NationStates Jolt Archive

The afternoon was sunny and a slight breeze blew off the ocean to the south, as the angry crowd marched towards the House of Lords. Unconfirmed news had been broadcast all day that the Speaker of the Lords Byron Nichols had been arrested and deported on charges that he was involved in the murder of 12 people in the Pro Democracy movement in the Northern Colonies. As the crowd approached the massive granet building they were meet by Councial security wielding AA12 combat shotguns.

"By Order of Lord Joshua Cane you are ordered to disperse immediately or you will be fired upon." Came a commanding voice from a load speaker mounted on a Ratel IFV
Some one in the crowd answered back through a bull horn "Down with repression, Down with the Lords, Freedom for Tarlag."
Soon the whole crowd was chanting it as they got closer to within fifty yards of the fence that surrounded the building.
The guards were nervous but they stood their ground.One of them was the first to notice a limo flying Duke Ozgoods personal flag working its way through the crowd. It stopped when it could safely go no further about 150 yards from the fence. Emerging from the Limo was the Grand Duke himself along with his lady wife Duchess Ellen.

Duke Ozgood picked up a bull horn and the crowd grew quite "People Of Tarlag The Lords and the Order would bring war with our neighbors for their own profit. They kill to line their own pockets and to bring themselves more power. I say ENOUGH! NO MORE! I have just signed an Dukel Order dissolving the Councial of Lords and will replace them with a House of Commons voted on in free elections by you the people. You There with the Shotguns I order you to return to your barracks now."

With that the crowed went wild with cheers the Councial which had been the one score point in the Tatlagian Government was dissolved.

Suddenly the loud speaker from the IFV sounded "The Lords no longer acknowledge the Dukes authority disperse or you will be fired upon."

"Screw you." Came a lone voice from the crowd. Then a gun shot rang out and the man who had yelled the comment griped his shoulder where he had been hit.
with that single shot the crowd surged forward in anger. A single word came from the IFV "FIRE!"


OCC This is smi closed to members of GAPTS and invited others. and to the Region of Reformed Oceania anyone else please Tag me for permission to post.

TNS Update
This report just in Pro Lord forces have been seen entering the Capital of New Port minutes after Councial Guards fired on a demonstration outside of the House of Lords today. Reports also state that Duke Ozgood the Third was Speaking to the demonstration when it they were fried upon.
I have just been handed an unconfirmed report that Grand Duchess Ellen was hit by Council gun fire while trying to usuer two small children into the Dukes limo to escape the gun fire......... Off Air Please stand by

The column of Ratel 20 IFV moved through one of the outlying areas of New Port. On its side a hastily painted Lords Lion showed it to belong to the Councial Guards.
"Sir, it is another three blocks to the main telephone exchange. What are our orders?" Asked the young driver.
"Seize it and Wait for the Order Troops to get here." Replied Guard Captain Cordry.
At That moment bullets could be heard ricocheting off of the vehicles hull.
"Fire coming from that butcher store on the right."
"Return fire Gunner."
With that order the 20 mm gun in the turret opened up on the building in a few moments during the store front to a smoking ruin.
"Damn Greencoats, can't mind their own business."
The Ratel behind Cordry's exploded as it was hit from heavy weapons fire coming from a ally opposite the now destroyed butcher shop.
"Sir, looks like a recoilless rifle hidden in the alley, also looks like I have light vehicles moving this way."
"Radio command, looks like we have a fight on our hands."

OOC: I'll write something here later.

The Xeraphian Task Force had had a fairly leisurely time of it getting to Tarlagian territorial waters. Auralinian and Katanan naval units were a day and a half behind them. The Regents wanted the rebel Lords to see what they were up against.

As the Royal Carrier Battle Group aligned itself along a 25 mile, staggered front just seven nautical miles from the city of Dungaul, all looked peaceful. Admiral Lord Hermann Hesse was acutely aware that the situation 300 miles to the west in New Port was all but peaceful.

There was fighting in the streets of New Port. People were being killed. The Duchess had been wounded. 'Well', he thought. 'No time like the present.'

He turned to the comm-officer. "Chief, open a channel to whoever is in charge of that town. He or they need to know that a shitload of Xeraphian Marines are about to come ashore. Also advise them of the national forces that will be here in the next two days."

"Aye sir. That would be the Black Katanas, Auralinia, and Vhammpyr, correct?" Hesse thought about that one. "Hold off about the Vampyrrian Warriors. When they get here, everyone will know."

"Aye, sir."

Hesse thought to himself that the last time Vhammpyr's Warriors were seen, a major nuclear holocaust ensued. They thought that aliens from another planet were invading.

"And Chief, find out what West Cedarbrook and Newtdom have planned. I need to know what the hell I'm gonna have to work with."

"Aye sir."

Hesse keyed his commpin. "Attention all units. We're presently off the coast of Tarlag, approximately 300 clicks from the fight-zone. Mamba commanders, get two squadrons off within the hour. Recon only unless fired upon. Rattlesnake and Viper units will deploy to land-side airstrips as soon as AI Engineers get the airfield up. About 12 hours or so.

Land force commanders, be ready to board LCs in 20 minutes. Cover will be provided by the AirWolves. MASH units and FireBase construction teams will commence procedures at a distance of 1 mile apart, 1/4 mile inland.

Sub commanders will patrol waters between here and Port City. No contact unless necessary. Hesse out."

'Here we go,' he thought.................................

Slayn sat next to Lord Joshua Cane in Slayns mobile field headquarters.
"Slayn we can still stop this, The Duke has called on his friends and from what your recon tells me Xeraphin troops will be landing soon."
"Be quiet, Things are going as I planned. Soon the Colonies will be on the march and my people in the regular military will strike."
"If Nichols were here he would have never let things get this out of control."
Slayn stood up and walked over to the map. "He started this you Dolt and I will finish it." Picking up the phone he contacted his Air Group Commander.
"Order a full strike on any military transports entering Dungal. Launch ASAP."

With in an hour 144 Super Gripen Fighters left their dispersal points to assault the incoming ships.

Commanders Kesey and Michener were finishing what would probably be their last warm meal for a while. The Auralinian and the Katanan officers had been friends for years, ever since they were thrown together in the war against Koth. They were both of the line of Tanith, and so were somewhere down the line as potential Emperors of Xeraph. Along with about 500 or 600 others. Their inside joke was to toast each other with a "Hail to the Chief."

Kesey stood up, shook the Katanan's hand, and said, "Jim, see ya when this is over. I've got a feeling this is gonna be tricky. It's not a standard war as we're used to it. This is a civil war that we're interfering in. Never a good idea."

Michener said, "Belay that, Admiral. You know as well as I do that an ally is an ally, no matter what the situation. Bad guys are bad guys, no matter how they come at us."

"Yeah, I guess your'e right. But you can't stand there and tell me that Alaric would have condoned this action. Tarlag and Ozgood not withstanding, he would have gone in and tact be damned. This thing would have been over in a week, max."

"That was then, Ken. This is now. Perhaps a new Emperor would bring back the old days." They were both silent for a minute when an orderly burst in. "Sirs! Radar/orbital tracking picking up movement to the west and northwest. "
Kesey scanned the report, handed it to Michener, tapped his commpin. "All hands, sound general quarters!" Turning to the Katanan, he said, "Best get back to your people, Jim. Your'e the closest to whatever the hell is coming this way. Good luck." They saluted each other, and the Katanan Admiral disappeared in an oval of blue light as he TransBeamed to his flagship some 15 miles west.

Kesey grinned to himself and mumbled, "Emperor Ken the First. Ridiculous....."

"Blue Baker Leader to section heads. All Fighters are to provide cover for Kong Squadrons 11 and 12 they are hitting the transports. The the rest stay at 50,000 ft and engage Xeraphian interceptors at will. Kong you will go in on the deck and fire your anti-ship missiles at maximum range as soon as you fire run like hell for your dispersal points and rearm."

With those orders 44 fighters of Kong group dived over the water and prepared for their attack runs.

Admiral Jim Michener was barking orders before the blue light was fully gone. "Commander! Get all air units off each of the carriers NOW! Locked and loaded! We got bogeys headin' our way. Chief, you got any numbers yet?"

Chief Tronnes answered immediately. "Aye sir. We have about 150 hostiles heading our way. About a third of 'em are coming in low, currently 100 miles out and moving fast."

As the Chief was reporting, almost 125 Mambas had launched off each of the four carriers, the Rattlesnakes and Vipers presently being brought to the deck. In less than 20 minutes another 185 aircraft would be in the air, hunting the hunters. Michener wondered if the rebel Lords knew how to carry out an air war. He doubted it.....so few did.

He tapped his commpin. "Captain Masters! Are you locked on bogeys?"

"Yessir," Masters replied. "SAMS, Tomahawks, and Mavericks set to launch when enemy within 75 miles. Impact at 20 miles."

Michener lowered his voice. "We have enough firepower for this, Captain?"

Masters chuckled. "Aye, sir. We've got enough for an attack four-times over. Remember that Alaric ordered the carriers and destroyers re-fitted with missiles to match the battleships. Add the missile cruisers and missile destroyers and I doubt much will get through, if anything."

Michener once again sigh in relief as he pondered the farsightedness of the late Emperor. 'Why the fuck did you have to die, damn you....", he thought.

"Very well, Captain." Turning to the commchief, he said, "Chief, anything from Kesey?"

"Yessir. He's at high alert, locked, loaded, and hunting for rebel ass as we speak." At that moment, several dozen vapor trails were seen a mile or so straight up. "That sonofabitch!", Michener exclaimed. "He thinks he's gonna beat me to the punch! Chief! Have we contacted the enemy yet?"

The Chief threw him a long glance. "Any second now, sir. Any second....."

Admiral Hesse wasn't exactly sitting on his hands. As soon as the transports had off-loaded the troops, they headed north-northwest in scattered, staggered convoys. The two armored divisions were approx 4 miles ahead of the main body of invaders. At this rate, they'd be on the outskirts of Port City in 4 hours.

"Any word from Vhammpyr?", he yelled.

Ensign Sandford said. No sir. But we do have three.....huge....things on orbital scan, west and south of Port City. About a mile offshore. I don't have a clue what they are, sir."

Hesse chuckled. "Those, my boy, are the Vhammpyrian transport ships. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is probably an atmospheric disturbance ahead of and surrounding them..."

Sandford looked at him. "How'd you know sir?"

"Standard vampyr tactics, ensign. You can't fight 'em if you can't see 'em..."

"Sir, if they get to shore without detection, we'll have the defenders of the city in a squeeze play."

"Not IF, son.....WHEN. I take it youv'e never seen 10,000 Vhammpyrian Warriors in battle?"

Sandford gulped. "Nossir. But I read about it in class and saw what few films there are. I sure wouldn't want to be in their way." Images of the black, seething hordes of vampyrs advancing steadily, taking hit after hit but not falling, not dying. This was because you can't kill what's already dead. Hundreds, then thousands of enemy units torn to pieces as they tried to stop the Warriors, the ground soaked in blood, arms, legs, heads, guts strewn about as the all but invincible line advanced.

"Well, we got the OBS watching every move of this campaign, including the vamps. It's not gonna be pretty, but it's gonna be extremely effective."

The ensign's attention was averted by a flashing yellow screen. "Sir, the enemy has been engaged, approx 45 miles out from the Katanan fleet..........."

Kong Group was 100 miles from the Xeraphan units when they fired their missiles. Twenty of the Gripens carried decoy missiles each of the six missiles they carried broke into a dozen radar targets. The remaining missiles were Flacklar bomb-let dispenser missiles not designed to destroy ships but to damage radars and ship board electronics.
As soon as the payloads were released the planes turned and went supersonic to escape the Xeraphian defenders before they could engage then they headed for their dispersal points.

Slayn Smiled as he saw on the Holo table the attack "Good now that I have their attention activate the UMV attack units."

Emerging from the twisted metal of the artificial reef protecting Dungals harbor came two dozen Mini Subs. each carrying either two Long lance II torpedoes or two Harpoon missiles. As soon as each sub emerged from the reef they acquired their targets and fired their respective payloads.

OCC: Tarlag, just out of curiosity where would your nation be located if placed on real world map as I would like to have a rough idea how long it would take for my police forces and supplies to arrive? For example, my nation is in the area of where North America/South America are with of course a few minor differences.

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After over an 18 hour flight, the first units of the Gendarmerie of United Earthlings began arriving at their destination of Mandrake Airbase inside the nation of Tarlag. Though the first units only numbered a few hundred personnel [Battalion sized] and lacked the majority of their equipment, which wasn’t due to start arriving until later, almost immediately upon their arrival the units of the Civilian Guard[CG] began the task of establishing a command and control center at Mandrake Airbase to coordinate all activities of the Civilian Guard. As the above task was unfolding, after a few hours the first transports carrying the Civilian Guard’s equipment began arriving aboard An-124s, C-17s and C-5s.

By the end of the day and with almost everything in place, the Civilian Guard was ready for their new assignment and all it needed now was orders of where to go and what to do from the government of Tarlag. In the meantime, additional units and equipment would continue to arrive at Mandrake Airbase until the area around Baris Island Airport was deemed secured. Upon that time, operations would switch to Baris Island Airport depending on operational requirements.

OCC UE the closest I can put Tarlag to the real world is in the South Pacific east of Australia some what north of New Zealand.

OOC: Guys, you can use this (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13089008#post13089008)as a OOC thread

IC:
War Room
Freedom City, Northern Colones
1500 ZULU

"Things have deteriorated in Tarlag," said Alexander Peters, the Foreign Minister. "There is a possibility that Tarlag will descend into civil war."

"Well," replied the PM. "We don't get involved of Tarlag's business."

"Well, Slayn leading this coup, and the CTU director-general informed me that we have an arrest warrant out for him. So we have to get involved."

"Sigh," replied the PM. He noted the faces again from a week ago, Admiral of the Navy Sir Patrick Robinson, the Chief of Colonial Armed Forces, General Alex Ronstein, the Chief of Army Staff, Admiral Jon Anderson, the Chief of Naval Staff, Air Chief Marshall Peter Hughes, Chief of Air Force staff, the National Security Advisor, Major General Peter Smith and Chief of Northern Colonies Intelligence Community Commodore John Alias.

He looked further, to the new faces. One in a dark green military dress. The other two in business suits, one more expensive then the other. Two of them were part of a military exchange to improve the relations between Farmina and the Northern Colonies. Leading the delegation was Field Marshal Graham Salamander, known in Farmina for encircling most of the Messian armed forces and cutting off their supplies during the Farminan-Messian War. The other military delegate was Colonel Alan Instore in the plain business suit. The diplomatic officer, Samuel Richards finished the delegation.

"Well, what do we suggest Admiral."

"Well," replied the Admiral of the Fleet Sir Patrick Robinson. "We should start with small scale action. We need to determine the status of the Grand Duke and if necessary, extract him."

Field Marshal Salamander was a fairly a tall man. Having reached middle age, he was growing again, but this time in the vertical direction, "I must say that isn't my style. I'd hit them hard and see if they break with a single blow."

Samuel Richards shook his head, "The Farminan government will not be condoning any large scale Colonial action against Tarlag at this time."

Richards was a high ranking Farminan diplomat and had been granted the title of the "Special Presidential Envoy" on this secret mission. Part of that mission was to rebuild Farminan-Colonial relations. Another part was to get the Colonies doing just what Farmina wanted it too. Richard's looked across at Robinson, "But my President does accept the need to ensure Ozgood's safety for now. Once Ozgood is safe, and once he puts his name to paper, then Farmina will be supporting of further operations. That is our position."

"Well," replied the Foreign Minister. "We do know that Ozgood does has sympathies with the democratic movement, and he has aided us greatly in this task."

General Ronstein looked at the Admiral, "With all due respect, I agree with the Salmander's position."

"The political agenda must be fufilled first," said Richards, with icy clarity.

The PM replied. "I agree. Politically speaking, the democratic movement will die if the Duke does not survive. So we need to insure that he is out of the way."

"The President is less concerned about Ozgood's safety," said Richards, who was not officially at the meeting, unlike the men from the Farminan military who were officially present. Richards took a sip of water, "His signature is what is important. Everything rests on his signature."

"Nonetheless," said Salamander, "It appears to be there is a political agreement to rescue Ozgood. He won't sign anything if he is dead."

"Hmm, agreed," replied the General.

"So are we all agreed?" replied the PM. Everyone nodded. The Admiral of the Fleet soke, "Good, General prepare the Omega Force Regiment. Admiral Jon, prepare the 1st New Generation Fleet."

The Field Marshal was far more interested in operational details than the President's envoy, "Could I ask where exactly we plan to rescue Ozgood from?"

The General replied, "He was last spotted in the Capital City, where he caught in the firefight between the Pro Democracy movement and the Aristocracy"

"I wish you the best of luck," said Samuel Richards, standing up and picking up his coat, "I have to be at the embassy. Please excuse me."

The men nodded.

"Is there anything else to discuss?" asked Field Marshal Salamander.

He briefly looked over at Colonel Instore who was being quiet and incredibly unnoticeable.

"I don't think so," replied the Sir Patrick. "We probably start moving in the military resources now. Time is of the essence."

"Could I request all major intelligence on Tarlag is sent to my office?" asked Salamander, standing up, "I'd like to formulate an informed opinion for when you move against Slayn for real. Hopefully, the Tarlagi military doesn't fall under the control of the Lords before then. That would make things far less simple."

"Well, we'll see about that," replied the Admiral. "Provided it's reciprocal, we may be able to arrange something."

"You cannot ask my opinion if I do not have the facts," said Salamander, "And I am sure that opinion is valuable to you."

Any one who knew of Salamander's successes against the MES knew he would have valuable input. With that Salamander left.

Finally, Colonel Instore, the spy, stood up and left without saying a word. Having entered with a folder of Farminan satellite photos of the Tarlagi capital, he left the room without it.

"Sir I am getting some sort of disturbance in New Port harbor, could be a anamorphic but I doubt it."
"Vampry I would think. No surprise that those beasts would come to the Dukes aid. Have Air Command get those Horton 1200s into the air. as soon as those transports land begin bombing. Order Grand Slam and Cluster bombs, they are tough but even they cannot stand up to 20,000 pound bombs and cluster munitions." Slayn responded to the radio man. "Then order those new Hussar attack choppers in to finish them off they cannot kill what they cannot hit."
"But Master where they are landing is heavily populated if we cluster bomb it and their are still people there thousands will be killed."
"So, we just blame it on the Vampry. Just order the attack. Boris any word on the Duke."
"No Slayn, After the fighting broke out his people whisked him away. The only report I do have is on the Duchess. She is in Dungul General Hospital."
"Order it bombed please, That young woman has caused us enough trouble."

H.D.S. Hazel Stone
Location 150 Nautical Miles west of Dungal

The Fletcher Class Fast Corvettes were not the first word in naval technologies but they were fast and cheap to build. Four of these workhorses lead by the Hazel Stone, along with the Battle Cruiser Majestic steamed west under the Dukes personal flag.
Captain Peter Sharp looked out over the blue coastal waters toward the Tarlagian coast 10 miles to the north. "Damn Scott, how did it come to this. I never would have thought that we would have to fight our own people. Let alone fighting them in the capital."
His first officer Scott Hogan looked back at the captain and took another sip from his coffee mug. "Slayn has been plotting against the Duke's government for years, everyone knew it they just were to afraid to act. Now when it happens everyone is so surprised."
"Maybe your right but I still don't like it. Has their been any word about the Duke?"
Hogan looked down at the computer monitor he was standing by. "No nothing yet. Last anybody saw him was entering Orlands Keep about an hour after the shooting started. After that nothing except those orders you got to take as many ships as would break General Cox's neutrality order and sail west.
By the way Sir, can I see those orders?"
"Sorry Scott I was instructed to eat them." With that he gave a slight smile and went back to looking out to sea.

Omega Force Regiment Base
(Location Classified)
1200 ZULU

The walls were strewn with all sorts of battle plans and intelligence. There was information by Tarlag. Maps, Faces and Intelligence. On seats were about 6 officers. In front was Colonel Jeffery Varney, the Commander of the Regiment. He put the map of the target on the slide

“This is the Capital City,” he said, without emotion. “We will be landing at these three points. The Keep here, is the Duke’s residence. This is probably the most likely location of the Duke. We will drop a number of men here and quickly move through the building. Our target here will be the Duke, his picture being here.”

He flashed a photo of the Duke on the projector.

“Commit it to memory,” he replied. He then shone the picture of the Lords.

“This is our possibe secondary location of the Duke. We will insert ourselves here. If the Duke is not there, we shall move back to extraction point.”

“Now, this is the Hospital where we believe the wife is in. We must land there and retrieve the wife. We believe she is injured, and thus we will need to use the ambulances to drive her to extraction point.”

“Now, our extraction point is the embassy. We should have enough helicopters to evacuate both the target and the embassy staff. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” the crowd replied in unison.

Gunnery Seargent Timlett lit another cigarette off the one he had just finished. A veteran of many a battle, he was wondering why he was stuck here, 40 miles west of Port City where all the action was. He was itching to get at those traitors.

Tarlag Outpost 12 was situated 100 yards off the shoreline. Their job was to recon anything out of the ordinary and provide immediate response to any hostile situation.

"Hey, Gunny! What the hell is with this fog?" This from Pvt. Gheer, off to the right of Timlett's position. Timlett was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed the heavy fog rolling in from the sea. "Keep your shirt on and your mouth shut, private! I'll check it out."

The fog was advancing at an alarming rate, almost as if it were directed by forces unknown. Little did he know..............

_________________________________________________________________


Timlett walked to within a few feet of the waters edge, and absently wiped his hands on his shirt. This fog was the thickest he had ever seen. A dense, drab grey substance, oily to the touch.

As he peered into the gloom, he could see something about 60 yards out in the water. An immense, monolithic, black-as-night something. He was still trying to see what it was when he heard a metallic sound, a loud splash, then a soft, almost delicate swirling of the waters. What came next froze his voice in his throat..........

As if in a dream, a multitude of beings were wading towards him, making very little sound, as if they were walking on the water. The one closest to him stopped 10 feet in front of him. "I am Dracombi of Vhammpyr. We are here to rid your land of rebels. Where are they?"

Timlett wiped his eyes a second time before he was sure who...or what...he was seeing. A Vhammpyrian Warrior. A horrifying sight if there ever was one. Tarlagian mothers told their children that if they didn't behave, the Vhammpyrs would come and get them.

And now they were here............

Fully eight foot tall, clad in ragged, blood-encrusted leather harnesses, some with rusted chainmail tunics and tattered cloaks, they were a vision out of Hell. Their filthy, matted hair fell to their waists and out of the skeletal faces stared blood-red, feline eyes, glaring with an unearthly hate of all that was human.

Timlett still could not speak. All he could do was stare helplessly as Dracombi came and stood within two feet of him. The stench of rotting flesh was overwhelming. "I asked you a question, human. Where do we direct our fury?"

Timlett managed to point towards the east, towards Port City. Dracombi immediately started in that direction followed by hundreds, then thousands of Vhammpyrian Warriors. 'There must be five or six thousand of them', he thought. The Warrior passing nearest him stopped, looked at him, and said, "There are 10,000 Warriors on this transport. There are two more transports a mile from here, waiting to take the place of any Warriors who fall in battle. Your Duke has decided, foolishly, to limit our strength. If all of the resources of Vhammpyr were sent here, your puny rebellion would be over in a day. But we obey the word of the Kings of Xeraph." He continued his way east.

Timlett was beginning to regain some measure of composure. He noticed that the automatic weapons they carried were sparkling clean: AK 47IIa rifles, Xeraphian 35mm Gatlin Guns, 50 caliber Recoiless Rifles. They all had their own personal weapons as well......huge battle axes, broadswords, katanas, battle-knives. Affixed to their harness were bits and pieces of former enemies. Fingers, ears, feet, scalps, hands, various bones that had been obviously gnawed on.

Timlett turned slightly to his left and saw that his entire platoon was standing there, watching the hellish Horde stream by. Corporal Setco murmured, "How the hell can anything stand against them?"

'Them and the Xeraphian/Auralinian/Shadow troops of the Xeraphian Empire. God help Slayn............'

One hundred and twenty Horton flying wings flew at over 80,000 feet over New Port. "Sir, I have a large concentration of troops moving inland."
The wing commander smiled and gave the order. "All Aircraft drop munitions and head for home."
With that order massive bomb bay doors opened and soon huge 20,000 pound Grand Slam bombs left their bays to reek destruction on Slayn's enemies.
Other equally as large bombs left other planes and began spinning on their way down. these latter bombs burst open at about 10,00 feet discharging 1,500 three pound bomb-lets, a mix of fragmentation, concussion and incendiary.
The Grand Slams struck the ground leaving huge holes where upper class homes once stood. mixed in this orgy of destruction the smaller bomb-lets spread out causing untold damage to the real estate.

All hell had broken loose in just a matter of minutes. The Xeraphian, Auralinian, Katanan and now the Vhammpyric troops were all ashore headed west towards Port City, 40,000 strong. Kesey, Michener, and Hesse were taking hits from the aerial assault conducted by the rebels, but they were giving better than they got.

The land forces were supported by air cover and three platoons of armor. Hesse had ordered air support for the vampires when it became evident that rebel bombers were about to drop massive payloads on them.

As the troopers, Marines, and Warriors advanced on Port City, sporadic fighting broke out as they met advance units of the rebel forces. These rebels put up a stiff fight, but were no match for the advancing Imperial troops. In less than two hours, they would be surrounding the city, awaiting orders to enter and begin the end of Slayn's rebellion.

Hesse was well aware that the Tarlagian rebels had a large number of aircraft ready to deal death to his people. The missile destroyers had already been rearmed twice as the waves of rebel jets came at them. Over 1700 missiles had been launched at the enemy with casualties as yet unknown. The missile cruisers were being held in reserve in order to deal with any sudden situations.

Commander Richter signalled his MBTs to halt three miles from the city and ordered the mobile VLS to target and eliminate any enemy aircraft headed their way. As the Xeraphian Mambas and Auralinian Rattlesnakes streaked overhead, the Katanan Cobra fighter-bombers were engaging the rebel bombers that had attacked the vampires in the west. The Warriors were taking a beating, but for every Warrior that was incinerated or blown apart, another disembarked from the other black transports and marched towards Port City.

The twenty-odd Imperial aircraft carriers were in a frenzy of activity. Jets were launching and landing almost faster than could be tallied. The missiles were flying, and the anti-aircraft units were firing non-stop.

"Casualty report!", Hesse barked.

"Sir, at present, Imperial losses are pretty much contained. Two fast-attack boats, a missile cruiser, and a sub have been lost. Two more destroyers and a battleship are heavily damaged but still afloat. Several other ships report minor damage.

The air commanders are reporting that the Mambas have lost six shot down, the Rattlesnakes have lost fourteen, and the Cobras have smashed the hell out of the enemy bombers west of the city, 12 lost."

Hesse said, "Not bad, but not good. We have to hit these bastards harder! What're the tank commanders doing just sitting there? I'm ordering them into the city. I want those rebels to know just who theyr'e messing with."

"Aye, aye, sir. Relaying orders now."

'Assholes', he thought. 'They evidently don't realize that theyr'e screwing with the Imperial Xeraphian armed forces.' "Ensign, relay to all commanders that I want the rebel ringleaders captured alive. Got it?"

"Aye sir."

"Report Boris" Slayn said. Boris the Black seemed a little unnerved his master had not even looked up from the Holo table to see who had come in.
"Our fighter strike did moderate damage to the Xeraph forces. We lost 44 Gripens with another 5 damaged. They have returned to their dispersal points and are rearming now. Our Bombers have not returned but massive damage has been done to the area they have bombed. The Mini Subs however suffered a 80% lost rate and the remaining subs have disengaged."
"How are things going on the ground?"
"GAPTS forces have moved to encircle the City and cut us off from the Lords forces. Things are looking bad."
"Now is the time to show these dogs our true power. Release the Fidelis on the field and lets see how they do."
"Of course my Lord."


From their encampments northwest of New Port Hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles moved to relieve the beleaguered forces of the Lords.
The Fidelis were not standard troops of the Tarlagian Military these were listed as Special assault Troops armed and equipped to face the likes of the Capital Police of Kravian or the Sentinels of AMF. Their heavy WarHound heavy assault tanks with their 155 mm duel purpose gun lead the way to crush the forces of Slayn Enemies. Behind the tanks followed the IFVs loaded with Fidelis ground troopers armed with 6.5 mm assault rifles and AA12 combat shotguns. The Air cover was provided by older Viggin fighters and the new Hussar attack helicopters.

OCC: Please note that the map has been posted on the OCC thread. What Xeraph is calling Port city is New Port the city on the north side of the river on the bottom of the map.
Also I have to where three hats for this RP. Slayn, the Lords, and the Grand Duke so please bare with me.

The Basement of the House of Lords

Cane looked over the maps of the city and frowned. The Duke's forces had almost encircled the city and it would be only a matter of time until they made their attack. General Pardoe the commander of the Lords Guard entered the room and addressed Lord Cane. "As per your instructions I have ordered the Guard to begin demolishing building to prevent easy access to the city center and I have also ordered our armored units to dig in and make a fight of it. Our infantry will fight house to house but GAPTS has us out numbered and they are better equipped then our units."
"No matter Slayn has sent his troops to help and those Steroid Monsters he has created will turn the tide. We may have only second line gear but in house to house fighting it will not matter."

The Grand Duke's Personal Apartments in Orland's Keep

Lady Synd finished dressing the buckshot wound on the Duke's left forearm.
"There Ozgood, the wounds are healing nicely soon you will be as good as new. We are lucky your security got you out alive or you would have been in Slayns hands."
I Don't call that lucky Lucy, five of my people dead and the Duchess fighting for her life. Damn woman, why did she not just get in the limo."
"That is why you married her. She saw those kids and could not leave them with out cover. She saved their lives Ozgood."
"I know but if she dies that bastard Slayn and his lap dog Lord Cane will pay."

Paladin Dragonblade entered the room with out knocking. "Ozgood, GAPTS has crossed the River Myers and are surrounding New Port."
The Duke looked tired as he stood up to face the huge man. "Good, I hope this will bring Cane to his senses and he will surrender"
"I Doubt it Slayn has sent the Fidelis to relieve the city. That means over 80,000 troops have entered the fight. GAPTS will be out numbered over two to one if you count Cane's troops."
"Bloody Hell, What are you doing to help?"
"I have order your personal units to hold the bridges on the river to make sure they stay open. I have also ordered the Knights to go in wit GAPTS to attack the city. The Green Coats that were fighting in the city have withdrawn to the north and will form up with the Knights as their reserve.
There is also a report that a small squadron of ships are moving to support our advance into the city with their guns."
"Good, What about Slayns air attacks on us?"
"Unknown, however from what report we did get their bomber force took massive losses."
"My God Ambro, The loss of life. Do what you have to do to end this."

"Your Highness. Word from GAPTS."

Sukoku de Moyne' looked over the note and gave a pleased grunt. "Excellent! We are now accepted as full members of GAPTS. This means that we now have access to millions of armed forces and trillions of dollars should we need them."

"Highness, it also means that we're now obliged to render aid when needed. The situation in Tarlag could be our first foray as a GAPTS nation."

"Tarlag? Never heard of it. What's the situation?"

"Rebellion, Highness. Large scale. GAPTS has approximately 40,000 men on the field. Currently, they hold an edge....but not by much."

"Why does an organization like GAPTS have so few numbers involved?"

"Highness, the ruler of Tarlag, Duke Ozgood, has requested minimal troop involvement so as not to unduly destroy the ancient cities of the nation. He feels that too many soldiers will be a burden to the countryside."

The Kaizer sighed. "Foolishness. If he loses, what will the countryside look like when the rebels get through with it. Nonetheless, I'm ordering our men into the fight. Have General Waites gather the 10th, 22nd, and 50th battalions for immediate deployment. Admiral Julian will have the 4th and 6th Fleets sail immediately. Major General Sears will deploy his Royal Marines along with Waites' forces."

"Yes, Highness. At once."

Sethanis handed the report to the Prince. "It looks like Foxton-Sunbury was not only admitted to GAPTS, but theyr'e sending armed forces to aid Ozgood."

John Strickland, former prince of the Isles of Xeraph before they were over-run by Azulun's Hordes, glanced at the memo. "Yeah...that'll bring our troop strength up to 50,000. But with the...what are they called?....the Fidelis units of the rebels being thrown into the mix, we're a little outnumbered."

Seth replied, "Yes, but with the restrictions placed on GAPTS by the Duke, we can do one of three things: stay the present course and hope for the best, retreat, or ignore and over-ride Ozgood's request to limit troop strength in Tarlag. It MUST be obvious to him that the rebels don't give a rat's ass about maintaining 'sensible' troop levels. Theyr'e throwing everything they have at us and theyr'e beginning to destroy the very infrastructure Ozgood is trying to preserve."

"Right. If New Port and surrounding towns are gonna be leveled, we might as well be the ones to do it. At least he knows we'll help him rebuild."

"Exactly. And one more thing.....we've got to do something to get the Duchess out of that hospital before she's killed or captured."

John said, "Well, Amra and SKWD are wasting time in the council chamber in Tarlag. Theyr'e already there....why not give them the job?"

"Good thinking", said Seth. He tapped his commpin. "SKWD-1, this is Regent-S, repeat, Regent-S. Get your asses out of that spider's web and high-tail it over to the hospital in down-town New Port. You need to get the Duchess out of there before the enemy gets to her. Kill anyone that gets in your way."

A whisper of a voice came back. "Yes, m'lord. We're on our way. Amra out."

Blood-lust was running high in Dracombi and the Warriors. They were within sight of New Port and could see and hear explosions and fighting in the city. Many Warriors had perished in the march from the transport ships, but they were 10,000 strong and ready to rend the human rebels limb from limb.

Dracombi raised his head, as if listening to the wind. He spoke. "My Lords, what are your instructions?" The answer filled him with as much pleasure as a vampire could show. He raised a blood-stained hand and signalled the Horde forward.

"To the city, my Warriors! Kill all rebels! Kill them all!"

Captain Josh Mc Vee of the Lords Guard crouched in the rubble of a 200 year old brick house on the north west side of New Port. "Get ready, here they come." He shouted to what was left of his company.
The mass of Vhammpyr warriors surged forward to over run the makeshift position. The Guardsmen opened fire with a mix of G-36 rifles and AA12 shotguns. Added to their fire were heavier H&K 21s and Browning 50 cals.
From the rubble of the next building over a 76 mm cannon from a Scorpion light tank added its weight of fire in a vain attempt to turn back their foe.
Mc Vee thought to him self "It will not be long now, most of our gear is to light to stop these monsters."
A huge BOOM came from further west down the street. Mc Vee looked west to where it came from. "Damn, that was no 76mm."
Depleted uranium flechettes fired from the 155mm main gun of a Fidelis Warhound HMBT ripped into the Vhammyr warriors who were surging across the street to overrun the guardsmen. Three of the foreign designed tanks rolled towards the battle firing their guns as they approached. Following were Ratal 20s and their infantry firing into the enemies of their master Slayn.

Our Lady of Hope Hospital Central New Port Tenth Floor.

Major Aron Blake of DEST (Duke's Elite Strike Team) sat in the day room of the tenth looking out the window. "Connors any word from the Keep?"
Pvt. Rebecca Connors turned away from her communications unit and turned to her commanding officer. "No Sir, Last message we got was from a Knights armored unit about 4 miles out said they were under heavy counter battery fire and could not break through."
"Keep trying, we are in real trouble here."
"I am surprised the Guard has not rushed the building they need medical supplies bad and they probably know the Duchess is here." Said Sergent Knox who was leaning in the door way.
"So where the hell have you been?" Questioned Major Blake
"Counting the troops boss."
"What have we got?"
"Besides the five of us and hospital security I just counted about 300 Green Coats, and Commodore Dever-Smithe's 50 volunteers from the Naval Procurement Office. But you are never going to believe this Boss."
"What, frog men came through the sewers to get the Duchess out."
"Almost as bad. A bunch of old timers from the Military History Museum pulled up about five minutes ago."
"As long as they brought guns and are for the Duke they are welcome."
"They brought more then guns. Those crazy old timers brought two Panther tanks and a God Damn, Tiger. Along with small arms and some old 75mm field guns."
"Those old beasts don't actually work do they?" Asked Pvt. Connors
Knox smiled and the young woman. "The old timer riding the Tiger said something about keeping the museums displays in original condition and stocked as they would have been. I think those nut cases have been cooking up their own ammo for the yearly live fire display. Just before they got here I heard a cannon report I have never heard before. So it was most likely them."
"Old help is better then no help at all. Get them set up Knox and see what you can do about sending runners to try and get across the river to get an evacuation for the Duchess."
"Belay that order Major!." Said a very pale Duchess Ellen from behind Knox.
"Duchess, what in the hell are you doing up." Replied Blake
"The people in ICU and the children's ward have top priority. I will not leave until those people are safe do you hear me Major," Duchess Ellen said leaning heavily on her IV stand.
"Duke Ozgood and Lady Moonshadow will have my head if I don't get you out. You have got to be the first one out."
"I am not leaving until the people in those wards are safe. Do you understand me Major. send you runners and get a convoy to get my people out, if Ozgood doesnt like it he can take it up with me."
"Get going Knox, and follow the Duchesses orders and God help the poor bastard who has to explain this to the Duke."

NCS Governor O'Brien
Fleet Flagship
350 KM from Shores of Tarlag


Commodore Alex Jones stood on the bridge, looking towards the skies. He had been assigned as Field Commander for the operations. He eyed as the six or so Blackhawks lifted off his carrier, the Union-Class Carrier, built by the Royal Shipyards of Isselmere-Nieland. They were preparing for Operation Saving Grace.

_______________________________________________________________________
In the air
En route to New Port, Tarlag

The Six Blackhawks flew toward New Port. On one of the Helicopters was Major Dean Dellismo, the Officer Commanding of the task force. Three Blackhawks were tasked with landing at the required spots, whilst two others were to provide sniper support. The Major taped on the radio when he heard the radio call from the Carrier

“Beagle One, Maria, I repeat Maria,” replied Commodore Jones.

“Affirmative,” replied the Major. He spoke to the other men. “We’re going in boys.”

Three helicopters raced ahead, charging towards their targets

_______________________________________________________________________
Our Lady of Hope Hospital Central New Port Tenth Floor
New Port, Tarlag

The Blackhawk reached the top of the landing spot, the road next to the hospital. It released it’s repel ropes. The Officer Captain Mark Pierce prepared his men.

“Sergeant, get let’s the men down,” replied the Captain.

“Aye,” replied the Sergeant. “Ok, troopers, let’s go.”

He was the first to slide down the ropes. 14 Troopers came behind him. The helicopter then left and the men entered the hospital. The Captain walked to the triage nurse.

“Where is the Duchess?” He questioned.

________________________________________________________________________
Orland's Keep
New Port, Tarlag

The Blackhawk slid down 14 troopers. They readied themselves and then walked into the keep, weapons ready.

“We’re looking for the Duke.”

________________________________________________________________________
The House of Lords
New Port, Tarlag

The troopers who had landed proceeded to enter the building. Their primary objective was to find the Duke but they also had another objective.


“We need to take out the ringleader,” spoke Colonel Jeffery Varney. “We need to capture as many of the Lords as we can in addition to Slayn if we can. Have a team enter the Lords as well.”


They readied their weapons and entered.

LADY OF HOPE HOSPITAL, NEW PORT

Major Blake saw the Black Hawks come in from his tenth floor window "What the hell! those aren't ours or the Lords. They have Colonial markings. Becky get the word out don't fire on them they may be our ticket out." With that he grabbed his P-90 and sprinted for the elevator with DEST Privates Shato and Fokker following.
he reached the first floor to find the men from the Black Hawks trying to get the location of the Duchess from a over tired and frankly confused nurse.
"Gentlemen I am Major Blake of DEST how can I help you?"


_______________________________________________________________
ORLAND'S KEEP

The men entered the dimly lighted central court yard of the keep. They did not pass one guard or even a living soul as the entered the ancient fortress. the only sound they heard was a dog barking in a pen about 50 feet distant. All of a sudden from the battlements search lights illuminated the court yard. Appearing like magic on the walls were two dozen DEST commandos armed to teeth with everything from P-90s to heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.
"In the name of Duke Ozgood the Third state your business!"


________________________________________________________________
HOUSE OF LORDS, NEW PORT

The Crew of the Ratel 20 saw the choppers land the Sergent in command of the courtyard squad looked at the men exiting the bird and heading to the main building. "Must be some of those Fediles boys come to talk to Lord Cane."
Corporal Abraham stuck his head out of the drivers hatch and looked at the scene. "Hey Sarge, when did the Fediles mark their Shit like the Colonies?"
"Stupid SOB, why did you not tell me when they landed who they were. Spread out lads and fire."
With that command his 9 man squad took cover behind the Ratel and opened up on the men entering the building. The Ratel 20s turret rotated pointing its 20mm cannon at the helicopters and fired.
Cpl. Abraham mumbled to himself as he started the engine "He is the sod who let them land why blame me."

LADY OF HOPE HOSPITAL, NEW PORT

"We're here to evacuate the Duchess," replied the Captain.

_________________________________________________________________
ORLAND'S KEEP

"Colonial Army," replied the Captain as the men took aim at the battlements. "We are here to evacuate the Duke."

______________________________________________________________
HOUSE OF LORDS, NEW PORT

"FUCKKK," the soldiers shouted as they took cover inside the building. The captain pulled out his radio.

"Beagle One,this is Echo 3, requesting air support, there is a Ratel shooting at us," replied the Captain.

"Echo 3, Beagle One, air support en route," replied the Major.

The Captain shouted out to the Sergeant.

"What should we do?"

"Well, we sit here," he replied. "We'll what for air support then we'll mark the vehicle."

"No LAWs here?"

"Nope," replied the Sergeant.

"Damn," he replied.

LADY OF HOPE HOSPOITAL, NEW PORT

Blake looked at the Colonial Commandos. "Boys if you can get us and the Duchess to Dungal General Hospital we would be in your debt. The only problem is her Ladyship refuses to leave until the ICU and the Children's ward has been evacuated. We even tried drugging her and convoying out with those three old tanks outside but the nurses are clearly on her side and will not help us. If you can get more birds in here to get these people out then maybe She will consent to leave."

An 88mm tank gun discharged out side the Hospital, followed by small arms fire. Over Blake's earpiece came Knox's voice "Boss, we got some armored cars and Ratels coming down the street. looks like those Colonial choppers attracted someones attention. Shit! The lead armored car looks like it has taken a personal dislike to the Black Hawks and is shooting them up."
BOOM
"Crazy bastards in the Tiger just took out the lead car and I believe the others are thinking twice about rushing us, but I don't know how long it will last."
_______________________________________________________________

ORLANDS KEEP

"Drop you Frakken weapons NOW!" shouted the voice from the wall. The huge wooden doors of the main palace opened and a half dozen of the Dukes personal security emerged pointing MP-5s at the invaders.

______________________________________________________________
HOUSE OF LORDS, NEW PORT

The Ratel poured fire into the invaders helicopters and the guards fired on the men on the ground. More Lords Guardsmen began moving in from the out lying guard stations to add their fire to their comrades.

HOUSE OF LORDS, NEW PORT

The 2 Apaches flew like birds in the sky. The pilot aimed at the Ratel and proceed to launch a Hellfire missile.

__________________________________________________________________
LADY OF HOPE HOSPITAL, NEW PORT

The Blackhawk quickly move out of the way and returned to holding position, outside the hospital.

"Shit, " the Captain replied.

"Sir," replied the Sergeant. "We aren't going to be able to get the Blackhawks to evacuate the patients. I don't even think that the boss is even going to allow it. It's far too dangerous for him."

"Aye, Dig in perhaps?"

"Nope, We don't have the resources to do so."

"So what do we do?"

"I suggest we go with our original plan."

"The Duchess isn't going to move."

The Sergeant walked towards Blake.

"How many ambulance vehicles do we have around here?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Orland's Keep

"We're on the same team," the Captain replied. "We have orders to evacuate the Duke. Now, you're either with us, in which case you will hand us the Duke or against us, in which case I will order an air strike on this site.

Amra held up his hand for the squids to stop. He sniffed the air, peered around a corner, then held up two fingers and pointed them forward. The two operatives behind him made their way to the rubble next to the hospital. They paused, then each threw a concussion grenade into the emergency room entrance. The explosion sent shards of glass flying every which way, and the squids as a team rushed the now-demolished doorway, firing their weapons as they advanced.

All that were within thirty feet of the blast were either knocked out or dead. There was no resistence from military personnel, but a couple of hospital security guards were split in two by the squids. They hurried along the hall towards the elevator and halted just a few feet from it. "Wan, check for trips", said Amra. Wan placed a peculiar set of lenses over his eyes, flipped several back and forth, then felt, with a very light touch, the outer frame of the elevator. He smiled and gave the 'all clear'.

The SKWD team, save two, piled into the elevator. Amra indicated by hand signs that the other two were to head up the stairs. As the door closed, he hit the button for the tenth floor, then the ninth. As the door opened on the ninth floor, he stuck his head out, seeing nothing. Pointing to the stairwell, the team filtered out of the elevator and as the last one went through the door, Amra set a C-4 charge in the middle of the elevator floor, set the timer for 15 seconds, then let the door close. He heard the elevator stop one floor up, and as the door opened, automatic weapon-fire proceeded to turn the interior of the elevator into shrapnel. Three seconds after the door opened, there was a deafening explosion as the C-4 went off, killing all the rebels who fired into the empty lift.

Between the smoke, the screaming nurses, and the body parts strewn about the 10th floor, there was little else for the squids to do but seek the Duchess. After a short search, they found her....but those guarding her weren't going to let her go without a fight........................

LADY OF HOPE HSOPITAL
Occ holding post until Xeraph changes action. He posted after an all night drive . (Dude get some sleep)

_______________________________________________________________
ORLAND'S KEEP

Emerging from behind the security men on the steps of the main building a man dressed in jeans and wearing a flake vest stepped out.
"Everyone lower your weapons and lets talk. On the wall lower those damn lights."
The man in jeans motioned the leader of the commandos to move towards him.

____________________________________________________________
HOUSE OF LORDS

The Ratel exploded as the hellfire missile hit its target. In response form several buildings in the area shoulder fired Slingshot missiles flew towards the Colonial Apaches.

ORLAND'S KEEP

"Captain George Orwell, Omega Force Regiment, Colonial Army. We plan to move the Duke to the embassy and then evacuate him to the Colonial Fleet."

________________________________________________________________
HOUSE OF LORDS

"Resistance," replied the helicopter. The first helicopter was, miraculously, able to dodge all the missiles. The other, however was not so lucky.

"Apache Two, hit, mayday mayday mayday," cired the pilot on the radio. Knowing that he wasn't going to make it, he aimed the helicopter towards the building where the missiles originated.

ORLAN'S KEEP

"Captain Orwell I am Duke Ozgood. All though I thank your government for their concern for my safety I feel no need to leave. Half of GAPTS and my own loyal units are between me and the city. I feel quite safe here."
A Captain of the Tarlagian Navy rushed out of the building and handed the Duke a message. Taking a small flash light out of his pocket he read the message.
"Captain Orwell I suggest you read this I think it concerns your operation."

From Observation post 1301
To HQ

Fighting around House of Lords two unknown Black Hawks and two unknown Apache. One Apache crashed into HSBC building two black hawks heavily damaged in court yard of House of Lords. Armored column of Fidiles incoming.
12 Wolfhound MBT
8 Ratel mixed configurations
3 Zeus AA tanks
Request instructions...........End Message.

"If those are your people they are in trouble."

_______________________________________________________________
HOUSE OF LORDS

The Attack chopper crashed into the HSBC bank building where most of the missiles had come from. The explosion rocked the massive building and shattered most of its remaining glass. More AA fire opened up from near by areas of the city to down the attacker. From the top floor parking garage of the TNS building a quad 50 cal. mount opened up along with more shoulder fired missiles.
The Guardsmen inside the house of Lords hearing the fighting began organizing themselves and moving to expel the invaders.

LADY OF HOPE HSOPITAL
Occ holding post until Xeraph changes action. He posted after an all night drive . (Dude get some sleep)


ooc: I posted it this way 'cause I figured there were rebels trying to get to the Duchess, so I thought I'd blast the hell out of 'em.

_______________________________________________________________
ORLAND'S KEEP

Emerging from behind the security men on the steps of the main building a man dressed in jeans and wearing a flake vest stepped out.
"Everyone lower your weapons and lets talk. On the wall lower those damn lights."
The man in jeans motioned the leader of the commandos to move towards him.


......

____________________________________________________________
HOUSE OF LORDS

The Ratel exploded as the hellfire missile hit its target. In response form several buildings in the area shoulder fired Slingshot missiles flew towards the Colonial Apaches.

......

A Continulation of this post... (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13107897&postcount=12)

As operations began to be set up at Mandrake Airbase. Amphibious Group Eighteen of the 12th fleet with support being provided by 2 Wave Class Replenishment Oilers, began it's journey to the nation of Tarlag. On board was the 104th Marine Amphibious Force and it's supporting elements- Air Wing/Logistics. Once they arrived at their destination, the 104th would provided support, both combat and non-combat, to the Civilian Guards. Hopefully, the Civilian Guard units wouldn't get into any major firefights they couldn't handle, but if they should-the Marines would be there to come to their aid and assist the other major GAPTS members should the situation change for the worse.

In the meantime, as Mandrake Airbase became a beehive of activity-operations shifted to in and around the City of Dungal. Make shift cities were set up to provided and care for the thousands of refugees fleeing New Port City. Every day, reports filtered in of the ever deteriorating situation. Doing what it could to help, thousands of tons of food and water had been sent to those in the many makeshift cities that had sprung up almost over night. Those badly injured were evacuated to Mandrake Airbase by airlift for treatment and once the Eighteenth Amphibious Group arrived, the full use of it’s medical facilities aboard the vessels that made up the fleet would be put to use ASAP. All in all, the United Earthlings government had it's work cut out for it and set about getting the job done.

Outside Mandrake AFB 75 miles north west of Dungal

The roads were clogged with all manner of transport. Commandeered buses, trucks, vans, and cars arrived to the designated refugee area. Most of the civilians only had the cloths on their backs and a few valuables stuffed in suit cases and briefcases. Most had heeded the Last transmission from TNS Newport just before the building was over run by the Lord's Guard "Evacuate the City, fighting has started. God help us all."

For those who had not left when fighting broke out they were aether trapped in their homes or trying to make their way out on foot or making their way to the river to try and cross over to safety.

The ones that had made it this far were lucky but they were still in desperate shape. Most had been on the clogged roads for 24 hours or more. These were people in need of food and a place to sleep. The refugees told of fighting in the streets between the Rebels and GAPTS and they also told of the thousands still trapped in the fighting. The one question the refugees had was who would save these people?

Dracombi and the Warriors surged forward as the Auralinian fighter-bombers dropped wave after wave of incendiary cluster-bombs on the Fidelis troops. He and his Warriors formed a wall of death as they cut the enemy troops down like they were ripe wheat in a field. The Fidelis kept coming and both sides kept dying.

The Vhammpyric Warriors were now on the very outer edges of New Port and moving forward inch by bloody inch. Over 17,000 of the Vhammpyric force had been obliterated, but they kept reinforcing their comrades from the troop ships. GAPTS aircraft were pummeling the rebel defenses and reducing the city to rubble in the process. Little did Dracombi know that a similar scene was being enacted on the other side of the city.

As they entered the city proper they all gave notice to the thousands of dead, wounded and dying, most of whom were rebel troops. These they dispatched without a second thought, despite the enemy's pleading to let them live. Some of the dead were consummed on the spot, the blood-lust rendering the Warriors into a berserker rage where none were safe from their wrath.

The roar of automatic weapons fire was now constant, the explosions adding to the din of all-out war. Dracombi made several hand-gestures and the vampires headed down a number of different streets and boulevards firing their weapons as they went. It became a street-to-street, building-to-building battle. The Vhammpyric wave continued forward, now a bit faster, now a bit more slowly. But forward it continued...............

The Fidelis pulled back slowly and making the enemy pay for every inch of ground. As the bombs rained down on Slayn's troops Draken fighter bombers streaked in and began their own attack with incendiary and cluster munitions.
When the Draken's bombs were expended they began strafing with their duel 30mm cannon.
As quickly as the Draken fighter bombers arrived they left, only to be replaced by Hussar Attack helicopters. Each one let loose with 3 inch unguided rockets and 37mm cannon. Under cover of this attack the Fidelis ground troopers pulled back another 200 yards past a group of high rise apartment buildings. As they pulled back their tanks ans IFVs sent a steady stream of fire down range into the Vhammpyirc Warriors.
The enemies of The Order still kept coming just as Slayn had foreseen they surged forward as they had since the battle was joined. As they moved between the building to keep in contact with the Fidelis, demolition explosions erupted at the base of each of the buildings. Each of the building closaped upon the advancing troops with massive clouds of dust and debris.

Seeing this on his remote feed Slayn the Master of the Order could only smile.

Reich Marshall Zeitler quickly surmised that they would have to move fast in order to support Vhampyr. He hadn't ever seen, in all his years of warfare, such vicious personal combat as he was seeing now.

At any rate, the Sun Legions were splitting off from the Fox Legions and heading straight for the heart of the city in order to get behind the enemy troops fighting the slowly advancing warrior troops.

Zeitler spoke into his radio, "Commander, are your F-18's in the air?"

The crackle of static came, then the voice of Commander Bott, FSRAF. "Yessir. Zoned in on coordinates. Locked and loaded."

"Good, commander. Focus on the enemy on the western edge of New Port. Our vampire allies are having a hell of a time with these Fidelis troops."

"Uh, sir, did you say vampires?"

"Whattya got shit in your ears? I said vampires! Vampire Warriors from Vhampyr! "

"Shit, sir. I thought they were just a legend."

"They were....until about two hours ago. Theyr'e real as hell, commander. And they need our support. Theyr'e GAPTS troops."

"Aye sir. Squadrons 76 and 49 will make contact in less than 45 seconds. We're 35 miles out and closing. SAMS locked on troops and armor. Bott out."

Zeitler barked into his radio. "I want all Panzer MKII's full throttle to engagement of enemy armor! Rip 'em a new one people!"

One by one, the tank commanders signaled their compliance.

The battle was rapidly reaching a crescendo that would soon be threatening the center of the town.

SOME WHERE WEST OF THE CITY OF NEW PORT


"Master, I have a report of a formation of Foxton-Sunbury F-18s moving up to support the Vhammpyr on the North side."
Slayn was still looking for the dust to clear from the demolition of the high rises "Order Gripen squadrons 34 and the 101 to intercept and show these interlopers who we are."
"I also have a report of an armored formation that has just crossed the river and is attempting to penetrate our eastern lines."
"Boris, what units do we have in the area?"
"The east side is mainly under the Lords Guards control. Mostly light armor and Infantry. The only exception is around Lady of Hope Hospital it seems to be under control of a Loyalist Green coat unit with some tank support."
"Order one of the Fidelis reserve units to the eastern front and stop that armored unit from entering the city. As for the Hospital we will leave them to Lord Cane's forces."


________________________________________________________________

"Roger Control, I have the intercept vector. Hound Leader to Hound flights change in orders we are to intercept threat B-45 just entering New Port airspace. Do not let any escape."

"OK, gents. It's a GO. Those rebel jets need to be shot out of the sky and those dammed Fidelis must be eradicated. We got 50,000 GAPTS troops moving the final three miles into the city escorted by 172 Beowulf and Grendel MBTs. Air cover to include the HCGSs and six successive, rotating waves of Mambas and Rattlesnakes." Michner grunted. "Heh, we'll have so many fighters up in the air there won't be any room for them goddam rebels in the skies over the city!"

The GAPTS Coalition was now just crossing the outer bridges into the city, the Fidelis troops about 4 miles on the other side of New Port. Slayn and the Lord's troops were spread out and readying themselves for one hell of a fight. The AirWolves and Comanche HCGSs were already engaging the enemy, the MBTs laying into their fortifications. The city was one big battleground, the infrastructure slowly being destroyed. Buildings were being blown up as the rebels slowly retreated, the Coalition bombardment destroying yet more.

As sonn as the Foxton-Sunbury Legions were clear of the dock areas, Admiral Kesey ordered the naval bombardment of the shoreline. This would cut off any attempt by the enemy to escape by sea. His subs were methodically and deliberately torpedoing any and all ships in the harbor. If some of them were non-fighting ships, and belonged to Tarlag, then they would be replaced by GAPTS when the fighting was over. Safety now, reparations later.

Kesey requested the B-3 Python bombers be let loose over the center-west of the city, ostensibly to finish off the Fidelis troops. 'Enough is enough', he thought. 'Time to bring this little foray to an end.'

"Gentlemen, I've requested another 200,000 troops from the transports, now about 20 miles out to sea. It doesn't seem that the rebels give a damn about the city, and we need reinforcements. Fuck 'em. We'll over-run the town in no time now."

They all nodded their agreement. "And how about letting the rest of the Warriors loose from their restraints, sir?"

"Capitol idea, lieutenant. Radio the vampire troop ships. All hands to the battle."

Aye sir."

Orland's Keep

"I apologise," the Captain replied. "But we don't believe that this place can be held. And Colonial help is conditional on your safety. But if you will insist on staying, we need to escort you to the embassy for a few moments."

The Sergeant replied, "We should let command know about the threat."

He pulled out the radio.

"Beagle One, this is Echo One. We have information that suggesting that Echo Three may be at risk. The Duke is refusing to move and we are suggesting that we move him to the embassay, but not evacuate him. Reply ASAP."

"Roger," replied the Major on Beagle One. "Will contact command to confirm."
___________________________________________________________
House of Lords

The radio cracked

"Echo 3, Echo 3, this is Beagle One. You are to abort you're mission and move to the hospital. Boogie are in reach, and the Duchess has refused to evacuate without the patients. You are to defend the hospital until we can arrange transport."

The Sergeant replied, "Roger." When he put the radio back, he approached the Captain.

"This is getting more and more fucked," said the Sergeant.

"Aye," the Captain replied. "Best get the men moving now."

"Yes, sir," the Sergeant replied. He shouted to the men.

"Ok, I want covering fire fro mthe machine guns whilst we move. When we reach those buildings over there, we will give fire, and you will move under it. Cover you're arse at all times, ok?"

"Ya," they replied.

The soldiers started to move, whilst two men fired machine guns at the defending guardsmen.

bump

Slayn's HQ

"Master, GAPTS has launched a major attack and according to recon we will be heavily out numbered. I suggest we retreat and start a gorilla war. It is our only hope."
"If it was not for Nichols tipping the Colonies off we would have won, but no matter. Order our reserves in and make them pay for every inch of the city. The more of their blood we spill the better."

_______________________________________________________________
Orland's Keep

Ozgood looked at the Colonial Troopers. "Gentlemen if you will step this way we can discuss what is happening and come to an agreement. I will not be seen fleeing the Capital for no reason."

For the first time in almost a week, the sounds of war were at a lull.....sort of. Scuttlebutt had it that the GAPTS Coalition on the eastern side of the city were dug in, completely cutting off any chance of the rebel leaders escaping to the east or northeast. Tarlag was holding down the fort in the northern suburbs, and the FoxSun newcomers were in control of the southern portions of New Port, the dockside all but destroyed. The only fighting still going on was on the western front.

For three weeks, twenty-three days to be exact, the Vhammpyric Warriors and the Fidelis troops hammered away at each other relentlessly. Casualties on both sides running at around 67%. Auralinian fighter-bombers were decimating the rebel Fidelis, the Warriors cutting them to pieces.

From where he was sitting, Cpl. Soto was wondering just what in hell was going on north and west of New Port. How in hell could there be non-stop fighting for that long? Didn't they have to eat....or sleep....or take a piss...or something? The explosions and firestorms that ravaged the western city were like a scene straight out of hell. Snipers who had gotten within a mile of the fighting came back changed men. Through their high-powered scopes they had witnessed scenes of death and devastation as perhaps none others ever had. They talked of hundreds of thousands of body parts strew over a 3/4 mile front, the streets and gutters almost flowing with a stream of two inches of blood. Almost all of the buildings were gone. Not damaged..........gone, no stone left one upon another.

Soto and his squad were dug in, relatively comfortable. They had coffee, cigarettes, some decent food for a change. Orders were to hold what they had gained, which actually wasn't too difficult since the rebel forces had turned tail and fled after a brief contact with FS troops. For all intents and purposes, New Port was completely surrounded.

"Hey, Soto. Remember that chick at the bar in that shithole of a town out west of Sunbury?"

Soto knew what was coming. "Yeah...what about her?"

"Tell me again what she said when you went over to her."

Soto sighed. The ribbing he had taken was tapering off, but some people have long memories. "Hell, you know what was going down that night", he said. "You, me and Mikson were three-sheets to the wind, and the barkeep called for last round. That chick had been sitting in a corner booth all night, all by herself, so I figured, what the hell, let's see if I can score." He thought briefly about the woman, who looked much better to him when he was drunk than sober. "I stumbled over to her table. She looked up at me with that gap-tooth grin, and I says to her, 'Hey good-lookin'. I'd sure like to get in your pants.' And without missin' a beat, she looked right at me and says, 'No thanks, I got one asshole there already.'"

They all laughed...again...when they heard a familiar voice.

"ALL RIGHT YOU ASSHOLES! SHUT YOUR FUCKIN' TRAPS AND LISTEN UP!" Gunny Sgt. Sam Benton was not someone you could ignore. Six foot two inches of deadly, persuasive force. "We got orders from GAPTS HQ. At 0500 tomorrow we are to deploy all snipers to points north followed by youse guys. We 'aint in any hurry, but we're moving forward. Gonna put a squeeze play on these assholes. If we get far enough, we're gonna hit the Fidelis from behind and let the vampires loose on the rebel strongholds. Our friends to the east will coordinate with us as close to the center of the city as possible. Now get some sleep. 0500 is gonna come quick."

'Too damn quick', Soto thought as he drifted off to sleep...............

It took him a day and a half, but he finally located the Rebel Lord's sniper. That son-of-a-bitch had picked off six Xeraphian troopers and three ShadowGuard, including a Lt. Colonel.

Swanson, Sgt., T.L., 110th Mountain Commandos took his time, moving as slowly as he could so as not to give his position away. The rifle, a Mekantan 50 caliber MKII gas propelled unit, was capable of putting a 6mm hole in an enemy's forehead at 6,788 feet with a variance of 1/4 inch. This shot wasn't going to be that much of a challenge. Swanson saw that the compchip screen read 2,742 feet.....a little over half a mile. Piece of cake.

As he tweaked the controls, he thought back to his first kill. It was 7 years ago during the Azulun affair. He sighted down and fired on a werewolf general at a thousand feet. The steel-tipped lead-filled round went in the werewolf's eye small, came out of the back of his head about 4 inches around. Even then, it took a second shot in the creature's neck to bring it down.

That bastard rebel sniper was due, according to Swanson's calculations, to pump another shot this way in 17 seconds. At 15 seconds, Swanson would kill the rebel.

He was ready. T-minus 13 seconds and counting. He sighted along the barrel, one eye on it and one eye on in the scope. At 7 seconds, he let the safety off. Five seconds later, the right half of the enemy rifleman's head exploded in a bloody mist of brain, skin and bone as the slug slammed into him at 2300 fps.

'That'll teach those cocksuckers to fuck with an Imperial sniper', he thought.

Central New Port

The Warhound fired it's 155 mm assault cannon at an Auralinian position.
the Commander activated the intercom and spoke into it. "Orders from Command, we are to hold to the last man. The Master has Ordered us to kill all those who oppose us."
All the Commander heard was his crew say in a monotone voice. "By your command."
The commander looked through is viewfinder and located a target. "Gunner, lock on sniper position at 10:00 and fire for effect."
A second 155mm high explosive round fired from the heavy tank.
As the Commander searched for his next target he spoke once more.
"Die well Pigs, we will not go quietly into the night."

HOUSE OF LORDS, CENTRAL NEW PORT

Lord Cane looked over the map of the city. With a worried look he glance over to Col. Freedman this military Aid. "How long can we hold?"
"A few days at most Sir, We are out numbered and the Lords Guard is out gunned. The Fedelis are holding against GAPTS but those Steroid monsters of Slayn's can't fight forever."
A communications technician got up and rushed over to Lord Cane.
"My Lord, We have just gotten a response to your cease fire request From Duke Ozgood."
With a look of hope Cane barked out "Read it man."


"Lord Cane

Your request for a cease fire and negotiations is hereby rejected. You have destroyed our Capital. You have been directly responsible for the deaths of thousands and the displacement of millions from their homes. You are directly responsible for the destruction of our most beautiful city and you have the nerve to think that after all this you can negotiate.
These are the only terms from me you will receive. We will not accept the surrender of any of your troops or members of the House of Lords. I have placed an execution order on all the Rebel Lords and troops following you.
You have turned our Capital into rubble and you have also turned it into your graves.
Lord Cane rot in Hell!

Grand Duke Ozgood the Third "

The Xeraphian, Auralinian, and Katanan troops were lined up behind the massed MBTs. Two hundred thirteen Beowulf, WolfHound, Ocelot, and Leopard tanks were moving forward, the 30,000+ troops 30 yards behind. Foxton-Sunbury were pushing due north and had already engaged the rear guard of the Fidelis while gaining access to the inner section of the city. Vhammpyric Warriors had broken the Fidelis line and were decimating the isolated pockets of those still fighting.

Admiral Kelsey himself was at the front when he got the surprise of his life. He was barking orders when he caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

"Prince John! What in hell are you doing here? You can't expose yourself!" He called for guards, which came running.

"Belay that shit, Admiral. Long before I was a Prince, I was Supreme Commander of Alaric's armed forces. I'm here in that capacity once more."

"What? Where the hell is General Timlett?"

"Dead. Sniper. Now if your'e finished with the twenty questions, let's get this fuckin' war over with."

Kelsey grinned hugely. "Yessir...just like the old days, sir?"

Strickland grinned back. "You bet your ass, Admiral........."

A company of Merkava IV tanks in the markings of the 10th RCT moved through the rubble of once was once the finical district of New Port.
Flanking the tanks on either side were dismounted infantry watching the rubble for what was left of the Lords Guard.
From behind a burned out city bus came four members of the Guard hands over their heads waving dirty white flags in a sign of surrender. Each man was dirty Looking both shell shocked and Ill fed.
The Officer commanding the Tank Unit shouted "Down on the ground you filthy Bastards. Sergent check those men for weapons."
"Yes Sir, if you got anything speak now because if we find anything we drill the lot of you!"
After searching the first three men he got to the fourth. "Roll over Pig and lets have a look at you."
The man reluctently rolled over, revealing a dirty and worn face. The Sergent was not interested in what he looked like just if he had anything on him. Going through the mans pockets like he had the ones before he found no weapons just a roll of 100 Grot bills that would choke a horse.
"Well boy, looks like you hit the lottery. To bad you can't keep it." He looked at the Prisoners face to see the mans look as he pocketed the money. The Sergeant took a double take as he recognized the man. He had see him often enough on the nightly news.
"You Dirty Son of Bitch! Your Lord Cane."

Lady of Hope Hospital

"Echo 1, this is Echo 3, we are approaching the hospital now."

"Affirmative.

12 men tactically walked towards the hospital.

"Where's the Captain?" Asked the Captain of Echo 3.

"Here!" Shouted the Captain in reply. "About time."

Whilst the other soldiers took defensive positions, the Captains and Sergeants had a short meeting.

"So the Duchess is refusing to come out?"

“Yeah,”

“We have to force her out. There is no way we can defend this position before reinforcements get here.”

“How?”

“It’s often a lot easier with an M4 pointed at the target.”

“What!?”

“We have no choice. There are tanks pointed towards this location. We have to make her see reason. And if she can’t, then we have to retaliate with irrationality.”

“Aye,”

“Captain John and myself will do the talking, Sergeant George and Peter, you will hold this area until further orders, ok?”

“Yes,” replied the Sergeants.

The Captains walked into the ward where the Duchess was staying.

“Your Grace,” started Captain John. “My name is Captain John Smith, I’m with the Colonial Army. This is Captain Andrew Myers, from the same.”

__________________________________________________________________
Orland's Keep

"Echo One, this is Beagle One," replied the radio. "Command is still considering the request. Standby."

"You gotta be kidding me," replied the Captain.

"I'm sorry, by that's orders," replied the Major on the command helicopter. "They have to change the paper work to accomdate the change in mission. This mean they have to contact Foreign Affairs."

"Fair enough," replied the Captain. "Over."

bump

LADY OF HOPE HOSPITAL


Major Blakes earpiece came to life. "Knox here, we got some more Colonial boys coming in to you now. Looks like they have been a bit of a fight."
"Send them in and make sure they are taken care of. How is the transport situation coming?"
"Things are looking up on that sir, using every car in the parking garage and those two city buses we scavenged we should be able to get everyone we need to out."
"Good work Knox, have the hospital staff start getting everyone loaded and I will get the Duchess." Blake looked over at his radio operator. "Any thing Becky?"
"GAPTS has just started closing the noose on the rebels and the Knights and the 10th RCT are moving in from the east. Sir, I don't want to be here when the Vamps sweep through. I was in the last Xeraph fight and I saw what those things can do."
" I agree, I am going to see If I can get her Ladyship to budge. We can get most of the Childern and the ICU patients out. If we leave most of the Green coats guarding the hospital then GAPTS should buy pass it and they will be safe."
Blake left the room and walked towards Lady Ellen's room. Activating his radio. "Knox, Find the most senior Colonial officer and bring him to me, with his help we might get Lady Ellen out of here."

Dracombi stood over the mangled body of the last Fidelis he killed, covered in blood and gore. He spit out a few fragments of bone and licked his lips as he tossed aside an unrecognizable piece of flesh from the enemy soldier.

"M'lord General. A message from General Strickland."

"General Strickland? I thought he was now a king of some sort. These humans place much importance in such trivial things."

"He is still a king, m,lord, but he's here to direct all Xeraphian forces, as in days of old."

"Good. What of the message?"

"Tarlagian nobles, including the Duke, have been located in a hospital in the center of town. We are directed to bypass it, doing no harm."

"Very well. Tell the General we obey." He paused. "Now...where are more of these puny rebels? I'm not done killing yet....."

OCC sorry for the long delay had a load of RL stuff to deal with.

Lady of Hope Hospital, New Port

The sounds of heavy guns could be heard even in this interior room. Major Blake came in with the Northern Colonial Officers.
After a quick introduction to the Duchess as she sat up in her bed She looked at Captain Smith
"So you are going to help get these people and myself out?"

"We are arranging some pick-up," replied Smith. "But, it may be the case that we can't evacuate everyone."

"I think the point is, that the target of the rebels is not the kids," replied Myers. "But you. And so as long as you stay here, they will keep coming. What I'm saying, is that we may not be able to move the kids before the rebels get here. And if that was to happen, you staying here will increase the likelihood of bad things happening to the patients here."

bump

Generals Strickland, Eisler, and Dracombi all came within 50 yards of the hospital grounds just minutes apart. Their troops were mopping up any remaining resistance from the rebel forces and were now in a position to put an end to this war. A rumour was going around that Cane had been captured trying to escape the city disguised as a common citizen.

General Eisler, commander of the Black Katanan forces attached to the GAPTS coalition, spread his map on a fire-charred table. "Gentlemen, we have perhaps an hour to decide what the next step of battle will be. The rebels are surrounded, but you know as well as I do that a trapped enemy is doubly-dangerous. They have nothing to lose but their lives, and so they'll fight to the death. I estimate just a few thousand are left alive, perhaps as much as 35% are wounded. A few stray tanks, no aircraft."

Strickland looked at the map, then at the vampyr general. "Your assessment, Dracombi?"

Dracombi stared at the Prince for a second, then said, "You know the answer to that, General. We assess nothing. We fight until either they or we are eliminated, whatever the cost, however long it takes. We are hundreds of thousands against their few thousands. As far as I'm concerned, we'll kill them all, save 200 for the bonfires." The bonfires were the ancient rituals of Vhammpyr wherein all captives had their tongues cut out of their mouths before they were slowly roasted over an open fire-pit. They couldn't scream, and the resultant muted gruntings were all the more horrifying.

Eisler glared at the vampyr general. "That is not the proper way to wage war, sir. Have you no honor?"

Dracombi fixed his gaze on Eisler. "Do not speak to me of honor, human. We Warriors were fighting battles and ruling the world when you humans were still evolving from apes. The proper way to wage war is to kill the enemy, by whatever means are at hand. Kill them......kill them all."

Strickland held up a hand. "OK, gentlemen. Enough. Iron out your views later. This thing 'aint done yet. The main thing we need to do right now is to secure the safety of the Duke and his people. We need to find him and get him and anyone with him out of the warzone. ASAP. Suggestions?"

Lady of Hope Hospital

Blake interrupted Smith as he spoke to the Duchess "I hope you were not trying for an air evacuation. When we first got here we called for one and all we got for our trouble was three downed choppers. There is a high rise about four blocks over that the rebels are using for a SAM sight. From what we can tell GAPTS has been trying to knock it out for the last 24 hours and has not been able to shut it down."
The Duchess looked at the Colonial Captain "I understand what you are saying Captain Smith but I don't want the people here left to the Mercy of the Fidelis. One of my nurses told me that St. Dismass hospital on the west side of the city was taken over by them and to get beds for their wounded they threw all of the existing patients out of the nearest window. Captain I will not have that happen here."
_______________________________________________________________


General Stricklands Position

As Strickland conferred with is commanders a man in a dirty green fatigue jacket of the Peoples Militia of Tarlag approached. "Your Lordship Sir, I must speak with you it is about the Duchess."

Lady of Hope Hospital

Blake interrupted Smith as he spoke to the Duchess "I hope you were not trying for an air evacuation. When we first got here we called for one and all we got for our trouble was three downed choppers. There is a high rise about four blocks over that the rebels are using for a SAM sight. From what we can tell GAPTS has been trying to knock it out for the last 24 hours and has not been able to shut it down."
The Duchess looked at the Colonial Captain "I understand what you are saying Captain Smith but I don't want the people here left to the Mercy of the Fidelis. One of my nurses told me that St. Dismass hospital on the west side of the city was taken over by them and to get beds for their wounded they threw all of the existing patients out of the nearest window. Captain I will not have that happen here."
_______________________________________________________________


General Stricklands Position

As Strickland conferred with is commanders a man in a dirty green fatigue jacket of the Peoples Militia of Tarlag approached. "Your Lordship Sir, I must speak with you it is about the Duchess."



Strickland looked at the disheveled soldier. "Who the hell are you and how the hell did you get in here?" The man said nothing for a second. "M'lord, my name is unimportant. I am from the Tarlagian People's Militia. I've been sent with a message."

Strickland held the man's gaze and said, "Very well. Out with it. And make it short and sweet."

"See ma'am," Myers replied. "You can't play the hero role with this. If it happens that we can't get everyone out and you choose to stay, your capture or death would be a propaganda coup for the rebels out there. And these patients will be chucked out regardless."

He pointed out to the smoke blooming on the rooftops, the result of hours of warfare on the ancient city. He continued.

"If you choose to leave, there is a huge, and I mean huge possibility that they will leave this hospital alone. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

General Stricklands Party

The only thing holding the man up as he passed the message to the General was his much used G-3 assault rifle. " Here it is Sir."

To GAPTS Commanders
From Major Blake
DEST unit Duchess in charge of Household Security

To any GAPTS or Tarlagian command who reads this. We request relief at Lady of Hope Hospital. Our communications gear was wrecked in the last Rocket attack on the hospital. 100 + patients including children and and ICU cases. Duchess Ellen is among the wounded and refuses to leave until the rest of the wounded can be moved. There is a rebel SAM sight with heavy infantry support four blocks North West of our position so have not been able to air evac.
Northern Colonial Commando's have attempted to aid in evac, but their transport was destroyed by rebel armor unit.
Hospital defended by Greencoat units, Civilians and Naval Volunteers. Ammo and food is running out and we need both supplies and transport for the Duchess and the wounded.

The Man Spoke up seeing the General had finished reading. "Sir, Her Ladyship refuses to leave with those kids in danger. She figures if she leaves then my boys will have to move out and leave the hospital to those drugged up Fidelis bastards. None Of my boys would leave of course but her Ladyship don't want to take any chances. The bad part is I saw a unit of them Pigs massing and looking like they were going to attack the Hospital soon."

________________________________________________________________

"Captain you have not heard the horror stories from the few that have made it here, like I have. The only thing keeping those things Slayn has created at bay are those brave men and women protecting me. Blake has told me he has managed to get enough ground transport to get us out if your people could help then we may all get out of this."

As soon as the Duchess finished Knox broke into the room. "Major, I got some good news and some bad news."
"Stop with the Games Knox report!"
"Right Sir, our scouts report a large GAPTS force is just a few blocks over and one of your messengers may have got to them."
"Outstanding finally some good news, so what is the bad?"
" The Rebels at the SAM site got reinforcements and its looks like they are getting ready to over run us."

Strickland read the message then wordlessly handed it to Dracombi. The vampire general glanced at it and passed it to Eisler. "Prince John, my Warriors are closest to the hospital. We are but six block away, right behind the rebels. We are not yet content with the thousands we have killed. We still hunger. Give the word, and the rebel entrenchment will die."

Eisler looked at Srickland. "Can we get to Slayn's position before they attack the hospital?"

"Dracombi can. They'll hit them from the rear, in the western portion of the city. We'll be able to mount an assault from the east and Foxton-Sunbury can hit 'em from the south. It's not a matter of "if" we can stop them from hitting the hospital, it's a matter of the defenders holding out for a couple of hours. I'll call in a successive-wave airstrike on the enemy position. We might pay heavily, but we'll pave the way for the Warriors.....and God help those rebels when the Warriors attack." Strickland turned to Dracombi.........but the vampire was already gone, the unearthly howl of the Vhammpyric battle cry echoing in the distance..................

General Strickland's Position

A small column of armor approached the command position. Two Merkava IV MBTs were leading a half dozen LAV25s in the Dukes colors. The Small column of AFVs stopped and the tanks and IFVs began discharging Naval Infantry. from one of the LAVs came a small party of made up mainly of DEST troopers and one man in civilian dress caring a G-36 rifle.
the man had a determined look on his face as he approached Strickland and his officers. The lone Greencoat who had delivered the message looked up. His look of absolute exhaustion changed to a look of surprise when he recognized the Grand Duke himself.
"My Lord Duke you should not be here it is not safe." Said the Greencoat with a look of concern on his dirty face.
The Duke put a hand on the man's shoulder " My friend none of us should be here. Hopkins get this man some food and water and a place to rest."
"Yes Sir" Repiled one of the Troopers.
The Duke turned towards Strickland "Good to see you again. I have gotten report by our friends from the Northern Colonies that my wife is near and by the Gods I mean to get her back."

Slayn looked one last time at the holo table at the deteriating situation in the city of New Port.
"Communications, order all Forces to push towards the hospital in the eastern district and wipe it off the map. They a defending it for some reason and before the last of the Fidelis falls I want at least that thorn removed from my side."
Boris looked over the table at his Master. "Why Slayn why can't we just leave while we can?"
Simple fool I have to give the Duke and his GAPTS lackeys something to think about while I make my escape."
"You mean our escape My Lord."
"No mine you simpleton. I have just enough Grots for one to take an extended vacation. I need to be away before they figure out I was never in the city and I was running this war from the mobile command trailer. I have no time to have you tagging along."
With that Slayn pulled a 9mm pistol from his pocket and shot Boris and the Communications officer.
"To bad I could of used them to carry the bags to the car."

General Strickland's Position

A small column of armor approached the command position. Two Merkava IV MBTs were leading a half dozen LAV25s in the Dukes colors. The Small column of AFVs stopped and the tanks and IFVs began discharging Naval Infantry. from one of the LAVs came a small party of made up mainly of DEST troopers and one man in civilian dress caring a G-36 rifle.
the man had a determined look on his face as he approached Strickland and his officers. The lone Greencoat who had delivered the message looked up. His look of absolute exhaustion changed to a look of surprise when he recognized the Grand Duke himself.
"My Lord Duke you should not be here it is not safe." Said the Greencoat with a look of concern on his dirty face.
The Duke put a hand on the man's shoulder " My friend none of us should be here. Hopkins get this man some food and water and a place to rest."
"Yes Sir" Repiled one of the Troopers.
The Duke turned towards Strickland "Good to see you again. I have gotten report by our friends from the Northern Colonies that my wife is near and by the Gods I mean to get her back."


"Good to see you, also, m'lord Duke. Much has happened since we last met." Images of Azulun and Alaric flashed through both men's mind. "M'lord, we have all but destroyed the Fidelis and are but a few blocks from the hospital where your wife is stubbornly holding out. We know that there are a few stray rebels around....some Fidelis, Slayn's men, and so on. None of them will be a problem for us, but it's gonna be a horse-race to the hospital. The rebs have some field pieces and armor trained on it but as we speak two squadrons of Rattlesnakes are readying to take them out. Locked and loaded. We just need your men in the hospital itself to hold out for a bit longer."

Strickland turned to an orderly. "Corporal, open a channel to the commander of the FoxSun forces south of here. Come get me when you contact him."

"Yessir, right away sir."

He looked back to the Duke. "Any suggestions concerning the Duchess, M'lord?"

"Good to see you, also, m'lord Duke. Much has happened since we last met." Images of Azulun and Alaric flashed through both men's mind. "M'lord, we have all but destroyed the Fidelis and are but a few blocks from the hospital where your wife is stubbornly holding out. We know that there are a few stray rebels around....some Fidelis, Slayn's men, and so on. None of them will be a problem for us, but it's gonna be a horse-race to the hospital. The rebs have some field pieces and armor trained on it but as we speak two squadrons of Rattlesnakes are readying to take them out. Locked and loaded. We just need your men in the hospital itself to hold out for a bit longer."

Strickland turned to an orderly. "Corporal, open a channel to the commander of the FoxSun forces south of here. Come get me when you contact him."

"Yessir, right away sir."

He looked back to the Duke. "Any suggestions concerning the Duchess, M'lord?"




"WHO did you say is hailing us?" Commander McFlie, FS Assault Group 116, yanked the message out of his adjutant's hand. "Shit! I thought he was done as XF Commander. He's a goddam King now!"

"Obviously, sir, he's here and in command. You can't keep these old soldiers sitting behind a desk for too long, y'know."

"Guess not. Why the fuck is he calling ME?"

"Because your'e the closest to the center of the fighting, sir. What do you want to respond to the Prince, sir?"

McFlie thought for a moment. "I dunno. HE opened the channel to US. What the fuck does he want?"

The aide sighed. He'd been through several wars with these young officers. They were all the same. Impressed by their rank, of little use on the field. "Sir, our reports show that Strickland, Eisler, and Dracombi are moving to surround the hospital grounds in the inner part of Port City. The Duchess of Tarlag is inside, apparently refusing to leave until the patients inside the hospital, which include children, are safely away from the warzone. Duke Ozgood and a small contingent have joined with the three generals and the GAPTS airstrikes are set to commence in 0030 hours. Word is that Dracombi himself will protect the Duchess. God help the man who tries to get past General Dracombi."

"Yes, quite. Vicious man, no doubt. What are we to do?"

'This pup is a bigger idiot than I thought.' "Sir, as your command is nearest the fighting, I would suggest............." The aide didn't get to finish his sentence. He was spattered with blood as a bullet hit the commander in the face, tearing away most of the left side of his face. He didn't hesitate.

"OK, everyone listen up! Commander McFlie is dead. We're close to the location of the GAPTS command post and the hospital. Get your shit together NOW! We're moving out!"

Within 10 minutes, the 116th Assault Unit was moving north with several other units. The aide, now field officer, was barking commands like he knew what he was doing.

His name was Augus Tan'it............

"My only thought on the Duchess is that the only way we are going to move her is to get those kids to safety. I will take my troops here and race to the hospital to give them support if you could follow I would be deeper in your debt."

New Port was an absolute shambles. Bombed-out buildings were havens for wild dogs and other scavengers that fed on the rotting corpses of those killed in the intense fighting. Squads of the various GAPTS contingents picked their way through the streets, the only sign of an enemy were the occasional sniper round that whizzed by. Major Tan'it knew that the the last of the rebel hold-outs were around somewhere. He knew this because every few minutes he and his squad heard the blood-curdling sounds of the Warriors feeding on another unlucky soldier in Slayn's army.

The hospital was a mere fifty yards or so away. He knew that the Tarlagian troops were somewhere north of his position, the FoxSun army was to the south, and the Vhammpyrian Warriors were closing in quickly from the west. He also knew that Duke Ozgood was with the Prince and would not relinquish his desire to personally free his wife along with the children in the hospital.

He spoke into his receiver. "General, any signs of the enemy?"

Strickland's static-ridden answer came. "We're under attack here, about a block from the hospital which puts you roughly a quarter-mile from us. We could use your help, Major. There seems to be a few more of the enemy than we thought."

Tan'it thought for a second. "Sir, that puts you damn near the Warriors. I'm on my way, but can't Dracombi get there first?"

"Dracombi is in the hospital with a dozen of his most ferocious men. He's fighting off the rebel assaults almost single handed. The bodies are piling up around the entrances to the hospital and the enemy is firing haphazardly into the building. I'm going to hit them from behind, but we can use reinforcements on the south and east sides of the hospital. How quick can you get here?"

"Five minutes, sir. Just hold on! Tan'it out."

Lady of Hope Hospital

The fighting around the Hospital became intense. Over 1,500 Fidelis troopers backed by about a dozen heavy tanks were attempting to overrun its defenders. The 300 Greencoats that started the battle were whittled down to maybe 100 some were down to using their rifle butts due to their ammo running out. The few old tanks from the museum had run out of ammo or been destroyed so they were now being used as cover for the stricken defenders. RPG and mortar fire pored into the building and the surrounding grounds killing more of the hapless defenders
Draccombi and his men held the front entrance against all comers but it was becoming apparent that the numbers were just too great.
Major Blake and what was left of his DEST unit was on the roof of the building sniping at the attackers with their P-90s. "Shit Sir we can't hold much longer they will be in the building in a few minutes."
"Knox, Take two people and blow the charges we set it will block the stair wells, it should hold them off for a while."
One of the naval volunteers who was using a G-3 assault rifle as a sniper rifle shouted over to the Major. "Major I see a new formation of armor coming down Hill crest Ave."
"Theirs or ours?" Yelled the Major.
"Damn Sir looks like they are flying the Duke's pennant they are fighting a unit of Fidelis that were heading down that street for some reason."
"God I hope they hurry"

Major OPT-197 the highest ranking Fidelis Officer that still lived directed his troops to carry out Slayn's last orders. He had left 500 men to protect the SAM sight and to stop any rear attacks. With support from Ratal 20s and some light armored cars they should hold off any GAPTS attacks long enough for his forces to level the target.
"Sir, two battalions have intercepted a GAPTS relief force attempting to get to the hospital."
"Order them to stop them by any means possible. Even if they must throw themselves at their tanks to stop them."
"Sir, according to the Battalion Commander a unit of armor is not stopping to engage us they are attempting to ram through our lines, guns blazing."
"Question the Office who are they Vampire or Foxton-Sunbury?"
"No Sir, he makes them as Tarlagian Naval Infantry Merkavas and LAV-25s."
"Very well have what ever anti-tank support stop them and press the rest of that GAPTS force supporting them back. I want to take as many of these invaders down as possible."

Two F111 Rattlesnakes came in low and fast, beneath the enemy radar. Moving at just below Mach-1, they were to make sure that the enemy never knew what killed them.

"OK, Junior, this is Lion One. Thirty seconds to target. Get as many of the armored units as possible then get outta my way. I'll take out that missile emplacement. One minute behind me, the AirWolf HG squadron will come at them from three directions. You and I are to strafe any remaining enemy soldiers. The AirWolf's 35mm guns will cut them to pieces."

"Aye sir. Fifteen seconds. Good luck, sir."

"Same to you, Junior.........."


________________________________________________________________


The Rattlesnake's Phoenix missiles hit Slayn's Fidelis hard. The Phoenix were frag/explosive units, thousands of razor-sharp pieces of shrapnel traveling at high speed, shredding anything to bloody ribbons. The AirWolves tri-directional attack aparently confused he enemy, as they scattered like leaves before the wind when they attacked. The combination of the missiles and Gatling Guns wrought a devastating effect on the remaining Fidelis troops.

The battle at the hospital was as ferocious as any Strickland had ever seen. The Warriors were absolutely unmovable, but even they couldn't hold off ALL of the enemy attacks. Several breeches in the Vhammpyric/GAPTS/Tarlagian line were plugged at great cost to the Coalition Forces. Strickland and Ozgood personally had to defend themselves against two desperate assaults on the hospital rear entrance. Guns blazing, katanas slicing through the enemy, they were, for an instant, heroes of old, slashing and hacking their way through the enemy lines, taking small wounds on themselves, but never stopping until they or the enemy were dead. Rebel bodies piled up, but on they came.

Ozgood was beginning to reach the limits of hs endurance. During a brief lull in the battle, he called over to Strickland. "Where the hell's Eisler? How much longer do we have to hold here before reinforcements arrive?"

The Prince yelled back. "Eisler's dead. His men are just 30 yards to our right fighting for their lives. Theyr'e gaining foot by bloody foot, but the rebs aren't giving anything for free."

He had hardly finished the sentence when a tremendous explosion knocked them both off their feet. Slightly dazed, a trickle of blood running off his forehead, Strickland peered through the smoke and saw the enemy, just 20 feet away. They had stopped their advance, looking around them, trying to see through the cordite-filled air. All was still for about ten seconds, then the screaming began.

The Warriors had broken through and were tearing Slayn's rebels to pieces. FoxSun troops under Augus Tan'it slammed into them almost simultaneously from the opposite direction. The sounds of the fighting, the screams of the dying, the howling terror that were the Vhammpyrian Warriors, bullets flying, already teetering walls collapsing were almost too much to take. Ozgood looked over at Strickland, grinned, cocked his head in the direction of the battle and like the two old soldiers they were, ran full tilt into the melee, killing the enemy, and killing again, and again.....


_______________________________________________________________



Multiple explosions fromthe other side of the hospital confirmed that the Rattlesnakes had done their job, the AirWolves coming in behind. Tarlagian troops hit the enemy SAM site so hard that their forward momentum almost carried them through the make-shift camp. Soldiers, rebel and defender, died by the hundreds. Dracombi was still alive near the front entrance of the hospital, but even his huge frame was showing the signs of the massive wounds he had taken in the defense of the Duchess. He turned to his second-in-command. "No one gets past here." His man nodded and moved the remaining half-dozen Warriors into position to repel another assault.

Dracombi dragged himself up the stairs to the second floor. He pushed open a door, knocking it off it's hinges. Inside, the Duchess and some nurses were assembling the children, readying them either to flee the premises or die fighting the enemy. As he burst into the room, the Duchess picked up an automatic shotgun. "Hold! Do not fire. I am Dracombi. I am here to protect you."

The two Captains put their M4s down.

"If you're wondering who were are, Captain Smith and Myers, Colonial Army. What's the situation outside? And how the hell are we going to defend this place?"

On cue, the other Colonial special forces came in.

"It's bad sir," replied one of the Sergeants. "The GAPTS has held down the first assault, but my suggestion is that we move ASAP. We need to find a evacuation point and a plan to get all these children out. Give me a map, and I'll organise this."
__________________________________________________________________________

The Colonial Embassy

The men who were with the Duke had redeployed themselves at the embassy, after the Duke decided to join his troops.

The Duchess looked at the Childern then to the men in the room. "If you can get the children out onto the loading dock at the back of the hospital then maybe we can load them in one of the trucks Major Blake arranged."
With that she slowly got out of bed and hefted the Mossberg shotgun she had kept by the bed at the Majors urging.
"Dracombi if you can still fight we will need you to help protect these kids. That Bastard Slayn has taken their homes and probably their parents but by God he will not have them!"
After reaching into the drawer of the nightstand and grabbing the extra shells that Blake had left for her she limped to the door.

_____________________________________________________________

Outside

Duke Ozgood loaded another grenade into his G-36s underbarrel grenade launcher. "Strickland we need to get to the Hospital before those Bastards blow it apart."
Ozgood looked around and saw the area surrounding the hospital had turned into a massive bloody battle ground. Even with the arrival of the Vampir and the Foxton-Sunbury troops it looked like the the battle for the hospital could go either way. Ozgood was distracted for a moment by the sound of choppers in the distance, he hoped that they were reinforcements but he could not be sure. He turned back towards the hospital just in time to see a huge Fidelis trooper charging him with a rifle butt raised high. Just before the man got in range to strike a killing blow on the Duke the Troopers head exploded.
"I don't know who did that but Charge!" Yelled Ozgood over the din of battle.

Perched high above the battle in the ruined steeple of Saint Johns church 1,500 meters from the Duke Tinia Asnable looked through the scope of her .50 caliber sniper rifle for another target. As she did this she spoke into the mike of her radio. Captain Winters bring your Cobras in to clear a path for the Duke it looks like he is making for the hospital. Captain Santo land you Knights in the clear area behind the Duke and give him and Strickland cover to the main building."

bump

bump again

Outside Mandrake AFB 75 miles north west of Dungal

The roads were clogged with all manner of transport. Commandeered buses, trucks, vans, and cars arrived to the designated refugee area. Most of the civilians only had the cloths on their backs and a few valuables stuffed in suit cases and briefcases. Most had heeded the Last transmission from TNS Newport just before the building was over run by the Lord's Guard "Evacuate the City, fighting has started. God help us all."

For those who had not left when fighting broke out they were aether trapped in their homes or trying to make their way out on foot or making their way to the river to try and cross over to safety.

The ones that had made it this far were lucky but they were still in desperate shape. Most had been on the clogged roads for 24 hours or more. These were people in need of food and a place to sleep. The refugees told of fighting in the streets between the Rebels and GAPTS and they also told of the thousands still trapped in the fighting. The one question the refugees had was who would save these people?

OCC: Since, it's been awhile since I posted I'm going to take the follow liberties. A. Assume the fighting in Newport City has been ongoing for at least a week and B. Get a little more aggressive in how the refugees are handle. If, those two things should create conflict, let me know and I'll edit this post where needed.

IC: Day 2 and 3

With it's position firmly establish at Mandrake Air Force Base and a lesser position held at the city of Dungal, all in all around 18,000 personnel of the Civilian Guard had been flown in country over the past few days. Still, even with an entire division and it's supporting elements on the ground-the refugees just keep coming and coming and coming. Was their no end?

While, no one had realized the following idea sooner would never be known, but instead of waiting for the refugees to make their own way to the safe havens. They should instead be brought to the safe havens by and through the Civilian Guard in a efficient and organized matter. What was known, however was the following order. "I don't give a dam how you get those people off the roads, just do it and do it within 24 hours or else!"

Within hours of that order, all roads into and out of Dungal and Mandrake AFB were closed to all civilian traffic. If, a vehicle proved troublesome it was either pushed out of the way or blown up and it's remains discard along the side of the road. If, people refused to abandon their vehicles their tires were simply shot out and the occupants inside directed to the nearest collection point. Those that resisted in abandoning their vehicles were simply arrested and loaded onto buses to be processed at the drop off point. Whatever the cost, by the authority granted to it by the Tarlag government, the civilian guard kicked into high gear running non-stop day and night. To further speed up the process, aid stations and collection points were set up every 4 miles from the outskirts of both Dungal and Mandrake. Within the aid stations could be found medicine, water, food and a temporary shelter if need be. Those in dire need of help were airlifted to either Dungal or Mandrake. In addition, the refugees could either continue on their own walking along the sides of the roads towards one of the two drop off points or wait at the aid station/collection point to board a bus or truck that would take them to one or the other.

Day 4 and 5

Though not the most popular act at first, by the ending of the 4th day of the operation over ½ of the roads leading out of Dungal and Mandrake towards Newport City had been cleared of traffic. With it expected to take another day or so to completely clear all the roads on the outskirts of Newport City leading towards Dungal and/or Mandrake. Once on the outskirts of Newport, the Civilian Guard would be able to quickly and without much effect evacuate all refugees that had clogged the roads for the past few days. With the outskirts only some 20 or so miles from the current Checkpoint, now was deemed the best time to officially establish contact with those of the GAPTS fighting within the city.

As such, a three-flight formation of helicopters was dispatched for a 30 minute or so flight. In the lead was an EH101 Merlin, fitted for medical evacuation, followed by two fully armed Tiger attack helicopters for support in case of attack. [OCC: BTW-in case anyone is wondering-the three helicopters are giving off friendly radar signatures through it's IFF system.]

Spotting, what looked to be a Headquarters for one of it's GAPTS allies-the EH101 lined up on a empty space and made it's landing. Hopping out of the passenger cockpit, Copilot Capt James Ridgeway proceeded towards the nearest person in charge and after getting their attention responded. "Excuse me Sir, I'm with the Civilian Guards of United Earthlings. Do you require any assistance in evacuation of either civilians or military personnel or any other kind of support?" Pointing towards the EH101- "My crew and I are at your disposal". [OCC: Who ever wants to volunteer who’s headquarters I just encountered and reply to my message is fine with me.]

Day 6 and 7

After, a week long uneventful journey, AG8 had finally reach it’s destination off the coast of Tarlag and specially, the city of Dungal. [Do Note though that the fleet is still in international waters, at the moment. Say around 24 to 30 NM out.] Not long after arriving, two F/A-18Fs Hornets were launched from the deck of one of the Assualt Ships/Carriers and proceeded on a heading that would take it over the city of Newport from which photo reconnaissance would then be conducted. With this new information, the Civilian Guard and the Royal Marines would have an up to date picture on what was going on inside and around the city of Newport.

The following ships make up Amphibious Group Eighteen [AG8]:


2 Shadow Harbor Class LHDs
4 Mistral Class LPHs
2 San Antonio class LPDs
8 Farragut Class Destroyers
10 Stuart Class Frigates
2 Supply Class AOEs
2 Wave Class Underway Replenishment Oilers [Temporary assigned to AG8]


Plus the following Aircraft:


12 F-21Cs
36 F/A-18Es
24 F/A-18Fs
24 Tiger Attack Helicopters
34 NH90 NFHs
64 NH90 TTHs
4 EH101 Merlins

OCC sorry I have not kept up on this I got involved in some other stuff. I will deal with the refugee problem in my next post.


Lady of Hope Hospital


Duchess Ellen fired her shotgun at the nearest Fidelis Trooper. "These Bastards shall not harm my kids!" She yelled into the din of battle.
One of Slayn's troopers looked in the direction of the hospital and saw the Duchess leaning against the van firing her shotgun. "I will take that bitch down before I die" he thought to himself as he charged to her position. The Trooper charged the loading dock where the children were being loaded. As he charged in his body armor took hits not only from the Duchess's weapon but from stray rounds coming from all different directions. He almost did not seem to notice, he charged with the single mindness of a berzerker. He had only one thought destroy the Duchess.

Captain Smith aimed their M4 and began sprewing lead into the trooper. Meanwhile, the other soldiers had entered the hospital, helping to load up the children and the frail.

OCC: Since, it's been awhile since I posted I'm going to take the follow liberties. A. Assume the fighting in Newport City has been ongoing for at least a week and B. Get a little more aggressive in how the refugees are handle. If, those two things should create conflict, let me know and I'll edit this post where needed.

IC: Day 2 and 3

With it's position firmly establish at Mandrake Air Force Base and a lesser position held at the city of Dungal, all in all around 18,000 personnel of the Civilian Guard had been flown in country over the past few days. Still, even with an entire division and it's supporting elements on the ground-the refugees just keep coming and coming and coming. Was their no end?

While, no one had realized the following idea sooner would never be known, but instead of waiting for the refugees to make their own way to the safe havens. They should instead be brought to the safe havens by and through the Civilian Guard in a efficient and organized matter. What was known, however was the following order. "I don't give a dam how you get those people off the roads, just do it and do it within 24 hours or else!"

Within hours of that order, all roads into and out of Dungal and Mandrake AFB were closed to all civilian traffic. If, a vehicle proved troublesome it was either pushed out of the way or blown up and it's remains discard along the side of the road. If, people refused to abandon their vehicles their tires were simply shot out and the occupants inside directed to the nearest collection point. Those that resisted in abandoning their vehicles were simply arrested and loaded onto buses to be processed at the drop off point. Whatever the cost, by the authority granted to it by the Tarlag government, the civilian guard kicked into high gear running non-stop day and night. To further speed up the process, aid stations and collection points were set up every 4 miles from the outskirts of both Dungal and Mandrake. Within the aid stations could be found medicine, water, food and a temporary shelter if need be. Those in dire need of help were airlifted to either Dungal or Mandrake. In addition, the refugees could either continue on their own walking along the sides of the roads towards one of the two drop off points or wait at the aid station/collection point to board a bus or truck that would take them to one or the other.

Day 4 and 5

Though not the most popular act at first, by the ending of the 4th day of the operation over ½ of the roads leading out of Dungal and Mandrake towards Newport City had been cleared of traffic. With it expected to take another day or so to completely clear all the roads on the outskirts of Newport City leading towards Dungal and/or Mandrake. Once on the outskirts of Newport, the Civilian Guard would be able to quickly and without much effect evacuate all refugees that had clogged the roads for the past few days. With the outskirts only some 20 or so miles from the current Checkpoint, now was deemed the best time to officially establish contact with those of the GAPTS fighting within the city.

As such, a three-flight formation of helicopters was dispatched for a 30 minute or so flight. In the lead was an EH101 Merlin, fitted for medical evacuation, followed by two fully armed Tiger attack helicopters for support in case of attack. [OCC: BTW-in case anyone is wondering-the three helicopters are giving off friendly radar signatures through it's IFF system.]

Spotting, what looked to be a Headquarters for one of it's GAPTS allies-the EH101 lined up on a empty space and made it's landing. Hopping out of the passenger cockpit, Copilot Capt James Ridgeway proceeded towards the nearest person in charge and after getting their attention responded. "Excuse me Sir, I'm with the Civilian Guards of United Earthlings. Do you require any assistance in evacuation of either civilians or military personnel or any other kind of support?" Pointing towards the EH101- "My crew and I are at your disposal". [OCC: Who ever wants to volunteer who’s headquarters I just encountered and reply to my message is fine with me.]

Day 6 and 7

After, a week long uneventful journey, AG8 had finally reach it’s destination off the coast of Tarlag and specially, the city of Dungal. [Do Note though that the fleet is still in international waters, at the moment. Say around 24 to 30 NM out.] Not long after arriving, two F/A-18Fs Hornets were launched from the deck of one of the Assualt Ships/Carriers and proceeded on a heading that would take it over the city of Newport from which photo reconnaissance would then be conducted. With this new information, the Civilian Guard and the Royal Marines would have an up to date picture on what was going on inside and around the city of Newport.

The following ships make up Amphibious Group Eighteen [AG8]:


2 Shadow Harbor Class LHDs
4 Mistral Class LPHs
2 San Antonio class LPDs
8 Farragut Class Destroyers
10 Stuart Class Frigates
2 Supply Class AOEs
2 Wave Class Underway Replenishment Oilers [Temporary assigned to AG8]


Plus the following Aircraft:


12 F-21Cs
36 F/A-18Es
24 F/A-18Fs
24 Tiger Attack Helicopters
34 NH90 NFHs
64 NH90 TTHs
4 EH101 Merlins


OOC: My understanding is that it has only been going on for a day or two at most. So just adjust the timescales and it should be alright

OCC Realistically a week for the battle is about right. with the amount a troops and the destruction of the city just a day or two would be a little too fast.

Lady of Hope Hospital

The Trooper kept advancing his body armor taking the 5.56 mm hits from the M4. Raising his Assault Shotgun and aiming at the Duchess he prepared to open up on her with a full automatic burst. At the last moment one of Captain Smiths bullets struck the Trooper in the face killing him instantly.
As the man fell to the cement floor of the loading dock more foot steps could be heard coming from the parking lot.
A half dozen DEST commandos charged up the stairs followed by the Duke.
Ozgood yelled over the noise of battle. "Major Ross secure this area and help get these people out of here. Order our armor support to clear out the last of the rebels and secure the area in a 3 block radius."
The wounded Duchess looked up at her husband lowering the now empty shotgun. "You took your own sweet time getting here."
Ozgood knelled down embracing his wife. "Traffic was a bitch."


Headquarters of the 10th RCT

"Captain Ridgeway I am Colonial Abdul Mafaric of the Tenth Regimental Combat Team glad to meet you. There has been a steady stream of people leaving the city. Some poor bastards who thought to ride it out are still in there. Others are thinking better of it and trying to sneak out those are the ones who need help. We are doing all we can but even with the extra troops that GAPTS sent in it is still going to be a hard fight."
Mafaric leads the Captain over to the Holo-Table. "Recon has spotted a group of about 200 civilians in Battery Park just across the river if you can get an evac organized it would be a big help. The big problem is we have about 300 rebel troops are holed up in Fort Montgomery an old 19th century fort on the north end of the park."

Captain Smith tapped the couple on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but this is not a meet and greet session. We need to fucking get a move on."

bump

Headquarters of the 10th RCT

"Captain Ridgeway I am Colonial Abdul Mafaric of the Tenth Regimental Combat Team glad to meet you. There has been a steady stream of people leaving the city. Some poor bastards who thought to ride it out are still in there. Others are thinking better of it and trying to sneak out those are the ones who need help. We are doing all we can but even with the extra troops that GAPTS sent in it is still going to be a hard fight."
Mafaric leads the Captain over to the Holo-Table. "Recon has spotted a group of about 200 civilians in Battery Park just across the river if you can get an evac organized it would be a big help. The big problem is we have about 300 rebel troops are holed up in Fort Montgomery an old 19th century fort on the north end of the park."

OCC: Sorry about the delay in posting. Also, Is this still active?

OCC2: Is, Colonial the same as a Colonel in rank and duties or did you actually mean Colonel?

IC: It’s good to meet you too, Colonial. As Captain Ridgeway looked over the map of the area, he was sure to make mental notes of the landscape being projected on the table. With a good picture now in his head, he excused himself. “Colonial, if you would excuse me I need to report this information to my superiors. Me or someone else should be back within two hours to update you on our progress.” With that, Captain Ridgeway saluted and headed back towards his park helicopter to relay the necessary information.

OCC I really had not planned to have this still active but if you are still in I have a little free time comming up.

OCC I really had not planned to have this still active but if you are still in I have a little free time comming up.

OCC: If, you want to cancel it that's fine with me. I'll just post a summary of what I did to bring my participation to a close if that's the way you go.

FYI: I wasn't really planning on posting that much for this roleplay anyway.

However, whatever you decided I'm fine with.