NationStates Jolt Archive


To End the Raj (ATTN: Prae, Clan, GE)

The Warmaster
25-04-2008, 02:29
"Hello and welcome to Imperial News Network, your choice for the news you need.

Today's top story: Emperor Ishamael gave an address earlier this morning in which he explained the reason for the recent buildup of warships at Korronis. For roughly two weeks now, various fleet elements have arrived at the capital and waited for a hitherto-unknown signal to depart. The Emperor announced from the Rostra today that the fleet elements were being placed under the command of High Admiral Ludo Anor, the famous naval veteran, and that they were being sent on a grand tour of the Empire and its possessions, from the shores of Kregaia to Tiraeum, Recedentia, Fort Laconia, and Novum Illyricum. En route, moreover, they will rendezvous with a Generian fleet on a similar voyage and continue the journey with them. This journey will take several months and has been touted as a bold political statement to APOC and to the rest of the world that amidst the recent tensions, Kregaia is still very much a power to be reckoned with. The fleet launched at noon, one hour after the Emperor completed his speech, and is now on its way north to Recedentia.

"In other news..."

* * *

OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC COMMUNIQE

To: President Nadia Sklenova of Kahanistan

Madam President, again we write personally to you, and this time we must insist that you hold what you read in utter confidence. Share the enclosed information with the top levels of your government and military only, for as you will shortly come to see, security and secrecy are of the utmost importance.

Your citizens have chafed at the Praetonian presence in Kahanistan since it first began. The Imperium regretfully must concede that for some time it aligned itself with Kingston, aiding and abetting the humiliation of Kahanistan. Over time you have been forced to sign away important rights: the Praetonians now form the backbone of stability in your nation, but do not suppose that they will ever surrender the power they now have over you. They control vital utilities in Kahanistan, and through that they exercise sinister influence over you. Furthermore, with their military presence here, reinforced by the Clandonians, they loom over your freedoms. You hang by the edge of a thread; you rely on the Praetonians, and they may extinguish your independence at any time. Your military has come a long way, but the Praetonians and Clandonians have vast resources, which they will not hesitate to call upon to defeat you. This is a dangerous situation, and although we have stood by while it was created, Kregaia now wishes to secure the future of Kahanistan.

We will not allow the arrogant merchant princes of Kingston to dominate Kahanistani policy anymore. Nor do we believe that Praetonia, as an APOC nation, puts the concerns of Kahanistan before those of its allies Questaria and Doomanum, two of Kahanistan's historical foes. We trust you will agree: Kahanistan must be freed.

And the time is now. The truth, Madam President, is that the grand cruise we announced this morning is far from that. It is merely a cover for the movement of a fleet to Kahanistan, accompanied by a Generian armada. Fort Karia, which you graciously granted us permission to construct (which, given that we employed native companies extensively, has done much of itself to boost the Kahanistani economy), is the ultimate destination of this fleet, and when it reaches the port there, our work together shall begin. We ask you, as one sovereign to another, to do the following great favors which shall start you on the path to complete independence.

Firstly, you must confiscate, using local army units or police detachments, Praetonian and Clandonian possessions in the SEZ. Necessary steps will include the arrest of their security forces, the seizure of their properties, and the freezing of whatever Praetonian and Clandonian assets can be frozen. Secondly, you must ensure that your population does not object to the Kregaian and Generian presence on Kahanistani soil, through propaganda and public endorsements of our cause if possible, and through martial law if necessary. We and our allies will be forced to deal harshly with dissidents, and we would prefer that Kahanistani casualties be kept to a minimum.

In short, Madam President, simply deal with the Praetonian investors and security forces in the SEZ, and we shall do the rest. Our armies will land near Westport, and from there proceed to reclaim the country from the Praetonians and Clandonians. And once that task is complete, Kahanistan will finally have peace and prosperity.

Signed,
The Most Imperial Highness, His Divine Majesty the Emperor of Kregaia
Ishamael II

* * *

Meanwhile, Fort Karia, the Kregaian territory in Kahanistan established by the Treaty of Haversham, was quietly preparing for the war ahead. Patrols along the border with Kahanistan were doubled and random checks were increased, to minimize the possibility of a spy infiltrating the base. The hangars were hurriedly updated to feature refrigerated roofs, a measure which would prevent satellites from using infrared technology to spy on them. The reason for this soon became clear: the number of flights from Kregaian soon doubled and then trebled. Many brought only supplies: ammunition, rations, gasoline, boots, et cetera...but many also brought soldiers. The garrison of roughly 100,000 was rapidly expanding, and the new arrivals had to be housed somewhere. Tents would have been a dead giveaway to spies and satellites, and so hangars were feverishly erected, and wave after wave of arriving soldiers was crammed into them, their heat signatures masked by the refrigeration in the roofs. The whole process was highly expensive, but surprise was essential, and the Imperium was willing to spend a great deal to ensure the Praetonians and Clandonians remained blissfully ignorant.
Kahanistan
26-04-2008, 00:26
In the office, President Sklenova read the message. She sat across from General Igor Kaselev, Director of Military Intelligence - a tall, morose Semitic man with numerous combat scars and dressed in a drab black uniform.

"I recommend not responding," said the General. Sklenova looked shocked. Ignore a diplomatic communication? What are we, Whyaticans?

The general nodded. "Call up the army. It'll keep them confused - they won't know if we're mobilising to attack the Praetonians - thinking we're keeping quiet in case the Praetonians are monitoring our communications, and know how to break our codes... or holing up to fight off a Kregaian invasion. If we respond to them, the Praetonians probably are monitoring our comms."

"And risk the Kregaians thinking we've just forwarded the letter to the Praetonians?" asked Defence Minister Mustafa Lavalle. "You know how paranoid the Kregaians are. Besides, if we call up the army, the Praetonians will probably jump us, make a pre-emptive move to save their investments."

"And end up making the decision for us..." mused the President. "Ruin any chances we have of peace with the RGL. Getting us involved in another war. Why not just give the Praetonians the letter? The Kregaians would never know."

"We may not be able to avoid war," said Kaselev. "But if it comes down to it, I'd rather be on the winning side. Right now, that is the RGL. We have the defensive advantage, the Praetonian fleet is easily the strongest force in the area, and on the ground we have plenty of Sumerian-designed tanks and heavy infantry. They could be ready at a moment's notice. The Kregaians, on the other hand, would have to storm through a city, disarm the populace while under fire from Praetonian and Clandonian troops, if not our own, then fight their way to the capital - without air superiority, I might add - and on top of that, they won't be able to land with the Praetonians sinking their fleet when it gets to within fifty kilometres of our shores. Giving the Praetonians the letter... would likely mean other nations won't want to deal with us in secret - how would they know we aren't turning around and giving their enemies information they're sending us? The Praetonians wouldn't want to deal with us in secret if they thought we were giving their secret messages to Gholgoth."

"And you know the Praetonians won't attack us because...?" asked Lavalle.

"It doesn't matter if we have a few skirmishes," said Kaselev. "Once the Kregaian fleet appears within sight of the Praetonians, the Praetonians will know who the real threat is, and it isn't us. They will side with us against the Kregaians."

"And why did you say they won't see us as complicit with them? Kahanistan may be changing, but there are still many against the protectorate." Lavalle seemed unimpressed.

Kaselev showed no emotional reaction. He continued to speak in a low monotone. "Because few people want an alliance with Kregaia. They're too paranoid, too militaristic. The only political party that supports them is the Anti-Catholic Party, and most of them voted in the Senate to ratify the protectorate treaty with Praetonia. The Kregaians hate communists, and the Nationalist Party doesn't trust them. They ask where Kregaia was during the Second Doomani War, or during the Praetonian protectorate."

Sklenova nodded. "For now... we'll sit on it. The Praetonians won't let Kregaia within tooey of us," she said. "Not with that fleet size."

---

The Kahanistanian Air Force went on high alert, launching numerous Su-30 MKI's to patrol the airspace. Over Kahanistan's own territory, refuelers flew in the air so that planes would not have to land until shooting broke out and they had to replenish their missiles.

In the cities, a tank or soldier stood at each corner. Tanks were dispatched to strategic locations in anticipation of bridges being blown - an 86-ton tank won't exactly be able to float, or climb up rugged terrain. The military kept its distance from large concentrations of Praetonian forces or businesses, so as not to appear a threat.

Infantry began digging foxholes, setting up dragon's teeth, anti-tank mines, electrified razor wire, anti-personnel mines, and setting up anti-air batteries. Airfields were surrounded at close range by surface-to-air missile launchers and at a distance by aircraft that would have to be engaged before the fields could be successfully attacked. RADARs were fewer than in the previous wars, deemed too vulnerable and used only where LIDAR would not suffice.

Kahanistan was certainly making ready for war - but against who?
Generic empire
26-04-2008, 01:37
General Afanasii Nys’ky stepped out onto the deck of the assault transport Anja, lighting a cigarette as he escaped the stuffy confines of the cramped interior. From the prow of the massive vessel, which rode at anchor a mile offshore, he could barely see the spires and skyscrapers of Port Belgrade, obscured by the cloud of thick smog which hung perpetually over the Empire’s largest port. To the east lay dozens of other similar transport vessels, along with their complements of smaller escorts, their hulls sparkling in the setting sun.

Nys’ky pulled his coat tighter around himself, bracing against the unseasonable cold.

“It’s a bad omen, this weather. Too cold.”

Nys’ky turned his head in the direction from which the voice had come. A second man, wearing the black cap of an Imperial Praetorian, leaned against the railing, distractedly dragging on his own cigarette. Nys’ky looked the man over, not saying anything. It was an understatement to say that General Luka Kerjevo was a well known figure in the Imperial Army. The bloody exploits of the Praetorian with the handsome face and jet black hair were well documented. Unlike most of his comrades in the Empire’s infamous warrior caste, Kerjevo was a fan of the spotlight. His charming manner and appealing features provided the Generian news media with an ideal poster boy for their glorification of the Imperial counter insurgency effort in Alberia.

Nys’ky knew him even better than most, however. They had both served under Nys’ky’s famous father: Lew Nys’ky, the Lion of New Borneria. Now, Kerjevo was his subordinate; commander of the Praetorian divisions attached to the 11th army. Nys’ky wasn’t fond of Praetorians as a rule. He considered these shock troops too unpredictable, too brutal for their own good. If he had been asked, he would have said that they were a liability to any army they served with. Nonetheless, he respected Kerjevo. The man was a good soldier, one of few who could keep those rabid dogs under control in the heat of battle.

The two men stood smoking in silence for several minutes before Kerjevo attempted again to strike up conversation.

“It will be good, I think, to be fighting beside Kregaians again. Good warriors. Brutally efficient.”

He offered a half smile to his superior. He carried a heavy southern accent, a product of his Buchianan upbringing. Unlike most, he did nothing to hide it, though such a mark was frowned upon by the elitists of Generia’s eastern hubs.

Nys’ky nodded.

“Good soldiers, yes.”

They’re foolish, cultish pricks is what they are, he thought. He had seen the news this morning. Apparently the Kregaians had thought it prudent to broadcast news of the “grand tour of the Empire” all over their local stations. Nys’ky cared little for this masquerade. He was glad that Emperor Nikolai had forbidden Generian media from broadcasting any details of the buildup of warships and the mobilization of troops occurring throughout the Empire.

“Ah, but you don’t agree of course,” said Kerjevo, idly. “You’d rather we sailed alone, yes?”

Nys’ky didn’t respond. Kerjevo’s demeanor was wearing on him. The Praetorian shrugged.

“Perhaps you’re right. Killing Praetonians is a pleasure best enjoyed individually.”

The silence returned. Kerjevo finished his cigarette and flicked it overboard. He turned to the Generian general, nodded, and stepped back into the ship. Nys’ky scowled. He would be happy to be under sail. Tomorrow, the last of the Generian armada would be departing, linking up with the rest of the Empire’s warships and the Kregaian fleet in New Borneria before heading off towards Kahanistan.
Praetonia
26-04-2008, 01:49
"There has further been considerable new building activity at the Kregaian Fort Karia," Air Vice-Marshal Hewer clicked his slide-switcher.

"This is one of the new structures. Not only is it a sizeable hangar, it also seems to be completely empty. Its temperature rarely diverges considerable from the environmental mean."

Another click.

"This is the same hangar some hours later. As you can see there is activity around and inside the hangar; that can be seen from the optical photograph." Click "but the infra-red photograph shows nothing. Complete blank." Click "This is the runway on an average day a month ago," click, "and this is the runway yesterday.

"As you can see, traffic has increased substantially; two to three times at least. What is just as interesting is that these aircraft are almost always transports, and they do not stay. Many of them are indeed the same aircraft, ferrying something back and forth day-in-day-out."

Click

"The assessment of our AIC here in Kahanistan is that something suspicious is going on at Fort Karia. Precisely what is uncertain. They may be shoring their defences or they may preparing for an offensive. I would currently recommend that we increase our level of alert, but not such that it would differ outwardly from what they may expect during the present Troubles in Haven."

The High Commissioner guaged the reaction of the various military officers sitting around the table. Most looked intrigued; few worried. This was viewed as a posting that would either be a dead-end, or else temporary. No one wanted to spend their career in Kahanistan, but now the possibility of a serious war was floating onto the horizon, and abandoned and ambitious officers alike were seeing a chance not only to boost their careers, but to make themselves and their campaign a household name wherever the Purple Ensign flies.

"I should not like the Kregaians to think we know too much, High Commissioner" Admiral Barings, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Kahaniland Squadron said, "For so long as the planes keep flying in, we are safe and able to prepare. I would propose slowly increasing the at-sea deployment of the fleet over a period of weeks."

The High Commissioner gave a non-commital nod. "And you, Lieutenant-General Wrenfield?"

"I believe that we should strike while the iron is hot." The rest of the table sat in silence. "We do not know what they are doing. They are unprepared. They will no doubt wait until further forces arrive before attacking. Their transport craft are vulnerable. It is to our advantage to strike now."

"And risk losing the Kahanis?" Admiral Barings half-shouted, "The Squadron's bases are dependent on a strong landward flank which is impossible to hold against a determined population supported by a well-equipped foreign army."

"Bugger the squadron, annihilate their landward flank now and forget about the navy. A Kahani insurrection would be easily suppre-"

The High Commissioner stood up. The officers followed hurriedly. "Quite aside from the military considerations, His Majesty is committed to a just involvement in Kahanistan. There is more at stake in how the world views our dealings than in how they turn out here.

"AIC will forward the necessary information to the Commission, which will inform the Kahanistanis. We shall see how the situation proceeds. It may be that the Kahanistanis are involved and intend to launch a general insurrection to transfer control from ourselves to the Kregaian Empire.

"A sad day that would be for Kahanistan," she murmured to herself.

"Royal Protectorate General Staff to reconvene in 6 hours."

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

SECURE to President Nadia Sklenova of Kahanistan FOR HAND DELIVERY ONLY

MOST SECRET

Madam President,

It has come to our attention that suspicious activities, possibly the precursors to an assault against Kahanistan or the Praetonian bases and interests on or around Kahanistani territory, have been detected at the Kregaian Fort Karia [images attached]. As you are no doubt aware, Kregaia is not a natural ally of the Crown Commonwealth or of Clandonia, and recent tensions between Automagfreek and her supporters, and APOC, are threatening to plunge Haven into war.

It was His Majesty's earnest hope that these disagreements would not spill over into Kahanistan, and His Majesty has made no attempt to reinforce his bases here or to assault the Kregaian bases on Kahanistani territory. His Majesty stands alongside Kahanistan, in accordance with His commitments under the Treaty of Haversham and subsequent agreements, to defend Her to the last, with the honour of His own Great Nation at stake, against any outward attack, but particularly one from a country with no regard for the liberty or justice due to the subject, such as Kregaia.

His Majesty recommends that Kahanistan ban further Kregaian transport aircraft from entering Her airspace en route to the military base until the nature and purpose of their cargo can be ascertained, and the contents of the subtantial new buildings on their base can be similarly confirmed. His Majesty further recommends that the Kahanistani military make such preparations as may be deemed appropriate to halt an advance inland from the Kregaian base.

His Majesty also requests the Kahanistani government to make its wishes on the matter of the involvement of the Lord Protector in its defence known promptly so that the required deployments may be made before foreign military activity makes them impossible.

Yours Faithfully,

Dame Claire Fairvale, KBS
High Commissioner to Kahanistan

[OOC: Sorry if this is riddled with typos, will fix tomorrow.]
Kahanistan
26-04-2008, 02:46
"Well, it seems the Praetonians know now," said General Kaselev.

"And they aren't attacking," said President Sklenova. "They want us to explain ourselves... let them know we're not interested in a Kregaian protectorship."

"That was still a damned fool risk you had us take, Kaselev," said Defence Minister Lavalle. "What if they'd jumped the Palace, and taken us all prisoner? Our soldiers wouldn't follow orders if the generals thought our orders were compromised, or given under duress."

"In the meantime," said the President, "I'll listen to Boy George and put the 57th Infantry outside Greendale. Have them entrench in case the Kregaians decide to move toward New Masada. Defence Minister, I believe that we have to make a decision... we can't sit on the fence any more."

"Agreed," said Lavalle. "Tell the Kregaians we aren't interested in their problems with Praetonia."

"Bad idea," replied Kaselev. "We can't risk the Kregaians seeing us as weak, and they will if we down their transports when we aren't officially at war, or tell them we'd rather stay out of the fight."

"Who said anything about downing transports?" asked Sklenova. "He just said to tell the Kregaians we're neutral and, I assume, to stop their flights into the base without telling us what's going on."

"We know what's going on," said Kaselev. "It's this playing dumb that gives credence to the Doomani propaganda that our brains are smaller than other brains. Black slaves in the nineteenth century used that strategy to avoid punishments for infractions. It was called tomming. That translated into the all too common belief even today in parts of the world in black inferiority, and it's happening to us. Put what naval assets we can spare outside Westport, and tell the Kregaians to stop the suspicious flights. We need to get the Praetonians to hurry up the production of the sixty destroyers we ordered from them. About downing planes, if they refuse to stop after a warning... we have no choice."

"I agree," said Sklenova. "I'll tell the Praetonians we want them to help us. As for the Kregaians... I'll tell them to stop the supplies to the base."

---

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE
Omega-5-Rho-7-Pi

The Government of Kahanistan, in the interests of neutrality, security, and the well-being of its economic and military assets, wishes the Praetonian government to assist us in the event of a Kregaian attack.

I will tell the Kregaians that they are threatening our political balance and to stop supplies to Fort Karia. If they disregard our wishes, you may take whatever measures necessary to stop the base from receiving supplies, but we have no desire to be the aggressors in any conflict. In the short term, I recommend a conference be held to negotiate a peaceable resolution to this situation.

In the meantime, the sixty Type 81 destroyers we ordered from I.P.S. have yet to be delivered.

Signed,
Nadia Sklenova,
President of Kahanistan

---

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE
Pi-3-Rho-8-Upsilon

The involvement by your government in Kahanistanian-Praetonian relations threatens the delicate political balance we have worked hard here to accomplish. We are currently seeking (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=555159) talks with the Royal Georgian League to remove some remaining doubts about League policy, and have negotiated a future end to the protectorate period.

We must insist that the supplies of building materials and troops to Fort Karia stop immediately. We are, however, open to a conference involving your government and that of Praetonia.

Signed,
Nadia Sklenova,
President of Kahanistan
The Warmaster
26-04-2008, 03:09
General Decevus Ctani smiled as he watched the proceedings down at the waterfront from the bridge of the flagship. The sea glittered below, the setting sun sprinkling fiery fragments over its surface. In the distance stood the city of Ilium, once a regional capital in Freudotopia, now a possession of the Kregaian Empire, capital of the province of Recedentia. Off the coast, the fleet stood at anchor, as the once-empty troop transports took turns mooring and taking on their passengers. There was little point trying to conceal such a vast movement: a huge percentage of the Recedentia garrisons were being re-assigned to his command, no less than 12 Legions in all. Well over a million troops, plus their associated artillery, armor, air support, and logistics personnel. No small matter.

The very same hangars that continued to be built so hastily in Fort Karia concealed the actual embarkation of troops: non-essential persons were being kept out of the dock area by the city's Imperial Guardsmen, while the troop transports themselves lay under the refrigerated roofs. In theory, this would prevent Praetonian satellites from seeing the embarkation. And true, if the Praetonians were not paying attention, they might well miss it entirely. But if they had been alerted by anything suspicious, and had the paranoia to watch all of the Empire's territories at once, they would have noticed that a massive proportion of the troops in Recedentia had been moved to Ilium. Although General Ctani doubted there were any Praetonian spies or sympathizers in Ilium, it wouldn't take much imagination to at least suspect that the troop transports accompanying the fleet were no longer empty.

The general lit up a cigarette and took a long drag, praying that the Praetonians wouldn't notice the proceedings. The element of surprise was essential...and for a moment, his thoughts turned to what the Kahanistanis would do when the allied army landed at Westport. President Sklenova had yet to respond to the Emperor's letter, and it had been ten days.

* * *

OFFICIAL MILITARY COMMUNIQUE

To: General Afanisii Nys'ky and General Luka Kerjevo

Greetings, brothers. It is a pleasure to go to war with you.

Ten days ago, the Emperor sent a message to President Sklenova, arguing that she should support the imminent invasion, which he informed her of, and requested that when war breaks out that she seize all Praetonian assets in the SEZs and arrest their owners. I wish to inform you of this development, in order that you have all the facts. She has not yet replied, but we are confident the Praetonians do not know of it; if they did, we would see greatly increased activity, and their fleet would move to engage the fleet already at Fort Karia.

Our fleet is completing the transfer of troops to our transports even now; we will be done by midnight tonight, at which time we will leave Recedentia and move to your location to rendezvous with your fleet. Together we will proceed to Fort Karia, and from there land troops near Westport. I, personally, am looking forward to the upcoming conflict. May we achieve victory quickly and gloriously. Blood and Honor.

Signed,
General Decevus Ctani, Commander of Army Group Kahanistan

* * *

OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC COMMUNIQUE

To: President Nadia Sklenova of Kahanistan

Madam President, the Imperium denies that troops are being moved into Kahanistan; we are expanding the base at Fort Karia to handle a planned increase in the garrison there, which we will notify you of well in advance of the actual troop movements as a matter of courtesy. Furthermore, even if we were moving troops or military materials into Fort Karia, it would not be the business of the Kahanistani Government: Fort Karia is Kregaian territory, subject to the laws of the Imperium, not to the authority of Kahanistan. Nor do the activities of the Imperium on its own territory in any way impede the establishment of improved relations with the Royal Georgian League. We hope you will recognize this as what it is: a non-issue, and certainly not one that needs mediating of any sort.

Signed,
Abram Vidann, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Generic empire
26-04-2008, 03:21
Emperor Nikolai folded his glasses and looked up from the paperwork. A half dozen officials stood around his desk. A few wore military uniforms, most notably General Sverik Iljievo, the longtime supreme commander of the Imperial Army, his hair now stark white and his features lined with age from over 30 years of service to the Empire under Nikolai’s father.

Nikolai took a sip from a glass of water on his desk, before opening his mouth to speak.

“Kahanistan, gentlemen, is the exposed underbelly of the beast. As General Iljievo has correctly stated, Praetonia’s grip is fragile, even here, in its most crucial protectorate. Strike it hard enough, and APOC will loosen its fingers. Continue to press, and it relinquishes its hold entirely.”

The Emperor stood up, leaning forward over his desk.

“Considering recent developments, it is imperative that we force a conflict with the most powerful players in APOC as soon as possible. A limited conflict is of course preferable to general war between our own alliance and theirs. I am in agreement with the Kregaian Emperor Ishamael on this matter."

Nikolai paused for a moment, and looked around the room. His audience offered their nods of agreement.

“I’ve authorized the deployment of the 11th army to Kahanistan. Upon landing, our forces, under the most capable leadership of General Afanasii Nys’ky will work with Kregaian forces to destroy the Praetonian and Clandonian garrisons and seize control of the protectorate. I am encouraging General Nys’ky, through the attachment of an Imperial Intelligence division, to seek the support of the Kahanistani populace. Through the elevation of mid-level government officials, we will seek to build a new nation, under the protection of Generia and Kregaia, but nominally independent and loyal to the ideals and goals of the Empire and Gholgoth at large.”

The Emperor finished briefing his advisors and officials and moved to sit down. As the others bowed and filed out, Nikolai beckoned to Iljievo, who stepped up beside him. The Emperor spoke quietly to him.

“How confident are you in our men, General?”

Iljievo answered without hesitation.

“Your grace, our soldiers are the best in the world. I believe that completely. General Nys’ky is an exceptional officer. He proved that in New Borneria. If anyone can orchestrate an operation on this scale it is him. I am certain that once the pampered Praetonian colonials get a look at our Praetorians, they’ll want to be off of that island as fast as possible.”

Nikolai smiled at his old advisor.

“Still, I wish the Kregaians hadn’t felt obliged to reveal our strategy to the Kastanis,” continued Iljievo.

“Fair enough. The Kregaians have always been overconfident. With luck, they’ll make up for that mistake on the battlefield.”

“I’m sure of it,” replied the General.

-----------

encrypting…

To: General Decevus Ctani

Greetings General Ctani,

As it stands, the last vessels of the Imperial 1st Armada have set off for New Borneria, where we will rendezvous with your vessels. They carry with them the veteran soldiers of the 11th Army, and the Praetorian divisions under my command. Though our complement of warships is smaller than your own, Generia’s ships are sound and her naval officers cunning and capable. We are certain that together we will be more than capable of standing up to and vanquishing Praetonia’s naval assets. On land, we will have no equal, and the beating our enemies will take between the hills and deserts of Kahanistan will not be one soon forgotten. Let us make a good war in the coming weeks. May God smile upon our endeavor.

General Luka Kerjevo

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

As the sun rose over the mountains and the coast of New Borneria, the Empire’s vast armada of transports and mighty warships crossed the mouth of Harbor Nys’ky, named after the famous father of the 11th army’s commanding General. Steaming in the direction of Kahanistan, the Generian vessels waited patiently for the arrival of their Kregaian counterparts, their crew eager to be under steam and the warriors in the bellies of the transports eager to set their boots on foreign soil.
The Warmaster
26-04-2008, 17:33
As Minister Vidann finished his summary of the Kahanistani message received just minutes ago, the High Command was silent for a few minutes. It was Emperor Ishamael who broke the silence by stating matter-of-factly, "Well, it looks like the game is up."

Lucius Kressh, Head of the Intelligence Division, said slowly, "The use of the word 'troops' is interesting. Either they know that we are bringing troops into the country, or they are guessing."

Imperator Malustar was quick to jump in. "They couldn't possibly know for sure. There's no way they could get a spy inside Fort Karia, and infrared would be the only way to reveal the troops. We've taken care of that. All they know is that new hangars are being rapidly built, which always have the same temperature as the surrounding area, and that something is being dropped off there. That is enough to guess that the hangars are refrigerated, but they can only guess at what, exactly, is being unloaded."

"The question," the Emperor continued, "is how much the Praetonians know. Was it the Kahanistanis who obtained this intelligence? Or did the Praetonians forward it to them? It's difficult to be sure. The Kahanistanis are quite possibly not intelligent enough to make such connections as this requires. And yet I rather doubt the Praetonians would risk forwarding news of an impending Kregaian invasion to Kahanistan. One way or another, such news would cause a panic, both among the locals and among foreign investors, and would cost them a great deal."

The table was silent for a moment, thinking over Ishamael's logic, before the Emperor continued, "In the short term, I believe it is irrelevant. We can't be sure what the Praetonians know. All we can do is get to Kahanistan as soon as possible. Have General Ctani move immediately to the rendezvous with the Generians, and from there make best possible speed to Westport. Then we'll see where the Kahanistani stand."
Kahanistan
26-04-2008, 18:09
President Sklenova drove to the Praetonian High Commissioner's office. She had a copy of the Kregaian letter with her, but would only give it as a last resort, if the Praetonians seemed to be overly concerned about Kregaian intentions.

With their refusal to cease supplies to Fort Karia, negotiations were pretty much over, at least on their end. Any further interference would be seen by the Kregaians as infringement on their sovereign territory - an action Kahanistan was not prepared to take without explicit Praetonian approval.

She pulled into the High Commission parking lot, showing ID to the guards on the way in, stepped out dressed in a businesslike fashion, and entered the building, letting the receptionist know she was there and asking to meet on an emergency basis with the High Commissioner.

Her actions over the next hour or so could spell the fate of the whole country - an awesome weight on her shoulders indeed.
Praetonia
27-04-2008, 00:19
The neo-classical grandeur of the High Commission quite outshone any of the Kahanistani government buildings that surrounded it. The pith-helmeted sentires brought their rifles up in salute as the Kahanistani President passed by, ignoring the attempt of one of them to open her car door for her.

Inside, civil servants passed to and fro beneath the portrait of King George IV that adorned the greater part of the wall opposite the door. Their footfalls rang crisply if irregularly on the marble flooring, punctuated occassionally by a group of three or four army officers walking in-step.

The Kahanistani President was led into a small wood-panelled anteroom dotted with comfortable chairs around a table on which were neatly arranged a selection of Praetonian broadsheets, steaming teapots (were they changed continually to keep the tea hot?) with cups and a plate of sandwiches. Although the room's ample supplies would provide a middle class Praetonian with sufficient sustenance and entertainment to endure a short seige, President Sklenova was promptly fetched by a footman and led to the High Commissioner's study.

She stood up and offered her hand. "Madam President, it is always a pleasure."

She offered the President a seat.

"I take it that you are hear to discuss the situation with Kregaia?"
Kahanistan
27-04-2008, 02:08
Sklenova nodded grimly. "The Kregaians... have flatly refused to cease the supplies to Fort Karia. I strongly suspect... strongly enough to accuse them outright... that they are moving troops into that base. They admit they plan to increase the garrison size, and insist that it is their sovereign territory, that we have no business demanding the flow of supplies stop, but we both know they're hiding something. Could be nukes, for all I know, like the ones in the Freekish bases in Londinium that the Londinians didn't know about until they attacked before the Vivicide, but there's almost certainly troops coming in. I wasn't going to go further without the express consent of the Lord Protector, unless the Kregaians attack, and if we wait for them to do that, we lose the initiative."

She took a sip of tea. "I've sent troops to Greendale, to forestall a possible strike through that city," she said, laying a map of Kahanistan at the table.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i206/Kahanistan/new-republic.jpg

"As you can see, an invasion through Westport, where we're currently mobilising forces, could leave Greendale as the sole stopping point from New Masada. Given what we know of the Kregaians, they are likely to fight with minimal concern for the civilian population, or the economic infrastructure in the cities. On the other hand, they have to get troops into the country. The Kregaians refuse to attend a conference with us, as I have requested, so I would recommend a Praetonian blockade of Fort Karia. Turn back their supply craft and the base will have to surrender eventually, or fight and show their cards."

Sklenova sat forward and crossed her legs. "A blockade now would catch the Kregaians off guard, and buy our troops extra time to complete mobilisation. In the meantime, we should move our planned conference to Kingston, where it's safer. I don't think the enemy will get to New Masada in the time it'd take to finish the conference, but we can't hold it with a siege mentality. I'd be willing to board a plane there A.S.A.P., and hopefully be back before things here heat up too badly."
Clandonia Prime
29-04-2008, 20:14
RAF, Abergaveny, Clandonian Forces Kahnistan

"Though fraud in other activities be detestable, in the management of war it is laudable and glorious, and he who overcomes an enemy by fraud is as much to be praised as he who does so by force." Niccolo Machiavelli

Clandonian SIS and the Royal Air Force Intelligence service had a sizeable operation in Kahanistan, managing IMINT (Imagery) and SIGINT (Signals). A satellite array provided a downlink and management control station for the Galileo Spyhole spy satellite system and also a relay station for the Gull Class RORSAT for maritime intelligence and observation. The dish network presented itself as a large target and was heavily defended by the four colonial fighter squadrons of Abergaveny. Clandonian satellites like their Praetonian counterparts had detected the large increase in construction at Fort Karia along with the abnormal temperature and the increase in power production for the base, additional generators and fuel supplies a tell tale sign of something suspicious. Going through the intelligence community hierarchy of collection, analysis and then the decision by the executive of the Joint Intelligence Council back in Warminster. Conclusion, in light of recent tensions in Haven that there as a direct threat to Clandonian economic and strategic interests in the protectorate of Kahanistan. Action to be taken, monitor Kriegaian forces and take note of all transportation into Fort Karia along with Kriegaian naval forces within a 2000 km vicinity of Kahanistan.

In New Masada the Clandonian Governor General Sir Peter Hontenbury Price had travelled to join the Praetonian High Commisioner and the Kahanistani President Sklenova a 'bloody woman' of all people. In the time of tension between APOC and NATO Realism took over and in line with Clandonian English School thinking in terms of international relation and foreign policy he had to be nice, thinking of his political masters in Warminster where the trillions of Crowns that were invested into the Special Economic Zones originated from. Some even hoped a small war would manifest in a far flung colony like Kahanistan, with a General Election less than a year away the popularity of the Liberal Tories could be boosted with a swift victory in a small war where the forces of freedom and liberty would save the poor Kahanistans from Gholgoth imperialism and aggression.

"Our Falklands..." He thought to himself as the official car pulled through the gates.
The Warmaster
29-04-2008, 21:13
OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC COMMUNIQUE

To: President Nadia Sklenova of Kahanistan

Upon further consideration, the Imperium has rescinded its reply of earlier today. No further flights into Fort Karia, other than for essential or emergency purposes, will be launched from any other part of the Empire, and those transports which are currently in the air will be brought to Fort Karia as soon as possible or diverted to other Imperial territories.

We wish to make it clear that we stand by the principle we argued in the earlier communique, that Fort Karia is Imperial territory and as such subject to neither the laws nor the scrutiny of Kahanistan. However, we wish to avoid unnecessary tension, and so we accede to your request.

Signed,
Abram Vidann, Minister of Foreign Affairs

OOC: To avoid any confusion, I'm not giving up the campaign, just stopping the flights into Fort Karia. I'd make a post about the fleets approaching, but that would conflict with the conversation between Kstan and Prae/Clan that is currently going on.
Praetonia
06-05-2008, 23:52
[OOC: Sorry for the delay, been very busy recently.]

The High Commissioner looked puzzled, as though the Kahanistani President was acting on assumptions of her knowledge that hadn't been made at all plain. "Why are you planning specifically for an attack through Westport? Why not Fort Neptune, or Riverson, or a far less risky assault against a beachhead away from the cities?"

She did not know about the letter, but it was clear that the Kahanistanis either had some piece of information that the President assumed she knew about but didn't, or else their legendary military incompetence had conspired to generate a baseless assumption about where the enemy would attack out of nowhere. Both were possible, and a cynic might even say that the latter is more likely. The High Commissioner was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt - the Cabinet had tried to appoint the most Kahaniphile candidate who could be relied upon afterall, but either way she had to know.

The President's closing remarks, however, inspired more alarm than confusion in the High Commissioner.

"I really must advise against your leaving the country in this time of National Emergency, Madame President. If the matter escalates to conflict, the Kahanistani people will need their domestic leaders close at hand, not ensconced in a Kingston hotel.

"Your problems with the Georgian League, such as they are, stem primarily from Cotland's antipathy toward your people. Cotland is not involved in the protectorate, has no troops here and will not deliberately endanger the interests of her allies. These issues can, I am sure, wait until after the Emergency has passed."
Kahanistan
07-05-2008, 09:20
"An attack through Fort Neptune would mean trudging through snow, and then through heavily wooded territory depending on their end destination. True, it's not completely impassable, but it's not wise to try to move heavy troop concentrations through there, where the terrain favours the defender so heavily. Riverson is a possibility, and not one I would completely discount, but it's a longer trip than Westport and the troops we have in Greendale would still likely make an intercept, unless they go through the desert, or around it... and going around it would mean they could be pincered by a division from Greendale and one from New Masada. But one thing we know, is if they do invade... they'll want a port, and one close to major cities to shorten their supply lines and support their fleet."

She seemed to feel vaguely offended at the High Commissioner's reaction, but chalked it up to the Praetonians absorbing Doomani propaganda that the brains of her people were 40% smaller than those of the Doomani. All of a sudden, her PDA beeped.

"Excuse me," she said, opening her PDA. "It seems the Kregaians... have relented and agreed to suspend flights to Fort Karia in the interests of avoiding tensions."

---

Desert Command Base, southwestern Kahanistan

Lieutenant General Itzhak Ben-Yehuda, one of Kahanistan's more open-minded officers in the General Staff, opened a secured channel to a Doomani mercenary he had researched whom he felt would be able to train the two divisions of mechanised infantry and one armoured division in XI Corps under his command. This mercenary, he hoped, could train his soldiers to fight without making too many waves, pissing too many people off, or getting himself or his employer fragged.

[OOC: Discussed, briefly, with Doom on IRC.]
The Warmaster
11-07-2008, 18:56
OOC: Bump. Kahanistan, Prae and I have discussed resuming this, and I hope you'll agree to do so as well.
Kahanistan
11-07-2008, 19:51
[OOC: Meh. I'll have to figure out how to time this so it's before any involvement I have in the slaving ops, and it'll depend on Praetonia's response to my posts there.]

IC:

While Defence Minister Mustafa Lavalle was attempting to contact the Clandonian and Praetonian commands to try to agree on a supreme overall commander (and possibly encourage Cottish and other Kingston Pact involvement) President Sklenova was trying to maintain her honour and still get the Praetonians to believe that she, who had long opposed the protectorate and only conceded to avoid war, and was more friendly toward them recently to keep the militarists in check, actually had the same interests that they did, and wasn't purposely misleading them.

Lavalle wanted a Kahanistanian general, preferably himself, to be the overall allied commander. Less nationalistic commanders like those in the Navy favoured a Praetonian admiral commanding the naval defence, but left the ground defence up in the air. Some of the more leftist officers wanted a Praetonian general on the ground, while others feared an Inkana-style defeat if a naval power like Praetonia were forced to fight on land heavily. This dispute would require the participation of Clandonian and Praetonian generals and admirals to resolve, and time was of the essence; one couldn't be squabbling over command structure when Hannibal was at the gates.

---

Outside the capital, and the western city of Greendale, huge trenches were in the process of being dug, dugouts were being made for tanks, land mines were being produced and laid through likely avenues of approach, and in the cities tanks were being produced at a furious pace, massive Sumerian monstrosities that Kahanistan had obtained D.P.R. for. Aircraft were being kept in the air, too, mainly Su-33's for the naval capacity despite having few carriers, and Tu-160 bombers modified to mount the Axis Novan Spectre anti-shipping missile were fueled and drilling.
The Warmaster
14-07-2008, 19:52
OOC: Post forthcoming; I'm assuming for the moment that the conversation between your characters is over, so my next post will be several days in the future, as the fleets (I was planning on simply RPing GE's forces as well as my own, but we can discuss that if you want) approach Kahanistani waters.

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, I intended for this to be before the slaving wars anyway.
The Warmaster
18-07-2008, 03:17
Several weeks ago.

"Gentlemen of the Inner Court, my thanks for your prompt appearance at what I hope will be a short briefing. The gods know we've had plenty of these lately, and many of you have other tasks to get back to. But as you'll see shortly, this is rather important, so while I'm aiming for brevity, keep in mind that we are embarking on a massive step here."

Imperator Malustar, clad in full dress uniform, picked up the remote for the projector and displayed the first slide of his presentation, a map of Kahanistan, turning to his audience as he did so.

"We're all familiar with Kahanistan. Destroyed by the Imperium Doomanum rather comprehensively a few years back, and since then, thanks largely to massive investments on the part of Kregaian, Praetonian, and Clandonian corporations, it's been miraculously revived. Considering that the previous Kahanistani homeland is a flat expanse of glass, the bastards have it pretty good: cities, trade, an armed forces. The basics. Personally I was a little surprised they didn't sink into warlordism..."

At this digression, Emperor Ishamael cleared his throat softly, which quickly sent the Imperator back onto his topic.

"Of course. As I was saying, Kregaians have poured countless billions of dollars into Kahanistan. We also control a sizable strategic defense system around New Masada..."

"Might I add," Lord Treasurer Crovax butted in blithely, "that we're having to rent the land from the Kahanistani government, which is costing us a fortune..."

"Quite so," the Imperator replied, throwing a glare at the absent-minded Lord Treasurer. "The point is, substantial as our investments in that nation are, they're easily surpassed by the fortune the Praetonians and Clandonians have poured into Kahanistan. We're still working on an estimate for just how much they've spent, but there's no doubt it's a massive number. Economically and politically, Praetonia has Kahanistan on an extremely tight leash. We have Fort Karia, but Clandonia and Praetonia each have their own bases, and they own enough of the economy that the Kahanistanis will do as they're told. That's without taking into account the legal control the Praetonian King has over Kahanistan. In short, gentlemen, we may consider Kahanistan a puppet of the Praetonian Crown.

"This situation, however, represents an opportunity for us. Kahanistan is the under-belly of Praetonia: militarily and economically far weaker, geographically remote from its primary supporters, with a populace that, we understand, resents the increasing power of foreign influences. Posing as their liberators, we might achieve a resounding propaganda victory. But either way, the Legions are capable of conquering Kahanistan, and as we do so, the Praetonians lose their greatest colony and their massive investments. A bold victory for Kregaia and for Gholgoth."

Lord High General Yataghan stood as the Imperator finished and prompty challenged, "Sir, this assumes that we can quickly overcome the combined naval garrisons of Clandonia and Praetonia, land an army, occupy the country and defeat all opposition before a massive Praetonian relief force arrives. What makes you so sure of this?"

Before Malustar could reply, the Emperor held up a hand and spoke for him. "We have a guise for our actions. We will assemble our fleets for the purpose of a grand tour of the world, a supposed PR action to prove Gholgoth is still in the forefront of world events. Specially refrigerated hangars will be constructed in Fort Karia, to hide the fact that troops will be flown in regularly. You'll remember that a month ago, I ordered the Recedentia garrisons to be increased; the majority of the troops will come from there, where our fleet will stop and take them aboard. We will rendezvous with a similar Generian armada on the way to Kahanistan. We'll land at Westport and proceed from there. General Ctani will be in command. By all this, I mean that ideally, we will have the advantage of surprise, a sizable ground force, and a powerful fleet. It will take weeks for Praetonian reinforcements to arrive, plenty of time to force a Kahanistani surrender and destroy the Praetonian and Clandonian military presence.”

The Imperator nodded in satisfaction at the Emperor's summary. "Any questions, gentlemen?" Nobody moved. He picked up a stack of booklets and handed them to a servant, who passed them out to the members of the Inner Court. "These have the full information, including projected costs, the full ORBAT, a copy of the letter the Emperor will send to the Kahanistani President in a few weeks, a rough timetable...all the info. You all can go."

* * *

Present day.

From the bridge of the Apophis-class supercapital that was the flagship of the Kregaian armada, the seas looked so…dull. They always were. General Ctani hated sea travel: he hated the stink of the salty water and the waves and even the sight of the seas themselves. Even at dawn, with the sun burning over the ocean, only his cigarette kept an angry scowl off his face, despite the fact that the sight on the horizon was a poet’s or painter’s wet dream. Fuck the sea. He would have given thousands to be on good Kregaian soil again. Or better yet, Kahanistani soil. Soon to become Kregaian. He smirked. If the fops and merchant princes of Praetonia and Clandonia didn’t understand yet, they would soon enough…although, of course, he rather hoped they were still in the dark. They were nations of bankers, and this, their greatest colony, was likely defended by half-trained colonials, jumped-up policemen at best. He appreciated the honor: never before had the Legions directly fought Clandonians or Praetonians, and he was the man chosen to cross swords with them at last. The natives, the Kahanistanis, he thought to himself with a sneer, were barely worth mentioning. Rabble, propped up by the weapons and money of better nations and borderline effective only in hordes. The general watched his smoke float out over the hated sea, wishing he could see coastline, and offered a prayer to the Destroyer for a swift arrival and a bloody victory.

ETA to Westport: 6 hours.
Kahanistan
18-07-2008, 22:09
High Commissioner's Office

Sklenova's facial expression hardened. If I'm going to side with Praetonia... none of this beating around the bush. There was no doubt in her mind who she would side with in the event of an invasion, and Kregaia's continued claim that their fort was their sovereign territory was likely to lead to one.

With a heavy sigh, she passed the letter to the Praetonian High Commissioner. "Here's a secret letter they gave me," she said. "We have a code of honour that... says we usually hold top-level discussions in confidence. Else, how could you know we weren't passing strategic information to the Kregaians, is the rationale. It has the reasons we think what we think about the Kregaians."

She sat back and awaited the High Commissioner's response...

---

Kahanistanian Military Prison 13, Fort Green, Kahanistan

A rugged man in his sixties languished in his cell, keeping his strength up only by doing pullups on his prison bars. He was tall and robust, and had a somewhat cynical expression as the two unfamiliar officers approached him.

"Marshal Malakov." One of the officers handed him a pistol, which he secreted in his underwear, careful not to blow off his dick. "We've come to take you out of here."

"Why are you doing this?" asked the prisoner. General Iosif Malakov had been imprisoned the year before for attempting to frame the then Defence Minister, who happened to be Catholic, for collaboration with the Doomani terrorist organisation Manus Dei. He maintained his innocence, but was expelled from the Nationalist Party as an anti-Catholic. As part of maintaining his innocence, he did not seek out the Anti-Catholic Party as an ally.

"This government is falling apart," said the man who had handed Malakov the weapon, a robust lieutenant colonel in his late 30's with a short beard, military-style haircut and swarthy complexion whose name tag identified him merely as "Morrison, D." "Miss Sklenova... she is peaceable, which is good at keeping us out of wars, but when Hannibal is at the gates, we do not need peaceable. We need someone who has the balls to fight, and with al-Ghazi going over to the Allaneans, that leaves you. Plus, you're saner, you won't insist on fighting alone or bombing your own positions."

"Are you sure a coup won't alienate the Praetonians?" asked Malakov.

The other officer, a young woman in her early 30's with a similar complexion but with blonde hair and a few extra pounds whose name tag and rank insignia identified her as a Major "Canton, L.", shook her head.

"It might delay our admission to the Kingston Pact," she said. "But the Cottish do far worse things to opponents of the King than any Kahanistanian politician would do to his or her political opponents... and it hasn't threatened their membership. I don't think a military takeover, in time of war, is going to seriously alienate the Praetonians or the Clandonians." She locked and loaded her Aequatian-designed G100. "Right now, we're getting you out of here. An A.P.C. with loyal officers will take you to the Presidential Palace. I'm a member of the Presidential Security Detachment, so I can get us in." She produced a set of keys and unlocked the cell door, then handed Malakov a uniform and escorted him out...
The Warmaster
23-07-2008, 04:53
OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC COMMUNIQUE

To: President Nadia Sklenova of Kahanistan

Madam President, the time has come for you to make a decision. You have not replied to the Emperor's letter, an insult to His Divine Majesty and to the Kregaian Imperium. You have refused to commit, and we ask that you do so now.

The Kregaian-Generian fleet is mere hours away from Westport. If you wish to assist us, either publicly or quietly, with the overthrow of your Praetonian and Clandonian overlords, then instruct the port authority to allow our transports to land and unload troops and materiel.

I need hardly add, Madam President, that if you elect not to assist us, a state of war will exist between Kahanistan and the Kregaian Imperium. You may make brave statements such as 'We do not bow to the wishes of tyrants' now, but bear in mind that all those who face us proclaim such platitudes, and in the end it avails them nothing. It is not a moral question of whether you approve of the Kregaian Imperium or not; it is a practical question of whether you can afford to have the Kregaian Imperium mark you as an enemy.

The Kahanistani government has fifteen minutes to confirm its position or the Imperium will assume it has hostile intentions toward the allied task force. You have been warned, Madam President; make the choice that you think best.

Signed,
Abram Vidann, Minister of Foreign Affairs

* * *

OFFICIAL MILITARY COMMUNIQUE

To: Major General Arminius

Make the final preparations immediately; they sent the ultimatum, but I doubt the bitch is going to cave. Best to be prepared, anyway. ETA to Westport is just over six hours, assuming no engagements or diplomatic stalls, so you have a few hours to prepare to begin the offensive. Blood and Honor.

Signed,
General Decevus Ctani
Kahanistan
23-07-2008, 23:39
[OOC: I'm kind of giving Praetonia and Clandonia opportunities to post, but hell, they can time-wank their responses in whenever they can be arsed to post. Just fluid time everything before the military coup.]

"Thank you," said the President, shaking hands with the High Commissioner and taking her leave.

When she returned to the Palace, a force consisting mainly of armour and heavy infantry surrounded it, about brigade strength. Two guards stopped her vehicle.

"We have orders to take you to the Grand Marshal," said one of them.

"Major Canton, who is this...?" Sklenova seemed confused and surprised. Was this a coup d'etat? "Who is the Grand Marshal?"

The Presidential Security officer shook her head. "You'll know him when you see him," she said cryptically, escorting the smaller woman into the Palace and toward her office.

---

In the Presidential Office

General Malakov sat in the office; he had been informed of Sklenova's arrival. He intended to ask her exactly what she had given the Praetonians, so he would have a better idea of the strategic situation, and be able to reply to the Kregaians. He had no more love for the Praetonians, being a hardline nationalist, but the Praetonians were already there - the Kregaians would have to fight their way to him. The only strategic response that made sense was to side with the Praetonians and their allies, for now. Where the alliance would be in a few months was anyone's guess.

Awaiting her arrival, the general was planning on new styles he was thinking of adopting. Grand Marshal was cool, but he needed something big and fancy, like a lot of sovereigns these days had.

"By the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith" was out - he was an agnostic and didn't believe in mixing religion with politics... unless that religion had killed millions of his people. Going the Idi Amin route and titling himself "Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea" was a bit too grandiose - he was a general, not a god-emperor.

"What's 'Lord of Hosts' in the original Hebrew?" Malakov asked one of his Hebrew-speaking advisors. Malakov himself had no knowledge of the language.

"HaShem Tzeva'ot," replied the advisor. Not being Jewish, Malakov didn't know that "HaShem" was merely a circumlocution for the actual name used in the original Hebrew, which wasn't supposed to be spoken under strict interpretations of Jewish law.

"Very well..." said Malakov. Lord of the Hosts of the Armed Forces... He wrote the terms down and heard a knock as he was about to pull up the form letter he used for international communications.

"Come in," he said.

---

Sklenova was brought into the office by the same two officers who had freed Malakov from prison. "I should have known it would be you," she said. "Only you would try to take over the government when we're on the brink of war."

"We are on the brink of war?" Malakov asked in mock incredulity. "Tell me, Miss Sklenova. Weren't you elected to keep us out of wars? Isn't that the reason you got into bed with the Praetonians in the first place? Isn't that why we're bent over a table while they shove their thrusting manhoods deep into your tight, willing..."

"The Kregaians are the aggressors, not us," said Sklenova. "We have nothing to do with this conflict."

"I would say we have everything to do with it. If you haven't noticed, the Kregaian fleet is off our shores. Our fleet is awaiting orders. Before I can give those orders, I need to know what the Praetonians know. I know you hate me. I also know... that you won't withhold information from me and sacrifice the entire nation to spite me."

"The Kregaians... asked us to let them in, and to side with them against the Praetonians. Siding with one would provoke the other, and I thought it smarter to provoke the side that had to fight their way through the side that's already entrenched."

"I see," said Malakov. "So, there is hope for our strategic situation. I'm still short an air force commander, if you're willing to take command of the force. I will, of course, be watching you if you accept - if you do anything suspicious I have no qualms about executing you. But for now, I need your military expertise - right now, we have the same enemy regardless of political differences."

"I sent you to prison... and you want me to command the Air Force?" asked Sklenova. "Why? Is there a catch?"

"I just told you. You will follow my orders. I'm in command of the armed forces here now, and I need an experienced commander. You would be made a Marshal of the Air Force, a member of the High Command, and report directly to me as Commander in Chief."

This was wholly unconstitutional. Was he really asking her to collaborate with him after he'd just taken power? Best not to make this bloodless coup bloody. "I'll do it," she said.

"I knew you would see reason, Miss Sklenova." Malakov gestured to a closet. "There is a new uniform for you, in your size. It has the marshal's insignia and everything you'll need. Now, I have a letter to write to the Kregaians to tell them to... get bent."

---

Official Response of the Free Republic of Kahanistan
Encryption Level: None

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/kahanistan.jpg

On behalf of the Government of Kahanistan, I must firmly tell His Majesty the Emperor of Kregaia that Kahanistan has no interest in an alliance with his government, and that any intrusion into our sovereign territory will be seen as an act of imperialistic aggression and countered with the appropriate level of force.

Turn back your forces and spare your people the combined might of the Kingston Pact and our fleets. Praetonia is undefeated on the seas, and even if you do break through, we will fight you on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, et cetera. But before we do, we will destroy all Kregaian interests in Kahanistan and their generals will have to explain to the Emperor how they went to safeguard their prized businesses and arrived to find them huge slabs of plate glass. Your invasion will come to naught.

Vae victis.

Signed,
Grand Marshal Iosif Nikolaievich Malakov,
Overlord of Havenic Kahanistan and Middle Eastern Territories
HaShem Tzeva'ot of the Armed Forces of the Republic
Ex Officio Delegate of the Western Atlantic to the World Assembly
Cotland
24-07-2008, 23:26
Somewhere in Cotland

It was just another day for the Cottish Intelligence Services, going about their business sticking their prying eyes and ears in the form of intelligence gathering satellites, large antenna farms in various locations throughout the world gathering information, and of course spies here and there, into other people's business, hopefully without being detected. Today was no different, and given Cotland's rather frosty attitude towards Kahanistan - the Cottish amused themselves by consistently referring to Kahanistan as the "Praetonian Dependency of Kahanistan" (which was the mild form - a much ruder variant was used internally within the Ministry of Affairs Beyond the Borders of the Realm) - and the recent noise being made by the Kriegians, the Cottish Intelligence Services were keeping a close eye on Kahanistan. Thus, it didn't take long for the Cottish to intercept and download the message the Kahanistanis sent out unencrypted.

The analyst in the windowless room almost chocked on his coffee when he looked at the threat of turning Kriegian businesses in Kahanistan into "huge slabs of plate glass," which strongly implied that Kahanistan had in its possession nuclear weapons and that it was prepared to use it, and once again when he read the signature of the sender. It seemed there had been a change in command in Kahanistan, and it didn't seem like it was for the better. Putting down the coffee, the analyst re-read the message once again with greater care before he started typing up the report which was going to get a pretty high priority level.

Half an hour later, the typed report with the priority level Orange-2, meaning that it had to be in the hands of the leaders of Cotland within thirty minutes of reception, was in the hands of the Director of the Intelligence Services, the Royal High Command, the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Strategic Forces and of course His Majesty the King. Additionally, the report was forwarded to the Praetonians, who had probably done the very same thing when they intercepted the message.

For the moment, Cotland would do little other than put the 80. Luftbårne Korps of the 17. Armé on 72-hour alert for forward deployment to Kahanistan in the event that the Praetonians needed help against the Kriegian attack that was expected. Forty thousand paratroopers and their equipment might be of assistance to the Praetonians if the Kriegians managed to land in Kahanistan, and the Praetonians were notified of this along with the forwarded analysis.

As the government waited for a reply from Praetonia, the Cottish Intelligence Services continued to monitor the developing situation in Kahanistan.
The Warmaster
25-07-2008, 04:37
General Ctani's handheld computer buzzed, and he felt his anticipation spike. If this was the email he thought it was...He hurried inside from the light rain that was beginning to fall, striding back to the center of the Murderer's Heart's bridge, which was becoming markedly busier as the distance to Westport shrunk, and pulling out his handheld. He had one new message.

With mounting excitement he read it quickly. It was a message from the Kahanistani government, forwarded to him by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first thing that he noticed was, of course, the tone. There was no doubt about it: the Kahanistanis were looking for a fight. The general chuckled to himself. They'd learn. However, the signature didn't escape him: some prick named Malakov was calling the shots over in New Masada now. Apparently a military coup of some kind. Well, the rats could scurry around all they wanted, and put the gods know who in the chair; in his experience, infidels found it easy to talk tough when Kregaians were at a safe distance, but rather harder when the Legionaries were in their midst.

He raised his voice and called out, "Operation Shroud is concluded, gentlemen, and the main event is about to begin." Immediately the techs and bridge officers jumped to, hurrying about their tasks. He heard horns wailing throughout the ship, a sound that echoed across the waters as the other ships blared the exact same tone. It was the call to alert, and it signaled the beginning of the war. Aboard the carriers, pilots were sent to standby lounges to await the order to scramble; the AEW pickets were reinforced; more helicopters towing MAD arrays were sent out over the oceans in their endless search for enemy submarines. Final checks were made on aircraft, missiles were armed, attack submarines silently prowled beneath the waves, and in general, the fleet dragged itself to a state of preparedness.

Back aboard the bridge of the Murderer's Heart, though, General Ctani was issuing orders with his handheld computer, ignoring the Navy officers that hurried around him. 'Orders', however, was something of a misnomer: the plans had already been made, and all that remained was to give the word. Which he did. And as he sent the second of two pre-arranged code words, he smiled and stared around at the bridge crew, calling out, "Well, gentlemen, here we go."

* * *

The first touch of war on Kahanistan came, ironically enough, in New Masada, a capital city in the center of the nation that was even named for a famous fortress. The absolute last place one might expect Kregaian soldiers...except when the Kregaian military was maintaining a sizable defense network across the city. The Kahanistanis had been fools to let the lion inside the gates, so to speak: they had wrung a little more money out of the Imperium and been satisfied with their cunning. But the grand 'rampart in the sky' that the Emperor had described was, in reality, a dagger held to the throat of New Masada.

There were twenty-one major installations in the Kregaian missile defense system, each hosting a company of Legionaries. That made just over 2,600 heavily armed soldiers in the heart of Kahanistan.

Let there be panic in the streets.

* * *

Staring out over the company that he commanded, Captain Tyrakis breathed slowly and regularly, calming himself for the battle ahead. He, along with the other company commanders in New Masada, was being given an incredible honor. His grandfather had commanded the Seventy-First Legion in Czardas, and his father had fought in Ichkeriya under Ishamael, before he became Emperor. That lineage had helped him to earn this station, in the heart of the Kahanistani capital. It still impressed him, the boldness of it: Ishamael had offered the infidels a shield, when in reality it was nothing more than a way to hit them hard if the Imperium ever required it. His men would be the first to fight in this war, and suicide mission or not, they would make it a fight to be remembered.

Time was of the essence. Apparently some sort of military takeover had already occurred; the only thing that was known for sure was that Sklenova was no longer calling all the shots. And if that was the case, they could expect military police, SWAT, and regulars moving in on them, soon. Tyrakis rather doubted the Kahanistanis would leave 2600 heavily armed, well-trained fanatics to their own devices. They had to get moving.

The plan was simple, really: the largest group, with seven companies including Tyrakis’s, would drive straight towards the city center, to seize key government buildings including the legislative house and the city hall. Another company was moving to attack the Praetonian embassy. Six more companies, in three groups of two companies each, were moving towards the power plants to cut off the power supply, and the last seven would simply wait a few minutes after the others left, and then stalk through the streets gunning down civilians.

Tyrakis felt like a giddy schoolboy. This was an amazing opportunity, notwithstanding the fact that it was suicidal: extraction or any form of backup was completely impossible, given the proximity of Kahanistani military units. But how often did you get to rampage in the capital city of an unsuspecting infidel nation?

There was nothing more to say. His troops had heard it all, and they were brimming with the same excitement he was. So instead of giving some inspiring pre-battle speech, or yelling out a few battle hymns, the Captain simply indicated the waiting armored trucks and announced, “Time to go.” Hurriedly, each squad boarded the trucks, and the company’s sixteen command and communications techs scurried onto the four modified APCs each company possessed. As the gate to the compound’s small parking lot rattled open, Captain Tyrakis, sitting in the cramped cargo compartment of one of the trucks, grinned to himself. It was a good day to die.

* * *

It was a little after seven o’clock when the first Kregaian troops began infiltrating New Masada. At almost exactly the same time, fourteen identical convoys headed out onto the streets from their compounds, converging on their various targets. They drove recklessly, sirens wailing as they pushed through traffic, sometimes literally: cars that failed to get out of the way found themselves shoved none too gently out of the way by the Kregaians’ armored trucks.

At exactly 7:21 AM, the shooting began.

The seven companies left behind boiled out of their compound and wasted no time gunning down the civilians around them, 6.7mm rounds tearing viciously through flesh and bone. Some civilians carried small arms, but nothing capable of penetrating the Legionaries' ballistic armor, and certainly no match for their assault rifles; those toting handguns were shot down just the same. Squad by squad, they began stalking through the streets, shooting civilians and the few police that had been in the area and had been able to respond quickly. Of course, they knew resistance would greatly increase as soon as the authorities figured out what was going on: shotgun-toting police officers protected by body armor, SWAT teams, armored vehicles, military units, and other impediments could be expected in minutes.

But all them felt it was worth it to be striding around, killing in the city.

They split up into their twelve-man squads, some heading for subway stations, others moving floor by floor through apartment buildings or skyscrapers, mowing down the occupants. It couldn't last, and the Kahanistani military would respond harshly, but it would only be a few minutes more before Legionaries reached such sensitive targets as the power stations, the Praetonian embassy, and New Masada's government district, and when that happened, the fun would really start.
Kahanistan
25-07-2008, 06:03
"Fuck!" Commander Adrian Collins of the National Police bellowed, throwing the telephone across the room. This was the twenty-third call he'd gotten in half an hour about shootings, and half his district was in the hospital or dead. On top of that, he figured Malakov was likely to throw him out of the country for being a Catholic - there were rumours about that man, none of which were good. At least he had more balls than the elected government. Besides, Malakov might be mad, but he wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to risk alienating the Praetonians while he needed them to keep his head firmly attached to his neck.

"Fuck! Shit! Cock! Ass!" He stamped down on the dented telephone for good measure, then bellowed to a subordinate, "Get the damned heavy weapons out here, what's taking your ass so long? And find out what's keeping the army." The National Police, while armed and equipped as well as regular soldiers, were primarily an anti-terrorist force ill suited to frontal engagements.

"I want a sniper on every building that has a decent field of fire on those Kregaians. Find out what's keeping the Praetonians, I would have thought they'd be on the scene before our own forces."

"Yes, Commander." The shaken subordinate had never seen Collins so mad. He was normally warm and approachable; now he was furious. Well, hundreds of people were dying out there...

The lieutenant called the Capital Division headquarters (something of a misnomer; the forces in the capital were closer to ten divisions), where the military forces in charge of defending the capital were commanded from. A division, 25,000 strong, was to be on the streets in minutes.

Meanwhile, the Kregaians in the capital were fired on by civilians in high-rises with hunting or sniper rifles, and homes that had more sophisticated weapons occasionally spewed automatic weapons fire ranging from AK-47's to FN FAL's to SPAS-12 combat shotgun fire on anyone looking hostile in the vicinity. However, these were still civilians, and most had minimal military training, so heavy casualties were likely unless the Kregaian threat could be corraled soon.

"And get some helos in the air."

"Yes, Commander.

---

The legislative house always had a battalion-strength force, some one thousand troops - given the size of the legislature for a nation with a population in the billions, this was hardly unreasonable, what with the threat of terrorists or militias. As soon as the first news of shooting broke out, armoured cars were brought in, barricades were set up, and in fear of light artillery barrages, a MTHEL was hastily set up and calls were made for an artillery company to provide counter-battery fire.

Inside, those politicians who had had military training - that being a fair number of them given that military service often improved one's political fortune - armed themselves with spare weapons from the guard's armoury - such spares likely to include carbines or handguns - and cowered in their offices or tried to flee.

---

Kahanistan and Praetonia were not exactly on the best of terms. Kahanistan resented the influence of the Praetonian government, saw them as political whores out for their own interests, or outright imperialists. However, embassies are sacred ground. Even those as barbaric as Genghis Khan realised the sanctity of the ambassador.

Therefore, a large force of about three hundred New Masada Police and a platoon of infantry fought alongside the Praetonian security forces. The Praetonians had been allowed to bring as many security forces as they wished into the capital, and now the Kahanistanian soldiers outside it were their allies, rather than their enemies.
Central Prestonia
25-07-2008, 07:28
OOC: This post has been cleared by Kstan and Warmaster

Skies Over Riverson
Kahanistan
0900 Hours

"Fucking incompetent Kstanis." Command Sergeant Matthew Douglas spat the derogatory term for Kahanistanis, his voice as bitter as his mood. "Why are we going to aid this shithole again sir?," he queried his commander.

"Because Douglas," the Lieutenant, a relatively young man by the name of Travis Wilkins, replied. "The Kahanistanis are our allies through the Kingston Pact, and they need help repelling an invasion. As allies, we're honor-bound to help out."

"Sir, the Kahanistanis need help every ten years with a damned invasion. Why do we keep bailing them out?," the enlisted man replied. He had studied Kahanistani history in school, and had come to the conclusion long ago that the nation was bound to be endlessly invaded.

"Douglas, listen to me. Do you know what the Kahanistanis call their capital? It's called Masada, named for a cliff where a band of Jews who had dared rebel against their overlords threw themselves to their deaths rather than be conquered. Kahanistan has endured far worse than those men did, and still they continue to fight for their freedom. I for one believe that as long as a nation is able and willing to fight for it's freedom, then it is the responsibility of all free nations of the world to help keep it free."

Upon hearing his commander's voice raise itself to such passion, the young sergeant said no more. Sensing this, Lt. Wilkins stood and began speaking to the assembled men in his C-5 transport.

"All right, 1st Platoon listen up. We're currently crossing over Riverson, coming into Kahanistan. We're scheduled to land in Highwood in 30 minutes. When we deplane, you will form up at attention for a sound off and gear check. There will be no grab-ass, no wandering around and no excess running off of the mouth. Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir!," came the unanimous reply. These were young men, men eager to fight for King and Country, and long plane rides did not suit them.

"You will have all gear ready to deplane. Is that clear?"

Again, the response "yes sir!" came booming through the fuselage of the plane.

"After sound off and gear check, you will assist in unloading our heavy equipment from the aircraft. Alpha company is getting in first, followed by Bravo at 1030 and Charlie at 1130. Supply and HQ companies will be in later today. You're getting one free day in Highwood before we head north to join the fighting. Enjoy it ladies, this is the last one we're getting until Kahanistan is free."

The men took this in, vaguely aware that their lives could be ended within the week, though in their youth most thought themselves invincible. The average age of these men was 20, with several of them being mere boys of 17 and 18. It was true, 17 was the age of adulthood in Prestonia, but it nevertheless pained Wilkins to see such young men throwing their lives to the luck of an enemy bullet, and it hurt even more when the enemy found their mark and a young private, barely old enough to drink, smoke and vote, was cut down on some foreign battlefield.

However, Lieutenant Wilkins forced these thoughts from his mind as he turned to face his platoon. Clearing his throat, he resumed his pre-operational briefing.

"One last thing ladies. Rumor has it that the King himself picked the 2nd Infantry Division to go into this one. Let's make him proud."

At this, the plane burst into a loud "hooah!," the Army's traditional battlecry, followed by several energetic stanzas of the national anthem. Though the noise was surely annoying the pilots, Wilkins decided to let his men sing. The orgy of patriotism would be good for their morale. Checking his watch, he noticed that barely ten minutes had elapsed since he began his pep talk. Resigned to twenty more minutes of flight, he picked up a heavy machine gun operations manual, the only reading material in sight, and began browsing it. Just twenty minutes to go, he thought as he drifted into the tech manual, oblivious to the raucous going on around him.

OOC2: Not entirely happy with this, but figured I'd give Warmaster a chance to harass my air convoy. For the record there's roughly fifteen C-5s escorted by a wing of 4 fighters
Praetonia
25-07-2008, 14:27
[OOC: Wait, what? Why is there a Warmaster fleet, that the last time I posted was in a whole different country, now only a few hours from Westport? The reason I havent been able to respond to this is that I'm trying to get in contact with people (in this case Kstan) about ambiguities in the RP; advancing the plot weeks or months without allowing me to respond is not helping in that regard.]
The Warmaster
25-07-2008, 18:20
OOC: In my defense, I was just trying to keep the thread moving along. A reply to Kstan's showing you the letter and a military response of some kind could and should be fluid-timed back before the 'six hours to Westport' post, of course. I put that arbitrary reference there because that represents a distance of about 300 km, which I figured was a large enough space/time cushion to allow you to move ships or planes or missiles or whatever to engage my and Generia's fleet. And in fairness to me, when I posted that, Kstan hadn't given you the letter yet, so I OOCly didn't expect you to prepare for a counterattack or raid of some sort, because at that point you hadn't confirmed that my intentions were hostile.

Oh, and CP, I won't be harassing the convoy or anything like that; chances are it's coming from an entirely different direction and is thousands of kilometers away, plus it's not certain that I would even be able to identify them as Prestonian.
Cotland
26-07-2008, 19:45
After a brief conversation over the telephone between the Cottish and Praetonian Defense Ministers and subsequent presentation before the King, new orders trickled through the chain of command from the Royal High Command, via the 17. Luftbårne Armé headquarters in Østhavn to the headquarters of the 80. Luftbårne Korps, which served as Cotland's rapid reaction force. Every three months, one of the four corps' in the 17. Luftbårne Armé took turns serving as the rapid reaction unit, which meant that it had to be prepared to deploy elements of its forces to anywhere within the world within 24 hours, and the entire corps within five days.

In the 80. Luftbårne Korps headquarters building, generalløytnant (Lieutenant General) Odin Ferde had already cancelled all leaves when the initial alert came through, and already the forty thousand men of his four airborne divisions (454., 455., 497. and 499. Luftbårne Divisjon), two seperate brigades (1247. and 1248. Uavhengige Luftbårne Brigade), single special forces detachment and the assorted support units were in their bases, preparing themselves and their equipment as they waited for futher word. Additionally, five of the Kongelige Cottiske Flyvåpen's Strategic Airlift Wings and two Composite Airlift Wings were standing ready to airlift troops and equipment from the two airbases near the army base and on to Kahanistan. A total of four hundred fifty-six units of the mighty Kondor strategic transport aircraft, one hundred twenty of the even larger Kossakk - basically a modernized and modified An-225 Mirya - transport aircraft, one hundred forty-four C-199A Samson tactical transport aircraft and forty-eight light C-197A Courier light tactical transport aircraft stood ready to transport the troops and equipment, supported by eighty-four KP-191D Starkeeper tankers.

In all, the seven airlift wings could transport over a hundred thousand troops, but that was cut down to just over 45 000 troops when one added the 1,440 airborne infantry fighting vehicles and five thousand other vehicles, as well as the one hundred twenty ACI.39 Bellicus attack helicopters and one hundred forty-four UH-28E Black Falcon utility helicopters the 80. Luftbårne Korps was issued. While much of the equiment was light in weight, it was bulky, something which made several round-trips necessary.

Back to the minimalistic conference room in the old fortress that housed the corps headquarters. Lieutenant General Ferde was sipping on his coffee during the morning meeting as his staff were explaining the current state of readiness when a sharp knock on the polished-oak door to his right stole the General's attention away from the Air Force liason officer's suggestion as to how many of the KPLS-1F1 airborne IFVs the Air Force could airlift in the first lift. With a sharp voice, the general silenced the Major from the Air Force as he ordered whoever was outside to enter. In marched a corporal clad in the field uniform (http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj146/Eeobroht/Uniforms/feltuniform.png), carrying a wooden clipboard with a piece of paper attached. Halting to attention in front of the General, the Corporal offered the clipboard to the General while offering a crisp salute. Returning the salute, General Ferde accepted the clipboard with a salute of his own before he quickly skimmed through its contents. Swallowing silently, Ferde nodded to the Corporal that he could leave, whereupon the Corporal saluted again before preforming an about-face and marching back out of the conference room as silently as he had entered, before he rose from his seat.

"Gentlemen," he began. "We have received our marching orders. The entire Corps is to immediately deploy to Kahaniland where we are to conduct operations in the defense of the Praetonian Dependancy of Kahaniland, against the Kriegian invaders should they manage to land upon Praetonian soil. We have been authorized to use deadly force."

"Against the Kahanis as well?" A Colonel of the Special Forces detachment asked, making all men assembled in the room laugh.

"I wish, but it would seem slightly counter-productive to shoot the people we're supposedly assisting. It might also not fall kindly to the Praetonians, so tell your shooters to make sure its a Kriegian they've got in their crosshairs before squeezing the trigger. That goes for all of you."

The laughter ended, but smirks remained on the faces of the uniformed men as Ferde read out the orders for the men. The orders were rather loose, and allowed for a great deal in flexibility for Ferde, but it did require him to split his forces up. So far, there were reports of fighting in New Masada, the capital of the Kahani protectorate, plus the Kriegian fleet near Westport in the west of the island. The recommendation from the Praetonian Secretary of State for War was for the 80. to deploy to New Masada and to the vicinity of Westport. The uncertainty of existing airfields capable of handling the large Cottish transport aircraft necessitated the need to parachute out over the area of operations.

After a brief discussion over the best options, General Ferde decided that the 455. Luftbårne Divisjon and the 1248. Uavhengige Luftbårne Brigade would deploy to New Masada with two of the Special Forces detachment's companies, while the rest of the Corps deployed to Westport. With this decided, the meeting was ended with a "God save the King and Fatherland!" before the generals, colonels and other staff officers left the conference room and started making their way back to their respective units.

Within two hours, trucks and buses began leaving the base for the airport, and within four hours, the first airborne units started boarding the military airlift aircraft. The Royal Cottish Army was going to war for the first time since the cease-fire of the Pan-Havenic Twenty Years War. Within six hours, the first aircraft would start lumbering down the runways and make for Kahanistan, and within twenty-two they would be passing over Kahanistani land.

In addition to the 40 000 men of the 80. Luftbårne Korps, the Royal Cottish Air Force had put together an expeditionary force dubbed the 342. Luftgruppe, which consisted of three Composite Air Wings, one Autonomous Strike Wing and one Regional Bomb Wing from the Southern Homeland Aviation Command. The 342. Luftgruppe would consist of some 714 aircraft, almost 2 000 pilots and 7 000 Air Force personnel. Most of the combat aircraft would follow the transports during the latter's first flight to Kahanistan, and from there be based at Queen Alexandra Metropolitan Airport, a civilian airport relatively close to Westport owned by a Praetonian company that had most graciously been commandeered by the Praetonian War Office and offered to the Cottish.

The estimated time to arrival for the Cottish forces were twenty-two hours for the advance elements of the 455. Luftbårne Divisjon (the 1. Brigade and the Special Forces 1. Pathfinder Company) to New Masada, where they would parachute out near the city, and twenty hours for the advance elements of the remainder of the 80., namely the advance elements of the 454. and 497. Luftbårne Divisjon.

OOC: Order of Battle to follow in my next post.
The Warmaster
28-07-2008, 06:19
OOC: I'm not sure how long it takes to set up concrete barriers but I'm assuming they hadn't been put in place yet; if they had, or something else that couldn't be rammed through or pushed aside, then this is pretty much moot. I was assuming wooden police barricades and horizontally parked vehicles.

IC: The window of opportunity in which the Kregaians could rampage through the streets relatively unmolested was closing fast. In minutes, they could expect SWAT and military units to begin counterattacking. They had to accomplish a lot, and the odds became longer with each passing second. The thrill was starting to fade: as the risk increased, the Legionaries were forced to behave professionally, with every inch of their discipline. They had already suffered casualties due to oddly-heavily-armed civilians; in the Empire, citizens couldn't own high-powered rifles or military-grade shotguns, and yet here, such things were a real hazard. Most of the citizens were far from expert shots, and yet here and there, someone had had advanced military training. However, with a good sixty-three squads of Legionaries doing nothing more than stalking around, killing at will, civilian casualties were heavy. Subway stations proved to be shooting galleries: those awaiting trains had nowhere to run. A few Legionaries, intent on avoiding enemy sniper fire or the rapidly mobilizing police forces, ducked into the sewers, where with luck, they could hide out for hours, emerging later when the infidels had let their guard down.

* * *

Tyrakis had just over 750 Legionaries in his current task force, on its way to the legislative house; a hefty force, and perhaps overkill, but on the other hand, the Kahanistanis were bound to have defenses around the heart of their government. And it was just after he reflected on this that the speaker in the cargo compartment of his armored truck crackled to life, broadcasting the command channel for his convoy:"Oh fuck. Fucking blockade!"

It figures.

Outside, he heard the rattling of the 12.7mm machine guns mounted on the modified APCs that backed up the armored trucks; no doubt firing on whatever blockade the infidels had set up. He could hear return fire, too, pinging off the truck's armor. Tyrakis scowled beneath his helmet's faceplate. He supposed it was too much to ask to get into the legislative house unopposed.

"We're going through," the driver announced. "Brace yourselves." As if there was anything to brace against. The captain gritted his teeth and offered a quick prayer to the Destroyer...and then was nearly thrown out of his seat as the truck hit something at high speed. The entire truck seemed to be shaking, and he realized it was because of enemy fire. He felt the vehicle swing around, what felt like 180 degrees, but admittedly he was still somewhat disoriented from the impact. Abruptly, the compartment was flooded with light; the door had opened, and the driver was yelling for the squad to get out. His men poured out, quickly gunning down several Kahanistani soldiers in the immediate area, although within seconds, two of the twelve men in the squad were cut down by stray bullets. Tyrakis quickly realized what the drivers had done; they had spun around so that the doors were facing the legislative house and the front of the trucks faced the majority of the Kahanistani soldiers, putting the trucks and their armor between the Kregaians and most of the Kahanistani soldiers. Tyrakis thanked the gods for their quick thinking and flawless execution.

He was the last out of the truck, entering a scene of the APCs driving around trying to use the single 12.7mm HMG each was armed with on the infidels, the trucks being riddled with rounds from the Kahanistanis, and the Legionaries rapidly taking cover behind the trucks, although there was barely enough room, even with the fairly heavy casualties that had been suffered before they had managed to find the cover. Thinking quickly, Tyrakis yelled, "Grenades!" at the top of his voice, unclipping and priming a frag grenade as he did so. Counting under his breath, he let fly, followed a second later by hundreds more from his men. "Rifle grenades!" he bellowed as the grenades exploded, ignoring the spray of blood as the man on his right was shot in the head. Quickly he leveled his assault rifle and pressed the trigger on the attached 40mm grenade launcher, again followed a second later by his men. Before the flurry of explosions had even died down, he yelled, "About face! Get the fuck inside!"

Now came the hard part.

As one the hundreds of Legionaries, those that were left, turned and fled, sprinting up the steps to the legislative house. Fire poured in from behind, mowing down many of them, and many more, injured, rolled back down the steps, condemning them to be finished off later. A lucky few made it to the top; less than one hundred left out of the seven hundred and fifty that had been completely unharmed just minutes before. They were in, and they were alive. How long they were going to stay that way, though, remained to be seen.

* * *

Similar tactics were employed at the blockade around the Praetonian embassy. The Kregaian armored trucks accelerated, bulling vehicles out of the way and breaking through barriers, using the company's four light APC's as heavy support, their machine guns blazing. However, here they were highly outnumbered; 108 troops facing well over three hundred, to say nothing of the Praetonian security forces. As such, although the Legionaries tried to take cover behind their vehicles as they others had done, they were outflanked, and they suffered heavy casualties while they tried to arrange protection.
Kahanistan
28-07-2008, 11:47
[OOC: Not sure myself how long it takes to set up a concrete barrier, but there would be some Jersey barriers and concrete poles already up to keep some nutter in a lorry with twenty tons of Tim McVeigh Surprise from blowing the Senate to kingdom come.]

IC: The first military unit to arrive was a CIDG battalion, a Civil Irregular Defence Group. These groups were basically civilians with advanced firearms training, body armour, assault rifles (with no real standardisation; one might carry an FN FAL while the fighter next to them used an M-16 and the guy behind them had a Bushmaster 6.8mm.) and gas masks, whose mechanisation consisted of trucks with machine gunners or antitank launchers and the occasional armoured transport lorry. They ranged in age from teenagers to men and women in their eighties or nineties, tended to have poorer discipline than the regular military, and only fought in their home cities or villages. They also tended to be more brutal toward those they captured than the military; while the regular forces would keep a POW in reasonably humane conditions, the CIDG had a tendency to string up their prisoners, especially if they had killed civilians.

With police snipers getting onto the roofs or shooting from helicopters, the CIDG's ("cidgees") entered the sewers and subways. Their battalion commander, Yasim al-Khadr, had fought in the insurgency against the Doomani and had spent two months hiding in the sewer; he knew what to expect.

Yasim pried open a sewerhole cover (the word "manhole" did not exist in Kahanistanian English) and fired a flamethrower to suck up the available oxygen and asphyxiate anyone in the area before waiting a few minutes to enter. He tossed the empty flamethrower aside before sending a fighter with night vision goggles inside to scout out; within half an hour sixteen squads of ten were prowling the sewers hunting down the Kregaian cowards who had fled.

In the subways, it was a matter of minutes before the police arrived, escorting ambulances with armour plating on them. One couldn't expect ambulances to be immune to attack in an era where neutron bombs on cities filled with civilians was an acceptable military tactic. While the ambulances were unarmed, most of the medics weren't, although their attention was on the wounded while the police dealt with the shooters. Since it wasn't likely the Kregaians would stick around and wait for the police to show up, or go topside and take their chances with the helos and snipers, the local PD thought it more likely that they might seize one of the trains and flee to God knew where else in Kahanistan. The National Police radioed units in Fort Green, Greendale, and River City to set up Jersey barriers on the main rail lines about fifty kilometres outside their city limits, figuring the distance might give them the time they needed to set up the barriers and make a reasonable effort at containing the Kregaians.

---

"Fall back!" said Lieutenant Colonel Erik Johannson, commander of the forces protecting the Senate Hall. He'd lost over two hundred soldiers in the first assault, and a further hundred in the confusion before being able to mount a counterattack. The Kregaians had managed to get into the Senate Hall, and now his troops were falling back, to go in after them before they could do too much damage to the elected government.

While allowing the Senate to be slaughtered might strengthen Malakov's hand and enable him to consolidate more power, it was also an offence to democracy in general and what modern Kahanistan stood for. To Johannson, it was out of the question. Although I wouldn't mind if half the Communist Party snuffed it.

The Senate wasn't meeting today, so most senators were in their offices, usually with guards outside. Many had tipped their desks over to prevent entry to their offices to buy time for the guards to fight off the Kregaians; more than a few had been in the military and had handguns for personal defence.

---

Major Omar bin Mukhtar aboard his F-34 Gilgamesh (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=3574) air superiority fighter, one of the first to be produced, spotted a huge transport plane coming in. IFF reported it as being Cottish.

Dammit. He remembered a few months ago, when Kahanistan had opened her borders to immigration as a means of restocking the population figures without resorting to untried methods of technological wankery, those Cottish bastards dropping in people with all manner of contagious diseases. He was sure they'd also sunk a merchant ship in some godforsaken straits too, but there wasn't any real evidence. After all, if they call us subhumans to our faces, who knows what they have behind their backs?

He radioed his superior officer for instructions. "Colonel Zahar, Cottish plane coming into our airspace, looks like a transport. Request permission to engage."

"That's a doubleplusungood negative, Major. Do not shoot the Cottish plane. Open a hail and find out what they want."

Omar didn't like the idea. What if they were dropping another load of disease carrying prisoners, or worse? Nah. He shook the thought from his head. Cotland might provoke Kahanistan while under Praetonian protectorship, but it wouldn't attack them while there was a ton of Praetonian troops in the area and risk its alliance with Praetonia to kill a few hundred people. He hailed the Cottish plane.

"Cottish aircraft, this is the 21st Air Superiority Wing of the Kahanistanian Air Force. We are engaged in military hostilities with Kregaian forces and cannot guarantee your safety. State your intentions."
Cotland
28-07-2008, 21:12
"Kahani aircraft, this is Remnant Leader," A cool yet somewhat accented voice that obviously belonged to a professional pilot replied immediately over the same frequency. "Do not open fire, we are friendlies on our way to help. We are a sixteen-ship formation of Royal Cottish Air Force Kondor transport aircraft carrying the lead elements of the Royal Cottish Army's four fifty-fifth Parachute Division enroute to New Masada to help your Praetonian masters deal with those pesky Kriegians. Repeat, we are friendlies. Do not open fire."

If Major bin Mukhtar checked his radar screen, he would find that another fifteen contacts of equal size to the lumbering blueish-gray transport aircraft, surrounded by five pairs of two smaller contacts that would soon be identified to the Kahanistani Air Force as FA-16A Priest multirole fighters, also painted in the similar livery and with the red, white and blue arrow-head roundel and the words "KONGELIGE COTTISKE FLYVÅPEN" emblazoned in black capital letters on the sides.

"We've got friendly escorts to handle any bandits that might show up, but thanks for the warning Kahani aircraft. Remnant Leader out."

With that, the Kondor closed the channel and lumbered on, with the FA-16s covering the Cottish transports from all sides. If the Kahanistani F-34 got close enough to get a visual look of the Priests, the pilot would find that the Cottish fighters were fitted with drop-tanks in the inner-most wing hardpoints, two Karma anti-radiation missiles, four Kampspyd medium-range air to air missiles, and two IRIS-T short-range air to air missiles, as well as their 27mm cannon.

Right about that time, a communiqué from the Cottish Royal Ministry for the Defense of the Realm which had been relayed through the Praetonian War Office (Cotland had yet to establish official ties and subsequent encrypted communications lines with Kahanistan) to the Kahanistani Department of Defense informed the Kahanistanis that the Realm of Cotland were dispatching troops and aircraft to Kahanistan with the approval of Praetonia, and that the troops would arrive within the next few hours. A quick check on the time index of when the communiqué was dispatched showed that there had been a significant delay between when the message was sent and when it was in Kahanistani hands, and thus one had the situation of the Cottish troops ariving before the notification of their being dispatched reached the Kahanistanis. Regardless, the transports and the 342. Luftgruppe continued on to their destinations.

When the aircraft reached Kahanistani airspace, they started splitting up into squadron-sized sticks which would move on to more specified locations where the troops and vehicles transported would be parachuted out and into the fields below.

That was exactly what happened about an hour after the Remnant flight had made contact with the Kahanistani Air Force.

However, before those troops were being sent in, a flight of six smaller and faster C-197A Courier STOL transport aircraft had flown in under the radar horizon, flying low and fast in the hope of remaining unseen by the enemy (Kriegians). Flying into the area of operations fifty minutes before the main flight was scheduled to arrive, the aircraft split up and headed for the northwestern quadrant of the New Masada Air Defense Network. Once in, they climbed slightly from the cruising altitude of 30 meters to a more acceptable 100 meters, the minimum altitude allowed by Cottish war regulations for parachuting troops. Immediately upon reaching 100 meters, curious spectators could see green-clad men emerging from the aircraft in droves, being immediately retarded by camouflage-green parachutes, just enough to slow the men down enough not to break every bone in their bodies as they hit the ground a few seconds after being dropped out. The Couriers had barely dropped out their men before they started dropping out chaff and flares like crazy to confuse any SAM that might be fired in the ten seconds of visibility as they dropped back down to 30 meters and got the hell out of the area, heading for Queen Alexandra Metropolitan Airport for refueling.

As he took the ground, Oversersjant Lars Gråbein gently bent his legs and arms in order to prevent them from being broken in the impact he knew would be violent, braced himself and rolled over when he hit the hard Kahanistani ground. When he came to a stop, Osjt. Gråbein took a second to feel if he was still in one piece, something he decided he was, more or less. He got up in a hurry, releasing the lines that attached his parachute to him and quickly gathered the parachute together before he started releasing the various straps that kept the vital things strapped to his body. The first thing he released was his DR-87 ASAC carbine, which was fitted with a underbarrel grenade launcher and a 4X ACOG sight, and checked that the magazine was still firmly attached to the magazine well and the rifle intact. Pleased with the weapon being intact and ready, he cocked the rifle, placing a 6.7x53mm armor-piercing bullet into the chamber, making it fully ready to fire when he squeezed the trigger and started scanning the surrounding area to make sure there were no hostiles in the area.

A quick visual survey revealed all nine members of his squad in the same area, as well as some civilians in the distance. Deciding they posed no threat at this time, Osjt. Gråbein took off the jump harness and jump-helmet he had worn for the jump and put on the combat helmet before getting up from the place where he had landed, wearing nothing but his combat uniform, tactical vest with some assorted equipment and extra magazines, a grenade bandolier with 40mm grenades for the LGFM grenade launcher, a personal radio and a platoon-level radioset, and the DR-87 ASAC. Cottish Pathfinders travelled light. As he made for the treeline in the direction of the large plain he and the rest of 2. Lag, 3. Tropp, Speiderkompani 2, Speiderbataljon 455, 455. Luftbårne Divisjon (2. Section, 3. Platoon, Pathfinder Company 2, Pathfinder Battalion 455, 455. Airborne Division) which he commanded were ordered to secure, Gråbein barked out in Cottish to the men of his squad to follow him. The hard foreign commands had to be rather intimidating to the Kahanistanis who watched, but hopefully the apperance of the professional camouflage-clad soldiers with heavy weaponry (DR-87 ASACs, MLM light machine guns and LGFM grenade launchers) would persuade them not to do anything silly.

The nine Pathfinders made their way silently towards the plain, the surrounding silence being interrupted only by the muffled sound of combat boots hitting the ground, the panting of the men and Gråbein's whispering voice over the platoon-radio, co-ordinating the movements with the rest of the platoon. Soon, the plain would be ready for the Paratroopers of the 455.'s first brigade to land and get assembled on. As the men moved on, neither considered for a moment the fact that they had just conducted the first combat jump in the history of the Royal Cottish Army. They were too focused on the task at hand.

However, there were still the tiny problem about the twenty-one Kriegian-held SAM sites around New Masada. Fortunately, the Air Force had a sollution.

Supported by the Karma-armed Priests which flew in about twenty minutes ahead of the main flight in order to try to attract the attention of the air defense network around New Masada (Cottish intelligence had reported that these facilities were in hostile hands). Any site foolish enough to take the bait would find its radars being attacked by the highly intelligent Karma missile, which would deliver a blast-frag warhead to the radar powerful enough to render it inoperable for the forseeable future. It was intelligent, because it had a Home on Jam capability and it remembered where the hostile radar contact was, meaning that it was able to take it out even if the radar went dark, something which was a handy feature if they were up against a competent commander. The downside for said commander was that without the radars, any radar-guided missiles would be pretty much useless against the aircraft. Still, even if the Priests were unable to take out the radars, the flight of FB-177A Barsuk medium bombers from Regional Bomb Wing 5785 following five minutes after the Priests would render the air defense network unusable with their load of 250-kilogram dumb bombs and the few 1,000 kilogram GPS-guided precision bunker busting bombs that were aimed for the control posts of the air defense sites. The hope was that enough air defense sites, especially in the north-western quadrant of the city, would be rendered inoperable for long enough for the Cottish paratroopers to get out of their planes and onto the plains the Pathfinders were securing.

The combat jump near Westport would go much smoother, as there wouldn't be any hostile SAM sites there to oppose them. The local Kahanistani populace would be allowed to spectate as the massive Kondor transports ejected large pallets from their rear cargo hatches, which upon landing would be revealed to be either KPLS-1F2 airborne infantry fighting vehicles with their crews already in place inside, ready to just drive off the pallet and into combat, or PL-2F1 Fenris airborne tank destroyers for fire support, as well as the largest combat drop of men thus far in the Cottish Army's history. A total of ten thousand paratroopers would be dropped into Westport in the first two hours of the operation, along with a lot of equipment and supplies. Assembling as quickly as possible, the platoons and companies would find each other and regroup, then the battalions, at which point they would start moving out, then the brigades, and then finally the division as a whole. Battalion commanders had already been briefed on preliminary rendezvous-points, and as soon as the battalions had been assembled they would move out, clearing the room for more paratroopers. What was left in the field in the end of the day were a lot of used parachutes and pallets.

While the drop at New Masada had been the first combat jump in the Cottish Army's history, the drop at Westport was by far the largest. Now the Paras at Westport just needed to know where they were needed. Hopefully, the Kahanistani or Praetonian commanders in the area could advise them.

_______________________________
Order of Battle:

80. Luftbårne Korps (Royal Cottish Army)
4x Airborne Division (1x New Masada, 3x Westport)

Organization
1x Headquarters Company
2x Parachute Brigades (ea. w/3x Parachute Mechanized Battalion, 2x Parachute Infantry Battalion, 1x Parachute Artillery Battalion, 1x Air Defense Battery)
1x Airborne Armored Battalion
1x Attack Helicopter Battalion (will arrive at nearest airport via Kossakk transport)
1x Transport Helicopter Battalion (will arrive at nearest airport via Kossakk transport)
1x Support Battalion
1x Pathfinder Battalion (2x Pathfinder Company, 1x Sniper Platoon)

Major Combat Units
288x KPLS-1F2 Airborne IFV
36x M777A2 155mm Towed Howitzer
52x PL-2F1 Fenris Airborne TD
16x Skyguard II 35mm Towed AAG
192x VAE MAC

30x ACI.39 Bellicus (not yet arrived, will probably arrive on day 2)
6x CH-47F Chinook (not yet arrived, will probably arrive on day 2)
36x UH-28E Black Falcon (not yet arrived, will probably arrive on day 2)

342. Luftgruppe (Royal Cottish Air Force)
3x Composite Air Wing (all at Queen Alexandra Metropolitan Airport)
Organization
1x Composite Air Wing (Headquarters)
1x Maintenance and Support Squadron
1x Airbase Security Squadron

1x Tactical Fighter Squadron
1x Attack Fighter Squadron
1x Multirole Fighter Squadron
1x Tactical Strike Squadron
1x Air Defense Suppression Squadron
1x Electronic Support Squadron
1x Electronic Warfare Squadron
1x Tanker Squadron

Aircraft
24x FA-77A Kovas air superiority fighter
24x A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attack fighter
24x FA-16A Priest multirole fighter
24x FB-177A Barsuk medium bomber
24x EB-177A Coldun SEAD
4x EP-191B Aurora AWACS
2x EP-191E Apollo JSTARS
12x FA-77E EW Kovas electronic warfare
12x KP-191D Starkeeper tanker

1x Autonomous Strike Wing (Queen Alexandra Metropolitan Airport)
Organization
1x Autonomous Strike Wing (Headquarters)
1x Maintenance and Support Squadron
1x Airbase Security Squadron

4x Autonomous Strike Squadron
1x Electronic Support Squadron
1x Autonomous Electronic Warfare Squadron
1x Tanker Squadron

Major Combat Units
96x AQ-15C UCAV unmanned combat air vehicle
2x EP-191B Aurora AWACS
16x EQ-16C EW-UAV unmanned electronic warfare air vehicle
12x KP-191D Starkeeper tanker

1x Regional Bomb Wing (Queen Alexandra Metropolitan Airport)
Organization
1x Regional Bomb Wing (Headquarters)
1x Maintenance and Support Squadron
1x Airbase Security Squadron

4x Regional Bomb Squadron
1x Electronic Support Squadron
1x Electronic Warfare Squadron
1x Tanker Squadron

Major Combat Units
96x FB-177A Barsuk medium bomber
24x EF-177A Coldun SEAD
2x EP-191B Aurora AWACS
4x EP-191E Apollo JSTARS
12x KP-191D Starkeeper tanker
Kahanistan
29-07-2008, 09:24
The Kahanistanian Major spat angrily when the Cottish officer referred to his Praetonian "masters." He wanted so badly to shoot him down that his left index finger twitched. He scowled and continued his patrol for Kregaian and Generian warplanes.

When I get back to base, I'm going to ask someone if there's a cultural handbook we can have translated into whatever the Cottish speak, and distributed. The wrong choice of words could end in a firefight, especially with the infantry and marines on edge.

---

At the Defence Ministry, Marshal Leon Kostanov fumed when he learned the Cottish had arrived before he'd even gotten the documentation about their arrival. While every warm body he could get his hands on, be it Cottish or Kahanistanian or Praetonian, was one more gun shooting at the Kregaians, he was more than a little peeved that they hadn't consulted him. Either the Cottish were given to waltzing into people's countries uninvited, or they considered Praetonian permission sufficient. Either way, he'd have to get a formal link with the Cottish Defence Ministry rather than working through the Praetonian War Office. He'd have to send someone to the Praetonian War Office to discuss this with them.

---

New Masada, Kahanistan

The Army had a different idea of what to do with the Kregaian radars than the Cottish. While they realised that the radars had to be put out of action, at least for now, they intended to seize the Kregaian bases once they had spewed out large numbers of soldiers into the populace on their little suicide mission and use the facilities themselves after conducting what repairs were needed.

As such, the first counterattack was against one of the larger bases. A mechanised infantry brigade in Sumerian-designed PIV-30 IFV's (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13336312&postcount=33) - nearly four thousand troops with an artillery battalion - advanced toward the base. The PIV-30's were as well armoured as Sumerian main battle tanks, that is to say, very heavily armoured indeed. They weighed a metric fuckton, of course, but the weight was acceptable if it meant a fuckton of protection.

Behind the IFV's was the supporting artillery, a battalion of 180mm TD-7 self-propelled monstrosities equipped with standoff 70mm mortars with standoff ranges of three kilometres. These mortars and artillery were intended to drive out whatever defenders were left, and the mortars were loaded with Novichok gas to kill them without damaging too much of the infrastructure, much of which may have already been destroyed by the Cottish by the time some of the bases were stormed. Once they had dispatched the Kregaian forces in one base, their orders were to move to the next base while other units occupied them and began repairs.

---

Westport, Kahanistan

"What... the bloody hell... is that?"

Senior Colonel Judith Grant looked up at the sky at the largest combat jump she'd seen in her life. Large numbers of Cottish men tumbled from the sky, though at that height she wasn't sure it wasn't another load of TB-infected dissidents. She clutched her Aequatian-designed G101 carbine and took some security officers with her to where one of them had fallen; by now the uniforms were clear - these were soldiers. She wasn't terribly familiar with Cottish rank insignia, but figured this man was an officer, maybe their CO.

"Sir." She walked over and helped the man to his feet. "We have the city pretty well locked down. The people are pretty edgy, so expect some hostility from the populace. Basically, we've got most of the troops outside the city rather than holed up inside like against the Doomani. There, they can fight if the Kregaians land outside the city and keep them from getting in. We have artillery inside the city to defend against their arty, but inside most of the ground-pounding's been handed over to the CIDG, basically a home defence militia. We could use some more air defence units here, and some kind of protection against gas beyond the masks we've issued to the civvies."
Cotland
29-07-2008, 21:42
Oberstløytnant (Lieutenant Colonel, Cot. abbr. Oblt.) Per Mikalsøn cursed mildly when he hit the ground and rolled over just like he had learned at the Army Jump School outside Odinstad nine years prior and practiced in the nineteen training jumps he had conducted since then. Still, the thirty-six year old lieutenant colonel that commanded one of the parachute battalions was growing old and wasn't as quick back up on his feet like the nineteen and twenty-year olds that made up the bulk of his battalion and indeed the division, and the fifteen kilos of jump harness, twenty kilos of combat gear and five kilos of weaponry strapped to his body most certainly didn't help much. So, when someone offered a helpful hand he gladly accepted it. It wasn't until after Oblt. Mikalsøn got back on his feet that he discovered that the person helping him to his feet wasn't a Cot, but a Kahanistani, and a woman at that. To boot, she appeared to be a chatty one with no sense of operational security. Granted, Mikalsøn was dressed in the Cottish Army's combat uniform and was a friendly, but he himself would have rather waited with devulging operational information until after he had been introduced. Still, this woman wore a (more or less) friendly uniform and seemed to be a person of rank, so Mikalsøn decided he'd reply. Speaking in heavily accented English (though still understandable), Mikalsøn started.

"Oberstløytnant Per Mikalsøn, nice you to meet also." He said, attempting to crack the tension with a bit of humor, like the instructors at the War Academy had suggested when encountering a tense situation with foreign troops involved. The attempt failed miserably, and Mikalsøn knew the second the accented words had left his lips. He decided to move on quickly. "Ja, well. I tell my men that. We no go into city if enemy there, we shoot back if we are shoot. As for question. We have some. Towed gun and, how you say, lett luftvernmissil... I no know, but We have. But you speak with general for that. He here, not sure. Gas, I recommend suit. I no have extra, sorry."

The Lieutenant Colonel, who for the sake of reference was one of only three officers in the entire 80. Luftbårne Korps who didn't speak proper English, stopped speaking and hoped that Senior Colonel Grant understood it. Suspecting that she didn't, he turned and shouted something out in Cottish, whereupon a battleclad and rather intimidating-looking private armed with a DR-83M assault rifle walked over immediately, saluted, and listened to the quick tirade of Cottish monologue Mikalsøn spoke before turning to Senior Colonel Grant, saluted and spoke in calm, soft Queen's English.

"My Lieutenant Colonel appologize for his poor English, but says that we will remain outside the city unless the enemy lands ground forces and enter the city, in which case we shall enter and vanquish him. Also, my Lieutenant Colonel says that if we are fired upon, we shall be oblidged to return fire with deadly force. Therefore, he urges you to inform your populace to hold your fire. We are friends and are here to help you, as our government has informed your government. As for the questions my Lieutenant Colonel says you asked, he wish to inform you that our air defense assets are regrettably point-defense only. We have a battery of eight towed thirty-five millimeter anti-aircraft guns that are for the entire brigade, but we have large quantities of man-portable short-range surface to air missiles. My Lieutenant Colonel respectfully requests that you direct questions about the disposition of the brigade air defense assets to the brigade commander Colonel Thori or the division commander Major General Rogne. They should be here somewhere, but where is unknown at the moment. My Lieutenant Colonel says that the plan is for the brigade headquarters to be established in a forest two kilometers away from here. He recommends that you try to find them there. When it comes to the gas question, my Lieutenant Colonel recommends that you employs chemical protection suits of the type MOPP-4. We are equipped with our own suits, but regrettably we have no extra suits. My Lieutenant Colonel also suggest that you discuss this issue with the Colonel or the Major General."

The soldier stopped speaking and waited for a reply from Senior Colonel Grant, which he would translate for the Lieutenant Colonel along with the reply from the latter.
Kahanistan
30-07-2008, 09:00
Sr. Colonel Grant nodded. She seemed somewhat unimpressed at the apparent surprise that Kahanistan had women in the military. "I see," she said. "I'll arrange for more MOPP gear from Division, and try to get more Skyguards over here." There was likely not enough MOPP-4 gear to go around for the CIDG's, who tended to be better armed in more strategically important areas like the capital and inland cities where arms production took place. However, Lyran-designed AD was in plentiful supply in other areas.

"I'll let the CIDG battalion commanders know that you're not the enemy. In the meantime, I'd like to have someone from this division meet with your commanders. Since I'm likely the only officer in fifty kilometres who's going to even give you the time of day, I think that should be me. Oh, I haven't even introduced myself. How rude. Senior Colonel Judith Grant, executive officer, 76th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, 7th Infantry Division." She extended her hand to the Cottish officer.

Nodding to one of her security, she asked him to translate the Cottish term, "lett luftvernmissil." The Basic Field Cottish manuals, instructions for Kahanistanian soldiers to understand basic Cottish military terminology and commands, had only recently gone into print and only a few had received them yet, but the security officer raised his head. "I think it's an anti-aircraft missile, but that's only because of the 'luft' part, as in 'Luftwaffe', air force. And you were asking about A.D."
Axis Nova
30-07-2008, 21:03
(Kahanistan poked me on MSN last week and wanted me to get involved, but never followed up on it, so here's his opportunity to do so ;p)

The two guards on either side of the gate of the Axis Novan embassy peer back and forth uneasily; while they havn't recieved any particularly special orders, the sounds of gunfire all over the city are obvious, and just as obvious, a number of other embassies are in full scale panic mode. The firing at the nearby Praetonian embassy doesn't do anything to help their nerves, and the two Minuteman units shift on their feet a bit, raising their shields and assault rifles partways.

---

Inside, a mid-level functionary picks up the phone and dials the Axis Novan contact in the Kahanistani capital, in an attempt to find out what, precisely, the heck is going on, and to see if the Kahanistani military needs any assistance.

---

"Attention! Attention! Due to the likelyhood of this location being under attack shortly by unknown forces, the Kahanistan Mass Driver Facility will be closing shortly. Repeat, due to the threat of possible attack, this facility will be closing shortly. Please stow any equipment in use, and proceed to the nearest gate and exit. Foreign nationals, please proceed to Sector 35. If you are operating Class 7 or larger equipment, park it in the nearest storage area, then proceed to your designated sector Fueled craft are required to proceed to revetments immediately. All craft that are cleared for non-assisted launch in the next ten minutes may do so, following the queue."

Repeat, Kahanistan Spaceport is closing... have a nice day!"

The automated voice echoes out over the spaceport for the 25th time or more, though little can be heard over the sounds of numerous people panicing, cursing, or frantically rushing to get things done before they variously either have to leave or head to a secure area. While the area is a scene of frenetic activity, it hasn't yet approached a riot situation-- port security is out in force, and there havn't, as yet, have been any major incidents. In the background, giving force to the announcements, the fantastically large shape of the Kahanistan Mass Driver can be seen, red lights lit up along it's length showing that it is, indeed, shut down for the moment.
Praetonia
02-08-2008, 21:45
"To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers." - Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

"The Yuslevak Emperor is quite right to describe us as 'a nation of shopkeepers,' but he should stay his sneers. As any prudent shopkeeper in a town beset by bandits and vagabonds, we are sure to keep a loaded gun under the counter. He would do well to remember that." - King George II, at the outset of the Pan-Havenic Twenty Years War [apocryphal]


New Masada,
Kahanistan

In a busy shopping square, a khaki-uniformed officer pressed down the glue on a poster like many others now put up around the city, the text of which had also been broadcast by radio to the citizenry:

To the Inhabitants of New Masada and the People Dwelling in Its Vicinity:

Owing to the Present Emergency, which gravely imperils the Security and Integrity of the Kahaniland, and that of all of its People, and on behalf of the Lord Protector and the rightful Government to which he has pledged His Protection, a State of Martial Law is declared in this city, and any other area under the Lord Protector's Guarantee, such as may be assaulted by rioters, traitors, or foreign troops.

Any such persons as may be deemed to be inciting rioting, obeying or instigating an unlawful government or aiding or abetting foreign troops without duress, by the Lord Protector's forces, or any other Lawful Authority, shall be subject to summary arrest, detention or execution, such as shall be determined to be most in accordance with the Public Good.

However, lest any of you be alarmed by reason of your experience at the hands of previous armies, I hereby inform you that it is my desire that every person pursue his lawful business without fear of interruption.

All such persons, as I am sure are the majority, who wish to go about their business peaceably, or else resist the incursion of foreign troops or unlawful government upon your lands, shall be aided and assisted by the Lord Protector's forces, and granted the protection of the laws.

Such irregular militias as may be formed for those aforementioned puposes shall not be subject to the usual laws until such time as they may be formed into more regular units for the same purposes.

God Save the Lord Protector!

Field Marshal Sir Edmund Wigram

Two hundred boots crunched against the road. A hundred pith helmets bobbed up and down in unison.

"They are going to arrest the Grand Marshal!" some whispered. Others intimated that the Praetonian column, with its gleaming bayonets and lock-step march, was itself set upon overthrowing the government and placing the High Commissioner in the Presidential Palace. In the distance, gunshots could now be heard.

In fact, the High Commissioner would rather like to keep this new government. It seemed far stronger than the last, and better prepared to meet the military threat that the country faced. If President Sklenova had handed over the letter earlier, things could have turned out much better. She cursed that bloody woman every day she spent in the Kahaniland.

And yet, it simply wouldn't do to have governments overthrown, particularly supposedly 'protected' governments. If King George allowed his protectorates to be taken over by whatever soldier of fortune happened to come along, what good was his word? But perhaps, just perhaps, the coercive force of a full company of the King's Own Kahaniland Guards could sort some sense out of it.

She did not, of all things, want to have to drag the self-styled 'Grand Marshal' out into the streets and shoot him, as may have to be done. The country was already a teaming mass of contrary interests, all suspicious of one another, and all vying for power and a diaspora of ideologies. If they had all been united behind the nationalist socialist line of seizing foreign property and instituting heavy taxation, it was doubtful that the Protectorate would have been achieveable at all. But perhaps the lawful President would be willing to give this new government legal endorsement for the duration of hostilities?

She saw a day when Kahanistan would be united, not behind a world view that saw Praetonia as an enemy, but behind one that saw Kahanistan as a natural friend and ally of the entire Free World. A day when the Kahanistani flag would fly alongside the others at the Kingston Pact Congress in Praetonia. A few weeks ago it was just a fantasy - perhaps attainable in a generation or two, given the right conditions - but this war, that would hopefully prove to the Kahanis not just that the Free World was at their side, but that it is strong enough to overcome their common enemies, could make it happen within her tenancy at Government House.

Major Harrison ordered a halt. They had arrived outside the Presidential Palace. The gunshots were getting closer now, and - who were they? The Palace itself seemed perfectly secure; the coup was over.

As the Major walked over to a Palace guard he heard the screech of a truck behind him. He made to turn around, but the Kregaian machinegunners were too quick. He fell to the ground with a look of puzzled astonishment as the rest of the Company scattered into cover and began to return fire with small arms and rifle grenades.

The Praetonian Embassy, not so far away from the Presidential Palace, loomed over its own battle with a cold indifference. The wrought iron gates had been closed, and now bullets ricocheted off the grand limestone walls. The structure had been built to establish a sense of permanence around Praetonian involvement in Kahanistan, and now its solidity proved to be of more material benefit.

His Majesty’s Naval Station Portland Down

The air filled with the sound of several wings of Havenfighters accelerating almost directly upwards on a path to deliver anti-satellite missiles against the enemy’s RORSATs. They fully expected to lose their own in short order, so it was quite proper to put themselves on level footing.

Meanwhile, a strike group consisting of twelve wings of twelve Blackburn Blackadders (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=1971&hl=) assembled over the airfield, with Kovas escorts in tow.

“Each Blackadder carries twelve Halberd missiles (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Sea_Halberd_missile),” Air Vice-Marshal Lawrence barked to the small assembly of Rear Admirals in his tent.

“And each missile carries a variety of ammunition. For the most part, runway cratering munitions.

“We drop BROACH bombs that blast holes in the airfields. Then anti-personnel and anti-materiel mines are scattered across the damaged area, hampering repair. They are able to kill personnel, even armoured, destroy bulldozers and cause serious damage to any vehicle up to and including main battle tanks.

“Our principal aim is to destroy the runways. But, we will also be firing a great number of these munitions to the surrounding area. This will hamper any attempt by the Kregaians to remove troops from the bases by ground. Heavy casualties are anticipated if they attempt to move out without first clearing the mines, and doing so will leave them vulnerable to fire for some hours, perhaps even days.

“Finally,” his enthusiastic demeanour turned suddenly sombre, “given the events in the capital - I hear they are gunning down women and children from trucks - His Majesty has commanded that there are no restrictions on the types of force we may bring to bear. As such, two hundred missiles are being fired containing a type of persistent nerve gas.

“These munitions will kill the troops on station there, and persist in the environment rendering runway repair almost impossible for several days, if not weeks.

“We shall, of course, be jamming their radar and communications as best we can using Blackburn Baldricks.”

Lawrence sat down. “How about you chaps?”

One of the Rear Admirals took over. “Thankyou, Air Vice-Marshal.

“The Kahanistani Fleet is positioned off Fort Karia and is reportedly in a position to lay down long-range fire upon aircraft attempting to take off from the airfields there. Additionally, HM Submarine Service has a significant missile submarine presence. We would be able to place an additional three thousand missiles on the target in co-ordination with your attack, but understandably our focus will be on the ships at port, in addition to the airfield.”

Lawrence smiled, “That would significantly compromise their ability to respond effectively to either attack.

“I must say, chaps, that this is sound terribly encouraging,” a second Rear Admiral interrupted, “but it will all depend upon the war at sea.”

PMS Triumphant

His Majesty’s Naval Station Portland Down was the base for around 2,000 ships, of which an usual number were put sea. Nearly 90% of the Station’s total strength was operable and deployed, in contrast with the more usual 2/3 or even ½. Kahanistan was not generally thought to be a very important place. Most Praetonians had no desire to be involved with Kahanistan - there was no great ‘civilising mission’ here, nor any glorious Empire building.

A ruined country, built on a patch of mud in an isolated sea left free only because no one else had thought it worth taking was an inauspicious place upon which a nation, seeing itself as a Great Power, should seek to stake its honour. They were not even, in the Praetonians’ opinion, a freedom-loving people, quite happy to clamour in the streets for nationalisation, state monopolies on education, murdering catholics, state nationalism…

But Kahanistan had been a good private opportunity. There were people here who were quite skilled, and hard working. As Praetonia developed to the limits of productivity that technology allowed, the ever-increasing stocks of capital were sent abroad, to return as interest, annuities, pensions… while her enemies fought here for the glory of their Emperors, Praetonia fought, first against Kahanistan herself, and now against Kregaia, for old ladies saving up to buy a retirement cottage by the sea… a nation of shopkeepers…

“Gentlemen,” Admiral Sanderson raised his glass, “The day’s fox.”

“The day’s fox,” his Staff raised their own.

PWS Triumphant, on whose deck the Treaty of Haversham first formalised Praetonia’s relationship with Kahanistan, cut through the water at a slow clip in company with the rest of the Praetonian and Clandonian carriers, and their escorts. Some of the Praetonian cruisers that would ordinarily be attached to the groups had been detached, however, and these, with their Clandonian counterparts, formed two Surface Attack Groups. The Praetonian group was to the North, about in line with Fort Neptune and to its West. The Clandonian group mirrored it, positioned to the West of Riverson.

There were two elements necessary if Admiral Sanderson was to be assured of his victory parade in Kingston. The first was his minefield. Laid unobtrusively by his submarines placed at distance to the North, South and West of the enemy fleet, not a single mine blocked the path of the enemy advance. CAPTORs were instead placed in two lines emanating from the coast 100km either side of Westport, and deactivated. They were being laid out to a distance of 350km*, at which point the two lines turned toward one another in a semicircle, forming a complete bottle. As the enemy fleet advanced a hundred kilometres, more mines would be laid to shrink the pocket further.

The second was what the Kahanistanis would do when the foreign advance got to within only a hundred kilometres or so of Westport. Nonetheless, nothing in his fleet was less than a few hours away from being able to invade, and it was almost certain the Kregaians would reach Westport before they could be engaged. The next day could well decide the outcome of the war.

Admiral Sanderson saw a flight of aircraft assembling over the open water. He smiled, and waved.


[OOC: * assuming your fleet is about 200km away from Westport or 6 hours @ a speed of about 18kts.

EDIT: From GE's post, this seems not to be the case, so stretch that out accordingly - say, 450km from the shore.]
Kahanistan
03-08-2008, 08:57
Many of the CIDG battalion commanders took the "such irregular militias... shall not be subject to the usual laws" part of the Praetonian statement literally; those who weren't being shot at threw nooses around light poles for the purpose of hanging any Kregaian or Generian they could get their hands on. The police and regular military, more concerned with protecting civilians, routing traffic around the worst concentrations of Kregaians, or in the military's case, seizing the Kregaian bases for their own use, made little effort to take down the nooses.

The worst significant response to the Praetonian statement was nationalists scratching out "Kahaniland" and putting "Kahanistan" in its place on the posters. While a few braver ones took them down altogether, often in full view of Kahanistanian police, the police did little if the Praetonians reacted beyond comments about freedom of expression. For the most part, however, while the people may not have loved the Praetonians, they at least preferred King George IV to Emperor Ishamael.

---

A young blonde woman of about average frame in military uniform stepped up to the Praetonian commander, her rank insignia appearing to be brand new. She looked like another of the palace guards, albeit seeming very nervous about the Praetonians. While she was sure that they detested communists and Malakov wasn't a communist, she also didn't feel as sure of herself as when she'd told him that the Praetonians probably wouldn't mind if he took over...

As the Kregaian vehicle screeched into the Palace grounds, exchanging fire with a Sumerian-designed Kahanistanian IFV's machine guns and several dozen armoured infantry with G100's firing 6.5x55 Aequatian rounds, the woman, whose insignia and tag identified her as a Lt. Colonel "Canton, L.", crouched behind the same tree as the Praetonian commander.

---

Westport, Kahanistan

The city itself was locked down, with gas masks, oxygen tanks and MOPP-4 gear being produced at a furious pace. Two major roads led out of the city to the northeast and southeast, the only routes left open with the heavy fighter and bomber presence over the city precluding takeoff by air and the Kregaian warfleet preventing escape by sea, but at this point much of the populace was sick of fleeing.

An array of shore-based VLS cells covered in sand under the command of Commodore Ya'akov Shamir waited. Commodore Shamir was waiting for the Kregaian fleet to pass into the semicircle the Praetonians were laying mines before opening his own can of whoopass on them. More SAM batteries were being shipped in from Greendale to assist in the air defence and hopefully stop the Kregaian landing in its tracks, or at worst buy time for Greendale to build its own defences and bog the Kregaians down there.

In the city, at the forefront of the war, some openly wondered why Kahanistan hadn't sided with the Kregaians. While some knew what the analysts had said - it was a lot easier to prevent one side from gaining a foothold than it was to dislodge a side that had its tentacles all over the economy, the war was closer to home than New Masada despite the Doolittle raid there. This faction would be harmful to morale if the fighting dragged on, and possibly be a source of collaborators.

Needless to say, tensions were high. The CIDG's draped nooses around light poles like in New Masada, although nobody was going to be hanged from them for the time being. If collaboration or civilian massacres became a problem, however, justice was right there in the streets.
Cotland
03-08-2008, 13:19
Westport, Kahanistan

The private remained completely neutral as he offered, «The term lett luftvernmissil is in the Cottish military used about the Vault-made MLSA-10 short-range surface to air missile, which is used to provide us with a capable counter-aircraft weapon.»

Meanwhile, the units began to form together and form into platoon and companies. Soon, they would be in battalion formations and within half an hour, the whole brigade would be organized. While the private explained the situation to Sr. Colonel Grant, Oblt. Mikalsøn had gone on the brigade radio net and informed the brigade commander that they had made contact with the Kahanis and passed along the information he had been able to understand from Sr. Colonel Grant.

As a result, the divisional commander Generalmajor (Major General) Rogne ordered the battalions and brigades of his division to assume positions outside the city in strategic locations, where the mechanized units would move out to the area where the enemy attempted to land quickly in order to repell the invasion. The eighteen M777A2 towed howitzers of the 2. Brigade had also recently landed on the field, and the Major General had ordered the three batteries of six guns each to take up positions where they would be able to cover the entire city and its immediate surroundings and be able to lay down artillery fire. It would take them some time to relocate to the appropriate locations, but the scouting parties had already moved out in their LY83 Fox utility trucks in order to find good positions for the howitzers.

The 497. Luftbårne Divisjon would be ready to fight off the invaders within three hours. The other two divisions that were ordered to Westport were expected to arrive in 16 and 30 hours, respectively. Until then, the 497. were on their own.

New Masada

One hour later, and the 1. Brigade of the 455. Division had arrived safely on the ground and gotten themselves organized enough to begin moving out in force. The brigade commander, Oberst Ygre had ordered Bn I/455 and Bn IV/455 (the first and fourth battalion of the 455. division) to take point while Bn II/455 and Bn V/455 to guard the left and right flanks, respectively, and press on into the city. Meanwhile, Bn III/455 would guard the drop site and the artillery positions that were being set up nearby alongside the pathfinders and air defense battery.

The fifteen-ton KPLS-1F2 airborne infantry fighting vehicles took up the point of the brigade advance, using their thermal imaging sensors, millimetric wave radars and the satellite feed from the StridsNett uplink that connected all Cottish armored vehicles, aircraft, warships and many infantry units together and allowed to more managable command and control and situational awareness, to scan the surroundings for enemies that they would use the M256A2 35mm autocannon or the MG260E3 7.94mm coaxial machine gun on. In the highly unlikely event that they came up against armored threats, the KPLS-1 had one Corona anti-tank guided missile ready to launch and another seven stowed for reloads. All this came in addition to the dismounts the AIFV carried. Unfortunately, due to the constrictions of having to be able to actually drop the vehcile out of a moving aircraft, only four dismounts could be carried (although another three could squeeze in if there was an emergency), meaning that there would be relatively few infantrymen available. That was why the Army had recently purchased the new Aequatian M113A6 Centaur MTVL, which was airdrop capable, for among others the airborne forces. The introduction of the Centaur MTVL would allow for an increase in the amount of infantrymen within the brigade and thus an increase in fighting power. Unfortunately, the table of issue specified that the 80. Corps wouldn't reorganize under the new TO&E until after their term as the rapid reaction force was up in two months. For now, they would have to do with the KPLS-1F2s.

As the armored vehicles were moving into the city, they saw clearly the signs of fighting. There were a lot of armed people out in the streets, and the mood was a tense one as the foreign armored vehicles rolled by. In an attempt to get the people from firing on them, the Cots were flying the RGL flag alongside the Cottish flag from the lead vehicles, hoping that the Kahanistanis would recognize that they were friendlies (more or less) and not try to attack them as they moved towards their objectives (the Presidential Palace and the Praetonian embassy), as the Cots would most certainly return the favor with deadly force.

As the 1. Battalion closed on the Praetonian embassy, the sights and sounds of warfare became more and more apparent. There were more buildings with bullet-holes, fewer civilians, more corpses and burning cars and buildings. Over the encrypted radio net, the men were told to stay sharp and be ready for anything. It was a good warning, because a moment later, an unknown APC came thundering out a side street twenty meters ahead of the lead KPLS-1F2. The driver, a young sergeant immediately called out «Contact front!» as he tried to identify the vehicle. A second later he decided it was a hostile vehicle when it began firing its 12.7mm machine gun on him. The KPLS-1's driver immediately hit the brakes, sending the tracked vehicle screetching to a halt.

«Target APC, distance forty-three meters! Traverse left, loading APDS! Firing!»

The 35mm autocannon suddenly roared to life, spitting a salvo of four armor-piercing 35x228mm rounds from its barrel. The four rounds flew out, encased in the one meter long muzzle flash at a speed of 1,175 meters per second, meaning that the poor sods in the Kriegian APC never would know what had hit them as the four APDS rounds punched through the vehicle's weak armor and killed those inside a few microseconds later. The Cottish Army had drawn first blood.

«Target destroyed, proceeding to objective.» The sergeant said over the radio and intercom, letting the driver resume driving the vehicle. The destination of the 3. Company was to reinforce the Praetonian embassy, which was only a few hundred meters away, and hold it as the 2. Company which followed behind it would bypass the embassy and continue on to the Presidential Palace, thus completing the pincer movement that was being conducted. 1. Company was moving in from the opposite side, while the 4. Company were going to establish a barrier line to prevent the enemy escaping the area. The plan was simple: The enemy, which was expected to be lightly armed, was to be plummelled by the might of the armored vehicles' big guns.

Unfortunately, as the eighteen KPLS-1F2s and six VAE multipurpose armored cars moved into the open plaza one hundred meters from the embassy, they found themselves looking upon a warzone with what seemed like Kahani police officers and some soldiers having taken up positions in front of the impressive Praetonian embassy building, with Kriegian infantry taking cover behind their APCs. Immediately, the lead KPLS-1s fired off a few smoke grenades to conceal the size and disposition of the Cottish forces.

To the company commander, a Major, it seemed like the Kahanis were trying to flank the enemy forces. At least they knew that much, he thought. Like most Cots, the Major had little respect for the Kahanistani's warfighting abilities, mostly due to the lectures at the War Academy and self-studying where he had studied the Kahanistani nation's military incompetence in previous wars, especially those against Doomingsland. Perhaps, he thought, the Kahanis had finally learned something from history as well? He hoped so. But, now was not the time for hope. Now was the time for killing.

«First platoon, form line, dismount and advance. Second platoon, get up that side street and flank the enemy's left. Third platoon, reserve. Fourth platoon, get those mortars dismounted and lay down some covering fire. Execute.»

The platoon commanders confirmed the orders over the radionet, and a few seconds later, the lead six KPLS-1s revved their engines as the four men inside each vehicle dismounted and moved forward, forming a line formation with thirty meters between the vehicles, taking advantage of the open plaza. Meanwhile, the six KPLS-1s of the 2. Platoon moved up a side street that ran paralel with the plaza according to their street maps, with the intent of coming down behind the Kriegians and surprising them. The third platoon held the positions for the time being, forming a fall-back point ready to be committed in the event that the 1. or 2. Platoon needed to be reinforced, and the fourth platoon's mortar section got out of their VAE armored cars and began setting up the company's two 81mm mortars.

The sight to the Kriegians if they looked to their right would be scary. From the white smoke, six green-painted armored vehicles with twenty-four dismounted infantry running behind them for cover emerged, firing the big weapons at the APCs the Kriegians were hiding behind as the infantry provided suppressing fire with their bayonet-fixed DR-87s and MLMs, with battleaxes ready for action in their tactical vests as secondary weapons if needed. It was a classic frontal charge. The identity of the new arrivals would also be obvious, as one of the armored vehicles proudly flew a rather large Cottish flag from its turret. It would be a sight of relief for the Praetonians holed up inside the embassy and the Kahanistanis, and a bad sight for the Kriegians. Worse still would be in a few minutes when the sound of rumbling tracks and diesel engines behind them would make a survivor turn his head and see the exact same thing taking place behind them (six KPLS-1s with 24 dismounted infantry attacking).

The only choice the Kriegians had was to surrender or to die, and the Cottish were more than willing to oblidge them if they chose the latter.
Generic empire
03-08-2008, 16:56
General Nys’ky silently cursed, more from surprise than anger. It was suicide, the Kregaian “action” in New Masada. Suicide, plain and simple. He had a feeling that one day this would become a famous example in textbooks attempting to explain Kregaian psychology; the perfect demonstration of what happens when one is both in excess of testicles and lacking in foresight.

“Well, they’ve just taken the legislative house.”

Kerjevo’s voice rolled like a cold breeze over his right shoulder.

“They’ll all be dead in 20 minutes,” replied Nys’ky.

“A generous estimate.”

Nys’ky lit up a cigarette.

“5 hours out, General,” came the voice of Admiral Kyril Kovac.

Nys’ky grunted his acknowledgement. The bridge of the supercapital Alexei was uncustomarily quiet.

“They’ll be waiting for us. Praetonian ships,” Kerjevo was saying quietly, musing to himself. “Ships. I hate ships…”

Nys’ky chuckled.

Get used to them.

Outside, the Empire’s fleet stretched out in every direction. They had completed their rendezvous with the Kregaian armada what seemed like ages ago and from then had steamed in a straight line for Westport. It had been too long for the million men in the bellies of Generia’s transports since they had felt solid earth under their feet. The time was getting close, though. The Praetorians felt the anticipation growing in their bones, and sat sharpening their knives and cleaning their rifles, waiting. A few more hours, and they wouldn’t have to wait any longer.

200 miles over the horizon, the rock called Kahanistan rose out of the sea.

((OOC: I'll be retaking control of my forces from Warmaster.))
The Warmaster
05-08-2008, 03:00
OOC: Apologies for the briefness of these little chapters, but there are a fair number of loose threads to tie up here. Also, regarding the air raid against New New Sodom, if Kstan wants to launch a long-range air attack, just fluid-time it back to when the aircraft were first taking off.

New Masada
Kahanistani Senate House

Fewer than a hundred soldiers were left alive under the command of Captain Tyrakis, but all of them were in the target, and they had precious time before the enemy could stop them. Just as soon as they had sprinted inside (gunning down the lightly armed police in the room), a sergeant had leveled his assault rifle at a secretary's forehead and growled, "Is the Senate in session?"

"N-no!" the terrified woman had squeaked.

"Where would they gather today?"

She sobbed wildly as she tried to give an answer that would satisfy them. "I don't-I don't know! Lounges, I guess? I don't know! They might be in their offices-"

"Which way to the offices?"

The secretary tremulously pointed at a floor map near the elevators, and collapsed a second later as the sergeant shot her in the head, spraying her blood over the desk. He turned to the Captain who nodded and called out, "You two, hold the doors. The rest of you, spread out in fireteams, kill anyone you meet and find the Senators." The dozens of men didn't bother with a spoken acknowledgement, simply quickly forming groups of four and, after examining the floor map, hurrying out through the doors (there was certainly no time to wait for elevators). Only two men stayed behind, taking turns to peer out the external doors the Kregaians had just come through: as soon as the Kahanistanis managed to take out the IFVs these men would use up the rest of their frag and 40mm grenades on any enemy soldiers or police attempting to enter the building. In the meantime, however, the IFVs were still there, HMGs covering angles of approach., and every minute the enemy didn't try to burst in was a minute the Legionaries had to stalk through the hallways of the Senate House unmolested.

* * *

New Masada
Praetonian Embassy

The situation for the Kregaians was rather less promising at the Praetonian Embassy. What a few soldiers recognized as Cottish forces were attacking unexpectedly, and frankly the outlook hadn't been bright from the beginning, with a hundred or so soldiers against three hundred Kahanistani guards. The Cottish vehicles, worse, had heavy autocannons capable of tearing through the armor of the modified IFVs the Kregaians were forced to rely on. In short, these particular men were fucked. They knew this well, but being Kregaians, they dealt with it admirably. In this case, it involved using up the remaining frag grenades and the 40mm grenades for their assault rifles as they kept their cover against both the charging Cottish and the relentless Kahanistani soldiers.

In under a minute, they were dead.

* * *

New Masada
Kregaian Strategic Defense Installations

The use of anti-radiation missiles was a typical tactic, and somewhat obvious when the targets were an array of anti-ICBM emplacements. However, it failed for an equally simple reason: the Kregaians didn't have the radars on. Why should they? There was no serious threat of a strategic attack on New Masada, and certainly there was no point watching for one while Legionaries were running rampant in the city, hunted by soldiers from no fewer than three different nations. The bases had been paper tigers for some time now, and the skeleton crews that had been left behind, essentially waiting to die, had no intention of making things otherwise. It might have been somewhat amateurish, but it at least prolonged the lives of those within the installations a little longer.

However, while the ARMs proved ineffective, the old-fashioned ways succeeded where they failed. The Cottish medium bombers could hardly be expected to miss, and their munitions tore into the installations, damaging them severely and destroying many of them outright. Not one of them remained intact, and thus the investment that the installations represented was utterly wasted, which was to cause the Lord Treasurer, back in Korronis, to fly into a fit of rage.

However, the Kahanistani forces had deployed several thousand soldiers to enter the installations one by one: some were practically rubble already, and most were too damaged to use the word "repair" instead of "rebuild". Despite that, the sizable force with its ponderous artillery and tanks swept through each base. All of the installations had been wired with explosives for exactly this eventuality, but almost all of these had been prematurely detonated by the Cottish bombs. The more intact installations, then, would hold a surprise for the Kahanistani, but until the enemy reached those, the surviving Kregaians had nothing to do. In each base that still had some explosives left, all but the man with the detonator shot themselves, denying the infidels the pleasure of executing them; of course, in those installations where the explosives had already been detonated, there were few survivors in any case, but every man of those that remained committed suicide.

* * *

Fort Karia

The Praetonians' assumption had been correct; even as the enemy Havenfighters sped into the upper atmosphere to deliver their ASATs, land-based Caelus systems launched their own at the RORSATs of the enemy nations. The exchange was fairly typical, and although it was irritating not to have RORSAT cover, most of the fort’s drones had been sent out to patrol the land approaches and, more importantly, the ocean. The Kregaians already knew the Kahanistani Fleet’s position: it had been marked by the satellites shortly after it had left port and had been followed carefully ever since. As a preventive measure, packs of Stalker-class advanced attack subs had been dispatched; they were to keep their distance, but to await the order to attack. The Kahanistani fleet could not be permitted to bombard the fort or otherwise impede Kregaian operations. Similarly, long-ranged drones were probing (albeit at the maximum practical distance) the Kahanistani flotilla, gathering data and ensuring, with the RORSATs down, that the Kregaians knew where the enemy was.

In the meantime, Fort Karia was bustling with activity. A large air raid was being launched, involving several hundred strategic bombers and their fighter escort, aimed at bombing New New Sodom, several hundred kilometers to the northeast. There was little military value to the city, but it was yet another phase of the standard Kregaian program of terror attacks. The High Command felt that the enemy was lacking in moral strength, and although the war was currently not thought of as a war of extinction, it was believed that the Kahanistani would surrender rather than risk the final annihilation of their people. It wasn’t long before the flight of aircraft began heading as one to the target, from out of the cover of Fort Karia’s AD systems.

At the same time, ground troops were mobilizing rapidly; they were planning to strike out towards Great Cross and take the city. Perhaps not yet; it would have to be well-timed, and in any case the tens of thousands of troops required wouldn’t be ready for several hours. Small squadrons of helicopter gunships were being sent out to destroy the few small towns in the area, most located along small highways; bristling with missiles, rockets, and armed with a massive 30mm chaingun, each gunship was easily capable of laying waste to a village, and whatever local police there were would be helpless. Fish in a barrel, and all to further the Kregaian goal of throwing the nation into chaos.

To that end, also, the ballistic missile submarines in the bastion of Fort Karia’s harbor prepared to launch their own strike. Firing solutions had long been calculated for each of the major Kahanistani cities as well as the Praetonian and Clandonian military bases, and now it was time to let fly. The Valhalla-class SSBNs disarmed the safeties on their Pandemonium II ballistic missiles, confirmed their targets, and let fly. This particular strike was more practical than some of the others: rather than using the weapons on multiple enemy cities to cause havoc and panic, it was deemed best to use them on enemy military targets due to their potency. Although they were conventional weapons, the Pandemonium II’s struck their target from almost directly above at tremendous speeds, and could be programmed to detonate its massive primary charge either after penetration or upon impact. Furthermore, before reaching the ground, the missile scattered small incendiary bomblets, which would burn hot enough to break down concrete. This made it an excellent shock weapon against civilian targets, but it was also highly effective against military targets such as the ones it was facing now. A third of the missiles, a little under 1300 in all, were aimed at the Kahanistani military emplacements and fortifications around and outside the city of Westport, and a third was aimed at the Praetonian and Clandonian military bases, respectively.

* * *

It was only a short time after these strikes began that AEW pickets detected a sizable incoming wave of missiles, almost two thousand in all, heading rapidly towards Fort Karia. No doubt they had been launched by bombers from Portland Down; an attempt to eliminate the fort’s capacity to support the invasion in the west. Immediately defenses at the fort were put on full alert; long-range interception missiles adapted from the MIMS system the Navy had were launched to thin out the number of incoming targets.

However, just as the interceptors were launched, radar registered approximately three thousand more contacts coming from the east. They emerged out of clear sea; obviously submarine-launched, but more pressing for the moment was how to deal with them. Again, large and long-range MIMS imitations were sent out to take them down. As both attacks drew nearer, they came into range of the smaller interception missiles, which did their job well, but these were advanced cruise missiles, not easily taken out. Within minutes, the first missiles began to hit.

It became clear that the ships in particular were being targeted. However, they were in an advantageous position, having the benefit not only of the land-based systems to support them, but their own anti-air triad. Many of the Praetonian missiles had been destroyed by the Kregaian defenses. However, the enemy's missiles were stealthy sea-skimmers, and the fort did have its own threats to deal with; the fleet sustained a relatively heavy seventy-eight outright losses, with almost a hundred other ships damaged to varying degrees, from simple crew fatalities and light damage to disabling hits.

The fort itself, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Runway cratering munitions wreaked havoc on the airfields, tearing an array of holes in the concrete surface and scattering mines along the rest. The presence of the mines was quickly apparent, even amidst the general chaos, but the question of what to do with them was less pressing than the issue of holding out against the last of the Praetonian munitions.

However, the Kregaians were utterly taken by surprise when the nerve gas was released.

Several dozen nerve gas-containing missiles had made it through, dispersing the deadly weapon and killing those nearby instantly. It took precious seconds to figure out what was going on, but the Kregaians’ sensors quickly indicated the presence of the nerve gas, and an instant later, the gas raid siren automatically turned on, blaring a warning to all personnel to reach protective gear immediately. The soldiers were in the best position; almost all of them were wearing or close by their helmets, which had built-in filtration systems, and many vehicles, such as IFVs and main battle tanks, were protected against NBC weapons in any case, with similar filtration systems. Furthermore, Kregaian fatigues are intended to protect the wearer against chemical weapons as extensive as is practical, requiring as little as possible additional gear.

The support personnel, by contrast, were in a much worse situation. Gas masks and protective clothing were stored in large, specially marked crates readily available throughout the facility, but not all of them could find and put on the gear in time. Hundreds of unprotected workers dropped dead, a number which quickly escalated into the thousands, and the gas, according to the sensors, showed no signs of dissipating. Buildings were quickly sealed and locked down, after which the death rate slowed to a halt: within minutes, those who couldn’t reach NBC gear had already died.

However, something still had to be done about the Praetonian submarines. A few squadrons of light helicopters were prepared, armed with torpedoes and the standard submarine detection gear, including MAD arrays and towable sonar. They raced off as fast as possible: the enemy was two hundred or so kilometers away, as shown by the origin of the missiles, and it was important psychologically to strike back at an enemy who had just inflicted as much damage as the Praetonians had. It wouldn’t do to encourage them to think they could get away with it.

* * *

OFFICIAL MILITARY COMMUNIQUE

To: General Decevus Ctani

Sir, the Praetonian infidels have just used nerve gas of some sort against Fort Karia. Casualties are heavy, estimated to be in the thousands so far. I will forward any further information to you.

Signed,
Major General Arminius

* * *

OFFICIAL MILITARY COMMUNIQUE

To: General Luka Kerjevo

The Praetonians just used nerve gas against our base in Kahanistan, Fort Karia. This unwarranted use of weapons of mass destruction is intolerable and I will respond in kind by using VX nerve gas against Westport and Portland Down. I will warn them against repeating such behavior, but if they continue, I suspect the Emperor will unleash much more chemical weaponry, if not biological or nuclear weaponry. In the meantime, I wanted you to be aware of the hazard posed to our troops by the gas that will be in Westport, and of my retaliation. Blood and Honor.

Signed,
General Decevus Ctani

* * *

Shock spread over the general’s face as he read Arminius’s message. It was unbelievable. Unthinkable. You simply did not strike first with weapons of mass destruction. Not even against its worst enemies had the Imperium done such a thing. And this, from a nation that considered itself a country of gentlemen, a land of culture and decency…Furious, blinding rage flashed through him like lightning across his brain. Honor demanded vengeance, brutal vengeance, to remind the merchant princes that warriors did not suffer the umbrage of the weak.

Wordlessly he showed the message to High Admiral Anor, a man noted for his impatience, unpredictability, and quick temper. Within seconds, General Ctani’s expression of fury was mirrored on the other man’s face. The admiral raised his eyes to meet his and growled, “What in the name of the gods are they thinking?”

“I don’t give a shit,” Ctani replied. “But they’re going to pay for it anyway. And so will the rabble.” He turned to the bridge crew and called out, “Get me Strategic Command,” even as he forwarded the message to CHARIOT High Command.

It was less than a minute later that the general secured permission from Emperor Ishamael himself to unleash the Imperial chemical weapons.

* * *

The Imperium possesses dozens of Demiurge weapons satellites in varying orbits. Carrying godrods, nukes, large stocks of VX gas, and viral dispersal systems, they are a veritable arsenal of mass destruction, each capable of laying waste to a nation. They are kept in various points in space, as well as in orbits that ensure as much of the globe as possible is covered by overlapping fields of fire.

The stocks of VX aboard each satellite were perhaps its deadliest weapon, more so even than the nuclear weaponry or the Shavan virus. VX is an abundantly lethal chemical, with a lethal dose of 10 mg through skin contact: with each container of VX holding 100 kg of the substance, highly compressed, there are about 34 trillion lethal doses in each, enough, in theory, to kill the entire human race many times over.

At the order of the Emperor, relayed through General Ctani, Strategic Command released the chemical weaponry of several satellites in orbit above or near Kahanistan. A total of twenty-four dispersal containers were ejected from the satellites, twelve aimed at the city of Westport and the Kahanistani troop concentrations there, and twelve aimed at the Praetonian installations at Portland Down. The several minutes of intense heat and vibration that had to happen when passing through the atmosphere were an unfortunate problem, but the containers were dense enough to prevent damage to the chemical within, and small irregularities in course could be corrected with microthrusters. The best part was that the extremely small size of these containers, considerably smaller than even small missiles, made them extremely difficult to detect, let alone target successfully. Some of the containers, referred to as “Type-A” dispersal systems, extended glider wings (less visible than parachutes) automatically upon reaching a certain altitude that greatly slowed their descent and allowed them to disperse the gas through the air slowly, while others, “Type-I” containers, simply released the VX on impact.

* * *

OFFICIAL MILITARY COMMUNIQUE

To: Whom it may concern, His Majesty’s Government

Your nerve gas attack on Fort Karia was unprovoked, unwarranted, and treacherous, although I should have expected no better. In retaliation I have launched a similar attack on Portland Down and Westport.

I warn you now, the Emperor is furious at your use of weapons of mass destruction. As am I. Let this be the end of it. If you continue to use such weapons, this will become a war of extinction rather than conquest, and neither your men in Kahanistan nor the Kahanistani people will survive it.

Signed,
General Decevus Ctani

OOC: This post is big enough as it is; I’ll save my reply regarding Westport for my next post.
Kahanistan
05-08-2008, 12:45
Westport, Kahanistan

The most pressing piece of information that the Cottish received, assuming their officers fully understood Kahanistanian English, was that Sr. Colonel Grant, probably the most Cot-friendly officer in her entire division, wanted to meet with the Cottish HQ to discuss joint operations and overall strategy.

---

The military forces had expected a gas attack; they had been making inquiries with the Cottish about more NBC gear, but not everyone adheres strictly to protocol, even when MOPP-4 is declared loudly and repeatedly. Those who didn't soon began rapidly convulsing, and more often than not, dying before someone found an atropine kit. Casualties were expected to be in the thousands, and even worse among the civilians, who had masks for the most part but relatively few had suits.

Hospitals rapidly overflowed with the dead and dying; in many cases frustrated doctors simply tossed the bodies out of windows to make room for new incoming patients. Atropine stores quickly exhausted and production had to be increased at a frenetic pace to prevent a subsequent attack from pushing the death toll into the millions.

---

New Masada, Kahanistan

In the Senate House, the first thing the Kregaians noticed was the security was no lightly armed police force, but an actual military unit, complete with IFV's of their own, machine guns, and portable AD. Lt. Colonel Johannson, the defending commander, was wounded, not likely to survive the battle. His XO, Major Brett Roberts, called for assistance from any unoccupied military unit within five kilometres on his radio while running through the halls ahead of his troops, blasting away with his Aequatian-designed MG260E1, spraying 8.5x60mm rounds in the direction of any Kregaian crossing his path. The Senators had barricaded themselves in their offices for the most part, while a few had tried fleeing through the windows, mainly those who had not served in the military and had no knowledge of tactics. As for those who had holed in their offices, it was soon apparent that merely kicking the door wouldn't work - it would take several blows with a battering ram to break through the door and the desks or file cabinets shoved against the entryway, and in that time a battering ram crew could easily be fired upon by one of the soldiers who had fallen back to the building itself from the outer perimeter, which was pretty much everyone except the IFV crews and complement... and the six hundred or so dead and over a hundred too badly wounded to fight.

"Tank Company Gimel will be there in three minutes, I'll see what we can do about heli support." Three minutes. The entire Senate could be dead by then, Roberts thought grimly. And they would see about heli support? Words failed him. It was up to him and the 48 men and women he had left who weren't dead or too severely wounded to shoot to save as many of the senators as they could.

Giving a hand signal to the troops behind him to stand back, he threw a thermobaric grenade down the corridor at a Kregaian fireteam. Grinning sadistically as they burst into flames, he roared, "Don't shoot! Let 'em burn!"

---

Outside the Praetonian embassy, the National Police and local PD officers sat against the wall and breathed huge sighs of relief; for them, the combat was over, and far beyond their training. With armoured military ambulances tied up in other parts of the city retrieving wounded civilians (and Kregaians they could find, for interrogation), Commander Rechavam Steinowitz, commander of the National Police defending the embassy, asked his Cottish allies for ambulances to evacuate their wounded, figuring they would be sooner on the spot than ones still dropping their loads off at probably overcrowded hospitals.

For the military personnel, there was no such rest. Drawing his officer's sword, First Lieutenant Decimus Cassius III hacked off the heads of each dead Kregaian. Despite his name, he was not a convert to Doomani Catholicism; many Kahanistanians had Latin names and were anything from pagans to Christians to atheists. Cassius threw the heads into the back of his IFV and said calmly, "The Senate Hall has sent a request for immediate assistance by any unoccupied unit. I think that includes us."

"God help us all," muttered Cassius' XO, a lanky Master Sergeant who looked like he'd been through the mill. He stepped into the IFV and about 20 soldiers crammed into it.

"What god...?" said Cassius as he moved to the commander's seat and the IFV started, leaving the wounded for the next ambulance to come in. They were going to provide some assistance to the Senate Hall before Gimel Company got there and stole all the glory.

---

When taking the bases, the experienced Kahanistanian brigade commander, Brigadier Ali Mohammed Abdul-Rahman, sent in pairs of tanks to look for Kregaian soldiers or IED's. During the Freekish war Kahanistanian guerrillas and special forces had used IED's extensively; the Brigadier did not assume that he was any smarter than the Kregaians. In this way the bombs were often found; while the crews usually failed to disarm them casualties were limited to at most the entire crews of two tanks per base and often less than that as tank armour protected the crews.

After two or three encounters with collapsing buildings, the order was given to simply demolish the larger buildings to protect the lives of Kahanistanian military personnel; they could be rebuilt later using whatever Kregaian plans had survived the destruction. Smaller buildings and silos were spared, however, there being no way of firing missiles without computer control.

---

Grand Marshal Malakov was furious. He had expected little better from the Kregaians, and wasn't surprised that they would gas civilian populations. He appeared on large TV screens throughout major cities, vociferously condemning the Kregaian barbarity and ordering that Kregaian POW's no longer be entitled to humane treatment in accordance with W.A. dictates.

"Furthermore, I state here today, I would rather see the day when the Kahanistanian people are wiped from the earth than the day they are enslaved," he roared on national television, appearing as a large, intimidating man in his 60's loaded down with medals. "At this point, our interests cross with those of Praetonia and Cotland, to maintain their control over their business interests while we survive as a great power in world politics. The Praetonians and Cottish are our allies; despite there being bad blood with them over issues of sovereignty, they do not seek to enslave us as the Kregaians do..."

---

At Sea

With the initial attack against the RORSAT's, the Republic Navy Commander of Naval Operations, Fleet Admiral Carl Jenkins, ordered a launch of replacement satellites, although it would be hours before they would be in the area. He also ordered the flotilla near Fort Karia under command of Rear Admiral Alexandra Federova to deploy its ASW helos and hunt for submarines; it was pure folly not to expect a sub attack this close to Fort Karia, especially after drones were spotted and engaged with SAM's.

"The enemy has a fix on our position," said the Rear Admiral aboard her flagship, the Sandakan-class RKS Valens. "But if we can neutralise their base of operations, we can save ourselves and millions of people. If we destroy Fort Karia, the enemy will be unable to attack us without landing troops here." She moved to the command console and delivered a message to all ships, the four Questarian-made Sandakans, six Praetonian Cavaliers, and forty Illium class destroyers given by the Allaneans as well as the eighty or so Type 214 submarines.

"Destroy the fort."

Dozens of long-ranged missiles, mainly Kahanistanian Yukhunt cruise missiles in the first wave and Axis Novan Spectre ER's modified with thermobaric warheads, sped toward the Kregaian base in the second wave. While both were anti-shipping missiles, they also had long range and there is nothing special about such missiles that if given the proper warhead they can't do a respectable amount of damage to the fortress, and the Spectres carried 2400 kg warheads - more than twice that of the Yukhunt.

With RORSAT's down it was up to AWACS to guide the missiles, which targeted the base and homed in on the jammers in the first wave, clearing the way for the missiles with larger warheads to hit the base harder...

This was all the fleet intended to fire on the base; they needed to conserve firepower should the Kregaian fleet advance. While they had submarines to fight off enemy warships, having a ship entirely dependent for its defence on a vessel that may or may not be able to protect it is not good for morale.

---

New New Sodom

However stealthy the individual fighters or bombers were, flying in large numbers bunched together would give them a collective RCS the size of an Apophis class superdreadnaught. If the Kregaians believed that the Kahanistanian Air Force would simply let them bomb the city unmolested, they were in for a very rude awakening. 130 Su-33's, the workhorse of the Air Force, moved in, firing their R-27's at the bombers when they were within fifty kilometres of the enemy, and closing with the fighters to expend their R-73 short-ranged missiles or landing at the nearest airfield once they had fired the R-27's if not engaged.

The city itself had the same basic defences as Westport or New Masada, both being seen as high-value targets that would allow an enemy a gateway to the nation. This included Lyran Skyguard defences that could spot a bomber fleet hundreds of kilometres away, medium and long range surface-to-air missile launchers prioritised against the bombers, gas mask distribution centres, bomb shelters, CIDG units armed with portable AD, etc.

---

Fort Karia

Elements of the Kahanistanian Air Force had also joined the Praetonians, with Su-33 fighter escorts (mainly to combat enemy fighters, rather than do ground damage) and B-2 stealth bombers with JDAM's, some runway penetrators, most loaded with ClF3 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_trifluoride) to really fuck things up for the Kregaian personnel in the base.

That base was supporting an invasion, Imperial territory or not. That base had to go.
Generic empire
05-08-2008, 14:45
In Sofia, in the heart of the White Citadel, Emperor Nikolai raised an eyebrow reading the brief communiqué forwarded to him by his frontline commanders. This had complicated matters. Generia hadn’t signed on for a war of extinction. There was too much value in the territory to ruin it permanently. Should it come to that, there would be nothing any Generian could do to placate the Kregaians. Right now, he was praying.

Aboard the Alexei, Kerjevo and Nys’ky were close to doing the same.

“Gas? What the hell were they thinking,” growled Nys’ky. “They know how Kregaians think. Do they want to ruin the entire continent?”

“Hopefully they’ll learn their lesson before things get any uglier,” replied Kerjevo. “If they don’t, there won’t be anything left worth conquering.”

“The fucking fools,” Nys’ky muttered. “Admiral Kovac, how far out are we?”

“4 hours, sir.”

“Things are going to be bad in Westport when we land. Your Praetorians are going to have a hell of a time with that VX in the air.”

“We can handle gas. Just keep the Kregaians from slinging any nukes our way, and we’ll take the city.”

Nys’ky laughed, but he didn’t know why. That didn’t seem so far fetched at this point. He remembered now why he hated working with Kregaians; they were unpredictable. They took things too personally.
Cotland
05-08-2008, 19:57
Outside the Praetonian Embassy, New Masada

The combined-arms pincher attack supported by the mortars and the Kahanistani police blocking force combined with the heavy autocannons of the KPLS-1F2s and marksmanship of the Cottish paras was sufficient to win the day outside the Praetonian Embassy. After the last of the Kriegian legionares were dead, the Cottish Paras ceased fire and moved through the scene of the carnage, checking the enemy corpses for two reasons. Firsly, to make sure that they were really dead and not just faking it in order to lure the Cottish into a false sense of security so they could stab (or shoot) them in the back, and secondly to find intelligence that might be useful to the rest of the campaign, such as tactical maps, written-down codes, even personal letters and such things that the Military Intelligence chaps could use to determine things such as how determined and motivated the enemy was to fight, how his mental state of mind was, which unit the Cots were fighting (if they knew that, they might have information on the unit commander which in turn might tell them something about how he was thinking and thus be able to predict his moves) and other things like that. Even the smallest detail could be used to piece together the big picture, so the Cottish soldiers had standing orders to check the enemy corpses for intel (though they were also ordered to exercise extreme caution in the event that the enemy had booby-trapped his dead).

The Paras were in a relatively good mood. The Royal Cottish Army in the form of the Paras had engaged in real battle for the first time since the end of the Pan-Havenic Twenty Year's War over a century ago and carried on the great traditions and reputation of courage in battle that the Royal Cottish Army had first made for itself in 1881 and reinforced in subsequent battles, including the glorious defeat of the First Battle of Neu Prussia in 1894 against the Kampferian Army. For 108 enemy dead, there were no Cottish fatalities thanks to the Dauntless bodyarmor and the KPLS-1 IFVs that the Cots had advanced behind, and only five wounded of an assault force of 48. They were being tended to by the company's medics while they waited for the field ambulances to make it over to the embassy for evacuation back to the Aid Station that was being set up in a soccer field less than a kilometer away to receive the wounded by the Brigade's Medical Company. The Aid Station would have the capacity to handle up to sixty seriously wounded and two hundred lightly wounded men and women, and was where the wounded (including the Kahanistani wounded) would be brought and treated by the field surgeons and medics.

With the embassy site secured, the Major commanding the company that had attacked the Kriegians ordered the rest of the company to move up to the embassy and assume defensive positions around the embassy before he himself approached the closed gate of the embassy and pressed the doorbell, which surprisingly enough had survived the fierce firefight.

As the Major waited for a reply, the IFVs and armored cars of 2. Company raced past the embassy in the background, heading for the Senate House, not the Presidential Palace. Military Intelligence had discovered that it had made a slight blunder and that the Kriegian forces were in fact at the Senate House and not the Presidential Palace like first believed, and notified the battalion commander who had issued the new orders while silently cursing the spooks in MI. He was reminded of an old joke within the military: "Contradition in term: Military Intelligence."

Westport

The laws of science are absolute laws that cannot be bent or broken, and one of these laws explain why it is that when an object pass through the atmosphere of the Planet Earth, there is something called friction, which again causes the object that pass through the atmosphere in the breathtaking speeds it does to heat up. This is visible to the naked eye (if close enough) as a streak of fire in the sky. The dozen VX canisters raining down on Westport was no exception, and many a soldier stopped for a moment to look up at the strange streaks of light that seemed to be heading straight for them. For many of the soldiers it was simply a breathtaking sight, but for some of the older officers and non-commissioned officers who had been through their share of seminars and lectures on weapons of mass destruction recognized the sights and swallowed. It seemed eerily much like a dozen nuclear warheads falling to the sky (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/MX_MIRV_reentry_vehicles.jpg/800px-MX_MIRV_reentry_vehicles.jpg), something which caused most of them to say a quick prayer to God for forgiveness and mercy before all hell broke loose.

There were no sudden white flashes in the air or any other tell-tale trademarks of nuclear weapons, which left only two options: Either it was a biological or a chemical weapon, or it was a high-explosive weapon. Since no explosions had been heard, the former was the only logical conclusion the commanders could reach. They had to move fast though, as time was of the essence. Over the radionet, a paniced voice suddenly called out "Gas gas gas!"

The Cottish troops heard this and immediately hollered out at the top of their lunges "Gas gas gas!" before holding their breath as best they could while they tore off their equipment, got out the protective gasmask with hood attached and protective gloves from the protective bag that was strapped to their tactical vests and put them on as quickly as possible. The goal for the Cottish were to be at MOPP level 4, the highest protective level, within forty seconds of receiving the order to don the protective gear. Within thirty seconds, most of the troops were more or less protected against the deadly cloud of VX gas that drifted towards them, and within the minute all Cottish soldiers on the ground were at MOPP 4. In the vehicles, NBC protective measures were immediately implemented, and the crews and people inside were guaranteed to be safe from the chemical threat.

Fortune would have it that the Cottish Army units were mostly in transit to their staging areas, which were located some distance away from the city and the Kahanistani Army formations, giving the Cottish some precious extra seconds and minutes to prepare for the chemical attack, but there were still casualties. A company of dismounted troops that were moving past a Kahanistani position suffered the full brunt of the VX attack. The men had just finished donning the MOPP 4 gear when they started feeling the effects of VX exposure, mainly as muscular twitching, sweating and sudden nausea. That company's first sergeant recognized the symptoms he felt on himself from a chemical weapons seminar he had attended a few weeks ago and had enough presence of mind to report in.

"This is.. Alpha 3-... Alpha 3-6. We've... been hit... by chemi... chemical weapons... Think... VX... Using... injector... Over."

"Alpha 3-6, copy receiving message that you've been hit by chemical weapon, suspected as VX nerve agent. Recommend you use your autoinjector immediately." A shocked officer at the battalion command post six kilometers away responded as the suffering first sergeant reached into his tactical vest and pulled out a autoinjector that he had been issued before they got on the plane back in Cotland. With some effort, he managed to force his shaking hands to remove the safety cap on the injector, pull down his pants to reveal his thigh and press the injector firmly to the thigh. This caused a spring-loaded needle to shoot out and penetrate the skin and muscles and pump the lifesaving Antropine and Pralidoxime Chloride into the exposed man's system. After holding for ten seconds, he threw the spent injector away and pulled out a smaller syringe filled with Diazepam and injected himself with the sedative. The Antropine and Pralidoxime Chloride would combined resist the effects of the VX and allow the man to survive for long enough to get treatment from the medics, while the Diazepam would counter the convulsion and make life a little more bearable for the man. With that done, he pulled his pants back up and tried to help the other men of the company. Many of them had heard the officer over the radio and were following the first sergeants example. Still, thirty-nine men from that company would die from VX exposure, having injected the drugs too late or not at all due to being so overcome with the effects of the chemical warfare agent. So would an additional seventy-four for mostly the same reasons, bringing the Cottish VX fatalities to a total of 103 dead. As for incapacitated troops, the Cottish would suffer more than 20 % casualties due to exposure. The 497. Luftbårne Divisjon had in other words suffered some 103 dead and over 1 500 soldiers incapacitated from the chemical warfare attack.

Eeobroht, Cotland

"They did what?!" King Haakon VIII, monarch of Cotland and supreme warlord of the Cottish military shouted in disbelief when the Marshall of the Armed Forces, Feltmarskalk Ormssøn called the King to inform him that the Cottish forces in Kahanistan had been gassed ten minutes after the attack had taken place.

"Majesty, the Kriegians launched a strategic attack with a chemical warfare agent, most likely VX, on Kahaniland and on Praetonian assets. The targets include the city of Westport, which is where the four hundred ninety-seventh parachute division is located. The division commander has informed me that he has taken casualties, including well over a hundred Cottish fatalities. Kahani fatalities are unknown as of yet, but they will probably be in the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands or even millions." the Feltmarskalk explained coldly over the encrypted telephone.

The King fell silent for a moment, offering a quiet prayer for the souls of his subjects that had perished in such a horrible fashion before he continued, his voice now filled with anger and resolve.

"We can not allow this barbaric act go unpunished. We must teach the Kriegians that you don't attack my people, and especially not with weapons of mass destruction. Marshall, I want you to prepare an appropriate retaliatory strike against the Kriegians, preferably against military targets but no Kriegian asset is safe, and have the alternative on my desk within two hours for briefing and approval. The Kriegians believe that if they just gas us enough, we'll chicken out and withdraw our forces. I want to prove to them that they have achieved just the opposite. Order in the fleet and the Air Force, and prepare additional troops for deployment. Sink the Kriegian and Generian fleets and teach them that you don't do things like this to subjects of my realm."

"Yes Majesty. I would recommend we send in the submarines and launch an immediate anti-shipping strike with the assets from Naval Aviation, and divert a battlegroup to Kahaniland. We have one such battlegroup based around Carrier Division forty-nine located two days sailing away from Kahaniland. Their airwings can be within range in a few hours if Your Majesty give the order now."

"It is so given. Tell the Navy that I expect them to avenge the cowardly slaying of their brothers in the Army."

"As Your Majesty commands."

Somewhere off Western Kahanistan

The nuclear-powered guided missile submarine UM 363, a Paladin class guided missile submarine had been in the area near Kahanistan for the past day, having been diverted from its regular patrol duty when Cotland decided to intervene in Kahanistan along with the rest of its division. Now, a whole division of six Paladin class SSGNs were deployed in a semi-circle starting at the seaward flank of the Praetonian battlefleet and moving out towards the sea, keeping the SSGNs within range of their heavy anti-shipping missiles but still far enough away from the area where the enemy was expected to move, keeping them concealed yet ready to strike at a moment's notice.

The submarine had just made its way quietly up from the safety of the depths to periscope depth in order to check if there were any new messages or orders for it when the submarine received orders to go to highest readiness and prepare to launch its missiles, and an updated target list provided by Cottish RORSATs and friendly submarines. The updated orders meant that the submarine would be able to fire its forty-eight heavy anti-shipping missiles within five minutes of receiving the weapons free order.

An additional nine nuclear-powered attack submarines of the Tigerhai class were also in the area of operations, covering the SSGNs, and in the case of three of the nine subs, stalking the enemy fleets, mostly using their SONARs - it was impossible to conceal a large fleet moving through the sea - providing intelligence reports on their location, movement and ship types based on the SONAR readings. The information was relayed forward to the Cottish Fleet Headquarters and to the Praetonian fleet commander, who had just been informed of the presence of the six friendly SSGNs in the area and their ability to deliver a total of 288 heavy anti-shipping missiles into the enemy fleet. The operational control of the Cottish submarines had temporarily been transfered to the Praetonian fleet commander, as the Cottish intended for the allied counter-attack to have the most effect. If that meant waiting a little before exacting a portion of their revenge, then so be it.

Revenge was, after all, a dish best served cold.

A fair distance away from Kahanistan, approximately one thousand nautical miles or roughly two days sailing away from the area, Battlegroup Nosaset were steaming through the waters at twenty-five knots when it received new orders to alter course and sail for Kahanistan, and to prepare its airwing for long-range operations. The battlegroup consisted of a carrier division of three aircraft carriers and a battlecruiser, and two escort divisions, making for a total of sixty-three warships and three hundred combat aircraft, including one hundred eighty brand new FA-77N Sea Kovas (Havenfighter) and ninety RAC-201N Sea Shrike strike fighters. This mighty force was ordered to make for Kahanistan to assist the Praetonians, Kahanistanis and Clandonians in destroying the invading fleets and avenge Westport.

Meanwhile, mobilization orders were being issued to the 47. Panserkorps in the Cottish colony of Andertji, one ten days sailing away from Kahanistan, to prepare for mobilization and begin relocating to the ports and prepare to embark on transports. ETA for finishing loading the soldiers and the thousands of vehicles and thousands of tons of supplies on the transports was four days, and transit to Kahanistan to be completed in fourteen. The Corps would need a few days to get organized and get into the area of operations, which meant that it would be ready for operations in sixteen to twenty days if all went according to plan.
Clandonia Prime
05-08-2008, 23:06
RAF Cuddington

Clandonian over the horizon radar had picked up the incoming orbital weaponry but its contents unknown until detonation and the garblled and frightened reports of deaths from chemical weaponry. Clandonian atmospheric NRBC sensors picked up the VX gas then reports of an incoming missile wave as Rapier ground crews ran to their stations and RAC-201 Shrikes took to the air with their interceptors. Missiles hitting around hit the airbase taking out the main bomber runways leaving only the smaller fighter runway layout operational. News reporters panicakly dashing for bomb shelters with gas masks now a NBC alert blared out. Clandonian doctrine requested that a political message and warning should be sent out. The base went under NBC lockdown with all personal ordered to prepare NBC protection gear and for essential operations staff to remain inside their subterranean bunkers with air filtration systems. The news of the attack on Westport, a civilian target caused the base commander to dial his superiors back at the Foreign Office in Warminster and inform them a threshold had been crossed.


Official Clandonian Response
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/madnukedude/clandoniansmallflag.png
To the government and military of the The Kregaian Imperium:

His Majesty's Government strongly advises you to cease your unwarranted attacks on Kahanistani citizen using weapons of mass destruction. Under Clandonian military and strategic doctrine the next level to retaliate is to use a low level nuclear weapon against an adversary as a means of conveying a political message, warning or demonstration of resolve. Any war of extinction is orchestrated by your own actions for launching this illegal invasion and attack on the sovereignty of Kahanistan and a Dominion of the Crown. This will be your only and final warning.


God Save the King


Prime Minister Sir David Sistilin




1st Kahaniland Colonial Submarine Squadron, 40 km's South of Riverson


As the Clandonian battlefleets prepared to engage the Kregaian navy which was off Westport along with the Cottish and Praetonian navies. A Clandonian Submarine Squadron operating from the His Majesty's Naval Base of Chichester on the South some 20 miles from RAF Cuddington that had been lurking prepared to head out to sea to position itself for launch attack positions against Fort Karia. Under Clandonian doctrine in all SSBN's one of the SLBM's carried one warhead for an extra option in the escalatory process before it goes for an all-out strategic strike which at the current stage would be unacceptable to Warminster. A one off submarine launched balistic missiles with a 5 kilotonne warhead would render the base unusable and send a clear message to Kregai thus saving more lives and hopefully force a peace settlement.

The order from the Prime Minister and Imperial Chiefs of Staff had been given for two missiles to be fuelled with the physics package and computer yield system to detonate at one kilotonne in a airburst over Fort Karia should they launch another chemical weapon attack against allied Georgian League forces or a Kahaniland city.
Kahanistan
07-08-2008, 16:26
At Sea

The fleet knew it was only a matter of time before the Kregaians closed in. After sending a call to nearby Praetonian units for backup - they were hopelessly outnumbered - a wave of Sea Arrows (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Sea_Arrow_missile) - eighteen from each of the six Cavaliers in the fleet, plus the same number from each of the four Illiums that had been loaded down with Sea Arrows for air defence - fired on the planes taking off from Fort Karia to respond to their attempt at an air raid. This was half their Sea Arrow stocks; the other half was being held in reserve for when the Kregaian naval air arm made the inevitable retaliation.

One hundred and eighty Sea Arrows rocketed from the fleet, aimed at two priority targets - the bombers (the fighters were only considered a serious threat to the air wings that were going to engage them) and the ballistic missile launches, which were initially assumed to be nuclear. If they turned out to be nuclear... woe to anyone still in Fort Karia.

One hundred and eighty missiles, especially with many being fired on enemy bombers, are simply not enough to intercept ballistic missiles more than seven times their number. Hundreds of ballistic missiles were intercepted by New Masada's USABM shield, or the Skyguards in Greendale, but even so more than a fifth of the missiles targeted at Westport penetrated, crushing hundreds of civilian homes and much of the significant infrastructure, including the water treatment facilities and power plants. While hospitals and other emergency facilities could run on generators until the grid was put back on line, those who didn't have water purification units were stuck with the choice of dehydrating or drinking contaminated water - a damaging load to the hospitals, running at three times their technical capacity, that were already dealing with some 60,000 dead from VX and 190,000 sickened.

---

"Ready?" asked Captain Vincent Lawrence, commander of the supertanker Victory. His crew had just planted a 20-ton charge on the hull of the ship, to sink it in Westport's harbour to join the other 27 ships blocking the Kregaian advance there.

"Ready," said the first officer, holding the detonator.

"Then blow her up!" bellowed the captain as the charge detonated and his beloved 800,000-ton supertanker entered the briny depths to stop anything getting in or out of the port.
The Warmaster
07-08-2008, 17:54
New Masada
Senate House

"Fucking fire grenades?!" a Legionary yelled in disbelief as he narrowly avoided being roasted alive by hurling himself away. The Legions had such things, but they were far from standard issue, and it was a surprise to see the infidels using them. The heat was almost unbearable, and getting nearer so that he could lean out around the corner was out of the question. Cursing, he turned and withdrew, hoping to find a way around so that he and the other men in his fireteam could outflank the enemy. In the rest of the building the Kregaians had been slowed by the enemy guards but were still doing well; small shaped charges and grenades proved able to turn doors and improvised obstacles into splinters with ease. This was good, because in a few minutes, the Kahanistani forces would likely receive more military backup, and the Legionaries couldn't expect to hold out forever. Some of the Senators themselves were armed, although it quickly became clear that some had military training and some didn't, and the Kregaians were finally starting to see results. There would be at least a short time more in which the Legionaries enjoyed a hefty numerical advantage over their enemies, and they were going to make the most of it.

Fort Karia

If the small Kahanistani flotilla expected to lay waste or even to do critical damage to Fort Karia, they were sadly mistaken. The Kregaian fleet was directly between the Kahanistani ships and the fort, for starters, allowing it to bring its own formidable layered AA defenses into play against the enemy. This, combined with the defenses of the fort itself, greatly reduced the number of enemy contact; on the other hand, the Kahanistani missiles were powerful even individually, and the few that reached their targets did considerable damage, destroying some radar emplacements, a battery of SAM missiles, and doing substantial damage to one of the hangars that had precipitated the entire conflict.

This sort of strike was hardly crippling, but they were an annoyance that could not be permitted to continue; furthermore, the Kregaians had to take the offensive and remind their enemies just who they were dealing with. Therefore, as the helicopters hurtled west to catch the Praetonian submarines, the fleet at Fort Karia moved to engage the Kahanistani flotilla in the south. Drones estimated the enemy's strength at just over four dozen, mostly destroyers. By contrast, there were a little under eight hundred surface warships with the Kregaian fleet, and well over two hundred submarines. The advantage was significant.

More drones were sent into the air, cycling through various positions to ensure the Kregaians knew of any enemy air or missile attack in advance, while the attack submarines were divided into small packs, some circling protectively around the fleet while others probed farther out, again for the purpose of obtaining advance warning. On the carriers, hundreds of F/A-104 Balefires were being scrambled, in preparation for an attack on the enemy flotilla, as well as AWACS craft to oversee the fighters. All these, however, were weapons waiting to be unleashed in the future; as for the present, the Kregaian fleet unleashed a wave of Vanquisher sea-skimming missiles, almost 2,700 of them. An unsubtle tactic, granted, but such a numerical advantage begged to be used, and the Vanquishers were ideal for this situation, each powerful enough to cripple or destroy outright any escort-sized ship.

* * *

Meanwhile, it became clear soon that Kahanistani aircraft were at the limit of the pickets’ radar range and approaching fast. The mines and cratering had rendered all but one medium-sized airstrip unusable: the Kregaians were forced to scramble Balefires to intercept using only this runway, hampering them considerably. The Kahanistani bombers were hundreds of kilometers away, but there was no knowing the range of their munitions; enemy missiles could be launched at any time. Reinforcements were drawn from the carriers: a full wing of Balefires was hurriedly sent back to Fort Karia to bolster the few fighters that could be launched in time. With more aircraft being (relatively) slowly called up, the few dozen Balefires that were available rocketed off, heading to intercept the enemy contacts, AAMs at the ready.

* * *

OOC: Kahanistan, I didn't post losses from the R-27's because judging by their range, the Kregaian planes will be able to shoot first.

The fighters and bombers on the way to New New Sodom were hardly bunched up tight together, but neither was it surprising that they had been picked up by Kahanistani radar; after all, Behemoth bombers had earned their name. AWACS soon picked up the radar signatures of well over a hundred Su-33s, Kahanistani aircraft, heading rapidly to intercept. Luckily for the Kregaians, they had overwhelming superiority here, with an entire air battalion of Balefires escorting the Behemoths, 540 fighters in all. With the numerical disparity and the veritable arsenal of weaponry carried by the bombers, the Kahanistani fighters were essentially committing suicide.

The Behemoths opened the attack (or counter-counter-attack) with a volley of AIM-135 Hellhounds, a long-range AAM. Each bomber carried two large racks of them, and at 216 bombers, that made for a powerful array of weaponry. The AWACS relayed targeting data to the bombers, and each launched six Hellhounds, making about 1,300 missiles rocketing towards the Kahanistani fighters. For support, another 216 fighters divided into two equal groups (three wings each), rocketing off on diverging courses as the beginning of a flanking movement: one diving slightly to put them below the Kahanistani fighters, and the other group pulling up so they were above.

Radar from the base and the array of drones and pickets clearly showed the Kahanistani's volley of SAMs. Again, their course required them to pass over the Kregaian fleet and Fort Karia before proceeding to the bombers, exposing them to several layers of missile defense, and this process allowed the air defense controllers at the fort and in the fleet to take down many of the Kahanistani missiles. Furthermore, minutes later, when they reached the bombers themselves, the Behemoths had the advantage of chaff, ECM and the usual countermeasures; nonetheless, nine bombers were hit, all of them destroyed by the Sea Darts.

* * *

Westport

Meanwhile, back at Westport, the real fight was finally beginning. The Kregaian fleet was a little over 150 kilometers from the city, well within range of missiles and the larger rocket-assisted shells. Fighters had been scrambled, but largely this was a defensive measure, forming a quick-response group to deal with any approaching threats. A separate group, however, had been assembled to deal with air defenses: two wings of fighters, seventy-two in all, moved towards the beach, trusting to the Balefire’s extensive stealth capabilities to protect them as they traveled the fifty kilometers or so between the fleet and the maximum effective range of the HARMs they carried. When they reached this point, they would let fly with a vicious barrage of smart missiles, capable of retaining their target even if the Kahanistani radars were shut off, hopefully greatly weakening the enemy’s air defenses.

The fleet itself, meanwhile, was beginning bombardment. The first attack came in the form of a wave of 32-inch rocket-assisted shells, the massive primary weapon of the Apophis-class flagships with the fleet. Each capable of penetrating up to 2,500mm of steel and packed with high-explosive, a single shell could do horrific damage to fortifications, personnel, and vehicles alike. A wave of Vanquisher missiles came next, carefully timed to arrive ten seconds or so after the shells had hit, aimed at anything that looked like a radar installation, a SAM battery, or any kind of air defense system; they tore across the ocean, almost eight thousand of them, bouncing up at the last second to streak towards their targets. From beneath the waves, the SSBNs unleashed part of their own payload of Pandemonium IIs on the enemy fortifications, targeting cruise missile launchers, airfields, and anything visible that would have allowed the Kahanistani to strike back at the Kregaian armada and subjecting them to a rain of no fewer than 1,700 of the deadly missiles. The possession of the Pandemonium IIs was an immense advantage for the Kregaians; each could reach anywhere in Kahanistan, impacted at twenty-five times the speed of sound, and the HE warhead alone weighed almost three times as much as the Apophis’s massive shells. The last phase of the bombardment came several seconds later, in the form of sixty or so Lepanto advanced cruise missiles, which, aimed at the more hardened Kahanistani defenses, streaked towards their targets, accelerating to over Mach 8 and detonating two tons of high explosives upon penetration.

In the south and north, the pickets had reported several skirmishes with submarines, assumed to be Praetonian but quite possibly Kahanistani instead; regardless, several frigates had been sunk already, each coming under attack from small groups of submarines when isolated, and this had happened in the north and the south. If it had simply been one of those, High Admiral Anor would have written it off as a small pack of enemy submarines nipping at his heels; however, the presence of seemingly identical circumstances in the north and south at once merited more thought. He ordered two groups of six attack subs each to be dispatched to the areas at maximum speed to find out what was going on and stop the enemy raids.
Kahanistan
07-08-2008, 20:09
Senate House

A loud rumbling sound could be heard approaching and getting louder and louder, then an IFV ripped through the gates of the Senate House followed by tanks - fuckloads of tanks, an entire company of them. Somebody had clearly gotten the distress call.

One of the more enthusiastic tank commanders, a brash, inexperienced young man who would not have been put in his present position had not the Doomani slaughtered much of the best and brightest of the Kahanistanian Army, actually fired the monstrous 140mm gun into the building itself, hurling a massive charge down the corridor. This would certainly make an entrance for the IFV's crew, who were eager to exit a tank filled to twice its designed limit that also had about forty Kregaian heads in a sack in it, and poured out with heavy weapons - flamethrowers and machine guns to finish off the Kregaians. The tank's machine gun would provide fire support for the initial entry, but now the Kregaians had lost their numerical advantage and were being hunted down like beasts.

Malakov issued a speech regarding the attack on the Senate Hall when the news of the battle reached him and he thought he had his facts straight.

"People of Kahanistan, the Senate has been decimated by the Kregaian fiends in a gross rape of democracy. Since the few surviving Senators are not in condition to govern, I must in this state of national emergency take legislative power."

"I will do nothing to abridge the rights and freedoms that we fight for against the Kregaians, the freedoms that make Kahanistan what it is today. Personal freedoms will not be affected beyond what is required for security in wartime. I urge our people to continue to go to work, school, and volunteer for Civil Defence, or to join the numerous CIDG formations. If after this latest atrocity there are still pro-Kregaian elements in this country, please denounce them to the National Police or your local CIDG battalion commander and they will be dealt with."

"At this point, collaboration with Kregaian forces is an offence punishable by public hanging. Treason in time of war is something that we cannot abide, and the people who crawl on their bellies to the person with the biggest bomb are the most contemptible form of subhuman life that we have in this country."

---

"Time to impact, six minutes," said Commander Hassan al-Mutar, first officer of the RKS Valens, as he received an AWACS ping warning him of launches from the Kregaian fleet. "Run a quick check on CIWS and make sure our Sea Arrows we kept in reserve are operational."

"Sir," said Lt. Commander Amir Sampson. "Do we have any nuclear SAM's? Those should be able to clear out a load of missiles..."

"True. But we only have a few, and against those numbers... it's hopeless," replied the First Officer. "Just concentrate on holding off the missiles until we can fire off all our Spectres and Yukhunts..."

"Aye, Sir."

Hundreds of Kregaian missiles were fired upon by everything ranging from Sea Arrows to RAM at closer range to CIWS at very close range. However, this was a mere delaying tactic aimed at buying more time to empty the heavy surface-to-surface missile launchers than a serious attempt at survival; within minutes the defences were overwhelmed as each ship was struck by two to four missiles, but not before over two hundred total of Spectre and Yukhunt missiles and ASROC's were fired on the Kregaian fleet...

---

RKS Regina

The Sandakan class flagship of Fleet Admiral Nazmareh's fleet watched in horror from a hundred kilometres away. The Fleet Admiral, a worn-out Persian looking woman nearly 60 years old, was looking at a console registering multiple impacts on literally every ship of the advance fleet, and losing communication with most of them. Fleet Command had expected the Kregaian fleet in this sector to be big, but apparently one of the pencil-pushers along the way had neglected the fact that 2,700 missiles, fired against 50 or so ships, would require an intercept rate of well over 99% to preserve the majority of the fleet. That kind of accuracy likely went beyond Praetonian, let alone Kahanistanian, fleet technology.

She radioed the naval bases at Fort Neptune, Riverson, and Eastport to remove many of the Illium class destroyers and Indestructible class carriers to be removed from mothballs and activated as soon as crews could be found. The larger naval base at Westport was out of commission because of the sinking of supertankers in the harbour, so the 300 ships mothballed there were useless until the Kregaian threat there was removed. The larger fleet split up into four groups, each slightly larger than the doomed flotilla, each under the command of a Vice Admiral.

Nazmareh ordered the submarine contingent of the doomed fleet to continue to engage Kregaian warships and submarines; reducing the number of available AD cruisers was going to be essential to finishing off Fort Karia before they could level New New Sodom. True, the destruction of the runways in the fort meant the bombers were on a one-way mission, but these were Kregaians she was dealing with - the only nation whose military tactics Kahanistanians laughed at. They were using what amounted to highly trained suicide bombers; depending on one's political alignment a suicide bomber might be a hero or a villain, but the one who invested millions of dollars into training each suicide bomber was a retard.

---

At Fort Karia, the first wing of some 100 Su-33's came in low. Outnumbering the Balefires severely, they opened fire with the R-27 medium-range missiles at 50 kilometres. Some of the Su-33's were also armed with Kh-31 ARM's, but they didn't know what kind of damage the Praetonians had done to the SAM sites. They were mainly there to shoot up anything that lit up.

The B-2's' mission, on the other hand, was simple - destroy the runways, and the Allies would have complete air supremacy once those rat bastards bombing New New Sodom a) ran out of fuel, or b) were downed by the Air Force, the SAM sites around the city, or the CIDG's shooting at them with portable AD.

---

The Kahanistanian Air Force trained its pilots to never turn tail when engaged. 1,300 missiles heading toward 130 fighters may look intimidating, especially if ten missiles are screeching toward your Su-33. But there is a reason that short-ranged missiles are in use, and that's because longer-ranged missiles, often designed for AWACS, bombers, and other large planes, lack the manoevrability of shorter-ranged missiles.

The wing commander dumped flares, as did most of the wing, but even so with the sheer volume of missiles, nearly a third of the wing was downed, forty-two Su-33's. The commander was too focused on his own forces to read the AWACS reporting on how many of those other bastards he'd shot down; right now he was more concerned with saving the lives of his wing mates.

To stop the Kregaian fleet from downing anything else thrown at Fort Karia, coastal defence batteries and Spectre-armed Tu-160's from New New Sodom, scrambling to take off from nearby runways before too many enemy planes got in close enough to hit them, fired over 200 Spectre ER missiles, stealthy but powerful and long-ranged with 2.4 ton warheads, on the fleet. The smaller Yukhunt missile, with a one-ton warhead, could be fired in even greater numbers; in this case about four for each Spectre.

This volley would continue until the coastal defences exhausted their weaponry, or the Kregaian fleet was destroyed. Then, if the bombing raid on Karia hadn't done the job, the elite XIII Corps being moved to Fort Green and mobilising would do it, crushing the base with heavily armoured ground forces with plows on the 86-ton Sumerian behemoths they used in their tank forces.

---

The Kahanistanian Air Force always kept a fighter wing covering its SAM bases, with the express intention of shooting down anything with a HARM as it closed to standoff range of the base. On top of that, only one in five to ten radars was ever on at a time, allowing damaged radars to be repaired or replaced while only a small fraction were exposed to enemy fire at one time.

As such, the HARM's did relatively little damage to Westport's AD, but the Pandemonium II's were a pain in the ass. Even New Masada's USABM shield was strained to pick off half of them; the Skyguards had yet to arrive at Westport and much of the ABM protection Westport had was from Skyguard units in Greendale, which lacked the range for engaging aircraft and only the ABM's could reach Westport.

The cruise missiles, however, were a lot easier to engage than the ABM's; however, a third of them penetrated, hitting anything from bunkers to trench lines to tank columns, killing or wounding over 5,000 troops.
The Warmaster
07-08-2008, 20:39
OOC: Kstan, reply coming; in the meantime, though, just to avoid any misunderstanding, the bombardment of Westport is targeted at the military fortifications and units, not the city itself; I was under the impression that the military stuff was being gathered outside the city.
The Warmaster
08-08-2008, 21:27
Fort Karia

The Vanquisher strike had proven effective, admirably so; it was still worth watching for submarines (there was no telling how many of them, if any at all, the Kahanistani flotilla had had attached), but Vice Admiral Hanno was confident that for the most part, his task in the area was done. The Kahanistani fleet had launched a last strike; over two hundred various missiles, unfamiliar designs to the Admiral. Eight cruisers, eleven destroyers, three missile cruisers and four frigates had been sunk by the volley, but the rest of the fleet had fared well, and was now moving on to other things. The problem was, there was no other naval force in the area, and the nearest military threat, the Clandonian naval base, was well over two thousand kilometers away. The only target presenting itself was New New Sodom, which was almost certainly fortified against seaward attacks. Vice Admiral Hanno ordered the armada to set a course north-northeast, which would soon bring them within bombardment range of the city (while hopefully avoiding land-based defenses) while still being in a position to support Fort Karia against enemy air attacks.

* * *

Luckily, the fleet could offer support to Fort Karia in one critical respect right away, which was certainly necessary: a few hundred Balefires had been quickly scrambled by the carriers to deal with the Kahanistani flotilla, but it was obviously no longer necessary to fight them. They were sent to the fort at best speed, to offer support against the Kahanistani fighters and bombers that were attacking.

The Balefires that were already there, despite being highly outnumbered, did have one vital advantage over the Kahanistani fighters: range. Apparently the standard Kahanistani AAM had a range of somewhere around fifty kilometers, significantly less than the 74 kilometers of the Balefires’ AIM-101 Methuselah missiles. The problem was that at Fort Karia, at least, range counted for less; granted, the Balefires could unleash a flurry of missiles before the enemy could respond, but while in other circumstances the Kregaian fighters would have the luxury of dancing out of the enemy’s reach and returning fire when they chose, here the Balefires were paralyzed by the need to stay between the fort and the enemy bombers: fleeing, even a short distance, was allowing the enemy to get closer than necessary. Ergo, while that range advantage meant the fighters could each unload most of their payload on the approaching enemy, making a storm of roughly three hundred missiles, they had to stand their ground. A suicidal charge towards the enemy, to delay them, as tempting as it was to the more primal Kregaian instincts, would have exposed them fully to the enemy’s R-27s. And so stand their ground they did, using all their considerable maneuverability and countermeasures to hold out against the short-ranged missiles; despite this, more than half were wiped out, twenty-six of those forty pilots blasted to pieces.

However, as the enemy fighters drew still closer, the reinforcements arrived; over three hundred Balefires, decelerating as they armed their Methuselah AAMs before letting them fly, sending no fewer than nine hundred of the deadly missiles straight towards the oncoming Su-33s. The remainder of the original defenders, as well as the newcomers from the carriers, sped into battle, letting off short-ranged missiles and cannon bursts as they did so. Balefires thrived at close range.

* * *

Even as the bombers drew nearer to New New Sodom, the Kahanistani defenses there were coming into play against the Kregaian armada moving northeast. However, in a sense the fleet was serving its purpose by being a target; it was better equipped to deal with sustained barrages than the fort itself, and every missile aimed at it was one that would not be hitting Fort Karia. However, that was not to say the enemy attacks did not pose a threat. Each of those stealthy Spectre missiles could take out an escort in one hit and do heavy damage to a dreadnaught; indeed, one dreadnaught had already been hit by a stray missile, and had it not been for the armored boxes around the magazines, it would have torn itself apart in a massive explosion; as it was, the ship was listing and damage-control crews were struggling to keep things under control. Luckily, the overlapping fields of fire provided by the mutual support of the concentric layers of the fleet was able to handle a few hundred missiles with relative ease. Although escort after escort was sunk, and a carrier was blasted apart by one of the Spectres, the losses were perfectly reasonable, and in time, the Kahanistani bombers would have more pressing issues to deal with than a fleet hundreds of kilometers away.

* * *

New New Sodom

Indeed, that time was coming quickly, as the Kregaians drew nearer to New New Sodom. Over forty enemy fighters had been taken out in the first wave, and the remainder were heavily outnumbered to say the least. Three wings of Balefires lurked below them, and another three above; and as one, upon receiving the order, the two groups converged like jaws closing on prey. Launching a pair of Methuselahs each, making well over four hundred missiles closing in on the enemy, they dived forward, accelerating rapidly as they closed to engage, 23mm cannons and short-ranged AAMs at the ready. Here, in a dogfight, the Balefires could make the most of their agility, as well as their stealth: it was notoriously difficult to get a lock onto a Balefire, even at close range. The bombers, meanwhile, busied themselves unloading HARMs on the enemy, hurling them at any Kahanistani radar station with the bad fortune of being on, backed up by Fenrir AGMs aimed at the coastal batteries attacking the fleet. Meanwhile, a wing of thirty-six Balefires raced towards the enemy bombers, already arming and loosing AAMs, with the intention of distracting them from further attacks.

* * *

Westport

At Westport, chaos reigned. The bombardment continued, wave after wave of cruise missiles rocketing in with no sign of stopping. The Balefires that had launched the HARM attack had suffered losses and fled; they were certainly too few to test the city’s defenses in any determined fashion. However, the fleet’s shells and missiles continued to pound radar stations and SAM batteries, aided by spotter drones flying overhead: it was imperative that the Kregaians get rid of the city’s air defenses in preparation for the landings. General Ctani, in his communications with the Generians, had picked up an impatient note, as if they were eager to land, and truth be told, so was he. Kregaians saw more honor in ground combat than in naval slugfests. The good news was that High Admiral Anor assured him it wouldn’t be long. Aboard the carriers, choppers were already being prepared to drop off troops ashore, and the bombardment would hopefully not go on for any longer than necessary. Soon, the Kregaians and the Generians would push their way ashore, and when they did, not all the soldiers in Kahanistan would stop them.
Axis Nova
08-08-2008, 23:58
(ooc: Spectres are not capable of being modified with thermobaric warheads, especially by Kahanistani technicians, as they have no idea how to build the things, much less modify them.)
Kahanistan
09-08-2008, 01:18
The Kregaians were not the only ones with a concept of overlapping fields of fire; the coastal defence bases around New New Sodom not only had overlapping fields of fire, they also had the capability of launching Yukhunt anti-shipping missiles hundreds of kilometres away, keeping the Kregaian fleet within range of at least two batteries at once, and the CAPTOR fields meant they were a healthy distance from the shoreline, where Skyguards were being hastily put into position, as well as what USABM launchers could be spared to protect against those dreaded Pandemoniums.

The radars here took the same precautions as the ones in Westport; no more than one in five on at any given time, often as low as one in ten, an Su-33 umbrella (or F-34, when they were available) to engage anything that got too close to the SAM batteries, and some of the more intelligent SAM battery commanders even fired radar decoys out of their SAM batteries, to create the illusion of more fighters than there really were, suddenly appearing out of nowhere as if decloaking.

Fort Karia was designated a priority-one target; all air units not currently defending a city or being held in reserve for the defence of a major city were ordered to converge on it. To ensure the Kregaian fleet would be forced to rely on its carriers (and expend untold quantities of fuel flying over vast stretches of ocean), a ballistic missile strike consisting of one hundred Bulava MIRV'ed SLBM's, with the nuclear warheads removed and replaced with conventionals, was ordered - a total of six hundred missiles in all, fired on Fort Karia itself.

If this seemed overkill, it was - a nation that could fire over thirty missiles on each warship facing it would likely have too many ABM's to shake a stick at, even if they had been stupid enough to rely chiefly on the bases around New Masada for ABM support. The missile commanders intended that the Kregaian foothold in Kahanistan be removed to enable the defenders to concentrate solely on the navy.

Once this was accomplished, it was merely a matter of time before the Allied fleets drove the Kregaians back to whence they came.

---

The closer the Air Force advanced on Fort Karia, the more likely that being downed meant crashing on their infrastructure and doing as much damage as a missile. While suicide attacks were not part of Kahanistanian doctrine, soldiers were expected in time of war to be willing to lay down one's life if so doing would advance the cause more than survival. Craft after craft went down, many having a dozen or more enemy missiles targeting them, usually after having expended their firepower into the heavier enemy concentrations.

Little did either side know that within minutes, death from the heavens would rain down upon them all, likely destroying many of the planes of both sides in the air. Such fratricide was deemed acceptable by the Submarine Strategic Warfare Command as the majority of personnel in range would be Kregaian.

---

In Westport, the CIDG furiously lay antitank and antipersonnel mines, positioned snipers on every roof, rigged bombs to explode in likely targets such as gay bars and porno stores (a habit taken from conflicts with the Doomani; the Kregaians' attitude toward such was unknown in Kahanistan) and dug wells to water the people until treatment facilities could be repaired.

Some of the more vociferously anti-Praetonian individuals were hanged as possible collaborators with the Kregaians in the most frightful witch hunts since the Doomani heretic hunts in what they now called Iudaea Province. Their bloated corpses were left to rot on lampposts, a sordid reminder to any Kregaian soldier of what was likely to happen to him or her if captured.

Missile defence commanders had repair crews working furiously on the radars that had been HARM'ed, but the repairs were slower than the damage came in. At best, this was a delaying tactic to hold the Kregaians at bay while the Cottish got off their asses and the Kregaians' morale suffered due to having to wait a few more days to land. Still, it would shoot down more fighters, more bombers, and so far Kahanistanian morale was holding as the grunts no longer thought their officers had no sense, a common failing in previous wars where the grunts mistrusted their officers, or their officers mistrusted the generals.

6,666th POST.
Cotland
09-08-2008, 14:15
New Masada

The Cottish paratroopers arrived at the Senate House just as a Kahanistani IFV crashed through the gates of the building, opening a hole for the troops to enter through. Another one was opened by a Kahanistani tank that fired its main gun at point-blank range into the building. Frowning, the Lieutenant Colonel commanding the battalion that had arrived ordered the KPLS-1s to take up positions around the building to prevent any enemies escaping or reinforcing the Kriegians inside, and for two dismounted company of Paras to enter and clear the building.

As the bulk of the battalion prepared for the siege, the dismounted elements of 1. and 2. Companies assembled and moved out, approaching the Senate Building from the left and right sides, letting the Kahanistanis handle the front entrance. The Cottish paras were experts in this kind of warfare, and their equipment reflected it. Short DR-87 carbines and MLM light machine guns, sharp combat knives, and of course the Tactical Battleaxe, a shortened and modified version of the classical battleaxe that had been fitted with a sharp edge and a ditto pike in the back of the axe head. The weapon was designed to inflict horrific wounds and the Cottish paras were trained to handle the axes, just like their ancestors had been. Additionally, the Paras were ordered to put on their gas masks as the battalion commander had a nasty surprise in store for the Kriegians.

Stacking up along the sides of the building, the lead fire team of four prepared themselves for entry, stacking up alongside both sides of the entry points (a few big windows). Ready, the fireteam leader nodded, upon which the following took place in swift sequence. Firstly, one of the men took his battleaxe and swinged it at the still intact window, shattering it. Then, a second man tossed in a flashbang grenade, which detonated before the third man (the machine gunner) leaned over and sprayed the entrance with a good spray from his MLM, sending somewhere between thirty and ninety 6.7x53mm armor-piercing bullets into the room, keeping the heads of any would-be defender down as the fireteam entered the bulding, opening fire on anything in a Kriegian uniform. With this done, the two companies began pouring into the building. Each company consisted of three platoons, which again consisted of three squads of two fire teams each, giving a total of 18 fireteams per company, or 36 fireteams in total.

These thirty-six fireteams of highly trained and well equipped Cottish paratroopers fanned out and began clearing the buildings, using flashbangs, teargas grenades, their firearms and their battleaxes to the fullest effect in clearing the rooms. The tactics were simple enough. They'd rip the doors open (if they were unlocked) while staying out of the field of fire, toss in a flashbang and wait for the explosion before they entered, shooting anything that shot back or that was dressed in an enemy uniform. If they found themselves faced with enemies up close and personal, too close for them to get a good shot, they'd drop the weapons (which were fixed to their tactical vests through tactical harnesses) and get out the battleaxes which were within easy reach, and then engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, all the while while shouting out curses and war cries in the Cottish tounge, a bloody scary sound indeed when a few scary-looking chaps with axes are hitting you with sharp axes.

Westport

The Cottish paratroopers that still remained alive had managed to get into their MOPP-4 equipment and regroup, preparing for the onslaught that was bound to come. The battalions had regrouped and prepared themselves for battle, and been regrouped to be able to respond quickly to the invasion beaches where the Kahanistanis were hopefully preparing beach defenses. A quick scouting party of the area had revealed that there were only three usable beaches, all of which were probably going to have to be used if the Kriegians and Generians were to land over a million troops on Kahanistani soil, and the battalions were ready to move there quickly using the Kahanistani road network in order to do their bit to repell the Kriegians. The bulk of the fighting would have to be done by the Kahanistanis though, as the Cottish force of 6 000 combat-able troops, however well trained and equipped that they were, simply didn't have a chance in hell in stopping a million strong force.

However, the Paras weren't the only thing Cotland had in the area right now. Flying in the vicinity of the city of Westport, a half-squadron of twelve stealthy Havenfighters was just entering the area, flying in loose fingers two formations towards the Kriegian aircraft formations. Depending on their stealth, the Havenfighters were flying high, well above ten thousand meters, and with no external fixtures, maintaining the smooth external surface that maintained the low RCS. Hopefully, the Kriegians were too busy keeping tabs on the Kahanistani Su-33s and F-34s to watch too carefully in the sector the Cottish were approaching from (from the north-east). Still, the Havenfighters weren't unarmed though. Inside the internal weapons bay, eight LLM.67A Kampspyd medium-range air to air missiles were fitted, waiting for the pilot to activate and fire them.

The Kampspyd was a highly advanced missile, capable of engaging targets out to a maximum range of 190 kilometers at a speed of Mach 4.5, and destroy the target with its 25 kg focused High-Explosive Blast-Fragmentation which would be triggered with RADAR proximity and impact fuzes, sending deadly shrapnel in a radius of 12.5 meters. Guidance was equally advanced, as it had a guidance system that depended on passive RADAR up to the final terminal run, preventing the RWRs aboard the enemy aircraft from warning the pilots that death was approaching at four and a half times the speed of sound until the last few seconds, where the RADAR would go active and home on the target. In case the RADAR was jammed (in which case it didn't really matter as the missile had Home-on-Jam capability) or otherwise malfunctioned, the Kampspyd was fitted with a backup Imaging Infrared sensor that would lock onto the engine exhaust of the enemy aircraft and take it out that way, giving the missile redundancy and making sure it was attacking a viable target and not a RADAR decoy or sensor ghost.

The Havenfighters were approaching the enemy formations at subsonic speeds and radio silence, maintaining their sensor invisibility until they came within 150 kilometers of the enemy before they decided to tip their hand. At the que, all twelve unleashed hell, opening their bomb-bay doors and releasing six of their eight Kampspyd missiles, each keeping two in reserve for self-defense. The missiles dropped out of the bombbay before their airbreathing ramjet engines ignited and sent them accelerating towards the enemy aircraft and drones. The Havenfighters, which had revealed themselves to Kriegian AWACS and RADAR by opening their bombbays immediately closed the bombbay doors, thus returning to stealth mode, dropped a few chaff bundles and flares and began evasive manouvers as they fled the inevitable counter-engagement. Meanwhile, seventy-two Kampspyd missiles were streaking towards the enemy aerial targets at four and a half times the speed of sound.

The plan was for the Kriegians to be denied the use of the spotter drones, thus making their precision targetting less precise and thus giving the Kahanis a break, and for the enemy squadrons attacking Westport to be a little decimated. However, that wasn't the end of the Cottish attack.

A flight of four FB-177A Coldun electronic warfare aircraft were flying just behind Westport with a distance of at least fifty kilometers between them, and had used the past hour to determine what frequencies the Kriegians were using for their communications and relay to the weapons they were using. It had taken a little while, but now the Royal Cottish Air Force was ready to conduct a little electronic warfare of their own. The powerful jammers on the Colduns were turned on, sending a lot of white noise onto the Kriegian RADAR screens and communications frequencies, which was followed up with god-awful Kahanistani emo music, ditto Doomani opera, old speeches in Cottish by the Cottish king, commercial jingles, basically anything but military communications on the Kriegian radio frequencies. Furthermore, the Cottish were doing their best to jam the warheads of the incoming missiles, hopefully preventing them from hitting their targets and sending them flying off eratically. The goal was to frustrate the Kriegians by refusing them the use of the radios, to make the Kriegian weapons less accurate, and to increase the chances of the Cottish weapons hitting their targets.

In the likely event that the Kriegians attempted to attack the Colduns, the Cottish had not only armed the Colduns with four Kampspyd missiles each for self-defense, but also tasked three Havenfighters to each Coldun. The Kriegians would also have to pass through the Kahanistani air defense belt over and around Westport to get to the Kriegians.

His Majesty's Submarine U 874
Somewhere off Westport

The commanding officer of U 874 was concerned. His SONAR team had just discovered three unknown submerged contacts which were classified as highly probably submarines entering his area of operations, each of them moving at speeds far too high for them to be able to remain concealed and far too high for them to be able to use their own SONARs. Two of the unknown submarines were within reach of the U 874 and its arsenal of Swordfish Mk.IIIA torpedoes, with the third contact being too far away for the Tigerhai class submarine to be able to attack it at this time. Were these contacts Kriegians, and if so, were they really stupid enough to move at breakneck speeds that completely blew their silence in hostile waters?

«Conn, sonar.»

The quiet call over the intercom pulled the commanding officer from his line of thought. Pulling the phone down from its cradle, he replied, «Sonar, conn. Go ahead.»

«Contacts Master-78 and Master-79 have been confirmed as Kriegian nuclear attack submarines.»

«Thank you sonar. Keep on them.» He replied, returning the phone to its cradle before he looked to his executive officer.

«They're enemies.» The commanding officer said coldly to the executive officer, summarizing up the SONAR's report in two words.

«We have good firing solutions on both sir.»

«Do they pose a threat to us?» The commanding officer asked, hoping for the executive officer to give him the answer he wanted to hear. The U 874 was under orders not to open fire unless it was directly threatened or the commanding officer felt that attacking the enemy was the only prudent course of action he could take in order to safeguard his command. The executive officer knew this too, but he also knew that since the last message from Naval High Command had come through telling of the VX attacks on their brothers in the Army, the commanding officer had lusted for Kriegian blood.

«Yes sir.»

«Very well. Prepare to engage the enemy.»

«Aye sir.»

With that, the tactical staff of the U 874 swung into action. The firing solution plot was constantly updated and the information from the tactical station continuously fed to the four warshot Swordfish Mk.IIIA Improved (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13021189&postcount=38) torpedoes that were already inside four of the Tigerhai class sub's six torpedo tubes. The engagement would be an easy one, given that the Tigerhai was moving at ultraquiet at a speed of no more than four knots, the lowest possible if the submarine was to maintain its depth of three hundred meters, and that the enemy was moving at so high speeds that they had completely thrown away the one advantage the submarine possess, namely that of stealth. The Kriegian submarines were not only shouting out to anyone listening that they were in the area, but also their exact positions and who they were, making for an easy kill.

Within two minutes, the submarine was ready to engage the enemy submarines.

«Prepare to release weapons in sequence. Sequence is as follows: Fish one and three will engage Master-78; Fish two and four will engage Master-79. Firing sequence is one, three, two, four. Five second intervals between firing. Prepare to open fire.» The commanding officer ordered quietly from the small elevated command platform (conn) in the center of the command center,.

«Sir, sequence plotted. We stand ready to engage enemy. Recommend we flood torpedo tubes sir.» The executive officer reported from the tactical station.

«Very well, flood torpedo tubes.»

The executive officer nodded and relayed the order to the enlisted man manning the tactical station. In the front of the submarine, the four torpedo tubes in question were flooded with water, allowing for the torpedoes to be fired. This was something that could normally be heard, but given that the two enemy contacts that were to die soon were still racing at breakneck speeds and thus unable to hear what was going on in the water due to their own cavitation and the fact that sonar is ineffective when moving at such high speeds, they would be blissfully unaware of this fact.

«Sir, torpedo tubes one through four are flooded. Recommend we open outer doors.»

«Very well, open outer doors.»

The four outer doors that protected the torpedo tubes and constituted a final safety-guard against an unauthorized firing of the torpedo tube were opened, again something that could be heard but that the Kriegians wouldn't hear due to their high speeds. With the doors open, U 874 were finally ready to engage the enemy.

«Sir, torpedo tubes are flooded and outer doors open. We await your order to engage the enemy.»

«Prepare to fire. Torpedo tube one, fire!»

The entire submarine shuddered slightly as the Swordfish Mk.IIIA in torpedo tube number one was ejected from the tube with pressurized air, sending it out of the torpedo tube before its propulsor started and increased the speed of the torpedo, sending it towards the farthest Kriegian submarine which was some nineteen thousand meters away. Five seconds later, another torpedo was launched in the same fashion and the submarine shuddered again, this time attacking the Kriegian submarine eleven thousand meters away. Another five and ten seconds respectively, two more torpedoes were fired towards the two hostile contacts.

The torpedoes increased to 75 knots and headed straight for the enemy submarines, keeping their own guidance in passive mode for the moment as they received instructions and guidance from the U 874 through the thin wires that connected the torpedoes to the submarine, allowing them to get constant course corrections from the more powerful SONAR arrays of the U 874, increasing their likelyhood of hitting. It wouldn't be until fifteen hundred meters out that the wires were cut and the torpedoes' own guidance kicked in, sending those dreaded active pings through the hulls of the Kriegian submarines, inflicting sheer terror on their crews when the tell-tale high-pitched pings told the Kriegians that they had only a few seconds left to live.

With one torpedo, the chances of a hit were somewhere around eighty to ninety percent. With two torpedoes, the chances of a miss were close to zero. The Kriegian Navy would soon be two submarines and at least two hundred human lives poorer.
The Warmaster
10-08-2008, 02:08
OOC: I'm at the beach, but contrary to what I was expecting the internet has been pretty faulty. You may have to bear with me for a while.
The Warmaster
11-08-2008, 05:53
New New Sodom

The Kahanistani pilots were putting up a spirited fight, but the Kregaians had the advantage of numbers. Balefires tore through the sky, targeting Kahanistani aircraft; where it was necessary, the Kregaians closed with them, relying on the pilots' experience and the fighters' maneuverability to give them the edge. However, on the other hand, the Kregaians had the advantage at range: the range advantage that Methuselahs had over R-27s allowed the Balefires to strike at the enemy fighters with impunity, akin to archers sheltering behind medieval battlements. Furthermore, with each Balefire carrying (at least originally) a dozen Methuselahs in addition to their HARMs and short-ranged missiles, the Kregaians were well-prepared for such an opportunity to snipe the enemy out of the sky.

Meanwhile, the considerable number of fighters still escorting the bombers (around four hundred) were being split. While around half remained with the Behemoths, still a powerful shield against anything the infidels could dream up, the other half raced downwards, hurling hundreds of AAMs at the “Su-33 umbrella” that was protecting the enemy SAM installations: this would clear the way for the Behemoths to bomb the city flat, and any radar that turned on would be placing itself in the way of a veritable storm of HARMs.

* * *

Fort Karia

While the Balefires swarmed over their enemy in the air, the fort itself was being subjected to yet another bombardment, and even its extensive AA systems were beginning to be strained. A hundred ballistic missiles had been launched at Fort Karia from Kahanistani submarines; this, of course, warranted full attention. It was highly unlikely the missiles carried nuclear payloads, but one could never tell: these Kahanistani were highly strung, it was believed, and possibly not fully aware of the consequences of any nuclear attack. Regardless, a ballistic missile attack, at least in this case, took priority over miscellaneous crashing aircraft and stray missiles here and there; all the base’s considerable defenses were put into play for defense. Nevertheless, significant damage was sustained, including almost two thousand killed and wounded by the blasts, and more hangars and fortifications destroyed.

Meanwhile, attempts were being made to clear the mined runways; one tactic included using bulldozers to roll (by pushing them at intervals; the Kregaians had already learned that even armored bulldozers could be torn apart by some of the mines) large, heavy steel tubes down the runways, hopefully triggering mines with the pressure and magnetic signature of steel.

* * *

Westport

The bombardment of Westport continued, as the Kregaian fleet held its ground; no use getting closer yet. The supercapitals continued to shell the city’s defenses, backed up by occasional waves of cruise missiles, softening up the target. Above, flights of Balefires soared on patrol, with small groups occasionally launching missiles at the Kahanistani fighters above Westport. No large engagements had taken place, but skirmishes were commonplace. However, back above the fleet, Balefires were gathering like clouds before a storm, darkening the sky.

A group of fighters towards the periphery had the misfortune to be the target of the newly-arrived Cottish Havenfighters. The Kampspyd missiles were potent weapons, most of all because of their stealth and the short time that gave Kregaian pilots to react; however, they were not unbeatable. The ECM pods of the Balefires could easily jam the missiles’ radars; indeed, the Balefires had a small RCS to begin with. However, that just forced the missiles to use infrared; this became clear after the Kregaians’ sensors reported that the locks had been broken, and yet the Kampspyds continued to work, blasting apart one fighter after another. Only by dumping chaff or using the ECM pods to disrupt radar and then using flares to distract the infrared sensors could the missiles be effectively evaded, and it cost thirty-three Kregaian pilots’ lives (almost a full wing) before the rest learned this.

However, the Kahanistani fighters over Westport had to be dealt with, and Cottish AWACS planes seemed to be massively spamming radio channels, disrupting the carefully organized Kregaian communications. The time had come for drastic measures. Over eight hundred Balefires had been assembled for the attack, and now they began their assault: at 70 kilometers away they launched eight Methuselahs each, a massive storm of missiles numbering well over six thousand, and waited for them to do their work before racing in at maximum speed, hurling no fewer than ten missiles at each of the Cottish Havenfighters and AWACS, even as Balefires were torn apart by their remaining Kampspyd missiles. Chaos reigned in the skies, even as massive shells continued to pound Westport’s defenses below: the Kregaians had made their move.

* * *

The Kregaian submarines never had a chance. The torpedoes came out of nowhere, and when the crews of Stiletto and Barca heard the pings, it was already far too late. The torpedoes blasted the submarines’ hulls apart, sending water flooding in, killing the crews in a matter of seconds. Slowly they tilted, noses towards the bottom, and sunk, fading from view quickly in the murky depths.

There were four other submarines nearby, though, decelerating rapidly, and they had no illusions as to what had just happened. While the Stiletto and the Barca had been rushing along at breakneck speed, deaf to the world around them, the four submarines with them had not. They had the telltale sound of torpedoes being fired, and with triangulation it was easy to find out the source. Immediately they opened fire, each launching a pair of torpedoes at the enemy. Although the hostile submarine would know it was under fire instantly from the torpedoes’ sonar pings, the sheer number disparity would play into the Kregaians’ hands.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Seleucus, leading a pack of five other attack submarines north, encountered something unexpected. Close by it, as it moved slowly through the water, a CAPTOR mine suddenly activated, launching a torpedo. The distance was too small to react; a few pings echoed through the ship, and then impact, which ripped the hull apart easily, sending Seleucus falling slowly to the ocean floor. The torpedo had originated out of apparently nowhere, certainly not launched from a submarine; it had to have been a mine of some sort, which implied there were more. Much more.

The submarines lost no time transmitting a full, albeit brief, report back to the fleet. The implications were obvious: the skirmishes had occurred in both the north and the south, and mines had been found in the north; that meant that very likely there were mines in the south. And that painted the picture of entrapment; the enemy was attempting to restrict the fleet’s movement, seal it in, and High Admiral Anor, upon reading the report, soon drew the conclusion that there must be a third minefield, blocking off the exit to the open sea. They were boxed in. The first step was simple; he ordered reinforcements sent to both the north and the south: twelve groups of three submarines were to head in each direction. Clearing the minefield would be long, arduous work.

* * *

New Masada

The game was up. Captain Tyrakis had a bullet lodged in his arm, and the few men he had left had barricaded themselves inside the Kahanisani Senate’s chamber, waiting for their enemies to arrive. He had killed three of the infidel Senators himself, and although his men had been massacred, that had never been in doubt. He hadn’t failed. That was it. He’d been smiling ever since they’d backed themselves into this corner: he’d succeeded in his mission, and could go the gods with honor. His family would be enriched by his sacrifice. His grin widened as he heard the infidels pounding at the doors; they would enter from all sides, undoubtedly. He drew his combat knife and moved towards the wall: seconds to go.

Abruptly the doors broke, banging open wide, and the enemy poured in. Tyrakis hurled himself at the first man that presented a target: standing against the wall, he was behind them, and it was easy to quickly stab one in the neck. He ducked quickly, preventing a chop by one of those damned Cottish axes from cutting a chunk out of his neck, and stabbed the other man in the heart. He turned to a third man, but before he could use the knife, he felt an agonizing, stabbing pain in his back, and then his legs seemed to vanish. He crumpled, the pain spiking as the axe was removed from his back, and more blows rained down, chopping at him. The agony was incredible, and yet Tyrakis couldn’t stop laughing helplessly, laughing so hard tears ran down his face. Around him, his men were cut to pieces by the axe-wielding Cottish, taking as many with them as they could. Tyrakis managed to pull his helmet off; it suddenly felt stifling, claustrophobic, and he laughed hysterically as the puzzled infidels looked down at him, bemused. He could feel himself fading, and as the world went black around him, he could feel the gods’ eyes upon him. He had done his duty.
Generic empire
13-08-2008, 14:31
As the Kregaian contingent of the fleet engaged the enemy on, above, and below the surface of the ocean and as the guns thundered pouring shells onto the distant city of Westport, the Generian Imperial armada had broken south, according to plan. The decks of the Empire’s supercarriers, previously cluttered with GIF-77 interceptors, “Gunslinger” fighters, and GB-11 naval bombers were rapidly emptying.

“General Kerjevo, prepare your men,” said Nys’ky quietly, crushing out his cigarette. The corners of the Praetorian’s mouth turned up in a cold smile.

“Of course.”

The first Imperial landing would come roughly seventy kilometers south of Westport, where the terrain was suitable. It was the Empire’s hope that the Kahanis and their allies had spent their time fortifying the city of Westport itself and had left the surrounding areas fortified lightly in comparison. The continuing Kregaian bombardment should keep the defenders pinned down in their vast concrete keep, leaving the Empire free to establish a foothold and begin maneuvering. Should that turn out not to be the case, however, Generia would handle obstructions as it usually did: by driving through them with a sledgehammer.

Having been so far spared from the brunt of the unfolding naval conflict by the superb cover of the allied fleet and by the enemy’s concentration on Kregaian targets, the Empire’s warships now prepared to support the landing. Under cover of her immense aviation, the fleet began its opening salvo of missiles and naval artillery, targeting enemy AA emplacements and RADAR alongside probable troop concentrations and fortified positions in the countryside left untouched by the Kregaian bombardment.

Her immense transport fleet began its approach, moving into a position from which the first amphibious vehicles could be deployed. Meanwhile, the Imperial Praetorians were suiting up. On the decks of the carriers GH-3 gunships and transport choppers were warming up, preparing to insert Generia’s elite.
Cotland
15-08-2008, 15:10
New Masada

The sergeant hesitated for a split second, wondering what exactly could be so amusing for the dying Kriegian. It didn't matter though. This dog which had cost three good Cots their lives wouldn't laugh for much longer. With a ferocious warcry, the sergeant lifted his own battleaxe and drove it down, splitting the Kriegian's skull and upper parts of the torso in half all the way down to the ribs. Blood and gore sprayed everywhere, but the sergeant didn't care. Coated in the man's blood and brain matter, the sergeant pulled his axe out of the mutilated corpse and looked around.

The Paras had effectively crushed the opposition, fighting honorably and ferociously in axe-to-hand combat, and even managed to take a prisoner alive (more or less). Unfortunately for said prisoner, the Paras had worked up a rather fearsome bloodlust after seeing their brethren be cut down by the Kriegians and inflicted so grievious wounds upon his mortal flesh that he expired within minutes.

It had been a bloody struggle. Of the sixteen Paras that had managed to get into the room during the fight, seven lay dead and the rest had wounds that would need tending to, but that wasn't at all bad when one considered the opposition. Still, as medics entered the wartorn room, the surviving Cots returned their battleaxes to their sheethes and began double-tapping the Kriegian Legionaries with their DR-87s, firing two rounds in the slain enemies' heads to make sure they were dead. It simply wouldn't do if one of them were still alive and managed to attack them from behind.

Sighing, the sergeant noticed that there were civilians inside the room too, many of whom were dead but there were still some that were alive and cowering in the far corners of the room, trying to make themselves as small as possible. The blood-soaked sergeant grabbed his own DR-87 and aimed it at the civilians, Kriegian blood dripping from his uniform sleeves and the barrel of the DR-87.

"Hands where I can see them! Get on your feet! Now, or I shoot!" He shouted at the civlians in perfectly understandable English, getting the attention of a few of the other Paras in the room, who immediately assumed the same posture as the sergeant.

The reason for this was quite clear. The Cots had no idea of knowing whether or not the civilians were in league with the Kriegians (a possibility), were Kriegians in disguise (again, a possibility although unlikely) or just scared newly freed hostages (the most likely option, but the Cots had no way of being certain of that). Until they got the civilians identified as friendlies, they would be treated as potential hostiles.

Westport

Unfortunately for the Kriegians, the advantage of Imaging Infrared over standard Infrared was that IIR would ignore any IR signature that didn't look like signatures that the seeker had been programmed to track and lock on to. Flares, while an effective method of fooling standard infrared guidance gave out an infrared signature that didn't look at all similar to the warm exhaust of a missile or aircraft, and the IIR seekers and targetting software had been programmed to ignore these types of contacts. So, the employment of flares was relatively uneffective against the backup seekers of the Kampspyd missiles.

Worse was the situation for the retreating Havenfighters, whose radar warning receivers suddenly started making a God-awful racket about them being tracked and targetted. The pilots cursed fiercely as they dropped chaff bundles and flares en masse, trying to fool the tracking radar while they began putting their aircraft through extreme evasive manouvers and firing off their remaining complement of Kampspyd missiles and, for those three Havenfighters that got close enough, the full complement of IRIS-T short-range AAMs. Sadly though, all but one of the twelve Havenfighters went down in a hail of fire, smoke and howling alarms. The single surviving Havenfighter was wing-clipped though, and limped home with half of the port wing, one canard and an engine gone, and a backseat pilot with serious head injuries from shrapnel. He would later die on the operating table back at the airbase from his injuries, bringing the total casualty figure for the half-squadron at 17 dead pilots. The remaining 6 pilots had managed to eject out from their doomed aircraft, two of them out over the sea. The other four landed outside Westport, and were picked up within the hour by the Paras.

Things fared better for the EB-177 Colduns, which were further away and had far better countermeasure options than the Havenfighters had, not to mention a whole city brizzling with weaponry that had to include a fairly liberal amount of MANPADs and anti-aircraft guns. The Colduns switched to their countermeasure jamming suite, which targetted the frequency the Methusalem missiles were using and jammed them while conducting evasive manouvers of their own, diving steeply and flying nap of the earth, no more than ten to fifteen meters over the ground at high speeds. It was extremely dangerous and risky, but risking crashing into down here among all the ground clutter was preferable over certain death from the several Methusalem missiles that still tracked each Coldun, despite the jamming.

One particular Coldun flew at breakneck speed 6 meters over a Kahanistani schoolyard, scaring the kids that were outside and setting fire to the net in the soccer goal and the soccer ball itself because of the afterburner and the angle that the afterburner was in when the Coldun climbed to avoid crashing into the school building itself.

Unfortunately, the Coldun fleet wasn't without casualties, as one Coldun's pilot miscalculated slightly and crashed into a Westport skyscraper's 26th floor at 760 kilometers per hour, killing all four crewmembers instantly, totalling the aircraft, and probably killing quite a few Kahanistanis. The six Methusalem missiles that were tracking that particular Coldun also crashed into the building, causing further casualties. Another Coldun failed to evade the seven Methusalems on its tail, and disappeared 37 meters above a Kahanistani military camp in a hail of fire and smoke. Sadly, the four person crew failed to eject, and they too were lost.

The two remaining Coldun aircraft survived through correct use of tactics and equipment, expert pilot skills and a massive amount of luck, and returned to altitude when they had dodged their pursuers and resumed jamming the Kriegian frequencies.

The commander of 342. Luftgruppe, Major General Hanssøn of the Royal Cottish Air Force stood in the command center five minutes later and pondered what to do now. It seemed the Kriegians had an infinite amount of Balefires and munitions available, and they were using their weapons to their fullest effect. He had just lost eleven brand new Havenfighters and two of the expensive Colduns, and worse than that: thirty of his pilots were dead or unaccounted for. They couldn't accept taking such casualties before the enemy were even on the ground! He had to do something, and he knew exactly what to do.

Twenty minutes later, thirty aircraft took off from Queen Alexandra Metropolitan Airport and headed towards Westport. However, these weren't just any aircraft. The group consisted of six EQ-16C electronic warfare UAVs, controlled by ground controllers that sat in safety at Queen Alexandra and that were just as capable as the Colduns. The remanining twenty-four aircraft were AQ-15C UCAVs, stealthy unmanned aircraft that were fitted with a weapons bay that could hold up to six 1 000 kilogram smart bombs, eight 250 kilogram smart bombs or twelve Kampspyd missiles. In this case, they carried the latter.

Within the hour, the subsonic stealth UCAVs would be on station 120 kilometers from the Balefires, at which point they would release their deadly payload of 288 Kampspyd missiles before returning to Queen Alexandra where the survivors of the inevitable Kriegian counter-attack would be rearmed and refueled before they were sent on their way again. Of course, this took time, so two more squadrons (48 AC-15Cs) were sent in regular intervals, ensuring that the pressure on the Kriegians would be maintained. Every thirty minutes, another 288 Kampspyds were fired at the Kriegians. The hope was that the Kriegians, who were under constant jamming from the two surviving Colduns and six EQ-16Cs, would find their Balefire and drone complement greatly reduced by the time they were within visual range of Kahanistan's shores.

U 874

The submarine had followed procedure and altered course and depth immediately after firing the torpedoes at Master-78 and Master-79, in order to avoid what happened next.

"Conn, sonar, torpedo torpedo torpedo. Incoming two torpedoes directly for us. Point of origin approximately thirty-seven thousand meters away."

"Evasive manouvers, all ahead flank and get us deep! Prepare tube five for snapshot! Sonar, where the hell did he come from?"

"Conn, sonar, he must have creeped along at our periphery sir. Enemy is probably submerged Kriegian submarine. He's far away, but his torpedoes can get us still."

"Understood."

"Sir, tube five is ready for snapshot."

"Very well, co-ordinate bearings and fire when ready."

"Yes sir. Co-ordinating.... torpedo tube five, fire!"

The Tigerhai class submarine shuddered as another Swordfish Mk.IIIA Improved was fired from the submarine. However, this time the torpedo immediately increased to maximum speed and armed itself when it passed 1 000 meters from the mother submarine, as the mother submarine had cut the wires immediately upon firing and gone deep, leaving a pair of acustic countermeasures in the water where she had fired the torpedo in the hopes of the Kriegian torpedoes being fooled and detonate when they reached the countermeasures.

As the crew of the U 874 quietly hoped and prayed that the enemy torpedoes would take the countermeasures and that their boat would hold true to its reputation as a lucky ship and the captain finished hurryingly typing his final report up and uploading it into the emergency bouy that was designed to automatically release itself from the sail when the submarine passed a certain depth (which was the crush depth, i.e. the depth where it was calculated that the hull of the submarine would no longer be able to endure the pressure of the water and implode), the Swordfish raced through the water towards the last known coordinates of the third Kriegian submarine, its warhead armed and active and its own guidance going active, sending high-intensity sound pulses in the direction of the Kriegian submarine. Even if the U 874 would be lost, they would take another enemy sub with them, and Naval High Command back in Cotland would know that the U 874 had brought two, maybe three enemy boats with it into its murky watery grave.

Meanwhile, Battlegroup Nonaset steamed on towards Kahanistan at best speed, which was just a notch over 27 knots. ETA was still over one and a half days away.
Praetonia
19-08-2008, 10:49
[OOC: Hi -

Sorry for the long delay here, I've had to sort out a rather messy business involving Kargucagstan, and then due to a Vista error my laptop was out of action for 2 days and then I had to reformat, losing my post entirely.

I'm quite happy to rewrite it, but I'd like to be reassured that there is a point in doing so, given AMF's mass-ignore of Haven by Gholgoth as posted on the Haven forums presumably applies between Warmaster, GE and I.]
Generic empire
19-08-2008, 15:36
[OOC: Hi -

Sorry for the long delay here, I've had to sort out a rather messy business involving Kargucagstan, and then due to a Vista error my laptop was out of action for 2 days and then I had to reformat, losing my post entirely.

I'm quite happy to rewrite it, but I'd like to be reassured that there is a point in doing so, given AMF's mass-ignore of Haven by Gholgoth as posted on the Haven forums presumably applies between Warmaster, GE and I.]

((OOC: I don't see why that means we can't do our stuff here. Doesn't really affect alliance politics, which seemed to be the reason for all the bad blood between haven and Ggoth. Plus this thread seems to be going well. Seems like a fun RP, everyone's getting along fine, and it'd be a shame to waste it over some silly personal issues between haven and ggoth, you know?))
Clandonia Prime
19-08-2008, 21:28
((OOC: I don't see why that means we can't do our stuff here. Doesn't really affect alliance politics, which seemed to be the reason for all the bad blood between haven and Ggoth. Plus this thread seems to be going well. Seems like a fun RP, everyone's getting along fine, and it'd be a shame to waste it over some silly personal issues between haven and ggoth, you know?))

OOC: The silly issue of ignoring Haven was started no other by a supposedly 'good' RP'er called AMF...
The Warmaster
19-08-2008, 22:00
OOC: No more OOC, please. There is not a blanket ignore of Haven, I'd rather that you didn't subtly badmouth AMF, Clan, and in general, I intend to keep this RP going, as I already told Prae. Let's all just move on.
Kahanistan
20-08-2008, 06:35
[OOC: Agreed. All I'm waiting on is Prae's post - I can't handle this armada alone. :)]
Cotland
04-09-2008, 20:42
bump bump bump