NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Not too happy with the intro, but whatever. Link to OOC thread. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=550601)

Link to Map (http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=indmaplglt6.gif). The map was made by Zoingo, so be sure to thank him when you get the chance. ;)

Beachhead, North Eastern Island


The 1st Elite Marine Brigade had been training for months for this and now was their time. Air strikes on been hitting these islands for weeks now and the Eastern Regional Army had decided only two days before to take back the former Mu Cephei colonies. The five islands acted as a safe zone for trade. The planet in which Mu Cephei lived on as well as hundreds of other nations was massive. So massive in fact that trade is nearly impossible, but those five islands acted as an area where ships could get a jump-start into reaching their destinations.

Rigel had always respected the five islands even though it was only five miles away from their waters. They understood that Mu Cephei preferred to trade, not invade. However that changed only six months ago when several armies from Rigel took over the islands, upsetting Mu Cephei's trade. Now the Marines were here to take back what was rightfully their nation's.

The Marines stood around the large Abram tank, waiting for their hovercraft to reach the beachhead. The squad commander yelled for her troops to stay calm and reminding them what they were to do when the ramp in front of them went down. Several other hovercrafts heading in the same direction held the same scene. The sound of missiles and large artillery shells from a few battleships and missile cruisers whirled overhead, hitting targets on the beaches with similar fire being returned from further inshore.

The Marines looked to the skies, thanking their air force counter parts for the peace. A few long-range fighter squadrons had mauled the Rigel Air Force, once again showing that Mu Cephei owned the skies in this region. The Marines hit the dirt, several SU-33 Flanker-Ds flew overhead dropping bombs on Rigel positions; the Marines followed their tank off the craft.

The Marines moved slowly, expertly using their Abram tank partner as cover, only firing their guns when they had a clear shot. The Rigel infantry hadn't expected an attack for several more weeks and their tanks had been down for repairs or refueling at the beginning of the strike. All in all, Rigel was caught with its pants down and now they were paying for it. One by one the Marine brigades of the 1st Marine Division landed on the beach. Taking back Mu Cehpei's colonies' land as they moved. By the end of a week they had moved more then 35 kilometers. This was only the beginning...


Some hundred-kilo miles from the beachhead

General Xavier Ramirez stood proudly among the other Rigel officers in the makeshift control center, the original one being destroyed by a Mu Cephei bomb. He was tallest in the room standing at 5' 11" and weighing more then 200 hundred pounds. While the eldest in the room he was by far the strongest, the fastest, and the smartest person these. Like a wolf among sheep he knew his power over these weaklings and he was proud of it. Yet he couldn't help, but feel like a child as he heard the reports from the forward units on Mu Cephei's advances.

Mu Cephei and, more so, Rigel were both nations who believed strongly in the warrior ethic. Many men and women of both countries dreamed of fighting in wars and a few even dared to dream dying as heroes on the front. For General Xavier Ramirez this war was a dream come true. While he was seen as one of the best Generals in Rigel's military he had yet to lead men and women into the valley of the dead.

Now here he was. Listening on his country's' one and only rival's advances. How wonderful! He thought. Now we can test out might against true warriors! Their Air Force a demon with wings! Their Armies a herd of tigers! Their Navy a pack of sharks! Surely these men and women he proudly called his enemies were truly worth fighting against! What better way to show that I, Xavier T. Ramirez and the rest of the Rigel military are worthy of calling ourselves warriors! Oh, the wonders of feeling alive and knowing what lays ahead in your future!

A 2,000-pound bomb going off a few meters from the control station disturbed his thoughts.

"Goddamn! They have found us again!" A junior officer yelled as he collected the maps he dropped when the bomb hit. Ramirez wondered if Rigel's Air Force could take on Mu Cephei's Air Force. Rigel was a nation of land lovers. If they fought on the ground they would surely win, but the air was a different story. Maybe that is why Mu Cpehei's Marines were moving so fast? With all those bombs dropping most of Rigel's defenses were destroyed by the time fighters came to drive off the Mu Cephei craft.

"Someone tell those SAM batteries to open fire already! We’re being killed out there!" A Major General yelled. Officers began giving out orders for weapons free on any aircraft in the skies in their radios. They reminded the battery commanders that there were no friendly craft over the island. Which was a mistake. Soldiers fight better when they know, or at least think, they are winning and almost every officer on the island knew there was suppose to be at least seven regiments of fighters providing air cover. The fact that not one of them was in the air was more of a curse then a gift.

Then the news came in.

"Shit! We've been flanked! Enemy troops spotted by Roofless Air Base as well as Roofed Air Base!" That is several kilometers behind us! The radioman thought to himself.


Roofless Air Base, Eastern Island

Roofless is one of two large air bases that are cable of taking in aircraft like a C-130, making it the prefect place to attack in the beginning of an invasion. The fact it was only a few kilometers from the ocean didn't help it. Jack Edwards of the Rigel Air Force wondered how they would be attacked, from the sea? Air? Or would Mu Cephei just keep attacking the front lines until they reached here? No, it was going to be by air. Jack looked at the photos. It had to be by air, Edwards thought to himself.
The photo was of a small island colony Mu Cephei owned. Troops from (what he was told by the intelligence agencies) the 2nd Elite Airborne Division of Mu Cephei were on the island. That was bad, really bad. Mu Cephei has a love affair with aircraft and their pilots were some of the best. However, those who loved flying, but who rather fight on the ground went there. The Mu Cephei Elite Air Borne Troops sub-branch. Mu Cephei's most elite infantry even more so then their Marines.

If those guys got a chance to attack the air base, well, Edwards moved that thought to the 'don't think about it' section of his brain. This was an airbase once owned by Mu Cephei and taken by Rigel, not an army base. Rigel only had a few platoons of infantry here. No way would they survive an attack by Mu Cephei's air borne troopers. The good news though was that air borne soldiers come in by air. Roofless had a total of 18 Eagle fighters and a few tankers as well as other craft. If they came to attack they would pay for it. Yes, Edwards thought, we are safe, for now at least.

What Edwards did not know was that four Typhoon Class missile submarines had their own opinion on the upcoming attack on the air base. The photos the young air force officer had were several hours old. He believed that the 2nd Elite Air Borne Division was still on the island, but, the truth was, they were only 40 minutes out...

"Shit! Marco! Marco! Marco! Contacts coming in from the coast! Classifying as incoming missiles," the RADAR officer reported in. Edwards turned towards the officer and walked over to see for himself. Edwards' jaw dropped, his eyes' watered, and a weird knotting feeling deep in his stomach made him gasp. He had never been in combat and the feeling of death was a shock to him.

"Someone give the order to scramble the fighters!" Outside F-15C Eagles were taking off. Their crews were running around with repair staff doing their best to get every aircraft off the runway. Soon every aircraft was in the air. Those who could shoot down the missiles raced to intercept. The four maritime aircraft based to protect the nearby coast raced for the submarines they knew launched the missiles. Tankers refueled and capped off all the aircraft that need fuel. When done they went on racetrack courses to wait to refuel all the craft again for the long road home. Finally the E-2 Hawkeyes' did their best to direct the fighters as well as act as an air traffic controller for the others. For everyone else on the base they ran around to prepare themselves. Damaged aircraft that had failed to take off were burned as well as any important documents.

Officers told their staff that everything would be okay and that they would live to go home. For Edwards' he ran to his battle station, a desk on the second floor of the control tower. As an intelligence officer he felt ashamed. Everyone else on the base was out there. Doing something to help. He was just being useless. He was suppose to be a warrior of Rigel and all he could do was fear for his own life. He felt like a coward. The report came in that the fighters were within shooting range...

There were twenty-two of them in total the fighter pilot noticed. The math in his head helped to cool his nerves. 18 Eagles, 2 medium range anti-air missiles each, giving a total of 36 missiles, and that means they had plenty of missiles to take care of the incoming danger. The data from the E-2s were all he and his regiment needed to fire their missiles and soon the sky was filled with twenty-two objects less. The pilots smiled. Their fellow warriors on the ground were safe. Until the radio message from one of the E-2s came in.

"Marco! Marco! Marco! Twelve missil- No, twenty-four miss- Shit! Give me a second," the voice over the radio was panting and everyone knew the operator on the four engine aircraft was getting frantic.

"We got forty-eight missiles incoming!" The pilots themselves were now panicking. Many of them were low on fuel and they would need to refuel at the tankers soon. That meant they would have to leave to go somewhere else soon, wherever that was, to land. A few of the Eagles tried firing heir guns, but only two missiles were hit. Soon the entire air group of Roofless Air Base began leaving while saying their good-byes as well as curses.

Edwards' stomach churned as he saw a missile hit a building nearby though his window. He felt vibrations from the floor and heard a few explosions. At first there were only a few, but then there were more and the intervals in which they came were frightening. Soon he became deaf, blind, and confused. Feeing exposed and helpless he ran out the door just to be met by a wall, a wall of red and heat that seemed to claw at him. He ran though it ignoring the pain and not caring he was risking getting caught on fire.

Once outside he could only cry out in pain from the sights he saw. Many of missiles exploded a few meters above the ground. Sending large quantities of metal at the exposed people and buildings of the air base. Bodies littered the runways as well as burnet aircraft of all kinds. Edwards once again panicked. Where were the firemen? The soldiers? The pilots? For god sakes! Where was the commander of the base?

Edwards had not even walked a kilometer, but he felt exhausted. His body was burnet badly, he didn't know, but he had several pieces of metal in his chest, and his brain had nearly completely shut down from an information overload he had a few minutes ago. He collapsed onto the ground, not hearing the whirl of the C-130s of the 2nd Elite Air Borne Division of the Mu Cephei Military.

Civilian Sea Port, Mu Cephei

Michael Woodsier ordered for the final preparations to begin and ordered all crewmembers of the Allied State Ship ASS Coyote to come aboard ship. In one hour Woodsier and the crew of the Coyote would escort a group of civilian merchant ships to a nearby island. Several other escort ships were there as well, but Woodsier cared more for his own as well as his ship’s duties then theirs' at the moment. The threat from a Rigel attack are real and he needed to prepare for said attacks. There was also the threat from pirates, but they could easily be dealt with. However Captain Woodsier was now beginning to worry.

The Type 45 Air-Defense Destroyer was designed to take on attacking aircraft hence the type's name. So why is my ship being loaded with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles?

Beachhead, North Eastern Island

Paul Gray had only said goodbye to his wife and kids a full three weeks ago. Now, here he was sitting in the command section of a T-90K Mu Cephei Main Combat Command Tank (MCCT) ordering three M1A2 SEP Abram tanks to attack the incoming Rigel tanks. The three tanks fired their 120mm guns soon followed by the 125mm gun of his own tank and a few aircraft dropped some bombs on the incoming tanks as well. Once again the Rigel army began to retreat. The Mu Cephei Marines followed then a sudden surge of tanks and aircraft hit them, destroying many tanks, killing many Marines and shooting down several aircraft. The Mu Cephei advance had finally stopped. What the hell am I doing here? Paul as well as many other men and women on both sides asked themselves.

For what reason this war started, no one knows. Why do these soldiers fight? Maybe for honor, maybe for family, maybe for money or maybe for country. No one knows for sure as well. Only one thing is certain. The roar of engines, the cry of bombs, and the screaming of guns would be the only thing the men and women of Mu Cephei as well as Rigel will hear for a long time.

It had begun.

Since Orbath had come out of isolation, it had begun trading with Mu Cephei. For years they provided Orbath with the foodstuffs they needed. Six months ago, Rigel had invaded six islands owned by Mu Cephi. This screwed up trade routes so bad, Orbath had to find a new trading partner. This partner provided them with what they needed, at nearly twice the cost. That price was expected to rise. The nation was having trouble meeting Orbath's growing demand and even threatened to stop trading. Simply put, a crisis in Orbath was coming. If food couldn't reach Orbath, it's people would starve. In a controversial decision by President Andrews, Orbath would begin a clandestine operation to loosen up defenses on the islands making it easier and possible for Mu Cephi to take them.

International Waters, Two Days Earlier
A small group of submarines had made the journey from Orbath. Their arrival had been rushed. Originally they were supposed to arrive several days before the invasion. The invasion had been launched several weeks early and now they sat, slightly late but still not out of the fight. Their first task was to seek out and destroy enemy ships operating in the area and from what intelligence had reported, wouldn't be many.

''Island Waters'', Present Day, 13:00
The submarine, the Orbathian Naval Ship Phantom silently sailed through the sea, entering what they referred to as a ''hot zone'', an area where the enemy had reported to be operating. This was their first time entering what could be classified as enemy waters and their mission was risky. The problem was, they couldn't be spotted by either side, the mission was so classified, even Mu Cephi wasn't informed.

ONS Phantom
Inside the bridge, a fury of activity was occurring. Satellite photos had just been ''beamed'' in showing several ships operating in the area. It was very important to properly identify the ships in case they belonged to Mu Cephi or even someone else.

''Adkins, bring those photos, we don't have all day.''

Adkins was the skinny, almost not fit for military service intelligence officer onboard the sub. Had this been the army, he wouldn't have even qualified. Luckily, naval standards were less harsh. Speaking to him was a man who was quite the opposite. Captain Rock was a tall, very muscular man who likely would pass army qualifications four times over. He took the photos and set them out on a table. He, Adkins and his XO, would review the photos and compare them to others on file of Mu Cephi and more importantly, Rigel ships.

''I'd say we've got a match. Its too bad we can't see flags.''

The XO agreed, ''It's a risk but this whole mission is a risk, I say we go for it.''

Of course, it wasn't diplomacy, it was up to Rock, but he always liked input from the others. Very rarely would he go against his crews wishes. Captain Rock spoke,

''Very well these photos came in about five minutes ago. If they continue that speed and that course, we should be able to intercept them. Let's get this thing moving.''
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The ONS Phantom was a Hunter KIller submarine powered by a Hydrogen cell. This greatly reduced its endurance compared to other submarines, but greatly increased it's stealth capabilities. It was well suited for anti submarine warfare but could easily take on an anti ship role like it was about to.

The sub crept along the ocean floor, moving quite slow at only 8 knots. It had no need to be quick, if the enemy continued on its path, they would easily reach them.

News out of Mu Cephi was not good. The Oil Shortages had led to a demand for alternative fuels, and Crossbar Fuel Company had jumped at the posibility. Seven Very Large Crude Carriers were sent out, loaded with Bio-Diesel and flanked by two Daring Class Destroyers.

Due to the high level of attacks, armed guards with Magpul Masadas and MP-7's walked the decks on watch, occasionally having to jump out of the way and shouting curses at the racers as they passed by on their scooters.

The ships where kept on high alert. Crews where at the guns at all times, and aboard the tankers, crews had been rotated out, with self-defense trained personnel going in instead.

Drills were held, in which the crews where trained to isolate their parts of the ship in an attempt to protect the valuable fuel carried in the storage bays. Two Seahawk SH-60's where flying constant CAP, using a delegated amount of fuel to keep them up and covering the convoy from the air. As the ships neared Mu Cephi, they where on constant high alert.

Andrei Oratni was born, thirty-nine years ago, in what was now known as the Democratic Christian Socialist Republic of East Chitzeland, in the city of Dessledor. Five years ago, the Pudite Imperial Army swept through the city, and by the end of the month, he was a hundred miles to the north, in an internment camp, waiting to be herded onto the next of the massive transports in the harbor.

Of course, he remembered none of this. The people where he went next made sure of that. He was bound, from his home, to the small Pudite colony in the Galation Archipelago, captured in some other war, years before. Once here, he was brought to a large white marble building. For the next three years, he never saw the sun. It was this, that he remembered.

He remembered that his service would be rewarded. He remembered that if he was to defect, he would be apprehended, and they would send him back there. He remembered that his success would win his freedom. What he did not remember, is what he would do when he got it...

For now, however, it did not matter. For the last three months, Andrei Oratni had served aboard the battlecruiser Devout Whisper, as a Rear Admiral in the Imperial Janissary Naval Corps. Today, he found himself at the head of a small squadron, with no less than seven ships following in his wake.

When he left the Galation Archipelago, he was given a set of standing orders, which served to, in effect, give him license to waylay and raid commerce from a great number of nations deemed by the Foreign Affairs Office to be of no consequence.

Admiral Oratni was watching his ship crush through the small waves below from the height of the bridge in the central command tower of the battlecruiser. They had no primary target now, and his squadron were spread far over an eight-hundred mile stretch of ocean, searching for viable prey.

Behind him, the command center of the great ship buzzed with activity. Among that activity, was the reception of a short message from one of his destroyers, which was cruising about five-hundred miles south-east of his current position. Scrawling it on a piece of paper, the radio operator present immediately stood and carried it to the Admiral,

"Sir, we've received a message - something I think you should see, sir,"

Oratni turned, slowly, "Oh yes? Hand it here, then,"

The young man stood apprehensively as the Admiral read over his jotted text; DE-122 encountered target of attention - convoy under escort - moving off - request squadron converge at xxx-xxx.

"Ensign, you are dismissed," the Admiral said, casually waving the man off.

Reading the note again quickly, he looked back up to his bridge, "Send a message," he said, looking at the young radio operator, "Alert the rest of the squadron, we will converge where requested."

The man set to work, and the Admiral turned to the rest of the officers present, "I've just ordered this squadron to merge again. Once there, we shall prepare to take our first prize."

He looked back to the helm, "Adjust course south-east, we are to rendezvous at these coordinates," he handed over the little piece of paper, "I shall be below decks, send for me when we are to arrive."

"Yes, sir," came the response from the bridge, as the big ship began to turn.

Sixteen hours later, the whole of the squadron would be assembled...

As the Pudite fleet gathered, the Lacrosse network over the planet went bat-shit. The ground-radar satellites picked up the movements and alerted the ships. As the reports reached them, they hoisted the Naval Jacks they had bought from the Pudites up below the Seven Stars and Seven Bars of the TAP'ian national flags.

The Pudites migth be more powerful than they where, but hopefully they would see the benefit of at least passing the TAP'ians over.

Holy Harbor in New Age Nexus

The Nation of New Age Nexus (Formerly The Nexus) was a progressive nation with green on it's mind. It used to be a part of Mu Cephi but it separated from it a long time ago. The people of New Age Nexus were always in competition against those of Rigel over who had the best education, Army(thus their infantry was always top notch) and economic standpoints. Thus when war broke out and Mu Cephi was invaded by Rigel The New Age Nexus rose in uproar as people still felt a strong connection to their mother country and demanded to go to war in it's defense and it also provided the incentive to take on their rivals in yet another meaningless competition. The very bad situation is that The New Age Nexus is located on an island in between the two warring factions(OOC: Island is not permanent if demanded I will switch to a nation on the mainland just in case anyone doesn't agree with me) and we are in constant threat of invasion.

President Zero walked threw the hangers inspecting all the merchandise and making sure that everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing.

(just then a his son blaze came up to him)
Blaze: Father!! Our cargo ships are filled to the brim and ready to depart.

Zero: What about our Pennsylvania class Battleship?

Blaze: Preped and ready to go.

Zero: Good....send in a AEGIS Cruiser along for the transport mission just case.

Blaze: Roger

Zero: We are a small nation but even we can hold our own against Rigel and so we must do everything in our power to help our allies and countrymen.

With that all the Men aboard the Battleship, AEGIS Cruiser, and Cargo ships let out a huge LONG LIVE ZERO LONG LIVE NEW AGE NEXUS!!!!!!

As morning broke over New Age Nexus 1 Pennsylvania class battleship and one AEGIS Cruiser along with 20 cargo ships filled with Green products(Wind generators,Bio Diesels,Solar panels) were seen departing from the harbor and heading towards Mu Cephi's colony.

OOC: I'm going to wait a little bit longer before I get the whole navel convoy thing going as for it seems most people are aiming towards that, not the ground war, and I want to see if anyone else wants to join in before we get everything started there.

Some hundred-kilo miles from the frontline

General Xavier Ramirez looked over the maps for the fifth time wondering why they weren't moving forward.

"Explain to me again why our counterattacks produces nothing?" Ramirez asked a Major next to him who's job was it was to support, as well as protect, the General.

"Well, sir. As you know our units counterattack with a combine arms of helicopters, tanks, and infantry. The problem is, is that whenever we defeat the ground forces of Mu Cephei, which we almost always do when we attack, we try to take the land they took from us. Which is the goal in this war," Ramirez interrupted him.

"Yes, I know, but-"

"But when our units move away from their cover Mu Cephei's aircraft swoop in and destroy them. Then Mu Cephei moves in with fresh units to cover the ground they 'lost.' Not only that, but intelligence reports that with the lost of Roof and Roofless airbase we will go up against a lot more aircraft. Already there is over twelve squadrons in the air, all the time," the Major looked to the night sky. The fear in his eyes scanning for any movement at all.

"Not only that Mu Cephei loves the night. Their dark painted aircraft that fly low can never be found until over four-thousand pounds worth of bombs is dropped. Even then they disappear faster then we can react," Ramirez sighed.

"We need more air support. Lots of it. What is the word from or fellow warriors in the Air Force?" The General asked.

"I do not know, but I was told by a fighter pilot, who had ejected safely out of his fighter, that he and his wingmen had to fight to get to the frontline. He said that Mu Cephei's fighters chased after them like dogs and they had to eject their bombs so that they can lose the extra weight. So even if they make it to the front they only have their guns to provide support," the Major jumped when he heard the hum of engines and the sound of explosions nearby. However, he calmed down when silence quickly returned.

"What are those damn things?! How can they attack us with so much firepower!" General Xavier Ramirez for the first time since the beginning of the war was angry. The Major began to fear for his life. There was a saying in the officer corps, "if a bomb doesn't kill then a general will." He had no wish to die when he was so young even though the quote was only a joke.

"That would be the 'four engine gate to hell'," the Major took out a picture from a nearby folder on a desk. The new control center (which is a large tent) seemed to have everything. He handed it to the General.

"Isn't this a picture of an AC-130?"

"Yes, however if you want to know the full name it's called the AC-130U Spooky. A blasted thing. Even though it has four large turboprop engines it carries enough fire power to destroy a company of tanks and it can fly very very high so our missiles can't reach it. We tried sending fighters, but they never return. It's only been a few days into the war and if you ask any soldier who has been on the front for more then a day. I grantee you they will say that they rather fight the devil himself then this monster!" the Major lifted up his shirt, too caught up in the moment to realize who he was in front of, but General Xavier Ramirez forgave him for a well learnt lesson from what he saw.

"These are the scars of a one-hundred and five millimeter shell going off near me. My best friends were more unlucky then me. The 'four engine gate to hell' can fire twenty-five millimeter rounds as well as forty millimeter rounds. For my mother's sake they put a blasted artillery piece on it!" The General put his hand on the Major's shoulders'.

"Calm down. Do you believe this was going to be easy? Of course Mu Cephei sends these 'gates to hell' after us! Think about it my young friend! If someone came and took the land you owned. Would you or would you not take out every weapon you had?" The Major, after a tense moment, nodded.

"Yes, I understand. However, for 'every gate to hell' they deploy that is another of their Army units that pay," the Major smiled as well as Ramirez.

"That is the way you should be thinking for it is the way you are payed to think. Now! Hurry up and gather all the data we have on Mu Cephei's forward units. We are going to earn our pay or so help us god!"

(OOc: Wow this war just got a whole lot tenser with Rigel's apparent folly in the air...kinda makes me wanna switch sides just to help them but I wouldn't be much help anyway and also I would never switch sides.)

ONS Phantom 14:35
Captain Rook stood in the control room, sipping from a cup of coffee. It had since gone cold, he'd forgotten about it early when news of the enemy ships came in. He was keeping an eye on a radar officers screen. They didn't know the exact location of the enemy fleet and a satellite wouldn't be in the area for another four hours. It was up to his crew to do what they do best, Hunt and Kill , the motto of the Hunter Killer Submarine Group. He reached deep into a tunic pocket, pulling out a cigar. His victory cigar should they sink any enemy. Suddenly something on the radar screen startled him and caused him to drop the cigar. Multiple contacts appeared in two different areas. It looked like two entire fleets. Not only was it two fleets, one was approaching their six, the other appeared to be turning and would be approaching from their 8 o' clock. It didn't take long for the Captain to decide what to do.

''Turn off all systems and get us out of here.''

It was risky. It meant they wouldn't know what was going on outside, and couldn't get any information but it also greatly reduced the chance of getting caught. The Phantom Class submarines were some of the best and stealthiest submarines in the world.

As The convoy of ships made its way calmly threw the sea at 12 knots they had not implicated any safety measure due to their belief that any threat from the sky would be eliminated by the Mu Cephi air force. Admiral Daniel Guerrero the New Age Nexus's most renowned Admiral was asleep in his quarters and had orders his men not to disturb him unless there was a threat of attack. His men were all wandering about aimlessly playing basketball, cards, or pranks on each other no one really payed much attention to the radar so none of them noticed that they were heading off coarse and toward a pirate hot spot.

"Well hello Maxx, welcome in."

Arthur Grant, the current CEO of Black Rock, nodded as Maxx Farker the one in charge of the mission planning and carrying out walked into the room. Arthur was like a fierce dictator, he had almost complete control over the company and employees, actually he had control all of all of the things that the government didn't have control over, it was evenly spread out, Black Rock controlled most of the economy and employed most of Aligar and the government would pardon and overlook all of their wrong doings as well as supply them with most of their weapons and give the rights and privileges of all employees to Arthur. Maxx was like his second in command, if it wasn't for him Arthur would have no power what so ever. It was Maxx who carried out most orders and enforced the rest; he was the one who spread fear across the corporation.

Maxx walked in with his skinny long arms, covered by a dark grey jacket, crossed behind his back.

"Hello Mr. Grant, I have some... important, um, information."

"Well don't just stand there, spit it out sir."

"Well Mr. Grant a nation by the name of Mu Cephei has a large trading system that spreads out to almost everywhere around it. Their economy supports mainly on foreign trade so what I thought was that we send a small fleet or two to go and plunder the ships, fuck 'em up, and leave 'em massacred and mutilated."

Arthur nodded in approval throughout Maxx's explanation. Maxx finished up and he rested his elbows on his desk and held his held up with his hands.

"Yes, and what does this have to do with us?"

"Well there is one rival group of the nation's called The United Military States of Rigel, we could fuck up those fleets and make it to look like they did it. We get away with some money and don't get any lawsuits. It is perfect."

"Well you got me there, who we have in stock."

Going up to Arthur was like visiting the current emperor, one wrong move and you would end up with a firing team pointing a guns at your face. Only with Arthur he would take a dog choke collar with the spikes, tie it around your neck then tie it to the back of his car and drive.

“Well Andrew 15029’s squad is open, so is Jacob 17709’s squad, as well as possibly Farder 18853’s men. We can plop them on board the Venture Fleet and there we have it some pirates upon the sea.”

Arthur nodded his head in approval once more, stood up, and said.”

“Great the armory is open to them so they can gear up. Have them gone by Friday, this sounds like we have an opportunity to get some business cause I am tired of these stockbrokers.”

Maxx smiled, bowed and then left Arthur’s office.

Rastia Air Base, New Rastia

At the main airbase in Rastier, the first batch of fighters were ready to go. 12F-22 Raptors were awaiting permission for takeoff. The first 3 lined up and hurtled down the runway, heading for Mu Cephei. They immediately found the squadron of KC-135s and refueled.

Greens Air Base, Woodsfield

Meanwhile, the B-1 bombers based at Woodsfield were also taking off in groups and KC-10s refueled them.

All aircraft were heading to a rendezous point near Hendon Island, a Rastian territory near Eastern Island, where they would be landing at the Hendon Air Base and joining the Challenger 2 tanks, troops and C-130s that had already landed.

Hendon Air Base, Hendon Island

The troops, which had arrived days ago, had familiarised themselves with their surroundings, and the time zone. Half of which were now on the beach to be loaded into hovercrafts to the North Eastern Island to help the Mu Cephei troops take over the island. Landing ship tanks were also deployed for this purpose, but they mainly carried the Challenger 2 tanks. Other troops were at the airbase, being loaded onto C-130s to help take over the Eastern Island. Pilots from Hendon Air Base were also running to their F-15Es to escort the C-130s. The F-22s would be arriving later, serving as reinforcements.

OOC: One thing, TAP; you wouldn't have been able to but a naval jack from any Pudite. Our country is an organization of thousands of huge compounds scattered across the homeland, in which each citizen not of military or high diplomatic post is born, lives, and is eventually disposed of. We do not deal with foreigners, save for bulk resource trade, organized by the government and carried out with friendly or intimidated nations and colonies. There's just nowhere to get a Pudite flag, naval or otherwise, without stealing one.

We do not differentiate between merchant marine and the navy's flags; as the first is controlled by the second. A bulk carrier may be contracted to bring in a hold full of iron ore one month; and a load of tank and aircraft parts to a war zone the second. Our freighters, although largely unarmed, are seen as much as a warship as a battleship or cruiser. Foreign merchants doing business in the Dominion fly only their nations' flag, or those of other nations in which they do business, but we don't care.


IC:

Admiral Oratni stood on in a small conference room below the bridge, looking out the window as his fleet assembled before him. Already, the destroyers Divine Law and Glory of Empire had arrived, followed by the entire submarine force. He only waited now for the destroyer Justicar, still cruising south towards the squadron.

The captains of the submarine flotilla, as well as the Divine Law and the Glory of Empire, had already been ferried aboard, and were waiting behind the Admiral at a long dark wooden table. Six men, in addition to the Admiral, were present.

Andrei turned his head and spoke, "We've waited long enough; It's time to begin,"

The Admiral turned to his officers, "Alright, we have our orders; As of now, they are updated. I am restricting the area in which this squadron will operate to," he grabbed a map tube off the table and produced a long, battered navigational chart, laying out the islands situated between the coasts of Rigel and a colony of someplace called Mu Cephi, "Here."

He began to trace a rough circle through the water on the map, "From what we know, most of their commerce occurs in this region, you should restrict your attacks to this area. There are now no friendly interests, everything is declared fair,"

The captain from the Divine Law spoke up, "Sir, will we be cooperating our efforts here?"

"Captain, the squadron will be operating together during our initial attack on the convoy that drew our attention, after that, whatever prizes we take will be taken away, and those without a prize will continue alone. Orders regarding the initial attack have already been forwarded to your ships."

"Once the squadron disperses again, standard procedure applies, albeit within these parameters," he gestured to the map again, "Submarines operating in pairs, other ships avoid contact. All right?"

There were no questions, and the conference was adjourned. The captains were returned to their ships, and, as he was watching them go, Admiral Oratni noticed something growing on the horizon.

The Justicar had come, the fleet was assembled, and soon, the war would begin...

The soldiers piled into the C-130s, and left for Eastern Island. F-15Es followed behind, looking for any enemy aircraft. Eastern Island was now a huge battlefield, with fighters and ground troops trying to gain control over the island. Captain Ian Turner was one of the pilots. He spotted enemy F-15s closeby. Recognizing them as the F-15C model, he wondered how the Strike Eagle would compare to the Eagle. He shook his thoughts off and concentrated on downing enemy planes.

OOC: I'll edit my post then. Figured that by flying the flags that we had commissioned, it might get you to hold up for a second and let us through in a vital second.

IC:
The cores of the ships rumbled with a harsh roar as the engines where pushed harder. The Lacrosse Satellites showed that a raiding party had arrived, and the ships wanted to put everything they had into trying to reach the Mu Cephi islands as quickly as they could. The carriers where able to coax a few extra knots from their ships, though whether or not that would help in the long run was questionable.

The Seahawks moved out in an ever widening circle, dropping a pair of USV's that would be controlled from the CIC's of the two destroyers. The best hope they had would be to make any bandits think twice about engaging them.

OOC: I'll edit my post then. Figured that by flying the flags that we had commissioned, it might get you to hold up for a second and let us through in a vital second.

OOC: It would make perfect sense if said flags were commissionable, no harm done.

IC post later, I guess, although nothing's happened, and I don't know a great deal about the status of the Cephi convoy I am gonna raid.

OOC: I'll make a larger post replying to everyone, but I notice that it will be hard for me to replay. So it might take some time.

The ASS Coyote moved slowly though the waters of Mu Cephei as other ships joined her for the escort mission. Over head an unknown number of aircraft flew overhead. The problem is, Captain Michael Woodsier thought, is when we leave Mu Cephei's waters. Captain Woodsier looked over the documents again, leaning against the safety pole on the forward deck. The fleet would be very busy. First they would escort a merchant fleet half-way though their trade routes and then they would set up a patrol around the area incoming trade was expected to come though. The merchant ships leaving Mu Cephei would probably get out alive and unharmed. The large military fleet could take on anything that dared go near the merchants. However, for the second part of their deployment they would loose half of the fleet which would go to the war effort. That would greatly hinder their ability to protect the incoming ships.

Captain Woodsier sighed. Its never easy is it? He looked up as several fighters from the one of the three aircraft carriers flew overhead. He looked down when he could no longer hear the engines of the fighters, looking at the ocean. Somewhere down there, there were more then six subs and around his ship was at least thirty surface vessels. Two being the modified Iowa class battleships. Their third gun being replaced by a large set of missiles cells. She could now fire in anger in all ranges short and long. Who the hell in their right minds would want to fight them? Better yet, who would wait to attack until half of this mighty force left to fight somewhere else? Michael Woodsier hated it when he had nothing to do and could think to himself. Which was odd since they were at sea, getting ready to complete the first part of their mission.

OOC: Okay, two choices for our pirate friends. Attack while the Mu Cephei is completing the first part of it's mission. There will be more trade ships to sink, but then you have to fight off a large portion of the East Navel Fleet *and don't think you can just sneak a sub in so easily:p). Or, you can wait and attack later when the fleet is smaller, but there is less trade ships to destroy. Either way I'm okay with it.

OOC: I'm going after ''Rigel''.

ONS Phantom, 18:55
The escape had been a narrow one. They'd actually ended up passing under one of the unknown fleets but they had managed to ''escape.'' Now once again, satellite photographs had come in and were being analyzed. It wasn't such an easy task anymore. A total of four surface fleets could be seen in the different photographs. Luckily, one appeared to be leaving port and thus, likely belonged to Mu Cephi. The others were unknown. Intelligence officers back at High Command had searched all over for some sign the either Rigel or Mu Cephi had been contacted with offers for aid but it didn't appear that they had. High Command was now quite worried. They were afraid that the ships might be there to attack the Mu Cephi fleet. If the Mu Cephi fleet was sunk, it greatly lowered their chances of winning the battle.

Operation Weakening Blow had been the name of the operation Phantom had been taking part in. The objectives were to reduce and eliminate Rigel navy presence. Now it was time for a new operation. Operation Hidden Shield. The ONS Phantom and its ''brother'', the ONS Ghost were now tasked with following the Mu Cephi fleet. Two Avenger classes would lurk close by, able to provide assistance if it was needed. Of course, neither the Phantom or the Ghost would risk entering sonar range. Each sub would take up a position, just outside the Mu Cephi fleet's sonar range. Although this meant there was a slight chance the enemy could slip between the subs and the fleet, the chance was a very small one.

It was about 5:00P.M. before Admiral Daniel woke up and began to inspect the ship. As he walks about doing his inspection he is surprised to see that no one is doing their job in the bridge. He walks towards the radar and is overcome with rage as he sees that they have strayed about 60 miles from their original coarse and are now in the heart of Pirate and Rigel waters:headbang:. He immediately orders everyone to get to their positions and resume their jobs and punishes them by saying that there will be no recreational time for the rest of the day.

Daniel: You fools how could you let yourselves be lead astray will such and important convoy under our protection?

Lieutenant Jose(Second in command): Sir we have not seen or heard of any attacks in this area for some time now so we did not think that it would be necessary for us to begin preparations for possible battle.

Daniel:Let us hope that your indulgences in recreation have not allowed the enemy to lead us into a trap...No set coarse towards the Mu Cephi colony and raise speed to 20 knots, we need to get out of this hot spot before we are spotted.

(OOC: If any of you would like to attack me or raid me or do anything of a sort go for it I just hope you don't send the entire navy :D)

tag for intrest and because I promised I would respond, but don't have time to unfortunately

Were Is Everyone?