everything, seemingly, worked out in favor of the Empire on this day when the violence first rocked the streets of Manaus during the mid-morning. After a few hours of third party channels and negotiations, the Empire proposed a single "show of faith," so to speak. The Ministry of Intelligence, through its assets on the ground within the small country, confirmed that two Venezuelan generals were residing in an apartment in downtown Manaus, about fourteen blocks from the café that BG. Delaney frequented each morning for breakfast and where he would receive his final orders whether or not to assassinate the president. The two generals were surrounded by no fewer than eleven bodyguards and all thirteen of them were armed with automatic weapons, including M30 Carbines and powerful, magnum shotguns. The message was simpe. The Empire would make further compromise towards letting future Venezuelan rebels be tried in the Amazonian courts if these two generals were apprehended, alive, and returned to the Empire for trial and punishment. The concession was only given because, according to the Amazonian definition of human rights protection, both of these generals grossly violated them.

Early in the morning, Amazonian police from a special unit, armed with heavy weapons and body armor, stormed the apartment building. Unfortunately, for them, it wasn't an easy "snatch-and-grab," which they had hoped for on this raid. The minute they entered the building, they began to trade bullets with the bodyguards of the two generals, who were seeking to escape. Over sixty police officers had surrounded and entered the building, making it one of the biggest raids in Amazonian history. They too were armed heavily but, against the powereful, armor piercing bullets of the bodyguards, they had little hope to defend themselves as they were, in essence, ambushed. When it was all over a half hour later, all eleven of the bodyguards had been killed and body of the generals were wounded but captured. Of the sixty police officers, twenty-four of them perished and an additional sixteen were injured, two critically.

Hours after the raid, when the mess was finally cleaned up and communication reopened with the Empire, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Fraga informed them of the successes and failures of the raid. Then, things turned sour when he accused the Layartebian government of tipping off the generals. In truth, they just got lucky and were all there at once. It was bad timing on the part of the police but they were still victorious, in a way. He refused to hand over the two generals and threatened to release them on technicalities if the Empire did not cease its secret war. Nothing had changed and the only avenue of hope that was placed on the table, he tossed back onto the floor, for the dogs. The call was recorded and played for the Emperor, several times. After hearing it a third time, he eyed the Minister of Foreign Affairs carefully. "That's the end of our negotiations." He said assertively. "President Fraga is a problem. A major problem and it's time we dealt with it. Inform the Amazonians that the lines of communication are hereby closed until they can make amends for their actions." The Minister of Foreign Affairs complied and he noted, in his own mind, the look of resolve in the Emperor's face. The Intelligence Minister would inform his spy network within the country later that evening that things were about to become hostile. He also informed the spy that met with BG. Delaney and informed him of the mission status, which was, without a sliver of a doubt, a huge, "GO!"
Layarteb
29-06-2007, 03:28
It was the morning of May 12, shortly after the sun broke the cloudy horizon. BG. Delaney walked to the café shortly thereafter and sat down at a table to the side, secluded. The waiter came over and asked him what he wanted to eat. He spoke Spanish, which was good for him since he spoke Spanish. BG. Delaney informed him only that he wished to wait since his friend would be joining him for breakfast again. He explained that he was leaving the country that evening and that he wouldn't be back for at least a month, maybe more. The waiter thanked him for his patronage and said he would return when the other joined BG. Delaney. It was a half hour before the spy came, sweating from head to toe. It was warm but not too warm. He sat down hastily and quickly attempted to catch his breath. "Something wrong?"

"You have twenty minutes."

"What?"

"In twenty minutes President Fraga will be giving a photo opportunity on the balcony of the congressional building. You have a perfect angle. You have twenty minutes!" BG. Delaney didn't stay around to talk but instead took a run for it, jumping over the small railing that cordoned off the eatery area. He nearly toppled a small crowd of people as he hurtled over the railing and kept running for the hotel, which wasn't too far away but it would take all twenty minutes to get up to his room, get his rifle set, and get the shot. He was running on minimal amounts of time and he knew it, dashing across the street, down the sidewalk, and towards the double doors of the hotel, which happened to be open. He ran in, his shirt flapping from his own wind, created by the speed he moved at and the momentum behind him. The wake of air was almost like a vacuum, sucking up papers and any loose debris with it. He ran towards the elevator bank and stood there, not out of breath yet but visibly tiring. He looked at his own reflection in the gold plating and looked up at the indicator. The elevators were multiple floors above him and only one was on its way down, that one being eight floors away. "Ah shit!" He said to himself as he looked back at the indicator. He turned his head and bolted away, making a bee-line for the staircase. He slammed his arms into the door so hard that it shot backwards and slammed against the concrete wall behind it, echoing throughout the whole stairwell, from the ground floor to the basement and all the way up to the roof. He had eleven flights to run and he grabbed hold of the railing and spun himself onto the first step. He hit it hard and began running up the steps, using the railings only to turn his forward momentum towards the side to allow him to keep running upwards as fast as he could. His wrist would be taking a beating as he did this but it didn't matter, he had a minimal amount of time to get up the stairs.

He tore up them like a tornado, nearly toppling over another couple coming down the stairs. He rushed too fast to even say he was sorry, moving up each flight of stairs in just a few steps, skipping over two and three steps at a time. His heart rate would be highly elevated by the time he got there and his breathing would be heavy, making it that much more difficult to properly fire a shot. He would have to work with what he had though, he had to do it today. It was barely 08:45 and he had until just 09:00 to make it happen. That was the "official" time of the photo shoot and he had to make it the last the President would ever sit in for and he would have to make it quick and powerful. It was more than just an assassination. It was a message, the most powerful message one country could give another short of an actual invasion.

When he got to his floor and to his room, he quickly unpacked the suitcase, assembled the rifle, screwing on the suppressor, and attaching both the bipod and the scope last. He had under eight minutes to get himself set for the shot, which wasn't too promising. The suppressor would mask the sound of the shot and hide the muzzle flash but it wouldn't make it as silent as he wanted. To counter this he made certain to turn up the television loud enough that it would mask the sound of the shot or, at the very least, make it sound like something from the television. He slid open the window slightly and rested the rifle bipod on the windowsill and uncapped the scope. He slapped in the twenty round magazine of 7.8 x 63mm rounds. The M107 was really the XM107 since it wasn't in Layartebian service. A few examples had been secretly bought from the DDI, which would allow them to test the rifle without being linked to it. Of the eighteen variants on Layartebian soil, just one was in the hands of an assassin. The rest were on ranges and in laboratories.

The scope was not unlike those used for the other rifles and it calculated windage, range, bullet drop, and various other factors, giving the shooting the best aim possible. The distance was an astonishing 1,250 meters with an east to west wind of 6 mph. He made the necessary adjustments and centered the crosshairs on the door. Now he just waited. He checked his watch and saw that he had just four minutes before 09:00. He figured that by 09:05 there would be someone banging at the door, asking him to lower the television. Though the hotel was modern, the walls were still thin and sound carried in every direction. He would use that time to try to stablize his breathing and his heartrate, an exercise that he had learned when he first picked up an assault rifle in boot camp. The only difference was that this was against a real target and four times the range that he qualified on for basic training. He waited now, playing more of the waiting game as he looked through the scope, down at the balcony.

He had the eleven pound rifle resting on the sill and the butt of it against his shoulder. He kept his glasses on and looked down the scope of the rifle and watched as the balcony doors opened. Two bodyguards appeared first and checked the scene, followed by the President Fraga. He stood at the balcony wearing a sharp business suit and conversed with his bodyguards and the photographers, who were below. They had set up a series of cameras and the photo shoot wouldn't last more than a few minutes but it was the only chance he'd get to have the President out in the open, standing still. He waited now for President Fraga to get set and he would wait as long as he had to, eyeing the President the entire time. He had the scope all set and he would pull the trigger only to have the bullet go right where he wanted it to go. The bullet wouldn't have too much energy left on it at that point but it would be enough to pierce through his body and kill him, which was all that he needed, since he would be aiming for the President's heart. Few assassins aimed for the head, it was always center of mass, a guaranteed kill. He looked on as the President stopped in his tracks and dismissed his two bodyguards. He stood now, alone on the balcony, leaning over, listening to the commands of the photographers below. "Come on. Just stand still..." He said to himself as the President straightened his tie and took up his position on the balcony. The photographers set and readied themselves as they snapped off a few shots of the smiling President, perched high on the balcony. He looked through his scope and put the center aimpoint right on the President's chest, directly in its center, where his heart would lie. He could almost heart it beating and feel its movements as he hovered his finger over the trigger. The rifle was stable and he knew he had the shot. As he controlled his breathed one last time, holding his breath between exhalations and inhalations, the President steadied himself. He was about to smile for the last time as BG. Delaney lightly squeezed the trigger. The rifle jumped backwards and the bullet exited at full velocity, 1,021 meters per second. He didn't have much to do after that except ready himself for a second shot, which he would take as the bullet travelled towards its target. He would be ready to shoot again before the bullet hit the target and it did, piercing right through his chest, right at his heart. The bullet blasted it to pieces and stopped it almost immediately as it exited his body. The President's smile turned immediately to an absent look of horror and unfound doom. He stumbled for a moment when BG. Delaney took the second shot, which hit slightly higher but still, dead center, on his chest, cutting through his throat just underneath the base of his neck, severing his spinal cord as it exited. The President was as good as dead and quickly, BG. Delaney pulled the rifle back, shot the window, and lowered the volume on the television.

Sure enough, a porter was up to tell him that some guests complained about the television volume. He said he would lower it from now on, thanked him, gave him a small tip, and shut the door. He packed up his belongings and the rifle moments later. He would leave the hotel within the hour and hail a taxi cab to the embassy. As he did, the news stations broke the news of the assassination and everyone took a step back from their lives as they imagined the terror of the act, which killed their beloved President. Many assumed it was the Empire but the proof was highly lacking in this instance. BG. Delaney was, after all, the best of the best. He was at the embassy shortly thereafter, handed in the rifle, and would be on a plane that evening, despite the lock down being imposed on the country. Since he was a citizen of the Layartebian Empire, he was immediately under suspicion but his background more than checked out and after a short interrogation in the airport he was released. He would be back in the Empire before May 13 only to leave again on May 14, this time for the Caucasus.
Layarteb
30-06-2007, 23:03
Shortly after noon on May 13, Vice President Ranieri Santoro became President Ranieri Santoro. His first speech was a somber one as the country laid to rest its first President, Fraga, who died tragically by a cowardly assassin, they would say. Many within the confines of the Amazonian government suspected the Empire as being the primary culprit of the act but there wasn't any proof. Evidence was lacking. They were still trying to narrow down the "point of origin" of the bullet and were having a tough time. It could have been either of two buildings, one of which was the hotel. They were beginning to put the crime back together, piece by piece, collected evidence and weighing their options. The recovered bullet yielded little to no clues without the actual rifle, which was returned back to the Empire in a diplomatic suitcase. The rifle was subequently melted down and all trace ceased to be, making it a crime with no leads, suspects, and very little evidence. Despite his support for the Empire even Santoro entertained the remarkable timing of the assassination of the president and the situation with the Venezuelans. There were hundreds of pieces to the puzzle but all of them were turned upside down leaving just brown cardboard, a picture imperfect and impossible to distinguish.

While the country paid its respects, the war continued. Layartebian clandestine forces moved throughout the countryside and closed in on their targets left and right. Since the assassination, there had been three more UAV flights over Amazonian territory and two air strikes using F-20s and A-17s, both of which were fully successful, destroying an ammunition dump and a bridge. The Amazonian countryside was being ravaged, strafed, and attacked by Layartebian aircraft and the government was powerless to react, especially now. Plans to surge the military continued, despite the change in leadership, and a significant amount of technology and weaponry stored away were quickly brough out and prepared to be made air or ground worthy. This included a handful of F-22 Raptor, F-23 Black Widow, and F-24 Kite fighters and a handful of B-9 Sphinx strategic bombers. Ground warfare would include more main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles including the M1A2 Abrams, Warriors, and Avenger systems. They rushed more helicopters out as well, adding to their arsenal of RAH-66 Commanches, AH-64 Apache Longbows, and UH-60 Black Hawks. Without an avenue to the sea, the Amazonian Republic was without a navy and, as such, it would stay that way, allowing them more focus on their army and air force, the latter of which would be their best hope in terms of defense. They surged their air defense network as well, hoping to get more SLAMRAAM and PATRIOT systems ready before the inevitable struck. The generals weren't stupid and despite what Santoro said, they believed, fully, that the Empire was coming. They wouldn't be caught as fools they admitted to themselves and talk of a coup was underway in some secluded parts of the military. A military coup wouldn't necessarily be a rarity for the South American continent and the Amazon Republic was, certainly, no exception.
Layarteb
01-07-2007, 20:36
It was Monday, May 14 and it was deep into the evening when an Embraer Legacy 600 from the Amazonian Republic touched down at Layarteb City IAP. The Legacy 600 was a derivative of the Embraer ERJ-135 jet and it was the private transport of the President of the Amazon Republic. It had a range of 3,750 miles, the only aircraft in the Embraer inventory capable of flying to Layarteb City from Manaus aside from the Lineage 1000, which had not been completed yet. President Santoro stepped out with body guards, aides, and the usual entourage. It was a small entourage though and the Minister of Foreign Affairs was there to greet them and escort them to the Fortress of Comhghall, where the Emperor was planning to receive them. When he arrived, the Emperor was there to greet him at the main entrance. "President Santoro. It is a pleasure to have you here. My condolences and the condolences of the Layartebian people on your country's hard loss. It is our hope that you find the vile cretin that committed such an awful and cowardly atrocity." It was at that time, shortly after 19:10 hours, that BG. Delaney emerged from a door and exited the fortress, passing right by President Santoro and his men. BG. Delaney and the president caught eyes for a moment and the passing continued as the President and his entourage were escorted through the castle towards a conference room.

"Mr. President. This is a meeting on urgent notice and I would like to entertain the best possibilities we have here this evening."

"Yes. I thank you for your audience. My predecessor, may he rest in peace, did not see eye to eye with me on our mutual issue."

"You mean the Venezuelan rebels."

"Yes. The Venezuelan rebels are as much of a concern to you as they are to me."

"Go on."

"Thank you. The Venezuelan rebels have entrenched themselves in the backwards regions of my country, where my forces cannot police effectively. They do not necessarily have the support of the rural populace but they do have the support of many of them. Corruption within my military is minimal, which I am thankful to say is not protecting them. We need help defeating them."

"I thank you for that. Are you fully aware of the Layartebian position? We wish to have any captured rebels returned to the Empire for trial and due punishment."

"I am afraid, Mr. Emperor that I cannot do that knowing full well that many of them will be put to death."

"That is a shame. It is where your predecessor and I disagreed primarily."

"Well sir there is an alternative."

"I'm listening."

"Sir. We can arrest or kill most of them. Those that we arrest can be returned to the Empire, provided they are not given death sentences. Life in jail is an appropriate sentence and we too will do that too should we capture them."

"Interesting. What guarantee do we have that they will not be paroled?"

"A special executive order that will demand that they receive nothing lighter than said sentence."

"Understood. Perhaps that is a compromise I can mull over. I would like to know how the Venezuelans threaten you as much as I?"

"Well that is quite simple. The rebels have but one goal and that is independence of Venezuela. Correct?"

"It is."

"They will use my country and my resources for the same goal and they will come back again. Perhaps, if we do not cooperate, they will attack us seeing it as a means to their end."

"Interesting."

"Yes sir. We have a lot of reason to believe that as the case."

"Understood. Perhaps we do have a mutual problem."

"There is one other note. I am fully aware that these rebels do not possess aerial attack capabilities. I am no fool sir but that downed drone was definitely not Venezuelan."

"As to its identity, I am not certain myself. We could not conduct an investigation as the wreckage is in your possession."

"Alright. Mr. Emperor, lets cut through the nicities. You have clandestine forces in my territory eliminating the Venezuelans."

"I cannot confirm such an accusation Mr. President and that is a bold statement to make."

"Alright. We don't have to stone wall this too much. Whether or not your clandestine forces are there, we can move past this. I would like to keep or introduce a small number of your clandestine forces. This is an agreement between the both of us, a gentleman's agreement that I will fervently denied if asked, and I implore you to do the same."

"So to get this straight and clear. You wish for the Empire to enter your territory, illegally, and act against the Venezuelan rebels."

"Yes. Ignoring further military targets."

"Naturally we would avoid civilian or military targets in such an endeavor."

"Good. That is my intention."

"Very well then. I will commit a small number of forces to your territory in this endeavor to stomp out the Venezuelan rebels. What assurances can you provide me from your end though?"

"I am delivering a closed message to our congress in two days. During that message I will ask for their support in enacting an order to stomp out the Venezuelans. They will debate the bill for several days. I do not anticipate a hold in the order past May 21."

"That is a week."

"It is. I believe it will be sooner but that is a late date to assure no prospects."

"Understood. Understood. Well. Shall we conclude and break for dinner?"

"Yes. I am famished." The two stood and shook hands and later that night, while BG. Delaney flew out to Iran to go to the Caucasus to capture a Sepah-e Pasdaran member, several Layartebian helicopters from the MOI flew over the border. They had no passengers but they dropped in behind enemy lines and simulated false insertions. Two more UAVs were sent over their airspace as the Force Lightning members received hold orders, to keep up the chirade that they had just been inserted into enemy territory. That order would be lifted after sixteen hours, which was the approximate time it would take the subsequent teams to get from their insertion points to their current locations.
Cotland
02-07-2007, 17:33
It was July 25th, and it was election fever in Brazil. Just a few days earlier, the Cottish military had declared that all major combat operations in Pará and Amapá had been concluded with resounding Cottish success, and that the protectorate was now deemed secure. It was the perfect backdrop for the elections that had been promised to the people of the Brazilian Protectorate a month earlier, and with the population registered in the national cencus and the territories rebuilding, it was soon time for the people to elect their new leaders. Each municipality would get one representative in the Brazilian Parliament that was to be housed in Belém, something which gave sixteen representatives from Amapá and one hundred forty-three from Pará, or a total of one hundred fifty-nine representatives. Elections were scheduled for Wednesday August 1st, and the turnout was expected to be above sixty percent. That was far lower than the normal turnout elsewhere in the Realm, but it was above the fifty percent that the Cottish election laws demanded in order for the election to be considered valid. Already, international election observers were flying in to monitor the elections to make sure that there wouldn’t be any foul play.
Layarteb
02-07-2007, 20:06
OOC: You should have some Layartebian inspectors show up to aide too.
Cotland
02-07-2007, 22:44
[OOC: Go right ahead.]
Layarteb
05-07-2007, 04:12
It was Tuesday, May 15 when Layartebian forces began moving again. They were inside of the country with the full support of President Santoro, although not public or private even. He had them there and though he would stonewall the efforts of the military to engage them, he hoped that they would assist his efforts by not engaging his military. It was the agreement he worked out with the Emperor and he hoped him to be a man of his word. On the ground, within the terrority of the Federal Republic, the forces moved quickly to their destinations, making up for their lost time. They continued their campaign against the Venezuelan rebels while MOI aircraft continued to break across the borders at low altitude and high-speed, avoiding enemy fighter patrols and enemy air defense sites, as best as they could that was. They obtained the secretive help of the Imperial Layartebian Defense Forces, which controlled all air defense sites within the Empire as well as its radar network, which could easily peer into Amazonian airspace. It was quickly growing to become one of the largest clandestine operations that the Empire had conducted and they had conducted many, especially in Eurasian territory assisting their forces capturing territory within the Middle East. There are countless other operations here and there that the Empire took part in and all of them were classified to the highest degree. None had been as big as this one though, not even the operations in Kaliningrad prior to its annexation nor in Quebec nor the Yucatán. Not even in Dnalkrad, which was one of the biggest single wars that the Empire fought in aside from the Venezuelan wars, did a clandestine operation of this size and nature take place. It was sort of an omen then, right from the start, operations this big always garnered attention. It was only a matter of time.
Layarteb
08-07-2007, 01:07
"Alright. I want to know what was said, what happened, and I want to know it the minute it's over. Is that understood?" The Emperor demanded as the Minister of Foreign Affairs listened on the other side of the telephone. "We have to know how the congress is going to handle this situation. We need a diplomatic avenue here and we need it fast. The Venezuelans are regrouping at this very instant! Good. I'm counting on it." He put down the phone and looked at the clock. President Santoro was beginning his speech behind closed doors to the national congress of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. He would be asking them for their unity and their support of him against Venezuelan rebels that escaped from the Empire, only to go to the Amazon to seek refuge. He cited them as a dangerous parasite that offset any balance or rule of the largely unpatrolled and ungoverned rural reaches of the tiny republic. He asked for their support in building in the military against foes from within and foes from outside of their borders.

As the President gave his speech, Force Lightning soldiers moved throughout the jungles, engaging rebels in their makeshift basecamps, which usually were just a few tents around a campfire. On the ground, they were completely disorganized, demoralized, and spread out. There was no unity amongst them and many of them looked as if they were resoundingly defeated. They were, the Layartebian blitz that pushed them back across the border was so powerful and quick that not even they knew what they were doing. They all remembered the sights and the sounds of their brothers in arms being torn limb from limb by aerial strikes, artillery, and tank fire. They were organized up until the point that the Layartebian Army engaged them. Once the tanks came they were defenseless against them. All of their courage, tactics, and preparation just whithered away. They had waited years upon years to bring the fight back to the Layartebians and, since their failure, they lost all hope. The few commanders and officers still alive within their ranks were being hunted down like the dogs that they were and many of them were hiding, moving every couple of hours as the Layartebian BOFs closed in on them. Everytime the Emperor claimed they were regrouping it was a flat out lie. The ministries of Defense and Intelligence confirmed that whatever force was left, despite its size, was not any type of fighting force worthy of any campaign. The move against them had two motives. The first was the utter destruction of the rebellion so that they might never rebel again and the second was all about land.

The Empire had expanded exponentially since 1980 and stopped short after realization was declared. There had been some minor expansion here and there, especially to Neuvo Rican Mexico, the Falklands Islands, and Saint Helena and Ascension Island. The Empire was stagnant where it was and the Emperor saw a necessity in the Amazonian Republic. Since the remaining lands around it were bathed in anarchy and chaos, the republic was a beacon, an outpost, against this. As it became obvious that the Russians were going to move on certain territories, more of a buffer zone would be needed and the Amazon Republic was that zone. The goal was to arm the living hell out of them, annex them as a part of the Province of South Eastern Virginia, and completely and utterly push the enemies of the Empire that much further away from Layarteb City. The Emperor hoped that May 16 would give some sort of respite against the Venezuelans but that would not come in the way he or President Santoro hoped for, especially since the national congress was as suspicious of the motives of the Empire as former President Fraga.
Layarteb
08-07-2007, 02:56
The Emperor waited a day before he placed a call to the Amazonian President. He wanted to know, from him, what the details were of the session. He, ultimately, didn't need to know though. In the biggest bugging operation the MOI undertook, everything inside of the session room was recorded and analyzed. Private conversations between senators and representatives were recorded. The main speech was recorded. President Santoro stuck to his promise that he would ask for help and for alliance with the Empire. The Emperor, on the other hand, didn't stick to his and turned the operation to its most rigorous phase, which included the bugging of the whole chamber. The Ministry of Intelligence had over a thousand pages of transcripts from the two hour session. Overall, the results weren't good. The national congress wasn't entirely convinced that the Venezuelans posed as much of a problem as the President said they did. At the same time, they weren't entirely convinced that the borders of their republic were in jeopardy enough to warrant ballooning the military with purchases from the Empire. In addition, they were wholly deadset against the idea of the Empire being allowed to intervene in their own internal politics. Many of them suggested that the Empire had already broken the sovereignty through clandestine operations and a few went so far as to accuse the Empire of assassinating President Fraga because he was unwilling to negotiate and be a "lap dog," as one senator put it.

The meeting was a disappointment to both the Emperor and President Santoro. When they spoke on the phone it was obvious that the President wanted more from his congress but he couldn't do much. "That's the failure of a democracy," the Emperor would remark after he hung up the phone. The democracy did fail, in this instance, to listen to its President. The will of the congress won and nothing happened. So May 17 went down without any successes. Layartebian drones continued to operate but now the military was under more pressure to shoot them down since congressional approval for a joint Amazonian-Layartebian effort went down the tubes. The President would continue his efforts to convince members of the national congress but hope was grim. There were holdouts, mainly in his own party, that supported him but those were few and far between. It was a universal feeling that the Empire was "no good."
Layarteb
08-07-2007, 06:22
Since May 12, the investigation into the assassination of President Fraga was hopeless. They had few leads. They recovered the bullets, both of which were unknown calibers to the Amazonians though research into them was revealing that they were, in fact, Doomani calibers though the presence of a Doomani agent in the Amazon Republic was slim, at best. Relations between the Empire and the Dommani's weren't the best in the world but neither were they the coldest. They were, in effect, neutral. Investigators had tried to approach the case with an open mind but everything about it just screamed political assassination, in the sense of achieving some ultimate objective. Immigration visas were being confiscated and researched. What few cameras were around the area were being downloaded for information. Witnesses were being questioned but there were, as usual, a different account for each person. Most people heard two shots but they wouldn't distinctly call them shots. To them, the shots sounded more like aluminum garbage cans being banged and they couldn't even be sure that they heard the shots. Nobody saw a flash and, surprisingly, of the ten people facing the hotel, none of them noticed anything out of the ordinary. Because of the way the city was set up, the shots actually echoed more than normal. Nobody had a clear indication where the shots actually came from nor that they were shots at the time. A few military personnel on leave in the square did report that they heard the shots but couldn't get a proper fix on them because of the range, the lack of a muzzle flash, and the oddness of the sounds. Both suggested that the killer was using a suppressor. Without a murder weapon, they were even more concerned.

Investigators were in the process of interviewing everyone in the hotel as well. Based on ballistics, they knew the shots came from the hotel. By May 17, it was clear that they had so on May 18, they were interviewing people throughout the hotel, going floor by floor. Few of the guests who were there at the time were still there and they would be interviewed at a later date, since they confiscated hotel records for the day of the shooting. Anyone registered in the hotel on that day was going to get a phone call or a knock on their door, despite where they lived. It was one of the biggest criminal investigations in the country and it was definitely the least successful after six days.

Far away, in Layarteb City, the Emperor combed through intelligence files about the congressional meeting. The bugs were kept in place and the Ministry of Intelligence listened in constantly, trying to get any advanced information on the present Amazonian situation. While they did, F-20s and A-17s continued their attacks against Venezuelan positions. In the dense jungle, near the border with the Empire, the A-17s performed excellently, stayed effectively camouflaged to the ground. It was in mid-morning, May 18, that an A-17A Interrupter with the MOI got its first aerial kill. Armed lightly with only its two, internal M50A3 HMGs and, externally, a pair of AIM-186C Wizards and two 7-round rocket pods, the single A-17 took off from southern Venezuela and headed over the border to strike a small truck convoy. Carrying a centerline fuel tank, the aircraft stayed low and fast, moving over the trees ever so gracefully as it moved towards a road intersection just a few miles into Amazonian territory. Using its FLIR, the pilot locked up the convoy of three vehicles, all civilian cars, moving down the bumpy, dirt road. Inside of the lead vehicle was a Venezuelan commander and he had several high-profile fighters in the other two cars. The A-17 would make just one pass over the vehicles, destroying all of them with the fourteen 2.75" CRV7 rockets and a couple of hundred 12.7x99mm rounds from its internal machine guns. The attack profile lit up the vehicles and the road intersection, leaving three, burning hulks of metal and over a dozen bodies. The pilot quickly banked the aircraft and jettisoned the fuel tank, keeping the rocket pods since they were reusable. The empty fuel tank was, at this moment, nothing but drag and dead weight.

As the pilot banked off the turn, he noticed a white flash in the sky about three miles ahead of him. He quickly levelled out the airplane and zoomed his FLIR on the flash, which appeared again as the sun beat down on it. Surprised to see that it was a small, propellar aircraft, he turned his aircraft and began to follow it. The A-17 was a nimble and agile little fighter and he had to investigate what this was. As he did, he received a communication on his radio that the aircraft he was following was actually one that had been pursued by clandestine ground forces. The aircraft was loaded with drugs, primarily cocaine and the Force Lightning team had, unfortunately, failed to blow it up before it took off, missing with the single LAW that they were carrying. The aircraft suddenly became a high priority and the A-17 pilot pushed his throttles to full as the fighter accelerated to just over 300 mph. The small aircraft, which was a Cessna Citation, business jet, had not noticed the Interrupter and was moving at just under 300 mph, keeping low to avoid radar. The A-17 slowly overtook it and as the pilot got closer to the small jet, he locked up his two Wizards on the jet, using his FLIR. He maneuvered to get the jet on his nose and rather than waste two missiles, he let loose a stream of gunfire. A little overzealous, his rounds overshot the plane and the tracers were visible from its cockpit. The pilots immediately maneuvered their jet and pushed up their throttles, seeing the tracer rounds fly past their window.

The Interrupter pilot accelerated further and let off another stream of gunfire, this stream catching the Citation on its port wing, damaging the flaps and causing it to leak fuel but little else. The 12.7x99mm rounds were enough to penetrate the thin-skinned jet but not enough to cause an instant explosion, not like an HEI cannon shell would so the pilot came around for a second shot, keeping the Citation in his HUD as the pilots maneuvered it just a few hundred feet above the ground, yawing and pitching to avoid the fighter, which they still hadn't seen, a testament to the pilotting of the Interrupter. He lined up for a third shot and caught the starboard engine pod, immediately rendering the engine useless as thick, black smoke and a sputter of flames came out of it. The pilots inside the Citation immediately shut it off and initiated the fire extinguished, which bathed the engine in a HALON gas, smothering the fire instantly. The Interrupter pilot grew frustrated as the plane continued to fly, even without an engine. It was well built and he needed a fourth pass. He aimed for the center of the fuselage this time and let off a long burst, over 2 seconds, of rounds, putting seventy-two rounds out of his guns. The guns had a rate of fire of 1,100 rounds per minute or 18 1/3 rounds every second. The two guns spewed fourth thirty-six rounds each. The rounds all hit and tore through the center of the aircraft, peppering the inside, opening up crates, and filling the cabin with white smoke, though smoke that wasn't from anything on fire. The aircraft began to leak the smoke from its fuselage and the pilot of the Interrupter noted this immediately although he didn't realize it was just cocaine and not fire. The jet continued to jink and try to outmaneuver his fighter.

The Interrupter pilot overflew his target now and saw that it was damaged, heavily but still airworthy. The pilots kept it under control despite the entire cabin filling with cocaine smoke. He turned away and came now from the side, peppering the fuselage again with gunfire, this time catching it from its cockpit all the way to its tail. He nearly depleted his magazine on the run but banked up as the Citation veered off on a hard right. The plane sputtered a few more times after that but it was going down. About eighty feet before the ground, the entire plane exploded in a fireball. The Interrupter pilot immediately turned for home and landed safely with the first ever kill of an Interrupter going to him, even if it was just a drug smuggling plane. It also shed light on the fact that the Amazon Republic did have a problem with illegal drugs, a problem that had existed in the Empire until the main drug czars were all killed. They definitely didn't need to reignite those flames.
Layarteb
08-07-2007, 20:47
"I thought we erased this problem. Did we not?" The Emperor said as he walked through the corridors of the Fortress, walking away from his office. "The drug situation is over and done with. We wiped out the cartels. Why is it back?"

"Sir. I am not sure. The Minister of the Interior suggested to be that the drugs came right out of the Amazon."

"The Amazonian Republic Amazon?"

"The same sir. The drug plane we shot down yesterday was no decoy but it was a viable entity in the organization."

"Which organization is this?" He said sarcastically, mentally adding another to his score card. "Why don't we know of the organization that is waging war on us!"

"Sir I do not know but I believe it is a Venezuelan Cartel, based across the border in the republic. They have a lot of cocaine crop over there. Little else so it's small. We estimate three or four planes, now one less because of the shoot down."

"So where does it leave us?"

"It leaves us in a quandary sir."

"You're telling me," they turned a corner and ascended stairs towards the roof. "When I land in Venezuela I want some answers there. That will give you a good amount of time to get the Interior Ministry working."

"Yes sir." The Emperor stepped up to the door and it was opened for him by a pair of armed guards. Sitting on the helipad was a VH-92C Super Hawk, a diplomatic transport helicopter that he would take to the airport, where he would board his VC-26F Condor. He would fly down to Venezuela to have a short meeting with commanders there and to oversee some of the reconstruction efforts in Caracas. The helicopter was ready to go and the Marines on the pad saluted him as he walked by, returning the salute to them. The helicopter was spacious and most of his staff was already waiting for him aboard the airliner, which was ready to go. A pair of F-22A Raptors waited as well for the escort duty while another six were already airborne, flying a tight pattern around the airfield. The Raptors could be airborne in under a thousand feet and that was impressive for an aircraft that weighed 70,000 pounds fully loaded although they only weighed, at take off, just over 62,000 pounds. They had full fuel tanks and eight missiles internally. No drop tanks were carried and they would refuel in midair somewhere along the eastern coast, more to the south though, near Florida. If necessary, they could refuel again over the Caribbean Sea but that wouldn't be necessary. The fighters had an unrefueled range of 4,600 miles and Caracas was only 2,150 miles to Caracas. The refueling along the way would just top off their tanks, especially for the large Condor, which could fly as far as 10,000 miles on a single tank of fuel at optimum weight. The aircraft, for this flight, wouldn't take anything near a full tank of fuel, which would allow the aircraft better fuel economy since it would be lighter, much lighter.

As he stepped onto the airliner a few minutes later, he looked up in the sky to see the Raptors overhead. He smiled and boarded, followed by the last bits of detail, greeting the pilots as he passed by the cockpit. "Gentlemen. It's a beautiful day for an airplane ride. Don't you think?"

"Yes sir. Glad to have you aboard."

"Glad to be aboard. What's our flight time?"

"Almost four hours."

"Splendid. That'll give them enough time to get some work done. Let's go."

"Yes sir." Everyone took their seats and buckled up as the door was shut and the pilots began to taxi the aircraft to the runway. The two Raptors were already holding short on the runway, on the opposite side of course, their engines on idle, wasting minimal fuel. The gigantic Condor was a sight to see as it moved down the taxiway at Layarteb City International Airport. Immediately given clearance to get on the runway and take off, all other planes would have to wait as it lined up on the runway. It needed 13,280 feet to get into the air and the runway there was 14,572 feet long. They would have over 1,000 to overshoot, which was just fine. Lighter than normal, the aircraft would be up sooner. As the beast approached the runway, turned onto it, and came to a stop, the two Raptor pilots quit their chatter and waited. The engine blast of the Condor was so severe that they would have to wait until it took off or at least got halfway down the runway before they could get on the runway themselves. It was a perfect drill though. They would be on the runway and on their own takeoff run as the aircraft was still barrelling forwards. They, in some instances, beat the Condor into the air, which was the intended goal.

Civilians watching through their windows would remember it for the rest of their lives as the Condor was given clearance for takeoff. Suddenly the runway shoot as the four, massive engines kicked up to full power and the Condor began to roll down the runway. It quickly began to pick up speed and when it was three quarters of a mile down the runway, the two Raptors moved into their positions, one on the right and the other on the left. The noise from the Condor was enough to make anyone on the taxiway deaf but it would only get louder. As the jet struggled to get to takeoff speed, the two Raptor pilots were given their own clearance to take off. Only the military could do stuff like this. Both Raptor pilots pushed up their throttles and lit their own afterburners, adding so much more noise that the engine sound of the Condor was nearly dwarfed. Roaring down the runway, the three jets, in two groups 9,000 feet apart, the two Raptors lifted off after just 1,250 feet and went into a straight, vertical climb. Everyone watching watched in awe as the Raptors climbed skyward, afterburners lit, roaring vertically up 90° towards the heavens. The Condor finally lifted off the ground too but much slower than the Raptors and as the Condor climbed, the Raptors did something amazing, extraordinary, and oddly routine. Both aircraft seemed to stop in midair and began to fall backwards, all at an altitude of only about 1,500 feet. Then, the pilots, in complete and utter control of their aircraft, kicked their noses down, levelled out, and flew forwards, never losing control once. The takeoff was spectacular and the other six Raptors joined up and the nine aircraft turned away and out towards the ocean. They were all set and normal traffic resumed at the airport as the Emperor and his escorts faded into the blue yonder.

In the Amazon Republic, Saturday, May 19 was just a normal day. In the rainforests, the Layartebian black ops agents moved towards new objectives, after having been resupplied in the early hours of the morning by four airdrops from C-31A Infiltrator aircraft, flying low over the border, piloted by expert pilots. They moved to attack four separate targets, evenly spaced apart though over a thirty mile area. The northernmost target was a small marijuana farm as was the southernmost. In between the two, from north to south, was an ammunition cache and an abandoned military depot with several aging tanks that the Venezuelans could use.
Layarteb
10-07-2007, 23:59
For nineteen days, the Empire of Layarteb waged a secret war within the borders of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. For nineteen days, their clandestine forces included just sixteen soldiers on the ground organized into four teams of four, all part of the 11th Black Operations Force, "Force Lightning," specifically tasked with counter-insurgency operations. Based out of El Salvador, the group had gained their first successes when the Ynoga Province was being secured during the 1990s. Their contributions made the casualty count lower than what it could have been and now they were deployed again, to fight against the Free Venezuelans. They called in twenty-six different airstrikes from the Ministry of Intelligence, who used their clandestine aircraft to strike Venezuelan and even Amazonian targets including but not limited to, ammunition caches, bridges, intersections, and convoys. There had been four hundred hours of UAV flights in just four hundred and fifty-six hours. Using Predators for medium altitude and Global Hawks for high altitude reconnaissance, the Ministry of Intelligence had live-action intelligence on the battlefield. They saw targets hit by the ground forces and they saw them get hit by the aircraft. In all, just one drone, an MQ-1 Predator, had been shot down and that one aircraft took an F-15C Eagle with it as it crashed into the jungle.

The Empire had an overwhelming victory ratio in its incursions. Of the estimates 28,000 Venezuelans hiding in the Amazon Republic as of May 1, an estimated 5,000 had been killed throughout the nineteen days thus far, including at least 60 - 80 Amazonian civilians and no fewer than 15 Amazonian soldiers. The Venezuelan rebels had lost four UH-1 Huey helicopters on the ground due to air strike and ground forces. They had lost a single "drug runner" aircraft in a lopsided dogfight with an A-17A Interrupter. On the ground they had lost at least two to three dozen trucks and vehicles as a result of air and ground action and two bridges vital to them had been pummelled into ashes by unguided bombs falling from aircraft. Of the twenty-six airstrikes, the Ministry of Intelligence had flown forty sorties of F-20A Tigersharks and forty-eight sorties of A-17A Interrupters. No helicopter assaults had been authorized and there had been no strikes yet from UAVs although those were on the docket.

Up until now, each and every instance of military action by the Layartebians, with the exception of the one downed UAV, was a slaughter. Not once had the ground forces actually been fired at, achieving each and every objective without alarming enemy forces once. They were skilled, it was obvious but luck did play into the situation a few times. The aerial strikes had been shot at by small arms fire by Venezuelans but not once had their bullets done any cosmetic damage, let alone damage an aircraft. It was an overwhelming and unbearable success, it seemed. The largest clandestine operation the Empire had ever undertook was quickly beginning to become the most successful. Every operation had its hiccups and after nineteen days, with only one hiccup, the operation had an overwhelming success rate. Presented with daily action briefs, usually not more than a page or two, the Emperor watched carefully as the operation unfolded. He was pleased with how the MOI was conducting itself and how well trained the soldiers were. Any necessity to deploy Force Falcon into the area would be unnecessary it seemed, judging the performance of Force Lightning to get the job done.

Sooner or later though, it would have to come to some sort of an end. May 20 would be a day of ups and downs pertaining to the war in the Amazon. It would be a day of big advances for the Layartebian forces but, at the same time, it would be a victory for the Venezuelans. From day one they knew that they were being hunted by the Empire and that the Empire was easily outclassing their Amazonian hosts. Leaders organized what few forces they could. Pockets of resistance began to grow and though the Venezuelans were defeated, morally and in some cases physically, they still had one more bit of fight left in them after the morning of May 20.

To the Venezuelan rebels, Hector Aldolfo Sojo was more than just a leader, he was like like a father. Hector had organized the first rebellions in the 1980s against the Empire and though he was defeated, he always escaped Layartebian handcuffs. Until the second war, he was presumed dead and after the second war he was, once again, presumed dead. Sojo was a face that every Venezuelan rebel could trust. He spoke to them when they were tired, wounded, and weary and told them to get back in there and fight. He rarely fought himself, a coward in many ways. He sent young men to die and like every other politician, sat back and watched them be slaughtered. Still, he was a hero. When he escaped Layartebian handcuffs a second time, he was considered some sort of heavenly being. Tapes and videos of him after the war were dismissed as staged by the Empire and his death continued to be upheld based on evidence found in Caracas. During an aerial bombardment, Hector lost a toe and that was found in the building. Nothing else remained of the building and when DNA confirmed the toe was his, it was assumed that he was dead. He walked without any visible sign of losing it thereafter, which was what led them to believe the videoes were hoaxes, filmed before the war began. They weren't and this was confirmed early on the morning of May 20. Force Lightning forces moved into a small village on the outskirts of Envira, way in the south of the republic. He was surrounded by no fewer than 600 rebel soldiers, too many to make any sort of incursion but too few to withstand the awesome power of the Layartebian military.

It was this instance that the Layartebians first used a UCAV against a foreign state and successfully. The MQ-14A Firefly had still not entered production in May 2007 when one of them was shipped down to Peru. Extremely stealthy and capable, the subsonic UCAV took off from a base within Peru loaded with four JDAM II thousand pound bombs. It was a maximum loadout and the UCAV entered Amazonian airspace shortly after 02:30 hours, flying in at 40,000 feet, invisible to Amazonian radar. Directed by ground forces, the UCAV circled over the village for a half hour while the ground forces confirmed his location. After the confirmation, the UCAV pilot, sitting in a trailer over a thousand miles away, pushed the thumb button on the flight stick and the bomb fell from the bay of the UCAV. It took only a few minutes to fall the eight and a half miles to the target and when it hit, it hit with pure accuracy. The explosion turned his house into sticks and fragments of paper and blasted two others into oblivion just as well. When the words, "Circular error probability, zero." Came over the radio, the UCAV departed enemy territory, as unseen as it had come in, making its first successful sortie and combat debut still as a prototype, although it was only a month or two away from production. Its performance would only speed up the process.

By 09:00 hours, the Venezuelan rebels throughout the country, still numbering over 23,000, heard about the death of their beloved leader. This time it wasn't a hoax or a joke. He was dead, blasted into a million small pieces, some no bigger than a fingernail. Suddenly, there was a call to action and the 23,000 strong, tired, beaten, weary, homeless, and scared army of ragtag rebels became an unstoppable armada. The jungles came alive as they miraculously grouped together and set out for revenge for their leader, who, they saw, as completely harmless. They thought it was sinister and cowardly to kill the man in his sleep although, if they knew the truth, they would know that, in all of the wars Hector "fought in," he had only fired his weapon a dozen times and never at anything deemed a target. He was nothing more than a cowardly politician, getting others to do his bidding. He was, in effect, a terrorist.
Layarteb
12-07-2007, 21:42
The first reports of the Venezuelan resurgance hit desks in the Ministry of Intelligence at 10:00 hours, eastern time, two hours after the death of their leader had reached everyone. May 20 was guaranteed to be a day that few would forget. The bombing in the middle of the night baffled military leaders, who, based on the blast crater and the lack of shrapnel, knew it was an aerial bomb. However, there was no evidence that any aircraft penetrated their airspace. Despite their inadequate military, their air defense system was sophisticated enough to detect stealth aircraft, to a degree, and detection was always weak. One of the Force Lightning teams was moving towards an intersection to plant explosives for a convoy when they stumbled upon a small Venezuelan encampment. Its radio echoed in the noisy yet serenly silent rainforest. "Over there. Move." The commander of the team said as they moved through the thicket, weapons shouldered, moving towards a still burning campfire. The sky overhead was gray with a storm and it was going to rain any minute and probably keep raining for days. It would reduce visibility and force the Venezuelan rebels to stay put and hide from its effects, giving the Force Lightning teams a whopping advantage. Rain or shine, they moved.

As they approached the encampment, they quickly scouted it out. There were four tents, two of them small enough only for two people and the other two large enough for maybe six to eight, depending how uncomfortable they wanted to be while they were inside of them. The campfire was burning in the middle of the tents and had been for two days already, from the look of the embers around it. Climbing high into the trees above, the four soldiers could see the whole encampment without giving away their positions at all. Above, the sky boomed as thunder rolled across the plains. It wasn't safe to be in a tree during a lightning storm but these were soldiers, not kids playing ball. A radio echoed in Spanish. "Temprana esta mañana. El Layartebians despiadado, en un secreto y la guerra ilegal, invadió el territorio soberano de la República de Amazonas. Ellos mataron nuestro amado Matón de líder y anunciaron una nueva guerra. Ellos nos derrotaron en Venezuela. Es verdad. Retiramos pero ahora ellos nos amenazan aquí. Hemos dejado nuestros armamentos pero ellos no han dejado suyo.

"Una llamada a todos hermanos de la rebelión. Levántese. Organice. Traemos la espalda de la pelea. Ellos han asesinado a nuestro líder y para él nosotros vengaremos nuestro país. El fervor de nuestra causa se queda." [Early this morning. The ruthless Layartebians, in a secret and illegal war, invaded the sovereign territory of the Amazon Republic. They killed our beloved leader Hector and ushered in a new war. They defeated us in Venezuela. It is true. We withdrew but now they threaten us here. We have put down our arms but they have not put down theirs.

A call to all brothers of the rebellion. Rise up. Organize. We are bringing the fight back. They have murdered our leader and for him we shall avenge our country. The fervor of our cause remains.]

The four men looked at each other as they straddled branches in their two trees. "Quick. Get the communique out. We're in for a long haul. They're organizing again!" The communique to the MOI was just one of many. Intercepted communications from signals intelligence told the same story. The Venezuelans were back. They had to be crushed, once and for all. By 11:00 hours, the Emperor stared at the cable and authorized its passing to President Santoro. He wanted the President to show his national congress that the Venezuelans were definitely a threat, not a made up cause by the Empire for the sake of "imperialism."

As the document ran over secured channels to the President of the Amazon Republic, the clandestine forces grouped themselves for "resistance." The four men overseeing the encampment had only counted seven rebels at the encampment but there could be as many as twenty there. The other thirteen missing were too many to simply "write off" and ignore. Their orders were to eliminate any and all resistance that they came in contact with, providing their numbers weren't enormous and twenty was definitely not enormous, even for four men. A five to one ratio wasn't outnumbered by any BOF standard. Thirty to one wasn't even that high of a ratio. As they looked through their scopes, at the encampment, they realized it was way too early to sit and wait until dusk to attack. They would either have to attack now or just come back later, when the other thirteen were present and accounted for, guaranteeing they wouldn't be hit hard on their flanks. "Alright. We'll bypass for now. Hit the intersection and come back to this. Note it on the GPS." The commander whispered across the branches as one of the other men punched a "waypoint" into the GPS unit, allowing them to return to the area easily.

The intersection was four kilometers away still and they had to be there before 14:00 hours, local time, which was when the convoy was scheduled to move through it. They would also have to pick up supplies a half of a kilometer away from the intersection. The supplies were, essentially, pounds upon pounds of mines and plastic explosives. The goal of the attack plan was to create an oval kill zone as wide as the road plus ten meters in each direction and seventy-five meters long. The drop contained hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of explosives and the corridor to destroy the vehicles would be long enough to take out all ten vehicles in the convoy. Most of them would be offroad jeeps. None of them would be armored, some would be open, and all of them were small, small enough that there would be no escape from the wall of fire that the explosives would create.

They hurried over to the intersection and while two men kept a close eye, the other two retrieved the explosives and the mines. They would be doing this during the daytime, which was hazardous in itself but this was a remote stretch of the rainforest, a small clearing along a haphazardly maintained path. It was a wonder that the Venezuelans would be using this road since it was a long way to their destination this way and, at the same time, it was through very rough terrain. It was just after 12:30 local time, which was Atlantic Standard Time, GMT-4, when they arrived at the destination. Like the Empire, the Amazon Republic did not observe any daylight savings time. They had an hour an a half to set everything up, not enough time but they would have to work as fast as they could. Two of the men worked on setting the mine charges while the other worked on the outer charges. Lucky for them, nobody dared enter the area as they ferociously worked, setting charges. Everything was on a radio detonator, which meant no wires to run but they still had to hide everything that they could. They barely made it out before the vehicles came. In order to make everything work, they set up two posts, which designated the two extreme ends of the seventy-five meter corridor. When all vehicles were within the corridor, they would detonate the charges. They hid about a hundred and fifty meters away, to the right side of the corridor, giving them a perfect view of it and the relation between the two markers. Now they just waited and they did, counting down the minutes as the convoy approached. The vehicles wouldn't be moving too fast, perhaps 30 - 40 mph due to the terrain.

Shortly before 14:00 hours, an echo rang out in the jungle. This time it was gunfire and that wasn't good. Hidden within the shrubbery on the ground, the four men knew they weren't being shot at, especially since the shots were well over a quarter of a mile away, given how loud they were and how they rolled through the terrain, echoing off rocks and trees alike. Then came the convoy. They were running over 60 mph, escaping someone, firing back. The gunshots all melded into one cacophony of chaos. The men grew tense, watching the convoy move towards the corridor. If they were spaced too far apart, the explosives wouldn't get all of them and if they were moving too fast they wouldn't get all of them. One push of a button would detonate all of the charges, sequentially, from the furthest point forward and rear towards the center but they would detonate within tenths of a second of each other, not enough time to escape but enough time to notice that they all didn't go off at once. The convoy raced into the kill zone, separated thoroughly but still close enough that it could work. As the lead vehicle raced towards the forward post, the commander hovered his finger over the button. The goal was to get the most vehicles as possible, from the lead back. This way, they could trap the others. Their targets were definitely in the middle of the convoy so they would get them either way but they didn't want any survivors either, regardless of who they were.

The convoy got nine cars into the kill zone when the charges were detonated. The commander couldn't wait for the other two, which were struggling behind, one already smoking from gunfire. The explosives drowned out any possible sounds of gunfire. From the two ends of the zone, a wall of dirt, fire, and smoke closed inwards amidst the rapid drumbeat of the charges and mines. Cars were flung end over end, torn to shreds, and set ablaze instantly. The bodies within were torn to shreds from the shockwaves of the blasts, let alone all of the flying shrapnel from the cars, charges, and anything else in the path of the explosives. The other two cars, still a couple of meters back, came to an abrupt and skidding halt upon seeing the explosive wall, which stood forty feet high and covered the whole zone in front of them. "Come on. We need to get those two trucks." The commander said as he put away the detonator. All four men began to crawl forward as people stepped out of the last two trucks, both unarmored, open jeeps. They were baffled by the explosions that they forgot they were running for their lives. Bullets tore through two of the ten people before the other eight realized they were still fighting. The only thing was those bullets hadn't come from the Layartebian soldiers. They came from someone behind them. The Layartebian soldiers capitalized on the confusion and opened fire themselves. Their gunshots were different, they were suppressed, and the bullets tore through engine blocks and tires first, people second. The eight remaining Venezuelans didn't know where to look or run as bullets came at them from two directions but from the direction of the Layartebians, they knew not who was shooting at them, where they were being shot from, or why. They didn't know if they had been flanked or ambushed. The ambush seemed familiar to them as they were Venezuelan rebels and ambushing targets was a speciality.

The three parties exchanged gunfire another few minutes before all of the eight men were dead. The Force Lightning soldiers stayed put, waiting to see who the other forces were. That would come soon enough. As the four men waited, they listened intently, hoping to hear vehicles but they heard none. They waited and waited and, after about eight or nine minutes, they saw the first glimpses of the Venezuelans' enemies. They wore army uniforms and carried standard issue assault rifles of the Amazonian Army. "Stand down!" The commander immediately said as he looked through his scope at the army soldiers moving in to check the area. They knew that the charges which blew up the first parts of the convoy wasn't set by them or their associates. They knew that much and they carefully approached the crater in the middle of the road, within which sat the remains of nine vehicles although remains was too strong a word for the shattered bits of steel and melted rubber that remained, fused with body parts and other peices of metal and rubber. "Stand fast. Do not engage them." He said again. The soldiers examined the crater and the four men could tell that they would be there for a while. They would have to move out without confirmation of the destruction although, based on the amount of explosives, everything and everybody was dead or destroyed. They would move out now and hit up the camp on their way back out of the hot zone.
Layarteb
13-07-2007, 01:05
The team doubled back, past the Amazonian Army group that assault and killed the last remaining Venezuelans at the road. As curious as they were about the explosion that rendered the first nine cars vapor so too were the Layartebians curious as to why the Amazonian Army was actively engaging the Venezuelans. Perhaps they too received the same intelligence about their resurgence? It was going to make for an interesting After Action Report for the MOI but, for now, the team had other problems to worry about and those lie ahead of them, not behind. They approached the camp quietly as they did wherever else they went, climbed the trees as they did before but, halfway up, the skies opened up and the storm had come. The sky had thundered for the past few hours but nothing fell except a bolt of lightning here and there. Now, the storm took on a role of its own. The ground shook underneath its thunderous applause and the lightning lit up even the darkest caves in the rainforest. "Great. Just what we need," the commander commented to himself as he set himself on the branch and looked down at the camp. The Venezuelans had gone into their tents and the fire had been put out by the massive downpour within a minute of its beginning. They still had other objectives and couldn't hang around there too long but, at the same time, they still needed to know if they would be ambushed by the other Venezuelans if they opened fire.

Up in the branches, things were different than on the ground. Animals scurried for shelter and ignored the four men, who definitely didn't belong thirty feet in the air, perched on branches big enough to support a horse. The commander had a call to make and he quickly made it. "Alright pick a tent and open fire on my command. Aim for anything inside that might strike you as a person. No shadows right now but do your best. Keep an eye for strays." He said in his microphone as the other three men listened intently. They called out their tents and the commander chose his, one of the two-man tents. He checked his magazine and made sure it was full before he set off the first shots. Between the four of them, they put almost a hundred bullets in the air through semi-automatic fire, all of their bullets tearing through the tents. The radio that played before was busted now, catching a bullet through its main processing board, which stopped the incessant noise of a soccer game after just a few seconds.

The men stay high even after they opened fire. They reloaded their weapons and kept a close eye on their surroundings, waiting for strays. The gunshots, though suppressed, still echoed within the rain. They men kept as dry as they could in the trees but even with their ponchos it seemed useless to try to avoid the rain, which, in some cases, seemed to come up from the ground at them. The camp area turned from a soft, moist soil to thick, black mud. The time passed, twenty minutes, and nothing happened at the camp. It was time to go check it out and the men came down from their perches, two at a time, the other two covering them.

Once all four of them were down, they moved towards the camp, stepping through the mud, their weapons shouldered at all times, fingers on the trigger, and safety clearly off. They approached the tents and carefully listened for the sound of movement although the rain dampened most of the noise out. They carefully moved to the first tent, seeing no visible shadows, and, using a knife, cut the whole side of it open. They peered in to find two dead Venezuelans, cigarettes still burning in their mouths. They moved onto the second tent, another two-man tent, and found the same thing except no cigarettes. One of the men was writing in his journal and that would be confiscated. At the third tent, they could hear some sort of movement but they couldn't tell what it was, which was enough to warrant another short salvo of bullets into the tent. They waited and, rather than tearing the tent open, they moved up to the "door" of the tent and one of the men using his rifle barrel to open it. They peered in cautiously to find that nobody was alive in there and all five men were dead. That was nine out of twenty, a dangerous number with only one tent left. They approached the fourth tent but before they could get near it, a burst of gunfire shot out of its side. The men returned fire as the commander dropped to the ground. Two bullets from the shooter's M30A1 Carbine caught him right in his vest, lucky for him though the vest stopped both rounds. Knocked out but okay, he returned fire himself as the gunman inside wildly fired at shadows he must have seen.

He didn't hit anyone else and was put down soon enough with a burst of gunfire into the tent from the opposite side, aimed right for the muzzle flash inside. He dropped the gun and attempted to crawl towards the opening but never made it. He and the four others inside were dead, leaving a body count of just thirteen. They still had seven guys, potentially, to worry about and that was enough of a reason not to stick around, although they wouldn't get too fire. After searching the tents for maps or code books and the journal, they left the scene and headed north, towards the next target. Little did they know that an Amazonian Army squad was closing in on them, though they weren't the squad's objective.

About a quarter of a mile from the camp, gunfire echoed again as the Force Lightning team came under heavy fire from the army squad, camouflaged too well to be seen. Not even their muzzle flashes could be seen, which gave the impression that they were some sort of elite group. A gunbattle ensued and the four Force Lightning soldiers took cover positions and returned fire, though they didn't necessarily know what they were shooting at because of the rain and the ambush situation. They were, in actuality, firing in the correct directions but they weren't hitting much. The gunbattle continued another minute or two before all hostile fire ceased. The men stayed put and dared not take their weapons down. As they waited there, waiting for some sign of movement, the Amazonian Army squad crept up on them, crawling through the mud. They were forest soldiers and on a mission, to capture Layartebian clandestine forces. They had been following the Force Lightning team for ten days and this was the closest that they had come. They weren't going to blow it by being foolhearty and they wanted the soldiers alive.

A few minutes after the cessation of gunfire, more gunfire rang out, from an opposite direction. The men countered, not realizing that they were, in fact, being set up. Creeping up behind them were Amazonian soldiers. Using dart guns tipped with a powerful natural chemical, capable of rendering any man unconscious in just seconds, the four groups of two soldiers opened fire. It was silent but effective as the darts moved through the rainy air, hitting their victims in the necks. The men ripped out the darts and turned to fire but, before they could, they were on the ground and the world around them had quickly faded to black. They all thought that they were dying and they would have wished for it had they known just what was happening.
Layarteb
13-07-2007, 02:37
By 19:00 hours, after the sun was already beginning to set over the Amazon Republic, the face of war was changing. Four Layartebian BOFs had been captured and were on their way to Manaus for "interrogation," which would be torture probably. News of their capture hadn't reached the MOI yet although they were due for a check-in at 20:00 hours, a check-in they would surely miss. The victory over Hector Sojo had turned out to be a longrun defeat. The Venezuelans organized and they were beginning to raid abandoned bunkers left over from the Neuvo Rican Empire that the Amazonian's hadn't found yet. They were arming themselves with assault rifles, rockets, grenades, and trying to get armor to reinforce positions. They had minimal time before the war would break out but, for them, working 24/7, it would be plenty of time. As the Layartebian Army massed on the border, ready to push southward, the Venezuelan rebels worked to reinforce their own positions. As they did, so did Amazonian forces. Under directives set by the national congress and the military generals, the Amazonian military prepared for war just as well as the Layartebians except they knew the terrain.

May 20 was a long day in the clandestine war, codenamed Operation Ajax and though the Empire succeeded in eliminating Hector Sojo, the leader of the Venezuelan rebels and destroy a convoy full of high-ranking officials, they lost a team. The team was captured and by the time that the check-in was scheduled, they were inside one of the many basements of intelligence headquarters, in central Manaus. "Interrogations" began immediately upon their arrival and the intelligence department was known for pervasive methods that the government itself had outlawed. In times of war though, those rights quickly eroded and the national congress was all too close to declaring a state of war. If they did, President Santoro would be, essentially, a dictator in charge of the country. With that, he could dissolve the congress, elect new leaders, and, in effect, run the country as he saw fit. He could eradicate the Venezuelans and appease the Empire if he did. He prepared to make those efforts as he drafted a proposal to declare a state of war in the Amazon Republic. He would use the long-known fear that the Empire was coming to invade and his total seizure of power would ensure that he could prepare the country to defend itself.

Despite the popularity of President Santoro with the people, the national congress did not see him as well as they saw Fraga, who was their favorite. At the same time, the people weren't entirely too receptive to the idea of their democracy being suspended to defend against the Layartebians. There was also a risk of a military coup. Layartebian troop movements made the Amazonian military highly paranoid and the leaders wanted all efforts spared to reinforce their positions along the border, within the capital, and all major cities. They wanted to, in essence, build a wall between them and the Layartebians of military might, although nothing would be able to resist the Layartebian military, which would be coming in with a full Army consisting of over 166,666 men. A full army consisted of 165,888 men, three corps of 55,296 soldiers and an HQ detatchment of 778 men.
Layarteb
13-07-2007, 04:35
"What do you mean they didn't check in? Are you suggesting that we have lost a team?" The Minister of Intelligence demanded as he listened to the operational commander. "If you're suggesting that then you better just come outright and say it because we have a black operations team in serious trouble if that is the case!"

"Yes sir. I am suggesting that we have a black operations team captured."

"Why not killed?"

"There was no distress."

"Would there be?"

"These teams are under strict radio silence except in these following cases, which are interval check-in and serious attack. They would have sent a distress call. This leads me to believe that they were captured suddenly and without warning."

"Is this a proven conclusion?"

"It is the best theory we have sir."

"Very well. You're dismissed. I'm going to inform the Emperor. Find them!"

"Yes sir." As the Minister of Intelligence picked up the phone to inform the Emperor, a UAV was launched over the last suspected area of the black ops team, which was the ambush site. They would try to search the area for heat signatures and, as they did, some Layartebian workers within the Ministry of Intelligence began to scan satellite backlogs for the past couple of hours, to see what they could find, although in the dense thicket of the rain forest and the thunderstorm, things were beginning more and more difficult to search. They hoped to find something that could give them a glimpse of the captured team. The other three teams were all informed but, due to the weather, they couldn't drop in any more forces yet.

*****************

While the Emperor was being told about what the operational commander suspected, the four men were being given the initial stages of their interrogation. It wasn't until 23:00 hours [EST] that the Emperor was informed, which was 00:00 hours [AST]. The soldiers had been there for hours already and now they were separated. Still in their wet uniforms, they were stripped of anything of value and all of their possessions were taken and thoroughly searched although nothing yielded who they fought for or anything about them. They sat, barefoot, in interrogation rooms, handcuffed and in leg irons, restrained to a chair that was bolted into the ground. Each room was identical and a nightmare in and of itself. There were two chairs in total, one of which had the "prisoner" sitting in it and the other was empty, for the interrogator. The room stifling hot, humid, and unbearably uncomfortable. Dripping wet from the rain, the men added sweat to that mix as their bodies desperately tried to maintain homeostasis.

They were just beginning to wake up as the clock turned to midnight. "Acorde-se!" [Wake up!] The interrogators yelled at the prisoners. Inside of the room with the commander, the interrogator was a short man who looked as if he had gone through a couple of wars himself. He was tough and had little to no neck, all of it being muscle. He was a hardcore man who spoke four languages, Portugese, English, Spanish, and a native Amazonian language. He was one of the best interrogators they had and he was a sadist, which only made it worse for the prisoner. He thrived on pain, especially the suffering of others. He smacked the commander hard across his head. "Estão acordado agora! Bom! Agora podemos conversar!" [You're awake now! Good! Now we can talk!] He smiled and revealed a mouth full of rotten teeth, two of his bottom molars missing. His breath stunk of plaque as his mouth was lined with it. "Quem são você?" [Who are you?] He asked calmly, keeping the smile. The commander didn't respond and so he repeated the question, this time with far more authority. He warned not to be made to ask the question a third time. The commander stonewalled him, just as he had been trained, and the interrogator's face turned severe as his eyes widened, his face grew long, and his smile vanished. He backhanded him hard with his right hand, immediately bruising the commander's left cheek.

The commander's face reverberated from the slap and he returned, staring down the interrogator. The stonewalling continued. "Conversará a mim!" [You will talk to me!] He said again and, this time, he kicked him hard in the leg. A black and blue the size of half of his calf would appear there soon enough as he repeatedly kicked him in the same spot, a tactic to inflict serous and repetative pain in a single area. He continued the corporal treatment.

*****************

Nine hundred miles north of Manaus, a Layartebian B-9C Sphinx strategic bomber maintained a careful orbit at 50,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, two hundred and twenty-five miles north of Georgetown. The bomber was loaded with a single cruise missile, an AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile, a highly stealthy and capable long-range missile capable of accuracy with a nuclear or conventional warhead to within just ten feet of its target. The initial version, the AGM-129A ACM had been upgraded to the AGM-129B and an AGM-129C had been added, which featured a 1,200 lb. AUP warhead. The version the B-9 carried was an AGM-129D, which was loaded with a much smaller, more tactical warhead, weighing 3,800 lb. it had a 2,000 mile range and a radar cross section smaller than that of most "stealth" UAVs. That meant it could penetrate enemy airspace easily and it would be doing just that, at a speed of Mach 0.90. The B-9C Sphinx maintained a subsonic speed as it prepared to launch the missile.

The large, stealth bomber maintained the cruise altitude and cruise speed as the final preparations were made. The missile would have a ninety minute flight time to the target, which was a hangar at the airport in Manaus. Inside of the hangar was a small private jet, an Embraer ERJ 145. Due to be on the aircraft in less than two hours was a team of Amazonian senators who were, in essence, leading the charge against any cooperation with the Empire. The intelligence came through the bugs planted throughout the national congress. Sixteen of them would be on the ERJ 145 shortly before 03:00 hours [AST] for a flight to Roman Bolivia. They hoped to meet with several Roman officials to ask for assistance with their cause. They were under immense Layartebian pressure to comply on the Venezuelan situation and, because the national congress wasn't cooperating with President Santoro and the Empire, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the Empire ceased "negotiations" and commenced "action." They wanted the Roman Empire, a well-respected and massive country in the world to help them keep the negotiations peaceful.

Timing was crucial and based on intelligence, they knew that the airplane would be in the hangar for at least twenty minutes while they boarded it, a small window to work with but large enough that they could make an easy strike against it. The missile would eliminate the whole hangar and everything inside of it, senators included. "Ranger One. Ranger One. This is Lucy. Come in over." The radio came alive as the Sphinx maintained its orbit.

"Go ahead Lucy. This is Ranger One."

"You are cleared to launch the weapon."

"Roger that. Launching the weapon." The Sphinx crew had the cockpit dark and night vision goggles gave them a view of everything within its confines. The three men inside were used to these sort of conditions. The pilot and co-pilot kept the aircraft on its course while the systems officer, the third man, pushed a button on his control panel. It immediately sent a signal to the center bay of the bomber and the doors opened quickly. From within its confines dropped the missile, the doors shutting after it had entered the aircraft's windstream. The missile fell for eight seconds, getting as clear as possible from the bomber before its own turbofan engine kicked in, propelling the missile up to 594 mph very rapidly. While the bomber turned for home, the missile moved southward, moving towards Manaus.

Guided by satellite, the missile had several guidance modes available. It could use its LIDAR for low-altitude flight making it very hard to detect and engage or it could use a datalink to a satellite and be guided to the target through GPS. It opted for the latter as it cruised at 36,000 feet. That high in the air, the missile was extremely stealthy, subsonic, and could fly its maximum range of 2,000 miles. It wouldn't need to go that far.

Eighty minutes later, the missile was well within enemy territory. It wasn't far from Manaus and, immediately, the missile dropped down to extremely low altitude, for the attack. It was invisible to radar and it remained subsonic, slowing down to 570 mph as it dropped to just 50 feet above the ground. As the missile closed in on the target, satellite reconnaissance and, a spotter on the ground, confirmed that the sixteen senators were inside of the building and boarding the small jet, a governmental jet owed by the Amazonian Republic. The missile kept its speed and its course, using its LIDAR to avoid obstacles.

All was quiet over the airport. There were few departing and arriving flights, especially at this hour, part of the reason why the senators chose to fly so early in the morning. The missile came in silently and without warning, descended into the hangar. It penetrated through the thin, aluminum walls of the hangar without any effort. It pierced through the northern face of the hangar and quickly was inside of the hangar, where its fuse detonated the explosive. It was a BLU-126 warhead, light, just 500 pounds, and designed to minimize collateral damage, which it did well. The entire hangar, aircraft, and people inside suddenly erupted into a sea of flames and debris as the missile's warhead detonated at over 25,000 feet per second. The explosion lit up the darkened airport and shook the ground. Throughout the city of Manaus, the fireball was seen and the sound of the explosion echoed. Police responded almost immediately as it was evident that something blew up and went catastrophically wrong at the airport.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/airport-01.jpg

President Santoro was awakened by the explosion and he stood up and walked to his bedroom window. "Oh meu deus!" [Oh my god!] He said to himself as he looked at the fireball rising from the airport. "Descobriram." [They found out.] He shut the curtains and walked back over to his bed. His wife was awake and she looked concerned. He explained to her what he thought had happened and who he thought was responsible. Even now he imagined that the Empire was, somehow, very responsible. He would be told a few hours later that the senate delegation to Bolivia had been, in essence, assassinated. There were no viable suspects though and, once again, there were no leads. Like the bombing of the village, they knew absolutely nothing.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/airport-02.jpg
Layarteb
14-07-2007, 00:23
When the sun rose on the morning of May 21, the entire nature of the conflict had changed. There was no evidence that the Layartebians blew up the hangar and the airplane inside but everyone's finger went that way. The President called an emergency session of the national congress to discuss the possibility of "terrorism" against the Amazonian government.

"Bom dia. É uma vergonha que eu tenho que vir a você e a nós devemos lamentar nossos dezesseis colegas que eram brutalmente e irresponsavelmente matou hoje de manhã. Este ato de terrorismo não irá unpunished e duvido que qualquer um em aqui vê este como um acidente.

"Quem era atrás de ele?

"Fiz essa pergunta à polícia principal mais cedo. Ele não me podia dar uma resposta. É uma vergonha que tem que ser então. Era os venezuelanos? Fizeram isto? Há inimigos dentro deste muito governo que opõe-se-os? Alguém opôs-se-os para sua oposição a mim? Eu não sei. Eu não posso dar você que responde mas isto é um tempo perigoso para nós.

"Nossos colegas morreram hoje porque alguém tem medo. Quer que que alguém é, têm muito mais temer agora. Investigaremos isto. Determinaremos se esses que fizeram isto também são responsáveis para o assassinato de meu predecessor. Alguém tem que ser responsável para este e nós os acharemos, acossa-os, põe-os em cadeia para o resto de seu natural vive. Talvez nós os executaremos?

"Isso muito interroga é um que quero pedi-lo aqui hoje. Quero pedi-lo aqui para seu apoio em fortalecer nossa grande nação. Meu predecessor num plano oscilar nosso exército, preparar para guerra. A ele, a guerra veio do Império. Eu ainda duvido essa possibilidade mas eu não posso ignorar as coincidências estranhas à situação. O Império é um enorme no mundo e seu irá é seu meio. Nosso irá não é seu irá mas nosso irá é NOSSO meio. Você e as pessoas falaram. Nós não cooperaremos com eles como vêem ataque. Causa dor me dizer este como acredito que um relacionamento entre nossos dois grandes países pode florescer e poder levar a grandes recompensas. Isso não é nosso irá embora e como tal não é nosso meio.

"Necessito a ajuda de você, o governar e corpo legislativo deste país. É meu desejo e meu plano a Executivo inicial Mandam 158, que começarão imediatamente. Sobre aprovação desta Ordem Executiva, a República Federal do Amazonas não irá mais é uma democracia. Eu não tenho nenhuma intenção de manter este permanentemente. A duração desta ordem não pode exceder seis meses e não pode ser, sob qualquer circunstância, estendido. Depois que seis meses, coisas imediatamente retornarão ao meio que eles são hoje. Ele me concederá, o executivo, pleno e controle total do exército e as forças de polícia. Nós NÃO iniciaremos lei marcial como será contraprodutivo mas devemos preparar nossos cidadãos para uma batalha.

"Esta necessidade vem de inteligência interceptada, que muitos de você viu já. Sem ter em conta nossa crença do Império ou não, os rebeldes de venezuelano, que infestam nossa campina, rearmam se. Havia numerosos relatórios deles interrompem caixas militares abandonadas e prendendo ambos os e seu conteúdo para o próprios usos. Os venezuelanos são readying se para guerra. Se desejam lutar nos ou o Império ou se os desejos de Império lutar nos ou os eu não posso predizer. Eu só posso observar com cautela.

"Estes estão vezes tumultuosos aqui e nós não podemos sobreviver a menos que tomemos rápido, firma, e ação decisiva. Nós não podemos debater se construir um tanque nem uma aeronave. Devemos fazê-lo! Devemos armar os cidadãos! Devemos armar nos! Essa é a razão pela qual eu peço sua aprovação desta ordem, que organizará todas nossas diferenças e nossas semelhanças num único partido político e entidade. Ninguém é tomar umas férias!

"Permanecerá os representantes elegidos a esta nação e você permanecerá leal a seus constituintes. Baixe seus interesses. Encontre com eles. Enderece suas preocupações. Permaneça no governo. Imploro-o. Estas medidas são temporárias e como verdade como minha palavra é até hoje, depois de seis meses, haverá um retorno pleno e total a democracia. Retirarei-me-ei da presidência também. Renunciarei e tomarei meu lugar em história enquanto outros seguem. Eu não posso fazer este só nem pode faço isto sem seu apoio. Não haverá nenhuns golpes aqui.

"Então. Por favor. Eleja favor desta ordem. Obrigado."

[Good morning. It is a shame that I have to come to you and we must mourn our sixteen colleagues who were brutally and irresponsibly killed this morning. This act of terrorism won't go unpunished and I doubt anyone in here sees this as an accident.

Who was behind it?

I asked that question to the police chief earlier. He couldn't give me an answer. It's a shame that it has to be so. Was it the Venezuelans? Did they do this? Are there enemies within this very government that oppose them? Did someone oppose them for their opposition to me? I don't know. I can't give you that answer but this is a dangerous time for us.

Our colleagues died today because someone is afraid. Whomever that someone is, they have a lot more to fear now. We will investigate this. We will determine if those who did this also are responsible for the assassination of my predecessor. Someone has to be responsible for this and we're going to find them, hunt them down, put them in jail for the rest of their natural lives. Perhaps we will execute them?

That very question is one that I want to ask you here today. I want to ask all of you here for your support in strengthening our great nation. My predecessor began a plan to surge our military, to prepare for war. To him, the war came from the Empire. I still doubt that possibility but I cannot ignore the strange coincidences to the situation. The Empire is a mammoth in the world and their will is their way. Our will is not their will but our will is OUR way. You and the people have spoken. We will not cooperate with them as they see fit. It pains me to say this as I believe a relationship between our two great countries can blossom and lead to great rewards. That is not our will though and as such it is not our way.

I need the help of you, the governing and legislative body of this country. It is my desire and my plan to initial Executive Order 158, which will commence immediately. Upon approval of this Executive Order, the Federal Republic of the Amazon will no longer be a democracy. I have no intention of keeping this permanently. The duration of this order cannot exceed six months and it cannot be, under any circumstance, extended. After six months, things shall immediately return to the way they are today. It will grant me, the executive, full and total control of the military and the police forces. We will NOT initiate martial law as it will be counterproductive but we must prepare our citizens for a battle.

This necessity comes from intercepted intelligence, which many of you have seen already. Regardless of our belief of the Empire or not, the Venezuelan rebels, who infest our countryside, are rearming themselves. There have been numerous reports of them breaking into abandoned military bunkers and seizing both them and their contents for their own uses. The Venezuelans are readying themselves for war. Whether they wish to fight us or the Empire or if the Empire wishes to fight us or them I cannot predict. I can only observe with caution.

These are tumultuous times here and we cannot survive unless we take swift, firm, and decisive action. We cannot debate whether or not to build a tank or an aircraft. We must do it! We must arm the citizens! We must arm ourselves! That is why I am asking for your approval of this order, which will organize all of our differences and our similarities into a single political party and entity. Nobody is to take a vacation!

You will remain the elected representatives to this nation and you will remain loyal to your constituents. Take down their concerns. Meet with them. Address their worries. Remain in the government. I implore you. These measures are temporary and as true as my word is to this day, after six months, there will be a full and total return to democracy. I will step down from the presidency as well. I shall resign and I shall take my place in history while others follow. I cannot do this alone nor can I do this without your support. There will be no coups here.

So. Please. Vote in favor of this order. Thank you.]

The Layartebian Ministry of Intelligence picked up each and every word and it was translated as the President spoke. It would be on the Emperor's desk in under a half hour, while the results waited from the vote. It was just 09:00 hours, local time, in Manaus and the vote wasn't scheduled until 15:00 hours. Newspapers ran stories about the possibility of "dictatorship." People were split fifty-fifty, based on polling done by universities. Most of the elite opposed the action while most of the lower classes were indifferent. People knew that their society was on the brink of disaster from external sources. Seventeen leaders of their country had been brutally cut down and there were news reports of captured mercenaries, news reports that, when they hit the Layartebian Ministry of Intelligence, made perfect sense, after all, they had lost a team.

It was a democratic society there and keeping secrets was hard, too hard. There was always a leak somewhere. While the President gave his speech, news reporters stood outside and talked about the possibility of dictatorship. They knew what he was asking the national congress. Everyone knew and now they just waited.
Layarteb
14-07-2007, 01:23
Six hours later, the voting began. Everyone on the floor was tense, nervous, and curious. Nobody knew how the vote go. The President had tried his last attempts for support throughout the mid-hours of the day, convincing senators and representatives to see things his way. Some agreed; some disagreed. It was too tough to tell which category had more. In all, there were 144 senators, two for each of the 62 municipalities in Amazonas and 17 municipalities in Roraima. Then there were 456 represenatives, broken up according to population. The 600 leaders of the country included 291 women and 309 men, a healthy and nearly even split. The sixteen dead senators were obviously missing but there were "replacements" and the vote would have to see a 2/3 majority in order to support the Executive Order, which was a difficult thing to obtain with 600 people. That required at least 400 votes in favor of the move. Voting ended at 16:00 hours, local time, and then the tallying began. The system took the number as the people voted but nobody could see the results until they were posted, until voting had been completed. The system did a quick check to ensure that everyone voted and those who didn't vote were placed into a separate category, which was "abstainees." The whole process took seconds and by 16:15 hours, the national congress was ready.

Both legislative bodies assembled in the main room of the national congress, including the President. The newly raised Vice-President was elsewhere. In case an act of terrorism struck, at least there would be members still alive to carry on the government although that was unlikely, especially since the Empire wasn't planning on blowing up the congressional building, although a simple AGM-129 strike would do away with the entire ruling government and throw the state into total and unfettered anarchy. The Emperor thought of the idea but was opposed to it in the end, even if the benefits outweighed the problems it would cause. The Empire would have little trouble seizing the country although the strike wouldn't decapitate the military, just the government. It was still doable.

"Num voto próximo. Eu por meio disto anuncio os resultados de votar em número de encomenda cem Executivo e cinqüenta e oito. Abster do voto são quarenta e dois. Eleger que oposição são cem e cinqüenta e três. Eleger que favor são quatrocentos e cinco. Com uma margem estreita de cinco votos, número de encomenda cem Executivo e cinqüenta e oito é por meio disto e imediatamente aprovado." [In a close vote. I hereby announce the results of voting on Executive Order number one hundred and fifty-eight. Abstaining from the vote are forty-two. Voting in opposition are one hundred and fifty-three. Voting in favor are four hundred and five. With a narrow margin of five votes, Executive Order number one hundred and fifty-eight is hereby and immediately approved.] The announcer rapped his gavel four times, to signify that the legislation had been approved.

President Santoro stood, with a victorious smile across his face, and walked up to the podium. "As senhoras e cavalheiros do Congresso Nacional. Sou agradado com este resultado. Quero agradecer todo o mundo que elegeu favor de ele e, ao mesmo tempo, eu quero agradecer esses que opuseram-se esta ordem. É nossa democracia gloriosa que permitiu fazer isto. Hoje é 21 de maio. A partir de 12:00 da manhã, novembro 21, renunciarei como Presidente da República Federal do Amazonas. A democracia será restaurada. Esta desordem terá sido resolvida e iremos todo é mais seguro. Você não são despedidos de suas posições. Continuará a informar trabalhar. É o trabalho de você permanecer representantes às pessoas. Contam com ele. Conto com ele. Obrigado." [Ladies and gentlemen of the National Congress. I am pleased with this outcome. I want to thank everyone who voted in favor of it and, at the same time, I want to thank those who opposed this order. It is our glorious democracy that allowed you to do this. Today it is May 21. As of 12:00 a.m., November 21, I will resign as President of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. Democracy will be restored. This mess will have been sorted out and we will all be safer. You are not dismissed from your positions. You will continue to report to work. It is the job of you to remain representatives to the people. They are counting on you. I am counting on you. Thank you.]

With that, democracy in the Federal Republic of the Amazon ceased to be for six months. Nothing would change. The currency would remain stable and there would be no price gouging. Wages and prizes were immediately frozen by the President. The country was placed in a state of frozen evolution. The state would continue but people would not take advantage of anything. Capital punishment was instituted for crimes against the state, murder, and rape. There would be no subverting the law. Immediately, the Venezuelan rebellious groups were declared illegal and the military surged. A conscription went into place for all males aged eighteen to twenty-four, unless they were enrolled in a university at the time of the vote. Obviously, those who were in application processes were given a reprieve. Everyone was encouraged to prepare themselves for a war that would come.

The President soon met with the military generals and together, they sat down in his office and prepared their country. "Sou alegre veio. Quero ter esta reunião com todo o mundo e eu quero assegurar que nossas conversas permanecem privado. Agora. Com isso sobre. Quero ditar uma única regra fundamental para estes seis meses. Não há ser NENHUM golpe! Nós não somos umas ditaduras de tinpot! O exército permanecerá subordinado a mim. Isso é entendido?" [I'm glad you have come. I want to have this meeting with everyone and I want to ensure that our discussions remain private. Now. With that over. I want to lay down a single ground rule for these six months. There is to be NO coup! We are not a tinpot dictatorship! The military will remain subordinate to myself. Is that understood?] The generals agreed although some, secretly, disagreed.

"Quem é nosso inimigo?" [Who is our enemy?] President Santoro asked to curious faces. Nobody could agree. Half of the generals swore it was the Empire while the other half swore it was the Venezuelans. "Necessitamos unidade! Quem é nosso inimigo? Quem apresenta a maior ameaça? Quem move contra nós? Quem mata nossos líderes? Quem faz isto?" [We need unity! Who is our enemy? Who presents the biggest threat? Who is moving against us? Who is killing our leaders? Who is doing this?] He asked again as the generals conferred with each other again, coming more or less to the same conclusion until the highest ranking general stood up and silenced everyone.

"Presidente de senhor. É minha crença que o Império apresenta a ameaça maior que nós jamais encararemos. Ao mesmo tempo é a crença de muitos de meus colegas que estes rebeldes de venezuelanos posam uma ameaça imediata enquanto o Império posa uma ameaça com o tempo. O Império é fervoroso sobre a derrota dos venezuelanos e agora, com seu rearma e reorganizar, você pode apostar o Império estará mesmo mais comichoso para ação. Se nós não entregamos ação rápida mesquinha para ação e para mim, para nós lidaremos com o Império e eles ganharão. Nenhuma questão como muito lutamos. Ganharão. É David contra Golliath e David não ganharão." [Mister President. It is my belief that the Empire presents the largest threat that we will ever face. At the same time it is the belief of many of my colleagues that these Venezuelans rebels pose an immediate threat while the Empire poses a threat in the long-run. The Empire is fervent about the defeat of the Venezuelans and now, with their rearming and reorganizing, you can bet the Empire will be even more itchy for action. If we do not deliver action and I mean swift action, we will be dealing with the Empire and they will win. No matter how hard we fight. They will win. It's David versus Golliath and David won't win.] He was firm and everyone agreed with his conclusion.

"Então somos lutar estes venezuelanos agora. Posso concordar com que mas eu não concordo com o Império como é nosso inimigo também. Falei com o Imperador. Apoia-me e este governo. É verdadeiro. Quer ação nos venezuelanos. Agi ontem à noite sou corrijo?" [So we are to fight these Venezuelans now. I can agree with that but I do not agree with the Empire as being our enemy too. I have spoken with the Emperor. He supports me and this government. It is true. He wants action on the Venezuelans. We acted last night am I correct?]

"Sim Presidente de Senhor que é correto. Agimos duas vezes ontem à noite. Uma equipe de elite nosso capturou quatro mercenários e eles estão sendo interrogado agora mesmo no quartel general de Inteligência. Têm, sou infeliz anunciar, fez obstrução nos coerentemente. Ao mesmo tempo nossas forças empenharam e derrotados vários comandantes venezuelanos, de alto nível numa estrada não longe de onde estes mercenários foram capturados." [Yes Mister President that is correct. We acted twice last night. An elite team of ours has captured four mercenaries and they are being interrogated right now in the Intelligence Headquarters. They have, I am unfortunate to announce, stonewalled us consistently. At the same time our forces engaged and defeated several high-ranking Venezuelan commanders on a road not far from where these mercenaries were captured.]

"Isso é progresso que eu aprecio. Nós mais devemos progredir. Estas capturas. Quem são eles?" [That is progress I appreciate. We need more progress. These captures. Who are they?] The generals almost in unison shrugged their soldiers. "Nós não temos nenhuma identidade?" [We have no identity?] They affirmed his statement.

"Há uma possibilidade. Podiam ser forças clandestinas dos Impérios." [There is a possibility. They could be clandestine forces from the Empire.]

"Isso está prepóstero. Por que o Império teria invadido nossa soberania?" [That is preposterous. Why would the Empire have invaded our sovereignty?]

"O senhor que é nossa crença e a crença do departamento de Inteligência assim como seu predecessor que o Império instalou forças dentro de nossas fronteiras. O zangão que nós derrubamos mais cedo este mês não pode ser traçado costas a eles mas entrou e saída nosso airspace de seu airspace. Seus zangões têm estado transgredindo nosso airspace todo mês. Sabemos isto. Podemos provar isto. Temos provado isto. O Império observa-nos e eles não são cegos. Saberiam se um partido estrangeiro operava do próprio airspace. São não engana e têm a tecnologia ver no próprio airspace." [Sir it is our belief and the belief of the Intelligence department as well as your predecessor that the Empire has deployed forces within our borders. The drone we shot down earlier this month cannot be traced back to them but it did enter and exit our airspace from their airspace. Their drones have been violating our airspace all month. We know this. We can prove this. We have proven this. The Empire is watching us and they are not blind. They would know if a foreign party was operating from their own airspace. They are not fools and they have the technology to see into our own airspace.]

"Bem. Posso também venho limpo. Estes zangões? São do Império. Eu pessoalmente convidei-os. O raciocínio é para nosso benefício. Nós não podemos observar o chão como podem. Fui preparado lutar os venezuelanos este tempo inteiro, eu devo admiti-lo. Minha meta é pedi-los seu auxílio eletrônico. Podemos usar seus zangões e seu reconhecimento achar nossos inimigos. Sim. São. Eu não expus isto ao congresso porque para eles não concordaria. Querem nada mas paz. Quero paz também mas eu não posso ignorar a possibilidade de guerra como podem. Podemos usar isto a nossa vantagem? Podemos ter a ajuda de Layartebians nos?" [Bem. Posso também venho limpo. Estes zangões? São do Império. Eu pessoalmente convidei-os. O raciocínio é para nosso benefício. Nós não podemos observar o chão como podem. Fui preparado lutar os venezuelanos este tempo inteiro, eu devo admiti-lo. Minha meta é pedi-los seu auxílio eletrônico. Podemos usar seus zangões e seu reconhecimento achar nossos inimigos. Sim. São. Eu não expus isto ao congresso porque para eles não concordaria. Querem nada mas paz. Quero paz também mas eu não posso ignorar a possibilidade de guerra como podem. Podemos usar isto a nossa vantagem? Podemos ter a ajuda de Layartebians nos? ] Commotion amongst the generals silenced the President and the room turned into an amphitheater of conversation.

"Presidente de senhor. Podemos. Devemos aceder a tudo que vêem." [Mister President. We can. We need access to everything that they see.] General Soborano said. He was, in effect, the military leader of the military. Civilian leaders were always the President and the Defense Secretary.

"Bom. Bom. O que mais faz necessita?" [Good. Good. What else do you need?]

"Devemos completar controle sobre nossas forças. Devemos estar mandá-los aqui e ali. Nós não podemos ter interrupção de civil. Nós também necessitamos armas. Temos uma força de formidible mas nada que podem montar uma defesa adequada. Devemos aceder a equipamento abandonado dos Neuvo riquenhos. Necessitamos novas armas." [We need complete control over our forces. We must be able to command them here and there. We cannot have civilian interruption. We also need weapons. We have a formidible force but nothing that can mount a proper defense. We need access to abandoned equipment of the Neuvo Ricans. We need new weapons.]

"Você o terá mas eu não posso permitir o militar pleno carta branca. Devo ter um lugar chave na volta. Irei. Os braços que eu fornecerei. O Império nos fornecerá. Serão informados de nossa missão a stomp para fora os venezuelanos. Se conto-os nós os acossaremos. Mate-os. Detenha-os. Execute-os. Ajudarão. O Império amaria resolver o problema se mas, ecnomically, é melhor para eles e para nós mesmo, resolver este problema nos." [You will have it but I cannot allow the military full carte blanche. I must have a key place in the loop. I will. The arms I will supply. The Empire will supply us. They will be informed of our quest to stomp out the Venezuelans. If I tell them we will hunt them down. Kill them. Arrest them. Execute them. They will help. The Empire would love to solve the problem themselves but, ecnomically, it is better for them and us even, to solve this problem ourselves.]

Less than an hour after the meeting ended, President Santoro informed the Emperor of the changes and of the requirements. The Layartebian drones would assist the Amazonian military. They would be allowed to fly throughout the airspace, as directed by the Amazonian High Command. The Emperor agreed to this. Neither of them talked about the "captures" but the Emperor did notice that President Santoro wanted to asked the question of whether or not they belonged to the Empire. The Emperor would disavow knowledge of the incident. Despite the phone call, the Emperor knew what the results were. Even without bugging the national congress, the news stations would carry it for all six months. His favorite headline was: "Democracy OUT! Dictatorship IN!" The Emperor loved the dramatics involved but it was a big deal. The Federal Republic, in effect, became an authoritarian state in just hours.
Layarteb
14-07-2007, 06:36
"So you won't talk." The short, balding, grotesque man said in English. He tried a few languages already, all that he knew but the commander continued to stonewall him. Twenty hours later he still made no progress. "Layartebian scum. You will tell me what I want to know. You will tell me because your friends will too. They are telling me now. They're spilling everything. You see Layartebian scum. We know why you're here. We know why you came. You realize we know that stuff. All I want to know is your name. Your rank. Your serial number. I want to tell your Emperor, the precious Emperor, that you are here. People are looking for you. Our patrols see them. We can hear them. You're caught. They're calling out for you. So talk. Tell me what I want to know." The commander was bruised, sore, tired, hungry, and weary from the treatment. His check was swollen, he lost a tooth, one of his eyes was swollen shut, his ears rang from repeated blows, his legs were sore, his skin was tight, and his face was throbbing. He had taken blow after blow after blow. "Talk to me. End this pain." He continued.

"Vete pal carajo." [Go to hell.] The commander said, his first words since being captured. It was all part of the tactics.

"Así que español es lo." [So Spanish is it.]

"Ou Portugese." [Or Portugese.] "Or maybe English."

"Enough of these games! Who are you and who do you work for?"

"You said you knew."

"I do. We want you to say it. For the confession. For the trial. You may get a fair trial you know."

"Fair trial? For what? Wandering in the woods? I hardly think so. Besides, if you knew what you ask you wouldn't ask it."

"That may be true. But it may be untrue. Tell me." The commander silenced again. He gave the interrogator enough to think he would cooperate but he wouldn't. It was a tatic employed to wear down the interrogator just as the interrogator worked to wear him down and get him to talk. In the other rooms, the men had done more of the same but with different aspects. They toyed with their interrogators. All trained in that art, they knew the tactics and all of the proper counters. The commander himself taught interrogation for two years so he knew all there was to know.

*****************

As the interrogators left their rooms for another short meeting among themselves, to share information, the Amazonian Army began to make moves against Venezuelan strongholds. They were ill-equipped on both ends of the spectrum to handle the respective threats and the first two battles resulted in a painful draw. Amazonian platoons moved against two strongholds and in both instances, the Venezuelans escaped with a handful of casualties on their end, drawing an equal number of casualties from the Amazonian Army. The storm hadn't lifted yet and the rain continued to pour down on the Amazon Rainforest. Wet season was ending soon and these were the last bits of rain that lingered. It would still rain throughout the summer but not nearly as heavily as it did between December and May. Between June and November, it rained, quick often and it grew hot, very hot but the rain leaves just as quickly as it comes whereas, during the wet season, days without rain are countable. Temperatures averaged around 83°F during the wet season but easily ballooned to 97°F, on average, during the dry season, with humidity readings extending beyond 80% towards 90%. At 97°F and 80% humidity, the heat index was upwards of 143°F, which meant that heat stroke or sunstroke are very likely with continued exposure to the sun and the environment. Hydration was all important and the Amazonian Army knew this. So did the Venezuelans but they weren't as well equipped in this area as the army was. The only respite from the situation was the dense canopy often shielded the sun so you wouldn't be exposed to direct sunlight, which could raise any heat index by 15° or more, depending on the situation.

*****************

Further north, as the rains tapered off, one of the Force Lightning teams set up on a reconnaissance at a small airfield. The airfield was in a clearing that looked manmade but could have been natural as well. The runway was long enough for a small, propeller powered aircraft, probably no bigger than a Cessna. In fact, sitting in an aluminum yet rusting and falling apart enclosure was a Cessna 421. The airfield was a textbook example of a "drug-runner" field and inside of a small house with a wind net outside of it were four Venezuelans, all of them drinking and smoking marijuana. The smell wafted into the air as far away as the Force Lightning soldiers were. The airfield was a good target and they could easily take it out themselves. Aside from the house and the enclosure, there were small gasoline tanks near the enclosure and another shed-like structure at the opposite end of the dirt runway.

The men approached the house slowly and cautiously, staying in the shadows. The sun was going down, quickly and there were plenty of shadows for them to hide in, especially to the west. The clearing wasn't very big and on a map it was easy to miss, even on a quick satellite scan it wouldn't turn up too easily. That was its intention. It was there to be hidden. Whether or not it served a purpose to the Neuvo Rican Empire, that was unknown but it was definitely serving some sort of purpose now. "You two. Hit that side. You and me. We're checking out that shed over there." The commander said as the four men split up and split their targets. The two men that approached the house approached carefully with their weapons shouldered to them, looking down the sights. The closer they got to the house, the more the smell wafted into the air and the stronger it got. When they were against the wall of the house, the smell was so awful they almost coughed a few times. It poured out of every window and opening, so much that they didn't want to enter for fear of catching some sort of contact high, messing them up for the remainder of this mission.

"Flashbang." One of the men whispered as he pulled an M58A1 Stun Grenade, pulled the pin, and dropped it into one of the windows. Three seconds after he pulled the pin, it went off with a brilliant light equal to 1 million Candela and 180 dB "bang." Not only were the four people inside completely blinded from the light but their ears rang too from the loud "bang" sound of the weapon. It earned the nickname "Flash and Bang" or simply "Flashbang" because of its detonation. The men inside squirmed on the ground and screamed for pain. Two of them looked right into the flash and they would easily be distorted for three minutes. The other two didn't necessarily see the flash directly but caught glimpses of it. The sound got all of them and so, for at least a minute, they would be completely useless to do anything except writhe in some sort of refractory pain.

The soldiers didn't want for them to come out of it. Sticking their weapons into separate windows, they each fired off four shots, two per person, killing all four of them with two rounds each. They cleared the house quicker than they expected but dared not enter until some of the lethal smoke cleared. The smell still tinged their nostrils as they walked towards the enclosure with the aircraft. As they did, the commander and one of the other men approached the shed cautiously when they heard voices coming from inside of it. They would do the same tactic, drop in an M58 and attack immediately after. They didn't count on a warning though.

As they approached the shed and the door, they kept low, hoping to get against the wall and underneath a window to toss in the grenade, they heard the worst sound they could have heard. It was the sound of a dog barking and as they turned to look, they could see a German Shepherd attack dog coming at them from the shed. "Fuck!" The commander said to himself as he moved his gun to get a line on the dog. The dog moved fast and was a small target and he fired off six rounds before he hit it. By that time, the dog was nearly on top of him. The other man fired off three rounds himself, catching the dog in the side. It didn't get too far from there, dying on the dirt but not before it could alert the entire shed. Inside were twelve men, armed heavily and they poured out to find out why the dog was barking. The gunshots from the weapons only fueled their curiosity. They came out with guns blazing and once they saw the two intruders, they further opened fire. Immediately, the two men dove for cover around the side of the shed, leaving an M57A1 Fragmentation grenade in their wake. The grenade did little to stop the flow of enemies from the shed and only wounded two men although not seriously.

The gunshots carried across the whole airfield, alerting the other two men. Diving for the ground, they lay there prone and began to fire towards the enemies. It was tough to see them as they were at least 400 meters away. They stared down their ACOG 4x scopes and fired off shot after shot after shot. Their bullets were true and found their mark but the Venezuelans kept coming. The gunbattle was long and one of the Force Lightning men, not the commander, was wounded in the firefight. A piece of shrapnel from a grenade caught him in the leg and sliced through his skin. It did no serious damage but his performance would definitely be affected negatively.

When the firefight was over, the Venezuelans were all dead and one of the Force Lightning soldiers was wounded. The commander treated the wound while the other two crept into the enclosure. It stunk of rotting flesh and they would soon find out why. The mechanic, it appeared, was lying dead on the floor, face up, eyes looking at the ceiling. In the center of his chest was a crow-bar. He obviously angered someone and his body had been left there for at least a day or two. The smell was horrible and they cleared out as fast as they could, planting a single plastic explosive charge of 1.25 pounds on the underside of the Cessna, right where the fuel tanks were. When they were safely across the airfield, they detonated it, sending a shockwave across the whole base as the enclosure and everything inside of it blew up in a fireball large enough to engulf the whole structure.

The sun set on the horizon shortly thereafter as the fire continued to burn until it exhausted all of its fuel. The house and shed were left alone, despite the pile up of bodies.
Layarteb
14-07-2007, 17:48
The sun rose again on the morning of the 22nd as it did every morning before that and it would do every morning after that for as long as time continued. The rainforest heated up as the rains tapered off but the humidity remained high. News of the failures of the Amazonian Army against the Venezuelans throughout the course of the night and early morning worried the Emperor and the Cabinet. They were trusting the Amazonians to do the job right and to eliminate the Venezuelans but it wasn't helping. They were only pushing them around, not nearly enough to get anything done. Army outposts along the border reported no activity though, which was a good thing for the border forces. The army stationed on the other side, in Venezuela and Colombia were ready and waiting to move across the border, to chase down the Venezuelan dogs that ran from them. They would have defeated them resoundingly and eliminated the rebellion as a whole had it not been for the border. Abruptly stopped by it, the Layartebian Army wanted more blood. They wanted to finish the job they started. Behind them, life returned to normal and the mess was cleaned up at an astonishing pace. Buildings leveled by artillery and aerial bombardment were quickly being put back together or repaired. Life would go on while the Venezuelans hid in the shadows of the rainforest.

Amazonian aircraft had taken to the skies to fight the Venezuelans but had little luck, initially. The offensive had begun around 20:00 hours on May 21 and continued through the 22nd. By 08:00 hours, twelve hours later, the Venezuelans suffered just two dozen casualties, inflicting at least double that against the Amazonian military. They weren't prepared to fight such a powerful guerilla force, which still numbered in excess of 23,000. The army had more guns and more people but their tactics were ill-devised. They knew how to fight in the rainforest but so did the Venezuelan rebels. Realizing that they were being engaged by the army, the rebels took on new tactics, tactics that originally surprised the Layartebian Army but got no where once the army adjusted tactics and continued to pummel them into oblivion. Defeated there, they hoped to win here, to push back the Amazonian Army. The Venezuelans organized into small platoons of men and prepared ambush tactics. They waited for the army to move through a sector before they attacked them. Using supplies stolen from bunkers and army patrols, they created explosive zones that could take out whole patrols with just a few antipersonnel mines. Fighting in the rainforest wasn't easy. Air cover was limited and clearings were few and far between. The Layartebian aircraft had destroyed several targets already but the Venezuelans returned to them and went underground. They had tunnels throughout the entire area.

The history of the Amazon Rainforest and its role in Venezuelan conflict went all the way back to the 1960s. When Venezuela first encountered problems in the 1960s, the rebel and guerilla groups used the remoteness of the Amazon Rainforest to organize. They hid under the trees and under the soil. They had tunnels there then and some still existed. The Venezuelans attacked them hard and heavy across the border but did little to solve the problem. They just dug in and waited. When civil war raged in Venezuelan in the 1970s, the Amazon was the base. Venezuelan military forces couldn't, legally, cross borders and clandestine forces of the Republic did although with little effect, hampered by rules of engagement and bureaucratic nonsense. When Layartebian forces withdrew to fight the growing civil war at home, the Amazon became fully protected by the unwillingness of the Venezuelan government to cross the border with any force required to stop the guerillas. In the early 1980s, when the Emperor and the newly formed Empire of Layarteb began its northern conquests and announced the conquest of Venezuela, the guerillas and rebels once again took up arms in the Amazon. They were brutally defeated, driven back across the border, back to their tunnels, caves, and encampments. Demoralized, it wasn't until 1988 when Venezuelan rebels mounted an attempt to push the Layartebians out of Venezuela. Once again, they were resoundingly defeated and pushed back across the border. Once again, hampered by diplomacy, the Layartebians couldn't cross the border although the number of Venezuelan rebel still alive numbered fewer than 5,000. They were defeated, again. Everything seemed fine then until 2007 when Venezuelan rebels crossed the border again and were, again, driven back across. There was something different this time. The large Neuvo Rican Empire existed no more. Policies to control the rebels ceased to be and the small republic that stood there now was born. This time, there would be no crossing, especially since a sizeable portion of the rebels remained, far too many to simply ignore as they did last time.

The rebels had over forty years to prepare for conflicts. Some had fought since the 1970s although most of them were dead or captured. Few remained from the original wars and even fewer remained from the 1988 uprising. The group was, essentially, a new band of criminals, organized this time by Majestic and its secret connections to the SP and other organizations throughout the world. The difference this time though was they failed even quicker. Now, being engaged by the Amazonians, it seemed a repeat of the 1960s. The rebels were not as well equipped as the army was but their morale was higher, their tactics were better, and their willingness to do whatever was necessary to survive propelled them ahead of their enemies. That was why the Layartebian Army itched for battle. They could defeat them.
Layarteb
15-07-2007, 00:11
"Well it is evident that the Amazonian military is ill-equipped to handle the Venezuelans. Is it not?" The Emperor asked. Present in his office were only the ministers of intelligence and defense and two aides who worked for both ministries, respectively.

"It is sir. Intelligence estimates show that not only have they suffered casualties but they've actually lost territory. If things progress most of the state of Roraima and a significant portion of western Amazonas will actually be controlled by the Venezuelans, setting up a de facto state of government there. It is entirely possible that the Venezuelans could form a viable state with borders!"

"That isn't an option we can go down. What does the MOD have to say about this?"

"Only that it is a real threat sir. The Venezuelans are beating the Amazonians left and right. They're capturing checkpoints, villages, and road networks. The Amazonians are just losing land. They're trying to do this by a completely odd sort of tactic. They're treating the Venezuelans as a second-rate military and overjudging everything. The only option we have here is to invade sir."

"That is an option I am well aware of but, at this juncture of time, I cannot commit our forces to such an endeavor. The Amazonians are still fighting and they will be successful, hopefully."

"Not if things continue sir. Here's the latest intelligence estimate. Casualties number, perhaps, forty for the Venezuelans. Over two hundred for the Amazonians. The Venezuelans shot down two of their aircraft just an hour ago using MANPAD missiles sir. They were both helicopters and both of them brough a hefty toll to the Amazonians. Their armor is being battered left and right."

"That doesn't give a good outlook now does it?"

"No sir it doesn't."

"So what do we do? And where is our team?"

"Well sir. The best guess is that they're in Intelligence Headquarters in downtown Manaus. We're currently forming rescue plans."

"Are we?"

"Yes sir we are. It's a tricky operation and we have no contingency so far."

"When will they be ready?"

"Today sir. We'll be able to go with them tomorrow. The window aims for tomorrow evening and night, into the morning of May 25, if necessary."

"Very well. Where do we stand otherwise?"

"Sir. It is the recommendation of both of our ministries that we introduce two more teams of Force Lightning soldiers to the conflict. They can be dropped into Roraima where our other three teams have yet to travel. Their introduction there will allow us to open up further fronts against the Venezuelans and, secretly, assist the Amazonian military. They're losing heavily there and we feel that is the best place for them."

"Understood. What is their insertion profile?"

"Parachute from a C-31."

"Very well. When can we launch?"

"If we launch now we can have them on the ground before sun up."

"Good. Do it."

"Yes sir."

Forty minutes later, an MOI C-31A Infiltrator cargo aircraft rolled down the runway of a makeshift airfield in southern Guyana and flew into the starry night. It climbed only to 200 feet and prepared to make a low-level ingress into Amazonian territory, under their radar. Based on the Saab 340, the C-31 was an excellent COIN aircraft with good performance on rough or makeshift runways and it could carry up to 24 people, 8 litters, or 7,500 lb. of cargo. This particular aircraft flew only with 8 people inside of it, in addition to the 2 pilots. Trained for night-time or high-risk low-level flights, both pilots knew what they were doing when they crossed the border at low altitude and 300 mph, near maximum speed. Though it could mount weapons, this was an unarmed flight, which was done to reduce weight and drag. They wanted to get in and out as fast as they could and, should they be attacked, they would call in air support from a flight of three A-17As flying suppression missions for the Amazonian military. Those were equipped with rockets, machine guns, and light bombs.

The inside of the C-31 was completely dark. Night vision goggles were required to walk anywhere inside of the cabin, not that anyone did. The pilots remained up front and the eight men of the two Force Lightning teams stayed in the back, ready to jump when told. They would be jumping from 1,200 feet in the middle of the night, enough time to get out of the door, pull the chute, and land. With their gear, they each weighed in excess of 250 lb. Less than 80 miles into enemy territory, the pilots yanked the plane up into a steep climb to 1,200 feet and yelled to the back, "READY!" The men stood up, opened the door, and prepared to jump. The door was behind the two turboprop engines that powered the aircraft and they immediately caught a burst of the hot and humid air from the outside. Even in the dead of night it was uncomfortable. Once the plane was level, they flew another two miles and then the pilots gave the order to jump. All eight men were out of the plane in under one minute, jumping at five and a half second intervals. The pilots dove the aircraft over and down to the right as they escaped the zone, back down to 200 feet, and while the pilot levelled off, the copilot shut the door. Not long after, they landed back in Guyana while the forces on the ground gathered and hid their equipment. It would be picked up by an MOI spy after a day.
Layarteb
15-07-2007, 05:41
"Speak to me damnit! Who are you? Who do you work for? What do you want in our country? What is your mission?" The interrogator continued. The commander was weary with the necessity for sleep and food and he hurt all over, from the repeated torture dished out by the interrogator. He had been electrocuted a few times and he had been given drugs. Each time he did, he stonewalled the interrogator. Frustrated and weary himself, the interrogator resorted to more painful bouts of abuse towards him. Ammonia, bleach, and other chemical agents would be used against him, to try to make him talk. The commander wouldn't budge. Neither would the rest of the men. As that continued in the basement of the Intelligence Headquarters, twenty commandos readied themselves to board a C-31A Infiltrator in southern Guyana.

*****************

"Alright let's go over the plan one more time." The Emperor said with a notepad in front of him.

"Yes sir," the Minister of Intelligence began. "The team of twenty commandos from various outfits of our military board a C-31 at 02:00 hours, Atlantic Standard Time or 01:00 hours out time. That is in one hour. They will fly at extremely low-altitude towards Manaus. The aircraft will land thirteen miles outside from the Intelligence Headquarters, north of Manaus, at an airfield our spies guarantee is abandoned. They should land at approximately 03:15 hours. The commandos will split into two teams of ten. One will guard the airfield and the other will go to the Intelligence Headquarters by vehicle. They will storm the building at no later than 03:45 hours. By 04:30 hours, we expect to have all of our men rescued and back at the airport. They should land back in Layartebian territory by 05:45 hours. It is a 305 mile flight each way and the aircraft can only do about 300 mph for the duration, giving an hour flight. They will keep as low as possible to avoid radar."

"This is going to be a good success."

"It is sir."

"Very well. Authorize it." The C-31A Infiltrator took off at 01:50 hours [AST] and broke enemy airspace soon thereafter. They kept low, real low, to avoid radar. Flying at only a few feet over the tops of the trees, the pilots hoped that they didn't bump any of them, which could, potentially, rip a giant hole in the underside of the aircraft, causing it to crash, which would be catastrophic. It was a large rescue mission, one of the largest that the Empire had ever launched and definitely the largest for a clandestine operation.

Inside of the Infiltrator, things were quiet. The men used the time to relax or brush up on the mission profile. They brought a lot of weapons and ammunition with them for the assault and, as they did, the spy and two of his recruits were driving three vehicles, all of them SUVs, to the airport, to be parked and used by the teams. The spy had recruited several Amazonians to assist in the cause but, unfortunately, he happened to recruit a double agent in the process. As the double agent parked the SUV, two Amazonian F-15C Eagles took off armed with AIM-9X Sidewinders and AIM-120D AMRAAMs. They were on a mission to prevent the hostage rescue.

The double agent couldn't give many details except that an aircraft was landing at the airport at a precise time. He couldn't give a route or much information but it was enough to get the Amazonian Air Force into the air, searching for a cargo plane. The Eagles remained around 10,000 feet and used their radar's superior look-down capabilities to find low-level aircraft. They knew, from past experience, that Layartebian MOI pilots kept as close to the ground as possible and as fast as possible. It was just a matter of time before one of the Eagle drivers got a kill that wasn't a drone. Thus far just one drone had been shot down and it cost them an F-15, one which they replaced from Neuvo Rican storage. It was still a loss though and it was a 1:1 loss. Now they hoped to go to 2:1 but they would have to find the plane first.

As they did, surface-to-air batteries looked throughout the skies themselves. The entire Amazonian military sector to the north and northwest of Manaus was fixated on finding the Layartebian aircraft, which they knew was already in their airspace. The C-31 wasn't a stealth plane either so it being found on radar was just a matter of time too. Had the Amazonian military had a functioning AWACS it would have been in the air as well but they weren't going to have it ready for at least three more days.

Avionics within the C-31 were crude. They weren't meant to be state-of-the-art, it was just a cargo plane. The MOI had requested an RWR installed and so it had one of those but it had no real avionics capabilities above that of the Saab 340. It had chaff and flare dispensers and an integrated radar and infrared jamming system but that was it. This particular flight was unarmed as well and the C-31 had little defensive capabilities other than its electronic jamming and expendables. Without machine guns or rockets, it was just a flying target.

The pilots kept low over Roraima, where the heaviest fighting between the Amazonians and the Venezuelans was occurring. The Amazonians were losing everytime they squeezed a trigger. When they exited Roraima they still had a little over 200 miles to fly but that was a full third of their journey done. The flight continued as the C-31 kept low. It avoided the F-15s, which searched further to the northwest, expecting the flight to come out of Venezuela and not Guyana, which was a relief. Unfortunately, they were flying right towards a SAM battery just 100 miles north of Manaus. It was sheer luck that the C-31 was even found.

It passed clean over a small, military checkpoint about 130 miles north of Manaus and the commanding officer at the checkpoint found it odd that the plane was flying so low or that it didn't have markings. He immediately reported it and the SAM battery commander, who has monitoring all frequencies, warmed up his missiles. He based the flight path on a known air route of the clandestine air force of the Empire and surmised that they would pass right over one of his batteries soon enough. He controlled a full battery of SLAMRAAM missiles and searched radar plots to find the cargo plane. He even grew crafty and vectoring a nearby helicopter to an altitude of 5,000 feet over his primary command center. The helicopter acted as a visual "AWACS" and he waited for the pilots to spot something. Using night vision goggles, they waited too and watched out for the incoming aircraft. A second visual just 15 miles north of the SAM battery provided the commander with even more of a guaranteed plot. He still needed a target though.

Radar wasn't picking up the aircraft yet due to its altitude but that wasn't a problem. He would, soon enough. He continued to wait and kept a channel open to the helicopter. Then, he got what he wanted. "Aqui vem! 0-1-0 de rolamento. Para baixo real baixo. Acima das árvores. Talvez 13 quilômetros fora." [Here it comes! Bearing 0-1-0. Down real low. Just above the trees. Maybe 13 kilometers out.] The helicopter pilots reported, seeing the cargo aircraft coming towards them in the dead of the night. The battery commander immediately authorized the launch of two missiles and put them both on a specific guidance course. He had no target track on the cargo plane yet but the missiles could use their own radar to find the target if fired in a sort of "mad dog" mode.

The two flashes of the missiles fired lit up the sky about 8 miles ahead of the C-31. They knew immediately that missiles were fired and they knew it had to be at them. "Shit! Evasive maneuvers. Jammer on! We're being engaged." The pilot reported, a report that went right to the MOI command center for the operation. People there instantly crew tense. "Helicopter. Bearing 1-6-0. Up a little higher. They must be using it to spot us!" The pilot yelled as the jamming system went active, a bad mistake for a "home-on-jam" missile like the AMRAAM. Immediately, they banked the aircraft hard and released chaff bundles but the missiles suddenly stopped an upward trajectory, leveled off, and locked onto the cargo plane. First, they locked on with their radars and then switched to HOJ mode. As the C-31 turned hard to the right, one of the missiles clipped its tail.

The explosion lit up the sky and immediately severed the rear of the aircraft off from the front of it. Two of the commandos were instantly killed and six others were seriously wounded. The aircraft began an immediate roll towards the ground. The pilots barely had time to issue a "Mayday" call when their aircraft slammed into the ground. They caught a few trees on the way down, killing them instantly. The second missile went erratic and exploded in midair from its self-destruct system. The C-31, upon slamming into the ground, did not explode. The damage was extensive and all of those aboard were killed by the time the airframe touched the ground. It was an instant failure and another victory for the Amazonians against the MOI. The rescue operation was suddenly and unfairly, terminated. The men were now left to their own devices.

Amazonian news stations carried the story throughout the day. President Santoro dismissed all claims that it was Layartebian and insisted that it was used by Venezuelan rebels but many of the national congress leaders insisted it was Layartebian. The country suddenly hated the Empire a little bit more but felt joyous in their subtle victory. If only they had known they were losing the war to the Venezuelans.
Layarteb
15-07-2007, 19:30
"What do you mean the rescue plan failed? The plane what! Son of a bitch! Do we know if there are survivors? None. Blow up the fucking SAM site! I don't care how just blow it the fuck up!" The Emperor slammed down the phone and ended the conversation with the Minister of Intelligence. He was alone in his office and the sun was coming up soon. Exhausted, he walked over to one of the couches within his office, sat down, and loosened his tie. "Son of a bitch!" He said again as he turned the television channel to an Amazonian news station. They were already carrying reports that an aircraft had been shot down north of Manaus. The headlines stated that the aircraft had no known identity but that the President suggested it was from the Venezuelan rebels while congressional senators and representatives suggested it came from the Empire. "Well at least we know who is thinking," he muttered to himself. He looked at his watch. It was 05:00 hours and the buzzer rang. His doors weren't fully closed but neither were they fully open. "Come in!" He yelled. It was shift change and one of his secretaries was leaving while another was entering. "Leaving for the day?"

"Yes sir. Hailey is here sir."

"Good. Have a good day Angela and give you husband my best. Is he over the cold yet?"

"Almost sir."

"Good to hear. Send Hailey in when you leave."

"Yes sir." She left and Hailey came in a moment or two later. She was new, per say, only having worked for the Emperor for a month but she had been a secretary all of her life and she was already 55 years old.

"Good morning sir. Cup of coffee?"

"No. No. I'm fine. Today is going to be a busy day. I need you to get me the Minister of Defense. He's probably sleeping still but I need him on the phone within ten minutes."

"Yes sir. Anything else?"

"Yes. It's Angela's twentieth wedding anniversary next week. Could you see about getting them reservations for dinner at Starlight?"

"Yes sir. I'll try but I know that place is highly exclusive sir. It won't be easy."

"It is. Ask for Mr. Peters and inform him who you are and if he asks for some confirmation just tell him that his rent needs to be paid. He'll understand."

"Yes sir." She left and went about the tasks. Moments later, the Emperor's cell phone rang. He picked it up from the couch and looked at the caller ID. It was the Defense Minister.

"Good morning. Yes. This is urgent. A surface-to-air battery. You know. Good. I want it neutralized. Immediately. That's in your hands. Thank you." He put down the phone and unmuted the television screen. He spoke and understood Portugese so he could listen to what the news reporter was saying as he relaxed on his couch. A few moments later, his cell phone buzzed again with an alarm. He turned it off, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pen-like tube. Unscrewing the top of it, he let a small, white pill fall into his palm. Realizing he only had one left, he screwed the cap back on, picked up his phone and dialed another number. "Doctor. Yes. I have one remaining. Please have them delivered this afternoon. You can leave them with my secretary. Thank you." He threw the pill into the back of his throat and swallowed it before it could melt, an important task since it tasted awful. Almost three and a half decades earlier, when the Emperor was a special forces soldier, he and several others were the subjects of a medical experimentation. The experimentation, deemed a success, was to see if a human being, particularly a soldier, could be medically engineered to go without sleep, making them a highly effective killing machine. It worked but, unfortunately, it had a few side effects, a few too many. The program was shut down after two of the subjects went completely insane and murdered fourteen people between the two of them, including themselves. Testing showed that the lack of sleep caused a dangerous mental health issue within the subject. Every subject tested positive for psychosis. They lost all contact with reality after a week without sleep and the longer they had been subjected to the lack of sleep, the worse they were. The two murderers had not slept in forty-two days. On the plus side though, there was no organic damage, just a chemical imbalance within the mind. Unfortunately, it was a powerful imbalance that drove levels of aggression through the roof. The subjects were already being given pill treatments of supplements, which provided necessary vitamins, minerals, and what not that the body naturally created during sleep. The pills had to be reengineered to counter the effects of the mental imbalance. The Emperor had a severe case but the pills corrected it. Should he go without the pills now for even a day, there was no telling how severe his mind would become. One three other people remained alive from the original experimentation, including the Emperor. One of the others was BG. Delaney. His team received a supplementary proceedure following the formation of the Empire but it didn't require needed medicine as their could function effectively on as little as two hours of sleep. BG. Delaney, on the other hand, wasn't like the Emperor in that respect. He didn't use the pills.

Over a thousand miles away, at Saül Air Force Base in central French Guiana, a B-9C Sphinx was being loaded with 4 AGM-129C ACM missiles and 4 AGM-129D ACM missiles. It would take off and fly to the border of the Amazonian Republic and launch all eight missiles at targets within the country. The AGM-129C missiles with their 1,200 lb. warheads would fly and attack the air defense site that launched the missiles and its radar equipment. All four missiles would, essentially, annihilate the whole site. The four AGM-129D missiles with their smaller, 480 lb. warheads, would hit two other targets, both of those inside of Manaus. One was the northern air defense command and the other was a communications site. The strike wasn't meant to destroy the capabilities of the Amazonian military but rather cripple them from peventing any further rescue missions. It was a retaliatory strike and it was going to hurt.
Pushka
15-07-2007, 20:13
June 22nd, 8:10 pm local time, Salvador Electric Powerplant

The Russians were moving like ghosts, striking from the shadows, eliminating the inhabitants of one room after the other with barely making any noise. It wasn't long till they could isolate their opponents and take them out. The powerplant that was only half an hour ago filled with drunken blubbering of would-be terrorists was now silent, its floors filled with bullet ridden corpses. Otriad # 7s job wasn't done yet, stepping over the dead bodies they rushed to the control room.

Rus-

"Phase one complete, Object S is under control, I repeat, Object S is under control. Initiating phase two."

-Rus

One of the operatives said in his intercom, notifying the HQs of their success. After he was done talking he motioned his subordinate towards the main control panel. The subordinate started punching a number of keys initiating the plant shut down procedure. Once he was done he shook his head signaling his commander that the job was done. The commander reported back to the HQs through his intercom.

Rus-

"Phase two completed, we will hold the station until relief arrives."

-Rus

The plant was shutting down much to the surprise of the citizens of Salvadore who lost their electrical power all at once. The stage was set, the gears were moving it wouldn't be long now that the Russians would take the city.
Layarteb
20-07-2007, 01:00
The eight AGM-129 missiles broke into Amazonian airspace shortly after dawn on the morning of May 24. They kept low to the horizon to maximize their stealthiness and did it well. Unseen by Amazonian radars, they struck their targets accordingly and without warning. The surface-to-air battery was no more and as the flames shot into the air behind smoke, the leadership began to wonder what role it would play in a possible conflict with the Layartebians. Even President Santoro was warming up to the possibility that the Empire was no good. He wouldn't outright say it but he questioned it in his mind. His own forces continued to engage the Venezuelan rebels although unsuccessfully. The body count was climbing and not on the enemy side. Hampered by the fact that the Venezuelans had dug-in and been there for the better part of a few decades, in a region unpoliced even by the Neuvo Ricans, he was fighting a foreign war it seemed. His forces were equipped but ill-prepared. They fought against tunnelling forces that shot at them, stormed underground, and waiting for a rear ambush. Weather hampered air support and the might armor he possessed wasn't properly maintained for the type of fighting required. Despite warnings from his generals, he couldn't help but entertain the possibility of active Layartebian involvement.

Blocks and blocks away from his office, the Intelligence HQ stood. Inside of its basement, interrogators grew frustrated with the black agents who had yet to reveal anything, who had toyed with them, and who had led them astray. Torture wasn't working either. Eventually every man would break but it seemed that these four men were far away from the breaking point. These men went through the toughest SERE classes offered and they weren't cake walks. There were no rules of engagement there. They were burned, beaten, suffocated, drowned, electrocuted, and beaten some more. For two to four weeks, they were prisoners and if they caved or broke, they were out, it was that simple. Only the strongest and the most determined survived SERE training, especially on the levels that these men faced. Nothing the enemy could do to them hadn't be done to them already. They knew that if they talked they didn't just let themselves and their brothers in arms down, they let down a nation of nearly 1.3 billion people. They had a lot on their shoulders and they weren't about to let down that many people because they were "uncomfortable." It came with the territory of being a Black Agent with the Layartebian military.

As they stonewalled the interrogators, military cameramen filmed them and filmed the wreckage of the downed C-31, bodies and all. They filmed it for propaganda. The generals knew it was the Layartebians. President Santoro insisted it was the Venezuelans. The conflict of interest was heating up and both sides refused to bend, back down, or break. Civil conversations degenerated into hate-mongering speeches. The Empire was "no good," "evil," and "warped," the generals would profess. They were right, in some way. The Empire was none of those but it wasn't out for the benefit of the Amazonian people in this conflit. It was out for its own benefit, a point which President Santoro fervently denied. It would be his undoing.
Layarteb
21-07-2007, 17:39
"What time is it?" The man asked through a puff of cigarette smoke, his assault rifle on his back and his eyes set on the horizon.

"Just after one. What do you make of this?"

"What? The war or the Amazonian slaughter?"

"Both." They were two enlisted men manning a border outpost north of Cucuí, a border town of the Amazonian Republic and one where a fierce set of engagements were occuring due to the Venezuelan rebels. They were just two of a platoon of men sent to reinforce the border outpost, which normally was staffed by only a squad or two of men. Behind them was an M2015A1 Cobra APC, M2051A3 CMPLV, two M2048A1 Shark IFVs, and two M2010A1 Bushmaster IMVs. With forty-eight men at the outpost now, between their six vehicles, they could transport up to sixty-seven people and they weren't weakly armed either. The soldiers all carried M80A1 Assault rifles and they had heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, and two powerful 35mm chainguns on their vheicles. In the darkness of the night, there was little to be seen. They had the lights off to not attract attention but they walked around with nightvision googles and they had reinforced the outpost. Military intelligence revealed that the Venezuelans were planning on making a second offensive into Venezuela but it wasn't expected to be very potent, designed to be more of a morale victory than a tactic one. Each outpost received at least a platoon of men in reinforcements, making the minimum number of men at an outpost to be forty. The average was in the low fifties. They would be outnumbered by any decently sized Venezuelan assault but their technical and tactical advantages gave them the edge.

"The Amazonians are ill-prepared to face them. The Veneuzelans have been here for decades and they're a ravenous bunch. They aren't willing to just step aside any..." His sentence was cut off as his lower jaw went limp and his body lost all rigidity. He fell over as the gunshot echoed across the outpost. He was practically on the ground by the time the shot echoed and the man beside him threw the cigarette on the ground and dove for cover as bullets struck the outside of the watch tower early on the morning of May 25.

"CONTACT!" He yelled into his microphone. "SOUTH! 100 to 400 METERS!" He continued to shout as he returned fire from the concealed position. Tracer rounds lit up the dark sky as powerful search lights beamed on and began automatically traversing, looking for enemy positions. The search lights were covered with thick plexiglass, designed to resist bullets of 7.62 millimeter or low from ranges in excess of 100 meters. As bullets pinged off their armored shells, the other soldiers at the post took up their positions and returned fire, sighting muzzleflashes, using their night vision googles to fire accurately. Perimeter sensors noted dozens of vibrations and shock sensors estimated a force in excess of 80 on their perimeter. They had snuck up there in the dead of night, slowly, crawling the whole time. Inside the tower, the corporal risked life and limb and crawled out onto the edge of the platform, his weapon in hand, firing into the night. With his free hand, he grabbed his fallen brother and began dragging him inside. Bullets peppered the tower all around him and just before he got his friend into the guard tower, a bullet smashed into his left forearm. His hand went weak immediately but he wouldn't leave a man behind, especially not one who could be alive. He continued to fire, switched arms, and dropped his weapon. With his other arm, he continued to bullet his fallen brother into the tower. He looked down at him and felt for a pulse. Disappointed, he didn't find any and soon saw that though the first shot went through his forehead, seven subsequent shots ripped his torso up, he was dead before he ever hit the ground. "SON OF A BITCH! I GOT A KIA! I AM WOUNDED!" He yelled into his microphone as he ripped a bandage from the dead man's vest and wrapped it around the wound. Hoping to stop the bleeding, he saw that the bullet went in and out, a good sign for him. It was a powerful wound that sent shockwaves of pain through his body but he didn't wait around to find out what happened next. He immediately dove out of the tower and behind an armored plate. His rifle was by his side when he popped up and grabbed the triggers of the M50A1 "Ma Duce," a fifty-caliber heavy machine gun developed in the 1920s but still potent and powerful in the 2000s.

The blast of bullets and fire from the M50 shook the tower and sent hundreds of shells flying through the air at enormous amounts of energy. They pierced the air and crashed into everything. Every fifth bullet was a tracer and he carefully watched where he fired. Everytime he saw a muzzle flash, he opened fire on it and sent a dozen shells that way before the first one every hit. On the ground below him, Venezuelans were creeping up to the walls of the outpost, trying to breech them. Snipers on the ground aimed at the gunners and, especially, at the corporal on the tower but weren't making much success as bullets rained down around them. As the corporal did, the big guns behind him started up and the M2048A1 IFVs, the most armored and powerful units within the outpost moved out to the gates. Both gates were opened and both vehicles moved out, crewed by 3 soldiers each. They were armored and replaced the old M2 and M3 Bradleys, which had been found to be sufficient but not recommended during heavy encounters. More Bradleys were lost during the conquest years than any other vehicle, with the exception of the lightly armored M113s, which had been replaced over a decade earlier by the M2015, a North Germanian design. Using thermal sensors, the M2048s found their targets right away and began engaging with the co-axial M35 LMG. They stopped an immediate attack by a dozen Venezuelans planting charges against the base of the wall.

The M2048 was a heavily armed vehicle with its main gun, a 35mm chaingun and a co-axial 7.62mm LMG. It also had a remote operated 12.7mm HMG, an ATGM launcher with eight rounds total, a microwave weapon for non-lethal crowd control, and an internal mortar, which was being loaded and prepared for firing. The first M2048 out of the gate was the most vulnerable for a few seconds and it was evident when an RPG streaked across the darkened battlefield and smashed into the front of the vehicle. Though it damaged that area of the hull it failed to penetrate and the gunner caught a dozen 7.62mm rounds, killing him and destroying his weapon. The second M2048 came out and eliminated the Venezuelan squad planting the charges as the other vehicles took up defensive positions inside of the outpost, guarding the now opened gates from enemy intrusion.

The M2048s moved out, onto the battlefield as gunners put hundreds of machine gun rounds into the air and the Venezuelans countered, moving their positions. Those who failed at planting the charges had been visibly slaughtered by the armored vehicles and others soon took over, running towards the positions, keeping low to avoid the armored vehicles. They had moved out, into the battlefield and were hunting enemy positions on two levels. The main gun and the co-axial was engaging one set of enemies while the HMG was being used against another set, both independently controlled. Two more RPGs streaked across the field into the armored vehicles, hitting their sides but failing to penetrate. The rear weakspot with any armor vehicle, especially a troop-carrier, was its rear, where a ramp could be lowered to allow troops to leave the hull. Venezuelans attempted to get around the rear but failed each time as gunners above them on the walls protected the armored vehicles and snipers took out other targets, especially those with anti-tank weapons.

In the chaos, two Venezuelans managed to get back to the charges, set them, and detonate them. The explosion shook the whole outpost and blew a hole wide enough for a half dozen people to fit through it at once. The M2048s immediately turned fire attention onto them while the Venezuelans moved towards the hole, fearing that the gates were covered by heavy fire behind them, a correct assumption. The hole was blasted in a different part though and there was no heavy firepower against it although the M2015 moved its position quickly to catch the first few Venezuelans running through. With only one KIA and two WIAs, the Layartebians fought on but soon received three more KIAs. The ground shook when the missile was fired and it tore into the air, unable to be engaged. Despite being equipped with a defensive system, the M2048 couldn't defend against the Javelin, which put its warhead right into the top of the armored M2048, blasting it to pieces in just milliseconds, killing all three inside of it. The gunner was killed soon after by a burst of 35mm gunfire and a mortar round from the surviving M2048, which activated its jamming system to full power rather than "threat detection," a mistake the other M2048 made.

Both sides continued to exchange gunfire for the better part of a half hour but, in the end, the Venezuelans were annihilated. The Layartebians cleaned up 102 dead bodies, found 38 live ones, all wounded, and captured 6 Venezuelans who happened to be unharmed. Just 4 KIAs and 8 WIAs were received by the outpost and the loss of one M2048A1 was tragic but another would be sent to replace it within the day. The assault failed, miserably and when news of it reached the Emperor's desk, President Santoro had a lot of explaining to do, especially since his forces were losing the war. It was estimated, based on interrogation and recovered documents, that 200 - 300 Venezuelans had staged around the outpost, outnumbering the Layartebians but as many as 6.25:1 and the Layartebians held their own, rather well, receiving only 12 combat casualties as opposed to 140 for the Venezuelans. The Emperor demanded to know how the Amazonian military, numerically and technologically superior, couldn't perform as well as the border outpost did. President Santoro didn't have an answer...
Layarteb
24-07-2007, 03:30
The May 25th attack on the border outpost was a dismal failure, strategically and tactically for the Venezuelans. They blew it bad and now they were trying to recover. The weakening of the attack meant that the Amazonians could move into the area and assert some dominance and, initially, they did, succombing throughout the night by so much mortar and sniper fire that they withdrew like cowards before sun rose. The Emperor was furious that the Venezuelans made such a bold move and the Amazonians didn't let anything through, intelligence wise. The truth was that the intelligence network the Amazonians had was so backlogged by a lack of funding and staff that they couldn't have warned the Empire, regardless. They were busy torturing the Layartebian black agents although, supposedly, they were on the same team. Layartebian army units continued to prepare for the eventual battle that they all expected while fighter jets maintained a close watch on the border. As they did, A-17s, A-16s, F-20s, and C-31s flew into and out of Amazonian territory, clandestinely helping the Amazonians against the Venezuelans rebels, although the Amazonians didn't know this.

MQ-1 Predators flew at medium altitude to provide help for the Amazonians, help that they didn't have but desparately needed. They never did well with the intelligence though. Flying much higher, Global Hawks did their own patrol routes and these two aircraft were "immune" to the Amazonian air defense forces and their air force. The drones were to be left alone and that order came from the President himself. The military didn't mind, per say, they were using the drones for what they were worth but, at the same time, they felt a pride issue, not being able to do the job wholly themselves.

It was mid-afternoon, when an MQ-1 overflew a Venezuelan stronghold, much lower than usual. Due to a faulty circuit in its altimeter, the MQ-1 was actually only at a height of 10,000 feet though it should have been up at 18,000 feet, out of the range of surface to air missiles, primarily shoulder launched missiles. Venezuelans had them and they used them, frequently, although much to no avail. Armed mostly with advanced, IIR Stinger missiles, the Venezuelan rebels had a dozen or more at the stronghold and the MQ-1 was taking reconnaissance photographs for a night bombing sortie by Layartebian aircraft, a sortie that would call in the use of at least a dozen A-17s and F-20s, carrying enough firepower to wipe out the whole stronghold in a single shot. As if that wasn't enough the sortie would also include four A-16s armed with incendiary munitions, enough to light up half of the jungle.

Before the MQ-1 finished its patrol loop, a missile shot up from the ground, the whole proceeding being watched on its IR cameras back at the base. Immediately, the jamming system within the MQ-1, went active and the IIR missile was to be jammed but the people piloting it and watching it knew there was little they could do, the missile had them locked up and as the pilot tried to maneuver the small but agile and unfortunately slow drone, the missile struck its tail. With a loud pop and the cessation of all video and sensor feeds, the MQ-1 split in half in midair and fell towards the ground in two flaming pieces, to cheering Venezuelans throughout the area. The shootdown immediately prompted them to find out what was wrong. They were to be flying high enough out of the range of such missiles but they had remarked to themselves throughout the proceedings that the images they were watching seemed a lot bigger and clearer than normal. Several times, the altitude was asked and a minor investigation would be conducted.

Later that night, while the Venezuelans slept and did their own drilling and duties inside of the stronghold, the sixteen aircraft descended on it and dropped over two dozen bombs on the stronghold. The incendiaries were mixed with both fragmentation and high-explosive bombs. The whole base was targetted and the underground tunnels were the only things that seemed to be somewhat safe from the explosives although the few thermobaric bombs used managed to do extensive damage to the tunnelling network underneath the stronghold. By morning, it was completely out of use, especially after two cruise missiles smashed into it hours later, while recovery crews worked to save whatever they could, fearing that the Amazonians would invade in the morning.
Cotland
24-07-2007, 14:01
August 1st, 2007

It was August 1st, and all over the Brazilian protectorate the people went out to vote, protected by the RBPF, who had taken over more and more responsibility for the internal protection of the Brazilian Protectorate, and the Royal Marines, who now served primarily in an advisor and backup role. The population had been registered over the course of the past month, and it was determined that of the five and a half million people currently living in the Brazilian Protectorate, some three and three quarters of a million were eligable to vote in this election. A voter turnout of some 70 % was now expected instead of the previously expected 60 %, which translated to an expected voter turnout of 2,812,500 citizens to the six hundred and fifty established polling stations in the Brazilian Protectorate.

Voting would have to be done in the old-fashioned way, with paper ballots that would have to be tallied manually instead of the electronic method that was normally used in the rest of the Realm – there simply hadn’t been enough time to construct and ship the necessary amount of electronic voting . This meant that there was a higher risk of problems with the votes, but at each of the six hundred and fifty polling stations, two representatives from the Interior Ministry, easily distinguishable by their bright suits and mildly sunburned skin, six representatives from the Interim Ruling Council, a twelve-man squad of policemen from the RBPF, and a four-man fireteam Royal Marines for protection and to oversee that everything went as it should. Protection was very tight, with those there for the vote being frisked before they were allowed into the polling station and at least four sets of eyes on the ballot box at all times. Those who voted got their thumb dipped in ink and signed a list that showed that they had given their vote, though it wasn’t registered who they voted for – after all, the votes were secret in accordance with Cottish Common Law. After their votes had been given, they left the voting centers, most of them happy and proudly showing their ink-blue thumbs to the cameras and their friends when they got back to their homes. Voting was a serious thing in Cotland, and while voting days weren’t usually considered to be holidays, the first election in the Brazilian Protectorate was a good enough cause for the people to celebrate the introduction of democracy in their homeland. Besides, every territory was free to make their own local holidays as they deemed fit.

On August 1st, another and more important thing happened. Learning of the Russian establishment on the South American continent and the proximity to the Realms new holdings, it was decided several weeks ago that the current amount of manpower in Brazil was insufficient, but it wasn’t until now that the Defense Ministry had managed to find a sollution to it. The decision was made to increase the Army’s involvement in the Brazilian Protectorate, and reduce that of the Royal Marines. The new Brazilian Defense Plan called for two Infantry Corps and one Independent Cavalry Brigade to be permanently deployed to Brazil, and reducing the Royal Marines’ involvement to two Amphibious Divisions. The Navy and Air Force deployments would remain, as would the Special Forces contingient deployed to Brazil. The proposal had been presented to and approved by the Chief of Operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Minister at the Defense Ministry, the Cabinet, and finally to the Storting, all of whom had agreed to the deployment of forces.

The ground forces in the Brazilian Protectorate would now consist of the 30. and 31. Infantry Corps and the 537. Independent Cavalry Brigade from the Royal Cottish Army, the 8. and 9. Amphibious Divisions from the Royal Marines, and the 3. Special Brigade of the Cottish Special Forces. This gave the Cottish a grand total of 129,375 soldiers under central command, supplementing the 84,000 strong Royal Brazilian Defense Force, which would eventually be integrated into the Home Guard. The Air Force and Navy contingients would remain the same as before. All in all, the Cottish regular forces in the Brazilian Protectorate would number a total of 326,400 men and women, logistical support personnel included. Most of these forces would be concentrated in the eastern parts of the protectorate, near the Russian border but not close enough to pose an immediate threat to the Russians. It would still be sufficient to protect the protectorate from both foreign aggression and internal trouble though.

Orders would go out for the forces in question on August 5th, and the equipment would start to be prepared for shipment overseas soon after that. The forces in question would be surged and deployed to the protectorate within the end of the year, relieving the majority of the Royal Marines. For now though, the increased deployment of forces was kept a secret, even to the Interim Ruling Council in Brazil. As far as they were concerned, the Royal Brazilian Defense Force were to be responsible for the territorial protection of the Brazilian Protectorate, not the Cottish Army.
Cotland
24-07-2007, 14:02
Royal Cottish Armed Forces
(Brazilian Protectorate)

Effective as of 31.12.2007

Royal Cottish Army
Headquarters: Belém, Pará, Brazilian Protectorate
Commanding Officer: Colonel General Wilborn
Total Personnel: ~102,200
30. Infantry Corps
Personnel (crew): 25,740
Personnel (passengers): 23,856
M19A2 Brobygger AVBL: 20
M20A2 Samaritan ARV: 20
M22A1 Deployer MDV: 34
M22A2 Deployer MCV: 34
M24A1 Grizzly II BV: 24
M52A2 Haubits SPH: 108
M54A2 Boar MLRS: 162
M57A1 Terrier CEEV: 158
M58A1 Resupply RSV: 108
M65A1 Arrow APC: 1,416
M65A2 Arrow C4I: 170
M65A3 Arrow ADU: 144
M65A4 Arrow EW: 4
M67A1 HEMTT (TRK): 272
M67A2 HEMTT (TRK): 74
M67A4 HEMTT: 162
M67A6 HEMTT (TEL): 108
M67A7 HEMTT: 16
M67A8 HEMTT: 18
M67A9 HEMTT: 18
M67A10 HEMTT: 108
M67A12 HEMTT: 216
M67A13 HEMTT (TRK): 44
M67A14 HEMTT (TRK): 40
M67A15 HEMTT (TRK): 4
M68A4 MTV (TRK): 1,798
M68A5 MTV (TRK): 246
M68A7 MTV (RECOVERY): 12
M68A9 MTV: 42
M68A11 MTV: 324
M68A12 MTV: 46
M68A13 MTV (MEV): 4
M68A14 MTV: 14
M68A16 MTV: 354
M70A1 Dragoon IFV: 60
M70A3 Dragoon C4I: 30
M71A1 LW155 ART: 108
M72A1 Namtaru LBT: 288
M74A1 CMPLV: 658
M74A2 CMPLV: 386
AH-11/A Reaper: 336
CH-21/B Super Stallion II: 288
RH-30/A Svartbjørn: 96
UH-29/A Lord: 432
31. Infantry Corps
Personnel (crew): 25,740
Personnel (passengers): 23,856
M19A2 Brobygger AVBL: 20
M20A2 Samaritan ARV: 20
M22A1 Deployer MDV: 34
M22A2 Deployer MCV: 34
M24A1 Grizzly II BV: 24
M52A2 Haubits SPH: 108
M54A2 Boar MLRS: 162
M57A1 Terrier CEEV: 158
M58A1 Resupply RSV: 108
M65A1 Arrow APC: 1,416
M65A2 Arrow C4I: 170
M65A3 Arrow ADU: 144
M65A4 Arrow EW: 4
M67A1 HEMTT (TRK): 272
M67A2 HEMTT (TRK): 74
M67A4 HEMTT: 162
M67A6 HEMTT (TEL): 108
M67A7 HEMTT: 16
M67A8 HEMTT: 18
M67A9 HEMTT: 18
M67A10 HEMTT: 108
M67A12 HEMTT: 216
M67A13 HEMTT (TRK): 44
M67A14 HEMTT (TRK): 40
M67A15 HEMTT (TRK): 4
M68A4 MTV (TRK): 1,798
M68A5 MTV (TRK): 246
M68A7 MTV (RECOVERY): 12
M68A9 MTV: 42
M68A11 MTV: 324
M68A12 MTV: 46
M68A13 MTV (MEV): 4
M68A14 MTV: 14
M68A16 MTV: 354
M70A1 Dragoon IFV: 60
M70A3 Dragoon C4I: 30
M71A1 LW155 ART: 108
M72A1 Namtaru LBT: 288
M74A1 CMPLV: 658
M74A2 CMPLV: 386
AH-11/A Reaper: 336
CH-21/B Super Stallion II: 288
RH-30/A Svartbjørn: 96
UH-29/A Lord: 432
537. Independent Cavalry Brigade
Personnel (crew): 1,582
Personnel (passengers): 1,357
M51A2 Sabertooth MBT: 96
M52A2 Haubits SPH: 27
M55A1 Rescuer AMEV: 6
M57A1 Terrier CEEV: 12
M58A1 Resupply RSV: 27
M63A2 ASV: 4
M65A7 Arrow MEV: 8
M67A1 HEMTT: 16
M67A2 HEMTT: 16
M67A8 HEMTT: 2
M67A9 HEMTT: 4
M67A13 HEMTT: 8
M68A4 MTV: 48
M68A5 MTV: 16
M68A11 MTV: 20
M68A12 MTV: 3
M68A13 MTV: 8
M68A14 MTV: 4
M68A16 MTV: 36
M70A1 Dragoon IFV: 48
M70A2 Dragoon ADU: 12
M70A3 Dragoon C4I: 19
M74A1 CMPLV: 46
M74A2 CMPLV: 53
M75A1 Scimitar RT: 12
M77A1 Berger LAARV: 4
Royal Cottish Air Force
Headquarters: Belém, Pará, Brazilian Protectorate
Commanding Officer: Lieutenant General Robertsen
Total Personnel: ~102,500
Air Arm - Brazil
Personnel (pilots): 2,776
Personnel (maintenance): 20,400
A-28/C Hammer: 28
A-29/A Super Tucano: 44
B-40/A Grevling: 36
B-44/A Sphinx: 12
C-11/B Super Globemaster: 16
C-12/J Super Hercules: 96
C-15/A Kondor: 32
C-19/A Sherpa: 4
E-3/A Bataleur: 24
E-4/A Saturn: 2
F-20/A Enforcer: 200
F-25/A Typhoon: 160
F-27/A Sabel: 100
H-27/A Delfin: 48
KC-21/B Robin: 56
Q-37/A Mariner: 112
Q-39/A Pegasus: 24
P-14/A Poseidon: 14
VC-17/A Gulfstream: 10
VC-21/A Robin: 2
Air Defenses - Brazil
Personnel (crew): 27,376
Personnel (dismounts): 32,872
SAM Regiment (Sverd): 12
SAM Regiment (Replicator): 2
SAM Regiment (Stalker): 7
ABM Regiment (AABMS): 7
Support Personnel - Brazil
Personnel (security): 8,197
Personnel (logistics): 10,878
Air Base Security Battalion: 7
Base Support Regiment: 7
Royal Cottish Navy
Headquarters: Belém, Pará, Brazilian Protectorate
Commanding Officer: Vice Admiral Jeune
Total Personnel: ~97,000
Ships (homeported in Brazil)
Demon class DDG: 26
Forsakelse class AE: 11
Forsyner class AOEN: 7
Havoc class SSGN: 6
Heimdal class CGN: 12
Hermes class CV: 1
Hordaland class CBGN: 3
Indefatigable class DDGN: 40
Loke class SSK: 8
Mexia-IV class BCGN: 4
Moengen class AO: 14
Odin-II class CVAEN: 2
Osiris class LPD: 12
Poseidon class ASN: 1
Ragnarok class BBG: 3
Røyskatt class K: 8
Skjold class MTB: 12
Smertebringer class FFN: 40
Tigerhai class SSN: 22
Wilson class AKRN: 12
Ynoga class CVLN: 6
Naval Aircraft (based in Brazil)
AH-11/B Reaper: 20
B-29/A Vestavind: 8
C-30/B Trofast: 8
CH-21/A Super Stallion II: 40
E-30/C Trofast: 8
EF-20/F Enforcer: 8
F-20/B Enforcer: 36
F-25/B Typhoon: 12
F-31/A Savage: 116
H-23/A Merlin: 236
H-23/B Merlin: 115
K-30/F Trofast: 4
Q-37/A Mariner: 24
Q-40/A Fire Scout: 214
P-14/A Poseidon: 8
S-30/A Trofast: 8
UH-29/A Lord: 12
Royal Marines
Headquarters: Belém, Pará, Brazilian Protectorate
Commanding Officer: Major General Destun
Total Personnel: ~24,700
8. Amphibious Division
Personnel (crew): 5,031
Personnel (infantry): 7,298
M50A2 Invader C4I: 10
M50A4 Invader IFV: 117
M51A2 Sabertooth MBT: 144
M55A1 Rescuer MEV: 4
M56A1 Dragon MLRS: 9
M57A1 Terrier CEEV: 16
M65A1 Arrow APC: 324
M65A3 Arrow ADU: 64
M65A4 Arrow EW: 32
M65A5 Arrow AT: 64
M65A6 Arrow MRTR: 144
M67A1 HEMTT: 64
M67A2 HEMTT: 32
M67A8 HEMTT: 16
M68A1 MTV: 64
M68A4 MTV: 144
M68A6 MTV: 32
M68A11 MTV: 32
M68A16 MTV: 84
M71A1 LW155 ART: 18
M74A1 CMPLV: 18
M77A1 Berger LARRV: 8
9. Amphibious Division
Personnel (crew): 5,031
Personnel (infantry): 7,298
M50A2 Invader C4I: 10
M50A4 Invader IFV: 117
M51A2 Sabertooth MBT: 144
M55A1 Rescuer MEV: 4
M56A1 Dragon MLRS: 9
M57A1 Terrier CEEV: 16
M65A1 Arrow APC: 324
M65A3 Arrow ADU: 64
M65A4 Arrow EW: 32
M65A5 Arrow AT: 64
M65A6 Arrow MRTR: 144
M67A1 HEMTT: 64
M67A2 HEMTT: 32
M67A8 HEMTT: 16
M68A1 MTV: 64
M68A4 MTV: 144
M68A6 MTV: 32
M68A11 MTV: 32
M68A16 MTV: 84
M71A1 LW155 ART: 18
M74A1 CMPLV: 18
M77A1 Berger LARRV: 8
.
Layarteb
26-07-2007, 03:08
"Alright, what's the situation look like?" The Emperor said into the mouthpiece of his phone as he paced around his room. His cellular phone was encrypted to standards higher than most standard military radios and he talked directly to the Minister of Defense, who had a similar phone in his own hands.

"Well sir. The Venezuelans are winning. Flat out and simple. Our efforts to help the Amazonians are just wasting away. They are a completely disorganized and incapable bunch. Sir they outnumbered the Amazonians sixteen to one at a battle this morning and suffered nearly 45% casualties. They're useless sir. To be frank."

"Then why are we helping them and not just invading? This is what I want to know. As the Amazonians are defeated, the Venezuelans gain land, support, arms, and training. While the Amazonians are losing left and right, we're standing here, with our thumbs in our asses!"

"Yes sir. I would propose that we intervene with or without the permission of the Amazonian government."

"I couldn't agree more. I'll speak to President Santoro myself." He hung up the phone and returned to his desk. "Please get me President Santoro of the Federal Republic of the Amazon on the phone."

"Yes sir." His secretary said through the intercom. There was a momentary pause while she did it and a few minutes went by before she was able to transfer the call. "Here he is sir."

"Thank you." The phone switched to the single line right to Manaus. "President Santoro. How are we this afternoon?"

"Not so good Mr. Emperor. I am losing here."

"Yes. I have been watching. What do you propose we do about this? My forces are eager to enter and assist your forces."

"At the moment I cannot have that. I understand this is frustrating you but we will be victorious in the long run."

The Emperor was immediately disappointed by the lack of reality that President Santoro exercised. "Mr. President, they effectively control a third of your country? Surely you can't think you'll win? They've been dug in for the better part of four decades. We must be allowed to help."

"At the time the Empire must retain its original role. Power in Manaus is fragile. I may have suspended the constitution, legally but there is dissent within, dissent that is growing. If I were to allow the Empire to come across the border, my seat of power would be abruptly cut off and those who follow could simply cut off all negotiations."

"Then we would step in to intervene on your behalf. The Empire does not consider the Venezuelans as idle a threat as your own military does. They have caused us a lot of bloodshed. We will finish them."

"We will do the job we have done."

"What job is that? Losing? Mr. President you haven't been paying attention have you? Your forces cannot win. They have not won. Your generals are either incompetant or conspiring against you to have your forces lose. Either way, this isn't going well and I am sure public opinion is diminishing rapidly."

"That tone is unacceptable."

"I apologize but I am facing a dilemma here. My Cabinet and my people are looking to me to make sure that this never happens again. To do that I have to steamroll the Venezuelans. Without your victories, they grow stronger and that means more Layartebian causalties to achieve this end. We will! Mr. President, I cannot sit around much longer. If there are no victories by May 31, four days from now, I will implore you to allow our assistance." Shortly thereafter, the conversation ended and the Emperor moved all Layartebian forces to READINESS CONDITION LEVEL 3, meaning that war was getting much closer.
Layarteb
27-07-2007, 05:33
"Estou sendo cansado do Império e suas exigências. Querem nada mas resultados e quando recusamos sua intervenção, o Imperador toma-o como um pessoal insulta. Não há nenhum ganhar contra eles está aí?" [I am getting tired of the Empire and its demands. They want nothing but results and when we refuse their intervention, the Emperor takes it as a personal insult. There is no winning against them is there?] President Santoro asked as his Vice President shuffled uneasily in the chair in front of his desk. He had called him in for a sit-down meeting concerning popular opinion but the conversation seemed to tail away into the problems with the Empire and their longing for action.

"Politicamente ou militarmente?" [Politically or militarily?] He asked as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He took a long drag and let the nicotine get through his veins before he spoke again. "Militarmente? Eles nos esmagarão. Não há nenhuma realidade em nosso ganhar. Serão uns cilindros compressores a nós. Politicamente? Nós ainda temos possibilidades." [Militarily? They will crush us. There is no reality in our winning. They will be a steamroller to us. Politically? We still have chances.]

"O que são estas possibilidades? Eu talvez pressione sua mente?" [What are these chances? Might I press your mind?] He said as he shifted his own weight in his chair and leaned on the armrest to his left. Its comfortable leather kept his elbow out of pain and reach from the wooden frame around it.

"Devemos achar uma vitória contra os venezuelanos. Devemos senão nossa esperança para o próprio país desaparecerá. Agora que empenhamo-los, eles vêem-nos como o inimigo. Não o Império tanto. Devemos continuar a negar sua intervenção. Eles não querem intervir em nosso favor, eles querem intervir no próprio favor. Perderemos. Mantemos a nossa mão escondido. Nós ainda temos os espiões. Então há a verdade." [We must find a victory against the Venezuelans. We must or else our hope for our own country will vanish. Now that we've engaged them, they see us as the enemy. Not the Empire so much. We must continue to deny their intervention. They don't want to intervene on our behalf, they want to intervene on their own behalf. We will lose. We keep our hand hidden. We still have the spies. Then there is the truth.]

"A verdade? Como que sentar-se-á com as nossas pessoas?" [The truth? How will that sit with our people?] He asked, intrigued by the idea.

"Inquietamente. Eles não o aceitarão eles ele verão como traição. Mas seus fins administrativo de termo quando isto acaba. Então que diferença fará?" [Uneasily. They won't accept it they'll see it as betrayal. But your administrative term ends when this ends. So what difference will it make?]

"Isso é válido. Manterei a verdade longe para agora. Isso é meu só dura refúgio. Que notícia posso ouvir sobre os generais?" [That is valid. I will keep the truth away for now. That is my only last resort. What news can I hear about the generals?]

"Estão infelizes. Perdem homens cotidiano e eles acreditam que você cooperam com o Layartebians ao passo que vêem-nos como o inimigo assim como bem." [They are unhappy. They lose men everyday and they believe you are cooperating with the Layartebians whereas they see them as the enemy just as well.]

"E de um golpe de estado?" [And of a coup?]

"Sua possibilidade é muito real. A bitola cuidadosamente." [Its possibility is very real. Tread carefully.]

"O que eu faço? Detenho os generais? Prendo esses que discordam? Eu não necessito criar uma profecia de si-cumprindo aqui. O que eu posso fazer preveni-lo?" [What do I do? Do I arrest the generals? Do I lock up those who disagree? I do not need to create a self-fulfilling prophecy here. What can I do to prevent it?]

"Eu não sei. Essa é a razão pela qual você senta-se aí e eu aqui." [I do not know. That is why you sit there and I here.] He took another long drag of his cigarette and looked at his watch. The sun would soon be setting and they were just one day closer to a deadline they didn't even recognize.

For the Empire, May 28 had been a brutal day. At 04:48 hours [EST], an M-107 civilian jetliner crashed on the Spain/Portugal border, all aboard were lost, including 108 Layartebian citizens and though initially, the cause was unknown, it was confirmed to be a terrorist act by a rebellious Portguese group in control of the territory. At 08:15 hours [EST], terrorists sank the Sky Wonder ocean liner in the Gulf of Mexico with explosives. All aboard, including 400 Cottish citizens, were killed, a total number of 2,150. The day was a day of horrors for the Empire as thousands died in the name of some cause that few truly believed in but many were forced to recognize existed. For the Amazonians, on the other hand, it brought their first and most powerful victory against the Venezuelans. In a shocking upset, an Amazonian company had defeated at least a brigade or more of Venezuelan rebels entrenched around Tefé, pushing them back, further west, back towards the border with the Empire.
Layarteb
28-07-2007, 02:19
"Aumente isso. O direito aí. O que é isso?" [Enhance that. Right there. What's that?] The detective said, standing over the shoulder of a computer technician as he zoomed the photograph on the hotel.

"Uma janela aberta. Que alto para cima." [An open window. That high up.]

"Isso é onde o assassino era. Esses lugares têm pleno acondicionamento de ar soprado e era meio demais quente abrir uma janela. É uma vergonha que este ângulo é tão mau. Aumente esse direito aí. O que é isso?" [That's where the killer was. Those rooms have full blown air conditioning and it was way too hot to open a window. It's a shame this angle is so bad. Enhance that right there. What's that?] The technician moved his mouse and drew a box on a strange object that the detective pointed to in the corner of the window.

"É um barril de revólver. Isso é ele! Isso é o assassino!" [It's a gun barrel. That's it! That's the killer!]

"Recebemo-lo! Bem! Bem! A tranqüilidade para baixo!" [We've got him! Alright! Alright! Quiet down!] He yelled over the commotion.

"Quero o esquemático do hotel. Que lugar é isso? Então dê-me a lista de convidado e deixemo-nos achamos este filho de uma cadela! Ele não nos deve tomar mais de dez minutos!" [I want the schematics of the hotel. What room is that? Then give me the guest list and let's find this son of a bitch! It shouldn't take us more than ten minutes!] Other agents went to work. There was a gigantic table in the middle of the room and its white top was barely visible underneath papers, photographs, maps, drawings, and empty coffee cups. Crumbs were everywhere and coffee stains left brown circles all over the place. Some of these men hadn't slept more than an hour or two a night in weeks, not since it happened.

"Recebeu-o! Luis Rojas, Diretor de Operações para Indústrias de Arckell." [Got it! Luis Rojas, Director of Operations for Arckell Industries.] One of the agents said.

"Temos uma fotografia dele?" [Do we have a photograph of him?]

"Não." [No.]

"A informação?" [Information?]

"O nada exceto ele que nós soubemos do seu registro de visto. Cruzaremos cheque ele." [Nothing except what we knew from his visa registration. We'll cross check it.] Forty-five minutes went by before the agent returned with a saddened look on his face.

"O que você achou?" [What did you find?] The detective asked as he sipped another cup of coffee, his eighth for the day.

"Mal algo. É fantasma." [Barely anything. He's a ghost.]

"O que você quer dizer é fantasma?" [What do you mean he's a ghost?] He put the cup down and stood up with a mean look in his eyes.

"A embaixada não era útil. Nós realmente não temos algo nele. Nenhum endereço, nenhuns contatos de negócio, nada. É justo acaba de criar." [The embassy wasn't helpful. We don't really have anything on him. No address, no business contacts, nothing. It's just he was just created.]

"Por quem?" [By who?]

"Nós não sabemos." [We don't know.]

"Bem. Deixemo-nos tentamos a..." [Alright. Let's try to...] He was about to continue but he was interrupted.

"Mas temos uma fotografia." [But we do have a photograph.]

"Onde? Quero vê-lo!" [Where? I want to see it!] He walked towards the agent, who held up a brown folder and handed it to him. He held up the photograph to the light.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/People/jdelaney-03.jpg

"Está na esquerda. Com o laço. Isso é todo temos." [He's on the left. With the tie. That's all we have.] The detective eyed the photograph and looked deep at him as he wondered who this man was, why he was in the country, why he had his window open, why there was a gun barrel there, and why he was a ghost.

"Vamos ao Presidente com esta informação. Se a embaixada não cooperará então nós os forçaremos cooperar. Fez bom! Quereria contar todo o mundo receber algum sono mas isso não acontecerá. Descubra o que você pode. Veja-o?" [We're going to the President with this information. If the embassy won't cooperate then we'll force them to cooperate. You've done good! I'd like to tell everyone to get some sleep but that won't be happening. Find out whatever you can. See him?] He held up the photograph so that everyone could see and pointed right to him. "É nosso único chumbo. Nosso único suspeita!" [He's our only lead. Our only suspect!] He walked out of the conference room and within three hours, he was standing in front of President Santoro with the photograph and the Secretary of Justice.

"Vi este homem antes de. Tenho. Minha mente viu-o e eu sei-o. Eu somente não sei onde." [I've seen this man before. I have. My mind has seen him and I know it. I just don't know where.] President Santoro said as he put down the photograph, leaned back on the chair, put his left elbow on the armrest, and supported his chin, thinking where he had seen him. "Está correto aí. O direito na ponta do meu cérebro mas onde. Onde! Isto é uma cópia?" [It's right there. Right on the tip of my brain but where. Where! Is this a copy?] Both men nodded. "Bom sou mantenho isto para agora. Descubra o que você pode e receberei a embaixada cooperar senão estarão em problema sério. Trabalho bom!" [Good I'm keep this for now. Find out what you can and I'll get the embassy to cooperate or else they'll be in serious trouble. Good work!] He looked at the calendar and saw it was May 29. No progress had been made since the day before.
Layarteb
28-07-2007, 04:05
"Earlier this morning, Amazonian military leaders confirmed that the Venezuelan rebels have actually seized territory along the western border with the Empire. The Layartebian News Network is live in Manaus, Josephine?" The camera switched from the comfortable news studio to the streets of Manaus, just outside of the president's office. It was night time and the reporter was a stunning blonde who stared into the camera holding a microphone.

"Yes. They did. About an hour ago, a spokesman from the Amazonian military announced that they lost a 'significant' amount of territory along the Layartebian border. Although he didn't go into many details, he did speculate that they would regain the territory. Since the suspension of the constitution, all media agencies here have been carefully watched as are we. This comes as a major setback. News sources confirm that the Emperor has spoken, continuously with President Santoro as to the possibility of Layartebian intervention but it has, thus far, been denied. We'll see more as this unfolds." The camera cut back to the news studio and the Emperor turned off the television. It was old news, he knew about it for six hours already and he was furious.

The cold air inside of the office from the stonework construction kept the air more than 20°F cooler than the muggy temperatures outside, so long as the windows remained shut and they did. "Alright. Alright. We've got a problem here." He paced the room, several Cabinet members present. "We have offered assistance many times and they have been denied. We now have more than sufficient casus belli to invade and destroy these Venezuelans."

"That is true sir," the Minister of Foreign Affairs began. "But we shouldn't. Not yet."

"Why? Why must we wait while they grow stronger!"

"Sir. Politically, it would not matter in their country. We would crush them in minutes. Over here though. It is a problem."

"Why? Public opinion?"

"Yes sir."

"What does that matter? We're an authoritarian nation. Half of the times the people don't know what to think even if we told them. Their opinions don't matter here. They can't see what is unfolding here. They can only see the cost of another war."

"Yes sir. Another war. We've had too many already."

"We have been in a constant state of war since 1976. That is true. Thirty-one years. These Venezuelans brought us into war then."

"Yes sir. They continue to bring us into war. Since the 1960s they have been a problem!"

"They have. We must end this. We must exterminate them once and for all. Tomorrow morning I am going to offer our assistance ONE last time. If they do not cooperate there will be an ultimatum. They will have until June 9 to agree to our intervention. That is ten days from the day I give it."

"Yes sir."

"Alright. Let's figure this out in the morning."
Layarteb
28-07-2007, 20:59
"Mr. President I find it unfortunate that you have yet again denied assistance by the Empire. You have lost control of your territories and they border mine. I cannot have these areas unpoliced by your military if Venezuelans are there. That is why I must take this further. In the interest of national security I am issuing the following ultimatum. Conditional upon your letting the Empire cross the border and wage legal and legitimate war against the Venezuelans. We are giving you until 04:00 hours GMT, midnight your own time, to allow us to fight this battle. The date is June 9." The phone conversation was unfriendly at best and when the Emperor issued his ultimatum, President Santoro grew furious. Despite his support of the Empire he didn't want them intervening in his own country. He held his sovereignty highly and as he hung up the phone, he called an emergency meeting of the cabinet.

It was May 31 and as people slept that night, Venezuelans plotted to bring the fight to Manaus. They wanted to end this and they wanted to end it fast.
Layarteb
29-07-2007, 01:00
The first gunshots echoed across Manaus shortly before 06:00 hours when Venezuelan rebels initiated their sweepingly powerful offensive. Over 2,000 Venezuelan rebels, armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers, snuck into position throughout the night and waited until the sun was coming up before they unleashed their strike. Gunmen fired mostly into homes and vehicles and they coordinated their strike against government leaders, police officers, and military personnel. Military presence in Manaus was limited and far less than that on the front, making it initially difficult to fight them. The first responders were ill-equipped police men carrying pistols and light bodyarmor, bodyarmor that wouldn't stop 5.56mm rounds moving at over 3,000 feet per second.

The Venezuelans were remarkably organized and they killed no less than 50 people in the first minutes of the slaughter. They appeared like ghosts, firing accurately into their targets. Windows shattered, cars were peppered with holes, and ricochets went everywhere. Glass from upper apartment buildings fell to the ground and the Venezuelans had done more than just gang-style engagements. They entered buildings and sought out their targets. The Presidential Building was the prime target but it was also the most defended. In the days following the assassination of President Fraga, President Santoro ordered the guard detail at the building to be doubled. Now there were 112 armed and highly trained guardsmen at the building and they weren't walking around with orders to negotiate.

When the squad of 92 Venezuelans assaulted the Presidential Building, they made initial successes, due largely in part to their surprise factor. Once they got through the outer gates though and onto the actual property, they were immediately halted by the President's Guards, all of whom were alerted by now that the building was under seige. Snipers made the most success initially, firing through adjacent windows at pinned down Venezuelans. With the cacophony of gunfire and explosions in the background and in the distance, President Santoro picked up phone call after phone call and organized the military forces inside of Manaus, which numbered just 3,000 total. It was barely an outstanding number against the Venezuelan force of 2,000. The slaughters continued through the morning as the military organized and reacted to the gunfire. They ran through the streets amidst running civilians and firing Venezuelans. Neither spoke each others' language making it much more difficult but there was one truth between the two groups: they both were trying to kill each other and words weren't necessary for such a task.

The Venezuelan offensive hit Manaus hard throughout the morning and would continue throughout the afternoon and the evening as reinforcements for both sides swelled into the city. Pretty soon, armored tanks were moving through the city hunting down and killing Venezuelans as civilians had deserted the streets. Many hid in basements or in their homes as bullets flew past and through their windows and walls. Casualties were mounting by the minute for both sides. The first seige of the Presidential Building ended by 10:00 hours, an abysmal failure for the Venezuelans who were all slaughtered, killing just 8 Guards in the process. A second seige began at 13:00 hours and was much more successful but still failed to breach the main structure and though all of the Venezuelans were killed, they took another 28 Guards with them. That seige ended by 15:00 hours, a second failure.

By the time the sun went down, the Venezuelans suffered just under 1,700 casualties but their forces had doubled. The Amazonians lost nearly 1,000 soldiers and civilians deaths exceeded 2,500 by that time. Fighting continued through the night with a third failure to seige the Presidential Building, which, by that time, received armored support and reinforcements. Gunfire continued throughout the night and the sounds and sights in Manaus were something right out of a war movie. It continued through the morning and early on June 2, President Santoro received a telephone call from the Venezuelan commander to discuss a cease fire. President Santoro and the commander discussed their options for six hours on the phone, him from a secluded place outside of Manaus. Shortly before the evening news began in the Amazon Republic, President Santoro announced an immediate cease fire with the Venezuelan rebels, which was contingent upon their full and complete withdrawal from Manaus. Hours later, the Emperor again offered the assistance of the Imperial Layartebian Military but was rebuffed again. June 3 began and ended with the ceasefire in effect although lives were still lost from remote front battles throughout the country. The Venezuelans continued to dominate against the Amazonians. It wouldn't be until June 4 that the Amazon Republic saw some "action."
Layarteb
30-07-2007, 00:05
"Não pode ser. Tem que ser um erro." [It can't be. It has to be a mistake.] President Santoro said as he sat back down in his chair and picked up the photograph of the "killer" of President Fraga. He finally recognized him and it swam back to him, the night of May 14. The man in the photograph had been leaving the Emperor's castle when President Santoro was entering. "É Layartebian. Fizeram-no. Atiram-no. Usaram-me." [He's Layartebian. They did it. They shot him. They used me.] He said again and as he did, he picked up the phone and phoned General Soborano immediately. "Soborano geral que eu declaro um fim a esta guerra com os venezuelanos. Admitirei derrota e nós negociaremos com eles para um cessação completa e completa de hostilites. O general que eu não posso. Nosso desempenho foi péssimo. Temos que acabar isto. Nós não somos mais ir lutar o Venezeulans. Não." [General Soborano I am declaring an end to this war with the Venezuelans. I will admit defeat and we will negotiate with them for a complete and utter cessation of hostilites. General I cannot. Our performance has been abysmal. We have to end this. We are no longer going to fight the Venezeulans. No.] He spoke into the phone. Two hours later, as he sat in his office, he heard gunshots. Immediately he thought that the Venezuelans had finally broken into the building. He cursed them for violating the cease-fire, especially since he was about to concede defeat.

Hiding in his office, with several guards around him, the gunfire got closer and closer. Whomever was coming for them had made it so that he couldn't escape. His helicopter had been shot down just as the gunfire echoed throughout the Presidential Building. There would be no escape. Wishing he was armed, he tried to communicate through his phone, to get the generals on the phone, especially General Soborano but there was no answer. He thought the worst, the Venezuelans had done a decapitation strike and his generals, his whole military was suddenly combat ineffective. They would control the country without the help of the military to defend him. His mind went through millions of thoughts as he hid underneath his desk, four guards taking up defensive positions around the room, their assault rifles pointed towards the locked and barricaded doors.

Twenty minutes into the firefight and still there was no answer from the military. The President was, in effect, completely barricaded in his office and there was no way out except through a pair of doors with rebels on the other side. Informed of the situation, the Emperor, thousands of miles away in Layarteb City, desparately attempted to contact the President but he couldn't. He knew that the building was under attack and, immediately, he ordered all Layartebian forces along the borders of the Amazonian Republic to set READINESS CONDITION 2, meaning that an enemy attack was imminent. The whole military remained at condition 3 except for those units on the border and tasked with Operation Snakeskin, the codename for the invasion of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. If no word came within twenty-four hours of 13:00 hours, June 4, they would begin operations. This was it; the war was beginning. Layartebian military units went dark and clandestine forces within the country began their final preparations for the incoming armada of tanks, infantry, and aircraft.

"Sr. Presidente! Sr. Presidente! Abra! Temos os rebeldes derrotado! Abra! Temos reforços!" [Mr. President! Mr. President! Open up! We have the rebels defeated! Open up! We have reinforcements!] President Santoro heard a muffled voice say from the other side of the door. He recognized the voice right away as the voice of General Soborano. Finalmente! Ouviram! Vieram! [Finally! They heard! They've come!] He thought to himself as he came out and ordered his men to open the doors. The men did to reveal a scene out of a horror movie. Bodies lay everywhere, all of them wearing army uniforms. Smoke filled the hallway as General Soborano and several other generals stood there, backed up by at least a company or two of soldiers, all of them battle hardened. The four men inside of the President's office saluted and General Soborano nodded to them to stand down.

"Finalmente! Veio! Quantos havia? Como soube? São vitorioso!" [Finally! You have come! How many were there? How did you know? You are victorious!] President Santoro said with a smile on his face as he moved to shake the hand of General Soborano but he didn't seem as happy as the President was. "O que há de errado?" [What's wrong?] President Santoro asked, his own expression changing. Moments later, his expression and his whole face turned as white as a ghost. "O que você fazem? Isto é traição! Ponha no chão essa arma imediatamente! Mando-o!" [What are you doing? This is treason! Put down that weapon immediately! I order you!] He yelled at the top of his voice as he stared into the general's pistol barrel, which was inches from his face. "Atire-o agora mesmo! Mando-o! Isto é traição!" [Shoot him right now! I order you! This is treason!]

"São comigo Sr. Presidente. Isto é um golpe." [They are with me Mr. President. This is a coup.] The general said as the men stood fast. The President was unarmed so there was no need to draw their own weapons. "Esses homens leal a você foi matado. Meus homens e I. Os Generais. Somos vitoriosos. Você não tem mais autoridade continuar como o Presidente deste país. Sua liderança levou às mortes de milhares de nossos soldados. O Manaus queima. Suas apólices em direção do Império só nutriu-nos fazer isto. Você não são ataque ser o Presidente! Estamos agora em controle deste país e seu exército. As pessoas querem você fora. São feitos!" [Those men loyal to you have been killed. My men and I. The Generals. We are victorious. You no longer have authority to continue as the President of this country. Your leadership has led to the deaths of thousands of our soldiers. Manaus is burning. Your policies towards the Empire have only fostered us to do this. You are not fit to be the President! We are now in control of this country and its military. The people want you out. You are done!] General Soborano continued.
Layarteb
30-07-2007, 00:28
The President had not left his office since the generals seized power that afternoon. Within hours, the news stations had announced the successful coup by the generals. Some of the people took to the streets and cheered. They knew that the President wasn't fit to serve. When General Soborano went on television to address the people, the whole country and a sizeable chunk of the world listened to his address, just three hours after the seizure of power, which was official at 15:00 hours.

"As pessoas de Esteemed da República Federal do Amazonas. Sou Soborano Geral, o líder de seu exército. Esta tarde, em 3:00 da tarde, nós encenamos um d'état bem sucedido de golpe deste país, prender poder do Presidente inadequado, Ranieri Santoro. Este movimento veio porque nós não podemos apoiar enquanto sua liderança causa milhares de nossos filhos e irmãos morrer lutando um inimigo que não quis dizer nos nenhum dano. Os venezuelanos prenderam terra agora e a situação que nós estamos em estar completamente contraditório a o perseguimos para alcançar.

"Quando declaramos guerra sobre os rebeldes venezuelanos em nossas regiões remotas que não era para nosso benefício. Era em atenção o Layartebians, que instalou Presidente Santoro como um fantoche. Forneceu ao irá e os desejos do Imperador de Layartebian e permitiu nossos soldados morrer para uma causa que não era o próprio! Isto acabará aqui. Mais cedo hoje, Ranieri Santoro declarou derrota nesta guerra. Fomos derrotados mas nós não continuaremos a ser derrotados. Peço o líder venezuelano falar a mim, diretamente, negociar um fim a estas hostilidades. Podemos coexistir. Os venezuelanos não mostraram-nos nenhum dano até que nós prejudicamo-los, na insistência do governo de Layartebian, que fez nada a ajudar a nossa nação que luta. Agora, batalha golpear e guerra rasgado, o que eles farão para nós?

"Farão nada! Ficarão costas e despede seus mísseis. Derrubarão suas bombas. Eles só nos chamarão açougueiros e declaram que simpatizamos com os venezuelanos.

"Isto é falso! Nós não simpatizamos com os venezuelanos. O que eles fizeram em Venezuela não é para nós julgar. Não é nosso país. Agora nosso país é fraturado e é lascado por causa desta guerra. Pedirei que o comandante venezuelano retornasse toda terra prendida e pessoas capturadas, civis e soldados semelhante. Faremos o mesmo e coexistiremos. Os venezuelanos serão feitos prometer cessarão operações militares contra o Império de Layarteb de nosso território e eles concordarão. Serão seguros. Seus crimes contra o Império de Layarteb não são nossos crimes. Nós não os devemos ter que punir porque o Império de Layarteb não pode.

"O Presidente declarou que essa democracia retornaria em seis meses. Nós o retornaremos em três! Este país voltará ao meio que ele era. As pessoas falaram, exigiram nossa ajuda. Recebem-no. Nós não somos no negócio de governar. Estamos no negócio de proteger e nós encenamos este golpe proteger as pessoas, nossas fronteiras, e nos. Depois que três meses, você democraticamente elegerão um novo executivo. O congresso nacional resumirá seus deveres. Os juizes retornarão de suas férias forçadas. A democracia será restaurada e retornaremos a nosso lugar legítimo, protegendo as pessoas Amazônicas contra inimigos: estrangeiro E doméstico! Isso é todo!"

["Esteemed people of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. I am General Soborano, the leader of your military. This afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., we staged a successful coup d'état of this country, to seize power from the ill-suited President, Ranieri Santoro. This move came because we cannot stand by while his leadership causes thousands of our sons and brothers to die fighting an enemy that meant us no harm. The Venezuelans have seized land now and the situation we are in is completely contradictory to the one we sought out to achieve.

"When we declared war upon the Venezuelan rebels in our remote regions it wasn't for our benefit. It was for the benefit of the Layartebians, who have installed President Santoro as a puppet. He has catered to the wills and the wishes of the Layartebian Emperor and has allowed our soldiers to die for a cause that was not our own! This will end here. Earlier today, Ranieri Santoro declared defeat in this war. We have been defeated but we will not continue to be defeated. I am asking for the Venezuelan leader to speak to me, directly, to negotiate an end to these hostilities. We can co-exist. The Venezuelans have showed us no harm until we harmed them, at the insistence of the Layartebian government, which has done nothing to help our struggling nation. Now, battle stricken and war torn, what will they do for us?

"They will do nothing! They will stand back and fire their missiles. They will drop their bombs. They will only call us butchers and declare that we sympathize with the Venezuelans.

"This is untrue! We do not sympathize with the Venezuelans. What they did in Venezuela is not for us to judge. It is not our country. Now our country is fractured and splintered because of this war. I will ask the Venezuelan commander to return all seized land and captured people, civilians and soldiers alike. We will do the same and we will co-exist. The Venezuelans will be made to promise they will cease military operations against the Empire of Layarteb from our territory and they will agree. They will be safe. Their crimes against the Empire of Layarteb are not our crimes. We should not have to punish them because the Empire of Layarteb cannot.

"The President declared that democracy would return in six months. We will return it in three! This country will go back to the way it was. The people have spoken, they demanded our help. They receive it. We are not in the business of governing. We are in the business of protecting and we have staged this coup to protect the people, our borders, and ourselves. After three months, you will democratically elect a new executive. The national congress will resume their duties. Judges will return from their forced vacations. Democracy will be restored and we will return to our rightful place, protecting the Amazonian people against enemies: foreign AND domestic! That is all!"]

Night had fallened and the Emperor watched the broadcast live as he knew the outcome. The Ministry of Intelligence had reported the coup twenty minutes after it began and twenty minutes after it ended, the Emperor knew the outcome. The deadline remained. If the Amazonians did not contact by 15:00 hours, their time, the Empire would begin Operation Snakeskin and invade with the full might of the Imperial Layartebian Army and Air Force. He dispatched two cables to Manaus as the speech concluded. The first demanded a response from President Santoro, who the Emperor retained as the legitimate leader of the country. The second demanded a response from General Soborano, the illegitmate leader of the country. Both cables were very clear: the Empire would invade on behalf of President Soborano and seek to return him to power as well as eliminate the Venezuelans. These were the conditions. As midnight approached, the Emperor waited for a reply from both parties.
Layarteb
30-07-2007, 00:43
" Nossas condições para a cessação deste golpe são o seguir e eles deve ter todo ano concordado sobre antes de nós continua.

"Antes de tudo, que nosso patnership com o Império de fins de Layarteb eficientemente imediatamente. Nós não iremos mais cooperamos com eles até que eles concordam a e respeita nossa soberania. Até que eles afirmam-no, eles serão considerados um estado hostil.

"Segundamente, que nós preparamos para guerra contra o Império de Layarteb. Os venezuelanos concordaram sobre este inimigo comum. Concordaram sobre retornar nossa terra. Concordaram sobre liberar nossos cativo. Temem o Império e não vê-nos como o inimigo.

"Terceiramente, que você denuncia todo envolvimento de Layartebian em nosso país desde que o fim de sua guerra em Venezuela e que admite, publicamente, o papel do Império em nosso país desde que então.

"Quartamente, essa democracia retorna em três meses e que deixará o país eternamente seguindo o retorno.

"E ultimamente, que nós abrimos conversas diplomáticas com outras nações na América do Sul.

"Se você não pode concordar a estas condições então nós imediatamente neste golpe e você forçosamente será retirado deste país. Isso é entendido?"

[Our conditions for the cessation of this coup are the following and they must be all agreed upon before we continue.

First and foremost, that our patnership with the Empire of Layarteb ends effectively immediately. We will no longer cooperate with them until they agree to and respect our sovereignty. Until they affirm it, they will be considered a hostile state.

Secondly, that we prepare for war against the Empire of Layarteb. The Venezuelans have agreed upon this common enemy. They have agreed upon returning our land. They have agreed upon releasing our captives. They fear the Empire and do not see us as the enemy.

Thirdly, that you denounce all Layartebian involvement in our country since the end of their war in Venezuela and that you admit, publically, the role of the Empire in our country since then.

Fourthly, that democracy returns in three months and that you will leave the country forever following the return.

And lastly, that we open diplomatic talks with other nations in South America.

If you cannot agree to these conditions then we will immediately continue this coup and you will be forcibly removed from this country. Is that understood?]

It was morning on June 5 and neither General Soborano nor President Santoro responded to the Layartebian cables, angering the Emperor in his castle, thousands of miles away. General Soborano had given President Santoro his audience and found the President eagerly against the Empire. He thought it was merely a ploy to get back to power but after hours and hours of talk between the two men he saw sincerity. When he asked why, the President held up the photograph of President Fraga's killer. Then he explained how he saw the man in the Emperor's castle on May 14 and couldn't continue any relationship with a country that saw fit to assassinate their own leaders. The general agreed and when President Santoro signed the document, he was returned to power. No harm came to the generals or those who committed the coup, that was an understanding between the men. A cable was went to the Emperor that the President was alive, well, that power had been restored to him, and that he would go on air on June 6 to address his nation. The Emperor agreed to a single demand, which was to halt military intervention.
Layarteb
30-07-2007, 01:20
Inside the Emperor's office, most of the cabinet was assembled for the speech, which would be 12:00 hours local time but 11:00 hours in Layarteb City. Neither the Empire nor the Amazonian Republic believed in "summer time" so they adhered to their standard GMT designations. For the Amazonian Republic it was GMT-4. The Empire spanned a total of twelve time zones. The news stations in Manaus and the Amazonian Republic as well as every other channel, had switched immediately to the President's office, which had been hastily cleaned up since the coup. The building itself was still being cleaned up but the cameras didn't need to show the blood and bodies still being carted off and buried appropriately. Despite the fact that men died fighting for and against the President, they all died for their country, an honor they wouldn't be stripped of, regardless of the outcome.

"Boa tarde. O poder foi restaurado ao executivo e eu estou aqui endereçar as pessoas da República Federal do Amazonas. Soborano geral permanece em comando do exército. O golpe bem sucedido traz com ele mudanças significativas à apólice da nossa nação. Como prometido, democracia agora será restaurada em somente três meses, depois que que eu deixarei o país, como dirigido. Até que esse tempo, eu sou permanecer como o executivo, uma condição concordado sobre sozinho e os generais.

"Acreditei, em erro, que nosso inimigo era os venezuelanos e que nossos amigos eram os Layartebians. Estava errado e tenho evidência apoiar estas reivindicações."

[Good afternoon. Power has been restored to the executive and I am here to address the people of the Federal Republic of the Amazon. General Soborano remains in command of the military. The successful coup brings with it significant changes to the policy of our nation. As promised, democracy will now be restored in just three months, after which I will leave the country, as directed. Until that time, I am to remain as the executive, a condition agreed upon by myself and the generals.

I believed, in error, that our enemy was the Venezuelans and that our friends were the Layartebians. I was wrong and I have evidence to support these claims.]

The Emperor stood up in his office and slammed his fist down on the table. "What the hell is this nonsense!" He demanded but hushed up as the President continued.

"Seguir a derrota dos venezuelanos pelo exército de Layartebian em maio cedo, eles retiraram costas sobre nossas fronteiras. O Império não continuou e imediatamente solicitou a ajuda de meu predecessor, Ex-presidente Fraga. Negou suas tentativas repetidas ganhar ajuda contra ele que eles perceberam como uma ameaça venezuelana enorme. Eu não concordei com meu predecessor e até somente há dois dias, eu acreditei que o estar em erro. Era correto, o tempo inteiro.

"O Layartebians ilegalmente infringiu sobre nossa soberania em 7 de maio, quando instalaram forças clandestinas a nosso país e começou bombardeio aéreo de acampamentos venezuelanos e alvos mesmo Amazônicos de exército. Em 8 de maio, nosso tiro de Aeronáutica abate um zangão não tripulado de reconhecimento ilegalmente voando em nosso airspace. O presidente Fraga continuou a lutar o Layartebians diplomaticamente e recusou ajudá-los em seu esforço derrotar os venezuelanos, um esforço eles ilegalmente empreenderam apesar das suas negações. Então, em 12 de maio, ele foi assassinado por este homem."

[Following the defeat of the Venezuelans by the Layartebian military in early May, they retreated back over our borders. The Empire did not continue and immediately requested the help of my predecessor, former President Fraga. He denied their repeated attempts to gain help against what they perceived as a huge Venezuelan threat. I did not agree with my predecessor and until just two days ago, I believed him to be in error. He was right, the whole time.

The Layartebians illegally infringed upon our sovereignty on May 7, when they deployed clandestine forces to our country and began aerial bombardment of Venezuelan encampments and even Amazonian military targets. On May 8, our Air Force shot down an unmanned reconnaissance drone illegally flying in our airspace. President Fraga continued to fight the Layartebians diplomatically and refused to assist them in their endeavor to defeat the Venezuelans, an endeavor they illegally undertook despite his denials. Then, on May 12, he was assassinated by this man.]

He held up the photograph and the Emperor's eyes widened. "How'd they get a picture of our security chief? He wasn't in their country!" The Emperor roared and though people around him believed the lie, it was obvious that something had gone very wrong in the plan. President Santoro continued.

"Este homem é agente de Layartebian embora sua identidade é desconhecida. Ele atualmente é querido para o assassinato de Presidente Fraga e sua extradição foi solicitada do Layartebian Ministério Estrangeiro. Nós não esperamo-los cooperar. Sobre minha ascensão a este escritório, eu fui recebido pelo Imperador de Layarteb na situação venezuelana e eu concordei em ajudar. Acreditei que os venezuelanos eram nossos inimigos também. Eles não eram até que nós fizemo-los nosso inimigo. Pedi que nosso Congresso Nacional apoiasse minha decisão em 16 de maio e foi revelado a mim mais cedo hoje de manhã que um artifício de bugging foi achado na câmara principal. Depois que uma investigação e um varre, achamos que nosso chão congressional inteiro foi bugged, provavelmente pelos serviços de inteligência de Layartebian que existe dentro de nosso país neste muito momento. Seu treachery não tem limites.

"Quando o Congresso Nacional não concordou comigo que eu fui forçado submeter com sua decisão. Em 20 de maio, eu mandei nosso exército começar operações contra os rebeldes venezuelanos. Este movimento era legal e não transgrediu as condições fixo quarto pelo Congresso Nacional. Cedo na manhã de 21 de maio, uma bomba matou muitos senadores de alto nível no aeroporto e eu acreditei que ser o trabalho dos venezuelanos. Eu então pedi que o Congresso Nacional suspendesse a constituição derrotar estes venezuelanos. Nós agora acreditamos, plenamente, que esta bomba estava um míssil de cruzeiro de Layartebian, um míssil de ação secreta que nossos radares não colheram.

"Também em 20 de maio, nosso exército capturou quatro soldados em nosso território. Acreditamos que os ser Forças Especiais dos Impérios de Layartebian. Estão sendo segurados numa situação escondido para interrogação e revelou a nós que são agentes de Layartebian lutando uma guerra ilegal em nossas fronteiras. É aparente que o Layartebians tentou salvá-los de manhã cedo de 24 de maio. Seu avião de salvamento era tiro para baixo por um de nossa superfície-a-baterias de ar.

"Em 26 de maio, os rebeldes venezuelanos abateram um espião de Layartebian zangão, agora sendo usado por nosso exército coordenar esforços contra os rebeldes venezuelanos. Pedi o Imperador para este auxílio e ele facilmente submeteu. Não era até que 27 de maio embora que minha fé no Império de Layarteb começou a declinar. Exigiram fazemos progresso contra os venezuelanos ou interviriam com ou sem nossa permissão, essencialmente invadindo-nos. Nossa vitória em 28 de maio, nossa única vitória, adiou seus planos. Eu, me, neguei a exigência do Imperador para intervenção duas vezes em 29 de maio e junho 3. Quando reconheci a identidade deste assassino, um homem que eu via pessoalmente no confina da Fortaleza de Layartebian de Comhghall, eu imediatamente chamei um fim a nossa guerra contra os venezuelanos.

"Nossa derrota incitou este golpe, que está agora sobre. Dependente de seja sobre, eu por meio disto denuncio todo envolvimento de Layartebian em nosso país, que foi ilegal bem desde o início, apesar de minha aprovação clandestina de operações sobre supor a presidência. A democracia retornará a nosso país em três meses. A nossa sociedade com o Império de Layarteb é terminada, eficiente imediatamente e até que eles afirmam e respeitam nossa soberania, o Império de Layarteb será considerado hostil a nosso país. Os venezuelanos concordaram em retornar territórios de antes da guerra. Coexistirão conosco e com eles concordaram em cessar operações por dentro nossas fronteiras contra nossas forças e contra o Império de Layarteb. Este governo vê essa situação fechado e feito com, a menos que estas condições sejam quebradas. O Império será exigido fazer reparações a nosso país para seu assassinato de Presidente Fraga. Nós também abriremos conversas com países vizinhos na América do Sul e ao redor do mundo. O Império de Layarteb não irá mais é nosso benfeitor único, se é mesmo ser um.

"Agradeça-o e tenha um dia bom."

[This man is a Layartebian agent although his identity is unknown. He is currently wanted for the assassination of President Fraga and his extradition has been requested from the Layartebian Foreign Ministry. We do not expect them to cooperate. Upon my ascension to this office, I was received by the Emperor of Layarteb on the Venezuelan situation and I agreed to help. I believed the Venezuelans were our enemy too. They were not until we made them our enemy. I asked our National Congress to support my decision on May 16 and it has been revealed to me earlier this morning that a bugging device was found in the main chamber. After an investigation and a sweep, we found that our entire congressional floor was bugged, probably by the Layartebian intelligence services that exist within our country at this very moment. Their treachery knows no bounds.

When the National Congress did not agree with me I was forced to comply with their ruling. On May 20, I ordered our military to begin operations against the Venezuelan rebels. This move was legal and did not violate the conditions set fourth by the National Congress. Early on the morning of May 21, a bomb killed many high-ranking senators at the airport and I believed it to be the work of the Venezuelans. I then asked the National Congress to suspend the constitution to defeat these Venezuelans. We now believe, fully, that this bomb was a Layartebian cruise missile, a stealth missile that our radars did not pick up.

Also on May 20, our military captured four soldiers in our territory. We believe them to be Special Forces of the Layartebian Empire. They are being held at an undisclosed location for interrogation and have revealed to us that they are Layartebian agents fighting an illegal war in our borders. It is apparent that the Layartebians attempted to rescue them early in the morning of May 24. Their rescue plane was shot down by one of our surface-to-air batteries.

On May 26, the Venezuelan rebels downed a Layartebian spy drone, now being used by our military to coordinate efforts against the Venezuelan rebels. I asked the Emperor for this assistance and he easily complied. It wasn't until May 27 though that my faith in the Empire of Layarteb began to ebb. They demanded we make progress against the Venezuelans or they would intervene with or without our permission, essentially invading us. Our victory on May 28, our only victory, postponed their plans. I, myself, have denied the Emperor's demand for intervention twice on May 29 and June 3. When I recognized the identity of this killer, a man who I saw personally in the confines of the Layartebian Fortress of Comhghall, I immediately called an end to our war against the Venezuelans.

Our defeat prompted this coup, which is now over. Contingent upon it being over, I hereby denounce all Layartebian involvement in our country, which has been illegal from the beginning, despite my clandestine approval of operations upon assuming the presidency. Democracy will return to our country in three months. Our partnership with the Empire of Layarteb is terminated, effective immediately and until they affirm and respect our sovereignty, the Empire of Layarteb will be considered hostile to our country. The Venezuelans have agreed to return to pre-war territories. They will co-exist with us and they have agreed to cease operations from within our borders against our forces and against the Empire of Layarteb. This government sees that situation closed and done with, unless these conditions are broken. The Empire will be demanded to make reparations to our country for their assassination of President Fraga. We will also open talks with neighboring countries in South America and around the world. The Empire of Layarteb will no longer be our sole benefactor, if it is even to be one.

Thank you and have a good day.]

The picture cut out and they muted the television as the Emperor's face turned red. "So President Santoro has betrayed us. He saw our security chief in our castle and managed to get a picture of him, to accuse him of the assassination." Moments later, BG. Jack Delaney walked into the office. "Ah Jack. You've been accused of the assassination of President Fraga." He laughed a little and the Emperor did not seem amused. "Do you find it funny?"

"No sir I don't but I don't see how I could have done it. I was here when that happened."

"I agree. It was a setup. They are demanding your extradition. Do not look so worried. We will not as we have no evidence or belief that you committed this crime."

"That's a relief. I suppose I'll inform my staff."

"Please do." The Emperor waved him off, the two of them knowing the truth. "Now. That this is settled. What are our...Wait a second. Unmut that!" He pointed to the television. Suddenly, on camera were the four men of Force Lightning being held by the Amazonians. "What is this? Layartebian agents? That is preposterous." He demanded as the Amazonians were airing them live. They had obviously been tortured. "Look at the condition of those men. They're beaten savagely. This is a grave violation of human rights. This cannot go on and this insult to our nation cannot be left alone. They have accused us of assassinating their leaders, determining their policy. We have operated clandestinely in their borders but only at their request. No. This will not suffice. They will resume negotiations and diplomacy with us or else they will be made to face the consequences." Just then a phone rang and the Minister of Foreign Affairs picked it up, answering it in the waiting room. When he returned, he returned with a determined look on his face.

"Sir."

"Yes?"

"Our ambassador has been expelled."
Layarteb
30-07-2007, 02:21
"Mr. President. It has been a rough couple of days." The Emperor began. "I saw your broadcast and I must admit. I am disappointed."

"It is only the truth."

"To suggest that a Layartebian agent assassinated your predecessor, that we bombed your airport with a cruise missile. It is preposterous. I never authorized such acts and they would not have happened without my authorization. Mr. President, may I be frank? Are these statements of your own will or are you being coerced into saying them?"

"There is no coercion here. I am stating hard facts. That man is a man I saw in your own castle the day I came to meet you."

"Your entourage snapped a photograph of a man in my castle and passed it to you to try to convince you that we were behind the assassination of President Fraga. I'm afraid to disappoint you but the Empire is not the business of determining the policy of sovereign nations. The truth is either a Venezuelan assassinated him or someone of your own liking did it. No Layartebian agent did and none are within your territory."

"Then what about the bugging?"

"Perhaps your generals? Not the Empire."

"Mr. Emperor you have lied to me too much since I assumed the presidency and this ends it."

"Mr. President it would be wise of you to heed my final offer. If the Empire is not allowed to move against the Venezuelans in your nation and if you do not resume diplomatic relations with us we will be forced to do things that we see fit as necessary. The deadline is June 9, 04:00 hours, GMT. That is midnight your time. I am serious about this matter. The only way to postpone this is to resume these conditions. Think about it Mr. President." The Emperor hung up the phone, furious at the continued tone of President Santoro. It was true, everything he said but the Emperor wouldn't admit that to anyone. It was June 7 and unless President Santoro agreed to Layartebian involvement, refuted the June 6th claims, and returned to diplomatic relations with the Empire, the war would begin. President Santoro knew the Emperor was serious and he declared martial law in his country within an hour of the phone conversation. The military was sent to reinforce the border and a state of war was imminent between the two states. While he did that, he sought international assistance but hopes seemed dull. Anarchy reigned throughout most of Brazil and those groups willing to help were almost as bad, if not worse, than the Layartebians. Many were anarchist-terrorist groups, others were drug cartels. President Santoro had little choice but to invite their mercenary help for the Empire would be coming.
Layarteb
30-07-2007, 02:58
The deadline was just four hours away and President Santoro and most of the leaders of the Federal Republic of the Amazon had moved to various underground bunkers underneath Manaus. Most of them were buried deep underneath the sewers and subway lines, deep enough that bunker-busting bombs would have trouble striking them. They were left over from the Neuvo Rican Empire. From there, they could control the entire military effort against the Layartebian military, which was still waiting for the "GO" code, which was labeled as "BENJAMIN." Layartebian units stayed quiet along the border and aircraft maintained their patrols inside of the border. On more than one occasion, they had flown in a large group towards the border, simulating an attack, only to turn back at last minute, an obvious scare tactic. The Amazonians were scared. Civilians had gone underground as well and throughout June 8, the city of Manaus resembled a ghost town more than a bustling capital. Soldiers patrolled the streets and anti-aircraft guns and missiles had been brought into the capital and set up to make their final stand.

President Santoro addressed his people one last time on June 8, six hours before the deadline. He encouraged everyone to seek shelter and protect themselves, their families, and their country. He wished for God's help and told them that He would protect them. Few people believed that fervently in God in the tiny republic but most of them said their prayers as the deadline ticked away. Midnight, June 9, that was the deadline and four hours to go, the Emperor placed one last call to President Santoro, although it was answered but not by him. He pleaded for the conditions in the ultimatum but the President would hear none of it. They were going to war to protect their sovereignty, even if they stood little to no chance.
Cotland
30-07-2007, 12:48
August 1st passed without incident, thanks in no small part to the thousands of police officers and soldiers out in the streets, keeping the peace and making sure it was safe for the more than 2.8 million citizens who cast their votes between 10 AM and 8 PM on August 1st, which was when the polling stations were open. International observers from among others Layarteb and Rome would comment positively on the election, where there had been no cheating or other foul play.

The ballot boxes were sealed and taken to a secure location under heavy police escort, where election officials counted the votes, reporting in to the central election committe in Belém every thirty minutes with updates, which went to the national and international medias almost immediately, giving a continuous update on how the election went. The updates continued through the night, with people watching the updates on TV or listening to them on the radio.

The final result wasn’t in until 11:30 AM on August 2nd, when all 2,815,362 votes in the 159 voting districts had been counted, registered, and recounted to ensure that no one had made any mistakes. In each district, the winners were announced and officially invited to participate in the Brazilian Parliament in Belém by the Interim Ruling Council. All winners accepted the invitation, and then started the celebrations of their victories while the rest of the protectorate returned to normal, pleased with having taken a massive step towards normality.

The Brazilian Parliament would convene on Monday August 20th when it would be officially opened and attended by His Majesty the King of Cotland, who now had been given the title Protector of Brazil by the Interim Ruling Council. One of the first orders of the day for the Brazilian Parliament would be to ratify the decision of the Interim Ruling Council and endorse the Cottish precense in Brazil, something which was considered a formality considering that each and every one of the one hundred and fifty-nine Members of Parliament owed their position to the Cottish; to acknowledge the King's position as the Head of State and Protector of the Brazilian Protectorate; and to choose a new Ruling Council and a Presidency of the Parliament.
Cotland
30-07-2007, 13:28
Forte de Castelo, Belém, Pará
August 9th, 2007

The engineers had been busy conducting emergency repairs to the fortress that had protected Belém for almost four hundred years, but they were finally finished with the emergency renovation. The fortress would serve as the military headquarters for the Cottish forces in Brazil, and thus needed to be state of the art again. This was easier said than done, but the engineers had worked miracles before, and this time was no exception. Forte de Castelo was now ready to accept the Cottish military. The barracks had been upgraded and could now house eight hundred soldiers, comfortably, the cells in the fortress basements were ready to accept prisoners, the bunkers underneath the fortress that the Nuevo Ricans had constructed and used were linked up to the rest of the Cottish military, a small antenna park had been established in a corner, and a helipad was erected. Additionally, the Cottish had retired most of the old Nuevo Rican guns, replacing the old 105mm and 155mm cannons with new M71A1 lightweight 155mm howitzers, while they kept the old M115 203mm howitzers – you never know when you need some serious firepower.

Colonel General Daniel Wilborn knew all this from his briefings in Oslo, but to see it for himself was a very impressive sight indeed. All this done in just under three months. The engineers had been extremely busy, but they had used the local labor pool to aid them, rewarding the locals generously for their hard work and dedication. Wilborn shook his head at the thought. The floorplan of the fortress and its capabilities was secret, but thousands of locals already knew the floorplans and could take an educated guess to its capabilities because they had helped construct it. Who was the genious who thought of that?

”Alt i orden herr generaloberst?” [Is everything okay, Colonel General?]

Wilborn looked up at his aide de camp, Colonel Rasmussen, who looked at the general with a puzzled look.

”Jada Petter. Alt er i orden. Jeg bare tenker over hvordan vi skal få denne kommandoen operativ.” [Yes Petter, everything’s fine. I’m just wondering how we’re going to get this command operational.] Wilborn lied before he actually started thinking of that problem. He had to arrange for getting over four hundred thousand men and women and their equipment from their various bases elsewhere in the Realm down here to Brazil as quickly as possible, as well as integrate the territorial defense force into the Cottish military and the various plans the geniuses in Oslo had figured out.

Colonel General Wilborn was the officer commanding the newly formed command named Cottish Forces Brazil, whos purpose it was to defend this new part of the Realm from internal troubles and foreign aggression, hereunder the new Russian neighbor to the east. For this purpose, Wilborn had at his disposal two Infantry Corps, one Independent Cavalry Corps and various support elements from the Royal Cottish Army, two Amphibious Divisions from the Royal Marines, a little over a thousand two hundred aircraft (of which 524 fighters) and twenty-eight air defense regiments from the Air Force, and a number of warships from the Navy, plus the 84,000 strong Royal Brazilian Defense Force. All in all, just over half a million men and women, defending a territory 1,395,980.5 square kilometers large with a population of five and a half million citizens. It would have to be enough, Wilborn who had commanded a Corps in Siberia prior to this assignment thought as he wandered the fortress grounds. All his forces would hopefully be in place by early december, giving them three weeks to train before the command was to be officially declared operational. At least they all would have state of the art equipment and training, Wilborn thought. All Cottish forces were currently transitioning to Doomani-made weaponry, replacing almost all the old weapons they had used. The RBDF and RBPF would also get to enjoy the new equipment, with a cargo vessel currently underway from Murmansk with its hold filled with brand new DR-89 Assault Rifles, designated L135A1 Assault Rifle by the Cottish, and TDX .40DDI sidearms, designated L129A1 TDX, to replace the old Colt M1911s and M4A1 carbines. It would be a significant boost in fighting capabilities for the Brazilians. Wilborn just hoped they wouldn’t turn their new weapons against the Cottish.

[OOC: Bored...]
Layarteb
30-07-2007, 19:53
Midnight came; midnight went. The Emperor sat in the joint command bunker and looked around at the various maps, television displays, people bustling all around, and the other papers all around. He looked at his watch and looked at the clocks on the wall. They all said the same thing, the deadline had expired. On the front, soldiers looked at their watches just the same. The deadline was over, it had come and it had gone. "Alright. We launch in fifteen if there is no word." The Emperor would give a final fifteen minutes, just to be safe. Silence filled the bunker for those fifteen minutes and when it was over, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Military came up to him and pulled him aside. "We're well past the deadline,"

"Yes sir we are. If we launch now the first weapons won't hit for another forty-five minutes. We'll be hitting at 01:00 hours, GMT, one hour past the deadline."

"That's fine. Commence the operation. Remember, the Presidential Building is not a target."

"You really think Santoro is there?"

"No but it isn't a target."

"Understood sir." The codeword, "BENJAMIN," trickled through the ranks and through the air waves. The first aircraft to be over their targets would be F-19C Ghostriders, carrying two thousand pound JDAM II bombs. They would arrive just before 01:00 hours and their bombs would hit shortly thereafter. The first missiles would be AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles carrying BLU-116 and BLU-126 penetrating warheads. They would be aimed at hardened shelters at the airfields and also military command posts. AARGM missiles would be used against radar sites and air defense sites. Due to the presence of advanced fighters, the first aircraft in would all be the stealthiest in the ILAF. They would include the B-4 Magnum, B-9 Sphinx, F-19 Ghostrider, F-24 Knightowl, and F-41 Defender. Other aircraft would follow. B-7s were considering overkill for this campaign and they weren't tasked with missions, the first such occurrence since they entered service in the early 1990s. The B-11 Zeus, however, had a role as it was brand new. It would need combat testing before the military went through with a plan to purchase 48 more aircraft. Twelve already existed in the arsenal.
Layarteb
31-07-2007, 05:19
Everyone hung silent as the missiles streaked across Amazonian airspace, undetected. The Air Force opted not to use the powerful Imsdal missile yet but stick with older stocks of AGM-129C and AGM-129D ACM missiles and AGM-86D and AGM-86E CALCM missiles. Launched from B-9s carrying 20 missiles each, 320 of the stealthy cruise missiles moved over Amazonian airspace at speeds of between Mach 0.8+ towards their targets. They stayed subsonic to maximize their stealth, not that they were detected by the Amazonian radars. Advanced fourth and fifth generation fighters protected their airspace as Layartebian sixth generation F-24 Knightowls and six and a half generation F-41 Defenders readied for battle. F-24s were primarily escorts for the F-19 Ghostrider, which was the main bomber for this campaign due to their small size, agility, range, and weapons carriagability. They could carry up to 10,100 pounds of ordinance internally, double what the F-117 Nighthawk, which they replaced, could carry. The F-19 may have been a supersonic ground attacker but they wouldn't move past the speed of sound to keep them stealthy. The same went for both the F-24 and the F-41, unless they had to in order to engage the enemy.

As the air armada of over 200 F-19s, 200 F-24s, 200 F-41s, and 100 F-39s moved over the border, they began to begin their target acquisition. F-24s, F-41s, and F-39s were tasked with dogfighting while the F-19s concentrated on ground attack. They would carry bombs or missiles, depending on their targets. The cruise missiles would strike at command and control, communications, and strategic targets and they would hit on or around the same time. Shortly after they hit, the F-19s would drop their payloads. The first wave was small, considering but it aimed at knocking out roughly 25% of the Amazonian military with a single blow. The second wave would come in with B-9s, B-4s, more F-19s, F-22s, F-26s, and F-50s. All of them would come in at high subosnic speed and make their runs before the sun began to rise in the eastern sky. They estimated that, by the time the sun rose, the Amazonian military would be nearly combat ineffective. They had a significant portion of their aircraft in the skies but they would be no match for the massive aerial armada that was coming to attack.

Minutes ticked away like hours as the displays in the command bunker showed where every aircraft and missile were. The Emperor sat back in his chair and watched, "Why must people do things the hard way." He said to himself as he watched some of the dots disappear. He looked at his watch, it was 01:00 hours, GMT.

The first missiles to hit struck Manaus International Airport and the main military airfield just a few miles away. They slammed down into hardened aircraft shelters, the control towers, and command and control bunkers. Each one that hit struck with such force that the ground shook each time one of them hit something. The explosions came next, shattering glass over a mile away. Fireballs lit up the sky and rose towards the heavens, entwined with black smoke that could be seen, even in the dead of night. Inside their bunker, the leaders of the country tallied up their losses and organized their battle plans, which was until the next section of missiles struck. The bulk of the missiles hit between 01:02 and 01:08 hours, a five minute window that saw 180 of the missiles hit the main powerplants, two out of three main bridges, the central military HQ, the defense headquarters, and dozens of other communications sites around the country. Suddenly half of their communications network went silent and most of the power was cut off for Manaus and the surrounding region. Generators were their only hope now as more missiles struck. By 01:12 hours, all 320 missiles had struck and taken out an astonishing 95% of their targets. The sixteen missiles were all determined to be guidance failures or fusing failures. Thus far, the Amazonians had yet to open up their anti-aircraft artillery. They were now blind though as the F-19C Ghostriders, carrying AGM-88F AARGM, JDAM II, or AGM-222 Longhorn missiles opened up their own arsenals. The AARGMs were targetted against emitting and non-emitting radars. They were geared to hunt radars, whether they were on or off and if they switched off there was a slight decrease in accuracy but their MMW radars picked up the slack. Longhorn missiles, really improved Mavericks, were targetted against structures and aircraft, which happened to be caught on the ground. They were also targetted against radars. The JDAM II bombs, which were the most carried, were dropped on further command sites and communications sites. The target list was large and as the F-19s unleashed their ordinance, they did so without worry. Most of them flew over 40,000 feet and those that didn't moved too fast to be targetted by a radarless air defense network.

In the skies, Amazonian pilots reacted to the flashes of missile fire but couldn't get targets. They were astonished but were even more worried when suddenly, their RWRs lit up, letting them know they were being engaged, not by a fighter but by a missile. The Amazonian Air Force had 15 F-15C Eagles, 6 EF-111N Aardvarks, 4 AC-130U Spookys, 16 F-15E Strike Eagles, 8 A-10N Thunderbolt IIs, 24 AH-1W Super Cobras, 16 MH-60N Black Hawks, 8 UH-96A Panthers, 12 MH-6J Little Birds, 2 KC-10A Extenders, and 8 C-130H Hercules' when they went to war although they augmented that with an additional 48 F-22A Raptors, 80 F-15C Eagles, and at least 24 more A-10N Thunderbolt IIs. In the skies over their territory were 15 F-15C Eagles, 24 F-22A Raptors, 2 EF-111N Aardvarks, and a pair of C-130H Hercules'. The effects on them were devestating.

The F-24s and F-39s had launched their missiles from long-range, using AIM-221A LRAAAM and AIM-202A Dodsengel missiles at ranges in excess of 40 miles. They homed in on their targets using a datalink until they were within terminal range, which was under 10 miles. By then, it was too late. The missiles turned on their own sensors and lit up the enemy fighters. On some of the AIM-202s, they used their IIR guidance, meaning they made no warning that they were coming. Others used their radar guidance. It all depended on what was better. The two EF-111s were the easiest targets. They flew predictable jamming patrols near the border and both of them were downed first with AIM-221A LRAAAMs using home-on-jam guidance. They smashed into the aircraft and lit up the sky. Dozens upon dozens of missiles were launched at the enemy fighters and they barely got any off except a few blind shots that went errant and totally missed. The hardest targets were the F-22A Raptors, which were advanced fifth generation fighters. They tore through the sky at high-altitude and with a very low radar signature. They were detected eventually but they were close to the F-39s or F-41s or F-24s when they were but not too close. By 01:25 hours, the entire first wave was over and egressing from enemy territory. The F-19s had an astonishing 96% success rate, which, when combined with the 95% of the cruise missiles averaged out to 95.5% success rate on the ground-attack campaign. There were two aborts from the F-19s due to mechanical malfunction but none were left over enemy airspace. All 43 Amazonian aircraft were put down by missiles exclusively used from BVR ranges. With the next wave scheduled to strike at 03:45 hours, GMT, the Amazonians would have some time to coordinate more resistance and do damage assessments. Satellites would do that for the Layartebians and downloaded at real-time but the astonishing success of the first wave was something that nobody expected, despite the obvious technological advantage.

Now came the rest of the battle...
Layarteb
01-08-2007, 03:04
Throughout the entirety of the Federal Republic of the Amazon, fires burned. Military targets had been struck with precision and with force and as the sun was not yet up and the second wave not yet upon the territory, there was far more than could come. The Emperor hoped that in that time between the first and the second waves, that President Santoro surrended. There didn't have to be more bloodshed but, unless they surrendered, there would be more bloodshed. Flames licked the sky at over 300 locations around the Federal Republic. Manaus International Airport was nearly out of commission. Airfields and army bases burned as well. Cruise missiles and bombs had torn into the enemy hard and deep. Positions along either side of the border held fast so far as the hour for the second wave approached.

Shortly before 03:45 hours, GMT, the second wave was unleashed, the most powerful wave of attack that the Amazonians could ever imagine. On the ground, behind the front lines, M2014A2 Hail Storm artillery guns unleashed hundreds of 155mm cannon fire, M2013A1 Devestator rocket launchers let off salvos of 12 rockets each, and M2005A2 Boar rocket launchers let off salvos of 30 rockets each. Within just a minute, there were over 252 rockets and 36 155mm shells in the air per artillery squadron. There were many of them and within five minutes, the weaponry would strike, with devestating effect. The sky shook and the ground quaked as the missiles and the shells struck their targets all along the border. Outposts, tank emplacements, tunnel systems, and army bases all along the border were struck with terrible precision.

Overhead, things were far different. B-9 Sphinx bombers broke over enemy airspace, escorted by F-24 Knightowls, F-19 Ghostriders, F-26 Typhoons, F-39 Super Eagles, F-41 Defenders, F-46 Enforcers, and A-5 Vigilantes, among many other aircraft. They brought with them a wide variety of ordinance. Enforcers carried with them mostly heavy striking ordinance and targetted the airfields and army bases with guided bombs, cratering bombs, and heavy missiles. The Sphinx's brought more guided bombs, heavier missiles, and even dumb bombs. They were brought down upon the most hardened targets and brought with them enough firepower to level half of the country on their own. Knightowls, Defenders, and Super Eagles kept their eyes on aircraft. They engaged F-15 Eagles and F-16 Falcons that were airborne as well as F-22 Raptors. F-26 Typhoons brought with them more multirole firepower and cruise missiles, attacking hardened targets and communications sites. Even the Vigilantes attacked command and control sites. Then there were the Badgers, B-10 medium bombers that carried hard-strike weapons and guided bombs. The Layartebian Air Force spearheaded the attack as the army did its best to launch their own counter attack, though their armament couldn't compare to what the ILAF brought.

Thus far no army units had crossed the border and none would yet. They would pummel the enemy first, push them to the brink of surrender, and then push them further. A-15 Cobras flew over enemy airspace with their 30mm Gatling guns and Longhorn missiles, targetting vehicles, especially tanks and AAA units. They targetted radars and road intersections, using incendiary and cluster munitions against targets that needed harder firepower than simple missiles could provide. Helicopters even joined in the fight. Anasazi and Stalker attack helicopters joined with Little Birds as they flew strafing and attack runs throughout the border areas, hitting dug-in positions with anti-tank missiles and unguided rockets. Black Hawks moved overhead and dropped in SOF teams well behind enemy lines.

The ground in Manaus shook hard when the bombs began falling again. Inside the command bunkers, President Santoro and the leaders of the military had resolved themselves to the further bombardment of their country. The ground shook more and more as bombs smashed down into the terrain and hit their targets with utter and complete precision. There was one difference now though, the Amazonians were shooting back. Their SLAMRAAM launchers targetted whatever they could see, which were the non-stealthy aircraft and unleashed their fury. Guided by EW aircraft, the strike force moved with precision and with force. They moved deep into enemy territory and jammed their way through, firing their missile and using their bombs to take out whatever targets they could. EW aircraft also carried AARGM missiles and whenever they saw a radar light up their scope, they fired and more radar sites went quiet as the AARGM missiles expoded with enough force to destroy not just the radar but the command units as well. The second wave was not going well for the Amazonians but it would continue until the Layartebians saw fit to end it.

When the sun rose that morning it rose all over the world except for the Federal Republic, where the sky was black with smoke. Fire still climbed as the Amazonians could do nothing to extinguish them. Smoke billowed high as the rubble piled up, higher and higher. Streets were impassable and buildings were shattered and fractured from the shock and blast waves set off by each exploding munition. When the army rolled in, it would roll into a city without streets, buildings, or landmarks. They would roll over rubble only.
Layarteb
12-08-2007, 01:04
The sun came up on a day when night time would have been more comfortable and more desired. The rubble of the Amazonian state was overwhelming and the Empire had yet to unleash its full fury yet. Strikes were surgical, light, and fast. Layartebian aircraft buzzed into and out of Amazonian airspace throughout the wee hours of the morning, firing missiles and dropping bombs. When the sun rose, it rose to a horror story. Bodies lay everywhere. Rubble created new structures. The Amazonian Air Force was out of commission, its runways destroyed and its aircraft inventory cut to a third of what it had been at midnight. Their air defense network had been put out of communication with itself and missile launchers and anti-aircraft guns were taking a beating. Soon few of those would remain. Power throughout the country was cut off as the power stations were put completely out of use by guided bombs and cruise missiles. The Layartebian Air Force already had an ace after just a few hours of fighting. He was an F-24C Knightowl pilot and he had shot down a pair of F-15C Eagles, the first two losses to the Amazonian military, then an F-22 Raptor, all on his first sortie. Rearmed and refueled for a second sortie, he shot down another F-15C Eagle and an another F-22 Raptor just before dawn. Thus far, the Amazonians had only one kill to their favor. During the second wave, an F-26 Typhoon had been shot down by an F-22 Raptor from well beyond visual range. The pilot, though he ejected, was still unrecovered.

As far as the Amazonian Army was concerned, what equipment it did have out in the open and dug-in along the front lines, only half of that was still battle ready. A-15 Cobras and Anasazi gunships had made quick work to them. There, the Amazonians had more success in defense. They managed to severely damage an A-15 Cobra with ground fire and cause it to crash land near the border. The pilot did manage to escape across to friendly lines though. A pair of UH-60M Black Hawks had been shot down while returning from dropping in SOF forces and a UV-24 Bulldog had been shot down using a surface-to-air missile somewhere near the border. Casualties were light for the Layartebians, just the eight in the two Black Hawks and one of the crewmen inside the Bulldog. The other three were presumed to be captured.

The Amazonian military had not done a good job defending against the Layartebian onslaught, nor was it expected that they would. Sitting across berms and other fortifications lining the border between the Empire and the Federal Republic sat a half of a million men, just one of four Army Groups spread out across the Empire of Layarteb. This one, in particular, had just finished fighting the Venezuelans in Venezuela and, with great success, repelled them back across the border. Now they lusted for revenge. Their equipment had been repaired or replaced. Their ammunition had beenr refilled. They had rested. They had trained. They had waited. Now they sat in their vehicles, waiting for the order. Artillery continued to fire from behind their lines. Soldiers would look up in total awe as rockets flew overhead at valiant speeds, smashing down onto enemy positions dozens of miles away. Helicopters tore overhead at rapid speed and low level. Sometimes, the pilots were low enough to wave to the soldiers on the ground, who were almost always cheering. A-15 pilots and other ground attack aircraft did barrel rolls over the troop positions, all keeping morale high, while they waited, waiting being the hardest part.

Daylight brought no relief for the Amazonians. Attack helicopters continued to batter dug-in positions and engage air defense units along the border. They dodged ground fire and dropped flares like no one's business. Above, A-15 Cobras ripped into the same targets, using speed, agility, and altitude to avoid most ground fire. Super Falcons and Typhoons contributed just as well. The Ghostriders and Knightowls weren't flying, they only flew at night. Still, the Layartebian Air Force had plenty of aircraft capable of delivering hell and fury.

Among them was the B-11A Zeus, a massive, strategic bomber purchased from the Candrian Empire. It was larger than anything else in the ILM and it was the least stealthy of all aircraft. It was, in essence, a B-52 Superfortress on steroids. Twelve had been purchased for evaluation and they would make their marks over the Amazonian countryside. Each B-11 could be loaded with 465,175 lb. of ordinance, an impressive amount by any standard. If all went well, the ILAF prepared to put a total of 60 into service. Internally, its three bays could carry 110,892 lb. of ordinance each and its six wing pylons could carry another 11,023 lb. each. For these missions, the Zeus would carry only a fraction of its total load. Flying from Griffis Air Force Base in New York, they mighty bombers would be flying 3,350 miles to Manaus, which was just 600 miles short of their combat range, giving them plenty of fuel to fly to the capital and return. They would be flying with an assortment of loadouts, the first being purely unconventional bombs, a total of 300 of them, giving a combat load of 150,000 pounds, under 1/3 it's total combat load. The bombs would be dropped to test the accuracy of the bomber using unconventional weapons. It had just one target, a massive cave complex used by the Venezuelan rebels.

The single B-11 was flown over the Atlantic and over Venezuela, alone. When it neared enemy airspace, it was immediately escorted by six fighter jets, all of them capable and potent F-50A Cardinal fighters, freshly purchased from the Candrian Empire as well. They would escort the behemoth of a bomber into and out of enemy airspace, at subsonic speeds. The mighty, four-engined beast flew high, at 42,000 feet and at just 480 mph when it broke over enemy airspace just a few hours after dawn. Enemy air activity was limited an a flight of EA-5F Vigilante's armed with AARGM missiles jammed ahead of the bomber, just in case. Roaring overhead, the bomber turned to its IP waypoint. The bombing run had begun. High in the air, the crew flipped switches, turned dials, and set the targetting computer. The bomber would, in essence, fly on its own and could drop the bombs on its own. This was just one of many modes that could enable pinpoint accuracy with otherwise inaccurate bombs. The Mark-82 Slick iron bombs had been used since the 1950s and had been modified and honed over the years. In their current configuration, they were more accurate at 42,000 feet than the original versions were at 5,000 feet. At a proper distance from the target, the massive doors of the three bomb-bays opened up and the bombs were all, instantly, and electronically armed. Final course corrections were made by the autopilot and a message flashed across the HUD: "WEAPON RELEASE...10...9...8" the countdown had begun. When it reached 0, the massive bomber shook to action. The computer computed the necessary release timing and separation and soon the bombs were falling from the behemoth of a bomber. Pilots inside the F-50s couldn't help but watch in awe. One videoed it while another took still shots from his digital camera.

It was a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s, when B-52 bombers dropped as many as 108 or 51 500 lb. or 66 or 51 750 lb. bombs on targets from altitudes in excess of 30,000 feet with amazing accuracy, for its day. Their bombs would shake the ground so hard the Venezuelans equated them to an earthquake. The concussion was powerful enough to suck the air out of someone nearly a mile away and they destroyed whole targets with a single bomber and a single pass. Never before though had a bomber in the ILAF dropped 300 bombs in one clip. The last bomb had fallen before the first ever hit and the massive bomber, a speck in the sky from the ground, shut its bomb doors. Moments later, the earthquake resumed. All of its bombs fell neatly on their computed impact points, missing by only a few feet here and there. It was seemingly overkill for the mighty bomber as it came off its target, unharmed or opposed by surface-to-air or air-to-air defenses. The jamming and the escort was successful. The bombing run was even more successful. All 300 bombs detonated on their targets, destroying the entire cave complex, one of the biggest that the Venezuelans used. With the complex went at least 1/4 of their stored munitions, most of their HQ staff, and a sizeable portion of their fighting force. Intelligence had delivered the target and the ILAF pummelled it into oblivion with just 1 aircraft operating at 1/3 of its total potential!
Cotland
12-08-2007, 15:18
150 km west of Belém, Pará
14:25 Lima, August 12, 2007

The recently arrived combat engineers from the Royal Cottish Army's 109. Motorised Infantry Division's Combat Engineer Battalion, attached to the 30. Infantry Corps, were undertaking their first patrol in the town of since their battalion had been deployed to the Brazilian Protectorate and garisonned in the newly erected encampment here in the middle of nowhere. The engineers were for the most part conscripts who had been trained in the arts of demolition, construction, bridging and mine warfare as well as marksmanship and infantry tactics. The combat engineers were supposed to be in the front line, fighting alongside the infantry and clearing the path for them to proceed in and kill the enemy. Here, on the other hand, they had been told that they would mostly be used to help clear a path for the planned development of infrastructure, such as railroads and highways. First, however, they had to establish a presence in the area and make friends with the locals. As such, the Combat Engineer Battalion's commanding officer, a Lieutenant Colonel with seventeen years in the Army behind him, mostly in the up to recently Cottish Egypt where the Army had to be employed on numerous occations to keep the peace because the locals didn't particularly like the Cottish rule there. Anyone who had served in Egypt had been marked in some way or another, and the Lieutenant Colonel was no exception. Unfortunately, his reaction to this had been ruthlessness. Even more unfortunate, he failed to distinguish between the Egyptians and the Brazilians, and he also failed to understand the explicit orders to "win the hearts and minds of the locals without the use of force."

This was shown in the orders to move out in full combat gear and to shoot first and skip the asking questions part. Of course the orders were questioned, but unfortunately the Lieutenant Colonel was in the possession of a rather elaborate arsenal of curses and profanity, and anyone who questioned the orders were given a berating that not even the most tough-skinned person wanted to have directed at him again. With five officers and twenty-ish enlisted being berated as such by the Lieutenant Colonel, they complied with the orders. So, the patrol of four M74A2 CMPLVs and twenty-six soldiers dressed in full battlegear and locked and loaded weapons rolled out of the compound - in reality not much more than a lot of tents and vehicles surrounded by barbed wire, a minefield and patrolling guards - and down towards the small town of five hundred. The patrol had been informed by the Lieutenant Colonel that the town could be crawling with enemies who wanted nothing more than to see the Cottish dead, and that they had the means to do so rather easily too. Why? Because that was how it had been in Egypt, the Lieutenant Colonel said, so then it had to be like that here too!

So, the four gunners in the vehicles were pretty nervous, their fingers on the heavy machine guns that were mounted on the roofs of the vehicles, glancing from side to side with nervous looks at the curious villagers, who stopped doing whatever it was that they were doing and looked at the patrol as it slowed down for just long enough for the eighteen dismounts - two nine-man squads - to get out and patrol dismounted. They were even more nervous, having to be exposed like this, so they were clutching their weapons and nervously looking from side to side, searching for threats.

The villagers were curious about the Cottish soldiers, and were lined up along the route to watch them, wondering why they were acting so strangely, as if they were going to get shot at any second. Did the soldiers know something they didn't? Were there someone with a gun or malevolent intents here in the village? That got the villagers worried, and only added to the tensions in the town, with nervous discussions taking place within eyesight of the Cottish soldiers. Naturally they didn't want to hurt the Cottish soldiers. In fact, they welcomed them as they had stopped the violence and anarchy that had reigned just three months earlier. Still, the worry that was rising was sufficient to make a few men decide to ask the soldiers directly about what was going on.

The second the two men stepped out towards the Cottish soldiers, the men reacted by training their weapons at them, shouting for them to stop right where they were or they'd be shot. Unfortunately, it was too much for one of the nineteen year old conscripts to handle. What happened for the next few seconds would be historic and cast a dark shadow over the Cottish committment in Brazil.

The patrol had been told by the Lieutenant Colonel, who had conducted the briefing prior to the departure, to expect IEDs, sniper attacks and suicide bombers during their patrol, because that was how it had been in Egypt. The two men stepping defiantly towards the Cottish patrol had been interpented as suicide bombers by the conscript, who had reacted in the proper and approved way of handling such threats: He had started shooting like there was no tommorrow with his L130A1 Tactical Rifle, gunning down both men immediately. The rest of the patrol - most of them were conscripts with no combat experience - thought they were under attack when someone started shooting, and reacted by firing blindly into the crowd, using their full arsenal. 6.7x53mm and 12.7x99mm projectiles cleared from the Cottish gunbarrels and preformed their deadly jobs, mostly connecting to the unarmed civilian villagers, causing horrific wounds, killing and maiming the unlucky souls in their paths.

It took four seconds before the 2nd Lieutenant leading the patrol understood what had happened and started shouting out for the soldiers to cease fire, and another six before the last soldier ceased fire, but by then it was too late. Sixty-nine people lay in a heap in front of the patrol in a bloody heap, most of them dead and the rest not that far behind. The rest of the villagers had fled the scene, running for their lives when the Cottish started shooting.

The soldiers were shocked at the results of their actions, watching the mass of dead and dying people with disbelief as the 2nd Lieutenant, two Sergeants and the medic checked the mass for people, delivering merciful coup-de-graces to the dying to ease their suffering. Meanwhile, another Sergeant was shouting at the soldiers, wanting to know which of the soldiers had started shooting. It didn't take long to find the one who had started shooting, and after he was disarmed two of the Sergeants berated him rather loudly and rather strongly while the 2nd Lieutenant radioed in the situation and requested immediate reinforcements and support. They had to contain this situation somehow, but how?

As the word trickled up the chain of command to the Division and Corps commander, the villagers returned to the streets, shocked, appalled and angered with the Cottish actions, shouting and screaming at the soldiers who held them at bay at gunpoint, away from their dead family, friends and fellow villagers. Pictures were being taken by the villagers, documenting to the world what the Cottish Army wanted to keep silent.

It wasn't longer than four hours since the massacre, about the same time when the Division Commander arrived to see the scene for himself while an infantry battalion from one of the Division's two infantry brigades and a company of the 676. Military Police Brigade arrived at the town to secure it and keep the peace while the MPs investigated, that the strong images started arriving in various news agencies, both within Brazil and Cotland as well as aboard. It was becoming a Public Relations nightmare for the Cottish Army.

The initial reaction throughout the Brazilian Protectorate was shock and disbelief, followed immediately by outrage and anger. Spontaneous demonstration and protests were taking place all over the Brazilian Protectorate, Members of Parliament went public and denounced the shooting of the innocents and demanded an inquiry while at the same time urging the public to remain calm, and various dissident groups that had remained in the dark, plotting and conspiring against the Cottish ever since they came and stopped the anarchy that the groups and individuals had profitted so greatly from decided it was time to start returning things to what they saw as "the good old days."

[OOC: So far, all that's been made public is six poor-quality pictures of dead people lying in a heap with heavily armed Cottish soldiers standing over the bodies. With that said, reactions are appreciated.]
Layarteb
12-08-2007, 16:45
The Zeus strike had just been the first of a planned twelve sorties using the mammoth bomber. The bomber could hold a maximum amount of 660 Mark-82 bombs and space could allow it to hold much, much, much more. If the bomber chose to carry Mark 84 bombs, it could carry 162 of them. These were simply internal figures. Bombing runs over bombing ranges had B-11s dropping maximum payloads with overwhelming success. A second strike would be simply a cruise missile strike. The Zeus' three bays were giant, 32.80 feet long, 23 feet high, and 18.37 feet wide. That gave it enough room to house a rotary launcher in each of its three bays. Due to the length of the Advanced Cruise Missile, only a single rotary launcher could be stored. This was the Advanced Strategic Rotary Launcher but they could mount two Advanced Tactical Rotary Launchers in each bay. For the second sortie they would be carrying three ASRLs, each loaded with six AGM-129C ACMs and two AGM-129D ACMs. It would launch the missiles from ranges of between 400 and 800 miles from their targets, well within their engagement envelopes.

Overhead, B-10 Badgers and EB-10 Badgers fought hard against the Amazonians, using their medium capacity and high speed to dash into and out of enemy airspace, while delivering powerful payloads. When their weapons landed, they hit their targets with pure precision. Guided bombs and unguided bombs alike tore into the Amazonian military. Noon came and went and the fires continued to burn. Smoke rose high overhead and covered the horizon in darkness, despite the sunlight overhead. Most of the Amazonian military was beaten hard, real hard. The army was their last leg of defense and it remained dug-in and entrenched all around the border. Soon, the sun would go down and the bombing would increase as the ILAF used the dead of night to hide its stealth fighters and bombers.
Layarteb
12-08-2007, 23:05
June 9 came to a close after the longest day in Amazonian history. Well over 1,200 aircraft had flown into and out of Amazonian airspace from the Empire and all but seven of them had come back. One F-26A Typhoon had been downed early on, its pilot captured, the first shoot down by the Amazonian Air Force. It was also the only one. Two UH-60M Black Hawks had been shot down early on as well, killing all eight aboard them. A UV-24 Bulldog had been shot down as well, and one of its crew had been killed, the other three captured. Then there was a downed A-15A Cobra, its pilot escaping to safety across the Layartebian border. That was all before noon, five downings. Two more occurred later in the day. One was an F-16G Super Falcon, shot down by a SAM south of Manaus. The pilot was presumed dead. The other aircraft was one of the newer ones in the Layartebian inventory. It was an F-46C Enforcer and for all intents and purposes, it appeared that it had been downed more by some sort of mechanical failure rather than enemy action. Both pilots were now deep behind enemy lines and they needed to be rescued. They crashed just before the sun went down and had been running for hours, northwest, towards the border, to a predetermined extraction point, just over 200 miles into enemy territory. Their story would be one of great heroism and great peril.

"Alright, we're off the target. Commencing egress," CPT. Chris "Bowzer" Renard said as he pulled the stick back hard. He and his WSO, 1LT. James "Aces High" Clerk were both flying a lone F-46C Enforcer, attached to a much larger strike group. Their whole group consisted of six aircraft, theirs being the lead strike element. There were three F-47A Horus escort air dominance fighters escorting them in and a pair of F-35A Raven multirole fighters with them. The target was a large bridge just south of Manaus and they hit the target hard. The two Ravens had gone in ahead with the Horus escorts and engaged various air defense targets, including three active guns and a pair of mobile air defense units, using guided bombs and anti-tank missiles. They carried, on their Enforcer, a medium weapons load consisting of three AGM-205A AMESM missiles on its fuselage, four GBU-52 JDAM IIs, two AIM-221A LRAAAM missiles, and two AIM-204A Escape missiles. The AMESM missiles made the initial strikes. They were used against the two bridge ends and the center span, fired from just over 13 miles away, guided by IIR the whole way. They hit the bridge first, shaking it and destroying the three essential pieces of it. That wasn't it though. The F-46 came overhead next and dropped its four JDAM bombs on portions of the bridge, blasting them to pieces. Now they came off the target and climbed high, to 36,000 feet to escape enemy territory. They had 600 miles to fly to their airbase and enough fuel to fly 750 miles, giving them plenty of room. With 450 miles to the border, they would fly on autopilot for the way, conserving fuel and getting time to rest.

They were 300 miles from the border when, suddenly, an alarm sounded in the cockpit. "What the? Check that..." CPT. Bowzer said as he watched the warning light on his hydraulic indicators. That meant they were almost out of hydraulic fluid, an odd problem to have when they sustained no enemy fire, that they knew of, at least.

"No. We have a problem. It isn't lying. We're low on hydraulic fluid. Real low. Losing it fast too."

"Shit. Alright. Let's get ourselves situated. We can fly straight and level maybe and then eject over friendly territory."

"Roger that. You want to call it in?"

"Yeah. Fine. Big Mother. Big Mother. This is Echo 1-1."

"Go ahead Echo 1-1. Big Mother."

"We've got a hydraulic leak here. We're losing fluid fast. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to go but we're trying it."

"Roger that. All other systems okay?"

"Yes they are. We're currently lined up with the airfield, autopilot on, angels 36. We'll be fine as long as we don't turn."

"Roger that. Did you sustain ground fire?"

"Negative. Negative."

"Roger that. Keep us informed," the station operator on the E-9A AWACS said as he relayed the necessary information throughout command. An AWACS and a MC2A aircraft was on station throughout the war to keep tabs on both the sky and the ground.

They kept the fighter-bomber flying on course and by 250 miles, they were completely out of hydraulic fluid and the aircraft suddenly began to jitter. "Crap. Keep it together baby!" CPT. Bowzer said as he grabbed the stick and disengaged the autopilot. "We got a big problem."

"You're telling me. Flight controls are gone. We're losing altitude too. Not much but my guess is we're having system failures here."

"No duh. Figures. Big Mother. Big Mother. Echo 1-1."

"Report Echo 1-1."

"We're in trouble here. No more hydraulic fluid. We're losing altitude. The aircraft is quickly becoming unflyable."

"Roger that. Will you have to bail?"

"Possibility is growing Big Mother."

"Roger that." The F-46C began to lose more altitude as its nose automatically dipped and began to lose its angle of attack. They couldn't hold the plane up too well. Without hydraulic fluid, the control surfaces wouldn't function properly and at their airspeed, 450 mph, it was increasingly difficult to fight against the aircraft and manually fly it. It was just too much aircraft for manual flight. Soon enough, they were losing altitude at a faster and faster rate.

"Well, looks like we're ejecting. When it gets down to 12,000 feet, we're going."

"Roger that. Unless we get it under control."

"Doesn't look like it."

"Not at all." The plane dove downwards and they attempted to reduce the speed as much as they could without stalling. The goal was to slow the rate of descent as best as they could but they had to be careful about stalling. They made sure that they kept the airspeed above 200 mph but below 240 mph, using their throttle only to slow them down. They couldn't use their brakes, they had no hydraulic fluid nor could they use aerodynamic braking.

As the Enforcer neared 12,000 feet, the pilots gave out their coordinates to the AWACS and, at 12,000 feet, they punched out of the cockpit. When the "EJECT" call echoed inside both of the men kicked their legs tight to the seat and held on tight. The yellow handles on the sides of their seats were pulled up and the ejection sequence began, a sequence that was milliseconds long. Above them, explosive bolts shot the canopy away and launched it up, over the tail of the aircraft, flying safely away, exposing both men to the outside. They were low enough that they didn't need oxygen but they were still wearing their masks, their visors down to protect their eyes. Then the rocket motors underneath the ejection seats fired and an instant 12G acceleration was pushed onto the pilots as the seats fired up and over the aircraft, clear of the tail especially. They fell downward a few thousand feet to 8,000 feet and then the next sequence occurred. Their seats separated from their bodies and a parachute was deployed. Both men now floated down under the safety of canopy and towards the ground below, their oxygen masks still on their helmets, although useless now. They could eject from high altitude and use the oxygen masks until they were below 13,000 feet but once they separated from their seats, the masks ceased to function because there was no longer any oxygen packs to draw from, which were attached to the seats.

They landed about a quarter mile from each other, both of them landing safely. When they touched down, they had to do certain proceedures to make sure that they were safe. Both of them quickly unhinged themselves from their parachutes and gathered them up to be hidden. They would have to make sure that their parachutes weren't found or else someone, especially an enemy, would know that they ejected. They could have been seen but they didn't want to risk it if they weren't. They acted to hide the parachutes quickly and took off some of their gear, which would limit them. Both of them met up with each other moments later, their M105A1 TDPs drawn, 10 rounds loaded in the magazine and another three clips on their body. They also jumped with a tactical knife and they would use it if they needed to, those being a last resort.

"Enjoy the ride?" CPT. Bowzer asked with a smirk.

"Not really. No. Where's the pickup point?"

"Pretty far. About forty miles that way."

"Forty miles! Why so far?"

"Don't know but that's where we have to go. C'mon let's go." They took off running towards the location, using a portable GPS device, which could get them within a few feet of the intended location. It was going to be far but they had to get there as quickly as they could. They radioed in to command that they were safe and, not using any names or obvious language, they informed command that they were okay, on their way to the extraction point, and were thus far unattacked. Little did they know that they had been seen...
Layarteb
18-08-2007, 01:27
The two pilots were on the ground for an hour before they realized that they were being tracked. Someone had seen them go down and while they were hauling ass to the rendezvous point, forty miles away. In the background, they could hear them, tanks and other assortments of armor. Tanks were loud and echoed in the serene jungle of the Amazonian countryside. They were far enough away from where they landed that they couldn't see it anymore but they were in a thick canopy and it was dark. The pilots stopped to rest when the echo of tracks filled the air around them. "Hear that?"

"Yeah. What is it? Sounds like a tank or something?"

"You bet it probably is." They turned around and kept running while they contacted command. When they informed command that they were being tracked and that someone was after them, command acknowledged but couldn't move the pick up point any closer to them. Extraction could only be by an MH-60G Pave Hawk and its limited range meant that they could only go so far. There weren't any Bulldogs on the tasking order for extraction, so they would have to make due with what they were given, after all they were air force pilots, this was just part of their job, escape and evasion. The air force would send in a flight of F-16G Super Falcons to cover the flight of Pave Hawks and their Anasazi escorts. Little did they know that a whole platoon of special forces soldiers were tracking them. Though they were on their way to the front lines, the SOG group had seen the aircraft go down and vectored in to capture the pilots. They massed one hundred and twenty men, ten units, all heading towards the front lines with several Challenger II MBTs and Warrior IFVs. They could easily catch up to the pilots although they were very limited to where they could go with the armor. For the most part they would have to chase them down on foot.

The operation continued elsewhere as the Layartebian military pounded and pummeled the Amazonians in advance of the invasion, which was scheduled for 00:30 hours, June 11. It was getting closer by the hour. It wasn't quite June 10 yet but that was getting closer. The pilots had crashed late on June 9 and they were still running after midnight on June 10. With twenty-four hours to go before the invasion, the Layartebian Army did their final preparations. They had taken some return fire in the midst of their massive shelling but nothing too serious. When dawn reared its ugly head it would be unlike anything they experienced in a long while as the Amazonians moved artillery pieces into secluded positions underneath the canopy throughout the night. Their AS-90 155mm howitzers would send dozens upon dozens of shells heading towards well mapped out Layartebian positions, which sat static, waiting for the invasion order.
Layarteb
24-08-2007, 02:30
"GET UP! GET UP! WE'RE BEING FUCKING SHELLED YOU IDIOTS! GET UP NOW!" SGT. Davis yelled at his squad of men as they slept in their foxholes. The first rounds that hit, hit without precision but still knocked out a pair of Dingo APVs. The Brazilians had begun to shell the Layartebian positions and their 155mm shots were deadly. Dozens of rounds landed, seemingly, at once and from far away. They couldn't hear the shots in the distance. SGT. Davis and his squad of men were sleeping near their M2032A1B Sabertooth MBT when the shots began to land. "UNDERNEATH!" He yelled as he grabbed the backpack radio set and dove underneath the vehicle. It wasn't a moment too soon as a round landed just a few dozen yards from him. Underneath the tank, he was safe but if he was still standing where he was, he would have been killed. "LIMA SIX! LIMA SIX!" He shouted into the radio. "LIMA SIX! THIS IS NEBRASKA. GODDAMNIT LIMA SIX ANSWER!"

"Go ahead Nebraska. This is Lima 6."

"We're being fucking shelled down here. We need some fast movers and we need them now! Location unknown, multiple guns hitting us, accurately. Hurry the fuck up!"

"Roger that Nebraska!" Miles away, a pair of A-15A Cobras were on their way to take out a small military checkpoint. They were loaded mostly with old and retired AGM-65G Maverick missiles. Despite that they were retired, the ILM had tens of thousands of them remaining and planned to use them where necessary. They had eleven pylons and on those pylons were four AGM-65G Mavericks, four CBU-103 CEMs, four AIM-204A Escapes, and two GBU-45A Paveway V bombs. Both of them were coming in from 15,000 feet, above ground missiles, and used their radars to track the artillery guns, based on possible coordinates relayed to them from the ground.

When they came on scene they found that they needed a lot more than just two aircraft. The Brazilians had put over two dozen artillery guns in a two mile area and loaded it with mobile SAMs and AAA guns. They locked onto the artillery pieces first and used their IR sensors to send their Mavericks towards the targets, which exploded in a fury of smoke and fire. Missiles streaked up at them, some from shoulder launchers and some from mobile launchers. With their jammers on, the pilots performed erratic maneuvers, dropping flares and chaff bundles behind them as they banked away from the SAMs, calling in more support. Their cluster bombs were used next, effectively as well, although the spacing on the guns was enough that a single bomb only got a single gun. By the time they were dropping their laser guided bombs, now from altitudes over 20,000 feet, the ILA had arrived.

A four-ship formation of AH-99A Anasazi attacker helicopters helped save the day. They fired powerful and plentiful AGM-230 Harbinger missiles at their targets and blew them up in rapid succession. They too dropped flares and ran their jammers, targetting air defense systems as well. On the lines, Layartebian artillery units shifted fire on the coordinates given and the M2014A2 Hell Storm guns put multiple rounds in the air before the first ones ever hit. Firing at rates of 10 rpm, the M2014A2s dropped round after round on their targets and after just twenty minutes, the shell ceased. The enemy had been defeated but at the price of ten Layartebian soldiers and at least a dozen vehicles, including one M2032A1A.
Layarteb
26-08-2007, 04:51
It was June 11, H-hour. Layartebian armored units and artillery suddenly shifted forward, over the berms that had been built to keep them safe from the enemy until the time came to launch the invasion. Artillery had pounded enemy positions for hours in advance of the assault and helicopters had done their last bit of striking. Aircraft also bombarded enemy positions with incendiary and cluster munitions. Now the time came to bring the fight to the enemy on the ground. Layartebian Sabertooth tanks would lead the way followed by Arrow APVs, Shark IFVs, Spider tanks, and Cobras. They lead the way for the Layartebians, night vision and thermal sights providing them with eyes in the thick, black night. The 500,000 Layartebian soldiers would cross the border within just eighteen hours. Layartebian forces had been all around the western hemisphere since the 1960s and now, in the 2000s, they continued, except, this time it was different.

Thousands of tons of Layartebian armor were over the border without a shot fired. Bombardments had been quite effective and they found this out immediately. Burned out hulks of tanks remained lying in their dug-in positions with charred remains of soldiers all over them. Initial positions that the Amazonians had were all devestated by Layartebian aerial and artillery bombardment. They had fallen back but nobody knew where yet. Reconnaissance showed some positions but they were too scattered around. There was still a main defensive force out there and they had to be found and found fast.

As the tanks and armored vehicles roared on the ground, aircraft and helicopters buzzed overhead, some low enough to make soldiers walking with the armor duck. Sometimes a surface-to-air missile would streak up at the aircraft but miss thanks to flares and IR jamming employed on Layartebian aircraft. Overhead was mainly Anasazi attack helicopters and Cobra ground-attack aircraft but those were the only two classes of aircraft overhead. Fighter bombers were dropping bombs and firing missiles. Attack helicopters carried unguided rockets and guided anti-tank missiles. Manaus, the ultimate goal, was still far, far away.
Layarteb
26-08-2007, 22:56
The night was hot. It was humid. Visibility was far. It was quiet. That was what many of the reports and thoughts were, initially. The Layartebian Army advanced a full two miles into Amazonian territory without firing a shot. A few scouts had been captured but that was about it. It was misleading, very misleading but part of a well orchestrated trap by Amazonian soldiers, working in conjunction with the Venezuelan rebels, who still numbered over 20,000. Sabertooth tanks continued to lead the way alongside Spider medium battle tanks and Shark IFVs. Sabertooth tanks would be the biggest fury against the enemy, whenever they found them. Within the darkened night, the tanks found themselves moving into a thick fog that seemed to be more man-made than natural but they kept their pace and they kept their hands on the triggers. Soldiers advancing with the tanks looked through their night vision goggles all around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the enemy and then hoping it was just a figment of their imagiation. They wanted Manaus under their control but they didn't necessarily want to be dying along the way, not after they plowed through Venezuela.

Then, out of nowhere, the silence erupted into a massive fury. Sabertooth tanks took the first hits, which were from Challenger IIs buried deep into the ground, in the middle of the fog. Thermal sights showed them and the Sabertooths returned fire. The roars were deafening as Sabertooth tanks deflected the first few 120mm shots, their armor holding firm. They roared in with ERA on those vehicles where infantry wasn't around and the small explosions that went off infront of their vehicles obscured their thermal sights but only momentarily. They continued to fire back. The first shots by the enemy put about two dozen shells against the Layartebian tanks across a small area of just a mile. They were arranged in a defense line against the Layartebians. When the Layartebian tanks returned fire with their more powerful 52-caliber 125mm ETC guns, they took out every one of the tanks. Their rounds connected with the turrets of the Challenger IIs and their sheer energy and velocity pushed the SABOT penetrators right through the Chobham armor and blew the tanks sky high.

The armored force advanced, further into the trap, as Venezuelan rebels and Amazonian soldiers scurried underground in various tunnels to get behind the attack force. They would find though that some of the tunnels were structurally unsafe because of the heavy armor above them or from artillery rounds, limiting their plan but many of the routes were still open. Some soldiers had, by sheer mistake or luck, stumbled upon tunnel openings. They were aware that the Venezuelans were tunnel-rats and that tunnel tactics might be employed here but finding them was very difficult. UAVs overhead hoped to help them find the tunnels through the simple body heat coming out of them but the area was warm to begin with, making it difficult. When tunnels were found, soldiers who had received specialized training in going through them, descended into them. All of them were mapped and their coordinates recorded. Incendiary grenades were often tossed into them to seal them up along with concussion rounds. The Venezuelans knew that some of the tunnels had been breached but some of these tunnels were 40 years old. There were so many miles of tunnels underneath the rain forest that it was mathematically impossible to find all of them. They Venezuelans maintained the edge, in that respect.
Layarteb
31-08-2007, 03:51
The ground war was vastly different from the air war. Progress was much slower and Layartebian forces were being bogged down by ambush sites and choke points elaborately constructed by the Venezuelans and Amazonians. Overhead, aircraft and helicopters continued their strike missions and air combat. Most of the Amazonian Air Force was completely devastated but occasionally they would see a helicopter on radar and engage it with missiles. Down below, under the canopy and in the many clearings, Layartebian tanks, fighting vehicles, and soldiers were taking a beating. The worst loss had been at a battle just a few miles south of Boa Vista in the north. A Layartebian armored squadron consisting of 8 M2015A1s, 4 M2015A3s, 12 M2032A1As, 12 M2032A1Bs, 4 M2047A4s, 6 M2047A6s, 8 M2048A1s, 6 M2048A3s, and 8 M2049A1s were moving on the city with two companies of soldiers, 256 men in total. With the armor, they were a sizeable force but they were walking into a trap.

Helicopters had buzzed overhead and reported a quiet city and the armored squadron rolled in just after dawn. Thermal sights showed little activity but the soldiers were cautious. Initially, no shots were fired but that all changed in a few minutes. The force wasn't far into the already decimated city when all hell broke loose. Over two dozen rockets streaked across the streets at once, aimed at three targets, two M2032A1As and one M2015A1. The rockets were devastatingly accurate and capable, all of them using tandem HEAT warheads. The M2015A1 Cobra APC was blown to pieces as it got hit by over six rockets, all around the same spot, penetrating its powerful armor and exploding inside of the vehicle. The two M2032A1As shared a painful fate as well. The rockets hit all around the tanks, rocking them and wounding the armor, bouncing off the non-explosive, reactive armor blocks fitted. Two of the rockets were immediately deflected and others impacted and crashed along the hulls of the two tanks. They were taking over eight hits a piece and still moving. The force had already opened fire against the enemy when the first tank found itself disabled. The rockets had managed to blast one of its tracks clean off and the other tank had its engine disabled, although a fire suppression system immediately prevented the fire from spreading to the interior of the tank.

Inoperable, the latter of the two tanks was immediately abandoned and the crew joined the fight of the soldiers all around. Chainguns blasted windows and buildings to shreds as Sabertooths launched 125mm rounds into buildings with such force that they shook the ground every time they fired. Smoke poured out of the city within the first twenty minutes as the fighting intensified. Reinforcements were immediately called in and the only instantly available unit was an airborne company just two miles outside of the city, equipped with just 6 M2015A1s, 4 M2025A1s, 4 M2031A1s, 6 M2047A6s, and 4 M2050A1s. The light tanks would prove useful in the city but they were vulnerable to the close quarters fighting.

Now with three companies of 384 men total descending on the city, they found out, through interrogation of a wounded Venezuelan that there were over 3,800 Venezuelans and Amazonians entrenched throughout the city. They were outnumbered 10:1 and reinforcements were hours away. They could pull back or they could push on and brave the assault. Within the first half hour, they estimated that they only killed, perhaps, 50 enemies while taking 10 fatalities of their own, including the loss of one M2032A1A and one M2015A1. The other M2032A1A was disabled but still functional, although it was taking a beating itself. The major in charge decided to press on and defeat the enemies. The Empire wasn't going to pull out because of just being outnumbered, he said to his staff as the armored units pushed in and infantry went building to building.

Overhead, the best asset to the soldiers on the ground was the AH-6M Little Bird. They were light, nimble, quick, small, and extremely difficult to shoot down. They roared overhead carrying fourteen, unguided rockets and a pair of heavy machine guns, M31A2s equipped in pods that carried 650 rounds per pod or they could carry M79A3 Gatling Guns. Both weapon systems fired the 15.5 x 115mm round, which had enough force behind it to split a person in half with a single round from a range in excess of 2 kilometers. The Little Birds were, to the men on the ground, angels in the sky. They buzzed overhead and fired hundreds of rounds at a clip, rockets too. Their bullets were devastating to the enemy but the enemy was prepared for the battle.

Hours into the fight, nothing had lessened. The Layartebians lost one of the M2031A1s that had come with the airborne unit and its crew of two. Enemy casualties, based on reports and bodies, was estimated at under 300, less than 10%. Layartebian casualties, on the other hand, included 50 wounded and 28 dead, nearly twenty percent of the force fighting in the battle. They were navigating the streets well but the enemy was all around them. They had planned for the battle and planned to lose every man fighting the Layartebians. A UAV overhead provided a grim reminder that the Venezuelans were still a capable fighting force.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/boavista-01.jpg

Shortly after noon, more reinforcements arrived for the Layartebians, bringing the total fighting force to just over 600. It was a large boost for the Layartebians as the wounded had ballooned to 120, of which 74 had to be evacuated. Fatalities numbered 49 now and the enemy was still numbering in the thousands. That was, of course, until the artillery came. Airborne units had two artillery sections just eight miles outside of the city and brought four M777A1 LW155 Howitzers. Coordinates were given amidst explosions, gunshots, and screams. Soon, dozens of high-explosive or guided rounds were coming down from above. Despite all of the advances in technology, the artillery crew still needed people on the ground to call out targets. Using the UAV overhead, the artillery gunners set computers to work on the actual placement of the gun barrel. All they had to do was load it and push the trigger and they did, rapidly, knowing that their rounds were saving the lives of their brothers in arms.

Dusk brought no end to the fighting. Thermal sights and night vision gave the Layartebians an advantage but the enemy was still dug in deeply. Their casualties could have numbered close to or just over 1,000, it was tough to tell. The Layartebians had 200 casualties of its nearly 600 fighting force, of which now 126 had been evacuated. An additional 13 fatalities were suffered, bringing the total to 62, which was nearly half of its fighting force! Helicopters continued to bring hell on the enemy and artillery continued to rain destruction but the enemy was above, below, and on the street. They used smoke and booby traps to inflict as many casualties as they could. Midway through the fight, the major had been wounded when his M2031A1B Sabertooth took a direct hit to its rear engine compartment from an armored vehicle. They destroyed the vehicle but the Sabertooth was a loss. The round had penetrated through the engine and destroyed it. Two of the crew inside were dead and the major and his gunner climbed out safely but wounded. The gunner had been evacuated but the major just saw a corpsman and continued to fight. He was a heroic son of a bitch but he was losing the battle.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/boavista-02.jpg

By the time the sun set, the battle had already been lost. Over 60% of the Layartebian force was either wounded or dead. Four tanks had been lost, two armored vehicles had been destroyed, and a pair of tank destroyers were in flames. Artillery wasn't effective anymore and the helicopters were shooting up rubble. One had almost been brought down by a stray rocket. The major, reluctantly, gave the order to retreat, giving the Venezuelans a strong moral victory, although they too had lost a significant portion of their force, although only about 35 to 40% of their force. The Layartebians inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy but not heavy enough. They withdrew throughout the night, losing the Battle of Boa Vista. The final tally was devastating. There were 96 KIAs, 318 WIAs, of which now 288 were evacuated, and 2 MIAs. It was a devastating defeat for the army but it would echo throughout the ranks as the Venezuelans claimed a decisive victory.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/boavista-03.jpg
Layarteb
01-09-2007, 06:38
The Layartebian defeat in Boa Vista was like a shockwave through the army ranks. The Layartebians had not been defeated in a battle of such a size since the defeats in Kaliningrad. It was shaping up to be a scary campaign. As bullets and rockets flew through the Amazonian state, tanks and armored vehicles pushed onward. Boa Vista was considered, at the moment, a non-entity. It was surrounded on all four sides by the Layartebian Army and it was isolated and little was left of it after the day long battle, which left 75% of the city in total ruins. Manaus, 410 miles to the south was still untouched by the Layartebian Army and if Boa Vista was any indication of how things would go, Layartebian forces would have to hit Manaus with at least a division of men to tackle the expected enemy forces. Artillery would be stepped up in the hours before the expected invasion of Manaus. As Layartebian Army forces moved through the countryside, towards Barcelos, another B-11B Zeus flew high overhead at 45,000 feet and Mach 0.8. It was carrying a mixed bomb load of incendiary, fragmentation, and high explosive, unguided bombs, 660 of them in total. Of that, 160 were fragmentation bombs, 300 were high-explosive bombs, and 200 were incendiary munitions. The single Zeus, escorted by a variety of aircraft had a single target, Manaus. Manaus had been devastated throughout the war but it was about to be further pummeled into the ground.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/barcelos-01.jpg

The Zeus would reach Manaus as a Layartebian Army unit reached Barcelos. The regimental sized unit of over 2,000 men and various armor, hit the city hard, at first. Artillery from M2005A2s and M2014A2s unleashed fury on the city from miles away. As they did, a Special Forces group prepared to enter the city at various points, four to be exact. Two would come in with MH-6M Little Birds, each holding four SOFs on their sides, and two MH-60M Black Hawks, each holding twelve SOFs. With thirty-two SOFs in the city, that equaled about 320 extra soldiers. Armed to the teeth and equipped with body armor that could take two dozen hits or more at close range, using high powered assault rifles, the SOFs would brutalize the enemy as the army came inbound with heavy artillery, tanks, armor, and a taste for revenge. To them, Barcelos wasn't going to be another Boa Vista. They weren't going to withdraw from this city.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/barcelos-02.jpg

The artillery continued for ninety minutes prior to the actual movement of forces into the city. Each M2014A2 could fire up to twelve rounds a minute and, on top of that, it could put several rounds in the air before the first one ever hit. They used a combination of HE, fragmentation, incendiary, and smoke rounds to destroy, maim, burn, and confuse the enemy, all at once. M2005A2s fired up to thirty rounds in just fifteen seconds. The rockets were powerful, accurate, fast, and carried with them a heavy payload. Each one of them landed right on target, targets spotted from above, from UAVs flying as low as 10,000 feet or as high as 20,000 feet, depending on what was flying above, which ranged from hand launched RQ-11 Ravens and larger MQ-1 Predators.

Ninety minutes of shelling reduced the city to smoldering rubble. Smoke belched into the air from the city's rubble and, from the distance, the SOF began. Their MH-60s and MH-6s took off and were escorted into enemy territory, although their routes were secured by army forces. Their Anasazi and Little Bird escorts flew in low and fast. Moving at high speed, the aircraft entered Amazonian territory in a spread formation. They touched down twenty minutes later in Barcelos and the fight began!

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/barcelos-04.jpg
Layarteb
02-09-2007, 18:16
Barcelos wasn't a quiet city after the SOF enter but neither was it quiet before they came. They were tasked with destroying arms caches, parked vehicles, and providing another flank against the enemy while the army rolled in against the main flank. Smoke grenades signalled the start of the attack on the city. Dozens of them were shot into the air and dropped in around the perimeter of the city as Sabertooths led the way, their powerful 125mm main guns firing HEAT and SABOT rounds into anything that moved. The remote weapons such as their HMGs provided additional firepower against targets that were a waste of main armament, such as technicals. In true guerilla fashion, the Venezuelans had seized pick-up trucks and cars around the country and fitted them with machine guns, recoilless rifles, and rocket launchers. When the doors to military bunkers were opened, they swarmed in like fleas and left nothing behind put paper and plastic wrapping.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/barcelos-03.jpg

The biggest threat to the armor was the plethora of anti-tank missiles that the Venezuelans possessed, which ranged from the wire-guided TOW to the laser guided Kornet, both missiles which attacked on a top-dive method and could disable or destroy the powerful tanks. Against top-diving weapons, the only defense a tank had was its own jamming systems and any active defense systems, both of which the Sabertooths and many Layartebian vehicles had but didn't want to have to come to use. The smoke inhibited only visual and laser means of detection. Thermal imaging still saw through the smoke and that was what enabled the Sabertooths to make their first firings.

Through the thick cloud of smoke, the Sabertooths leading the fight got thermal imaging on several heat signatures that were large enough to be armored vehicles or tanks. They fired HEAT and SABOT rounds, respectively, and watched as the thermal signatures turned into explosions in just milliseconds. Whatever they had engaged, it was now destroyed. Infantry poured in behind them, weapons ready, moving from building to building, setting up firing positions. As they did, the SOF went about their runs throughout the city. They equipped their weapons with suppressors to hide their locations and often used stealthy means of killing the enemy, primarily knives.

The ground shook as the tanks entered the city now. Explosions shot up from the various arms caches that the SOF disabled with C4 or grenades. Their weaponry stocks going up meant that they would become more desparate to fight. In two of the caches, the SOF managed to destroy at least a dozen anti-tank missiles and four recoilless rifles.

Overhead, helicopters continued to fly support and SOF called in artillery where necessary. It was a full battle, much fuller than Boa Vista. By 11:00 hours, when the soldiers finally entered the city, 100 minutes after the shelling began, no Layartebian losses had been suffered. The estimated that about 8,100 Venezuelans and Amazonians were in the city at the start of the shelling, which meant that the Layartebians were outnumbered nearly four to one but, unlike Boa Vista, they wouldn't withdraw.

By the early evening, Layartebian forces had suffered only a few casualties, none of them serious enough for immediate evacuation and just four fatalities when an M2049A1 Spider battle tank had been struck and destroyed by an ATGM of unknown origin. The launching location was destroyed; however. Estimates put enemy casualties between 200 and 500 but the battle wasn't going to be over in hours like Boa Vista was. Progress was slower although, at Boa Vista, Layartebian forces only moved 35% into the city. By the end of the day, Layartebian forces had only moved into 15% of Barcelos and worked to secure the city from the outside in as SOF attacked from the inside out, suffering no casualties or fatalities themselves.
Layarteb
03-09-2007, 00:08
OOC: A small post for losses and date information.

When the clocks changed to June 14, the Layartebian list of losses was unexpectedly higher than originally determined. In just four days of fighting, the Layartebian Air Force had lost four aircraft with one pilot killed and another captured. The Layartebian Army suffered a loss of two helicopters and one V/STOVL transport. Nine people were dead and three captured from the army. One June 10, the Layartebian Army had lost eleven vehicles and had ten dead and twenty-eight wounded. One June 11, the Layartebian Army lost a further four vehicles and had eight KIAs, sixteen WIAs, and two MIAs. June 12 added a lot more casualties. They lost, in one day, eight vehicles and suffered ninety-six KIAs, three hundred and eighteen WIAs, and two MIAs. June 13 added another four KIAs, six WIAs, and a lost vehicle. By June 14, the Imperial Layartebian Military had one hundred and twenty-eight KIAs, four MIAs, three hundred and sixty-eight WIAs, and four POWs. They had lost Boa Vista but had won seventeen other battles, although none were as big as Boa Vista. They were now dealing with an assault on Barcelos and were fighting hard there. Several battles had been indecisive victories but every time the Layartebians didn't claim a decisive victory, they lost a sphere of influence.
Layarteb
03-09-2007, 05:12
All around Barcelos on the morning of June 14, it stunk like death. Bodies had laid around for days before the military got there and they only piled up when the army advanced into it. After twenty-four hours of battle, which was 09:20 hours, the Layartebians had advanced some 20% into the city. They had suffered several more casualties throughout the night and the fighting never died down either. Soldiers fought through sleep and advanced on enemy positions using armor and infantry. They fired unguided rockets and guided missiles into enemy strongholds and they shot at snipers who were as far as a half mile away to as close as across the street. Throughout the early morning hours, Layartebian forces further secured positions already secured and investigated rooms and houses passed by during the assault. In doing so, nine Layartebian soldiers lost their lives, all due to booby traps and eleven more were injured. A pair of Sabertooths had been disabled but repaired by the time the sun was up and continued to fight on, aiming for the enemy.

They were fighting two classes of soldiers. The Venezuelan rebels were ill-equipped, lacking night vision but they knew the land and they were determined. The Amazonian soldiers were better equipped, with night vision but their knowledge of the city wasn't as good as that of the Venezuelans and their tactics were very different. The rebels were guerilla soldiers and they used guerilla tactics whereas the Amazonian soldiers were much more conventional. Their numbers were depreciating much faster in this set-piece battle against a much more formidable foe.

Little Birds and Anasazi attack helicopters continued to fly over the city after the sun rose, mainly on strafing and scouting runs. Arapaho reconnaissance helicopters flew overhead as well, using their FLIR to spot targets for Anasazi attack helicopters. They were lightly armed and flew with either a pair of 7-round rocket pods or anti-tank guided missiles or gun pods or a mix on their two hardpoints. Light, quick, and agile, the Arapaho buzzed in and out of the city, lighting up targets with its laser designator and watching missiles come flying in from further away. Little Birds stuck to guns and rockets to do their job.

Daylight brought an intensification in the fighting. Areas of the city that only listened to the gunshots and the bombs were now buzzing with activity. UAVs overhead showed opposing forces moving through streets and between buildings. Heavy ordinance would be required to target some areas and F-16G Super Falcons and F-26A Typhoons brought that heavy ordinance in the form of Mavericks and guided bombs. It was over Barcelos that the ILAF received another downed aircraft. An F-35A Raven was the unfortunate target of a should launched missile, which streaked up from the ground and slammed into its engine housing as it maneuvered away from the missile. Flares were dropping but the missile seemingly ignored them. The blast completely disabled the engine of the nimble fighter, which had just dropped a pair of thousand pound JDAM IIs on a rebel target just a quarter of a mile from the front line. The pilot struggled to put the aircraft towards friendly controlled areas but failed and ejected at an altitude of 2,500 feet. The jet crashed into the city a mile further and exploded in a brilliant fireball. The pilot was, regrettably, captured.

Afternoon brought no end to the hostilities as Layartebian forces advanced into 35% of the city. They made big advances in the morning daylight hours but were slowed as the sun peaked in the sky. The Amazonians and Venezuelans were fighting hard and they were fighting dirty. The Layartebian Army didn't fight clean either, they couldn't. Tactics had to be changed to fight this enemy, an enemy that was definitely not willing to just give up and go the easy way. Sabertooth tanks continued to take hit after hit from rocket propelled grenades, recoilless rifles, and other explosive devices but they continued to batter along and the enemy never got more than a single shot off before they had automatic gunfire coming their way.
Layarteb
06-09-2007, 02:16
When darkness descended on the western hemisphere on the evening of June 14, it meant nothing good for the Amazonian Republic. It was during the night that the Layartebians struck the hardest. Technological advances and precision systems allowed the Layartebians to bomb as effective during the night as during the day and, in some cases, they were even more effective during the night. On the ground, night vision and thermal sights allowed Layartebian infantry and armor to continue a war that, eighty years ago, would stop at sun down and resume at sun up. Technology had made war an all-time occassion and when the sun went down, the 50% of the city of Barcelos that the Layartebians had secured saw no rest.

The enemy intensified their attacks but their numbers were dwindling. Througout the course of the day, they continued to take heavy losses as a Layartebian counterattack on an unprotected flank push them into parts of the city that the enemy never expected to see troops in, which meant no booby traps. Of the 8,100 Venezuelans and Amazonians in the city at the beginning of the seige, perhaps 4,000 remained. A heavy counterattack by both the SOF and army, well-coordinated with air, artillery, and helicopter strikes put the enemy in a serious problem as a wide open hole was opened in the north center of the city. The enemy scattered and soon after that, Layartebian forces moving in from the south had a relatively easy advance. Still, another 28 soldiers had died with 49 wounded and another MIA.

Night brought on continued strikes and continued assaults. The campaign for Barcelos was barely 36 hours old by the time that half of the city was fully secured. It was a good advance and a sharp contrast to Boa Vista, which was seen now as a mishap that would be revisted, in force. Barcelos was going sour but not for the Layartebians. It was going sour for the enemy and they were realizing it and they grew more desparate and fanatical as Layartebian forces, having them surrounded, moved in for the kill. They hoped to have at least 75% of the city captured by the time the campaign hit 48 hours. There were some problems though.

The enemy had a significantly large number of both anti-personnel and anti-material mines throughout the city and they had to be carefully sidestepped and avoided, limiting possible avenues of attack. There were also a large number of IEDs throughout the city, many made up of 155mm artillery shells. Guerilla tactics were most effective in such narrow corridors and that was how the army lost a pair of Dingo APVs, to a pair of particularly large IEDs. Six M2033s were lost throughout the fight as well although to a single friendly fire incident by an Anasazi helicopter. The incident was under review.
Layarteb
08-09-2007, 22:06
Barcelos fell mid-morning on June 15, a little over forty-eight hours after the assault began. The city still wouldn't be fully secured for a few days as soldiers investigated and explored a labyrinth of underground tunnels and sewers, most of which were abandoned. The enemy suffered heavy casualties in Barcelos and the Layartebians suffered few. It was the opposite of Boa Vista, a good thing for the Layartebians. They expected to be on the outskirts of Manaus on June 18, which meant that the big clash was set. Estimates put some 20,000 Venezuelan and Amazonian soldiers inside of the city, although most of them were Amazonian soldiers. The Layartebians planned to show up on the outskirts of the city with two divisions of soldiers, over 36,000 men including aerial and artillery support. Until then, Manaus would be heavily watched by reconnaissance UAVs and aircraft. Strikes would continue, unless the military and the leadership gave in but they stayed, huddled, underground, in their bunker complex, safe from the bombs above, or so they thought.
Layarteb
10-09-2007, 04:06
When June 18 rolled around, the war was nearing an end, so to speak. Most of the country was under Layartebian control, albeit loosely. Boa Vista had not been revisited yet and Venezuelan tunnel attacks were growing although many were indecisive. Usually, the Layartebians would come out tactically ahead but strategically behind. They sat on the outskirts of Manaus with two divisions of soldiers, nearly twice what the Amazonians had inside of the city. Artillery and aircraft had done some final bombardments in advance of a large campaign that was meant to secure the whole city and end the war, although it was still, far from over. It may have been nearing an end, that was a given as Manaus was about to be seiged but it was not over. Casualties rose sharply with 283 KIA, 5 MIA, 709 WIA, and 11 POWs on the Layartebian side. The Venezuelan rebellion had suffered at least 10,000+ casualties and the Amazonians were at least double that figure. In total, there were 1,008 combat affected individuals within the Layartebian military, a number they didn't dare dream of exceeding when they set out to conquer the country, let alone after just nine days of combat. With Manaus ahead of them and the bulk of the fighting expected there, they were looked at two weeks more, at least. During that time, operations would continue around the country but Manaus was the main target. It was a departure from Layartebian tactics during the Conquests. Rather than seek a majority control over the country before seiging the capital, the Layartebians raced for the capital. It was a daring move and a new tactic, meant to throw the Amazonians off guard.

It worked. They expected more time to get ready in the cities and that worked out, slightly, in favor of the Layartebians. Unfortunately, the downsides outweighed any benefits. Not only were they facing an enemy ahead of them but because large pockets had been missed in the countryside, they ran the risk of a rear flank attack and that was what was happening. Venezuelans were using tunnels to pop up behind Layartebian lines and engage vehicles and tanks to the rear. This was how the Layartebians lost five Sabertooths and a pair of Spiders since June 15. All seven vehicles were totally destroyed by rear-fired projectiles. Against the Sabertooths, the Venezuelans launched three rockets per vehicle in a tight grouping. On all five vehicles, two of the rockets penetrated and destroyed the engines. As a testament to crew survival, the crews of each tank did survive. It was a different story with the Spiders, which had been attacked, from the rear, with missiles. These exploded over the top of the tanks. The crews never stood a chance.

The battle could take as few as ten days or it could take over a month and a half. It all depended on the will of the enemy and they were well dug-in and ready for the fight, despite them not being "entirely" ready. The reported order of battle was a heavy one as well. Within the city's estimated 20,000 combatants, at least 3,000 were Venezuelan rebels and, of that, at least 500 were an "elite" branch of the rebel force. The remaining 17,000 were Amazonian troops, of which approximately 1,700 were special guards to the government and at least 600 SOFs. The Layartebians simply had a pair of divisions on the outskirts, over thirty-six thousand men wielding artillery support and radios to call in air strikes. Approximately 80 SOFs would be dropped inside of the city lines throughout the course of the initial stages, which required an unusual tactic. Artillery guns would fire dozens of rounds to designated areas of the city during the middle of the night but they would not explode. They would be smoke rounds. The giant cloud of smoke they hoped to create would mask the Black Hawks and Bulldogs dropping in SOFs through fast roping and quick landing methods. When that kicked off, the enemy was ready but not for the new tactic, which worked effectively. All 80 SOFs were inside of the city within ten minutes, unharmed, along with their aircraft.

Then the real fun began as more artillery rang out, this time with live ordinance, not smoke shells.
Layarteb
13-09-2007, 06:20
"Acquiring target. Setting coordinates." The WSO said as he typed in GPS coordinates to the main weapon control system. Inside of the mighty B-11A Zeus was a new, prototype missile, the XGM-232. It didn't have a name yet but, based on its size and intended capability, it was referred to as the "Zeus," like the plane that carried it. The missile was gigantic. It was slightly over 31 feet long and almost 8.25 feet in diameter. It weighed 48,850 pounds and it was a three-stage design with a maximum range of 1,550 miles. It followed a quasi-ballistic trajectory and was equipped with a 6,600 pound conventional warhead of Arckell plastic explosive. It was equivalent to 12,897.30 pounds of TNT. It was designed to destroy underground targets mainly. Equipped with a conventional warhead, it could destroy just about any underground facility in a single strike but the B-11 could carry six of them internally. It could penetrate over 200.00 ft. of 5,000 psi reinforced concrete, 45.00 ft. of 10,000 psi reinforced concrete, or 180.00 ft. of moderately hard rock.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/LDC/agm232.jpg

Manaus would be its first test. The B-11A Zeus was flying its twelfth mission against the Amazonian Republic. The brass were impressed with the aircraft and planned to purchase another forty-eight of them as the B-11B Zeus with some slight modifications. The missile was going to be tested on Manaus. Intelligence placed the coordinates of an underground bunker in Manaus that could be holding the leadership of the Amazonian Republic. The coordinates put the bunker underneath the national museum and the B-11 was flying high at 45,000 feet and at Mach 0.77. The B-11 was about 1,300 miles away and ready to fire on the target.

When the command was given, the WSO pushed the "FIRE" button and the center bay doors opened up quickly. The missile was dropped right after the doors were secured. The boosters kicked in after five seconds and the missile shot forward for two miles, clearing the space of the aircraft. When it was clear, the thrust vectoring nozzles shifted and the missile assumed a 45° climb angle. It shot up to 200,000 feet, moving at Mach 6.50. The first stage terminated shortly thereafter as the missile passed 70 miles downrange. The second stage was the cruise stage. As the first stage was ejected, lightening the missile, the first pulse of the second stage began. The second stage had four segments of solid fuel that would burn when ignited. Solid fuel could not be restarted and so, to ensure that the missile didn't use its fuel too soon, the designers ensured that four segments were placed into the second stage, each one burning separately. The first segment ignited ten seconds after the separation and burned for 60 seconds, pushing the missile to Mach 10.2. The second pulse began with the missile 250 miles downrange and pushed the missile to Mach 12.29, all the way down to 400 miles, and for 90 seconds of burn time. The third stage ignited when the missile was 580 miles downrange and burned for 45 seconds, producing enough thrust to push the missile to Mach 12.5 and up to a range of 675 miles. The fourth and final segment burned for two minutes and pushed the missile back to Mach 12.5 and burned long enough to push the missile out to 1,300 miles. However, because of the range of the target to the missile launch, the times in between the ignitions was reduced so that the fourth pulse stopped with the missile at 1,125 miles downrange. The second stage separated and the rocket on the third stage kicked in just to turn the missile to a 78° dive angle. At 95,000 feet, the missile was moving at Mach 9.5 and the rocket fired again to push the speed up as the missile rapidly lost speed due to friction and wind resistance. Without a need for maneuvering, the third stage fired will full force at 25,000 feet and pushed the missile to the ground at Mach 8.28.

When the missile hit, it hit with such force that it shook the ground all around Manaus. It penetrated through the initial ground of the street and through the sewers and pipes without any effort. After forty feet, it encountered the top of the bunker, which was reinforced concrete but not reinforced enough. The missile slowed down rapidly as it tore through the top of the bunker and after the missile penetrated through its roof, the fuse triggered. The Richter scales around Manaus would register a 2.5 earthquake as the bomb detonated but it was no earthquake. The bomb tore through the bunker and the vast overpressure collapsed segments of the bunker instantly but kept going, collapsing more as it radiated outward, bouncing off rock and concrete walls, amplifying itself within the confines of the bunker.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-01.jpg

When it was all over, the bunker suffered an 85% collapse and a large plume of smoke drifted into the air over Manaus. It would be a while before any battle damage assessment (BDA) but it was safe to say that the target was, destroyed...
Layarteb
14-09-2007, 03:57
The Layartebian advance into the city occurred in the dead of night but by the next morning, when the sun came up and the Zeus pummeled the ground with a gigantic missile, the Layartebians weren't advancing. They were stuck throughout the outer rim of the city, held down by the most intense urban warfare the ILM had seen since the Venezuelan Conquest War in the early 1980s. Amazonian forces had entrenched themselves throughout the city and even held off many of the Layartebian SOF attacks. Attack helicopters poured into and out of the city firing rockets and antitank missiles at tanks and armored vehicles inside of the city. The Amazonians stacked plenty of armor in the city, including M1A2 Abrams tanks, which were beastly powerful, even against the mighty M2032A1 Sabertooth.

Civilians had largely evacuated the city of Manaus but many still remained and they were huddled into bomb shelters and basements throughout the city. Every time a bomb went off or a missile exploded, they shook and cowered in their shelters. Outside, over fifty thousand soldiers fought with each other on a battlefield that was just 4.4 mi², which was less than one percent of the size of Layarteb City. With the soldiers, there were over 11,000 people per square mile, all of them armed, and all of them fighting.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-09.jpg

The war in Manaus had been raging just twelve hours by 13:00 on June 18 and produced the most amount of casualties in any twelve hour span in Amazonian history and most of them were Amazonian casualties. In just twelve hours there were at least one thousand Amazonian soldiers either KIA or WIA. There were another 300 Layartebian WIAs and 89 KIAs. Initial estimates put at least 300 civilians killed as well. Bodies and rubble piled up throughout the city in just twelve hours and they were increasing with each few minutes as bullets, rockets, and bombs flew throughout the city. Embedded news reporters stayed well on the outskirts of the city and filmed only smoke, explosions, fire, and destroyed buildings. Overhead, the whooshing sounds of aircraft, helicopters, missiles, and bombs were the only audio on the cameras. The explosion sounds came too but they were always lagging behind the flashes, given the distance between the camera crews and the city, which were measured in miles not smaller than ten.

There was still no word yet on the assessment of the Zeus strike but an SOF team was moving to the bunker to investigate. They were supposed to have arrived but the resistance throughout the city was going to delay them by at least four hours. The kicker was, from their location, to the bunker entrance, it was just eight hundred meters, a distance that should have taken them twenty minutes to traverse. Resistance was thick, too thick. As they did, another SOF team was making way for the Intelligence Headquarters. The Ministry of Intelligence figured that the best location for the missing soldiers, including the original POWs to be captured, were all in the Intelligence Headquarters. The SOF team would set up a recon position on top of a building and wait for a small detachment of Layartebian paratroopers advancing alongside infantry and cavalry from the west. The small detachment numbered over one hundred and it was a full company, armed with SMAWs, machine guns, high powered sniper rifles, and mortars. They planned to storm the building with all of their might and recapture the missing Layartebian soldiers in one swift swoop.

They had a long way to go though and the Intelligence headquarters wasn't going to be touched until 16:00 hours. Expected resistance was unknown but, based on the estimates given by the various soldiers fighting throughout the city, any less than a thousand enemy combatants within a ten block radius was an impossibility.
Layarteb
16-09-2007, 03:41
It was 16:00 hours, June 18, and the Layartebian forces had reached the Intelligence Headquarters with the twelve man SOF team and a company of one hundred and twenty-eight paratroopers had assembled themselves around the building. The SOF team had split into two six-man groups and stationed themselves in front of and behind the building and had watched no fewer than forty men through the windows. The paratroopers had stationed themselves around the building as well. There were four platoons within them and one of them, the recon platoon, would provide cover while the others assaulted the building. The SOFs would do the same leaving just two men of each six-man team behind to act as snipers. The preferred weapon of choice for these snipers was the M36A2 Sniper Rifle, using the .338 Lapua Magnum round, which was effective out to 1.25 kilometers and had double the energy that the 7.62 x 51mm round. The bolt-action sniper rifle held ten rounds and each sniper had a hundred rounds on them and a suppressor fitted to the front of their rifles, a Harris bipod, and a powerful 12x scope. Concealed underneath a ghille suit and inside of a building, they were easily hidden from the enemy forces. Their spotters were equipped with M81A3 Carbine.

The assault began at precisely 16:20 hours when Layartebian paratroopers stormed the building but the volume of fire that came out of it was so intense that they would have to hold back for a while. The gun battle was phenomenal. Thousands of rounds were exchanged through the air and SMAW rockets flew from the paratroopers forward, into the building with such force that it collapsed whole rooms. At 187 dB, the SMAW was one of the loudest weapons on the battlefield and those in its vicinity had to put their fingers in their ears or else their eardrums would rupture on them.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-03.jpg

Throughout the course of the first few minutes, the Layartebian paratroopers and SOF snipers engaged targets in the windows. Their rounds tunneled through the air at 950 meters per second. The Intelligence Headquarters was, on average, just 300 meters from the sniper positions. As .338 Lapua Magnum, 7.62 x 51mm, 6.8 x 51mm, and 12.7 x 99mm bullets tore through the air and mixed with 40 x 110 and 40 x 46mm grenades, SMAW rockets, CLAW rockets, and various other rounds from the Layartebian forces, the building lit up like a Christmas tree.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-06.jpg

After fifteen minutes of intense shooting, the Layartebian forces saw a chance to advance. The paratroopers and SOF forces moved forward, towards the building, still firing at Amazonian soldiers who were all around the outside of the building and still firing from the inside. It was a slow advance that seemed more like a crawl than anything else. They still advanced, moving forward with their rifles blazing and grenades being thrown. Throughout the city, scenes were identical to this one. The Layartebian forces barely controlled 5% of the city and any push inward was slow, very slow. Much like the push towards the Intelligence Headquarters, they weren't going to get too far, especially when an M1A2 Abrams popped up on them by surprise.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-12.jpg

The Abrams was powerful and it was dangerous and it put a 120mm HEAT round into a structure before any of the paratroopers inside could react. Of the eight of them inside, only one managed to crawl out, missing his legs. He would die shortly thereafter. The ground shook as the Abrams fired on the building and the gunners inside reloaded. They wouldn't get off a second shot as a Layartebian paratrooper, moving behind the tank, threw his SMAW-C on his shoulder and fired the powerful HEDP round into the rear of the Abrams. It wasn't an anti-tank round in its most dedicated sense but it had enough on it to penetrate through the weak rear armor of the Abrams and destroy the engine compartment. The explosion rocked the Abrams but it was still in one piece. It wouldn't be for long. An A-15A Viper, flying CAS in support of the missile fired an AGM-65G Maverick into the tank. The crew never got out alive.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-10.jpg

The paratroopers and SOF soldiers advanced, finally getting into the building. They used Flashbang grenades first and followed up with concussion and fragmentation rounds, which pushed the enemy forces back. Little Birds strafed the roof of the building with Minigun fire and rockets as the paratroopers and SOF forces began to move throughout the hallways and corridors of the building. They went up and down stairs and some of them used the non-working elevators to rappel down to the lower levels.
Layarteb
17-09-2007, 03:55
As the Layartebian paratroopers and SOF stormed the Intelligence Headquarters a team of Rangers were struggling to move up a street on the north end of the city. They were south of the airport and that was their objective. A second ground was coming from the north and the Rangers planned to assault the airport from both the north and the south, to confuse the Amazonians in cross lines of fire. The team to the north was already reaching the edges of the airport but were forced now to hold back as the southern team struggled to move through the densely packed areas. They had armor support with a Sabertooth and a pair of Shark IFVs but the enemy was dug-in all over the place. Rockets flew through the air, most of them missing, and IEDs exploded everywhere. With bullets flying all over the place it was hard not to get hit either.

The advance for the Layartebian Rangers was moving in bits and pieces. They would advance, get pinned down, fight their way out, and move upwards. Then, they would get pinned again, and fight their way out. They called on the tank often to remove entire walls from buildings to expose enemy forces but they couldn't rely too heavily on their tanks. They would need the armor when they got to the airport. The Rangers expected a full assault necessary in the middle of the night and they needed every piece of armor they had to help push into the airbase. The Amazonians had plenty of technicals and armored vehicles themselves and many of them were pushing forward against the Layartebians. The Rangers had already destroyed a pair of Warrior IFVs with their CLAW rockets.

The Rangers were just a half mile from the airport when they were pinned down the hardest. Amazonian soldiers were entrenched throughout the entire way they were moving and trying hard to flank them. Little Birds and Black Hawks were keeping the Amazonians at bay though. As the Rangers fired shot after shot, many of them hitting their intended targets, the Amazonians smashed forward with a Challenger II tank. It came between an alley and nearly came up behind the Sabertooth but didn't have the timing down. The Sabertooth, unable to train its gun around from the side in time, launched one of the skid mounted LOSAT missiles. Normally effective out to two and a half miles, the MGM-166A Line-of-Sight Anti-Tank Missile propelled itself out of the skids at 5,000 feet per second, the same speed as many tank-fired shells. Weighing just 177 pounds, the nine foot long missile was equipped only with a tungsten rod penetrator and it could destroy just about any main battle tank out there. It accelerated down-range although it was at maximum velocity just meters after exiting the launcher. It flew downrange before the Challenger could train its own gun and the missile, unguided, impacted the tank just underneath the turret. Instantly, the missile broke apart, transferring its kinetic energy into the tank but the giant penetrator flung itself forward and nothing but a cloud of dirt and dust remained as the turret exploded and the remainder of the tank shattered into small pieces.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-05.jpg

The Rangers moved forward, the Sabertooth pummeling an Amazonian hideout just a few feet away from where the tank rubble lay, its crew blasted into minature pieces smaller than Micromachine toys. The Rangers moved up, closing the distance to a quarter mile before they were pinned down hard again. This time, they didn't wait around. They called in their Shark IFVs and blasted two buildings to pieces with chaingun fire and grenades. Now, ahead of them, was a tree-lined area and the airport. On the other side of the airport, more Rangers waited with armor as well, hiding behind the trees.
Layarteb
18-09-2007, 02:40
Night fell on Manaus and the fighting continued. The Layartebian Army continued to push into the city. The Amazonians, like hell, resisted. Because of additional forces in the airport, the Rangers would have to hold off until the morning. Throughout the night, Layartebian aircraft and helicopters attacked targets at the airport and throughout the city while Layartebian forces pushed inward, slowly. Bomb blasts and what not shook the ground every few minutes. Aircraft overhead dropped bombs with such precision and force that the Amazonians wondered if their own radio frequencies were compromised. As the enemy forces pushed hard against the Layartebian advance, a sort of stalemate took over. Layartebian forces pushed hard against the Amazonians and by the time midnight came, where a calm descended over most of the country, Manaus was still a bright shooting gallery. They had advanced through almost 10% of the city. Casualties were still pretty low, considering. The Layartebians had 99 KIAs and 380 WIAs. Estimates put the Amazonian casualties around a thousand to two thousand. That still left over eighteen thousand in the city although the Layartebians still had over thirty-six thousand, perhaps double the amount that the Amazonians had in the city.

The night didn't bring any respite though. Layartebian forces were advancing throughout the city in the night, using the night to their advantage. Layartebian forces were more than capable in the night and they were more than capable in the day. The only difference was that they owned the night, regardless of where they were. Thermal and night sights on tanks provided the Layartebians with enemy targets even when they couldn't be seen themselves. Layartebian forces used it to their advantage, moving through houses and buildings, whatever was left of them, as they pushed inward.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-04.jpg

At the Intelligence Headquarters, SOF soldiers and paratroopers had secured the building, killing over a hundred enemies inside of it. They didn't find any POWs but the intelligence they collected gave them leads as to where the POWs might have been moved. There was a prison in the country, forty minutes outside of Manaus, to the south, that had yet to be touched. It was a lawless prison and it was isolated. While war raged outside of its walls, it was a war within but a different one. Layartebian forces would have to secure the prison and secure it right away. With the intelligence moving up the ladder, the Layartebian command put a paratrooper force of thirty-two soldiers boarded four MH-60M Black Hawk helicopters and began flying towards the prison. Escorted by a pair of Anasazi attack helicopters and four AH-6M Little Birds, equipped with Adder rockets and Miniguns. They were out for a mission and they knew that when they hit the prison they would be dealing with armed and dangerous men inside of it. They planned to assault it with full force and they were going to assault it hard. Layartebian POWs would take precedence over Amazonian criminals.
Layarteb
21-09-2007, 04:53
Throughout the night, Layartebian forces stormed the city. They moved through houses and engaged enemies left, right, up, down, and center. With air support overhead, throughout the night, some making supply drops, others dropping bombs and firing missiles, the Layartebian Army had a protective cover overhead. They dashed from door to door, alleyway to alleyway, and hugged walls. They used everything and anything throughout the city to use against the enemy. The enemy had tons of booby traps and barricades throughout the city. Casualties continued to mount, albeit most of them on the side of the Amazonians. They were losing this battle, despite a slow advance by the Layartebian forces.

When dawn arose on June 19, the Layartebian forces throughout the country continued to advance. They moved on pockets of resistance that popped up behind them, secured various points throughout the country, and stormed the jail, only to find it was empty. One sole prisoner who seemed more to remain out of fear than anything else told the paratroopers, in exchange for food and water, that the prisoners had escaped on the morning of June 14, before the sun came up and took with them foreign hostages. Most certainly this meant the Layartebian POWs. Where they had gone, nobody knew. Smoke rose all over the city as the onslaught continued into morning. Strategic targets had virtually all been destroyed and what was remaining of the Amazonian military was scattered throughout the country without any combat effectiveness to the units. Surrenders weren't happening as much as the Layartebian Army had hoped but there were some. The Venezuelan rebels, on the other hand, weren't surrendering. They were hiding and attacking, using their guerilla tactics to launch a powerful wave of attacks against the Layartebian Army. These produced the majority of the combat casualties outside of Manaus, where the last concentration of military force lay.

Explosions ripped and tore through different parts of the city as more booby traps and various other improvised explosive devices detonated They went off in a rhythmic sequence and it was nothing short of a symphony of destruction. The onslaught would continue throughout the day. Rangers at the airport began their own assault but, in the chaos around them, they realized that they were fighting an Amazonian force in excess of 200 and they had little armor support. It would be a battle that would go in the history books.
Layarteb
23-09-2007, 17:29
The Rangers began their assault on the airport amidst artillery bombardment and aerial attacks. The Amazonians fired back with light artillery of their own including mortars, recoilless rifles, and rocket launchers. Most of the airport structures had been bombed except for a select few that would need to be occupied by the Rangers once they took the base. Amazonians concentrated their armory underground, making it difficult to destroy prior to the attack. The Rangers, all ninety-six of them, flooded onto the airport with their light armor and vehicle support and the gun battle that erupted was the most intense of the whole campaign. The Amazonians had upwards of 500 soldiers at the airport and they were dug-in and had been for some time. They fired from camouflaged trenches and machine gun nests, putting thousands of rounds in the air at once against the Rangers who immediately moved up slowly.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-13.jpg

Rangers running reconnaissance on motorcycles and dirt bikes had done a fantastic job spotting enemy mortar and machine gun positions and small teams of Rangers moved quickly along the flanks and through the thick vegetation to the north of the airport to attack these positions. Several of them were difficult to spot and many of them had been moved since the reconnaissance groups returned, only making it that much harder. After ten minutes of fighting, the Rangers had moved to the perimeter and slaughtered a good deal of the perimeter opposition. They had to watch out for mines and booby traps and that wasn't the only thing either.

A-15 Vipers screamed overhead at high speed, dropping iron bombs and incendiary munitions against enemy positions as the Rangers called in support. Artillery fired was moved and adjusted as 155mm shells slammed down on dug-in positions. It was a total assault by the Rangers and the Imperial Layartebian Military. The airport was going to be taken and it was going to be held and there was no way around it. Enemy snipers wouldn't even stand in their way.

Their biggest break came just twenty minutes into the fight when Rangers watching an MQ-1 Predator footage from overhead spotted a great deal of Amazonian soldiers come out of a small underground tunnel with heavy ordinance that included an M2 machine gun and several recoilless rifles. "That has to be an arsenal!" One of the Rangers called out as he reached for the radio and called in an airstrike. The closest available bird was an F-16G Super Falcon carrying laser-guided bombs, two thousand pounds each. The MQ-1 would designate the target and as its laser locked onto the bunker entrance, the F-16G, flying high at 20,000 feet, released its two bombs.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-08.jpg

The explosion was gigantic and the secondaries shook the ground. The Amazonians had definitely lost a major armory and they were about to keep losing them as the Rangers advanced.

Still, the onslaught continued though. The Amazonians brought out every piece of hardware they had stashed at the airport to resist the attack. Several of them attempted to pop up from behind the Rangers in special tunnels but it wouldn't happen. The Rangers had placed a significant amount of forces on their rear flank that included regular infantry and paratroopers. Many of them were arriving as the battle raged and commanders saw the need for reinforcements. At artillery batteries ten or more miles outside of the city, M2014A2 Hell Storms were working overtime, loading, reloading, and firing in rapid succession against targets designated and re-designated seconds later. Because of technology, Rangers could simply use a computer to designate the targets, sending the necessary information to the artillery battery with the proper firing parameters in just milliseconds. Rounds would fire as soon as the guns repositioned and even that didn't take too long.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-11.jpg

On the rear, soldiers fought hard, firing on the Amazonians as they popped up from behind the Layartebian forces. Fifty caliber machine guns did the brunt of the beating but snipers did their own damage. Hundreds of thousands of rounds would be expended by both sides in the assault/defense of the airport. Rockets soared through the already blackened sky to combine with mortars, whistling and screaming as they came down to the ground.

The battle would go in the history books of the Rangers, regardless of the outcome. Almost an hour into the fight, the Rangers secured the whole perimeter and were now advancing against the main airport themselves. They had lost three soldiers and seven others were wounded but the Amazonians had lost approximately a third of their whole fighting force to death, injury, or capture. Their defense of the airport was failing and they were being slaughtered by the combined air and land offensive of the Rangers, the army, and the air force.

They pulled out their only armored piece midway through the second hour. It was an armored infantry fighting vehicle and it didn't last long. As it moved over the ground to position itself on the perimeter, firing every available gun it had, a Ranger, manning an M102A1 Recoilless Rifle by himself, loaded it on his shoulder with a deadly HEAT round inside. He sighted the armored vehicle, got down on his knee and squeezed the trigger. His whole body jolted as the 84mm round exited the barrel at 255 meters per second and screamed across the battlefield. The armored vehicle wasn't equipped with ERA either, which meant that the dual warhead on the HEAT round, which could penetrate through 500mm of RHA behind ERA effects could go even further. The armored vehicle stood no chance as the round penetrated through the side of it and exploded inside, exploding the ammunition inside of it as well. The brilliant, smoking wreck, was now useless to the Amazonians and the Rangers scored another victory.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-07.jpg

For seven more hours, the Rangers fought hard and bravely. In the end, they took the airport and suffered minimal casualties doing so. There were eighteen KIAs and forty-three WIAs. That compared to the Amazonians who suffered over 400 KIAs and over 300 WIAs. Estimates on their force size were grossly underestimated. The Rangers did manage to capture 62 soldiers though.

Throughout the remainder of the city, Layartebian forces continued a massive onslaught. They made progress, more so than they had before, and the Amazonians were buckling under the combined offensive, which was one of the most successful ones in the war. It was a sharp contrast to Boa Vista, which was being reassaulted on June 22 by a force of twelve hundred Layartebian soldiers, equipped with armor and aircraft support. The Venezuelans wouldn't survive there either.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Nocturnal%20Woes/manaus-02.jpg

At the end of the day on June 19, the Layartebians had 68 KIAs and 126 WIAs, including those at the airport. There were 2 MIAs and they knew of 1 soldier who was definitely captured. A pair of Dingos and a downed Black Hawk were the only equipment losses for the day as well.
Layarteb
24-09-2007, 00:24
Officials declared that the fighting in Manaus was largely over on June 27, ten days after the assault began. For two weeks after, Layartebian soldiers would be mopping up small pockets of resistance that managed to escape Layartebian guns. Boa Vista fell on June 24 after two days of intense fighting and bombardment. After that, each and every major city in the Amazonian Republic had been destroyed. The government had been effectively killed in the Zeus strike on June 17, the day before the onslaught began. Most of the country was in total ruins and the casualties by July 3, when the war was considered "over" were high on both sides. There had been 566 KIAs, 1,768 WIAs, and 7 MIAs on the Layartebian side. All of the 7 MIAs were luckily found, alive, although in bad shape. They would have to be treated accordingly. Of the 12 POWs captured by the Amazonians, only the six men from Team Three of Force Lightning were never found again. They were presumed executed but their fate would never be known. As for the Amazonians, there were over 20,000 civilian casualties and at least 30,000 casualties of all types amongst the military forces. The Venezuelans suffered less numbers, many of them blending into the population after the war was seemingly over. An estimated 5,000 of them remained at large.

Layartebian military presence in the country continued and would continue for some time. Whereas crime had been slammed and annihilated throughout the Yucatán, there would be a similar necessity to the Amazon. The plan of operations put the former Amazonian Republic under military law and rule as a territory of the Empire until October 1. On October 1, there would be a referendum held throughout the country. They could join the Province of South Eastern Virginia or they could remain an independent republic but, regardless of which way they chose, they were, effectively, territory of the Empire of Layarteb. Whether they became a republic or assimilated into the province, they would always have a Layartebian flag hoisted high.

Resistance would continue as the Venezuelans and hold-out Amazonian military elements that didn't surrender plotted to wage guerilla and insurgent warfare upon the Layartebian forces that would remain in-country. There were still large pockets of resistance throughout the country and although they were all surrounded by Layartebian forces, where they existed, they were pockets without influence that could go, theoretically, unchecked. As the Layartebian Army had rushed to Manaus, they left behind large swatches of area that were never touched. It was an evolution of the fame "island-hopping" strategy, where Marines would move from island to island but, if an island was too heavily fortified or defended, they would skip it and go around it, isolating those on the island. It worked well for the ILM as they secured the Caribbean but, here, on land, it wasn't met with the same degree of success.

Many of the Venezuelans, their biggest enemy, just diffused into the crowds and the masses as people returned back home to find nothing but catastrophe. Little remained standing, especially in Manaus, where the heaviest urban fighting in over two decades had been seen. The combat was intense and the Layartebians came out victorious and even secured Boa Vista on the second try. The Amazonian soldiers taken into custody were separated but many of them would return to the populace. Many would go back to civilian lives while others assimilated into the ILM. The five thousand remaining Venezuelans and a force of about four to six hundred Amazonian military men who refused to surrender, still resided in the country as an enemy force. They gravitated to the various unchecked pockets where other resistance fighters, namely civilian gangs and other rag-tag armies, resided. The largest problem that still existed was the border between there and Mato Grasso, a state that had descended into complete and total anarchy. To the southeast of the former Amazon Republic, there was an unprotected border. Layartebian forces would rush to secure it but even there they would be finding tunnels and various other methods for the anarchists in Mato Grasso to export their influence.

Fearing a Layartebian campaign against Mato Grasso, many anarchist fighters snuck over the border to put up a resistance to the Layartebians. Their ultimate goal was to push the Empire off their border but if that wouldn't work, they would preoccupy them enough that they couldn't launch any campaign into Mato Grasso. The way the war against the Amazonian Republic was fought, the Layartebian military would have to work on a whole new set of tactics and reconsolidate itself.
Layarteb
25-09-2007, 01:58
By mid-August, the situation in the former Amazonian Republic had not improved. An insurgency raged with support of many of the Amazonian people. They wanted their independence back and they wanted the Empire to clean up the disaster it had caused. Insurgents had grown in numbers to include nearly double the fifty-five hundred people originally, after Manaus fell. Their tactics included the usage of IEDs, booby traps, and various other tactics. They targeted Layartebian administrators and soldiers but were largely kept contained within the borders of the former Amazonian Republic. The border between South Eastern Virginia and the small, former republic was, effectively, closed. Layartebian forces along the border had reinforced it with a significant amount of forces as reservists were called up to provide additional support on the border. The goal was to the keep the problem isolated until it could be solved. In time, it would be solved.

[this ends my storyline. yes it's a short and abrupt end but this is by design. keep your eyes on Ride the Lightning (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=448866).]
Pushka
06-10-2007, 04:16
June 22nd 10:23 PM, Salvador City

The Russian forces were moving slowly through the empty, dark streets, the rain was pounding hard now reducing visibility. The 500 troops that were sent to take over the port devided themselves into smaller squads and spread out through the streets. Some had the support of T-4 airdropable tanks, most however had to rely on their own strength. Liutenant Voronin's squad was lucky enough to have armored support, so far no resistance was met but he had an uneasy feeling as if something was about to happen.

"Отрьяд, стой."
Squad, freeze.

He said into his intercom, his voice not escaping his helmet, it was only heard by his soldiers those that were wearing Sphera-3 helmets with integrated radio and closed off breathing system. With integrated sound sensors blocking out the rain and increasing Voronin's hearing ten fold he was able to hear the commotion up ahead. His equipment was a bit different from the other soldiers the commander's Sphera-3K helmet featured an armored facet that also acted as a screen, while the others just had an HUD. Using the integrated night/day and thermal cameras he was able to see much more then the others in his squad, something was up ahead and he heard it. A moment later the thermal picture displayed on his facet allowed him to see the enemy. A barricade made of sandbags blocking off the whole street as it narrowed down. A machine gun nest with 4 people manning it. It was about 30 meters up ahead and whoever the enemy was they were not able to hear or see Voronin's squad through the rain.

"Отрьяд, в укрытие, быстро."
Squad, find cover, fast.

His men scattered, breaking the front doors of the apartment buildings parallel to the street and getting inside, the apartment buildings were long and stretched to the end of the street well beyond the barricade. Voronin went backwards and stood behind the tank.

"Всем слушать мою команду. БД посланно, враг впереди, скорее всего это только часть засады. Сержант Гренев стреляйте из танка по барикаде, все остальные прорывайтесь вперед по зданиям и захватите их, даю разрешение открывать огонь на порыжение."
Everyone listen to my command. BD (battle data- pictures, video, maps all digitally sent from one soldier to another through VRPB) is sent, enemy is ahead, most likely this is only a part of an ambush. Sergeant Grenev shoot the barricade from the tank, everyone else breakthrough forward inside the buildings and capture them, I give permission to open deadly fire.

The stage was set, someone was to live and someone was to die in only a moment, for those present that moment lasted an eternity.
Pineholt
04-12-2007, 13:39
After the success of negotiations in Havana, the Pineholtine military felt daring enough to launch another peacekeeping force outside its borders. Certains parts of Brazil had fallen into lawlessness following the collapse of the state of Parthini. Naval forces were already stationed off the coast of the relevant territory, and Marines and Paras were moving in to establish HQs before the main expeditionary force arrived. An extensive propaganda campaign was already underway, with leaflet drops in all major population centres, informing the people that this was to be a peaceful operation. Another aim of the mission was to remove a Stalinist paramilitary group who were trying to seize control of the area, the Latin American Liberation Forces who would destabilise the whole region, as they wanted to unite the whole of South America under one dictator.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/jhl-image41.jpg

Pineholtine forces deploying on the beaches.