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[Shinn Langley Soryu]

I.S.C.A. formation proceeding, full speed ahead to merchant ship construction

Republican Ministry of Trade has announced today that the International Sea Commerce Agency has almost finished forming. Currently, member states are submitting data necessary to allocate production orders for the next fiscal year.

With only 4 months to end of the year, much work lays ahead. The Minister urged all member countries to peruse the preliminary draft of the Agency's budget for the next year, and voice their opinions.

The budget has been published by the ministry and is Publically available here and on the Agency's website.

Member states are also urged to declare their commitments to the Agency's cash pool, which is to be distributed towards R&D contracts in all member states.

Since the Duchy of Langley no longer has to pay US$150 million for the FCS license due to its membership in the ISCA, it is going to redirect that money towards the Agency's cash pool instead.

In addition, the Ashford City, Kamina City, Ramius, Ritona, and Stadtfeld shipyards have just opened and are in the process of starting on Canissia's order for 10 ACVs. The Ashford City facility has two slipyards and two drydocks and can handle ships of up to 40,000 DWT; the Kamina City, Ramius, Ritona, and Stadtfeld facilities each have one slipyard and one drydock and are intended to handle ships of up to 20,000 DWT each.

ROYAL CANISSIAN CYCLEWORKS MOTORCYCLE FACTORY OPENS
- snip pic -
ONE OF THE MANY RCC PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FOR CIVILIAN OR MILITARY PURCHASE; EXPORT ORDERS WELCOME
CAPRICA CITY, CANISSIA-- The recently unveiled Royal Canissian Cycleworks factory unveiled its latest product, the "Wolfhound" off-road cycle with powered sidecar. The "Wolfhound" is based off the Russian military's M-72 Ural, on Earth That Was, which is itself a reverse-engineered version of the BMW R-71 scout bike used by the former German Wehrmacht.

The "Wolfhound" is a solid, steel-tube construction off-road bike, built for the rigors of unimproved trails. It will be available for the Border Guards and Militia as an official duty vehicle, but no Canissian military orders are expected. Foreign military orders, however, are welcome and the low cost and high durability may make the "Wolfhound" a popular scout and light-utility vehicle for many small-nation militaries.

Available to civilians, the "Wolfhound" allows for fun, rugged trail biking as well as street-legal motorcycling. Other RCC products include non-military version of the "Wolfhound" as well as non-sidecar "solo" units for more standard touring.

Prices start at $15,500.00 USD, or ROB.13,750.00.

The Duchy of Langley is interested in purchasing a small consignment of militarized Wolfhounds for its armed forces. In addition, the Department of Commerce would like to know if these motorcycles are available for civilian sales within the Duchy.

Shepnukistani DoD Budget for FY09 Released

(OOC - I've never done this for a RPG, so if you spot any fuckups please point them out)

- snip pic -

If you think i've forgotten you in the Blackbeard order, just let me know and I'll add you into the budget.

The Duchy of Langley has already stated its intent to shoulder some of the development and construction responsibilities for the Blackbeard program.

In addition, the Department of Defense has accepted your offer for Blackbeard batteries; the Navy intends to order one Fastbeard battery at the price stated previously.

Canissia sponsors international treaty lifting any and all taxes on the trade and commerce of nutritious food items between nations. "Treat" food items can still be taxed.

The Duchy of Langley would like to be one of the first nations to throw its support behind this treaty.

[The War on the Sea is a premise to, basically, explore the oceanic depths of the New Earth and start killing whales and shit for food.]

Shroomania and the FUNGAL AXIS would like to enter discussions with the Bear Republic on food, agriculture, booze, babes, shitty Reality TV, and more.

The first of the Shroom Sats - to be launched from the United Kingdom of Blackadder - will be for satellite TV! To be beamed to everyone in the world with a subscription!

So, if your TV channels want MOAR ratings, come to us mang

The Navy and various civilian agencies have already been conducting extremely small-scale oceanographic surveys of the waters surrounding the Duchy of Langley for some time now; most of these organizations are currently expressing at least some measure of interest in collaborating with the Shroomanian government and other interested parties concerning this War on the Sea.

Also, as a member of the FUNGAL AXIS, the Duchy is also interested in talks with the Bear Republic concerning agriculture and commerce.

Needless to say, quite a few networks are interested in increased ratings and would like to get their programs broadcasted via Shroom Sat.

[The Yosemite Bear]

The Bear Republic will throw in support for such a measure, though we are unsure about how much this will directly effect us. (Large quanity food exporter).

[RogueIce]

First non-MESS embassies open in Diplomatic Sector of the Capital
Law of the Sea; Bioweapons ban treaties also signed

MIDGAR - Today marked the opening of two non-MESS member state embassies in the Diplomatic Sector today, those of the Red Technocracy and Shroomania. To mark the occasion, President Shinra also formally signed the Law of the Sea and Biological Weapons Ban treaties.

"In this new age of international cooperation, I am proud to welcome these diplomatic missions to our fair country, and hope they will not be the last. Further, our signing of the Law of the Sea and Biological Weapons Ban treaties, together with the first work orders underway in accordance with the International Sea Commerece Agency, marks the Shinra Republic's commitment to international friendship and mutual progress."

In other news, the Defense Ministry has announced preliminary plans for a new ship design, tentitively known as the FF-X Program. Ministry officials state this new ship, intended to replace the current fleet of Gorgon-class guided missile frigates, will be used as convoy escort and anti-pirate assets. "Given the troubles in Syndromia, and the former civil war in New Gottland, maritime commerece activites in the Central Sea posses noticable dangers," a Navy spokesman said. He added that the loss of two merchant vessels to pirate actions and rogue military forces serves to underline the need for a new, more affordable class of vessels to combat these dangers.

When questioned on whether this new vessel would also be available to foreign governments, the Navy referred such questions to the Defense Ministry. Defense officials declined to comment, saying that at this early stage such determinations could not yet be made.

((OOC: Gorgon-class FFGs are renamed Halifax-class vessels)

[Shroom Man 777]

[Dude. The New Gottland Civil War is over.]

For the War On The Sea, Shroomania will use one of its successful prototype ACVs - modified by the Shroomanian Scientific Society to serve as a science vessel. It will have a tiny crew of oceanographers and such.

Discussians will be on quanities of food needed, currently we are gearing up our sour dough production (you would be suprised how long it takes to get large quanities of a bacteria to grow in the right conditions, from a very small sample) Actually since Mothersponge supply doubles every 48 hours, it works.

We're big enough to have large swaths of farmland, we're looking to buy some seeds and hoes from you guys, and those bacterias and Mothersponges.

Agricultural Reforms! Agrarian Policies! Crops!

And Zeppelins.

Also:
Republic of Shinra and Canissia have opened embassies in Shroomania! Hooray!

[The Yosemite Bear]

ALERT:

Dateline Bear Republic. A mountian in the chain seperating the Southern Desert and the Northern Fertile Valleys has gone active. Intial Siezmic disturbances registered at 7.3, Extensive damage to the high speed rail system detected by sensors, minerial rich hot ash is blocking observation and Radar. Death toll, unknown, there was a work shift heading into the southern region to work on the solar & wind farms suppling auxillery power to the Air testing grounds and Electromagnetic institute. Secondary power outages reported throught the nation, as plants shut down for safety reasons.

As of yet there is no contact with the southern desert region, The Bear Republic is issuing a wave warning, to it's neighbors.

(ash is blocking radio, comm sat., the main pass between the southern deserts and the northern 2/3s is currently covered in hot, molten rock, and the power/communication lines are also damaged in that section. Solar farms are expected to be non-functional for the next year or so, as the volcanic clouds will be turning the southern half into "Mordor" for the next couple of months.)

[The Yosemite Bear]

Alert II:

The Sea fights back.

A bear republic cargo hauler is presumed to have sunk with all hands, as a possible result of the Siezmic activity that the republic is currently experiencing. Bitter Irony considering most of the crew working on the cargo vessel appears to be Syndromian refugees. (Anyone wanting to describe how much damage the earthquake and it's subsequent Tsunamis are producing. yes, I know it's comming back to hit me.)

[Shroom Man 777]

THE OFFICE of the PRIME MINISTER SHROOM the 777th



"What the-?! Goddamn, I don't believe it, they were right all along! Damn!"

"Send out a wave warning! Make sure our people in the islands are ready for anything. Warn the rest of the AXIS and... everyone else!"

"Someone call the Bears, find out how bad they got hit. Ask them if we can do anything to help."

"Alert all our services, prepare for the worst and get ready for damage control. If we aren't hit, we're still gonna have a lot of people to help!"

"Come on, people! The sea just declared war on us! We can't take this lying down! We've gotta get through this, put our heads together, and find a way to get even with the ocean!"

"Goddamn it! I can't believe those RetroRegressive Fundietastic nutjobs were right!"

"Goddamn Libertopians."

[The Yosemite Bear]

Date Line: Pirate's Bay: (San Francisco)
with aftershocks from the volcanic eruption still hapening, the first Waves struck. coastal homes along the peninsula have been wiped off, evacuation orders had already removed much of the population, The shipyards and docks of Pirate's Bay have been innundated, particularly a cargo ship being transported 40 miles inland.

flooding throught Pirate's Bay.

[The Yosemite Bear]

first breakdown of the natural disaster. note that the Volcano is on the faultline indicated, the Tsunami's appear to be a result of underwater release along the same fault line. Awaiting information from The Mermaid monarchy, and New Patria, or the Red Technocracy, which are also near the epicenter

[Beowulf]

Forbidden City Times

The Peace Department announced today that it had launched it's first Space Based InfraRed System satellite today into Geosynchronous Orbit. The SBIRS satellite was built by Northray Corp, and is designed to detect missile and rocket launches. It is currently located at 35W.

[MKSheppard]

Shepnukistani Defense Department Release #4



The Ranger battlegroup has sailed; with orders to assist in disaster relief in the Bear Republic. Participating are:

CVN-80 RSS Ranger
CGN-74 RSS Maryland
CGN-75 RSS Virginia
CGN-76 RSS Ohio
CGN-77 RSS Pennsylvania
CGN-78 RSS North Carolina
SSN-792 RSS Gato
SSN-793 RSS Wahoo

EDIT: Additional resources are along the way: with the following RSAF units tasked:

305th Strategic Reconnaisance Wing (35 x RB-1Ds) to map the extent of the disaster and relay information back.

909th Heavy Air Refuelling Squadron (19 x KC-10s)
915th Heavy Air Refuelling Squadron (19 x KC-10s)
800th Heavy Air Refuelling Squadron (19 x KC-10s)

The KC-10s will be used to transport not only disaster relief supplies, but also fresh fuel supplies which can be used to power emergency generators and vehicles in the disaster areas in their fuel tanks...

[The Yosemite Bear]

so how bad are your ships effected by the Tsunamis?

[Master_Baerne]

Baernish MinState
File BMS-2

The Sovereign Duchy of Baerne had dispatched three ACVs full of food and other essentials to the Bear Republic, in a humanitarian gesture. Both of His Grace's destroyers were also sent to provide what help they can, and His Grace is quoted as saying "We stand in sympathy with the Bear Republic, and will continue to provide what aid we can. I urge the FUNGAL AXIS and the ISCA to do the same. That said, thank God there's a lot of land between us and those tsunamis."

[Master_Baerne]

so how bad are your ships effected by the Tsunamis?

Err, sorry for the double post, but unless the ships are docked when the tsunami hits, or very near shore, they wouldn't be. That bit about a "rising tide lifting all boats" applies here.

A tsunami is basically a pile of water that stays beneath the surface of the ocean until it's forced above it by shallower depths, such as continental slope. This is why it's so hard to get warnings of them.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Although severe flooding in the valleys damaged a good deal of the harvest, the bigger problembeing that the main port of Pirate's Bay is currently as bad as New Orleans was right after Katrina.

Note: Lookout point penesila covering the south of Pirate's Bay has been stripped clean. debris from this along with from the river/delta system leading 90 miles into Pirate's Bay have been flooded. Red Bay to the Northern end of the Country is intact, and capable of offloading cargo. Transport to the effected areas will have to be done by air.

The southern Desert region is largely underpopulated. A lot of historic buildings and high priced homes were lost when lookout point's high ground took the brunt of the impact. However, we've discoved that the riverside farming communities had large number of refugees living/working in the effected regions. current Death Toll figures are unknown. We believe we've lost a good deal of our export crop totals.

The effected crops:
Coffee (grown along the southern coast line) <Presumed lost>
Choclate/Cane Sugar (also grown along the equitorial coasts, and in the mountains) <if not destroyed by waves, it's covered in ash>
Oranges, Peaches, Lemons, Catalope, Asperagus.. <regions near rivers feeding into pirate's bay>
Dairy production being on high ground in the affected area will probably be uneffected.
unfortunatly, the majority of the Sourdough bakeries were in Pirate's Bay Region. Still Red Fort Bay in the north had 1/4 of the existing mother sponges and bakeries. As well as being the primary Brewery for the republic.

[Master_Baerne]

Although severe flooding in the valleys damaged a good deal of the harvest, the bigger problembeing that the main port of Pirate's Bay is currently as bad as New Orleans was right after Katrina.

Well, that sucks. I hope we'll be more efficient than FEMA.

Speaking of which, does anybody else think there should be an international organization charged with preventing and assisting with disasters just like this one? We could call it the Green Cross, 'cause green is so a better color than red. Give it some actual funding, generally try not to mismanage disaster relief for political reasons.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

The Duchy of Langley Air Force has loaded all four of its C-130J Super Hercules and its single MC-130H Combat Talon II with food, other disaster relief supplies, and an entire Army Corps of Engineers platoon and dispatched them to the Bear Republic. The Navy has also deployed its single Sachsen class frigate to the area with orders to assist relief efforts in any way it can.

[phongn]

SCC Proposes Tsunami Warning System

Satellite Communications Corporation (SCC) CEO Matthew Ryan today proposed an international tsunami warning system. " A network of sensor buoys equipped with low-power satellite communications will be able to provide timely warning to all regions throughout the archipelago. We at SCC are offering to subsidize communications systems and bandwidth for our proposed LEOCOM network to help in averting future loss of life from any tragedies."

In related news, the initial prototypes of the LEOCOM-LO satellites have been completed and are now awaiting final launch assembly for initial tests of the system.

Implacable Surface Action Group Steams to the Bear Republic

A naval convoy was dispatched from Haiphong today with supplies and helicopters to assist survivors of the recent tsunami ...

[Zor]

Minerva

Second Test a sucsess

New Winnipeg Airport-It is a hazy morning as the Delta V Conquest down safely on New Winnipeg Airport after completing three orbits of the planet to cheering crouds and the calm apladence of His Majesty the King. This flight tested out of of the conquest's ability to make a run

So far, the vehicle is shedualed to make another flight latter this year, the next time involving a payload test.

Aid Dispatched to Bear Republic

New Atlantis-Sixteen Cargo Ships of His Majesty's Royal Merchent Marine are loaded with Releif Supplies and prepared for the journey to the Area and are launched towards the Bear Republic at full speed as a fleet of over ten thousand relief workers are flown over to the damaged nation, while plans for accepting refugees and displaced persons affected by this disaster have been put into affect.

"We affirm that we are dedicated to assist those who suffer from natural dissaster." His Majesty said at a press conference "We will provide what aid we can to those affected by this dissaster."

[RogueIce]

The Shinra Republic is sending a carrier and two destroyers to assist the Bear Republic in rescue operations. Most of the carrier's aircraft have been offloaded, save for additional helicopters. A complement of F-14D and A-6E aircraft remain on board for long-range recon operations.

[PeZook]

The II Republic's Parliament convened in an emergency session today in light of recent catastrophe in the Bear Republic. In light of the disaster, a decision was made to scrap plans for troops deployment to Gottland and use the money for disaster relief.

It was decided that four prototype FCS vessels, the entirety of modern PeZookian merchant fleet, will steam as soon as possible to the Bear Republic, carrying food, medical supplies, tents, blankets, medical personnell and Army engineers.

The Head Speaker of Parliament has urged all nations participating in the relief effort to establish a joint command center in order to better co-ordinate all activities.

[PeZook]

Since the Duchy of Langley no longer has to pay US$150 million for the FCS license due to its membership in the ISCA, it is going to redirect that money towards the Agency's cash pool instead.

The contribution is accepted and very much appreciated ; The Agency suggest this money should go towards development of the Nuclear Passenger Ship (NPS) project. This shall up our spending on the project to 300 million dollars, which should be enough to finish it in about 1.5-2 years. Incidentally, it also makes the Duchy of Langley the biggest single contributor to the ISCA.

In addition, the Ashford City, Kamina City, Ramius, Ritona, and Stadtfeld shipyards have just opened and are in the process of starting on Canissia's order for 10 ACVs. The Ashford City facility has two slipyards and two drydocks and can handle ships of up to 40,000 DWT; the Kamina City, Ramius, Ritona, and Stadtfeld facilities each have one slipyard and one drydock and are intended to handle ships of up to 20,000 DWT each.

It has been noted that the Duchy of Langley has a huge shipbuilding industry, on par with many far more developed nations.

It is also welcome, as such added capacity should allow the ISCA to finish the Red Technocracy's ship order within FY2009, with capacity to spare. I'm sure Secretary General Stas will be pleased to hear that.

The Agency's budget has been updated to reflect that.

Some analysts have pointed out that the Agency's projected revenue is now nearly equal to half the GDP of a small country.

[Beowulf]

Forbidden City Times

The Peace Department has issued a contract to Northray Corp to upgrade all existing TXAF E-2C Hawkeye aircraft to E-2D configuration, which fits a new APY-9 AESA radar as well as improved associated electronics.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Near Pirate's Bay.

"What's that smell?"
"Amonia sir, we have some very large squid or octoped type creatures washed ashore. Not to mention the cindrians (jelly fish), and other sea life."
"So what's the emergency?, we've got a disaster to recover from, plenty of time to deal with dead ocean life."
"Sir, we've got a problem." The soldier lead the Beurocrat over to the covered body. "It's amphibius, reptillian and they've decided that we're food. Not to mention their bite includes an anti-coagulant venom."
"What do you plan to do?" The administrator was visibly pale and shaken.
"Well we've seen that these monsters aren't immune to bullets." The soldier laughed while patting his side arm.


Airship Traveling over the Southern Mountain chain.
Colin looked out, there was still ash pouring out from the caldera, but the day after it was much better. The caldera had blown out on the southern side, sending ash, and burning hematite and fused obsidian out across the desert. Magma had clearly flowed over the Main Pass connecting the southern desert with the Northern chains of fertile valleys.
"Damn the place looks like I always imagined 'Mordor' would look like."
"Well Emporer, the good news is that our Airforce crews and our scientists as well as the Shroomian scientists are fine. They were just cut off from communication due to the ash clouds. They had plenty of extra food stores. Their air filters are probably pretty bad condition, but their fine. Though the work crews that were building and maintaining the solar farms, are gone except for those that made it to the safety of the Airforce Base."
"Is there any other silver linings?"
"Well the Red Light District Near Pirate's Bay is back and running."

[Shroom Man 777]

Shroomania's carrier, the Flattop is already en route to the Bear Republic. Most of the combat-oriented aircraft have been replaced for more helicopters and a lot of ammunition has been removed to provide additional volumes for medical supplies, and Shroomanian doctors and nurses have joined in the crew.

Two ACVs (third Shroomanian prototype is still a science vessel) have, like their Baernish counterparts, been loaded with supplies and dispatched immediately as well.

[We're here for you, Baerne!]

[PeZook, I'm gonna have my men build more shipyards...hrm. We'll have to figure out how many new shipyards we can build too...]