NationStates Jolt Archive

The Aissurian Official scratched his head. He could feel the bald spot. He wondered why he didn't opt for an early retirement. The stress of the Job made his hair fall out at an early age.

He began sweating as he looked at his watch. The Pirates were late to arrive. This was strange, but not uncommon. In a few minutes, he would leave.

He was about to leave as a Black Van pulled up and two men got out.

"Hello." He said as he shaked the Pirates' hands.

"Hello, lets just skip all this off topic blabber. What is it that you want us to do?" The Pirate asked.

"I want you to engage Tolvanic Shipping assets. Destroy all of it, unless it is flying an Aissurian Flag." The Official said.

"I do not feel good about going after such a large country." The Pirate said.

"Well, there is a lot of money involved. We will discuss the pay once you begin the attack." Said the official.

"Do not turn on us." Said the pirate

"You threat falls on deaf ears, my friend. I know exactly where you Pirates hide out and operate from. Goodbye." Said the Official and walked off.

Outside, he seemed as hard as stone, but inside, he was in turmoil. He was never a hard person.

A few weeks later...

The Pirate looked through the Periscope. They were operating an Obselete Submarine.

"Prepare tubes One and Two." Said the Pirate. They had a Freighter in sight. The Pirate waited for the order.

TV Triton

Captain Blake Lynch stood near the starboard window and sipped his third cup of morning tea. Lynch had spent most of his life at sea. He'd worked as a deckhand on his grandfather's crab boat at age sixteen before joining the Navy on his eighteenth birthday. He spent the next nine years serving aboard various surface ships before leaving at the rank of Lieutenant (j.g.). He'd then joined with the Merchant Marine and been there ever since. He'd just turned forty and the Triton was his third command and easily the largest ship he'd served aboard.

His XO, Samuel Endawe, came over to confer with the Captain.

"Top of the morning, Skipper."

Lynch finished his tea and turned to his XO. "Morning Sam. Any news on that leak?" The ship's sewage system had sprung a leak recently and the Berthing Deck was permeated with an unspeakably foul odor.

Endawe groaned as he answered, "Aye sir, Jimmy tracked it down and patched the line, but the whole deck will smell like rotten shit till we get to port and scrub it down completely."

Lynch smiled at that, but caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He pointed Endawe towards the two white streaks closing from starboard. Both men knew immediately what they were looking at.

Endawe extended his hand towards Lynch, "It has been a pleasure to serve with you sir." A moment later the big freighter shook due to the massive explosions off her side, but the Triton displaced nearly 50,000 tons and ship's that size didn't sink easily.

CTS Harrier
Eleven nautical miles northeast of the TV Triton

The frigate CTS Harrier (FFG-289) had been on patrol near the busy shipping lane designated Thimble-16 by the Maritime Transport Escort Command (MTEC). The cruise had been uneventful thus far, those in these waters typically were, but things soon got out of hand when the frigates sonar detected what sounded like torpedo launches and then twenty seconds later a massive explosion from the Triton's bearing.

Commander Scott Maxwell happened to be in CIC rather than the bridge that morning and was in the Sonar Room within seconds listening to the hurried initial reports. It didn't take him long to decide on a course of action.

"TAO, Conn - prep a ASROC and fire on probable enemy sub bearing - 209, range - thirteen nautical miles, probable depth - 100 meters. Fire when ready."

"Conn, TAO - Aye sir. Firing on probable enemy sub bearing - 209, range - thirteen nautical miles, probable depth - 100 meters."

On the fore deck of the Harrier a hatch on one of the Mk. 50 VLS cells opened and a single RUM-304 ASROC shot out and sped towards the sub’s estimated location. Less than seventy-five meters from the surface the missile came apart and a Mk. 50 ASW torpedo emerged, deploying a small parachute to slow its decent into the water. Once the Mk. 50 hit the water it activated its onboard active sonar and powerful engine streaked towards the pirate sub at nearly 40 knots.

"Sir, we got a torpedo heading toward us." Said the Pirate.

"Prepare tubes 3 and 4 and launch, then dive and head to the star board side." Said the Captain.

Two torpedos shot out towards the Freighter. The Sub then began to dive, but was hit by the Torpedo. The Sub came apart at the seams as water began to fill the Sub. The Sub began to descend quicker after the explosion.

As the Sub sank farther and farther, the Sub came apart in the middle. The Only person who managed to escape was the lonely Janitor.


Back In Aissuria (Capital.)

"Hello. Any news on that Pirate?" Asked the Official.

"Yes, one of our Satelites picked up a Tolvan frigate engaging it. We also saw a larger Freighter hit by a few torpedoes. That's all we know." Came a reply.

"Alright. Try to cover our tracks. If this gets out, we'll be dead. King Jeoff doesn't even know about this." Said the Official.

Office of Naval Intelligence Headquarters
Comberth Naval Base

The five men were seated around a table covered with pictures and print outs. The Harrier's logs, sonar tapes, and statements from every crewman in CIC at the time of the engagement. In addition there were pictures of the Triton, though she had sank the Harrier had been able to rescue her entire crew, save three hands who in the cargo hold when the torpedoes struck and killed instantly.

Three of the men wore naval uniforms, the other two were wearing suits. Officially this was an ONI investigation, but it hadn't taken long for the NDI to get involved.

One of the suits spoke first. "What do we know about the sub?"

One of the ONI men, wearing the Gold Trident of the Submarine Service, answered. "It was an old Kilo type diesel boat. The Mark 50 tore it up pretty bad and the water's too deep for anything but ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles) so we can't tell much. The torpedoes appear to be standard ASW models, not meant for killing surface ships, which is why the Triton took thirty-two minues to sink."

One of the other ONI men spoke next. "Who would be crazy enough to fire on a Tolvanic flagged ship in international waters?"

The NDI man answered this. "No nation in the region uses a sub that obsolete. They're pretty hard to find since most of them are in such poor shape they sink at pierside. We're heard reports of pirates trying to operate subs, but what good does sinking a ship do a pirate? They're out to steal."

The other NDI man spoke for the first time. "Then it's safe to assume there is more going on here than is apparent. We'll check with some of our assets and see what we can find out, for now keep analyzing the data maybe we'll know more when the salvage ship gets on the scene next week."

With that the meeting broke and the ONI and NDI went their seperate ways.

Straits of Anselmus

Under cover of night Carrier Battle Group Six transited the Straits seperating the Gulf of Anselmus to the Madric Sea. The battle group had been pulled off routine patrol of the Northern SLOCs (Seaborne Lines of Communication) to bolster the force already in the area. For now all they were to do was patrol the area and escort convoys. For now.

OOC: Note - the geographic names used in this post are the Tolvanic names for these areas, they are by no means "official" and anyone who has an alternate name for them may use it freely

OOC: Is it fair to close this thread to everyone but you two when this rather concerns much of the region? For example, Anselmus would now be very much aware that a Tolvanic battle group is now operating in the "Madric Sea."

[OOC:This is basically a RP leading up to the events discussed on the Regional forums, but I will leave it up to Tolvan.]

OOC: Is it fair to close this thread to everyone but you two when this rather concerns much of the region? For example, Anselmus would now be very much aware that a Tolvanic battle group is now operating in the "Madric Sea."

OOC: I was under the impression that anyone from NU could join in, we just don't want "Captain Nigel Blackfoot" and his 3,000 ship Pirate Fleet or other such garbage showing up.

Anselmus, would certainly know my forces transited the Strait but it appears sufficiently wide enough for the center to be International Waters, more than likelt the area is heavily traveled by every navy in the region.

OOC: Oh I wasn't saying you were in my territorial waters, I was just saying that would be something I'd take note of. I quite agree with you that it would be frequently traversed by everyone.

IC:
Spoletium, Anselmus

An black Audi A8L sped down a wide, tree-lined avenue in Spoletium accompanied by a pair of Dodge Chargers, sirens wailing, of the Imperial Mounted Police. Inside the luxury sedan, Prime Minister Jacques Delacroix scanned through a hasty-complied intelligence briefing for the second time. He turned to his chief of staff, sitting in the seat next to him.

"So a Tolvanic battle group transited the Straits last night? That seems like a pretty harsh reaction to losing a freighter."

"Well, sir. No one knows who owned the submarine that destroyed the ship. For all anyone knows, it could be anybody in the region. And it could not be the last attack."

"Our best response?"

"We have no reason to believe the Tolvans pose any threat to Anselmian shipping in the Sea. First, we ask them what they're doing. Second, the only military response is simply to observe them, and obviously, so they know we're not trying to sneak attack them. I recommend we follow the group at a safe distance with a destroyer."

"Good. Make it so."
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http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/jackofh3arts/foreignaffairsbanner.jpg

To the Government of Tolvan-

We understand a Tolvanic battle group transited the Straits of Anselmus yesterday night, presumably in response to the loss of a Tolvan-flagged freighter. Concerned over what the effect your battle group's presence will have on regional stability, we would like to know exactly what your intentions are.

John Haglund
Minister of Foreign Affairs

----------------------------------
HIMS Marcus Brody, Northern "Madric" Sea

The Henry Jones-class (Arleigh Burke) guided missile destroyer knifed through the swells at 20 knots towards the Tolvanic battle group, intent on sticking to it like glue.

**OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE**

TO: John Haglund, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Empire of Anselmus
FROM: Robert Donovan, Foreign Minister, Commonwealth of Tolvan

RE: Tolvanic Fleet Movements

The presence of Carrier Battle Group Six brings Tolvanic strength in the madric Sea to just sixteen warships. This is a force much smaller than that of the forces deployed by the nations bordering the Sea, including your own navy. Our sole interest in the area is to protect our shipping and ensure the safety of Tolvanic citizens. We will advise of any additional deployments that we feel may be necessary to achieve our goals.

"Sir, take a look at these recent satelite images." Said the Man.

"What is it?" The Official said as he looked at the pictures.

"That is not good. No Official response...yet." The Official said. He then called the Pirate leader with a recently purchased wireless phone.

"Yes?" Said the Pirate.

"This is the Official, I am sending you the location of an abandoned Aissurian naval base. At the location there will be Two recently acquired Virginia Class Submarines. There will also be sailors there to help with the operation of it. Do not fail me." He said then hanged up. He threw the Phone into the trash and got into his Car.

However, he made two fatal mistakes. One, he called the Pirate on a tapped line, and he also did not attempt to hide his voice.

At the Aissurian Department of Intelligence.

"Sir, we got a suspicous phonecall from a Cell Phone to a known Pirate." Said the Man.

"Alright, see if we can get the Call logs from the Cell Phone place." Said the High Ranking Intelligence Officer.

"Already done, they provided us to it. They didn't want to at first, but I threanted to send the Secret Police over to make them give the logs to us." The Man said.

"Alright, play it back." Said the Officer.

The Man started the tape. A little bit later, it ended.

"That man sounds like...it can't be." The Officer said.

He picked the phone up and dialed a number. On the other side of the line, King Jeoff picked up.

"This is Jeoff, please tell me why I should listen when you just woke me up from my Nap." Jeoff said.

"We have a phonecall from a member of Parliment to a Pirate leader." Said the Officer.

"When was the call ended?" Replied Jeoff.

"Three hours ago. I apologize for the slowness of our response." Said the Officer.

"Alright, just keep watching the Pirate. If he does anything, get the Secret Police on him. Do whatever. Hopefully he wasn't telling him to continue the strikes on Tolvan Ships." Said Jeoff.

"What?" Said the Officer.

"I got wind of plans to attempt to take over the Fishing Grounds that Tolvan has. We would get a very large boost in Food." Said Jeoff.
------------------------------------
"Oh my god." Said the hacker. He had just uncovered the plans for Tolvan.

"Lets see if Tolvan would pay me for these plans." He said to himself.
------------------------------------

Personal Message

Subject: Recent Submarine Attack
Sender: Cafe01@Aissurcafes.com
Reciever: smoore25@tolmail.com

I have come across documents that point me towards the person responsible for the recent attack. I will give it to you, for a price.

**OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE**

TO: John Haglund, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Empire of Anselmus
FROM: Robert Donovan, Foreign Minister, Commonwealth of Tolvan

RE: Tolvanic Fleet Movements

The presence of Carrier Battle Group Six brings Tolvanic strength in the madric Sea to just sixteen warships. This is a force much smaller than that of the forces deployed by the nations bordering the Sea, including your own navy. Our sole interest in the area is to protect our shipping and ensure the safety of Tolvanic citizens. We will advise of any additional deployments that we feel may be necessary to achieve our goals.


TO: R. Donovan
FROM: J. Haglund

Thank you. We appreciate your cooperation. The Imperial Navy stands by to offer any assistance in eliminating this threat to all regional vessels in the vicinity.

Residence of National Intelligence Director Scott Moore
Brayton, Tolvan

More had only been home for a few minutes, ever since the attack on the Triton he'd been working even longer hours than usual and had slept in his office for the past four nights. Moore powered up his laptop and waded through a week's worth of messages in his personal account, when one caught his eye. Someone was offering information on the recent attack, for a price of course but what else was new? Moore typed a brief reply before informing his security detail he was returning to NDI Headquarters.

RE: Recent Submarine Attack
TO: Cafe01@Aissurcafes.com
From: "Scott Moore" smoore25@tolmail.com

Of course such information would be of interest to the Commonwealth. I can offer you $50,000 pounds up front and another $200,000 if the information proves useful, simply reply with wiring information.

Send all further correspondence to the following address:
12574@moa.tolgov

It took Moore just thirty minutes to return to NDI HQ, a team of the NDI's best technicians and hackers were waiting on him and his laptop. By morning they'd know consdierably more about their mysterious informant.

Subject: Not Enough.
Sender: Cafe01@Aissurcafes.com
Reciever: 12574@moa.tolgov

I want 500,000 pounds total. If we agree, I will send the plans. There are plently of others that I can sell this information to.

(Message end.)

TO: Cafe01@Aissurcafes.com
From: 12574@moa.tolgov

Subject: Not Enough

Agreed. However, the intial payment will be $75,000. The rest will follow upon confirmation that your information checks out.

NDI Headquarters
Director's Office
Brayton, Tolvan

Drew Pressman hated coming to the tenth floor, where the NDI's top executives had their offices, and hated the Director's office even more. Pressman was not the type to bow to authority, but then again most good hackers weren't and Pressman was among the best. Pressman had been "persuaded" to join the NDI in exchange for not serving the 25 year sentence he faced for his years of cybershenanigans, but the pay was good and though he'd deny it if asked Pressman did love his country.

At this very moment he was seated at a small conference table with the Director, the Deputy Director, and the Deputy Directors for Operations, Intelligence, and Technical Services, as well as a quiet man named Smith. Pressman didn't even want to know what Smith did to earn his living.

Moore started the meeting off. "Drew, do you have anything new for us?"

"No Mr. Director, both emails originated from Internet cafes in Aissuria. A quick online search shows at least 150 of them in and around the city. I coud even ID the specific computer if I had it here physically, but this guy is smart. He knows we'll track him and he won't use the same cafe twice. Plus there's always libraries and hotels with free Internet and leeching Wi-Fi is nothing for a guy like this. We won't catch him through technical means."

The DDO spoke next. "I suspected as much. My guys in Aissur are leaning hard on every agent and contact they have, but we don't have many and most of them are pretty low level."

Moore turned to DDI Poole next. "Anything on your end Harry?"

"No sir, neither us nor the military has picked up any ELINT or sat photos to can link anyone in Aissur or anywhere to the attacks. We know they're logical choice, they can't produce enough food domestically so they're dependent on trade with Yanitaria for survival. Control of the Madric fishing grounds would help cut their trade deficit and give them more options."

The DDNI (Deputy Director of National Intelligence) was next. "They want the fish but they have to know we'd respond, do they exepct to just pull out of the Madric entirely? The PM will send the entire Navy before we're forced out of a body of water so close to home."

Moore looked up from his notes. "Which is why I'm inclined to believe this is unsanctioned. Someone with enought juice to get funds and weapons to the pirates without getting caught, but not enough to commit Aissurian forces directly. Maybe our mystery hacker will tell us more, assuming he's not full of shit and jerking our tails for fun. Just to be safe we'll keep checking on everyone in the region. We'll reconvene when our friend responds."

Everyone filed out of the room except Moore and Smith. After a pause Moore spoke. "I want you in Aissuria by tomorrow. Do you need anyone else?"

Smith's response was as cold as his stare. "I typically work alone, but this could get messy. If you can get Pete and Sam in country we should be able to deal with anything that comes up."

"Sam is available and will meet you there. Pete is on an op, I'll get him on sight ASAP. If I can't get him in a couple days I think Cooper will suffice, that job back in 2006 was a thing of beauty."

Smith merely nodded and then got up to leave without a word.

Once he was gone Moore picked up the secure line and dialed a number from memory. "We just adjourned." He paused, "No nothing new." Another pause, "Yes, we'll have assets in place by tomorrow."

Subject: Plans
Sender: Cafe01@Aissurcafes.com
Reciever: 12574@moa.tolgov


What follows are Payment Records, Pirates, Shipments of Aissurian Subs to Pirates, and the plans for the hostile takeover of the Fishing areas near Aissur. Also included is the bank account that I want the money deposited.
(Message end)

The Hacker sipped his coffee and yawned. This work was tiring. Then, he realized his mistake. He had went to the same Cafe as the last one. He quickly put all of his stuff inside his bag.

Just then, two Aissurian Police Officers rushed inside the Cafe, guns drawn.

"Freeze!" One yelled. The hacker ran off, using a back entrance. He then ran onto a street.

"This is Unit 22-6, in pursuit of Middle Aged man, seems to be 6 feet tall, around 300 pounds, very muscular. Heading North on National Road. Over." Said the officer.

OOC: To speed things up I'll skip the obligatory staff meeting and get right to the action.

Carrier Battle Group Six
475 nautical miles northwest of former Aissurian naval base desiginated Lima 6

The email had been received and validated within minutes of being sent. After a series of hurried meetings in Brayton the order was given for CBG 6 to redeploy in order to carry out a full scale strike on the abandoned naval base not known to be serving as the pirate's base of operation. As the Aissurian government was apparently involved somehow no advance warning would be sent, should the Aissurian military respond, unlikely given the remote location of the base, they would hopefully be persuaded to not intervene.

At 0450 the strike package began taking off from the carrier Endurance and assembling above the fleet. In all six A-16s and eight F-35Cs would carry out the strike while six F-194Cs flew top cover to guard against enemy aircraft. In addition two EA-16Bs would provide jamming support for the raid. The strike would take just over forty-five minutes to arrive on station.

At 0500 numerous VLS hatches throughout the fleet opened and fifty AGM-203 cruise missiles rocketed into the sky and towards the island. At their speed of Mach 1.5 (nearly 1,000 knots per hour) they would cover the distance to their targets in around thirty minutes.

Both strikes had been precisely timed so that planes arrived over the island just 90 seconds after the missiles impacted.

Aissuria, Aissur
Smith got out of his rental car and walked towards the back door door of the Internet cafe whose address he had been given via email just ten minutes ago. If the hacker was sloppy enough to use the same cafe twice, maybe he was sloppy enough to still be around.

Suddenly the door burst open and a large man ran out followed by two local policemen.

HIMS Marcus Brody, 100nm west of CBG 6

The commander of the Anselmian destroyer watched on the large displays in the CIC the Tolvanic assault.

"Holy shit, they're going all out on this one. How many aircraft did they put in the air?"

"Twenty-two, sir. Confirmed launch of at least 50 cruise missiles."

"Ah, well. Hopefully after this the Tolvans will get out of here so we don't have to keep following 'em. Send a report that the Tolvanic battle group has commenced their attack to the Admiralty."

"Aye, aye, skipper."

"Sir! We have report of Tolvan attacks on the Pirate Base. At least 50 Cruise missles and 22 Aircraft." Said the Soldier.

"Damn it, let's not intervene. Send a message." Said the Officer.

"Damage calculations, seems the Base will likely be destroyed compleatly. We just sent a few Subs there for the Pirates." Said the Soldier.
-----------------------------------------
Official Message from the Aissurian Defence Department.

Max Encryption.





In a Recent attack, Tolvan ships launched Missles and Aircraft agasint an Empty Aissurian Naval Base. While noone was there, equipment that was meant for a Military Museum was destroyed. We would like to know exactly why the attack was carried out. If further attacks occur, Aissur will be forced to declare war on Tolvan and take the necessary actions to protect Aissur.





(Message end)
--------------------------------------
At the base.

The Pirate who was manning the Radar, which was made in the 60s, was eating a Burger, getting most of it on his belly, when Alarms went off.

"Whoops, must of hit a button." He said as he it the switch to turn the Radar off.

Moments later, Missles impacted into the base. The first casualties were the Two Aissurian Subs, which sank almost immediatly. The Base was an easy target, having no Anti-air defences and minimal Guards.

90 Seconds later, Aircraft appeared over the base.
-----------------------------
"That's it," Said the Police Officer as he pulled his handgun out. He aimed at the hacker and shot him.

"Arrgghh," Said the Hacker as he was hit in the back. He fell down.

"We need an ambulance here." The Police Officer said as he knelt down.

"Your lucky I didn't want to kill you." He said.

"Hey, move along." Said the other Police Officer to the Man who had just arrived.

OOC: I'll post the official government response tomorrow.

Joint Defence Command Centre
Brayton, Tolvan

The group of officers were assembled around the conference table reviewing the BDA data. The battle group commander had gotten slightly overjealous in his employment of cruise missiles and by the time the strike package arrived on targer the base was completely destroyed. While a full recovery operation was obviously impossible the submarine CTS Mako had landed a Special Boat Service team near the base after the attack, before any Aissurians showed up. While they hadn't been able to take any prisoners, they had recovered several boxes of documents and two laptop computers. Those would undoubtably come in handy later.

Aissuria, Aissur

Smith watched as the man fell and one of the local cops screamed at him to move along. Smith didn't have much time to act. He waited for the cop to look away and drew his suppressed 9mm, turning rapidly he fire three rounds at each of the local cops.

**OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE**
Encryption Level: Six

TO: HM King Jeoff
FROM: Tyler Hutchins, Prime Minister, Commonwealth of Tolvan

RE: Recent events in the Madric Sea

Your Majesty,

The Commownealth has in its possession irrefutable evidence linking key members of your government to a recent attack on Tolvanic shipping in the Madric Sea. I am aware of your nation's food shortgages and your dependence on imported foodstuffs for survival, however we will not tolerate such a blatant attempt to undermine Tolvanic commerce.

Our attack was directed at a pirate gang, aided by individuals within the Aissurian government, and not an attack on Aissur itself.

I know that you are an honourable man and I sincerely hope that these operations have no official sanction. As I have no wish to see war come to our region I am offering you a solution. Turn over all individuals involved in this operation to face trial in Tolvan and make reperations for the lives and ships lost. In turn I will not release this information to the public and all will be well.

Should you refuse my offer then I shall be forced to take this matter to region as a whole and to Parliament. I don't need to tell a man of your wisdom what would happen then.

I await your reply.

[OOC:The Secret Police showed up so fast because they were already en-route.]
The Police officer took the three rounds in his Body Armor, before fainting, he called for back up. The other Officer was killed immediately.

A Black SUV, belonging to the Aissurian Secret Police skidded to a stop. The four doors opened and four men jumped out. They were in full tactical gear, and two of them had AY-143 Rifles. The other two hefted the ShY-10 TFLSh shotgun.

"Put your hands up, we won't kill you." Said Mike, who had an AY-143 trained on the Man.
----------------------------------

Aissurian Defence Department Meeting.

"Who paid the pirates?" Said the Head of Finances.

"Some senator or something. We're about to pick him up at an Airport. He's about to board his private jet and fly to some Island." Said the Head of Internal Security.

"What do you guys think about deploying a Task Force to the Area and perhaps the guys over in Tolvan will get the idea that no attack on Aissur, even one on a base use by Pirates, will be tolerated unless Jeoff himself gives them permission." Said the Head of Naval Assets.

"How about a Carrier group, with an escort? While we put two more of them on standby." Said the Head of Internal Security.

"Make it so." Said King Jeoff.

Aissuria, Aissur

Meanwhile the operative known as Pete, who had just arrived, crossed the street and approached the four armed men, careful to to keep the van between him and them.

Smith raised his hands innocently, noticing Pete as he rounded the van's front. "Thank God you fellows showed up, I ran across these thugs attacking that man and tried to help. Don't you think someone should call an ambulance that poor chap is bleeding all over the sidewalk."

Straits of Anselmus

The Combined Staff had already considered the possiblity that Jeoff might try to escalate the situation further and cut deployment orders to Carrier Battle Group Eleven. It hadn't taken the Battle Group's twelve ships long to redeploy to transit the Straits, they'd be on station near Aissur in just under three days.

**OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE**

TO: John Haglund, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Empire of Anselmus
FROM: Robert Donovan, Foreign Minister, Commonwealth of Tolvan

RE: Tolvanic Fleet Movements

I have been instructed to inform you that due to increasingly strained nature of Tolvanic - Aissurian relations, the Commonwealth will be deploying an additional twelve warships to the Madric Sea via the Straits of Anselmus.

"Don't you think we're stupid." Said Mike as he aproached the Agent.

A Lady and her son aproached the van, each carrying an Armfull of Groceries. The Woman opened up the back and put the groceries in. The Son, who was 16 years old, and looked like someone on steroids, rounded the van to get in the passenger side door.

"May I help you?" Said the Teenager to the Person by his door.

An Ambulance showed up, and two armoured men got out and aproached the hacker. Two Police Cars also showed up, escorting the Ambulance.

"Bullet wound, we need to get him to a Hospital now." Said the Man as he lifted the hacker onto a stretcher.

"Arrgghh." Said the hacker.

"This'll make you feel better." Said the man as he injected the Hacker with Morphine.

Aissuria, Aissur

Pete was a capable operative but he wasn't stupid, he quickly realized that Smith was beyond help. He ignored the stupid looking kid who'd spoke to him and walked down the sidewalk away from the scene.

Meanwhile, the team's third member, Sam, took aim out of a fourth story window across the street. The big M-14 was equipped with a suppressor, but the round was supersonic and thus it would still make the distinctive "crack" but it would be hard to localize the source, and Sam didn't need long. With one pull of the trigger the rifle spoke and a 7.62x51mm match grade round was flying towards the wounded hacker, a fraction of a second later another round crashed into Smith's head.

Seconds later Sam was out the door, which was now rigged with a Claymore mine for any visitors, and heading out the fire escape. By time the Aissurians got there Sam would be a ghost.

A few seconds after hearing the shots Pete pulled out his newly purchased cell phone and dialed a number from memory. "Smith won't be making it to the party tomorrow. Yes, he did drop the gift first. I'll see you at seven."

The phone went into a nearby rubbish bin and Pete headed for the airport, it was time to go.

[OOC:I really need to jot down all these names and Departments and such.]
"Well, there goes two suspects. Bag em and tag em." Said Mike as he got inside the SUV.
-----------------------------------------
"Yeah, what happened? Oh right. Staff meeting, one hour. Get Defence Department as well as Foreign and Internal into this. Sounds like we had some Agents in our backyard. Yeah, bye." Said King Jeoff before he hanged up.

Joint Staff Meeting.

"We have Satelite Pictures that show Tolvanic ships En-route to the Waters bordering Aissurian Controlled Waters." Said Joe, the Commander of the Aissurian Recon. Group.

"I think we should deploy additional Carrier Groups to the Area. Our dependence on foreign food shipments is getting increasingly expensive as our needs get larger and larger." Said Don, the Commander of the Aissurian Coast Guard.

"We should deploy Carrier groups 1, 5, and 10. As well as detachements from other Carriers groups, mainly the escorts." Said the Commander of Naval Assets.

"I want that done. We should probably work on a response to Tolvan. We have no need for the men who hired the Pirates without Authorization. I will take care of it." Said Jeoff as he stood up.
---------------------------------------
On a Secure Phone Line.

"Yes, I will be sending you targets as well as their planned movements. I want them taken out. I want only them dead. I will pay you 2x the usual payment as long as it is successful.
---------------------------------------
The Assassin put together his Sniper Rifle. He looked down the scope as the approaching Limo.

The Limo stopped, and the Official and the people responsible got out.

The Assassin inhaled, then exhaled half of his lungs, then held down the trigger of his Fully Automatic Sniper Rifle. The men responsible immediatly crumpled to the ground. The Assassin packed his Sniper Rifle back into his case and walked away.
[OOC:Response will come tomorrow, bed time.]

[OOC:You want to start the skirmish soon? Maybe one of my Patrol Boats could stray too close to your fleet or something.]
Personal message from King Jeoff.

I am deeply saddened by the loss of the freighter and the people on-board, but the Aissurian Parliment prevents me from using the Aissurian budget to pay the reperations, but as a token of goodwill and continuing peace, I am prepared to pay it myself. Please send the bill to the Aissurian Department of Foreign Affairs.

The People responsible fo the attacks were killed either in the attack, or in the recent assissination.

However, I can not say this enough, any attack on any Aissurian Base without prior permission from the Aissurian Government, in the future, will be viewed as an act of war. We have noticed the recent Naval movements and I have authorized the deployment of Several Carrier Groups to the area. I hope these tense times can pass without any more bloodshed.

CTS Archerfish (SSN-112)
Somewhere off the Aissurian Coast

Commander Peter Lawson had been in Command for ever since the Archerfish had first detected the Aissurian task force just over three hours ago. The sub had stayed at a safe distance from the surface ships, or "targets" as the sub's crew called them, and tracked them using only passive sonar. For now they'd just watch.

CTS Joseph Morgan (DDG-223)
100 Nautical miles northwest of Aissurian waters

The guided missile destroyer Joseph Morgan had been tracking the small flotilla of Aissurian fishing vessels via radar for nearly an hour. At a range of over twenty nautical miles the fishermen's radar sets would read nothing but a large blip similar to any of the hundreds of large freighters and tankers that sailed these waters.

Straits of Anselmus

The Combined Staff had already considered the possiblity that Jeoff might try to escalate the situation further and cut deployment orders to Carrier Battle Group Eleven. It hadn't taken the Battle Group's twelve ships long to redeploy to transit the Straits, they'd be on station near Aissur in just under three days.

**OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE**

TO: John Haglund, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Empire of Anselmus
FROM: Robert Donovan, Foreign Minister, Commonwealth of Tolvan

RE: Tolvanic Fleet Movements

I have been instructed to inform you that due to increasingly strained nature of Tolvanic - Aissurian relations, the Commonwealth will be deploying an additional twelve warships to the Madric Sea via the Straits of Anselmus.

OOC: Whoops, missed that. Just pretend my response was rather more quick.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa56/jackofh3arts/foreignaffairsbanner.jpg

DIPLOMATIC COMMUNIQUE

TO: R. Donovan
FROM: J. Haglund

Thank you for your cable. We appreciate your keeping us abreast of your movements and motives for said movements, and request that you continue to do so.

-J. Haglund

P.S. This is strictly off the record, but good hunting.

The Fisherman threw the net into the water, and later he pulled it back out.

"Damn it." He said, the net was only half full.

"These fishing grounds are drying up. Overfished perhaps. The Laws to prevent this were put in too late. Theres more money for food from Yanitaria." Said the Other fisherman.

"You got it. Hey look, an old AK-47. Perhaps from the founding of Aissur. Lets sell it." He said.

"Yep, or maybe a Drug Dealer came around here and dropped it." The other said.
----------------------------
"Sir, we have orders." Said the Sailor.

"Let me see." The Captain said.

"Alright, relay it to the other ships. We finally have a destination." The Captain said.

Commonwealth Press
www.commonwealthpress.tol

In response to increasing tensions between Tolvan and Aissur the Foreign Office offically announced that it was issusing a Travel Advisory warning Tolvanic citizens to avoid traveling to Aissur until further notice.

I addition the Finance Ministry has announced that is liquidating all government investments in Aissurian companies, as a result numerous Tolvanic mutual fnds and individual investors are divested completely from Aissurian markets. As of our deadline there was no news as to what time of results this has had on Aissurian markets.

OOC: I know it's a short post but I just wanted to keep things moving while I waited for my new computer to arrive.

[OOC: Since this is happening far, far, incredibly far away from Norsikia, I should not be concerned, right?]

OOC: It's not really that incredibly far away relative to NS, as it's in your region.

OOC: It's close by NS standards but I don't foresee this affecting you directly unless you involve yourself somehow.

[OOC:Wow, you replied! I acutally came here by accident, just geting to II. Couldn't help making the CEO say that.]

"Wait what?" Said the CEO.

"Oh, Tolvan took away all the business from our Shipping company. We forsee a 10% drop in sales." Said the Accountant.

"Oh noes!" Said the CEO, laughing, as he opened a Wine bottle.

"That business was about to fold, anyways. Now we have an excuse to fire everyone and sell the ships and buildings. In fact, we forsee a 25% boost in earnings! But, other CEOs are angry at this. Gas prices are raising." Said the Accountant.

"Oh well. Let's hope the Aissurian Navy tears these Tolvans a new asshole." Said the CEO.

OOC: I finally replaced my fried PC. More to come when I get time to sit down and write an IC post.