NationStates Jolt Archive

(Video of the sinking) (http://youtube.com/watch?v=4mUZ4zgvAvE)
((OOC: This is an OPEN RP thread. Feel free to add to it if you wish!))

Karshkovia State News Network

"... a small number of radical students protest in front of the Presidential Palace today turned violent today by throwing rocks and firebombs at the Police and Presidential Guard. On orders directly from the President, the police and Presidential Guard were to allow the protest to take place and only used non-lethal means to break up the protest if they became violent. Students were met with tear gas, water cannons and finally a 'sound cannon' newly imported from an allied nation. Four protesters were injured by falls or physically assaulting police. One police officer was injured by a thrown rock. Student leaders vowed to continue to put pressure on the government for new Presidential elections and moves towards a peaceful reunification with Russia."

The images of street violence dissolved back into a close up of the anchorwoman in Zostar.

"In other news, Prime Minister Valentina Borofsky called a press conference an hour ago announcing that the Karshkovian Air Command had sunk a ship that fired upon and killed several Karshkovian Coastal Defense Force Inspectors during a routine inspection."

The image of the anchorwoman cut away to a new image of a large freighter at sea.

"Last night the Rawal Kah, a 150m long 4200 tonne ocean freighter, entered territorial Karshkovian waters without permission, bound for port in Volograd. The Karshkovian Coastal Defense Force was alerted by coastal radar stations that an unknown ship was approaching the Karshkovian city of Volograd. It was not listed for arrival and had ignored all requests to identify itself."

An image of a Coastal Defense patrol ship flashed on the screen.

"The Coastal Defense Patrol ship Kunsan was able to stop the freighter after repeated requests by radio, amplified audio, and finally a warning shot fired across its bow. Inspectors bordered the Rawal Kah and began by questioning the captain while other inspectors searched the ship for contraband. It is reported that the ship's hold was stacked with shipping containers filled with packaged heroin and cocaine with an estimated weight of over 1.5 metric tons. Some packaged drugs were taken back to the Kunsan for evidence. The Karshkovian Government then ordered the Rawal Kah, under escort from naval warships, into Volograd's ports. The crew took up arms and killed five inspectors, then tried to escape into international waters."

A video is now shown of a black and white IR camera, obviously military in nature, of a large white ship on a black ocean. White streaks flow up from the ship towards the camera, which then tilts and pulls away from the ship

"Military helicopters filled with Karshkovian marines were deployed by Karshkovia's flag ship Karshenko, an Udaloy-II Class Guided Missile Destroyer, to take control of the ship and its crew. The helicopters encountered light anti-aircraft fire from the ship and were forced to maintain their distance."

A new video clip shows military aircraft taking off from a coastal runway, then cuts to video of the aircraft in flight.

"With the ship's repeated attempts to shot down Karshkovian helicopters, the Karshkovian Air Command launched two MiG-23BNs which were armed with 57 mm rocket pods, 500 kg free falling bombs, and Kh-23 radio-guided missiles.

Ten hours after being boarded, the Karshkovian Navy issued it's final warning to the drug ladened ship, demanding it stop to be boarded which was ignored. The Karshkovian Air Command authorized the use of weapons and the MiG-23s released their fugasnaya aviatsionnaya bomba-500 to sink the ship."

Video of the attack and destruction of the ship was now shown. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=4mUZ4zgvAvE)

"The FAB-500s hit the ship as shown, however it continued to slowly drift towards international waters, and the Karshkovian Navy Command authorized the Karshenko to fire an SS-N-22 anti-ship missile into the illegal drug ship. The 320kg warhead exploded in the engine room of the Rawal Kah stopping the ship. It sank inside Karshkovian waters five minutes later. No survivors were found though naval ships remained in the area for two hours after the sinking. The ship's registry retrieved during the inspection reveled it had a crew of 136, however the captain of the Rawal Kah had struck the flag of the ship and destroyed all documents pertaining to which government the ship was registered to."

The video switched back to the anchorwoman at the news desk.

"In a later statement, President Vladimir Radchenko emphatically stated that the ship had trespassed into Karshkovian waters, was holding over 1.5 tons of illegal drugs destined for sale in Karshkovia, had attacked and killed five Coastal Defense Inspectors, fired on Karshkovian Naval aircraft and refused to give way to Naval ships. He considered the orders given by his military commanders to be fully within their rights and duties, and had acted appropriately."

A clip from the President's press conference.

"Karshkovia is sending a clear message to the international drug trafficking community on how we will deal with those trying to subvert our national laws. We do not distribute or sell our state-grown marijuana to any nation where it is illegal and we expect the same curtsy in return. Any attempt to bring illegal drugs into our nation will result in a repeat of today's events. If drug laden ships enter Karshkovian waters, they will be sunk."

The screen switched back to the reporter

"This is the second time in six months that the Karshkovian military has sunk a ship that was confirmed to have large amounts of drugs bound for Karshkovia, and the third time this year overall"

"Today, the men and women of the Kunsan and the Karshenko were all awarded combat-action ribbons for the performance of their duties dealing with international drug traffickers."

"Commander Ivanova, the air-warfare co-ordinator on the Karshenko, won the Karshkovian Navy's Commendation Medal for "heroic achievement," noting her "ability to maintain her poise and confidence under fire" that enabled her to "quickly and precisely co-ordinate the air-strike and firing of the ship-to-ship SS-N-22 missile."

"The Karshkovian Cross of Merit, a military decoration of the Karshkovian armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements, was awarded to both Commander Ivanova and Admiral Pulitz along with Captain Dimitri "Lev" Andropov and First Lieutenant Matryonan Bazhukov, the pilots which attacked the Rawal Kah."

"Captain Andropov stated that he prayed for the souls of the men whom died on the Rawal Kah, but would not hesitate to carry out the same commands to destroy a ship carrying drugs. He felt proud that he played a part in keeping the Karshkovian people 'a little safer'"

"Memorial services were held today to honor the fallen men and women of the Kunsan who were murdered by the crew of the Rawal Kah during an inspection of the ship. All were posthumously awarded the Bronze Cross. President Radchenko and Prime Minister Borofsky both attended the memorial services and personally awarded the medals to those men and women previously mentioned"

(OOC: I can't think of a good response to this as of yet, but I'm going to watch the thread. It's nice to see someone else around here with literary prowess the rival my own. Check my threads. Semi-IC: Perhaps alliances could be formed. OOC: Also, my region is recruiting RPers. Pass protected, send me a telegram if interested.)

(OOC: I can't think of a good response to this as of yet, but I'm going to watch the thread. It's nice to see someone else around here with literary prowess the rival my own. Check my threads. Semi-IC: Perhaps alliances could be formed. OOC: Also, my region is recruiting RPers. Pass protected, send me a telegram if interested.)

((OOC: thank you for the complements. I would be very interested in alliances, but for now I am happy with Sapientia. Would be fun to RP with you some time!))

((reserved))

"After last week's attack on the Rawal Kah, a 150m long 4200 tonne ocean freighter, which entered territorial Karshkovian waters without permission ladened with illegal narcotics, there has been no claim made as yet to the nation which registered or haAd owned the freighter. No nation has stepped forward to claim ownership or express outrage at the attack.

"Prime Minister Borofsky has stated that she believes either the nation who owned the freighter knew it has been caught supplying narcotics to nations where those narcotics are illegal, or has decided to take the loss of 136 of it's citizens quietly. Because there has been no outrage, it seems more likely that the nation the ship was registered to and owned by knew of it's illegal activity."

"In a separate statement, President Radchenko made the comment that he hopes this sends a message to those who would bringing illegal narcotics into the Karshkovia. He also stated that on the other hand, the ships do make great target practice for the Karshovian Navy and Air Force."

Official Government Message

We would like to congratulate you on your restraint in dealing with something that was obviously a threat to your security and the well being of your people. Your restraint and logical thinking kept the situation from becoming an international outrage. We have, on several occasions, intercepted cargo ships carrying drugs, though thankfully it has never escalated to this extreme. We offer our condolences to the families of the victims killed and we offer the option to coordinate with our Anti Terrorism Task Force (ATTF), so we may both work together to eliminate these threats.


OOC: Any interest in a joint operation in boarding a cargo ship?

OOC: Since I still have battle group near your waters from your intro thread I need to say something.

90 knots from Karshkovian waters

The attack on the freighter was observed silently by a E-2F Hawkeve AWACS flying off the Tolvanic light carrier TCS Furies. A report was put together by the battle group's Intel shop and forwarded back to command. For now no direct action would be taken, but in light of the aggressiveness of the Karshkovian response to the freighter an intensified CAP was ordered to make sure no thing got too close to the Tolvanic ships.

A pair of F/A-39 Enforcer multi-role fighters were launched from the Furies to join the other four planes already flying a CAP over the battle group. While the other fighters were tasked with screening ship's and making sure nobody get too close to the AWACS these two had another mission.

The two planes flew under radio silence to a predetermined point less than ten knots from the last none location of a Karshkovian vessel. Once there the fighters powered up there RADARs and radiated at full power for a total of 45 seconds. Once they were sure anyone in the area knew they were there, they turned and headed back to the battle group to join the patrolling CAP.

OOC: If you want to go ahead with the diplomatic talks we discussed in the other thread, TG me and we'll work out the details.

Official Communiqué
Office of the Prime Minister
Republic of Karshkovia

Karshkovia thanks you for your words of support and kindness for the families of the fallen officers. President Radchenko has accepted your offer to coordinate with your Anti Terrorism Task Force (ATTF), to help eliminate these threats to our nations.


OOC: I'm game to boarding a cargo ship

OOC: Since I still have battle group near your waters from your intro thread I need to say something.

90 knots from Kashkovian waters

The attack on the freighter was observed silently by a E-2F Hawkeve AWACS flying off the Tolvanic light carrier TCS Furies. A report was put together by the battle group's Intel shop and forwarded back to command. For now no direct action would be taken, but in light of the aggressiveness of the Kashkovian response to the freighter an intensified CAP was ordered to make sure no thing got too close to the Tolvanic ships.

A pair of F/A-39 Enforcer multi-role fighters were launched from the Furies to join the other four planes already flying a CAP over the battle group. While the other fighters were tasked with screening ship's and making sure nobody get too close to the AWACS these two had another mission.

The two planes flew under radio silence to a predetermined point less than ten knots from the last none location of a Kashkovian vessel. Once there the fighters powered up there RADARs and radiated at full power for a total of 45 seconds. Once they were sure anyone in the area knew they were there, they turned and headed back to the battle group to join the patrolling CAP.

OOC: If you want to go ahead with the diplomatic talks we discussed in the other thread, TG me and we'll work out the details.


OOC: Yes certianly! I will be working on that post today. What I wanted to do was get my cultural wiki page up so you may have something to refer to in your response RP. Should have it up by tonight at the latest. Sorry I thought I had telegrammed you and I may not have. I apologize as I am very interested in working with you. I love the RP style.

OOC: Im claiming the Freighter if you dont mind

Montana Inc. HQ, Bogota, El Sur, Mokastana

"Shit hes, back. If he finds out what happened we are fucked."

Outside the Large Office building of downtown Bogotá three limos pulled up to the front entrance. From the farthest back one came out Antonio Montana, the dangerous and currently on bail CEO of Montana Inc. While he had been held on Mokan Island for possible treason a prison riot had led to his kidnapping. However he was recovered after his own security forces found him and killed the terrorist responsible. In doing so his lawyer managed to argue his safety was something that the government could not handle, but his own security forces could. After two weeks he had gotten bail set at 14 million, and he was free.

Now to see what happened in the last month...

((ooc: I don't mind at all! Feel free to take the storyline and run with it.))

In a few days that followed the cargo ship sinking, ATTF agents prepared for a secretive mission that would have them working hand in hand with Karshkovian officials. The mission had to be secretive. Public support for a mission like this just wouldn't happen. There wasn't a drug problem in Orbath, nor a smuggling problem. On top of that, due to other recently failing operations, public support for anything remotely foreign was at an all time low. So why then would the Orbathian government be interested in assisting a nation they hadn't even heard of prior to this? It could have been because there was a very small chance that the cargo ship was manned by an Orbathian terrorist group. If that wasn't the case, there was still the problem of the cargo ships that had been intercepted in Orbathian waters, that agents still knew nothing about.

The agents had been briefed and kitted out. They were a combination of an intelligence force and a paramilitary group, thus they carried a mixture of equipment ranging from acoustic listening devices to hand grenades. Each agent bore the black assault uniform that ATTF agents commonly wore when carrying out a raid.

The helicopter carrying them cut through the dark, starless night sky. It flew low, it's rotors down wash tossing around an already choppy sea. It was common for soldiers to discuss a mission prior to arrival but the agents had already done so on the ground. There was an odd aura about the cabin, a mixture of fear and power.

The helicopter appeared over a landing pad and hovered, before dropping down, bumping onto the pavement. The rotors began to slow and the team, 9 men and 3 women, hopped out onto the ground. One stepped forward, to greet whomever been sent. He pulled his ski mask back, revealing a stone cold emotionless face...

Antonio Montana flipped off the TV that had shown the Karshkovia News broadcast where it showed one of his freighters, complete with the installed Phalanx guns, as it had apperently tried to shoot down military helicopters. When he saw the freighter explode and saw the losses on the table in front of him he had reached a level of pissed off that made him look passive.

"So overall, what was the net loss on this adventure, and can it be traced back to us in any way?"

"No sir, the ship was registered to another nation, Skimire or something like that."

"Something like that? I want facts DAMMIT!"

"Skismire, sir, and no it cannot be traced to us. The captain is believed to have destroyed all evidence."

"well its nice to know someone has a brain around here. So once again what are the losses."

"upwards half a billion dollars if you include potential sales, the cost of refitting the freighter with Phalanxes, the cost of the frieghter, and crew."

"SO what is the NET loss?"

"200 million dollars sir"

"Now who authorized this mission?"

The table of men sat quiet. All of them knew Montana, he was a great man as long as you did you job and did it well. and if not, as long as you managed to clean up after yourself and learn from it you were good. However the number of mistakes in this one were nearly impossible to forgive. Then slowly one man in the back stood up.

"i..it was..s.ss.me sir"

"Ahh for a second there i didnt think you had the cojones to admit that. Now stand in front of that wall in the back."

"W..w.what sir"

"Don't question me, just do it. I'm not going to kill you or anything like that."

The man did as he was told, standing in front of a wall reinforced with concrete and steel. Then Montana pulled out his new silver .45 ACP Specail edition JagD pistol and aimed in down the long oak table at the man, the guy on the other end had already moved.

"You said you weren't going to kill ME!!!"

BOOM!

the man fell fell over as the bullet tore through his kneecap and the gore and blood spattered all around behind him. He screamed a series of profanities and Montana slowly walked around the table and looked at the bloody mess now on his meeting room floor. He looked at the table and then back at the body.

"Your still alive arent you? Now heres the deal. You will clean this room up, pick your bones and flesh of my oak. Scrub it down. Then you can get medical treatment. As for now the most i can give you is a sautering iron to keep you from bleeding anymore. Jose! get him an iron to burn his wounds."

He got up and looked back at the table.

"Now how shall we clean up this one?"

OOC: Bump

OOC: to be Honest Montana Inc is going to try and distance themselves as far from the incident as they can. The last thing they need is foreign governments bombing their factories and transports, but we wont let one dead freighter get in the way of business.

IC:

Montana HQ, Bogota, Mokastana

"Who are our contacts in Karshkovia, and have they been notified that their drugs were blown up in international waters?"

"It's a Mr. Gorbechov, some corrupt business guy that loves making money the government doesn't know about. He wasn't happy about it and by the sound of it we should get the drugs in there soon before he finds a new supplier."

"Perhaps he should understand that in this business shit happens, but we do have a market that needs to be met. What does Karshkovia import a lot? Who do we know that we can bribe in customs? Where are good drop sites? Come on people, you cant sell drugs and not know these things! Get someone in Karshkovia to find out! Start with Gorbechov!"

TO: Mr. Gorbechov
FROM: The desk of Antonio Montana, Montana Inc.

While the loss of supplies in transport is always something to be despised you must understand that international piracy is something we cannot prevent. However i will fly in my associate Nicoli Kushkev to discuss further and safer methods of transporting such precious cargo.

Thank you
Antonio Montana

Velt Industries, Volograd, Karshkovia

Jarlath Gorbechov's office at Velt Industries was in "the Ballista," which was the term used by many of the workers to describe the building that housed the offices of the upper management. The reason for this was how the owner of the company had the reputation of literally throwing two vice-presidents, who were exposed spies for the Soviets, off the roof of the building.

While Volograd was its home - and thus the biggest office - Velt Industries was a national, and soon to be international, medical supplies company with offices all over Karshkovia. There were ten other vice presidents in the company, and at 45 years of age Gorbechov felt like the 'old man' in a young man's world as he had 10 years on the next oldest vice president. This fact rankled him greatly and as far as he was concerned the title of CEO was his by right, though he was not the next in line to succession. To be CEO, one needed wealth, power, and connections politically and capitalistically.

Gorbechov's break came when he was named the new Vice President of Pharmaceuticals. Although it was a minor step upwards, it did put him in a unique position. He was responsible for the import of raw material, export of finished goods for resale by other companies in their own name, and sales to internal hospitals of Velt Industries pharmaceuticals.

It really was a stroke of genius on his part when the idea came to him. The best way to increase his personal wealth, power, and status in the company was to deal in illegal narcotics. Because of his status, he was able to "cook the books" a bit and have extra amounts of raw chemicals in one shipment but the next would be short the same amount...and that amount would be where the drugs were stored. So in essence, he could cover his drug trade but over and under purchasing. The company still got the exact amount of chemicals each time, as the extra chemicals were held in storage until the next shipment arrived thus noone suspected a thing. None of the dock workers had any idea as none of them were stupid enough, nor paid well enough, to open containers clearly marked as bio-hazardous and check their contents.

Gorbechov didn't just sell to the few drug lords -if they could even be called that - in Karshkovia. No, he had international customers that used his warehouses to store their products or to bring products in from a nation known to have strict drug laws.

Looking out of his tenth story windows, Gorbechov watched the dark gray clouds of a winter storm begin to move in from the southern ocean, and drizzle start to fall on the miserable people far below him scurrying home.

As he watched, it reminded him of his ultimate goal. Though Gorbechov was registered as a Trade Union party member and did pay his annual dues to the party, in reality he was a silent supporter and high ranking member of the Party of Patriots. His party believed in isolationism and the removal (forced if necessary) of all people not of pure Karshka bloodlines from the country. He hated communism forcing outsiders into his nation, hated the democratic system giving the outsiders a voice in the way his homeland should run and he especially hated the 'everyone just needs to get along' President Radchenko and his Russian-bitch wife with their support of race mingling.

Gorbechov lit a cigar and blew the smoke at his window while thinking of his own wife. Floa was a full-blooded Karshka, like himself. Her deep brown eyes and hair, high cheekbones, and clean skin spoke to this fact. She was a good and loyal woman who had stood by his side through thick and thin. He was certain that she was just now starting dinner that they would dine on together later when he arrived home.

His thoughts soured he watched an ocean freighter leave the bay for the open ocean. One of his customers was very livid that ~1.5 tons of heroin and powder cocaine was now resting on the ocean floor just under a kilometer from the surface. Gorbechov had to eat the loss and move some of his personal product to his client. This was millions of dollars worth of pure profit now lost, and not only was he upset but the Party of Patriots was also very angered as 50% of all the profit he made from the sales went to the Party. Oh they were not angry at him, mind you. No, they were upset that President Radchenko had purchased more patrol boats and had foreign countries training the Coastal Defense force. There were only a few people he could bribe to look the other way, and those he did bribe were now dead from this whole fiasco.

This should have been a routine 'stealth' shipment, or a shipment that he couldn't cover in the books but one that didn't need to either. The ship would enter karshkovia waters and head to port. When the patrol boat signaled it to stop, it would do so and allow the inspectors he had paid off to 'search' the ship. They would clear it to port and report to their superiors that it was a ship that had just not been recorded as an arrival. Because of the paperwork involved, many legitimate ships had this occur, so slipping in an illegitimate ship was laughably easy to do.

What transpired was an inexperienced captain didn't stop immediately when ordered to and the inspection crew had two last-minute replacements for inspectors that had been in a car accident earlier in the day, landing them in the hospital. When the legitimate inspectors found the cargo, the inexperienced captain panicked and all hell broke loose. Gorbechov watched the entire event unfold on television, right to the bitter end. To cover the losses, he had to give the client nearly all of his personal product, leaving him very very close to the margin of 'no errors'. He used his personal product to cover the loss of goods damaged during shipping or mishandling. Now with it nearly gone, he had no room for error...an no way to make extra profit on the side that he didn't need to share with the Party.

To make matters worse, Gorbechov was very pissed that his supplier had used an inexperienced captain who basically caused the entire incident. Hell, he could have easily kept this entire incident under-wraps if that damned captain hadn't started the second civil war on his ship. His inspectors had already contact him and he was in control of the situation by radio. All they needed to do was kill the replacement inspectors, damage their ship, report an all-clear to the port authority and then a couple hours later send off an emergency broadcast of being attacked by a small boat running at high speed without lights. Neat, tidy, and everyone on his side got out alive and much richer. His supplier's mistake nearly cost him all his wealth, and credibility.

Basically, it was a situation that needed to get un-fucked right now!

A knock and the sound of the oak-paneled door that led into his office being opened made him turn.

"Yes?"

"Edwardo Chavez is here to see you," his secretary, Petra, said stiffly. A slim, plain woman in her early thirties, she was the only person in the Ballista that knew of his "extra-curricular" activity. She was also the best paid of his 'shadow staff' and quite loyal as she was making three times any other secretary in the company made. He was able to give her this money because she was very intelligent and understood how to hide the income and live within her company salary.

She was also smart enough to know he did not 'play around' on his wife, and made it known to him that she had her own love interest - a lovely young woman musician in the Royal Symphony Orchestra - which she was dedicated to. She also was a loyal member of the Party.

"I'll be with him as soon as I can, Petra"

"He seems rather...distraught and insists on speaking with you."

Gorbechov grinned. Edwardo was a foreigner that acted as a liaison between himself and his supplier. He also took a liking to Petra and made every advance he could as often as he could which Petra rebuked repeatedly. It was the only part of her job that she disliked and made her feel she had worked for every penny she was given. It amused Gorbechov to think that Edwardo was wasting his time hitting on Gorvechov's lesbian secretary...without knowing she was such.

"He said he has some information from overseas about that purchase you lost"

Gorbechov sighed. He disliked Edwardo as the man had no class, but he did know his business inside and out which earned Gorbechov's respect non-the-less. He also was not looking forward to his supplier's BS.

"Ok, send him in"

Petra nodded and left his office. A few moments later, Edwardo walked in with another man dressed in an expensive business suit.

"Mr. Gorbechov, so good to see you again. You seem well, which given what company you work for that shouldn't be a surprise." Edwardo laughed at his own joke.

"Is there a reason you have broken protocol and arrived here when I have not called to place an order?" Gorbechov growled.

Edwardo smiled wide, "Oh, let me introduce you to Nicoli Kushkev, a spokesman for our mutual friend. They insisted that the two of you meet to discuss certain aspects of your business arrangements."

Nicoli nodded and gave Edwardo a significant look which withered his smile.

"Ah, I will, ah, allow you gentlemen to speak while I show myself out." Edwardo stuttered out as he back out of the room.

After the doors had closed, Gorbechov stood and walked to his mini-bar, pouring himself a whiskey-coke, "Would you care for anything...Nicoli was it?"


OOC: Good information on Karshkovia's Drug laws and such would be here. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13375839#post13375839)

In a few days that followed the cargo ship sinking, ATTF agents prepared for a secretive mission that would have them working hand in hand with Karshkovian officials. The mission had to be secretive. Public support for a mission like this just wouldn't happen. There wasn't a drug problem in Orbath, nor a smuggling problem. On top of that, due to other recently failing operations, public support for anything remotely foreign was at an all time low. So why then would the Orbathian government be interested in assisting a nation they hadn't even heard of prior to this? It could have been because there was a very small chance that the cargo ship was manned by an Orbathian terrorist group. If that wasn't the case, there was still the problem of the cargo ships that had been intercepted in Orbathian waters, that agents still knew nothing about.

The agents had been briefed and kitted out. They were a combination of an intelligence force and a paramilitary group, thus they carried a mixture of equipment ranging from acoustic listening devices to hand grenades. Each agent bore the black assault uniform that ATTF agents commonly wore when carrying out a raid.

The helicopter carrying them cut through the dark, starless night sky. It flew low, it's rotors down wash tossing around an already choppy sea. It was common for soldiers to discuss a mission prior to arrival but the agents had already done so on the ground. There was an odd aura about the cabin, a mixture of fear and power.

The helicopter appeared over a landing pad and hovered, before dropping down, bumping onto the pavement. The rotors began to slow and the team, 9 men and 3 women, hopped out onto the ground. One stepped forward, to greet whomever been sent. He pulled his ski mask back, revealing a stone cold emotionless face...

Is anyone going to meet my agent?

Is anyone going to meet my agent?
ooc: I didn't have time to write it out before bed last night. I'll do it after work today.

OOC: Sounds good.

"Whiskey-coke is fine for me."

Nicoli was Antonio's top man when it came to issues involving anything on the illegal side. He was a tall man of Russian descent standing around 6'2" to 6'4", official records on him always contradicted each other. Which was the way he liked it.

Unlike his counterpart Edwardo Chavez, who desired flash and materialist items to give his life meaning, Joseph was happy to be living. Like most Russian decedents in Mokastana, his family had managed to flee to Mokastana during Stalin's great purges of the 30s and 40s. Not many details are known as to exactly how hundreds of ex-military refugees made it to the tropical island nation and many of the men and women who made the trip are taking the secrets to the grave with them.

His father was barely a captain in the Red army but had been condemned to death by Stalin. Hearing about the Mokastana emigration he had spent every ruble the family had on getting to there. Nicoli lost both his brother and sister in the trip, something he never brings up nor bothers to find more about. When they made it to Mokastana his father worked for a hispanic man on his farm where Nicoli learned family values could not put food on the table.

Years later he grew from the 3 year old Russian child to a teenager who spoke a horrid combination of spanish and russian. Finding other russian boys in the area they formed a small gang and began terrorizing local farmers stealing food and money.

His father found out about it and sent him to join the Mokan army, where his father managed to join up and became his son's superior officer. His father was hard on him and in doing so made him one of the greatest soldiers in the Mokan militia. However after the facist overtook Mokastana and conquested Mejico and the surrounding regions he soon found himself in the same boat his father was in. He fled the facist to Bogota where he found Antonio Montana's small and growing coke empire. He quickly proved himself and became Montana's number one man for anything that needed his immediate attention. After Montana's empire evolved into a corporation he managed to attend classes at Bogota University where he learned english as well as international economics.

Being a man of few words his main concern was making sure that everything went well with Montana's partners. Most were business men and just needed to be won over with trust, but occasionally there was one who tried to fuck with thier business. The bullet scar on his shoulder proved that, but then again, when he did find the man who shot him....well being the sadist he is, the thought always brought a smirk to his face....

"It is obvious that there were a lot of problems with shipment. Not only did someone on our side authorize a far to risky shipment, but they used an inexperienced captain to do it. I assure you that Montana personally took care of the problem. We will have another shipment arrive within the week with our most experienced Captain on it. Now what do you have on your side as protection against the local police forces?"

20 kilometers from International Waters inside Karshkovian Waters
Karshkovian Flag Ship, Karshenko

"I don't give a damn who they are! The next time those Tolvanic bastards violate our airspace, you tell those sons-of-bitches we will blow their asses from the air and be within our rights to do so!"

Captain Sergei Volgask's face resembled the color of a ripe cherry as he bellowed into the radio to the Naval Command Base in Zostar.

After the chase and attack on the freighter a pair of Tolvanic fighters flew 10 kilometers into Karshkovian airspace, tracked by the Karshenko's radar 45 km out, then fired up their high-powered RADARs - nearly triggering the inexperienced and quite jumpy crew from firing of multiple SA-N-9's - then turned and headed back to the battle group.

Captain Volgask had contacted the Naval Base about the intrusion and two Su-33's had their patrol range extended to the edge of Karshkovian Territorial waters. Word had been handed down that no aggressive actions were to be taken unless an aircraft approached closer than 10 Kilometers. At 10 kilometers, Captain Volgask was allowed to fire for effect if he felt his ship was in danger. These orders had led to the arguement he was now having.

"I don't care what the President has said. He is in a safe palace, we are here on the front line with a naval force that is threatening our borders!" the Captain listened and fuming slammed down the receiver.

"Those pencil necked bean counters are worried more about their damn pocket book than Karshkovian Security!" he yelled to no one in particular, "Damn them all. Fine I will play by their rules and they can lump it."

With that Volgask turned his ship until he was 2 kilometers from International waters and began to patrol a 30 kilometer stretch of the border, pinging away with active sonar. He deployed both his ASW helicopters to also check for any submarines that decided to also play inside Karshkovian waters. If he found any, they were going to have to deal with three or four torpedoes first before explaining why they were there.

(ooc: other replies made when I get home)

Naval Base Three
Volograd, Karshkovia

Commander Annia Rozhdestvensky stood just out of the falling sleet under the canopy of an open hanger door, silently watching the skies. Beside her, Lieutenant Pyotr Brusilov, armed with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder, stood silently as well. A few scattered lights over the naval base shown weakly here and there, the cones of their beams lighting the ground below them. The harbor lighthouse cast it's beams in a swirling arc, cutting through the night to warn approaching ships of the coast, and if to reply to that a ship's foghorn sounded in the distance over the ocean.

Annia was a tall woman by Karshkovian standards, 180cm, and her body was firm and well toned from daily weight and physical fitness training. She prided herself in being the only female to have won the military Middleweight Boxing Championship two years in a row, and was the favored contender for the third year. Her check hook was well practiced and considered her signature move.

Annia's light blonde, shoulder length hair was wrapped in a tight braid which was then tucked under her black beret, and her light sky-blue eyes shown no emotion as they scanned the dark sky. Her black BDUs, the black special forces combat knife, and the black SOCOM at her him spoke that she was one of the elite Presidential Guard. The only mar to her striking looks was a thin scar that ran from just above the bridge of her nose, down her left check, and to her jawline. A grenade shrapnel wound she received in the revolution when she was just thirteen years old, fighting the Soviets in Volograd during the final months of the occupation. She had various other shrapnel scars on her body from that explosion as well, though those she kept covered as often as she could.

Lieutenant Pyotr Brusilov was shorter than she, however he had at least 40kg on her and it was all muscle. Pyotr was an avid body builder and the naval BDUs he wore hardly fit his frame. He was regular navy, not a Presidential Guard, however he was intelligent and quick witted. His light brown hair was cropped close to his head and now hidden by a military issue winter cover. His brown eyes scanned the sky though his thoughts were on his wife that he had married only two weeks prior.

After the sinking of the freighter, it was decided that Karshkovia would work together, in secret, with a paramilitary team from the nation of Orbath. All Annia knew from her quick briefing was the possibility that the drugs were being smuggled by a terrorist group based out of Orbath and that Country wanted to silently take care of the problem. If it turned out they drugs were not from this group, it was possible that the runners knew some information about this terrorist group that the Orbath government did not. From what she understood was they were going to first investigate the documents recovered by the members of the patrol boat which stopped and boarded the freighter, have the drugs recovered from the freighter tested for unique signatures that would indicate were the drugs were coming from, and general questioning of dock workers and search of warehouses along the docks. The ship obviously had to be docking somewhere in Volograd's ports, so somewhere, someone at the ports knew something.

A light thumping in the distance caught Annia's attention. A helicopter was flying in over the ocean, most likely from a ship far out to sea...or possibly a large carrier submarine. The dark, starless night and falling sleet made it impossible to get a fix on the helicopter as it flew in without running lights.

The helicopter appeared out of the darkness over the landing pad close to the hanger, hovered and then descended to the tarmac. The engines were cut and the rotors began to slow as a the team of 9 men and 3 women hopped out onto the wet, slushy tarmac. All were wearing dark ski masks and black uniforms. She didn't see any national marking, only basic rank insignias, though the light was low and she may have missed them.

One man stepped forward into the hanger in front of Annia as he pulled his ski mask back, revealing an emotionless face. While Annia reserved judgement, his professional demeanor and strong presence were large pluses on her metal scoreboard for him.

"I am Commander Annia Rozhdestvensky of the Presidential Guard. You may call me Commander or Annia if you prefer. This is Lieutenant Pyotr Brusilov of the Karshkovian Navy, Coastal Defense Force. We will be working with you to investigate this freighter, find who is behind this shipment of illegal drugs and if they have any connections to or information about this domestic terrorist group in Orbath. With luck, we may catch another shipment, but if not we may still gain some valuable information that would assist both our nations. If you would follow me." Annia turned and began walking through the dimly lit hanger. On the other side of the hanger were the barracks for the Orbath team and it was dryer and warmer than walking around the building. As they walked, they past two of the brand-new Su-37s which had just been delivered no more than three days earlier. The pilots had yet to fly them and were still training on the differenced between it and the Su-33's they had been flying.

"On the other side of that far door we have quarters set up for you to settle into and store your equipment. These are separate from the general servicemen quarters and buffered by many other building for your privacy. We do not have separate quarters for the men and women unfortunately. I hope this is not a problem." Annia checked her watch, "It is now 2113 hours. At 2200 hours, Admiral Pulitz will hold a preliminary briefing in the building adjacent to your barracks. At 2300, a hot meal will be provided in the mess hall if you so desire. If any of your team has special dietary needs due to religious or health reasons, please let us know in advance."

As she finished her sentance, Annia reached the rear hanger door with the Orbath group close behind. As she opened the door and stepped out into the night, she looked up at the sky where the sleet had slowly turned into a heavy snowfall and the wind was starting to pick up. Turning to the leader of the Orbath group she gave him a very slight grin, "Welcome to Karshkovia"

OOC: Feel free to interject replies during her speech. Also feel free to ask any questions, move your men in the barracks which are warmed with central heating and have two fire burning stoves on both ends of the building, or head to the meeting. The Barracks has a single bed arrangement, not the bunk bed arrangement, though they are the same mattress and spring frame. All the bedding and mattresses are new, thought the bed frames are painted olive drab with many scratches and chips in the paint. It's well kept but used barracks. O-rings are placed between each bed allowing a line to be strung accross the barracks at 7 feet high, thus allowing privacy screens to be hung if so desired. By 0200, a full on blizzard would engulf Volograd. The helicopter you came in can make it back to it's point of origin ok or be brought into the hanger to get out of the storm. Otherwise feel free to add any details you wish.

Velt Industries
Volograd, Karshkovia

"Whiskey-coke is fine for me."

Jarlath Gorbechov nodded and prepared the drink with liberal proportions though keeping it from being to weak or from burning the drink. It made sense that his supplier would send their own man to talk with him, however he'd force feed the man his tie if he thought for a moment that any of this was Jarlath's mistake.

As he handed Nicoli the drink, the supplier's top man began to speak.

"It is obvious that there were a lot of problems with shipment. Not only did someone on our side authorize a far too risky shipment, but they used an inexperienced captain to do it. I assure you that Montana personally took care of the problem. We will have another shipment arrive within the week with our most experienced Captain on it. Now what do you have on your side as protection against the local police forces?"

Jarlath grunted, "Well I have the local dock police and union in my pocket. They don't ask questions and look the other way when our ships arrive and I don't supply answers and pay them on time."

This wasn't entirely true. While he did have most of the police and dock workers paid off, others didn't need to be bought as they were Patriots, however his supplier didn't need to know the politics behind this operation, and to be honest, most people in the Party didn't know about this operation either.

"As for local city police, we have the patrols along our route from the docks to our warehouses paid off. The military, however is more difficult. I have only been able to pay off the one ship which patrols when our cargo ships arrive. The problem is that all but two of my contacts are now dead and the two that live are in the hospital. With the press on this freighter being so key in the public eye, I have had no luck approaching any the new members of that crew. With the Coastal Defense ships now checking nearly every incoming ship, the risk of discovery is fairly high. Unless the drugs were well hidden, I just do not see how we could get them by the Coastal Defense Inspectors."

Nicoli took the drink and took a slow drink. Normally he wouldn't be so trusting but the reason he was here was because that both sides could lose millions on this deal, and this man was business after all. Not to mention if anything did happen to Nicoli Montana would expend every resource to avenge his partner, loyalty like that is such a hard thing to find in today's world.

"So what your telling me is that a freighter shipment is out of the question. How about air travel? or perhaps ship it to a neighbor and boxcar it over here?"

Nicoli turned and sat down, it was clear that this would take a while to find a clear route. His gun holster was uncomfortable under his arm, and even more so without his pistol in it. (I'm assuming your security would of taken it and is holding it for him) He pulled out his PDA and logged on to the Montana network via satellite, he was looking for shipping means; routes, what legal shipment is coming near here, what planes would be close by. After a close inspection of the list he found one possibility, but the stupidity of the operation was insane, simply because they would be looking for something.

" A Mokan vessel by the name of Phoenix will be close to you delivering a shipment to someone north of you. It is completely legal. The catch is we can send to small submarines off from it and go underwater to an undisclosed location to drop off the drugs. Maybe a few hundred kilos, depending on how many we send and what class. It would be easier if we could schedule a legal shipment of supplies from Montana Inc to your business, just unload the subs with the drugs before inspection arrives. Then as the ships are busy inspecting the ship, have the subs sneak past them. Then either re-board or continue on."

Jarlath Gorbechov thought this over in his mind. A freighter shipment wasn't totally out of the question, but it was on the way out. A submarine on the other hand had advantages and disadvantages, mainly that they could only ship a few hundred kilos...

The idea hit Jarlath out of the blue and he was thunderstruck that he had not thought of it sooner.

"Here is a thought. The Coastal Patrol does not use drug sniffing dogs yet and rely on visual inspections. Since we are using this medical supply company for a cover to move our product, I believe I have a solution on how to prevent inspectors from discovering our product."

Jarlath leaned forward to explain, "Think of it like this, the reason the inspectors found our last shipment was the fact that the packages were just stacked in shipping containers. Here is my idea. Let us use your submarine plan to drop off 20 kilos of Powder Cocaine, 40 kilos of rock cocaine, 30 kilos of heroin, 10 kilos each of PCP and Ketamine, and 20 kilos of Opium, with the standard payment arrangement, plus 10% for the use of a sub...again I believe that is standard so correct me if I am wrong. Also I believe your employer would be upset that the shipment of Karshkovian Blue Dream and Karshkovian Purple Haze Marijuana was not delivered to them due to the ship being sunk, since it was to return with 300 kilos of each. Now when the ship offloads the drugs, we can then fill it with empty containers and the Marijuana owed to them."

Jarlath took a sip of his drink, "I know what you are thinking, 'What good are the containers?' right? The good is that these containers are designed to hold Biological and Nuclear material (http://www.rsc.org/images/COMMENT-250_tcm18-61850.jpg) used in the process of Velt's legal pharmaceutical manufacturing."

With a wave of his hand, as if to wave away potential protest he continued, " These will be new, unused containers, of course so they pose no health risk to anyone, however no inspector would ever open them if we label these containers correctly with some of our more lethal materials. They wouldn't want to risk the time, potential of contamination, nor their health on checking these containers. This also means the dock workers and police will not have to be paid off for this shipment as they will believe it is legitimate and profits increase all around."

Jarlath quickly did the math in his head, "So for our main shipment, let us look at an equal split of Powder and Rock Cocaine, Opium, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and clean MDMA. Say 4 metric tons total? I need to make up for the lost shipment, pad my own personal stock and receive the next shipment, hence the size. 2/3s payment before delivery and the rest after delivery, with the standard export of Marijuana as well. Because the large amount shipped with that large 4 ton order, it would take too long to offload and reload the cargoship from the submarine, hence the idea of the containers."

Jarlath allowed himself to grin at his idea.

OOC: just checking the plan

IC:

Nicoli admired the idea, and thought it over for a minute or two.

"So what you are saying is that we bring in a ship under the guise of a medical shipment, use the submarines to pass coast guard. Unload everything at your dock and then load up on your drugs and head back? Is that right?"

OOC: just checking the plan

IC:

Nicoli admired the idea, and thought it over for a minute or two.

"So what you are saying is that we bring in a ship under the guise of a medical shipment, use the submarines to pass coast guard. Unload everything at your dock and then load up on your drugs and head back? Is that right?"

Jarlath nodded his head, "Yes, for the first shipment we could bring valid supplies in with the drugs, off load the drugs onto the sub before it is inspected. The sub would dock in port and we would offload the medical supplies and the drugs, then reload the sub with marijuana and the empty bio/nuclear containers. It could then relink up back to your ship and then when the ship returns to your shores, you can reload it with large drug shipment which will be sealed in the containers and shipped back to Karshkovia."

He smiled, "And if you wish, we can put a few tiny vials of Tritium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium) gas strategically placed around the hold of the ship. Really it's fairly harmless, however any radiation detectors would show that the hold has radioactive material which would convince them to not only that the containers really do hold radioactive material - of which we are legally allowed to purchase for our production of medical equipment - but it would be also foolish to open the containers since they obvious are 'leaking' low levels of beta radiation. None of this would be harmful to your crew by the way. Tritium is used in small-arms sights and scopes, and the crew would literally have to break a vial and eat or take a deep breath of the contents to be in any danger."

"Tritium, highly intelligent comrade. I do not have all the technical details on the plan due to confidential information is not allowed to be sent by satellite. So send us an invoice of what medical supplies you will need and we will ship them along with the drugs. Now I do that the MNS Johnson can allow up to four mini-subs and those are stored and launched from within the ship. It has a very large capacity and no doubt we will use that. I will return to Montana with the deal and get his seal of approval. Now normally we charge 50% for sunken cargo but given this situation both sides are at fault, so no worry."

not to mention that shipment wasn't as nearly damaging to Montana as it would be to Gorbachev.


"From there on we will respond with the information for the freighter and everything on it. Paperwork always excludes drugs. Those we record like this..."

Nicoli got up and pulled out a his PDA again and input all the order that Gorbechev had asked for earlier.

" I will input this into the semi-legal accounts and they will be delivered to you . Do you agree with these numbers?"

He held the PDA and showed it his associate.

Jarlath stood and reviewed the figures, thought a moment then nodded his head. "Reasonable and acceptable. I will have the paperwork filled correctly for the ship to be registered to port like we do with normal shipments so not to arouse any attention. As for medical chemicals, we would need to purchase say 30 kilos of each: Butylated hydroxytoluene, Calcium phosphate, Carmine, Colloid, silicon dioxide, hypromellose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, pregelatinized starch, sodium lauryl sulfate, talc, titanium dioxide and triacetin. It isn't so small that would raise eyebrows and it isn't large enough to raise concerns here at the company of over buying. I can pass it off as just having extra stock on hand in case we require it. It should come to about....this with the drugs."

Jarlath handed back the PDA with a large total figure including the medical chemical compounds.

(ooc: basic chemical compounds for Azithromycin)

Nicoli looked over the figures. They looked good. With that he stood up and offered his hand for a final handshake before he got ready to leave.

"Very well, I shall head back to Bogota and we will get this shipment out as soon as possible. Is there anything else we need to discuss before I leave?"

In the light, the unit commander's cold emotionless face was illuminated, revealing many lines, cracks, wrinkles and even a few scars of his own. The man was older than most would expect. and looked rather slender, especially compared the Lieutenant. Upon being addressed by the commander, his face lit up with a warm smile, which, although it seemed almost out of place on his cold face, showed that he was human. After noting everything the commander had said, he turned to the group assembled behind him.

''Takarov, get em together and grab the gear.''

Behind him, the other operatives pulled bag after bag out of the helicopter. Each placed a duffle bag on their backs and took a bag each in their arms. They stood, soaking wet, waiting for their next order. The commander continued his discussion.

''I apoligize for my rudeness, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Captain Winters, Orbathian Anti Terrorism Task Force. This is my unit. I'd love to introduce them but if you don't mind, I'd like to get settled into my quarters before this briefing. Oh, I'm hoping my government cleared this up with you. If possible I'd like for the helicopter to remain in a hanger here, and the pilots to stay with us.''

Winters turned and motioned for his unit to follow. As they walked across the tarmac towards the barracks, the commander and Lieutenant could get a better look at their uniforms. They were jet black, made even darker by the rain. They were plain, bearing no insignias or ranks. They looked under equipped really, but all their fancy tactical gear was in their duffle bags.

Inside, the team hooked up privacy screens, separating males from females and changed into dry uniforms, hanging the wet ones on various surfaces in the room. They set out their kit on their beds and began packing it into lockers and barracks boxes, whichever was available. They gathered up items for the meeting; laptops, tape recorders and good old fashion pen and paper and headed out.

Jarlath firmly but warmly shook Nicoli's hand with an honest smile, "No my new friend, I believe that shall be all for now. I am very happy with your..ah...customer service and shall be buying my large shipments from you from this point forward. If there is anything I can do, let me know. Good day to you Nicoli. The next time we meet we shall all be much richer and we shall celebrate with some very fine Bogota cigars."

In the light, the unit commander's cold emotionless face was illuminated, revealing many lines, cracks, wrinkles and even a few scars of his own. The man was older than most would expect. and looked rather slender, especially compared the Lieutenant. Upon being addressed by the commander, his face lit up with a warm smile, which, although it seemed almost out of place on his cold face, showed that he was human. After noting everything the commander had said, he turned to the group assembled behind him.

''Takarov, get em together and grab the gear.''

Behind him, the other operatives pulled bag after bag out of the helicopter. Each placed a duffle bag on their backs and took a bag each in their arms. They stood, soaking wet, waiting for their next order. The commander continued his discussion.

''I apoligize for my rudeness, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Captain Winters, Orbathian Anti Terrorism Task Force. This is my unit. I'd love to introduce them but if you don't mind, I'd like to get settled into my quarters before this briefing. Oh, I'm hoping my government cleared this up with you. If possible I'd like for the helicopter to remain in a hanger here, and the pilots to stay with us.''

Winters turned and motioned for his unit to follow. As they walked across the tarmac towards the barracks, the commander and Lieutenant could get a better look at their uniforms. They were jet black, made even darker by the rain. They were plain, bearing no insignias or ranks. They looked under equipped really, but all their fancy tactical gear was in their duffle bags.

Inside, the team hooked up privacy screens, separating males from females and changed into dry uniforms, hanging the wet ones on various surfaces in the room. They set out their kit on their beds and began packing it into lockers and barracks boxes, whichever was available. They gathered up items for the meeting; laptops, tape recorders and good old fashion pen and paper and headed out.

((OOC: I'll post up the meeting during my luch hour or after work tommorrow))

"Very well, We shall send the shipment out within the week."

with that Nicoli turned and left, grabbing his jacket and after finding his liaison Edwardo Chavez he made sure that Edwardo knew what was going on.

OOC: would elaborate but have to leave

Captian Booner was a very proud man. Being one of the first Captains of Montana Inc from the beginning he had seen the rise of the empire and had risen with it. One of the few captains who specialized in illegal trades he had learned the hard way how to avoid trade embargoes and most importantly what happens when you don't. One of his first missions was a failed trip into...what nation was it again...it was a memory he tried to forget, he remembered clearly who the shipment was for and the site of the missiles tearing his cargo ship in half, but for the life of him he couldnt remember who. Perhaps age was getting to him, after all he was well over 50, and while health care was free in Mokastana he had only been a Mokan citizens for a few years. The free insulin was helping with the diabetes, but he feared that it was too late and he was becoming senile

Now this by no means he was an incompetent Captain, he was one of Montana's best and he was damn good at getting things in. He just knew his time was coming to a close. The shipment was going to be on one of Montana's high priced smuggler cargo ships. The ships were designed for both mini-sub use and came equipped with 4 Phalanx guns well hidden on the deck, some were even equipped with a 30mm rapid fire gun for just in case, but these tools were for last minute saves, they would soon be on the market as soon as Montana got a better version up and running (OOC: i haven't made the specs yet)

The ship left port and began steaming towards the cold Russian waters with the hope of not getting caught. On the way there the subs were being loaded and prepared for launch. It was time to pray for the few religious members of the crew.

''I apologize for my rudeness, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Captain Winters, Orbathian Anti Terrorism Task Force. This is my unit. I'd love to introduce them but if you don't mind, I'd like to get settled into my quarters before this briefing. Oh, I'm hoping my government cleared this up with you. If possible I'd like for the helicopter to remain in a hanger here, and the pilots to stay with us.''

"Y... Yes certainly that can be arranged. I will arrange it. Now in fact. I will arrange it now for you for them." Anni stopped herself and started over "I will arrange barrack space for your pilots and have the helicopter brought into the hanger at once. This is no problem."

Usually when Annia was on duty, she saw everyone as soldiers. They were military be it men or women. She never let personal life and feeling affect her work or performance period. Hell, she didn't even have a personal life, romantic or otherwise. Her life was the service, as it was all she had known as far back as she could remember.

But suddenly she was pulled out of that mindset and it aggravated her. She watched through the falling snow and sleet as Captain Winters moved his troops into their new barracks.

Taller than her and obviously a career soldier like herself by the looks of it. Strong features, shorter hair, with unreadable gray eyes. While he was older and had many lines, cracks, wrinkles and even a few scars, it all added up to a wonderful package in her mind. It wasn't just his looks though, but how he carried himself and took charge. No, the Captain looked strong but it was much intrinsic as acquired strength. An inner steel that rippled just below the surface, unseen until it was needed. She admired the way he walked, like a big cat he seemed ready to spring into action yet was deceptively reserved. God, he was better than good, he was splendid!

He turned and stood, feet slightly apart with his back straight, gray eyes taking in his troops and the surroundings.

Hell! He had seen her staring at him. It was very uncharacteristic of her to freeze, but when he locked eyes with her, she froze for a long moment and everything else seemed to fade out. Annia felt a red flush spread from the roots of her hair, over her cheeks and down her neck until she finally fought back control of her mind and body. Anni quickly composed herself and turned quickly away, heading back into the hanger while feeling completely like she had just committed a major mistake though she had no idea what the mistake was at the moment.

As she walked into the hanger, she cursed herself for babbling on and on like a school girl. While it was information she was supposed to have given the Captain, she had droned on and on like an airline stewardess. What the hell was wrong with her? She didn't act this way with men. She kicked their asses until they either treated her like and equal or respected her as a superior, yet here she had been babbling to him (though professionally), then was caught eying the Captain.

You have to admit he did have very nice eyes and a great figure, she thought to herself. Damn it Annia, knock it off! she counter-thought furiously. "You may call me Commander or Annia if you prefer" she mimicked her words back in her mind You may as well have asked him if he wanted to jump you, you stupid pig.

She felt ashamed of her reaction, angry at her attraction, and hurt that she probably destroyed the Captain's view of her as a professional. She was supposed to be one of Karshkovia's best soldiers and here she was throwing doe eyes at a Captain she just met.

Passing under the wing of one of the Su-37's she headed to a telephone located on the far wall while continuing her self-analysis. She wasn't one to cry unlike some weaker women but she certainly wanted to punch something in her anger. Unfortunately, she caught Lieutenant Pyotr Brusilov grinning at her and drew back as if to hit him. "Don't push me tonight Pyotr"

Pyotr and Annia had grown up in the service together, sparred together, and watched out for each other. Any woman that Pyotr dated had to get Annia's approval, and she was very happy with Pyotr's choice of wife. Pyotr never had to screen men as Annia never dated...or socialized. They thought of each other as siblings, but like siblings they often teased each other and tonight Pyotr had been grinning just a bit too much for her taste.

"Calm down, Sis. I meant nothing by it. Just surprised is all." Pyotr said in Russian as he put his hands up and smiled.

Annia put her hand back to her side, "Leave it alone Pyotr and let me work this out on my own."

Pyotr shrugged, "Ok, if that is what you wish. I'm just surprised as he looks a few years older than you, and I thought you find a nice pilot or Presidential Guard to marry."

She clenched her teeth through his teasing and growled back his name in warning "Pyotr..."

"Ok, ok. Calm it down. I will go find the Admiral. You make the calls. See you in 15 minutes in the Admiral's office. Oh, are you going to be sleeping on the couch again tonight?"

Annia's private quarters on base had been soaked when a water pipe running through her ceiling had burst a few nights before. Due to the water, the cold (as the water had shorted the heater in her room, and the maintenance backlog, her room had just been fixed though she still had no sheets or mattress to sleep on. Pyotr had asked her to stay with him and his new wife in their small one bedroom apartment off-base. She hated imposing on the newlyweds but neither would hear of her protests. She was family and that was that.

"If it isn't much trouble, that would be appreciated. They still haven't replaced any of the bedding or the mattress. Thanks big brother."

Pyotr shrugged, "That's what family is for. See you in 15."

With that Pyotr patted Annia on the back and walked back into the storm, heading for the Administrative Offices. While Annia went to the phones.

On reaching the phone she called the on-duty maintenance crew and requested they help move the helicopter inside the hanger before the storm grew worse, the called the barracks officer to set aside bunk space for the pilots.

When she hung up the phone, she realized that she felt much better. Always count on Pyotr to calm me down Annia thought ruefully.

----30 Minutes Later-----

The storm was nearing it's full force when the gray haired, thick mustached Admiral Pulitz arrived in the briefing room, Annia and Pyotr following close behind. The Admiral took in the room while he strolled through it to the front where he would lead this first briefing.

Many people who have seen pictures of Stalin swore that Admiral Pulitz could have been his doppelgänger, but never to the Admiral's face as he was famously known through the ranks as hating Stalin. This was for the simple fact that his parents had been killed during one of Stalin's purges.

It was a smaller room which held eight tables in two separate rows, three chairs per table. At the front of the room were two similar tables on either side of a podium. Both of these were covered with documents, chunks of metal and various tubes of white and yellow powders. There were windows facing the flight line to the south on the right side of the room, though those had been covered with blackout curtains for this meeting. A video projector hung suspended from the ceiling, it's tiny fan humming though no video was currently displayed. The two black chalk boards in the front of the room had see quite a bit of use over the years but the were clean with fresh chalk and erasers in their holders at the base of the boards.

Admiral Pulitz snuffed when he saw all the items he had asked for were laid out on the table at the room arranged as he wanted, then pointed to a space on a table near the podium that was clear. Annia and Pyotr placed their piles of thick olive-colored folders while the Admiral read through his note cards behind the podium and waited to start Karshkovia's first joint-military action.


OOC: I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty with Winter's look or entrance to the barracks. If so, I can edit accordingly.

Captian Booner was a very proud man. Being one of the first Captains of Montana Inc from the beginning he had seen the rise of the empire and had risen with it. One of the few captains who specialized in illegal trades he had learned the hard way how to avoid trade embargoes and most importantly what happens when you don't. One of his first missions was a failed trip into...what nation was it again...it was a memory he tried to forget, he remembered clearly who the shipment was for and the site of the missiles tearing his cargo ship in half, but for the life of him he couldnt remember who. Perhaps age was getting to him, after all he was well over 50, and while health care was free in Mokastana he had only been a Mokan citizens for a few years. The free insulin was helping with the diabetes, but he feared that it was too late and he was becoming senile

Now this by no means he was an incompetent Captain, he was one of Montana's best and he was damn good at getting things in. He just knew his time was coming to a close. The shipment was going to be on one of Montana's high priced smuggler cargo ships. The ships were designed for both mini-sub use and came equipped with 4 Phalanx guns well hidden on the deck, some were even equipped with a 30mm rapid fire gun for just in case, but these tools were for last minute saves, they would soon be on the market as soon as Montana got a better version up and running (OOC: i haven't made the specs yet)

The ship left port and began steaming towards the cold Russian waters with the hope of not getting caught. On the way there the subs were being loaded and prepared for launch. It was time to pray for the few religious members of the crew.


ooc: perfect! I'll wait for you to post your entry into karshkovian waters then bring in the inspection ship.

The Freighter slowly trudged into Karshkovian waters, this operation was risky, very risky, especailly since they were flying a Mokan flag, a dead giveaway that they were Montana Inc. Deep in the ship Hull E was being filled with water, already the submarines were loaded and the crew had closed them off, however the snorkels were still hooked up to the ship, ensuring fresh air until the moment they were launched.

Captain Booner held the papers and legal documents in hand. This was perhaps the oddest smuggling he had done. Some were white, some were black, and some were even gray. Like when the legal loopholes were so numerous and chaotic that not even interpol knew it was legal, those were his favorite. He always could talk his way out of those. However this one was both straight white and straight black. Go in, release the black, then go on with the white deal.

Perhaps I worry too much, he thought, let's just keep going.

"Anything spotted us yet?"

"Sonar is quiet, sir."

"Good the last thing we want is to release the subs with someone close by hearing those fall."

the only problem with the cargo's ship ability to drop subs is that opening the under bay doors both screwed with the ship's movement as well as makes a lot of noise.

"Keep an eye for anything, we are about to drop."

OOC: I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty with Winter's look or entrance to the barracks. If so, I can edit accordingly.

OOC: I don't mind, you've captured my character very well, just the angle I was going for.

Winters swirled around as the hair on the back of his neck prickled. Someone was watching him. He'd always been able to sense someone watching him, he'd been able to since he was a young boy. He wasn't paranoid, just careful as he always said. Standing stalk still was the ''Commander.'' He waited till she turned and he turned as well, trying to hide the smile that covered his face.

I think she likes me

He thought about her. She was rather attractive in a wierd sort of way. She wasn't a blonde bimbo who didn't know shit from sugar, she was intelligent, he could tell. Judging by the outlines of her uniform, she was probably quite fit, not muscular but fit. He liked that. He'd never been one to fall for the toothpick model type. They just didn't suit his tastes.

Perhaps thats why I'm still single

He gave his head a shake, erasing her from his mind to concentrate on his task at hand. He gave orders to his various unit members. Pretty soon he found himslef and his unit seating in a breifing room, listening to someone who looked almost like Stalin.

(( OOC: Would y'all mind an independent party steaming through that might get imbroiled in this? I'm thinking of RPing the commander of one of my guided missile destroyers passing through the area. She's performing merchant escort training while really escorting a Catawaban merchantman whose carrying a benign cargo of advance Catawaban pizza ovens.))

ooc: no problem but I don't have plans to have anything go wrong with the first shipment. The second shipment is where all hell breaks loose.

In storage hold E the pumps kicked off, the compartment was full with water. Now with the addition of added weight to the ship the Freighter appeared as if it was sinking if you only looked at how deep it was. The Ship slowed to a stop, Captain Booner contacted his RADAR team and SONAR teams to confirm that no ships or subs were around. Underneath the ship the hull opened up, and two mini subs appeared...

"Hull opened captain."

"Very well, subs ready?"

The First mate called both subs and confirmed they were ready to disengage.

"Both ready captain."

"Release subs."

"Subs released."

The process of disengaging was difficult if you didn't know what you were doing, and nearly impossible re-engaging. The subs were held in place by two large metal claws coated in rubber to both reduce noise and prevent damages to the sub. When the subs were to disengage, they were ordered to blow all tanks and sink like a rock about 100 meters, this would allow then to break free from the ship in the minimum amount of time while putting them right in place to follow the freighter. After the 60 seconds of disengage time they both played a whale call to confirm they were out and ok. From there it was simply closing the hull and pumping out the water as they continued on.

In the dark depths of the ocean, a man-made killer silently patrolled the water deep under the thermocline. The Karshkovian Podvodnaya Lodka Atomnaya Project 971 Щука-Б Rashik or known to the western world as the Soviet-made Akula-class attack submarine, slowly swam its patrol route near the Karshkovian international border.

On it's thirtieth day of a one hundred day mission to patrol Karshkovian waters, the Rashik was watching for potential intruders into its motherland's waters. Captain Nikita Gorov sipped on her French-roast coffee while watching the crew perform their duties and let her thoughts drift. The Rashik had been a Soviet Akula docked in Volograd when the revolution started. Karshkovians had captured her very easily and with native-born Karshkovian's defecting from the Russian military, they had been able to fully crew her and use the sub in warfare against the Russians. The Rashik had sunk one destroyer and one supply ship before the end of the revolution. Captain Nikita had been trained by the Rashik's original skipper, and was proud to take over his command when he retired two years ago.

Nikita inspected the status board. The Rashkik was on a heading of 062°, depth 400 meters, and a speed just under 13 knots. Here the pressures against the hull was 42.7 kg/cm2 or 40 times the pressure one would experience at sea level, yet the submarine was nowhere near it's maximum depth. Behind her, the navigation officer was seated at the gravitometer board marking their position on the chart, cigarette hanging out of the side of his mouth.

"Captain, sonar. Possible new surface contact bearing 043, Range 1500 meters, course indeterminate. Designated Sierra 2", the young sonarman said while watching the CRT readouts.

"What do we have?" Nikita asked, her interest perked.

"Twin Screws....slow revolutions...noisy with sounds of pumps... acoustic signature of a merchant ship."

Nikita sighed. "Noted. Keep it tracked."

The sonar operator was unable to hear the small submarines moving slowly away from the main ship as their sound was masked by the heavy surface waves. He was also inexperienced and dismissed their odd noise as just surface clutter. The Akula moved on, silently watching the ship above.

The wind howled over the building and shook the windows with its force. A full fledged blizzard had Volograd in its teeth though in the room it was warm and the briefing was in full swing.

Admiral Pulitz had started the briefing.

"First, I wish to welcome you to Karshkovia. As you can see, Father Winter has extended his full welcome to you for your visit to our country." He smiled and allowed the chuckles to calm before continuing.

Behind the Admiral, the video projector spread an image on the white canvas of the projector screen.

"As you are aware, 18 January 2008, an undetermined surface contact was detected approaching the coastline by Karshkovian Naval early warning radars. This turned out to be an ocean freighter that was not listed for arrival in the Volograd ports."

"The Coastal Defense Patrol ship Kunsan shown here," The ship's picture from a few years ago flashed on the screen, "approached the freighter and requested it stop for inspection. The freighter only stopped after repeated requests by radio, amplified audio, and finally a warning shot fired across its bow."

The picture changed to the crew of the Kunsan some of the faces circled in red.

"The Coastal Defense Inspectors pictured here bordered the freighter, which was named the Rawal Kah, and began by questioning the captain while other inspectors searched the ship for contraband."

The picture changed again to a cargo container that was open and many bricks of heroine and cocaine were stacked inside.

"As you can see here the ship's hold was stacked with shipping containers filled with packaged heroin and cocaine"

The Admiral pointed with his laser pointer to a stack of vials filled with different white powders

"Our inspectors took four Kilos of each drug with them back to the Kunsan for testing. We have included some of the untested drugs here for your team to review. I am told that drugs have unique 'fingerprints' in their chemical makeup with can allow a technician to pin-point which nation or organization is creating the drugs."

"We estimated the weight of all the drugs over 1.5 metric tons so we then ordered the Rawal Kah, under escort from naval warships, into Volograd's ports. The crew took up arms and killed five inspectors, then tried to escape into international waters."

A picture of the Karshenko flashed on the screen.

"Karshkovia's flag ship Karshenko, an Udaloy-II Class Guided Missile Destroyer, intercepted the freighter and sent military helicopters filled with Karshkovian marines to be deployed to overtake the ship. The helicopters encountered light anti-aircraft fire from the ship and were forced to maintain their distance."

The video of the military helicopters meeting resistance was then played.

"After the ship's repeated attempts to shot down Karshkovian helicopters, the Karshkovian Air Command launched two MiG-23BNs armed with 57 mm rocket pods, 500 kg free falling bombs, and Kh-23 radio-guided missiles."

Video of the attack was then played.

"The Karshkovian fighters both dropped their freefall bombs on the ship, almost destroying it. Since the ship continued to slowly drift towards international waters, and the Karshkovian Navy Command authorized the Karshenko to fire an SS-N-22 anti-ship missile into the illegal drug ship. This missile hit the engine room, which effectively stopped the freighter."

"We have included all this information in the packets now being handed out to you by the Commander and LT. We also recovered some scraps of metal from the sunken ship for you to review."

"If you have any questions, please ask now. Otherwise we will pick up the briefing at 0900 right here and go over any findings or suggestions you have.

"Captain Booner, We are getting closer to the Docks, about 4 hours out."

His navigator informed him as he walked on deck. Despite the fact that Booner ran his ship like when he was in the navy he managed to drop the formalities. He stood on the deck of his proud freighter, with just one look he could tell which containers held the legal stuff, and which ones held the hidden Phalanx guns. Which sadly today, was none. He shuffled in a large robe from the window to the table where the map lay out of the seas around Karshkovia. His slippers made him sound almost silent except for the fact that he grumbled whenever he had to move.

"Coffee Captain?"

The first mate had brewed up a pot of Colombian coffee for the captain just the way he liked it, pitch black. The captain was never a morning person and today he had to be awake for the landing. So that meant get up, check on the ships whereabouts, get showered, dressed in formal wear and make dock and unload. Not to mention that he needed to be very weary given the fact that Karshkovian naval forces were going to be on the lookout for a smuggling run.

"Of course, biggest pot you got."

It was cold on the seas, and no doubt winter was hitting this ex-soviet republic. The crew who was used to tropical weather had buttoned up tight to be out on deck. Every furnace on the ship was blowing at full strength, making lots of noise and vibrating throughout the ship, but when you got two small subs behind you carrying drugs you want to make all the noise you could. Where was the inspection teams? Ohh well the later the better the captain thought to himself. He took the coffee and when back to his quarters...

Winters and his team payed close attention, despite hearing information that they basically already knew. They did perk up upon hearing that they would have a chance to identify the drug. This would give them a chance to determine whether this product matched anything inside of Orbath or anything intercepted on its way in. After the briefing ended, the team left, taking their samples. They would do the test within their barracks, complete it for the morning briefing so they could inform the Admiral as soon as possible. Winters sent the team back to the barracks.

Inside the barracks, operatives of the team pulled out their bags and began assembling the various equipment they would need. Within a few minutes, the barracks had nearly been turned into a chemistry lab. Winter ordered them to do the various tests. He was never good at chemistry. He was chosen for his hand to hand combat and infiltration abilities. After sitting for a few minutes, lost in deep thought, he remembered the Commander had mentioned the mess hall serving food. He was actually quite hungry and wasn't looking forward to a field ration from his kit if he could avoid it. Leaving his team to work, he set out, looking for the mess hall.

I wonder if I will run into her.

OOC: were you going to intercept the ship and where you going to trace the drugs back to Montana Inc.?

ooc: sorry, I have serious jetlag from flying all over the US this week (job-related) so I haven't had a chance to post. Anyway, the first freighter will get by after an inspection..the second shipment is where all hell breaks loose. Don't count out the Akula for this shipment though...

OOC: understandable, i have just been waiting for Booner to get called by the fleet. I want to build his character...

Annia kept her attention riveted to the front of the room during the meeting and left quickly after the meeting was adjourned and headed to her room and changed from her uniform into a thick sweater, worn blue jeans and an old military parka that shown signs of countless winters. Since she was technically off-duty she was allowed to change into civies and they were much warmer than her military outfit. She may have been a hard-nosed soldier but even a hardened soldier appreciated wearing warm clothing during a Karshkovian Blizzard. The temperature had plummeted to -29 degrees Celsius with a 60 kph winds and a -36.5 degree wind chill. Cold was the word for her unheated room as her skin prickled at the cold while she changed.

Her personal vehicle was an old military jeep with little in the way of heat. It was temperamental in the cold but she was able to turn the engine over, allowing the engine to warm. While her jeep's engine warmed, she walked into the empty mess hall and poured herself a large cup of hot coffee. She removed the parka, sitting on it as a cushion, and wrapped her cold fingers around the cup absorbing the warmth it gave.

She wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the couch for another night and seriously though about renting a motel room just off base. She was entitled to do so and the military would pay the bill, but she disliked the idea of having the military foot a bill it didn't really need to. Hell with it, she deserved at least a warm bed and not being woke by the sounds of newlyweds making love.

Lost in her own thoughts, Annia sipped absentmindedly on her coffee.

(ooc: military will search the ship when I get home and post that)

Captain Winters perfectly polished leather combat boots echoed loudly as he walked through the hallway. Attached to the bottoms of each were special metal clips designed to make the noise of the boots even louder when they hit the ground. It was just one of many hundreds of small intimidation tricks that were played by the ATTF. He was hoping for a small snack and maybe some hot chocolate and of course, to run into the commander.

What was her name again? Annia, that's it!

He entered the mess hall. It was rather dead. The odd soldier walked around with a buddy or sat a table playing cards. As he looked over the room, something caught his eye. Something out of place. Among the well kept uniforms adorned by most of the soldiers in the room, the rest dressed in some sort of civilian clothes there was someone else. Someone sat, back to the doorway in an old worn out parka and blue jeans. Winters had always had a knack for spotting the odd things out.

Could that be Annia

He went through the mess line, eying the parka covered person while selecting a warm mug of hot chocolate and some cookies. By the time he'd reached the end of the line, he was sure it was her. He took his chances, walking quickly and loudly towards the table, hoping the person would turn.

OOC: actually she is sitting on the parka so he would see her in a fluffy light-yellow/white oversized sweater but no matter.

Annia felt a tingle on the back of her neck and slowly looked over her shoulder.

Oh hell, she thought.

Captain Winters was swiftly walking up to her table, eyes locked on her. Annia felt the rush of blood slam into her face, head and neck making the sweater particularly hot. As she looked back at her hands and sipped at her coffee, she felt perspiration quickly form over her forehead and her heart pounding very hard in her chest. She had let her blonde, fair hair down out of its braid and it lay now across the back of her sweater helping to cover her very red neck.

Why the hell am I acting this way. Damn it, it's unprofessional! Annia yelled in her mind. Make the best of it and pray he doesn't call you on your lack of professionalism

Annia turned back to Captain Winters and gave him a nod and weak smile. "Ah..C.Captain Winters.", she said with a slight stutter. Annia swallowed, "I, ah, see you have found our mess hall even in this weather." She chuckled nervously at her lame joke.

Just ask and get it over with. You have a nice cold jeep waiting for you and a uncomfortably lumpy couch to sleep on later. Make the best of what you have now.

"Ah would you care to take m...I aah mean..err...would you care to join me. Here? At the table? Sitting together? Perhaps?"

Smooth. Really nice. Your blonde is showing you dumb cow. Annia thought as she smiled to help cover the complete horror she felt at her blundering.

Karshkovian Podvodnaya Lodka Atomnaya Project 971 Щука-Б Rashik


"Kaptain, sonar. Possible new surface contact bearing 030, Range 1750 meters, course...tracking towards Contact Sierra 2..."

"What?" Nikita spat. Her attention was riveted to the sonar man, "a ship moving from Karshkovia to meet this merchant ship? What ship is it? Get me a name or type....something!"

The sonar operator worked a series of controls before announcing, "Computer states it is the Coastal Defense Patrol ship Quala"

Tension in the sub's control center eased.

The captain sighed and pulled out a cigarette of her own, "Just an inspection ship." She cupped her hands while lighting the cigarette, took a long drag while shaking out the match, and blew the smoke towards the ceiling. "To be expected."

The sub silently closed on a track to pass well under both ships.

Coastal Defense Patrol ship Quala

A long blast from the airhorn and large searchlights on the patrol vessel bathed the side of the freighter in a harsh yellow/white glow. While a voice repeated the same request to cut engines and prepare for an inspection, in Russian, English, and Karshka. The smaller patrol boat seemed dwarfed by the large freighter as it approached, blasting it's airhorn again.

Captain Booner was still changing when the call came in. It was cold in these frigid waters, he hadnt changed his socks in about a week. No doubt when he would it would stink to up the entire ocean, but then again, he wasn't the only member of the crew to do that.

"captain, the inspectors are finally here!"

One of the crew yelled down the hall to his quarters, this freighter didn't have the internal comm system just yet. Mainly to make it look a lot cheaper then it really was. The goal was to look like a cheap piece of junk floating on the water and hope no one noticed. He got his shirt on finally and walked out of his room clutching his jacket.

"Yeah Yeah! I got it, I'm getting over there."

he slipped on the parka and walked over to the gun locker next to his quaters and pulled out the old iron key. After a flew clicks and unsuccessful jerks, the cabinet opened. Inside was three .44 Caliber revolvers and two M14s. He grabbed to pistols and a M14 and slammed to door close. He turned to the staircase to go up to bridge, two steps later he turned back and locked the gun locker. Then he went up to the Bridge, slowly of course. As captian it was his duty to make sure the ship and its cargo was safe, and he was the only one with a key to the gun locker. As all Montana Cargo ships were required to have some sort of weapon on board to fend of pirates, Montana wanted a reputation as a bitch to take over, for minimal gain.

On the Bridge his first mate had already called back to the ship in Russian and told them they will comply. It probably would of been better to do it in English, on account most of the crew spoke spanish, and the Captain and the first mate were the only ones who spoke anything else, the captain English, and the First mate Russian. The captain gave the first mate and another crewman a .44, while he slung the M14 over his shoulder.

"First mate, you did tell him our policy right?"

"I told them all Montana Inc ships are required by company policy to have arms ready when being boarded by anyone who is not employed by the company due to the nature of our shipments of Pharmaceuticals and other high price goods."

"How did they respond?"

"How do you think?"

OOC: actually she is sitting on the parka so he would see her in a fluffy light-yellow/white oversized sweater but no matter.

Annia felt a tingle on the back of her neck and slowly looked over her shoulder.

Oh hell, she thought.

Captain Winters was swiftly walking up to her table, eyes locked on her. Annia felt the rush of blood slam into her face, head and neck making the sweater particularly hot. As she looked back at her hands and sipped at her coffee, she felt perspiration quickly form over her forehead and her heart pounding very hard in her chest. She had let her blonde, fair hair down out of its braid and it lay now across the back of her sweater helping to cover her very red neck.

Why the hell am I acting this way. Damn it, it's unprofessional! Annia yelled in her mind. Make the best of it and pray he doesn't call you on your lack of professionalism

Annia turned back to Captain Winters and gave him a nod and weak smile. "Ah..C.Captain Winters.", she said with a slight stutter. Annia swallowed, "I, ah, see you have found our mess hall even in this weather." She chuckled nervously at her lame joke.

Just ask and get it over with. You have a nice cold jeep waiting for you and a uncomfortably lumpy couch to sleep on later. Make the best of what you have now.

"Ah would you care to take m...I aah mean..err...would you care to join me. Here? At the table? Sitting together? Perhaps?"

Smooth. Really nice. Your blonde is showing you dumb cow. Annia thought as she smiled to help cover the complete horror she felt at her blundering.


It was her!

Upon getting closer, Winter's could see that she wore a soft, slightly over sized yellow sweater which contrasted deeply with her now cherry red face.

''Yep I made it here alright, I don't understand how anyone would want to live in a place with such violent storms.''

As she asked him to sit, Winter's noticed her getting even redder and she began to stutter even more.

''Sure I'll join you,''

He sat down on the opposite side of the table, pushing his his hot chocolate to one side and the plate of cookies into the center.

''Cookie?''

Coastal Defense Patrol ship Quala

Captain Grovil watched the big freighter off his starboard bow as his inspection crew of eight men and women rode a small rubber intercept craft towards the freighter. The Quala's 50mm cannon was aimed at the freighter's waterline and the dual heavy-duty Type 53 torpedoes were warmed and readied in their tubes. After the last incident months ago, his ship had been laid up in dry dock. Grovil was not going to allow another freighter to attack his crew and get away without suffering some very serious damage.

The inspecting crew reached the freighter and had climbed aboard rather easily. Now the wait Grovil thought.


Inspector Iviloa was a small woman though her demeanor often made men larger than her quite nervous. Her inspectors had boarded the ship easily and met no resistance. The inspectors had fanned out through the ship, doing quick inspections of the hold and various other parts of the ship while Iviloa and her second in command went to review the paperwork and talk with the captain.

Because the captain had squawked about 'company policy' in being armed, Iviloa had made sure all her inspectors were not to fire unless any crew member made a threatening move towards any inspector. She didn't want an incident.

Iviloa met the captain of the freighter on the bridge of the massive ship. "Captain, I am Inspector Iviloa. I need to inspect your transit papers and review your manifest. The day is cold and there is no fire to warm ourselves." As she said this, she extended her hand as if she wished to shake his, yet her palm was facing upward. The odd final phrase and hand movement was the signal.

Captain Iviloa was Jarlath Gorbechov's insurance policy for this shipment. She gave the Captain a slight grin after seeing surprise register on his face.

''Sure I'll join you,''

He sat down on the opposite side of the table, pushing his his hot chocolate to one side and the plate of cookies into the center.

''Cookie?''

Annia gratefully accepted a cookie and bit off a piece, unaware she had done so as if she had been at chow, years of military training making it automatic for her.

"Karshkovia isn't a terrible place but it does build strength and character." Annia chuckled, "It also keeps the riff-raff out."

"Anyway, I do hope that we find what you are looking for in the evidence of the sunken freighter. Traveling all that way to end up empty handed would certainly be upsetting."

Winter watched as Annia gulped down a cookie as though she hadn't eaten in days. He knew the feeling a tough day in the army brought, it felt like it had been months since he'd eaten and the food brought about a strange comfort, especially when it was warm.

''Strength and character, very important. It looks like you all have quite a bit of that.''

He sipped from his hot chocolate.

''I hope we don't leave empty handed either but at the same time, I hope this doesn't tie back to us either. We've got enough on our plate with the whole Cripistani disaster.''

OOC: will post later, but im still here

The Floating Rust Bucket

Inspector Iviloa was a small woman though her demeanor often made men larger than her quite nervous. Her inspectors had boarded the ship easily and met no resistance. The inspectors had fanned out through the ship, doing quick inspections of the hold and various other parts of the ship while Iviloa and her second in command went to review the paperwork and talk with the captain.

Because the captain had squawked about 'company policy' in being armed, Iviloa had made sure all her inspectors were not to fire unless any crew member made a threatening move towards any inspector. She didn't want an incident.

Iviloa met the captain of the freighter on the bridge of the massive ship. "Captain, I am Inspector Iviloa. I need to inspect your transit papers and review your manifest. The day is cold and there is no fire to warm ourselves."

"It is nice to meet you Inspector, Can we hurry up, I have to get this shipment there some time in the next two days."

He smiled at the younger and smaller woman, if he wasn't as old as he was...well thats for him to keep to himself. He shook her hand and gave the proper response. behind him on the wall was a large rusty mess where the ships older name, Hermes had been taken down, except the second 'E', which was the sign that the E Hull had something the inspectors should avoid, or not look to closely at.

He saw many of the other inspectors look around and eye him and his M14 maliciously, along with his crew. Especially the two guys watching over them with the Magnums....

Inspector Iviloa smiled as she reviewed the documents while the ship rolled in the heavy winter sea.

The documents had all 'i's dotted and 't's crossed, however that would been the problem if the ship had run into any of the other inspectors. No legitimate shipping usually had the paperwork all in order. Inspectors often overlooked the often made errors and it was expected to find more than a few. The usual shipping around Karshkovia didn't bother to check everything as they made so many trips it was too tedious for them. Papers like this would set off alarm bells if Iviloa hadn't been paid so well to look the other way.

"Everything is in order here. Thank you for your time today captain. If there is anything further you need, make sure to call our ship at this frequency."

Iviloa emphasized the comment as there was only one other paid off coastal patrol that she knew of and that was on the eastern seaboard. She sent her inspectors back to the boarding ship and she slipped the large envelope of instructions into the paperwork and handed the stack of papers back to the captain. This envelope contained information for the ship on where the patrol boats and naval ships were for the next three days, as well as which dock to tie up to and what the call signs were when they reached dock

She thanked the captain for his time with a handshake and then gave him whispered tips about the paperwork for avoiding suspicion in Karshkovia next time around.

With that Iviloa along with the other inspectors left freighter and headed back to their patrol boat.

"Well she was attractive, Ivanov, you should of hit on her."

"Well Captain, maybe next time you should let me play Captain. After all your English is pitiful."

"hahaha, I can at least speak it. Keep up your Russian, in this ice hell your the only one who can probably get a point across."

Booner looked through the paper work and found the packet, he tossed it in to the file cabinet that was bolted down on the Bridge. In it were records of all the legal shipments he had made and information on all the drugs on board. Of course all the 't's were crossed and the 'i's were dotted, this shipment was drugs, not cocaine, but pharmaceuticals. Drugs that you shouldn't have on the street in most countries anyways, but then again, these were for medical purposes. So it was all good.

"Ok comrades, give me the guns back. time to lock them up and get this shipment ready for unloading."

A few hours after the guns were lock up they finally made it to port. From there it was just a matter of unloading the drugs and taking care of the legal tape. However the subs on the other hand had followed the freighter all the way to the port, on the way E compartment was filling with water to allow the sub back on. Outside of port the freighter stopped and the bottom opened, the subs rose up and slid into place. If they were closer to port the banging and bumps would be heard by any dock workers listening closely. Not to mention most docks were not sub friendly. Once the subs were back in the ship closed the bottom and continued into port. the water was slowly pumped back into the sea as the cargo was unloaded, so that the rise in water line would be attributed to loosing cargo and not hundreds of gallons of seawater being pumped out.

Once it was "dry" the subs were opened and the cocaine unloaded and loaded into crates labeled "Beta Placebo" just for kicks, if asked about it. It was a new pill that had no effects, even less then sugar pills, if that was possible.