NationStates Jolt Archive

Chapter 2 - The Cleansing of the Nation

Friday 29th February 2008
2:00am
New Zevkhay[B]

"Open up! This is the military!"
The man at the door, a colour sergeant from the markings on his right shoulder, banged on the door again, the unnecessary force making the door shake in its frame. Upstairs, a curtain twitched, and there was the quiet whisper of voices, before the rustling of movement.
"Two men round the back, seal off the other exits! Corporal, if you may?"

He stepped back, allowing his corporal to stand in front of the wooden door. There was the loud blast as a shotgun blew the lock off the door, before the Colour Sergeant kicked it in. His headlamp picked out the closing glass door to the kitchen, a dark-clothed man moving a plastic chair in front of the handle to stop the soldiers entering. They obviously were going out the back.
"Smash the door in, and make sure they aren't using any other exits. You two, go and sweep the perimeter. Do not shoot to kill."

Inside, there was the disturbing sound of a child crying. The Colour Sergeant though, with 16 years of continuous desensitisation, shrugged it off as he smashed through the glass with the butt of his rifle. In the dark room beyond, there was a scream, followed by a similar smashing from the back door. He wrenched the chair away, before pulling down the handle and slamming the door open. More glass fell from the frame as he entered cautiously, the laser marker on his rifle showing a single red dot on the wall in front of him. The rest of his fire team moved in behind him, rifles raised and made ready. The sobbing was getting louder as he approached, before he stopped and signalled. There was a large fridge on the wall, the door slightly ajar. He walked over to the side of the door, his corporal doing the same. Simultaneously, they whipped the doors opened and raised their rifles on the contents. Two children were curled up inside, both shivering through fear and frigidity. The screamed as two of the squad members unceremoniously yanked them from their hiding place, and carried them kicking and screaming outside. A second scream, as their mother ran out from the cellar door, straight into the arms of one of the soldiers who had just opened the back door. She was taken off screaming as well, while the rest of the men moved down into the cellar.

The click of a hammer being drawn back was what changed the mood. The soldier in lead froze, before drawing from his belt a flare. Behind him, there was a silent series of clicks, as safeties were disengaged, and a clatter as a grenade pin hit the floor. A clatter as the grenade was rolled into the dark cellar, followed by the fizz as the flare lit. A loud bang as the smoke grenade burst open, and the soldiers ran in. It was absolute confusion for whoever was down there, surrounded by smoke with a brilliant red light reflecting inside the smoke to create a psychedelic experience. Add to that the yells of men, and the loud report of a pistol being fired. A soldier collapsed grabbing at his leg, as the rest of the men opened up. After 3 seconds, it was over. The only sound that could be heard over the fizz of the flare was the solemn dragging of a man’s body up the stairs, blood leaking from the mess bullet wounds across his chest and head. Most definitely dead.

There was silence as the deceased man’s wife saw the body being placed into a black body bag, while the wounded soldier was carried out on the shoulders of two others, over to where their APC was waiting. The women and two children were shoved unceremoniously into the back of a large lorry, under green tarpaulin, to be joined by 2 more families in their street, before they were driven along towards the rail station. There was silence all the way.

[b]2:10am
Milkavich City
New District

The soldiers were moving in Milkavich city as well. Here though was where the concentration was highest. 2 Companies of mechanised infantry and a Company of Armour had encircled the New District, the site which showed the true dragging of Milkavich out of the dirt of its past. Massive apartment buildings, made of steel, brick and beautiful glass, towered amongst massive parkland areas – the result of space saved by the new system of relocating all utility buildings and even some industrial buildings below the surface, where they were out of sight, saved space and were naturally warmed by the soil.

The rooftops covered with a mix of solar cells and wind turbines were another sight of the striving of the city towards excellence. Above these floated the North City Police airship, alongside it’s much larger twin from the aerofleet: both were aeropatrolcraft, but only one was armed to take out an armoured company. For now, they were scouring the area with spotlights, and co-ordinating the military and police movements for completing “Operation Scourge”.

However, the military and police were particularly uptight: they wanted to get this done as quickly as possible before the Etoile Arcture forces and other foreign forces began to move. Then they would have problems.

2:10am
Holding Centre 1

A sentry walked atop the concrete wall, all the time peering into the dense foliage of the rainforest around. Behind him, quick-built huts stretched off into the distance. These were designed to hold the Damirean citizens, which were as of now being captured and sent here. They were to be held here as hostages, to stop what they knew would be coming as a result of Operation Whitewash. And, if necessary, there were massive trenches dug to the north of the camp, where the machineguns were mounted.

He put the thought out of his mind as an Aerofrigate from one of the mountainside hangers flew over, it’s engines screaming as it soared low above him. It obviously was carrying a very heavy load, hovering at that altitude.



2:22am
Across Alfegos

To the observer above, it would have seemed like the two mountain ranges had lit up in flame. For Operation Whitewash, the ultimate plan to destroy Damirez, had just been started. 85 MRBMs and 8 ICBMs had just been launched, all directed at targets across Damirez, trailing jets of flame as they shot up into the Mesosphere, the bigger brothers carrying on further into orbit.

Each was armed with what had been called one of the most deadly biological weapons ever to be developed by Alfegos, and it had never been used in anger, even during the 2nd Civil War. Strain W-S9r was the result of selectively breeding the Anthrax bacteria, and genetically modifying it to hold the special characteristic of Brucellitis: that an infection resulting in death could be started by only a few tens of bacteria. And being bred with an antigen coating that made existing vaccinations ineffective, it was impossible to vaccinate against in limited time span. With a mortality rate of 75% inhaled, 65% when ingested and 87% when contracting it through a cut, it was lethal against most nations. It had been theorised though that a rapid containment procedure couple with mass screening for antibodies and rapid vaccination development could cure sufferers. If the nation was developed enough…

The dictator had not thought though as he gave the order to launch them.

Above edited, for quality and storyline.

Official Government Communique (encyption level 1) -

Dear Dr. Michiko Flax, Director General - Diplomatic Directorate, Unitary Technocracy of Etoile Arcture

As a gesture of goodwill and to demonstate the improved relations between our nations, we would like to propose a visit to your nation by units of the Prevanian Armed Forces. The visit would also have the added benefit of allowing our two armed forces to gain experiance from each other.
Hoping for a new period in EA-Prevanian relations,
Yours sincerely,
Direktor Boris Bernovski

Unofficial Government Communique (encyption level 8) -

to dr michiko flax stop on the subject of the quote goodwill tour unquote stop we desire to use this as a way of bolstering your defences against alfegos stop would also provide operationg base for our forces in case of war stop hoping for a speedy response stop direktor boris berenovski [end transmission]

Wednesday 27/2 - 18h00 - New Scapa Flow -

Once more, the sound of frantic activity rang out over the giant hangers as the Second Overseas Air Fleet, an amalgamation of airships from around Prevania. Down below, grim-faced Air Marines patrolled the perimeter as others boarded the troop transports.

Already, a task force lead by the battleships HDS Prevoygrad and HDS Libreville and the VTSOL carriers HDS Lenin and HDS Trotsky was at sea, en route to Alfegos.

Massive traffic jams occured as the Prevanian fleet of Deutrium Fluoride tankers was mobalized to replenish the thirsty tanks of the Lafayette LASER defences.

Wednesday 27/2 - 18h40 - Prevoygrad (MiniPax) -

The Ministry of Peace was a hive of activity as bureaucrats and military personnel prepared for a potential war with Alfegos. High up the giant structure stood the office from which all the preparations were directed.

"Minister, I think you should read this communication that has just arrived"

"Very well."

to minister of peace prevoygrad stop am reviewing contingencies stop would advise evacuate non-essential personnel stop [end transmission]

"That clinches it!"

"Sir?"

"No, don't worry; its a code that I arranged with agent 247. He's telling me that Alfegos does intend to declare war on Damirez soon."

"I am astounded, sir"

"Me to; who'd have thought it would come to this..."

"Minister?"

"Raise us to DEFCON 3, accelerate the preparations for the departure of the Air Fleet, inform the Direktor and send this message to Damirez"

"Yes, High Air Admiral."

Unofficial Government Communique (encyption level 8) -

to president of damirez stop we have just recieved intelligence suggesting that alfegos will soon declare war on you stop we offer our total support and wish to enquire as to if war does break out whether you would let us use your military facilities to allow us to aid you in your struggle stop minister of peace john donder[end transmission]

OOC: sorry, meant to post this before Alfegos but Jolt didn't like me:(

0210am
The Airship Hanger

"They're here?"
"Yes."
"Send their representitive here now, and send the rest of them to the rearmost hanger. Get them to work outwards, and give them whatever we need. We want them outta here by 1100 hours with eveything fixed as they said. Otherwise, it's their arses on the line."
"Yes Sir!"

The man scuttled off, joined by the Aeromarine guard as they ran to greet the Prevanians.

VIP Bunker, Mokastana City, Mokastana

"What is the situation now?"

"It appears as if the current dictator of Alfegos has launched WMDs via IRBMs and ICBMs towards Damirez."

"God damn, we need to stop associating with dictators, Mokastana has suffered enough, we are not having another Wormer port incident here. Alert all military personnel and put them on DEFCON 3. We are close to Alfegos, and this war may or may not bring us into the mix. Let's hope not. Send a formal message out to the world that as members of the FU we do not approve of these actions of the new government and will not intervene."

"Mr.President, there are thousands of Mokan citizens in Alfegos currently, and with the current hatred of foreigners in their country it may be a safe bet to get them back home."

"It may, but I don't want to do a massive pullout. Recommend to Mokan citizens to either get to the Mokan embassy or take the soonest flight home. This situation is going to get bad soon and I want to minimize damages it will bring to us."

"Very well sir, we will go through with your recommendation."

"Shall I prepare a fleet to go to Alfegos to protect Mokan interest?" Admiral Franshaw spoke up

"Yes, but keep them in Mokan waters, the fleet will have all the problems it needs soon enough, dont worry Franshaw. Director Fransico, I want the MBSA ready to protect Mokans in Alfegos while getting into a position of power. Do what you need to do."

"Yes sir"

______________________________________________

TO: Nations of the world
FROM: Adam Jackson, President of Mokastana

As allies of Alfegos we condemn the current governments actions and will allow the proper consequences to occur for this act of war.

Excerpts from numerous classified intelligence reports coming out of Alfegos over the last six months

Six months ago

Since initial success in capturing the city the authority of the international stabilisation forces has ebbed away due to ineffectiveness in controlling the security situation. Looting, robbery, murders and other crimes are widespread and local law enforcement is non-existent or corrupt. The ability to project force (show of force demonstration) is limited by the poor state of the local road infrastructure. Use of heavy manoeuvre units (M22A2 Jackal main battle tanks, M65CA7 Talon+ fighting vehicles) has been restricted to avoid damage to roadways. Patrols are being conducted by M96 LUMPS trucks and light M344 Wolverine infantry carrier vehicles. Manoeuvre units are being pulled back to defensive positions around the international airport, airship factory, government buildings including administrative offices and hospitals in the city centre, and power stations and water treatment works on city outskirts. Effective defence of the latter has meant the ability to deliver reliable power and sanitation has been one of the few unreserved successes of the mission so far.

...

Three months ago

Over the last three months lack of cooperation by local security forces and police units have hampered and undermined stabilisation and security operations (SASO) throughout Milkavich. The current deployment of 8 light infantry battalions, 4 forward support battalions and 2 manoeuvre (armoured) battalions tasked for SASO is proving deficient in a city whose population at last census count exceeded 103 million. Forces are stretched providing security and force protection to civilian contractors. Intimidation by the authorities is now widely reported, and the local population is largely non-cooperative. Work has begun on a showcase suburb, to be known simply as New District, as a demonstration of the development and progress Etoile Arcture can bring to Milkavich and the nation as a whole. New District will encompass an area of over 50 square kilometres in the south-east of Milkavich and will contain 500,000 Alfegosian nationals working alongside the Etoilian reconstruction forces.

...

One month ago

Construction of the New District has been the single unequivable success of the mission so far. This contrasts starkly with the glacial pace of progress that is seen across much of Milkavich. Construction teams have been forced to abandon most projects. Tensions between all foreign citizens have increased exponentially outside the New District following the elections of the new ultra-nationalist government. The attitude of the regime and the universally negative media coverage of foreigners, especially of Damirens, is having a caustic effect on Alfegosian-foriegn relations. An often heard charge is that foreigners are stealing Alfegosian wealth, and New District and Central Polinas are held as examples of foreign exploitation. Further from the truth economic inequities are due to endemic government corruption and mismanagement of infra-structure projects and massive defence spending. Unemployment is rampant and resentment among the populations run high against foreigner workers. We consider the possibility of inter-communual violence cannot be discounted.

...

One week ago

February has seen the sharpest rise yet in Incidents of threats, random physical violence, and damage against property to intimidate foreign-born nationals and their business interests. There have been several large demonstrations, one of which descended into violence. On that occasion Milkavich police force declined to become involved, or was tacitly in support or in collusion with the rioters. Security forces were forced to resort to crowd dispersal using infrasonic and microwave guns. Force protection patrols are being enhanced throughout New District, including military installations and reconstruction projects. This has resulted in a reduction in presence patrol and basic ‘hearts and minds’ activities due to the ongoing security situation. The mission is now seen by most Alfegosians as an occupation. In such a tinderbox only the slightest spark will lead to open conflict. It is highly recommended that contingency plans be now drawn up for the evacuation of civilians and possibility of military action.

...

One hour ago

FRAGO. Time Hack: 23:57 28/02/07. Situation: Special Police units and elite Black Guard units have begun encircling New District and conducting reconnaissance patrols into the city. Two aero-paltrocraft have deployed and are broadcasting messages for Damiren citizens to surrender to the authorities. Mission: Quick Reaction Forces are authorised to mobilise into New District and provide protection to civilians. ROE: weapons hold, fire only if facing imminent danger or to prevent loss of civilian life.

"This is command: civilian security units permitted to enter district to carry out Operation Scourge. If you encounter resistance from EA forces, permisison to fire at will accepted. Reminder that EA forces are well trained and equipped, and that any attack should be followed by rapid retreat to perimeter, where Black Guard will be stationed to form a counter-attack."

A unit of officers ran down one of the pristine new streets, a sudden transition from the cratered or even non-existant paved roads of the rest of the capital. Lucky buggers who lived here. Shame that the rest of the city had not received the care and attention of the EA pet project.
The unit halted at a crossroads, and split into two fireteams, guarding each corner. A unit of EA soldiers were patrolling down the road, looking very edgy. A whisper came from the unit head.
"Do not fire unless they resist us."

One of the recruits on the right hand junction was shaking. He had never seen combat before, and felt adrenalin surge through his veins. Mixing with the cocaine that was already in there from his session before he was called into service for this operation, it formed a potent and deadly concoction. He peered through the red-dot scope of his AFMP-2, watching the foreign soldiers moving along. He moved the spot over to one of the soldier's heads, then moved down to the torso, to allow for a hit with his shaking, sweaty hands. His finger drew back on a trigger he had forgotten to safety equip. A burst of 6.5mm rounds roared out through the street.
"You idiot! Fall back ASAP to the perimeter: the balloon is up!"
There was another shot as the leader turned the culprit's head into a red mess with his revolver, before the whole group ran zig-zagging back towards the perimeter, using cover to take potshots at the enraged EA forces.

_______________________________________

"This is Big Bird 1, we are streaming information to you... now!"
The communications controller flipped a switch sending the data watched by the video controller directly to the Perimeter HQ. The bank of cameras constantly swept back and forth, the IF ones picking out the hot soldiers and bodies of civilians in their houses, the visual ones following the 4 spotlights deployed in strategic areas.
"Big Bird 2, prepare to engage painted armour targets with ScObs."
"Affirmative. We have 12 ScObs and 4 LongbowIVs, ready to fire on command."

The second aeropatrolcraft, painted a blue-grey, was the military one. Its tiny payload contained 12 AT missiles, Screaming Oblivions, and 4 Cluster Missiles, LongbowIVs. The latter were the ones that had caused Milkavich such grief in UEDs. But both were being used to track every single EA soldier in the New District. If they both were lost, at the cost of a large area of city damaged or destroyed by the remains of the airships, the Alfegans would be completely blind, and it would degenerate into FISH&CHIPS warfare. The sort that the government always seemd to have a problem with.

Outskirts of New District, Milkavich - 1:29 AM, 1 March 2008

Staff Sergeant Fernandez hugged himself against the biting cold in spite of the fibrepile undershirt and drawers he wore under his 100 denier Condura winter-weight uniform and the clamshell armour of his combat chassis. The Expeditionary Force rifleman was a veteran of Inter-Torin border clashes with the Primean Imperialists, and his posting to Milkavich had been a natural fit. Now he swapped the endless and frozen expanses of the Torin plains in winter for the urban jungle of New District, commanding a observation post on the top floor of an unoccupied four-storey residential block.

"You want to see this boss."

Fernandez nodded silently In the gloom of their hide, his eyes glinting from the reflection of ambient light, as one of the soldiers in his section - a Corporal Singh from Lower Fargo - handed him a panel. Taking the slab of polycarbonate plastic that encased the ruggedized computer and datalink node the Staff Sergeant inspected the device, barely reacting to what he saw on its light-emitting polymer screen. Instead he handed the device back to the corporal, then moved his index finger to his neck almost as if to check his own pulse, Fernandez push the transmit key on the osteophone that was hidden under the Mandarin-collar of his uniform.

"Dancer 5 to Dancer 6 Actual, how copy?"

"Solid copy Dancer 5," a voice on the other end replied after the electronic squeal of the encryption system. "Go ahead."

"Have eyes on ANA patrol moving your direction," he reported to this commanding offcer who was controling the dismounted platoon his sectiuon was overwatching. "Dismounted platoon sized element with APC, conducting a cordon and knock. They're treating the civilians pretty roughly," Fernandez added.

A few months ago Ferndandez and his platoon had been performing cordon and knock searches for communists, weapon caches and drugs. Now he was watching realtime feeds from a UAV orbiting 40,000 feet above that showed a platoon of ANA - the preferred name the Etoilian military gave the Alfegosian National Army - doing much the same. The difference being they only knocked on some doors, and when they found who they were looking for they took away everyone inside. Men, women and children alike.

"Interrogative, are they detaining local population or foreign nationals?"

"Unable to determine," Fernandez answered. "How want to proceed, Actual?"

"Maintain your overwatch, Dancer 5. A patrol element is moving up to investigate."

"Understood."

The tips of Fernandez's fingers had begun to tingle, even snug as they were in his neoprene combat gloves, and nine times out of ten the sensation was prescient of imminent contact. They were still technically at weapons hold, the directive to use force for self-protection being barely a few minutes old, but Fernandez flicked the safety and racked the bolt of his G500 Assault/Battle Rifle bringing it to condition one. Corporal Singh and the second rifleman in his section, Corporal Laframboise following the lead of their NCO wordlessly.

Corporal Singh was the section's commo man and as such had the panel and manpack very small satellite terminal. Even down to fireteam elements the Etoilians placed their faith on network-centric operations. He was eyes and ears for the overwatch element of the platoon, using the UAVs that were flying above the area of operations: a mixture of MQ-9 Reapers, AQ-39 Clarions and high-altitude long-endurance RQ-13 Vectors. He presently had control of the hyperspectral payload of a Reaper that allowed him to follow the movement of two fireteams moving in tactical column formation towards the perimeter of the ANA patrol. He watched as they closed from 100 feet to less than 30.

Then it happened.

"Shots fired. Man down. Break contact! Break contact!"

Singh listened to the excited voices of the patrol under fire. The Reaper gave him a good birds-eye view as a rifleman in the patrol stumbled backwards like a drunk out on the lamb before crashing to the ground. Two riflemen immediately sprung forwards towards the stricken rifleman, each grabbing one of the two padded grab loops on the rear of the man's armour chassis and dragging him backwards back around a street corner 20 or so feet behind them. At the rest of the patrol busted caps with suppressive fire to cover the withdrawal, cursing the Alfegosian as they did.

Things got really intense as, while the ANA patrol was bugging out, one of the Alfegosian soldiers slumped to the ground even while the others escaped.
The resolution of the Reaper's sensor was good enough that the Corporal knew there had been no Etoilian marksmanship involved. He could see the man's executioner replace his pistol in his holster just before following the rest of his retreating men.

First blood had been drawn on each side. It wouldn't be the last.

The group of police officers dived down into cover on the other side of a hasty redoubt: sandbags, spare armour plating and bulletproof glass blocked off the street, loopholes being taken up by Black Guard soldiers. They were all in Black BDUs, a burning palm above three red skulls embellishing each shoulder badge. Underneath, impressive displays of conflicts fought decorated the sleeve, the maximum limit of 8 on combats surpassed by most except the newest of recruits.

Lieutenant-General Thom'lin of 3rd Batallion, Black Guard, was a man who took veteran to the extreme. He had been sent to fight in nearly every single conflict that arouse, with Thom'lin's Terrors alongside him. Here though would be a true test of their skill in urban conflict: elites against elites. They all knew the skill of the EA soldiers, and of the man who led them. The last part worried Thom'lin as he let the flood of data from the aero-patrolcraft pass into his mind, orders coming out the other end.

Two of his men, part of the Special Company of his batallion, marched in and saluted, before leaving the Police Officer behind in the command vehicle.
"Police Lieutenant Yusuf, sir! Head of S-team Hotel, sir!"
"Enough with the sirs. The only reason I value your pathetic life and why you haven't been executed yet is a simple question: why the fuck did you attack the EAs? Are you mad?"
"No, sir. Police Constable Hughes, under suspected influence of drugs, fired 8 shots at EA patrol advancing towards us. When they returned fire, I acted on Chapter 59, Clause 3 of the Policing Act 1921, and summarily executed him on the spot with a single shot. We have two more men wounded because of his actions, and one may not make it. That is the explanation of my actions, sir!"
"Very well." Thom'lin thought deeply to himself of the mess that had occured now: no doubt the EA forces would strike at the perimeter of the district. And with 3 Black Guard companies out of 5, in addition to a Light Armour company to the north of the district, the battle would be bloody. As long as they had the two airships, they would be fine. Every enemy movement would be seen, and from there the forces could slowly choke the New District EAs.
"Dismissed"

Thom'lin turned back to the monitor, and attached his radio headset, before banging on the driver partition. He took a deep breath as the vehicle began roaring off towards the North perimeter, and started speaking, flipping through channels using a chinplate and tongue plates.
"Bravo Golf 1, fortify East Border. Bravo Golf 2, fortify West Perimeter. Bravo Golf 3, fortify Northern perimeter. Lemur Alpha Hotel, please get your Scims into position on south perimeter, and prepare for attack.
Bravo Golf 4, get ready: you're the reserve. Bravo Golf 5, get mounted on Arishkas and prepare to drop in, should you need two. Bring along special gear."
He took a deep breath in as the command vehicle halted. Outside, he was at a barricaded street, with an IFV providing part of the defensive wall. A single section was stationed there, preparing what appeared to be a 35mm autocannon.
"Bravo Golf 5 - change of plan: drop your men onto strategic roofing across the district at a pair per building. Equip yourselves with heavy rifles, and prepare for sniper warfare tactics. I'm sure you can find an escort from AAF Air District."
He walked from the vehicle, and took a breath of the air. He had to admit, it had been getting cleaner around here. Still, orders were orders.
"Big birds, how are EAs looking?"
"Extremely edgy: they're mobilising the entire group."
"Big Bird 2, I want you to preform a strike on wherever their headquarters is set: use maximum of 2 ScObs for cracking their shell, and give the soft core a LongBow."
"Affirmative."

There were a few seconds delay, followed by loud hissing: a pair of ScObs shot from the engine pod area, before arching around, trails of smoke intertwining. That was when the screaming started: a high-pitched wail as the sirens built into the exhausts of the two missiles reached siren velocity, and began to broadcast the message of death.

"Bravo Golf 3, Papa 2, Sierra 1: you have mortars?"
"Affirmative. 2 80mm Poppers."
"I want you to commence a bombardment using No.1 HE shells at the co-ordinates broadcast by Big Bird 2."
"Affirmative. Firing, over and out."

A few streets away, there was a loud bang as one of the mortars fired, followed by a second shot. These first ones were marker flares, which slowly descended, releasing a cloud of bright red smoke and an eerie red light. This signal sent off a second volley, further away.

"Bravo Golf 3, Papa 2, Sierra 3: hold your fire!"
"Understood. Sorry."

_______________________________________________

Bravo Golf 5 were the Special Company. They were not like the other 4 companies, who were all-purpose elites: they were specialist elites, trained for extremely advanced warfare forms. Sniper warfare was one of them. From the company armoury in Fort District, they had selected their weapons: many of them had opted for the XSAF-1 Sniper rifle. Using 17.5mm caseless rounds, they were ridiculously powerful, with reports showing them punching holes in IFVs. This came at a cost: wear meant that they had a lifetime of only 1000 shots before the barrel needed changing and only 50 till the chamber needed cleaning. Add to that the tendancy for standard lead ammunition to splatter, shredding entire squads, this rifle was intended usually for killing armoured targets, or targets from a long-long distance.

Riding in 3 Arishkas, a platoon of 24 men in each, the group moved out. Each man was equipped with a parachute to land, and webbing filled with ammunition. Some were chewing sweets from their Ration packs, 24 hours, small boxes stuffed into their burgans along with camo kit, more ammunition, radio units... enough to survive for days out there. Rather optimistic, in the eyes of Captain Jo'lo , as he gazed down the sights of a 12.8mm machinegun at the city whipping past. In front of him, he could see one of the two Apache Longbows, equipped to defend the soldiers as they were scattered about the city, before dealing with any threats on the ground.

The atmosphere in the Safety Central, 300 meters below the Imperial Palace, was gloomy. Two soldiers were guarding the massive doors, their black uniforms perfectly representing the emotions of the men sitting around the table in the middle of the large room. The Emperor's voice was calm and cold as always, but the ministers, many of whom had known Dieter Antonius for thirty years or more, could see that he was deeply worried.
"Marius, brief us in on the situation, please", he said to his old friend, once a fellow leader of the Northern Military Alliance, now the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in charge of handling Zaheran's relations with other nation. It was a heavy burden even usually, but this was the worst crisis he had ever faced. He hadn't slept for forty-eight hours and his suit, normally pedantically clean and carefully ironed, was creased and stained with coffee.
"The situation is as follows. The new president of Alfegos, Fi'lo Disoi, has, for a reason that is yet to be determined, started a systematical extermination of Damirez and it's citizens and has fired WMDs at the nation, as well as harassing Damirezan citizens in Alfegos. We are still awaiting a Damirezan response, which we suspect will be very harsh. A number of other nations, among them our ally Mokastana, have strongly condemned the Alfegans actions. Some of them may attack if the situation is not resolved". He hesitated for a moment. "Well, that was in short the political happenings. Can you gice us the military situation, Lucien?" The question was intended for the Minister of Defence, looking only a bit neater than his colleague. He rised from his chair and gestured to a officer standing against the wall.
"Colonel Bautel, the screen please". The man pushed a button and the big screen on the wall came alive and showed a map of Zaheran.
"We are now on MILAL THREE, which means that all our regular units are near war-time readiness and that some Werewolf units have been activated". The map changed to one of Alfegos. "On the Alfegan side, hostilities has commenced in the Milkavich Province, according to our sources between the Alfegan National Army and forces from Etoile Architecture. We have no information on the outcome as this time". He sat down.
"Thank you, Lucien and Marius", the Emperor said with his cold voice. "Now, gentlemen, you have heard what we have on this situation. I expect you to return to your departments and prepare for the storm that is to come. May the Gods guide us through this crisis".

0230 hours
New Milkavich
New Alfegos

The marvels of long-range communication had meant that such a meeting could now take place: the 6 heads of the Alfegan colonies discussing the matter of what their homeland had done. The head of New Alfegos was sitting there in person, while projectors on screens showed the head and shoulders of the other 5 leaders, in their representitive nations.
"We have a problem." The Head of New Alfegos was breifing them.
"As you are all aware, the current regime in our nation has been doing...undesirable acts yes. But when we heard of the launch of weapons against Damirez, and by that I mean Biological weapons, I called the meeting to propose this: that we break away from Alfegos while we can, and form a union of autonomous nations. We will try to restore a decent government in our home nation, and if we have to go to war, then we will. First, a vote: who is in favour of the motion?"
All the members raised their hands.
"Then it is agreed. From this moment forth, we have become the seperate coalition known as the Colonial Union. We will govern in this way, by co-operation, and will use this chance to take Alfegos back from the hell it is falling into."

_____________________________________

0240hours
Military Bases Across the Colonial Union

"This is an announcement. As you may have been aware, the regime in our home nation, Alfegos, has shown hostilities towards Damirez. But what you need to know now is that they just launched a Biological attack against Damirez. As a result, the heads of the colonies have voted unanimously to seperate from Alfegos, and support the Democratic cause. All stations have been raised to DEFCON 2, and missile silos have been prepared for retaliatroy attacks.
All TA soldiers will be reporting in shortly, and then all will be briefed. Moving out commences in 3 hours."

Soldiers frantically dashed about, taking equipment from the quartermaster stores and weapons from the armoury, as dictated by the emergancy call to war drill they had had bored into them, before lining up on parade squares. In all, an entire Corps was based in the colonies, as well as a third of the Alfegan Aerofleet. That had been relinquished, and all were being prepared for war against their motherland.

____________________________________________
0240
General Global Announcement

From this moment forth, the colonies of New Alfegos, Neo'Ilos, Neo'Los, Ge'fegos, Tho'lara and Neo'Delgi have split themselves from the People's Nation of Alfegos. They will be known collectively as the Colonial Union, and will be democratically controlled by a council of the 6 elected colonial heads.

In addition, the Colonial Union has delcared that it will become the representitive of Alfegos in the Fegosian Union, until democratic rule is restored in Alfegos. They will have Alfegos's vote, and will organise the alliance as Alfegos did so.

Finally, as of this moment, the Colonial Union declares full-scale war against the People's Nation of Alfegos, and has permitted the full mobilisation of weaponry up to Tactical CBR weaponry. We will not stop fighting until there is Democracy in Alfegos, or there is nothing physically left of the Colonial Union.

Emergency Situations Bunker, Mokastana City, Mokastana

"Mr. President, It's official, the Colonies of Alfegos have rebelled and declared war. We are still on Defcon 2 from the Juventud Situation. Shall we launch a declaration of war?"

The president sat on his chair in at the end of the table. He had been elected with a promise of Keeping Mokastana war free, and yet here he was. An incident with TPF, but after negotiations they got back the fleet and prisoners, while smuggling a few refugees out. Then Juventud, and now war with one of Mokastana's closest allies. This is going to be tough getting reelected.

"Yes, assemble what portions of the fleet you can, keep most of it here for protection of the coast in case Juventud blows up in our face though. Obviously the FU fleet needs to go, so send that and one other Air attack Flotilla. Admiral Fanshaw, will that work for you?"

"Yes, that is more then acceptable, I shall contact the Colonial government to find a good method of attack. "

"Very good, Director Fransico, get the MBSA commando army or the volunteer corps ready to fight, I don't care how or what. Just get them out there."

"Yes sir, Covert ops will be on route to Alfegos, In that case we should wait on the declaration of war so we can get inside a lot easier."

"ok then, Canarias, get your men ready to be shipped overseas, again."

"Very well sir, I must President Jackson, you are handling these situations a lot better then i anticipated. Let's get ready for this gentlemen."

______________________________________________


Encyption level 8:

TO: The Government of the Colonial Union
FROM: Primary Admiral Alex Franshaw

We are assembling two Air attack fleets for your use, one is obviously the one dedicated to the FU rapid response force, the second is because we expect a horrible war. Marines are being assembled and the army is at DEFCON 2. We need information (OOC: a map if you got it) and a method of attack, we are getting our civilains out and putting in Special ops. So expect a declaration of war within the week.

Thank you

__________________________________________________________

Civilians across ALfegos who were of Mokan decent or Mokan Citizens were recommended to get out of the country ASAP. Meanwhile three regularly sheduled flights into ALfegos were canceled and the planes were loaded with special forces and MBSA personal. They were to fly over Alfegos main land, parachute out supplies and some of the units. Then land at the airports were MBSA agents would get off disguesed as Mokan Citizens who are coming back for whatever reasons, be it they need to find someone before tensions got worse, or close a business deal etc. From there it was a matter of getting the civilians out and the specailist in. Orders would be given to them on the flight there. Overall the plan was this:

Commandos parachute inland, and hold, tracking targets and collecting information, then once war is declared they target for Tomahawks and cause chaos behind the lines. While the MBSA forces who get off at airports get to the respected safe houses in Alfegos, and cause trouble in the Cities, get Mokans to safe places, use homade explosives on military targets, attempt an attack on the government, contact rebel forces...etc...

The Imperial Security Central
0430


"We have reached an important crossroad". The Emperor's voice sounded tired. "Today we will have to make a choice, gentlemen. We must choose a side in this conflict. We can support the Alfegan government in it's actions, a dangerous choice. Many nations loathe the Alfegans and may attack us if we support them. Also, we do not know who the Alfegans will attack next in their frenzy, maybe us, maybe someone else. On the other side, we can choose to support this "Colonial Union", a dangerous choice too. It will sure draw the Alfegans anger towards us, in what way we cannot predict. One of the rebel colonies, Neo'Ilos as they call it, is right at our shores. If the Alfegans strike it, many of our people will die. Lucien, how well can the colonies defend themselves?"
"Very well. They have a third of the Aerofleet as well as a good part of the army. But they have a strategic disadvantage. They are scattered across the world. If they do not get outside help, Alfegos can easily crush them one by one". The Emperor nodded.
"Marius?"
"I say we should support them. Mainland Alfegos, in it's current political shape, is doomed. It's only a matter of time before a civil war breaks out or they are invaded. The Colonial Union, on the other side, we can influence and protect easily".
"Very well. Richard, how can you activate our sleeper agents in Alfegos?"
The Minister of State Security shrugged. "One or two days, I suppose. How so?"
"Because when war breaks out I want the Alfegan infrastructure damaged badly. Their ability to wage war must be crippled if possible. Only then can we avoid that Alfegos as a nation is heavily damaged, and with it, our economy. Transportation links, factories and military bases are priority targets. Avoid civilian casualties. I want the Alfegans to see us as liberators, not invaders".
"Understood, sir".
"Good. Marius, get our citizens out of the country as fast as possible. Contact Mokastana and the Colonial Union. Tell them that we are on their side. Do not issue a formal declaration of war. When the time comes, we must take them by surprise".



To: President Jackson of the Armed Republic of Mokastana
From: Dieter Antonius I, Emperor of the Holy Empire of Zaheran

Dear friend,

A time of peril lays before us. A man of great evil now rules our former ally, the People's Nation of Alfegos. Great is his power, greater still his madness. His foolish actions has placed us all in danger. Therefore, friend, I urge you too join us in our struggles to defeat him. We must move covertly, but strike hard when the time comes. As a first step, I suggest that we support the Colonial Union and gather the Rapid Reaction Force at Neo'Ilos, an excellent port, close to Alfegos. Together we will ride out the storm.

Yours in the times of peril,

Dieter Antonius
Emperor of Zaheran

FROM: President Adam Jackson, Mokastana
TO: Dieter Antonius I, Emperor of the Holy Empire of Zaheran


I Agree,and by the time you read this the Mokan Fleet will be heading to the port of Neo'Ilos as per your orders. With them they will have the Shock Division of the Rapid reaction force, we have added a few more toys for them to use, most notably the LY300 Manticore Multiple Rocket System. Which has proved useful for nearly all methods of combat. More of the Mokan army will arrive once our domestic problems against Kroando loyalist are eliminated. As well as the true backbone of the fleet.

Viva la revolucion!

Adam Jackson

”It takes one madman to throw a rock into a pond, but ten wise men to retrieve it,” Damiran popular saying.

The Black Friday
Polinas Military Facility

”How foolish,” the commander spoke to his men as he read through the reports, his mood getting worse and worse, ”What do those idiots hope to achieve!? he asked, not expecting an answer. For the past few days the harassment of Damiran citizens was getting increasingly worse and he feared, justifiably so, that the signs of mobilization that the Alfegan army was showing were not a good sign. Already his orders assumed a war scenario, with the first and foremost objective represented by the protection of civilians, Damirans and Alfegans alike, many of the Damiran citizens in Polinas being of Alfegan ancestry.

Rubbing his temples and looking at his expecting men, he knew that a decision had to be taken. His stay in the nation so far had been a pleasurable one and he had no intention of seeing that pretty widow in Polinapolis and her bakery shop go out of business. Orders were orders and he’d be damned before allowing anyone to mess with the ones he protected.

”Alright men, HQ made it clear from us. If open hostilities between us and Alfegos commence, we are to secure the Polinas province with as little damage as possible, I want all units ready to deploy, every bird we have ready for take-off and all rifles locked and loaded!” there was much unsaid as order after order was received from back home, but those orders were directed promptly to each unit, what his men needed now were a few words to encourage them. ”We have no wish for bloodshed! We don’t want to throw metal slugs at them, but by all Gods, if they think that we are weak, that we will be petrified in face of their crimes, we will show them that it is not so. Every lackey, every murderer will be purged! Our war’s not with the good people of Alfegos, but with the monsters that in their quest for power abused their powers! To arms brothers!”

He was a bit emotional, he admitted as much, but the fire in his eyes inspired the soldiers. It was not every day that you had to fight a nation that only a few days before was a friend, but by all, they were ready. If the worst was to come they were to face it and give their best.

New Zevkhay
”Doctor! We’re loosing her! one of the nurses yelled in his ear as he did his best to keep both mother and child alive.

”I know that already!” he snapped as his hands worked tirelessly. It was this delicate operation that Alfegan troops interrupted. The doctor you see was a Damiran and for power hungry government of Alfegos being a Damiran was worth a death sentence.

They demanded that the good doctor abandon the birth and come with them, they demanded that he leave his patients to their deaths, they demanded, but the doctor said no, not even bothering to lift his eyes from the ongoing operation.

”I have no time for your baloney now! I have a life to save!” and it was all that it took for a soldier to squeeze the trigger a bit too much, the deadly slugs hitting the doctor in full, blood starting to pour out of the man. ”Nurse, would you mind holding me up?” he asked, knowing that his fate was sealed, yet his oaths as a doctor not allowing him to leave the little spark in front of him to perish.

As the Doctor lived his final moments an innocent was born to the world, his wails accompanying the last smile on the face of the Damiran, his body later removed from the operating room in a body bag, but even on the cold, pale corpse the smile was still there.

Inside the room the wails of the infant ceased only later on, the baby blessed with a set of healthy lungs by Mother Nature. He was to live a long life and later on hear the story of the Doctor that gave his life to save his.

--

Classified Location, Damirez

”Uneventful,” one of the officers on duty thought to himself as kept a close eye on the various monitors allotted to him, ”But that’s good,” he added as an afterthought. Certainly, his job was not by far as exciting as that of the many co nationals up there in the sky or far away on sea, but his job was of equal importance if not perhaps more important than all of them, the defence of the country against ballistic strikes being of the up most importance and the trillions invested by Damirez in this area had to be properly managed if the country came under threat.

”Cold…” he complained as he took a sip of coffee from a plastic cup, his eyes never leaving the screen, ”Better than nothing though…” he took another sip when suddenly an alarm blared. ”What the hell!” the man spat his coffee as multiple launches were detected. ”Holly! This is bad! This is really bad!” he spoke as the facility came to life.

Even as those words were spoken the information was received by various officials, the speed unequalled. The Principality was under threat! And from what was until recently a close ally!

The main issue with this was the existence of a gap in the ABM systems of the Principality, as an attack from within that particular area of the region was considered a low probability and whilst defences against such a probability existed, they were by far less than the ones against any other scenario of this type, especially when it concerned MRBMs. It was a flaw that was getting fixed, but a flaw nonetheless.

Within seconds satellites far above the nation positioned themselves for interception of ICBMs coming their way from Alfegos, whilst more advanced units made short work of the eight incoming missiles. However, as expected the MRBMs proved to be a much more difficult target.

--

Various Locations, Damirez

It took virtually seconds for Damiran officials to be alerted and join an impromptu video conference regarding the situation and even as missiles were intercepted the response was bartered between various officials. Normally the response would have been a nuclear fire for the offending nation, but this was night to impossible in this case and the fact represented quite a dilemma.
”Requesting approval to use the Helios system!” one official spoke quickly, a man in the military by the looks of it, his stance and voice offering clues to that.

”Are you mad?! That’ll reduce Alfegos to a molten slag of lava! There’s still millions of Damirans up north and unknown numbers of them in the southern regions! There’s a billion of people there!”

The debate was quickly stopped by the president, his pale but determined face bringing all to respect. ”We will not use nuclear weapons against our own people! There’s millions of Damirans in Alfegos and above it all the nation is not guilty for the acts of a handful of madmen. Were it any other nation we would be firing every weapon in our arsenal, but such is NOT the case here,” he stopped for a brief moment, ”I have authorized operation Crimson Thunder and gave the go ahead for the use of Dante’s Ninth Circle,. WE WILL MAKE THEM PAY! Now go to your duties!”

Shortly afterwards the diplomacy of the Principality set to work a declaration of war set to the Alfegan government and information relayed to allies, speed was of the essence here and every second lost could mean one more life lost.

--

Polinas Military Facility

”Oh my god…” one of the soldiers stationed in Polinas whispered as he received his orders, they were at war.

”This is no God son,” his sergeant replied as he checked his weapons one last time. Only a few hours earlier the General in command of the facility held a speech about the increased level of awareness that needed to exist in the various military facilities due to the hostility manifested by the new government of Alfegos and now, now that hostility changed to something else, something nobody desired.

It took virtually minutes for the emergency protocols to come into effect and in some mere seconds since the orders were received. The nightmarish scenario designed by Flavius Belisarius came to life, but they were not caught unprepared. At the various strips under Damiran military management in Alfegos plane after plane took to the sky various military installations and other such targets bound to receive a very unfriendly visit.

But even before the planes took to the sky various missile batteries started their own concert, missile after missile departing towards mapped targets, the intelligence effort made by the various agencies proving to be an useful one. It was a pre-emptive strike on a massive scale, virtually every Alfegan military asset in the area that was presumably hostile targeted and marked for destruction.

”Ben! Wake up Ben!” a man was yelling at his neighbor, he was armed and behind him the engine of his car could be heard, ”The war! The war has started!” it was amazing with what speed information could be spread in this day and age, but the preparations that a handful of valiant men made were now put to good use. An uprising the likes of nothing seen since the first communist rebellion, consequence of the actions of the dictators, was about to sweep the nation.

On the open sea, orders were received by the ships of the Principality, orders that relayed one thing alone, ”Dust them!” from the various ships at large missiles speeded towards pre established targets, fighters and bombers left their carriers adding to the rain of projectiles aimed at the Alfegan military installations.

---

OOC: Note to my post, this addresses what takes place in the span of minutes following the launch of Alfegan missiles at Damiran soil somewhere at 2.28~2.28AM and earlier there's stuff to be added, but I'll do so in another post. Also, there are some fact left unattended and a bit of lacking detail, hopefully my next post will solve that.

0229
High Command
Control Room

Alarms began sounding as red dots starting popping up across the entire regional map. It zoomed in, until only Alfegos and Damirez were onscreen. The Protector was yelling across the room at any official he could see, wanting to know what the hell was going on.
"Sir, we have satellite footage of mass deployment from Damirez. The missiles will be reaching us in minutes!"
"Sir, the military base in Polinas has been put on full alert: they're spewing out fighters left, right and centre!"
"Sir, there are reports of fighting in Milkvi.."
"Sir, civil unrest in Polinas!"
"SHUT! UP!"

The control room descended into silence, save for assorted alarms sounding.
"What are the military doing up in Polinas province?"
"Ours? Not too much at the moment."
"Tell them to get their arses to DEFCON 2: they have permission to use tactical nuclear and chemical weaponry against the Damireans. I want out of my country yesterday, OK?"

The High Marshall walked in.
"I thought I was the one giving orders!"
"Too late, you weren't here so I stepped in. It appears we have a full-scale war on our hands, and you missed the start." he turned back to the control room.
"Get the coastal batteries ready: I swear to god that we will not let the Damireans get close. Order the launch of as many Ultra-long range AA missiles as possible, and try to limit damage. The rest of you... carry on what you were doing."

He left the room, and bent over sweating.
"Bugger!"

Security Base Capstone, New District, Milkavich - 1:41 AM, 1 March 2008

Sirens wailed and lights flashed warning of the incoming mortar and rocket attack. Any personnel still out in the open were dashing for the safety of nearby bunkers or taking shelter at sandbagged positions. Those in the hardened aircraft shelters, vehicle bays or block houses were sitting far prettier, especially as these had automatic blast shutters over doors and window ports.

Dotted at random intervals throughout the base were the bulbous fairings of Toxotes point defence systems, ground-mounted version of the naval close-in- weapon system common to all Etoilian warships. Their surveillance radars had acquired the inbound threats in split seconds, their computerised fire control systems cueing tracking radars and slewing the 30 mm Gatling guns that projected from their housings using servo control precision. The guns chattered like a million monkeys banging typewriters at random as they spat streams of high-explosive armour piercing rounds into the night sky. The entire alert lasted barely ten seconds before the point defence systems had eliminated every threat.

Even as the sirens and lights died down there was no let-up in the frantic activity at the Tactical Operations Centre that was situated thirty feet below and encased in reinforced concrete. The 'Old Man', a bird colonel by the name of Jannier, had replaced the officer of the watch an hour earlier once the intentions of the Alfegosians had become clear. Now he faced the prospect of trying to protect civilians while fighting a determined enemy on ground they understood intimately.

Jannier's immediate concern were the two aero-patrolcraft holding station over the city. While they remained in action the enemy could accurately target their positions and potentially overwhelm their defences with heavier artillery than the few rockets and mortars fired moments earlier. Eliminating had now become the high priority, but it carried risks. Even so, Jannier made the call. "Capstone, task to air defence artillery. I want those airships dead."

"Yes, ma'am," the air defence artillery chief acknowledged as he begun inputting a tasking order for transmission over secure datalink to his battery commanders.

Somewhere in New District, Milkavich - 2:01 AM, 1 March 2008

Corporal Conway's Number 3 ship had been on silent watch for nearly an hour now. The 'loot had ordered all firing units into signature management mode. Conway had instructed the driver to shutdown his turbine powerpack and air intakes and switch to battery power. Everything from the permanent-magnetic electric motors, the microclimate and environment control system, the radar and optronic suites, and the remote weapon station, were now all drawing off battery power. For the Alfegosians there would be nothing for their sensors to lock on to. No heat from engine exhausts, no engine noises, no radar signature. They could stay in silent watch for 12 hours before needing to draw on prime power again to top up the battery packs. Conway hoped it wouldn't take 12 hours, not least because of the tedium.

The air defence artillery branch had been something of a bridesmaid at the wedding - always invited, but never the centre of activity. The rifle companies had seen almost continuous patrolling as the tension across Milkavich had risen over the weeks. Even the armour boys had been able to take out their panzers as they conducted manouevres in the surrounding countryside. The ADA branch had been mostly confined to Capstone, running training drills and performing preventative maintenance. Not that Conway and his lads and ladies hadn't seen frontline action, if the guard posts on the Capstone perimeter was considered front line. Even when the whole group was ordered out a few hour earlier, Conway had not even had the slightest of inklings that he would be seeing action.

Conway's Ship Three was a M349 Predator, a hybrid gun/missile self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery gun system mounted on a M344 chassis. Conway's crew station had a panoramic multi-function screen, keyboard and joystick controller. He could even interface using a helmet sight, but they were too tiring for surveillance being better in high-intensity combat situations when you could sight, cue and fire your weapons simply by the direction that you looked at and all the sensors and weapons followed you around. Since going into energy management mode the air in the fighting compartment had gotten progressively stuffy as he had shut down the microclimate system to conserve a few watts. But the oppressive atmosphere made it harder to concentrate on his job. He was almost tempted to fire up the aircon to freshen the air, just a for a few minutes, but the thought was cut short by the crackle of his comm coming to life.

"Ship One to all ships. Target is entering the fire zone. Stand-by."

Conway didn't bother to acknowledge. The passive sensor system was already slewing the weapon station by servo control on to the target. Every ship in the battery was slaved to Ship One's sensor feed and they all now responded as one. In truth, the whole system was automated and quite capable of taking on the airships without human intervention, but that was not the point of today's exercised. They had orders to avoid collateral damage, and the 'loot had spent three months drilling his unit for just such a contingency. He called it 'box and kill', and this would be the first time the theory would be put into practice.

Conway listened to the comm chatter as the pieces were put into place. "Ship Four, begin your sheepdog."

A few hundred metres away the weapon station on the M349 Predator of Ship Four lit up. Four 20 mm autocannons, in two banks of two each, fired a continuous torrent of frangible armour piercing discarded sabot rounds at the target that was floating serenely a few thousand feet above in the inky sky. Rounds would be impacting the sensor and control pods, spalling badly and making life miserable for those up there.

The burst lasted only a few seconds. "Ship Four, cease fire and displace. Ship Six, begin sheep dogging."

Ship Four would be gunning away on electric power, using a covered route, presenting a perfect blackbody to the aero-patrolcraft's sensitive sensors if they were still functioning. Never mind, another broadside was splashing across its structure anyway, Conway thought to himself.

"Ship Two open fire."

Only a madman wouldn't be taking evasive action by this point. Conway watched as the ship did exactly as the 'loot had said it would, tacking away and trying to escape the fire rippling across one flank. Rocket ports flashed as there were several launches as the airship fired missiles blindly at targets it couldn't see.

"Ship Three, Ship Five, target is now entering the box. You are weapons free, engage on my command."

Conway's hands flashes across his multi-function display, punching up weapon systems, selecting munitions and locking them on target. "Ship Three, solid lock," he spoke into the communications link, Ship Five reporting likewise close on his heels.

"Engage," came the order. For Conway, he simply pressed the red button blinking on the screen and it was all over.

Strapped either side the 20 mm autocannons of each Predator was a four-cell box launcher, inside of which was a Hypervelocity Missile-Kinetic Energy Multi-Dart rocket. When launched, the HVM-KEMD accelerated from the launcher at Mach 6.6 - approximately 2,300 metres per second - as their booster rockets fired. Two seconds after launch three submunitions separated, each one an independently-targeted projectile with a blast-fragmentation warhead and passive imaging infra-red sensor. Two seconds later a series of explosions rippled across the aero-patrolcraft, shattering the sensor and control pods, exploding the engines and tearing the gas enveloped apart. The airship fell to the ground a burning husk, exactly where the 'loot had wanted it fall, directly over an incomplete and unoccupied new housing estate.

"Splash one. All firing units displace to secondary ambush position." The second airship would stand as little chance than the first, as the Predators gunned away silently on electric power.

Aerospace Defence Command, classified location in Etoile Arcture - 2:22 AM, 1 March 2008

Lights and sirens were wailing and the blast doors to the Command Center automatically shut, the last few technicians managing to duck through the heavy steel blocks before clanking against the seals for a precise hermetic fit.

The large situation display was a floor-to-ceiling screen that stretched across the length of the room, shining brightly into the red-tinged glare of the emergency lighting. The computerised image was constructed from a patchwork of sensors, from numerous reconnaissance and surveillance satellites, high-flying UAVs, and short, long-range and over-the-horizon phased array radars, down to networks of millions, perhaps billions, of unattended ground and sea buoy sensors. Normally the big display would show a satellite view of the entirety of Nova in the most minute of details, but tonight it was focused on only a small section of the region. Alfegos.

"Missile - launches detected. Confirmed, launch sites are in continental Alfegos," reported the missile watch technician in the same dispassionate voice he had used a thousand times during exercises. "Package of eight ICBMs, flight path computed to hit military targets in Damirez."

As alarming a series of events the launches comprised, the Aerospace Force Major who was officer of the watch was barely troubled. Both Damirez and Etoile Arcture possessed some of the most sophisticated anti-ballistic missile defences anywhere in the world, never mind in Nova. He was almost bored as he spoke into his headset.

"Intercept - what is the status of Damirez?"

"Damirez are launching interceptors. Ten seconds to impact."

Indeed, the the big display was tracking the interceptors streaking towards the Alfegosian missiles, merging and then winking out of existence. It seemed the emergency was over before it had hardly begun when the alarms begun to ring again.

"New launches from Alfegos!" the missile technician gasped in surprise as new data flooded on to the screen of his workstation. High above in geostationary orbit a satellite with an full-Earth staring focal plane array sensor had picked up the infra-red plumes of more missiles rising into the sky. "Launches confirmed. Medium Range Ballistic Missiles heading towards Damirez, they're..." The man trailed off as he saw the system compute the predicted impact points. "Eighty-five individual targets, all major cities!"

"Priority warning to Damirez!" boomed the officer of the watch from his station. "Advise we have detected launches against their cities and we are attempting to intercept!"

There was no integrated defence system in Nova, in spite of all the warm talk by politicians over the years. It would take a real disaster to place urgency on such undertaking. But for now neither Etoile Arcture or Damirez had any ability to warn or relay information to each. Except for a lowly communication technician simply dialling the emergency contact number for the Damiren ministry of defence!

"Intercept - what's happening with those bogeys?"

The intercept officer was at a loss as his system stubbornly refused to react. The entire process of detection, tracking and intercepting was fully automatic, a man being only retained in the loop as an overseer. The man had drilled this situation countless times until a real incident would border on the boring, but tonight his heart was thumping in his chest as double checked over his system. The ABM launchers were deployed but not firing.

"Intercept - where the hell are those ABMs!" the senior officer roared as he watched the slow-moving MRBMs crawl across the screen.

"I... I don't understand," the intercept officer flustered. He was in uncharted territory now, facing a situation he had never trained for or anticipated. But realisation was beginning to dawn on him on what was happening "The Alfegosians have fired their MRBMs through a open window in our defences. ABMs are unable to intercept at these low angles!"

The senior officer looked up at the master display as the missile tracks continued to creep along towards Damiren territory, muttering, "Sweet jesus," under his breath as the first missile hit its target. "What have those bastards in Alfegos done..."

Secret government bunker, somewhere in Etoile Arcture - 2:47 AM, 1 March 2008

In the small TV studio at a classified location Dr. Arahd Omar Khan walked up to the lectern that had emblazoned on it the Great Seal seal of the technocracy, now bordered with gold trim and surrounded by gold olive branches. The message of peace such symbolism had been intended to project contrasted greatly with the speech Omar was about to deliver, the greatest test yet of his young adminstration.

"My fellow citizens," the General Secretary of the General Secretariat begun dryly. "At approximately twenty past two this morning, early warning satellites and over-the-horizon radar surveillance stations of the Principality of Damirez and Unitary Technocracy of Etoile Arcture detected multiple launches of long and medium range ballistic weapons from mainland Alfegos towards targets in the Principality of Damirez. Due to the short flight time and consequent warning of attack, neither the Technocracy or the Principality was able to intercept and destroy every missile.

"As a result, a small number of weapons have struck major cities in Damirez. As yet casualty figures are unknown, but laser imaging satellites have detected the presence of unidentified biological warfare agents in the atmosphere above each of the impact sites. The Technocracy will offer all and every assistance it can to the Principality of Damirez, and I have authorise the immediate deployment of medical, and chemical, biological and radiological decontamination units.

"The General Secretariat utterly deplores this act of terrorism perpetrated against the Damiren people. We personally hold President Fi'lo Di'soi and Consul Mari'ol Wec'ante fully responsible for all civilian deaths resulting from these despicable and barbaric attacks, and will seek that they brought to justice before an international court for crimes against humanity. Following the declaration of war against the People's Nation of Alfegos by the Principality of Damirez, under the Emergency Situation provisions of the constitution, I formally declare that a state of war now exists between Etoile Arcture and Alfegos.

"As I speak to you, air, ground and maritime forces of the Technocracy are in action above the skies of Alfegos with the mission of rooting out and destroying all remaining WMD stockpiles and the means to deliver them, so as to prevent any further attack against the free and democratic nations of Nava. The Technocracy has formally applied to the Free World Alliance to expel Alfegos from that body, for their gross violations of human rights and aggression towards a member sated.

"I call on all Etoilian citizens to have in their thoughts their fellow Damirens, and the brave men and women of our Defence Forces who fight tonight to ensure our safety and security, and to protect freedom against the forces of tyranny and terror."

Stepping away from the lectern the cameras stopped as the leader of the Technocracy rejoined his officials, each one with a panel streaming live updates of the situation across the region. "The Mokastana and Zaheran governments have begun mobilisations, though we are still waiting for official declarations against Alfegos. The Alfegosian colonies have also declared independence in the last few minutes."

"I want a video conference set-up between myself and President Librescu immediately," the secretary general instructed as he swept down a corridor.

General security picture - 3 AM, 1 March 2008

Within minutes of the declaration of war a dozen ballistic missile submarines of the Maritime Force were leaving their respective ports to join the dozen already permanently at sea, with the rest of the fleet to sail within 24 hours.

All members of the military, gendarmerie and emergency services are contacted by automated messages informing them all leave has been cancelled and they should report to their duty stations. Within an hour soldiers, airmen and sailors are arriving at major bases and dispersed depots to draw out their equipment.

Etoile Arcture seals all her borders, cancelling all commercial flights and shipping through her territory and launching combat air patrols to police it. Long-range bombers, supported by a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned combat aerial vehicles launch towards targets in Alfegos to begin a systematic precision bombing campaign to destroy all remaining Alfegosian WMD and delivery systems. Extensive jamming by electronic warfare ships, aircraft and UAVs, and aerial decoys, saturate the Alfegosian air defence nets. Drones hit radar and SAM sites deep into Alfegosian territory, while F-26s and F/A-38s bomb fixed and mobile launchers and railgun artillery sites. The small fleet of B-9A Condor stealth bombers are given the task of dropping 5,000 lb bunker-busting bombs on command centres, missile silos and even mountain-side airship hangars.

Diplomats begin sending messages across Nova and the rest of the world. In spite of the activation of her major theatre war oplans and the overwhelming firepower she intends to bring to bear, Etoile Arcture does not intend to see foreign powers reduce Alfegos to a smoking ruin. The message she sends through diplomatic channels are clear. Work together with the Free World Alliance to liberate Alfegos from the tyranny that grips her.

"This is Big Bird 2, we are taking fire from invisible AA targets. Request satellite uplink imm.."

The communication cut into high pitched white noise for a few seconds. Just above it, screams could be heard alongside the loud onboard sirens, the knell of the airship.

"Get me visual ASAP!" Thom'lin yelled at one of the communication officers in his squad, before a picture flashed up on screen from the roof video camera. The entire airship was alight, a series of explosions rippling down the side.
"Sweet Jesus..." He buried his head in his palms as the airship began sinking downwards, the envelope shredded by numerous internal explosions. Pieces of flaming debris surrounded the airship as it collapsed downwards, gracefully sinking to the ground as secondary explosions from the munitions and fuel cylinders occured. As it hit the ground, a tertiary explosion, dwarfing all the others that had taken down the beast, ripped out from its body. A massive cloud of smoke and flame reached up into the sky, pieces of metal and fabric scything from the explosion area.
"Let's just hope they got out before it went down."
All were silent for a few seconds, before a call came in.

"Sir, this is artillery: we have no confirmed hits on HQ. Big Bird 1 says all were intercepted."
"Great. Just great!"
He took in a deep breath, before flicking to another channel.
"This is Thom'lin in Milkavich, can you guys get a satellite on the area?"
"Affirmative: EITS 1 will be coming over in 2 minutes, with a 30 minute viewing period in IF and NIF."
"Thankyou."

He flicked through the comms channels, thinking deeply. He needed some firepower to crack open the EAs, yet he knew that most of the artillery were either up north or down south, pre-occupied with their own matters. Unless...
"Hub, can you get me the Thumpers?"
"Connecting..."
A tired voice came down the line.
"Yes, what is it?"
"If you are not aware, we are currently in a full-scale conflict with EA. They have just shot down an airship, and will probably shoot down another. Do you have any weaponry ready?"
"We have two Crusher guns in the main rail-station, ready to go in 2 minutes. We also have 15 Thudd guns up in the fort district, if you want us to ship them over.."
"It's fine: I'm sure you have the range from there. Get the crew ready to fire at co-ordinates on the edge of their range. Co-ordinates coming shortly..."

________________________________________

Milkavich Central Railway Station

"Move it! We've got an order coming in, and it's an express delivery!"
24 men ran across the concrete platforms from the guardhouse at the station, towards the large rail sheds on the edge of the station. Outside of them, two monstrosities were being towed out of the massive iron girdered building, dwarfing the Maglev trains on the neighbouring normal lines. Museum pieces, the Crusher guns were 500mm Railway guns, unable to travel on the maglev railways of Alfegos. But they were maintained for their power and range, making them vital assets in a city with a coast.

8 men, the communications section, were busy plotting the trajectories on this manual-aimed weapon, co-ordinates flying in from the New District. Even from here, in the Dockyards, they could see the fireball form the smashed up airship. And that was one of the smallest ones in the airfleet. Motive to hurry up.
A crane belched black fumes as it heaved one of the enourmous shells to the breech of the gun, waiting below. The crew made sure it was in correctly, before the hydraulic motor slammed the breech shut. The guns moaned as they began moving upwards towards the sky, while hydraulic stabilisers cut deep into the ground, bolted in with massive rods along the entire vehicle. The Gunnery Lieutenant yelled out.
"Firing in 3! 2! 1!"
There was an explosion to end all explosions, and a huge tongue of flame as the 3 tonne sheel was projected outwards towards the distant district that was its target. The empty case dropped out smoking, rumbling off onto the tracks to the side. A man without his ear defenders walked about dizzily as he checked the pressure gauges on the hydraulics.
Some laughed at Alfegos' decision to keep such vintage artillery, when rockets were all the rage. But Thom'lin for once was thankful that the Thumpers hadn't been disbanded yet, spread out as they were across the nation at various places where rail tracks still existed, rarely seeing action with anything bu the Thudd guns.

___________________________________________
"Big Bird 1"

"Shit! Did you just see that?" the Sensor Controller yelled out as he flashed the image of the dying airship onscreen.
"Yep, and guess what we're doing? Not going that way. Search the entire area for the enemy, and see what you can find. I'm not going the same way as them."
One of the two ship-borne engineers ran in, an AAT-87 slung over one shoulder and a crate of missiles in his hand. The other hung outside, holding a large silver unit.
"Get set up: I'll tell you where they are."

As a defence against boarding actions, the most common form of airship-airship warfare that allowed for the other airship to be taken without damage to those below and for a very valuable asset to be gained, all crews including civilians were required to carry anti-boarding weaponry, from assault rifles right up to missile launchers. Which always proved very useful in a duel role.

Outside, on a gantry slung below the airship, one of the men knelt with the launcher rested on the rail. The other was busy setting up what was apparently a LASER-marker unit. A call burst into their ears.
"We've got two bogeys: the stealth vehicles never remeber about the fact that we can track the missiles from the camera footage. There were probably more, but at lest we can make a start."
The missile launcher was loaded with an ugly-shaped TANDEM HEAT warhead, before the LASER unit was slowly rotated into place, a night-vision scope searching the area about the suspected launch area. He saw the shape of an AA vehicle hiding amongst the vehicles: very far away. He quickly checked the range, and saw it to be quite a few kilometres.
"Do we have that range?"
"Negatory. We'll move you in to get a view of the enemy, then get ready to take evasive action. This time, they won't be getting us."
The engines roared, the turbojets sending out a long tongue of heat into the dawn sky.
"We've got it! FIRE!"

The missile launcher lept as it ejected the missile, followed by the flash as the engine ignited, a jet of flame shooting from the rear. The missile disappeared off, carrying an 8kg warhead towards the enemy vehicle in the distance. Hopefully they would hit it. The range was the problem.
"Come on! Blast that bastard off the face of the planet!"

_________________________________________

The Ariskhas - Black Guard Company 5

"Disengage cargo ASAP! Enemy AA has taken out Big Bird 2, and we think you'll be next!"
The light flicked straight to green for the men sitting down, who all rapidly stood up, knowing that for their benefit they had to get out ASAP.

A stream of parachutes filled the sky behind the three helicopters as the sniper teams, numbering 32 in total, were thrown from the back of the vehicles, bracing for impacts on hard rooves and roads. As they landed, they scattered, taking to the cover of the gleaming rooftops and empty buildings, spreading out across the northern area of the district. The choppers broke off and hammered back to base quickly, as the Thudd guns began raining down 300mm shells from the distant hilltop of the fort district, behind the old mud walls of the barracks.

At 12h00 the Prevanian ambassador in Alfegos handed the government the following ultimatum:

To: Alfegos

We are greatly angered by your treatment of both Damirez and Etoile Arcture. As a result of your use of WMDs, we are forced to demand that you cease hostilities before 12h00 GMT on Wednesday the 5th of March. If these terms are not met, we will be obliged to declare war on your nation to fulfil our obligations towards EA and Damirez.

Yours sincerely,

Direktor Boris Berenovski

At the same time, a veritable fleet of Prevanian aircraft left various Prevanian airbases. Their destination - Prevenstein, the Prevanian dependancy - a move calculated to try to apply pressure on the Alfegan leadership.

Unfortunately, due to years of slim Air Force budgets, many of these planes were very elderly. Avro Vulcans, designed in the 1950s, flew alongside Tupolev Tu-160s, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23s and Sukhoi Su-25s. It was a wonder that some of these could even fly!

Station Solace 1, Alfegos - 19h00 - 4/3 -

Captain John Walker was unhappy. Anybody would be in his situation would be. He had been stuck in this secure air-harbour for some time now, as the real technitions who had come with them had modified the Alfegan airships - and they'd been forced to help to keep up appearances.

He was holding one of the devices in his hands. It was deceptively small and would fit into the palm of your hand. However, when activated, it would send a jet of molten copper into the hydrogen gasbags, igniting the highly flammable gas. At least, that was the theory; there were fears that the transmitter that set them off might not be strong enough.

Oh, well. He placed the device next to a tangle of fibre-optic wires, and, as he had done many times before, screwed it into position.

He would be immensly glad when they could drop the pretense, send the facility sky-high and get back to doing some proper soldiering.

OOC: Yowza Prevania! Read the post in the Free World Alliance forum, here (http://z11.invisionfree.com/Free_World_Alliance/index.php?showtopic=145&view=findpost&p=3647219). Ponder that before you post again.

At 12h30 the Prevanian ambassador in Alfegos handed the Alfegan government the following message (before being evacuated in a fast jet):

To: Alfegos

It is with the deepest regret that I must, following your lack of response, officially declare a state of war between our two nations. In the intrests of world stability we urge you not to use any more WMDs.

Yours with many regrets,

Direktor Boris Berenovski

In the echoing halls of the airship hanger, a security guard shivered. Even though the massive protective doors of the airship hanger, each at least 250m high, were shut tight after the arrival of the Prevanian transport, it still was cold in here.
He whistled to an ammunition tractor operator, who drove the wheeled train over and stopped. An orange flashing light cut through the darkness of the hanger, the only light provided by striplights on gantries and the corridors cut deep into the mountain rock and by massive searchlights focused on the airships being repaired in the side hangers. He sat down next to the driver, who cut into drive and hummed off again at a surprisingly rapid speed.
"What do you think of the Prevanian story about upgrading the electronics, just as Operation Whitewash starts?"
"Bullshit mate." The driver coughed, a cloud of condensation billowing into the air. They were now travelling at very high speed, the doorways and gantries flashing past. The imaged slowed when they past one of the subhangers, where the craft were actually stored: 16 aero-patrolcraft called in for refitting floated without effort above the ground, a network of girders and cables holding them in place. The Prevanians were crawling about them as well, handlights from the auxilliary staff stationed there illuminated circuitry and electronics.

They slowed as they came to the main hydrogen store: 80 000 cubic metres of hydrogen, stored at 250 bar in massive tanks. So great was the pressure in those tanks that the hydrogen concealed inside was a liquid, pent in by thick, thick titanium walls. The dappled black effect was the CFR on the tanks, the tension of the operation in this ideal for the use of such a material.
"I'll be off now. Thanks for the ride"
"Anytime. Anytime."

Here it was much warmer, and another security guard was pacing about. Being private contractors, they used foreign weapons: MP5 submachine guns hung on straps, with TASERNET pistols in their belts. The aeromarines were the ones who dealt with external security, and being a valuable resource they were only used when absolutely necessary.
He leant against the wire mesh fence, the rolls of razor wire hanging threateningly above, lighting up a cigarette. As he inhaled, he noticed a small black device inside, next to one of the tanks. He pressed his fingerprint against the pad to the side of the door, and entered the outer confines of the hydrogen tanks. Here, as well as the control unit in a sealed room, were a network of pipes leading off to the seperate hangers and refuelling station in the centre of the grand cavern. Where the biggest of airships, all since reallocated, were held for repairs and for resupplying.
He bent down by one of the tanks, and saw it was expertly attached to the fibre-optic control network of the hanger.

He reached for his radio.
"This is Sierra Oscar Niner One: I have found a suspicious device attached to pipes in the fuel farm. Requesting a bomb disposal team, over."
"Affirmative. We'll have one there in 5 minutes."
"5 MINUTES! This isn't exactly a drill!"
"Calm down. That is the time we'll have until then, secure your position and be on the lookout for more dangerous packages."

There was a small bang, and then a loud hiss. He saw the device had just punched a hole straight through the pipe, and saw the rest of the pipe buckle as the highly-pressurised hydrogen found its weakpoint. That was when he noticed the glowing cigarette in his mouth. Oh shit...
A flame appeared, and rapidly elongated. As another small bang ruptured one of the 10 000 m^3 tanks, the flame turned blue, before expanding rapidly outwards.

_____________________________________________

After that, it was a simple matter of the explosion spreading, helped along the way by the charges the Prevanians had set. Another security officer at Ammunition Dump 1 was busy admiring how the bomb was artfully attached to the fibre optics, when he heard a roar. 4 kilometres away, a burnt body was thrown out by a massive explosion, the cloud of blue flame blown outwards at high speed down the bunker towards him. The burning air reached him and ignited the armaments in a final explosion, coupled with the final failing of the hydrogen fuel farm.

Across Alfegos, and even in Milkavich, all ceased what they were doing when they heard the explosion. 150kT estimated equivalence in TNT. Enough to destroy the mountain utterly. Inside, almost no-one was aware of their deaths, nearly instant in the explosion and deadly heat. Airships crumbled before collapsing in flames, fuel aboard igniting form the inside, the helium doing nothing to extinguish the flames. The shockwave and flames hit the hanger doors, and effortlessly blew the 8000 tonne sheets of steel off. Forest caught fire as the explosion finally spread out, incinerating the lower-level camp, to the applause of the minefields detonating in the heat.

The destruction was not over yet. The entire mountain began to collapse, the 10km deep artificial cavern weakened or even punched thorugh by the explosion. A landslide of rocks, some the size of apartment blocks, began tumbling down the slope, following the course of the newly-formed gorge in the mountainside and pouring into the burning areas below. Underneath a tomb of rocks a kilometre thick, a total of 90 airships of assorted class, all escorts or sensorcraft, lay ruined and unusable. A blow to Alfegos worth billions if not trillions of dollars. All gone in a blast, a tongue of flattened and burning forest extending from the mountainside. A ball of boiling black smoke punched upwards into the sky, reaching the stratosphere and flattening out. A mushroom cloud, a mock image of what a country attacked by Alfegos in such a way would have done in retaliation.

”And then there was silence…”

What was the worth of the trillions that the Principality spent on its ABM systems? What was the worth of the thousands of hours invested by tireless men and women in designing the systems? What was the worth of allies and friends that stabbed you in the back? What was the worth of the mothers that would grieve, of fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters unable to do anything to save a loved one? What was the worth of the pain that was to embrace the nation, so tightly that few will escape her grasp? What was the worth of all..?

Those were the questions that many in Damirez asked of themselves as the missiles hit. For all the paranoia and precautions took by the country, a simple flaw and trust led to this outcome. ”Betrayal!” the hearts of the people sang, ”Betrayal!” a word laced with hatred, with thoughts of vengeance and retaliation, a word on the lips of many. The nation was to mourn for its fallen, for those unjustly slain by the unforgiving bullets of the crazed Alfegans, by the desire of a dictator tainted by madness.

Oh, how sweet despair called to them, no solace, no kindness in her touch.

The fatal mistake, the error that would have its price in the lives of many took but a few minutes to be corrected, ”They had the assets,” swarms of missiles and interceptors preparing to pounce on enemy missiles, the brilliant pebble network waiting in orbit replacing it initials losses in the first encounter, laser and missile assets ready for the kill. Yet it did no good… no matter how many stood guard, no matter how many laid in wait for a second wave, the first strike could not be undone and the consequences of that were dire.

It didn’t take long for the Damirans to collect and identify the biological agents used by the Alfegans, military and civilian installations receiving samples within a hour after the strike and some cases even faster. The results were terrifying. The agent that the Alfegans used was by no means a national wide threat, vaccines and medication making mortality rates significantly lower than what they would have been so many years ago, but prompt action had to be taken, this did nothing to alleviate the worst fears of the Specialists.

”And the stars are dying…”

For a normal adult, the probability of surviving the virus was high, extremely so, the Healthcare system took care of securing that, but for the children… for the children and those of age, the chances of surviving once infected were so much lower, so much that it made many cringe at the thought. The pain of loosing a child was something no parent should endure and in the nine north western cities hit by missiles that slid past the various ABM networks, this seemed to be an unavoidable reality.

Quarantine was immediately instated in the affected areas, air filters and anti microbe soap quickly dispatched and distributed to the populace, a massive cleaning operation commencing, the use of bleach and burning clothes a common occurrence, whilst hospitals went into overridrive, thousands and thousands of possible patients being tested for the deadly virus.

The logistical effort placed in fighting the microscopic menace was however not the only effort that the Principality was making…

--

”How could this happen!?” the voice of President Librescu deafened his subordinates and colleagues, the shock on his face clear to all. ”We invested billions, no trillions to avoid a scenario just like this one and look at where it got us! What happened? I want answers!” the president had lost his calm, anger getting the better of him as he smashed a cup of coffee on his desk, the brown liquid splattering on his unbuttoned shirt a piece of glass cutting his skin, small droplets of blood finding their way to the ground.

Finally, with great reluctance Flavius Belisarius ventured forward to provide a reply. This was not his area of expertise, but with the people in charge of the ABM system handling the eventuality of a second strike, he was the only one with enough expertise to provide a satisfying answer, ”We were too confident in our systems,” he started, drawing Librescus eyes to his face, the intensity in those eyes enough to scare even a seasoned veteran like himself, ”And we left a gap, a gap that otherwise was not supposed to exist,” then in what was almost a resigned voice he added, ”It could have all been avoided.”

The expression on Librescus face left no room for guesses, the man was seething before in what seemed to be a superhuman effort he calmed himself and spoke again, ”You’re telling me that all of this,” he pressed a few buttons a holographic map of the nine hit cities appearing in front of him, ”Could have been avoided!?” his fist tightened, ”That it was human error that allowed for all of this to happen!?” just below the surface anger awaited but a moment to take over the man, the consequences perhaps catastrophic for this was a man that had the authority to wield a nuclear arsenal able to wipe out more than a few countries of the face of the Earth.

”In all fairness,” Admiral Al’Hamil intervened decisively, ”This was a contingency with a very low probability, it has been taken into account, but the trajectory of those missiles made things difficult, nobody expected Alfegos to launch missiles at us,” her words had a calming effect on Librescu, despite the fact that they brought nothing new to the table, they just offered time for the leader to exert as much self control as he could over his already strained nerves.

”I want the Alfegan dictators dead,” he cut through the silence that permeated the room after Fatima’s reply. ”These wastes of a human flesh don’t deserve to live.” Nobody argued…

--

”No rest for the weary,” the Damiran president commented bitterly as the emergency conference came to a halt. There was still much to be done and he had no intentions of resting until his duties were fulfilled. The citizens of the Principality needed to know what happened, for even if the News Channels, the Interned and radio spread the word of the heinous crime it was his duty to inform the nation.

As he headed towards the podium where he was to make his speech minor arrangements were made to his otherwise rugged look, the stained shirt still on him and a bandage on his hand. Finally, as the cameras came to life, he started his speech.

”My fellow Damirans,” slow, almost as if a great weight was pressing on his very soul, ”As you very well know, for the past few weeks a state of increased hostility has existed between our nation and the nation of Alfegos, a state which we did nothing to incite, a state that escalated based on the hatred that only a few in the Alfegan government had towards us. I will not discuss the deluded dreams of a maniac, the hatred he perhaps thought to use as an excuse for attempting to hit at the very heart of our nation, for the results of all that are clear.

Even as you listen to my words, Damiran citizens are arrested in Alfegos, for no other fault than being Damirans! And if this were not enough, less than one hour ago Ballistic Missiles were launched against our soil.

As a result a state of war now exists between the Principality of Damirez and Alfegos, and we assure you that those responsible for the attacks on several Northern Damiran cities will be brought to justice!”

It wasn’t by far the inspiring speech he had hoped to give, but all those that could see him, watch him or otherwise read his words knew that the man had no time with chosen words and eloquent sentences, the nation was at war and it needed its president.

No sooner that the live transmission ended that Librescu started tending to other urgent matters, matters that he had delayed tending to the after effects of the Alfegan missile strike. Matters such as the announcements of the Colonial Union for which Librescu shortly drafted a response,

The Principality of Damirez recognizes and offers its support to the Colonial Union.

President Liviu Librescu

It was an unusual short reply, but more detailed announcements could be made at a later date, for now the time of the president being a very precious asset. And as the message was sent, his assistant immediately patched him up with the leader of the Technocracy, the oldest ally of The Principality.

--

For those on the frontlines of this war, the fighting was only starting. Already the troops in Polinas started moving, missiles and planes departing the base one after another with frightening speeds towards various targets in Alfegos. There would be no place left for the enemy forces to hide in.

The first wave of planes had the delicate task of removing remaining AA installations after the initial missile strike, paving the way for bombers and fighters to do they own job and dominate the sky. Their main advantage in this endeavor was stealth and a good knowledge of the terrain and facilities across Polinas, home of the Damiran units for so many years now.

Even though the Alfegans commenced hostilities by launching ICBMs at the Damiran homeland, the troops stationed in Polinas were surprisingly silent and as a result the Air Force of the Principality seized the initiative, airports and military bases targeted for destruction as a high priority mission alongside that of annihilating the AA facilities. Those precious minutes allowed the Damirans to strike first, and by doing so giving them the perfect opportunity to direct their missiles at various locations that would have otherwise challenged control over the region, including many facilities suspected of housing weapons of the nuclear kind.

But even as the situation looked favorable to the Damiran flyers, those at HQ weren’t fooled, interceptors taking to the sky, the chance of the desperate Alfegans using WMDs against the base a frightening concept, one that they had no intention to allow themselves open towards.

”If it flies and it’s not ours shoot it down!” the orders spoke clearly and considering the earlier use of weapons by the Alfegans well understood. Nobody wanted to see if they could survive a nuke over their heads.

On the ground, the story was a bit different. With frightening speed the units assembled and deployed, IFVs and tanks leaving the premises of the facility, above them attack helicopters watching. Already UAVs and recon choppers were doing their job and mapping possible opposition, engaging targets of opportunity closely cooperating with mobile artillery units and missile batteries. The firepower involved in the strikes some of these recon teams called upon enough to break entire companies.

Firepower was something that the troops had in spades, and only one call was enough to unleash it and those calls were being made, after all there was plenty of ammo for the MLRSs and the howitzers weren’t shy of performing MRSIs after MRSIs.

Oh yes, the Alfegans were going to feel that in the morning.

--

On the sea, the ships of the Principality continued their relentless bombardment, more and more launching platforms contributing to the missile rain that was hitting the Alfegan facilities. There was to be no pause to this as more and more ships entered the required range to unleash their deadly packages.

From the various carriers assembled in the fleet that now had the task of neutralizing Alfegan opposition plane after plane departing towards the enemy shores, the ships avoiding to activate any of their radar systems, after all the location of the capital ships was not to be revealed since the risk of enemy coastal missile batteries was present. Besides, the AWACS systems provided enough coverage together with the UAVs so that the networked system of the Damiran fleet allowed the surface ships to sail in the ‘dark’. It was true that this revealed the approximate location of the fleet, but given the overwhelming superiority of the Principality Navy, it was hard to believe that they could afford to actually search for the exact location, and without the location there was only so much that the enemy could do.

The launch of enemy SAMs was something the Damiran pilots were prepared for. Without any obvious target amongst the strike wings due to the stealth designs of the planes and the fact that none of their radars were active, the pilots relying on passive radars, avoiding targeting by the enemy batteries, the only targets available were the AWACS and the UAVs, continuous bleeps on any enemy radar. However, given the distance to the enemy, there was enough time to deploy countermeasures against incoming missiles, protecting these valuable assets. ECM warfare was not something new for the Damirans and if needed any signal directing enemy missiles could be jammed at a moments notice. At the same time, should the enemy missiles use their own radars to paint their targets the outer pickets of the various carrier attack groups were just waiting to perform their duties.

For now the navy would continue its campaign of strikes against the Alfegan military installations, perhaps paving the way for a future offensive coming in from the waves, perhaps just shattering the resolve of the enemy. Either way, the Alfegan High Command had no way of knowing what was going to happen.

Emergancy lights shot up across the constellation of Alfegos in the High Command centre, showing Damirean units moving in from about Polinas and starting to strike from the sea in the East. In Polinas, silos were turning colour from green to red, before disappearing all together.

"Before they destroy every single one, I want to you to use whatever you can to shut up the Damireans in Polinas. Whatever you can. Then try and get some meaningful strikes on the Damirean fleet, before they get too close."

The protector was angry at losing some of his capabilities, and above all the surprise attacks on installations in Polinas. Then a dreadful truth hit him.

"What's the situation in Nos'vi?"

_______________________________________________

0310
Polinas Province

4 Divisions of the Alfegan army were stationed in Polinas province: a total of about 50 000 men, all starting to wake up. The surprise raid by Damirez had spurred them into action, and got them to start retaliating. Though on high alert, they had not expected the sudden strikes.

At Station Polinas 1, screams came along with air-raid sirens as soldiers sprinted to defensive positions across the regimental complex, autocannons and missiles beginning to churn from the stationary and mobile AA defences just coming to life. But the damage was done: soldiers lay wounded or dead inside shattered barracks; the massive garages of armoured vehicles were engulfed in maelstroms of flame; entire squadrons lay destroyed on the runway, some in flame as the pilots tried to eject from the infernos of their disabled craft, blackened hands hitting against flame-licked cockpit windows as ejection mechanisms were lost in the flames.
As the men began trying to consolidate their losses, a call came in for them to prepare for more trouble: it appeared that they were using the old sledgehammer and nut theory.

Other stations lay shattered, as over 2100 men lay dead in the sudden strikes. Woken up by the chaos about them, commanders began to try and restore control over the situation, digital maps plotting the projected movement to fortify the province against the inbound threats: for a start, the naval bombardment. The rumour was that the Damireans weren't to be much of a threat any more.
_______________________________________________
0315
Milkavich Province
Silo 32

A small missile, a midget compared to those fired at Damirez, hurtled out of the hanger and towards the Damirean military base in Polinas. It was a Sledgehammer cruise missile, named after its use to crack comparably small targets with its warhead: a 5kT nuclear bomb. The rest of it was taken up with counter-measures, attempting to confuse any sensors to stop them finding this deadly device. Skipping across the sky at high speed, it began to dive in towards its target.

________________________________________________
0315
Nos'Vi Naval base

The bombs that had fallen on the naval base, spreading confusion about and moving men to the AA defences and ships in the bay, had been the signal for the resistance to begin. The Democratic Underground, bent on preserving democracy in Alfegos, had come to start the first step in that process.

"Careful now: we don't want to be seen."

The lorry rumbled down the road, the three men in the front preparing themselves mentally for the task at hand. Though Fego Mart was the insignia of the lorry, it definitely was not carrying groceries. The university of Nos'vi had many a democratic-supporting scientist as well students, and the offspring of a fusion research programme had led to the weapon in the back of the truck, now parked next to the chain-link fence of the outer area. They stepped out onto the dark tarmacadam, one carrying a radio control set, antenna hanging off precariously. It was a one-shot weapon, which hopefully would work as intended.

"Charging capacitors... there we go!" A green light appeared on the control unit. "Firing...NOW!"

There was a loud fizzle of sparks inside the back of the lorry, yet that was drowned out by a massive explosion, as 50kg of RDX exploded. Pieces of lorry rained down everywhere, along with the remains of complicated coils and burning acid capacitors. Behind the house, the people breathed a sigh of relief: the mobile unit had just died in their hands, strangely warm to touch. If that wasn't a clue as to what had happened, the lights in a massive swath of the city had just cut out. In the distance, a second explosion.

Across the naval base, there were loud cries, followed by even more cries of distress and despair: for they had not been expecting what had just been detonated. One phrase though was common throughout the furious soldiers.
"Who said the Damireans wouldn't have a fucking EMP?!"

Using the cover of night, 40 Avro Vulcans and 8 Tu-144s took off - their mission: to destroy all Alfegan RADAR and AA to prepare for the Air-Fleet.

All was going well, until ...

"Theta 1, this is Alpha 7, I am picking up 4 aero-patrolcraft in front of us. Permission to engage, sir?"

"Permission granted. All Vulcans, move to attack the airships. Us Tupelovs will continue to Polinas."

20 km from the airships, disaster struck. Metal fatigue finally caught up with one of the Vulcans. A crack appeared in the deltoid wings, splitting open the fuel tank. As teh pilot fough to regain control, fuel spilled over the rest of the formation. Within seconds, most windscreens were blinded by the liquid, and several burnouts occured. As the affected crews dropped behind, the remaining Vulcans sped on.

"S*** AAMs!!! Break right! break right!"

Two of the lumbering bombers were too slow and were ripped apart by the deadly missiles.

The rest reformed and continued on their (seemingly) inexorable path.

"Beta 7, this is Theta 2. Your airspace is now clear. The airships are aloneand do not either appear to be launching missiles or taking evasive action."

"That's strange. I've just lost 2 to enemy AAMs. Anyway, commencing attack run now...

F***!!! Were did those fighters come from?!?"

"Tracking...we've got the inbound aircraft on screen."
"Begin launching, over."

At the fortress of Sol'vi, an island in the centre of Zevkhay bay, commands sped across, radiating outwards to all the coastal weaponry in Zevkhay province, commands spewing forth from computers and radio receptors. Commands to destroy.

25km from Il'vi, Missile Battery 92 began to lock onto the Vulcans approaching a routine patrol of 4 aero-patrolcraft. A standard formation, to be used against them. Two tubes exploded open, firing off a pair of ultra-long range SAMs, each equipped with an angular fragmentation warheads, enough to destroy large formations. And with a live feed from the aero-patrolcraft that even included GPS co-ordinates, they were guaranteed to hit.

__________________________________

"This is Patrol 7, we are encountering enemy aircraft! We are only lightly armed, and are requesting immediate support."
"We have an aero-frigate 20 klicks from you: do you wish for that support or SAM support?"
"Either, just get them before we're obliterated!"

Aero-frigate N-02 detected the enemy bogies, before locking onto them using the aeropatrolcraft sensors. Easy to destroy with the almost exclusive armament of airship-air missiles, hybrids between SAMs and AAMs. Still, with a swarm of 20 headed out towards the formation at high speed, weaving around to avoid countermeasure devices. At the same time, one of the aero-patrolcraft began opening fire with a 7.62 machinegun, feebly trying to use the HE Tracer rounds to destroy the enemy targets.

"This is a broadcast to attacking party: desist or we will pursue you outside territorial waters. Remember what we did to Damirez before you make up your minds."

A 2-stage Flak missile exploded amongst the swarm, showering red-hot shrapnel in all directions.

The Vulcan mission was going badly. They were now down to 17.

"Vulcans, this is Theta 1, we see you have problems. Coming in now."

"Thanks"

The Tupelovs turned round and arrowed straight at the floundring Vulcans. Until they were also hit by a missile.

"Alpha 1, we have a major problem. We have just been hit by an EMP missile and have lost all systems. Sorry, we can't help you."

"S***!! I see you!! Pull up!!! Pull up!!!"

"Why? What's wr..."

At that very moment, the tupolovs, completely disorientated, flew majestically straight into the sea.

"Vulcans, this is Aero-patrolcraft 1346, are you sure you don't want to give up now? Your tupelovs have just ploughed into the ocean. We got some very amusing pictures."

"Go to hell!"

"I fear that it is you who may be doing that. Good luck"

The enemy air attack was slowly and strategically being demolished by the air defences below. While the aero-patrolcraft moved on along their patrol, snapping pictures and filming dramatic footage of the enemy destruction, the arriving aero-frigate had come into short-range missile range.

With a roar, an entire cell towards the rear of the airship burst open, releasing an angry swarm of 16 CQD AAMs. Each was guided easily towards their prey by an ARH system, with a radiation-guided backup to foil even the most cunning of anti-RADAR systems. Following them was a trail of magenta tracer, fired from one of the Aero-frigate's 4 35mm autocannon turrets. Mixed in with the bright tracer were No.9 HEAP rounds: armed with a delay fuse and a high-explosive charge, they could pretty easily rip through the enemy targets and deploy a lethal explosive charge inside the vehicle.

The battle was starting to come closer to shore though: below, more missile batteries and LY470 Skyguard vehicles were being prepared to take on the enemy threat, alongside the few remaining flak cannons. A massacre would ensue at any moment, as gun crews rushed to their stations amidst a wail of sirens and the muffled roars of explosions above.

Somewhere in New District, Milkavich - 2:20 AM, 1 March 2008

"Get out. We've got to get out!"

The voice drift from Convoy from so far away he almost mistook it for a dream. The world felt warm and he was smothered in blackness. Conway felt so sleepy, and if not for a sharp pungent smell invading his nostrils he would have succumbed fully to that state. Finally, with a near-superhuman effort Conway forced open his eyelids and begun to focus his eyes. Immediately he screwed them shut again to protect them from a blinding light shining painfully into his momentarily exposed retinas. The afterimage was dancing behind his eyelids as the voice continued to harrass him.

"Conway! We have to get out of here!" a voice was shouting. "Now!"

Without warning, a sharp pain in his side made Conway startle, his eyes opening reflexively now as the pungent smell became a bitter taste in his mouth. He was coughing now, every convulsion of his chest causing his side to flare with pain. And above all, it was getting hot. Uncomfortably hot.

"Bail out!" the voice screamed at him, and it was then that it him.

Number Three ship was lying on its side on fire. And he was still inside it.

Fear finally motivated the air defence artilleryman as he grappled with his safety restraint, feeling the webbing of the harness dig into his flesh as he struggled. With a punch of the release clasp he was finally freed from the embrace of the webbing. Conway's next conscious thought was sinking to his knees to cough out his lungs in the freezing night.

"Ruiz..." the man croaked between coughs.

"Steiner and Nordstrom are dead," the driver explained flatly, turning his gaze away from the nearby Ship Five. Flames roaring and ravaging the upturned chassis of like vultures picking bones clean. Ruiz's eyes were focused elsewhere as a distant rumble resounded through the air.

Conway could hear the sound too, turning his head like an owl wound to find the source. "What's that?"

"They're shelling Capstone," Ruiz told him as another rumble filled the air. "Not long before medevac gets here. Let's just hope we'll have somewhere to be evacuated to..." his voice trailing off to merge with the sound of distant thunder.

Security Base Capstone, New District, Milkavich - 2:22 AM, 1 March 2008

The room shook again, a light dusting falling from the ceiling o nthe machinery and personnel. Even through thirty metres of reinforced concrete and blast doors separate them from each impact even those safe within the subterranean Tactical Operations Centre could feel the force as another shell crashed down somewhere above them.

The bombardment had barely begun sixty seconds ago and already it had wrought its own devastation. A hardened aircraft shelter with a pair of quad tiltrotors inside had been hit. It was unlikely anyone or anything had survived. Runway Eight Victor was now inoperative thanks to an enormous 50 metre wide crater produced by one of the shells. A barracks house had been hit with unknown casualties. Crews had rushed there in spite of the bombardment. Flames were spurting a hundred metres into the sky from a fuel dump that had been hit. Toxotes point defence guns were opening up on every round, but their 30 mm rounds simply didn't have the sheer kinetic energy to knock or deflect the monster 500 mm artillery shells the Alfegosians were firing at them.

Colonel Jannier ignored the gentle vibration of her work station as another of the monster artillery shells impacted. Not because she was isolated from the storm raging above her head, but because she needed to concentrate all her energies on finding and eliminating this threat.

"Dear Hubbard! It's a monster," someone in the room gasped as the grainy video from one of the MQ-9B Reaper UAVs begun streaming on to the large situation display. The monster in question, an enormous artillery piece, had been towed out on what appeared to be a railway carriage. Its long barrel hoisted up and pointing back towards Capstone many miles away. Without warning a tongue of flame and smoke belched out as another round was fired, the picture filling with static as the shockwave hit the drone flying high above.

Jannier toggled the transmit button on her headset and gave a simple order. "Grease the fucker."

A pair of AQ-39B Clarions flying racetrack patterns fifty kilometres both executed turns towards Milkavich, their secure and jam-resistant two-way datalinks streaming targetting data from the Reaper drone and Capstone. The onboard computers instructed its sensors to turn towards the target area, pointing a hyperspectral array that simultaneously gathered and processed 300 spectral bands that enabled the machine to spot the most subtle incongruity against a natural background. At the same time it began shinning UHF radar pulses that merged seamlessly into the background radiation environment to image the target area. The mission planning software calibrated its attack profile using sensors, INS and GPS to produce final targeting coordinates. These were then handed over to the stores management system over a Safenet optical databus and programmed into the memory of each GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb carried in the unmanned aircraft's conformal weapons bay.

While still only forty kilometres away the smooth arrowhead shape of the vehicle was broken up as the sawtooth edges of the single bomb bay separated and the pneumatic release mechanisms of two BRU-61/A weapon racks sprung into ready position. The eight bombs carried by each Clarion weighed only 285 pounds each containing a 50 lb high explosive warhead inside a 200 lb forged casing, but containing the destructive power of a conventional 2,000 pound bomb. Each Small Diameter Bomb dropped away rapidly, rolling over and deploying diamond back wings to increase their stand-off range. Now free-flying the bombs would steer towards the coordinates locked in their memory, gliding through the night with a blind ambivalence and unstoppable intent to destroy.

"Incoming! Take cover!"

As one of the cannons roared again, the silence following was filled with the unmistakable whine of a bomb coming in to hit. The men rapidly scarpered: they did not want to be here when those hit. A few seconds later, there was an explosion as a pair of bombs detonated, blasting the railway carriage the first gun was on into pieces. With stabilisers gone, the gun keeled over, the dark shape of the barrel looming above the retreating men. With a shudder, and a choking dust-cloud, the gun crashed into the ground, leaving a huge crack in the concrete platforms. The others began raining down through the roof of the storage hanger, a volley of explosions causing the massive structure to start collapsing, while inside a fire began reaching towards the ordinance dump...

______________________________

Ghjon was sitting in a seat on the crowded train: around him, he was very aware of the hundreds of others squashed into the train. He had taken the last train to Milkavich from New Zevkhay, attempting to find a hiding place in the mountains, until the government stopped taking Damireans off the street. Especially since his wife and child were, technically, Damirean nationals. Then they had fallen asleep as they stopped at Ol'Vi...
He diverted his eyes away from the security guard standing by the carriage door to the dark landscape outside: with the calm evening lighting of the carriage, he was able to see the cityscape stretching out away from him. He had never been here before, but still was surprised at the level of smoke, even at this time.

Then he started hearing yells. He whipped around to behind him, just in time to see a massive flash in the distance: an airship had just crashed and burned. A fearful sight of flames licking into the sky, amongst the many buildings in the distance.

After the security guard restored order, they rode in silence, looking at the dreadful display in the distance of explosions and fire in fear. What was happening?
"Ghjon... what do you reckon's going on? Do you think we'll be able to get out of here?"
"I don't know, my love. I really don't know."

They were awakened as they drew towards the station by a barricade across their track. The driver had stopped, the train now sunk onto the magnetic track, and was busy gesticulating wildly at a uniformed soldier. Behind him, there was a roar and tonuge of flame as what appeared to be a massive gun fired. He sat watching them for a minute, before he noticed people running wildly. The driver was running past, hitting at the open buttons on each carriage door. People screamed as explosions shook the train, almost crushing Ghjon, his wife and the baby wrapped in a blanket. He stood up, shielding the other two, and smashed the train window. He felt sharp pain as the window cut his arm, but was rewarded by the pane crumbling out. He lifted his wife and baby out, before leaping out himself. In the shelter of the platform, they ran along, shadowed from the heat. A building had collapsed near the guns, and pieces of debris were raining down around them.

A sudden dive as they came to a recess in the platform underside, where they stayed to rest.
"I think it's OK now..."
He was interrupted as the 50 tonnes of explosives in that shed exploded. Pieces of platform ripped themselves off, and Ghjon's eyes popped, his eardrums most definately ruptured. Above him, flame and shockwaves rippled past, hellish messangers of the chaos above. Suddenly, it was all over, hearing muffled in a sea of confusion. Half-burnt bodies lay everywhere, people caught as they ran. Around him, he could see only smoke. Buildings were missing, pieces of rubble lying there instead. He hugged his wife to him, shaking uncontrollably, and began limping over the disgusting scene towards a shattered slope: the only route from here. He clambered up it, a struggle in the concussed state he was in, towards a bright flashing light coming closer: the ambulance and fire services were coming to make it all better.

Smiling, he collapsed unconscious on the edge of the crater that was spread across the station, the remains of 829 people lying about him, slightly smouldering, clothes stained with sickly blood.

___________________________

"You got him! Get the one to them: they'll have woken up to that!"

He hefted the launcher again, another missile slid into the rear of it. Raised towards the general target, he depressed the trigger. Another jolt, another burst of flame, and the missile had flown off into the distance, following the invisible line of the LASER marker.

"I'm not taking a chance now! Go grab the parachutes from the main gondola, and fill me in on what's going on everywhere. Just in case we can be slightly useful."

Polinas. Outer Perimeter

The Damiran military installations in Alfegos were by no stretch of imagination unimportant. Home to almost one hundred thousand soldiers they stretched on miles and miles the location considered by High Command as one of strategically importance in the event of a military conflict involving outer regional powers. This time however, just as a few years before, the base was geared up against an internal threat. It was the communists that led to the establishment of this base and it was the communist that changed the perspective of the local commanders. Now the communist uprising was just a bad memory, one that paled compared to the nightmare that was unfolding.

”Roger that, moving to investigate,” one of the pilots on board one of the many planes safeguarding the base reported to his squadron leader. Their squadron was one of the two dispatched to the south of the Polinas province following the advanced warning given by reconnaissance as a result of the suspicious traces discovered by a satellite above Alfegos. There was no doubt in the mind of anyone that the Alfegans wouldn’t hesitate to use nuclear weapons if given the chance. They did it before and against their own soil to boot!

”Got it! Coming in fast!” one of them spotted the inbound missile on his radar. ”Bloody hell, it’s a fast little critter!” he half whispered half yelled. The missile was obviously packed with ECM equipment seeing as even the latest generation RADARs had issues in keeping track of it. ”Let’s take it out!” the man announced his intentions a bit too enthusiastically in the opinion of his squadron the obvious connections already made in their minds. For a missile that side to pack so much equipment it was clear that there was no way for it to have a normal warhead, the previous scares provided by the Alfegan ICBMs pointed at Damirez making them worried about what that missile could be carrying.

”Proceed Blue 3,” the squadron commander replied to his subordinate, authorizing the plane to engage the missile and take it down. It was after all the task for which they were deployed for in the first place and even if their fears proved to be unjustified it still meant one missile aimed at a Damiran encampment or even worse at civilians was taken out of commission. It took little effort afterwards for the pilot to get a lock on the missile as it sped towards them even though the ‘Sledgehammer’ as the missile was identified had a fair share of tricks to avoid this. For their efforts the pilots were rewarded with a fireworks display as the enemy missile was taken out of action, and the squadron leader was quick to make a call, ”Send a team at these coordinates,” the input was almost instantaneous, ”We need to know what type of warhead they were using.”

--

Polinas

All across the province missiles and jets sped towards various targets. Explosion after explosion rocked the countryside and all Alfegan military installations received hit after hit. The opening strike revealed the fact that the Alfegan army was simply put unprepared for conflict. Perhaps the situation was specific to Polinas, but it mattered little for the Damiran commanders. As a result of this many of the capabilities that the enemy had in the region were taken out and their AA system reduced to isolated batteries, the hopeless opposition attempted by some of them only serving to reveal their location to the attackers, cruiser missiles from both the sea and land aimed at the now revealed emplacements.

And amongst the chaos the Damiran Army managed to deploy, various units pointed at the Alfegan bases using the confusion created by the air strike to pounce on those units of the enemy that were not engaged with artillery fire. It was not the usual battle scenario that those fighting for the Principality prepared for, but in the end an enemy was an enemy and they were to do all that was required to do in order to achieve victory.

However, even with all the commotion in Polinas, a close eye was kept on the other parts of the country; the problems faced by the Etoilean allies not an unknown to those coordinating the troop movement. ”What do you mean they’re shelling the Etoileans?” one of the officers in charge with operations for the south of Polinas inquired the intelligence officer at the end of the line. ”Estimates?” As the woman relayed the information she had available the man started swearing loudly. ”Damn, that has to go down!”

--

Battle Group Achilles

With the increasing amount of ordinance used by the Principality against Alfegos it was only a matter of time before the Achilles got called to the scene. Flag ship of the Northern Fleet the carrier and its battle group were west of Alfegos when the shooting started and up till now had seen little action, finding itself out of range to be able to do anything. Hours later the situation had changed as the ship made haste to enter the battle field. Now the ship was in a perfect position to provide assistance to its allies in Milkavich.

”Sortie!” one of those aboard the carrier yelled as the alarm woke up the pilots. For the past day they took off from the Achilles at a frightening rate, the captain insisting to keep up a few birds at all times cautious of the possibility that the Alfegans could attempt something. While this precautionary policy provided the carrier the extra protection it was also quite taxing on the pilots as they had to deal not only with flying all around the day, but also with landing at night on the carrier. As a testimony to their skill there were no accidents so far, and the pilots were quite optimistic about the situation, but as the days of continuous flight were only just starting.

Now with the carrier in position to join the fray it was obvious what was about to happen. This sortie was different from the others, this time they knew for certain that they were about to engage their enemy and the briefing told them as much, ”Expect stiff resistance.” They were to hook up with any available Etoilean forces and provide air support for the units pounded by the Alfegan artillery.

Two squadrons took off from the Achilles, both of them sent towards the mainland with the task of aiding the allies Damirez had there.

While the north of the country was wracked by a Damirean counter attack that the military struggled to deal with, slowly being crushed by the awakening beast, the rest of the country was far from unprepared. To the south, the missile batteries,airship hangers and RADAR stations built deep into the mountains were all very much aware of the chaos up north, and had been commited to a Lockdown strategy: they were sacrificing the north of the country in exchange for the safety of the rest. As explosions roared to the north, batteries of weapons locked onto fast-moving missiles and aircraft, tracking every move. Anything that came over the border line defined as the start of the province was immediately opened upon with excessive firepower, to prevent a breakthrough by the Damireans.

Across the command screen of the Northern Front, little red dots showed the destruction reaked by the swarm of fighters marked across the screen. And to the west, near the city of Milkavich where a battle had erupted in the city centre, small dots were coming in fast on the edge of the screens. Circles erupted around them as the ULR batteries locked, followed by the sudden appearance of 6 fast-moving dots eminating from a battery near the coast: the Splinter missiles had been unleashed. Homing in on the enemy air formation that danced about the screen crazily, each one held a warhead of size enough to cause decent damage to an enemy squadron. And each could rely on radiation homing to follow an enemy squadron should it try to dance with them.
In addition, the shorter-ranged AA batteries spaced along the coast were being prepared for a possible invasion from the coast, the guns and missiles raised for an attack from outside.

_______________________________________________

To the north, the battles were beginning to end: Alfegan forces still operational in the north were waning from the onslaught, death, injury and desertion crippling the army up north. Most from here though were recruited in the area, and with strong Damirean ties an estimated 20% of the 200 000 troops in the north had swapped sides to Damirez.

Further south in Zevkhay province, the armies were preparing to dig in: the Lockdown tactic meant for a war of attrition, and of long-range stand-offs.

”… reports coming in from across the province…”

”… collapse of enemy resistance…”

”… ammo expenditure above expected parameters…”

It was as if a thousand voices screamed for his attention, the constant noise stressing him even further, beyond what this conflict managed to do. It was ironic that this war found him at the front lines. True, the country expected for this base to be a first line defence against outer regional threats against Nova, but nobody expected that the threat was to come from the inside and from someone they considered an ally top boot. Amazing really what a madman can do. With a weary voice and a cup of coffee in his hand he asked a question, one he already knew he’d regret.

”Status report,” the one he asked was busy looking at several screens, soaking up data from various areas of the region.

”Everything progresses according to plan, Sir. Isolated pouches of Alfegan resistance are being removed, various units are joining us and whatever loyalists there are left are running south.” A small frown marred the officer’s features as he took another look at the screen, ”We’re also facing slight problems regarding our supplies; we’re expending ammo at a much faster ratio than what we were expecting.”

It was obvious that asking his troops to fire less in this inferno was not something he was thinking to do, but with virtually every truck and vehicle required for the logistic effort there was little he could do to mend the situation. This was actually Achilles’ heel for the base. Given its nature and location it was expected that in the event of any invasion it would cooperate with the Alfegan military, preventing any breech in the lines and maintaining a relatively small area of the front lines under supervision. The previous communist conflict was insufficient to point this flaw, given the fact that the Alfegans had then cooperated, but now it was only too obvious that the base was in a risky situation.

”There’s little we can do for that, ask HQ for help with our logistic chain and prioritize units under fire, we’re not going to allow anyone to remain without ammo out there,” a quick look at a holographic map later and he added, ”Under no circumstances are they to engage Alfegan troops in the mountains,” a painful decision since it was very tempting to just push to the south, but given the supply problems and the fact that he had a limited number of men available it was a logical choice, ”Our top priority is to mop up any resistance in Polinas first.”

”Understood Sir.”

Later in the day the first air shipments from Damirez were to reach the base and other airports under Principality control, filled with various ‘goodies’ for the military.

--

”Roger that, tracking enemy emplacements,” the Alfegans had a nasty habit of using the term ‘Overkill’ way too often. The amount of ammunitions thrown at the Damiran missiles and aircraft would have been better spent otherwise many thought. It didn’t help that in order for the systems that the Alfegans used to keep track of the Damiran movements many of their own positions had been discovered by the Principality and marked for destruction.

”What a greeting!” one of the pilots of the strike wing in Mikavich told the others as the enemy batteries roared to life and aimed at them. ”This isn’t going to be easy…” normally stealth bombers were sent to deal with the opposition, but given the urgency of the affair the captain of the Achilles was more than willing to sacrifice the safety of a few pilots for the well being of thousands of civilians. ”Remember, nothing fancy, we just have to keep them busy for a bit,” the voice of the squadron commander came out to the others, surprisingly calm given the situation. ”You all know the drill, so let’s go,” the planes changed course, each of the pilot moving in to achieve its specific goal, their wingmen watching their tails.

”Hopefully those Tac Bombers will be here soon…”

Far away, across the open sea, sleek shadows headed towards Alfegos.

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn279/Tomahawk911/alfegosmilitary.png
(A little helper for you all)

___________________________________

The last remnants of Alfegan forces in Polinas were busy fighting on what little ground they had left. They had just been issued with a message that made them realise the worst had come.

"Switch to guerilla tactics: attack their supply lines, airfields and economic centres. Send whatever engineers you have left into laying minefields in the foothills of the mountains. That way, we;ll have the advantage when it comes to them pressing south.
In addition, evacuate all important personnel to the mountains nearest the range command centre. That way, we can minimise damage."

This could only be relayed onto the 8000ish men still loyal to the protector's cause, who at once heeded the advice. Vehicles were abandoned in exchange for civilian transport, before they began moving.

_______________________________

"When we get to 300m, its hand signals only. Understood?"
The men nodded. Moving slowly through the cover of the fields either side this motorway, about 72 men were preparing an ambush on a convoy they were sure was about to arrive. A small team of men darted out of the cover of the maize and into a large drainage pipe underneath the 8-laned tarmac surface. Behind them they were dragging large sacs of whatever demolitions charge they could find, arranging them underneath the road. With radio jammers in wide use, as they left, they unreeled behind them a length of detonator cord, attached on the other end to a small phone-sized box.
"Get them to make sure their ear-plugs are in."

_________________________________

So far, it had been an absolute failure for their war effort. The protector glared at the board displaying current situations. The entirity of Polinas was now taken over, only guerilla units left. The mountain AA platforms had reported inbound airstrikes, finding only stealth craft to shoot blindly at. And with Nos'Vi gone, at least 65% of naval capacity had been lost.
"Get as many units as possible to the mountain ranges. If they try a counter-attack, that'll be where they do it."

Mountains of the Moon, Alfegos

The first waves of Etoile Arcture’s airstrikes reached Alfegosian airspace only two hours after the official declaration of war. Over the next few hours over two thousand aircraft, from the large B-90A Condor strategic bomber to KC-45A multi-role tankers, were to see action as part of the initial phases of the war. Unmanned and manned aircraft were combined into joint strike packages with the aim of minimising risk to aircrews from detection or attack, while maximising the accuracy of their strikes. The primary objective was the destruction - or as near as was possible destruction - of Alfegos’ weapons of mass destruction and her strategic stockpiles to remove any possibility of a follow on attack to that against Damirez.

Several waves of AQ-39B Clarions had been launched from coastal bases on Etoile Arcture's Harmony coast. The subsonic drones were too slow for the faster and supercruising Condors, but without crews and needing only to be fuelled and armed and have coordinates programmed into their mission computers, the unmanned aircraft had been launched first, an hour ahead of the first Condor strike force.

The AQ-39Bs were, as described in the glossy presentations the staff officer corps were so fond of creating, a "first day of the war force multiplier". They could infiltrate enemy airspace at low altitudes and bomb satellite ground stations to severe their communications links including to space base radar assets, radars and SAM batteries, fuel and munition depots, and airfields. Some were even tasked to bomb the Alfegosians coastal railgun artillery batteries. The drones didn't simply rely on their stealth - visual, thermal and radar - to achieve their mission. Some of the Clarions, those tasked as datalink relays and targeting platforms, swapped their bomb loads for ADM-141C Improved Tactical Air-Launched Decoys which they released as the main force crossed the Sea of the Sun into enemy airspace. The ADM-141Cs sped away from launch aircraft on turbojet engines like small cruise missiles, broadcasting radio frequency signals giving the appearance of a massive wave of bombers approaching the Aldegosian coast. Which, as it turned out, wouldn't be that far from the truth.

A hundred kilometres behind them a number of E-99C Mystic electronic warfare planes, a strange box-wing aircraft whose diamond shaped planform also acted as large radar arrays, were flying racetrack patterns outside Alfegosian airspace beaming high power jamming signals to further disrupt enemy command and control, while others performed command post and AWACS roles. These aircraft had high endurance but low stealth, and had to be protected by F-25C Revolution fighter escorts with Sidewinders on their wingtip rails and AMRAAMs fitted flush against recessed fuselage weapon stations.

As the smaller B-90A Condor force followed behind the hundreds of Clarion drones, the supercruising high altitude bombers deployed fibre-optic towed decoys that begin to transmit spoof signals. The decoys were designed to sacrifice themselves if their mothership came under attack. The effect was as if the manned bombers were flying into an electronic smog that surrounded Alfegos like the choking pollution that hung around the country like a dark halo.

For those radar stations that tried to burn through the jamming or fire on spurious radar signals, the Clarions had a final answer as some carried HARM missiles to target radars and JDAM bombs with DAMASK terminal seekers to deal with SAM batteries. As soon as an Alfegos radar lit up it could be targeted in a classic suppression of enemy air defence mission profile. But even if the radars stayed silent this would provide no protection, as a whole wave of Clarions had been tasked for destruction of enemy air defences by bombing every known radar and SAM battery in the country. Using GPS and INS alone to guide them, without any need to activate their radars or even image their targets passively with electro-optics, each Clarion could attack eight separate targets in a single pass using Small Diameter Bombs. These attacks would came almost simultaneously across the country, providing no opportunity for an enemy to react or rally.

Thirty minutes later, two B-90A Condor bomber strike forces were only fifteen miles from their targets, respectively in the Mountains of the Moon and Solace Mountains. Alfegos’ strategic weapons such as the Helios ICBM were located in silos cut into the very side of the mountains. Many years ago military planners had been given the problem of how to destroy these silos in what had been seen at the time as a purely theoretical paper "what if" exercise, the thought of war with a close ally having been unthinkable. Nonetheless, the ‘solution’ found by that team of planners had been duly added to all contingency plans with the same detached efficiency that could be only to be expected by such ultra-rationale people as the Etoilians.

Following this plan, two Condors had been tasked to attack each silo. The lead Condor carried four GBU-37 GPS-guided 5,000 lb bombs in its bomb bay, each with a 4,400 lb steel penetrating casing manufactured from rejected artillery tubes and a 600 lb high explosive warhead. The attack begun as one or two bombs were released and glided down and struck the cap of rock covering each silo. The steel penetrating punching through as much as 30 metres of rock before the warhead exploded to blast a hole in the side of the mountain. The second Condor, carrying a single 21,000 lb GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb would then make its attack. Also using GPS, calibrated and programmed by the weapon systems officer of each plane, the GBU-43 would fly through the hole made by the first attack and explode its 18,700 lb high explosive warhead. The GBU-43 was aptly named the "mother of all bombs". The devastation it wrought being total. As the second B-90A banked away a mushroom cloud would rise into the sky marking below it what had once been a missile silo as the monstrous shockwave tore through the mountain side.

Across Alfegos

A new wave of Clarions approached the country even as the first attack waves were returning to base to refuel and rearm. Smaller in number this time, these drones had as their priority targets Alfegos’ electrical power infrastructure. But with the consideration to minimise collateral damage many of the aircraft were carrying a pair of AGM-154D/E Joint Standoff Weapons with a payload of six BLU-114/B submunitions known to their armourers as a Soft Bomb.

The unpowered glide bombs were soon dropped and homing in on power stations using infra-red terminal guidance, before releasing the unassuming metal canisters of the BLU-114/B submunition over their targets. Any workers caught outside during the raids would have heard the brief roar of a jet engine, a minute later have seen what seemed liked tangled webs of confetti fall from the sky soundlessly. It would be an incongruous sight, especially for those aware of the war. As they watched in wonder the ‘confetti’ would drift to the ground harmlessly in some places, but elsewhere it would fall on target as it covered electrical equipment. Only then would the purpose behind the mindness become acutely obvious to them as transformers and switching equipment instantly short-circuited in contact with the carbon filaments.

Alfegos was plunged into darkness. Her civilian maglev system crippled, military bases rendered blind and inland railgun batteries rendered inoperative. All without taking a single life.

Sea of the Sun, off the coast of Milkavich

Night still provided a cloak for the latest wave of aircraft approaching Alfegos. “Welcome to the party, Battle Group Achilles,” a voice filtered through the airwaves over a secure voice link. On a E-99C Mystic command post the controllers had already worked through the night coordinating the first waves of attacks. Now they begun to relay instructions to tactical bombers flying in from Etoile Arcture and the Damiren carrier strike group. Coordinates of targets in Milkavich were given: of every bridge across the river Mik’vi, airship hangers and the Fort District base. “Good hunting,” a controller said, as the aircraft, both Damiren and Etoilian, sped towards their targets.

Regional Utilities Control - New Zevkhay

"Bringing on back-up generators in three, two, one..."

The utilities control station for Zevkhay was re-illuminated as the emergancy generators began roaring into life. Enough to power the most vital civilian communications and the few military installations unlucky enough not to have back-up power, but only that. From here, the station manager could see the chaos unfolding before them already: power grids were dropping across the entire region rapidly, and with no word from the military he would have to do the best he could with the few substations remaining, the original power stations shutting down once the junctions and main power lines were taken down. The only power they still were getting was from the Corona station up in Milkavich. Soon even that line cut out, replaced with a flashing warning symbol.
"Right, I want generators sent out to all emergancy stations without power, and to the TV and radio transmitters. We need to keep them up. GO!"

Men began running out of the control hub. He switched his gaze to the gas and oil pipelines from the Milkavich wells. Men were busy using the landlines to make sure that all the wells were switched off, and watched as they did so. Gas started flowing over the border back to the mountains, where most of the gas storage tanks were. They had enough to last for weeks up there, if not months. That was fine.

He looked at the water and sewerage boards, all showing green lights still. Men were though preparing the bottled water lorries on military trucks outside, just in case they were attacked there. Sensors were already in place to check for any toxic chemicals planted in the water supplies, and any alarms were already being checked out by seperate response teams.

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Regional Traffic Headquarters - Old Zevkhay

The nightmare they had had to prepare for many years ago when these systems were first considered was the result of an attack to the nation. Unthinkable, yes, but it had happened. And boy had it screwed up a lot of things. The Maglev lines were completely jammed, any self-powered locomotives stopped behind a logjam of vehicles that had in their loss of power calmly sunk onto the rails, emergancy brakes flicking on as they hit the tracks hard. Men were busy diverted all traffic still operating onto un-used lines, while unused locomotives that powered themselves were being brought in to two any stranded trains back to stations, where bus services had already been started.

The road system, running on no power, was chaos. All drivers had been urged to stay at home, enforced by police as the roads were cleared for the most essential traffic. Motorways were blocked with accidents as vital signals were cut out of action, vehicles careening into each other at the hi-speed junctions. So serious was the situation, that the motorways had been closed, leaving miles of empty road.

The worst problems they had though was with the air traffic. Back-up generators were enough to allow aircraft still in the air to land, but in the confused minutes just before backup guidance came, tragedy had occured.

Flight JS-4420 has been on a final approach, and had not benefitted from the RADAR updates from the ground. In its path had been a police airship, which was not seen in the clouds until last minute notice. What had been seen as lights came back on along with the signals was the hellish glow of both vehicles igniting on impact, fire from the jet's kerosene engines and the patrol craft's hydrogen core and munitions scattering pieces of wreckage across the sky. The remains of the airshp, gondola filled with trapped, screaming crew, fell downwards into the sea, the glowing flames replaced by an ugly black cloud as it hit the final blue depths. A few men had said prayers to those lost: most sat in stunned awe, operating automatically. Then the anger started as they were told to ground all flights and send the rest away.

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AA Station WM - 02

"Hit them!"
"We can't trace anything at all. They've got electrical signals broadcast across the nation blocking all military frequencies."
"Civilian?"
"Still operating, courtesy of Clear Air."
"Why not us? For goodness sakes why haven't they given us any help yet?"

The base commander was enfuried at the shapes he could see in the sky that they couldn't hit. Missile batteries occasionally spluttered, but most of the time were silent, replaced by the roar of the cannon batteries around the area. Engineers were busy attmpeting inside to connect to the military stratellites, cut off from access by the electronic smog. There was a yell of success.

"We've got an uplink to one. And we've got some pretty pictures of their infared trails and contrails across our airspace. I'll admit they are quite hard to spot, but we've got some targets!"
There was a cheer as the battery started firing again, long range missiles shooting from the bunkers.
"Let's see them dodge this!"

A siren yelled as the missile battery emptied itself.
"We've got inbound!"
"Inbound what?"
"UAAVs! Please could someone take them down!"
he ran out just in time to see a small object streaking towards them, a point defence battery roaring at the projectiles unleashed by a tiny drone unit. He rolled inside slamming the door as it exploded. He blacked out as the wall of the bunker bulged inwards, shattering as concrete splintered.

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Silo 27B - Classified Location

"We've got an order from command."
"Finally. What did it say?"
He could already guess, hearing the sound of the silo doors starting to open: massive blocks of mountain rock or concrete up to 40 metres thick, marvels of engineering, powered by motors that were thought impossible. It would take quarter of an hour to open the doors of this silo, unlike those down in the forest and in Polinas, but the ones here were guarenteed the second strike. The most deadly strike. Each one was equipped with racks of missiles, in this time it took for the doors to open being equipped with their warheads: this war was about to go to Etoile Arcture.

Then the air raid siren started. A bomb blew into the side of the mountain, leaving a cloud of dust and rubble to shoot outwards. There was deep inside a muffled explosion.
"Hah, what a failure! They didn't even get close to the missiles. Now show them the error of their ways!"
A small missile battery appeared from what appeared to be sheer mountainside, and started tracking the bombers. Just then, another projectile came down. There was a hum as it shot down the same hole dug out by the first bomb, followed by a distant explosion. Much louder than they had expected. The commander turned to see a wall of fire, which hit him as the silo was filled with flames. In the shockwave, pressurised fuel tanks exploded, releasing jets of flame and fire as conventional munitions exploded. The two silos doors creaked, before stopping. A cloud of smoke and flame shot out from the small gap, spreading outwards.

In the distance, like a row of signal beacons, a line of fire spread the message along the mountainsides.