NationStates Jolt Archive

Laupzig Military Airbase, Northern Zaheran
22.25


Colonel Wolfgang Zimmer showed his ID to the guards at the gates and gestured to his driver to continue. The convoy of black-painted military trucks drove into the airbase and parked close to Runway 4, the one the Semitistanis would use. Pilots, one their way home from their evening flights, stopped and stared at the five black-clad SSC soldiers that jumped out of the trucks and walked towards the runway. The base personnel knew that foreign delegations landed on the base sometimes, but never had the welcoming committee consisted of Special Forces soldiers. The SSC men ignored the stares from their compatriots and waited patiently.

Zimmer was excited over the upcoming exercise, even though his calm face showed no emotions. This would be the first time the SSC would participate in an exercise with a foreign state, and it would be interesting to see how well trained this 'Force 17' would be. The SSC was an elite unit, but the Semitistani force claimed to be the best in the whole world. He patted his Alfegan-made AF-07 and smiled. He would see about that.

OOC: I have been pretty busy today and I am just about to take off again. This is to let you know that I have my attention on this thread and I did not forget about it. Gonna be fun!

Laupzig Military Airbase, Northern Zaheran
22.45

The gigantic Zeus Cargo plane appeared out of the sky and landed smoothly on the run way. When it stopped, Colonel Zimmer could see the side of the plane and that the back hatch was going down.

As soon as the huge hatch opened fully, Force 17 soldiers started jogging out in 4 different rows, all in unison as if they were one, carrying their BRE rifles. They started to assemble themselves facing the SSC members who were 30 meters away.

Within a matter of minutes they were all out there, assembled and ready. There masks gave no expression, just a stern like face. The slitted mouth pieces made them look deformed from a distance, and with the addition of being illuminated by a yellowish light, it was en eerie sight.

Then the Colonel stepped out of the plane, wearing just the normal forest camouflage with a camouflage cap. He walked to the front of the assembled Force 17 operatives and faced them. He shouted orders in a heavy accented Zaherian language, making sure the SSC operatives and Colonel Wolfgang Zimmer could here them.

"OK Ladies! I know that you love wearing these masks to hide your ugly faces! But today we are meeting friends, and we do not need to intimidate anyone...Yet! Take 'em off!"
There was no "Yes sir!", they just all complied and took off their masks and strapped them to their belts. Colonel Zimmer saw that some of the faces were smirking, they clearly couldn't hide their excitement.

The Semistian Colonel walked towards Wolfgang, and shook his hand.
"Colonel Wolfgang I believe?" he said with a heavy yet amusing accent. "Colonel Ali Al Faris at your service. I believe that we will have a few interesting days"
"A pleasure to meet you" replied Wolfgang Zimmer "Don't worry, your soldiers won't get bored here"

bump for good measure.

OOC: Just a quick tip. It's good etiquette to let other players roleplay their own characters. Nice post, anyway.

IC:

"Good evening, Colonel Faris", Zimmer said in Semitistani. "Welcome to Zaheran. I'll be your liaison officer during your stay. If you have any questions, please ask me or any of my colleagues here. We all speak English, but I'm the only one that speak your language, I'm afraid. By the way, congratulations to your language skills, Colonel. Very few foreigners master Zaheranic."

He gestured to one of his men, raising his voice so all the Semitistanis would hear. "Captain Halder here will show you to the trucks. Follow his directions, please. You have about an hour and a half of travel ahead of you. The exercise will be held in an abandoned city fourteen kilometers north of here. Oh, and I hope you are accustomed to cold. It can get pretty chilly up in the mountains."
The captain waved his arm and pointed towards the vehicles. "Okay, people, follow me. The trucks are over here. 30 men in each truck."

Zimmer nodded and turned back to Faris. "You can come with me, colonel. The base commander was kind enough to lend me his Mercedes. You'll be a lot more comfortable in that than in those trucks. The guy that designed those things forgot to include air conditioning."

Colonel Faris sat comfortably in the Mercedes, smiling to himself.
"Mountains" he thought, remembering a verse from the Qur'an. "They are like pegs keeping the land stable"

He had allowed the soldiers to take their pocket Qur'ans, Torahs and Bibles as a constant reminder of self control. It worked surprisingly well and his mind wondered off to the many memories he had.

As small dark hills rolled by, he knew that he will have a good night relaxation, this place was much cooler and relaxing. His soldiers will love the cold, they always did. After all, cold showers were part of the daily routine and something that they all looked forward to after a long and hard days work.
"Maybe, just maybe" he thought "my boys will look forward to a warm shower and a warm drink"

As the trucks were driven through the roads, the Semitistani soldiers started feeling more comfortable, one would pull out a Torah and start chanting to himself quietly in Hebrew, another would pull out prayer beads in remembrance of Allah and a group of three would make start making jokes and laughing.

"By God" thought one of the soldiers "Just a century ago, these people would have been at each others throats" His heart swelled at the pride of unity he saw before him, it did every time.

And he knew, he was going to show the Zaherans, how strong this unity is, he was going to fight like never before.

The low hills slowly became higher as time went by. Soon the little convoy was driving up steep mountain roads, often no more than seven metres broad. Zimmer laughted and nodded towards the snowcovered mountain tops.
"Welcome to the Cold Sisters, colonel. In midwinter there can be several meters of snow on this road. The communities up here can be isolated for months some years. Ah, there is our destination, finally. Right ahead."

The car began to roll into a valley, and the city came into sight. In the middle of the jumple of half-ruined buildings a medieval castle was still standing, overlooking the valley it had once been built to protect.
"Winterschloss", Zimmer said, pointing towards the castle. "It was built during the 15th century to guard the trade routes from the north to the south. Over time it grew into a flourishing city, with 125,000 inhabitants during it's golden age. It began to decline when better, safer passes were found in the east. The death blow was dealt when the Emperor led his forces through the pass during the Civil War, eleven years ago. The city commander was loyal to president Cato and refused to surrender, so the city was besieged. When the battle was over, fourteen days later, most of the inhabitants had died. The rest were transported north to the cities there. Nowadays we use the city for a training area for the SSC. Hard to find a better place to practise urban warfare."

A group of guards stepped out of one of the houses as they entered the city. Zimmer showed him his papers, and the convoy was waved through. They stopped on a parking lot near the castle. Zimmer stepped out of the vehicle and stretched his legs.
"The officers have their quarters in the western wing of the castle. Your men will sleep in the barracks in the eastern wing. There's a shooting range in the cellar, open to everyone from 6.00-23.30". He checked his watch. "I would get some sleep if I were you. You're scheduled for the early exercise, at 4.00."

Colonel Faris was pleased to hear about a firing range.
"Thank you for your hospitality Colonel Zimmer" He then turned round to his soldiers "OK everyone, do what you gotta do and get some good rest, there is a big day ahead of us!"

With that Colonel Zimmer made his way to his quarters. It was simple, no ornaments or decorations, just the things needed for sleep. A bed, a pillow and a blanket. Faris liked that attitude to life, simple and straightforward and no need for complications.

He took off his boots and just lay on the bed, the cold air washed over him. It was like a holiday, he felt so relaxed.
"I have to start going on holiday here" he thought.

Before he knew it, Colonel Faris was fast asleep, his body was resting and repairing itself to prepare for a big day.

At 03.10 the following morning, a soldier knocked on Faris's door.
"Good morning, colonel", he said as he opened it and stepped in, carrying a breakfast tray, that he placed on a small table. "Breakfast today consists of oatmeal, bread and coffee. Just leave the tray here when you're finished. The bathrooms can be found further down the corridor, to the left. Colonel Zimmer and the other officers will meet you in the Operations Room for the morning briefing. Take the elevator down two floors, then it's the third door on the right. Just ask a soldier if you're lost." He saluted and walked out, closing the door behind him. A faint trumpet signal from the other side of the castle revealed that the SSC soldiers were awake and readying themselves for the exercise.

"That is some nice oatmeal" Colonel Faris thought "Very suitable for the cold"

As he finished his breakfast he went to the bathroom and simply washed his face with cold water. He felt fully awake and alert, so he started making his way to the Operations Room.

As the Elevator slowly made its way downwards, Colonel Faris thought in anticipation about the exercise, he was getting more excited by the minute but he knew he had to control himself.

When he opened the door to the operations room, Colonel Zimmer and a few others were indeed waiting for him.

"This is it" Colonel Faris thought "Show 'em what you got"

Zimmer nodded to the Semitistani. "Good morning, colonel. Please, take a seat. The briefing's just about to start."

He rised from his seat and walked to the podium at the far end of the room. A projector was showing a map of the city.
"Good morning, gentlemen", Zimmer said, opening the meeting. "I hope you've had enough sleep despite the early hour. Today we'll be having a couple of little exercises with our Semitistani guests, led by Colonel Faris here. The first, starting at four hundred hours sharp, will be a hostage situation of the kind we all too often have to deal with.

It will take part at the Angheim district, to the south of here. More information on the exact positions of the different teams will be given there. The scenario is as follows: A terrorist groups, played by Captain Haumann's group, have taken control of a hospital and are holding patients and personnel hostage. A spec ops team, that's your men, colonel, have been transported to the scene to deal with them. Your mission is to eliminate the terrorists and free the hostages before they are killed. A computer system will keep track of your progress. You will be issued these vests", he held up a vest in standard spec ops black, "that will determine who's dead and who's not. If they register a hit, a red lamp will start shining. Then you're out of the game. If you manage to eliminate the bad guys before they kill any hostages, you're the winners. If a hostage is killed, you lose. Captain Falhart will show you and your men to the exercise area."