NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=545412)

En Route to Vontanas

War. The events of the last several months in Kroando had been leading to this very thing. The Grand Stagnation that had cost billions their jobs, that had left millions freezing, that had left thousands dead... it would not be ended with 'better business practices', or foriegn investment, or loans. No. The Grand Stagnation would only be ended in one way. War. A nation would have to be defeated in battle, it's resources and wealth stolen, and the nation made into a farm. Vontanas had given Kroando that excuse with it arrogant demand for payment of minor debts, demands that Kroando transformed into a full economic assault. Though there were other nations, such as Vetalia, whom were more responsible for the devestation, only Vontanas had been so blatant and open about their hatred for Kroando. And now Kroando had a scape goat.

As the Grand Marshalls stood upon the decks of their massive Overlord SuperDreadnoughts, leading the vast majority of the Kroandon Military across the ocean, Lord Protector Malthus could not help but smile as he looked upon the multi-thousand vessel fleet now moving forward towards Vontanas. It was a fleet created for one purpose. To conquor the enemies of the Koalition. Never before had so many men and machines of war been put to one single task. Never before had Kroando needed anything as badly as it did this. They sought to destroy Vontanas, load their boats with everything they had, and send it home. They were to establish mines, camps, whatever was required to harvest Vontanas, and turn it into fuel, fuel to restart the Kroandon Economy.

Support Story to Invasion - READ FIRST (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=545285)

Kroandon Decleration of Economic Withdraw from Vontanas

In light of the horrible economic stagnation within Kroando's borders of Antarctika, the Koalition has deemed it necessary to enact the following measures in regards to the nation of Vontanas.

1. All Kroandon Funds invested in Vontanas, currently frozen, are to be transferred to Kroando effect of immidiately. We estimate our investment to be in the range of 2.3Trillion Dollars.

2. Vontanas is to restore previously agreed upon import tariffs, which lay at a subsidy of -15%, as was agreed upon at the conference held late last year.

3. Vontanas is to restore their agreed import quota from Kroando, which sits at 5.4Trillion USD's in goods per year.

4. Vontanas shall resume their promised sales price of iron ore and urnanium, twenty cents per kilogram for the former, one dollar per kilogram for the former. Kroandon Imports shall remain at 420Million Tonnes per month.

5. Vontanas is repay as of immidiately, the 1.4Trillion Dollar Loan made in early 2003, which has not been repaid in the least.

Signed,
Lord Protector of the Imperial Koalition, Malthus

ARMY

KroKore Legionnaire 4,300,000
KroKore Logistical Personel 12,000,000 [Reserves/Active]
The Koalitionist Guard 750,000 [Elites]
Multi-Use AvK-2 Steelfire Infantry Fire Platform 270,000
MBT - Kraken II 85,000
MBT - ID-57 Decimator 90,000
Artillery Support - 155mm Towed Guns 75,000
Artillery Support - 120mm Towed Guns 70,000
Artillery Support - 105mm Towed Guns 70,000
Artillery Support - N-LOS Mobile Artillery Support 10,000
Artillery Support - C-24 Big Gun 35,000
Artillery Support - VL-7 Demolisher 25,000
Artillery Support - LY300 Manticore Multiple Rocket System (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13036871&posted=1#post13036871) 25,000
Light Artillery - 88mm Mortars 920,000
Light Artillery - 122mm Mortars 200,000
AA Artillery - Bofors 40 mm gun L/70 45,000
AA Artillery - ZSU-23-4 20,000
AA Artillery - AD-4 Watchman (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12815587&postcount=4530) 2,000
Towed AA Weaponry - ZU-23-2 105,000
Mobile RADAR-LADAR Units 9,400
Mobile Missile Strike Unit - G-24 Striker 125,000
Logisitic and Infantry Support - HMMWV 350,000
Logisitic and Infantry Support - Large Supply/Transport Truck 1,010,000
Infantry Support - Puma IFV 70,000
Infantry Support - The Monteluci-VLTC M6: Military 4x4 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=536814) 80,000
Amphibious Assault - Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle 20,000
Amphibious Assault - MHAV-24 Horn 100,000

NAVY

Naval Forces - Visari Class Destroyer 3,100
Naval Forces - Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer 700
Naval Forces - Visby class corvette 400
Naval Forces - Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier 50
Naval Forces - Negotiator Class Cruiser 355
Naval Forces - Montana Class Battle Ships 5
Naval Forces - RADAR/SONAR/LADAR Detection Ships 52
Naval Forces - Tenerife SSBN 188
Naval Forces - Cadiz SSN's 110
Naval Forces - Fire Support Ships 180
Naval Forces - Large Invasionary Transports 1,100
Naval Forces - Wasp class amphibious assault ship 400
Naval Forces - SDC-4 Overlord Class Trimaran Super Dreadnaught (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10405348&postcount=2059) 13
Naval Forces - Tanker Class Missile Carrier45
Naval Forces - Supply/Logistical Ships 1,700

AIRFORCE

Aerial Forces - Halcon Stealth Fighter 4,700
Aerial Forces - F/A-18 1,000
Aerial Forces - A-10 Warthog 1,100
Aerial Forces - UH-60 Blackhawk 7,400
Aerial Forces - Apache Assault Helicopter 1,800

[I'm still about 4,000 miles away... this is a very, very preliminary war most. You have lots of time to prepare, attack, talk to allies, etc.

BTW, do you have a map?]

OOC: Just a few notes:
-Vantanas Proper is as depleted as Kroando itself, and is more of a trade centre then anything else. So you'd be better off invading my colonies.
-Vantanas Proper's economy is almost entirely industrial, along with service industries. Although there are a few vertical/subterranean farms here and there.
-If you're still going to invade Vantanas Proper, please avoid Ashen Province. It's been set off distinctly for LION.
-So, if you want to destroy me completely for the least amount of money/lives, and fuel your own economy, take the colonies and leave Vantanas Proper to suffer a fate just as hard as you.

As for the map, yes and no. I'm in the process of making a new one, as I just moved from Haven. Also, what loan? And that much in investments? And trade? That's a bunch of lies, to fuel the cause for war, right? This is actually good for me, I've been wanting to turn into a bunch of city-states for a while.

IC:

Empress Erika Redmark I was lowered into the casket, which was placed in the Royal Tomb. Meanwhile, outside, Barzahl II stood with a sword in hand. Screaming. The military budget was to be increased by twenty percent, five percent of the populace was to be in the military, every citizen was to own a firearm, no holidays until war's end, the weekend shortened to one day, more focus on military related industries, etc.

Official State Telegram:
To: Allies
From: Great Vantania
We request assistance. The Kroandan Menace is invading. Send troops to aid. Attack Kroando directly if you can. Destroy them. In God Almighty's name.

OOC: Sorry for crappy post.

Tag

The Imperator read the press release with a growing air of unease- Greater Vantania housed LION holdings! Faxanavian holdings! This would not do. Commands went out almost immediately to the collective forces already abroad. Those headed for Shredderstan came around, with a new target- Vantanas Proper. They would arrive to support the Vantanian forces in what no doubt would be an epic war. Already, the Faxanavian forces in Vantanas Proper were gearing up for war that was to come. A message went out to Great Vantania.

|Official Faxanavian Communique|
Faxanavian forces have heard your plea and are coming to your aid. Do not fear.

Respectfully yours,
Hephaestus Blackforge
Imperator

OOC: Forces in Vanatas Proper-
20 Naval Columns = 50,000 Men (Just infantry and officers-Not counting support)
35 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer
15 CVN-68 Nimitz-class
2 Galileo Class Supercarrier
24 CG-47 Ticonderoga Class Cruiser
24 DD-963 SPRUANCE Class Destroyer
10 Columns = 25,000 Men (Just infantry and officers-Not counting support)
250 M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank
250 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank
250 LY300 Manticore Multiple Rocket Systems

[Yes, all of the claims are well supported lies - my excuse to attack you. And I suppose I'll attack your colonies, I'll break up my big invasionary force into many more... how bout we do this one colony at a time for simplicity's sake, and just say it's happening at the same time? I guess we'll start with the first one, Gateway.]

300 Kilometers South of Gateway

Grand Marshal Velspar surveyed the fleet, it had been seven days since his portion of the fleet had broken off of the main invasionary fleet, which had been heading directly for Vontanas Proper. That depleted wasteland was simply a warmer version of Kroando, devoid of anything that the Kroandons may have needed. In the future the Kroandons may indeed still attack Vontanas Proper, only to pillage and raid, stealing scrap metal and whatnot... but for now, that was not a priority. Now taking the colonies was a priority. And so Grand Marshal Velspar stood upon the deck of the first Overlord SuperDreadnought, peering forward over the seas... to Gateway.

ARMY

KroKore Legionnaire 900,000
KroKore Logistical Personel 2,000,000 [Reserves/Active]
The Koalitionist Guard 60,000 [Elites]
Multi-Use AvK-2 Steelfire Infantry Fire Platform 10,000
MBT - Kraken II 15,000
MBT - ID-57 Decimator 20,000
Artillery Support - 155mm Towed Guns 25,000
Artillery Support - 120mm Towed Guns 10,000
Artillery Support - 105mm Towed Guns 10,000
Artillery Support - N-LOS Mobile Artillery Support 1,000
Artillery Support - C-24 Big Gun 5,000
Artillery Support - VL-7 Demolisher 5,000
Artillery Support - LY300 Manticore Multiple Rocket System (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13036871&posted=1#post13036871)5,000
Light Artillery - 88mm Mortars 100,000
Light Artillery - 122mm Mortars 20,000
AA Artillery - Bofors 40 mm gun L/70 5,000
AA Artillery - ZSU-23-4 2,000
AA Artillery - AD-4 Watchman (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12815587&postcount=4530) 1,000
Towed AA Weaponry - ZU-23-2 50,000
Mobile RADAR-LADAR Units 400
Mobile Missile Strike Unit - G-24 Striker 25,000
Logisitic and Infantry Support - HMMWV 90,000
Logisitic and Infantry Support - Large Supply/Transport Truck 200,000
Infantry Support - Puma IFV 20,000
Infantry Support - The Monteluci-VLTC M6: Military 4x4 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=536814)20,000
Amphibious Assault - Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle 2,000
Amphibious Assault - MHAV-24 Horn 20,000

NAVY

Naval Forces - Visari Class Destroyer 600
Naval Forces - Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer 100
Naval Forces - Visby class corvette 100
Naval Forces - Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier 12
Naval Forces - Negotiator Class Cruiser 12
Naval Forces - Montana Class Battle Ships 1
Naval Forces - RADAR/SONAR/LADAR Detection Ships 13
Naval Forces - Tenerife SSBN 11
Naval Forces - Cadiz SSN's 10
Naval Forces - Fire Support Ships 10
Naval Forces - Large Invasionary Transports 105
Naval Forces - Wasp class amphibious assault ship 40
Naval Forces - SDC-4 Overlord Class Trimaran Super Dreadnaught (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10405348&postcount=2059) 4
Naval Forces - Tanker Class Missile Carrier5
Naval Forces - Supply/Logistical Ships 300

AIRFORCE

Aerial Forces - Halcon Stealth Fighter 300
Aerial Forces - A-10 Warthog 700
Aerial Forces - UH-60 Blackhawk 800
Aerial Forces - Apache Assault Helicopter 400

[Basically this post is your chance to engage me navally before my landing.]

A radio transmission went out to Vantania from the inbound fleet.
"This is Faxanavian fleet, arriving to support the war effort. Permission to dock requested. Awaiting directions as to how to proceed. Over."

OOC: My contribution:

10 Army Divisions- 200,000 men( Infantry- not counting vehicle crews, logistics and C&C)
-2000x LY4 Wolfhound MBT -200 per division-50 per regiment
-10,000x M-77 Rattler UWV-1000 per division- 250 per regiment
-8,000x M-694 Field Artillery-800 per division-200 per regiment
-800x LY300 Manticore MLRS -80 per division-20 per regiment

Naval Forces
Navy
5x Thunder Hound class Superdreadnought
40x Ark Royal Class Carrier
120x Longarm class Arsenal ship
100x Type 32 AAW Destroyer
500xType 31 ASW Destroyer
200xType 29 Class General Purpose Destroyer
200x Type 27 Class AA Frigate
200x Admiral Class Strike Cruiser
100x Foxbury Class Assault Carrier
40x Battle Class Escort Carrier
50x Selom class battleship
100xHalcyon class Attack Submarine
80x Monitor Class Landing Ship Heavy

IC: Upon hearing that Kroando had declared war on its LION ally, Vantania the Binarian Emporer Ander Olson was outraged. "How dare those poor, filthly scumbags attack Vantania. I want the First Naval Battle Group and the Third and Fourth Armies deployed aswell." He sighed. 'I hope it won't be to late."

The Binarian Task force left Port Selom and was steaming to Vantania within a week of the Declaration of war and would arrive in 2 weeks.

OOC: I know its a short post but I will post a better one later.

(OOC: I can personally say I'm just landing there to coordinate my forces, then spread them across the colonies. Also, I'm MT.)

OOC: I am MT/PMT

IC:

Graecia and Airstrip One

The last transports set off from Graecia, filled with troops being sent to the East and West Indies respectively, leaving a small garrison fitting of the islands behind.

Vantanas Proper

All allied forces in Vantanas Proper were being distributed to the colonies, particularily the larger, more successful ones. There was still a sizable garrison in Vantanas Proper, but the Kroandan behavior had made it clear that this would be a war of economies, with Vantania's resource basket, her colonies, being the wager.

[Wait... the only things under your control there are the small little black islands? I was under the impression you controlled the entire thing. I don't think those small black dots would even be worth my effort... mind if I switch from Graecia to Airstrip One? Graecia is just to small/had no real resources of value for me to waste such a large force on. Also, I think we're all in the same tech range, late MT, pushing really early PMT.]

ooc: im going to get involved in this, dont have time for an IC post right now though... maybe in an hour or two.

ooc: Strictly MT here.

Kane read over the newest dispatch, this time from Vontanas. The week was going from bad to worse it seemed. Two members of LION attacked at almost the same time. He didn't believe this was a coincident, but didn't have proof otherwise. So, now he had to send more soldiers and seamen to war. He composed the orders himself, as it was the biggest mobilization yet in Orzi history. First off, 2 wings (ooc: 640) of F-36 Shrikes would be sent to begin the air war, hopefully helping tip it towards the allies side. More would of course follow, but that was a start.


ooc: Forces being mobilized

50,000 infantry already in Vontanas (LION contribution)
100 Abrams MBTs already in Vontanas (LION contribution)

Air
640 F-36 Shrikes
100 F-46 Razors
300 F-15E Strike Eagles
100 F/A-18E Super Hornets

Ground
10 Corps (405,000 infantry) [not including logistics]
8 Armored Brigades (layout in Factbook) [8000 vehicles total]

Naval
First Grand Fleet
4 Whirlwind Class Supercarrier
8 Nimitz Class carriers
10 Consortium Class Escort Carriers
20 Iowa class Battleships
60 Badger class AA destroyers
60 Ticonderoga class Cruisers
50 Los Angeles class subs
110 T-AFS 1 Mars-class replenishment ships


ooc: Fleet will be setting sail in one day's time (NS time) and reach Vantanian waters within three days.

The Faxanavian fleet, having received commands from Great Vantania and the homeland, rotated in their course. They would break up, and make for the The East and West Indies, Spire, and Naucratis, where they would await any Kroandon forces that might attempt an assault on these colonies. The LION forces stayed behind, ready to protect the Great Vantanian motherland.

Declaration of War
Esteemed nations of LION, it has come to our attention that the now desperate nation of Kroando is in the process of attacking the colonies of Vontanas. While we may have had our differences in the past (with vontanas), our nation now stands ready to help in the defence from the menace that is Kroando.

ooc: go to the ooc thread for the info on my troops

Gateway had long been a trade colony, profiting off of fees for ships going through the bay. Meanwhile, on the land, the large farms supplied the entire colonial population of Great Vantania. As the refugees and their escorts fled from the colony by sea, heading to Vantanas Proper, they weeped. For, as they looked back, they saw chemical fires raging through the farmscape. The final harvest had been gathered, and then everything burned, with chemicals making it expensive to restart the farms. Massive amounts of gravel were put into the mines, and the support structure was destroyed, Victory wasn't expected, but by no means would Vantanas lose.

On the shores of Gateway, pillboxes, foot-traps, mines, and czech hedgehogs littered the landscape. Artillery were set up further inland, capable of blasting away at invaders for several hours straight, and concrete bunkers littered the landscape, underground, hidden, and connected by a tunnel system. Meanwhile, at the seas, the coast guard had some two hundred frigates patrolling the coasts, as well as a mesh of metal to keep ships from getting to close to the seas.

In the open seas, the naval garrison had roused itself for a last stand against the Kroandans. A fleet of roughly five hundred battle ready ships, mostly carriers and submarines, plus the various support ships sailed proudly towards the Kroandans. On board the flag ship, the IVS Taxman there was a dangerous weapon, capable of doing serious damage to both Kroandan and Vantanian fleets, and was to be used as a last resort. It was a nuclear bomb, to be detonated only by the Admiral, that could do serious damage to both sides, and was only to be used as a last resort.

[Looks good. One thing I forgot to ask you however. I have found that generally, the use of nuclear weapons ruins RP's. I would like to ask that they not be permitted in the RP. This is of course up to you, but my policy regarding nukes is this. You use one nuke on my fleet, I use all my nukes to destroy your nation. I have a vast nuclear arsenal, one that I never want to use. Now weigh the options. I have no intention of conquoring Vontanas, just it's colonies. I have no intention of toppling your govt., destroying your military, or ruining your country. The damage I will cause in conventional warfare will be minimal compared to the armagedon I will unleash with the use of my nuclear weapons. Please, for both our sakes, lets agree on no nuclear weapons.]

Kroandon 8th, 7th, 12th Fleets

Naval Forces - Visari Class Destroyer 600
Naval Forces - Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer 100
Naval Forces - Visby class corvette 100
Naval Forces - Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier 12
Naval Forces - Negotiator Class Cruiser 12
Naval Forces - Montana Class Battle Ships 1
Naval Forces - RADAR/SONAR/LADAR Detection Ships 13
Naval Forces - Tenerife SSBN 11
Naval Forces - Cadiz SSN's 10
Naval Forces - Fire Support Ships 10
Naval Forces - Large Invasionary Transports 105
Naval Forces - Wasp class amphibious assault ship 40
Naval Forces - SDC-4 Overlord Class Trimaran SuperDreadnaught 4
Naval Forces - Tanker Class Missile Carrier 5
Naval Forces - Supply/Logistical Ships 300

The Battle For Gateway - Naval Encounter

"Grand Marshal, all units are reporting full readiness. All weapons systems are fully operational and ready to engage... all Commanders await your orders.", Lieutenant Vortz reported, standing at attention as he looked through the stack of papers in his hands, one file after another confirming battle readiness. The several hundred vessels of Velspar's Grand Fleet all sat still... eriely still in the waters, their vast array of weaponry directed at the Vontanian Naval Forces.

"What is the status of the Vontanian Forces? Do we have locations on them? Do we have locks on all hostile units?", Marshal Velspar questioned his subordinate, even though he already knew the answer. The Kroandon satellites so high up in the sky had not only locked the hundreds of surface carriers, frigates and support vessels with their RADAR and LADAR technology, they had also tracked down the submarines below the surface. Scanning the area with Blue-Green lasers, they picked up and targeted the Vontanian submarines, redirecting the locations and targets to the fleet.

The Grand Marshal smiled as the Lieutenant confirmed his question, and then he gave the word. "Total Destruction in Z-700.", responded the Grand Marshal. His order was simple to one fluent in Kroandon-Military Speak. In three and a half minutes, Attack Plan Z was to be executed. Attack Plan Z, the most used in Kroandon Naval Warfare, revolved around an overwhelming first strike, a massive missile spam directed at overwhelming enemy fire control systems, and inflicting massive casualties as quickly as possible. The enemy was never supposed to make it through three stages of combat.

"3...2...1... Fire.", the words were spoken in the mouths of every Captain and Admiral in the fleet as a massive volley of destruction was unleashed. It was 2:33 in the morning, darkness covered the seas. But daylight was not needed to destroy the enemy... RADAR waves would suffice. The first of many weapons fired came from the six hundred Visari Class Destroyers, the backbone of the Kroandon Fleet. The Visari Class Destroyer possessed twenty VLS Tubes, each in this case, being filled with Anti-Shipping Missiles. Six hundred Destroyers... each firing ten missiles over the span of two minutes. 6,000 Anti-Shipping Missiles from the destroyers alone. These missiles were targetted at the large number of Frigates, the Carriers, and whatever other support vessels were marked as hostile.

Then came the Tanker Class Missile Barrage Ships... the vessel which was ill-known outside of Kroando. The Tanker Class looked like an oversized oil tanker, and was often mistaken for one. In reality, it was a massive mobile missile platform. And that was made clear as each of the 5 fired 500 Anti-Shipping Missiles over the period of five minutes, 2,500 more missiles flying through the air at the various surface vessels of the Vontanian Fleet.

The night sky was as bright as it was at mid day, with the massive number of missiles in the air filling the sea with bright light. Not just any light, but a red, black and white burning light. The rocket fuel had trace amounts of colored chemical inserted into it, so that when the rockets streaked through the air, the colors of Kroando would be the last thing enemy sailors saw before they were consumed in flame. But this would not end so quickly. The submarine's still had to be taken care of... and that is why the Helicon Korporation designed the ASROC-7 Depth Terror. The system was simple. Strap a rocket onto a torpedo, fly it to where the enemy submarines were, let the torpedo drop in the water, and from there, the torpedo would home onto the target, and take it out. From across the fleet, over 300 ASROC-7 Torpedo-Rockets were fired, each at a designated submarine.

Grand Marshal Velspar stood staring at the radar screen, waiting for the blips that were enemy ships to disappear...

Meanwhile, simoltaneously, Admiral Jackson ordered a full scale barrage. The arsenal ships, located at the front of the fleet, along with the escorts in the center-front, sent a large wave of missiles at the Kroandons, 10,000 total. Meanwhile, the carriers at the center-back of the formation let their precious cargo fly, fifty airships, two hundred fighters, fifty hundred helicopters, and one hundred bombers. The support vessels, logistics, hospital ships, and the like, located in the rear noted the mass amount of missiles lighting up the sky from Kroando's ships, and swerved madly to avoid them, followed soon by the other ships. They were not all fortunate enought to survive, with five hundred of the seven hundred ships joining the submarines below the waves.

Meanwhile, the submarines were not yet aware of their fate, and continued on in a spearhead formation. The ships above had had enough time to give them coordinates, and they launched a single salvo of torpedoes, arming their second salvo as they noticed the torpedoes, tragically to late for many. The entire front line of the spearhead was destroyed, with the second line managing to either destroy the torpedoes with their own torpedoes, or getting lucky enough to have the torpedoes detonate upon hitting a large piece of debris.

The tattered remnants of the fleet continued forward, spreading out now to avoid a repeat of the carnage. Admiral Jackson stood at the bow, shaken but alive, like the fleet, and looked intently at the Kroandans, waiting for the roses of fire to start blossoming.

The Grand Admiral Vladimir II sat in his command center aboard the Kyan flagship, the SDC-4 Overlord class superdreadnought, dubbed the USN metal storm. From what he had heard Kroando used the same ships... except they had thirteen of them. The Admiral rubbed his temples, the situation looked bad. Despite his fierce sense of honor and pride, one of the traits most commony attributed to pure blooded Kyans, he felt like this wasnt their war. Sure he hated them, maybe even more than his troops, and they were currently in the midst of a rousing chorus of the popular Kyan folk song, "Malthus is dead, we chopped off his head!". However, he realized the reality of the situation. By the time their fleet arrived, the Vontanian fleet would likely by nothing but a burning pile of rubbish, and for them to engage in a direct battle with the Kroandan fleet without some sort of backup would be suicide, plain and simple. He did, however, have a battle plan.

They would engage in classic guerrilla warfare, they would never get close enough for the Kroandans to directly attack them. It was their only hope, because the Kroandan fleet outnumbered them at least 10 to 1. The Kroandans did not however, have a huge advantage in terms of aircraft. In fact they had no aircraft (I believe) whatsoever at Gateway. This would provide them with a huge advantage, a chance to attack without suffering the loss of capital ships. The Fleet would soon launch all the aircraft they had at their disposal, including a number of heavy bombers. They would also soon have the advantage of a beachead on Gateway, as the large Kyan transport ships were beginning to unload all sorts of heavy equipment onto the beaches. This would provide them with much additional air support, as they could currently only hold about 600-700 aircraft on the fleet itself.

Sumguaia, Office of the Hegemon:

Gen. Alexander Mcalpin slammed his fist down onto the Hegemon's desk. "Now is our chance to repay those Vantanian scum for thair repeated attacks against the Holy Empire! We must aid the Kroandans in their attack!"

Lord Sumguy looked amused at the General's show of emotion. "So we are to allow grudges and our personal feelings towards a nation to dictate our foreign policy now?"

"No sir..what i meant was.." Mcalpin started to reply, before he was cut off by the Foreign Minister, Dr. Frank Booker.

"The Kroandans are motivated by one purpose only here, conquest and destruction. It is our moral duty not to support them, but do all that we can to ensure their failure, for the good of the Vantanian people and our relations with Greater Vantania."

"Do you remember what happened the last time we acted for the good of the Vantanian people, Frank?" The Hegemon asked. "We were used by the leader of the rebels to grab power for herself and set up a monarchy. She may be dead, but the current Vantanian government would just twist our efforts to it's own ends once more." He sighed, and continued. "No, the Holy Empire and the Hegemony will remain neutral for the time being, offering humanitarian aid to the Vantanian populous. If the Kroandans should commit war crimes or act in a particularly destructive manner towards Vantanian civilians, that may change. For now, we wait, and observe."

"As you command, sir." Dr. Booker said, and walked out of the room. Gen. Mcalpin saluted and followed him out.

Battle for Gateway

If there was one difference between the Vontanian Fleet and the Kroandon Fleet, it would have to be their preparation for modern naval warfare. As blip after blip dissapeared from the RADAR screen, indicating sinking enemy vessels, Grand Marshal Velspar could only smile. The Vontanian's fired a number of Anti-Shipping Missiles greater than that the Kroandon's had, expecting to inflict a killer blow to the Grand Fleet. The Kroandons had fought in countless naval encounters acrosst he globe, and had learned, the hard way, how to combat enemy missile spams. A womans mechanical voice came alive over the intercom... "Battle Control System Activated... Counter-Spam Initiative Live..."

The fleet was controlled, on a sub-concious level, by the Helicon Battle Control System. The large computer system that directed and coordinated all Kroandon attacks and defenses, maximizing cooperation and response time. The Kroandon response was quick, as only a few minutes would be provided before the Vontanian Anti-Shipping Missiles closed in on their targets. However if the Kroandon's had anything to do with it... death would be on a far smaller scale than what the Vontanians had expirienced.

On each of the four SDC-4 Overlord SuperDreadnoughts, sixty Hellfire Missile Platforms turned to face the coming wave of Vontanian Missiles. In each of the sixty pods, were ten Anti-Missile Missiles. These missiles were missiles designed to lock onto Anti-Shipping Missiles, and blow them out of the air before they reached their targets. Six hundred per ship... 2,400 between the four ships. However this was but a part. Each of the 600 Visari Class Destroyers was equipped with two SDCI Missile Pods. The SDCI Missile being a highly advanced Anti-Missile Missile [which doubled as an AA Missile in general]. The SDCI Missile Pod held six missiles... which meant 12 missiles on each destroyer, another 6,000 missiles filled the air, streaming with those from the SuperDreadnoughts towards the enemy fleet. [Still 1,200 missiles to be fired from the SDCI's] Then came the Tanker Classes, and their massive arrays of SDCI Pods, from which an additional 2,000 missiles were fired, all of course, directly at the enemy wave of Anti-Shipping Missiles. And finally came an additional 200 SDCI's and other various AA Missiles from the other support vessels and cruisers in the area.

In all, 10,600 Kroandon Anti-Missile Missiles were fired at the 10,000 Vontanian Anti-Shipping Missiles. Needless to say, few of the enemy missiles made it through. 107 to be exact. Those 107 however, were not guaranteed hits, as they still had to make it through the wall of lead presented by the hundreds of CIWS Guns aboard the Kroandon Fleet. A total of 42 missiles hit their marks. 10 hit a SDC-4 Overlord SuperDreadnought, scaring it's ridiculously thick armor, and killing a number of crewmen. The remaining 32 destroyed 30 Visari Class Destroyers, damaging two others.

The Vontanians were clearly desperate, as they were firing their torpedo's from a range exceeding that of any known torpedo. [We're at least 250km's apart... longest ranged torpedo around is ~90kms]

The next problem however, came in the form of the massive aerial armada heading towards the Kroandons. LACI Long-Range Interceptor Missiles would be the first response. From the Tanker Class Missile Barrage Ships came over 1,100 of these missiles, each locked onto their targets with RADAR/LADAR confirmation. The next wave of LACI's came from the Visari Destroyers, 400 more. And then came the SDCI's. Once the enemy aircraft made it within 50km's, over 1,000 more SDCI Missiles were waiting to intercept the enemy... walls of missiles. Walls of them stood between the Kroandon fleet and the Vontanian Counter Offensive. There were roses of fire... they were just occuring in the middle of the ocean, rather than upon the vessels.

However this could not simply be left alone. The killer blow was still eluding the Kroandons. But not for long. 3,500 more, Anti-Shipping Missiles, fired upon the enemy fleet. 200 more ASROC-7 Depth Terror Rocket-Torpedos.

[I do have aerial forces, they are located upon by carriers.

Aerial Forces - Halcon Stealth Fighter 300
Aerial Forces - A-10 Warthog 700
Aerial Forces - UH-60 Blackhawk 800
Aerial Forces - Apache Assault Helicopter 400 ]

Casualty Report
x22 Visari Class Destroyers - SUNK
x8 Arliegh Burke Class Destroyers - SUNK
x2 Visari Class Destroyers - Heavily Damaged
x5 Logistical Ships - Heavily Damaged
x1 SDC-4 Overlord Class SuperDreadnought - Light Hull Damage

Finally ready, the Orzi forces had assembled quickly enough, putting to sea an hour ahead of schedule, making best speed towards the Vantian colonies where the battle raged, according to the latest dispatches. Adm. Kane, while wanting to personally command the fleet, had been disuaded by his XO, and instead was flying in (with escort) towards the LION HQ, from where he could coordinate responses to the Kroandan invasion. Instead, in command of the fleet was Rear Adm. Tony Valentine. He was a capable commander, one trusted enough by Kane to lead the fleet into such a dangerous situation.

As Kane neared LION HQ, he radioed ahead. He wanted up to the minute reports on the battle, as well as the following message sent to all nations flying under or in support of the LION flag.


To All Nations Coming in Support of the Vontanian People,
This is Adm. Kane. It is my intention to take command of all LION forces
and to coordinate LION's response to Kroando. Orzi forces will
be in the area in one day's time, and I've been notified of many more forces
ready to enter battle. Timing is key; we must stand together to face
this threat. Send receipt responses on this channel only.

We would like to send in our military hospital ships in the region to deal with the casualties and to perform search and rescue of fallen seamen. We will escort our naval ships with our warships of comparable quality as what we have heard from the two antagonists. We will open fire upon those who accidentally open fire on us in "friendly fire" incidents. Wounded and rescued personnel will be returned to the appropriate countries of origin ASAP which means, after the hostilities have ended. We will not risk the lives of those rescued by placing them in the middle of a warzone.

Alternatively, we could send the personnel to a non-fighting nation with friendly relations to the home of the rescued seamen.

We are also considering lending money to some of the countries at war, if the terms are acceptable. One needs money to sustain a war and we can provide a reasonable sum to one of the two sides. We will use a form of Dutch Auction to determine who will be the first to accept our terms.

What say you?

It was time, the first attack would come. It would not, however, be large or conspicuous. At 600 Miles from the Kroandan fleet, the fleet had come to a dead stop, preparing for their first strike. This strike would come in the form of 10 B-54 Night falcons, 5 launched from the SDC-4 Overlord, and 5 launched from the colony of Gateway. The B-54 attack, however, would be covered by 300 F-16's. The planes would head out at a speed of Mach 1.2, and upon reaching the fleet the F-16's would attack, creating a diversion so the B-54's could unload their payload of precision bombs upon the enemy superdreadnoughts. The B-54's would normally travel at 100,000 feet above sea level, but to avoid detection they would travel within the cloud of 300 F-16 Fighting Falcons at an altitude of 50,000 feet.

As the planes began nearing the enemy fleet, every breath upon every plane in the attack wave was held. What would happen next?

OOC: Is the local ocean you guys are fighting in deep enough that the radar doesn't reach all the way to the seabed?

[@Shansekia. I'd assume it's at least a kilometer or so deep, so ya, probably. SONAR however...]

Battle for Gateway

"Admiral... look at these RADAR Signatures.", a RADAR operator called out to his Commander as the screen was literally filled with blipping red dots. The Admiral quickly walked over... there were over 300 unidentified aircraft heading at them at approximatly Mach 1.2. Kroando had no allies in this war. It had many enemies... but no allies. Thus it was concluded rather quickly, that the aircraft, were enemies. They were still some 500 miles out, far enough to allow the Kroandon's to encounter them, aerially first, and then navally.

Sirens blared as Halcon Stealth Fighter Jets pulled off into the air within ten minutes, there were fifty flying around the fleet. However the first ten were the most important, as they were the ones who would engage the enemy aircraft. These ten flew low... very low, only a few thousand feet from sea level. This factored into their extremely stealth nature [see profile in Kro-Tech], they were a force to be reckoned with. Why only ten? Because in any greater number, even the small radar signatures would be obvious. The Halcons moved quickly and silently, right at the enemy... coming within 40 miles of them while they were still 400 miles from the Kroandon Fleet.

The first shots fired between Logan and Ky, and the Koaliton would be in the form of fourty Air-to-Air Flyswatter Missiles, fired at the lead F-16's.

ooc: I've just got one issue with your last post, its that if the Halcons traveled even at their top speed of mach 2, they would not be able to reach 40 miles from my planes until they were about 320-330 miles or so from your ships, anyways i'll just rp it that way unless you object.

IC:

The lead 50 or so F-16's, upon the launch of the Flyswatter missiles, immediately took evasive maneuvers in an attempt to get out of their range. All in all though, the planes couldnt quite get out of range, and a staggering 23 were shot down, with 8 damaged from near-miss explosions. The remaining F-16's then closed to a distance of 20 miles and launched a total of 400 AIM-120 AMRAAM air to air missiles. Once the targets were confirmed destroyed, the planes would accelerate to Mach 1.5 (the B-54's max speed) to avoid another wave of Halcons. It was, perhaps, overkill, but Kyans arent known for taking chances. The Admiral couldnt help thinking, however, that they should have at least sent F-22's. F-16's were much cheaper though, and they couldnt afford to lose large numbers of F-22's so early in the conflict.

OOC: Logan and Ky, let me handle him. RL tech is so outdated in MT NS, its like throwing a ME-262 against the F-22.

[Ya, I didn't do the math, my number was a guess. Lets just go with 320-330.]

Battle for Gateway - Logan and Ky

"Eject.", were the first words uttered by the ten Halcon Pilots as the tiny little LADAR blips representing Air-to-Air Missiles filled their screen. Fourty missiles fired at each target? Kroandons were known for beating dead horses, but these people... Seconds before the missiles impacted their aircraft, each and every pilot was floating down into the sea, their red, black and white parachutes dropping off a flashing radar beacon as they did so. The helpless pilots could only watch as the vast number of missiles collided with their aircraft as they plunged into the sea...

K.K.S Overga

"Grand Marshal, the aircraft detachment to the south reports being shot down in full... survivors floating in the ocean.", reported Lieutenant Vortz as he approached the Grand Marshal, reading over a recently printed file. Velspar turned and looked at the man, asking with his eyes the question he really wanted answered. The Lieutenant paused for a second, rereading the file, "And uh... 23 confirmed enemy shot down."

"Twenty three shot down? Do you know what that means Lieutenant?", questioned the Grand Marshal, turning to face the officer. The Lieutenant stared blankly, shaking his head 'No'. "It means Lieutenant, that if you ever want to make Colonel, you better order a full scale LACI Barrage, because there are still over 250 enemy aircraft headed right for us!", roared the Marshal as spit flew from his mouth.

And then the fleet shook once again. The Tanker Class Missile Barrage ships, holding the majority of the Kroandon Long Range Anti-Air Arsenal, unleashed some fourty to fifty LACI Long Range Interceptor Missiles upon the approaching enemy, while they were still roughly 250 miles out. 250 LACI's from the Tankers were soon coupled with 70 more from the Visari Class Destroyers, and 30 various AA Missiles from the Arliegh Burke's. That put 350 Missiles into the air, each targeting a seperate aircraft [many aircraft being tracked by two missiles]. And though the F-16's may have occasionally been capable of avoiding such missiles... if there happened to be any bombers in that mass of aircraft...

All SDCI Missile Pods were online and ready. When... if the enemy came within 50 miles... all hell would be let loose.

Casualty Report
x10 Halcon Stealth Fighters - Shot Down - Pilots Ejected

ooc: First of all, talk about this on the ooc thread. Second of all thats not necassarily true. I use only partially real tech anyways, and the F-16's in this fight are just cannon fodder so that my B-54's can get to his fleet without being shot out of the sky. Also if you'll please actually look to the stats of the F-16, it should become clear to you that the difference is actually not that great, mainly being the Halcons stealth systems and their more advanced offensive and defensive missiles. Anyways none of these things really come in handy when youre outnumbered 8 to 1 in a dogfight.

ooc: I may have misunderstood you Kroando, I was under the impression that all 50 Halcons were within 40 miles of my F-16's, not 10. Even I wouldnt have shot 40 missiles at each plane...

IC:

The F-16 pilots watched in glee as the Kroandan fighters were blown out the sky. They werent so happy watching the pilots eject, however. These soldiers were hungry for blood.

The pilots then soon became aware of the presence of a large number of interceptor missiles coming from the Kroandan fleet. The Pilots couldnt help but chuckle at the fact that these missiles traveled at less than half their speed, how could the Kroandans honestly expect them to hit their mark. The B-54's were a different story, however. They could also travel much faster than these missiles, but had none of the maneuvering abilities of the F-16's. So in order to avoid being shot down, the B-54's soared well above the clouds to a height of 85,000 feet (above the ceiling height of the LACI's), while still being directly above the F-16's to avoid being detected on RADAR.

The F-16's came close to the LACI's at a distance of 100 miles from the Kroandan fleet. They easily evaded the missiles, which apparently werent even intended for aircraft. However some of the 30 AA missiles hit their mark.
All in all 12 F-16's were shot down, still leaving 265 F-16's and the 10 B-54's. Which were now closing rapidly on the Kroandan fleet.

[Note to self... increase ceiling and speed.]

Battle for Gateway

At seventy miles, the F-16's would encounter the remainder of the Halcon's, 40 of which had been patrolling the area for quite some time. The Halcons each carried nine "Flyswatter" CD/33 Air-to-Air Missiles, which boasted a range in excess of 50 miles, and now they had their targets. Three of the Halcons had their targets identified at roughly 85,000 feet. And while their ceiling was in the area of 65,000, their missiles had no such limit. Clearly identified by their massive RADAR signatures so high in the sky, separated from the back [even if only for a while], there were bombers in this attack force.

Of the fourty Halcons, the first three fired 24 Flyswatter CD/33 Air-to-Air Missiles at the ten bombers. The remaining twenty seven Halcons, all quickly taking up attacking positions, unleashed roughly 210 missiles at the cloud of F-16's that was fast approaching the fleet. The SDCI-Pods on the ground ceased their rotations. All were directed at the enemy air armada... only a few more miles now...

ooc: You seem to be having some trouble with math here. 3 fighters with 6 flyswatter missiles each would only be able to fire 18 missiles, not 24.

IC:

The 10 B-54's released their DAC's as soon as the 18 flyswatter missiles got near their position. This effictively disabled their ability to distinguish between the DAC's and the B-54's, so 10 slammed into the DAC's. Normally the DAC's would also jam the enemy radar, making the missiles incapable of homing into the ships. However these ships seemed to use something other than radar, and as such the noise jamming only partially worked. 6 Missiles found their mark. The remaining 4 B-54's then descended to be immersed in the F-16's again, which seemed to be more safe than attempting to stay above missile ceiling height.

The F-16 pilots immediately each launched 2 AMRAAM missiles each in response to the incoming 40 Halcon fighters and their 210 incoming missiles. The total AMRAAM missiles launched totaled over 500, 250 were targeted at the Halcons (over 5 for each one) and the remaining 250 were intended to intercept the missiles headed their way while the F-16's took evasive action. A total of 84 Flyswatters hit their target, leaving 186 F-16's.

Total casualty report:
6 B-54's Destroyed
84 F-16's Destroyed
47 pilots KIA

[Yes, but each Halcon is armed with 9 AA Missiles, not 6. Though the standard missile set up for the Halcon is 6/6/3, when fighting on sea it is 9/3/3 [no land based targets]. I did mention that in the bottom of my write up on the Halcon. So I would have been able to fire 27... I only fired 24.]

Battle for Gateway

The Halcon's frantically returned fire at the enemy AA-Missiles, 120 SDCI-3 Anti-Missile Missiles streaming towards the enemy, knocking down around ninety. As the Pilots saw their comrades turn into balls of fire, they ceased their evasive manuvers, stopped the chaff and flares, and simply fired back the last few Flyswatters they carried. As the last twenty missiles flew towards the F-16's, the last of the Halcons either were blown away or crashed into the ocean.

However what came next would, in the minds of the Kroandons, end the battle there and now. The bombers and their F-16 escorts had come into range of the SDCI Shield. And scores of SDCI Pods throughout the fleet opened up. Destroyers, cruisers, Tankers... all unleashed an ungodly number of SDCI-Interceptor Missiles upon the approaching enemy. Over 550 Anti-Aircraft Missiles shot off at supersonic speeds, designed to be able to knock down anything within their relatively limited range of 40miles. Their ceilings were designed to knock down bombers, their speeds to chase fighters, their agility to knock down anti-shipping missiles. The wave of missiles was vast, and as the F-16's had already fired a a number of AMRAAMs, it was unlikely they'd be able to absorb the vast swarm of SDCI's now heading at them.

And should the enemy aircraft unleash their missiles from 40 miles out... there were still 250 SDCI's ready to fire... ready to intercept any enemy Anti-Shipping Missiles that may come their way.

Casualty Report
x22 Visari Class Destroyers - SUNK [V]
x8 Arliegh Burke Class Destroyers - SUNK [V]
x2 Visari Class Destroyers - Heavily Damaged [V]
x5 Logistical Ships - Heavily Damaged [V]
x1 SDC-4 Overlord Class SuperDreadnought - Light Hull Damage [V]
x50 Halcon Stealth Fighters - Destroyed [LK]

The F-16 pilots each desperately fired off their remaining missiles. 4 AGM 119-penquin anti-ship missiles aimed at the Tanker Class Missile Barrage ships fired from each of the F-16's, totaling over 600 missiles all together. They then each fired the last of their AMRAAM's, of which there was a little less that 400 left between the 150 or so remaining Planes. The AMRAAMs had a very low hit percentage, however. Only 25% or so actually connected with their targets, which allowed a still huge number of anti-air missiles to get through. Nearly every single F-16 went down in flames, with the exception of a lucky 3 that somehow managed to escape the barrage of missiles, before making a hasty retreat. They could only hope that those penquin missiles could overwhelm the Kroandans already strained defence systems.

The B-54's, upon the launch of the missiles, made another hasty decision to fly back up to the altititude of 100,000 feet, therefore nearly 20 miles above the sea. This would allow the B-54's to get in closer before the Kroandan missiles could reach their ships. Around 10 miles from the fleet the missiles began catching up. At 5 miles they were right on the tale of the B-54's, who were pushing their maximum speed limit in a vain attempt to outrun the missiles. At 2 miles the missiles connected with one B-54, then another, until only one was left. Finally it managed to release most of its payload of precision bombs before being overtaken by 3 of the anti-air missiles.

Total casualties (for everything thats happened so far):
297 F-16 Fighting Falcons
10 B-54 Night Falcons

Vantanas had long boasted having one of the best aerokratos in the world. So, it was no surprise that while the missiles below destroyed the ships, with the exception of the flagship, the pilots deployed a series of tricks to shake the missiles. First, the classic late turn away, diving towards the sinking ships below, turning away while the missile hits the ship. Second, the popular decoy tactic, releasing a decoy that would then hit the missile and explode. Still though, the Kroandons did have the pleasure of watching seventy-three shooting stars zip across the sky briefly, and ten monstrous explosions of an airship.

Undeterred now, the aerofleet quickly darted towards the Kroandons, and as the airships got into range unleashed hell. From the airships, a variety of missiles, all quite powerful, flew towards the foe. The helicopters formed a defensive semicircle around the airships, while fighters escorted bombers as they moved to bombard the Kroandon ships, particularily the ones already damaged.

The submarines, on the other hand, continued in a U formation towards the Kroandons, waiting to get in range, fearful that they would not.

OOC: Remember that nuclear bomb I mentioned earlier? Perhaps it could be an EMP instead?

[@Vontanas. Sure, but my ships are EMP hardened... so it would basically just make all your aircraft crash, fry a few of my guys cell phones, and not much else.

Also, what of all the ASROC Torpedos and Anti-Shipping Missiles I fired at your remaining fleet?]

Battle of Gateway - Vontanian Attack

As before the sky lit up with SDCI-Interceptor Missiles, thousands of them across the fleet, striking down hundreds of enemy missiles in clouds of red, black and white fire as the Vontanian Aircraft unleashed swaths of missiles upon the Kroandon Armada. The SDCI Missile, and extremely accurate, supersonic, agile, mobile missile, was designed for shooting down extremely quick aircraft, and the varient employed here, for shooting down Anti-Shipping Missiles. Some 240 enemy missiles survived the last SDCI wave, 80 further making it through the wall of CIWS Guns than spewed lead into the air faster than one could blink. Ten Arliegh Burkes were destroyed. Fourty Visari Class Destroyers sank to the depths, twelve more took heavy damage, four hit the Overga [Dread], six hit the Varcon [Dread], and eight hit the Honvorg [Dread], each taking light damage. The Varcon, which had taken over a dozen such hits, was still structurally sound, simply suffering from several tears and blackened scars on the armor.

But now the enemy aerial strike force would have to deal with a wave of Anti-Aircraft Missiles that would fill the sky with fire. Beneath the waves, Tenerife Attack Subs fired roughly 200 Praetorian Anti-Aircraft Missiles from their VLS Tubes. The Tankers unleashed a total of 600 SDCI Missiles. The Visari's another volley of 600. The Dreadnoughts firing 600 various Anti-Aircraft Missiles. And another 600 from the Cruisers, Support Ships, Carriers, and other light vessels. Two thousand missiles. These missiles were not ancient things guided by semi-active RADAR. These missiles targeted their marks with a RADAR/LADAR/IR Tracking System... and were very, very hard to shake, trick or fool. Especially for bombers and helicopters, which had limited mobility to begin with.

The still floating Vontanian vessels, along with the submarines, were sent a present. 250 Anti-Shipping Missiles. 300 ASROC Torpedo-Rockets.

Logan and Ky Aerial Strike

The two hundred and fifty perimeter SDCI Missiles fired off, knocking out a large number of the Anti-Shipping Missiles which were apperantly, all heading for the Tanker's, which, due to their vulnerability and immense value, were positioned in the center of the fleet. This meant that the enemy missiles would have to fly by hundreds of CIWS Guns positioned on destroyers. Of the 600, 230 were downed by SDCI's. 170 more by the CIWS Guns that covered the sea for miles. The two hundred that sped towards their marks, faced on each vessel, fourty more CIWS Guns, and 12 LM Rocket Pods. The Pods, using the Helicon Battle Control System, fired off at the last possible minute, spewing hundreds of rockets into the coming horde of enemy missiles. The CIWS guns likewise fired away. In the end, sixty missiles hit their marks, fourty of which would bring down a Tanker.

The gaping holes in the hull allowed water to pour on in massive amounts, but quickly the flooding areas were sealed, buying time. Logistical and support vessels swarmed the area, trying to keep the Tanker afloat for as long as possible. Thousands of men were now working frantically to unload the vast array of missiles carried by the Tankers, saving billions in armaments from the depths. The ship would not sink for 18 hours, in which time, over 12,000 missiles were taken off the ship, as were the SDCI Pods, CIWS Guns and massive amounts of supplies and arms. One other Tanker was heavily damaged, but would survive, the other three lightly damaged with slight external tears in their armor.

The precision bombs dropped from the bomber further damaged one of the massive Tankers, blowing chunks of the deck apart, and ruining hundreds of VLS tubes. Luckily, they were empty, having just fired their payloads at the Vontanian Fleet.

Casualty Report
x62 Visari Class Destroyers - SUNK [V]
x18 Arliegh Burke Class Destroyers - SUNK [V]
x14 Visari Class Destroyers - Heavily Damaged [V]
x5 Logistical Ships - Heavily Damaged [V]
x3 SDC-4 Overlord Class SuperDreadnought - Light Hull Damage [V]
x50 Halcon Stealth Fighters - Destroyed [LK]
x1 Tanker Class Missile Barrage Ship - SUNK [LK]
x3 Support Vessels - SUNK
x3 Tanker Class Missile Barrage Ship - Light to Moderate Hull Damage - One With Deck Damage[LK]

The submarines arrived at the very edge of their torpedoes ranges, and let loose with everything they had, which wasn't much given the short frame of time they had to fire. Moments later, missiles rained upon them and destroyed the single surface ship completely. Survivors from the ships were soon died from exhaustion and drowning, as all of the debris was a maze of flames on a cold, harsh sea.

Above the Kroandons, meanwhile, it was hell. The sheer magnitude of missiles coming upwards at the Vantanians guaranteed a quick death. As a parting gift, the bombers let loose with everything they could on the Tankers, some five air-to-ground missiles each. Almost all of the jets above the Kroandons were destroyed. However, four fighters managed to squeeze through by a combination of twists and turns, the sheer amount of metal in such a small area, and insane amounts of luck. These fighters dove straight down at Mach 2, guns ablazing and missiles all fired, in a kamikaze attack, crashing into Kroandons, one missing and sinking into the ocean.

Meanwhile, in the skies over the burning debris that was the Vantanian fleet, the airships continued their firing undettered. A lot of of missiles were caught by the fighters and bombers, and their resulting explosions, and the rest were caught by the actions of the helicopter guard. The helicopters, poor men, had fired at the incoming missiles bravely, finally taking their lives to protect the important airships. The airships had thick armor, but they knew it was inevitable at this point. The Battle of the Burning Waters was nearing it's end.

After the success of the F-16's on the Kroandan ships compared to that of the B-54's, the Admiral decided that an overwhelming F-16 attack was in order. This attack was to be combined with a number of F-22's which would provide protection from any Kroandan planes that managed to get in the air. All in all 1,000 F-16's launched from the ground, with an additional 200 f-22's flying alongside. They had 300 KM to go from Gateway, but at Mach 2 it wouldnt take them very long. They intented to get to fleet and overwhelm them before they had a chance to recover from the Vontanian attack.

As the 1,000 F-16's neared their target, they released a total of 4,000 AGM-119 Penquin anti-ship missiles, which were aimed at a huge variety of Kroandan ships. (Im assuming that you couldnt send out Halcons because youre being attacked by Vontanas, it wouldnt have made a huge difference anyways).

The Binarian Battle Group was nearing Vantania Proper when it got word of the attack on Vontanian forces near Gateway. Admiral James Enderson was On board the Thunderhound II stood in his quarters with his XO; Jalton Swanson. "Kroandon Forces are attacking Vontanian Naval forces here." James said while pointing to a spot near Gateway. "Divert the Second, and Third Fleets minus their troop transports. When they close to seven-thousand-five-hundred kilometers, have their arsenal ships open fire with a salvo of Khans aimed at their Carriers, Battleships, and Superdreadnaughts."

OOC:Khan Stats (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11984706&postcount=1674) I gotta eat, I'll either edit the rest in, or post it as a new post.

ooc: Woot! 200th post!


The Orzi fleet was right behind the Binarian Battle Group, heading towards Vantania Proper on the way towards Gateway. There was a CAP up now, a little reinforced compared to usual, meaning that 3 AWACs birds were up with 3 F-25 SeaHawks as escort each. They formed a triangle perimeter, able to see hundreds of miles in every direction from the Orzi fleet. After a short break to load up the Orzi commitments to the RFF onto the supply ships, the fleet took off again towards Gateway, intending to join in the fight. Dispatches showed the Kroandans taking several hits, though the returns for them were not always equal. Kane hoped that his carriers could help tip the fight more towards their side, especially the newly commisioned SeaHawks.

The Faxanavians, who had already taken up position in three colonies, deployed forces from one of the tiny isles to move towards Gateway. Several carriers, their support, and close to 300 planes would mobilize towards Gateway, coming in behind the fleets of Orzio and Binaria. The ships clipped across the waters, a support group of several AF-17 Mudhens crusing above.

OOC: Part 2 will be edited into this post. I just don't feel motovated right now.

The Admiral was pissed, "Quick full military speed ahead we are missing the damn war! Commodore, report the latest."

"Well the Battle for Gateway and also the Battle of Gateway - Vontanian Attack have many reported casualties and we are still approximately 8 hours away to rescue those brave seamen." replied the Commodore in the strategy room of the flagship.

"When those people decide to go to war, they definitely don't play the diplomatic brinkmanship game huh admiral?", asked one of the Admiral's political observer.

The Admiral hissed, "they could at least have waited long enough for our rescue ships to be deployed, such a loss of life for nothing, those poor sailors and airmen could have had more glorious fight in them instead of dying slowly on an ocean. We must rescue those soldiers so that they fight another day for their country."

The fleet of ShogunKhan's ships were heading straight into the battlezone with glee. Some of the sailors hoped that accidental friendly fire would hit them so that they could die bravely and reach paradise with the drinking and the women, oh the women! All beautiful and all willing! Others were more willing to give this honor to their friendly opponents first and that they would join their opponents there a little later, thank you very much.

OOC: Before I take over all Lion forces in this theater, I have a few questions.

@Logan and Ky: What are the B-54s bomb bays loaded with?

@ShogunKhan: I'll restate this ICly later, but any rescued sailors are to be turned over to LION forces regardless if they are friendly or not. Refusal will meet with your forces being attacked.

OOC: Before I take over all Lion forces in this theater, I have a few questions.

@Logan and Ky: What are the B-54s bomb bays loaded with?

@ShogunKhan: I'll restate this ICly later, but any rescued sailors are to be turned over to LION forces regardless if they are friendly or not. Refusal will meet with your forces being attacked.

LION is based upon a common respect of the sea, we are fulfilling the preamble in spirit by protecting all seamen, we should be congratulated and assisted in this task to keep them all protected.

Section 1 of your military pact states that you are a defensive pact, we are rescuing seamen of your alliance which are to be returned to their respective homelands when it is safe, if their homeland comes to collect them then we release them but we do not want to risk their lives while transporting them into a warzone. We are neutral in this conflict and have not attacked anyone. We are offering the same service to others because we are not taking sides. Because we are neutral, your demands for our compliance is illegal based upon the rules of your own treaty.

Also, we are not in the habit of treating our rescued guests as future prisoners for the opposing side, if we did this for you then we would be doing this for others and our neutrality would be violated. Follow the rules of your own alliance and leave us in our neutrality, otherwise everyone will know that your so called defensive alliance is but an illusion and bigger alliances than both of ours put together will come down and thump yours for being an aggressor. We assume that you will follow your own rules and even assist us or escort us because although we are not members, we are following the spirit of your preamble.

Should you prove us wrong, we will defend all rescued seamen (including your own) as if they were our own children and we will face death with the utmost glory and joy!!!

OOC--> am i missing something here? or is this bordering upon the ridiculous? In WW1 before the Americans even got involved in the war... had they offered to rescue seamen of both sides would Germany or England demand that the rescued of the enemy be turned over to them? If either side made that kind of demand, you'd have a worldwide outrage. And I got this demand from a defensive treaty rep.? I mean I am impressed upon the details that I see with describing military forces up to the point of detailing the weight of a missile being launched by some plane... but does anyone here know how to use and when to use the weapons being used as opposed to what the weapons can do? Just because you have an arsenal that can blow up a planet doesn't mean that it will be used at the first whim of an angry general. If most think that I'm being foolish, then I guess someone will roleplay my fleet being destroyed by overwhelming forces....yay! If most think that I'm bringing up a valid point then I guess I'll be able to continue adding my two cents here.

OOC: Theyre loaded with whatever the mission calls for, for the first attack they had precision guided bombs. Anyways why do you ask? Considering that im not a member of LION my forces are entirely controlled by me.

Logan and Ky would like to declare that any rescued soldiers should be sent either directly back to Logan and Ky or to our forces on the ground, if the particular soldier is too severely wounded to make the 2,000 mile journey or the landing zone is under attack, then send the soldiers to be Binarian or Vontanian forces, and we will arrange their return from there.

Signed,
Erikk Svalbard
President, Logan and Ky

Gateway Campaign - 'Burning Waters'

Grand Marshall Velspar stood in the Command Center of the [I]K.K.S Overga as he witnessed two enemy fighters crash in balls of fire into the Tanker Class MBS's, the explosions, though massive, causing little movement to the 750 meter long titan. Damage was most certainly being done, especially by the various bombs and missiles being dropped by the damned bombers overhead, the explosions scarring the armor of Destroyers, capsizing small repair craft, and damaging scores of cruisers. The SuperDreadnoughts, though taking considerable fire from missile and explosive hits, were simply so massive so as to be able to take the hits, their armor, though damaged, not structurely unsound. The first battle in the Campaign for Gateway was coming to a close.



Casualty Report
x72 Visari Class Destroyers - SUNK [V]
x23 Arliegh Burke Class Destroyers - SUNK [V]
x24 Visari Class Destroyers - Heavily Damaged [V]
x9 Logistical Ships - Heavily Damaged [V]
x3 SDC-4 Overlord Class SuperDreadnought - Light Hull Damage [V]
x50 Halcon Stealth Fighters - Destroyed [LK]
x1 Tanker Class Missile Barrage Ship - SUNK [LK]
x8 Support Vessels - SUNK
x4 Tanker Class Missile Barrage Ship - Light to Moderate Hull Damage - One With Deck Damage[LK]

[Additionally, my attack on Logan and Ky's base will come after all naval casualties and finalities are finished.]

The Kroandon Vultonic Fleet - Between Gateway and LION Taskforce [3000km Separation]

"Admiral Koltz, the LION Joint Fleets continue in our direction undeterred by our presence. Satellite reports have Binarian, Fanaxavian and Orzionic vessels en route to Gateway.", reported the clean shaven Lieutenant as he entered the room, looking over a series of satellite images detailing the large enemy fleet heading their way.

"That is of little concern to us... our orders are to take Archangel, providing naval support to Grand Marshall Klague whom is already in combat... continue on our heading, North Northwest.", retorted the Admiral, not concerned with a force so, so far away. The Lieutenant did not move, hesitant to correct the older Commander.

"We have orders from the Lord Protector to redirect our path to intercept the LION Joint Fleet sir.", responded the Lieutenant, holding the official documentation in his hand. The war in Archangel was being conducted at the same time, Grand Marshall Klague leading forces from Undermon into the Vontanian Colony. Naval support was needed, but to allow the joint fleets of LION to come to the aid of Gateway was intolerable.

"What?! Let me see that...", roared the Admiral, storming over the Lieutenant and snatching the orders from his hand. Koltz read over the orders and directions, and still growled in anger. "I have seven SuperDreadnoughts here, and I'm to use them in naval combat against a force, in all liklihood, equipped with Khans?! Madness!"

"We do have the full atention of KODS sir... I doubt Khans are to pose much of a -", the Lieutenant was cut off by the deafening roar of sirens. Red lights flashed, sirens blared, the fleet was thrown into action by the Helicon Battle Control System. Tens of thousands of Aquatic Legionnaires, Sailors, Marines and Crewmen jumped into action, rushing around to prepare for battle.

"What in the...", grumbled the Admiral as he looked at the command screen... which did nothing but display a picture of a Khan Anti-Shipping Missile. There were no options, no way to shoot them down. The sailors and men whom rushed around on the decks, did so without purpose. Everything that was to be done, was being done... in space. The Kroandon Orbital Defense System treated the Khan for what it was. A massive, long range, intercontinental, ballistic missile, with the capability of carrying nuclear weapons. The missile could have been targeting Virticon City just as easily as the Voltonic Fleet. The scores of satellites which sat looking did not know the difference. They only knew that hostile enemy ballistic missiles, were to be shot down when they peaked...

KODS [Kroandon Orbital Defense System], was a state of the art system designed to defend Antarctika from Ballistic Strike. It evolved to include defending fleets around the world from Khan's. The Fleets themselves were fully capable of destroying Anti-Shipping Missiles, but a missile that moved at Mach 11, simply had to be destroyed... before it was going Mach 11. Now it was immpossible for the fleet itself to fire a missile to knock down the Khan while it peaked in it's sub-orbital arch, but it was not immpossible for an Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Satellite to do so.

The moment the Khans lifted off, the dozen or so satellites, watching the fleet, relayed this information to the KODS Data Network... and within two seconds, three Orbital LACI Interceptor Missiles had been fired from a single defense platform. The scores of Khans rocketed into the air... three LACI's screamed down at them... and as the three LACI's reached the Khan's, as they peaked, it was over. The threat extinguished. How? EMP Warheads. The LACI's detonated, emmitting massive electro magnetic pulses, which fried the guidance systems of the Khans, disabled their motors... and basically made the missiles... duds. Duds that would crash harmlessly into the waters below.

The Voltonic Fleet sat still. Awaiting the enemy. However 35 Tenerife SSBN's slowly moved towards the enemy, moving on ultra-quiet, they were to move 500km's in the direction of the enemy, and deploy Anti-Shipping Rocket Mines. Four or five each, for a total of 120 mines. [A mine deployed under water, when a vessel comes within 500 or so meters, two rocket-torpedo's are fired at it from the mine.]

[B]Voltonic Fleet Strength
Naval Forces - Visari Class Destroyer 1,100
Naval Forces - Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer 200
Naval Forces - Visby class corvette 120
Naval Forces - Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier 20
~1,000 Halcon Stealth Fighters
Naval Forces - Negotiator Class Cruiser 155
Naval Forces - Montana Class Battle Ships 2
Naval Forces - RADAR/SONAR/LADAR Detection Ships 13
Naval Forces - Tenerife SSBN 43
Naval Forces - Cadiz SSN's 12
Naval Forces - Fire Support Ships 220
Naval Forces - SDC-4 Overlord Class Trimaran Super Dreadnaught (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10405348&postcount=2059) 7
Naval Forces - Tanker Class Missile Carrier 19
Naval Forces - Supply/Logistical Ships 300

Logan and Ky would like to declare that any rescued soldiers should be sent either directly back to Logan and Ky or to our forces on the ground, if the particular soldier is too severely wounded to make the 2,000 mile journey or the landing zone is under attack, then send the soldiers to be Binarian or Vontanian forces, and we will arrange their return from there.

Signed,
Erikk Svalbard
President, Logan and Ky

Send the coordinates of a non-battle area and we shall send them as quickly as possible, included with their luggage will be a free copy of the Book of the Righteous Warrior to help them fight better for your nation. More details found here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=543917) for your information.

To ShogunKhan

While we hardly see why you would bother in helping the menace that threatens even neutral countries, such as yourself, we shall allow you to conduct your operations unabeited. We shall however, not yield our own prisoners of war to your hospital ships.

[Lord Protector Malthus]

To ShogunKhan

While we hardly see why you would bother in helping the menace that threatens even neutral countries, such as yourself, we shall allow you to conduct your operations unabeited. We shall however, not yield our own prisoners of war to your hospital ships.

[Lord Protector Malthus]

Understood, if we rescue already determined prisoners of war, they shall be under the control of any of your senior officer rescued. Please make sure that they are easily identifiable because we would rather not have a prisoner claim that he is not one nor would we not want someone to claim others as prisoners when they are not. Hopefully, your officers will be open to allow some limited medical aid towards their prisoners.

To ShogunKhan

Enemy combatants rescued in determined 'Battle Zones' [Ones controlled by Kroandon forces], are to be noted as POW's, and under the control of KroKore Personel. We shall allow injured POW's medical aid, however healthy POW's are to be transported to Kroandon detention facilities. Once injured POW's are healed to a level that they may survive in POW Camps, they are to be transported immediately.

[END]

[Bump...]

@ ShogunKhan: Though under the LION flag, it is the Orzi request that any Orzi sailor rescued by your forces be transfered as soon as possible to Orzi forces. Additionally, should you rescue any non-LION personnel in water controlled by LION, it is advisable that they be turned over to LION control should they not need critical medical need. You have Orzi assurances that they will not be mistreated or abused, though they will become POWs to be traded for LION POWs at the conclusion of hostilities.


***Encrypted Message***
@ Binaria: We have picked up a large Kroandan fleet standing in our way towards Gateway. Orzi forces await your orders.
Rear Adm. Tony Valentine
***End***

Sumguaia, Office of the Hegemon:

Lord Sumguy frowned as he scanned the page he was reading, reports of the Kroandan-Vantanian war littering his desk. He leaned back in his chair for a moment, thinking. Something must be done, I cannot bear to sit idly by while this happens.

He picked up the phone on his desk, dialing the Vantanian Foreign Ministry.

OOC: who is the Vantanian head of state/cheif executive nowadays?

OOC: Total casualties? Everyone. All, what was it, six or seven hundred ships and their crews. As for the beaches, they have czech hedgehogs, mines, pillboxes, Belgian gates, wire, and poisoned foot traps, (http://skinnymoose.com/norm/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/bear-trap.jpg) for the most part. The coasts of Gateway are sandy, with large dunes cutting off the beach from the inland. The pillboxes are in the dunes. Behind these dunes a ways the artillery are set up. Along both peninsulas, you'd have roughly 300,000 men total, including logistics and all other non-combat people.

IC:

The telegram fed through to Governor-General Zeeway, news of the fate of Gateway. And it was bleak. The Battle of the Burning Waters had ended with the destruction of the entire fleet, no survivors. Of course, that much had been expected. What hadn't been expected was the sparse Kroadon casualties, relatively. Though the fleet was made of dated vessels, manned by the old and weary along with the young and inexperienced, and was all just for intimidation, the fleet was expected to do more damage. Most unfortunate. The beaches were the next line of defense, and they were more properly guarded by the colonial militia.

To ShogunKhan

Enemy combatants rescued in determined 'Battle Zones' [Ones controlled by Kroandon forces], are to be noted as POW's, and under the control of KroKore Personel. We shall allow injured POW's medical aid, however healthy POW's are to be transported to Kroandon detention facilities. Once injured POW's are healed to a level that they may survive in POW Camps, they are to be transported immediately.

[END]



[b]@ ShogunKhan: Though under the LION flag, it is the Orzi request that any Orzi sailor rescued by your forces be transfered as soon as possible to Orzi forces. Additionally, should you rescue any non-LION personnel in water controlled by LION, it is advisable that they be turned over to LION control should they not need critical medical need. You have Orzi assurances that they will not be mistreated or abused, though they will become POWs to be traded for LION POWs at the conclusion of hostilities.

Not that I need to remind the strategists above, but the fact that there is a battle in the first place is to determine who is actually controlling a specific zone. Two are making a claim and that is why they are fighting to see which claim is actually factual... so how can anyone claim any control while they are in the middle of a warzone... especially in international seazones where there is no control except the vehicles themselves. So I could agree to both your claims and then carry on with what I am doing because there is no way that any of these claims can be legitimate. Its as if I'm being told that you can defy the laws of gravity and I must accept your claim and jump out of an airplane without a parachute based solely on your say so.... To that I say "sure thing Bob" and then jump out at my designated time with my parachute on me.

Now territorial waters are another matter, we are not going to violate the integrity of a nation's legally recognized zone, these battlezones are coastal and are not under our patrolling sector. Our equipment and warfighting capabilities are strictly high seas. We are neutral and we are not going to invade another nation's waters recognized under international law unless said nation is specifically giving us permission to enter on a case by case basis in which case all rescued are to be turned over to the legally recognized authority of the legally recognized zone at the earliest and safest convenience.

Campaign for Gateway - Morning After Battle of Burning Waters

Grand Marshal Velspar sipped the thick black coffee from his mug, grinning as he looked out over the vast sea, dotted with partially sunken Vontanian Vessels, and the still burning fires of sunken wreckage. It was quite the site, the sun rising behind the fleet, illuminating the results of the battle the night before. Kroandon sailors were still being dragged out of the ocean from sunken vessels, and repair crews and vessels were working round the clock to undo the damage caused by the joint Logan and Ky - Vontanian Assault. Gashed armor upon the tankers was welded, hull leaks on Destroyers were sealed, and the blackened, scarred armor of the Dreadnoughts was scraped clean of the char marks, and given a 'quick-fix', with slabs of steel from sinking ships being cut apart and welded onto the sides of the gargantuan vessels.

The Grand Marshal, standing in his bath robe at 6:02 AM, smiled as he watched the other Overlord SuperDreadnoughts line up... presenting a broadside towards the shore line. By this time it was certain that the Vontanians had moved substantial forces into the area to counter the Kroandon Assault... forces that would soon know the true meaning of war. The Kroandon's expected hell upon the landing, it was likely filled with Anti-Personel mines, and from the looks of the shores, czech hedgehogs and pill boxes. Should they have landed as is, 10,000 men would likely fall. But Kroandons were not known for taking on a defensive position at strength.

The Invasion began with the roaring thunder of seventy two 30inch ETC Guns,
thirty six 18inch Coilguns, and seventy two 14inch Railguns... unleashing hundreds of several hundred pound high explosive shells upon the various fortifications of the Vontanian Defenders. Pillboxes, identified via military spy satellites, were targeted and fired upon for hours. Enemy troop locations were located via IR readings from these same satellites... and these locations were pounded with shells for hours on end. It was determined that by the time the first Kroandon boots hit the sand, there was not to be a Vontanian for miles.

The next stage of the bombardment came from the Tanker Class Barrage Ships... each Tanker possessed upon it's deck, twelve massive 4x3 440mm Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, this meant that each Tanker could launch, in less than one minute, 144 440mm High Explosive Rockets. And each of the five Tankers did indeed fire... 720 rockets within ten minutes rained down upon the beaches, and upon enemy troop locations. Many simply were fired upon landing areas, to clear them of hedgehogs, mines or whatever other traps the enemy had placed. The rockets were constantly being reloaded into the systems, and fired again... for hours on end the rockets would land upon Gateway... and not just the shores, but as deep as 100km's inland.

The next stage, arguably the most important, came from the Visari Class Destroyers and Tanker's VLS Tubes. The Destroyers and Tankers, using satellite imagery, began firing ungodly numbers of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles at inland artillery pieces, trucks, camps, supply dumps, fortifications, troop formations and weapons emplacements. Over 6,200 missiles were fired over the first hour, the goal of completely breaking Vontanian Resistance however, was not quite over. 125 A-10 Warthogs were sent on sorties throughout the entire region nearly non-stop the entire day, with the aircraft straffing infantry positions, firing rockets and missiles at pill boxes, and in general, wreaking havoc upon the Colonial Militia.

The invasion was coming...

[I assume Logan and Ky forces have since left.]

OOC: ABM sats huh? well well , think i'll have to destroy them before my next salvo.

IC:
As the debris was falling to earth the Admiral Enderson was on the birdge with his XO. "Jalton, if thats how they want to play, then lets play. Contact WARSATCOM, tell them to target all Kroandon satellites, millitary, civilian, I don't give a rat's ass. I want them all down before the next Khan Strike." Jalton Hesitated before saying,"Aye,sir." He went over to the Communications Officer and relayed the orders.

20 minutes later, Orbit
Almost a hundreds satellites were brought online at once. Hatch covers opened, revealing rows of missiles. They spun in different directions aiming for satellites of Kroandon orgin. When target locks had been confirmed missiles were released by the hundreds, moving to disable and destroy as many as they could. To an observe it looked a massive fast paced psychotic dance in the stars. Many of the satelites would be destroyed shortly by the debris left from the attack, but the ground crews thanked god that the satelites were cheap.

Binarian Fleet
"As soon as we get target confirmation, I want the second slavo of Khans launched. Target the dreadnoughts and carriers. I want them to lose any all of their air support early on. Then target those giant missile thingies. I don't want them to have massive missile support for when our air power comes into play." His XO nodded, while silently hoping that they had gotten all of their ABM sats.

[It's gonna take quite a while to knock down all 480. I am paranoid about ballistic missile strikes on my country [you would be too with 800,000,000 man cities], ergo my ballistic missile defense is up there in terms of size/quality.]

Kroandon Orbital Defense System

The two trillion dollar project, known as KODS served one purpose. The defense of Antarctika from foriegn ballistic missile strikes. In a nation in which a single nuclear warhead could wipe out ninety million people, allowing a single warhead to make it through was... unnacceptable. The system was so incredibly comprehensive so as to be not only watching every threat to Kroando, but to be prepared to anihalate that threat with nuclear and EMP based weaponry. As nuclear weapons were not to be used until the enemy had first, the anti-missile weapon employed was simply a EMP. However no Anti-Ballistic Missile System could be complete without a means to defend itself.

If the Commanders of the LION forces truly thought they would be able to knock out KODS with anything less than the hand of god, they were soarly mistaken. KODS was not only defending against Ballistic Missiles, it was defending against other satellites that would prevent it from doing it's job. There were entire satellites lined with SDCI Interceptor Missiles, designed to knock out enemy Anti-Satellite Missiles. There were thousands, literally thousands of Brilliant Pebbles designed to help counter this threat. There were LACI Interceptors with extremely low yield EMP weapons, so as to be able to knock out a swath of missiles, and leave surrounding satellites untouched. The hundred or so Binarian Satellites, were rather outgunned by the 500 Kroandon satellites... and the missiles flew. The vast majority of the enemy orbital strike failed, with only twelve satellites being blown apart, two more suffering from debris.

But the enemy satellites simply could not be allowed to continue operating now, even if they were no longer a threat [reloading satellites with missiles = pain in the ass]. The Kroandons did not place Anti-Satellite Missiles on satellites, simply because the cost of reloading them, in terms of mission expenses, was greater than putting up a new satellite. They placed their Anti-Satellite Missiles upon the fleets. And there were many, many Kroandon Fleets around the world. Not only did the Voltanic Fleet fire it's payload, but every Kroandon Fleet sailing the waters fired at identified Binarian, and LION satellites in general. The oceans shook as over nine hundred ASAT's [Anti-Sattelite Missiles] roared into the sky, locked onto the various Binarian Satellites. Additionally there were hundreds of Brilliant Pebbles activated, kinetic interceptors which had the soul purpose of knocking out LION Satellite Capabilities. Which would in effect end the Khan threat by itself... without targeting equipment, it would be immpossible to maintain their use. The Brilliant Pebbles, extremely small in terms of missiles, would be very difficult to knock down using Anti-Missile Missiles.

The Kroandon Fleet, fully expecting to overwhelm the enemy with a joint Orbital-Naval Strike, unleashed a number of SLBM's... sixty five in all. Aimed based on the speed and progress of the fleet, they were targeted to his the massive slow moving vessels dead center. So even if they changed course, damage would still be caused. Carrying massive amounts of high explosives, they would still be force to be reckoned with as they came in contact with their targets... the Arsenal Ships of the Binarians.

[I assume you did not fire more Khans, as my defense network is still operational. I hate orbital warfare... but I need my satellites.

Map (http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/4329/27633654sr6.png)]

OOC: Like I said my sats are cheap. They're basicly boxes with missles and a battery.

The massive under-estimate of the KODS cost every signle one of the ASAT launcing satelites and numerous others including many MILCOM secure communications satelites which cut off the Binarian boomers from Naval command, aswell as destroy about half of the Binarian ABM sats aswell.

"I screwed up big time. I know there'll be an inquiry over this one." Jalton steeped in to the admirals moment of self pitty and alerted him to coming attack." Sir, snap out of it. We have about sixty SLBMs headed our way. What are your orders?" He graded the admiral and shook him a few times." Alert what's left of WARSATCOM and tell them to use the remaing ABM sats to destroy as many of the eneny missiles as you can. There's no way they're nuking us. If they were they would have only send one or two not sixty."

In orbit the sats managed to knock out just under three quarters of them in the first stage, a dozen as they left the atmosphere and four or five as they began re-entry. Leaving half a dozen head towards the Arsenal ships. They impacted, however they managed to set off a chain reaction in the Ares missiles stored on board which rsulted in a massive explosion that damaged another six Longarm Class ships.

Admiral Enderson was distraut after losing 6 of his expensive Longarm class ships. "That's it. Send the subs ahead and have them attack the landing area any way they can. I want them to reek as much damage as they can."

The Sub forces quit runing silent and began moving toward the Kroandon fleet that was landing on Gateway. When they would reach within forty kilometers they would fire a massive salvo of Mark 72 Heavy Torpedoes (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=1560) at the enemy fleet with the first part aimed at trying to catch the ASW ships off gaurd and destroying as many as they can.

Message to Kroando.

We have technology we can sell to you after the war to replace your Rocket-Torpedo Mines that can't distinguish between a whale and/or ship. Although we are impressed with your claims that it can target submarines who by very definition do not produce noise when operating under silent running. This technology enables the mine to select its targets based upon acoustic signatures of known enemy vessels, which means that friendly vessels that have a distinct acoustic signature can bypass the mines without being challenged and the local wildlife can pass on through without any harm.

We find it unfortunate that your technology did not take into account the animals or unlucky neutral merchants. Oh and our intelligence reports that at least one of your enemies has been able to breach your Rocket-Torpedo Mines, by using countermeasures to produce alternate sounds which are louder. We ourselves almost lost a ship in international waters thanks to your device and we have decided to use another technology that counters the sound waves produced by our engines... so far, we have avoided your Rocket-Torpedo Mines so we did not need to deploy a minesweeper in international waters. I sincerely hope you do not accidental sink a neutral ship traveling in those waters, you may risk another nation's wrath.

In the hopes of having you as a future customer, have a great war! Hooah!

To ShogunKhan

The DG-2 Naval Mine (http://z14.invisionfree.com/Kroando_Tech_Inc/index.php?showtopic=30) cannot be surpassed by making louder noises, this claim is unsubstantiated and unverifiable. As far as your reports of passing the mine my making acoustic noises, we find this also to be a false claim. Certainly you were engaging another nation's minefield, as our would not have been so easily passed.

[OOC. Any noise at all triggers the DG-2, which in turn, activates it's Active SONAR - Ergo, caught. And even subs running on silent make noise... just not very much.]

Maybe it was a previous version? Well, we'll try to verify the origin of this device. It was an unsubstantiated report that said an enemy had avoided your tech, so perhaps our intelligence is faulty. As for our technology, we produce opposite sound waves of the produced sound waves of our engines and this cuts all noise to zero decibel because the noise is canceled out completely. Opposite sound waves cancel each other out. We do enjoy using stealth technology on our ships.

The Coasts of Gateway - Battle of Hellrain

Governor-General Zeeway twitched visibly as he poured himself a seventh cup of coffee. His eyes were glued to the hazy images coming in from the obsat, and as a result, coffee burnt his fingers due to his carelessness. Yelling a profanity, he asked himself why he had switched from tea. Latching his pipe to his mouth, he once again swore as he saw the Kroandons next move.

It was raining on the coasts of Gateway. That is to say, the Kroandon shells and missiles were coming down so fast that to the casual observer it might be seen as heavy, explosive rain. The shores were devastated by the barrage, and the defenses were instantly removed. The pillboxes were hit hard, and the skeleton teams in them had moments to flee through the underground network. Many of them didn't make it, and the mounds of rubble buried them alive, sealing the tunnels effectively though. The defense network had been comprimised at the thinnest layer, the shores.

The artillery, which to this point, had been safe, blasted away at the ships with wild abandon. Then, the Kroandon maelstrom extended it's range, and the artillery were blasted away, along with their operators. The Tomahawks only extended the damage done earlier by the fires. The landscape, which before was a desert wasteland due to chemical fire, was now filled blackened, fluffy layers of ash scattered across Gateway. The Storm of War brought by the Kroandons now covered both peninsulas, ash falling gently as snow on the landscape. The Kroandons had accomplished their objective: Not a single Vantanian was on Gateway... they were underneath it.

Meanwhile, a seemingly innocent satellite positioned itself over Gateway's coasts. It locked on to the stretch of coast that the Kroandons seemed to have chosen to land on. Other then that, nothing. It had a single load, making it relatively small, and was disguised as a television satellite. Should the Kroandons, very unlikely, do a scan of it, they would see it had a large rod of tungsten. However, due to the satellite attack by the Binarians, along with the sheer amount of satellites over any given area, this was seen as highly unlikely by the Vantanian Military Command.

Shores of Gateway

The first Kroandon landing in years... Amphibious Assault Vehicles rolled onto shore, their tracks making deep marks upon the freshly charred shores of Gateway, rolling forward... always forward. Men poured out of the rears of the vehicles, men whom rushed about establishing a beach head for the Kroandon Invasion. Soon after tanks rolled ashore, Kraken II MBT's, followed by G-24 Strikers, humvees, logistical vehicles... the works. The army unloaded, and set up camp several miles inland, on an elevated set of hills.

One thing worried Velspar. There had previously been an estimated 300,000 enemy soldiers in Gateway. There were only enough charred Vontanian Corpses to account for a fraction of that amount. Which meant one thing. They had gone somewhere. Satellite imagery did not report them moving into adjacent countries... but simply... dissapearing. They had gone under ground. The Grand Marshal could only smile at the conclusion. They were killing themselves. Should they stay underground, they would, over time, lose. They would starve. They would die of thirst. They would run out of ammunition. They were completely cut off from any hope of reinforcements while underground... it was unknown what the Vontanians were planning, but whatever it was, the 900,000 men on the ground were rather confident they could handle it.

Dominion of Orbita - Over Gateway

The first invasion of Vantanian lands in a decade... noted by Vantanians everywhere with disdain. Determined to send a message, the innocent looking satellite, hovering over the Kroandon Landing Site suddenly became less innocent looking. Checking that it's coordinates were correct, it unleashed it's payload, a single godrod, onto the largerst troop density of Kroandons below. Not waiting to see the results, it started to flee towards Space Station Orbita. Never the less, a rod of tungsten now pierced through the atmosphere, and would arrive with devastating consequences on the Kroandons below in a matter of seconds.

Gateway

The Kroandons were to be disappointed. Everything was an abyss, and ash drifted about like black rain. Everything the Vantanians had left behind was damaged beyond use, like the charred ruins of cities, or bad, like the chemicals that stole the fertility from the soil. These chemicals were reversible, but the means to heal the land were expensive and slow working. The mine shafts were all covered in rubble, ash, and dirt. The water sources which had been so hard to establish were drained either into the ocean, or percolating down to the Vantanian viper den below. Though, in a sense, Vantanas had lost, Kroando had certainly not won.

Subterran Gateway

Miles of tunnels and caverns were exploited by the Vantanians. Some were natural, others were not, but they all were perfect for situations like these. Each was sealable with large iron blastdoors, and in many cases the only way from one tunnel to another was through narrow gaps, not big enough for a Kroandon in full armor. There were multiple ways to the surface, and all of them were well hidden, with the tunnels adjacent to them being just as well hidden. Soldiers patrolled the upper tunnels, while lower down the heart of the resistance was at the caverns. The whole of the place was lit with glowing moss on the cave roof, imported from Spire Colony. In these caverns, underwater rivers supplied water for the soldiers and the farms, where mushrooms and giant lizards were grown to be eaten. The food stores were enough for a good three months, enough to hold them off until they made the transition to their farms. The snake pit waited complacently until the Kroandons had set themselves up to begin the guerilla warfare.

OOC: We can probably start with the next colony now. These guys are just going to attempt to make Gateway so unprofitable you'll have to leave. You'll either leave in a Vietnam-esque quagmire, or pierce into the cave system and there'll be a rather large battle.

Kroandon Landing Site

The god rod ended the lives of twenty nine men. The large piece of tungsten was a kenetic penetrator, not an explosive, it's was like a bullet... a bullet fired at a colony of ants. Contrary to popular belief, meteors, which is basically what the god rod was, do not explode, the 'explosion' coming only from the earth's movement under the object's impact. The fire that appeared to surround it simply being the objects friction with the air in the upper atmosphere. The god rod landed directly on the head of a Legionnaire, the man never felt a thing, and his body was never found. The surrounding unit was blown apart by a mixture of impact shockwaves [which knocked over dozens of others], shrapenal, and upturned sand... the cost of a god rod far exceeded that of a soldier, tungsten being some of the most valuable metal on earth.

The attack did not go unnoticed. Four Kroandon Orbital Defense Satellites were now locked onto the perpetrating 'Television Satellite', their SDCI Interceptor Payloads locked on, ready to fire at the offending vehicle. As Orbital Control back in Antarctika prepared to strike the satellite down... they stopped. They realized it was moving... and so they watched it. It was simply immpossible for it to 'run away' in space, there being nothing to stop the cameras of the Kroandons from watching... and so they simply sat and watched... waiting for hours upon hours. Until it reached it's destonation. According to the Kroandons - Object #248264590. To the Vontanians, Space Station Orbita. Previously unidentified, was now marked as a hostile space station, and marked for destruction. Submarines in relatively irrelevant parts of the world opened their hatches, and unleashed a total of 87 Anti-Satellite Missiles, all directed at the space stations and it's affiliate satellites.

Gateway - 3 Days After Landing

Grand Marshal Velspar set foot on the the shores of Gateway, his dark black leather trench coat sweating under the heat of the sun high above. His dark black goggles toning down the level of brightness, Kroandon's not being used to such bright atmospheres, in comparison to the darkness of Antarctika. Velspar continued walking up the beach, his dark black leather boots cutting into the charred beach, overturning ash, leaving sand colored footprints behind. Followed by columns of elites, he finally made it the top of the ridge ahead, long having been secured.

The Marshal inhaled deeply, a smile coming over his face. The smell of napalm filled his nostils, giving him a sense of satisfaction understood by few. "Do you know why they call it scortched earth Lieutenant?", questioned the Velspar as he removed his black military dress hat, running his calaced hand over his pale, bald white head.

"No sir... cannot say that I do sir...", responded the Lieutenant as he looked back over the beach, thousands upon thousands landing, bringing with them massive weapons, ordanance and explosives paralleled by few.

"You destroy the land, making it worthless to the enemy Lieutenant...", the Marshal began. "That, that Lieutenant, is scortched earth.", shouted the Marshal, pointing to the endless miles of charred soil. "That is why the Vontanians still have a chance.", the Lieutenant looked back, confused. "Because they have no hope... they may still defeat us. They have shown us today they are willing to destroy everything they have to stop us. Making our entire invasion pointless.", Velspar continued, smiling all the way. "However what they don't understand... is how valuable nothing is to us."

The Kroandons could use what most saw as completely worthless. The Koalition was so desperate for raw resources, they could take the most utterly useless material, and find a purpose to it. For instance, trash. Garbage. Filth. It was taken to Kroando on massive freighters, sent into factoreis, and out came 'Burn Blocks'. Large, heavily condensed blocks of tar covered wrapped garbage. They could burn for hours, heating apartment complexes without end. Scrap metal was melted down for later use. Ash, sand, dirt... even this was used in Kroando's large cement industry. But it was not as if Gateway was completely useless. There was a large gold deposit in the North, and oil wells off the coast. [According to the original thread]

As the massive drills were unloaded from Junkers Korporation vessels, Velspar could only smile at the genius that had overcome him. The Vontainians had destroyed their own mines, so the Junkers Korporation was to drill new ones to extract with wealth of Gateway from the north, gold to be pulled from the very depths of the earth if that was what it took. Kroando had to be remade. And Vontanian Gold would help. But at the moment, the drills would play a different role... they would kill the Vontanians.

Central Gateway - Drilling Site

"There ya go boys... next one, next one... hurry up, lets go... we ain't got all day here.", shouted the over armored Kroandon as he coughed through his communication piece, instructing a massive Junkers Korp. truck to begin drilling in a seemingly random spot of land. The drill would go two and a half kilometers deep if needed, but it was unlikely the Vontanians would be able to go so deep. [Two km's is as deep as most mines go, and those mines are simply holes, not comprehensive tunnels housing thousands of men.] The drill cut into the already scarred soil of Gateway like a scalpal, digging in deep, pushing down, further and further, meter after meter... moving far into the earth.

Now it was unlikely that the drill would hit right through a Vontanian tunnel, but that was not relevant. This particular hole went 450 meters into the ground. Other holes went a kilometer deep. Others deeper. Some went as shallow at 100 meters. It did not matter. All that mattered was that hundreds of these shafts were being dug into the soil, and that the Kroandons were unloading massive sea crates from their transport ships.

Inside these crates were FOABs. Also known as the Father Of All Bombs, it was the strongest non-nuclear explosive known to man, capable of creating a blast equivilant to 44 Tons of TNT. The bomb had the strength of merely .3% of what was used at Hiroshima, but still, it was an immensely powerful explosive. The massive bombs were slowly hauled out, under extremely heavy guard, to the designated mine shafts... and slowly lowered in. The bombs would simply sit in their holes... and be remote detonated hours later.

The first explosion was tremendous, watched from a mile away. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Foab_blast.jpg) The earth shook. And that was exactly the point. The Kroandons wanted to shake the earth. They wanted to shake the mineshafts of the Vontanians. They wanted to cause cave ins, they wanted to send shockwaves through the earth, causing the tunnels to collapse. And the strength of these bombs would most certainly, over time, make that happen. Boom. Boom. Boom. All across Gateway.

Other actions included the building of a large naval docking area in the south, which the Kroandons would use to tax ships traveling in and out of the bay. Further north the massive Junker's facility was under construction, with 9,000 civilian contractors and 20,000 Legionnaires positioned in the area. Other than that, all of Gateway had been reduced to a single word. Boom.

[The next colony will be Archangel. I think I'd like to try and root out these guerillas first.]

Casualty Report
x29 Legionnaires - Dead
[Naval Casualties Remain]

OOC: The oil is depleted. As for the space station, it is international, and I don't want to be bothered bringing all of the people into the RP. So, just shoot the satellite down. Also, I'm getting tired of this colony. Can you, possibly, just assault the cave system and be done with it?

IC:

Underground

In the subterranean, it was hell. Tunnel collapses were under all areas, and there were an estimated ten thousand soldiers dead. Whole areas of the colony were cut off from the Vantanians. The tunnels that did survive were the man made ones, very well supported. One thing the Kroandons hadn't know was the sheer amount of faults in Gateway, part of the reason there were so many natural tunnels. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake on the Richter scale roared through the underground, before reaching the surface to do devastating the damage. A further fifteen thousand were thought to have died in the cavequake.

Night-time Surface, Northern Peninsula, Mountains, Small Cave

A team of one hundred men pushed gently on the door, and it gave. On the other side, a raccoon watched curiously as a slightly off colored part of the rock wall moved outwards, and then aside. In hushed whispers they reviewed the plan. Once at the foot of the mountain, the team would split into three. The first would go to the road, and ambush an incoming convoy bringing drills to the area where the mines once were. The second team would meanwhile go with the third team to a camp of soldiers, and distract the enemy. With cover of night and the enemy fighting team two, the third team would then steal all the supplies and food they could, poison the remaining food and water, destroy the remaining supplies, and light a fire to attempt to burn down the camp. In the confusion of it all, the Vantanians would sneak back into the mountains and return to the safety of the caves.

[As boring as this colony is getting, I would be a complete idiot to simply withdraw my troops, leaving you with hundreds of thousands of men underground to take it back. I really can't just end this colony's RP until A. The vast majority of your men die. B. The vast majority of your men surrender. C. Both A and B. Additionally it is not a good idea for me to attempt to break into the tunnels, for my casualties would be enormous. And I can just as easily kill your men off doing what I am doing for a few weeks. if you want a large fight, just bring all your men up...]

Across Gateway

The massive earthquake shook the ground with terrible force, throwing Legionnaires and soldiers to the sand below, toppeling crates and shaking the crews inside tanks about. However the danger in earth quakes was not in the shaking, it was in the falling objects from above. The crumbling buildings, the falling telephone polls, the collapsing structures. There were none of these to crumble, for the Vontanians had already long burned the cities to the ground, the only 'structures' on Gateway being tents. The death rate on the surface was next to none, at there was nothing to kill any of the Legionnaires, a few men falling into open fissures, a few others crushed by a falling crate... but in general, the men were all just a bit queezy after the quake, and nothing else.

It was soon determined that the only way the Vontanians would survive were subterranean farms of some sort, a concept the Kroandons were very familiar with, as that was the method through which Kroando survived. Subterranean farms and subterranean streams and rivers, which sucked up water from the surrounding land and gave it right to the throats of the Vontanians. Well this was a problem Velspar saw solved with the drills. Massive holes were drilled, deep into the earth, and in them were dumped poison. Various poisonous chemicals that would be sucked up by the water table, and into the streams. The plants they attempted to grow would shrivel up and die. Those who tried to drink from it would suffer a similar fate. Oh, and of course the bombings continued.

Night Time - Northern Peninsula - Ambush

"Ambush! We're under attack!", was the call as Legionnaires dropped to the charred soil, their black uniforms matching the dead earth below them. Several soldiers fell in the initial strike, with far more simply being knocked down, their thick, bulky armor absorbing the lethality of the shots. Nevertheless, the attackers had the advantage of both position and the element of suprise, and the Legionnaires were unable to do much more than duck behind some sort of cover and fire back blindly with their C1 Assault Rifles. However this was not to say the ambush would suceed unhindered... heavens no. The thirty odd men [original team was 100, split into 3 groups], were quickly to discover the reason so many feared the Kroandon Army. The ID-57 Decimator (http://z14.invisionfree.com/Kroando_Tech_Inc/index.php?showtopic=1&st=0#entry398994) leading the convoy turned it's massive 30mm Gatling Guns to face the ambushing party, and using its infared targeting system, unleashed a hellish stream of depleted uranium shells into the enemy. They were soon followed by the fire of .50 Cal Machine Guns from the humvees, as well as shoulder mounted rockets and grenades. The large convoy, roughly 120 strong, with nine humvees, two ID-57's, and four large trucks, would not be taken so easily.

Kroandon Camp

The Camp was another story altogether. Not unprepared, nor unexpecting of enemy guerilla activity, the first Vontanians to approach the camp would find the Legionnaires very well prepared. A sand bag pill box opened up on the approaching Vontanians, ripping into them with the .50 Cal Gun Emplacement, using his infared goggles to target his enemy. This soon alerted the entire camp of no less than two hundred Legionnaires, whom immidiately began scurrying about, rushing towards the trench line that was positioned between themselves and the Vontanians, already manned by a dozen or so men.

The team attempting to infiltrate the camp and steal supplies however, would also find a bit of trouble in their path... in the form of a Kraken II MBT, and no less than two dozen men. Using it's IR Range Finder, the first of many 130mm High Explosive Shells was fired at the enemy's locale. To attempt to break into the supply sector would be rather difficult, as every moment more and more men were rushing to the scene.

Night Time - Northern Peninsula - Ambush

The ambush was to begin with preperations. Charges were set up on the road at two points. Then, the Vantanians burrowed into the ash and waited. When the convoy arrived, a silent order was given, and several things started happening. The charges detonated, at the front and back of the convoy, to prevent escape, and possibly doing some damage to the Kroandons. Meanwhile, from charred trees, supressing machine gun fire lit up the night and rained down on the Kroandons. Simultaneously, the main portion of the ambush, the men in the ash, sent RPG's sailing through the air at the weakest points they could find. Half of the fifteen men burrowed men then switched to semi-automatic fire, mostly on tires and other such things, pulling back up the hill. The other half reloaded the RPG's, and waited for the orders to fire.

They came quickly, as the Kroandons unleashed hell with the gatling guns. Six more RPG's sailed through the night sky towards the Decimators weapon systems, and the Vantanians started fleeing towards the hills. The semi-automatic fire was gone, wiped out by the fearsome Decimators. Flashbang grenades were thrown by the machine gun operators, as the Vantanians retreated back into safer grounds, the woods where they had defenses. The grenades would do know harm, but would be extremely bright, spread residual heat, and create a great deal of noise. Knowing the Kroandons, the light would be useless, but the heat and noise should by the Vantanians some time to move to a better battlefield.

Kroandon Camp

The distraction team was for distraction alone, and that they did. As the guns opened fire, RPG's sailed through to hit random tents, and light them. The Vantanians scrambled as gunshots killed four of their number, and switched to their rifles, taking shots at the confused looking Kroandons emerging from their tents. Others threw more flashbang grenades to add to the confusion. These Vantanians also began pulling back towards the woods, trying to lure the Kroandons away from safety, while still hitting them.

The thieves darted this way and that, tipped off by the distracting team. Four RPG's were fired at the Kraken, while the other Vantanians resigned themselves. It was realized that no new supplies could be stolen, and so the Vantanians continued with their secondary objective, to start a fire. Incendiary explosives were shot into the camp, detonating and starting to spread fire further in-camp as the Vantanians fled to the woods.

Ambush

Captain Gorduct gritted his teeth as he dove behind the Decimator, it's massive 30mm Dual Gatling Guns pouring shells into the retreating RPG bearing Vontanians, one of it's two main armaments no longer working due to a well placed rocket to the turret. The Captain began calling orders to a group of soldiers firing into the distance from behind a large humvee, but quickly stopped as the men were thrown to the ground by the detonation of a nearby RPG round, throwing one into the air, knocking the others out cold as their thick armor absorbed shards of shrapenal.

The Captain's cover soon began to move as the Decimator repositioned itself, shrugging off RPG rounds to it's frontal and side armor, moving to face the fleeing Vontanians. As the grenades fell, sending the Kroandons to their knees, the Decimators unleashed scores of rockets from their frontal rocket pods, the fragmentation rounds soaring into the distance after the retreating attackers. Pssssshhhhhhhttttt... "This is G-Vekor Captain Gorduct commanding Convoy Number 87345, requesting artillery and air strike on the following coordinates..."

And within the minute, VL-7 Demolishers, positioned over fifty miles away at the regional artillery battery, unleashed hell with their 403mm Cannons, letting loose a devestating barrage of high explosive fragmentation shells upon the area, hoping to knock out as many Vontanians as possible.

Kroandon Camp

Kroandon Legionnaires rushed about attempting to put out the fires with fire extinguishers and buckets of sand, as others rushed to the perimiter defenses, firing valiantly into the darkness at the light caused by the enemy guns. Many Kroandon casualties were inflicted, mainly wounded men due to the nature of the Kroandon equipment, but it did not seem as if it would matter as more and more Kroandons poured out of their tents, tilting the odds against the enemy.

The Kraken took one... two... three... four frontal shots from RPG rounds... and as the smoke cleared, dead Legionnaires laying to either side... the Kraken roared, firing yet another 130mm Round at the assaulting Vontanians, the .50 Cal gunner at the top never seeming to let go of the trigger, lead pouring out constantly at the attackers.

Psssshhhhtttt... "This is Colonel Dervcon, have all artillery direct fire to the following coordinates..." And just as before, dozens of C-24 Big Guns let loose with their 240mm Guns, as did numerous VL-7 Demolishers, and scores of 88mm Light Mortars... all firing into the woods as the Vontanians fled the area.

Ambush

"Shit." muttered Gibraltar as he ran deeper into the forest. Only the machine gun men, spread out from eachother, remained as the various Kroandon weapons killed the grenadiers. Not sure whether they were being pursued, the Vantanians ran regardless, turning the temperature control on their armor on to mask their heat signatures. They would have done so earlier, but electricicty was to be rationed in all possible ways. Finally, they arrived at their destination, a thick copse. The woods behind them had long gotten to narrow for the Kroandon vehicles to travel through. There were traps here everywhere, not clear to the eye, especially in the darkness. The Vantanians themselves up for a final stand, ready to take out quite a few of the pursuers when they came. Meanwhile, Gibraltar continued on his own to climb up the mountains to observe what happened and report to Zeeway.

Kroandon Camp

The entirety of the distraction team was slaughtered under the assault, down to a man and woman. The pair, seeing the futility of continuing, shouted there surrender. By this time, the Kroandons had some sort of illumination on the two, and they made sure the Kroandons saw them putting their weapons on the ground, stepping back. They then waited for the Kroandons to come, their hands in the air meanwhile.

At the other side of the camp, the Vantanians were more collected, and only took a further eight losses. By now, they had moved away from the range of the weapons in the camp, and were racing frantically towards the fallback point, where the convoy group already was. Remembering only to soon, the turned on climate control and blended into their environs for infrared observers, as well as for visibly, being black against black. Time was of the essence.

Ambush Site

The ambushed Kroandons merely looked into the distance as the Vantanian attackers retreated into the darkness, up the charred hills covered in burnt out trees, up into the wilderness. And yet not a single Kroandon followed. Not one man went up the hill, not one Legionnaire embarked on a mission of pursuit. What they did was clear aside the destroyed vehicles, gather up the dead and wounded, and continued forward, towards the camp not to many miles into the distance.

However this was not to say the Vantanian Guerillas were to escape scot free, not by any stretch of the imagination. Artillery batteries set up miles away opened up on the areas reportedly being inhabited by Vantanian Forces, firing a mixture between fragmentation rounds, high explosive rounds, and high powered long lasting flares. The firing zones were largely scattered zones based off of the coordinates the Kroandon Convoy reported seeing the enemy flee towards, attempting to cover the entire area in artillery fire. The flares on the other hand, were there simply to illuminate the area, allowing the A-10 Warthogs to come in and cover the area in gatling gun and rocket fire, being able to visibly see the enemy and their general location.

Kroandon Camp

"I think they're surrendering sir...", grumbled one of the Legionnaires as he directed his rifle at the Vantanians in the distance. The Sergeant cast a scowl at the ignorant private as he knelt to the ground, opening a case labeled FX-09. "Ya think dip shit?", responded the man sarcastically as he withdrew a rifle like device from the case, and pulled the bolt, promptly standing and aiming at the man, pulling the trigger. A second later another shot was fired at the female, both being hit by high powered tranquilizers which would put the average man out for ten hours. A pair of Legionnaires then rushed forward, one stopping a few meters before the two bodies, the other flexicuffing their wrists and searching them for weapons or explosives.

Meanwhile, as the artillery and aircraft continued to bombard the rebels in the hills, the G-24's joined the fray, firing AvK-2 SteelFire Missiles into the distance with highly generalized firing patterns. Simply desiring to make explosions in the vicinity of the enemy, they launched dozens of missiles as the enemy fled. Artillery, aircraft and missile strikes... this was the extent of the Kroandon attack on the Vantanian Soldiers in the hills.

No Legionnaires pursued the enemy.

The Mountains

Gibraltar scoffed at the Kroandons hit-and-miss attack. Still, the Kroandons atleast had the experience not to pursue. Messaging both groups, he told
them to report back to the mountains. This fight was over. Then he waited, and the Vantanians ran when they could, and crawled when they couldn't, covered in ash. The group from the camp was hit indirectly, and got badly wounded, one dead. They still managed to make it out of that hellhole, with the help of the others.

Gibraltar asked the others a question, and they answered in the positive. Smiling smugly, Gibraltar pushed a button. In the midst of an exploding forest scene, five missiles set up at the fallback point shoot up into the skies, zooming towards the Kroandon camp.

Kroandon Camp

The pair blinked their eyes open, uncertain of his surroundings. Bright lights were glaring into their faces, broken only by the vaguely humanoid shapes that must be Kroandons. They were strapped down to some sort of table. "What the...?"

OOC: Sorry for crappy post

Mountain Region - Kroandon Camp

The missiles from the Vantanian Guerillas were not taken to hit unhindered, as the various Kraken II's in the area were already in defensive formation. The Kraken II's, equipped with 10.7mm CIWS Guns, sprayed highly concentrated depleted uranium shells at the incoming missiles, three of the five being knocked down, the other two landing inside the camp, killing four and wounding eight others. The enemy would not however get away with the strike without regret. The G-24's Strikers in the camp, using satellite transferred IR data, pinpointed the location from which the Vantanians had attacked [launched the missiles], and were now firing scores of AvK-2 SteelFire Missiles back at the enemy location.

Interrogation Room

The two prisoners had been separated, each in an isolated tent, each now surrounded by Kroandons with gas masks, whom were cutting off the clothes of the prisoners with large jagged scissors, shining thier large flash lights in the faces of their captives as they did so. As each was stripped to the flesh, a Kroandon Lieutenant, without a mask approached, holding in his hands a map of the surrounding area. "Where... where is the entrance to the underground!?", shouted the man, holding a pistol to the man's genitals.

[What are we going to to about the long term? Over time, with constant drill-bombings and soil poisoning, I don't think your army will survive more than a month down there. Also, I will begin the next colony (Archangel), after your next post.]

OOC: Eventually, if this keeps up, I'll have near-surface and remote surface areas take the focus of Vantanian resistance instead of deep caves. Which they might switch back to for mushroom production. Anyways, I said they had supplies to last for a while, and with raids and farms, I'm hoping they'll be able to keep this up for a while. Guerilla activity takes awhile, which is why I suggested moving on to the next colony to do them both simultaneously.

IC:

The Mountains

"And now, we have just done more damage to the camp, as well as cleaned up our remnants in the area. Now, the Kroandons are focused intently on pummeling the fallback point, wasting materials, and we can descend into the depths unnoticed." Gibraltar said, opening the slightly off colored wall. The men vanished into the tunnels, and Gibraltar sealed the wall seamlessly behind them.

The Camp

The man sweat. "In Ancient Roman myth, Lake Avernus was the entrance to the Underworld. When the Vantanians settled Gateway, they founded the City of Avernum. The ruins of the city hold the answers you seek. Go there, and be enligtenened."

At the word "enlightened", the man covertly yanked off his right thumb, a fake, and quickly pushed the button below the fake digit. This activated a bomb located where his left kidney was supposed to be. The poor man exploded violently, with enough force to kill those around him and set the entire tent on fire. (I'm thinking it's small-ish)

The woman, meanwhile, still looked around. She asked what was going to happen.

[Just keep in mind the casualties that would be encountered over the months of guerilla fighting as extremely high explosives are shaking the ground constantly. Also, remember I am poisoning the water table, which means no vegetation would grow... anywhere. Including sub surface mushrooms. Also, I doubt the ability of a man to fight with a bomb where his kidney is supposed to be, but it made me laugh, so fine.]

Gateway - Kroandon Camp

The Kroandons set about repairing the damage caused by the Vantanian Raid, tending to the wounded, gathering the dead, and putting out those fires which still burned in the area. The woman, after being promptly X-Rayed to ensure she too was not carrying an internal explosive, was barcoded and thrown on a transport convoy back to the main base at the beach head.

All across Gateway the bombings would continue unhindered. Every day drilling was done, bombs lowered, bombs detonated, at all different depths. Over time the Vantanian tunnels would cave... they had to. Additionally posions, such as heavy cholrine would be dumped into these deep shafts, poisoning the water table, killing whatever subterranean vegetation may have existed. In the mean time however, mine fields were being deployed around the Burvon Gold Mine, as were massive barbed wire fences, watch posts manned by Junkers Snipers, pill boxes, and other such defenses as the first mine shafts were drilled into the deep gold deposits of the earth. Off the coast the search for oil would continue, as most of the wells had been drained by the Vontanians.

Undermon - Western Coast - 20 Miles East of Archangel

The Kroandon Colony of Undermon, once a lush dense marshy jungle, filled with life, native tribes and exotic animals, was now little more than a dried out overturned mound of dirt. The vast majority of the land was destroyed as the Kroandons attempted to remove the natives in the Ardesh Swamp War, which ended with massive napalm strikes and the draining of the marshes. Subsequently the land was drilled for iron ore and coal, the lumber that was the jungle long having been shipped back to Antarctika. Within five years, Undermon was little more than a large military base, being mined only for stone of various quality.

But now it had found itself a use. It was positioned only 20 miles to East of the Vantanian Colony of Archangel, and the colony soon found itself full of activity. Hundreds... thousands of vehicles transported hundreds of thousands of men, and even more in the way of ammunition, equipment and supplies to the Western Coast of Undermon, which now looked like some sort of giant artillery battery as transport craft were filling the water.

At roughly the exact same time that the first missiles were fired in the Battle Burning Waters, the first 406mm VL-7 Demolisher Heavy Artillery Cannon unleashed it's 450lb High Explosive Self Propelled Shell. The massive shell would travel over the twenty miles of water separating the two colonies, and land at satellite identified positions across the way, enemy fortifications, military bases and installations along the Eastern Coast of Archangel. There was not just one, but 1,000 VL-7 Demolishers, each with a range of 80 miles, which participated in this massive bombardment, supported by another 2,100 C-24 Big Guns and their 240mm Guns, with a range of round 60miles. Finally some 2,000 G-24 Strikers unleashed around 4,000 AvK-2 SteelFire Missiles on enemy positions along the coast. The bombardment would go on for twenty four hours... and then the landing would come.

300 Miles West of Archangel

The Kroandon Rogacion Fleet Approached, carrying with it not only devestating naval fire power, but an army that matched the one in Undermon. It continued forward, hoping to split the Vantanian Defenders on the island to increase the effectiveness of the coming invasion.

ARMY

KroKore Legionnaire 440,000
KroKore Logistical Personel 1,000,000 [Reserves/Active]
The Koalitionist Guard 20,000 [Elites]
Multi-Use AvK-2 Steelfire Infantry Fire Platform 5,000
MBT - Kraken II 4,000
MBT - ID-57 Decimator 8,000
Artillery Support - 155mm Towed Guns 5,000
Artillery Support - 120mm Towed Guns 3,000
Artillery Support - 105mm Towed Guns 3,000
Artillery Support - N-LOS Mobile Artillery Support 1,000
Artillery Support - C-24 Big Gun 4,000
Artillery Support - VL-7 Demolisher 2,000
Artillery Support - LY300 Manticore Multiple Rocket System 1,000
Light Artillery - 88mm Mortars 21,000
Light Artillery - 122mm Mortars 5,000
AA Artillery - Bofors 40 mm gun L/70 1,000
AA Artillery - ZSU-23-4 1,000
Towed AA Weaponry - ZU-23-2 20,000
Mobile RADAR-LADAR Units 200
Mobile Missile Strike Unit - G-24 Striker 12,000
Logisitic and Infantry Support - HMMWV 30,000
Logisitic and Infantry Support - Large Supply/Transport Truck 100,000
Infantry Support - Puma IFV 10,000
Infantry Support - The Monteluci-VLTC M6: Military 4x4 10,000
Amphibious Assault - Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle 2,000
Amphibious Assault - MHAV-24 Horn 15,000

NAVY

Naval Forces - Visari Class Destroyer 400
Naval Forces - Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer 50
Naval Forces - Visby class corvette 40
Naval Forces - Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier 6
Naval Forces - Negotiator Class Cruiser 12
Naval Forces - Montana Class Battle Ships 3
Naval Forces - RADAR/SONAR/LADAR Detection Ships 13
Naval Forces - Tenerife SSBN 11
Naval Forces - Cadiz SSN's 10
Naval Forces - Fire Support Ships 10
Naval Forces - Large Invasionary Transports 105
Naval Forces - Wasp class amphibious assault ship 40
Naval Forces - SDC-4 Overlord Class Trimaran Super Dreadnaught 1
Naval Forces - Tanker Class Missile Carrier5
Naval Forces - Supply/Logistical Ships 300

AIRFORCE

Aerial Forces - Halcon Stealth Fighter 500
Aerial Forces - A-10 Warthog 500
Aerial Forces - UH-60 Blackhawk 800
Aerial Forces - Apache Assault Helicopter 200
[Land and aerial forces are split in two. Half on Undermon, half with the fleet. The entire fleet is 300miles West of Archangel.]

Gateway - Kroandon Convoy

Esmerelda sighed as she was being spirited away from the camp. They had been on the road a good half hour, and the sun was now starting to rise. Glancing throw the barred window, she saw uncivilized ashland in all directions. She was just starting to drift off into a dreamless sleep, the rescue crew made their move.

Outside, burrowed into the ash, the Vantanians had waited for the convoy to arrive, all five hundred of them. Now, with the Sun's first rays peeking over the horizon, they unleashed hell on the Kroandons. Half their number peppered the entire convoy in machine gun fire, the rest hit the Kroandons with a mixture of explosives, RPG's, rockets, etc. There mission was to keep the Kroandons from keeping Esmerelda, even if it meant killing her. For in her skull, lie the secrets to destroying the Gateway Liberation Front completely.

Subterranean Gateway, Zeeway's Office

"Sir, I regret to inform you that after continuous bombings, a tunnel was destroyed after a direct hit. We lost an approximate five hundred in the collapse. Also, tests on the water have shown the Kroandons have poisoned it." a currier said to Zeeway.

In return, Zeeway gave him a dismissive nod, before turning to the council and saying, "You heard it gentlemen. The underground is no longer a realistic operations base for the Liberation Front. To fix this problem, I have a... plan. It's risky, but it can work. We'll move the people, supplies, etc. to the mountains. They're riddled with caves, and quite remote. There, we can be safe from the bombings and water poisoning tactics of the Kroandons. Of course, during the move, a tunnel collapse would be fatal, and there's more chance of being discovered closer to the surface, but if we stay here, then the roof will fall on our heads and we'll all be squashed. The move will have to be in phases, but we will continue to use the near surface tunnels, so we can strike at various points in Gateway." The council nodded their agreement, and soon they were dismissed.

Archangel

Archangel was most unfortunate, in the fact that it was completely surrounded by Kroandon forces. Like their brothers in Gateway, they had set up defences along the shores. Unlike Gateway, however, they did not send a fleet to grapple with the Kroandons. No, they had not the numbers to even consider defeating the Kroandons that way. Instead, their batteries and ships were all on the east coast. Here, wave after wave of fire hit Undermon. The silos of Archangel, all bearing conventional IRBM's, shot out into the sky into Undermon. Artillery pieces and missiles shot out in long arcs at Undermon. The ships themselves spread themselves out along the eastern coast, and fired with wild abandon at the Kroandons. The purpose here, just like in Gateway, was not to hold the colony, but to make it as expensive as possible to take. Unlike in Gateway however, Archangel could not simply go underground and fight as guerillas. No, the civilian population could not escape here, and so conventional warfare was going to have to be used.

[I will respond to Gateway, but I can't really give you a response to Archangel until I know how many artillery pieces/ships/missile batteries you have, and what kinds they are. I like to keep my RP'ing very organized, with updated casualty reports and other such information. If you give me a brief order of battle, that would be great.]

Gateway - Ambush Site

"We're under attack! Defensive positions! Ambush!", called out a Legionnaire of no particular importance, moments before being riddled by machine gun fire. The 300 man convoy breaking into counter-ambush formations, firing with wild abandon at the enemy locations. The massive, heavily armored trailor the girl was locked in was quickly surrounded by massive Kraken II MBT's, which effectively shielded it from any would be attackers. The Vantanians may have had numbers, but the Kroandons certainly held the edge in fire power.

Ten Kraken II MBT's immidiately responded to the attack, their massive 130mm ETC Guns blasting away at the charred sand dunes the Vantanians attempted to hide behind, moving the earth if the enemy decided to hide behind it. RPG's fired at the tanks were more times than not shot out of the air by the 10.7mm CIWS gun mounted on the roof of the vehicle, preventing many hits that the armor would have had to other wise absorb. The Krakens roared, but it was always the hissing of the ID-57 Decimators that terrified the enemy. The five ID-57's let out deafening screeches as their dual 30mm Gatling Guns unleashed thousands of depleted uranium shells into Vantanian positions, heavily armored humvees also joining the defensive assault as mounted .50 cal machine guns poured lead into the dunes.

The fire fight raged on... but it was what came next that would ensure that the Kroandons kept their prize. The call for an air strike. A-10's on patrol straffed the Vantanian Positions below with their gatling guns, quickly moving to fire rockets at the surrounding area. Five A-10's participated in all. Apache Attack Choppers quickly hit the scene, three in all straffing and bombarding Vantanian locations.

In the first minutes of the ambush, 50 Kroandons lay dead, another 60 wounded, and several humvees and trucks burning wrecks... but they were now gaining their feet...

[What area of Gateway are the mountains in?]

OOC: Could have sworn I already replied to this. Artillery= M109A6 Paladin (100), Ships= Destroyers (50), Missile Batteries= SRBM MGM-18 Lacrosse (50).

Gateway - Ambush Site

Half of the attack force continued assaulting the Kroandon convoy with mixed LAW, RPG, and machine gun fire. A further quarter of the attackers set up mortars to bring a bit more weight to the table concerning this fight, and started firing on the vehicles. The remainder busied themselves setting up aerial defenses, in particular inflating barrage balloons. These balloons were anchored above the Vantanians, and would shield them from bombs... temporarily. Meanwhile, AA cannons were being set up quickly as the aircraft zoomed quickly towards the Middle of Nowhere.

Esmerelda risked a cautious peek through the barred window, and pulled herself away quickly as she saw what she wanted to. A protective circle of Kroandon vehicles surrounded her, keeping the Vantanians from getting to their objective. She then busied herself wondering how she could aid her comrades, while in a locked cell and handcuffed. She was just about to give up, when through the barred window, a vial wrapped in rubber was shot in by a Vantanian sharpshooter. Unwrapping the rubber, she looked at the vial. It read: LOVE POTION NUMBER NINE, which was a military code phrase for Last Resort Cyanide. Uncertain, she stowed away the vial on her person, and turned to check on the battles progress.

The Mountains

The Primary Surveilliance Team poked treppidly up from the tunnel. They were just above a basin in the mountain, where to their surprise, they found water. The water, unable to percolate through the rock or freeze in the not quite at freezing temperatures, must have been gathering as rainwater. A quick test validated their initial hopes, the water was clean. The team then carefully searched, while keeping to the shadows and under ledges. the tunnels and caves in the ledge above the basin. Satisfied, the team returned from whence they had come, to tell Zeeway of the promising results. Hopefully the whole mountain region was like this, so that the Vantanians could be done with the underground all together and let the Kroadons continue their bombings, wasting capital on blowing apart what would hopefully be empty caves.

OOC: The mountains are rugged, and in the north. Like the Himalayas but not as tall.

Gateway - Ambush Site

As the Vantanians continued to fire their small arms and other such explosives, the number of Kroandon infantry on the ground was steadily decreasing. One thing however that seemingly remained the same, was the number of operating tanks. The RPG's, the LAW's, the light mortars were scarring tank armor and occasionally blowing out treads... but the turrets never seemed to cease firing. The Legionnaires remaining, around fifty or sixty in all, took cover behind the Krakens and set up a makeshift perimeter around the massive armored tractor trailer holding the prisoner. Machine guns held the Vantanians at bay, Automatic Grenade launchers peppered the distance in EastChn Napalm Grenades, and the C1's never ceased to fire off rounds into the distance...

Meanwhile, inside the trailer... the door to the prisoners cell was kicked in, it quickly being realized that the barred windows could allow a sniper to kill the prisoner. The door swung open, and a fully armored Legionnaire burst in, promptly knocking out the girl with the butt of his gun, dragging her into another room, where she was strapped down.

As the aircraft quickly shot through the balloons, the rocket strikes continued, paying little attention to the AA Guns on the ground, though two Apaches and a A-10 were taken down after their deployment. In the distance were the reinforcements... fifteen miles away roared forward fourty five humvees, and twelve G-24's, carrying with them over three hundred Legionnaires. The G-24's would not wait for the battle, and unleashed AvK-2 SteelFire Missiles into the distance from where they were, firing upon the coordinates of the ambushers directly around the convoy.

[Note that I have a large mining/military camp in the very northern part of the country - in the mountains.]

Eastern Coast of Archangel

Intelligence reported less than 100 enemy artillery pieces firing back from across the sea... against over 2,000 Kroandon Guns, which were far larger. They exchanged fire for quite some time, but with the Kroandon Cruise Missiles with them, it was not expected to be much of a fight. The Vantanian Ballistic Missile Strike would, as all others, be intercepted by KODS, the Kroandon Orbital Defense System, LACI EMP Interceptors being fired from satellites above, knocking out the SRBM's as they peaked in height.

The destroyers however, posed another threat, one to be handled by Land Based Valour Class Anti-Shipping Missiles. Approximatly 200 were fired at the enemy destroyers, as were the 406mm Artillery Guns.

Meanwhile, the fleet to the West closed on 100kms...

Gateway - Ambush Site

Mortars continued their drumming fire, shooting over the tanks now and into the area between the Esmerelda's trailer and the tanks, where the Kroandon Legionnaires were believed to be seeking protection. Meanwhile, the guns continued focusing their fire on the turrets, and some of the mortars assisted in this, seeking to disable the Kroandon's weapons systems so that they could charge them and recover their objective.

Esmerelda heard the footfalls racing towards her, and opened the vial cautiously, prepared to down the contents. Then, she heard the door breaking down, and latched her mouth around the vial, sucking away the small but lethal dosage of cyanide quickly. Then, sharp pain consumed her from a mix of the cyanide and the blow to her head. She fell unconscious from the pain, and started bleeding from rifle wound, to much blood... The vial clinked unheard to the floor, masked by Esmerelda's scream.

The aircraft hit the Vantanian fortifications hard, and between them, the Kroandon convoy, and the Kroandon rear guards hits, a further sixty-four men were felled. AA cannons continued filling the air with led, trying to ward off the aircraft unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, the attackers continued with double intensity to get to Esmerelda before the Kroandon reinforcements got to the convoy.

Eastern Coast of Archangel, Battle of Archangel

The Vantanian guns desperately fired at their Undermon counterparts, but they could see it was a losing battle. Still, they continued raining down shells on the Kroandons until the very last one was hit. The missile batteries on the otherhand were more well fortified, and continued firing missiles at the Kroandons, only now they were firing short range AGM-84 Harpoon class cruise missiles at Undermon.

The destroyers, fully expecting land based missile attacks, had come equipped with anti-missile missiles to shield them from missiles. As the missiles neared, the Vantanians launched their own missiles, and managed to take out a small chunk of the Kroandon missiles. Some of the missile's still managed to hit the Vantanians however, and others, even though they were grazed, managed to hit the Vantanians. Fourteen ships caught ablaze, and started to sink into the depths below, with the other destroyers all taking light to severe damage. The artillery fire now being directed at the Kroandons caused another eleven destroyers to become to damaged to function, and these caught ablaze, while the others took more damage.

On the other side of Archangel meanwhile, five hundred Tomahawks, converted to serve as anti-ship missiles, were fired at the incoming Occidental Archangel Kroandon Fleet as they came into range. They focused primarily on troop transports.

Gateway - Ambush Site

A massive fireball errupted from the center of the convoy as one to many enemy mortar rounds hit Esmerelda's trailer, and the vehicles massive 80 gallon gas tank blew the vehicle, and the Legionnaires around it, sky high. Only around thirty Legionnaires remained fighting, another two hundred scattered around the convoy site wounded... the remainder having passed into the underworld. Growling Legionnaires let loose with their EastCHN (http://z14.invisionfree.com/Kroando_Tech_Inc/index.php?showtopic=16&st=0#entry401551) fire grenades, lobbing them by arm, launching them via their C1 Assault Rifles, and releasing them through Automatic Grenade Launchers. These grenades, once detonated, would spin around, spraying everything within twenty five feet in an acidic napalm based fire.

As the trailer exploded, the reinforcements arrived, with fire in their eyes. Legionnaires poured off of the humvees and G-24's, firing their assault rifles into the dunes, which were under immense artillery and aerial fire, as well as constant missile strikes.

Battle of Archangel - Eastern Front

The missile exchange with the Vantanians continued with SDCI's knocking out scores of Harpoon Anti-Shipping Missiles, which maintained limited sucess, even when they hit their mark. Anti-Shipping missiles fired at artillery bunkers... dozens died, and many artillery pieces were turned into scrap metal, but for the most part, little was achieved. However dispite the enemy resolve as the missiles continued pouring in, the Kroandons matched it step for step, unleashing hundreds of Valours upon the enemy destroyers, as well as scores of Tomahawks at enemy land based fortifications. The artillery continued pounding away at enemy bunkers and missile batteries throughout the day and into the night.

After twelve hours of exchanging fire, 900 Kroandons lay dead, another 1,700 wounded, additionally dozens of artillery pieces and vehicles lay smoldering and burning along the shoreline.

Western Front

The Vantanian Tomahawk strike was well prepared for, with each enemy cruise missile being met by three SDCI Interceptor missiles, leaving merely twelve enemy missiles to break through to the Kroandon Fleet... those twelve were likewise knocked out by massive streams of fire from the CIWS Guns, with only one Tomahawk impacting upon a massive troop transport, the impact casuing light deck damage, killing twelve crewmen and thirty Legionnaires on board.

The strike was quickly responded to, with roughly 900 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles fired back at the enemy launch platforms and missile sites... the fleet continued onwards...

[Bump]

OOC: Sorry for the delay, I've been busy these last few days.

Gateway - Ambush Site

Furious hatred exuded from the Kroandons almost visibly. "We've done what we came here to do, let's get out of here!" screamed a guerilla, but the captain simply shook his head. They were going to die here, each and every one. And so, with a grim resolve, the Vantanians let loose with what they had been holding back, knowing that it was now or never. The mortars pounded the legionnaires who poured out from the protection of their vehicles. The AA cannons, redoubled their miniscule efforts, filling the air around the Vantanian position with their munitions. Grenadiers sent their explosives to the Kroandons via over the horizon methods, mostly using the other soldiers as spotters, as well as with their ears.

The soldiers rose quickly, took a shot at the Kroandons, and then fell, either of their own accord or to Kroandon bullets. Seeing the ineffectiveness of this tactic, the captain ordered bayonets attached. At the signal, the Vantanians, or atleast those who weren't operating AA cannons, grenadiers, or mortar operators, all leaped forward from the protection of the dunes and bounded towards the Kroandons, guns ablazing, bayonets fixed. The AA cannons did what they could to cover them, which wasn't much. The mortars and grenadiers shifted their focus to the light vehicles, leaving the legionnaires to the suicidal bayonet charge. The Vantanians were near gone, and with their fourty bayonetsmen charging, the other thirty Vantanians left behind to do what they could. If the charge failed, it would be very easy to charge the Vantanian position in return, and end the fight once and for all.

Battle of Archangel - Eastern Front

Harpoons continued sailing past Valours as the missile exchange continued into the night. The ships had, in the second wave of fire sent to them, all been sunk, without anything left to defend themselves with. Few of the sailors managed to return to shore, and those that did found themselves killed by missile exchange.

The artillery, unfortunately, faired little better, as most fortifications were focused on the missile batteries, and within an hour of the last ship sinking, the last artillery was crumpled into a ball of molten metal. The crews also faired little better then their sailor counterparts, but in some cases they managed to get to the missile batteries without being blown apart.

The missile batteries were the only line of defence that had not been compromised, although they were nearing it with each salvo. The fortifications, which had held steady over the hours, were now being cast away from the batteries like a child batting away blocks. Still, the missile exchange showed no signs of petering out, and in fact the amount of missiles thrown into the starry night increased, seeing the imminent collapse of the batteries approaching all to fast.

The full moon rose into the night sky, illuminating some one thousand Vantanian corpses. The screams of the five hundred wounded rose into the night sky, pleading for help, though none was forthcoming. Smoke rose in gentle pillars off of the burning remnants of the artillery positions and the burnt-out transportation system.

Western Front

Archangel colony was once the sole breadbasket of Vantanas, after a strange disease infected the other colonies crops. Since then, bioengineering has defeated the disease, but at the time, Empress Prazsac deemed that Archangel was important enough to defend from foreigners. To further fortify Archangel, she authorized the construction of not one, but two seaforts. The ever nearing Kroandon fleet became aware of them when they both came into range of each other. Several missiles were fired from them, in coordination with the second wave of missiles from Archangel. Also, the more numerous cannons on the towers were now turning towards the Kroandons, wheeling from the round forts on which they were anchored. With a deafening bang! the cannons roared to life, spitting fire at the enemy.

Meanwhile, anti-missile missiles sputtered to life from further inland, roaring to intercept the enemy missile strike, in conjunction with the inland artillery. Still, now missile interception system is perfect, and seventy-two Kroandon missiles slammed into the various missile batteries, hitting the fortifications. Seeing as this was merely the first salvo, the fortifications were shaken, and in some of the more damaged batteries there were fires being fought, but so far no reported fatalities. There was no knowing what lie behind the walls of flame and smoke though.

Gateway - Ambush Site

One of the few remaining ID-57's cranked it's turret into the direction of the charging Vantanians, the guns begining to spin before the first bullet were unleashed. It was as if it were all played in slow motion, meant to be accompanied by music in some great patriotic Vantanian Movie, as the vastly numerically superior Kroandons, surrounding and entrapping the valiantly charging Vantanians... simply unloaded. Hundreds of assault rifles, scored of fifty calibre machine guns atop the humvees and G-24's, and the ID-57 simply poured hot metal into the charging force... the bayonets would never taste blood... the fourty charging Vantanians looked into the barrels of over four hundred Kroandons, an ID-57', and 40 some .50 calibre machine guns. When these men were finished, the Legionnaires would rush over the hill, and finish what the enemy had started.

Explosions rocked the light vehicles, a pair of G-24's going up in flame, along with a humvee before a string of missiles were returned at the enemies location. The AA Guns of the Vantanians managed to knock down yet another A-10, a fact that would be noted as the war came to a conclusion, the aircraft bursting into flames as it ran nose first into the charred soil below, the pilot ejecting and floating down into the distance.

Eastern Archangel

Hundreds of Kroandon dead and wounded littered the beaches, the clouds above standing as a sign of the terror that awaited once the invasion of Archangel had begun. Missile exchanges went on throughout the night, with SDCI Missiles working round the clock to shoot down the enemy harpoons... however what really happened was quite simple. The Kroandons shot missiles at the Vantanians... and the Vantanians shot missiles at the Kroandons. And before long, the Kroandon Artillery joined in the attempted supression of Vantanian Missile Fire.

The next morning, as the sun rose in the east, it had begun. It was expected that the Vantanian Missile strength would have been sufficiently depleted or destroyed to allow for a naval landing... and if it hadn't, the fifty Halcons sent over would make it so, as the Stealth Fighters unleashed scores of Air-to-Surface Missiles upon the land based missile sites. There were expected to still be a number of Vantanian Missile Platforms... but not enough to stem the assault. Thousands of Kroandon Landing Craft, lead by 2,000 Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles and 15,000 MHAV 'Horns', over 75,000 Kroandons were on their way to the north eastern beach of Archangel...

Western Archangel

The Kroandon Fleet was caught somewhat off guard by the Vantanian Missile Strike, having only just recovered from the cannons firing from the fort on the island. The Tomahawks from the missile platforms inland were, for the most part knocked out by massive waves of Kroandon SDCI's, however several hits were scored, with seven Visari Class Destroyers being hit and sunk, along with two Visby Class Corvettes and a Arliegh Burke. The SuperDreadnought, the K.K.S Urmon, turned and responded to the fortress of the Vantanians.

Twenty four 30inch guns, twelve 18inch guns, and twenty four 14inch guns opened up with massive plumes of flame emerging from their barrels, unleashing a massive broadside unto the fort, shrugging off the various hits the Vantanians had scored. The fleet then resumed fire, releasing a simply enormous volley from the Tankers, as over 5,000 Tomahawks were fired at various locations across the island. Main targets were of course the fortresses, but then came the inland missile batteries, artillery positions and other various beach defenses and fortifications. This island was crucial... the starving mouths in Kroando stood testament to the fact...

ooc: Just a quick note to stick in here, will continue later...

ic:

Kane got the fresh printout from his personal aide, still warm from the printer. He read over it quickly. It were his new orders. He was to assume command of the entire LION fleet, and move it from Gateway to Archangel to assist in removing the civilian population out of harms way. His secondary mission was to inflict damage on any targets or missions of opportunity, attempts to slowly weaken the Kroandan forces. He barked out orders to make flank speed towards Archangel, leaving the Kroandan naval force they were headed towards near Gateway in the distance.

Voltonic Fleet Strength
Naval Forces - Visari Class Destroyer 1,100
Naval Forces - Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer 200
Naval Forces - Visby class corvette 120
Naval Forces - Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier 20
~1,000 Halcon Stealth Fighters
Naval Forces - Negotiator Class Cruiser 155
Naval Forces - Montana Class Battle Ships 2
Naval Forces - RADAR/SONAR/LADAR Detection Ships 13
Naval Forces - Tenerife SSBN 43
Naval Forces - Cadiz SSN's 12
Naval Forces - Fire Support Ships 220
Naval Forces - SDC-4 Overlord Class Trimaran Super Dreadnaught (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10405348&postcount=2059) 7
Naval Forces - Tanker Class Missile Carrier 19
Naval Forces - Supply/Logistical Ships 300[/QUOTE]

Several Hundred Kilometers off Gateway

Word of the LION Fleet rerouting to Archangel quickly reached the ears of the Kroandon Voltonic Fleet, which had previously been engaging the enemy from afar, trading ballistic missiles during the attempted - short lived liberation of Gateway. This news was rather delighting to the Commanders of the Fleet... as Archangel was their original destination in the first place, the only reason they had stopped was to encounter the LION threat to Gateway. Now however, LION was heading towards their original destination... and should they continue, they would find themselves wedged between two Kroandon Fleets... full speed towards Archangel was the order.

Gateway - Ambush Site

To say they were killed would not to do justice to the massacre. However, to say that their lives were snuffed out like a light switch is. Furthermore, to say that the corpses were shredded to the status of being misconstrued as dirty bits of newspaper would be doing justice to the massacre. Not a single Vantanian survived.

The black, choked soil turned into a sickening sort of mud as the blood ran into it. This made the ascent of the Kroandons up the dune slightly difficult, and they trampled what looked like dirty bits of newspaper. The slow down caused by the blood-mud gave the Vantanians precious time. A final round of mortar fire shot out, and as the Kroandons neared the top of the dune, Vantanian grenadiers leaped into the throng of enemies, with all of their grenades active. Moments later, these makeshift suicide bombers detonated. Undettered, the Kroandons continued forward, finishing off the last stand of the mortar and AA cannon operators, who fired small arms fire back at them. All of the Vantanians now lay dead.

Gateway - Next Night

Several Vantanian groups surfaced from different points, not to fight Kroandons, but to kill Kroandons.

The first Vantanian group went to a road, surrounded by charred trees. Steel axes soon felled nearby trees, and within no time the road was covered in trees. Some of these trees were hollow, and the Vantanians placed charges in these to provide a nasty surprise to the Kroandons. They then moved to a different road, and here, as there were no trees to fell, the dug shallow holes. In these holes, they placed powerful explosives, equipped with motion detectors. When something big came by, like a truck, the road would expode underneath it. This group started to make it's way back to it's surface entrance.

The second Vantanian group found a canal, which looked to be upstream of the Kroandon mining camp. Here, they returned the favor of the Kroandons; they dumped poisoned subterranean water into the canal, in enough dosage to make it lethal to anyone who drank it. They did this in a very time effective way, by punching holes in the barrels they hauled about and tossing the barrels into the canal. Testing the lethality, they watched a rabbit go to get a drink. Hopefully this canal was their drinking water. Moments later, it died and collapsed into the canal. Satisfied, they started retracing their path to their surface entrance.

The third group surfaced near a railway. Smiling with glee, they made a subtle cut in the track going away from the sea. This would, hopefully, be enough to send the train that went this way toppling over into the underbrush. The adjacent track, going towards what was presumed a port of some sort, was worked simultaneously. Holes were dug in the gravel, and explosives with motion sensors were placed in them. One minute, a train would be sailing by the landscape, the next, there would be an explosion that might even tip the whole train into the underbrush, and would atleast stop the train moving. This group stealthily made their way back to their surface entrance.

The fourth and final group emerged in a cliff, near the ruins of a former Vantanian port. Hoping the Kroandons built on top of the ruins, a small-medium boat moved towards the ruins, filled with explosives. Slip into the harbor, detonate the ship, then try and kill some civvies. That was the plan, and that was what the crew meant to do.

Eastern Archangel

The first battery fell rather anti-climacticly. First, a nearby missile hit shook off the roof, killing a few technicians. Then, a new missile landed square on, destroying the battery. Some fifty survivors gathered what they could salvage, and then went to a different battery via underground monorail. An uneasy tension developed, as the Vantanians recuperated, and the Kroandons went to invade.

Roughly half of the initial batteries were still standing as the Kroandons neared the beaches of eastern Archangel. The Vantanians had managed to make a sort of equilibrium, as the bombs dropped from the Halicons, the Vantanians from the fallen batteries having worked to rebuild the fortifications and continuing to work even as the bombs fell. With supplies and manpower keeping the remaining batteries active, they launched a renewed missile assault, this time on the Kroandon fleet. The missiles rained down on the Kroandons en masse, particularily heavy on the troop transports. Vantanian brimstone rained down on the Kroandons, literally, as several experimental brimstone missiles shoot at the troop transports.

Western Archangel

A grim smile flitted over the face of the Vantanian captain of one of the sea fort as he saw the hits the ships had taken. This smile was promptly wiped as he saw the large guns assembled before him. He ordered all men into the relative safety of the fort, and the fifteen eighteen inch guns of the fort tried desperatly to match the firepower of the superdreadnaught. Seeing the futility of that excersize, they sought to reduce the firepower of the superdreadnought by destroying it's guns. Seeing the superdreadnought focus on it's twin, the other seafort let loose on the exposed other side of the ship with it's guns of similar number and dimensions. The seafort held for the time being due to it's armoring and curvature.

Anti-missile missiles dispersed once more to block the deep inland assault, letting the coastal regions scrap for themselves. Due to this focus, the Vantanians managed to hit all the missiles they aimed for one way or another, with the exception of a missile hitting an inland forts farmland. The fight continued, unabated, as the Vantanians continued shooting missiles, though in lower numbers, at the Kroandon fleet.

OOC: I'm thinking a rather large battle at a port city or something, followed by a surrender of the colony in exchange for letting the civvies go.

[@Archangel. Sounds good - but I'm probably not going to land in the west until the forts are gone, and in the East... well, I'm landing, but not sure where your main army is.]

Gateway

If one of the Vantanians were to look at the Kroandons working during the day, they would think them insane. There were over 200,000 Civilian Workers on the island, mainly under the employment of the Junkers Korporation. The only true resource Gateway still possessed was the gold mine in the north, which only now began yielding any real finds, as convoys laden with raw gold ore were taken out in massive tank, helicopter and artillery covered escorts - with hundreds of Legionnaire scouts positioned along the road for miles in all directions. Each convoy was worth an estimated 250 Million Dollars... letting them fall to the Vantanian Guerillas would not be acceptable.

However this is not why the guerillas would find the Kroandons insane. Of the 200,000 in Gateway, only 10,000 were involved in the gold mine. The other 190,000 were doing several other, equally important jobs. The former cities of Gateway, though destroyed and burned to the ground, still looked like gold to the Junkers Korporation. The crumbling burnt out apartments... the remanents of blown up cars... the asphault that made up the streets of the cities. It was all gold to the salivating 'junkers' of the Junkers Korporation. They worked day and night, tearing apart the remanents of the cities, throwing chunks of concrete, car doors, old bricks, copper wire, scraps of iron and steel, pretty much anything made of metal or stone into massive transport trucks, which were driven to the single Port - Known as Velsparia - and then taken back to Kroando.

To the Vantanians, to pretty much anyone besides Kroandons, this was madness. This stuff was junk to the world. To the Kroandons, it was raw mineral. The stone, concrete and asphault would be taken to massive cement plants, where it would be ground up and packaged, and then sold on the world market for a few dollars a bag. The money would add up to the billions when all of Gateway was concerned... and the amount of jobs... in the hundreds of thousands. The steel, iron and all other sorts of metal would be thrown into smelting plants, and made into raw metal for use in the creation of steel beams, cars, guns, industrial equipment... billions more. And the jobs... millions of jobs.

If the Vantanians did not find the Kroandons insane for this... if they watched them mine for random stones in the ground, they certainly would. Stones and rocks were dug up and transported to Velsparia, then taken to Kroando, and thrown into the same cement plants as the the chunks of concrete were. The soil itself was often taken, as in many countries around the world facing soil erosion, it was valuable. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, and countless jobs. Of course the buyers might not like the soil once they discovered it was poisoned, but...

Gateway - Next Night

"What in the hell?!", shouted Captain Rulg as his Kraken Battle Tank slowed to a halt before the trees filled road. Rulg was on his 6th Convoy Command this month, the other five of which had been running smoothly. Rulg popped open the hatch on the top of the Kraken and looked down the road, illumnated by the Kraken's bright lights, at all the fallen trees. "What in the hell are they trying to do? Piss me off? Run the bastards over.", shouted Rulg, fully expecting to turn the charred trees into ash... crunch... crunch... crunch... Rulg climbed back into the tank, shaking his head... BOOM! The Kraken shook with the force of the first explosion, one of the tank's treads being blown apart, the tank itself however, sustaining only minor damage, with the armor slightly dented and charred at the bottom. "Sonofabitch... roll back and blow the rest of those damn trees away..." The Kraken proceded to fire it's Automatic Grenade Launcher at the trees before the tank, blowing them all apart, several of which clearly contained more explosives. After an hour or so, a new tread was put on the tank, and it continued forward. On another road, not far away, a patrol humvee was blown apart before engineers came to clear the road of the rest of the explosives.

Several weeks later the Kroandons noticed a multitude of dead animals around a canal not far from a KroKore camp, and decided to test it. High poison levels came up, and the canal was fenced off, with warning signs posted. No Kroandons drank from natural water in Gateway, mainly due to the Kroandon poisoning of the entire area. The Kroandons never expected foul play, assuming the poison had come from what they had done to the water table.

After a transport train was derailed in what seemed like an act of sabotague, a group of engineers discovered explosives on the adjacent track, and promptly had them removed before any serious damage was caused. No deaths were caused in the original derailing, but it did delay supplies getting further inland for quite some time.

The final incident of the night occured at Velsparia, the main military port of Gateway - built upon an old Vantanian City. The entire Kroandon Fleet was anchored outside Velsparia. When a small, unidentified vessel was picked up outside the harbour, a Visari Class Destroyer, after trying unsucessfully to hail the vessel on radio, fired an Anti-Shipping Missile at the boat, and would not hesitate to fire many more should the first miss.

Eastern Archangel

As the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles rolled onto the beaches, Kroandon Legionnaires unloaded, securing a landing zone for the rest of the army, all the while taking fire from inland missile batteries. Hundreds died within the first half hour of the landing, but the Kroandons continued undeterred, storming up the beaches. As the Kroandon tanks began landing, it was a full out assault, a blitz to the missile batteries. Over 200 Kraken II's, 200 ID-57's and 300 G-24's sped towards the Vantanian Missile Sites, which were still under fire from the Kroandons back in Undermon. The vehicles moved as quickly as they could, with the G-24's firing hundreds of AvK-2 SteelFire Missiles at their opponents in the distance...

The landing craft in the waters were armed with small, 12.7mm CIWS Guns, designed to take down incoming missiles. This heavily helped in defending against the Vantanian Brimstone Missiles, however many vessels were hit, inflicting serious casualties upon those landing craft.

Western Archangel

In the west the fire fight continued, with the Overlord trading fire with the forts, the massive SuperDreadnought taking modest damage in the exchange, especially from the fort which had a direct line of site on it. The fort could not be allowed to continue it's operation, and a total of 1,100 Tomahawk Missiles were fired at each fort from the Tankers and Visari's. The landing could not be started until the forts were out of the way... and out of the way they would soon be. Halcons soon took to the air, thirty sent at each fort to fire Air-to-Surface Missiles at the defenses, with hundreds more being fired at both forts.

All the while the Kroandon Anti-Missile Missiles traded fire with the Vantanian Missile sites, three more ships being struck and sunk during the exchange.

Gateway

Again the Vantanians rose from the abyssal depths, and for the last time. For, far away in the mountain regions, the preperations were complete, and the Vantanians were ready to move the majority of the population there. Meanwhile the Kroandons continued their soil bombing until the big quake, which was estimated to be enough to shake down Kroandon buildings.

The Kroandons got much of the same attacks they had the day before, mass fallings of trees, railway cuts, poison in a different canal, but also some new things. In niches and cuts in the mountains near the camp, stereos, once belonging to the soldiers, were placed. Charged with rechargable batteries, they were filled with some sort of mad rap/heavy metal/death rock abyssal mix, blasting out at full volume towards the camp. It was expected that the hiding places would have to be shuffled around every other day, but it was hoped that the music would keep the Kroandons tired, and hopefully decrease the mine's productivity.

In another region, deadly animals were released, after being poked and prodded, into the wilderness. The poking and proding was, effectively, to get them to hate humans. Most were cave animals, giant lizards, massive cave snakes, and large mosquittos capable of sucking enough blood out of a man to kill them. Some of them were division mascots, bears, eagles, and the like. This also was not expected to have as much effectiveness, but it was hoped it would atleast cause them to have to put soldiers into doing something other then searching for surface entrances.

Then, there was the extensive bombing campaign that was launched against Kroandon positions. The bombs in question, were actually just paper, but there was ink on the paper, and the pages were folded and stapled into pamphlets. The words on these pages formed instructions like: "If it should be realized that the Kroandon cause is lost, then one would only have to enter the woods at nighttime. From there, Vantanian patrols will find the enlightened amongst the Kroandons, and safely escort them to the Viper Den." Alternatively, they also made a deadly promise to the Kroandons: "And remember noble Vantanian, our mission is a just one. We of the GLF cannot rest until the last Kroandon life is gone from Gateway. Surrender is not an option."

Meanwhile, on a road somewhere south of the mining camp, a daring ambush was being set up. Holes were dug into the road, and many explosives placed in them. Then, other traps were set up in the area, mostly primitive things like falling rocks triggered by strings, and beartraps buried in the loose ash-soil to take a bite out of a Kroandon foot. Meanwhile, the Vantanians buried themselves as best as they could a little ways away. They didn't want to reveal themselves until they were good and ready, and their hands hung over the detonator for the explosives.

OOC Note: Unless I say they're in a particular area, they're scattered around.

Eastern Archangel

Predicting a tank charge to the batteries, relief workers had rushed in as the Kroandon landing was happening. As quickly as possible, the land around each of the remaining batteries being filled with anti-tank mines, czech hedgehogs, and roughened up the terrain a bit. As the tanks neared, missile fire was redirected at them, along with a small composite of LAW and RPG fire from men atop the Vantanian tanks which wheeled out. Dirt and dust was kicked up, and the fifty tanks began firing at their Kroandon counterparts.

Meanwhile, all missiles not firing at the tanks, or enemy missiles, were fired now at the Kroandon landing site, bombarding their position. Bombers and their selected escorts, multirole fighters, soared over them, dropping bombs like rain onto the foe. A single lumbering airship moved out, still in the distance yet certainly ready to bombard the Kroandons.

Western Archangel

Moments after a salvo of Vantanian missiles were, for the most part, deflected by the Kroandons, both forts let loose a seperate salvo of missiles on the Kroandons, hoping to catch them off guard. Meanwhile, the guns continued their tragic stand against the SD, fighting like mad men. The attacks of the Kroandons were taking their toll, and now metal dented under the SD's fire, and bombs punched holes in the forts, where fire soon came. Attempts to fight the fire were, ultimately, in vain, so instead the Vantanians let the fire do as it wanted, securing the combat vital sections against the blaze.

Suddenly, amongst the Vantanian batteries, the equivalent to the eastern "great crunch" happened, taking longer this time due to the varying conditions between east and west. As before, the Vantanians salvaged what they could and retreated to the other batteries. This brought precious, precious relief, and restored the equilibrium of the battle, for now...

Things were progressing at the moment according to plan. The LION fleet was speeding towards Archangel, hoping to arrive in time to relieve the Vantian forces, either by taking a stand against the Kroandon forces or to evacuate what was left and fight another day. First they had to get there, and Kane had come up with a plan to make the LION job a little easier, by first dispatching with the enemy ships to their rear, several hundred miles away. He had many forces at his disposal, and he intended to use them to cause as much damage as possible.

Currently, the fleet was at flank speed, somewhere around 30 knots considering the number of ships. After about an hour on their heading, radio chatter gradually started picking up, with more and more orders and information being transmitted in the open. This chatter included weather updates, fuel status, supply inventories, readiness statuses, and other things, though most of it was false information. Kane knew that he was being followed, and that anything he sent electronically would be picked up, and even if it was encrypted it could still be broken given enough time. So, why not make it easier for the Kroandons to pick things up? They of course would doubt the authenticity of it all, but it would keep them guessing as to what – if any – was real information, or if it was code. In fact, any order Kane really wanted to give the fleet was transmitted the old fashioned way, through light communication stands still located on all ships. Naval traditions die hard, and thankfully this one had not passed yet. Kane trusted his Secure Data Links (SDLs), but he wanted to be as sure as possible his orders were not caught by the enemy. Over several hours, the chatter would increase, peaking in that time, as well as electronic jamming. The enemy would most likely figure something would happen at the time it peaked, but Kane knew that as well, so any action would happen some time after the peak. But there was still more to come before anything happened. Active radar was flipped on by half the fleet, creating a massive overlapping of radar screens, as well as massive amounts of electronic signatures being cast into the air. Yet another thing for the Kroandons to pick up, though they wouldn’t be able to get either exact location of the ships with their radars on or how many ships were in the fleet.

The final step was to come. Nearly all the large capital ships (i.e. carriers, battleships, dreadnoughts, AA ships) held the FCSSM (Fleet Counter Surveillance Satellite Module). With satellites being nearly everywhere due to paranoid nations, no one could take the chance of not being spotted by the eyes in the sky. The Kroandons would undoubtedly have several tracking the fleet, and back in Orzio proper the EWR/SS (Early Warning Radar & Satellite System) and ONEC (Orzi National Evaluation Center) had dozens of people finding and pinpointing any Kroandon satellite, relaying the coordinates to the fleet. This is where the FCSSM came into play. In a way a glorified laser pointed, it was a laser that could “blind” a sat from overexposure, basically rendering it useless for a time, though it was not powerful enough to destroy the sat. Even a satellite built to with EMP hardening would be taxed to stay active and working from one laser. However, this was good enough for Kane. Once the Kroandon satellites had been located and tracked, the FCSSM systems were activated, upon which dozens and dozens of lasers aimed at the satellites fired. This measure completed the blinding of the Kroandons, letting Kane instigate his next move, leaving the Kroandons to figure out what was happening without any of their advanced technology helping them.

But nothing happened at first, at least more than just the fleet continuing towards Archangel. If something happened right away, the Kroandons would be looking at that point of the trip, and would surely find it eventually. They of course would already know something was happening, given that they were being electronically attacked. The orders Kane had sent through light would now come into play. About twenty minutes into the peak and laser screen, a portion of the fleet started to peel off from the main fleet and head due south, away from both the LION and Kroandon fleets heading towards Archangel. They would head south for some time, the better to hide their position from the Kroandons, and surprise them at the right time. Once part of the fleet had peeled off, several of the LION ships started dropping hundreds of mines behind them, spread in a dispersal pattern to encompass as much of the Kroandon fleet behind them as possible.
While this was going on, the main LION fleet would continue as if nothing happened, keeping up the chatter, jamming and lasers for several more hours to cover the movement and mining operation.

It would be a little bit of time before the Kroandons would pass, and once that would happen, the southern fleet would slowly and silently approach from the south of the Kroandon fleet, ever so carefully. They would be on minimal power and moving at their fastest “silent” speeds, closing the distance to their launch point. Once the Kroandon fleet neared the mines, then the fireworks would start, and most likely catching them off guard.


ooc: Makeup of fleet that peeled off:

LION South Fleet:
10 Consortium Class Escort Carriers
20 Nimitz-class Carriers
20 Iowa class Battleships
50 Admiral Class Strike Cruiser
30 Ticonderoga class Cruisers
200 Type 27 Class AA Frigate
20 Badger class AA destroyers
150 Type 31 ASW Destroyer
35 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer
60 Longarm class Arsenal ship
100 Los Angeles class Submarine

Gateway

The guerilla attacks endured in Gateway were rather lax compared to those the Veteran Kroandon force had expirienced in the Ardesh Swamp Wars, and were not in the least bit demoralized by the incessant rail line cuts and canal poisonings, which became less and less effective as time went on. As canals were not used as a water supply, it did little, and as the rail lines continued to be cut, monitors were placed along them, monitors which would signal Central Command should a line be damaged. The fallen tree routine also was quickly overcome, as instead of running them over, or even moving them, they were blown up. Motion detecting explosives did cause damage, a few trucks every day, but no where near enough to even change the overall campaign of the Kroandons.

The most interesting tactic of the Vantanians was however the massive loudspeakers. The first night, the sleep deprived Kroandons thought up a plan during the time they would have normally been... sleeping. The Kroandons would be dropped via helicopter in the forest, near the locations of the loud speakers, and set up hidden positions... simply waiting all night, and day, and night again for the Vantanians to come back for the speaker, to move it as they had been doing. When they came back... bang. A Kroandon Sniper would be waiting. The rather annoying issue of aggrevated animals was dealt with by permitting off duty Legionnaires to go hunting for R&R.

Across Gateway, the Vantanians had attacked with a massive propoganda campaign, attempting to demoralize and sadden the Kroandons with Anti-Kroandonic Messages and letters of such sort. Now this was a difficult undertaking for many reasons. Primarily, very few people spoke proper Kroandon... very few Kroandons spoke proper Kroandon, most communicating in Kro-Speak, a non-written mutated version of Kroandon. It was highly unlikely there were many people outside of Kroando that could write in actual Kroandon. The second problem was that the vast majority of the Kroandon Army was... illiterate. Stupid, well not exactly. In the realm of military combat, they were geniuses. In anything else, don't ask them any questions. The only literate members of the Kroandon Army were Officers, whom told their troops that the letters were Pro-Kroandon Propoganda.

South of Gold Mine

A single humvee patrol, the likes of which were in the area every other thirty minutes, rolled down the dark night road, it's headlights bouncing up and down the gravel path. Before long, the vehicle tripped some sort of mechanism, and a large boulder smashed the hood of the humvee... the gunner immidiately began shining the light into the woods, and one of the three men inside stepped out to look around...

Eastern Archangel

[What kind of tanks do you use?]

The 200 Kraken II's (http://z14.invisionfree.com/Kroando_Tech_Inc/index.php?showtopic=5) immidiately returned fire against the Vantanian positions, using their IR range finders to locate the enemy armor as it quickly revealed itself. The guns roared, with the Kroandon Krakens outnumbering the Vantanian tanks 4 to 1, supported by an additional 200 ID-57's and 300 G-24's. The G-24 Strikers opened up fire with their array of AvK-2 SteelFire Missiles, which were fired en masse at the enemy missile batteries and tanks both. The G-24's also fired SDCI-3's, missiles which were capable of knocking out the Vantanian Missiles as they redirected their fire to the advancing armor core.

As far as the RPG's and LAW's went, it achieved little more than making a nice explosion and blackening the already black Kroandon Tank Armor. The thickness of the Krakens, and even the ID-57's armor was simply not to be destroyed by such light weaponry. Of course superficial damage was caused, but nothing of any significant degree. The ID-57's split their fire between the enemy tanks and the Vantanian RPG and LAW crews.

The obstacles in the Kroandon paths were quickly becoming a problem. While the Czech Hedgehogs were simply crushed or plowed out of the way by the massive Krakens [the czech hedgehogs did loose their usefullness by the end of WWII], Anti-Tank Mines were blowing out treads left and right, immobilizing dozens of Kroandon Tanks. While these tanks fired away nevertheless, they were immobile for a time.

Back at the landing site, things were becoming easier, for the majority of the Vantanian Missile Battery was focused on the advancing tank force. This allowed for a somewhat easier unloading, as armored forces now took the beach. The Vantanian Aircraft Attempting to bombard the beaches ran into stiff resistance in the form of G-24's firing scores of SDCI-3 Missiles into the air, as well as shoulder-launched Stingers. RADAR in Undermon picked up a massive enemy airship, most likely a heavy bomber... Halcons were scrambled, and sent to defend the beaches... over fifty were sent to defend the landing site, seven sent to take down the slow lumbering aircraft in the distance. The Halcons were instructed to fire eight Air-to-Air Missiles each upon the bomber... totalling 56 missiles...

Western Archangel

The SuperDreadnought continued it's battle against the two Vantanian Forts, recieving ever more support from missile strikes as time woar on. Hundreds upon hundreds of Tomahawks soared into the sky, streaking towards the enemy forts and missile batteries, of which new ones were apperantly activated. To add to the Kroandon attack, the Cadiz Class SSBN's unleashed some 12 Decurion Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles, which once peaking, broke apart into over 300 MIRVs [New Smaller Bombs] - each with a 1,000lb High Explosie warhead. That put a total of 3,600 1000lb bombs ontop of the Vantanian Forts and Missile Batteries...

6 more ships were hit and sunk, mainly corrvettes and destroyers.

Enroute to Archangel - Voltonic and LION Fleets

The Kroandon Naval Forces in pursuit of the LION Fleet had all chatter from the enemy fleet cut off minutes after it picked up. The frequency and carelessness given in relaying these messages between the fleet meant only that the enemy intended for them to hear... the risks of electronic jamming were to high, and all receptors listening to the LION Fleet were promptly switched 'OFF'.

It was what came next that really got under the Kroandon's skin... the blinding of their thirteen KODS Satellites watching the fleet. Kroandon Orbital Defence Command in Antarctika quickly picked up on the laser attack of the satellites, and moved to counter the strike as quickly as possible. The Kroandons were blind, the LION Forces below had clearly identified their satellites through various transmissions, and now had blinded the Fleet... something that could not be left alone. Orbital Command quickly acted to at least gain some sort of idea of what was going on... and rather quickly began hacking into a nearby Google Satellite put up by some foriegn nation far, far away. The hackers, through various Trojan inserts, viruses and other such devices temporarily comondeered the nearby satellite, and redirected it's vision to the LION Location, still being tracked by the active RADAR they were deploying.

Snap... snap... snap... pictures were promptly being taken, and relayed to fleet. The Kroandons compared the images to those taken days earlier... it wasn't all there. There was a considerable portion of it missing... and so the satellite continued looking around, and eventually it found another fleet, a missing piece to the puzzle, some distance to the south. The pictures also revealed what seemed to be minelayers... another problem that would inevitable slow down the Kroandon Fleet significantly.

But in the meantime, the Kroandons had to let the enemy feel their... displeasure with their continued electronic war. The twelve Cadiz Class SSBN's in the fleet were now stopped, preparing to fire a barrage of Decurion SLBMs... and soon they did just that. Each Cadiz unleashed two of these massive Ballistic Missiles [24 total], missiles which soared into the sky, reached their suborbital archs, and broke apart... into 300 MIRV's each. Each of these Re-entry vehicles consisted of a 1,000lb High Explosive Bomb - falling at Mach 5... 7,200 one thousand pound bombs would rain down upon the massive LION Fleet, and though their accuracy was not fullproof, the number of bombs, and the size of the fleet guaranteed damage be done.

In the mean time, a number of Visari Class Destroyers were deployed in a protective ring around the fleet, every few miles, deploying Active RADAR and SONAR to prevent this new Southern threat from sneaking up on them...

ooc: I'll assume as if your post has been changed to what we agreed upon earlier.



“….Warning!....Missile Launch….Warning!...”

Alarms started going off around Kane as the launch of missiles from the Kroandon forces was detected. Orzi satellites were still operating, and the couple that were nearby picked up the smoke plumes and heat flashes of ballistic missiles launching. Swearing at his intelligence, Kane had not known there were ships in the enemy fleet that were capable of this kind of attack. That would have to be quickly remedied, but he couldn’t focus on that now. Tracking the missiles as they went, he saw the few multiply into the many as each missile unleashed its full payload. A little sigh passed through Kane, since this meant that they were not nuclear missiles, and now his accuracy was further limited. MIRVs were a nice addition to any nation’s arsenal, but as all ballistic missiles their accuracy could only go so far. That many of them, well, that would help make up for it, but only so much considering the temporary blindness of the Kroandons. They could make their best estimates at where the LION fleet ships location would be, though their radar would give away some, but not every ship had on their radar.

The first thing to do was to figure out how to limit the damage. Evasive maneuvers were put into play, speeds and direction being switched constantly in order to spread the fleet out. Interceptor missile batteries were brought online, their radar switching from passive to active mode, searching out targets and finding many. There wasn’t much time to intercept many, though a reduction in number – any number – would help. The MIRVs, coming in as fast as they were would hardly be able to react without tearing themselves apart, potentially the only negative against them. But Kane was intent on saving his ships, his fleet. The first wave of interceptors was launched all at once, set to either hit the incoming missiles or explode next to them. Launch after launch, missiles filled the sky with their plumes, and soon explosions started to fill the sky here and there. 1,500 missiles were launched from the destroyers, cruisers and frigates. Less than five seconds after that, another 1,500 were launched from the battleships, arsenal ships, and dreadnoughts. About half were expected to hit or at least severely damage the incoming missiles. The final launch of missiles from the LION fleet came as the MIRVs homed in, less than 20 seconds from the ships. A wave of 500 high explosive missiles were launched, time to detonate five seconds after launch in the air, in an attempt to cause a fireball hot enough to detonate the incoming. They would get some, but not all.

Explosions started to cascade around the fleet in the water in quick secession. The first to be hit was the battleship OIS Headstrong. The bomb struck the front of the ship, drilling into the magazine and exploding, taking the whole ship in one gigantic fireball. Other ships started to get hit as well. Some that were lightly damaged had their topside fires put out by the water splashing everywhere from explosions, though the water also contributed to damage as well. The carrier Lithic was struck midship, its flight deck now spotting a gapping hole and taking on water. Several ships tried firing their CIWS guns, with a couple successful hits causing explosions a few hundred meters from the ship, killing sailors with shrapnel. Overall though, the fleet survived, angrier than ever to exact revenge against the Kroandons for this attack, one viewed by many as a cowardly act.

Losses:
328 ships damaged
* 160 critically/severely
172 ships sunk
* 3 carriers
* 8 battleships
* 12 cruisers
* 104 destroyers
* 8 arsenal ships
* 37 supply ships



LION Response

As the smoldering ships sank, Kane hunched over his map, determined to exact his and LION’s revenge, now that the Kroandons had shown they could attack at a distance further than he had anticipated. His ships were bleeding, but most were more than capable of fighting back, and that would happen now.

There were already some planes up providing cover and they would now be joined by many, many more. First up were the interceptors and air-superiority fighters, who would need to dominate the sky before any attack aircraft could, well, attack. They circled the fleet until there were numerous fighters in the air, a total of 2,500 aircraft, just waiting to be unleashed. They started on their journey towards the Kroandon fleet, but would stay a ways out of range of Kroandon missiles. As they flew by, the next wave of aircraft were being sent up, these being the attack jets that would bear the main load of attacking the Kroandon fleet. A total of 1,000 of these aircraft were being launched, to follow after the fighters had cleared the sky of enemy aircraft.

But something else would hit the Kroandon fleet first. Numerous ships had VLS systems, and the Kroandons were now in range of all of them, including the undiscovered southern fleet. The missiles would come in from multiple directions in order to spread the defenses. A total of 6,500 missiles were readied and launched in successive order, filling the sky as they made their way towards the Kroandon ships. The missiles would fly at different altitudes as well, some skimming the ocean and others coming from higher up in the sky, trying to make acquisition take that much longer. The missiles all targeted the smaller support ships, i.e. destroyers, detection ships, corvettes, missile carriers, and cruisers, the ships most likely to be able to put up the most air defenses. Without these, the Kroandon fleet would become much more defenseless, and the better for the LION air assault to come.

The final measure of this attack was beneath the surface. Submarines from the southern fleet, after launching a few of their missiles, very slowly crept forward towards the Kroandon fleet. Their task was to hunt for any enemy subs, which were bound to be out there. They would destroy any subs found, then attack the outer ring of ships, denying the Kroandons any advantage of air coverage as much as possible.



Ooc: Basically, you’ll be hit first by a missile attack, then ASF aircraft, then attack aircraft, as well as subs during the missile attack.

The ASF flight is a mix of F-25 SeaHawks, F-36 Shrikes, & LUK-47 SaberFang

The attack flight is a mix of F-18 SuperHornets, F-14 Tomcats, and F-35 JSFs.

Gateway

The Commander of the Guerillas stood in front of the Council, inquiring to the status of the war. "What of the rail cuttings? The appear to have no more use as a weapon against the Kroandons." the General asked, to which the Council replied: "The cuttings still have some effect, in that they are forcing the railways to operate slower and make them exert manpower to check the lines. Although, we are now switching to a new method, in that we are digging holes in the gravel, placing bombs in them, and covering them back. When trains roar over them, the motion sensor activates the bombs, and the train gets some damage. Of course, we'll still continue with the cuttings, so they don't get to suspicious."

"And the canal poisonings? It has been proven that they do not kill the enemy." the general said, pressing for some reason. Taking a sort of lecturing tone, the Council replied thusly, "We are returning the favor. They have a clean water supply, we have a clean water supply. It instills a sense of fear, and causes some of Gateway's natural resources, its vegetation and animals, to lessen, at least those around the canal. Anything to destroy them, and we haven't lost a single man in poisoning. It's a safe tact, and one that we continue even now."

"What of the fallen tree routine? This may have worked before, but by now they've realized they can just blow them up?" the Commander said, looking for some sort of tactic that could be abandoned. The Council, in their wisdom, replied: "Ah, but they have to use shells to do so, and are also destroying trees in the region, helping choke long term use of this colony. Still, nearby trees are becoming scarce, and so much more emphasis is now being placed on motion sensor bombs buried in the roads. One of our sub-objectives is to disrupt their transportation system, making them easier to fight on the whole. All of our attacks have been against the dots and lines on the maps. Even as we speak, our brave agents are planting bombs in their roads."

"But the stereos, that has actually caused deaths, and with little effect! Why?" the Commander said, finding a high point. "The stereos were most unfortunate. They had little effect, though they did definitely cause some sort of slow down in the mines. It is most unfortunate that there were unnecessary deaths caused by the stereos, and I suppose it could have been foreseen, but we were looking for ways to weaken the Kroandons, and this was all that came of it.”

“The animals then? This was definitely animal cruelty.” The Commander said, pressing his victory. To this, the Council replied harshly: “There is no such thing as cruelty in warfare. Only what needs to be done. The animals ate away at our supplies, and by loosing them on the surface, we caused some sort of damage, and got them off of our hands. Indeed, even as we speak, more animals, these ones diseased, are going to spread disease to the Kroandons. It’s worth a shot.”

“The propaganda campaign isn’t doing any better then is it? I heard you were forced to discontinue it.” The Commander closed, looking to save what little ground he had gained. “That,” the Council said, “is because we ran out of ink to write pamphlets.”

South of Gold Mine

The boulder smashed into the car, and three figures emerged from the humvee. A beam of light began arcing into the wilderness, and with a smug smile, the camouflaged Vantanians pressed a button. From underneath the truck, an explosion erupted powerfully. Simultaneously, machine gun fire shot out in a rather overkill way at the three figures outside of the vehicle, and meanwhile grenades disguised as rocks were chucked with careful precision at the truck, mostly the gunners nest. While the gunner fired at where the attacks were coming, Vantanians, also in camouflage, snuck up towards the truck, looking at the open door the three men had come through. They clutched their rifles nervously, ready to loose fire if they were discovered.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the night, agents began attempts to down power and communication lines.

OOC: How many people are in the truck?

Eastern Archangel
OOC: The 2010 Modern Class Tanks.

IC:

Mounds of earth lay in front of the Vantanian tank position, and for the moment protected them. RPG’s and LAW’s, while not doing much, were still doing something, and aimed at immobilizing the Kroandons by shooting towards their treads. Meanwhile, the tanks did most of the work, firing round after round at the Kroandon menace. Still, the batteries flowed missiles at the tanks, determined to simply overwhelm them if necessary, although a majority redirected themselves into shooting down enemy aircraft. Additional support from the batteries came in the form of mortars, firing at the immobile tanks to attempt to do more damage.

As the Kroandon Halcons neared, the bombers let loose their, well bombs, half smart and half dumb. Meanwhile, the fighters arced towards them, firing three missiles each at the Kroandon attackers, while meanwhile scrambling to avoid the Kroandon missiles, and where they couldn’t launching countermeasures to take the blows instead. Still, eleven fighters burst into flames, crashing explosively into the Kroandon beach head below. The pilots all ejected, with the exception of one, and clutched their last resort rifles in preparation for a bloody stand against the Kroandons below, already firing wildly down at the Kroandons.

Western Archangel

The forts were now crumbling, and five guns were damaged beyond use. Still, they continued their futile task, blasting away at the enemy, now seeking to take as many down with it as possible. Meanwhile on the mainland, the batteries continued firing unhindered, as equilibrium had already been reached. The SLBM’s however, were a welcome relief. ABM satellites noted the Kroandons shooting up missiles, and as they neared their peak, and as they hit their peak, they were shot down. Relatively few of the SLBM’s reached their intended location.

Unfortunately, lives continued to be extinguished. An unknown amount of men on the forts were killed in the fire, and some one hundred men perished in the combined Tomahawk-SLBM barrage.

Gateway

Guerilla activity had not been the safe practice it once had been as of late. The acts of poisoning canals, cutting rail lines, placing bombs in roads... they had all depended upon one factor. The ability of the Vantanians to freely access the surface. And the only reason they had the capability of doing this was due to the Kroandons simply not knowing where the Vantanians were coming out of. They assumed there were disguised, secret sub-terranean entrances and tunnels throughout the middle of the country, as that was where the enemy was hiding. However after weeks of bombing bombing the underground network, the Kroandons stopped, and listened. Literally. High-sensitivity audio equipment was lowered into tunnels, and the Kroandons listened. They wanted to hear movement. Maybe even talking. What they heard... was nothing.

This meant one of two things. One, they were all dead, and the war was over. This was clearly not the case, and so option two was taken as certain. They had moved. But where could the Vantanians have gone so as to completely avoid detection, and still hide their massive numbers? Foriegn colonies was out of the question, as border patrols, fences and satellite imagery would have eventually picked up such things. The question was answered as the latest attack came in on a patrol in the mountains. The Vantanians were in the mountains.

And once the Kroandons had found where they were, they quickly found how to catch them. Kroandon snipers were being deployed literally everywhere. Thousands upon thousands of snipers were scattered throughout the burnt out woods, along the mountain passes, in scout towers along rail road lines, near canals, in every knook and cranny one could imagine. And did they ever take effect. They would simply sit in wait, and pick off Vantanians as they moved about. Of course there were casualties, it was expected in such an occupation. But what it came down to was economics. The amount of revenue being produced from the large scrap iron, gold and stone deposits exceeded the costs in rail road repairs, deaths and vehicle destruction. Even when reports of diseased animals came about, the few Kroandons affected [due to their Honvorg Infantry Apparati], were usually just taken home and treated, replaced by one of the other billion Kroandons looking for a job.

South of Gold Mine

The humvee was promptly destroyed, the three Legionnaires, even in their Honvorg Infantry Apparati were killed in the hail of bullets and explosions. But this was simply a patrol. (Three men total in the humvee - all dead) It's job was to run into such problems before the convoys did. And now it's work had given the Kroandons a chance to hit back. Four G-24 Strikers, stationed inside the Gold Mine to the north, simply sat, looking for a target. And now they had one. As a satellite zoomed in and watched as the squad of Vantanians approach the burning humvee, the G-24's let loose a volley of some 14 AvK-2 SteelFire Missiles, precision targeted to the enemy location.

Eastern Archangel

[Got any stats/link on the tank? Don't really know what they can do yet.]

The Kroandon Krakens, numerically superior to the enemy armored units, were held off only by the sheer amount of fire power being thrown at them. The RPG's and LAW's were attempting to make hard shots, shooting a tank's treads while firing head on at the tank... even still, the Krakens and ID-57's were equipped with thick tread skirts, metal flaps which covered the sides of the vehicle to defend the treads. Only numerous hits to a single skirt would allow fire on one of the treads. In the mean time, the tank was free to pound the enemy. Even when immobilized, the 130mm Gun was firing, high explosive rounds at the infantry and missile batteries in the distance, anti-tank APFSDS rounds at the Vantanian tanks.

The Halcons quickly took evasive manuvers once having let loose on the enemy bomber, trying not to chuckle as the massive beast of an aircraft dropped it's bombs far too early. [I fired the missiles while your bomber was a good distance from shore] The enemy counter strike however was met with various tactics. The first was always in effect, the extremely small RADAR/LADAR/IR signature of the Halcon. It was simply, a hard aircraft to target, and even harder to keep targeting. The next stage of the countermeasures came from the use of the RADAR Jammers, barraging all RADAR frequencies so as to throw off the targeting of the enemy missiles. Finally came the evasive manuvers the Halcons were famous for, and last but not least, the chaff and flares. A number of Halcons had been downed, but those which survived, proceeded to continue firing on the enemy.

Western Archangel

The worse the damage on the Vantanian Forts, the worse the aim of their guns. As the fires and explosions enveloped the defensive position, it was a struggle to stay alive, and their effectiveness dropped considerably. Only a few more vessels were sunk, as the Kroandons continued to blast away at the enemy with their vast arsenal of guns and missiles.

However now a new target had emerged. The Vantanian Anti-Ballistic Missile Sattelites. Each had been marked and tagged by the Kroandons as they blasted the Decurion SLBM's out of the sky, and now they would be the target of the next assault. The fleet unleashed some six Anti-Satellite Missile for each satellite in the air, intending to remove this threat once and for all.

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

Fleet Enroute to Archangel

Though the Kroandon Satellites were blinded, the fleet at large was not. The RADAR/LADAR/IR Detection System provided by the Helicon Battle Control System picked up the massing enemy aircraft from several hundred miles away, and immidiately relayed the information to high command, whom took to scrambeling the Kroandon Halcon Stealth Fighters. The 1000 Halcons took to the air in a defensive ring around the main fleet, though outmatched over 3 to 1, they flew in strong, organized patterns, ready to quickly intercept any enemy move on their positions.

The first enemy strike was that of standard Kroandon Naval Doctrine. Overwhelming Anti-Shipping Missile Barrages. However with merely 6500 missiles, the most important aspect of the barrage was left out. 'Overwhelming'. Each Visari Class Destroyer, of which there were over 1,100 in the massive fleet, possessed two SDCI Missile Pods, which were designed to knock out such threats as Anti-Shipping Missiles. Twelve missiles aboard 1100 ships... the Kroandons could have fired over 13000 missiles. And they did. The Visari's unleashed this wave of SDCI's, 2 for each missile launched by the LION Fleet. Further more the Tankers, SuperDreadnoughts, Cruisers and Corvettes unleashed another 1000 missiles, targeted at those which made it through the first missile shield. However a number of missiles had still made it through... and so they were introduced to the CIWS Wall posed by the destroyers, as hundreds of CIWS Guns spewed well aimed lead at incoming missiles.

Even still, damage was taken, with over 400 hits scored. But now the Kroandons were perfeclty ready to fire back, and so they did. Using the extended ranged active RADAR of the perimeter ships, the Visaris began the onslaught by firing nine Valour Class ASMs (http://z14.invisionfree.com/Kroando_Tech_Inc/index.php?showtopic=22) each... totalling roughly 9000 missiles targeted at the various ships of the enemy fleet. They were soon joined by another 4000 from the Tankers, and 2000 from the Cruisers, SuperDreadnoughts and other such ships. This was the largest single missile barrage in Kroandon History, which was saying something, with over 15000 missiles fired in a single spam.

One of the most sucessful strikes however, came from the depths. Submarine Launched Anti-Shipping Missiles had been given the opportunity to get close to the Kroandon Fleet, and thus only a small fraction of the missiles from from the subs were shot down by the missile defenses, few still by the CIWS Guns. However the submarines had now revealed themselves, and the entire southern fleet to the Kroandons. Active SONAR was promptly flipped on after passively picking up the missile launches of the enemy, and in conjunction with blue-green laser target finders, the ASROC-7 Depth Terrors (http://z14.invisionfree.com/Kroando_Tech_Inc/index.php?showtopic=26) were unleashed. The Visaris and Negotiators fired a hail of missiles upon the enemy location... missiles that were actually torpedos. These missiles simply carried the torpedos to their given destinations, dropped them off, and let them seek out and destroy the subs. Nine ASCROC Torpedo-Missiles were fired for each LION Sub reported.

The enemy aircraft which were fast approaching were not immidiately moved upon by the Kroandon Halcons. Long Range Anti-Aircraft Missiles would first be employed by the fleet, with a wave of over 2000 being fired from the Tankers, Destroyers and Cruisers. The Halcons then moved in, ready to engage the enemy the moment they came within 50 miles with their Air-to-Air Missiles - each Halcon carried eight.

Total Casualites
Visari Class Destroyer - 80 Sunk
-60 Damaged
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer - 50 Sunk
-20 Damaged
Visby class corvette - 25 Sunk
-5 Damaged
Negotiator Class Cruiser - 15 Sunk
-20 Damaged

Gateway

The Kroandons had listened during the day, and had found nothing. This was because of the very good reason, that they had inferred, that the caves had been evacuated to save from the bombings. This much they had gotten right. The rest, was blatantly false

Vantanians had fled into the relative safety of the mountains, where they hoped to remain unharmed for as long as possible. Meanwhile, that very night, guerillas used the tunnels in the mountains, and went into the near surface tunnels. Here, they could travel to nearly any point in the northern peninsula, and they did.

Kroandons might have been deployed everywhere, but it was without a doubt the heaviest guard was placed near the mountains. That is to say, the more elite snipers would be packed closer together in areas near the mountains, where the Kroandons believed the Vantanians had to deploy all soldiers from, and the further away you got the more sparse the snipers got.

Like ninjas, thin, black clothed Vantanian agents crept their way out of the ground. Covering themselves in ash from the ground, they crawled their way to their various targets. Motion sensor bombs were dug into railroads and crossroads. Barrels of poisoned water were rolled from the top of hills into canals. New diseased animals were brought up by the more timid agents. Power lines were brought down. And one bold team made their way to a hydroelectric dam. Of course, there were casualties, more casualties then ever before on such missions. However, not all of the teams were picked off, and so the Vantanians would continue their missions, until the day they were dead.

Meanwhile, a bold plan was being made. Illegal mass immigration from the mountains to the northern colony via a tunnel, one that did not yet exist. The drills, industrial and hand, along with more primitive things like picks, were pushing through the mountains base to try and escape into the neighbor of Gateway, a land held by Order of America. It wasn’t the safest place to go, but here at least the Kroandons didn’t control the surface. Once there, they could make the final escape while leaving the agents to keep fighting, covering their path. The Vantanians worked hard, and already the tunnel was taking shape.

South of Gold Mine

(Those must be some pretty good satellites to see camouflaged soldiers in the middle of night)

Definitely overkill, but the missiles did hit the remnants of the humvee explosively, killing the Vantanians near it. The others, satisfied no one had survived, fled back into the underground, and to safety. Some of their traps remained however, and some were hastily reset. The next thing to come down these roads, a convoy perhaps, would find a few explosions and boulders hit them from no one, a parting gift from the Vantanians.

Eastern Archangel

The fire being sent at the Kroandon tanks was slowly being decreased as more and more of them were immobilized. The tank column continued firing, but slowly started reversing direction. As the tanks were immobilized one by one, hitting the missile battery became nigh impossible. And so, this particular issue was wrapping itself up via mine, with help from the Vantanian tanks and the men atop them.

(OOC: You fired you missiles while my airship was a good distance from the shore. My bombers and fighters were already there. As such, you’ll need to change your tactics somewhat.)

Western Archangel

The eastern fort exploded violently, sending burning pieces of shrapnel out like missiles out at the Kroandon fleet. This was not the expected result of the bombardment, and the shrapnel-missiles shot out with the speed of real missiles at the nearby enemy. The western fort, meanwhile, continued fighting, reinvigorated by some unknown taps of human determination. A spare cannon had been hauled up and replaced one of the blasted away ones, keeping the fight going on somewhat longer. This fort was going to take more to destroy then the last one.

As for the satellites, they were spared by a much more simple method. In history, the unit on Space exploration, children were given a map and told to select the countries that had a functioning space program. This was much easier then one would guess, for even though there were many nations in NationStates, most of them had space programs. And so, it was much easier for the schoolchildren to memorize the nations that didn’t have space programs.

What this had to do with anything was simple. In any given point in orbit, there were satellites, space debris, space stations, or some other sort of space object. And so, to dodge the missiles the Kroandons fired at them, the satellites simply moved behind a different satellite.

Official Diplomatic Telegram
To: The Kroandon Koalition
From: The Democratic Empire of Great Vantania
This war bores us, and it is clear that ultimately, we will lose. At this point, we’re only fighting over how difficult it will be for you to win, how much it will cost you so to say. As such, we’re going to have to issue a more or less unconditional surrender. We say more or less because there are some conditions we would like to have. The basic conditions we have outlined is as follows:

The Treaty of Typewriter 24
Calling an end to the Vante-Kroandon War, and issuing the following reparations:
To Kroando:
-The Kroandons will receive the colonies of Gateway, Archangel, Golddale, East Indies, West Indies, and Naucratis to pay for the economic withdrawal by the Vantanians.
-The Kroandons will be payed fifty million in wartime reparations.
-The Kroandons will have clearance to use whatever means they deem fit to dispose of
Vantanians who are not in contact with the Democratic Empire, such as the guerillas in Gateway.
-Emperor Barzahl III of Great Vantania is to be executed, and no longer shall any Vantanian executive take the title of Emperor/Empress.
To Vantanas:
-The Kroandons agree to remove all Kroandon forces near or at sovereign Vantanian soil.
-All of the soldiers in the contact of the Democratic Empire are to lay down their arms, and be peacefully returned to Vantanas along with the civilians in the colonies.
-The Vantanians are to be given special economic access to the ceded colonies for a period of one year following the signing of this treaty.

OOC: If you accept, we'll do the intro battles to the other colonies and then end this. I've got split priorities now, so I can't really continue doing this at this depth for much longer.

Kroandon Acceptance of Surrender

The Imperial Koalition finds the terms of this treaty acceptable, and shall therefor, agree to abide by them as long as the Vantanian Empire shall likewise hold up it's own obligations. As to the 'Special Economic Access', this access will be limited to financial withdraw, as no companies other than ones granted mining permits shall be permitted to estabish mining or harvesting operations on said colonies. On a side note, I would personally like to have Emporer Barzahl III's head delivered to my doorstep, with his crown sodered onto his skull. If this request cannot be accomidated, I fear I shall be unable to satiate the blood lust of my Legionnaires.

Signed,
Lord Protector of the Imperial Koalition of Kroando,
The Keeper of the Throne until He returns,
Commander of all the Kroandon Armies,
Malthus

Gateway

Across Gateway there was much commotion - and this was quite a claim for the colony which had been in a constant state of guerilla war since it had been occupied. Eastern New Grevestok, or so it was called by the Kroandons which inhabited it, was one of the mos active places in the world, as thousands of Kroandons were converging on a single point. Not the hydroelectric dam, which was bombed while in it's infant stages of construction, but hole. The Kroandons had found a hole. Not just any hole, but a hole into the underground of the Vantanians. And there were now thousands of Legionnaires surrounding the entrance, as massive tanks of VX Gas were set up around it, pumping the deadly gas into the tunnel system.

Archangel

Radio transmissions were sent to order the stand down of all Kroandon offensives, and orders to stand down were issued to the Vantanians defending the isle. As the enemy surrendered, they would be loaded up upon the various transports in the west, and taken back to the Vantanian Mainland.

Golddale

The Kroandon Fleet arrived, delayed, but in force. It's number was insignificant, some 65 Visari Destroyers, another fifteen corvettes and a few cruisers. It escorted roughly 200,000 Legionnaires and over 15,000 armored vehicles, along with another 6000 heavy guns. The fleet approached the point deemed 'launch zone' - some 700KM's from shore, and opened up - unleashing some 350 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles at various military targets and installations across the colony.

Officail Diplomatic Package:
To: The Door of Malthus, The Imperial Koalition of Kroando
From: The Free Republic of Vantanas f
Contents: One Bloody Head, One Sodered Crown

Gateway

The fact that there was poisonous gas in the tunnels was first noted by the Agents. They promptly returned to the mountain entrance, and thoroughly sealed it, air tight, water tight, blast doors, steel bars, barracades, tipped over chairs, the whole lot of it. Then, they repeated this process for the Last Remaining Exit, a direct tunnel from the Caves to the Surface, and heavily guarded both the Last Remaining Exit and the Tunnel Entrance, with mines, machine gun nests, that sort of thing. The Vantanian position was very well entrenched, but it was feared that the Kroandons might still be able to pierce the network.

Meanwhile, their precious subterranean network revealed itself, as first the gas pushed down to the deepest pits, and then burst the other holes all at once, sending their poisons up into the atmosphere. Until that got cleaned up, a lot of people were going to have to wear hazmat suits. The Vantanians, having locked themselves in, were exempt, and got their oxygen from cave trees. Unfortunately, the Carbon Dioxide to Oxygen ratio was slowly tilting...

In other news, the Vantanian drills, picks, shovels, hand drills, and explosives were being put to good use to blast through to the other side of the mountains, and to freedom. Due to a new desperation creeping in, no one was exempt from working in the shaft but the Agents. Already, the border had been crossed, and they were now making their way upwards, to freedom. So close, so close to their freedom.

(OOC: Now would be a great time for that final battle. Break down the door to the Sealed Tunnel, rush soldiers in, and we can have a good final battle/massacre in Gateway. OR, you can let them escape.)

Archangel

The seafort, having had its communications center blown apart, was the last to fall in the Battle of Archangel. It, like its counterpart, also exploded violently, blasting shrapnel towards the enemy fleet. Meanwhile, a final salvo of missiles from both batteries were sent just moments before the declaration of surrender was sent. The fighting in Archangel ended with this.

Meanwhile, a half an hour later, everything was laying on the beaches and being carried onto the transports on the backs of many a refugee. And everything else was set to torch, in a more contained version of the Gateway fires. So, they would profit from the war in the end, but they would have to do the work themselves.

Golddale

When the Vante-Kroandon War started, Golddale was a unique situation. It, in a nutshell, was a tiny little colony only recently incorporated into the Empire. As such, it was still in its infancy, with the cities being small settlements and the natives engaged in a fierce guerilla war. As such, there was a garrison of elite soldiers handy, but it was small even for such a new micro-settlement.

The guerillas were underground, literally, and in the inland, harassing the Vantanians and stealing weapons to continue fighting against them. So, understandably, when the missile strike came in, it was devastating. With the armies of the natives seeing their chance for liberation, they now marched on the capital of the colony, Dalesville. Coincedentally, all the military forces and populace itself had fled their in a vain hope to survive. They had stores, and could hold itself for a time. With Kroandons coming from the sea, Dalesville was about to get very bloody, very fast.

Knowing this, the Vantanians spited both the natives and the Kroandons by burning the forests, fields, and farms that made up all of Golddale's natural resources. Non-essential machinery was taken apart and turned to scrap to serve as makeshift bullets, soda pop was put in trenches outside the city to slow the enemy advance, and other, rather odd, scorched earth tactics.