NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: The basic idea here is that foreign nations have a chance to voice either their agreement (or lack thereof) with the government's new policies towards whaling. Alternatively, I would be happy to accommodate nations sending vigilantes to stop the whalers; just don't get mad when I ram them. I'll ignore you if you start sending aircraft carriers to attack my whalers, obviously.

OOC2: The first foreign ships described are Whiskeasian, so don’t claim them.

1:16 PM, BMS Sleipner
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica

The frigid waters of the Mednordian Sea were a dark shade of blue-black, dotted with pockets of ice visible in the distance. It was a completely desolate place, especially with the foreign fishery industry shut down by the Leistungi Coast Guard and federal orders passed all the way from the Chancellor’s office. While the Mednordian Sea was devoid of most of the standard northern varieties of fish, it was rich in one rarity—whales.

While it was true that whaling had been banned in Leistung for some time, the ban had never been popular, and historically, the nation was a whaling one. Whale meat had reached a status similar to that of alcohol during the Prohibition, and rather than continue to let illegal whaling thrive, the government had decided to take advantage of their new territorial gains and open the industry back up.

Of course, declaring a large swath of ocean to be the exclusive economic dominion of the Federal Republic was a mind-boggling undertaking. Whaling ships had begun streaming into the Mednordian Sea, replacing the few numbers of foreign trawlers which plied those waters, and with them, vessels of the Leistungi Coast Guard came as well, protecting the rights of Leistungi trawlers as the sole fishers of the territory. The total cost to the taxpayer would be enormous, but it was a small price to pay to halt the influx of black market whale meat.

Captain Amsel peered through his pair of binoculars at the congregation of whaling ships tracking a group of Common Minke Whales. The practice itself, firing an exploding harpoon into the whale and dragging it on-board, was deplorable, but ultimately proved to be the most effective and least painful way of killing the catch. “Radar, report contacts,” he said in a dull tone, obviously just trying to pass the time.

The radar operator glanced down at his screen and nearly fell back in surprise. “Actually Captain, I have three contacts on the scope, roughly forty-five kilometers out. Definitely not ours, sir, they’re unreported.”

Amsel raised an eyebrow. “Really now? Well then, turn the vessel to intercept and try to reach them on the radio.” In all likelihood the vessels were just trawlers that hadn’t gotten the message, but there was always the possibility that foreign nations wouldn’t honor the Leistungi ban on fishing.

SS Agrarrevolution
156 kilometers away

Johann Grun leaned against the railing of the ship’s bow and sipped a cup of herbal tea, the spray of the sea mixing in with the tea leaves and giving the drink an odd consistency. The decision to overturn whaling bans in northern Leistungi waters was not well-received by animal rights activists, and though most of them confined themselves to pickets outside the Chancellery, a select few took matters into their own hands.

“Johann, there’s a vessel off the starboard bow,” Grun’s right-hand man (or woman, rather), Anna Bauer, said, breaking his meditation.

“Thank you, Anna. Prepare the crew.” The Agrarrevolution was an ex-icebreaker, purchased by Grun for a paltry three million bundesmarks, and re-fitted to serve for long periods of time in the frigid north. With one whaling ship already turned away, the Agrarrevolution’s brand of vigilante justice was already beginning to work like Grun had intended.

The sounds of the whaling ship’s intercom could be heard clearly as realization dawned on the vessel’s captain. The Agrarrevolution overtook the much slower ship quickly, coming beside it, and Grun grabbed a bottle of acid from the bridge as the crew did the same. With a forceful throw, he chucked the bottle directly at the whaling ship’s bridge.

The first vessel the Agrarrevolution had encountered had turned away at this point, but this one relented as a shape appeared on the bridge walkway. A gunshot rang out; ricocheting off the steel bulwarks of the Agrarrevolution and the crew took cover.

“Back into the bridge, now!” Grun yelled, covering his head with his hands and diving into the sheltered bridge. He regained his composure and took the wheel, turning the ship and its armored hull directly into the path of the whalers in an effort to turn the whaler away from its fishing grounds.

Instead, the icebreaker’s hull plowed straight into the frail whaling trawler, crushing the hull. Sounds of the whaling ship’s general alarm were now able to be heard, even over the roaring of the waves and the Agrarrevolution’s diesel engines. Within moments, the trawler disappeared beneath the waves.

Grun kept his hands on the wheel, in complete disbelief. His knuckles were as white as his face as Bauer walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“They were savages, Johann,” she said, no remorse in her voice. “They deserved to die.”

OOC: And no, I don't support whaling IRC. Be realistic here, people.

ooc: how bout dreadnoughts? You just cant ignore those lol.

OOC: How about an undermanned patrol boat gone rogue? The boat itself is a PH-17 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14335975&postcount=7), but it's heavily undermanned, the hydrofoil's rotted away, and the crew is less than half of what it should be.

It had been three months since they mutinied. Three long months since Darwin, since those signs of corporate oppression over the waves, those - Matt Reed, once called Matt Shipyards, spat - whalers showed up with their spoils of the Antarctic seas. Now, he and his crew plied the never-ending waves of this giant world aboard their tiny little ship, raiding anonymous whalers for supplies. Now, though, it was almost the end of the line. Just enough food and fuel left for an hour's patrol, then time to make for the Leistungi coast.
"Look, we've got to go to ground, mates," Matt said. "We've got tarps to disguise the guns, and we'll find people willing to support the cause."

"And who do you know in Leistung? We know there's whalers to hunt, and we've still got enough ammo to take 'em down," Anne Minke replied. "We stay, and track them down. That's what the Thylacine's about."

"How many have turbines? How many have stuff we can eat?" Jane Blue Whale asked. Like Anne, she never knew her parents' real last names, so she took on the name of that which she loved most.

Ever since she first saw one in an aquarium, Jane had fallen in love with the blue whale. Such size, such power, such beauty! The blue whale was pure. It was peaceful. It was pristine. Pristine, something nothing in the Confederacy was. You grow up angry in a place like that, in a place where corruption is everywhere. You grow up angry, you throw some punches at people, you get drafted into the navy. And there, if you're Jane Blue Whale, you meet the Reeds.

Kevin. And Matt, too. Passionate about whales, and so knowledgeable, too! They had grown up along the sea, and knew so much about it. They knew where to find the most beautiful fish, too. And, over the course of a few months, Jane had fallen in love again. And so, when Kevin asked her to fight alongside him and his brother against the whalers, she kissed him and shouted, "Yes! Yes!"

From Jane, the navigator, the Reeds got to Anne, the First Mate; from her, they gathered the rest of the conspirators. And on one warm afternoon, with the sun shining over Darwin, the conspirators struck, seizing the boat they renamed Thylacine, engaging the foil, and rushing away. After two weeks patrolling the Antarctic, they stumbled upon their first whaleboat - a small craft, easily boarded, stripped of fuel and supplies, and sunk. Nobody really remembered what happened to the crew of that boat. Not that it mattered - why should they worry about the fate of whalers?

"Whalers ahead!" a shout went up. Kevin Reed was the one to spot the foul, dank shapes on the horizon. Here, on the Mednordian Sea, far from home, it was time. Time for the 15 men and women of the Thylacine to strike back!

SS George
24 Miles NNE of the SS Agrarrevolution

Captain Smith stood on the bridge of the SS George. This was not his first whaling trip, and he hoped it would not be his last. His employers, James Fish and Seafood, had been working on infultrating the Leistungi Whaling zones for many years. Progress at first was slow, however, since the local government had opened up their waters for whaling, they saw their chance. First the used satelite photos. Then, photos from corporate aircraft. Finally, they compiled the data they needed. Their plan was simple, take detailed photos of local whaling ships, then discise one of their ships, as one of the locals. However, their plan had gone quite wrong, the ship they selected, was not a whaling ship at all. No, the ship they had chosen was the SS Agrarrevolution. Neither the captain, nor the company had anyway of knowing that they ship they had chosen to emulate, wasn't a whaler, or that the SS George would soon see the SS Agrarrevolution.

ooc: how bout dreadnoughts? You just cant ignore those lol.

OOC: For the love of God, if you don't have anything relevant to say, don't say anything at all. DC, that will be just fine--but again, don't say I didn't warn you--the Küstenwache takes piracy very seriously :P

EDIT: Ah, I just got your message. Sure, feel free to take down a whaler.

ooc: I'll post IC soon. I'll post tomorrow most likely I'm a bit busy right now.

ooc: I'll post IC soon. I'll post tomorrow most likely I'm a bit busy right now.

OOC: Of course. Just make sure that they aren't one/two line posts. Detail is important to me.

(Can a ralkovian ice breaker modified with some brownings, 2 130mm AK130's(1 that always breaks down right when combat is about to happen), and a single Deckgun refitted to fire a harpoon go whale hunting Lei?

Also are there any narwhals in the region cuz I love to cook me up some narwhals!)

"Actions speak louder than words" was the motto through which Third Spanish States foreign relations worked. Maybe it were the annoying vegetarian protests of minorities wanting their beliefs on what should be forbidden imposed on everyone against someone who had no real political power, being only a direct representative of the people who could do nothing without their approval, or maybe the gun control hippies who sparsely came next to her apartment to disrupt her sleep. When Cecily Lockhelm read the article, she remembered there was no government to enforce anti-whaling laws, and the simple fact nobody saw interest in such economic endeavor was why it didn't happen in the Confederacy. Still, its amount of nuclear powerplants was more than enough to keep environmentalists from organizations of questionable intent busy with picketing.

Cecily Lockhelm wondered how would a whale taste as she saw the news. Like most of her friends, she loved a barbecue, and most types of meat. Maybe she could talk with some fishing cooperative about a party... to show pretty clearly to those damn hippies they can't impose their bullshit over the freedom to eat meat and hunt whales.

And thus, after two weeks, the Confederacy began whaling as well. Whether it would be only an insult to those who putted what most considered "insignificant animals" ahead of human freedom or progress as a new venue for cooperatives was yet to be seen. As the extinction of whales wouldn't aggravate global warming or peak oil, nobody cared. In fact, only a few obscure blogs in the Internet reported the whaling the Confederacy began to practice, their "official statement" in support of Leistung actions.

Cities in the middle of the sea had an advantage, in that they extended the territorial seas quite well, and what happened in the territorial seas of anarchists was no concern of the world.

(OOC: I hope nobody will go with "n00ks" because of whales this time)

"We'll close into point-blank range, then shoot. We don't have enough ammo for a long-range battle," Matt shouted, once all the crew was roused awake and assembled. Then, the crew of the Thylacine took up their stations. Three men for the main gun, two for each of the light cannons - the computers that normally controlled them had been turned off long ago, to save precious power. The informal command crew - Kevin, Jane, Anne and Matt - helmed the boat, while the other four kept the turbine running.

The shapes had been spotted about 8km out; as the Thylacine closed in, they became more and more clear. Two giant factory trawlers, two despoilers of the ocean, two robbers of the seas' greatest living beings, too big to be both taken down.

"Kevin, tell the gun crews we'll throw what we've got against the starboard trawler, then storm the trawlers using what we have in the arms locker." Hearing this, Kevin ran off, first to the bow gun, then to the stern cannon mounts.

Thylacine closed the range relatively unnoticed, then began shooting. The bow gun crew fired fast as they could; Kevin joined them to help out. Jane kept the boat circling the chosen whaler, giving one of the cannons the chance to open fire; the crew of the other went to join the first crew, bringing over their shells. Matt took up the starboard machine gun, and Anne went to join him. Thus, with everyone focusing on taking down the first factory trawler, they never even noticed the second one slipping away.

They had gotten lucky. Their first shots hit the engine, stopping the whaler entirely. Still, it took them forty minutes to hole the ship sufficiently for it to start sinking - even after putting over 500 cannon shells, 800 machine gun rounds, and 10 shells from the main gun into the ship's hull, a surprisingly good number even managing to hit below the waterline, at close range. And that wouldn't take down the ship for hours. Too long!

Jane set the boat on a tighter circle, then ran over to the bow gun. "Get your crew to the arms locker!" she shouted through the door. Again. Finally, the door opened, she yelled again, and the four-person gun crew made its way to the arms locker, gathered their pistols and rifles, and took their places along the rail.

Jane steered, carefully, as close as she dared, to the stern of the factory ship, where Kevin and his men could rush up the stern ramp. Matt and Anne gathered the remaining rounds for the heavy machine gun, and, with help from the aft cannon crews, took it off its mount, hoping to provide better covering fire. Kevin and his men then jumped over the rail, diving into the trawl net...

OOC: Finish this one off and take down the Thylacine. It's out of ammo, and probably won't even have time (or manpower) to recover much from the whaler, if it even gets the chance.
You'll get radio reports from both whalers, and if you're quick, you might be able to show up in time with a ship to take down the pirates while they're still trying to board. They certainly won't notice you closing in if they're still busy working on the whaler.
I hope this reads well.

OOC: You just know it wouldn't be a Leistung thread without me. Hopefully for the sake of the RP Leistung won't mind me having agents within his country. Also are Johann and Anna a part of a larger group or what?


IC:

Blake Hule was your everyday regular whaler. He got covered in blubber, told coarse jokes about women and drunk to much in the many Leistung pubs the night before his ship leaves port. Their was just one thing unusual about Blake and that happened to be the fact he not really a Leistung even if he held the passport. Blake was a Case Officer of the FIC (Fighter4u Intel Command) and his assignment along with other agents sent to the Leistung country over many years or in some cases months was to take up the life of a Leistungian and eventually become involved with the whaling industry. Weather that involved whaling,processing the food,manging the companies that owned the whaling boats, serving in the coast guard or until recently being involved in the illegal whaling, smuggling and selling of the whales themselves. Fighter4u had taken a strong position within the Leistung whaling industry. At first this was mainly to operated a entry point for agents and to collect intel on Leistung coast. But over the years as the illegal industry grew and Fighter4u learned the importance of it. The expanding operation grew into a life of itself as a way to fund activities within Leistung that slowly would shake the foundations of Leistung life. That was a promise thought Blake as he smile to himself while eating toast and eggs in the Mary Alexander.


Felicitas silently paced across the oak floorboards within her living room. She was waiting for a message from Ferinanda who said she was gone to the local square to pass out Save the Whales pampers to passerby. Due to the recent harassment they have been receiving from whalers about their message.
"How could they not understand the brutal suffering they inflicting on some poor defenseless whales?" Now Kelly was worry that something had happen to Sarah. After all it been several hours and she should be back by now. What had happen?

OOC: Leistung feel free to RP some drunk whaler punching or assaulting Sarah so she ends up in a hosptial?

OOC: Ralk, sure, just remember that it's an exclusive economic zone--I'm not going to sit idly by and let you take my prospective catch. Fighter, that's fine too, but it'd be near impossible for one of your agents to be a member of the Coast Guard unless they were born in Leistung and passed a series of examinations (standard throughout the military). Also, if Kelly and Sarah are Leistungi, consider changing their names--I'm a German nation, remember?

4:55 PM, Near the SS Thylacine
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica

Within moments of the distress call from the two whaling ships, Leistungi Coast Guard vessels converged on the scene, moving as though they were mad at the ocean. The Ministry of Defense was making a very clear statement that piracy was not to be tolerated, either foreign-sponsored or otherwise, and unless they backed that up with force, it would set a deadly precedent for all illegal operations on the high seas, whaling related or not.

The BMS Taifun and BMS Emden were the first two vessels on the scene, both Schützen (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14322570&postcount=326)Class corvettes, and both entering the gunfight with no qualms about killing the men and women who threatened Leistungi fishing operations. Without even ascertaining the willingness of the hostile vessel to surrender, both ships opened fire, seventy-six millimeter naval guns throwing a barrage of steel downrange and making it painfully obvious that the Leistungi government was serious about protecting their claims to the sea.

6:17 PM, Herman Square
Hafenstadt, Leistung

The punch landed squarely on the woman's jaw, a sickening crunch accompanying the blow. She really had deserved it, after all, insulting the man's livelihood and scaring away his woman with talk of butchery and basic sentient rights. He hit her again, the stink of alcohol on his breath as the blow again landed on the woman's face, the other whalers either laughing or passing by without a sound, making no efforts to stop him.

She acted rather composed through the whole ordeal, interestingly enough, despite the hail of blows raining down on her. She remained silent and on her feet, at least until he struck her in the stomach, causing her to keel over in pain.

A whistle pierced the cool evening air, and with it the tapping of feet as two police officers in overcoats and ushankas, nightsticks drawn, realized what was going on in Herman Square and bolted towards the scene, more concerned about the disturbance of the peace than the woman being assaulted. The lead officer beat the man over the head savagely with the hard plastic rod, dropping him immediately to the cobblestone square. The woman awoke several hours later in Hafenstadt General Hospital, bruised but alive.

OOC: Gah, terrible post.

The Taifun and Emden ought to have been noticed. Certainly, their helicopters should've been heard flying overhead to scout the situation. But the crew of the Thylacine had entered tunnel vision, too busy firing off their last rounds and preparing to board to even hear a thing. So, when the first shells hit, every one of the boat's crew was surprised.

Not that they had much time to react. At under 300 tonnes, the Thylacine was a very light boat. The force of the impacting shells tore it apart rather quickly, though not before tossing Matt and Anne overboard.

One might've thought it unfair that, after so much effort, the Thylacine was dispatched so easily. But, with hunting whalers, just as with hunting whales, bigger is better.
---
Costs: Thylacine - ship is wrecked, likely sinking; six crew are in the water, and likely to be captured quickly.
Taifun & Emden - some shells, some fuel.
One unnamed whaler - lots and lots of holes, some below the waterline; damaged engine; possibly sinking. The crew of the Thylacine thought it was, certainly.
Another unnamed whaler - loss of fuel, of time, of peace of mind.

OOC: Could've been better, but hey, it got the job done. On second thought, there's now six possible captives for you to arrest (or shoot, or hang after a quick 'trial'), or let drown if your crew doesn't notice them, three of which are already named. Feel free to take it from here; you'll find out pretty quick that the ship was from the Confederacy, even if it did desert, thanks to the hull number.

The Remembrance was an anti whaling ship. It was part of the controversial anti whaling group called Fresia and it was out to hunt the hunters. The 101st government disowned the group calling it 'Unconventional and disgusting'.

"Captain Soven! We've spotted the whalers!" yelled a crew member.

"Good, get the men ready, bring out the AK's and flash bangs!" yelled Soven.

"All hands on deck! Prepare for engagement! Get the Vipers out!" yelled the other man on the radio.

The vipers were boarding vessels and were used to sabotage the whalers.

"How long until contact?" asked Soven.

"ETA of about 2 hours sir!" yelled his navigator.

So in 2 hours, the Fresia would have its glory and would strike the heart of the Leistung whalers.

OOC: Don't make this into a war against my government, as I said this is a rogue group.

OOC: The basic idea here is that foreign nations have a chance to voice either their agreement (or lack thereof) with the government's new policies towards whaling. Alternatively, I would be happy to accommodate nations sending vigilantes to stop the whalers; just don't get mad when I ram them. I'll ignore you if you start sending aircraft carriers to attack my whalers, obviously.

OOC2: The first foreign ships described are Whiskeasian, so don’t claim them.

1:16 PM, BMS Sleipner
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica

The frigid waters of the Mednordian Sea were a dark shade of blue-black, dotted with pockets of ice visible in the distance. It was a completely desolate place, especially with the foreign fishery industry shut down by the Leistungi Coast Guard and federal orders passed all the way from the Chancellor’s office. While the Mednordian Sea was devoid of most of the standard northern varieties of fish, it was rich in one rarity—whales.

While it was true that whaling had been banned in Leistung for some time, the ban had never been popular, and historically, the nation was a whaling one. Whale meat had reached a status similar to that of alcohol during the Prohibition, and rather than continue to let illegal whaling thrive, the government had decided to take advantage of their new territorial gains and open the industry back up.

Of course, declaring a large swath of ocean to be the exclusive economic dominion of the Federal Republic was a mind-boggling undertaking. Whaling ships had begun streaming into the Mednordian Sea, replacing the few numbers of foreign trawlers which plied those waters, and with them, vessels of the Leistungi Coast Guard came as well, protecting the rights of Leistungi trawlers as the sole fishers of the territory. The total cost to the taxpayer would be enormous, but it was a small price to pay to halt the influx of black market whale meat.

Captain Amsel peered through his pair of binoculars at the congregation of whaling ships tracking a group of Common Minke Whales. The practice itself, firing an exploding harpoon into the whale and dragging it on-board, was deplorable, but ultimately proved to be the most effective and least painful way of killing the catch. “Radar, report contacts,” he said in a dull tone, obviously just trying to pass the time.

The radar operator glanced down at his screen and nearly fell back in surprise. “Actually Captain, I have three contacts on the scope, roughly forty-five kilometers out. Definitely not ours, sir, they’re unreported.”

Amsel raised an eyebrow. “Really now? Well then, turn the vessel to intercept and try to reach them on the radio.” In all likelihood the vessels were just trawlers that hadn’t gotten the message, but there was always the possibility that foreign nations wouldn’t honor the Leistungi ban on fishing.

SS Agrarrevolution
156 kilometers away

Johann Grun leaned against the railing of the ship’s bow and sipped a cup of herbal tea, the spray of the sea mixing in with the tea leaves and giving the drink an odd consistency. The decision to overturn whaling bans in northern Leistungi waters was not well-received by animal rights activists, and though most of them confined themselves to pickets outside the Chancellery, a select few took matters into their own hands.

“Johann, there’s a vessel off the starboard bow,” Grun’s right-hand man (or woman, rather), Anna Bauer, said, breaking his meditation.

“Thank you, Anna. Prepare the crew.” The Agrarrevolution was an ex-icebreaker, purchased by Grun for a paltry three million bundesmarks, and re-fitted to serve for long periods of time in the frigid north. With one whaling ship already turned away, the Agrarrevolution’s brand of vigilante justice was already beginning to work like Grun had intended.

The sounds of the whaling ship’s intercom could be heard clearly as realization dawned on the vessel’s captain. The Agrarrevolution overtook the much slower ship quickly, coming beside it, and Grun grabbed a bottle of acid from the bridge as the crew did the same. With a forceful throw, he chucked the bottle directly at the whaling ship’s bridge.

The first vessel the Agrarrevolution had encountered had turned away at this point, but this one relented as a shape appeared on the bridge walkway. A gunshot rang out; ricocheting off the steel bulwarks of the Agrarrevolution and the crew took cover.

“Back into the bridge, now!” Grun yelled, covering his head with his hands and diving into the sheltered bridge. He regained his composure and took the wheel, turning the ship and its armored hull directly into the path of the whalers in an effort to turn the whaler away from its fishing grounds.

Instead, the icebreaker’s hull plowed straight into the frail whaling trawler, crushing the hull. Sounds of the whaling ship’s general alarm were now able to be heard, even over the roaring of the waves and the Agrarrevolution’s diesel engines. Within moments, the trawler disappeared beneath the waves.

Grun kept his hands on the wheel, in complete disbelief. His knuckles were as white as his face as Bauer walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“They were savages, Johann,” she said, no remorse in her voice. “They deserved to die.”

OOC: And no, I don't support whaling IRC. Be realistic here, people.

** Begin message **
** Begin 1024 bit encryption **

TO: Leistungi Government
FROM: Ministry of Fish and Game, ASoGM
RE: Whaling

The ASoGM has, in the past few days, opened up a small season for whaling in ASoGM territorial waters. We would be be interested in proposing a licensing trade, where we would extend a limited number of Leistungi whalers the opportunity to operate in our waters, in reciprocity for the same number of ASoGM whalers operating in Leistungi waters. If this is acceptable, please send an encrypted reply at your convenience.

** End encryption **
** End message **

1:21 PM, MS Danny Haige
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica


Kal was bearing down on the three Sperm whales, they were about eight hundred meters of the port bow. He glanced down to the grimy sonar and he saw that they had changed course. That's about... A degree to starboard.
He heaved on the wheel as they started to change course.

"A degree to Starboard! We will harpoon em, when they surface! Prepare the harpoon!"

He called out his orders and Barry relayed his orders down the appropriate intercom channels. He glanced out of the salt streaked window to see his sister ships bearing down on their marks. They were large diesel factory ships, designed to hunt, kill and butcher the whale for maximum profit.

Whaling had always been an important industry for Whiskeasy, the oil had been used for lubricants for many years. And some emergency lamps still used whale blubber. But mainly it was the meat and precious ambergris. The food and perfume industries were large and needed a constant supply of the stuff to remain healthy and profitable.

The only problem was that whalers were having to search further and further away from national waters for whales, and they were going really quite abroad now. The price for whale blubber and meat had tripled and was worth as much as a pound of kobe beef in some restaurants.

Kal had heard about this EEC, not that he gave a damn. The Coastguard could chase him off, tow him for all he cared. His company was going bankrupt under so much pressure. He had to pay three crews and he had a mortgage to pay.

He wasn't worried either, these waters had always been international, the Fisheries minister had assured him that the government completely backed him in his attempt to carry on fishing in the Mednordian Sea. To the point of force if necessary.

The Whale surfaced up ahead, a large sperm whale, the gunner immediately tracked onto it with the harpoon and fired the device into the neck area of the whale. It bellowed and tried to dive but the steel cable sept it close to the surface. A few seconds later the explosive head detonated. Killing it instantly, one of the other ship also caught one, the other was not so lucky. For now the inglorious butchers work occupied the Whiskeasian seamen. Kal was so engrossed with his fine catch he didn't even notice the blip on his radar. The very noticeable sign of the Leistungi Coastguard. Fast approaching.

*snip*

Official Reply
Federal Republic of Leistung

As our whalers are already not meeting their quotas, we see no benefit in sending whalers to foreign waters, nor do we see any in allowing foreign whalers into ours. Your offer is duly noted, but we must decline.


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/9991/ministryofforeignaffairtp0.gif
To: Confederacy of Defense Corporations Department of State
From: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Subj: Presence of vessels in the Mednordian Sea

At roughly 5:00 PM local time on the evening of January twenty-fifth, a vessel originating from the Confederacy of Defense Corporations engaged and sunk a properly flagged whaling trawler operating in the Leistungi exclusive economic zone in the Mednordian Sea. Six men and women claiming Confederacy citizenship were apprehended following the incident.

As a seafaring nation, we take piracy in our waters more seriously than near anything else. Unless the government of the Confederacy can answer for the actions of its citizens, we will take appropriate legal, and if necessary, military, action.

Cordially,
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5645/sig2pk3.png
Hans Kirsch
Minister of Foreign Affairsfor the Federal Republic of Leistung

OOC: Whisk, don't think I forgot about you--I just didn't want to get this response too cluttered up.

1:29 PM, BMS Sleipner and Tirpitz
Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica

The flashing of blue lights and the dull whistling of the sirens broke the relative calm of the northern Mednordian Sea as the BMS Sleipner bore down on the three foreign whaling trawlers at high speed, followed close behind by a fellow Savior (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13915439&postcount=6)Class vessel, her two helicopters already airborne and preparing to board the two factory ships flanking the central vessel.

The deep, booming voice of Captain Amsel bellowed instructions over the intercom while the Sleipner’s own contingent of helicopters and smaller rafts surrounded the three trawlers. “This is the Leistungi Coast Guard and you are fishing in restricted waters. Divert from your current course and proceed south immediately or you will be boarded. You have ten seconds to comply.”

The Sleipner’s sister ship made a course directly for the harpoon line of one of the vessels which was still attached to both the ship and its catch, and with a sickening snap of metal, ran over the line, eviscerating it with its propeller. The four helicopters now in the air hovered precariously over the illegal whalers, waiting either for the order to board, or the order to return back to their home ships. With any luck it would be the latter.

"What the hell? Pirates?" David Law shouted, reading the letter. "Who the hell thought we should be sending out pirates? When did that happen? Get me - get me everyone. I want the entire board to meet on this!"

"Already arranging that, Dave," Chen Law said. "Sir, I've got Mike on the line."

"Thanks. Michael Shipyards, was this you? Did you think your company could seriously get away with piracy?"

Michael was too stunned to reply. Piracy? Like he'd stoop to something that low. It angered him. "Piracy?" he asked. "You think I'd try to hit my customers' ships?"

"I'm not talking about the Straits, I'm talking about the Mednordian Sea. Leistung. That ring any bells?"

"I... I got nothing. I've barely heard of Leistung, and never heard of this Med-nord Sea."

"Well, Leistung says one of our ships sank one of their whaling trawlers there; they caught 6 of our people."

"I seriously have no idea. None."

"You lost any ships out there? The way you hire your crews, I wouldn't be shocked if some of those criminals just up and left."

"We do what works, okay?" Michael was seriously frustrated. To wake up to this? To torrents of abuse and accusations of piracy, of all things? And against a whaler? Seriously, if he was going to sponsor piracy, he wouldn't go for something so tiny, so useless. Tankers, that's where the money is. Plus, open water? What kind of pirate operates in open water?

"Well?" That snapped Michael out of his reverie. He cursed, and got another sarcastic response.

"Look, we thought it just got lost, or something."

"What 'got lost'? What are we dealing with, a sub gone rogue or something?"

"Some random patrol boat out in Darwin went on an ordinary patrol, then vanished without a trace."

"Until now, clearly. But how does a patrol boat get so far?"

"Big patrol boat; lots of fuel. It's not impossible... if they could seize fuel on the way." Michael cursed again. "That explains that. Wasn't a giant squid after all."

"What?" David, living in Singapore, couldn't have heard about the rumors of a giant squid smashing whalers that circulated among the fishing community in Hong Kong. They had gotten so bad that Pearl Foods, the main fishing company in the Confederacy, had asked Michael to design something to take on the squid.

"Never mind, it's not important. What is important is that we hush it up, fast."

Nobody noticed that Chen was typing away in the background.

To: Hans Kirsch, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Leistung
From: David Law, on behalf of the Confederacy of Defense Corporations
Re: Mednordian Sea incident

We have checked our records, and have no knowledge of any ships of the Confederacy being deployed in the Mednordian Sea. However, we suspect that a boat of ours, PB-13 Wilkes, that we thought merely missing apparently went rogue. We now believe it may have been responsible for a rash of unexplained disappearances among our whalers.
We will compensate the owners of the boat in full, provided that the ship that attacked it be returned to us. We further ask that you keep any prospective trial as secret as possible, and that you do not reveal the pirates' country of origin.

Did the Confederacy commit piracy? - 3:07 AM. Tags - Straits, corrupt morons, Leistung, Confederacy of Defense Corporations
We've been tipped off by an anonymous source that a Confederacy of Defense Corporations patrol boat was involved in piracy in Leistung. No wonder we get so many reports from the Straits. Still, we doubted it would ever get this bad.
Question for the Confederacy: how will you fight pirates, when pirates run your navy?
Be the first to comment!

OOC: PiracyReport.com - international blog, logging instances of piracy and of the international failure to deal with the issue. Not blocked by firewalls at the Confederacy, especially not David's rather lax firewalls.

1:29 PM, MS Danny Haige
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica

Kal swore loudly, and then gave out a string of oaths that made even Barry ,the first mate, smile. The two vessels were trying to force him off, the helicopters were hovering threateningly overhead the Coastguard team preparing to board him by the look of it, that wasn't even counting the RIBs and other small boats surrounding his ships. If they tried to board him he was going to have to fight them off, they wouldn't dare fire on him. Not unless they wanted feel the might of the Whiskeasian Navy. And even these rather heavily armed Coast Guards wouldn't want to face that.

And they were trying to steal his catch! They had already cut the line to it, and he needed that. It would pay the crew, next months mortgage installment and a couple of months of general living. And that was including the other whale which the MS Mary Sue was desperately trying to heave aboard. He jumped on the radio, pushing down the toggles and said to his other ship , the MS Rain, "Cut around the rear of that ship in a turning ark and try to harpoon that whale. That is next months wages just there! Ig the bastards try to board you, fight them off. Open the weapons locker and deal out the rifles. Man all the deck harpoon guns, if one of those choppers tries to make a dive fire across it. If it tries it again fire on it. I am not leaving here without the God-damn whales!"

He then glanced over towards the Mary Lou and said "Same goes for you Fred, but you start to retreat out of here. We will be back."

He then blared the siren on the ship and his crew started to ran to general quarters. His Coxswain jogged off to open up the weapons locker and give his orders to the men. He directed his boat straight in the cource of the Coastguard's boat and said over the intercom "This is the MS Danny Haige attempting to change course now." All the while he aimed his heavy reinforced trawler at where the Leistungi boat would be. He would crack the thing open like an egg. Or at least give it one hell of a ding.

ooc: was my post ok about the environmental group or was it to big for you to handle and I need to size it down to the whale wars TV show type thing?

OOC: Oh, sorry 101st--I didn't even notice your post at the end of the last page. Yeah, if you could just be a bit more specific about, say, the Vipers, and which ship you're targeting, that would be great.

^ Non-sarcasm ^

1:29 PM, BMS Sleipner
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica

"They certainly aren't going to let us board them, Captain," Amsel's first mate muttered. The Coast Guard crew had encountered an unforeseen problem--the vessels were clearly Whiskeasian, and sinking an allied nation's shipping was not likely to go over well in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no matter how unjust their fishing practices. As it would seem, however, the vessel was making the choice which was less likely to get itself boarded and seized (which essentially meant sunk, as the Coast Guard generally scrapped seized vessels).

"Certainly not," Amsel replied with his arms crossed, noting as the Danny Haige came about in a wide semi-circular motion. In fact, the width of the turn caught his eye, and he walked briskly to the window of the bridge to try to anticipate the turning radius. His calculation did not ease his mind at all. "Bloody hell, they're going to ram us," he whispered.

"Come again, Captain?" he first mate asked, curious. Amsel grabbed the intercom and flipped the plastic cover off the general alarm switch, turning it hastily.

"All crew, general quarters, general quarters--man your battlestations," he bellowed, pointing next at the helmsman and throwing the intercom microphone aside. "Helmsmen, back emergency!"

"Aye aye, Captain, back emergency!" the man replied, pulling backwards on the throttle and stopping the ship almost immediately, jolting the men forward. The propellers began turning in the opposite direction, as fast as they possibly could--faster, in fact--a back emergency order was never sustainable, and would likely cause major damage to the engines. Despite the crew's best efforts, the much larger trawler plowed into the patrol vessel, crushing its bow and sending it on a sure course to the bottom of the ocean.

1:30 PM, BMS Tirpitz
On the scene

Captain Ackermann of the BMS Tirpitz watched in disbelief and horror as the Sleipner slipped beneath the waves, two yellow rubber rafts taking the vessel's place. Ackermann's second-in-command was much less composed, and immediately demanded a firing solution be plotted.

"Agreed, Commander," Ackermann replied to the request. "Gunnery command, plot a firing solution and destroy that ship, now. Radio a distress signal for the Sleipner and instruct its constituent ships to pick up the survivors." There was no mistaking it now--the whaling situation had just reached its boiling point.

1:31 PM, MS Danny Haige
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica

At first the juddering snap and metallic screaming as the smaller vessel was destroyed beneath the Danny Haige felt good to Kal, needless to say it diddn't take long to notice that something was horribly wrong. She was getting sluggish, and becoming heavier at the bow. A startled voive came up the intercom from the for' cutting room. "Skipper we are holed below the water line! There is a six foot square patch of steel sheeting missing. It's been torn clean off by the bow of the other ship, We have about two minutes until we are joining it sir."

Kal swore long and hard, and then a little longer he quickly got on the radio and said to the Rain "Get out of here with that whale! They won't keep us here for long." And with that he swiftly vhanged frequencies to the Whiskeasin Naval monitored one for distressed vessels. "This is the skipper of the MS Danny Haige we are sinking fast and are surrounded by hostile shipping. I say again we are holed below the waterline and are sinking fast. Hostile shipping is preparing to take us." He then sounded the abandon ship, he had a perfectly good alibi. In his effort to maneouvre round the MS Rain and turn around he had collided with the Leistungi vessel. They wouldn't hold him for long, not if the navy had any say in it.

His men made their way to the lifeboats around the ship. It was relatively well kitted out, Kal had been sued for inadequate safety equipment three months ago and had bought new boats and survival gear. He didn't want to, it was just better than prison. Now prison looked like a possibility, he hoped the damn navy arse holes were on the ball.

1:32 PM, WRS Virgil
Leistungi Mednordian Sea, Mediterranica
25Km from Incident Zone
The Type 23 Frigate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_23_frigate) WRS Virgil picked up the distress call. With all due hate the ship changed course. When a Whiskeasian or any vessel required help, it was their duty to help. And help they would. It's reinforced nose cut through the slush on the top of the water. It's sleek grey body had quite a similar colour to that of the whales that where hunted. But this was a killer as well as a saviour, it was also the biggest baddest ship for a few miles.

ooc: I don't care which ship actually.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii290/Twilight201/seal.gif
Communiqué Royale Officielle

To: Leistungi Ministry of Foreign Affairs
From: Ponentean Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We do not care if Leistung wishes to reinstate whaling, hunt them as much as you'd like. However, this recent expansion has us greatly alarmed. Leistung has no right to lay claim the northern wastes and then declare their waters it's sole economic zone. The waters of the Mednordian Sea outside of Grestonian waters must be open for the benefit of all Mediterranica. We demand it. However, feel free to exclude all the outerregional barbarians to your heart's content.

Jean-Pierre Savoie
Grand Duke Jean-Pierre Savoie
Foreign Minister