NationStates Jolt Archive

The scene opens inside the press room of the Presidential Mansion in ChristianFlorissant's Capital of New Nazareth. The rooms are filled with people representing different news media groups. Television news stations, news radio stations, internet news sites, newspapers, and new magazines all had their reporters in the room. While most of the reporters were from various cities within ChristianFlorissant there is also foreign news Medias represented including a United Nations liaison. In the front of the room is an oak podium with the seal of the Republic of ChristianFlorissant on the front. The seal has a royal blue background with a golden cross on the surface. In the center of the cross is a silver-colored golden eagle with its wings spread out. On the wall behind the podium is the blue and white flag of the Republic of ChristianFlorissant. The camera shifts to the left as a man in a suit, a forty year old man in an army officer uniform wearing a set of two stars on each shoulder, a middle man with a brown beard wearing a naval officer's uniform with the insignia of an Admiral, and a thirty year old woman wearing the uniform of a marine with a colonel. The reporters wrap up their conversations as they take a seat. The man in a suit steps behind the podium and clears his throat. The two star army general stands on the man's left while the Admiral and the Marine Colonel stand to the man's right. The room gets silent with only the sound of cameras interrupting the presentation.

Defense Minister Dan Holland: "Good evening! For those of you who do not know, I am Dan Holland the Minister of Defense for the Republic of ChristianFlorissant. I have been authorized by ChristianFlorissant Judson Moon to address the world on his behalf. The Congress of ChristianFlorissant and President Moon have common to a decision. The Republic of ChristianFlorissant is a Christian nation that has three missions for this world: We seek to live at peace with all nations, to offer help to any nation or group of people that need it, and to touch this world for Christ. It is the hope of the Republic of ChristianFlorissant to never fight a war with another nation. Does this mean the Republic of ChristianFlorissant will be passive? Absolutely not! ChristianFlorissant was the first nation to condemn the actions of Cripistan, Red Tide Rising, and Zackaroth in the incident with the Island of Kurr. Every other nation was quick to condemn Cripistan and it was right to condemn the actions of an evil nation. Yet, nations were so focused on Cripistan that they over looked the equally sinister actions of Red Tide's 100 mega ton threat and the oil colored dollars signs on the eyes of Zacharoth. The Republic of ChristianFlorissant was also the first and only nation to offer a million tons of food to The Communist Dominion of Stoklomolvi for the purposes of aiding the Kurran Refugees. The Republic of ChristianFlorissant was also the first nation in the United Nations to openly oppose the Ban Religion Resolution.

Minister Holland pauses briefly to let his words sink in and collect his thoughts. The newspaper, magazine, and internet news reporters are jotting notes down in their steno pads. The sound of flashes and shutters continue as photographers try to capture the perfect picture. Minister Holland continues his address.

Defense Minister Dan Holland: "Now the Republic of ChristianFlorissant is preparing to take a bold step to protect itself from invasions. A deadly force is threatening to invaded ChristianFlorissant leaving thousands dead in its wake. The villains behind this invasion are drugs. Many nations of the world have suffered terrible losses in the War on Drugs. President Moon and Congress want to limit the effect of drugs in ChristianFlorissant. President Moon wants to make it clear that the outlawing of narcotics including marijuana is within the rights granted to the Republic of ChristianFlorissant under the United Nations Drug Act (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12131355&postcount=192). This act allows for each nation to determine the legality of drugs within it jurisdiction. To this in the Republic of ChristianFlorissant has created a special task force to deal with the trafficking of illegal narcotics into the ChristianFlorissant. This task force is known as the Drug Elimination Assault Division or D.E.A.D. To tell you more about D.E.A.D., allow me to introduce D.E.A.D’s commanding officer, Major General William Henderson.

Minister Holland steps back and to the right. Major General William Henderson steps behind the podium and place a hand on either side.

General William Henderson: "As the commanding officer of the D.E.A.D. Task Force, I have been ordered to stop any vessel entering the water of the Republic of ChristianFlorissant. The stopped vessel will be searched with the latest in drug detecting equipment and drug-sniffing dogs. If the ship is clean it will continue on without further interference. If drugs are found in the vessel, the ship will be impounded and the ship's captain and crew will be arrested for possession of illegal substances. The captain and crew will be granted a fair trial as stipulated by United Nations and the Republic of ChristianFlorissant. If the court determines that captain and crew were only guilty of possession for personal use the drugs will be removed from the ship and destroyed, the captain and crew will be fined not exceeding $5,000 denariuses, be aloud to unload the remaining cargo, and return home. If the court determines that the captain and crew were carrying drugs with the intent to sell them on ChristianFlorissantians then the drugs will be removed and destroyed, the remaining cargo will be unload and sent where intended, and the ship will be forfeited to the Republic of ChristianFlorissant. The captain and crew would then be fined no less then $5,000 denariuses and not exceeding $25,000 denariuses. After paying the fine the crew would be turned over to their nation’s embassy to be deported at that nation's expense.

The General pause for dramatic effect before continuing his dialog.

General William Henderson: "The initial force assigned to this force include both naval forces and a full division of marines. The naval commander will be Admiral Harvey Bullock!

Admiral Bullock steps forward with his admiral's hat tucked into the crook of his arm. Admiral Bullock gives a slight bow, which is met by applauses and flashes from cameras. When the applauses dies down General Henderson continues.

General William Henderson: "Admiral Bullock's initial force consists of fourteen Reliance Class Cutters, thirty motor life boats, thirty deployable pursuit boat with MH-68 Stingray Helicopters, four Littoral Combat Ships with two Seahawk helicopters each and a Oliver Hazard Perry Class Frigate for a flagship. In command a Marine force of 25,000 is Brigadier General Renee Montoya!

An Admiral Bullock step back as General Montoya steps forward and raises her right arm in salute. The reporters applaud and cameras click. General Montoya steps back, Major General steps to his left, and Minister Holland steps to the microphone.

Defense Minister Dan Holland: "I hope that this presentation make it clear to the world that the Republic of ChristianFlorissant is serious about stopping drugs from entering this country. This concludes this announcement. Goodnight and God Bless!

OOC: I can't resist the chance for a good drug smuggling RP.

Five knots Outside of ChristianFlorissantian Waters

The freighter Wayfarer moved towards ChristianFlorissantian waters at the modest speed of six knots per hour. The freighter was loaded with 20,000 tons of machine parts bound for CF factories.

Unknown the ship's owners, and in fact much of its crew, the ship's captain and a small contingent of its complement had stashed something more lucrative and consdierably more illegal in a few isolated corners of the ship's holds.

The drugs would next to impossible to locate with the naked eye, and vacuum sealed bags reduced the risk of detection by dogs of sniffer gear to almost nothing.

And if by some chance the stash was discovered, well the ship carried a small aresnal to deal with that.

Three knots within the home waters of ChristianFlorissant is a small fleet of four ships. The fleet's flagship is the Reliance Cutter RCFS Cat in the Hat followed by the pursuit boats RCFS Thing One and RCFS Thing Two, and bring up the rear is the tugboat RCFS Fish. Commanding this D.E.A.D. unit is Captain Charlie Silver whose is at this moment looking at the approaching freighter through binoculars on the bridge of the I]RCFS Cat in the Hat[/I] Captain Silver appears to be in his mid-thirties in the standard white naval uniform with hat and black stubble on his chin. Captain Silver lowers the binoculars and exhales a deep sigh.

This was Captain Silver's first real command. Before the creation of D.E.A.D., Captain Silver had only commanded the Cat in the Hat. Now Captain Silver commanded a fleet of four ships with a total of a hundred sailors, drug-sniffing dogs with handlers, and a company of marines. The hundred marines below the decks of the RCFS Cat in the Hat where under the direct command of Marine Captain Harry Thomas, but the whole task force was under Captain Silver's command. He was not about to blow this opportunity. If Captain Silver could prove himself with this force the higher ups might promote him to Admiral in command of a battle group.

Captain Silver: "Time to show the world what I can do!"

First Mate Alexander T. Wolf walked over to Captain Silver, clicked his heals, and saluted. Captain Silver turned his head towards Wolf and smiled. First Mate Wolf and he had been together for three years. There was no man Captain Silver trusted more then this man.

First Mate Wolf: "Ready sir?"

Captain Silver nodded.

Captain Silver: "Carry on, Mr. Wolf!"

First Mate Wolf: "Aye Aye sir!"

Wolf saluted and walked over to the control panel. Wolf hit a red switch causing flashing lights to shine and a siren to blare. Wolf grabbed a two-way radio microphone piece and hands it to Captain Silver.

Captain Silver: "Attention freighter! This is Captain Charlie Silver of the ChristianFlorissant's D.E.A.D. Task Force! You are hereby ordered to stop within ChristianFlorissant waters and be prepare to be board for inspection!"

OOC: Just a random fact for reference, a Marine Captain aboard a naval vessel is usually referred to as Major, though he retains the pay and authority of a Captain. By tradition a ship cannot have more than one Captain.

The Captain of the Wayfarer watched as the small force of ships moved his path and blared a siren.

He turned to his helmsman. " Dial her back to two knots Mr. Shores."

"Aye sir," came the crisp reply.

The Captain removed the mic from the wall and set the PA for Shipwide.

"Attenion all hands this is The Captain speaking. We are standing to to recieve boarders for a cursory search of our vessel. Cooperate with them and we'll soon be on our way. After all we have nothing to hide."

As the Wayfarer enters ChristianFlorissantian waters, Thing One and Thing Two engines roar to life. The deployable patrol boats race around the freighter, u-turn, and come up on either side of the Wayfarer's propeller. The RCFS Cat in the Hat pulls up on the Wayfarer's port side as both ships come to a complete stop. The tugboat pulls up on the freighter's starboard side.

{Time passes}

Captain Silver is standing on the deck of the Wayfarer followed by First Mate Wolf, three teams of drug dogs with handlers, and thirty marines led by Major Thomas. Captain Silver, First Mate Wolf, and Major Thomas have a holster on their left hip with a Desert Eagle Pistol. The Marines are all armed with M4 Carbines. Major Thomas is also holding an M4 Carbine. Captain Silver shakes hands with the Wayfarer's captain and first mate.

Captain Silver: "Welcome to ChristianFlorissant waters. I am Captain Silver. If you will direct us to the cargo hold we can get this inspection done and send you on your way.

First Mate Wolf: "Actually Captain, I would recommend that the First Mate lead you into the cargo hold while I go with the Captain to the ship's bridge. I will check the manifest to determine what this ship should be carrying.

Captain Silver looks to Wolf and nods.

Captain Silver: "Good idea, Mr. Wolf.

Captain Silver turns his head back to the ship's captain.

Captain Silver: "Captain, please led Mr. Wolf to the bridge. I will follow your First Mate to the cargo hold."

Captain Silver turns to face Major Thomas as Wolf and the Wayfarer's Captain to the bridge.

Captain Silver: "Major Thomas! I will be taking the dog teams and twelve of your men with me. Post three men at the top of the cargo hold stairs and two more at top of the stairs leading onto the ship. The rest of you can remain loose, but prepared for anything.

Major Thomas: "Sir, Yes Sir!

Major Thomas salutes and turns to give his men orders. Captain Silver's party moves towards the cargo hold.

~~
The captain of the Wayfarer walks into an empty bridge and walks across the room to get the manifest. Just as the captain reaches for the manifest he hears the door shut beyond him. The captain whirls around to see Wolf looking around nervously. First Mate Wolf then looks straight at the captain and says...

First Mate Wolf: " Captain, I am Alexander Wolf. I arranged to join my friend, Captain Silver, on this voyage for more than patriotic reasons. I am also here to represent your buyers, The Scorpions. Is the 'cargo' safe?"

The Captain merely glared at the CF officer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. We're carrying machine parts and scrap iron for delivery to the Odanis Pipe Factory. Unless their purchasing agents wear naval uniforms now, I'm afraid you are quite mistaken."

{Can I join in? If not, I will delete this post}

The AUM dealt with many drugs outside of Alfegos, and had found a very lucrative market out there in the indigenous drugs of Alfegos. They had heard of the new naval blockade on drug imports, so had decided another method had to be used.

A trading ship floated towards ChristianFlorissant. It was a Clipper-class ship, and was not the normal kind of trading vessel encountered outside of Nova region.

2000 metres up, the 720m long airship throbbed through the sky, four Hydrogen-powered jets forcing it through the sky. While the underslung bay carried 2000 tonnes of mixed goods containers, from rice to trainers and from fridges to lathes, the billowing gas bag hid a much more lucrative prize. For, though the crew of six men in the forward gondola aware, amongst the many underside struts and gas cells was stashed 20kg of pure cocaine, and 1kg of "Hyperspeed". Over 100 million Alfegan Aureus worth, much more on the street. The manufacturers would make a killing once this was sold. Literally, in the case of the latter drug.

The communications controller listened through a pair of wireless headphones to the radio traffic across both aviation bands and across naval bands: sometimes nations didn't know what to do with this kind of transport. They heard about the naval stopping, and hoped that that wouldn't happen to them. It was so dangerous trying to board from even a chopper while at these heights, let alone planes or even other airships... though the Alfegos AirFleet patrols had mastered midair boardings, during airship to airship warfare.

The Captain merely glared at the CF officer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. We're carrying machine parts and scrap iron for delivery to the Odanis Pipe Factory. Unless their purchasing agents wear naval uniforms now, I'm afraid you are quite mistaken."

Alexander Wolf gives the captain an expression of annoyance mixed with anger. Wolf understood the need for secrecy. After all, secrecy is what the Scorpions are all about. Secrecy is why Wolf had taken the job as First Mate of the Cat in the Hat with his old friend Charlie Silver. Wolf hated to work behind Captain Silver's back, but Wolf was a Scorpion and this was business. Wolf understood the importance of keeping a secret, but the man in front of him did not need to speak to Wolf with that attitude. Wolf points his left hand with four fingers forward and the thumb up.

First Mate Wolf: "Look pal, we don't got much time to talk here. Captain Silver thinks we are up here for the ship's manifest. So let's cut out the act. I am Alexander Wolf. I am first mate aboard the Cat in the Hat and a member of the Scorpions. The Scorpions arranged for a ship called the Wayfarer to leave Tolvan carrying a load of cocaine. The ship was to enter ChristianFlorissant waters at this point heading for the port of Odanis. I was told to meet the captain of the ship in question to exchange the cocaine for 10 million denarius. Now do you want to make the deal or not? This bridge is empty. If you do not want to make the deal then I will go back to my duties and let you find a new buyer by yourself. If you want to make a deal then tell me if the 'cargo' is safe and let me tell you the arrangement for the exchange. Take it or leave it. "

Alexander Wolf gives the captain an expression of annoyance mixed with anger. Wolf understood the need for secrecy. After all, secrecy is what the Scorpions are all about. Secrecy is why Wolf had taken the job as First Mate of the Cat in the Hat with his old friend Charlie Silver. Wolf hated to work behind Captain Silver's back, but Wolf was a Scorpion and this was business. Wolf understood the importance of keeping a secret, but the man in front of him did not need to speak to Wolf with that attitude. Wolf points his left hand with four fingers forward and the thumb up.

First Mate Wolf: "Look pal, we don't got much time to talk here. Captain Silver thinks we are up here for the ship's manifest. So let's cut out the act. I am Alexander Wolf. I am first mate aboard the Cat in the Hat and a member of the Scorpions. The Scorpions arranged for a ship called the Wayfarer to leave Tolvan carrying a load of cocaine. The ship was to enter ChristianFlorissant waters at this point heading for the port of Odanis. I was told to meet the captain of the ship in question to exchange the cocaine for 10 million denarius. Now do you want to make the deal or not? This bridge is empty. If you do not want to make the deal then I will go back to my duties and let you find a new buyer by yourself. If you want to make a deal then tell me if the 'cargo' is safe and let me tell you the arrangement for the exchange. Take it or leave it. "

S.S Wayfarer

Captain Takashi stared at Wold for a brief moment.

"I wasn't aware your organization had men in the military."

With that he whistled and two men emerged from the shadow of a stack of pallets. One of the men carried a large duffel bag and the other carried a M12 rifle. Neither man looked very personable.

"There you go. Fifteen keys of San Tejano coke and a key of Mexican Black heroin. Plus I threw in a couple hundreds pills of Ectasy as a bonus. Now about the money."

Capitalist Underground abandoned airfields:

Three airships, Clipper Class, carrying cheap coffee, marijuana grown locally at the air field, and cocaine, made from plants hidden in the field of weed.The drugs were stored in sterile vacuum sealed bags, and buried under cheap coffee. Combined, only a cop searching through 2000 tonnes would find anything, and even then would only turn up about a tonne of drugs.

They set a course for ChristianFlorissant. Meanwhile men on passenger planes took flights to the target cities, and stayed in tall hotel buildings.

One Day Later

The airships approached CF airspace...