SDNWorld Redux: Story Thread the Fourth

[Beowulf]

Ares Blog

Sea Lance replacement?
A recently revealed photograph purports to show a replacement for the now nearly 30 year old Sea Lance ASW missile. It appears to consist of a Mk48 heavyweight torpedo, launched by a set of wrap around boosters. A set of wings is attached to the torpedo, presumably to extend the range and reduce the torpedo's entry speed. The dimensions indicate that it requires a Mk57 VLS cell.

Executor-class BGN design unveiled
The design has not yet been approved for production, and will likely require additional developmental work for it's 16" gun. It displaces roughly 75,000 tons, and carries 512 Mk57 VLS cells, as well as 64 Mk58 VLS cells. Additional weaponry includes a pair of the 16" version of the AGS, and a dozen Millennium II CIWS, along with a quartet of laser CIWS mounts. Aviation complement is 4 V-22s or 8 MH-60 helicopters. The designation indicates it's a nuclear powered guided missile battleship.

MQ-18 Hummingbird test fitted for AEW
This modification of the relatively high performance UAV will give the ability to provide a large radar horizon for relatively small craft such as destroyers.

[Lonestar]

Ares Blog

RADM Stowe, "Influence Squadrons, not Battleships"


RADM Stowe, head of the ODN Naval War College commented at a "Sea Power" panel that the ODN should be concentrating on creating "influence squadrons" rather than building what he termed "Battleships", the large STAR surface combatants.

"We see the remarkable success of our Naval assets doing counterpiracy efforts off Velaria and Maritime security efforts in the Impact Crater region." Stowe said. "we should reduce our STAR buy and focus on smaller vessels."

Dr. Alfred Samson, Undersecretary of Navy for Operations, disagreed with the assessment. "The Navy has already acknowledged that creating a large fleet of large surface combatants is not the answer, as the STAR Vessels are not intended to replace the AEGIS CGs and DDGs on a one-for-one basis." He went on to comment on the Neuse River "patrol frigate" and the highly successful M80 Stiletto watercraft, are examples of the ODN concentrating on "Maritime Security first." The M80 was comissioned into service in 2015 and has been used to great effect providing maritime security throughout the IC, 4 more boats of the type are being ordered...[More]

[PeZook]

Orena Evening News

Hero's welcome for Selene 7 astronauts

After more than four months of debriefings and a long quarantine, the crew of Selene 7 was released from their confinement at the Jerusalem Space Center, and were given a heroes welcome at the city of Jerusalem itself.

Much like in the case of Lev Titov, the first Crimson to walk the Moon and part of the crew od Daedalus 7, all Selene astronauts were treated to a ticker tape parade in the ancient city, followed by a reception attended by many heads of state from all around the world.

The crew is scheduled for more high-level visits, including the countries of PeZookia, the USCR, Duchy Of Langley and Canissia.

The ceremony was called a "welcome release in MESS-CATO tensions", considering that Selene 7's crew included a Canissian national, Lt. Cmdr. Raquel Luna, who received the same honors as the rest of her crew, including a right to wear the mission patch on her flight uniform.

Damian Kaklamanis has managed to find some time in his busy schedule to answer a few questions about the Canissian fighter pilot:
"Commander Luna is an excellent astronaut - very competent, easy to work with and enthusiastic about the work we do. Deke Slayton once remarked to me that he'd like such exchange programs to become more commonplace, and we'd certainly love for Raquel to stay on our flight rosters."

FASTA funding crisis enters critical phase

With debates raging in parliaments throughout FASTA funding nations, the crisis which threatens the entire manned moon exploration program continues unabated. King Paul is scheduled to testify before the PeZookian parliament's finance comittee later this month, and Damian Kaklamanis has been suspended as Director of Operations "pending investigation of his policies".

Within the next month, most funding nations will vote on their level of FASTA commitment, deciding the agency's future fate.

Several national leaders have already stated they will do their best to maintain FASTA funding, especially in light of the upcoming Selene 8, 9 and 10 missions, which will survey possible locations for a permanent Lunar outpost. Should funding for these missions be cut, the entire program for Lunar colonization will collapse.

[Siege]

The Syndicate today is set to vote today on a comprehensive set of armed forces reforms formulated by the Directorate-General for Defense. The motion was initially scheduled for discussion earlier this year but was tabled temporarily and subsequently amended after the flare-up of enmity between MESS and CATO members. It has been named the ‘2017 Regional Defense Bolstering’, which has already lead some members of the Syndicate to nickname it the ‘Runaway Defense Budget’. Its discussion has been timed to follow in the wake of the approval of the measure to formally grant the Republic of Sabika membership in the NFT, which is expected to boost support among the member states.

Although only limited details about the motion have been released to the press for security reasons what we do know is that the High Commissioner for Defense is asking for at least eight additional Air Defense Groups to be formed. The budget further includes a proposal to acquire four squadrons of CSB-01 heavy supersonic bombers. These will be the first strategic bombers operated by the NFT if the motion is approved. Contracts for significant expansion of military air fields in Sabika and Coilerburg suggests that the CSB-01 is intended to be stationed in those member states.

The measure further calls for an additional S-500 layer to be added to Central Air Defense Control, for a number of modern, dedicated AEW&C craft to be purchased (presumably the BAC A350 and/or A380), and for the purchase of several additional interceptor squadrons; one of F-171B Specters and three of Igla hypersonic interceptors.

To afford these acquisitions the Syndicate intends to significantly scale back the size of the ground army and freeze the budget of the North Frequesuan Navy with the exception of the continuing fleet refit program. Several existing air force squadrons – among which the four legacy Mirage III squadrons of the former Sabikan Air Force – will be scrapped and sold off. The expansion of the rocket forces will be frozen as well, pending the introduction of the S-3 Silver Shrike in 2019.

Despite these cutbacks motion 17 RDB still represents a not-insignificant increase in funding for the armed forces, and as such the program may be a hard sell particularly to the Sabikans, who until recently paid very little for their small army and might see this measure as an undue burden. It is likely that several of the motion’s proposed army construction projects in Sabika are aimed at appeasing the Sabikan parliament as much as they are strategic military choices.

The army reform debate will also be the baptism-by-fire of president-CEO ad interim Willy Bank. Mr. Bank was recently appointed to replace President Sidney Hank, who remains hospitalized. According to doctors of Rutherford Memorial Hospital the president is ‘no longer in danger’ but remains in an artificial coma until his condition is fully stable…

[Lonestar]

Ares Blog

"Unless, of course, war were declared."
Dominion SECWAR DiBacco derisively called CATO movements into the NFT a "blatant attempt to occupy and dominate the F-ing Continent". Brushing aside accusations that the OD was intentionally playing brinkmanship with the NFT, DiBacco noted that "were we planning on engaging in conflict with the NFT in the immediate future, we would be OP-holding citizens completing their service, and not remain in the process of retiring naval units[such as the Opechancanough] or putting major assets out of action for an extended period of time[such as the Bulwark]…[More]

Old Dominion now Fossil Fuel Free. Mostly.
Fulfilling a policy goal first stated over a decade ago, the Lord Fairfax administration de-comissioned Surry County Power Plant, the last coal plant in the country. With the "Energy Security Act" of 2008, all POVs in the country were mandated to become "flex fueled", as well as a goal for replacing fossil fuel plants with nuclear power plants as they were retired. 2 large Natural Gas plants remain in the former East Shepistan…[More]


Richmond Dispatch

36% of freight on highways now moved by unmanned vehicles
The Department of Transportation presented a report to the legislature today showing statistics that indicated that over a third of all freight moved on highways in the OD is now transported by unmanned vehicles. The report predicted that within 10 years virtually all trucking will be unmmaned in the Old Dominion.

"Unmanned Freight" has exploded in the Old Dominion in recent years, as businessmen have noted the convoys of mostly MULE UGVs, both 5 ton and 2.5ton variants, in the Shepistani Security Zones have been used to great success. Kinston Freight was the first to use a Civilianized version of the Combat Optics MULE, and has since converted 70% of it's trucking force to UGVs. Such actions have enraged Unions throughout the country…[More]

Marriage License filed for the Lord Protector?
The Richmond Dispatch has learned that Lord Fairfax and Lady Sterling have filed for a marriage license, confirming what many have long suspected: That they are in a long-term engagement…[More]

[Bluewolf]

Hound Square

“This is Cialan morning news, bringing you up to date on the news, sport and weather.”

“Today Prime Minister Michael Thomason has announced the plans to greatly expand the transport network in what he calls “a means to transport Cialans’s lacking network into the modern age”. The plan, estimated to cost $7.5 billion will add new additions to Cialans’s road networks; fully expand the rail network for commercial and industrial purposes including new, faster trains and an expansion of Stanton airport.

This comes after several parliamentary debates raged over the issue that Cialan was not investing enough into its transport infrastructure. The Cialan National Party leader, Mr Caemon Brown said that the Prime Minister was “letting the country lag behind its competitors”. Mr Brown has also accused the Prime Minister of letting the country’s defence get to “a laughable and pathetic level.” Our political correspondent Andrew Green is at Hound Square now and has more on the st-“

The TV flicked off with a flash of light. Michael Thomas sat in his black leather chair. His left arm rested on the ornate sides of the chair, his right arm on his leg with his hand on his head. It had been a brutal period for him with the Cialan National Party snapping at his heels like a hungry dog and the Wolven Peoples Party practically chanting the choir of his failures, it had been extremely difficult for him to avoid being gutted like a fish, politically. In fact the very reason he was starting to concede to many CNP ideas was to avoid this and now he was going to do something that would set a lot of his party against him, yet would be necessary if he wanted to survive as Prime Minister.

There was a knock on the door. “Come in” Called Michael. A man in smart uniform came in with some papers and sat down. It was Cialans’s minister of defence. “You wanted to see me?” He said. “Yes I do” Michael replied. “I….want to accept the CNP proposal. I wish to go ahead with the expansion to all sectors of the military. We will ask for potential hardware on sale and be open to any nation that wishes to talk about this. Within reason of course. Finally I Am considering the idea that Cialan may go into space but I will say more on that tomorrow.” Micheal sighed and looked out of the window between the blinds. This was a turbulent week.

Result:

Cialan set to invest a massive amount into its transport network including rail, aviation and roads.

Cialan will now be seeking for potential sellers of military hardware, navy, air and ground. Plans for what Cialan will be hoping to aquire are in formulation and the country is welcome to talk over potential sales and pricing with others.

Cialan may soon show interest in potentially developing or joining a space program.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Official Communique to Cialan

Dear Prime Minister Michael Thomason,

Byzantium would welcome you to join the FASTA space research program. FASTA has recently sent cosmonauts to the moon, and involves a wide spectrum of countries, from those in Frequesue, to the Old Continent and countries in the Pacific. I invite you to come visit CATO countries in the Old Continent and we would give you a tour of Byzantium itself.

Yours sincerely,
Emperor Heraclius IV of Byzantium.

[PeZook]

Khitan

The dream was vivid, like they all were. The girl's eyes, wide with fear, staring straight at her, begging for a rescue. The pool of blood and the girl's trembling hands clutching at her jacket, as she tried to say something.

And her helplesness. Utter and complete, as Katrin never was able to control those dreams, like she could with others. She could only watch: watch people she never knew die, sometimes by her own hands. An endless parade of faces, gray with fear and pain. Bodies, twisted on the floor, tied into stress positions. Eyes, staring in horror as she watched them beat to death.

And the girl. For some reason, the girl was the worst: maybe because this was the only dream where it seemed Katrin would be able to save the victim. But, ultimately, it was but an illusion: the girl always died. And it didn't seem like her blue eyes would ever leave Katrin's mind.

An alarm clock's buzzer woke her up, mercifully. She sat on the bed for a moment, rubbing sleep from her eyes and trying to shake away her nightmare. The morning routine would help, she was certain of that. She made her way to the tiny little bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, before taking a long shower.

Her little home was scarce on luxury, even though it could be considered comfortable by the standards of Khitanese outback. A school teacher was a respected position in these parts, where authorities left hundreds of tiny villages to their own fate, as long as they paid their taxes - thus, an educated foreigner willing to get away from the turmoil and hustle of the Old Continent was a precious thing to have indeed.

Katrin taught in several local schools, alternating between four local villages, and was paid in various goods and produce: all in all, it was a comfortable life, far more than her former existence in Sargoth, where she was but a private house slave to a fisherman's family. Since running away that fateful night, things got much better.

Smiling, and almost forgetting the nightmare, Katrin began to get dressed. A tough day lay ahead - she had thirty kids to convince that algebra was a useful skill to have in life on Khitanese steppes.

[Siege]

I have comrade Shady’s personal presidential seal of approval for this!

Comrade Shady

Man in Red

Biography of a man who changed the world

© 2017 Worldwide One Network. A Universal Media Company. All Rights Reserved.

His face is everywhere: on TV-screens playing worldwide satellite news and on the front pages of newspapers, on the covers of little children’s books, on cans of his own soda brand Commie Cola, and projected onto the sides of ubiquitous propaganda zeppelins cruising the skies low over Stasograd.

He has his own fan site on the Internet with fifty-three million members from all over the planet. His every action is discussed on bulletin boards, in discussion groups and in chat rooms. His choice of clothing and manner of speaking ignited a persistent subculture in the Shinran underground rave scene. But he is also the co-architect of CATO, the first president of the Union of Crimson and Shadow Republics, the man who turned the word ‘comrade’ from a slur into an accolade.

He is Comrade Shady Sirah. And sometimes it seems as if everybody knows him. But who is the man behind the medals and the goatee? Worldwide One sent its finest reporters into the UCSR to find out more about the gentleman who became a living communist legend. Slowly but surely they delved into his mysterious past, pieced together anecdotes and hearsay and separated fact from fiction, to arrive at the definitive story of the Man in Red.

This is his story.

In this Worldwide One special report, we will in four comprehensive chapters trace the comrade’s meteoric career from its humble beginnings on the outskirts of Sarajevo to the highest office in the Kremlin.

From Humble Beginnings: Youth and Army Service

Sarajevo, ca. 1975

Shady Sirah was born in 1966 in the municipality of Stari Grad, the old city of the USSR capital of Sarajevo. He grew up near Baščaršija, the old town market sector where the city was founded by the Ottomans in the 15th century. His parents were devout Muslims and almost every week visited Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque, bringing Shady with them. But although he went along to appease his parents even at a very young age he realized his heart was not in religion.

Playing football on the streets of Sarajevo, his eyes and those of his friends would continuously be drawn to the colorful, omnipresent propaganda posters of the Shadow regime, to the uniformed soldiers who marched through the streets, and to the camouflaged helicopters surging low over the city rooftops.

To Shady these were not signs of just how unstable the Central Committee of the Shadow Republics was at the time. They were instead the tell-tale signs of a fascinating, exciting world that existed beyond the tumbling houses of Sarajevo. At school, he soon showed an unusual interest in anything that had to do with his country and the state of the world. It was there that he first learned of the Allied decision to partition the Shadow Empire after the War of the World, and how it had left the USSR a mere specter of its former self and the Border States little more than lobotomized, ineffective rump states.

Fuming with righteous indignation at the unfairness of it all Shady returned home to tell his parents of what he’d learned. Warily his father and mother, who had grown up before revisionist Shadow propaganda had hit schools, explained that the War of the Worlds hadn’t quite been a matter of unjust and unprovoked Allied aggression. But still, a ten-year-old Shady argued, that was no reason why the people of the Border States should live in abject poverty. His father could do little more than agree -- something which would leave a lasting impression in Shady’s mind.

At age 18 a young Shady Sirah, who had recently graduated high school and obtained the Matura, chose to joint the army of the USSR. His parents, who had hoped he would go on to study at one of the government academies, were disappointed with his choice, although as always they supported his decision.

As a soldier he for the first time encountered the grim reality of the situation in the Border States. He had not been a man of religion previously, but the terrible inhumanity of that region shattered what little remained of his faith, and he would describe himself as an atheist and devout believer in man's responsibility to man ever since. Posted in the Sargonia-Zagor-USSR triborder region he found himself chasing slave traders and drug smugglers, rogue military outfits, mercenaries and other scum of the Earth. He distinguished himself in combat and earned a battlefield promotion to lieutenant during the 1988 border war with the pompously named Zagor Empire. Faced with the wanton cruelty displayed by the Zagor soldiers instilled a lasting hatred in him not necessarily for all Zagoris but definitely for their leader, the tyrant and self-appointed emperor Marek the Cruel.

During a hard-fought and bloody campaign in the Sava River valley against Zagor forces Shady valiantly lead the attack at a set of enemy fortifications near Kostajnica that broke the back of the Zagor resistance. In a stunning act of heroism he charged through a hail of Zagori artillery and machine gun fire to throw a satchel charge through a pillbox firing slit, then ran back halfway to drag a wounded comrade to safety under heavy fire from counter-attacking Zagori grenadiers, only to rejoin his brothers in arms as if nothing had happened. Emboldened by this stunning display of unswerving socialist heroism the outgunned USSR riflemen rallied and repulsed three attacks by the elite Gray Skulls, the personal guard of Emperor Marek, before they were relieved by the armor of the 113th Shadow Guard Regiment. In the aftermath Lieutenant Shady was awarded with the Order of Filipović to go with the title of ‘Hero of Socialist Labor’ bestowed upon him by the USSR government. The Order is one of the medals that can still be seen prominently displayed on Shady’s chest during most official occasions.

Honorably discharged from the army not soon after the end of the Third Zagor War in 1989 Shady was recruited by the Politburo. At least one enterprising bureaucrat had been following the career of the young hero with interest and was hoping to use him, and by extent the relatively popular ‘short, victorious’ Third Zagor War, for propaganda purposes in order to prop up the ever-ailing government in the eyes of an apathetic populace. Shady had never considered a career in politics before, but after the army it seemed like a good way to further serve the country he loved. And so, at age 23, he joined the Communist Party.

It would turn out the bureaucrat, whose name has been lost to the mists of time, was to get more than he bargained for.

Rising Red Star: Early Political Career with the Politburo

Secretariat of the USSR

If the army had shown him the worst of what the partitioning of the Shadow Empire had done for the people of the Border States, then surely it was the Politburo that showed Shady what it had done for the people of the USSR. The news media of the Shadow Republics were controlled by censors, and anything that didn’t befit the official party line was ruthlessly suppressed. Few people therefore knew how bad a shape the USSR was in.

The War of the Worlds of the forties had ravaged the Shadow homelands, leaving the country a bombed out husk. The victorious Allies then indiscriminately partitioned the Shadow Empire. That by itself was bad enough, but the division they had chose was selected purely for geo-strategic reasons with no regard for practicality. The result was that the USSR was cut off from many vital resources and industries. To make matters worse the Allies demanded steep reparations that the ruined country was utterly unable to afford, and the unstable Border States left on the USSR’s doorstep soon proved a constant source of armed conflict which sucked money from the country’s coffers like a black hole draws in matter. All these factors combined sent the collapsed economy of the USSR spiraling into a decades-long depression from which the country seemed perpetually unable to recover.

The first thing Shady learned when he joined the exalted ranks of the Politburo was that his country remained afloat primarily due to a trickle of emergency funds from the Crimson Star Republic. Many in that neighboring country felt they had to support a brother Slavic and communist nation, but by 1989 the economy of the CSR, too, had come groaning to an almost complete halt. A series of elderly, weak-willed rulers and ill-planned economic reforms had plunged the once-vital republic into recession and though for the first time in over a decade a relatively young and energetic leader – Stanislav – had been elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of the CSR the results of his sweeping reforms were at that time still a very long way off. Consequently over the course of several years the USSR had seen the flow of CSR funds dry up almost completely.

The second thing Shady learned was that the Politburo was night-irretrievably corrupt. The premier of the time was practically senile, all his speeches were actually read by a body double, and many of the highest echelon had private accounts in Cayman banks and were busier filling their own pockets by pilfering the country than finding a way to rescue the Union.

As an idealist and avid believer in the core tenets of communism this state of affairs utterly repulsed Shady. The sheer rampancy of corruption unsettled him perhaps more than the Republics’ financial woes, and he was to become one of the greatest enemies of graft the USSR had ever known. And had the establishment first profited of Shady’s newfound status as a war hero to bolster the credibility of the Party, they soon found out their puppet was anything but. The former lieutenant began speaking out against the way the USSR was being run in an ever more vocal manner – and worse yet, some people were beginning to listen. Some in the Politburo soon became convinced that comrade Shady, hero or not, was more trouble than he was worth.

And so, plans were made to dispose of him.

Unfortunately for the conspirators a great deal of support is needed to facilitate the ‘removal’, either through trumped-up charges or an ‘unfortunate shaving accident’, of a famous war hero whose face is plastered across propaganda posters Union-wide. And the bigger the conspiracy, the more likely it is that word of it will get out to people who can ruin the entire undertaking. Which, predictably, it inevitably did.

It was at this stage that Shady, himself yet oblivious of the fiendish plots that was being hatched against him, one day found himself approached by an unassuming man who introduced himself only as ‘Kane’. This Kane proved to be the elusive leader of the Network for Observation and Dissuasion, a shadowy intelligence organization that answered directly to the premier and only the premier. Since the current premier of the USSR was an 86-year-old bumbling senile fool, the Network hadn’t really answered to anyone in particular for a rather long time.

Luckily for the Union DIRNOD Kane had an unusual sense of loyalty to his nation; rather than enrich himself or otherwise use his unchecked position for personal profit he had instead been looking for a way to lift the USSR out of the morass of political ineptitude and economic malaise. Recognizing in the young Shady something of himself he had come to believe that the young, idealistic war hero might perhaps be capable of achieving his goal of national restoration.

Kane proposed a simple solution to the problem posed by the conspiracy against Shady’s person: his organization would simply bushwhack the ringleaders, decapitating the organization and causing the rest of the plot to simply bleed out. It would be a comparatively simple matter for him to arrange too; after all, here was a man who had begun his career in intelligence under the Shadow Empire and had somehow survived every purge of the organization by zealous communist witchhunters. Plotting and counter-plotting from the shadows came as natural to him as breathing.

In a sharp departure from Kane’s jaded worldview Shady however disliked the idea of simply murdering his opponents in their sleep and blaming it on ‘an accident with a pillow’. He proposed another and altogether more public way of dealing with the approaching assassination by ‘Zagori sympathizer terrorists’, which was what the plotters had by that point settled upon.

For what came next we switch directly to Shady’s own words. The following excerpt is copied from Premier Shady’s own personal diary, written in the days when he still ruled the USSR and smuggled – at great personal risk to our reporters – out of the Forbidden Section of the Red Star Library in Sarajevo, across the street from Temple Prime.

I cleared my throat and the room fell silent. It wasn’t often lately that I had the capacity to address a joint session of the Secretariat of the Politburo. The official excuse was that the Secretariat was ‘busy’. I knew the real reason: I had become a nuisance, something to be gotten rid of. But today I was here, and these people were damn well going to listen. I had no doubt they would.

I launched into a lengthy speech about the evils of corruption and the sad state of the Union, and the entire room hung onto my every word. Things had not changed much over the last year, the entire Politburo was as corrupt as ever, but they listened intently all the same, applauding at all the appropriate intervals. None of the two-faced scumbags wanted to look out of step with the party line, even though few of them didn’t already know what I was going to say.

Even fewer of them, of course, knew what was going to happen next.

The shot rang out just when it was supposed to, when I was making my traditional plea for all inhabitants of the realms of the former Shadow Empire to put aside our differences and unite against our common foes. It hit me square in the chest, knocking me to the ground and sending a shower of red fluid cascading about me. Instantly the hall was in chaos.

I hadn’t thought it would hurt so much. The Network operatives had tried to tell me, but I had ignored them. I could hear the sirens approaching somewhere off in the distance as unconsciousness took me.

I woke up in my bedroom in my seaside Dacha, surrounded by people and machinery. There was a brief commotion for a moment as I awoke and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Kane stepped forward to talk to me.

“That was a close one there, lieutenant” he said, addressing me by my old army rank. “For a moment there we thought… Well, that despite our best efforts…” His voice trailed off as he contemplated a notion even the hardened intelligence operative found hard to swallow.

“There now, Kane” I said and mustered all the confidence I could. “It all worked out. The assassination attempt went off without a hitch and I’m feeling fine.” As I emphasized the last words I winced at the aching of my ribs. I looked up at Kane questioningly.

“Nothing’s broken. You’ve a clean bill of health.”

“Well, then. Why hasn’t this thing been taken off me?”

“The doctor felt it best to leave it on until you awakened.”

“Well I’m awake now. Please, help me get this thing off.”

Competent hands reached forward and undid the straps on the bulletproof vest. Kane grinned. “You’ll want to take a shower to get all that red stuff off.”

I smiled in return. “It really looked real, didn’t it?”

“You fooled everyone.”

“And the results so far?”

“The reaction has been just as you predicted. The people are rallying behind you stronger than ever before. We’re rounding up the conspirators as we speak – the evidence of ties to Marek the Cruel and the Zagor Empire we planted on them is going to be damning. What’s left of the Politburo will have no choice but to follow your lead.”

I favored Kane with a wan smile. “Let’s hope so. I’d hate to have to go through this again.”

In a single maneuver as brilliant as it was dangerous Shady and Kane had turned the whole plot against Shady’s life against the conspirators. By planting evidence linking the conspirators to Marek the Cruel himself, Shady could harness the assassination attempt against his person and use it as a means of proving the corruption of the Politburo to the people. Lead by Kane and other loyalists within the security apparatus a massive purge – the Last Purge, as it would become known in Shadow history – began. In the following weeks the ringleaders of the conspiracy, all highly influential members of the Shadow Communist Party, were rounded up and sentenced to either many decades of hard labor or a swift execution by firing squad.

The rest of the Politburo turned out to be remarkably pliable. The innocent were ecstatic at the survival of the war hero Shady, whereas those who had knowledge of the coup yet were not worth purging themselves were easily intimidated into keeping quiet by stony-faced NOD operatives. Finally the drooling idiot of a premier suffered ‘an unfortunate lethal heart attack when he heard of the rampant corruption’, and then there was nothing left standing in the way of Shady’s glorious return six months after the shooting. In a remarkably swift and unanimous vote, Shady Sirah was elected as the new, and as it would turn out last, Premier of the USSR.

This concludes Part One of this fascinating insight into the life and times of Comrade Shady, Hero of Socialist Labor and Friend of Frequesue. Stay tuned to Worldwide One, and be sure to watch again next week when we air Part Two of his intriguing biopic!

[Lonestar]

Charlotte Business Journal

Despite tensions, it's business as usual.
Dominion Boeing has been given the go ahead to sell an additional 12 Sonic Cruiser airliners to Byzantine Airlines at a cost of approximately 250mil ROB per unit. The sell will bring the Byzantine Airlines fleet up to 32, and are a reflection of the increasing amount of trans-oceanic travel between the Byzantine Empire and other states….[More]


Richmond Dispatch

Book Review: President Shady Bio unreadable tome
Using language that only a intellectual Marxist could love, the latest pile of shit to come out of the nightmare of book publishing that is the UCSR is a Biography of the sitting UCSR "President".

I use quotation marks because the biography seems to gloss over the fact that Shady is a weak, broken puppet of former President/General Secretary/Grand PooBah Stanislav, the primary driver of anti-MESS feelings in CATO….[More]

[Raj Ahten]

Indhopal Blasts MESS Aggression

President Ahten gave a speech today in which he condemned the MESS's activities in Frequesue. The President saved most of his vitriol for the Old Dominion and Tian Xia,
"These war mongering states seem intent on creating nuclear Armageddon! The MESS's provocations will only lead to a CATO response that will plunge Frequesue into nuclear war. Once again this continent would suffer due to the actions of imperialist thugs who live in gilded palaces half a world away!"

The President also called on CATO to find ways to deescalate the situation,
"Before all the world's fleets are exchanging missile fire off North Frequesue."

Indhopal's 2nd and 3rd Army Divisions Stand Down

In ceremonies in military bases across the nation today, military units were disbanded and the colors retired. It was a sad time for many career soldiers who had been with their regiments for decades. The government has promised to help veterans find work in civilian sectors. Many vets expressed optimism at being able to find new work as the economy in Indhopal is booming.

Indhopal reveals New Aircraft Designs.

As part of New Horizons, Indhopal has begun design work on a new strategic bomber and 5th generation stealth fighter. Details in the report released to the press were vague. What is known is that the bomber is intended to a be a hypersonic design able to compete with the best of what the MESS or CATO are currently fielding. It was not released whether the design was to be a joint effort with Japanistan, which is widely expected to be the case.

[Bluewolf]

RE. Offical Communique to Cialan

Dear Emperor Heraclius IV

Cialan is delighted at your offer to join the FASTA space research program and would like to know more on the program and its current projects. The offer to visit the CATO nations is also a well thought out one and is accepted.

Yours sincerely
Prime Minister Micheal Thomason
------------
Cialan Military Magazine:

"Three Phase Plan for military expansion becomes true, p10"

"Top 10 military handguns of the last decade, p30"

"Can CATO do better? A call for possible CATO hardware sellers to come forward"

Result:

Cialan looks into FASTA and will soon take a tour of the CATO nations.

Cialan three phase plan to update and expand its military revealed.

Cialan calls for CATO nations to try and offer better deals over potential other sellers.

[Siege]

Rutherford Memorial Hospital, Central Districts, San Dorado City, NFT

One second he was shouting obscenities over the phone, the next there was a sharp pain in Sidney’s chest and the world blacked out. When he opened his eyes he was standing on the helideck of the Presidential Palace, looking down on San Dorado City, sprawling down in every conceivable direction -- and utterly quiet.

Gone was the perpetual clamouring of ten million voices, the metal screech of monorails, the echoing roar of car engines on the lower levels. It was completely quiet. Deep down in the distance the Dodgson River crawled slowly down toward the sea. No wind. No people. Just him, the endless city, and the sun mercilessly beating down on the helideck. It had been seconds and he was already sweating.

“Now this is peculiar”, Sidney mumbled to no-one in particular. “Where is everyone?”

“Holding their breath”, answered a sudden voice. The president turned around. There was a second person on the helideck. It was… himself?

Sidney Hank found himself looking at an intimately familiar face -- the face he used to wear before this world. He looked at his hands. They were still the same hands he’d gotten so used to over the last nine years. “Well this is interesting.” The president scratched his chin as he slowly walked forward toward the man he used to be. “So. I take it we’re not actually here?”

“We’re not”, his other self confirmed. “You’re in the hospital. In the meantime I’m just here to keep you company.”

“How kind of you. Or should I say, how kind of me?”

His opposite smirked. “Whichever you prefer. And whilst we’re on the subject, there are a few questions that need answering.”

“And which are those?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Sidney frowned. “What the what am I what?”

“You heard me. Manipulating the Sabikans, selling weapons to former rebels, seeping influence into the heart of your continent. The Orbital nuclear weapons, the games of brinkmanship with the Old Dominion. What’s the point? What are you doing?”

The president scowled. “I’m making the world a better place.”

Quite contrary to expectations his other burst into laughter. “Y-you don’t seriously expect me to believe that, do you? I know you. Me. Whatever, my point is -- you’re shitting me.”

“I’m not…” Sidney struggled with his answer for a moment as he swallowed the first two answers that came to mind. “Okay, maybe I’m not entirely in it for the good of the people. So what? I’m not a goddamn commie.”

The smile couldn’t have been gone from his opposite’s face faster if you’d wiped it off. “Who’s that talking, you or me?”

Sidney turned abruptly around and clasped the safety railing around the helideck. He stared out across the silent, sun-swept city.

“Tell me, ‘Sidney’”, the other half of his personality continued with an acerbic tone of voice. “How many people’s lives have you bulldozed over recently? How many people have been shot in the Sprawl of this city, this very city, in these past nine years? Why’d you let that happen? Was it for their own good too?”

Sidney didn’t answer. His hands clasped the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white. He stared into the sun and tried to convince himself it was the brightness that caused the single tear to roll down his cheek. He drew a deep breath. “I did good things” he finally replied. Then, more forcefully, “I did a damned good job. This continent was going right down the shitter when I got here. I may not have saved everyone I could, but I saved a whole damned lot more than most people.”

His other self joined him at the railing, leaning across it on his elbows. “Well I can’t argue with that.”

“You’re damned right you can’t”, Sidney replied more forcefully than he’d intended. “I sent people into the CFR, I lifted Coilerburg out of the ditch it was in, I’ve avoided half a dozen wars. I sent men into space, I’ve given far more equal opportunities than any president of San Dorado before me. Yes, I had to throw some people under the bus to accomplish what I did. So what? You’ve still got preciously little reason to give me this sanctimonious crap.”

“Hey, remember you’re talking to yourself here.” His counterpart looked crosswise at him. “I’m just the guy you used to be.”

“Yeah. Used to be.” Sidney sighed. When he’d just gotten here it felt like Sidney Hank was but an arbitrary set of distant memories and he was actually himself. As time passed however, he’d felt himself – for a lack of a better word – slipping. The more he dealt with the realities of this planet, the more Sidney Hank became the dominant aspect of his personality and he wasn’t sure he liked that at all. Sidney Hank was a shark, a hard-drinking cutthroat first-grade asshole who’d make Gordon Gekko blush. On the other hand… “All things considered I kind of like it here.” He saw the look in the other’s eyes and continued, grinning. “Yes, because I can make a difference, sure, but I’ll say that the money and status help too.”

“Don’t you miss your real life?” his other asked.

“Well yes, obviously…” He frowned. That wasn’t actually true, not anymore. “Okay, no. I used to, but not so much anymore. And what’s not real about this place?” he gestured at the silent city. “I’ve a wife, for crying out loud.”

“So you do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean. Look, don’t you have some sort of important question to ask or something?”

His counterpart frowned. “Whatever makes you think that?”

Sidney gestured aimlessly. “Isn’t that how this is supposed to work? You ask some important moral question that I have to answer, and then I either wake up or…” He swallowed. “Or, well, not?”

The other snorted. “Dude, no. You’re in an artificial coma, not a B-movie.” He smiled slyly. “Or maybe I already did.”

The president looked kind of baffled. “So now what?”

“Now you wake up, and hopefully you’ll remember some of this.”

The sun flared white and the world changed. Suddenly he was lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by people and machinery. There was a flurry of activity the moment he opened his eyes. His breath escaped in a gasp as pain flooded his senses. The room was painfully white, with glaring lights torturing his retinas.

“Sidney” the familiar face of Daphne Sinclair appeared in his field of vision. “You’re awake!”

“So it would seem” croaked the president, his mouth dry as the inner Velarian deserts. “How long have I been gone?”

“Just over two weeks… How are you feeling?”

In response he let out a wheezing cough like a malfunctioning air conditioner. He grimaced. “I’ve felt a lot better.”

Daphne leaned in closer. “You had a heart attack.”

“So I figured.”

“And they had to take out your liver.”

“My…” the president was lost for words for a moment. “Wait, what?!”

“The doctors put in an artificial one” she smiled wanly. “Courtesy of SinTEK. Won’t fail until the batteries run dry in a hundred years or so.” She frowned as she saw the president’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

Sidney made a face. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t appreciate being alive. It’s just that I know all the things you’ve done to get your cybertech this far, remember?”

Her smile was a bit more steady this time. “Point cordially taken. You should probably rest -- they say it’s going to be a long road before you’re your old self again.” She hesitated. “For a moment there they didn’t know if you’d even make it in the first place.”

“That’s uplifting.” Sidney tried to shake his head but his body ached abominably and he gave it up after half a motion as a bad idea. He suddenly felt very tired. “One more thing before I doze off…” He looked his wife in the eye. “Who’s in charge?”

There was a distinct twinkle in Daphne Sinclair’s eyes as she whispered in his ear: “Willy Bank.”

Sidney let his breath escape in a single, wheezing gasp. “Two weeks with that man in charge and the world hasn’t been burned to a crisp yet? Sweet Lady, what’s the planet coming to?”

She simply winked. “Consider it an incentive to get well soon.”

Result: Sidney Hank is awake.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

RE. Offical Communique to Cialan

Dear Emperor Heraclius IV

Cialan is delighted at your offer to join the FASTA space research program and would like to know more on the program and its current projects. The offer to visit the CATO nations is also a well thought out one and is accepted.

Yours sincerely
Prime Minister Micheal Thomason
------------
Cialan Military Magazine:

"Three Phase Plan for military expansion becomes true, p10"

"Top 10 military handguns of the last decade, p30"

"Can CATO do better? A call for possible CATO hardware sellers to come forward"

Result:

Cialan looks into FASTA and will soon take a tour of the CATO nations.

Cialan three phase plan to update and expand its military revealed.

Cialan calls for CATO nations to try and offer better deals over potential other sellers.

Dear Prime Minister Micheal Thomason,

I believe we can show you much by having you travel over with fact finding teams to explore options for cooperation and also potential military hardware purchases. We can give you tours of production plants, factories and shipyards, as well as a tour FASTA facilities and other scientific research endeavours. Byzantium as a whole, has a solid commitment towards fundamental science research and applied research in many fields, providing billions of dollars in funds yearly.

Yours sincerely,
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius IV.

[PeZook]

Orena Evening News

Tri-Cities to organize 2017 Tall Ship Races

In a press release earlier today, the Tri-Cities City Hall announced that organization of this year's Tall Ship Races event has been awarded to the PeZookian shoreside metropolis.

The Races are a yearly event, in which large sailing ships from all around the world compete for the Tall Ship Cup. It is also a massive tourist magnet, which historically attracts tourists from all around the world. The participating ships are always open for visitors.

This year, over two dozen large sailing vessels have registered for the race, including the famous Virtue Of Courage, best known for it's participation in a pirate incident off Frequeque earlier this year. Other vessels include, but are not limited to: Knight Of St. John, an Old Dominion ship operated and financed by the Latin Church, Victory, a decomissioned Shroomanian ship of the line, Defender Of Stasograd from the UCSR, Constitution from Wilkonia, and many others, both private and government operated.

The event will be held during the first week of August, and the city is already planning a series of concerts and happenings to commemorate the occasion.


2016 Tall Ships Races, off the Wilkonian coast

King Paul to visit the UCSR, discuss military matters

Fresh after his testimony before the Parliamentary Finance Comittee with regards to FASTA funding, King Paul will be going to Stasograd, in order to meet with President Shady. The precise matters to be discussed during the visit remain vague, however unnamed sources point to upcoming purchases of military equipment by PeZookia under Army Reform Plan 2020, as well as matters of CATO security and politics.

[DarthShady]

Somewhere in Khitan

The small fisherman's village was peaceful, it's people resting after a hard days work, a strange sense of tranquility spread across their homes. Everything and everyone was sleeping. The night sky was filled with stars, and only the howling of a stray dog interrupted the quiet peace of the sleeping village - it was a beautiful scene. This was the kind of place that was untouched by the modern world, isolated and uncorrupted by the influence of technology - by the influence of law. One of a hundred similar villages in Khitan, which the government pretty much ignored for most of the time. The perfect place for those who wanted to stay hidden, for those who needed a safe place from which to operate.

The truck pulled up, with a roar of it's old engine, in front of the decaying wooden house in the middle of the night. As the villagers slept, their new guests proceeded to unload weapons and equipment and stash it inside their temporary home. Several men established a security perimeter around the house, they were obviously professionals. Two of them stood guard in front of the house, while their friends finished unloading the truck.

"Is all this stuff really necessary?", one of the guards asked.

"Yes, it is necessary.", the other guard answered with a smirk and light up a cigarette, "Once you see what the boss has planed, you will understand."

"If you say so.", the guard said with a smile, "When will the boss be joining us?"

"He will arrive by boat in the morning.", the man said and threw away his half burnt cigarette, "Now shut up. Let's get everything ready."

The small group of men finished unloading the truck and setting up security around the house. Several of them than proceeded to move to the docks and spread out across them in various positions. They were almost ready and it was almost time. The sun was coming up, their boss would be arriving soon - and the villagers would be starting their morning work. Luckily for them the local authorities were nowhere near, and the people of this small village knew better than to interfere with their new visitors. The people here knew that those with guns should be avoided and left to their own dealings.

***

The morning came, the sun lifted itself slowly into the sky, and the villagers awoke and began their daily routine. Fishermen went to their boats and sailed out, avoiding their armed guests along the way. Farmers moved out to their fields, and the village came to life - soon it was bristling with activity. The new day had arrived, and life continued as usual - with only the small addition of a few armed men on the docks. But the villagers were not concerned, they were used to things like this happening - so they were more than happy to ignore it, and carry on with their daily routine.

The school teacher, a young woman, exited her house and moved to the school. The school was an old building by the docks, barely keeping itself together, but it served it's purpose and the people of this small village could not afford to build a new one. The young woman, Katrin was her name, was eager to start the day- she walked down the dusty street with a smile on her face and a stack of books in her hands.

***

The Boat came to a stop at the docks with a loud thump and a sinister shriek, as if announcing bad things had arrived. The boat was right. Several of the armed men guarding the docks had gathered together to welcome the new arrivals, their leader - a black man named Abasi, stood in front of them. One could see the nervous expressions on their faces, and the itchy trigger fingers. The boat had brought someone important.

From inside the boat a man in a black, expensive looking suit, surfaced. His face partially concealed by black sunglasses, his expression - that of strange amusement. He strolled down the docks to Abasi and his men and smiled.

"Welcome back to the OC Boss.", Abasi said with a smile.

***

The school teacher arrived in front of the school and was about to unlock the door and start her preparations for the day, when something grabbed her attention - a group of men had just arrived at the docks by boat. There was something-- interesting about them. Katrin felt a strong urge to come closer and take a look.

She walked slowly towards the docks, trying to see who was there. Suddenly she stopped, her eyes widened - she seemed frozen, unable to move. A panicked look settled in her eyes, she dropped her books and they slammed the ground hard.

"I've seen this man before...in my dreams, in my nightmares.", she said to nobody in particular, remembering the awful nightmares - the people dying, the pain, the suffering. The most vivid memory of all was the face of this man. The things he had done in her dreams were horrible, truly the stuff of nightmares. She ran into the school.

***

"It's good to be back Abasi.", Srdjan Karic said with a wicked smile, "It's good to be back."

Result: Karic is back!

[Bluewolf]

Dear Byzantine Emperor Heraclius IV

Your offer is too good to resist and a visit to Byzantium and the other CATO nations will be arranged shortly. We would also like to discuss the potential weapon deals that Byzantium and CATO have been offering including pricing, delivery and training. Maybe a visit to Cialan could be planned. It would be an honour.

Yours sincerely

Prime Minister Micheal Thomason

[Beowulf]

Black Sands testing range
Tian Xia

The announcement of a space launch from Black Sands caught alot of people by surprise. The surprises continued for the spectators when they arrived. The vehicle was much smaller than would have been expected, and they were much closer than would ordinarily be the case. Earplugs and earmuffs were provided.

The launch vehicle looked like someone had taken a SM-2 airframe and modified it for this. They'd mostly be right. Attached to the bottom of the missile was a black colored cylinder with a nozzle. The cylinder actually resembled a radiator, due to the corrugated surface. It actually was heat exchanger, of a sort, but rather than releasing heat into the atmosphere, it drew in heat to power the engine. The exchanger was heated by a laser located several miles down range. Part of the heat generated was tapped to run a pump to feed more propellant through the system. The rest of the heat went to flash heating the propellant. The propellant was simple and cheap distilled water. Distilled, so that there wasn't any residue left in the exchanger when the water was flash heated into steam, and then super heated further. The rocket was small because the payload was small. It only weighed a total of 100kg. The rocket was small also because the fact that the powersource was off the rocket.

This wasn't, in fact, the first launch of this rocket type. It was merely the first that'd reach orbit. Previous launches had deliberately been stopped before they had enough velocity to get up there, despite having enough fuel. Other tests had verified the lasers' ability to operate for long enough to reach orbit, and the rocket's ability to withstand the heat for a full length test.

The beauty of the pump design was that it resulted in a fairly constant exhaust velocity regardless of the heat input. The only difference was that lower heat resulted in lower mass flow, and therefore thrust. Thus, the thrust curve could be (and was) tailored to the ascent profile, resulting in a maximally effective use of the propellant. Of course, it still needed to complete the burn before it went over the horizon.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

Classified Top Secret

... Begin trials of new atomic chip gyroscope and accelerometer (ACGA) on board Experimental Submarine 1...

... Orders placed for new radios and signal generators using chip scale atomic clocks as reference....

... Possible use of new ACGAs in missiles?...

... Installation of Compact Femtosecond fiber laser clock at Military Metrology...

... Funds awarded for compact Attosecond laser clock...

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Muzaffer City, Klavostan

With the destruction of the Flyspeck Isle outpost by the NFT, the Japanistani high command had to resort to other methods of creating disorder throughout Frequesque. After some deliberation, they looked to the former Central Frequesquean Republic, which was still somewhat of a powder keg waiting to go off at the proper moment with a few sparks...


The four most wanted men in Frequesque, L-R: Troy Vortisch, Edward Bradley, Greg Springfield, Alan Cordell

While the Revolutionary Front had effectively been destroyed as a military force years ago, some of its members had managed to evade the various search-and-destroy operations led by the various Frequesquean nations; among them were Iron Tigers commander Troy Vortisch, his lieutenants Greg Springfield and Alan Cordell, and Revolutionary Guards brigade commander Edward Bradley. Through no small amount of subterfuge, they were able to find their way into Klavostan, where they lived more or less incognito for the last few years. That was, until they had all received a mysterious message telling them to meet in Klavostan's capital...


FILE PHOTO: Major Kimihiro Fukuyama of the Imperial Japanistani Army

Major Kimihiro Fukuyama was a relatively young but highly experienced special forces operator, having proven himself in the jungles of New Sumatra against ethnic and religious insurgents and foreign mercenaries. Now, he was being sent to Klavostan to recruit the remnants of the Revolutionary Front to wreak some more havoc and destabilize MESS-CATO relations.

Seedy bars and taverns were a dime a dozen in the rotten hive of scum and villainy that was Muzaffer City, and it was in a particularly seedy establishment named Muammar's that Major Fukuyama met with the remnants of the Revolutionary Front's leadership to give them an offer they couldn't refuse. Troy and the others found the Japanistani major sitting in a secluded corner booth, shrouded in relative darkness and well out of the way of any prying ears or eyes.

"Troy Vortisch, the leader of the Iron Tigers, the elite of the former Revolutionary Front," Major Fukuyama began. "It's quite the honor to finally meet you in the flesh."

Troy merely sneered at the Japanistani major. "You flatter me, but why exactly are you so interested in me and my comrades?" he asked. "Are you Langley, Zorian, or--"

"Japanistani," Major Fukuyama interjected with a disgusted look on his face. "I hate the Zorians, and I especially hate the Langleys. Damn otaku bastards, perverting our proud culture, flooding us with their filthy excuses for anime..."

"Japanistani, huh?" Troy mused. "That changes things, then. In any case, you seem to know who I am and what I've done in the past decade. Let me guess, you want me to go to work for you?"

"You guess correctly, Mr. Vortisch," Major Fukuyama said, having regained his composure. "You and your comrades may be gaijin, but you're particularly skilled gaijin, and it's your skills that I'm interested in."

"What exactly does working for you entail?" Troy asked.

"Simple, really," Major Fukuyama explained. "Japanistan is being surrounded yet again. The names may have changed over the years, but the core reasons still remain the same. The former Slavic National Confederacy has changed their name and invited the Shroomanians, the San Doradoans, the Baernish, the Zorians, and the Langleys to participate in their schemes for world domination. Knowing your history and your circumstances, you'd probably be most interested in what the San Doradoans have been up to."

"They've reformed themselves into the North Frequesquean Trust and absorbed Coilerburg and Sabika into their ranks," Troy said. "I still keep up with the news. I'm not a fool."

"Exactly," Major Fukuyama said. "Frequesque is but one area that CATO plans to conquer, and the San Doradoans are their primary tool, using their capitalistic might to practically buy off countries left and right. They've already taken over the north, and it's only a matter of time before they claim the rest of the Goddamned Fucking Continent as well."

"But what about the MESS?" Troy asked. "The Vineyards have joined up with them as an observer. Tian Jiao is now a de jure province of Tian Xia again. They're not going to let CATO snatch up the rest of the continent from under them."

"No offense, but you are indeed somewhat of a fool for falling for the lies spread by the MESS media," Major Fukuyama deadpanned. "They're in on the same schemes as CATO is. You think these little squabbles between them are genuine? They're staged, simple jingoistic propaganda for their stupid masses. Do you honestly think that the same countries that banded together to crush Japanistan in the Second Great War would simply overlook us to fight amongst themselves?"

"You have a point there," Troy conceded. "Now, back to the issue of my employment. Again, why, exactly, do you need us? You're Imperial Japanistan. What use do you have for revolutionaries without a revolution?"

"The Revolutionary Front may have ceased to exist, but we can still give you a new lease on life," Major Fukuyama said. "While you are not expected to be agents of the Empire per se, nor will you be recognized as such, we can still give you money, equipment, and intel. In return, you get a renewed opportunity to do what you do best against your old enemies in the NFT, Baerne, and the Vineyards. I'll give you a few moments to think about it."

Troy's response was almost immediate. "We accept your offer. The Revolutionary Front is at your service."

"Excellent," Major Fukuyama said. "You and your comrades shall be of great use in wreaking true havoc among the MESS and CATO alliances while we wait for the perfect opportunity to strike." The major raised his hand to summon a waitress. "A bottle of your strongest whiskey and several shot glasses for me and my friends here, please," he told the waitress as he deposited a large wad of cash on her tray. "Keep the change."

"Right away, sir," the waitress replied as she went off to fulfill the order. A minute later, she returned to the booth with a bottle of whiskey and five shot glasses, which Major Fukuyama took; he dropped another wad of cash onto her tray, passed out the glasses, opened up the bottle, and started pouring.

"To the rebirth of the Revolutionary Front," Major Fukuyama said, raising his glass in a toast.

"To the rebirth of the Revolutionary Front," Troy and his comrades replied, raising their glasses as well. A clink rang out, and the five men proceeded to drink.

The Revolutionary Front did indeed live again.

RESULTS:
Japanistan finds some new flunkies to use in their ongoing efforts to sow discord among the MESS and CATO alliances. Said flunkies just so happen to be the surviving leaders of the Revolutionary Front.

¡Viva la revolución!

[Beowulf]

Fielding Navy Yard
Fielding
Tian Jiao Province
Tian Xia

The third modified Cheung-class (known as the Tsui-class) was being delivered from yard hands today. The result of the DGH project, it carried a quartet of MH-60R helicopters. The hangar had been enlarged, as well as the flight deck, at the expense of the VLS missile capacity. Even that had been taxed by changed missile load. It now carried a very large number of Sea Lance missiles. Thus, the AAW complement for the Tsui class was largely ESSM, with SM-2 dual packed to provide longer range defense.

They were not designed for the strike role, and would probably never carry dedicated land attack missiles. They were also not for anti-ship warfare, and similiarly would carry only limited numbers of Harpoon missiles. No, these were subhunters. Their helicopter complements were their striking arm.

Today, the Stryker joined the Tian Xia Navy. Formerly commissioned in the Shinra Republic Navy as the Argo-class Stryker, it had served with distinction in the One Week War. It had since been found surplus to needs for the SRN.

[Siege]

Palm Grove, La Palma, San Dorado, NFT

“Enjoying yourself?”

Sidney Hank looked up from the newspaper he was reading. The president was sitting in a deck chair on the sun-parched terrace of his sprawling mansion on the outskirts of La Palma. A navy blue parasol protected him from the worst of the heat, and a white fedora was planted at a rakish angle atop his head.

“Daphne!” the president exuberantly welcomed his wife. “Come to join us?” He gestured at a cooler containing a bewildering variety of fruit drinks. “We’ve got soft drinks!”

“Thanks dear”, Daphne shook her head and grabbed a bottle of orange juice. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Me and Fairfax here” Sidney grinned and indicated the striped Cheshire cat that lay purring contently on one of the other chairs.

Daphne arched an eyebrow. “You got a cat? I didn’t know you liked cats.”

“I am a bottomless well of surprises, my dear.”

“Indeed” the president of San Dorado had long since decided to pay no heed to her husband’s cryptic eccentricities. She changed the subject. “How is the detox coming?”

“I’m no longer shouting at things and people that aren’t there, if that’s what you mean.” A trickle of resentment involuntarily crept into the president’s voice. As part of his recovery the doctors had explicitly forbidden the president any alcohol. Giving up drinking wasn’t easy for a functioning alcoholic of twenty-six years – the hallucinations in particular had been bad. Sidney had spent days tossing insults at an imaginary Huang-Di, not that he remembered any of it. “The doc says I should be through the worst of it. Not that I wouldn’t still kill for a stiff drink though.”

“Not going to happen” Daphne’s tone of voice indicated she brooked no disagreement. “How are you holding up under the recovery?” She smirked. “Not working driving you up the walls yet?”

“No, actually it’s not. In fact it was just thinking that I might just retire.”

“What?” his wife’s voice was incredulous. “Why-ever would you retire now? I mean, after all you’ve just accomplished?”

Sidney shrugged. “Why not? Comrade Stanislav retired after he’d brought about the UCSR.”

“Yes, but he’s ancient” countered Daphne.

“His heart also never gave up on him.”

“That’s because it’s made of ice” Daphne glowered. “Unlike yours.”

Sidney chortled. “I’m touched, m’dear.”

“I’m serious. Bank isn’t half bad at his job, but he isn’t you. It’s not the same.”

“No-one is irreplaceable.” The president took a sip from a beverage that tasted of cherries. “Not even me. And anyway I was thinking I might take a position as a consultant of sorts, as long as I get away from the hustle and bustle.” He looked at his wife. “The job did damn near kill me, you know. That sort of thing tends to change a man’s perspective.”

Daphne opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the ring of her cell phone. She glanced at the number and threw the president an anguished look. “It’s Helena. I’m sorry Sidney, I have to take this.”

“Of course you do” he smiled.

“We’re not done talking about this!” she warned, then picked up the phone. Sidney turned his attention back to the ocean view. The sounds of the Pacific ocean mixed with Fairfax’ content purring. He smiled. “Of course we’re not.”

[Bluewolf]

Stanton International Airport:

Michael stepped wearily out into the open on the way to the plane. After much tedious planning and debate on what to buy from whom, an agreement had finally been made with most of the details hashed out. It had been a stressful few weeks with both MESS and CATO offering him their military goods like two street sellers in a distant country. Both trying to outdo each other and accuse the others intensions as wrong or false. Navigating the political minefield of the two main power blocs was difficult at best. Now the added factor of their reactions and how would respond if Cialan bought weapons off one of them was added to the challenge.

As Michael gazed at the 747 while walking slightly stonily towards it he knew what was to come. Even at Cialan there would be a massive row over the nature of this deal and its expenses. Yet Michael knew he would be damned if he spent little or nothing and would be dammed spent a fair amount at all. It was more of a matter of trying to find some middle ground where at least there may be less criticism and accusations. The shrieks of those who thought it would be waste would sound out while the bellows of pompous militarists would add a tone of contempt at what would, to them be seen as a cowardly amount of spending despite the countries limits. Michael felt drained and weary and had even gone this far to help appease Caemon Brown and his lot.

In his left hand Michael clutched all the details of it for his visit to Byzantium to also investigate FASTA which was a goal he wished to achieve. In his mind, if it would be one of the greatest achievements of his country to get into space but the details of that would all come in with this visit.

Of course when he got back there would be another battle to face. Another bill that had been, for a long time in the works would be brought out. It was dubbed the “New Healthcare Act” which would bring the healthcare system into new tighter regulations as well as limits on the private sector. This of course would cause howls from all around, especially the Wolvens People Party with their mantra of “letting the free man choose” and “let the successful not be swindled by the government”. Michael stopped for a moment, the wind blowing past him, howling slightly over the noise of the plane. A mounting feeling of stress was eating on him like never before. His mind was starting to grow tired. For a moment he just stood there in the same position like some kind of stone bust that had been placed there for centuries. His mind was swirling like as if it was trapped in a hurricane. His train of thought started to derail fully and his mind had blocked all background sound out. What would he do? What could be done next? Could even pull it off?
“Are you OK Prime Minister?” said a female voice that cut into his mind. He jolted back in surprise and his attention came back to the real world. “Err I am fine” he said with a pause. “Thank you”. Michael walked forward and boarded the plane.

Stanton, 11 Dawn Street, ½ a mile from Hound Square.

Several men sat in a living room, full of antique relics from Cialan and other countries. A small electric chandelier, probably
one of the lesser expensive things in the room illuminated the grand antiques while a grandfather clock ticked away

“Look if we are to do this then we have to start this now while we still have a window to do this. “ Said a plump man in a dark blue business suit which was pushed out by the slightly obese mans body. “Every second this is delayed allows more chance of the outcome not going the way we want. It may be said that this is an old phrase but fortune favours the bold and we-“

“and we will utterly fail if we charge in and are shown for what we are. Do you even realise how many months it has taken to go this far?” The interrupting man sat down, his wrinkled face staring at with a face of obvious annoyance.
“Look” Another man spoke in. “We can’t do anything “bold” as our friend Ron would like to have it but we shall start the first acts of his plan soon. For now, this meeting is adjourned”.

Result:

Cialan to buy a large amount of military hardware from CATO as well as look into the FASTA space program which will be discussed in a visit to Byzantium.

Three men discuss the future of things.

[Lonestar]

Charlotte Business Journal

Controversial Fisheries bill passes House of Burgesses, OICAS

Hot on the heels of the banning of NFT vessels from the Impact Crater for resource extraction, OICAS has passed a bill that severely restricts fishing throughout the region.

Citing the collapse of fisheries globally since the 1950s, the Lord Fairfax government has rammed through a Fisheries bill that declares 30% of the waters of the Impact Crater Archipelago off limits to commercial fishing, with the remainder of the waters restricted to new licensed fishermen. This has brought howls of protest from the international fishing industry, no doubt because the much reduced numbers of licensed fisherman in the IC will be form OICAS member states, or possible MESS states.

"90% of the commercial fish population was eradicated in the 20th Century," Said a spokesperson from the OICAS Council "And we are well on our way to finish off the remaining 10%."

The Lord Fairfax government acknowledges that, as with the NFT ban, this seemingly oversteps the disposition of the IC under the Treaty of Utrecht, "Considers it a model for a global agreement."

[Bluewolf]

The Cialan Times:

Government Proposes Whaling and Expansion Plan:

In what has been seen as a surprise move by the Blue Iron Party today, a bill has been put forward to open up large areas of the Northern Sea for activities such as whaling, larger industrial fishing and even expansion onto the North Pole. This has said to “give Cialan a massive boost income and open up more international markets for Cialanian fishing”.
The project would seek to allow commercial hunting of humpback whales which are common in the Northern Seas of the Old Continent. The meat, oil and other by products of the whales would be sold and used, boosting the Cialanian economy in light of a large military bill to pay in its upcoming defence expansion. The move would also allow large amounts of commercial fishing in the area which has previously been restricted in the Land and Sea Environment Act of 1974.

North Pole Expansion:

It has also been laid out that Cialan would set up research and seal hunting bases along the North Pole in a continuation of this scheme. The bases would allow Scientists to study what have been previously, neglected areas of the world while helping to drive the economy through hunting of seals and younger seal cubs for purposes of fur and meat.

New Markets opened up:

The government has also said today that it has invited Sovereignty of Shroomania to help fund and take part in the project. On top of that it has been said that international sales of these goods would be encouraged in an attempt to power the industries. It is hoped that Cialan can become “a market hive of international hunting and fishing”.

Environmental Concerns:

Many environment groups are outraged by the plans saying that “this will open the door to overfishing and natural extinction of many precious creatures”. Environment Minister Erwin Wolfgang has stressed that levels of hunting and fishing as well as population will be watched and changed if needed.

Result:

Cialan to loosen restrictions and encourage more industrial fishing, whaling and seal hunting in a boost to its economy and a bid to open up international markets.

The Sovereignty of Shroomania and Cialan are also to take part in research and hunting on the North Pole with bases planned soon.