SD.Net World(RAR!) MK IV

[PeZook]

(OOC: Sorry for the looooong delay...I've been visiting the biggest Gothic castle in Eastern Europe But I'm back now!)

Astoria Voyvodship Hospital

Paul walked into the patient's room where Jia was housed, startling Arik's SPS detail somewhat. He didn't get shot, thankfully, thanks to the fact the bodyguards were warned beforehand about important guests coming up.

"Hello! How are you guys doing? It's great to see you...I'm so glad that you're both okay."

He shook hands with Arik and kissed Jia's hand in an old-fashioned way. Jia was becoming increasingly irritated at the downright embarrasing attention everybody showed her - the doctors and nurses were polite, the doctors always said "Ma'am" and were quite considerate. Not normally a bad thing, but she was irritable - Jia felt fine, but they made her stay here anyway.

"I have spoken with the doctors on my way here, and they said they wanted to keep Miss Jia here overnight, to make sure she didn't get an infection during her stay in the jungle. If there's anything I can do, please let me know."

The Emperor has entered the room at this moment with the Empress, with an aide bearing saffron. The pleasant smell has filled the room the moment they entered.

"May I ask...where's Shroom? Wasn't he supposed to be here, too?", the Emperor asked, surprised - but not overly so. The Prime Minister was supremely unpredictable.

Jia pointed them to the TV, where a news segment showed an official Shroomanian limo parked in fron of a candy store.

"The hell?", Arik asked himself upon seeing that. An SPS bodygurd turned up the volume.

"The Prime Minister's motorcade has stopped in fron of the 'Chocolate World' candy store half an hour ago, and the diplomatic aides have been moving chocolates to all vehicles in the convoy - and random civilian cars - ever since. From what we could garner, all armored SUVs, the limo itself and the BOR van following the motorcade are now filled with chocolates of various kinds. The store manager has told us the Prime Minister has bought more than 5000$ worth of various candy."

"Uh...either he's completely lost his mind, or we better make some more room here.", Paul remarked, looking incredulously at the TV screen.

"Oh, by the way, Arik...Rufus is here at the hospital. He'll be here in a moment, since he stopped downstairs to visit my head of protocol, Kamila."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

"Well, I would say my "get-well" gift is more modest, but we figured some good saffron and other herbs might be a better bet," the Emperor who gave a smirk looking at the television. "Got to hand it to Shroom. Small is never big enough," he chuckled.

"How are you doing dear?" asked the Empress who rushed to the side of Miss Jia.

"Yes, indeed. How are you doing, m'lady," the Emperor kissed her hand. "I would say we need more than room. We probably need a refrigerator to make sure all that chocolate doesn't melt."

There was some light laughter.

[PeZook]

Astoria Voyvodship Hospital

(OOC: I've edited the dialogue a bit. "Hey, where's Shroom?" didn't sound like Emperor Heraclius at all )

"I actually have an idea. There's a rather sizeable children's wing here...a lot of kids with various diseases, scared and lonely. I think some choolates would really brighten their day."

[Shroom Man 777]

Astoria Voyvodship Hospital

The Prime Minister arrived.

With the chocolate.

He came in and greeted King Arik and Miss Jia, expressed how happy he was both had made it out of that lost world alive - giving Arik a bear hug for being such a bad ass, and politely kissing Miss Jia's hand.

Then he declared:

"Behold, I come bearing gifts!"

On cue, Alison entered with a gift bag of outrageously-priced chocolates and behind her came Shroomanian Secret Service men (and women) carrying unquantifiable amounts of sweet sugary delights. They weren't dour-faced SSS men, no - they were the elite, the best of the best.

They entered the hospital room like a bunch of merry Oompa Loompas.

Despite getting early-warning from the TV, Miss Jia and her visitors were still stunned. None of them even dared to ask if it was coming straight out of the pockets of Shroomanian taxpayers, but if they had, Shroom would've told them that it wasn't. Shroomania gave its Prime Ministers a modest allowance, and since the government paid for Shroom's food, housing, and transportation, he really didn't have anything to waste his money on. Thus, whenever there was an occasion... well, it was going to be a feast of chocolates!

"Thank you.... all of you," Miss Jia finally managed to say (after the SSS men all bowed as one and vacated the room).

"There's more where that came from," Shroom said helpfully.

"But I don't know what to do with all of this."

"I would say we need more than room. We probably need a refrigerator to make sure all that chocolate doesn't melt," Emperor Heraclius observed.

King Paul had a cunning plan: "I actually have an idea. There's a rather sizeable children's wing here...a lot of kids with various diseases, scared and lonely. I think some chocolates would really brighten their day."

"Hey, that's totally cool. I mean, sure, we'd have to keep all of this away from the diabetics, but it would be so nice. The patients and the hospital staff won't see it coming, it would boost... uhh.... troop morale!" Shroom beamed. He did work in a hospital once, as a student, and if world leaders had suddenly decided to give everyone free candies when he was on duty, it would've been totally awesome.

[PeZook]

Astoria Voyvodship Hospital

Shroom's entry with the outrageous amount of chocolates had brightened up everybody's day. Just as Shroom predicted, the hospital staff never saw it coming - and since it was chocolate, everyone was happy.

There was a lot of media hooplah, too - which was to be expected. As Shroom and his staff journeyed through the corridors, handing boxes of chocolates and other sweets to staff and patients, under the frantic direction of one of the doctors, accredited journalists followed them, taking snapshots.

This man can really bring a smile to people's faces, Paul though, as he saw Shroom handing a HEUGE box of lemon jellies to a sick girl. The box was probably twice as big as the girl, but her gigantic smile told everything that needed to be told. As she stuffed her face full of delicious jellies and shared with other kids from her ward, she suddendly raised her arms high and said, out of the blue:

"I wanna be an astronaut when I grow up!"

Everybody laughed when they heard that. But Paul looked at his watch.

"Jesus, it's 20.00! Somebody turn a TV on, now!", he shouted suddendly

Startled, a nurse grabbed a remote and flicked on a TV in the children's ward. She cycled through the stations, untill everyone gathered saw it.



A Soyuz booster on its launch pad.

"It's December 1st, people. Selene 1A-bis is about to launch.", the King announced. Everybody's eyes went to the TV - and especially the little wannabe astronaut's. In the TV, a calm voice commented.

LIVE on ShroomSat TV

"We are here at Korolev spaceport, anaxiously awaiting the launch of a Selene spacecraft - the first after a catastrophe which destroyed the pad and the spacecraft during the last attempt. I can see the big mission clock here counting down the seconds...as you know, the spaceship will carry a chimpanzee, named - curiously enough - Fajita, to Low Terra Orbit. The capsule will orbit Terra for four days, and land in Byzantium."

In the background, a booming voice could be heard, relayed through mighty megaphones:

"T minus forty seconds! All systems check out, we are go for launch!"

The booster could be barely seen in the background, but program directors kept switching to various remote cameras mounted everywhere around the rocket. In the hospital, complete silence fell in the children's ward.

"T minus twenty seconds! Fuel lines disconnected, final preflight check complete!"

"Fifteen...fourteen...thirteen...ignition sequence start..."

The rocket started spewing flame and dust...a mighty roar, dimmed somewhat by the TVs speakers but still impressive, filled the ward. The little girl's jaw dropped open, as she sat there, a lime jelly in her hand. Struggling to outdo the rocket, the launch controllers still counted down via megaphones.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One...liftoff! We have liftoff! The rocket has cleared the tower!"



With a mighty roar reminescent of thunder, and riding a collumn of flame, the Soyuz-2 booster lifted off from its launch pad, rapidly accelerating into the sky. The cameras followed it upwards. Paul was holding his thumbs, while the launch controllers commented on the flight.

"Mission clock is running...engines working within parameters..."

The rocket rapidly became a small point...suddendly, it seemed to have exploded, with traces of smoke separating from the main rocket body. The shocled gasp of the audience in Korolev could be clearly heard through the TV set. Then the launch controller eased everybody.

"Booster separation complete."

The view switched into the Comona Island mission control building, and the cameras pointed towards a clearly market trajectory of the rocket. Within minutes, it left Red Technocracy airspace. Stage by stage, the flight was traced by thousands of radars and tracking stations in the Archipelago.

"Staging...stage one separate...stage two ignition nominal...", the flight controllers seemed calm and collected, but tension was evident. Did they catch all bugs this time?, was the though of everyone involved.

"Staging...stage two separate...final stage ignition nominal..."

King Paul had to release his thumbs. They were starting to hurt.

"MECO! Orbital insertion burn complete. We have a stable orbit! Selene 1A-bis has reached a stable Low Terra Orbit!"

[RogueIce]

Astoria Voyvodship Hospital

President Shinra walked into the private room of Kamila Brzozowska, the King's Chief of Protocol. Agent Seng had now rejoined him, satisfied security was as tight as it could be. Given recent events around the world, it was doubtful the dutiful agent would be leaving his side anytime soon.

"How are you doing, Miss Brzozowska? Aside from the obvious," he added as he smiled.

"I'm doing as well as can be expected, Mister President," replied Kamila, a little taken aback. She hadn't even heard that President Shinra was in the country, let alone this hospital. "How was your flight? Will you be staying long? I'm sure the King will welcome you in the palace." Old habits died hard.

"I'm sure he'll be able to find a place for me. But don't worry about that now. Just get better."

"Yes sir," Kamila answered.

From outside, there was a small flurry of activity audible. Agent Seng touched his ear and got a report from the SIS man with the Canissian SPS. "Prime Minister Shroom has...arrived, Mister President." No more needed to be said. Nobody in the room knew quite what was going on, but if it involved the PM of Shroomania, they'd hear about it eventually.

"Well if you'll excuse me, it looks like I have to go. I hope to hear from King Paul that you're back on the job soon."

"Thank you for the visit, Mister President."

"The pleasure was mine," said the leader of the Shinra Republic as he and Agent Seng departed.

=========================

As Rufus walked into Miss Jia's room he glanced around and saw only Arik. He shook his friend's hand and went over to the lady in bed. He chose a decidedly unconventional way to greet her.

"So I hear your boy-toy here decided to play Rambo."

King Arik just rolled his eyes, and Jia gave a little smile. Well, at least he's not being sickenly polite, she thought.

[DarthShady]

Location: Somewhere over Syndromia

A black painted An-26 was flying through the night sky. It opened up and a man jumped out. The operation had begun. The pilots were happy with the fact that their part of the mission was over. A few moments later Col. John Matrix had landed, now it was time to kick ass. According to the intelligence reports the base shouldn't be to far away.

"Alright I'm moving in, don't break radio silence until they see me. "- he said.

"How will I know?"-asked Tanya.

"Because all fucking hell is going to break loose. "-he said with an evil smile on his face.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Location: Zablania

The forest was dense, the perfect place to set a trap.

"Alright boys, get ready that thing is coming"

"Yes, Sir."

Within seconds a giant T-REX appeared in front of them.



The creature had no idea it was walking straight into a trap.

"Fire!

The soldiers fired their Tranquilizer Rifles and the creature twitched. It started to swing its head rapidly and it managed to bring down a few trees. After a few moments the T-Rex stumbled and fell with a roar.

"Great work men, now prepare this thing for transport."

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

A few moments later, at the Imperial Base

"Report!-Commissar Haris spoke into his radio.

"It's done, we have the package. Second team has even managed to capture some raptors. "-A voice over the radio answered.

"Excellent, the Emperor will be pleased. Prepare the creatures for transport, we are leaving this shithole."

[Coyote]

Astoria Voyvodship Hospital
As Rufus walked into Miss Jia's room he glanced around and saw only Arik. He shook his friend's hand and went over to the lady in bed. He chose a decidedly unconventional way to greet her.

"So I hear your boy-toy here decided to play Rambo."

King Arik just rolled his eyes, and Jia gave a little smile. Well, at least he's not being sickenly polite, she thought.

"You're just jealous," Arik said, "You wanted to parachute down there yourself. Besides, everyone knows her boy toy is the guy that cleans the pool."

"Be damn glad I don't have a bedpan to throw at you," Jia said. Rufus laughed.
"Hmm, maybe I'm not missing out on the whole family thing after all," he said.
"Are you kidding?" Arik said, "I'm jealous-- do you have any idea how many times in one night I'm told to take out the trash?" They shared a laugh at that, even though Jia gave him such a glare.

"Seriosuly, I'd like to say thanks to all you guys, for all the concern and gifts," Arik said. Rufus looked around at the lavishly-stocked room. Something smells damn good, he thought. Not that usual hospital antiseptic smell.

"Where'd everyone else go?" he asked.
"Children's ward," Arik said with a smile, "Shroom brought a half-ton of chocolates... some of which we kept--"
"Dibs on the caramels," Jia said, raising her hand eagerly.
"--and they decided to share the rest with some of the kids."

"Cool," Rufus admitted. He noticed the TV was on, with the volume down. It looked like a rocket going up. "Hey, did they launch that thing?"
"A few minutes ago," Arik said, "They've been re-playing that image a couple times now; the actual ship is up. With the little chimp in it."

"Man, we're going for the gold ring now, aren't we?" the Shinra Republic leader asked. Ark smiled and nodded.
"Yes, we are. My folks are already working on a design for an inter-lunar shuttle and lander. Something to tool around in among each of the three moons."

"Feels good to get things underway."
"Feels good to have some peace and quiet again," Arik said, looking back at Jia, "Barring extremists."

"What's up with Zablania now?" Rufus asked, "Anything going to be done about the dinosaurs?"
"I say we make the whole thing a big nature reserve," Arik suggested, "A Jurassic Park. I was going to make a proposal at the next international meeting, but we need to find a place to hold something like that." The words reminded Rufus of the way things went at Atlantis-- which, in turn, reminded him of the awkward situation in Shepnukistan and Saddamistan.

"You know, we have a lot of things simmering on the back of the stove," Rufus said, "Things that could boil over if we forget about them."

"Yeah," Arik said, "Let's enjoy the minor respite while we can..."

[PeZook]

Astoria Voyvodship Hospital

Paul shook hands and smiled, laughed and patted backs. The launch was succesful, and so the first baby step to Selene has been made. It was brilliant...and, of course, there was a lot of chocolate - which made everything better.

They went back to Miss Jia's room after a while, and met Rufus there.

"Well, hello there! How was your flight?"

"You know, people keep asking me that question", the President said, shaking Paul's hand, "It's good to see you again. I've heard about the launch - congratulations!"

"Thanks! Man, the engineers all around the FASTA countries are probably damn pleased with themselves today."

"Think about how pleased they're gonna be in two years."

Paul grinned, "I've got a bottle of some damn good champagne stashed just for this occasion. Anyway, this is turning into a sort of informal summit...I guess it's as good an opportunity as any to discuss some official matters, don't you think?"

[The Yosemite Bear]

Naturalists find link between Zalbanian "Raptors" and "Libertopian Fighting Birds" It appears that the ostrich like flightless birds with nasty spured claws for high running speed traction and fighting, are descendant from Raptors. More on this later.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

Setting up the landing point on Zablania required careful planning. First an An-22P razed a section of the forest down, then it hovered over the area looking out for signs of trouble. The 4 An-22s landed and dropped off 2 Loara for air defence, and then the equipment and trailers were offloaded. A Special Forces Captain and and his lieutenant who was his second in command supervised the offloading procedures. The Humvees carrying the experimental weapons were immediately put into use for perimeter defence, while the UCAVs and the terminals were set up. The Captain wasn't taking any chances, especially after the briefing given. His men were tense and looked out for any signs of danger.

[PeZook]

Astoria, Royal Palace

Ten o'clock wasn't a good time for a full-fledged dinner, but it was just fine for some wine or tea, cookies and a quiet evening in the Royal Gardens. It was December, but the tropical climate made the evening pretty warm.

They were all there, sitting around a small table, sipping their beverages of choice and listening to the swooshing palm trees. Even the Queen was there, flown in from Paradiso Island Airbase, where she was evacuated after the attacks. Only Arik opted to stay at the hospital, but he promised to come over for breakfast with Jia.

Paul was a bit absent-minded, though, staring at the sky, trying to tell which particular dot was the Selene spaceship. Other leaders (Shroom, especially) jumped at the chance to do the "Earth to Paul" schtick a couple of times.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Rufus mentioned the trade agreement, right? What exactly did you have in mind?"

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

"I think we should formalise a proper free trade agreement with FUN. Thus far, I believe I am the only one who has signed an FTA with FUN as a whole. You would have my full support for that agreement," said the Emperor as he drank his wine. "In my opinion, MESS and FUN relations ought to be a lot closer in many ways. It is both in our own strategic interests for our relations to mature and prosper. Take the space program for example, we ought to better coordinate our efforts, though it is understandable some among us would want to market their products. Ultimately, the immediate goal is to set up an outpost on the moon, which will cost quite a fair bit I would imagine."

[Shroom Man 777]

Astoria, Royal Palace

Emperor Heraclius brought wine, and that was awesome.

"I'd buy that for a dollar," Shroom quipped. "Free trade, strengthening our bonds and alliances, trading Shroomanian Fried Chicken for Lonestar Freedom Beefs, tourism and travel - it would do a whole lot in making our world better and safer. It would show Shepnukistan and Saddamistan how it's much better to go about things in a friendly, cordial and open way. If we do this, make the FUN and the MESS great, and even affect Terra Libertia in a positive way and put a man on the moon - mang!"

Shroom got some more of Paul's Palace-baked cookies.

[PeZook]

Astoria, Royal Palace

"I can see the benefits of an FTA with the MESS. I'd retain tariffs on tobacco and alcohol, though - I'm of the personal opinion that the more expensive that shit is, the better."

Paul looked up at the sky again. He'd have to call somebody who could actually point out the spaceship for him.

"On the defence pact...something styled like old-earth NATO, perhaps? I can't help but wonder how the UAR will react to that move. If they won't see it as a pact that's aimed at them."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

"Well, I don't see what could possibly go wrong if we don't state any possible enemy. Also, I think the situation in Terra Libertia has cooled down substantially, and the only possible flash point left is Neverhood. Though, there is the matter of the Sultan. I believe he did ask FUN for membership. Has that been approved? Or will it be approved?"

[PeZook]

Imperial Chronicles

"Well, I don't see what could possibly go wrong if we don't state any possible enemy. Also, I think the situation in Terra Libertia has cooled down substantially, and the only possible flash point left is Neverhood. Though, there is the matter of the Sultan. I believe he did ask FUN for membership. Has that been approved? Or will it be approved?"

"Well, the UAR may take it as an implicit threat, rather than an explicit one. They are pretty paranoid, after all..."

"As for the Sultan, I'm inclined to let him in after all, as long as he tries to secularize a bit. I'm not in favor of actually forcing him to change the setup of his country - this only leads to problems - but I don't want him starting holy wars or persecuting unbelievers, either. It's just not what the FUN stands for."

[Shroom Man 777]

Astoria, Royal Palace

"Not... anytime soon," Shroom grinned dickishly as he answered Heraclius' question. No one needed to know about rigged votes.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

"Well, the UAR may take it as an implicit threat, rather than an explicit one. They are pretty paranoid, after all..."

"As for the Sultan, I'm inclined to let him in after all, as long as he tries to secularize a bit. I'm not in favor of actually forcing him to change the setup of his country - this only leads to problems - but I don't want him starting holy wars or persecuting unbelievers, either. It's just not what the FUN stands for."

"The UAR haven't so much as even responded to just about anyone's diplomatic feelers, and quite frankly, if we are going to worry about every single move we make, we won't get anywhere.

Now as for the Sultan, the secularisation process will take decades, what with the proper education system my people I have sent to help form a proper government are trying to set up. The same goes for the Diocese. We should be prepared that the two nations will take 2-3 decades to form a modern government with a decent civil service. At best now, I will see that they can form at least a government that is capable of collecting taxes to fund its ministries."

[Shroom Man 777]

Astoria, Royal Palace

"We start with baby steps. One of the reasons why the people of Libertia are so, uh, violent is because of the condition of their livelihoods. Disease and deprivation stalk the land like... two big stalking things.

"If we help the Sultanate, get its people fed and clothed and sheltered, give them health care, and make sure the government can do it themselves... that'll be a huge leap in progress and that should be our primary focus."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Astoria, Royal Palace

"We start with baby steps. One of the reasons why the people of Libertia are so, uh, violent is because of the condition of their livelihoods. Disease and deprivation stalk the land like... two big stalking things.

"If we help the Sultanate, get its people fed and clothed and sheltered, give them health care, and make sure the government can do it themselves... that'll be a huge leap in progress and that should be our primary focus."

"Indeed. And there's the issue of making sure they can start their own coinage. Because of their nonexistent economy, they are relying on my currency to do any trade. Short of that, it's a barter economy."

[Raj Ahten]

Alexandria

The battle to save the 4th infantry Regiment had been dragging on for a week now, for longer than most thought the fourth could have held out. The airdropped supplies they were receiving had been key. Big bomb loads, courtesy of the IRT, also pounded Greenwood's positions and kept the commune forces at bays.

Intel reports indicated that Greenwood was leading a large force from many different Communes. They had made some sort of alliance while Alexander had exerted more control over the rest of the country.

The Iron Guard was making progress in reaching the trapped soldiers via the roads. Their artillery and armored vehicles were a huge advantage. Greenwoods forces kept causing landslides and otherwise blocking roads. Working doggedly, often under fire, Iron Guard engineers had to continually repair the roads so the advance could continue.

Meanwhile the team on foot managed to reach the beleaguered 4th. Greenwood had not expected Alexander to be able to send a team over the treacherous mountains on foot; in some places sheer cliffs had to be climbed to reach the 4th's location. Operating at night the ground team was able to neutralize some of the AA and artillery assets Greenwood had by raking them from the rear.

The situation was now stabilizing. With the IRT's jets paving the way, ProTec's helicopters were even able to fly in some supplies and reinforcements, as well as take out some of the wounded. It looked like it would now only be a matter of time to wait for the 1st Armored Regiment to get up the road.

[RogueIce]

Astoria, Royal Palace

"I believe the defense pact situation can be handled by making it clear it is a defense agreement only. Much like the MESS charter, unilateral military action by any one country is not something the rest of us are obligated to support. Only a full vote of the Administrative Council can do that.

"So we make that clear. It only comes into effect if somebody attacks us. If for whatever reason we attack someone else, however unlikely that is, it wouldn't be an automatic support requirement, but up to however the individual nations and alliances deal with such things, and whether they feel it is a cause they should support.

"If that makes the UAR paranoid, well than I agree with Heraclius. If they'll get touchy over something that only takes effect in strictly defensive terms, there's no point worrying about their reaction. Because we'll never get anything done."

[PeZook]

Astoria, Royal Palace

"Obviously, I am not in favor of forcing change onto the Sultanate, I think we're in agreement here. It always brings more harm than good. I will support measures to bring them aid in establishing functioning institutions - it's about time, too, seeing as the Diocese and Alexandria are already well on their way there. I am glad the Sultan seems reasonable enough: he actually agreed to allow us to educate women, and thinks there's nothing in Sharia which prohibits this."

[Coiler]

Coilerburg planners reach Zablania

Planners from Coilerburg's Ministries of Resources, Agriculture and Transportation have arrived at Eden to begin assessing the possibilities of logging, commerical farming and mining in the ruined country, as well as how to ship the harvested/mined goods out to other nations.