NationStates Jolt Archive

The night was was warm for the rainy season as Jonathan Keiso lay awake listening to the hot rain bounce off the windows of his Summer home in the O'Brein National Forest. He had come here to escape the conflict and stress that Carina imposed on him, and though he was usually quite content to waste away the days reading on the rocking chair porch while pretending to listen to the days intelligence briefings, he had been struck with a sudden case of insomnia and had been sleeping most of the daytime hours away. He was not sure why this sudden circadian flip had attacked him so but he was stuck with it none the less, laying in bed with his wife snoring ever so quietly beside him. He reached down and checked the bed, but it wasnt to fire, the fan on his nightstand was on low, providing enough air circulation, and white noise to put a raging tiger to sleep and yet he still lay there, unmoved by dreams temptations.

He slowly and reluctantly admitted defeat once more and pulled the covers back as he swung his feet over the edge. His slippers were not far beyond and he quickly grabbed a terry cloth robe before seeking a reliable source of caffeine. Walking down the dimly lit hallway motion detectors turned the lights up as he walked towards the elevator that would take him tot he first floor and the kitchen, as he walked he kept scrutinizing his thoughts; Was it the accords that were bothering him? or the war in Questers? no both of those seemed so distant. Stepping into the elevator he leaned agaisnt the back wall and pressed the button for the first floor. he yaened slowly but the ffect did little to actually calm his mind which was at this point racing to find a conclusion to his thoughts. As the door opened he was met with the smiling face of his Aide standing there waiting, as if he had known the man would be up at this hour. Jonathan quietly wondered if Aides were grown in some far off lab to always be there when called, and grab just the right papers when needed.

"Good evening sir, you really should be in bed..."

Jonathan shot back in a groggy way, his words slurred by his mind still gearing up, as his eyes adjusted to the brighter downstairs lighting.

"A bloody lot of good that did..."

His aide didn't even flinch he merely shuffled his stack of manila folders and tucked them under his arm.

'You could take the prescription Dr. Jones gave you."

The Praetor merely grumbled under his breath about pills, and how all the drugs in this are just there to keep the people in line, this was met by a short 'ha' from his aide as Jonathan walked out of the elevator and began heading towards the kitchen.

"Coffee then, I presume."

Jonathan nodded and though he considered funding ESP research as he walked into the kitchen to be met with full fresh cup of coffee on a tray from one of the kitchen attendants.He took the cup but took a look around as other attendants were already cooking breakfast, the praetor checked his watch to find it reading 2:30 AM and shrugged off the feeling as he exited the kitchen and headed towards the board room, the closest thing to a CIC in his summer cottage. His aide cut him off though tried to get his attention.

"Excuse me sir, but there hasnt been any updates for the last 24 hours seems, things have stagnated on the QC front."

"And the Kahanistani front? any new sieges?"

"No sir" the aide shot back looking quite disappointed. "No major exports for HTC either sir Im afraid."

"Well damn then... Would you have the kitchen staff bring me some eggs and a toast and meet me in the map room?"

The aide nodded and left the praetor as the man walked down the brightly lit first floor corridors to the map room, a room named for just that reason, that it contained dozens and dozens of maps, though its true purpose was entertaining Jonathan had always been a bit of a geography freak and enjoyed scrutinizing the land masses in his spare time. The map room had always been one of his favorite places to entertain guests and he took a seat in one of the old leather chairs across from a massive tapestry showing all of Haven on it. He carefully pulled a small coffee table closer to his seat as he noticed a kitchen attendant enter with a tray with jams, toast, some eggs and another cup of midnight black coffee. Setting it before him the Attendant smiled and quietly exited the room as the Praetor began eating his early breakfast, finishing his first cup of coffee he placed it on the far corner of the tray and put his hands around the handle of the second cup picking it up he froze for a second memorized by the reflection in its inky surface. A small island some 600 km from San'Ba uncolored and next to the name of another country, however it wasn't colored the same as the name of the country it resided next to. In fact its green color contrasted to any country around it yet had no name... Jonathan took a quick sip and then slammed down the coffee cup on the tray walking briskly towards the Board room.

- - -

The military staff in the board room snapped to attention as their leader walked in a determined look on his face and little more than a robe to cover his decency. Jonathan didnt wait around he quickly walked over the cupboard containing several rolls of maps and pulled down a Mekugian area map rolling it out on the board room table. HE weighed down the corners with various objects, cellphones, books, what ever was at hand and pointed to a green glob to the west of San'Ba in Mekugi, just south of Catalasia, and North of Kampfers.

"Whose is that...?"

The demand and general assertiveness of the question brought the room to silence.

"Its not Catalasia, its not Kampfers, it looks like a remnant of that last mapping mix up where people actually believed Adejanni was part of our region, heck its even the same color... but whose is it?"

A man in thick rimmed glasses and a military BDU stepped forward and peered at the map he looked it over for a second and concurred.

"I agree.. Officially it belongs to no-one..."

The Praetor Smiled inwardly.

"You are wrong...!" the staff was confused, was this a trivia quiz at 3 AM? why would he even do that if he knew the answer already, but just as someone was about to protest to early morning games the praetor interjected.

"...This is an island cut off from its homeland... this is another of our sister Islands, just like Archos, or Saito...t his island is ours... make it so."

The military staff in the boardroom came to attention and saluted as the praetor walked out of the room with a broad smile on his face, his aide running after.

"Sir don't you think thats a little.." the Aide tried to continue but he was cut off by the Praetor.

"James." The Aide was shocked he had served the Praetor for years but this was the first time he had actually addressed him by name. "Just bring me my damn sleeping pills."

The Aide was silent for a second but then nodded and went off to fill the praetors prescription.

- - -

Come in Alpha Six, Have you found anything?

Lt. Williams listened as the radio squawked to life, he and his wingman both had become quite bored, though they had volunteered for the mission expecting some action they had found nothing... one abandoned radio installation and that was it. No bogies, not Radar systems, no, well anything... the pair of F-33 Raven E3 aircraft swung around the far end of the island for another pass but they would be reaching bingo fuel soon so they had little time to patrol left. Wiliams thus responded to the controller AWACS that was providing oversight to the investigation.

"Big bird, this is Alpha -Six we've found nothing... this rock is about as lifeless as space... and just about as exciting".

Roger that Alpha -Six EASTCOM says head on home, theres nothing more for you to do.

Williams nodded to his wingman and they both set courses for San'ba, the rock was certainly open for the taking the question is what had caused such a major case of mistaken identity.

Sgt Hawker gripped his rifle hard as the Lodestone II transport aircraft his some turbulence shaking the tired, and queasy paratroopers of the Eighth Highland Rangers to no end. The flight from San'Ba on Mekugi's Far western point had bee a long one, a several hour flight only to enter a holding pattern as the five other aircraft in the drop group refueled and headed back on course. The flight was now less then five minutes from the drop point and the 100 or so soldiers that shared this humid sardine can began to get anxious as they waited for the time to clip up.

Their target was the only notable man made structure on the island, a small apparently abandoned radio navigation point at the islands southern end. Though the Sgt knew it was merely chosen as there was little else to use as a rendezvous, it was none the less important as the registry of the navigation tower was officially neutral, and changing out the signal codes would allow them to officially classify the Island as theirs.

Though five Lodestone aircraft were present only one carried the Eighth Highland Rangers, the other two carried a group of Para-engineers and Airborne supplies for constructing a small airstrip, and fixing the radio tower for communications use. Sgt. Hawker knew this would be about as much fun as patrol in the suburbs but wouldn't want to turn the opportunity to jump from a perfectly good aircraft into the night sky over a potentially hostile locale... It was after all his job.

Two minutes!

The Loadmaster called out and the lights inside the Cabin went from Amber to red, bathing the hold in dark red light to help the rangers adjust to the nights inky darkness once outside of the aircraft. He undid hes retention belt and stood up coming to a strong A-frame form to prepare for the 'waddl'n dive' the rest of his group followed suit, and he was sure the aircraft behind him were undergoing the same procedures. He reached up and clicked his static line to the wire overhead and waited the buzzing of the massive aircrafts engines drowned out all the noises of individuals conversations around him and he merely waited, there was nothing more to do, it was do or die time now, when the Light changed to green he couldn't see the first men out all he saw was the pack of the man in front of him, the load masters voice slowly growing louder until he was face to face with the bodiless voice, and the black void that was the Omz Strait and the Night itself.

Jumping for some people is like second nature, once you've taken that first step your committed gravity, tends to hold its contracts with matter quite strict, and down you go. HE heard the buzzing of the engines be drowned out by the speed of the wind, and the sensation of a treating at his back as the static cord unraveled behind him. HE had little time to enjoy the sensation and chaos of freefall, soon the tugging on his back seemed to stop and he seemed to drift weightless for a second before his primary chute deployed yanking him from 160 miles per hour to almost zero in a few seconds, the effect was somewhat like hitting a brick wall with a convenient face hole cut out, his shoulders ached and he groaned as the harness readjusted some of his more private parts in a way in which few short of Picaso could appreciate. He was now after the pain faded left with a beautiful view, open fields, and clear skies as far as the eye could see, no city lights, just peace and forests, undisturbed for god knows how long.

Sgt Hawker looked around him and checked his six, the Lodestones had blown their loads and were beginning their long turn towards home, while over 300 men and several tonnes of equipment drifted to earth. As he reached up and grabbed his control lines he saw ground flares begin lighting up the first of the pathfinders having touched down and set up the DZ. HE steered the chute towards it and released the small flap that held his rifle rigidly to his leg to let it hang down below him so as the not impair his landing, or snap in half on the impact. The ground and the flares quickly grew larger, and though he knew the chute had slowed him down he was still falling quite fast. He pulled down on both control lines to break and bent his knees as he impacted shortly after his rifle case, rolling forward on the hard soil and small brushes that dotted this part of the country side he was glad at least it want a landing on concrete.

As he secured his chute he looked around the field dozens of men were doing the same or stashing their packs, while others began to set up a perimeter for the engineering team to regroup.

It didnt take long for the first screw-up of the night to occur, and sadly he knew it would be bad when he saw the glow lights attached to a two ton bobcat come screaming from the sky half a klick from his location the defenign thud as the non decelerated two tone vehicle impacted the ground send birds into the air for miles around, and worse yet... it was one of those useful pieces of equipment that would have prevented him from having to be married to his E-tool for the next six days. Dusting off his rifle bag he removed his weapon, loaded a fresh mag and slung it as he headed off to inspect the damage.

AS Sgt Hawker walked towards the Impact site, he could hear a satellite communication team begin the first broadcast from the Island.

Alpha Point has been secured, send in CAS for bravo point support at 0700, we will move onto Bravo point from Alpha Point at 0600...
- - -

The Next day, his squad was reassembled, the bobcat, or at least most of it had been extracted from the crater it made, and the engineers were busy mulling over the specifics of the landscape and what 'nice hard compacted soil' this field had, he was wondering if they had made the same jump he had, and if so how they could compliment the rock solid jar it probably gave the whole units knees.

The nine men in his squad had spent the early morning hours using ATAPS (Advanced TActical Positioning System) to affix their location and the position of Bravo point, the small Radio installation on the island. When 0600 rolled around his squad with the rest of the unit split into two groups with a engineering unit between them for the hike to Bravo point, engineering equipment brininging up the tail. However much of the construction equipment and the other engineering unit stayed at the field, as they had become engrossed with the DZ area as possible airstrip site.

The hour long hike passed easily, with much bull and discussions of long nights with foreign women int he almost silent countryside of the island, the 'road' if it could be called that was little more than a deer trail, and where ti deviated the forward unit was forced to cut a new path though the underbrush , however Sgt. Hawker lucked out and his unit was bringing up the tail making the walk even more pleasant. He couldn't help be notice just how similar this island was the Mekugi, though at the same latitude they were hundreds of kilometers separate they were so very similar, the only difference being the silence.

The Sargent was startled as he heard shouting at the head of the line, he gripped his rifle and brought his squads attention forward as the whole line seemed fan out, he glanced at his watch and noticed ti was 0645, a shorter trip than had been expected, and now the first unit had already reached the objective.

HE had to say he was no impressed. the radio station was little more than a 40 foot tower, a generator, and a shack barely large enough to take a shit in, 'all that for this?' he couldn't help but wonder, but he realized this wasn't he objective the objective was the soil under his feet, the tower was merely the magic marker with which to write a new name on that soil. Tacking a small Mekugian Commonwealth flag from his rucksack he walked over the the commander of the lead squad and presented to him.

"Sir I believe you should do the honors"

His commander agreed and some rope was strung up to the towards mid section, where the flag was raised, the entire unit saluted briefly and then went about their missions, the engineering team entering the shack (though only one or two at a time) while the rest of them began to set up foundations for temporary buildings., their drawings int eh sand were however quickly blasted away as a pair of AV-13 Dragonfly VTOL CAS aircraft came to a hover over the location, seeing the flag, and no real distress on the men below (besides the engineers) and turned back towards the field that had been the DZ, it seemed as if it really might be the new airfield.

Sgt Walker merely took a seat on a nearby outcrop and pulled out a hip flask, his part of the mission was essentially over, now it was babysitting the Engies or waiting for a true force to arrive, once the airstrip was completed... but he knew they'd drag him to hump a shovel before the day was out, for now though he admired the Commonwealths newest conquest... the formerly uninhabited island he now called home.

Gantrickburgh, Kampfers
North Point Military Base

"Umm, sir? You might want to come see this. We have a small detachment of unidentified forces landing on this island here. We have a satellite passing over the site in a few minutes, and we'll get full data then, but for now we're in the dark on who they are. Hostile, friendly, neutral, ally, we have no fuckin clue. Suggest that we inform command?" the soldier spat out.

Angela Hawthorne ran over. She was 32, and had a high position in the army, rather unusual in Kampfers. Beauty had passed her over, but hard work and dedication had given her this position at North Point. On Wednesdays she went and taught the finer points of RADAR to freshmen at the North Point Military Acadamy, which was located in between the city and the base, but today was a day of work. Suddenly, an idea ran through her head. She ran over to the opposite wall, which had a map of the entirity of Haven. "Don't those islands belong to Catalasia?" she questioned. "Well, fuck it, lemme ring up command." She walked over to the phone and punched the emergency hotline to the base commanders office. She was dispatched through immedeately. "Sir, we appear to have an issue... No, the coffee machine still works. It appears that some nation just invaded Catalasia, however... Yeah, thats what I thought... You want to do what? Sir yes sir! I'll be right over!" Chills ran down her spine. In less than a minute, she would be on a videoconference with the Fuhrer himself, and it was quite an honor.

She walked outside. It was a cloudy day, but the sun still poked through in places. She walked in the sunny patches, as feeling the warmth exaggerated the excitement running in her veins. She entered the office, and was directed upstairs. The General was already in breif discussions with the Fuhrer when she came up. The Fuhrer was the first to acknowledge her presence. "Good evening. I hear you have news for me?"

Angela froze. She had never been in the presence of the Fuhrer, and though she claimed she feared nothing, she feared embarresing herself. And thus, she fainted. The general leaned over, then rang a buzzer and summoned two people to take her to the infirmary. "I'm sorry, Fuhrer, that is quite embaressing."

"Quite," the Fuhrer replied. "I expect that everyone in the Army is held to a higher standard. Do not let this happen again. Now, apparantly this nation of Catalasia has been invaded my an unkown force?"

"Yes, but the odd thing is, the invasion force is so small, far too small to be there to actually fight." As the general spoke, a sheet of paper printed out behind him. It was the report from the satellite. "Sir, it appears that these are Mekugians. We have had no caontact with them, but they are large and powerful. It would be best to skirt the situation."

"Skirt the situation?" The Fuhrer replied, outraged. "How do I skirt the invasion of a nation so close to my own? Will I be their next victim? No, we shall not overlook this." As he spoke, an aide in his room interrupted him.

"Excuse me sir, but that land was unoccupied. No one lived there." As the Fuhrer looked on stunned, the aide continued. "It happened in a mapping mixup. Now, it is impossible to distinguish that Catalasia is not that island, but rather that that island is an independant land."

"Well that changes things a bit. Hmm. Do we have any forces nearby?"

The general looked down for a minute, then replied. "Sir, we have 5 K19's currently cruising about the Omz Straight and the Bay of Hope. We can have them over there in a few hours, if not before. Do you have a plan?"

The Fuhrer smiled. "I will contact Mekugi. We will not fight them, but if worst comes to worst, we'll bite off a piece of that island for ourselves. Move in the K-19's to the West side of the island, and tell them to keep silent. Also redirect a sub or two over there if you can."

The Fuhrer then retired from the conference and wrote out a message to the leader of Mekugi.

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TO: The Honorable Praetor Jonathan William Keiso, Mekugi
FROM: Fuhrer Eric Richtoff, Kampfers

Dear sir,

I have recently noted that you have sent a task force to take the island that sits off of both of our borders. Kampfers has no problem with this, and shall let you do so, however, we must pose a few questions about your future control of the island. Over the years, Kampferian citizens who have wished to escape from the modern world have traveled to this island to seek sanctuary. We wish to know if they will be permitted to live there, or if they will be forced off their rightful property. Also, Kampferian cruise liners have consistently visited the west coast of this island, as the wildlife in both the summer and the winter are phenomenal. We wish to know wether these cruises will be permitted to continue. Finally, certain deep see fishing tours from Kampfers go close to this island, and we wish to know if they will be forced to deviate from their original routes by this seizure. As of now, we do not stand opposed to your taking of this land, and this is unlikely to change. We see this as a way we might be able to further diplomatic relations with your nation and your alliance, of whom we have had limited dealings with. I look foward to hearing back from you on this issue.

Sincerely,
Fuhrer Richtoff

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The Armed Democratic Republic after having thoroughly investigated the southern and eastern shore of the island physically, and by satellite the rest of the island have found no evidence of human incursion, the only shelter being found was established years ago by a separate corporate entity and without its recent matinence would be entirely non-functional. It is thus that we respond plainly that the island in question in its entirety belongs to the people of the Armed Republic.

We have no intention of causing changes to trade or commerce in its waters, nor do we seek to deny tourists, however we do not recognize any extra-national ownership on the island as we have found no evidence or legal precedent which would bind us to such treaties. Tourists will be welcome to the island pending they comply to the international standards that bind legal passage between sovereign territories. Nor will we make any threats to the Kampferian regime to the islands south, it is neither our intention or nature.

We are glad to hear you have no argument to our action of securing our rightful property and hope that your lack of complaint will prevent any diplomatic gaffe by attempting to question our claim.

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TO: The Honorable Praetor Jonathan William Keiso, Mekugi
FROM: Fuhrer Eric Richtoff, Kampfers

Wonderful. Perhaps the people who lived there passed long ago, as Kampfers knows not. We simply know that a few hermits once occupied that island. As you have stated your beliefs, Kampfers is fully in favor of your annexation of this "forgotten" island. We are quite glad that our industries will be able to proceed undisturbed, however might we make one request? If possible, we request that you set aside a portion of the island, very small, perhaps 30 km total, as a wildlife sanctuary? If not, Kampfers will fully understand, but we would be extremely pleased if you complied.

As said before, Kampfers seeks no quarrel with our Northern Brothers. We simply wish to have a fruitful relationship that will lead to a friendship down the road.

Sincerely,
Fuhrer Richtoff

Two weeks have passed and the southern shore of the island had transformed itself from a wasteland of tents and light construction equipment to a semi-permanent air base complete with a squadron of Dragonfly CAS aircraft and Raven E2 Multi-role aircraft, with the Land based air defenses to provide a roper defense of the assets located there.

Every hour on the hour new supplies, components for permanent construction, and temporary command structures would come into the airbase by means of tactical transport making the short trip from the Mekugian mainland. The airstrip was still to short to support larger aircraft but it was slowly expanding as resources became available to the engineering team. Concrete and power were the first items on the list with constituent components being nearby and available for use, the active geothermal condition of the island making it ideal for use as power source, at least till more permanent settlements can be established.

An official name for the base had been chosen but not issued yet so the majority of grunts and troops just called it 'Camp Mudd' which is what it had a tendency to become after a two or three day rainstorm they regularly encountered, however hope was on the way, as soon as a more permanent airstrip could be constructed Civilian contractors were already be contracted for the construction of proper base facilities and comforts that they had almost forgotten.

[ooc:bad post, but Im on the road and am pressed for time]

Captian Vegos steadied himself on the bridge of his Virgo Amphibious Transport, the lead vessel of a thirty vehicle convoy that was scheduled to come ashore in a semi-protected inlet on the east coast of the island. Though the Airstrip and the now officially named Decker Airbase had been completed and was receiving regular visits form fully laden Lodestone II transport aircraft a proper Port was still required in order to properly secure the Island... it was now the navies turn.

Though the Third Expeditionary Fleet waited off shore Anchored in the shallows not far off, they had no means of refueling or taking on provisions in any proper manner, their presence currently was merely to deter foreign aggression, and 1200 combat vessels had a tendency to prevent intervention by foreign nationals.

The Virgo Rocked heard as the several thousand ton hovercraft fought over the breakers and rumbled onto the previously undisturbed beach the drone of the fans straining to bring then up over the shallow embankment that separated the dune land from the beach itself. Dragging itself on top of the dune it slowly leveled by tis shear mass the path tot eh beach making the journey for the following transports easier.

Coming to a stop the whole craft shook as the engines died down and the curtain deflated as the dual unloading ramps slowly groaned tot he sand beneath it, the dark cavernous insides of the vessel once again roared to life as the vehicles and men it tis holds rushed out on the beach. Though only a few were armed vehicles the construction equipment was by no means quiet the armored construction equipment wasted no time organizing itself into groups of dig teams and planning the construction on a military dock facility that would not only accept ships for the Islands protection, but also the bulk of civilians that planned to immigrate to the Western Mekugian Island Land being as cheap as 30 Menukis and acre... But such incentives were to be short lived, the Government knew that the price would skyrocket once the initial group of immigrants established themselves, Capitalism and greed ensured that.

---

Decker Airbase was now something to look at, a fully modern facility boosting OTH radar installation and three 6000 foot runways, Hanger facilities were constructed and proper barracks for the flyboys erected making life on the former 'Camp Mudd' Much more tolerable, even downright comfortable. outside of the perimeter fencing A small set of homes for the contractors and construction crews had been established, and what had once been a half-rate PX run from the back of a military ISO container was now replaced with a proper general store... there was even talk of a railroad to join the future port facilities with the Airbase and plans were already being drawn up, the flatter coastal areas being fairly easy working ground for a wide gauge train.

It seemed for now that things were looking up, the island had a means to defend itself, and grow... truly this would be looked on favorably in time.