NationStates Jolt Archive

Nearing Kent, Akimonad
The whirring rotors of the helicopter lured Cirrus into a slight slumber. He shook himself awake, however, as he knew that it wasn’t much further until his destination. He looked around at the Mi-8TV, and being the intelligent veteran that he was, he easily distinguished that this bird was almost in mint condition, a far cry from the grunts of helicopters he was used to. The army sure was pulling out all the stops for this one. He still wasn’t quite sure where he was going. He knew they were headed roughly north, but that could have meant a variety of places, be it Akimonad, Mya, or the wilderness that used to be home to Aralonia. He knew a few things about the mission though, and all of them meant no fucking around. Hostile territory. Whoever it was obviously had state of the art technology, as the bird was nearly scraping the ground she was flying so low. And it had to be something important, because the conscript pilots were scared shitless. They were flying fast enough to drop them off and return well before the cover of night ended, which meant less rest for the crew. On this Mi-8, and as far as Cirrus knew, on this mission, were 7 of the best trained soldiers the Federation had ever seen. Most of them were in their second reenlistment period, meaning that they had at least 6 years of good service under their belt.

Much to Cirrus’, and for that matter any of his men’s, surprise, there were 9 other Mi-8’s penetrating deep into Akimonadi territory. Each one was to deliver a group of men to their specified drop coordinates, where the men would be left. One month later, they would be picked up there as well. If they survived. This was key. Little did he know it, but Cirrus’ mission contained the most potential for danger. While many teams were deploying to shut down heavy transportation corridors, especially bridges on the river, Cirrus and his men would be nearing Kent, shutting down key infrastructure in and around the city, ranging from power to sewage treatment to roads.

The helicopter lurched forward and Cirrus grabbed onto his canteen to keep it from careening about the cabin. Slowly, the helicopter began to lower itself towards the ground. About 5 feet in the air, he tore open the door and began to stand up. The helicopter lowered itself to about the foot off the ground, and Cirrus’ team began to pour out both sides. Checking about to make sure everyone was out, he banged on the cockpit door three times, and then ran off to join his team a short distance away, in the cover of the surrounding trees. The helicopter, meanwhile, began to lift up, and slowly made its way back to Spoletivm. The group huddled around Cirrus to gather instructions. Glancing down at his map, Cirrus motioned that they were approximately 2 klicks from their safe zone, where they were to head down immediately. If shit turned bad, this was where they were going to hole up. It was relatively isolated, easily defensible, and fairly close to the LZ. Cirrus himself had picked it out of a possible three or four sites he had seen in satellite photos.

Taking point for the mission was Quintinius, an expert navigator and a silent ghost. Cirrus followed a short distance behind him, checking his steps and plodding along lightly, making every attempt to be as quiet as humanly possible. After him came the rest of the squad, dispersed at even intervals in an effort to keep the line as mobile and responsive as possible. After a brief walk, they came up to the sight, and prepared to lie low for the next couple of hours.

Vespasia, SPOLETIVM
At the forward command post for all troops in the 14th border district of Akimonad and Spoletivm, banners praising the glorious homeland and the eternal father were strewn about in disarray. Tacked onto the wall was a map of Akimonad, with pushpins at several key locations around the border. Standing looking at the map were three men. From left to right, they were General Mucianus, Colonel Corbulo, and Colonel Drusus. None had any clue about the ongoing Operation: PRIMIA

Any news from the desk? Drusus questioned, referring of course to where all major orders initiated.

None whatsoever. Mucianus replied. But when the time comes, we shall strike hard, with an unyielding fist.

Corbulo laughed. Gentlemen, the time is yet to come, and will never come. Even as we speak our nations strengthen their relations, not tear them down.

What is this nonsense you speak, Corbulo? Drusus replied, outraged. These men will always be beneath us. It is ordained that we should defeat them.

Corbulo shrugged. Drusus was hard to understand, especially when he got enraged, and Corbulo didn’t quite understand half of what Drusus had just said. Mucianus did not speak as well. Everyone had been speaking so quickly that he had no clue what had transpired. As much as Corbulo liked to poke fun of Drusus for speaking quickly, he was just as bad. In the end it was fitting that the conversation had closed with the words it had. Only time would tell if they rang true or not.

These men will always be beneath us. It is ordained that we should defeat them.

Mosteller, Akimonad, 90 miles from Hamilton, Akimonad and the Akimonadi-Spoletian Frontier

Mosteller was, on the whole, a quiet and small town. Its population of 3,500 were mostly farmers, with some working in the town in administrative offices or various stores and other enterprises.

The township in which Mosteller was located, which shared the town's name, was 36 square miles and was largely consumed by corn and soybean plants.

Mosteller was rather dull. Day-to-day life varied little, and the world seemed like a million miles away. This was one of the many small farming communities in Akimonad, so vital, yet so unimportant.

It was late, and the sun had set on the first day of the harvest. Many farmers had gone into town to celebrate some of their largest harvests with a few alcoholic drinks and some friends.

One of these men, a farmer by the name of David Pogue, had finished his drinking and was driving home. He had perhaps had too many drinks as his Toyota Hilux was weaving back and forth across the road surface and sometimes into the grass shoulder.

As he was driving something flew overhead that he couldn't make out. It sounded like a huge fan or perhaps a powerful engine. Pogue stopped his truck and got out, finishing off a bottle of liquor before pulling out his Mag-Lite. He shined it heavenward and picked up the tail rotor of a helicopter.

Curious, his slightly impaired mind thought, Helicopters were an extremely rare sight over Mosteller at any time.

Of course, if Pogue had examined the now-rapidly shrinking helicopter more thoroughly, he might have noticed that it was not any model used by Akimonad but was in fact foreign.

This mattered little to Pogue, however. He had more harvesting to do tomorrow and wanted to get home so that he wouldn't be too hungover in the morning.

Elsewhere in Akimonad, life went along as it always had.

After laying low for about a day, the team began to move about completing their tasks. First on their to-do list was to strike at the local power supply. As a result, they began to move out towards the closest power plant. While walking, they came across a parked car. They broke in to it, and hot-wired it, but it was not going to take them where they wanted. Rather, Cirrus climbed in but kept the drivers door opened, and then floored the accelerator, aiming the wheel at the closest telephone pole. Just before impact, Cirrus flung himself from the car. In a fantastic display of sparks, the car collided into the pole, totaling the car and ripping the pole from the ground. The power lines and the transformer on top of the pole suffered a horrible death. The best part was, any man could see that it was only an accident.

That was how everything on this mission needed to be. It must look like an accident. If things looked too suspicious, the hunters would become the hunted. Too many accidents and people would become suspicious. The fate of this mission hinged on so many different variables, it was not even funny. While Cirrus and his compatriots plodded onwards, men from Spoletivm were on the move everywhere around the country, but the majority were located around the river. It divided one of the Akimondi peninsula's from the mainland, cut it clean off. By definition the peninsula was an island, but the river was small enough that it seemed less so. Their target was each and every bridge that crossed that river, be it a pedestrian bridge, a highway bridge, or a train bridge. With any luck the peninsula would soon be cut off from the rest of the nation.

OOC: I might add to this later. feel like crap.

Channel Five News at Eleven

"...and in other news, Police have found a car wrapped around a broken power pole this evening after power was cut to a local neighborhood. They say the collision was responsible for the break, as the transformer on the pole was totally destroyed. However, no one was found in the car despite its totaled condition. Police say it is unlikely that anyone would have survived the crash or long after the crash. They have cordoned off the area and are searching for any bodies. If you have any information, please call the tipline at the number on the bottom of your screen."

[OOC: This should get the police off your back as most of them will be concentrated on the area surrounding the wreck for several days. Fire and EMS would likely be there too.]