NationStates Jolt Archive

August 11, 2007

The situation in South America has turned up increased destabilization as yet another regional government collapsed leaving a vast region in chaos. The Russian Federation that has already pledged several battalions to securing stability in the region by the means of occupation has decided to take the region of Argentina and place it under its control in order to establish law, order and peace for the local citizens. Once again the bear was showing his muscles, Argentina was a huge stretch of land and much larger military resources would need to be mobilized in order to pacify it, much more troops were needed that were stationed in the still ongoing conflict to the north in the Russian controlled parts of Brazil there although fighting was scaling down still a lot of work had to be done in order to maintain a lasting peace. The newly assembled 1st Central American Fleet has been ordered by Voronej to start mobilizing towards Argentina. In addition to several divisions of Russian army troops that were going to be shipped by the Fleet to the battlefield, this was the first conflict in which the Latin American Autonomous Republc's Regional Self Defense Force (LAARRSDF) would be deployed in another region and work side by side with the Russian soldiers. Most of the Federation citizens in the LAAR were of Latino decent and heritage but over the past several years and millions of rubles spent in cultural and military cooperation efforts the bulk of LAARRSDF understood and spoke Russian and was well trained in the use of Federation's standard issue weaponry and armored vehicles. The stage was set, once again.

"Sir. The Russians are expanding again. This time they're moving into Argentina. Our territories in the Falklands Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are directly vulnerable to a Russian attack if they establish dominance in the Argentine state. The Brazilian/Argentine Empire is fading away quickly and the Russians have a definite desire in this hemisphere." The Minister of Foreign Affairs said as the Cabinet meeting began. "The Russians have little to no dominance in any real location except in a small sliver of Russia. They have little influence in Mexico where us, the Hawdawgian, and the Romans have them surrounded. They have direct access to the Pacific Ocean but that's about it right now. If they seize Argentine territory they will have direct and unstoppable access to the South Atlantic Ocean, where our own dominance is miniscule. Our territories in the South Atlantic Ocean are spread out and, in the event of a war, could not hold out for long without reinforcements. Gladly, Argentina shares no physical border with any of our territories. The Falklands are separated by water, which gives us an advantage."

"The Russian Navy is arduous." The Minister of Defense began. "They rely on giant flotilla's that take weeks and weeks to surge and make more noise moving through the waters than a missile launch does. An air attack against the Falklands will be the most effective way for them but we would detect them before they left their own airspace. Air defenses on the Falklands is adequate for the previous threat but not right now. We will need to reinforce the Falklands with at least another missile battery of either Crow or Replicator missiles and we ought to consider redirecting one of the Dnalkrad air defense frigates from the 5th Maritime Defense Fleet from its current base in the Canary Islands down to the Falklands. The patrol boats we have there now will do little to resist much but a single Dnalkrad could hold much of their air force at bay while we attack from the north."

"Interesting. Gentlemen. What does the Intelligence Ministry have about this?" The Emperor asked the Minister of Intelligence who shuffled a few papers in front of him.

"Sir. It is a shame we never got to deploy many assets into the Brazilian/Argentine Empire so we have no eyes on the ground. Because of the Doctrine of Sovereignty, they will have to move through the Pacific and through the Atlantic to reach the territory. They cannot simply go from their Central American territories, through the Caribbean and out to the Atlantic, which limits them to just two real avenues from their territories. The Russian Federation is very spread out and that is to our advantage here. Our best bet would be to monitor the situation through our intelligence sharing networks, using technology in this instance, and opt to get eyes on the ground as the chaos unfolds. The Romans will, undoubtedly, be uneasy about this acquisition so they will probably be doing much of the same thing.

"Right now sir, the Russians are sailing one of their cumbersome fleets away from Mexico already. Our patrol craft will be monitoring them the whole way in both our territorial waters and airspace and international waters and airspace. We will be watching them the whole way down." The Minister of Intelligence concluded and looked around the room.

"Alright. Where does this leave us?" He asked as they looked around. "Any suggestions?"

"Well. It's quite obvious that the Russian expansion is a problem. We have to contain it as best as we could. The Russians have to sail past miles and miles and miles and miles of our coast line and our territorial waters extend out far enough that we can monitor them from inside of our own waters without ever alerting them. International waters will help us just the same. Right now we have an EP-8B Excalibur flying patrol routes in our waters and others in international waters. They're collecting intelligence right now and they are going to be following them the whole way down."

"Good. But still. What are we going to do?"

"Given the nature of this threat and the presence of our South Atlantic territories, this is a definite move against us. We have never tried to assert much dominance in the South Atlantic, given our dominance in the North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea so they could see it as a vacuum that they could fill, unaware of the vastness of it, which makes any sort of dominance almost impossible. Hirgizstanian territories in Africa give them a large capability as does the United States of Brink. We can expect their governments to see this as a possible effort to encroach upon their own dominance in the ocean. The Romans have a tiny sliver as well. The acquisition of Argentine territory will help us in a way though."

"What is that?"

"The Minister of Finance could better explain that sir."

"Yes sir," the Minister of Finance said as she adjusted her necklace. She was an elder woman, in her fifties but she was the Empire's leading expert on global financial matters and those within the Empire. Her brilliance had led to some of the largest surplus's in Layartebian history. "Sir. The Russian Federation is bleeding money everywhere. Their navy alone is sucking their treasuries slowly dry. Maintaining 150 aircraft carriers costs well over sixty billion each year and that's just their aircraft carriers. That doesn't include the remainder of their 7,500 ship navy. We estimate that they are spending over a trillion dollars each year just to maintain these vessels. That doesn't include their own aircraft or the rest of their military. They could very well be spending close to two trillion dollars each year just keeping their military in order. In addition, they do not pay their soldiers. Despite any 'duty to the motherland' people not getting paid to get shot at will never have the level of morale that those who get paid will.

"Now. Because they are so spread out, they're definitely spending tons of extra money just to maintain their territories, which are spread out between Russia, Mexico, Brazil, the Arabian Peninsula, and Pacific Ocean are spread out by thousands of miles sometimes. They have to keep a lot of suppy lines open but they design their territories to be self-sufficient. This leaves us with an advantage. Because they are designed that way, they open themselves up to various fronts of activity. This is certainly a military outlook to it but financially speaking, the addition of another independent area to the mix could very well add another bleeding limb to their Federation.

"Because they have such an overwhelmingly, unnecessarily, large military, they need more space. Getting a hold of the Argentine territories means they'll have to dump more money just to clean it up, like they are doing in Brazil. Sure they'll get a return on it but that won't happen overnight. The more they expand, the weaker they are, financially. Our own Brazilian endeavor cost us a significant amount of money as well but we were prepared. We do not know the status of their surplus's if they even have any but it will drain them significantly."

"That's good to hear. They've had how many governmental changes in just the past two decades. They're as stable as a Jenga tower and, financially speaking, they're probably weaker than we were in 1980. That gives us a lot to look forward to in terms of their dominance. You can't exert any dominance if you can't afford bread. Very well, we'll convene again tomorrow," the Emperor dismissed the meeting.

The collapse of the Brazilian Argentinian Empire had not come as a surprise to many, least of all the Pineholtine Government. Plans were immediately put into action to take control of eastern Argentina. Little resistance was to be expected but nevertheless, the Armed Forces gave this mission top priority. Sabre Light Tanks moved at their top speed of 50mph, with their target of Buenos Aires fast approaching. They were backed up by Striker Anti-Tank Guided Missile Carriers, and other armoured vehicles as well as elements from the Air Force. Jet planes flew overhead scouting the area. So far the area had been relatively clear, but aerial reconnaissance showed that taking Buenos Aires would be much harder. Also, news had reached the Pineholtine General Staff that Russian forces were invading Argentina. It was imperative that the Russians were not allowed to take Buenos Aires.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/7413/sabre/scorpion_sabre.JPG
Sabre Light Tanks
http://unsd.macrossroleplay.org/striker1.jpg
Striker Missile Carrier

OOC: You're running on a lot of assumptions where in your first post my friend. My nation isn't starved for money, its rich I have almost a billion tax payers, developed high technology sector not to mention every natural resource in existence in abundance. My country is completely self-sufficient I can just trade with my provinces and keep myself afloat. Russia is not poor but whatever way you want to look at it thats your decision, just that you're mistaken. Also morale wise, morale is high.

IC:

Message from the Russian Federation to the nation of Pineholt

Argentina has been claimed by the Russian Federation as its sovereign territory. Should any nation attempt to counter our invasion of those territories that will be a declaration of all out war. Should that happen we will spare no resource to destroy our enemy. You will turn the forces that you have sent towards our borders at once or meet with the consequences.

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

Kremlin, Voronej

President Igor Stepanov was in his office with the Marshal of the Army Leonid Nikitin.

"Так Пайнхолт всё таки идёт на это, какие предложения?"
So Pineholt is actually attempting this, what are your suggestions?

"Товарищь Президент эта атака только нам на руку. Все миролюбивтцы в Парламенте теперь будут молчать и мы сможем выдвинуть всю нашу мощь ротив врага. План прост: мы атакуем все их острова в тоже время отбиваем их атаку на Буэнос Айрес и идём дальше в их тереторию. Я не знаю на что они надеятся их страна слаба мы её раздавим как клопа. Я пошлю все детали с моим главным отчётом."
Comrade President this attack is only playing into our hands. All the peacelovers in the Parliament will now keep quiet and we will be able to move our full force against the enemy. The plan is simple: we attack all of their island holdings and at the same time repel their attack on Buenos Aires and advancing further into their territory. I do not know what they are hoping for, their country is weak, we will squish it like a bug. I will send you all the details with my main report.

"Отлично, вы свободны у меня есть другие дела которые не могут ждать."
Great, you are free to go I have other important business that can not wait.

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

The Russian ships were moving towards the port city of Rawson, from where they would dispatch the ground forces that the fleet was carrying and begin to launch attacks along the coast. In the meanwhile the net began to close onto Pineholtian islands. It wasn't a question of if the Russians were going to win it was a question of when and at what cost.

"Товари

OOC: Every assertion is based on what you have publically provided and based on what general costs of logistics and maintenance would be based on modern figures. Stuff does not cost any less to maintain in NS than it would in real life and based on ratio equations and simple mathematics most of what I've written is right on point. Why do you think I scaled my military back so much from over 5,000 ships to 1,200 as well as my army and air force? As for the rest, history provides examples that work very well.

As the Pineholtine forces began to move against Buenos Aires and the Russians prepared for a counter-attack, the Empire did what it usually did. It sat back and took notes. EP-8 aircraft shadowed the Russian fleet as it left Central America and aircraft stationed in the Falklands were put on high alert. The prospect of being dragged into the regional war simply because of some overzealous enemy general was not high but it could not be ignored. Long-range survelliance aircraft including the E-10 MC2A and E-9 AWACS were already based at Mount Pleasant Airfield along with several EP-8s and various UAVs. Those six main aircraft and thirty-four UAVs could easily monitor the whole situation but, to add an additional layer of survelliance, the ILAF went about putting one of its more sophisticated tracking aircraft in the skies to the east of Argentina. The aircraft was a modification on the C-26 Condor and it was a very capable bird. It was the RC-26J Condor, a new but highly classified variant of the RC-26H Condor, an IMINT model, which, in turn, was based from the C-26A variant. From the outside, the RC-26H and RC-26J looked identical to the C-26, giving it an edge of reason. Both models were highly secretive and the RC-26J Condor took off from its base in Georgia and flew along the coast, through Layartebian airspace, setting up a patrol off the Argentine coast, well into the realm of international airspace. It would remain on station for fourteen hours before it would turn back for home, at which point a second aircraft would replace it. It would refuel along the way, having a seventeen hour endurance time without refueling, quite impressive for many standards. Equipped with two crews, both of them could alternate and one crew would handle the take-off and first seven hours of patrol while the other handled the other seven hours and the landing.

For now, the Empire just waited. Satellites, ground-based radars and listening posts, airborne survelliance posts, and general chatter would just be used to listen, watch, and observe the campaign in Argentina. If it became necessary for action, these pre-war listening missions would prove highly advantageous. If not, they would be passed along through the Ministry of Intelligence, where their information would be processed accordingly.

ooc: Well I have never publically provided that my nation was poor, infact I provided the complete opposite. So the statement he made is incorrect, Russia is a very rich country, so he can have his generals say whatever the fuck they want as long as then he narrates he doesn't mention that bullshit cause well as far as EII is concerned its not true. Russia is rich.

OOC: There is a reason russia is a poor hell hole, and the navy is a big one, russia does not even have 750 ships, imagine russia with 7 times the population with 10 times the combatants.

That's increasing the russians already big problems with maintence costs and personal [russia has less then 100 flyable naval fighters and what, no carriers?]

You're a wanker pure and simple, it costs NS nations trillions to keep their 7,500 ship fleets afloat, why should you be any different? I spend over 12 trillion on my navy [ships+planes+personal] alone in II proper with my over 6 billion people. [my nation's pop + population from conquests.]

OOC - Just for clarification,I aim to take Buenos Aires before Russia does, not engage Russian forces.

OOC: There is a reason russia is a poor hell hole, and the navy is a big one, russia does not even have 750 ships, imagine russia with 7 times the population with 10 times the combatants.

That's increasing the russians already big problems with maintence costs and personal [russia has less then 100 flyable naval fighters and what, no carriers?]

You're a wanker pure and simple, it costs NS nations trillions to keep their 7,500 ship fleets afloat, why should you be any different? I spend over 12 trillion on my navy [ships+planes+personal] alone in II proper with my over 6 billion people. [my nation's pop + population from conquests.]

OOC: I am not RL Russia, neither am I a wanker. I have 39 trillion rubles (which is great then USD as far as my NS nation on NS tracker is concerned) in my Defense budget according to NS tracker and I can afford anything. Russian Federation on EII is not poor now I would have explained to you in greater detail but I do not want to attract mod attention by pointing out to you what you really are. If you spend 12 trillion on your navy when so can I and unlike you I do not claim to have such a ridiculous population, on EII mine is around 900 million I think. As for RL Russia it is not a poor hell hole and you do not know what you are talking about, I would go into greater detail but we'll have to take it off-site. My NS economy can afford me a navy like that and a prosperous nation which is the way I am RPing it. I have announced that I will be reducing the size of my military in EII Rev thread but claiming that my nation is poor is a godmod because my NS nation can afford a navy of that size, that is pure and simple as it gets.

OOC - Just for clarification,I aim to take Buenos Aires before Russia does, not engage Russian forces.

Just for clarification I am not giving it up and you will have to engage Russian forces and not just in Argentina I will attack you world wide in retaliation for attempting to take the territory I have claimed which means say bye, bye to your islands. I will post more when you cross the border of Buenos Aires and begin to take it over, you still have time to decide if sacrificing your whole country is worth attempting and failing to take Buenos Aires from me. I am giving this territory away so you could have attempted to purchase it after I pacify it , but if you cross the border when where is no going back you will be destroyed and maybe if I feel charitable enough I'll let you keep a part of Uruguay when all is said and done. What I am saying is that you can get that land peacefully through cooperation with me, I am looking to repair old relationships (such as with Cot) and create new ones so if you want to take it over together sure, I have too many conflicts going on right now for my Parliament to not start bitching so I do not want to invest any large amount of rubles into Argentina to stabilize it after its pacified thats why Im giving it to Cymrea I'll give him some money to start things off and he can do whatever he wants after that, if you wanna put some of that land under your control then offer joint takeover and we'll talk about it, Russian Federation is not a war monger all we're interested in is global stability (and Russian lands of course).

Grr I just typed out a huge reply, and it messed up! Now its gone. Anyway, whilst I write up another one, for Pushka's information, my troops have secured the Misiones, Entre Rios, and Corrientes regions, and have stopped 150km from Buenos Aires whilst we sort out the diplomatic stuff. I also lay claim to the whole Buenos Aires region, as well as the city itself, and the La Pampa region.

OOC: You haven't actually crossed into Argentina have you? In any case, you're not getting Buenos Aires, not while Im interested in taking it and if you try you'll be committing suicide, so you're welcome to try. And I will not allow you to do your usual bullshit like I remember you had a plane magically appear in my capitol without prior notification and not getting shot down the first second it crossed into my airspace, that kind of bs won't be allowed.

OOC: Alright you invaded Argentina, you die.

IC:

Official Communique from the Russian Federation Government

The nation of Pineholt has moved its troops into Misiones, Entre Rios, and Corrientes provinces of Argentina region that has been annexed by the Russian Federation. As such the Pineholtian troops are in violation of the Federations territory and the Federation is now at a state of all out war with the nation of Pineholt. The nation of Pineholt reserves the right to unconditionally surrender now and leave the Federation territories it now occupies. Failure to comply will result in annexation by the Russian Federation of all the territories currently belonging to the nation of Pineholt and an invasion of those territories that will surely lead to destruction of Pineholtian nation-state. You have your ultimatum and are free to act as you see fit, just remember that you will loose this war and think if sacrificing your nation is worth what you are doing.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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

The warning was given and tossed aside by the Pineholtian government it was time for all out military action against the Federation's newest enemy. As insignificant and weak as nation of Pineholt was the Federation military was not going to hold back. First of the mission objectives was to capture enemy outposts scattered on the islands through out the world's seas. The Berkner Island, Norfolk Island, South Orkney Island and Thurston Island were to be hit by all that the Federation had, the 1st Antarctic Fleet as a whole dispatched from Novoport, in the Taymyria Okrug to strike at the enemy on the sea. In the meanwhile the Russian naval assault task force captured the port city of Rawson, the Russian troops were on the ground and quickly regrouping, they're objective was to for now bypass any rebell resistance in the area and proceed to the conflict region, they were to drive the Pineholtian troops out of the provinces they are holding and with reinforcements that were going to arrive from Mexico and Brazil they were to launch an assault of Uruguay the enemy stronghold.

OOC: Will post ORBAT tomorrow if you don't uncoditionally surrender. Just realized that all the "Russia economically broken" nonsense was actually from Lay and not you, somehow I mixed you guys up, just makes Lay more of a douche in my eyes really doesn't impact the perspective on this particular situation so lets move on.

OOC: You haven't actually crossed into Argentina have you? In any case, you're not getting Buenos Aires, not while Im interested in taking it and if you try you'll be committing suicide, so you're welcome to try. And I will not allow you to do your usual bullshit like I remember you had a plane magically appear in my capitol without prior notification and not getting shot down the first second it crossed into my airspace, that kind of bs won't be allowed.
[OOC: That was Huahin, not Pineholt. Huahin got DEATed btw.]

OOC:
1) How about an apology for getting so pissy earlier? I never said your country was weak, or anything bad about it at all, or invade your airspace! In all likeliness, if you realised it was other people you would be a lot more lenient now.
2) Actually, I posted my first post before Persecution and Hatred was deleted, therefore the claims had not defaulted to you, so you had not annexed them, therefore I am not waging an aggressive war, merely taking control of lawless territories which I believe to be part of my nation. I'm sorry for being picky about this, but you basically ignored my post until prompted in the main thread.
3) You never role-played your troops being anywhere but in boats outside Rawson.
4) As I have my own military designations for planes, tanks etc, I'll post the RL ones in brackets after, until I get a reference thread sorted out.



Sorry for my short reply, have a lecture in a minute, will continue this when I get back.

IC:

Pineholtine forces were holding positions on the borders of Corrientes and Entre-Rios, but the majority of the forces were concentrated roughly 150KM away from Buenos Aires. They were holding position whilst negotiations took place with the Russians.

OOC:
1) How about an apology for getting so pissy earlier? I never said your country was weak, or anything bad about it at all, or invade your airspace! In all likeliness, if you realised it was other people you would be a lot more lenient now.
2) Actually, I posted my first post before Persecution and Hatred was deleted, therefore the claims had not defaulted to you, so you had not annexed them, therefore I am not waging an aggressive war, merely taking control of lawless territories which I believe to be part of my nation. I'm sorry for being picky about this, but you basically ignored my post until prompted in the main thread.
3) You never role-played your troops being anywhere but in boats outside Rawson.
4) As I have my own military designations for planes, tanks etc, I'll post the RL ones in brackets after, until I get a reference thread sorted out.



Sorry for my short reply, have a lecture in a minute, will continue this when I get back.

IC:

Pineholtine forces were holding positions on the borders of Corrientes and Entre-Rios, but the majority of the forces were concentrated roughly 150KM away from Buenos Aires. They were holding position whilst negotiations took place with the Russians.

OOC: Apology? Nah. I claimed those territories first, thus as far as my nation is concerned I annexed them, the only thing left is pacification, well that and kicking you out since you're so eager to be annihilated. By intruding into those territories you are intruding into my sovereign soil and thus will now deal with the consequences. Im trying to bypass all the unnecessary delay and get to kicking your ass faster, I'll be sure to make more expansive posts as this RP progresses. Time for negotiations was before you crossed into my land, right now its time for you to unconditionally surrender.

OOC: You're running on a lot of assumptions where in your first post my friend. My nation isn't starved for money, its rich I have almost a billion tax payers, developed high technology sector not to mention every natural resource in existence in abundance. My country is completely self-sufficient I can just trade with my provinces and keep myself afloat. Russia is not poor but whatever way you want to look at it thats your decision, just that you're mistaken. Also morale wise, morale is high.


So the statement he made is incorrect, Russia is a very rich country, so he can have his generals say whatever the fuck they want as long as then he narrates he doesn't mention that bullshit cause well as far as EII is concerned its not true. Russia is rich.

And I will not allow you to do your usual bullshit like I remember you had a plane magically appear in my capitol without prior notification and not getting shot down the first second it crossed into my airspace, that kind of bs won't be allowed.

Honestly, why was all this stuff aimed at me then?

Honestly, why was all this stuff aimed at me then?

OOC: Because I was mistaken.

Sequence of Events

1. P&H declared D12 or D8 I don't remember, either one of the two...

2. Pushka places the claim to Argentina and makes a single post of his fleet being ordered to Argentina.

3. Pineholt posts 3rd post in the thread stating that his own forces, which are directly across the border, are moving into Argentina aimed at Buenos Aires [counter-claiming your original claim which is valid].

4. One month later Pushka posts that his forces are moving towards Rawson [no forces have actually landed yet].

5. Pushka posts that Rawson is secured.

In essence, Pineholt has territory on the border of Argentina so his troops would definitely be there quicker than your fleet. Secondly, by the time you got around to actually posting where your fleet was and what you had captured, he was already in Argentina.


Now to some IC

The Empire is deeply concerned with the happenings in Argentina and it is our hope that both parties can seek to a peaceful resolution without warring against each other. However, the Empire finds the destablization of Pineholt as a dangerous endeavor and condemns any further Russian attack on sovereign Pineholt territory. Should the sovereign borders of Uruguay be breached by Russian forces seeking to attack a poor and defenseless nation, the Empire would be compelled to act. With the permission of the Pineholtine government, the Empire would like to deployed naval assets off the Uruguay coast.

Sequence of Events

1. P&H declared D12 or D8 I don't remember, either one of the two...

2. Pushka places the claim to Argentina and makes a single post of his fleet being ordered to Argentina.

3. Pineholt posts 3rd post in the thread stating that his own forces, which are directly across the border, are moving into Argentina aimed at Buenos Aires [counter-claiming your original claim which is valid].

4. One month later Pushka posts that his forces are moving towards Rawson [no forces have actually landed yet].

5. Pushka posts that Rawson is secured.

In essence, Pineholt has territory on the border of Argentina so his troops would definitely be there quicker than your fleet. Secondly, by the time you got around to actually posting where your fleet was and what you had captured, he was already in Argentina.


Now to some IC

The Empire is deeply concerned with the happenings in Argentina and it is our hope that both parties can seek to a peaceful resolution without warring against each other. However, the Empire finds the destablization of Pineholt as a dangerous endeavor and condemns any further Russian attack on sovereign Pineholt territory. Should the sovereign borders of Uruguay be breached by Russian forces seeking to attack a poor and defenseless nation, the Empire would be compelled to act. With the permission of the Pineholtine government, the Empire would like to deployed naval assets off the Uruguay coast.

OOC: Well thanks asshole, way to go to not bring our personal confrontation into EII.

IC:

Response from the Russian Federation

The nation of Pineholt has invaded Russian sovereign territory, as such it is our enemy. We destroy our enemies unless they surrender unconditionally as the nation of Pineholt has the freedom to do at this moment. However if they do not and if they will continue their military presence on our land we will be forced to remove them by force as well as invade their homeland so such attacks are no longer repeated. Pineholt is the aggressor in this conflict attacking sovereign territories of the Federation and they must be punished for their actions. The fact that the Empire of Layarteb is so quick to start a war with the Federation and sacrifice millions of its servicemen in an all out war only goes to show the Empires lack of humanity and confirms our prior statements.

OOC: Get on AIM, I need to talk to you. Actually nvm, fuck that I don't want to talk to you, left you a nice little message on your boards though.

OOC: Nothing personal has been brought into this conflict.

Given the state of things, it was high time for the Empire to act. The Argentine situation was growing out of proportion immensely and the Empire had a lonely holding with the Falklands Islands and the South Georgia and Sandwich Islands. Russian forces had landed in the center of the beleaguered state at Rawson, in the province of Chubut. While they did, the Pineholtine government had moved its forces into northern Argentina and were pushing towards Buenos Aires. Without a doubt, there would be a refugee crisis and that was what made the Falklands so vital. The Empire could not, under any circumstance, take refugees in the Falklands, it was too crowded as it was. The Varsolan government had turned the two main islands into bustling megacities and the Empire was working to alleviate the stress on the resources there and return the Falklands to the way that they once were.

Three hundred miles to the southwest of the Falklands was Tierra del Fuego, an important part of the refugee crisis that was sure to develop. It was barely 30,000 square miles and it was sparsely populated and the furthest from the fighting. Sharing a border with the Roman Empire, it was sure to be a hotspot. It was of little strategic value to the Empire but the Empire could not have a million refugees that close to its island chain. They had to act and as the Russians moved north and south and the Pineholtine forces moved south, the Empire moved southwest.

The Layartebian 10th Amphibious Assault Group with a full division of Marines was based out of the Falklands Islands and they were part of the 6th Fleet, which was responsible for reserve operations. Immediately, they were called up and given strict orders to move to the tip, to Tierra del Fuego and seize it under very peculiar orders. Those orders would be made public immediately and as LCACs and landing ships sped across the small portion of the Atlantic towards the tip, where they landed and began to move outwards. They would not move north of the tip though and as they did, the Emperor took the podium in the press room of the Fortress of Comhghall and addressed the world.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Empire and of the world, good morning. The situation in Argentina is currently cataclysmic. The Empire is deeply concerned with the situation as it directly relates to South American affairs, where the Empire has significant holdings. Given the nature of this conflict, the Empire sees a grave situation developing.

"In Argentina, a large humanitarian crisis is about to unfold. Millions will be unseated from their homes and millions more will have no where to go. To prevent this chaos from spilling over the borders, I have ordered the Imperial Layartebian Navy to seize control of Tierra del Fuego. They are under strict orders only to seize the tip and only for the receival of refugees. The Empire is currently distributing information throughout Argentina through radio and television networks to all refugees that in Tierra del Fuego, we will be ready for them. The Empire will set up a temporary home there for the millions of expected refugees and following the cessation of conflict, the Empire will assist with the reintegration of all refugees back to their homes whether it is the Russian Federation or the The Pampas Republic of Pineholt or whatever else may come of this conflict.

"The Empire currently is requesting that the Roman Empire also deploy peacekeeping forces to this region to assist in the endeavor. This will ensure that all borders remain stable and that innocent people do not suffer. The Empire is endeavoring this as a peaceful mission and does not intend to retain this land indefinitely nor does it intend to push any forces northward.

"Thank you." The Emperor would not take questions and stepped down from the podium, leaving the room as the Roman government received the request for peacekeeping forces from Chile to be deployed to Tierra del Fuego to assist with the refugees. They would set up "tent" cities and as they did, food, water, and other medical and other supplies would be shipped over, some received from around the world.

OOC: Aha, sure, I hope you read my message, since you already deleted it.

IC:

Official Statement from The Russian Federation

The Russian Federation will not allow this, that territory is under our jurisdiction and an attempt by the Empire to cease it will be met with deadly force. If you are so concerned with the well being of the refugees in the area then you will have to consult us before taking any action on our territory. Should you fail to consult us and proceed with your invasion plans of our territory we will regard such an action as declaration of war and when you will have a lot more to worry about then "helping" the refugees. We will provide humanitarian aid as our campaign unfolds if you wish to help you will need to address your proposal to us since it is our sovereign land.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

OOC: Thread's still there just moved to "debate" where it should be.

The Empire does not consider any land not under the immediate control of the Russian Federation to be sovereign and as such Tierra del Fuego will remain as such. The Empire will not push to move against Russian forces nor does it intend on hold the land indefinitely. Should this conflict turn out peacefully, the Empire has every intention of turning Tierra del Fuego over to the proper ruler of Argentina and until such time, the Empire will continue its endeavor.

Kremlin, Voronej

"Хмм и Лайартеб тоже? Приказываю послать дополнительные силы из ЦААР штобы это недопустить."
Hmm and Layarteb too? I order addition forces to be sent from CAAR (Central American Autonomous Republic, my Mexico) to prevent this.

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

The enemies were coming out of the woodwork, old and new alike as the rest of the naval fleet based in CAAR left its ports and began aproach towards Tierra del Fuego, the Layartebians were threatening Russian sovereignty and such had to be removed. CAAR was now not navaly defended until the fleets from Antarctica arrived on their way to South America, however CAAR had more when enough coastal launched missiles to defeat any possible naval threat and enough man power to turn back a land based one.

OOC: Thread's still there just moved to "debate" where it should be.

The Empire does not consider any land not under the immediate control of the Russian Federation to be sovereign and as such Tierra del Fuego will remain as such. The Empire will not push to move against Russian forces nor does it intend on hold the land indefinitely. Should this conflict turn out peacefully, the Empire has every intention of turning Tierra del Fuego over to the proper ruler of Argentina and until such time, the Empire will continue its endeavor.

Response of the Russian Federation

When you have just started World War III, may God forgive you. Let the world know this that if EoL was truly interested in helping the displaced they would have cooperated with us instead of invading our land. We hope that the world denounces their actions and they turn away from this decision however we are ready and able to protect our land. A "temporary" invasion is still an invasion and a breech of sovereignty. Should EoL reconsider, a cooperative effort can be created but that is in the case that EoL wishes to respect our sovereignty and wishes to help the suffering and does not just intend to invade our territory in order to provoke our justified military response. We will not allow other nations to police our lands without our consent.

OOC: If its WWIV when think I said that, eh, is it WWII?

Official Statement

The Realm shall consider itself neutral in this conflict, as it considers it an issue between the Russian Federation and the Pampas Republic of Pineholt. However, should any attack occur on sovereign Layartebian territory from either party in the conflict, the Realm shall fullfill its obligations in accordance with the charter of the October Alliance. We urge all parties to sue for peace and to settle this conflict in a peaceful manner.

[signed]
His Majesty's Council
The Realm of Cotland


[OOC: WTF! In this context, Layartebian sovereign territory is considered as the Falkland Islands and the South Georgia and Sandwich Islands, not Tierra del Fuego. Just try to settle this peacefully guys.]

OOC: In short I do not agree with your wiping Pineholt off the map because of his legitimate counter-claim.

Official Statement

The Empire has no desire to police the lands of Argentina nor does it have any desire to hold Tierra del Fuego indefinitely. The Empire's only concern is that of the humanitarian displacement that shall occur. The Empire has no desire to start war with the Russian Federation and has not and will not fire upon Russian forces unless we are engaged first. The Empire invites a worldwide peacekeeping force, including Russian forces to Tierra del Fuego for this endeavor. Should the Russians desire to turn a peacekeeping endeavor into World War II then it is a sad occassion for the rest of the world. If the Empire were endeavoring to move, militarily, against the Russian Federation, our forces would reflect this commitment but nowhere in the world have any Layartebian forces raised their alert status or moved to Russian territorial airspace or waters. We endeavor for Tierra del Fuego to serve as a neutral buffer zone until the cessation of this conflict.

The Empire wishes to see a diplomatic resolution between the Pineholtine Republic and the Russian Federation concerning Argentina.

Official Statement:

The Pampas Republic of Pineholt also backs diplomatic means as the only productive way to end this debate, however, we do see certain parts of Argentina as part of Pineholt, and thus do not wish to relinquish our claims to these parts. We would also be interested to hear what reason Russian has for claiming this lands, parts of which are seen as sovereign to us.

OOC: Should have started with that. Im not planning on wiping him off the map, just kicking his ass until he surrenders.

IC:

Responce from the Russian Federation

We are concerned with a humanitarian crisis in our yet to be pacified holdings as such we will allow the Empire to send its peacekeepers into the area. We will also commit our own naval presence to Tierra del Fuego that will carry peacekeeping troops as well as food and water for the refugees.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

OOC: Should have started with that. Im not planning on wiping him off the map, just kicking his ass until he surrenders.

IC:

Responce from the Russian Federation

We are concerned with a humanitarian crisis in our yet to be pacified holdings as such we will allow the Empire to send its peacekeepers into the area. We will also commit our own naval presence to Tierra del Fuego that will carry peacekeeping troops as well as food and water for the refugees.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

OOC: I strongly object on every level, IC and OOC, to pushing Pineholt out of E2, which seems to be your every intention. If you would actually calm down for five minutes and read thoroughly what I posted and what I intend then this would all make sense. If I wanted a war with you there would be bombers in the air, subs off your coast, all the good stuff that has to be done, nor would I have actually asked the Romans to assist. I just can't let you bully Pineholt out of E2 because of a legitimate counter-claim because if I let that happen nobody is going to want to counter-claim anything and it is going to be flat out boring.

OOC: He can surrender that doesn't necessarily mean that Im taking all of his land.

The Empire is willing to host diplomatic negotiations between both the Russian Federation and the Pampas Republic of Pineholt. This forum can take place in Havana, neutral ground between both nations but they would be contingent upon the following:

First and foremost, all afforementioned parties cease any further territorial gains than what are already and currently controlled by their forces. This is to be monitored by the Empire and should any one party violate this, the Empire would feel the necessity to cease any and all diplomatic relations with said party.

Secondly, that all aforementioned parties participate in these talks to form a compromise and not a one sided arrangement.

Lastly, that followed a successful resolution of these talks, the Empire will withdraw all peacekeeping forces from Tierra del Fuego.

The Pampas Republic of Pineholt is willing to attend these talks, and it is noted that it's troops stopped moving two days ago in order to appease the Russians so diplomatic talks could take place. Current positions - full control of the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, Entre-Rios, and 150km north of Buenos Aires.

Houston Intercontinental Airport

Word traveled quickly from the State Department Office in Houston to the tarmac at Intercontinental. Two gleaming Boeing 757’s call sign HUM-1 and HUM-2 were quickly cleared for immediate takeoff. Both jets had been setting at Terminal J, the special governmental hub of the airport for sometime, awaiting the order to rescue the citizens trapped in Buenos Aires. In less than 5 minutes both aircraft rumbled down runway HI-6, climbed to 20,000 feet and headed out over the Gulf of Mexico for the long flight south. Aboard HUM-1 and HUM-2 where four squads of Hawdawgian Royal Marines, whose task was to maintain the security of each aircraft while on the ground and to maintain an orderly embarking of the aircraft for the return trip. The men of squads BRAVO, DOG, KILO, and TANGO settled in for the long flight ahead. Each man bore his tools of the trade, a standard issue HK417, HK SOCOM .45, and Gen IV second skin body armor. Additional communications gear was stowed aboard to allow for the unit to maintain tactical control of the situation in the perceived confusion of loading some 700+ civilians on board the two aircraft.

A pair of naval fighter jets based in Engleside NAS climbed to join the 757’s over Galveston Bay. Refueling rendezvous had been carefully charted earlier in the day and while the 757’s didn’t need to refuel in flight, the escort would have to make three strategic fill ups to make it to Argentinian airspace. The escort flight had specific instructions not to violate the airspace of either side in this conflict so they would ferry onto the Layartebian held Falklands for a refuel. The LAF had been contacted about this prior to takeoff.

Close to Argentinian Airspace

At 50nm from Argentinian Airspace the Hawdawgian fighters peeled away from HUM-1 and HUM-2. As they approached Buenos Aires the tower call was made and clearance for landing was requested. Soon these two lumbering 757’s would be on the ground.

Messages had been broadcast on all the international news outlets. It was hoped that all the methods of delivery had reached all that wanted to leave. In a late twist on the rescue attempt Prime Minister Wells had declared that all TOA citizens whom held viable documentation would be granted a seat on the aircraft should they wish to leave.

Response from The Russian Federation

We shall not attend any negotiations until our demands have been met by the nation of Pineholt. These demands include the withdrawal of Pineholtian military assets from all the territories claimed by the Federation which currently include the following: Misiones, Corrientes and Entre-Rios. Should our demands be met we can resolve this conflict through negotiation, should they not, we will use deadly force to defeat the Pineholtian aggressor and will demand nothing less of an unconditional surrender. We are not a nation that will be intimidated into overlooking the unwarranted act of aggression committed by the Republic of Pineholt.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Empire is deeply displeased by the unwillingness of the Russian Federation to negotiate a peaceful settlement. The Empire does not believe the Russian Federation is a nation of peace nor should any claims of such be accepted by nation-states of the world. It is apparent that the greed of the Russian Federation is akin to nothing more than a six year old child in a toy store who wants and wants but never wants to give.

Response from the Russian Federation

The Empire is free to believe whatever it wants as well as they are free to be displeased at whatever it wants, the Empire's feelings hold no value to us. We are interested in a peaceful solution to this invasion of our lands but we will not be muscled into giving up our holdings, not by the Empire and not by any nation on earth. It is also a bit hypocritical of a tyrannical Empire to pose as a beacon of peace and humanity. Pineholt invaded the territories that we have claimed, if they wish to resolve the issue that has been brought about by their actions through peaceful means they will meet our demands in which case we are willing to negotiate but not with the Empire as an intermediary, we do not trust you and we do not appreciate the double standards you are pressing upon us. If negotiations are to occur they will be overseen by a neutral nation such as the Roman Empire if they agree. We are not some third world country to be pushed around by the Empire and you would be wise to acknowledge that fact in your policy making.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Empire has little intention to provide anything to this conference except a venue but would accept a Roman conference should they accept the offer. The Empire is not tyrannical nor does it impose double standards upon the Russian Federation or the world. Simply put, the Russian Federation has stake a claim in land it does not fully control. It would be akin to the Empire claiming that all of Central America belongs to us, including Mexico, regardless of who controls said territories.

OOC: In both of those situations, before you guys actually started a thread you worked out who would claim what so I would have never had the chance to recommend one...duh!

Response from the Russian Federation

The Empire may try to claim CAAR region of the Federation but we assure you it will find such a decision most costly in both men and funds and will find an attempt to relinquish our control of those lands to be failed and ineffective. Never has the Empire before now expressed the need to hold "fair" negotiations amongst two nations contesting over land. Not when the Realm of Cotland and the Russian Federation were deciding over the fate of the lands in the far east of Russia, neither when the Realm and the Federation were debating the fate of collapsed Panthean holdings. Both of those encounters however were resolved through peaceful means. Now that the Federation is not contesting lands with the Empire's TOA ally we see the Empire showing up and offering to decide for us what we should or should not do with our lands. The nation of Pineholt invaded the territories we have claimed without notifying us or seeking any diplomatic solution, they have used force against us and unless they remove that force we will respond with a force proportionally bigger when their own. We do not owe anything to Empire or the Republic and as such do not see it fit to give up the lands we have claimed for no compensation or to give them up at all.

-Ministry of Foreign Affairs

OOC: In both of those situations, before you guys actually started a thread you worked out who would claim what so I would have never had the chance to recommend one...duh!

OOC: Its called political bashing, you do it all the time. Btw, is jolt spazzing? Your comment somehow ended up being before mine that you were replying to.

OOC: Its called political bashing, you do it all the time. Btw, is jolt spazzing? Your comment somehow ended up being before mine that you were replying to.

OOC: Jolt is doing it's usual.

Official Statement

The Empire finds humor in the statements of the Russian Federation and wishes to point out the world that, before forces actually landed in both situations, the Realm of Cotland and the Russian Federation reached a compromise. In this instance, the Russian Federation has no desire to reach any sort of compromise and insists only on bullying around the Pineholtine Republic. In the same instance, the Empire is not surpised to see an unwillingness to negotiate by the Russian Federation. The Empire remembers all too well when the Russian Federation called for a peace conference, held in Beijing and then simply walked out before any compromises could be discussed. The Russian Federation uses peace conferences simply as a delay in war only to further their own cause and nothing else. Luckily, the world has never fallen for the facade of the Russian Federation accepting peace or compromise without thinking of themselves throughout the entire endeavor or walking out before discussions could be had. In fact we would not have been surprised if the Russian Federation agreed to this negotiation only to walk out and use it to their advantage by violating all concessions set fourth by the conference.

Due to the unwillingness of the Russian Federation to offer compromise to the Pineholtine Republic, the Empire will suspend all further advancement in diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation and maintain current diplomatic levels. Further strain could result in backtracking where it need not occur.

Official Statement

The Empire is deeply displeased with the Russian Federation in this instance. However, the Empire stands by its previous aforementioned statements and leaves the venue of Havana open. However, should any Russian forces encroach upon Uruguay, the Russian Federation will find itself in a de facto state of war with the Empire of Layarteb and should the Russian Federation choose to endeavor upon annexing the Pampas Republic of Pineholt into its Federation by force or coercion, the Empire will consider the Russian Federation to be no better than any other rag-tag terrorist army in the world.

Response of the Russian Federation

A purpose of a government is to advance interests of its nation and its citizens, which is what our policy is, same as that of any other government. We are not heartless however should a humanitarian crisis arise anywhere we will lend a hand to those in need as we have done in the past, however you are asking us to relinquish our claim on land for no reason what so ever but to appease the interests of the Republic of Pineholt, we will not do that and as we have the capabilities to take that land by force we will do so unless the Republic wishes to reconsider and meets our demands. We care not of your double standards, in a similar situation we believe the Empire would have acted more ruthlessly when we have. And although you may think otherwise, we do not put the state of relations with the empire above our territorial integrity and interests of our citizens and our nation, so if you are expecting us to back down because of your conclusion of relations advancement with us you are mistaken. We wish this situation to be resolved peacefully but at this point it is up to the Republic of Pineholt, not to us.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Official Statement

Any situation that endangers the stability of an entire region, the Empire sees as a grave situation. This one, being close to home, only garners more attention.

Official Responce

If you are willing to sacrifice your men to protect an aggressor then so be it, we only pity your men. We hope that the world sees your double standards and denounces them for what they are, you would not be doing this if anyone else had their territories invaded and chose to destroy the invader. We also hope that the world can understand why we do not want to advance the interests of our enemies the Pineholtian republic as the Empire wants us to. A notion of advancing one's enemie's interests while harming your own is a foolish one to anyone with reason.

Official Statement

Any situation that endangers the stability of an entire region, the Empire sees as a grave situation. This one, being close to home, only garners more attention.

Official Responce

If stability is what all you are concerned about then you should only favor Federation's position in the matter. We were able to stabilize other collapsed regions of the world, including our holdings in Central America, the Central American Autonomous Republic which now prospers under the Federation banner.

Official Statement

The Empire sees little stability in a nation that turns on its own allies quicker than it has turned upon its enemies.

Official Response

And yet we are strong and stable, was it not for Panthean betrayal of the Federation we would have fought the Realm of Cotland to preserve its structural integrity. As for Union of Soviet Republics, the Federation never felt easy signing an accord with a nation that restricts personal freedoms of citizens on such a broad scale, it was tolerable to advance global stability through opposition to TOA however now that GSO is no more our tolerance has reduced in size. In any case, the Empire is as always free to believe what it wishes but we will ensure that our interests are advanced and the region is stabilized whatever the Empire's counteraction may be.

OOC: Pine Im waiting for your official response. You can either withdraw your forces so we can talk or you can refuse to meet my demands in which case I'll start my attack on your forces. Its all up to you buddy. But honestly I don't know what would be the point, you attacked my claims hoping that I wouldn't respond adequately for some reason, now you expect me to peacefully surrender my claims to you for no reason what so ever, I also don't think you have anything to offer me in terms of a mutually beneficial compromise, I really don't understand why Lay expects me to put your interests over my own but meh, its Lay and he has his double standards when it comes to me. In any case, even if we hold peacetalks where is no guarantee that they will conclude with anything satisfactory to you and a great possibility exists that I will simply walk and invade you anyways so might as well save us sometime if you want to and refuse my demands that way you won't get a piece of Argentina but hell, we'll all save time, or you can go through so we can peacetalks but you will have to make it worth my while since well I have no reason whatsoever to give land for free to someone like you, your attitude doesn't help either, you don't get that I am doing you a favor by even mentioning peacetalks and stalling the invasion I should be half way through Uruguay by now.

As the situation continued in Argentina, Layartebian forces began to reinforce positions on the Falklands Islands and throughout South Eastern Virginia and Ynoga. In particular, the 2nd Submarine Missile Group moved into various positions around the South Atlantic Ocean. The group consisted of twelve submarines: six attack and six missile. Each missile submarine was guarded by an attack submarine and throughout the South Atlantic, they took up various positions. Of the six missile submarines, two were equipped solely with the UGM-219 Venom SLBM, three were equipped with a mix of Voodoo and Imsdal missiles, and one had a multi-mission loadout.

They had all moved into positions no closer than 100 miles to the coast of Argentina and various other positions, all of them ensuring that they weren't within 50 miles of any Russian surface or subsurface vessels. The various SSNs kept close as well and made sure that nobody got too close to the vessels, all of whom approached their positions at speeds of less than 10 knots, well below tactical silent maximums.

Buenos Aires International Airport

As both 757's landed on runways A-4 and A-5 they taxied towards the lone terminal at Buenos Aires Airport. Both aircraft took up stations at adjoining skyways to make the security of the airframes easier for the embarked Marines. As they began to ready for the influx of people anxious to leave two squads exited the rear door of the planes via rope ladders to take up security positions around HUM-1 and HUM-2. A fuel truck arrived on scene and began to fill the massive wing tanks of both birds. The plan was to be ready to leave the airport as soon as all citizens that wanted to leave were on board.

The remaining Marines exited via the skyway into the terminal and readied the area to recieve Hawdawgian Citizens. The picture wasn't good, a large crowd had gathered already and it was clear many of the people in the group were clearly not Hawdawgian citizens. The sorting process would take longer than planned. Within 30 minutes the first 150 citizens were allowed aboard HUM-1. Things were moving slowly but steady until a crackle cam over the radio. LIMA squad was having trouble with the ground crew servicing HUM-2. It was apparent they were trying to extort money in a trade for the necessary fuel to return to Houston. The situation turned tense went the fuel truck attempted to pull away from the aircraft. A wiley Gunnery Sergeant shot out the trucks tires and forceably took control of the fueling process himself. Hostility from the remaining ground crew was subdued after the leather-faced Gunny had shown them he meant business.

Roughly three hours after the loading began 638 Hawdawgian citizens had been escorted onto HUM-1 and HUM-2, along with 15 Cottish college students on a church mission and 5 Layaterbian businessmen. With all of the citizens that wanted to leave aboard the Marines carefully backed down the Skyway holding back noncitizens from boarding the planes. As they closed the doors people were seen standing in the now disconnected skyway pleading for a ride. As sad as the situation was, they didn't have orders to assist anyone other than TOA nationalized citizens.

It didn't take long for both 757's to get turned around on the tarmac and facing West towards the Ocean. Within minutes both HUM-1 and HUM-2 were airborne as a collective cheer came over the passengers inside. Soon they would be completely removed from the danger zone. For now each person settled in for the long flight back to Houston Intercontinental Airport. About 70nm off the coast, the two Typhoon Fighter's that made the long distance escort rejoined the two 757's for the return leg home.

OOC: Pine Im waiting for your official response. You can either withdraw your forces so we can talk or you can refuse to meet my demands in which case I'll start my attack on your forces. Its all up to you buddy. But honestly I don't know what would be the point, you attacked my claims hoping that I wouldn't respond adequately for some reason, now you expect me to peacefully surrender my claims to you for no reason what so ever, I also don't think you have anything to offer me in terms of a mutually beneficial compromise, I really don't understand why Lay expects me to put your interests over my own but meh, its Lay and he has his double standards when it comes to me. In any case, even if we hold peacetalks where is no guarantee that they will conclude with anything satisfactory to you and a great possibility exists that I will simply walk and invade you anyways so might as well save us sometime if you want to and refuse my demands that way you won't get a piece of Argentina but hell, we'll all save time, or you can go through so we can peacetalks but you will have to make it worth my while since well I have no reason whatsoever to give land for free to someone like you, your attitude doesn't help either, you don't get that I am doing you a favor by even mentioning peacetalks and stalling the invasion I should be half way through Uruguay by now.

Actually, I was the one that brought your attention to my response in this thread, and as stated by Lay, who is the moderator of E2, my counter claim was legitimate, especially as you lost interest in this thread after the first post. Your troops are also in Rawson, which is some distance from Uruguay, anyway, so no God-Modding please. It annoys me how you think you have some right to control the whole of Argentina, just by posting one thread, to which you didn't even reply, when new players like me have to struggle to get land even when it is contiguous to my territory. Nowhere have I stated that I am invading you, and nowhere have I attacked your troops. Also, stop assuming you will walk all over me. Then again, that's a mistake the Russians make now and again, Finland comes to mind. At the end of the day, if you had invaded the territories that I am claiming, then I wouldn't have done anything, as there would be Russians there, and I would have counted it as your territory, but as there wasn't, I saw an opportunity, and I took it.


IC

Official Statement

The Pampas Republic of Pineholt has no intention of giving up lands that we see as our own. We see no reason why we should relinquish these lands as for a long time they have been seen as part of the Pineholtine home land, and we have yet to see a legitimate reason from the Russian Federation as to why we should give them control of the land. That said, in the interest of diplomacy, we have suspended all offensive movements, and following the successful evacuation of foreign citizens by a Hawdawg rescue effort, we have decided to withdraw our troops from the province of Buenos Aires. However, troops will remain in Entre-Rios, Corrientes, and Misiones, in order to keep a land link between Paraguay, which has recently been claimed by Pineholt, and the rest of the Pampas Republic. We hope that the Russians will see that we do not have any hostile intentions towards them, and if they should wish to extend their sphere of control to outside Rawson, then we will not impede them, lest they attempt to invade sovereign Pineholtine territory.

Actually, I was the one that brought your attention to my response in this thread, and as stated by Lay, who is the moderator of E2, my counter claim was legitimate, especially as you lost interest in this thread after the first post. Your troops are also in Rawson, which is some distance from Uruguay, anyway, so no God-Modding please. It annoys me how you think you have some right to control the whole of Argentina, just by posting one thread, to which you didn't even reply, when new players like me have to struggle to get land even when it is contiguous to my territory. Nowhere have I stated that I am invading you, and nowhere have I attacked your troops. Also, stop assuming you will walk all over me. Then again, that's a mistake the Russians make now and again, Finland comes to mind. At the end of the day, if you had invaded the territories that I am claiming, then I wouldn't have done anything, as there would be Russians there, and I would have counted it as your territory, but as there wasn't, I saw an opportunity, and I took it.


IC

Official Statement

The Pampas Republic of Pineholt has no intention of giving up lands that we see as our own. We see no reason why we should relinquish these lands as for a long time they have been seen as part of the Pineholtine home land, and we have yet to see a legitimate reason from the Russian Federation as to why we should give them control of the land. That said, in the interest of diplomacy, we have suspended all offensive movements, and following the successful evacuation of foreign citizens by a Hawdawg rescue effort, we have decided to withdraw our troops from the province of Buenos Aires. However, troops will remain in Entre-Rios, Corrientes, and Misiones, in order to keep a land link between Paraguay, which has recently been claimed by Pineholt, and the rest of the Pampas Republic. We hope that the Russians will see that we do not have any hostile intentions towards them, and if they should wish to extend their sphere of control to outside Rawson, then we will not impede them, lest they attempt to invade sovereign Pineholtine territory.

OOC: Aight buddy, Finland lost in WW2 btw and surrendered a substantial amount of its lands to the Soviet Union.

IC:

Response from the Russian Federation

Invading a territory and holding it for mere weeks does not make it your homeland. We have the right to that territory as we were the first to claim it when the previous government that controlled that land fell apart. Since you refuse to resolve this conflict through peaceful means by not meeting our ultimatum and not withdrawing your troops from the provinces of Entre-Rios, Corrientes and Misiones we are forced to use deadly force to remove your troops from those lands. That is all.

-Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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

Russian Federation was not going to underestimate its enemy, the wheels of the gigantic war machine were turning as two fleets were on approach to Rawson each carrying substantial amounts of troops that would join those that have captured the city and advance through Argentina to secure the disputed provinces from the Pampas Republic. The build up has begun. In the meanwhile Russian Naval assets were quickly making their way towards the Republic's outpost in the Antarctic Ocean the Berkner Island. The bear was furious with the rodent that dared to get in its way, Pineholt had a price to pay in blood and the Federation was ready to collect.

OOC: Will post an official ORBAT for this campaign later today, I got so many troops moving around I have no idea of the unit names all that stuff going to have to look it all up. You're free to withdraw your troops until the moment I start bombing you, past that where is no coming back. I'll RP a build up to reduce the accuses of GMing which you're sure to start yelling out as I start pummeling you. I suggest you RP your build up of fortifications.

Official Statement:
Pineholt will withdraw from the disputed provinces until a diplomatic solution has arisen. A small peacekeeping force will remain in the area until Russian forces arrive at which point they will hand the provinces over, and withdraw. We still maintain our claims on these lands, but see this as the only way to avoid war, something which no-one in this area, least of all the citizens of Argentina, wish to see.

Response from The Russian Federation

We are glad to see that we were mistaken and the nation of Pineholt does infact prefer the peaceful solution. The removal of your forces means you have met our ultimatum and we can hold peacetalks. And although we do not trust the nation of Layartreb with its claims of neutrality we are willing to accept their proposal for the peace talks to be held in Havana if the offer is present.

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

Three fourths of the forces stationed in Rawson began their move towards the disputed provinces, large numbers of reinforcements were to arrive within a week, the Russian forces on the ground were instructed to not interfere with the local warlords unless attacked first, these lands would have to be pacified but that was after the land disputes with Pineholt were drawn to conclusion.

Official Statement

The Empire of Layarteb will be pleased to hold the peace talks in Havana, Cuba. The Pineholtine and Russian delegations can arrive via Havana IAP and from there a Layartebian delegation will escort both parties to separate hotels in Havana. Peace talks will be held in the old Cuban National Assembly building. This building was one a major structure in the Teh Ninjan government but has since become a museum. We find it will be well suited for the forum.

The Empire will allow delegations to keep armed bodyguards but does require a proper headcount and inventory on weapons to avoid possible problems.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Invasion%20of%20Argentina/castillo-del-principe.jpg

The meeting would be held at the Castillo del Principe, a fortress built in the 18th century under the Empire of Teh Ninjas. It was a large and has since been turned into a museum but it would do just fine for the forum. It would be closed to tours and the meeting would take place in the main dining hall, which was the largest and the oldest of the rooms in the castle. Already, Layartebian officials were preparing for the forum. Food was being brought in and would be prepared, security was intensified, and routes were being planned.

Stepping off the VC-2 Supersonic VIP transport, the Pineholtine Foreign Secretary and his delegation were ready for the peace talks. They were determined to make a stand against the needless Russian aggression, although they also maintained a degree of realism knowing how powerful the Russian Federation was. It was important to make a good display in the international arena, to ensure people that Pineholt was a nation of peace, one that could be trusted, and most certainly one with better intention than the Russians. Charles Talleyrand, Foreign Secretary of Pineholt, had a confident smile on his face as he entered the 18th Century Palace, which did not give away his true feeling of unease, as he prepared to enter the negotiation room with delegations from two of the largest and most powerful countries in the world. They would have to remain firm but fair, and while insisting that certain territories would become Pineholtine, they knew they would have to make generous concessions to the Russians should the Russians relinquish their claim.



Meanwhile, back in Uruguay, Pineholtine PF-1 'Marauder' WiG ekroplanes were on constant long range patrol, and were ready to engage and sink enemy vessels, should the situation take a turn for the worse, and the whole Army was mobilised, and was ready to launch rapid counter offensives through territories sympathetic to the Pineholtine cause. They would not get caught unprepared.

The Pineholtine delegation was received admirably by several Layartebian dignitaries. Over the months since diplomatic relations began with the Pampas Republic, Layartebian and Pineholtine diplomats had exchanged notes consistantly. Now they were being escorted to the Hotel Nacíonal, which sat on the northern sector of Havana, right along the beautiful coastline, facing north, to Florida, which was just 90 miles away.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Invasion%20of%20Argentina/havana-small.jpg (http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Invasion%20of%20Argentina/havana-big.jpg)

The delegation for this diplomatic mission was extremely large. The Foreign Secretary wasn't sure whether this was because so many people genuinely understood the importance of this mission, or whether they just wanted to enjoy the good weather that was on offer in one of the most spectacular parts of the world. Regardless, there was a job to get on with, and the Maurice Talleyrand wasted no time whatsoever in making contact with the Layertebian delegation, seeking guidance in the best course of action to avoid war. He also attempted to make contact with other diplomatic missions, most notably Hawdawgian and Roman embassies.

OOC: There should be a consulate in Havana for every country I have formal relations with because Havana is the capital of the Province of Raef.

OOC - Ah, excellent.

IC.

Envoys from the Pineholtine delegation were sent to each available embassy, in an attempt to drum up support. Not being a major player on the world scene, Pineholtine had no real allies, and so every attempt was made to foster friendly relations with the other nations. Pacing backwards and forwards, Talleyrand was sweating as he recited over and over a speech which he constantly rewrote, which would be delivered at the peace talks, and was to back up and explain the Pineholtine claim to the disputed territories.

Upon his arrival to Havana Leonid Shukin the diplomat that was instructed to represent the Federation during the peace talks with Pineholt wasn't at all worried. The Federation was confident in its ability to win the war and had not much use for the peace talks however if an alternative to military action could be reached it was worth the waste of time.

Like the Pineholtine delegation, the Russian delegation was received just as admirably. In the months preceeding the war in Argentina, Layartebian-Russian relations had been improving. The Russians had traded some land and received access to the Panama Canal for merchant traffic and a Layartebian promise not to deploy strategic weapons to the Falklands Islands, a promise it had kept thus far. The Russian delegation would be escorted to Hotel Havana (Estadio Latinoamericano), southeast of the meeting place, a much more historical section of Havana, situated on a hill, providing a beautiful view to all four directions.

OOC: Well might as well just push it along.

The forum began precisely at 08:00 hours the next day. When the Pineholtine and Russian delegations arrived, they were escorted into the grand dining room, which could comfortably fit two or three hundred people. The two delegations certainly didn't fill that many spaces and all entrances were guarded by Layartebian governmental officials, armed with sidearms. All around the building, high-tech security cameras and motion sensors, as well as Layartebian Secret Service officials kept the delegation and the forum safe. With both delegations seated, the Governor of the Province of Raef, the man hosting the forum, stood at the head of the large table in the room. "Good morning. I am glad to see both parties here to attend. The situation in Argentina is a situation we must resolve and it takes great men to come to talk rather than shoot bullets at each other. With that said, let me go over a few ground rules here.

"First. There are armed men here on all sides. That includes our own. With that in mind, civility is cruical. The war is in Argentina. Not Havana. If that isn't understood we will make it understood."

"Secondly. Agreements here shall be binding for time frames alotted."

"Lastly. This is between the Pampas Republic and the Russian Federation. The Empire is here mainly as a venue and an observer. At no point do we intend to influence the course of these events."

http://www.cinema.lt/actors/fyodorbondarchuk.jpg

Shukin had his guards sitting to both sides of him, only two men, both looking rather grim which was natural as their background was that of the Spetsnaz Division Beta those that were known to handle the jobs Voronej perceived as dirty, they were capable but in a situation they were in they could be overpowered quickly. Yet he felt safe he knew that the consequences for harming a diplomat of the Federation far outweighed the benefits for any nation including Empire of Layarteb.

"We understand the ground rules and would like to get to business."

The Governor of Raef looked at the Pineholtine representatives and nodded (ooc: assuming they're in agreement). "Good then shall business begin. Ladies and gentlemen, to our global future." He stepped back and allowed the two parties to begin.

"Unless they wish otherwise we give the Republic of Pineholt the first word."

OOC: I haven't been able to post the past few days so I missed the peacekeeper request...anyway, would they still be needed at this stage?

OOC: I haven't been able to post the past few days so I missed the peacekeeper request...anyway, would they still be needed at this stage?

OOC: Sure, nothing is entirely 100% over yet.

On aproach to Terr del Feugo


Vice-Admiral Rostakov was smoking a cigarette on the main bridge of "Sviatoi Igor" Grospek class heavy guided missile battleship that was escorting the 4 Gruz class heavy cargo ships that amongst other things such as peacekeeping troops carried some 40 thousand tons of food and fresh water as well as other supplies. He saw the tent city erected by the Layartebians but was still rather skeptical of the true intentions of the Federation's most persistent enemy. The sun was burning his face, he was not used to it, years of ice cold wind of the arctic made the skin on his face rough he was more used to having his heavy moustage covered in ice when getting sunburn. It was time to signal the Layartebians, the Russians were going to drop off a portion of their supplies at the Layartreb's camp and when set up their own a few miles up the coast. The "no hostilities meant" radio signal was dispatched, it was now only a matter of seeing how the Layartrebians were going to receive it. In the meanwhile the rest of the gigantic naval group that composed the task force kept moving north to Rawson even if where wasn't going to be a war with Pineholt where still was a lot of land that needed to be secured.

With receipt of the Russian signal, the Layartebians responded back in due fashion. Their supplies were welcomed as the tent cities grew and grew. The tents were well-built with heating and provided space enough for up to four people very comfortably but any more than that and it was a crowded disaster. All tents were filled to capacity as quickly as they were set up and the more supplies that came the better. The Layartebian forces would be watching the Russians carefully but they didn't anticipate any ill-will, it would be foolish to start a war trying to help people.

Throwing his cigarette over board Rostakov quickly climbed down a ladder and jumped on small boat that took him, and his two guards to the coast. In minutes he was on solid ground and lit up yet another cigarette.

"I wish to speak to whoever is in charge here, we came all this way, might as well shake hands and get these people taken care off."

He said loudly enough to be heard but not addressing anyone in particular.

The two Marines at the landing site did not salute the Russian but they certainly knew who he was based on the brass that he wore. It so happened that a Layartebian Lieutenant Colonel was on the ground supervising when he saw the Russian and walked his way over, "Admiral. It is good to have you here. Our commander is Major General Alexander Hamilton and he would very much like to have a word with you about these supplies and about further commitments. I will arrange for a transport. How many are going with you sir?" As he waited for the Russian to answer, an M2034A4 Light Tactical Vehicle pulled up and let out several Marines who would offload the supplies as well. "Admiral. This vehicle holds twelve plus three in the cab."

"Just these two I brought with me. We'll start off-loading the supplies with our boats, if you want to speed along the process send your own teams to the cargo ships. Those don't hold much value technologically speaking thus there is no secrecy, your men may board the cargo ships to help off-load supplies as I have given you the permission to do. Lets go and meet your Major General, times are wasted, Im Vice-Admiral by the way and thats how I'd like to be introduced. Lets get moving."

He and his two men got into the Layartrebian vehicle.

The Lieutenant Colonel nodded and the M2034A4 halted to a stop as it came near them. With the back gate lowered, a pair of Marines climbed aboard and were followed by the three Russians. From there, the gate was locked and everyone sat down. "Seatbelts please," the Marine motioned as they began to bounce along the cold, hard, and extremely uneven ground of Tierra del Fuego. They were headed for a large, makeshift command center about a mile away from the landing sites. There, the Russians were escorted in where the Major General was waiting for them. They were shown into his office and as they entered, he ended his phone conversation concerning where to put more tents, and stood up. "Admiral. It is a pleasure to meet you here. Please. Come in and have a seat. Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you, I would prefer getting down to business as soon as possible. We will set up our own base of operations and a refugee camp about 20 kilometers north along the coast. We would appreciate any intelligence you can give us concerning the situation and I would like to lay out general map of the areas each of our respective forces will be conducting peacekeeping actions in. I will not stay here for long, Voronej wants me in Rawson, once we have off-loaded the supplies this will become a land-based operation as far as the Federation is concerned and Russian forces will be commanded by this man here."

He motioned to the soldier in the army uniform standing to his right.

"Polkovnik (Colonel, rus.) Davidov, you will discuss most of the issues concerning our respective actions with him."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Major General."

Davidov gave the Layartebian a sharp salute.

"I am sure we will be able to make life much better for these refugees."

OOC: Pics:

-Vice Admiral:

http://zhurnal.lib.ru/img/a/ashurow_n_p/a-101/janychar.gif

-Polkovnik Davidov:

http://www.ozon.ru/multimedia/video_stills/1000349569.jpg

"Admiral. I am afraid we do not have any intelligence collected outside of the confines of Tierra del Fuego. The only intelligence we have within is that these individuals are the standard group. They are displaced, they want to go back home, and, so long as we have food, water, and supplies, they'll be complacent. I don't think we have too much to worry about with them. We haven't detected any trouble makers or even any rebels within and we have been listening where we can.

"Good to meet you. There is talk of a joint-forces HQ being set up within the next few days. Perhaps we will all be moved there." The Major General did not return the salute though. It was not a common practice for Layartebian military officers to salute the officers of foreign forces unless under a direct, joint command and though none existed yet, the General did not salute.

Vice-Admiral brushed his hand over his moustage.

"Good, then Davidov shouldn't have much trouble coordinating our efforts since where is no opposition."

Davidov pretended to clear his throat loudly to show the Admiral his disapproval on this.

"Yeah, yeah, you're a combat officer, highly decorated, sitting in the middle of nowhere helping refugees. Patience is a virtue, look at the Major General here, he doesn't mind. In any case, do you have anything specific to discuss since peacekeeping won't be presenting much problems, what else is where? We will give you a part of our supplies and you can distribute it as you wish, you obviously need more space though to fit everyone in which is why we will set up our own camp and provide for those residing there ourselves. Anything Im missing?"

He looked at the Layartrebian Major.

The Roman Empire would like to stress at this time the importance and the hope that the Argentinian situation may be resolved peacefully; and, as such, we will provide peacekeeping and humintarian aid as needed and, if requested, a forum for which peace talks may take place.

Thank you.
Caesar Gnaeus Valerius IV Maderia

"Coordination Admiral. We need to make sure that we use every available space here. We don't have unlimited resources and we don't want to separate families. I have dispatched men throughout this area to find a suitable headquarters for joint operations. Would you endeavor to assist in this task?"

"Coordination Admiral. We need to make sure that we use every available space here. We don't have unlimited resources and we don't want to separate families. I have dispatched men throughout this area to find a suitable headquarters for joint operations. Would you endeavor to assist in this task?"

"I'd rather have Davidov deal with this, Im only here to drop stuff off. But yes, we will assist, I'll get the order out to dispatch our men and recon planes to help you out, although those won't be much use with all the jungle."

"That would be most appreciated. It is a very inhospitable climate down here and I think we had a record high today. It was just 37.4°F or 3°C, if you will. Weather reports are showing rain though in the next few days and I can't guarantee much after that so we're going to have to hunker down and brace it.

"Weather down here is unpredictable. On the Falklands we can never tell until the storms and the snows hit. I hope that your men are well prepared for this environment. I trust they are but just to be safe, we have prepared a list of precautions. The climate is very different from elsewhere in the world. Ushuaia is just a few miles away and we're probably going to bunker up there." As he did, the wind meters outside began to register a constant wind of 20 mph, which took the outside temperature of 0.6°C or 33°F. It brought the wind chill to 21°F or -6.1°C. It would only get worse as a fierce storm approached which was predicting wind speeds in excess of 40 mph on the gusts.

For the Marines outside, they hunkered down against the pelting rain and the wind gusts. Most of the people who were hiding in the tents were huddling next to the various electric heaters, which were connected to various generators and what not throughout the tent cities.

Ushuaia had already been under Marine control for a few days now and it was contained. The tent cities north of it were for the Argentinians throughout the country. People in Ushuaia had homes and the Marines were they just to contain them within for now, which was presenting some level of minor unrest but nothing too serious yet.

OOC: Its that cold in Argentina? I thought it was the tropics.

Vice-Admiral grinned.

"Don't worry, the cold we are prepared for, we aren't Siberians for nothing. I'll talk to the engineers they should have enough generators to provide electrical heating for all the poor sobs here. Davidov you should know more about this."

"Yes comrade Vice-Admiral, we have 4500 electrical generators on board of "Kit III" Cargo ship and enough fuel for them to last for a month and a half. That shouldn't be a problem. If I may say, my main concern is with the jungle, from my experience there is always a lot of rebels crawling around, in the time of desperation gangs of bandits and 'freedom fighters' tend to group around warlords. I am sure they will not attack our encampments but they might get their hands on some of our supplies through their agents that are possibly residing here. These men are usually ruthless terrorists, they thrive on instability and they may attack the refugees that are coming here from up north. If we're to insure the safety of the displaced we will need to take care of them, I will assign one of my lieutenants to deal with this if you have men to spare Major General that would be appreciated, we are running short on fighting men since this is a peacekeeping operation and Voronej decided to make security of Rawson and outlying areas its priority thus we will not be getting much in terms of reinforcements."

OOC: Its that cold in Argentina? I thought it was the tropics.

OOC: ??? Perhaps you don't know where Tierra del Fuego actually is...You mean to tell me that you don't even know where you are invading!??!?!

"Intelligence reports as well as reconnaissance reports very little activity within the forests. It is cold and rainy out there gentlemen. We've been scouring it constantly and we have yet to find any human presence other than a farmer or two. We have designated areas for the supplies that are secure and our main desire is to contain Ushuaia to the south. I have two companies of men in the city right now along with armor support to keep them stabilized. You see, they aren't displaced so they can survive on their own there. We don't want them hording the supplies we are bringing for the people from the north.

"We will have an oil tanker anchored off the coast in a day or two and it will be providing fuel as well so we should be fine there. Your generators will be the last piece of the puzzle as well as the fuel you curently have. In total we have two full brigades of men on the ground here in Tierra del Fuego. That's over 12,000 men with another 6,000 on our amphibious task force stationed around Tierra del Fuego. Should any rebels think they can take advantage of the situation they will find a lot of guns pointed at them but we will continue to be vigilant. Your best bet, gentlemen, is to use your forces for the north, where you will be encountering resistance.

"We have secured this territory and should any force think our security is foolish, they'll be face to face with the most fearsome Marines in the world."

"And so they will, those marines are getting off our boats right now we brought 8 companies, 800 men, should be enough to handle general peacekeeping. And of course where is also..."

Davidov cut Vice-Admiral off.

"Yes, that is good, that should make things a lot easier here. Although I will still send one of my recon squads to collect data, it is not that we do not trust you it is just that we perceive some things a little differently from you I'd imagine and what kind of commander am I if I don't have my own source of intelligence out there. Is where anything else you wished to discuss Major General?"

OOC: I know where Tierra del Feugo is, just didn't know the climate there, it is pretty much as deep as deep south gets so I assumed it was hot.

"And so they will, those marines are getting off our boats right now we brought 8 companies, 800 men, should be enough to handle general peacekeeping. And of course where is also..."

Davidov cut Vice-Admiral off.

"Yes, that is good, that should make things a lot easier here. Although I will still send one of my recon squads to collect data, it is not that we do not trust you it is just that we perceive some things a little differently from you I'd imagine and what kind of commander am I if I don't have my own source of intelligence out there. Is where anything else you wished to discuss Major General?"

OOC: I know where Tierra del Feugo is, just didn't know the climate there, it is pretty much as deep as deep south gets so I assumed it was hot.

OOC: You do realize that after you pass the equator, the more south you go, the colder it gets right, except for the tropics of course? Ushuaia is a little over 700 miles from the tip of Antarctica.

"Understood. No I believe that wraps it up for now gentlemen. It'll be a pleasure to work with you." He stood and held out his hand.

Both men exchanged handshakes with the Major General and left the tent.

OOC: Will write more of a post but I for some reason started typing on my laptop and my Russian keyboard is about 10 cm away, can't move hands, they're falling off.

Jared stepped off the Layartebian Airways 737-800 after it touched down and taxiied to the processing area at Ushuaia International Airport. The 737-800 was bringing volunteers with it to help distribute food and work at the various refugee camps in the north of the Argentine tip. He wasn't a volunteer though and as he passed through processing, showing his passport and identification to the various soldiers at the gate, his cell phone rang. He looked at the Marine sergeant and excused himself and stepped out of line. "Yes. I have landed." He said with a whisper. "Operational status? We're set." The voice at the other end said something pleasing to him and he smiled as he closed the lid of his flip-open cell phone. He quickly flipped it back open and entered a menu item that gave him access to several games stored on his phone, on of which being Tetris. Harmless in its own form, this wasn't Tetris. He entered the game and entered a code into it as he started the game. It was 0-8-2-3-9 and it gave him access to a whole different screen with several options. At the top was a number, in meters, that showed his distance from the signal. Right now it read 428 and the numbers only went up to 999. Underneath that were several options. If he pressed 1001 it sent an arm signal. If he pressed 1002 it sent a detonate signal. If he pressed 1000 it deactivated the device.

The device was a small bomb planted within the cargo hold of the 737-800 by a worker in Peru. The worker happened to be a memeber of the Illuminati and the war continued. He pressed the arming signal and waited for three green lights to light up to the right of the range indicator. The first one meant that the bomb was synched up with the detonator. The second assessed safe distance. The third indicated that the bomb was armed. All three lit up quickly and he typed in the detonate code and closed the phone. The phone went to automatic and in milliseconds it sent a signal to the bomb to detonate itself and, at the same time, deleted the program that detonated the bomb. It was ingenious and as the signal travelled through the air at around 186,000 miles per second, Jared returned to the Marine and handed him back his documents. As he did, the whole tarmac shook as the 737-800 instantly became engulfed in a huge ball of flames. Two planes that were parked close to it, both smaller, regional jets that had been flown in from the Falklands Islands, erupted in flames as well. The explosion shook the airport and turned the skeleton of the airplane into nothing but twisted, burning metal. The Marine didn't think twice and instantly handed him back the passport and darted off, screaming for emergency help.

As he did, Jared stepped through the terminal and past the security guards, all preoccupied and distracted. Just a few dozen meters later, he stepped into a car on the other side of the airport and was in Ushuaia within minutes. It was a busy and bustling city of over 80,000 people and it had grown into one of the southermost economic centers. It would take thirty to forty minutes for the command staff to be notified of the disaster at the airport, by which time, Jared had slipped into the unsuspecting public of Ushuaia and found his safehouse where he met up with three others. Four others would be arriving by boat late that night.

Vice-Admiral and Davidov did not exchange a word as the Layartrebians were driving them back to the landing site of the Russian task force. Once the Layartebian vehicle stopped nearby the temporary HQ tent the Russian Marines already set up and then started driving away Vice-Admiral turned to Davidov.

"Что то ты быстро о помощи попросил Полковник. А я то думал вы спецназовцы гораздо более самоуверены."
You asked for help kinda early on Polkovnik (Colonel). And I thought that you spetsnaz guys are much more sure of yourselves.

Davidov replied after a second of delay.

"Самоувереность это для зеленых пораху ненюхавших идиотов. Профессионал должен быть в первую очередь реалистом."
Being sure of one self is for greenhorns that haven't smelled the gunpowder yet. A professional needs to be first of all a realist.

"Аха, ты товарищу Генерал-Майору надеюсь несобераешься расказывать про то кто ты по настоящему такой и кто такие эти твои люди."
Aha, I hope you will not be informing comrade Major General of who you are in reality and who are those people of yours.

"Пока ему не надо это знать, мой личный взвод я отправлю на разведку, потом видно будет. Воронеж не щетает это важным но этих бежентсев надо защитить хотя бы потомучто вскоре они станут субьектами Федерации, ну и конечно тот факт что добро надо делать физически а не насловах."
For now he doesn't need to know that, my personal vzvod (squad) I will send in for recon, after that we'll see. Voronej doesn't think it is important but these refugees must be protected atleast since they will soon become subjects of the Federation, and of course the fact that good needs to be created through physical means and not just words.

"Да ты блин гуманитарист, што ты в 'Вымпеле' делаешь?"
Hell, you're a humanitarian, what the hell are you doing in 'Vympel'?

"Я солдат, этим всё сказано, но это не ваше дело...."
Im a soldier, that says everything, but thats non of your business...

Davidov was interrupted as the radio headset he was wearing on his neck came alive.

"Товарищь Полковник, говорит Лейтенант Печкин, один из наших самолётов тут окрестности облитал, радио волны слушал. Произошёл как минимум один взрыв в районе аэропрота в городе Ушуя."
Comrade Polkovnik, Leitenant (Lieutenant) Pechkin speaking. one of our planes was flying over the region listening to radio waves. There was atleast one explosion in an airport in Ushuaia.

Davidov's face hardened, he brought the microphone up.

"Пошлите туда 'вертушки' c медиками."
Send 'spinners' (russian army slang for helicopter) with medics in there.

He flipped a switch the side of the headset, changing the channel.

"Лейтенанта Есенина ко мне, быстро!"
Get Lietenant Essenin to me, hurry up!

Davivod yelled into the mike with just enough irritation in his voice to motivate whoever he was speaking to; to carry out the order as quickly as humanly possible.

"Ха, теперь будет весело."
Ha, now its going to get fun.

Vice-Admiral said sarcastically and then added.

"Я пойду обратно на корабль, после завтра все припасы для Лайартебцев должны быть перенесены на берег и я отчаливаю, ты с этим разбирайся мне ещё новый лагерь создовать."
I will go back to the ship, the day after tomorrow all the supplies for the Layartebians should be on land and Im getting out of here, you handle this I still got a new camp to set up.

"Well find out who could have done it? Planes just don't blow up out of nowhere. There was a goddamn bomb on board and they wanted it to go off on the ground for a reason. Someone was on that flight that either was marked by some terrorist organization or someone blew that plane up as a message," MG. Alex Hamilton said as he walked through the information center at their command station. Phones were ringing off the hook and a commotion of voices made it so that nothing could really be heard unless it was yelled. The Major General stopped in the middle of the room and put his thumb and his middle finger in his mouth and let out a loud, shreiking whistle. "Hey. Listen up!" He yelled as everyone silenced although the phones kept ringing. "Listen people. Crisis management. We have a terrorist or terrorist group within the safe zone. Find out who they are, what they want, where they came from, and let's get on this people! I want to know if it's the Russians, if it's the Argentinians, if its someone else. Get me some information now!" He walked back into his office and slammed the door behind him as he picked up the ringing phone. "Speaking. That is correct. Authenticate Zulu. Roger that. Understood." He was told to hold for his commander and that man was sitting in the Falklands Islands, watching the disaster unfold. "Sir."

"Alex. How are you holding up there?" Vice Admiral Charlie Reeves was approaching retirement age and he and Major General Hamilton had come up through the ranks together. They had an especially close relationship after the campaign in Cuba when they were both travelling by Dingo through secured area and were attacked by an ambush squad. Both of them survived the ordeal, thanks largely in part to Hamilton's Marine training but the Vice Admiral was no slouch during the two hour firefight.

"Well sir. Well. This incident is definitely unexpected but I've got men in the city prepared to keep it contained."

"What do you have so far?"

"Just that a single airliner got blown up by a bomb. We don't know if it was meant to destroy the plane or someone along with it but the bomb went off, by radio detonator, after it was on the tarmac and those inside had departed. We do not know yet who was left on board but we have recovered four bodies. DNA identification will take several days."

"What reports do you have of Argentine resistance?"

"None. We've got a few possibilities. The city is not as happy with the situation as the rest of the country. They are uncomfortable with our presence there and our soldiers have been noticing a degree of distaste towards them. We believe they feel that we won't leave, that they are a conquered people. In addition, they are not receptive to the invasions to the north. In addition, it could be the Russians."

"We haven't been informed of any such move. How strongly do you feel about that possibility?"

"So, so sir. I met with the Russian Vice-Admiral and a Colonel Davidov earlier today. Overall, they are planning something. They were very receptive to our presence and our mission. Too receptive. Plus there was something odd about the colonel. They're hiding something and we've allowed them to dispatch a few patrols. We're watching them carefully with UAVs and ground personnel. Several of our intelligence officers are tagging along just so we know what they are doing. Sir, I do not trust them."

"Few do Alex. Few do. However, there's something I've got for you."

"What is that sir?"

"Turns out it wasn't the Russians or the Argentinians who blew up the airliner. I've just been handed an intelligence brief. Our spy network has picked up communications between the terrorist organization within our country. This is domestic."

"So what do we know?"

"Only that they plan on turning the people of Ushuaia against us. We've got a bit of information on Ushuaia. I'm sure you have it?"

"Yes. We've begun a program to round up firearms but I'm afraid, unless we bust into people's homes we won't get too far."

"Which will just make them hate us more. Alex. Good luck over there. I'll send you whatever I get my hands on."

"Yes sir. Thank you." He put down the phone and stood up, lighting a cigarette in his mouth. He went into the main room and whistled for attention again. "I've just been given an intelligence report. Our favorite domestic terrorist group is at it again."

"Sir? The Illuminati or whatever they are called?"

"Yes. Work on it!" He went back into his office and continued to smoke his cigarette. As he did, night fell on the area and the rest of the Ghost Warrior team waded ashored on a small, inflatable life raft. The confusion and chaos in Ushuaia allowed them an easy passage in and by the time the sun rose, all eight men of Team Sixteen were inside of Ushuaia and they had their mission. Little did they know that four other men were on their way to Ushuaia to put a stop to them and they were the newest weapon in the Imperial Layartebian Military.

Essenin and his squad were gearing up in their tent. They had a mission to do now and from the look on Essenin's face not a simple one, Davidov had a long talk with him but the objectives were yet to be revealed to the rest of the squad. The Vympel division of Spetsnaz specialized in combat recoinessance, they new well enough how to cover their tracks to make sure that not even God could follow them, a few other patrols were dispatched without hiding to keep the Layartebians thinking that they were in control. As the sun set over the horizon the squad moved out under the cover of darkness, no one knew that they were there and no one knew that they have left. Where was a job that needed doing and no one had the expertise to handle it better then spetsnaz. Twelve men were making their way towards Ushuaia.

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

Davidov requested an audience with Major General right after he gave the orders to Essenin. Davidov had little use for prejudices but to fully trust the Layartebians that was simply foolish. He became very good at reading people over the years and speaking to the Major General now he hoped would clarify things for him, for all he knew it was the Layartebians who caused the attack, in addition whatever intelligence the Layartebians would be willing to provide could be used to convince Voronej to provide more reinforcements. The Layartebians for some reason thought that they were in charge of this operation on Russian land, a larger Russian contingent could go a long way in proving them wrong.

The Major General accepted the audience but stress, from the beginning, that time would be short. His command staff were working on the terrorism bombing and the new intelligence presented to them but, just to be sure, the Major General would meet the Russian colonel outside of the center. There was too much to have to cover up from the colonel's eyes and the Major General advised him that he could meet with the colonel in his personal quarters, which were in a separate facility on the camp, a structured building that they had commandeered. It had once been a secondary school.

Polkovnik Davidov went to meet with Major General right after getting a satisfactory reply. The fact that the Layartebian did not want to meet in the HQs was understandable Davidov would have done the same thing, the Layartrebians probably had their own secrets on the ground right now that they did not want to be disclosed same as Davidov had Vympel which was almost compromised by Vice-Admiral's big mouth.

"Hello Major General, Im sure you understand why I am here. The explosion in Ushuaia. I believe we should cooperate in resolving that incident since both of our sides will pursue some kind of closure on it in any case, sharing experience may be more beneficial. And trust me, we have experience, we've dealt with urban terrorism more then enough we have ways of finding things out that you may not employ and although we do not wish to disclose our methods as I am sure you will not be willing to disclose yours I believe we do need some sort of an information bridge established so this matter can be resolved and those responsible punished, if any of them are left alive. I have sent medics and a 100 of my marines to the city. But I would like to hear your position on this matter."

Davidov's face was like a rock as he slowly spoke with his moderate Russian accent, he did not move a muscle, the General's next words were going to reveal a lot to him wherever the General realized it or not, and he was ready to listen.

"Colonel. At this moment we don't know what happened. We have not labeled this act as terrorism and nor will we until we have done a full inquiry. Until it is undecided, we cannot speculate and we should not as that could cast Ushuaia into a chaos we wish not to see. My Marines have the situation entirely under control within the city and while your Marines will be helpful, I fear that it will create chaos and tension where we need not see any. Ushuaia is a fragile ecosystem within this conflict. The people feel skorned that they cannot come to our camps and they feel a detestment to any occupational force within. Had it not been for a total lack of government and law enforcement within Ushuaia, we would have had no mission there. When we know what we're dealing with Colonel, we'll share everything we know. The last thing we want is a virus such as terrorism spreading northward out of Ushuaia."

OOC: Still on I see, reply will be up in a minute.

"Good, that is all I can ask for, if we learn something we will do the same. However in order to learn something I need to have my men on the ground, I doubt that one company of a hundred men will hike up the tensions in the city, I gave them strict orders to promote good relations with the locals and my men tend to follow my orders. Where shouldn't be a worry, alright I simply wanted to know what the Layartebian side thought of this and if you had any ideas on how to handle this situation, let us lead our separate investigations and share information then. Agreed?"

"Agreed Colonel. I'll order my men in the city to give you any and all accomodations. For right now, I've got a meeting to attend concerning this issue. If you'll please excuse me."

Major General Hamilton returned to the command center and whistled again to get everyone's attention, something they were too used to by now. "Gentlemen. The Russians are onto the case and they are on the lead. They have an idea of terrorism, given that it's hard to imagine this as an accident. Let's make sure we stay a step ahead of them and let's find out where their soldiers are going. They've got a hundred going to the city but that's in the open. I want to know about the ones that aren't with that group. Get me infrared and eyewitness accounts and get it of the whole area. What do the intelligence officers say?" As he did, UAVs flew overhead, using their infrared to pierce through the darkened night to find people throughout the area. It wouldn't be hard. It was cold out and body temperature was much warmer than the outside air.

OOC: Italicized text means thought.

IC:

"Yes, of course."

Polkovnik Davidov left for his car.

Что то он от меня скрывает но я этого и ожедал. Ессенин мне поможет вовсём разобраться.
He is hiding something from me, but I expected that. Essenin will help me figure everything out.

OOC: I can sense a bitchfest brewing since you want to magically find out where my Spetsnaz is in an area as vast as that.

"Товарищь Полковник, Лайартебцы выслали СЛА, патрулирают окпестности."
Comrade Colonel, Layartebians sent out UAVs, patrolling nearby areas.

Lieutenant Ershakov said as he entered Davidov's tent to deliver his intelligence report. Davidov took out a cigarette and paused for a second thinking.

"Всем переходить на высший уровень радио инкриптции. Если возможно то всё докладывать мне лично. Это всё."
Everyone is to use the highest level of encryption for their radios. As long as it is possible all reports are to be given to me in person. That is all.

The Lieutenant left the tent. Davidov grinned.

Хех, они думают поймать Ессенина ну и ладно это всё равно не произайдёт.
Heh, they are thinking of catching Essenin alright that will still not happen.

OOC: Where are a lot of forests in there man, something to keep in mind.

OOC: Considering they all came into the camp we know where they started out from and UAVs work through infrared and because the climate is nice and cold and body heat is nice and warm you could track just about anything with the given variables. It isn't a lot to check because we just follow from where they started. Hell an AC-130 gunship can see body heat from 18,000 feet up and since this isn't a combat zone, a smaller UAV doesn't nearly have to fly that high up or I could fly a Predator at that altitude or even higher and see body heat on the ground.

OOC: Considering they all came into the camp we know where they started out from and UAVs work through infrared and because the climate is nice and cold and body heat is nice and warm you could track just about anything with the given variables. It isn't a lot to check because we just follow from where they started. Hell an AC-130 gunship can see body heat from 18,000 feet up and since this isn't a combat zone, a smaller UAV doesn't nearly have to fly that high up or I could fly a Predator at that altitude or even higher and see body heat on the ground.

OOC: You don't know where they started out from. You don't know they were in there to begin with, Spetsnaz can get out of a camp without being seen especially in the dark and there is a lot of forest out there to hide in as well as just a large area, you are not finding em. This is basically the same as me pounding the seabed with explosives in order to destroy Haw's SOSUS that might or might not be within my territorial waters, if you remember that bit from a while ago. And I'd imagine if I tried to track your black ops team you'd start whining about how they're so uber that they're invisible.

OOC: We know where the Russian forces have staged so we just watch forces that leave the camp. What do you think, they don't give off body heat? If you knew where my black ops team was then sure you could track them from the get-go but you put your troops in a large camp with a lot of people in them in the middle of a non-war zone where populations are massed pretty much within the camps and the city with very little rural life so yeah they're going to stand out pretty easily. Not my fault you didn't use proper details when you wrote it up.

"Do you think they are onto us yet?" The team commander said as he and his men hid in a quiet corner of an apartment in the middle of Ushuaia. Marines were all around them and the Marine force had originally just been two companies, a total of 256 men but a third company was sent there to reinforce them. The Marines moved through the city carefully but morale was fading quickly. Policing a populace was extremely corrosive to the morale of both the populace and the soldiers tasked to do it. It was worse when the soldiers had to police their own brothers and families and, thankfully, Tierra del Fuego was not part of the Empire nor should it be part of the Empire. The Marines and the populace would have been too happy to pull out but, now with a terrorist threat, they had to remain. "Alright. We've taken care of the airliner. That was our first act. Tomorrow morning we're going to hit the patrols along these two roads. Here and here. We'll move into position a few minutes before dawn and strike at dawn. This city is teeming with weapons and all we need are a few assault rifles. We're going to fire off a few shots, enough to get them down and then run away. If you kill one of them or two that's good but it isn't a primary objective. We want them to know that they have to be careful in here. We want it to get back to the commanders that Ushuaia is hostile to them." The men nodded. Behind them, on a table, was a small arsenal of a few submachine guns, including MAC-10s and an Uzi, an AK-74 assault rifle, two M4A1 Carbines, and several pistols, mostly nine millimeter Berettas.

OOC: But you don't know when they left and getting past your guards (if you have any) in the dark without being seen is not at all difficult especially for professionals. Also where is a WIDE area for you to cover and if they are moving through a forest that pretty much means that you won't be able to track their body heat because of the tree tops. Where is just too much space for you to look in to spot em and then there is also the terrain, plus if they hear low-flying UAV they will hide.

OOC: For the interest of RP I'm going to take a pass but just so it doesn't got to your head let's put the following aside: 1. Guards = Marines = Professionals with RL-US-SOF level training; 2. The dark won't hide you from night vision; 3. The RQ-11 Raven UAV is barely audible and hiding won't hide you from infrared; 4. Your men are on foot, which means that even if they are running at top speed [and they won't be] they can't get all that far from the camp; 5. May not know the precise second they leave but it's very, very easy to determine a roundabout time; 6. Tree tops won't hide body heat if the air is cold (in the jungle it will because of the outside temperature); 7. Make sure you're detailed because without details it's all too easy to find loopholes [like the one I just found but I'll give you a pass on this one but the next one I'm exploiting].

OOC: For the interest of RP I'm going to take a pass but just so it doesn't got to your head let's put the following aside: 1. Guards = Marines = Professionals with RL-US-SOF level training; 2. The dark won't hide you from night vision; 3. The RQ-11 Raven UAV is barely audible and hiding won't hide you from infrared; 4. Your men are on foot, which means that even if they are running at top speed [and they won't be] they can't get all that far from the camp; 5. May not know the precise second they leave but it's very, very easy to determine a roundabout time; 6. Tree tops won't hide body heat if the air is cold (in the jungle it will because of the outside temperature); 7. Make sure you're detailed because without details it's all too easy to find loopholes [like the one I just found but I'll give you a pass on this one but the next one I'm exploiting].

OOC: Won't have to go far to get in the woods, the uniforms they use have special fabric that makes them less visible to nightvision (same as RL US troops), the area is too wide for your RQ-11s to cover and hiding in say water or the woods will make you invisible to infrared, infrared doesn't let you look through objects if the woods are thick you won't be able to see anything. I will be more detailed in the future but in this case where is no loophole. As for your Marines, I highly doubt they have the same level of training as SoF, SoF are trained specifically to do their best in a set environment, Vympel for me is rural combat recon which is what their expertise are.

[OOC: Thermal Imaging would negate all that...]

[OOC: Thermal Imaging would negate all that...]

OOC: No, it would not, where is nothing right now that can look through objects, if someone is leaning against a wall then an outline will show up eventually but looking through the trees that just can't be done. And even then just a couple of hours of my men moving would make the search area too big to cover and its not like they stop moving they keep going.

OOC: Won't have to go far to get in the woods, the uniforms they use have special fabric that makes them less visible to nightvision (same as RL US troops), the area is too wide for your RQ-11s to cover and hiding in say water or the woods will make you invisible to infrared, infrared doesn't let you look through objects if the woods are thick you won't be able to see anything. I will be more detailed in the future but in this case where is no loophole. As for your Marines, I highly doubt they have the same level of training as SoF, SoF are trained specifically to do their best in a set environment, Vympel for me is rural combat recon which is what their expertise are.

OOC: They still have to move, which makes them seeable on night vision. Thermal imaging can see through walls and canopy just as well. The colder the outside air is, the better thermal imaging works with body heat and engine heat because it gives off an even hotter signature. RQ-11s are good just for the initial finding, which would then allow higher-altitude Predators take over for the rest and at their altitude, they are not audible either. The scale of the ILM is like this: EOL reservists, defense forces = regular USARMY; Regular Army = Airborne level; Airborne/Marines = SOF; SOF = BOF; BOF = no equiv. Everything is basically a step up...has been since I started RP'ing.

OOC: They still have to move, which makes them seeable on night vision. Thermal imaging can see through walls and canopy just as well. The colder the outside air is, the better thermal imaging works with body heat and engine heat because it gives off an even hotter signature. RQ-11s are good just for the initial finding, which would then allow higher-altitude Predators take over for the rest and at their altitude, they are not audible either. The scale of the ILM is like this: EOL reservists, defense forces = regular USARMY; Regular Army = Airborne level; Airborne/Marines = SOF; SOF = BOF; BOF = no equiv. Everything is basically a step up...has been since I started RP'ing.

OOC: Thermal imaging cannot see through walls and a large camp like that escaping would be easy. But hell, its not like you're not a magician you got a magical anti-stealth system that you won't explain OOCly to anyone, now you can listen to to other people secure communications and thermal imaging looking through thick woods well thats just another touch of magic to seal the deal. Fantastic. Im going to be increasing my presence in Terr del Fuego, I'll make sure its to the proportion that you will not like.

OOC: http://www.town.grandbay-westfield.nb.ca/fire/life-thermal-image.html

read, and you're saying that enough heat from the bodies would go up to the tree tops to give you an image of my soldiers?

OOC: Thermal imaging can see through walls maybe not bricks and bricks of cinder block but it can see through walls. You've got the magic soldiers that can't be seen on night vision and their body heart apparently doesn't radiate outwards at all so they are invisible to all thermal imaging no matter what. My anti-stealth system is just radars that everyone uses so what is there to explain other than where I have them, how many I have, and what other methods I use. The whole listening thing, if you actually read what was posted and not what you wanted to read I never posted a claim to listen in on everyone's secure networks. You really should go back and learn how to read or at least stop making stuff up because it just makes you look foolish. Thermal imaging can see through forests because, if you actually don't know about thermodynamics, and it is evident you don't, heat radiates outward so while you're hiding behind a tree, your body heat is radiating around it, upwards, downwards, forwards, etc. A UAV is overhead and looking down so as it moves around and gets different angles on trees it can see through them. Perhaps if you were at ground level walking through you would have difficulty but flying overhead won't. Any further questions or do you keep wanting to make stuff up and whine OOCly? Seriously you think everything is magic except your own stuff which is so wankified that half the people around don't respect it and who's not explaining what. Your magic "visual" VRPB system, which can see everything in the world at all times, yeah that's not magic. It's visual, it's more limited than radar systems so until you explain how your magic visual VRPB system can see my tanks in Layarteb City moving around and target them and track them and what not my own anti-stealth system, which uses actual systems (phased array radars, that sort of stuff, I'm sure you've heard of it), doesn't have to be explained to you. Now do you want to continue or keep whining? I've got all day.

http://www.securitymagazine.com/CDA/Articles/Technologies/a6644135624d8010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____

1. Can thermal imaging cameras really see through walls?
No. The cameras only "see" heat as it radiates off an object. It may see the heat coming from a house, but it can't see into the house because the camera picks up the house's exterior thermal profile first. The thermal imager doesn't even see through glass, because glass has its own thermal profile.

OOC: Thermal imaging can see through walls maybe not bricks and bricks of cinder block but it can see through walls. You've got the magic soldiers that can't be seen on night vision and their body heart apparently doesn't radiate outwards at all so they are invisible to all thermal imaging no matter what. My anti-stealth system is just radars that everyone uses so what is there to explain other than where I have them, how many I have, and what other methods I use. The whole listening thing, if you actually read what was posted and not what you wanted to read I never posted a claim to listen in on everyone's secure networks. You really should go back and learn how to read or at least stop making stuff up because it just makes you look foolish. Thermal imaging can see through forests because, if you actually don't know about thermodynamics, and it is evident you don't, heat radiates outward so while you're hiding behind a tree, your body heat is radiating around it, upwards, downwards, forwards, etc. A UAV is overhead and looking down so as it moves around and gets different angles on trees it can see through them. Perhaps if you were at ground level walking through you would have difficulty but flying overhead won't. Any further questions or do you keep wanting to make stuff up and whine OOCly? Seriously you think everything is magic except your own stuff which is so wankified that half the people around don't respect it and who's not explaining what. Your magic "visual" VRPB system, which can see everything in the world at all times, yeah that's not magic. It's visual, it's more limited than radar systems so until you explain how your magic visual VRPB system can see my tanks in Layarteb City moving around and target them and track them and what not my own anti-stealth system, which uses actual systems (phased array radars, that sort of stuff, I'm sure you've heard of it), doesn't have to be explained to you. Now do you want to continue or keep whining? I've got all day.

OOC: VRPB can't see everything in the world at all times, only what any of the sensors that are integrated in the system can pick up. I understand that heat spreads, but you seem to think that twelve men will warm up a forest, thick wood, numerous branches is well enough of a cover to keep them hidden from thermal imaging they simply do not generate enough heat to warm up the branches enough for the thermal vision sensor to pick it up. I have explained a few times how VRPB works, as for tanks, well you know where are these things called satellites that are also integrated into the system. VRPB is basically a network that allows information to be shared, the HQs for the system run supercomputers that store the information, analyze it and output it on a global map like model of the battelfield, it can't see anything only what my radars, cameras, etc. can pick up but it can send that information to any other unit of mine in the world thus the point of it.

1. Can thermal imaging cameras really see through walls?
No. The cameras only "see" heat as it radiates off an object. It may see the heat coming from a house, but it can't see into the house because the camera picks up the house's exterior thermal profile first. The thermal imager doesn't even see through glass, because glass has its own thermal profile.

OOC: Thus it wouldn't be able to see through tree tops since they have their own thermal profile as well. In any case screw this I've said all I had to moving on.

OOC: Thus it wouldn't be able to see through tree tops since they have their own thermal profile as well. In any case screw this I've said all I had to moving on.

OOC: Finally...but leaves are not solid enough objects to thwart thermal imaging.

OOC: Finally...but leaves are not solid enough objects to thwart thermal imaging.

OOC: Depends on how many leaves, trees usually have a lot of em.

IC:

Essenin and his squad were moving through the woods, the still had a bit of land to cover until they reached their destination.

OOC: If you want to not run into any of these obstacles I suggest we do some general planning on how we're going to RP this so I don't get in your way and you don't get in mine.

OOC: Good idea (http://theforsakenoutlaw.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=827).

I am still awaiting Cymrea's response by the way.

Dawn wasn't far away when the eight men of Team Sixteen snuck through the quiet, cold, and stiff morning at Ushuaia. The eight men split into four groups of two and moved out through the city. The Marines had reconnaissance UAVs overhead but most the hand held kind, RQ-11s and not many of them. The Illuminati men knew this but they could do little to truly hide from them. They stuck to alleyways and what not but their bodyheat radiated outwards and upwards and just one overpass by an RQ-11 would make them known. Still, they had a mission to conduct and they had the layout of the city memorized. They didn't venture too far from their safe house and they stuck to the sides of the buildings as best as possible. The only vehicles the Marines had in the city were trucks, no armored units.

They picked two ambush spots and would fire on the Marines from interlocking fields of fire. The Marines wouldn't know where to go and, to make sure they wouldn't be spotted, the Ghost Warriors afixed suppressors to their weapon barrels and prepared to unleash confusion upon the Marines. Their targets were two roving patrols of eight men each, a full squad. They had studied their patrol routes over the past few days between the ones who were in the city and the ones who had just arrived.

When dawn reared its shiny head, the eight men opened fire. From their concealed positions, they unleashed a barrage of bullets, many of them poorly aimed or not aimed at all. The goal was to put bullets in the air, not kill the Marines although several of the rounds did bounce off their body armor, none penetrating. After they unleashed the rounds, the men scattered and began a quick paced journey back to their house. The Marines had returned fire though and had called in for support. Both groups vectored in the electrically powered UAVs and the Ghost Warriors didn't get too far before they were spotted by the UAV's sensors.

Acting quickly, the men ducked into buildings and continued through them, through alleys, and other areas where the UAVs would be hard pressed to see. It was a cluttered environment and their best defense was the solid concrete and brick structures all around. The city was populated, which made detection hard. The Ravens, however, used a combination of visual and thermal sensors to hone in on the Ghost Warriors but after an intense and suspenseful tracking session, the Ghost Warriors eluded them by ducking into various buildings. They used random paths so that no group could really give away the position of their safe house, which they could reach through the sewers. Six of the eight men used the sewers while the other two used alleyways and other buildings.

I am still awaiting Cymrea's response by the way.

OOC: He did post something in the main E2 thread if you missed it. Perhaps that was what you were waiting for? It is here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13124344&postcount=20708).

I am still awaiting Cymrea's response by the way.

OOC: Last time I looked we both had our representatives in Havana and I just gave you the first word.

The ambush was successful. The Ghost Warriors eluded capture and the Marines had tried in vain to capture them. Now that they were safely within their safe house, the Marines were conducting a house to house search for them but the Ravens never got a clear shot on anyone's face and they had special areas underneath the floor boards to hide their guns. They placed furniture over the boards such as a couch or a bed so that the Marines, should they search the apartment, wouldn't stumble upon them. The Marines had come to their door and, to avoid suspicion, they answered. Four of them were off on a reconnaissance mission around the city and two others were walking around the neighborhood, presumably looking for a market. The Marines would only see two of them, the two that had snuck into a sewer the moment they fired. The Ravens never even got a thermal signature on them. When they opened the door, the Marines startled them at first, or at least that was how they acted.

"Good morning gentlemen. Mind if we have a word?" The Marine sergeant asked, two others with assault rifles not far behind him.

"Sure. What is the situation?"

"Around dawn this morning. Where were you both located?"

"I was in bed and Lukas here was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. It's our anniversary," he said with a distinctive feminine style of speaking.

"Lukas is it. Did you hear gunshots?"

"I did. They were loud. I went to hide in the bathtub until they were over. Did something happen?"

"There was an ambush set up for our men. Do you have any firearms in the house?"

"No." The other Ghost Warrior looked at him. "No."

"May we have a look around?"

"You may but we do not allow guns in our house. Would you mind if those two stepped outside or at least lowered their weapons? They make me nervous," "Lukas" answered back.

"That's fine. Gentlemen. Wait here. Two minutes."

"Yes sergeant!" The sergeant followed them into the second floor of their building, where their apartment was and sifted around quickly as the two "lovers" waited. He didn't find anything at first glance but did give a thorough look. The Ghost Warriors were just too professional to have their weapons found. He nodded at them and left shortly after as the men continued their search. The two Ghost Warriors walking around the neighborhood kept a close watch on the proceedings but were pleased it didn't go further. They had visited the market but they wouldn't stay for too long. They both entered a small coffee shop on the edge of the market and while one distracted the shopkeep, the other moved into the bathroom and planted a small bomb. He walked out and both of them waited for another person to enter. When that person entered, he too went to the bathroom and left. Two minutes later, they remote detonated the bomb. They had placed it in the tank of the toilet so it wouldn't be found by anyone walking into or out of the bathroom. It wasn't particularly powerful, simply because they had to conceal it so it couldn't be too large. However, it was powerful enough to destroy the whole bathroom and knock down one of the walls, covering the shop with debris and dust. When Marines responded to the call, they used the distraction to go further.

The two were joined by the recon patrol that had finished their surveillance of the city. They came up with good ambush locations and they had one more mission to conduct. While the chaos ensued around the coffee shop, the six of them converged on a small section of the market that was largely populated by rug makers and other craftsmen. They planted a much larger bomb there and hid it inside of a barrel. By the time the vendors returned, the bomb went off, shattering windows as far as a quarter of a mile away. The market turned into a blood bath in just minutes and the Marines began to react. Immediately, a curfew went into effect from 20:00 to 06:00 hours, which meant that more Marines were going to be needed and soon a fourth company would arrive in the city.

It would be that night that the Ghost Warriors met their worst enemy...

The cold air was nothing new to Tierra del Fuego. The temperature dipped below freezing as the sun went down as the Marines converged into the city and the Ghost Warriors sought temporary shelter. They had plans for the night but they didn't realize who was going to join them either. It all started in the Falkland Islands shortly before the sun went down. A Layartebian C-28A Gulfstream VI had touched down at Mount Pleasant Airfield at 17:00 hours, about ten minutes after the sunset. It was black and had sleeked across 5,300 miles of airspace from Peto in the Yucatán state. It taxiied to the end of runway 5/23 and took a sharp left, towards the lesser occupied portions of the airbase at Mount Pleasant. As it did, a pair of F-26A Typhoon mutlirole fighters roared into the air on runway 10/28, headed for a patrol mission near Tierra del Fuego.

The Gulfstream, codenamed Axe 1, pulled into a small shelter towards the far end of the runway and came to a stop. The door opened and out stepped four men. They looked more like criminals than anything else and the MPs at the shelter were confused whether or not the plane had been hijacked in flight. They had only minutes to get ready when the Gulfstream declared it was inbound to land. Due to the secrecy of the flight, the tower wasn't informed until moments before the Gulfstream came to a halt on the runway. It annoyed them but the level of classification required meant that safety protocols could be put aside.

The four men were recruited from various Black Operations Groups within the Imperial Layartebian Military and they were the pilot team of a new, shadow unit, formed to combat terrorism. The 2nd BOG, "Force Thunder," was the primary anti-terrorist force in the Empire of Layarteb but they were bound by certain operating principles. For instance, their goal was to catch the terrorists but not act like them. They could use torture and many paramilitary tactics but they couldn't fight terrorists with terrorism. They were, nonetheless, highly effective but, against the Ghost Warriors and the Illuminati, they were ineffective. They had made only minor advances in the wake of major setbacks. That was when the Emperor suggested a new, more elite, more shadowy unit. They could be recruited solely from BOG units. Force Falcon, the most classified and secretive unit in existence and the highly capable Force Viper were the only two units that were more secretive and more elite than this new unit but the new unit wasn't a slouch. They were on the same level as both Force Falcon and Force Viper in the degree of training required. Patriots and loyalists, the new unit recruited only single men from within the 14 BOGs within the Imperial Layartebian Military. They would operate in small teams of four and the unit itself would be no bigger than a platoon, consisting of just eight teams when they were finalized. Selection processes were tight and training required months. It was August and only one team was ready after six months of hardcore, additional training. Named "Force Shadow," the 15th BOG of the ILM was formed specifically to fight the Illuminati and their unnamed mercenaries. Their tactics were, to say the least, controversial. They were trained like terrorists and they would operate like terrorists. They would fight terrorism with terrorism. Tierra del Fuego would be their baptism of fire against a highly elite and capable Ghost Warrior team. They knew little about the Ghost Warriors except a few hard facts. They operated in groups of eight, used highly encrypted communication methods, were elite mercenaries recruited from various SOG and BOGs around the world, and they had friends within the government. The problem was, those friends didn't know about the elite fighting force that had just landed on East Falkland.

The four men weren't scrawny and they weren't fun looking. They were hardened veterans of combat and they didn't have time for chit-chat. They walked to the other side of the shelter and climbed into an awaiting M2008A1 Dingo APV. Retired from frontline service, the Imperial Layartebian Defense Forces still had over 5,000 of them in service and many other branches had them in reserve. The Imperial Layartebian Air Force was the biggest user though as they provided transportation throughout airfields and carried vital supplies throughout the Empire. They had replaced the HMMWV in the 1990s and they lived up to the reputation that the HMMWV made except they were armored.

The Dingo shot out of the shelter and left the airfield through the rear gate. From there it was a thirty mile drive to Goose Green, further to the south, where another Layartebian airfield stood, except a much smaller one, for helicopters only. It was a quiet drive; none of the men talked and the driver was told to keep his mouth shut when the four men got into the cab. The team leader had said it and in a most uncomfortable way. He climbed into the front of the cab and put his seatbelt on, shutting the door behind him. "Don't utter a word unless it's trouble," he said sharply as he looked at the driver who only nodded. "It's thirty miles. Get us there in twenty minutes. And remember. This drive never happened." The man pushed aside his leather coat to reveal a large knife and tapped its hilt. "Understood?" Once again, the eighteen year old nodded and drove.

Nineteen minutes later, the Dingo halted in front of another shelter. The four men climbed out of the cab within a word and walked into the shelter. Moments later, the Dingo sped off, back to Mount Pleasant. "Gentlemen. Welcome." A voice boomed from the darkness of the shelter. There was a small light in the far end and several chairs around a large and mobile blackboard. "Sit down." The men did as they were told by another man who had emerged from the shadows. None of them had any semblance of a uniform on their bodies. "The Illuminati is currently operating in Ushuaia. On August 15, they blew up a Layartebian Airways 737 on the tarmac at Ushuaia International Airport. There were no casualties and we believe it was sent as a message. There have been no communications outbound from Ushuaia on any channel that we know they use but we are monitoring. We believe they are operating independently and under their own directives. Until the end of this month we won't be able to do much in the way of interception.

"On August 27 we are set to launch an additional ICARUS satellite into orbit and that will allow us to monitor frequencies out there previous thought to be unknown. The only drawback is encryption. Decryption processes will be sped up but there is no way we can successfully listen in on everything throughout the world. Although, it is possible with enough dumped into the ICARUS program.

"Let me continue to the situation at hand. Early this morning, around dawn, they struck again. They engaged two Marine patrols in a firefight but seemingly just ran. UAV footage is limited but we have these photographs here and here. The mercs fired off several dozen rounds and fled, possibly to learn tactics, possibly as another message. We're uncertain at this moment. We are certain though that the bloodshed began today.

"They struck a market this afternoon by attacking a coffee shop and a portion of the market for craftsmen. Together, both bombs, the first being small versuses a much larger one for the second killed about two dozen people and injured a dozen or so more. A curfew is going into effect at 20:00 hours. We believe they'll use the curfew and the dead of night to launch more attacks or set up bombs in various other locations.

"Now. This team is unique. Unlike some of the other merc teams we've dealt with, they use radio detonators. Three bombs, three different frequencies. We're currently keep a watch for other possible frequencies but this area has a big cellular phone industry. We are; however, using the current ICARUS satellites to listen to the various communications throughout the city. Let me tell you gentlemen, we've heard some kinky things, we've heard fights and arguments, speeches, and wedding plans. Nothing at all has revealed the mercs.

"So we know this. Based on these attacks, they like to attack at night, preferably before dawn, we'll see if tonight alters the timing, and the middle afternoon. We believe they will use the night to attack our Marines and the day to attack the civies. I want them found and killed. Capture them if you can but all previous captures of these merc teams have revealed nothing. They're able to withstand our interrogation methods and at ease it seems. The emphasis now and here is on their destruction. Are there any questions?" Several questions were asked and all of them were answered but it was a short session. By 19:00 hours, the four men had boarded an awaiting UV-24D Bulldog V/STOVL transport. They wore wetsuits, had SCUBA gear, and all of them carried a waterproof knapsack with money, weapons, communication equipment, and various other tools of the trade. The aircraft picked up into the air shortly thereafter and began a 1,063 mile journey, 515.5 miles of which would be to the drop point, southwest of Ushuaia.

The flight was long, over an hour. The UV-24 had flown at altitudes never exceeding 50 feet and kept an average speed of 280 mph. It moved out of the radar coverage of the Imperial Layartebian Navy and last minute satellite shots and revealed any foreign shipping that could be a threat as well. Those too were avoided as the plane kept very low. Nightvision guided the way and the UV-24 kept low and quiet.

When the Bulldog began its approach from the south, it dropped even lower, to just 20 feet off the water's surface and it increased its speed to 300 mph. Maximum speed, at this altitude, was 317 mph but even still, the aircraft wasn't running its fuel tanks dry. The aircraft was still very quiet, quiet enough that it couldn't be heard until after it passed, a common trick with any military aircraft, whereas commerical aircraft could be heard miles and miles away before they ever arrived. The dropoff point was 54°51'31.46" S and 68°23'39.68" W, a half mile from the shore of Tierra del Fuego, a half mile swim to a beach covered with trees. The dropoff would be simple and quick. The Bulldog would slow down and the doors would be opened. From there, the soldiers would jump into the water, the Bulldog never stopping. It would then fly the rest of the journey home, maintaining a very low altitude, landing with a low fuel load but a safe amount.

http://www.theforsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Invasion%20of%20Argentina/forceshadow-dropoff.jpg

The swim to the shore was quick for the four commandos. They had dropped into the chilling water from the Bulldog and used a small, illuminated PDA on their wrists to guide them to the shore, which was just a half mile away. The Bulldog would be far away by then and they would easily sneak onto the wooded beach without much effort. They kept to a depth lower than twenty feet as they swam with their SCUBA gear and made sure that they stayed in a close formation. Their PDAs were only flicked on and then immediately off to make sure they were heading in the right direction. Otherwise, they had no source of illumination at all, which allowed them to sneak in quietly. Even the illumination that the PDAs provided couldn't be seen on the surface of the black water, which made it that much easier for them.

When they reached the beach, the four of them quickly skidded off into the a small, wooden area and quickly took off their wetsuits and SCUBA gear. They had an intimate detail of where Layartebian Marines would be patrollig and none were even near this area. It would be hard for them to be found except by sheer coincidence and that was an aspect even they planned for, in detail. The men quickly gathered their gear in a small area and two of them began digging into the soft ground with a pair of collapsable spades that they had brought with them. The other two took up defensive positions facing northwest and northwest, enabling them each to cover north, their stated direction, and either west or east. No one could approach them without them seeing. Nightvision goggles provided the green illumination that they so desired and they held their assault rifles tight to their shoulders. They both had a pair of bipods attached to the front of the rifles and aside from suppressors, they fitted ACOG 4x scopes, allowing them unmatched precision at 4x the magnification of the Mark I eyeball.

Their rifles weren't standard issue either. They were Doomingsland made M99A1 ASACs, chambered in 5.56 x 45mm, a round that the Empire had not used in years and a round that many other countries still used. The carbines had an effective range of three hundred and sixty meters and they were effective at shooting that far and further. All four of them possessed the same rifle as well as the M110A4 Pistol, which was brand-new and highly effective as a .45ACP weapon. In addition to those weapons they were also equipped with a single M89A2 Designated Marksmenship Weapon, a semi-automatic sniper rifle good to eight hundred meters or one half mile. They carried a slew of gear with them, which included a variety of explosives mostly but also other tools of the trade including lockpick sets, piano wire, and remote control devices.

With their equipment buried in a hole four feet deep, which was then recovered, the four of them set out for their goal, Ushuaia, which was just under two miles away. They would commandeer an abandoned house on the outskirts of the city and hide their weapons there while they travelled into and out of the city, searching for and killing the eight terrorists, by whatever means necessary. They didn't have too far of a journey to make to the abandoned house though and there was a significant amount of trees and cover between their drop-in point and the house. They could make it there in under an hour, enough time for the Bulldog to clear far away and for them to survey the area.

Somewhere in Terra del Fuego

"Как сигнал Рывков?"
How is the signal Rivkov?

Essenin asked one of his subordinate as they took a short rest in the middle of a forrest.

"Есть, Товаришь Командир, ещё всего два километра."
Its here comrade Commander, just two more kilometers.

Rivkov replied leaning over an LCD screen of a tiny device he held tightly in his hand.

"Хорошо..."
Good...

Essenin froze for a second, and slowly rose his hand commanding everyone to remain still and be quiet. The sound receptors integrated into his combat suit gave him notice of someone approaching near by. He pushed a button on the keypad placed on his wrist and began to filter the sounds.

"Двое...двадцать метров по склону..."
Two...twenty meters down hill...

He said quietly and motioned another one of his subordinates who in turn tapped the person next to him on a shoulder, both men vanished in the vegetation without making a sound momentarily. After giving them a minute head start Essenin and others started quietly going down hill. What happened next happened quickly, not one shot was fired but a sound of a punch, a short struggle a few Russian cuss words and a whole waterfall of cussing in Spanish. By the time Essenin and the rest of his squad made it to a small clearing down hill, his subordinates already had their knives at the throats of the two previously armed men who apparently stopped by a small stream for a drink. Essenin looked the two men over, they were both beaten up, one's nose was bleeding, the other had a large bruise on his forehead a work of a Russian army boot. He drew closer to them lowering his gun as his squad started looking around making sure where weren't others. The hostages were cooperative easily convinced by the knives pressing against their throats.

"Hey, do you...do you speak english?"

Essenin said with a heavy accent.

"Yes...yes...please don't, don't kill us."

The bruised hostage replied shaking chaotically either from the cold or the fear.

"Don't worry about that...I will ask you questions, you will answer, I like your answer I let you go, I don't we'll bury you under that tree there. Understood?"

"Yes...yes."

"Good, now, lets get to business, who do work for?"

"Radriguez....he is...his camp is near here."

"Good, so you're local. We're looking for a white man, speaks Russian, maybe english with my accent. Sound familiar?"

"Yes...Radriguez's advisor, don't know his name, saw him only a few times during the recruitment ceremonies."

"Hmm, we know his general location, we will need you to lead us to him."

"Yes, yes, you will need me, Rodriguez's liberation army lives in a network of caves here, entrance is hidden and guarded we can show you an easy way in...okay?"

"Good....эй Быстров поставить их наноги и забинтовать."
..hey Birstrov get them on their feet and put some bandages on em.

Bistrov quickly emerged and started getting medical supplies out of his pack. Essenin looked up at his men.

"Скоро выдвигаемся."
We're moving out soon.

Before any meaningful discussion begins, we wish to enquire whether there is any chance of a peaceful resolution whereby Pineholtine keeps the disputed territories.

The four commandos had been in the shelter for a few hours when they transmitted, via secure satellite uplink, their mission status. The uplink bounced around a few communications satellites before it was downloaded at their base in Peto. The journey took milliseconds and a return reply was ready to go. The codewords they used made sure that, even if the encryption was bypassed, deciphering the message would be next to impossible. The reply was just one word, "Matrix." The commander smiled as he put away the satellite set and looked around the room at his men. "We're on," he said as they began to change into uniforms of the Layartebian Marines. Within a half hour, they were inside of Ushuaia. Their uniforms were official and they set out to accomplish one task, find out where the terrorists were and kill them, by whatever means necessary.

Split into two groups of two, the four men took different sections of the city and began active patrols. They carried orders with them that would make sure any Marine in the city and at the refuge camps to the north, including the operational commander himself, would not interfere with them. Despite it being unusual that they were in groups of two and most Marines stayed in groups of four or larger, they would be easily able to bypass through the ranks. That was why they were who they were.

The Illuminati terrorists managed to sneak out of their house again this night and moved towards two various points in the city. They would plant timed explosive devices at four locations. One of them was a gas station, on the outskirts of the western side of the city and the other three were all in the middle of the city. They used the sewers to get to where they needed to be, hiding from the thermal sights of the overhead UAVs. They had obtained blueprints to the entire underground network of Ushuaia, which gave them a distinct advantage over the Layartebian Marines, who did not have such plans.

The first night's work was neither a success nor a failure. The commandos never found traces of the Ghost Warriors but they learned several paths around the city that would come in handy.

Before any meaningful discussion begins, we wish to enquire whether there is any chance of a peaceful resolution whereby Pineholtine keeps the disputed territories.

OOC: Probably not, but lets atleast get the damn peace conference over with, then Im gonna bomb you and then I can move on to more important things.

OOC: Incase that last little bit was during the coference.

IC:

Leonid grinned upon hearing the question of the Pineholtian.

"Keeping them? Perhaps, this is what this conference is about, its a chance for you to prove to us why we shouldn't just bomb you for attempting to take over territories we were first to claim. You will have to offer us something for those lands and even then there are no guarantees that we will accept. Your nation has stepped out of the line, you are barking at something much more powerful then you, if we are to go to war you will loose I assure you. So what is your offer exactly? If you simply expect us to give you OUR land for nothing or for pennies when you are wasting my time, I will walk out of here, call Voronej and they will start bombing. Am I understood?"

"I think that very point you made just then has reinforced our claim. You have to call Voronej for your orders...and where is Voronej? Its the other side of the world, and where is our capital? It is only an hour from the disputed territories. What makes these territories yours? A bold imperialistic claim? We have claimed these territories as our own for many years now. I would even go so far to as claim that if you gave the people of these territories a choice as to which country they would rather be part of, they would say Pineholt. What business do Russians have in South America anyway? Do they only see it as a base for military operations against The October Alliance? I would say that is the only reason, for what else would they be doing attempting to annex land on the other side of the world?

"You may attempt to bomb us, you may attempt to invade us, but at the end of the day, is that the best choice for a nation which is already faced with war all over the world? Is that what the Russian Empire wants? We temporarily relinquished those lands in the name of peace, we compromised, we came to these talks, and still you talk of war? All this for less than 200,000 square kilometres? Does Russia really need that land?

"If you want us to give you something in return, then perhaps you should tell us what you want, and perhaps a compromise can be reached, as we came to these talks with high expectations of obtaining a peaceful solution to the current predicament. We have no problem with the Russian Federation, aside from this dispute, and wish to have no further problems with it in the future. I hope I have made my position clear to you, so what say you?"

"Well firstly we are not an Empire, we are a Federation. Secondly what we intend to do is non of your damn business, excuse me for being frank. What we want? For that we will need to assess all that you have and we haven't taken the time for that, I am asking you for what you can give us and I will judge if thats satisfactory. Last time I checked, maybe that has changed since I entered this room, but Russian Federation was not at war with anyone. If you want me to be completely truthful then our problem is this: the Federation is both an economic and a military giant, us allowing a nation such as yours to challenge us on the matters of land and sovereignty and get away with it without any form of punishment, that sends a message to our would-be enemies and thats not the kind of message that we want being sent. The Russian Federation can stabilize situations like this, we have proven it in Mexico and are now proving it in Brazil, we are a nation that puts no race above the other, puts no religion above the other, and lets all the cultures within our borders integrate themselves into our original one. We have been doing this since we defeated the Alikut Republic in 982 AD.

But I digress...back to our issue, so your main argument for us to simply hand you over our lands is because you are closer to them? Is that what I heard? Tell us what you have to offer or you're wasting my time."

"Why should you hand over those lands? Because the people living in those lands are our people, they are part of the Pineholtine nationstate, and therefore should be part of the Pineholtine Republic. We have had a claim on these lands for a very long time, and now the chance has arisen for us to take these lands, we will seize the chance, and no amount of bullying from some far off nation will stop us. We do not see the Russian Federation as a major threat, and we will defend ourselves and defeat any enemy that engages us in an aggressive war.

"However, we are a peaceful nation, and war is always the last resort, so we will continue to negotiate, despite your arrogance. We have many outlying territories, that are unpopulation except for military and research staff, that we would gladly cede to the Russian Federation should they wish. We would also be interested in signing Free Trade Agreements, and Non-Aggression Pacts, as well as giving Russian firms No-Bid contracts to our military requirements."

"Hmm...what lands do you speak of?"

"We offer the Russian Federation Berkner Island, Norfolk Island, South Orkney Island, and Thurston Island, in return for the provinces of Entre-Rios, Corrientes, and Misiones."

"Heh, that is fairly interesting...so you want to give us a bunch of tiny islands that we will be able to capture anyways if a war is to start in exchange for three full-sized territories? Honestly I think that your proposal is bogus, in any case I will need to take it over to Voronej, let them have a laugh. If you excuse me I need to step outside for a moment."

He got up and left the room taking out his cellphone as he walked through the door.

The next night, the commandos had leads. They had an ID on one of the Ghost Warriors but they lost him in the crowds while they trailed him to where he lived. Now, they fanned out throughout the city, ready to find and kill them, if they could. The night's air was cold, too cold and they moved through the city carefully and cautiously, avoiding the Marines as best as they could. They communicated through a different band than the Marines did, allowing them to let each other know what was going on in their various sectors. The radio was quiet. The Ghost Warrior terrorists had not ventured out that night. They had an idea they were being trailed during the day and decided to hide out that night, rather than cause the chaos and mayhem.

When it was evident that they weren't going to set off any bombs that night, the commandos vanished into the night, back to the abandoned house. They would venture out again, during the day. The day was like the night, quiet. The Marines were stunned by this but the commandos knew, flat out, what was going on, and they loved every minute of it. They were not frustrated that the terrorists were hiding. They figured that they were had and that the terrorists knew they were on their tail. This only meant that the terrorists were scared, shit scared and they would use it to their advantage.

Throughout the day, the commandos scanned the city, learning its ins and outs. They also kept a close watch on the more populated areas of the city and waited.

Ten minutes later Leonid came back into the room, no longer laughing, his facial expression showed nothing but anger. He fell on his chair and looked at the Pineholtian

"Well...so apparently something has happened since I left Voronej to come here. The Duma and the Parliament voted to reach a peaceful resolution with Pineholt and give up our control of disputed areas...something about money and lives spent on forcing our will upon those territories. So consider yourself lucky, we accept your proposal.

The Layartebian moderator heard the good news and turned to his assistants and whispered something. "Peace is achievable." He then stood and walked over to a small area out of the room. Lunch was being prepared and he wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. They would eat in the adjacent dining hall and hopefully all together.

"We thank you for accepting our proposal, and the aforementioned lands will transferred immediatly."

OOC - Sorry, have been away over the weekend, just catching up with everything.

"Gentlemen. If I may so interrupt. The reaching of an agreement here, today, will become a historic landmark in international relations and an example for decades to come that talking still works. It will not cause war to become obsolete but neither it will make war always required. With that, I would like to invite both parties, their security details, and all of those present in the construction of this conference to join us in the dinning hall through that door. We have prepared a fine cuisine of Russian, Hispanic, and various other cuisines. It is my hope that you all find it pleasurable. Thank you." The moderator said as he stood in the center of the room, pleased that the outcome did not result in an all out war.

OOC: Just please post the land transfer into the main E2 thread and affirm just for decorum's sake. Thanks.