SD.Net World(RAR!) MK IV

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

1st Sultanate Provisional Council Meeting Begins

Religious leaders, and elders of various Sultanate locations have been invited to the 1st Sultanate Provisional Council Meeting, held by His Highness Sultan Ibrahim. The purpose of the Meeting is to establish a provisional constitution of the nation, as well as make decisions on various affairs.

According to insiders, it is expected that issues on religious freedom and women rights will be the most heated topics. Also the punishment of "legging", which has been endorsed by the Sultan himself, may or may not be discussed.

[DarthShady]

Imperial Chronicles

The An-225 landed and the Emperor and his entourage walked together with their Varangian Guard escorts towards the delegation from the Shadow Empire that walked up to meet them. The Emperor smiled and embraced the God Emperor Shady. "Hello Brother. I see that you are well. This is the Empress Lycra and my chief adviser Callisto."

God Emperor Shady smiled. "My greetings to you Brother. Welcome, Empress to my humble nation." He kissed the Empress' hand, and the Empress smiled.

"It is a pleasure to have you as my guests."-Shady said, "I hope you will enjoy your visit."

Shady was surprised at how beautiful the Empress was, "The Emperor is a lucky man."-he thought to him self.

"My people have prepared a delicious dinner for us, we should not let it go to waste."-Shady said as the small group of people moved towards their vehicles.

[[OOC: My muse has left me... we shall continue this tomorrow.]]

[The Yosemite Bear]

HUEG fireworks in Alexandria.

as a result of some mis communication, a few assassinations, and some bribes a strange attack erupted this morning in Alexandria, Tonkin fighters aircraft began targetting Protec and Iron Guard camps for ground attack after recieving an orders from an executive who was later found to have committed scuicide shortly after issuing said orders, A Protec executive was found dead in an Alexandrian Bathhouse, cause of death shell fish reaction, plus sauna steam, his bodyguard however discovered that his finger used for biometric pass codes, as well as his laptop were missing. It was later discovered that two other unknown Idhopol Citizens were found dead from knife wounds and a broken neck in the same bathhouse.

Other cases, a number of Tonkin regular pilots were grounded as a result of nitrogen poisoning that they somehow acquired during a new years party. their air craft were shelled by Iron Guard artillery batteries in an apparent retaliation for the earlier attacks. Just who is responsible is unknown.
-Steve Miller for Ferret News


Elsewhere Anton was loosing a lot of blood, the two trained killers had hurt him, but since pleasure and pain were the same to him, he still had been able to break in an bypass the security systems of the Protec executive's laptop, and set up his own sabotage. With the current level of Fratracide he had arranged he would be that much closer to committing his own more personal act of "Fratracide", in the most literial sense. Until his betrayal, he had after all been his half-uncle's most faithful servant.




Othernews: Bear Republic of Californication prepares for summit.

Offering a nice mountain retreat, spa, and other hospitalities, as well as a wonderful gambling and vice centers nearby the Republic prepares to welcome FUN, MESS, UAR, and other delegates. Security has been on the rise, as no one wants repeats of Neutrality Point, or Atlantis.

[WesFox13]

Nova Seattlum
Wesley had watched the new years celebrations on his TV, while hearing about the dinosaurs at Zalbania. He regarded it as an intresting curiosity but felt that getting the DNA was a collassal waste of time and resources. He just relaxed, wondering what the new year would bring to Nova Terra.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

The Ashford Times

EXTRAVAGANT NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATIONS ALL OVER LANGLEY
Large airshow held at Fenette AFB

FENETTE AFB - For the first time in years, what could be deemed as "normal" New Year's Day celebrations were finally held in the Duchy of Langley. As fireworks lit the skies over the cities, party-goers took to the streets in great force, leaving trails of confetti and empty beer cans and bottles behind them as they tried to spread joy and merriment to their fellow citizens.

The true highlight of the festivities, however, was a day-long airshow held at Fenette Air Force Base, which started promptly at dawn and lasted until well after dusk. The best the Langley Air Force had to offer, ranging from Yakovlev Yak-130 trainers to F-16 Fighting Falcon and HAL Tejas fighters, performed all sorts of aerobatic feats; the crowning moment of the exhibition was an extremely elaborate mock dogfight and bombing run choreographed to the songs "Sorairo Days" by Shoko Nakagawa and "Sakura" by Nirgilis.

[Zor]

MINERVA

Small Arms Improvement project announced!

Industria: Upon Reveiw, his majesty's government has decided that it is time to update the weaponry of the Zorian Infantryman. The Venerable C7, despite serving it's nation well as the standard Service Rifle of the Zorian Armed has been decided to be replaced, or at least supplemented with a more up to date weapon. "We face considerable threats from both established super powers and those of a far more unusual nature in this day and age." Marine Corps Legate Adria Hitachi told press, "We need an improvement."

Taking a page from the Bear Republic, the Royal Zorian Arms Factory has begun research into Gyrojet Technology. Prototypes are in development with tests expected to begin in a few months.

Marine Terror now on display, Land of the Leviathan opens

Ten Kilometers outside New Winnipeg: In a collaboration between the Hirohito institute and Navy Banner Theme Parks, a new state of the art attraction lets audiances come face to Face with the Deadliest amphibious Predators on the planet.

Dozens of Leviathans and Noctodiles bred from captured pups have been brought in and put in two pens with both land and sea sections for the respective species. Two Dozen of each were placed in each pen and given ample food. Numerous saftey defenses, including a heacy plexiglass pens rated against the creatures and police security forces armed with automatic shotgun and flamethrower to deal with any breakout. Already, the facillity has seen more than ten thousand visitors and is Expected to become a major tourist attraction.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

Government issues contracts to Constantinople Shipyards

As part of the defence budget this year, the government has ordered another 5 F-100 frigates. The Government has also ordered 5 new Aegean (Virginia analog) class submarines and 4 new Black Sea submarines (Scorpene Analogs) to be constructed between this year and next year, and 1 experimental defence platform. The Government has also ordered that all frigates and destroyers will receive minesweeping probes (similar to the system on the Visby boats). Constantinople Shipyards is said to be studying a new Diesel submarine design which they will propose to the Government come end of the year.

The defence platform is said to come with a 100+ MW nuclear (upper limit classified) and a complete Aegis defence system (with a missile load equal or exceeding a Ticonderonga vessel), with provision to house a laser defence system and RAM defence systems and perhaps a railgun system. The platform is expected to be deployed near Constantinople to defend the city against attack. The platform can preposition itself with its propulsion system (rated 10 knots) or prepositioned by tugboats or a heavy lift vessel. The platform has a small manning, largely to maintain the shipboard systems. The platform will be largely controlled from the shore.

[PeZook]

FASTA bulletin

LOR-1 launches without problem

In a spectacular night-time launch, the Canissian-made LOR-1 probe has been lifted to Low Terra Orbit with a Proton-M rocket. The Terra Departure Stage engine lit up as planned on 00:00:12, January 11th, propelling the lightweight satellite towards the moon of Selene. Even now, the device is transferring data about the gravitational forces present in our three-moon system, allowing scientists and engineers to construct better models for transfer between the lunar bodies.


The Proton-M launch vehicle lifts the probe from Korolev Spaceport

The probe will enter lunar orbit on January 15, and will begin sending the first radar pictures of the surface on January 25.

Selene 1B capsule delivered to Korolev

The Selene 1B Soyuz capsule has been delivered to Korolev. The spacecraft will now undergo quality assurance testing and mating of the relevant parts.


Cutaway of an early Selene-configuration Soyuz TMA

Selene 1B will be the first FASTA mission to incorporate a Soyuz utility module, the third component of the capsule, which acts like an airlock and contains scientific instruments (in this case, photo cameras) and the lavatory for use by astronauts.

Selene 1B will fly with a two-person crew. A three-person launch is planned for Selene 3.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astoria Daily Rag, editorial

So...when will our beloved government tell us about the radiation belts surrounding our fair planet?

Nova Terra is surrounded by belts of nasty, deadly radiation. The intensity of this inferno is such that no human can hope to survive even the briefest exposure to it, and proper shielding would require more than half a meter of lead.

So why are we being lied to? Why does PeZookia spend so much money on a manned space program which is doomed to fail? Why do we never hear about such major obstacles?

We, the people of PeZookia, should start asking those questions, and fast. Because something is amiss, and if we do not act fast, God knows what we will learn about the space program.

Astoria Daily Rag Chief Editor,

Chief Boombastic

[Lonestar]

Austin Republican
NMCB-1 to depart West Neverhood by June.
After an extended deployment to West Neverhood, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 will depart New Haifa by June of this year, a Trigon spokesperson said. The 3rd Combat Engineer battalion from the 1st infantry Division will rotate in in late April for a month of "turnover".

The West Neverhood mission has been heavily criticized for it's open-ended commitment, but as Chief of Staff Karl said:

"We have very defined missions in West Neverhood. The training of the WNNP and building of infastructure are our primary concerns, and the force structure in place reflect that. I also note that our commitment compared to other MESS nations is relatively small and specialized, so I'm not sure what the complaints are about."

Out of the Desert, the Tokamak MK 2 rises
Work continues in the Midland Missile Range on the Tokamak MK2, a greatly improved version of the Tokamak built under the MESS-wide FIRE project.

"The Tokamak MK2 will allow us to expand our experiments beyond any currently being performed on the planet." Secretary of Energy Ian McDermott said. "We hope to very nearly reach the break-even point with this Tokamak."

Subway expansion continues in Dallas-Fort Worth Area, Austin. Plans for Houston and San Antonio subways announced.
The DART is an icon of mass transit in the DFW Metroplex, but it's getting a make over from a primarily surface rail line to a subway system. The conversion will allow more open space on the surface and provide for shelters in case of an emergency.

Critics complain that the sprawl and large number of POVs in most LSR cities make subways impractical. The plans for subway expansions come a day after the LSR government issued new rules stating that construction of new public buildings will include requirements for the surface part of the structures to have extra hardening "in case of an emergency". The hardening would be in addition to the requirements of underground shelters.

Said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban after he found out that this would once again delay construction on the Dallas Mavericks-o-dome:

"ARRGGGH! FUCKERS!"

[phongn]

Alexandria, 40000 ft over Commune 1A3

The exercise ended being simplicity itself. The utter lack of military radars in all of the former Terra Libertia (save for Alexandria itself) ensured that nobody could positively identify the aircraft now squawking commercial transponders over the region. Each commune had been painstakingly reconnoitered from the air at all hours. Targets were identified and despite the continued insistence of Gen. Alexander to act "now," the strike fighters took their time to properly determine their targets.

But, finally, the time was "now." Precision-guided weapons began raining over communes, devastating strong points thought invincible against attack. Air-defense emplacements - mostly light AA and MANPADS - intended to defend against Alexander's light COIN aircraft were impotent and smashed. Bunkers were destroyed, fuel facilities eradicated: in short, Commune 1A3's defenses were annihilated in short order. General Alexander could now seize it with quite reasonable losses.

Commune 2F6 was next on the list.

Iron General Airbase

The fighters were used, that was true. Refurbished, yes, new avionics and weapons systems, yes. But the airframes were older and had no place in a first-world military as a front-light multirole fighter. That was no problem, for this was Alexandria, and the AT-38D multirole fighters represented the state of the art. Armed with cheap air-to-air missiles, rocket pods and bombs, it was nevertheless fast enough to evade most of the insurgents' air-defenses.

Gen. Alexander's best pilots were being trained, but not quickly enough. "Volunteer" pilots were instead flying combat sorties against drug runners and other insurgents. These fighters - flown by capable pilots - proved too much for their foes, which quickly went to ground. And these fighters provided the first real close-air support to the Iron General's forces.

These were complemented by EC-130V AEW&C aircraft. Before, the drug runners could hide from patchy radar systems by flying low or where coverage was poor. No longer; the airborne early warning birds were making such runs extremely dangerous.

[Sea Skimmer]

MGM-191C Crash Site, Zablania

The crash of the atomic ramjet Land Attack Missile had strewn heavy debris over a five hundred meter radius, with intensive hot spots detected out to a further three kilometers and significant contamination beyond that. Hundreds of pounds of very live nuclear fuel and thousands of pounds of radioactive airframe lay in a crater at the very center, and it was around away from this point that Saddamistan engineers began to bulldoze material.

The Saddam Super Dozer Model 9 was a 200 ton earth scraping machine, over forty feet long, sixteen feet long and with a blade that could push one hundred fifty cubic yards of material. While currently unarmored and intended for mining and construction, Saddamistan had already begun work on a purely military version.

especially insane days, combat engineering. Radioactive cleanup was simply a logical extension of the duties of this, the first land mobile product of Saddamistan efforts to develop nuclear reactor technology. The dozer was propelled by a pair of 800hp eclectic motors, in turn powered by a steam turbine running off a 50 megawatt thermal output pressurized water reactor with duel coolant loops. The electric motors provided tremendous inital torque, far more then even a diesel engine of similar output, and allowed the dozer to scrap away the topsoil around the crash site with trival ease.

But it was dry in Zablania, it had been dry for quite some time, and as the Super Dozers began to rip through the air, dust began to rise in the air. More and more of it was churned up as thousands of tons of contaminated soil was piled together in preparation for removal, and slowly a vast low level radioactive cloud began to blow away across the land… and out over the sea to the north towards Pezookia.

“Shall we stop,” asked one bulldozer driver over the radio, he could barely see past the dust out his tiny leaded glass windows.
“We have a schedule to meet or it’s our heads,” replied a Captain of the engineers five miles away inside a lead lined truck. “If the wind starts shifts south towards home we stop, until then keep bulldozing!”

[Shroom Man 777]

Zablania

With the radioactive dust filling the air, no one noticed that the sun was being blocked out by something... something big in the sky.

Clouds. Rain clouds.

It began to rain.


[OOC: Work might be harder with the rains... but hey, Mother Nature loves PeZookia.]

[DarthShady]

Location: Shadow Empire, Imperial Beach Resort

Emperor Shady and his guests arrived at the resort just in time to witness a beautiful sunset.

"The beauty of this world amazes me sometimes."-Shady said, "I doubt one could see a sunset this beautiful back home. Do you ever miss it?"

The table was set on a small terrace. A refreshing breeze was hitting Shady's face and he was enjoying it. So were his guests as far as he could see.

"So friend, what news do you bring from PeZookia? I hear there was an informal meeting of sorts held there."-Shady asked.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Location: Shadow Empire, Imperial Beach Resort

Emperor Shady and his guests arrived at the resort just in time to witness a beautiful sunset.

"The beauty of this world amazes me sometimes."-Shady said, "I doubt one could see a sunset this beautiful back home. Do you ever miss it?"

The table was set on a small terrace. A refreshing breeze was hitting Shady's face and he was enjoying it. So were his guests as far as he could see.

"So friend, what news do you bring from PeZookia? I hear there was an informal meeting of sorts held there."-Shady asked.

"Well, King Paul does well. Most of the discussions were pertaining to possible agreements between FUN and MESS, of which I was generally supportive. MESS and FUN should work closely together, though admittedly some of us have their own .. ideas. Otherwise, it was an interesting trip, especially the trip to the university.

So how are things especially after that uprising. I'm interested to know a bit more about what goes on."

[Shroom Man 777]

TRANSMISSION FROM QUDLIVUN FREE STATE SHIP (QFSS) ASTARTE TO ALL CENTRAL SEA NATIONS

Message reads:

WARNING REGARDING SADDAMISTANI CLEANUP OF ZABLANIA. Stop. MAY BE CAUSING FORMATION OF IRRADIATED DUST CLOUDS. Stop. IRRADIATED DUST CLOUDS MAY BE BLOWN BY PREVAILING WINDS NORTHWARDS TO PEZOOKIA AND OTHER NATIONS. Stop. RECOMMEND RADIOLOGICAL ALERTS AND PROTECTIVE MEASURES. Stop.

QFSS ASTARTE IS CURRENTLY CONDUCTING SCIENTIFIC MISSION IN THE CENTRAL SEA WITH MSDF OUTER GROUP. Stop. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SITUATION. Stop.

Message ends

[Coyote]

Canissian Parliament


"The Sovereignty of Shroomania wants to join in our THEL program," the Foreign Minister said, "What say we?"
"I say yes," Defense Minister Ral Tenn said, "More orders will help defray costs, after all," he said with a nod towards the Finance Minister, Erma Felna. She also agreed, for the reason stated.

"I'm not so sure, myself," the Foreign Minister, Ren Lars, said, "We really haven't determined what our status is, with regards to the FUN as a whole. The FUN is made up of some former OMSK states, albeit ones we have good relations with; but are we allies? Should we share this kind of technology?"

"I don't see why not," Trade Minister Rayzha Rumaclin spoke up, "It's not as if laser technology is a secret, they'll have it within months if they want. And who is it going to be used against? The FUN would not take on the MESS, not only would they be outmatched but there's just no practical reason. Let's face it, we may not be formal allies, but we do have the same concerns-- the UAR."

"Precisely," FM Lars countered, "If we share this technology with the FUN, will this be interpreted by the UAR as the forming of a super-power bloc against them?"

"If we so much as trade bubble-gum cards with the FUN, they'll see it as a bloc against them," DM Ral Tenn said, rolling his eyes, "The THEL is a defensive strategic weapon. It's not mobile. We can't take it to their border and attack them. It's kill range is, what, 5 kilometers? Well within international maritime limits. To see this as an offensive weapon against them would be rediculous."

"But like you said," Erma Felna spoke up, "Since they'll see it that way regardless, who cares? Anythign that makes missiles potentially obsolete is good by me."

"Well, Shepnukistan's new ramjet missile moves so fast they could, potentially, overrun THEL emplacements," FM Lars said, "Right now there doesn't seem to be much push by them to build a lot of them, but if we expand THEL coverage..."

"But they've already attacked precisely because we had weak air defenses!" DM Tenn argued, "Now you're trying to argue that they'll attack if we have too of strong air defenses! We have to do something!"

"We are doing something," the Foreign Minister said with a sigh, "We're defending ourselves and any MESS nation that asks to come along, which is expected due to our emplaced treaties. Expanding it to the FUN will be seen as an aggressive move that will spark an arms race."

"Possibly spark an arms race," DM Tenn corrected, "They may not even care, actually. We're speculating."

"Besides, let them blow more money on missiles and crap," Finance Minister Felna said with a dismissive hand wave, "Theirs to waste. Their combined GDPs are a shadow of the MESS alone, much less FUN. Let's cut our own costs by sharing the THEL, and if the UAR decides to make stink about it, let them. They're going to gripe about something anyway, may as well gripe about something comprehensible instead of made-up rhetoric."

"The King is sensitive about making good overtures to Saddamistan," Foreign Minister Lars said, "And he wants to keep things calm with Shep so that a final status agreement with the Neverhood can be reached."

"The THEL agreement won't hinder that," Felna argued, "Like the Defense Minister said, the maximum range on this is less than half the existing territorial boundaries on the sea. It's like the UAR being upset for the Army having a firing range in the middle of Scorpia Province. There's nothing we can do about it if they want to be that sensitive." It was, many in the Parliament felt, apersuasive argument. Defense Minister Tenn was pleasantly surprised to find a political ally of sorts in the Ministry of Trade and Finance, but then Felna was from Tauron Province and a member of the National Party, like him.

Finally, the vote was called, and THEL was to be shared with Shroomania.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

New laser test conducted against dummy ramjet missile

Kontos Munitions, together with the Imperial Byzantine Defence Research Agency (IBDRA) conducted another live test of the Byzantine THEL. To focus the laser beam, a parabolic mirror was used. This parabolic mirror is similar to the latest telescope mirrors in which it is constructed of many sections, each manipulated with Piezos. This allows the beam to be focused from as far as a kilometer to 50 meters. The beam output was approximately 100 KW. A test was done with a dummy ramjet missile which was manufactured under a license from Red Technocracy. The continuous wave laser managed to destroy the missile at a focus of 100m, well short within the desired ~1km. More work will be done to increase the focusing speed such that the missile can be destroyed at a distance of 1km. Work on these lasers will be shared with Cannissia.

[DarthShady]

"Well, King Paul does well. Most of the discussions were pertaining to possible agreements between FUN and MESS, of which I was generally supportive. MESS and FUN should work closely together, though admittedly some of us have their own .. ideas. Otherwise, it was an interesting trip, especially the trip to the university.

So how are things especially after that uprising. I'm interested to know a bit more about what goes on."

Unreal Time

"Well this is good news indeed, I personally support the cooperation with the MESS."-Shady said, "I know how much they have helped me.

As for the Uprising, well...things are getting better. The Empire is recovering fast, thanks to international help, especially from our RT comrades. My new army is a lot better trained and completely loyal to me. I have the MESS to thank for that, especially the Shinra Republic. They helped me in training my new officers and rebuilding my Air Force.

Life continues, it's not easy but my people work hard and I work even harder to do what is best for them.

But tell me brother what do you mean by 'own .. ideas', are you perhaps referring to Coilburg and their little stunt?"

[PeZook]

Miranda, SANEPID air monitoring station C

Janusz Bryc yawned heavily. He spent the entire night playing "GOREFEST ULTRA NEKKID CHICKS 2000" on his brand new Degenatron. He bought it last year during his trip to Shroomania, and it proved a welcome distraction from the everyday drudgery of his internship at the monitoring station.

As was usual in the morning, he fired up his PC and started going through snail-mail. Most of it was junk or various reports his boss ordered after that nuclear incident on Zablania. It was determined there was no actual threat of radiological contamination, so...

"The hell?", he said to himself after seeing an e-mail marked 'very urgent' in his inbox - and from Astoria, no less. He read it, incredulously.

"No fucking way!"

Bryc got up from his chair, knocking over his coffee. He took off, running towards the on-site laboratory.

"Hey, Grzes! Wait up!", he caught up with his colleague in the corridor

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Do you have radiological reading from this morning's batch of samples?"

"No, they're being processed right now. Why?"

"I just got an e-mail from Astoria...the Saddamistanis have kicked up a cloud of radioactive dust during their cleanup, and they don't give a shit about it.", Bryc was trying to catch his breath.

"No way!"

"What, you're surprised?"

"Not really,no. I'll make sure to hand you the results as soon as we're done with the samples."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All TV and radio programming in PeZookia has been interrupted shortly thereafter ; E-mails and SMS messages were sent to every account registered in the country. They all contained the same message.

"This is a general radiological warning. Due to increased radioactivity levels, citizens of the Amelia, Miranda and Paradiso Voyvodships are instructed to remain indoors and take their government-issued iodine pills in the precribed doses. Schools and workplaces are to remain closed untill further notice."

All throughout the south-eastern parts of the island, trucks painted orange and marked with Civil Defence insignia darted from spot to spot, taking radioactivity measurements and air samples. Panic was slowly starting to breed in PeZookia, especially after the sea deposited nearly two dozen dead seagulls on the beaches of Paradiso.

[Coyote]

Seaside Palace, Canissia

King Arik Coyotus-I of the People's Republic of Canissia sighed at the report from Astoria. The contamination alert didn't affect him or his people, not directly, but it was part of the casual disregard for contamination that the UAR displayed that was frustrating.

But then, it wasn't like anyone in the world had agreed on a set of international standards for nuclear waste, or fuel, or use. Even I was thinking of just dumping waste on Zablania, with no real regard for the consequences, he admitted to himself.

It was time for a conference call.


He got in more formal attire, and called MESS and FUN leaders on the line for a videoconference.

"You all remember, little over a year ago, that container ship that sank, and the cloud of dead fish that resulted? That, on top of this, and that damn nuclear fucking rocket have made me realize that there are no international standards we've agreed to on this matter. Before we start pointing figers, maybe we should agree on what constitutes safe and agreeable nuclear use and disposal, and invite the UAR in on it too..."

Maybe it was, indeed, time for that meeting on Vulpesia after all...

[RogueIce]

Presidential Residence, Shinra Republic

He was looking over the plans for the THEL testing when he got word about the Saddamistani-caused radioactive cloud heading towards PeZookia. He was annoyed at the callous disregard the UAR apparently had for the rest of the world, even in the midst of their "cleanup" of Zablania.

They could have at least given us warning. Unless they somehow didn't realize what they're doing. But I doubt it...

Privately, he harbored doubts as to the "charity" of the UAR in the first place. Most likely what motivated them was recovering what remained of the nuclear reactor before anybody else could. Any 'cleanup' would be purely incidental. Hence the secret - and rapid - deployment.

Shaking his head, he decided on a course of action. Privately he signed a Statement of Understanding. All defensive technology by any one MESS nation would be, as a matter of course, shared by the others. Funds would be allocated amongst all member states as well. Thus, the defensive applications made by any one country would simply contribute to an alliance-wide comprehensive integrated defense system.

Which had long been the case anyway, but at least now it was on paper. He sent it to the other MESS leaders, confidant the approval process would be a mere formality. No public announcement would be made, however. New equipment would just...arrive and be deployed. Simple as that.

Offensive equipment would still be under normal protocols though. While the alliance would jointly fund projects, it was up to each member how many and of what type they chose to acquire. He was simply clearing the way for defensive units. And, hopefully, encouraging them all to work together on this. The IRT boasted of their integrated air defense network. With this, it was planned the MESS would make one too, but better.

And without all the bluster and posturing.

On the public side of his duties, he sent out worldwide his agreement to King Arik's proposal for a summit to discuss the handling of nuclear use and disposal, as well as adding in concern for general environmental effects. The IRT would probably squirm at the last bit, but so be it. He was a little annoyed with their rampant exploitation, anyway.

[Lonestar]

Presidential Palace, Austin
She may be a reporter for the opposition Lonestar thought, but at least she's easy on the eyes.



The reporter, from the Austin Filthy Liberal, was named Melissa Chalke.

"El Presidente, thank you for agreeing to the interview."

"The freedom of press is an important institution in our country." Lonestar said. Hmm...not bad...

"Of course." She gave a smile. "First off, there has been a lot of criticism of your space policy. Some say you are wasting billions of ROBs in the pursuit of worthless knowledge. What do you say to that?"

"Well, I'd say that first of all the knowledge we gain isn't useless, as it advances science, and science inevitably advances humanity. I would also say that we are hardly "wasting" money. The sole brand new technology the LSR has developed for space exploration was the nuclear saltwater rocket. Everything else is not technically impressive." Yup, good answer.

"What about the reproduction the LSR space program has with others?"

"Competition is good for advancement."

Melissa made a note.

"Going on to your Defense policy, when do you foresee the West Neverhood mission ending?"

Lonestar smiled. "When the job is done."

"You're saying it's an open-ended commitment?"

"I'm saying that it would be irresponsible for me to set a date on an undertaking like this."

"You are shrinking the army..."

"Yes. Part of the force transformation to allow us to operate with a reasonably degree of success in the future."

"So, you are gutting the army to pay for a larger air force and navy?"

"I am changing the force structure of the DoD. The new force structure does not call for as large an army as the one we have."

"What kind of new force structure?"

"More advance naval and air systems, as well as air defense systems."

"You mean those large tracking stations we are building?"

"Yes..." Alarm bells started to go off in Lonestar's head.

"How about ICBMs?"

"The LSR has no ICBM system planned or deployed."

"At Lubbock Air Force base, were several large radars are in various stages of completion, there is a lot of digging going on. Supposedly you have two complete silos, and we have learned..."I bet you have, McFibblestein you fuck! Lonestar thought "That nuclear devices were fitted to the two missiles there."

Lonestar folded his arms.

"The LSR has no ICBM system planned or deployed."

"We've learned..."

"I swear, on my cat's life," Lonestar pointed at Mary, who lifted her head and gave a look of mild alarm, "that the LSR has no ICBM systems planned or deployed."

Melissa paused.

"Do you have an answer to the statement?"

"Ms. Chalke, I would consider a great personal favor if you dropped the subject and never bring it up again."

"What happened to Freedom of the Pr-"

Lonestar snatched the voice recorder out of her hands, ejected the SD card, then threw it against the wall as hard as he could.

"This interview is fucking over." He said as he stormed out.

[Beowulf]

Forbidden City Times

AT-45D production rate increased

Due to the large spate of orders, including a fresh batch from the Tian Xia government to equip two squadrons of the West Neverhood Armed Forces, Douglas has decided to increase production rates. Delivery schedules will remain identical to those already released, with the exception that Tian Xia will be delivered a plane every month. This change will take effect in Feburary.

Drake takes to the skies

The Drake ultra heavy space launcher was test launched yesterday. The test launch was a flawless success. Both stages were successfully recovered after splashdown, which occured at approximately 300 feet per second for the first stage. The payload was a propellant farm assembly, containing approximately 400 tons of cryogenic propellant. The spacecraft was serviced by the TXS Vindictive before launch.

Common Support Aircraft project begun

The Common Support Aircraft project aims to replace existing carrier based aircraft with set based on a common platform. The currently planned variants are an airborne early warning and control variant, an anti-submarine warfare variant, a inflight refueling tanker variant, and a carrier onboard delivery variant. It is projected that each variant will have at least a 70% commonality in parts with every other variant. This project is a MESS-wide project, being led by the Tian Xia Air Force.

Classified launches occur from Grissom SLC

Two launches occured at the Grissom Space Launch Center. The Tian Xia Air Force claims both were a success, though it has stated that only one reached orbit. It was put into a highly ellipitical and inclined orbit. It's unknown what the purpose of the launch is, considering that the orbit takes it over no part of the archipelago. The TXAF has refused all comment on the other launch.

Army reductions in force begin

The scheduled reduction in active duty forces has begun. The first regiment was transferred to the Army Reserve Command yesterday, in a resubordination ceremony. It is projected that the reduction will be completed by the end of the year.


---


Secure briefing room
Imperial Palace
Tian Xia

"What's the status of Mjolnir?"

"We changed the name, sir, after AvLeak published it. The first test launch occured yesterday. We'll have it analyzed in the next couple days, and be ready for system rollout in the next couple months."

"Good. And the HGVs?"

"Test also occured yesterday. HGVs successfully seperated, and travelled to the initiation points, at which point the self destruct charges blew the vehicles into pieces. We've reached the emergency operational capability stage now. Rail mobile launchers are being constructed as we speak."

[Raj Ahten]

Alexandria

With Tonkin's precision airstrikes, Alexander's campaign against the communes was proceeding very smoothly indeed. The pace of ground operations had also found a sustainable pace to bring final victory. Terrorist style attacks in the cities had become a minor problem, but the new police force (and the Iron Guard) had kept the rebels from doing anything besides pissing off the citizenry.

Alexander was very pleased that his air force now had aircraft, the headquarters and training centers were also fully functional. All he needed now was a navy.

Indhopal

The New Year was off to a somber start, with the news of the UAR's latest provocations. The fact that Indhopal's vote to enter FUN was dragging on and on didn't help everyone's disposition. A bright spot was the astronauts from several different nations now coming into Indhopal to train. The FASTA program was a great counterpoint to the UAR's provocative unilateralism.

Unnoticed by most, a small team of investigators from Pezookia were flown into the country. They were to work with the Federal Police on the case of the student who had been stockpiling weapons and apparently planning attacks on infrastructure targets in Pezookia. The accused himself had said very little while in Pezookian custody.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Alexandria: The Teenaged girl was dirty and disheveled, she flagged down a new Police officer, who looked at the foreign girl with some degree of amazement.

"Listen, I was kidnapped, he said if my father did what he demanded he would let me go!"

not exactly sure what to do with the minor they took her to an off site interrogation facility, and didn't listen.


The information that M. Anton had purchased at the cost of his own blood, was more then sufficiant, for the task at hand. names of Protech client families, passwords, scheduals, schools, etc. drinking a liter and half of Orange juice in order to build up the lost blood, from his knife wounds, he looked down at his bandages, as things came together. over a hundred kidnappings of the children and dependants of the invaders. plus fuel trucks loaded with FAE bombs, set to detonate near corperate buildings. Looking down at the special watch he wore, curtesy of some friends in the smuggling and drug business. It looked like a fancy digital watch, should he die, the global messenging beep it emmitted would stop. Triggering a conflageration of destruction, his uncle's "heart" would be torn out in more then one sense.