NationStates Jolt Archive

Morning broke over Thunderbay in the United Duchies with some confusion. The scheduled session of the Grand Chamber had started, but without the Chancellor and roughly a third of the Keys and Rectors missing. The remaining members wandered about somewhat aimlessly or vainly attempted to contact their fellows or contact the Chancellor, the confusion soon spread as the KCN morning news carried a disturbing report.

The report was that Chancellor Hume and the Chief Minister had lodged a legal challenger in the Star Chamber to the new Regent of the United Duchies, and with a Quorum of the Grand Chamber had passed a resolution calling for his removal. Within hours the Chancellor had been located along with the missing Keys and Rectors at the old independent Parliament House in South York, in the Duchy of Hubris, 'found' because he had summoned the eager media.

Surrounded by members of the Hubarian Adel, various Ministers and three members of the Privy Council and flanked by dozens of armed members of various Adel's household guard, Chancellor Hume revealed what exactly was taking place.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Citizens of the United Duchies, citizens of the Federation, after serious consideration the body of the Grand Chamber, the elected government of the United Duchies has lodged formal legal challenges to the Lord Vaad and his Regency. Furthermore we have voted to operate free of his interference, and free of his Vaadian collusion.

We have further voted to elect Lord Theodoric Makonen of Torrhallport as Regent of the United Duchies and are asking him to act in place the Vaadian Regent."

Here there is a pause as the gathered 'quorum' of the Grand Chamber stands in thunderous applause as Prince Makonen takes the speakers podium as Chancellor Hume moves aside with a gracious bow.

"My countrymen, the reign of the Vaadian Regent has ended, the collusion with the Vaadians has ended! Long live the United Duchies."

Again a pause to the thunderous applause.

"I have accepted the will of the people and have taken the title of Prince Makonen, Regent of the Grand Duchies of Alcona, Hubris, and Cawahaba, Duchy of Zithril, Protector of the Outer Islands and the Marches, Grand Puma of the Oompa. I do so in direct defiance of the so called Regent 'Lord Vaad' and his traitorous colluders that sought to put a foreigner, a Vaadian on the throne of the United Duchies.

This Lord Vaad has been presented to us, with the approval of traitorous nobles in Copper Harbour without proof of any descent from the House of Crawford, and with the further legal issue that as Lord Vaad, he may not even be directly descended from the supposed ancestor that allegedly ties him to our disappeared, and much loved Grand Duke and his family.

These Alconian traitors would rather a foreign puppet be installed, rather than elect a new Grand Duke that may threaten their powers. This Vaadian puppet now seeks war within the Federation, collusion with the deposed Tzarina of the Blessed Kingdom of Dyelli Beybi and destruction of the Federation and United Duchies as we know it.

This will not happen. I and the people of the United Duchies will not allow it, it is our duty, and we are honor bound to oppose this. I call on all citizens of the United Duchies to defy the foreign 'Regent' and the Royal Marines, Navy, National Guard , House of Peers and the Adel to revolt.The foreign Velites Kerbals , the armed thugs of the Foreign Regent are in our lands, it is our duty to drive them, and their Vaadian Prince Out!"

The chamber stands again, with cheers and thunderous applause that echoes far beyond the walls of the old House of Parliament.

Meanwhile in Hull, the center of the 'Vaadian invasion' Prince Makonen's men moved to strike the first blow as the paralyzed government in Thunderbay waited for instruction........................or moved to support the Alconian Prince Makonen.


*****
OOC: Totally open to all Klatchians, others TG me, or briefly post here if you have some interest of supporting one side or the other..........................

Torrhall, the Duchy of Hubris, industrial heartland of the United Duchies, seat of the Lord Hull, the Vaadian Lord Hull. Within minutes of Prince Makonen and Chancellor Hume's televised address the first symbolic strike of the 'Makonen Regency' would be made. Outside of the gates of the residence of Lord Hull, several SUV's pull up and Royal Marines of Lake Mead Division pile out, after a brief struggle the gates are opened. The SUV's pull in.

Captain Strand steps out into the hallway, a bang and then what sounds like something falling is certainly something new to Hull House, the Lord Hull's family are generally very quiet and well behaved, even when in.

"Corporal, what is that?" Strand asks as he adjusts his swordbelt and the top button on his ceremonial uniform, the Captain of the Household Guard of Torrhall was normally a very quiet job.

The Corporal salutes and looks down the main hall before backing rapidly to the Captain's office "Royal Marines, Sir!?"

The question becomes a shout as the crackle of gunfire bursts down the down the hall, the Corporal dives for cover. No one in Hull House has heard of the 'rebellion' but apparently the Royal Marines aren't taking that chance.

Captain Strand backs into his office unlocking his gun rack and selecting his old bolt-action rifle he pauses to press his intercom that leads to the house guards quarters "Gentleman, intruders at the front door, possibly elsewhere, to arms and look sharp. He steps into the hall the Corporal scrambling past him to retrieve his rifle, the first Royal Marine comes to the intersection.

"HALT!" shouts Captain Strand................more gunfire.

******
The spacious guest houses on the grounds of Hull House make a comfortable barracks. Manglevites Xerios pauses and looks up.

"Gunfire?" he says with a quizzical look on his face "Did you hear that?"

Akolouthos Hasbeck nods "Yes sir, that sounded like an assault rifle."

Manglevites Xerios, like most Vaadians prefers to be safe rather than sorry "All right then, Get the lads, armed, swords and SMG's. We better go up to the main house and have a look then."

Akolouthos Hasbeck salutes "Sir." and then heads out, shouting orders, within minutes the 250 Velites Kerbals are lining up............

*****
"My Lady, where are the children, you'd better come with me!" Captain Strand says with urgency as he bursts into Lady Hull's study, his shirt torn, blood streaming down his uniform.

"Oh my god!" she is on her feet "What is going on?"

"I don't know my lady, the children?" His urgency is apparent.

"Down stairs in the solarium with their tutor................" She is interrupted as a burst of gunfire erupts in the hallway, the door is soon filled with Royal Marines. Captain Strand raises his rifle and steps in front of Lady Hull.

"Stand down captain!" the marine seargent shouts "We only want the Vaadians!"

Captain Strand scowls "At the cost of the lives of two of my men? They were not Vaadian."

The marine seargent steps forward, his men move cautiously behind him "Regrettable, we did not mean to shoot, your men startled us." He really did regret the loss of life "Now, stand aside."

"Never." Captain Strand states firmly , he is dead before he can draw the bolt to chamber another round.

*****
"Now then, double time lads, let's go." The Velites Kerbals are formed up in the dull black armor, their faces hidden by fully enclosed helms made to resemble medieval great helms, they march quickly through the garden and up to the back doors of the main house. Upon reaching the doors they burst open, a young studious man and the Lord Hull's daughter and son come racing out, startled but relieved upon seeing the Velites Kerbals.

"Ondrea, Kendrick, your mother?" Manglevites Xerios inquires, he knows the family very well and the genuine concern in his voice is apparent.

Ondrea Nikopol, daughter of the Lord Hull brushes her long brown hair from her face " Mother was upstairs, we heard gunfire............."

The tutor interrupts "Royal Marines, I saw them as we came out, they were shooting at the Housde Guard!" he says in shock.

Manglevites Xerios nods "We will take care of it, we will sere to it that your mother is safe, go along with my lads now, they will look after you." The children and their tutor are ushered back into the waiting ranks of Kerbals and escorted to the guest house.

Manglevites Xerios turns to his men "Anyone that stands between us and Lady Nikopol, dies. Let's go."

The Velites Kerbals smash through the back door, surprising the Royal Marines who are in pursuit of the rest of the family after several seconds of gunfire, dead and wounded alike are trampled as the Velites Kerbals split up, one group charging up the back staircase, the rest down the hall to cut off the front staircase.

The first dead on fall on each side.

Charging up the stairs Manglevites Xerios makes it to Lady Hull's study, he pauses looking in over the dead Captain Strand, in life, Xerios had questioned his loyalty to Lord Hull and the Lord Vaad, but now he realized that he was gravely mistaken. He steps in and removes his helmet, leaning closer to close Captain Strand's eyes and straighten his arms and his bloody uniform, laying his rifle next to him, cradled in his right arm.

"They must have Lady Nikopol." He still uses her Vaadian name "Let's have at them."

The Kerbals turn on their heels and back down the hall to the front stairs.

******
The Royal Marines are moving quickly, a pair of them dragging Lady Hull by her arms as she struggles, they are quickly down the stairs and out the front door.

"Someone stop them! Help! HELP!" Lady shouts at the top of her lungs as she struggles against the Marines dragging her to the waiting SUV's.

"Shut her up, and get her in the car. Where is the second detail? Get them out here now." shouts the Marine seargent, not realizing that his second detail is dead in the hall by the back door. He turns as sirens wail.

The gunfire has brought the Constables, their black and white cars with the blue and yellow checked ribbons on their doors pull past the front gate, the Marines are blocked in.

"Damnit, get them out of the way!" He shouts, before he nearly gives himself whiplash turning the other way, the sound of boots on marble clash across the courtyard as the Velites Kerbals storm out of the doors after the Marines, broadswords at the ready, his men leap into the melee as one of the SUV drivers guns it and rams the lead car of the Constabulary, more gunfire erupts.

*****
Thunderbay

Hours, seem like days, weeks. Amanda Blackwell rubs her temples and finally nods.

"Fine, fine. Call a press conference then."

The seated Keys and Rectors nod solemnly.

The Grand Chamber has formed a coalition, and the United Duchies new Chancellor. She had planned to beat Chancellor Hume at the polls, but Chancellor Blackwell now very well may have to beat him in the field.

Torrhall

The Kerbals discover that their broadswords have to deal with men and women armed with sword bayonets and capable of at least keeping themselves from being immeditely skewered by the longer blades. One discovers that he is dealing with an Alconian swordmaster and a full bastard sword. After the second attempt to push through the man's defenses, the Kerbal blinks as the Alconian's hilt locks his broadsword in place. The second hand of the Alconian sends a dagger to shove up under the Kerbals armor plate and into his liver.

One of the Marines in the SUV steps out with a M-3, a semi-auto rifle capable of throwing light armor peircing rounds. He levels it and points at the nearest Vaadian Kerbal, sending a 0.308 armor peircing bobtail round at the man's chest before twisting to fire a second, third, fourth time.

Another group of vehicles appear, these are grey flying the state flag. The lead one is a Trumbole APC that smashes into the pair of police cars and pushes them up the road to clear the gate. The scream of a constable can be heard as the car runs him over. The APC rotates its turret mounted duplex 88mm guns at the front of Hull House and opens fire.

More men begin to pile out of a truck behind the APC and run towards the gate. But they pause, hearing high pitched clicks over the gunfire....

The SUV begins to push out the gate when a sudden small blast hits it firmly in the left front tire.

Up the street a group of men on horseback, in blue grey dress uniforms appear at a full gallop. They open fire from the back of their large mounts as they press forward. The APC rotates it's main gun again and opens fire on the charging calvery. The gun splaters one man into a rain of human tissue, but most rounds smack into the nearby houses and a daycare center. There are screams of childern for a few seconds, but another set of rounds and the sound vanishes.

Some of the calvery has dismounted and taken up positions behind doors as the soiljers open fire upon them. They are both using the same automatic rifles on each other.

A few stir their mounts over the police cars towards the falling back Marines who are being pressed by the Kerbals.

Lady Hull is pulled from the SUV towards the waiting APC. She breaks free for a second, but another marine from the second SUV jumps out to grab her.

One of the calverymen notices her. For some reason he and his mount change direction off the roof of a wrecked police car and he makes a grab for her.

A moment later she is laying across the front of his mount as he takes off down the road towards saftey. His companion drops down behind the Marine line as the APC suddenly lurches backwards to persue Lady Hull and her 'savior'.

Both March

Fleet Marshall Joseph Mackullen had been at the job less than a year. His predicesor had left because of his distaste for taking orders from 'jumped up Vaadian twits' as he had so stated in his letter of resignation. Mackullen wasn't exactly in the pro-Vaadian group either, but he was definitively not jumping onboard this ridiculous attempt to name a new Hubarian based Monarchy either.

"Damn it, the f*** would have to pull this the moment I'm actually reviewing our defenses in the Kandi....f***"

"Aye, Sir" an aide stated as he chugged across the tarmac after his boss.

"I want to be in communications with Thunderbay the moment we're airborne. Damn it Jim why didn't you tell me about this an hour ago?"

"Sorry sir, I was reviewing a proposal for the..." The aide offered as he put his hand in a jacket pocket.

"Never mind, The first thing to do is cut off South York. We can have third fleet knock out the civilian communication lines and then see if we can get one of the Militia armories between South York and Torrhaven to shut down or capture it with some Third Fleet Marines..."

"If Third Fleet is with us..."

"Third Fleet is with Rondel, and I've known that bugger for years...he isn't going to just follow this Hubarian take-over."

"You could convince him to support the Prince..."

The Naval Marshal stopped in mid-stride and turned on his aide.

"Brandon, what are you talking about support Prince..."

"We can't let foreigners rule us we need an Alconian Prince who..."

"Is a complete f*** up? I'll support Hume and this twit from Torrhaven like I'd support my own gelding. And if you do, I need your resignation..." The eyes of the old sailor were even harsher than the words.

"Here is my resignation sir..."

Joseph's eyes went wide as the pistol came out of the aide's jacket. They went even wider and then blank as the pistol went off. The guard at the gangway to the aircraft was actually slightly covered in the mist of blood and brains that exited the Marshal's skull.

Lt. Commander Jim Brandon, aide-de-camp to the Naval Marshal died a few moments later as a Marine Guard in Blue and red sent his brains to join his mentor and surrogate father figure.

Thunderbay, Fleet Manor

Lt. Commander Amy Palson didn't get even one chance. Less than a minute after the death of the Naval Marshal a text message appeared.
Bongo

She stood and walked into the private study of the Naval Marshal, she placed her hand on one of the ornate document safes and began to turn the combination that she was not supposed to know.

Amy didn't hear the door open. But she did hear a clearing of the throat. The aide turned and she realized that the Royal Consul was standing on the far side of the room, over by the conference table. Amy grabbed at her holstered gun but stopped when the deep growling came from her left.

Amy looked down and saw the eyes of the Klatchian Tiger looking back up at her. She dropped her hand and said "F***" before the tiger pounced.

The Drones Club, Thunderbay

It was the club of the idle rich of the United Duchies. Few of its members were Peers even. Not one member was a ranking member of the Government, or even a minor member of the Government.

Which history will beg the question, Why did the Drones Club agree with Amanda Blackwell to set up a phone bank calling members of the Peerage to immediately come to an emergency meeting of the College of Peers. Or allow their rather spacious ballroom to be used by various ladies and gentlemen to attempt to call in favors, cajol, bribe, or any other possible method to attempt to get as much of the armed forces of the United Duchies to swear to 'The Vaadian Prince' as someone had called it.

For whatever reason she chose, the Drones club had become the temporary nucleus of the response. Likely because the Down House was being swept for bugs and bombs left by any of Hume's henchmen or supporters.

And of course, this is where Lord Vaad was informed that 'Current Counter Revolutionary Planning was occurring rather than Apethorpe Palace, which had been deemed a rather large target at the moment.

Torrhall

The Marines are in for an even bigger surprise as their well honed close combat tactics are put into use. Although the Velites Kerbals armor may look antique, it is actually very light, very high tech ceramite armor attached to a solid carbon fiber body suit, the bayonets will find no purchase and won't penetrate the several layers of puncture proof kevlar woven into the carbon fiber mesh, the AP rounds are however much more effective.

The stiffened resistance by the Marines is met by the Kerbals submachine guns, the full two hundred and fifty of them now streaming down the steps of the House, their 9mm AP rounds responding to the outnumbered marines fire.

The marines are further in for a shock that as the situation evolves they would expect Vaadian Retaliatory Guard to find cover and possibly withdraw and circle around, however the Kerbals only fight fiercer and unlike the Retaliatory Guard dive into swordplay with vigor, skill and enthusiasm.

They attempt to get to lady Hull, but are surprised and repulsed by the appearance of the APC , the cavalry and aren't quite sure who is firing for whom.

"Reform, stand obliquely, right face! " Manglevites Xerios shouts to his men, they then open fire again, redoubling their attacks on the marines, warily pushing towards the new arrivals and Lady Hull. Confusion reigns.

Lady Hull struggles no less against her new captors.

Thunderbay

Shortly the Lord Vaad is in touch with the Privy Council confirming Amanda Blackwell as 'Interim' Chancellor and naming Countess Winton his First Tribune. Lord Hull is tasked with putting together an expeditionary force to bring the 'Makonen Regency' to heel.

Chancellor Blackwell is charged with dealing with the media, until the Lord Vaad returns from the Eastern Marches.

South York

The 'Makonen Privy Council' sits watching the news, KCN stringers are already showing the results of Prince Makonen's first strike. Chancellor Hume sighs and speaks first.

"This should have been brought up with the Privy Council before it was undertaken..............fifty Marines to storm Hull House?" He is cut off by Prince Makonen who stands.

"Chancellor Hume, I was told that you had a devious, sharp mind?" He says with a chuckle "Perhaps only politically, those men were meant to die."

The Councilors look surprised and exchange looks or shock "What you mean, your Grace?" chancellor Hume continues, his eyes narrowing.

Prince Makonen taps the screen of the LCD TV right on the images of the Velites Kerbals "My dear Chancellor, Royal Marines, killed, no, butchered by Kerbals of the Vaadian Prince. Vaadians killing Royal Marines."

He pauses turning to his Privy Council "Within hours, we'll know our true numbers and my army will be in the field."

Torrhall

The results should be as expected. Dead Marines, Militia Calvary, Constables, all caught on national television from the over flying helicopter. Both allies and enemies lay about with 9 mm bullet holes.

The fact that the Vaadians have lost Lady Hull and murdered their allies in overzealous glee has had a dampening effect on any support the Vaadians might have had.

There is a siren wail and then a voice broadcasts over the city. Under Emergency Orders, I District Commander General Oventop hereby order all Vaadians, no matter what rank or status to immediately leave the city. Any Vaadian found within city limits after dark will be shot on sight. Full Milita activation is hereby authorized....

Torrhall, The East bank.

"Lady Hull..." The woman riding away from the APC and down a steep slope tried to say with a patient voice.

"Lady Hull stop trying to fight me, I am trying to take you to a safe house..." The calvary woman actually pushed her horse off the narrow cobbled roads between a set of old industrial buildings being rebuilt and onto the lower Torrhull dam. They moved across the thin ribbon of concrete.

Somewhere up the almost vertical slope the APC stopped and a man popped out of the turret to look down and swear.

Dyelli Beybi was probably in more turmoil than Alcona and Hubris at this point, although unlike most civil wars, certain aspects of the Dyellian state continued to function without any direct orders. The 'Junta' was of course a prime example of this.

In 'Fasta Benj', the Benjian Armies that had been preparing to repel an Alconan invasion suddenly saw a peak in supplies with large depots being built up near the border. They erected motor pools and moved up extra recovery, construction and bridge laying vehicles....

It was during this that Ubermeister Lunchtime O'Booze flew down from York to make a quick announcement on KTV; saying that the borders would be open to any and all refugees from the conflict and requesting that they report to a military checkpoint for registration (not that you could avoid the military).

Torrhall

The Velites Kerbals were charged with one singular duty, protect the Lord Vaad and his Titled Kerbals, all else was at best secondary. The fact that they may be playing into the hands of the rebellion was simply not their concern. As the APC paused Manglevites Xerios sees his chance.

"Scorpions, on the APC!!" he bellows as several Kerbals unsling their 20x110mm Scorpion 'Sniper' rifle, of course it is more of an anti-material gun, it's heavy armor piercing rounds ideal for tearing vehicles to pieces.

"Fire!" Manglevites Xerios shouts and the APC is peppered with rounds from the massive guns.

As the smoke begins to clear, Manglevites Xerios and the rest of the Kerbals begin moving moving much more cautiously, to try and determine who is on which side, and where Lady Hull is................

Torrhaven, The East bank.

Lady Hull stops struggling and replies to the rider "No! Take me back, my children are at Hull House, turn around!"


The Drones Club, Thunderbay

Lord Hull is the first of the Lord Vaad's retainers to arrive at the Drones Club, if he is aware of his families plight, he appears unconcerned, he is much more interested in the state and loyalty of the military and is eager to get command of any available divisions to march on Torrhaven.

The Eastern Marches

The Lord Vaad is currently having issues of his own.

"We aren't sure your Grace, the Royal Navy isn't responding and they are still standing off port at Cross Harbour, we can't raise the transports." General Lytleton informs the Regent.

Corum Vaad pauses and rubs his forehead before turning to Exarch Edrull "And the Tormentor Squadron?"

Exarch Edrull shrugs "Alconian crew as well, the Prince Namaan and the Patriarch are responding, but I don't think we want them to try and put into Cross Harbour with the rest of the flotilla not responding, we can get a transport or two here."

Prince Corum nods "Get a Marathon here, me and the Life Guard will return to Thunderbay, General Lytlerton is in charge, Exarch Edrull you and the rest of the Kerrbals stay here, the fewer black armor the people see the easier it will be to convince them to stay with me. Okay, let's hop to it."

Within the hour the Lord Vaad and his Lifeguard are finally underway to Thunderbay.

South York

Prince Makonen's delight at the what is taking place can hardly be contained.

"Better even than I had planned,excellent, excellent, let's make sure we make good on these gains, let's have the Lake Mead division out, on Parade to mourn their fallen comrades at Hull House! I want flags at half staff, black bunting. Perfect." He moves around quickly directing his staff, within minutes his office is making a statement to the press.

"Prince Makonen deplores the violence taking place in Torrhall, the actions of the foreign Regent and his foreign forces on Alconian soil is unacceptable and barbaric. Prince Makonen pledges to drive out the Vaadians and restore honour and security to the United Duchies."

OOC: March on Torrhaven? The enemy is in South York not Torrhaven...

IC:
Torrhall
Unfortunatly, although the rounds were quite good at smacking through the outer layer of light ceramic armor, they lost too much interia and failed to penitrate the actual hull. Futher the armor did not fall appart as it was broken into, the microfiber mesh keeping it inplace even after a section was penitrated.

The Kerbals perhaps got six or seven rounds to finally penetrate but those rounds were into the better armed face of the vehicle as it retreated. Although it did return fire with a barage of 88mm across the upper face of Hull house before vanishing down the narrow street.

The Lower Dam, Torrhall The rider looks down at Lady Hull. "If those Kerbals are worth anything, your children aren't back their either...." A sudden blast of water a few yards behind them send a mist down upon them. "And the enemy is apparently chasing us!"

The large horse suddenly jumps from the dam and over a barbed wire fence (below the height of the dam) down onto a cobbled street...the rider pushes the horse down the road. "If you have a God Lady, pray for Traffic on the Memorial..."

The Memorial Bridge,Torrhall...
The driver of one of the Milita armored cars stopped at the intersection. The Memorial was, as usually packed with traffic. The group pushed into the mount based traffic and began to push forward before suddenly having to stop because of...a milita armored column moving in the opposite direction, and apparently not happy with the current group...

The 'tank battle' over on the Memorial Bridge became the second big news item of the day. Especially after a round took a direct hit to one of the suspension cables.

Torrhall, Hull House

A group of emergency vehicles had appeared, along with several news trucks at the end of the street. Two more Constabulary vehicles, with an armored scout car in a protective mode appeared and blocked off the scene from the Vaadians. A few medics, their grey uniforms, stretchers, and red crosses making it obvious that they were here for the wounded pelted from behind the flashing lights.

A pair of men with a heavy machine gun being manned by the constables appeared on the roof of one car, while the scout's car 20 mm gun rotated to point down the street. It wasn't pointed down, but it was obviously not all that 'freindly'.

A constabulary captain with an aide in tow appeared around one of the vehicles and moved towards the Vaadians. The opposite direction, which Lady Hull had vanished, was open.

The captain stopped in the middle of the street. "Alright, who is in charge of you lot, and what the blood f*** s*** storm happened here?" He stood errect, his brown eyes as cold as the tundra.

KCN... Actually the scene playing right now on the T.V. screens of the United Duchies was small, horribly mangled bodies of children being pulled from the rubble.
Today's battle between Alconian Marines and Vaadian Kerbals apparently resulted in the shelling of a pre-school outside the residence of 'Lord Hull' a Vaadian Nobleman

The Drones Club, Thunderbay

The Vaadian was all but ignored on the first, second, and third floors as he didn't have a pass to use the elevator. But some of the Alconian Peers who had arrived almost at the same time were likewise informed such.

In the ballroom people in civilian dress and uniform were orginized along the walls. Vast maps of the various components of the United Duchies were hanging from the walls, and also were lists of military units. Little color post-it notes dotted the map at various location, blue, green and red. Hubris looked like it had been divided between red and green Catahaba was almost completely red. Zithiril looked like a christmas light display, with a few patches of blue here and there. Neubayern itself was blue across the south and west while the remainder was green with blue patches.

For 'Lord Hull' the island fortress itself was blank.

Someone called out from one of the phone banks..."Zithirl 332nd is being non-committal. I can't get them too budge our way..."

A young man put a ladder up to the Zithril map and climbed up to stick another green post-it on the map.

At the center of the room was a group of tables, old men and women were sitting around it, like an eldery phone bank. Sitting against another, empty table was Anne Winton, Baroness and now First Tribune. The rest of the table was filled with a rather large Klatchian Tiger who was nawing on a huge version of a rawhide bone.

Amanda Blackwell was scribbling on a peice of paper right next to Anne. Apparently working on the draft of an emergency speech.

Wittlebach, Hope Recovery Center

Emily Wittelbach was watching a cartoon in quiet silence. Her blue eyes seemed to hold no emotion as she lay on the bed and watch the mouse and the blue cat beat upon each other. She turned her head when the door opened and a young man in a uniform strode in. There was a nurse in his wake obviously full of rage.

"Lady Wittelbach I need you to talk to your godfather for a moment." He picked up the remote and turned to the news channel. The scene of dead bodies filled the T.V. Emily went up on the bed.

"Admiral Jenks, I have Emily Wittelback, Elector here to discuss this buisness with you further." He handed a cell phone to the strawberry blond with short hair. Some part of him hated this. But sometimes it is more about who you know than what you beleive.

The Village
Victoria Wittelbach Crawford lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Really the ornate swirls of Victorian craftsmanship were a bit much. Actually it didn’t fit the building at all, which tended towards a more stylized regency house from Copper Harbor. But then the whole place made about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine.
As prisons go it had to be the nicest in the known world, trying to figure out who the guards were and who the prisoners had proven to be quite a challenge. That and trying to get them to turn that blasted second rate chamber music turned off. That violinist had to be from some American state school the way she mechanically played.
Victoria considered the number of ways she had attempted to escape from this pleasant little slice of incarceration. First she had tried to get out of the village by escaping via sea. The village seemed to be far removed from any navigated waters, just dark rocks and such. That had failed because the water turned out to be four feet deep and covered in slippery sea weed. She had finally twisted an ankle and had to be rescued. Second, she had tried to get out via the hills behind the Village. Unfortunately not even the Landgravine of Hubris knew not to travel though country filled with rather large Vampir Hassen. She was sure ‘number 2’ had actually laughed himself silly over that. Attempt number three had been far more daring. Apparently the locals used a helicopter fr general resupply and the Landgravine had enough knowledge to attempt to fly the blasted thing out of the village. Radio controlled piece of junk just let her fly a few miles out before being turned around.
The music changed to another concert and Victoria moaned and fell back on the bed. Why? Well that was obvious, someone had wanted the crown. But who would have access to this kind of resources? And why not just kill her outright. Why keep her as a prisoner in this place? They wanted to access to security codes, family security codes, the ones that accessed the Cenotaph. Not even a power hungry idiot could want to try and use the Cenotaph.
The key to it all was the Cenotaph, and the horror of Klatch that lay imprisoned within it.

OOC: Right, South York my bad.

The Lower Dam, Torrhall

Lady Hull holds on tightly "If my children are with the Kerbals , they are a damn sight safer than me!" she shouts as they make the jump onto the cobbled street.

*****
Torrhall, Hull House

Manglevites Xerios is quietly furious at having lost Lady Hull, but at least the children are safe "Cease fire!" he shouts as more and more constables and Emergency services arrive, his men quickly make way for and begin assisting the medics, he now realized that the gray uniforms were probably on his side.

He turns as the Captain shout and approaches him holstering his SMG and sliiding his broadsword into the scabbard. "That would normally be Captain Strand, unfortunately these 'Royal' Marines killed him when they kidnapped Lady Hull, so I am now in charge, Manglevites Xerios Commander of the Fifth Themate of the Glen Hale Companion, bodyguard of Sebastors Alcidias Nikopol, Lord Hull."

He salutes sharply as he announces this and presents his ID, his Alconian ID, the Lord Vaad has ordered all of his Kerbals to be serving in the United Duchioes to renounce their Vaadian citizenship and become Alconian Citizens, as the Lord Hull had.

"My apologies for the mess, but these marines attacked the house in an attempt to kidnap Lady Hull and her Children, they got away with her..." he motions "That way, on horse back, although I think the rider may have been in gray, so maybe she has been rescued." He sounds hopeful still unsure of whom he should trust.

"I, and my men are at your service now Captain." He says it with a perfectly practiced and absolutely polite bow.

His men then muck in right away with whatever needs to be done.

*****
The Drones Club, Thunderbay

Lord Hull is the most 'Alconian' of the Kerbals, having led the Hull Division in 'showing the flag' in the Eastern Marches to pacify the tribes when the Lord Vaad became Regent and looked after seeing that Emily Wittelbach was taken care of, as she was now family of the Lord Vaad, he had also been the point man on wining and dining the Peers and Adel, and of course is on the Privy Council along with Countess Winton.

He is the Lord Vaad's living representation that his men will subjugate themselves completely to Alconian society and government if he so commands, and Lord Hull has done so to the best of his ability.

Seeing things in hand he pauses and bows to the elderly gentlemen at the phone bank "Gentlemen.........The Regent thanks you." and heads over to Countess Winton and Ms. Blackwell bowing to each in turn as he takes a seat, pausing to nod politely to Chairman Meow.

"Not quite so much chaos here as when I arrived in the Marches. I take it the news is not good, Manglevites Xerios' defense of Hull House, was messy at best,I will have to visit Torrhall and make sure my respects are paid to incidental victims and that restitution is made.. Do we have an early breakdown on what support we can expect?" He is calm, despite the situation. "The Lord Vaad should be here in two or three hours."

*****
South York

Prince Makonen's call to muster forces disloyal to the Vaadian Regent at South York is in full swing. His men and Chancellor Hume's operatives are emphatic that loyalty to Prince Makonen is trumped by hatred for the Lord Vaad and are gathering all malcontents against the Lord Vaad they can.

The city is being festooned in black bunting as Prince Makonen declares a day of mourning for the Royal Marines killed by the Kerbals, and the innocents killed by their indiscriminate fire, of course no one mentions that most collateral damage was done by a Lake Mead APC...........

He seems adept at public spin, and is thoroughly at home in the spotlight, a bit more than Chancellor Hume is comfortable with.

Torrhall

The horse, rider, and Lady Hull enter a square and ride through it heading up a wide street that has stalls selling books along it. This is Bookman's alley and if the Lady had done any shopping in the city she would know what came next.

It was the central square of Torrhall. Currently it was filled with students in small groups milling about. They looked up at the horse and its load, white foam of persperation covering its flanks.

The Calvary officer didn't stop or slow, heading strait for the heavy gate in the Romenesque arcade. Two guards stood silently on both sides, their dress could have made them look like Kerbals in a new dress uniform. But as the rider approached they stepped before the gate.

"Sanctuary...In the Name of Athena I call for Sanctuary..."

The two guards to the temple grabbed the massive handles and pulled them open. A moment later Lady Hull was in the forecourt of the main temple with several more armed women standing about in their red cloaks.

"There was an attack by..." The officer began.

"We saw...we know...and we shall ensure that this fair lady is returned to her kith and kin."

Torrhall, Hull House

The captain looked down at the uniform and snorted. "Emigrated Vaadian I see, well it looks like we have a friendly fire incident here." His tone was strained as he looked at the downed men around him. "So I'll need your men to hand over their weapons for ballistics analysis. You'll be issued replacements as you turn them in, not as nice of course, have to use Militia stores."

The Captain strode over to one of the vehicles. "We have some major problems at the moment." He pointed to some of the bodies laying on the ground. "Those boys seemed to have been slaughtered...don't know why or who but that isn't going to go down well." He turned back and pointed up the street. "But those sixty-five and counting preschoolers are going to have this city wanting blood." He paused to let that sink in. "And no identity card is going to keep some of them, a good number of the Militia, from wanting you dead too."

"Manglevites Xerios, you need to send these boys and girls out to Biriam Naval Auxillary Airfeild and wait for further orders. It's behind the lines at the moment and your a hell of a lot harder target to raid."

He paused for a second and looked at a dead horse. "Unfortunately we don't know what the rally point for the Torr 3rd Calvery was today. And most of them are laying dead on the ground so we can't ask them. I assume that her recovery is paramount in your brief, so I will detail a vehicle and a driver to see if we can recover her." He paused as his radio went off. Closed his eyes and shook his head.

"The Memorial Bridge just collapsed into the Tur. Bloody friken mess..."

South York

Baron Hemphill stood in the phone bank room and closed his eyes. He had some much smaller maps but they looked about the same. The problem was that he thought the Milita would be loyal to him...and they were proving...

Drone Club, Thunderbay

"There is one phrase I can say applies to this situation Pox upon both your houses." Anne stated dryly. "You see our enemy is very, very good at Propaganda." She pointed to the T.V. broadcasting pictures from South York.

"But what the hell was Hume thinking? He set himself up in South York and then appointed Hubarian Adel? she gave out a breif release that sounded like a stifled chuckle of disbelief.

Realizing Lord Hull was likely not following she decided to explain. "The Hubarian nobility was hunted down by the Grand Pumba of Hubris when he and the Parliament of the People overthrew the Hubarian Monarchy. Of course he is correct, The Regent has no claim on either Catawahaba or Hubris by blood line. But too put up some of these self declared nobles into government says somthing. Hell, that bugger there is a Catawahabian Adel named...Pensa something. Anyway, those make sense. Not to mention that including the Adel, any Adel was going to have a backlash...Our new self styled Prince Maker has f***ed up quite brilliantly really. But we haven't benifited."

Anne pointed up at the maps. "Blue is the Opposition, Red are Militia units who have declared, or at least will still operate, under our direction. Green is the people who are not happy with the Vaadian Regent, but are not about to jump into Hume's little bandwagon....Oh, and he is going to be relying a lot more on the press to get his message out...soon I hope..."

Hope Recovery Center
The depressed Emily Wittelbach asked her Godfather, Admiral Kelso of Third Fleet to assist in stopping this userper of her rights. She handed back the phone and kept watching the T.V.
Those Children...I killed them....I just....Just wanted to die...I just want to die...but not babies...not little girls and boys...not...I left it in his hands....and now...and now there is death...now their is civil war...
not because of him...No because of me...He can not rule...not becasue he is bad...but...but he isn't Klatchian....He isn't me.

She could here the newest music from North America play in the background. Something about the night calling. I can not hide from Duty...So what of my pain...Duty demands that I end this...

The nurse was still arguing with the aide as they both left the room. Left Emily Wittelbach to watch after them. Unfortunately the door had never shut all the way unless you pulled it. Which would be the explanation when someone asked how she walked out Hope center a few minutes later in a set of baggy clothes she had tucked away in her single drawer when she was admitted for severe clinical depression.

South York

The two long range cruise missles hit the city with powerful bangs. Neither hit the city proper. One blasted a whole five feet off off where Telegraph road met Robinson Bridge. The resulting mass explosion caused by the main gas trunk going nuclear and taking out the fiber-optic cables heading west also destroyed a nearby barn, and thirty sheep inside.

The second cruise missle hit a bridge. Although it did knock out only one of the spans, it was the one with the fiber-optic running east underneith it that vanished in a cloud of dust and concrete.

The secure land lines went down a few seconds later. Not by dropping a bomb, but by a single station manager walking into an old roundhouse in the town of Cleyps between South York and Torrhaven. He opened a rusty old electrical panel and stuck in a key, turned it, and then removed the key. He then picked up a metal cutter he had brought with him and began to cut the green control line than ran up into the box from the bunker some 120 feet below his feet.

Satellite Phone Service dropped about the same moment in time, actually all of the access codes scrambled to a new value. Obviously now no one in the city had the new access codes programmed into their phones so no service.

The only people getting any communications out of South York were now limited to TV, military radio of a limited range, and cell phones if you went out into a distant field outside the city and stepped into cow paddies.

Then the military radio's stopped working. Jammed by a high powered source off the coast someplace.

This is KCN breaking news...Communications out of South York have been cut off by fleet launched cruise missiles.

The Drone Club
"As for you Lord Hull, I don't want you that close to a red zone with obvious military activity and I do not need to be pissing off that Militia commander. As you can see on the other board, we have a hell of a lot more white in terms of the Navy to deal with this evening. Now that our enemies are going to be spending some time patching communication lines, we can focus on them."

Amanda looked up. "Any word on the Dean?"

"He was halfway across the Inner Sea when I found him. It will take time to sail back into a safe harbor and get his tail up here. And no I am not going to send a plane out after him. Our enemy is likely trying to do him in also...which would leave us in a really fine mess if he died after you became Chief Minister but before he stepped aside for you to take over as Chancellor on national television...."

The elevator doors opened up and someone poked in his head. "He is here...where should we do this?"

"Library..." Amanda stated and stood up. "Ah, Lord Hull would you please accompany me to the press conference. I'm sure I will need your assistance in answering some questions, and you can give your initial condolences over the air. "

Torrhall

Now in the safety of the Temple, Lady Hull drops down off of the Horse "What exactly is going on? Why did the Royal Marines kill Captain Strand and the House Guard?"

She obviously has no clue what is transpiring.

She turns to the rider "And who are you?"

Torrhall, Hull House

Manglevites Xerios nods to the Captain "I understand, my men will turn over their weapons, excepting swords, no need to replace them, we have spares with our families and equipment back at the guest houses."

He pauses looking back over the pre-school "I believe that was from the Royal Marine's APC, all of our small arms fire was directed at targets here on the ground. I understand the circumstances and we will of course evacuate to the Biriam Naval Auxillary Airfeild, let my mewn gather their families and our dead and we will be pleased to vacate and get out of your way................"

He pauses as the doors to the House open and four Kerbals come out bearing a shield on their shoulders and on the shield is the body of Captain Strand of the House Guard.

"He died trying to protect Lady Hull." Manglevites Xerios says his voice a bit softer "His loyalty to the Lord Vaad will not be forgotten, his service to our master was exemplary. Please find Lady Hull and tell her that her children are safe."

They then set about preparing to evacuate to the airfield.


Drone Club, Thunderbay

Lord Hull listens carefully to Anne and nods at her assessment of the situation and sighs heavily.

"I think that we have to be prepared that Chancellor Hume probably has some plan to dispose of his Hubarian 'Prince' once it is necessary. I think he simply backed the first person who was willing to stand up to the Lord Vaad militarily."

He turns and nods to Amanda, he has of course been the Lord Vaad's 'Press Secretary' and has met just about every reporter in the United Duchies "Of course, whatever you need." He stands and follows her.

South York


Prince Makonen was to say, incensed. Chancellor Hume was lsee non-plussed, he had expected such a strike and had availed himself and his staff with Vaadian satellite phones. The irony was not lost on him.

"Your Grace, me and my aides have enough phones to continue the efforts, why don't you go down and meet with the Lake Mead Royal Marines in front of the KCN cameras, I'm sure they will have live feeds set up before anyone else is back up?"

Prince Makonen bites his tongue and storms out, General Moore of the Lake Mead Division of the Royal Marines is already waiting to meet him in the conference room.

Meanwhile General Moore's troops are marching into South York, to fortify the city and insure loyalty to Prince Makonen.

OOC: Damn I had posted a reply to this...

OOC: well,it's not there now?

International Waters, 50nm from the Federal Boundary, West Klatchian Ocean

The San' Angelo Carrier Strike Group continued to chart its wide arc around the Federation. As with its smaller cousin (currently involved in a Brucian BBQ), the San' Angelo had been deployed several weeks earlier by an irate First Minister deMaiska in response to the deteriorating situation in Dyelli Beybi (and the expected rise in piracy).

They had no expectation of running across any Klatchian assets; they were not close to Klatchia proper, and hadn't yet.

In Arn-Maciska the "civil disturbances" in Alcona and Hubris weren't deemed important enough to wake, let alone convene, the Cabinet; the San' Angelo was the only Covenant asset likely to be in the way, and it was more than capable of defending itself.

If it was not, then the cold truth of the matter was that it was an expendable asset, and there were contingencies.

Paranoia has gripped the Makonen Regency forces as communications with Prince Makonen are suddenly cut. The UIK's naval forces are being watched, but now the forces watching them had no one to contact about it.

Captain Perceval paced nervously on the bridge of the HMS Reliant, a missile cruiser that was tasked with securing Prince Makonen's West flank along with several destroyers..................he has been watching the San Angelo Carrier group with trepidation, and the fact that it wasn't leaving, didn't help his state of mind.

"Cruise missile sir, apparently have struck the main communications relays in South York, No reports of casualties as of yet, but the news feeds from South York are dead too." the Communications officer stated above the reports from the other station.

Captain Perceval removes his hat and mops his brow "This carrier group! The Macisikan Emperor is a friend of the Lord Vaad, they're circling out there, like a group of sharks waiting for a ship to go down..............what is there location?"

The radar office punches up the San Angelo's current location "50nm outside of Federation waters, they seem to be standing off."

Captain Perceval puts his hat back on "Sound General quarters, we're going to warn them off, but good. This Lord Vaad has more foreigners propping him up than just the Vaadians!"

The Cruiser and it's destroyer screen change course abruptly heading directly for the San Angelo.

South of Dyelli Beybi, East of Vrak

The deployed Vaadian task forces begin a slow shift, with the President Ab Iaeuf's odd communication the First Republican, Minister of Defence and the Supreme Republican Commander have decided, without fanfare, that their 'observers' should be moved.

The three Tactical Groups watching Vrak begin to move south to replace the three Tactical Groups watching Dyelli Beybi who are now steaming West, through the Squall Straights..............

While Vrak was certainly geographically further away than Dyelli Beybi from the turmoil in Alcona & Hubris, it cause a significant degree of consternation within the Vrakian government if that state were to undergo some kind of rebellion or civil war. Clearly, the Vrakians weren't happy and again would act even if all the information was incomplete.

While the Senior Minister of Rites was engaged with the Vaadians in Thunder Bay, the Vaadian ambassador in Vrak was immediately summoned before the Ministry for an accounting. As well, the Department of Inter-Klatchian Affairs sent out hurried messages to their counterparts in Dyelli Beybi but not to those in the Junta itself. With the President of the Klatch relocated to Artois, this also made the analyzers jumpy but a message was sent to her as well.

The northern coastal cities in the three HORDE districts, namely the Western, North Western, and North Eastern surged into high gear. While the bulk of the fleet was located in Vrak-Shiron, there was a significant amount of fleet assets within the three districts to cobble together a task force.

Vrakprime

Ambassador Tancred, as usual, made himself immediately available to his Vrakian counterparts. He made his way to the Ministry of Rites and awaited whomever it was that was to receive his accounting for Vaadian actions, he also felt it prudent to bring along the Retaliatory Guard Attache, Command General Lucane.

*****

Thunderbay

Meanwhile in Thunderbay, events again moved the chess pieces ever so slightly about the board, the Lord Vaad had finally arrived from the Eastern Marches and he and his full compliment of Lifeguard quickly disembarked from their Marathon Transports to the waiting cars.

They headed directly to the Apethorpe, ignoring the advice from Countess Winton to avoid it, on the way he summons the entirety of the Royal Guard. Certainly something is up, and with the Lord Vaad, one never knows just what that could be........................

Thunderbay, Apethorpe Palace

Lord Vaad of course landed at the private airport of the Palace and was direct directly too Apethorpe by the Royal Guard. Apparently most of the building had been cleared of any bombs, wire taps, etc all though the south west outer court wing was still not cleared, so many of the general staff of the Palace were still at the club...

OOC: Now I just need to finish the map of South York...actually generating the background for this thread has been causing my delay in posting again.

Thunderbay, Apethorpe Palace

Of course no one in the United Duchies could possibly know what was now in store for them, or exactly why a the Lord Vaad had been so delayed. Shortly after his arrival it was announced that he expected the head of the Royal Guard, Lord Hull, Countess Winton and the Apethorpe's head of Public Relations to meet with him in an hour.

It was, well, unique that he would arrive and immediately begin issuing orders, his entire time in the United Duchies and he had always relied on others giving orders in his name, rather than give them himself...................


OOC: Maps!? We don't need no stinkin' maps! ;)

Paranoia has gripped the Makonen Regency forces as communications with Prince Makonen are suddenly cut. The UIK's naval forces are being watched, but now the forces watching them had no one to contact about it.

Captain Perceval paced nervously on the bridge of the HMS Reliant, a missile cruiser that was tasked with securing Prince Makonen's West flank along with several destroyers..................he has been watching the San Angelo Carrier group with trepidation, and the fact that it wasn't leaving, didn't help his state of mind.

"Cruise missile sir, apparently have struck the main communications relays in South York, No reports of casualties as of yet, but the news feeds from South York are dead too." the Communications officer stated above the reports from the other station.

Captain Perceval removes his hat and mops his brow "This carrier group! The Macisikan Emperor is a friend of the Lord Vaad, they're circling out there, like a group of sharks waiting for a ship to go down..............what is there location?"

The radar office punches up the San Angelo's current location "50nm outside of Federation waters, they seem to be standing off."

Captain Perceval puts his hat back on "Sound General quarters, we're going to warn them off, but good. This Lord Vaad has more foreigners propping him up than just the Vaadians!"

The Cruiser and it's destroyer screen change course abruptly heading directly for the San Angelo.


OOC: Terribly sorry IV: I completely missed this.

CWS San' Angelo, International Waters
«Captain, we're picking up surface contacts, coming out of Klatch.»
«Heading?»
«Towards us, sir.»
There was a whisper of movement, a murmured conversation, then the Captain returned.
«Signal; advise all ships to go to alert stage one... possible rogue naval force out of Klatch inbound. Maintain course and heading, cut speed to one-half current.»
There was a short flurry of movement, which paused when the flag's voice drifted across the bridge.

Outwardly there was no change, but "alert stage one" was the equivalent of general quarters. It also meant that the MoD in Arn-Maciska was being advised of the situation more-or-less in real-time.

HMAS Lyon, South Coast of Klatch

The Air Ships streamed south, out over the dark waters, turning West as they reached International waters. The recent attacks launched into Dyellian soil by Vaadians meddling in what was, in the eyes of the Admiralty, a strictly internal conflict, had provoked a response... of sorts.

Rear Admiral Duffy had been ordered to monitor the situation as it unfolded. Not to get involved. Just to monitor. Secretly though he hoped somebody fired on him. Alconans, Vaadians, they were all the same in his simple world view; bad foreigners. If it had been over to him they would have steamed over the border the moment the first missiles were fired, but as usual the authorities back home had chosen to roll over and take this most brazen attack on Dyellian sovereignty. He had 62 airships at his disposal and 100 fixed wing aircraft they could launch from them, enough to make a mess especially considering nobody had encountered this peculiar Dyellian technology yet.

"Sir!" a Midshipman had saluted and was standing to attention, quivering with the effort.

Dufy blinked, coming out of his pleasant daydream of smoking enemy shipping sinking into the depths of the Squall Straights, "Yes? Do you have something to report?"

"Report of Makisikastanian ships in the area also. Grand Admiral has radioed to proceed with caution."

"Makawho?" he demanded.

"Makisik-"

"Macisikstan I think you will find you are looking for. Dismissed." Duffy waved the sailor away.

So Macisikstan had come out to play? The Vice Admiral smiled, this could be interesting. In his opinion the Macisikstanis were a lot like the Dyellians, they prefered talking to fighting. They also made some nice zepellins, Lyon was a prime example, although they probably hadn't imagined quite how many guns and missiles the Dyellians would put on it.

OOC: That's quite alright, I was sort of letting it cool until A&H was ready to unveil his plans,buuuuuuut since he said I could do anything I wanted with the 'rebel alconians' I'm going to assume he meant 'cause trouble with the rebel alconians'. ;)


IC:

Westish of Klatchian waters the Royal Navy forces under Captain Perceval picked up speed and kept on course directly for the position of San Angelo. It could only be interpreted as an 'aggressive action'.

Back on the bridge Captain Perceval was still trying to contact York to apprise them of what he had perceived as a hostile situation.

Meanwhile Admiral Duffy had an easy time monitoring the Vaadians, the Battlegroups were in position, one now North of the United Duchies and the other South of Cyro, their closest position to any Klatchian landmass put them at over 1000nm out and they weren't moving. They appeared to be observing, as they had reported to pretty much everyone, but the Dyellians.

South of 'Southwest Benjia' was a different story, the Lord Vaad's Tormentor Battlecruisers and their Alconian Royal Navy escorts still lurk, now moving away from missile launch range, but not making any move to quit the general vicinity.

The invasion force that had at first appeared to start out, also was now moving back to static positions in the Eastern Marches.

CWS San' Angelo, International Waters

«Sir, they've increased speed and maintain their approach.»
«Signal the Lord Marshal's office. Appraise them of our situation and flag the live feed as red,» the Captain ordered.
«We have Sat telemetry.»
There was a pause.
«Most interesting,» Admiral Nevass commented. «Calculate trajectories... I thought as much. Captain, pass the word to cancel the speed cut, and increase speed of the group by one twelfth. Adjust our course three degrees south.»
The captain relayed the orders, then turned to the Admiral. «Sir?» he asked in a low voice.
«It's simple, captain. Input new data and calculate trajectories... see? They'll sail right past us. The Lord Marshal indicated that there's no point engaging anyone this far north; Alconians are not our concern.»
«Alconians?»
Nevass smiled slightly.
«This far north the only nations that can field a force from within Klatch are Ilek-Vaad, by virtue of their personal union with Alcona and Hubris, Vrak, and Alcona and Hubris. The Vaadians have a treaty, and they don't break them unless provoked. Vrak is on friendly terms; they'd signal first. The Brucians would already be saying "G'day". It could be Dyellians but they wouldn't come by sea, and you'd see the plumes first. And no other Klatchian nation has the ability to reach this far. Pirates may be bloodthirsty, but they're rarely stupid; they won't take on a force nearly three times their size this far out. Therefore, Alconians.»
The Captain blinked. This Admiral took some getting used to; explaining thoughts and reasoning. It was almost like mentoring.
«Now, Captain, patch me through to those ships. If they are Alconians, our experience is that they will be less likely to do something stupid if we explain who we are, and that our concern is with the Dyellian rebellion, unless they wish our assistance in a police matter. And relay our standard identification message to the airships.»
The captain opened his mouth to relay the orders, when the Admiral's voice stopped him again.
«And pass the word for the subs to go under, have pilots in the planes. Less likely to do something stupid doesn't mean they won't.»

Even as the San' Angelo started radioing the incoming vessels, pilots were climbing into cockpits and planes readied for take-off, while the set of submarines quietly slipped beneath the waves.

OOC: Is that York, Dyelli Beybi or York, Alcona and Hubris? lol

OOC: The Tzarina is seretly controlling the Alconian rebels....................South York.

IC:

The San Angelo would find that as they attempted to contact the Royal Navy vessels they were themselves being hailed.

"This Captain Simon Perceval of the Heavy Cruiser HMS Reliant. You are heading towards Klatchian waters. Prince Theodric Makonen, Regent of the United Duchies of Alcona and Hubris wishes to impart this to you, The support of the UIK for Prince Corum Vaad's foreign invasion of the United Duchies will be treated as an act of war and you and your Vaadian allies will be repulsed. I suggest you alter course for your home waters, or risk raising the full might of the United Duchies and the Klatchia against you."

No mincing of words there. Captain Perceval's paranoia was increased by the presence of the Vaadian Tactical groups that were now monitoring the 'situations' in Dyelli Beybi and Alcona and Hubris.

Fortunately this was alleviated by a re-opening of communications with the Admiralty in South York.

There were all sorts of assumptions going on all sides, and next to none of them true..................

ooc: IV, you're a mischievous one :P

ic:
CWS San' Angelo, International Waters

On the bridge of the San' Angelo the Admiral smiled slightly. «"Prince" Theodric Makonen, is it? That's interesting. That's very interesting... Open the channel and transmit.»

"This is Admiral Nevass of the Covenant War Ship San' Angelo," his voice was neutral. "Before we proceed, allow me to wish you a good day Captain, and to offer on behalf of His Serene Majesty's Several Governments our heartfelt condolences on the tragedy unfolding in the United Duchies. We include your people in our prayers for peace in Klatchia," his own Captain stared, jaw hanging.

"Now, to the matter at hand. We are in international waters. We are not heading towards Klatchian waters and are taking great pains to avoid entering them without express invitation from the President and Parliament of Klatch," his tone remained mild. "Indeed ser, we are actually heading out to sea, and I'm happy to provide you with our projected course to confirm this; we do not have a desire to engage with any legal local force. If we, due to the existence of minor uncharted islands, have strayed inadvertently into those waters, we shall of course depart for the high seas immediately, though we would ask you provide us with the coordinates of these islands so that we can avoid them," of course, no such islands existed; the navigators had been meticulous in charting their course -- this was the closest they'd come the whole time.

"Secondly, I have to inform you in the strongest terms that we most certainly are not supporting His Sovereign Highness's bid for the throne of Alcona and Hubris; I have orders to the effect that, as this is an internal matter of the United Duchies, our official position is one of complete neutrality, and that a formal and binding declaration to that effect will be issued shortly. Of course, if you require our assistance with a humanitarian situation, we will be happy to help in any way we can. His Serene Majesty's Government deplores the loss of life, and if we can assist you to resolve this situation without further bloodshed, we shall." the transmission finished with a click.

Quite calm and restrained, considering that the Captain had threatened to open a war that could only end in disaster for everyone involved. Especially considering that the Covenant wouldn't be anywhere near as restrained as their "Vaadian allies".

Nevass looked at the Captain. «Oh, shut your mouth before you catch something. Flag officers do get training in "soothing the tempers of unenlightened savages". No, that's actually the course name,» he allowed a cool smile. «And I've read briefing notes on the Alconans; the titular rank of "Prince" is only used by rebels and traitors. Which means he's not representing Alcona, and wouldn't be able to get the Klatchia to attack so much as a snail. Now, we'll see how he responds. And tell the submarine commanders; if the Alconans fire on us, wait five minutes, and then kill all of them.»

CWS San' Angelo and HMS Reliant, International Waters

There is a long pause as Captain Perceval consults the Makonen Naval Marshal, one of the Cabinet members that defected along with Chancellor Hume.

The response is then made, and it is probably a bit surprising.

"Admiral Nevass I do then apologize for the hostile stance and the inconvenience. The Regent, Prince Makonen sends his apologies as well. We are being a bit over protective because of possible Vaadian and Dyellian interference in the internal matters of the United Duchies."

There is a bit of pause before he continues "Your offer of humanitarian help is also appreciated and The Regent has informed us that Vaadian forces have struck civilian targets in the port city of South York, we are to currently head there and help with operations there. We would be appreciative of any help that may come for the people of South York."

The Reliant and it's escorts slow somewhat and begin to turn back to Hubris and Captain Perceval has one last missive "If your offer of humanitarian support is sincere, we will escort you to South York. If not, you have my apologies and we will trouble you no further."

OOC: Sorry IV. Been sick lately. (no, it's not swine flu :P )

CWS San' Angelo, International Waters

“One moment please Captain,” came the reply, “To make good on that offer, I just need to clear the particulars with Arn-Maciska...”

«Put me through to Dame Kimberly...»
There was a crackle, then the slightly distorted tones of the Secretary for Aid and Humanitarian Efforts came through.
«Admiral Nevass, to what do I owe the displeasure?»
«Madame Secretary, Captain Duvalleon on behalf of Admiral Nevass, CWS San' Angelo, seeking clearance to enter Klatchia to provide aid and humanitarian assistance to the civilian population of Alcona and Hubris-» the Captain supplied a brief outline of the situation.
The response was instant.
«Denied,” Dame Kimberly's voice was flat. «There's no legitimate government, and without a Federal mandate, we will not sanction the deployment of any of His Serene Majesty's assets to the area.»
The Admiral knew better than to tangle with Valdir's bureaucracy.
«Understood Madame Secretary. Thank you. Blessed fields.»
«Fair winds, Admiral.»
There was a click as the transmission ended.

“Hello Captain, thank you for your patience,” the Admiral's tone was apologetic. “I'm afraid Dame Kimberly, the MEA Secretary who looks after humanitarian aid has refused to give me clearance; without an undisputed legitimate government in the United Duchies, and without a Federal invitation, there's no way we can legally enter your waters; it could be viewed as an incursion, or worse, interference, by Port Olympus,” an element of exasperation had entered the Admiral's voice. Dealing with Klatch's multi-layered jurisdictions was as bad as the Covenant sometimes. "I'm terribly sorry we can't help Captain."

CWS San' Angelo and HMS Reliant, International Waters

The response was quick and polite from Captain Perceval.

"I understand Admiral. You may want to advise your secretary of human affairs and the MEA government as a whole that the government of the legal Regent Prince Makonen is the undisputed government of the United Duchies and Steward to the Ducal Throne. Prince Corum Vaad's days are numbered unless he vacates the United Duchies, a place in which he has no support."

With that his Missile Cruiser and destroyer screen head back to Alconian waters, wary of the closing Vaadian and Dyellian Naval assets.