NationStates Jolt Archive

Kigoma, shores of Tanganyika, Tanzania

The distorted tones of a worn-out Hendrix record very much indicated the eastern, Lusakan side of the great border lake as they staggered out of a little shack ammounting to the customs office at this once busy landing site.

A few lanky soldiers lolled about, smoking and playing the world's slowest game of poker with a pack of Roycelandian cigars in lieu of chips. Not zubans, but close enough. Better than domestic cigarettes, anyway.

"Ah, look at dem boys. Why we even be lettin dem through?"

"Aie! I'm out! Eh, you can be arsed to stop them, bru? Go on, my friend, earn your kwachas!"

A few shrugs and a somewhat sarcastic wave in the direction of the passing troops as they filed along a jetty towards a little motor launch and the game continued without Sgt.Sibale, who had lain back in his seat and dropped his beret over his face.

"Zambia's not co-operating with them." He mumbled.

__________________________________________

7.62mm rifle shots cracked through the trees as shouts were raised.

"Get out! ZANU-PF is coming! ZANU boys is coming! Get out, rats! It's ours, now!"

Yugoslav M70 rifles were being fired in the air as the very same soldiers who pased out of Kigoma hours earlier walked almost nonchalant through Sud-Kivu, wearing the same uniforms as the border guards except that golden vultures present on the caps and tin helmets of those guards had been crudely scratched out, ripped off, or covered with ZANU-PF decals.

Around them armed men scattered without putting up a fight, grabbing what they could before melting into the forest. An officer began to shout orders in Shona, directing his men to establish serious defences before the government troops try to get in.

____________________________________________

"...since the UAR's dissilution Harare has recorded $14 million in coltan exports in one financial quarter, marking the sudden birth of a new industry for a new Zimbabwe. In other Zimbabwe-related news, Old Lusaka this week recalled diplomats from its former union partner in the south, though the cause of the apparent rift is yet unknown."

The Indian solider reached over and changed the channel to a Tanzanian state outlet showing a documentary on Masai customs. "Bloody Quinntonian-sponsored media in this country, I can't make sense of it. Let's just watch this guy chase a lion, eh?"

____________________________________________

Papa Africa travels to Mumbai as 'Peace Ambassador'

Tanzanian state media, for its part, when not romanticising national harmony and identity, reports that former UAR President Derek Igomo arrived this week in the Indian National Union.

Igomo, reputed to be a shadow of his former self, appears to be slipping into a new ceremonial role to replace his last figurehead position as nominal head of a Union actually run by three national Prime Ministers, so foreign media claims.

In Mumbai, Mr.Derek is actually quite on-the-ball. Quietly, he wants to talk about Tanzanian concerns over Kinshasa's WMDs since the decline of central authority in the African Commonwealth, which mirrors Lusaka's own three-way break-up.

Refugees, border disputed long dormant as City and Kinshasa agreed to disagree, two-way invesment, defence co-operation, and the security that the powerful African Commonwealth once afforded to its neighbour are also issues that Igomo raises. "All sorts of weapons, technology, resources, information, and people could fall into almost anybody's hands." he warns.

Former UAR Defence Secretary Colin Olongwe, now head of Tanzania's military, wants to launch a military intervention and is at loggerheads with a still-placid PM Livingstone Miyana.

At about this time rumours of Zimbabwean forces entering the Congo region through Tanzania are just beginning to surface, though Igomo chuckles when asked about it and shakes his head. "Oh, I don't know anything about that!" the most he will say.

Mumbai

Parliament is very happy to discuss those same issues with Derek Igomo, the Unioners lacking reliable intelligence assets of their own on that part of the world. Igomo is received much more warmly than Mumbai's two previous high-profile visitors, the Depkazi Khagan and the Quinntonian Prime Minister, and there are very few protesters or angry onlookers present to throw rotten fruit or shout insults, as is the custom when a particularly unpopular politician arrives in the capital.

Kinshasa's WMD arsenal is, Parliamentarians say, no small concern for the INU, especially given the uncertain state of the government there, and Mumbai's distinct lack of information regarding it. Unioners would very much like to cooperate with the Tanzanian and Zambian governments on the matter, and Igomo is asked as to how far they will go to secure the African Commonwealth's NBC assets. At the same time, however, Igomo is told of Parliament's reluctance to go along with any operation that has the potential to interfere with Soviet efforts, and Unioners are at least vaguely aware of as much being afoot, some sort of intervention aimed at stabilizing the political situation in the AfCom. Again, say Parliamentarians, any intelligence on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Whatever the case, Igomo is told, the INU is not eager to see an unfriendly regime take root, given the fragile state of ECOWAS and the counterweight that the AfCom provides to League-puppet Nigeria. If it takes a military intervention, so be it, but then again the Unioners would like to try more subtle means first.

Igomo is also asked for his take on the West African situation. The war there, it seems, has finally turned to the guerrilla phase, France's offensive having petered-out under the pressure of overstretched supply lines and far from supplicant local populations. The UDF is on the verge of abandoning plans for a conventional campaign there, and many of the divisions at one point bound for Guinea have been diverted to a campaign in East Africa against a militant and expansionist Ethiopia.

The remainder of the 4th Army, some 80,000 troops, mostly light infantry but with some supporting armor, is offered up for long-term deployment to Tanzania.

(OCC: My apologies for the time that I took in responding to this thread. It was, uh, the holiday season?

*searches for an excuse*)

WMDs

Igomo claims that the African Commonwealth has at its disposal missile stockpiles and production facilities in no small part derived from Drapoel technology. Nodong missiles are known to exist at various places within the Congo, and their ability to deploy unconventional payloads is well known. Mr.Derek, though, seems unable to absolutely confirm any particular knowledge of Kinshasa's nuclear capability. A programme did exist, contacts in China were made and believed to have fallen short of acquiring significant technical assistance, but -and Igomo always uses hushed tones when he speaks of this- Kinshasa was in serious talks with Raipur just before the Soviets dismantled their own strategic nuclear arsenal and began selling-off bits and pieces to the likes of Da'Khiem, and...?*

The Commonwealth does have chemical weapons deployable aboard ballistic missiles, and with the decline of the firm-handed but widely contested government of President-General Mshone Ndelebe means that Dodoma is uncertain about their status. Formally only a dozen people in the Commonwealth are believed to have been seriously capable of launching or controling WMD-tipped missiles, but the status of these individuals is now in doubt.

The DRAC in general

In more general terms, Papa Africa can tell Mumbai a good deal about the state of the Commonwealth, the Tanazanian borders of which have long been poorly demarcated, disputed, and porous.

Ethnic 'Lusakans' in the Democratic Republic of the African Commonwealth have been displaced in recent months by tribal and political unrest that some believe threatens to return the nation to the bloody chaos of the last decade. The draconian measures of the Secular Party and later the more progressive but steady rule of former SP leader Ndelebe put a stop to such chaos and gave the nation one of Africa's fastest growing economies, but, Igomo believes, this new-found wealth along with a history of oppression in a nation suddenly turned to relative liberalism is itself causing conflict.

Marxist rebels were on the back-foot during the rule of the Secular Party and Ndelebe's later List For Unity, but the explosion of mineral-millionaires and uncertainty as to the future and mandate of the once all-powerful and infamously brutal Manus Nigra spells inequality, despair, and, in Derek's words, "ten thousand bored sociopaths cleaning guns outside the palace gates".

The Commonwealth has a rapidly growing population currently estimated to be around eighty-six million and is crucially influential in the much-reduced Republic of Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Angola, potentially involving another fifteen million people in its troubles. Even if the former Lusaka could remain uninvolved, one hundred million people stand to lose from unrest in the Commonwealth.

In that Commonwealth population, Dodoma estimates that perhaps fifteen to twenty million people actively support the African People's Front, the only legal way to at least imply support for revolutionary socialism such as is advocated by illegal Marxist guerrillas now resurgent in the mixed rural and primary-industrial east. Several million more than that already impressive total support the only marginally less radical African Democratic Union, which became radicalised under Ngolo Marshall.

That perhaps a third of the population are prepared to support the President-General and perhaps a couple of million far more extreme right-wing parties indicates an increasingly dangerous rift, espeically as the far left has been excluded from politics despite its popularity and the far right has been marginalised by its own unpopularity.

In brutal reality, though, Igomo says, all rifts are being used by powerful men to grab for a personal share of the nation's potentially explosive wealth. Copper, gold, timber, diamonds, uranium, and other valuable minerals have become newly accessible thanks to several years of infrastructure development and exploration, and now opposition to the awkward coalition government -the first ever democratically elected government in the nation's near fifty-year independent history- has reached a crisis point.

West Africa

Igomo is a great champion of West African unity and independence. He is responsible for training many of the resistance fighters in years gone by, most notably the Burkinabe, whom he came to respect as brave and willing to learn when they trained near Lake Nyasa.

A few Tanzanian troops remain deployed in West Africa, but this is largely due to the collapse of the UARL and an inability to drum up individual resources to evacuate them or an ability to agree on where responsibility falls in respect of their support. It must be said that moral amongst the few hundred Tanzanians and handfull of Zambians and Zimbabweans in the Western Sahara and elsewhere is low down and sinking fast.

If Mumbai is serious about deploying forces to Tanzania, perhaps it would also like to help bring home currently deployed Tanzanians and assist the Republic in establishing a fresh guerrilla unit to take their place in West Africa while their domestic defence duties are carried out partly by Indians?

(*OOC: 'Tias did post about a nuclear test, but that was really pre-AMW, and he later RPd the start of a programme to acquire foreign help within AMW, so I think that discounts the former tests for AMW canon.
Sorry if this was less than concise, it has just been one of those days!)

OOC:
Interesting indeed, perhaps i should consider resurecting Strathdonia (which is probabaly bankrupt after plowing stupid amoutns of money into the Unaligned Regional jet program only to see the arse fall out of the airline industry). Perhaps large segments of the SDF have returned to thier more or less mercenary roots and busy causing trouble wherever there is money...

Sud-Kivu, eastern African Commonwealth

Flames with the smell of freshly spilled blood and a few moans of confusion and discomfort, but the rattle of gunfire has subsided along with the clatter of rotors. A Dedicated Attack Helicopter in the colours of the Democratic Republic has been fought off, trailing smoke and leaving behind two dead Zimbabwean soldiers amongst seven wounded and still scores of healthy infantry now busied in clearing up after the rocket and cannon attack, which they repulsed with triple-barrel 20mm AAA pieces from Yugoslavia and 14.5mm machineguns produced in the former UAR.

Not far away, the AfCom local military commander cursed the Zimbabweans' apparent strength, which seemed to have been largely restored during the Lusakan years. Exports of foodstuffs and tobacco especially had provided new funds, and standards of military training increased even as Yugoslavian and Drapoel weapons arrived. ZANLA forces were tougher than expected, and local commanders such as this one, attempting to gain from national instability and the weakness of the government in Kinshasa, struggled to conduct independently the independent mini wars they had expected to easily win.

Unable to call on government help lest they lose their chance to gobble-up abundant natural resources, corrupt Commonwealth officers looked elsewhere for help. In Sud-Kivu, a Colonel Moyo, after losing his lead gunship to ZANLA ground fire, sent lackeys to Strathdonia to seek-out a suitable 'private security' organisation that might back him in exchange for a share of the mineral wealth he aims to secure for himself in the eastern Congo.

Zambia

The government of George Tanko also has reason to contact Strathdonian persons, this time, however, the government is called upon. City claims that ZANLA forces -from Zimbabwe- are using a divided Mozambique as a way into Tanzania, from where they head to the African Commonwealth to conduct illegal operations. Tanko also claims that some Zimbabweans are getting through Zambia directly despite his best efforts, and that others are being air lifted across sparsely-peopled Namibian territory and into Angola, from where some go on to the Congo region while others cause trouble where they land.

ZANLA forces have clashed, City reports, with Zambian troops attempting to stop their movements, while Harare claims that the Zambians are actively conspiring to direct ZIPRA militants against the Shona majority in Zimbabwe.

Certainly the African Commonwealth, Angola, and the Former United African Republics are headed along a critically dangerous path.

((Hey boys, Tias here. I've only just restarted playing NS a few days ago, and I wasn't even aware AMW was still around :)

Here's the low-down on the former African Commonwealth:
There are three nuclear reactors in the AC, and with that material plus other small amounts accrued from foreign sources, there was enough to produce one crude high-yield warhead. Whether this has happened before AC broke down is for you to decide, but I think it's fairly safe to say Ndelebe probably stripped down, oiled up and fought his way through 400 corrupt Manus Nigra thugs before eating the warhead and letting it safely implode inside his blast-proof sternum!

Man, I really liked that guy :) At any rate the warhead never got around to the test phase, nor has it been weaponized so it can't be fired from a missile or bomb yet.

There is still the matter of some hundred VX-armed warheads and the Long Spear IRBMs capable of carrying them, though, but if we want to play it safe we could assume they have been smuggled out of the country and also detetoriated to the point where they are now unable to fire with any grade of success.

So do you guys still have a forum or anything?))

[OOC: The off-site 'reference' forum is at http://z7.invisionfree.com/A_Modern_World/index.php?act=idx

*hopes for the return of Neo-Anarchos, to keep the Roiks on their toes and the Supreme War Soviet from having its authoritarianism and eating its Venezuelan crude too.*

(OOC: And now Tias, too!? We're saved! Don't worry, I didn't try to kill off Ndelebe, or anyone else for that matter. Rather I wanted to keep the AC legacy alive, and since most of the old Sub Saharan Africa seemed to have died I thought I'd just pile ahead since nobody else is likely to know what the heck has happened here! Ndelebe's still in Kinshasa unless you feel like saying otherwise, it's just that those Marxist rebels are now being given a bit of a boost and all sorts of other factionalism is seeping back in across our long-disputed borders. The United African Republics have fallen apart already, it's just a question of whether their misfortune is going to be reflected ten fold in the potentially so-wealthy Commonwealth, I suppose. I used your last election results to help set the lay of the land before factoring in the collapse of Lusaka, the French invasion of ECOWAS, and the passage through AC of so many Indian Communists. I'm quite looking forward to dealing with just how complicated both the DRAC and the FUARL really are, and getting some credit lavished on Igomo and Ndelebe for holding it together for so long! ;) )

((Allright, cool. Do you happen to have the link for them elections? I'll take a look, see if I can work something out - I'd kind of like replaying both AC and NA, it's just so much work when you're in school, working and trying to change the world at the same time :(

We'll talk it over on the off-site forum which I'll go sign up to now - see you!))

The Congolese Situation could hardly be called Congolese any longer, if you really knew what was going on. And few people did. A major offensive by Zimbabwean regular forces had driven ZIPRA (Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army) guerrillas across the Zambian border just after the new year, and ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army) irregulars last week crossed the Zambezi in pursuit.

ZANLA had less luck than the regular army, and were routed by ZIPRA forces between Kazungula and Livingston. Harare as a result has restated its claims that Colonel Tanko is arming the ethnic Ndebele organisation, a branch of the Zimbabwe African People's Union, which it claims has adopted a radical Anarcho-Igovian terrorist philosophy. Harare denies the continued existence of ZANLA, the militant wing of the ruling ZANU-PF party, and any state policy of repression against the Ndebele minority, which accounts for some 14% of the population.

City for its part claims that Ndebele civilians rather than ZIPRA fighters have fled across the border after a brutal government campaign against them, and Zambia maintains that Zimbabwe's President Mugabe is using the minority group and the long defunct ZIPRA/ZAPU in order to discredit Colonel Tanko and further opportunist ambitions in the African Commonwealth, from where City alleges that Zimbabwe is looting mineral resources.

Meanwhile, sketchy reports from the eastern Congo, in the Democratic Republic of the African Commonwealth, tell of Shona-speaking soldiers clashing with army elements across more than one province, while Communist rebels have gained ground against President Ndelebe's forces in and around some central cities.

With Derek Igomo visiting Mumbai on Tanzania's behalf, President Mugabe has quietly dispatched envoys to Sithin and Constance, while Zambia's Colonel Tanko appears to be attempting to court several allies. The Colonel maintains friends in the Tanzanian military and government, and has a fair reputation in India thanks to his progressive social reforms and the fostering of grass-roots democracy under his watch, while his diplomats seek improved relations with the Strathdonians. At the same time, however, both Zimbabwe and many rogue military commanders in the African Commonwealth are approaching private security firms there.

Several top Congolese and Angolan Communists have sent out feelers to the Soviets via Namibia as elements of the originally Marxist movement declare themselves Igovian while others attempt to claim allegiance to Papa Africa's Ujamaaist African Socialist ideal as a way to curry Indian favour without submitting to direct Soviet influence.

At this stage it also appears that Belgrade is actively supplying every major faction at odds in sub-Saharan Africa. Ndelebe's snipers use M-93 Black Arrow rifles, Tanzanian and Zambian troops rely heavily on M63 battle rifles, Zimbabwean forces M70 assault rifles, and several forces have deployed Sava or Super Sava shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=548147

An OOC thread in which I'm attempting to bring everyone up to date. If AC wants to jump back in and take-over in Kinshasa again that's all good with me! Still more info to come. It's a mess!

The Governatorial Palace, Kinshasa

As the sun rose over a once large and powerful African nation, the first rays of sunlight illuminating the yellow walls of the governatorial palace. Once cleaned daily, it now sported a white grafitti saying "Aut wif Undelebeh" and a spray of blood where a police officer had noticed it's author. Inside the squared presidential office, things were as tense on the inside as the outside

Ndelebe looked passively, nearly dumbfoundedly, at the faxes, emails and telex rolls pouring in, aides and ministers interpreting them at a frantic pace.

"The communist warband Commonwealth People's Liberation Front, assumed to be connected to AFP leadership, is closer to Mbuyi-Mayi than initially thought. The two airbases near MM has turned traitor, aiding the Front in carrying out airstrikes on ACA units. Requesting assis.."

"..Commonwealth stocks are falling, Quinntonian brokers stating "unacceptable conditions in subsaharan Africa.."

"..Protests against violent crime and police repression by christian tribesmen in the suburbs of Mbandaka turn to violence and looting, clubs and tear gas was deployed.."

"..CPLF strike again, recruiting Hutus to attack ACA outposts in Rwanda, Bukavu province also in danger.."

Analysts and local eyes indicate that there several other warbands with socialist ideologies forming in the border regions and launching attacks on CAF garissons - ADU leader and minister of finance and commerce, Ngolo Marshall, suggest asking present and traveling Igovian consuls to broker peace with rebels, offering them a *static*..

"..CAF units largely withdrawn from Angolan provinces to Luanda, as El Presidente Santos comes under increasing pressure for letting his nation integrate into the dangerous unstable Commonwealth to the north. He states new repressive security measures as a response to confirmed suspicion of plots to assasinate him.."

"ENOUGH!" Mshone roared, getting to his feet so quickly he nearly fainted, his large frame not as fit as it ever was. Taking a step back, he composed himself. "I take the wife for a hike in the northern regions, and THIS is what happens? I need a drink, never mind a clear priority."

Booker Mbeki, thankfully close by, slapped his meaty hand down on his armrest and grunted. "This has been going on for a long time, President. Under our very noses, and no mistake. The corruption and unrest has been biding it's time to wait when you were away and our forces were tied up in Angola and Zambia. Corrupt army generals have been selling our SKS, AK, RPG-2 stocks to anyone who will buy them on the southeastern border. This has magnified the civil unrest tenfold"

As an aide came running with brandy for him, Ndelebe leaned on his chair, visibly uncomfortable. "This is madness. I need plans. Who is aligned against us, and where do we start?"

An aide started listing up the answers, and they were less than pretty. CPLF had parts of Rwanda and Burundi, the rest were in the hands of private warlords who did now not want to share the wealth coming out of the mines and oil wells. CPLF or warlord forces had taken Kabalo and Manono provinces, as well as Port dé Kindu. Angola was overrun with rebel groups conceivably aided by Elian and Roycelandian advisors - Luanda and Cabinda was firmly under control, and elements of the Angolan marines, army and air force still had CAF assets enough to keep rebel forces away.

Still, inside the commonwealth, elements of both army and air force disappeared routinely, joining the warlords or forming their own bands to loot and kill where they went. Still other groups, motivated by religion or racism, started killing whites and various minorities to the extent they could as ACA units and police crack down hard on violent dissent.

As the aide yabbered on with the grim news, a tall lean man in a black greatcoat entered the room, a pendant with an open palm and fingers hanging conspicously on his neck. Several of the aides fell silent and stopped working, the ticking of the machinery filling the room and it was almost as if the temperature dropped. The aide was cut short by his deep barytone, and possibly also a bit by the man's reputation as the coldest killer on the continent - "Enough, mahn. More important is, who have we got on our side?"

The aide blanched, but just as quickly snapped to attention. "Colonel! There is, ah, air force wings Vulture I and II, Light Hawk, Red Hawk, Yellow Hawk, um, Kinshasa Hawk, Banan Hawks I and II, C-Gold, C-Silver and the Mbandaka Hawk wings. Only wings Black Hawk and, ah Brown Hawk near Mbuyi-Mayi seems to be in rebel hands, but the damage they can do there is largely unlimited if we don't do something. Army assets are in a poor state, but I can safely say that only the Rwandan companies have defected in full. Others are at 30-80% strength, depending on location and leadership"

Colonel Salvador Tóme took this in like it was nothing more than a cup of tea, then nodded sagely, turning to Ndelebe. "General, for that is what you are, I think I know how we can get the Commonwealth back in our hands, but it will take some doing. For now, defeat the rebels at Mbuyi-Mayi decisively." He fell into a cautious muse. "What else can we do? Hmm.."

Ndelebe nodded, mumbling his assent to Salvadors plan, but suddenly lighted up. "Our allies, those we have left. I think I know just the man to get Rwanda and Burundi back in our hands."

He grabbed his red phone. "Operator? This is Zulu One, get me Colin Olongwe on the line."

Later in the evening, radio messages from Kinshasa confirmed that his Excellency was back in uniform and promised to bring law and order to the Commonwealth.

Deployments

The ranger regiments, still under Kinshasa's control, are refitted with RBS-70 and MANPADS (mostly SA-16, but a smattering of SA-7 and a few soviet TERRIERS as well) and sent to the outskirts of Mbuyi-Mayi to prepare for the battle group to come and smash the rebels. The Rangers wield SLLEs and R6 (domestic version of the AR-15), and designated snipers have R-93 anti-material/personnel rifles. They are followed by the entire 66th battle group:

4 companies totalling 900 soldiers with basic kit and a jolly mix of AKs, Scoped SMLE/SLLEs and some submachine guns/grenades, as well as some MANPADS and mortar/HMG support. A "Speartip" with a company of 300 men are riding in Patria AMVs and Okapi IAVs, whereas the rest are holed up in trucks and M60 APCs.

Armour support are three L-2 Oliphants, a host of T-55 engineering tanks and 8 G6 artillery pieces, 2 ASTROS 2 launchers, as well as M1976-B radar tracks.

The first Vulture wing, composed of two squadrons of JAS Gripen, is currently redeploying to strips near the area, the transport covered by a local wing of Bae Hawk 2000s and recon-configured RB-57s to locate enemy aircraft.

All around the nation, Manus Nigra officers posing as agitators are waving the seal of the List For Unity, whipping mobs into frenzies against "looters, socialists, warlords and other traitors" - In a week, lynches would see the murder rate in the Commonwealth spiking more than any would have thought possible.

Mumbai

With Igomo's assessment of the situation to draw from, Parliament promises that its forces will, if requested, participate in any Tanzanian-led military intervention aimed at stabilizing the African Commonwealth. It is assumed that any intervention will assist the Ndelebe government, and Parliamentarians generally view the President-General positively. Unioners may feel more sympathy towards the leftist political parties, and Ndelebe's style of government may not be exactly ideal, but most concede that he represents a reasonable, even-handed, and unifying force. Challenging state power at this stage of the game is, furthermore, not widely considered a good idea, when a good shove might, some reason, lead to the collapse of the Commonwealth entirely and a civil war significantly larger than the one already underway. But, of course, Derek Igomo is far more knowledgeable when it comes to southern African affairs than most Parliamentarians, and it is said that the INU will follow Tanzanian guidance in the matter, Unioners being for the most part sensitive about undertaking any kind of operation without as much information as possible and without proper analysis.

Union intelligence services are meanwhile instructed to confirm the location, or locations, of the Commonwealth's WMD arsenal, and to find out whether or not government forces still control the most dangerous chemical weaponry and whatever nuclear material might exist. Chemical weapons don't have to be deployed via IRBMs to prove deadly, and Parliamentary analysts are worried about the prospect of some rebel group acquiring poison gas and using it against the wider population. If such agents are indeed in rebel hands, Igomo is asked his thoughts as to a commando operation aimed at recovering or destroying them.

On West Africa, Mumbai proves amenable to the idea of helping to evacuate Lusakan troops from the theater. So long as the force can get itself to a neutral or allied port, the UDF will provide transport the rest of the way. Likewise Mumbai agrees to help train a new guerrilla unit for action in the occupied ECOWAS states, and orders are given to assemble a training team for deployment to Tanzania. Then again, the Unioners probably have little to teach Lusakans that the Lusakans themselves don't already know, given their prodigious experience in guerrilla fighting, and UDF trainers will go to Tanzania with this in mind, eager to pick-up new skills.

The INA's 4th Army, its headquarters and at least one division already deployed to Zanzibar, is kept up to date on the likely change of plans. It appears that the 4th Armored Division, the heaviest of the 4th Army's remaining formations, will be sent to West Africa after all, leaving four light infantry divisions for use in southern Africa, along with a smattering of independent regiments and armored car squadrons. Some 60,000 troops, more or less, generally well-trained and mobile but lacking in terms of armored vehicles.

Sithin
Robert Mugabe will find that Sithin is barren ground for those he sends searching for support... the normally-unified facade of the Strainist Party may be starting to show its cracks, but his is hardly an attractive regime... most Strainists generally view him as a petty despot, doubting his ability to spread Progressive values OR suppress anarchy to form a stable economic environment. The Party has decided, aside from medical missions here and there, that it will not benefit from significant involvement in Africa, and no one wants to dive into the hornet's nest for the limited returns Zimbabwe might offer.

Just what the Party will do, however, is rather uncertain, both to outside observers and those debating the issue within Party committees. The more radical leftists in the Party, who dominate the Revolutionary Army, tend to have a rose-coloured vision of Derek Igomo and the UAR. Fired up by Soviet talk of an impending Final Conflict, they are staunch supporters of Derek Igomo's pan-African vision, despite doubts some might voice about his capabilities (the Party's own ideological father-figure is, after all, a septuagenarian showing signs of senility). Given the present situation, the African Republics ought be united and expanding their influence, a jumping-off point for revolutionary uprisings in Roycelandian East Africa and a sponsor to those in West Africa and the Maghreb who struggle against imperialism. As such, they likely provide words of support, if little material aid, to military leadership in Tanzania and Zambia, as well as the leadership of the African People's Front in Commonwealth lands. Domestic opponents will, with some merit, will accuse the propnents of such a course of being unrealistic at best, foolishly agressive at worst.

The more conservative elements of the Party, well-placed in the bureaucracy and economic sphere, do not take so high a view of the former Lusaka... the place already suffers from too much 'anarchist' influence and has never managed the firm hand required to secure prosperity for the region. Such individuals had always tended to support Ndelebe and his Commonwealth rather than Igomo and his Republics (perhaps even sympathetic, had they been asked, to Kinshasa's nuclear ambitions), and the present unrest did not shift this view. Critics, however, would not be long in shouting that this had less to do with ideological conviction that anarchy was anathema to progress, and more due to the fact that the Commonwealth boasted significant natural resources and a population wealthy enough to buy the cellular telephones and laptop computers which were Lyong's most profitable exports.

Constance

On the surface, Combine response to matters in Africa are in lock-step with their Sphere allies in Sithin... there is much interest in the various factions involved, but no immediate desire to dive in, particularly with someone as morally suspect as Mugabe. Still, his representatives may be able to observe that the Armandians are more vulnerable to manipulation than their Lyongese comrades.

As things stand, Mugabe's chances of support are slim. Threatened by Soviet hostility, Constance needs continued good will from the INU to avoid seeing its Indian enclave cut-off entirely, so the Hindustanis likely wield much influence over how the Combine will involve itself... and Mugabe, unfortunately, has not endeared himself to Mumbai.
But opportunity may still exist if matters continue to deteriorate on the subcontinent, as Armand-Bedgellen war would certainly drive Constance to seek ways it might strike at those who lean too closely towards the Soviets.

For the time being, Tanzania can claim some gratitude from the Combiners: the Armandians are, after all, the primary backers of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, and boots-on-the-ground from the former UARL are still present in the Sahara, where they might yet be of use as the Armandians reinforce the Frente Polisario in hope of ousting the Moroccan invaders and their Spanish partners-in-crime. Constance is even willing to cover salaries and provide new equipment, expenses easily absorbed by a budget driven ever-higher through rising petroleum prices but perhaps not so ably borne by the reduced states of the former Lusaka. Until there are replacements, however, the Combiners are unlikely to consider fronting cash to have the soldiers shipped home.

30 miles west of Mbuyi-Mayi

The long colony of M60 APCs rumbled unsteadily along the unpaved road, playing children stopping in their tracks and running away at their arrival, and men cursing and seeking cover, with a few braver souls staying to get a better look.

One of the soldiers looked up from his seat, looking angry, and turned to the others. "Bah, this whole thing is goin' ta hell. Why do we even stay 'ere?". His officer was about to give him a cuff about the head, but a corporal with cooler temper took the word. "'cause we're stoppin' the rebels, mahn. If we pull this off, no more raping and looting, the country will get back to what it was. And we pay you not to run off with no communists, see? Have a ciggy, man, shut the hell up". The cigarette was exchanged, and discipline kept.

Later that day, Mbuyi-Mayi suburbs

Chief Deeko was very satisfied. He adjusted his ceremonial head- and body-dress, and surveyed the carnage he and his men had wrought on the area. National guardsmen lay dead all over, their expensive weapons now inert or looted by the warband, and corpses of violated children and women could also be seen here and there. He had, however, heard steady thumps lasting an hour now! They came from what could be, well, any kind of explosion to his untrained ear. Did the government strike back, or had the rebel air wings resumed bombing the city? As far as he knew, the city garrison had retreated into the city centre where the main CPLF force were rooting them out even now.

Deeko laughed, eliciting smiles from the AK-toting militiamen under his command. He was happy he had sided with the CPLF - he was no communist by any stretch of the word, but a new order was coming, and he knew his tribe had to be a part of it. A rumbling of tires caught his attention, and he turned his head to the street. A black and green APC had stopped, disgorging a squad of of grim-looking soldiers in camo uniforms with ACA tags. They quickly filed out and sought cover, bringing lean, shining .303 SLLE rifles over the obstacles. Even as Deekos brain processed what was happening he registered shots cracking off walls, and pointed his ritual Congolese long spear at the soldiers. "Dem is government boys - Drink their blood, RUN DEM DOWN!. As his men found purpose and started spraying the ACA forces with 7x62mm fire, Deeko slipped casually behind a wall; but even though he was now in command of the situation, something seemed to be horribly wrong. Then he saw the two heavy Okapi IAVs driving to block either end of the street, braking with a spray of debris, and the last thing he ever noticed were Commonwealth armsmen training their vehicles' four heavy machineguns on his squad..

All over the outskirts the same scenes played out, loyalist Gripen fighters wiping the skies clean of their former ACAF comrades-in-arms before dropping laser guided bombs on rebel concentrations in the city centre. The ACA transmitted on all bands that all civilians should leave the town - however, with a population of over 905,000, this did not go as well as it could. Many were either massacred by rebel militias or died in explosions and firefights as the AC Army gradually fought their way through the city.

BAe Hawks pressed the preliminary bombardment with dumb bombs before the main assault hit the city, the spearhead of the 66th tasked with taking the city centre, aided mightily by artillery and embedded Ranger snipers.

Kolwezi suburbs, southern Commonwealth

Standing next to one of the newly-printed recruitment posters, featuring a stout black man holding a rifle and standing in front of the Congolese flag with the caption "Homme du Congo! Votre pays a besoin de vous!" (Man of Congo! Your country needs you!), Manus Nigra captain Joseph Nkida was not a very pleased man..

The idea to conscript men into a new guard unit that could be tasked with maintaining order in and defend their city against looters and rebels were in theory a good idea, but the ragtag band in front of him were just not cut out for the job. Many just wanted to get hold of rifle to defend their household, and now one of them was even mouthing him off. "Mahn! We knew you and dem other M. N. boys were the ones who killed and raped our families during da war! Why we go an help you now?.

Resisting the urge to riddle the man with bullets for his insolence, Nkida put on his most diplomatic face and re-iterated his explanation. "We in the M.N. have the job of organizing you to defend the Commonwealth. I know you know what we have done, but you must rise above those times. Be ruthless and murder those who loot and kill your comrades, but be kind to those who do not. The things you speak of are past now - you must help the other citizens. If any of you are not willing to do this, you must leave this recruitment session for the Paramilitaire Congolais immediately. Do wrong with the training and weapons we give you, the army come and kill you.".

A few men left, the rest looked back at Nkida with determination in their eyes. He gave them a crafty grin and beckoned them to follow him to the barracks. "Aight lads, let's get to work."

Kinshasa, the rest of the Commonwealth

As the battle of Mbuyi-Mayi seemed to be well underway, with other army groups moving towards Port dé Kindu and Manono provinces to attack rebels there, Kinshasa finally broke the long communication silence with the world. It was admitted tentatively that some measure of civil strife was underway, but that it was coming under control. A request for airlifted or shipped food supplies was given to any amenable nation, all the while food supplies in the Commonwealth itself was transported to army barracks and used to extort rebel areas - "Turn loyal, and you won't starve" is the gist of the message. All supply transports are heavily guarded by helicopter gunships and army columns, with fighter support on-hand.

Efforts are still being made to contact Colin Olongwe, and now calls are going out to Hindustan (well remembered for their generous aid operations for Congolese victims of AIDS and starvation) for military and logistic aid in the eastern Commonwealth.

In the meantime, loyal Manus Nigra, Ranger and Special Force officers are tasked with building sections of the Paramilitaire Congolais in every city and town (including Luanda), arming and training loyal citizenry to conduct both police and military duties in the now war-torn nations. Meanwhile, ACA command is conducting infiltration of border areas, trying to get the more social-democratic oriented socialist rebels to cooperate with the government. Social programs and the social republic will be instated once there is peace, Ndelebe promises, if the rebels will lend their weight to Kinshasa's military and get the east back under control.

The government seems to put every inch of their executive power and will to succeed into the current conflict, displaying true grit in responding to insurgency when and where it arises.

Also, after a closed meeting between the chiefs of staff and the president this morning, increased Manus Nigra presence is noted in all areas of the former Commonwealth..

The Quinntonian government begins to take a major interest in all things African, and sends a series of envoys to all of the parties involved. This amounts to not so mch a diplomatic mission, as a fact finding mission, with option to metamorphise into a full diplomatic mission in every case. There are hints of all kinds of rumours of aid dollars and materials down the line.

OOC-I am also asking for a brief synopsis, before I go on.

WWJD
Amen.

Kinshasa

Surprised the Quinntonian envoys actually wish to visit the beleaguered Commonwealth government, they find themselves welcomed with open arms and considerable security around their person, quickly getting a visit with the cabinet itself.

Expressing their regret that it has come to a state of armed conflict between the government and several rebel warbands (chief among which are the Commonwealth People's Liberation Front, a communist group led by disgruntled members of the legitimate but repressed socialist party AFP, and another large group of defected army soldiers under a former general known as Laurent Nkunda), the Congolese government seems to reassure the quinntonians that they can restore law and order, but that massive damage to both material, infrastructure and lives have been sustained already and the worst is yet to come. This, they reason, mean that humanitarian and, if possible, military aid to the commonwealth is necessary.

Of course, this seem to be only one side of the story, and leave the envoys from Quinntonia wondering if there's something they haven't been told..

Neither Nkunda nor the AFP warlords seem to be able to contact as of now,
at least not by Quinntonia.


((OOC>> The African Commonwealth did at one point have good relations with Quinntonia during the seventies, but it is known by now that the former government was responsible for severe human rights violations, and the current government seems apolegetic but just as ruthless. The current head of state is a decorated military officer but has been legitimately elected and is known to be committed to unity and democratic rule, even if he is currently about to fight a bloody civil war.

The situation is it is now is explained well by my own and Lusaka's posts in this thread, as well as in the OOC thread, which is linked to on page 1 of this thread!))

A fair sized and armed platoon of fighting men, with attached prayer warriors, recently freed up by the withdrawal of the massive diplomatic corps of is secretly snuck across the border to move into the countryside. They were well versed in contacting and negotiating with a decentralised authority, which is really what they were expecting with the Communist elements within the nation. Of course, they would keep this on the down-low, as not to offend the government, but they did want information and contact, and it was seen as critical to be in dialogue, even if the dialogue led to condemnation. One of their main concerns was to what level was their antipathy to religion. Was it total, in the case of the Ignovians and even the Combinists, or was it using some form of liberation theology, using the deity(s) involved as an expression of the freer of the oppressed, and attaching that ideal to Marx.

WWJD
Amen.

As of now, the Quinntonian soldiers manage to sneak undetected through the countryside, making their way into the eastern provinces. By extortion or persuasian, local people sympathetic to the rebel bands tell them that the people they want are probably the Commonwealth People's Liberation Front, the largest marxist warband led by several former leaders of the socialist APF party.

It is, however, noted that only the leadership are true democrats - their warriors are thugs and tribal warriors with fortune on their mind, and the CPLF leadership seem rather naive to think they can bring the country back under control with such a force. Further inquiries reveal that the CPLF has taken a horrible defeat around the large city of Mbuyi-Mayi and may be found closer to the Rwandan border at present.



((I should note that, depending on the experience and capabilities of these 'prayer warriors' they could be caught and subjected to all kinds of horrible things - Imprisonment and exposure if caught by police, militia or Commonwealth army, torture and death if caught by the Manus Nigra, probable death if caught by any of the myriad thugs and brigands running around the place. It's your call whether they might be caught or not, the CPLF will shelter them if they manage to make contact.))

OOC-OK, thanx, I should probably describe more completely their make-up. There is a group of “armed diplomats” of about platoon strength that are crossing. They would have mostly Gelletian weaponry, and money to burn. They would probably have adequate communications technology and jeeps/Land Rovers as well as dirt bikes for transportation. They are well trained soldiers, probably a lot more rough and tumble than one would expect from Quinntonians, with long, unkempt, hair pulled into braids, wild beards, and more than a few would be sporting Geletian swords as well. They would appear to be more bikers than soldiers, but the presence of worship materials and cross tattoos would mark them as believers. They would have a few translators with them, and maybe a single rifle team worth of Special Ops. boys. With them would be maybe 5-10 unarmed people who dress and act pretty much the same, but whose only purpose would be to continually pray for the safety of the men, the success of the mission, the salvation of their enemies, etc. They would also act as medics when necessary.
These men are left-overs of the bloated Gelletian diplomatic corps. They needed thousands of diplomats, scattered all over the nation in Beth Gellert prior to this incarnation of the Commonwealth due to the fact that without a centralised government with which to deal, any announcement or dialogue would have to occur all over the nation in conjunction with each other, in public Senates everywhere. Others would contact the many soviets that ran, well, pretty much everything of foreign notice, and still others would contact various communes in order that they could begin dialogue or make statements. Basically they needed to, in a coordinated fashion, engage in diplomacy with the entire nation at once. Now, with his incarnation of the Commonwealth, as it has taken on the guise of a more Representative than Direct Democracy, negotiations may happen in a far more efficient way. So, the diplomatic mission was first scaled back to less than a thousand, and finally pulled due to the struggle with BG.
They will try to keep as much of a low profile as they can, under these circumstances, and will disavow any allegiance to the USQ government if confronted. They will fight rather than be arrested, though. They will probably find time to do strange things to the local eye, like take an opportunity to help work in fields, mend fences, apply basic medical care, and always, hand out Biblical literature in the local dialect while preaching the Gospel, in as non-confrontational a way as possible. That is before, peeling off with their swords, hair and dirt bikes making a spectacle of themselves.

IC-They move across the border, and after finding out the information that they want, they use their maps and satellite imagery coupled with GPS locaters to plot a relatively safe route to the portion of the country where the people they are trying to find are. They stay away from population centres whenever possible, and when they do run into people, they are kind almost to the point that the people think that they are up to something. But they continue to seek the Commies.
WWJD
Amen.

Mumbai

Parliament, keen to see civil order restored in the African Commonwealth, and for the most part supportive of the Ndelebe government, offers its support in the form of No.59 Transport Squadron, a presently Zanzibar-based IAF unit that flies the Avro-designed, HAL-produced Andover turboprop airlifter. Not terribly modern aircraft, and not stunningly large, the Andovers are nonetheless reliable aircraft, able to carry a useful payload in and out of difficult airstrips. Combat-oriented military assistance is, as of yet, not offered, Parliament being wary of acting without the consent of the Lusakans and the Soviets, but, if diplomatic approval is received, it would not be far-fetched to imagine INA troops fighting alongside CAF forces in Katanga and Kivu.

As for the Combine, and whatever desire it might have to involve itself in the affairs of Southern Africa, Mumbai does not have too strong an opinion. Certainly most Unioners do not support Zimbabwe's sitting government and view Robert Mugabe in a very negative light, but Yugoslav relations with Harare are tolerated, and there is little reason to suspect that things would be all that different where Constance is concerned.

Kinshasa

Always struggling to hope with monstrous transport loads of supplies and troops in wartime, the Kinshasan government almost immediately approves logistic support from Hindustan - The measure burns plain through parliament after the JCS and Nbelebe state that it will help the Commonwealth armed forces maintain control of the fractured state.

Any measure of real military forces are tentatively discussed - it is not considered good for the psychological conflict (as it were) in the Commonwealth that white forces attack congolese citizens, even if said congolese were not considered citizens any more and were less than owl shit to parliament. The AFP in particular (that is, the few members who had not left to join the rebellion) presents an opposition, but are roundly ignored on the issue for obvious reasons.

Inside the Commonwealth

When meeting "regular" Congolese, the Quinntonians are warmly welcomed. Their preaching of evangelical faith ((sorry if this is incorrect, I can't remember which denomination is predominant in Quinntonia)) is often roundly rejected by the rather devout catholic or pagan Congolese, but the hard-pressed rural folks are extremely thankful for the soldiers' aid in these extremely trying times, and are often willing to shelter or feed them with their meagre means.

Using modern technology as they are, the expedition easily manages to circumnavigate the confused Commonwealth military, although they are forced to engage and kill several bands of looters and rebels that attack them on sight for their race, equipment or assumed wealth. Some reports of engagements with well-trained and armed white soldiers filter back to Commonwealth army command, but are ignored and considered the presence of strathdonians, rhodesian mercenaries or other white africans.

OOC- Something like 55% Lutheran, (Evangelical Catholic, Confessional) and 20% Roman Catholic. Evangelicals in the modern sense make up maybe 8-10% (Protestant: Reformed, Baptists, Pentecostals, non-denominational, Episcopalian, etc.) Very small other movements, like Orthodox, maybe 1%. Less than 5% non-Christian, with Mormons the largest at just over 1%.


Do you want to RP the meeting with the Commies in tandem with the government meeting?

WWJD
Amen.

((OOC: Sure, whatever works for you.))

Once again there is division in the Soviet camp.

Many in Raipur see a real opportunity to bring Communism to tens of millions of people and secure vast natural resources as well as bases within reach of West Africa, and are not shy in criticising Ndelebe as an authoritarian and a protector of private property interests.

The Supreme War Soviet, for once, seems more likely to please foreigners with its contrary position. The CPLF is not, Calcutta thinks, sufficiently strong for Ndelebe to be quickly over thrown by anything short of a full scale Soviet invasion out of Tanzania and Namibia, and getting into another such tangle seems ridiculous given that Kinshasa has been relatively helpful in recent years.

Graeme Igo's influence sees Soviet diplomats in the African Commonwealth making an open appeal to the CPLF, calling for calm and compromise. Soviet India suggests that its Consuls might serve as a conduit for negotiations between Communist rebels and Kinshasa, hopeful that some minor Igovian reforms might even be pushed into the Democratic Republic's constitution in order to convince the rebels to stop fighting the government. The Soviets suggest that the explosion of violent Communist sentiment in Africa is a signal that Kinshasa and India ought to strengthen their ties: it's clearly what the people want! Consuls appeal to the CPLF to consider joining government and Soviet forces in bringing mutually agreeable order not only in the African Commonwealth but also in Angola, so that African unity and democracy might be spread across the continent, from Namibia to Senegal, Libya to Mozambique.

Victory is at hand, Sovietists announce for the benefit of leftwing rebels, but to ruin Kinshasa's relationship with India by forcing the Soviets to fight Ndelebe would only help the European imperialists to return!

Unfortunately this is Calcutta's public face, and quietly other things are in motion. AKMs, RPKs, RPGs, 82mm mortars, PKMs, Strelas and like Russian-Soviet weapons are stockpiled in Tanzania and Namibia and do not infrequently find their way into CPLF hands, while Calcutta even goes so far as to channel funds to Harare for its clandestine war effort in the eastern regions, keen in truth to see the Congo area destabilised sufficiently to deny capitalist firms access to its natural wealth and hopeful that a Kinshasa sufficiently distracted by trouble at home will be unable to control Angola, perhaps necessitating a timely Soviet intervention in the oil-rich state.

Calcutta even offers to send GSIC trainers to Zimbabwe and to help establish ZANLA facilities in vast Angola and even Zambia's ramshackle western region.

In Raipur, of course, the praises of Miyanda, Tanko, and Igomo continue to be sung while the Popular Soviets persist in passing motions quite in line with Hindustani policy on the whole region, a few empty criticisms of Ndelebe not withstanding.

Kinshasa

Soviet criticism of Ndelebe being authoritarian was deflected by him with the casual ease a person might use when swatting a fly away from the face. If not for his inspired leadership, he reminds the world, Congo would be total anarchy with the worst excesses of capitalist exploitation filtering up through the massive bloodshed such an area would suffer. Ndelebe has led his nation from being a horrible dictatorship and into a controlled democracy. History, he says, has a well-known liberal bias and the best is yet to come - at least it is if the current unrest can be brought to heel.

Under pressure from the ADU and what remains of the APF, the government accepts the notion of negotiations via the Soviets. Mbuyi-Mayi and other contested areas are locked firmly down with curfews and heavy patrols while the CAF keeps building up troop numbers in the central Commonwealth should peaceful solutions fail. Consuls are given free leave to enter rebel land (although under heavy surveillance), and the government has agreed to effect social reform after a cessation of hostilities. Universal health care and minimum wage has long been in the making in the ADU/LFU government, but has been hampered by administrative and economic questions - Now, however, they are presented as an entirely new initiative to display Ndelebe as a social democrat and give him a positive image with rebels and Igovians.

The promises has already led many rebels to lay down their arms and join the PC or CAF, but large warbands remain arrayed against the Commonwealth forces - forces that remain in place without attacking, at least for now.

When the Quinntonian “delegation” finally meets with the Communists in the back country and starts to ask to meet with the leadership, most likely breaking off into smaller groups, and each talking to one or more of the “big men” of the movement. In these conversations, the Quinntonians speak to them inquiring as to their political theory and influences, as well as keeping an eye open to how far this theory is followed once it hits the real world. Undoubtedly, some are warlords, some are idealists, and some just want a better life and are using this as an option to get it, without really understanding the theoretical underpinnings. The Quinntonians, while trying to take the measure of this obviously decentralised movement, begins to speak about their willingness to work with the government, about possible Quinntonian support, through private sympathetic Quinntonians, of their people and their movement, and even arming them, should it become necessary. Of course, all the while they are giving the people all through that they are meeting to, up to and including the leadership, gifts of money and food and weapons (a couple at a time), and perhaps to some of the leaders, a Ranger rover or two (with air conditioning). Subtly engaged also is their willingness to stand up physically to the encroaching and authoritarian Soviet influence coming from Namibia.

President Ndelebe was greeted warmly by the Quinntonian delegation that began immediately to offer platitudes and began to discuss his position in regards to the Communist insurgency and the Namibian Soviet influence. They started asking if favourable Quinntonian trade relations, arms deals, aid, loans, investment, and support would be something that he government would be interested in. They represent themselves as a fact finding mission that, if desired, can be followed up with the Quinntonian Foreign Minister making an official visit. They do drop the idea that there may be billions on the table.

WWJD
Amen.

The three leaders of the warband are all former members of parliament for the political party African People's Front. While formally atheist all are fond of the catholic church and have no intention of repressing the church. The farthest their view goes is the separation between church and state. While lieutenants and captains in the CPLF seem like crude thugs, it is the Quinntonians firm belief that their leaders are morally sound people committed to democracy - even better, after their recent shattering defeat at the hands of government forces, they are even willing to consider cooperating with the government. If Quinntonians could intervene and secure an amnesty for CPLF prisoners and mediate with Ndelebe, they would probable adopt a peaceful political path.



In Kinshasa, people are more pessimistic. The government is very displeased with the open rebellion against their rule, and has got to agree to Quinntonian offers of investment, trade and aid programs. Arms deals are thus far turned down as Ndelebe does not want to appear weak in the eyes of other African leaders like Derek Igomo. There is no doubt he can use money from Quinntonia, and he feels compelled to accept the visit in order to get the millions of dollars he knows can help bring his country back on it's feet.

As for the insurgency, old laws from the insurrection of 1999 is put back into effect: Being a militant member of a marxist or communist organisation is punishable by incarceration or death. This law has since been suspended as a ceasefire came underway, but there is no doubt the government has adopted a hardline approach to the insurgents. On the Igovian side of things, the government apolegetically explains that it is Ndelebe's firm wish that ISC forces are welcome to travel through, on account of his personal grudge against the Holy League and the Nigerian and Algerian leaders. However, more conservative tribesman generals have arranged a build-up of forces near soviet Namibia, and regularly kill any human smugglers or gun runners that try to cross through the border. While Ndelebe felt committed to honour his agreement with the Igovians, the government still had a strong stance against Namibian crimes, as it were.

In that case, the official delegation in Kinshasa make a formal request on behalf of the people and government of Quinntonia, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to officially open an embassy, beginning an official full-fledged mission to the nation.

OOC-I think that you most likely have a little consul already, as I have with almost everyone, and an official ambassador, but that mission has not received major attention, the likes of which a full-fledged embassy will.

IC-That means that an ambassador will be sent shortly from Quinntonia, as well as a small security detachment of marines, and the delegation will begin looking for appropriate property within the capitol with which to build/purchase prior to it becoming official Quinntonian territory. The delegation explains that the incoming ambassador will most likely want to open formal negotiations on every matter that they have discussed right away, which could lead to a visit from the Foreign Minister Rebecca Klages.

In the countryside, the delegation then asks if some of them can stay on to help act as liaisons between the two groups, and work towards some kind of agreement. In the meantime, they would like to talk seriously about arming anyone who would be willing to fight the Soviets.

WWJD
Amen.

Kinshasa

A sense of nearly visible relief can be felt when interacting with the List For Unity government, as a first world power finally takes an interest in aiding war-torn Subsaharan Africa. Ndelebe himself takes the initiative to set up a meeting with Klages, should she wish to come. He also encourages the central elector council( charged with finding housing for both foreigners and kinshasans) to offer the Quinntonians a fortified mansion in eastern La Gombe - the commercial and administrative heart of the Congolese Commonwealth. Here it overlooks the vast expanse of the river Congo, the heart and source of all life in the nation, and is also close to both the Congolese government and the commercial expanses where, among others, Quinntonian investers thrive.

As it is expected that a minister of some sort will accompany the delegation, the delegation is invited to hold a sermon at and before the upcoming grand association football finals between FC Saint Eloi Lupopo and AS Vita. The sermon is normally held by the holy roman catholic archdiocese of Kinshasa, but the LFU/ADU government makes no bones about the importance of making the Quinntonians feel welcomed.


Rebel lands, eastern Commonwealth

The CPLF leadership are very fond of the Igovians, and are willing to lay down arms primarily because the ISC are willing to mediate with the government in Kinshasa. Talk of turning weapons against the soviets is unthinkable and get the AFP members visibly agitated( that AC'ed land-rover got them all good again, though ;)), but sympathetic right-wing lieutenants and sergeants take the Quinntonians aside and explain that there are several large anti-communist groups that have also taken arms against the government. They might be willing to make official peace with the government in return for Quinntonian weapons and advisors. Particularly the latter would enable them to unite into a large warband against encroaching soviets, and the tribal militias that are already anti-soviet could shelter them against basic government reconnaisance - If the air force breaks out the Embraer AWACS or radars, though, they're not in a position to fight much.

Kananga, African Commonwealth

After a non-stop flight from Zanzibar, No.59 Squadron finally sets down in Commonwealth territory, namely the city of Kananga, maybe a bit close to hotly-contested Mbuji-Mayi but home to a reasonably large and well-maintained airstrip that, according to the latest available intelligence, is still in government hands. The twelve Andovers arrive in flights of four, about 15 minutes between them, and land without incident, a fitting conclusion to a largely uneventful trip. Pilots do report several instances of having come under fire from the ground, and a few holes are spotted in aircraft parked on the tarmac, but it isn't anything especially serious or unexpected.

No.59 Squadron's Andovers arrive carrying their maintenance crews and support personnel, so it isn't long before the aircraft are ready for operational sorties, providing of course they haven't unknowingly flown right into a rebel-occupied town. It will be up to Commonwealth military planners to decide where they want the squadron, but it is thought that government forces will be able to find a use for transport aircraft in waging their campaign against rebel elements in the east of the country.

Kananga, home to one of the largest ACAF bases does in fact have many, large paved airstrips, replete with radar towers and ground-based long range SAM complexes. The Commonwealth Armed Forces high defense council, what is roughly equivalent to the joint chiefs of staff plus assorted planners and intelligence services, eagerly puts the Andovers to use carrying troops, food and ammunition to the 'front' as the thin strip now dividing the nation in two is referred to. Occasionally SA-7 SAMs pick out a transport column as a target, as a ceasefire is currently only in effect on the government side, but the airway to Mbuyi-Mayi and other frontline cities is reasonably safe as of now.

In between the work facing the Commonwealth now, time is taken to thank India once again for her tireless contributions to the cause of peace in Africa.

ZANLA forces in Congo are on a high. Kinshasa seems to be gaining ground, but the Zimbabweans are confident. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are suddenly available to bribe African Commonwealth military officers and officials. Calcutta's dollars may convince some to see ZANU's point of view. The government is one thing, ruling a resource-rich province like a king may be quite another.

It is clear that ZANLA and ZANU do not give a damn for the political proclivities of groups and individuals in the region, so long as they'll take bribes or bow to threats that ZANLA may or may not be able to back-up.

Harare remains unaware of a Zambian-backed ZIPRA plan to launch major operations against President Mugabe, though its own propaganda repeatedly accuses Colonel Tanko and ZAPU of conspiring to cause instability, being more or less correct without actually knowing so.

((I'd love to reply just now, but I can't quite work out which militia is which, heh. Perhaps we could elaborate some in the OOC thread? Going on vacation now, I'll be back and posting after the 23rd))

Congo

Temperature was rising in more than one way. The indian dollars supporting ZANLA are reaching the CAF and Commonwealth-backed militias in equal measure, and both fighting and bribery becomes more and more rampant in the border areas. However, having largely subdued CPLF and freed up military resources in the Congolese mainland, Kinshasa now commits overtly large resources to beating rebels back across the border. The Katanga area is subject to regular fighter and bomber sorties while rangers scour the jungle for SAM guerillas, and any concentration of land fighters are tank shocked whenever resources permit. Meanwhile, more troublesome ZANU agitators and local militia leaders disappear, as the dreaded Manus Nigra appears to cast a shadow over the Zimbabwean woods once again.

Meanwhile, Kinshasa seems adamant on ending the conflict politically as well as militarily. Posters and leaflets giving amnesty to militia leaders willing to turn their men and weapons in for disarmament and relocation, as the LFU and ADU politicians put the weight of their government behind offers to broker a controlled peace where borders will actually be respected and patrolled once more. Such a peace, they claim, will permit Harare to concentrate on becoming safe and prosperous once more - A prosperity trade and aid from Kinshasa could aid in developing!