SD.Net World(RAR!) MK II

[K. A. Pital]

Supreme Council Communique

We bring to the attention of the international community that Lonestar Republic lied officially about their nuclear program. The reports on phone calls done by our intelligence, as well as fissile material procurement done by Lonestar Republic have been conclusively in favour of the fact he had a nuclear program from day one, and it's actually highly successful.

If the Lonestar Republic admits that the international community did not even send inspectors to the Lonestar Republic despite indications that it was pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, dodged investigations by OMSK Press and Mass Media, and ultimately tried to obtain WMDs under secrecy.

Moreover, the entire MESS is complicit, because it inspected Lonestar facilities. The MESS is very secretive and not much is known of the group besides a member list and some general relations. So either it is also complicit in lies about the Lonestar WMD program, or it's "WMD standards" mean actively procuring WMDs for possible use against OMSK nations.

The OMSK at least remains honest that it's programs, even the most highly advanced, are always dual-use, and as it's a primarily military alliance, measures proposed are primarily aimed at military tasks, so joint OMSK projects are guaranteed to have a military application.

[Mr Bean]

BBC Reports
"A short statement was issued today by the Prime Minster just two hours ago.
The screen switches to a recording of a gray-haired man, the scroll at the bottom identifies him as the UKB Prime Minster.
I will be reading a prepared statement and then taking questions. Four months ago the Lonestar Republic had announced intentions to build Nuclear weapons and that International outcry was silent. But when an OMSK nations announces the same there is a public outcry.

Very-well, it is with the agreement of both Houses and approved by the Crown that the following photographs be released, this photo's were gathered via the Vupliesian Planet Mapping Satellite launched just before the start of last year. The photo I'm about to show you was heavily enhanced and were we not looking at something as large as underground nuclear test craters we would have missed them

The photo your seeing now is a photograph taken two weeks ago. It shows three craters on what is tagged by the Lonestar Republic as the "Permian Basin Wildlife and Petroleum Refuge" and public access is not allowed due to it being located next to the Midland Missile range.

Here is the first photograph.
A large white board is brought out and placed on a stand next to the podium

[
The region around this area is nothing but desert as far as the eye can see, but seen from above the underground testing craters become obvious. Without a view over-head I'd don't think anyone would have identified them. I'll turn the briefing over to Major Sharp of the Royal Air force for a briefing and explanation of these photographs.

A 30s something man steps forward and begins pointing towards various portions of the photograph while answering questions from the stirred up international reporters in the room..

BBC reports

[K. A. Pital]

Ten Red Technocracy DBR-1 Tu-123 drones launched

The 10 Mach 2,7 supersonic drones have been test launched from Omsk First Airfield, over UKB airspace, and into the Eastern Ocean.


"This is another series of tests. The range and maneuvrability of the drones are tested, with machines terminated in the Eastern Ocean" - reported Air Force Marshal Anna. - "Various directions from south-east to north-east have been selected".

"It is clear the supersonic craft is passing over most MESS nations' territories, however" - inquired the special reporter of the Red Inquirer Kosynkin. - "You're infringing on their airspace?"

"By the time the drones reach their territory, they are just reactive hulks. We are not sure that these drones really infringe on their airspace. Airspace is yours only if you can defend it from infringement. If they manage to actually down our Mach 2,7 drone at 23,000 km altitude, let them go for it"

"What if they do?"

"Do you really think under current circumstances we should not survey their territory, when it turned out their entire organization was complicit in the cover-up and misinformation about the Lonestar Nuclear Programme, and then facilitated fake outrage at the OMSK detonating their own nukes? How the hell would we even think we maintain "security" for our members if openly anti-OMSK nuclear programs are free to do, but international condemnation of OMSK response is used as a barrier to our defense needs? Interview over"

[General Deathdealer]

Soldier of the General’s Bodyguard in COBRAM MKI


Lead Researcher Gary Gygax next to a mock-up of the COBRAM MKII Power Armor

[General Deathdealer]

[Coyote]

King Arik Coyotus-I read the rather curt rebuff from the Red Technocracy and frowned.

"God, I'm glad I stayed out of the nuclear game," he muttered, "Fuck. Yeah, the Lonestar Republic did announce a nuclear programme," he admitted, "But it seemed at first everyone and their dog was announcing a nuclear prgram, space programs, all sorts of high-falutin' programs. I freely admit, I never paid any attention to it all," he said, somewhat embarrassed. "It all just seemed like... pointless dick-waving."

"Well," said Isabelle, "For all you knew, it was just that. He said he built several smaller bombs, but did he ever test them?"
"No," Arik said, "Not that I know of."
"Then you had no way of knowing," she said, "Besides, like you said, you were keeping your hands clean of all that stuff."

"Technically true," Arik said, "But I still look like a fool."
"Anyone who disavows nuclear weapons is no fool in my book," Isabelle said, "But I don't see where you have much to be concerned about. You've guided Canissia down a path of peace and cooperation with the neighbors."

"Look what it got me," Arik groused. He was feeling sorry for himself-- for the choices he'd made. Should I have been more gung-ho to integrate with the MESS from the start? he wondered. But he knew better-- if he'd exploited Canissia's position, in the heart of OMSK territory, and inited MESS bases, then Shep's nuclear test would be more credible as a "deterrent"-- and Arik would feel guilty for having provoked him.

"Well, the MESS alliance isn't the only group that's critical of Shepnukistan's bomb," Isabelle said, "It's near-universal, outside of OMSK."
"Yeah... still, there's a preconditioned hypocrisy in my position, or at least if you take the MESS as a whole."

"Maybe you should ask yourself what you get out of this alliance," Isabelle said flatly. Arik looked at her.
"What do you mean?" he replied.
"Well, do you get much out of this pact, really?"
"There is the collective security aspect," Arik said with a sigh.
"Collective insecurity?" she teased, "What else?"
"We've divided up research projects," Arik said, "They're doing space research, saving us a ton of money. We contribute robotics."

"And they're also, apparantly, supplying fuel to the nuclear argument," she said, "Dear, the statesmanship is your business. But seriously, there's a point of no returns for the cost-benefit ration on the horizon, unless something happens soon. You're walking the tightrope really well, but people keep shaking it. Including some who are supposed to be helping you."

"Well, that's part of what the summit's going to include," Arik said. "Which reminds me, King Paul is on his way, too."
"Better get going," she said, "I'll be here."

***

Arik walked out towards the diplomatic wing of the Palace. He wanted to meet King Paul himself, and Chief Karl Tigh had been reluctant to let him leave the grounds. But Arik argued persuasively that if he hunkered in the Palace, not only would they all show fear in the face terrorism, but also alienate the people... and make it easier for discontent to settle among the populace.

King Arik went to the Latransylvania Air Force Base nearby, a small fighter base that primarily provided CAP flights for the area around the Royal grounds as needed. He sighed, already aware that Defense Minister Ral Tenn was pushing for funding to expand th ebase significantly in response to the "new defense situation"...

The PeZookian airliner landed at the base, and with limited military fanfare, King Paul stepped out. Arik smiled and shook his hand eagerly.

"So good to see you," he welcomed his colleague, "Times sure are interesting."
"The ancient Chinese curse comes true," Paul said, "And it all started out so well. Terrorists and nuclear blasts, both." Arik introduced him to Chief Tigh, of the Special Protective Services.

"This is Karl Tigh, and he'll be leading the investigation into the protesters and the RPG attack," Arik said. "We have five people in custody-- the man with the megaphone, whom we've learned is named Mick. There are three other guys and a girl from the university."
"What have you learned from the so far?" Paul asked. Chief Tigh answered.

"Near as we can tell, they were tools," the SPS chief said, "They were lured to a booth at the University that said it was for social action, money for the poor, aid for Libertopia, that sort of thing. They were convinced that their diversion was so a huge banner could be unfurled from the building behind them."
"So they seem ignorant of the deadly intent behind the attack?" Paul asked, unsure.
"Well, they passed a lie detector," Tigh said with a slight frown, "They don't seem to be the types to be able to discipline themselves to fool it. They're either scraed fools who got in over their heads, or they are such damn good actors they deserve an award."

"Well, we shall see," King Paul said, "We may have their accomplices. Maybe, maybe not... You have the MESS summit to go to before too long, yes?"
"I can miss the opening ceremonies," Arik said, "To be honest, in a way the Shepnukistan nuclear test is a sort of blessing-- it has completely buried the news about the attack, leaving them with no publicity."
"And leaving us a bit more of a free hand to deal with them, hopefully," Tigh grumbled...

[Beowulf]

Office of the Executive

Today, drone aircraft launched by the OMSK pact attempted to penetrate Tian Xia airspace. Theater High Altitude Air Defense missiles launched by the 4th Battalion, 5th ADA Regiment, and 4th Battalion, 3d ADA Regiment successfully intercepted some of these aircraft. Unfortunately, some of these drone aircraft were not intercepted, and one landed in Nagano, killing ten people. For that mistake, Tian Xia demands reparations. Tian Xia is interested in peace, and will not go to war with the OMSK pact over this mistake on their part.

OMSK claims to be for the betterment of all, but it has shown it's true colors of late. It claims to have been reacting to the threat of the MESS, but the MESS has not acted agressively, unlike the OMSK pact. We have not attempted to overfly their territory with nuclear capable bombers. We have not sent multiple atmospheric drone flights over their territory. We have not threatened to shoot down satellites with ASAT weapons, spreading potentially harmful shrapnel throughout orbital space.

The OMSK pact has insisted on secrecy, even though Tian Xia has striven to provide openess and transparency. It has openly accused other governments of being bribed. It has openly admitted to having spied on the Lonestar Republic, giving specific numbers of nuclear devices constructed. Numbers which are, incidentally, wrong.

Tian Xia does not deny the right of any nation-state to maintain a nuclear deterrant force. However, aboveground tests are both provocative, and spread fallout throughout the world. Therefore, Tian Xia proposes a partial test ban treaty, limiting nuclear tests from being conducted in atmosphere, or underwater.

Finally, I have directed that the size and number of Air Defense Artillery Regiments to be increased. This will better allow Tian Xia to defend itself from the predations of the OMSK pact. Airborne Early Warning aircraft will be on continuous patrol, with F-22s placed on quick reaction status, to better allow the interception or destruction of infringing aircraft. With the small size of the world, we can no longer afford to act complacently. Tian Xia will be acquiring nuclear weapons to deter the OMSK pact.

---

Carswell Air Station
2nd Bomb Wing
5th Bomb Squadron

"Why the hell are we on five minute alert now?"

"What, you didn't hear about the Nukistani test? We've got the only nukes our country's got, even if they are rather small. So now we're on doomsday watch. Hopefully we'll get more soon, and so it won't just be us on this detail."

[Setzer]

From the Vedra Tribune:

Tensions Rise Over Nuclear Testing

Shepnukistan recently detonated a nuclear device over the Neverhood testing range. This action shocked the world, leading to widespread condemnation from several nations. President Setzer issued a statement to the Tribune earlier today. He said the Vedra Republic had no hostile intentions regarding the OMSK pact or Shepnukistan. In uncertain times, it is the responsibility of a head of state to take whatever measures they deem necessary to ensure their national security, providing their methods avoid open warfare. As long as the OMSK pact nuclear arsenal is merely a deterrent, the Vedra Republic has no objection to their nuclear testing.

[Master_Baerne]

Baernish TempMinState
File BTMS-3

His Grace wishes it to be known that he does not condemn Shepnukistan's nuclear test, pointing out that, if what the UKB has recently stated is true, the Lonestar Republic has already done the same and, indeed, more.

[Coyote]

DEFENSE MINISTER: "HEIGHTENED STATE OF ALERT" AUTHORIZED

Canissian Soldiers do a Nuclear-Environment MEDEVAC Drill

Defense Minister Ral Tenn has acknowledged that since the detonation of a Shepnukistan nuclear device in the atmosphere earlier in the week, military reserve and regular forces have been on a heightened state of alert.

"I want to point out, first of all, that we do not expect hostilities," Minister Ral Tenn said, "Not from Shepnukistan, the OMSK, or anyone. We are just on an increased alert posture due not only to the nuclear testing, but the increase in anarchy terroism."

Still, most of th edrills th emilitary practiced were NBC, or Nuclear-Biological-Chemical reaction drills, a practice that is not a normal part of Canissian military training.

"Up until recently, there were no nuclear weapons to worry about," said General Corbin Dallas, of the Canissian 5th Division. "There was a general ban on biological weapons as well, one we felt pretty certain everyone was going to adhere to. But now that this is out of the bag, we have to be ready to deal with it."

The Canissian military admits that, compared to Shepnukistan, they are behind the curve in preparing for a nuclear battlefield.

"We don't have the reaction time, or the decontamination response," GEN. Dallas admitted in a candid interview. "We're building from the foundation. But we're learning, and learning quick."


Meanwhile, tanks, artillery, and other heavy equipment is being moved up to firing ranges in the northern province of Picon, Army sources say.

"The exercises are being moved a little ahead of schedule," the Defense Minister said, "We were going to have the usual spring exercises in another month anayway, but we're moving them ahead a bit." When asked if this was in response to the OMSK weapons tests or the anarcho-terrism, the Defense Minister replied, "It is nothing more than being ready to provide for the defense of a free people."

The King, meanwhile, met with King Paul of PeZookia at the Latransylvanian AFB near the Palace District earlier today.


When asked if there was a change in military readiness as a result of the Shepnukistan weapons test, the King flatly denied it.

"I absoloutely do not seek war with anyone," the King said, "I do not like nuclear weapons, regardless of who has them. My biggest beef with Shepnukistan and their test was the recklessness of it. There was no forewarning, and there was no thought about the impact this will have on the atmosphere. That is my primary concern."

The military alertness tests were part of a planned drill, but were change din the last few hours to take into account NBC reaction.
"We schedule military practice all the time," the King said, "No one notices because it's routine. Now, however, the conspiracy theories are flying. Bear in mind that before this test in Neverhood, there was a great deal of terrorist activity. Our military is simply trying to be pro-active and consider all possibilities. After all, with nuclear weapons becoming more commonplace, the possibility of nuclear-armed terrorism must also be considered."

King Arik will speak with King Paul before heading to the MESS summit.

[Redleader34]

3R News Now!

LIVE BREAKING NEWS



Protests outside the MESS Embassy in Rail City, as new News from the Red Technocrarcy reached the State College. One young protester said "The MESS Lied, Peace Died" referring to the new state of "Cold War" which has fallen upon our dear planet. "I had no idea that the MESS had made atomic weapons programes to try to take out the innocent nation of Shepnukistan..." Tommy Wolfe, the head of the Socialist Party had this to say:

"The MESS claims to be superior, but when it takes FUNGAL forces to do something as simple as route out pirates from our seas, it makes them look like an incompetent society. All for nukes, and nothing to stop the sea pirate problem! If they can't be trusted to open the seas to us traders, why should we trust them with nuclear arms! Anti-Nuclear Weapons Treaty!"

On the other side of the Diplomatic Sector, Protests broke out in front of the Red Embassy, these ones shouting "Down with Air Tests!" and "Atom bombs destroy our Air!" They were from the popular group, "Railers for a Clean Air Environment". Known for their acceptance, and agitation for clean power sources such as atomic power, and renewable energy, the Atomic tests were a huge blow to their lobbing efforts. Their Leader Patrick Regan, had this to say.

"We support the use of atomic power, as well as reprocessing to make sure as much of the material is used as can be. However, the use of atomic weapons threatens to possibly damage our ozone layer, destroy our air, and lead to Autism, Cancers, and viral sickness in our children. We are leading this peaceful protest against the Red Technocracy, for their open air tests have possibly damaged our Mother, the Earth."

He then smoked a cigarette filled with our Island's main Product, Hydro, and lead the peaceful chanters. The only sign of any roughhousing was a few protesters, who chose to play the popular song "Never Gonna Give You Up," in an attempt to annoy the representatives.

Thank you, and Good Afternoon.

[phongn]

IRT Shows Mockup of Orbital Propellant Station to NSC

Representatives from the newly-formed Tonkin Space Development Commission (TSDC), a government-industry cooperative, showed basic mockups of the prototype Orbital Propellant Station (OPS-Y) to NSC inspectors. TSDC press releases repeatedly emphasized the peaceful, nonmilitary nature of the station and the need for international cooperation and trade.

TSDC Announces Test Firing of Falcon 1

In a surprise announcement, the TSDC announced that the first indigenous Tonkin rocket-booster design was test-fired today in a static platform at the Mekong Test Center. Space Development Commissioner Gordon noted that "despite our very good relationship with LockMart, the Republic believes that we must have indigenous launch capability in case of OMSK-MESS conflicts that may negatively affect launch availability."

While the prototype Falcon rockets are believed to be relatively conventional designs, sources within the industry group Tonkin Space Launch Alliance are said to have begun working on thrust-augmented nozzles for improved performance ...

TSDF Announces HFSWR

The TSDF announced today that development of high-frequency surface-wave radar. This radar will be able to detect ships and low-flying aircraft in excess of 350 km range, greatly improving the security of the Republic ...

[DarthShady]

Shady News

The Great Emperor Shady issued a statement today, regarding the recent nuclear weapons test conducted by the OMSK.

The Emperor Said:
"Our glorious allies of the OMSK nations have every right to build, test and detonate nuclear weapons within their own borders. As far as i am concerned they could have used Zablania. Those who are against this are being hypocrites, and we all know why."- immediately after these words the emperor left the stage in a hurry accompanied by his elite guard.

BREAKING NEWS

Shadow Shipyards under attack

An unknown number of small boats, presumed to be pirates are moving towards the imperial shipyards. The Imperial Army and Navy are responding.
More news as soon as we have them.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Menger Hotel, San Antonio

"So this is Menger Hotel." Y.G. Ma, president of the Republic of Mangka said as he finished off discussing with his officials for the Summit, and kicked them all out of his room.

He switched his suit to ordinary khaki pants, a pair of worn sneakers, and a T-shirt. It was nice to be Yenchin again.

Yenchin peeked out of his hotel room.....

"Freeze" Sonija Kwok, his bodyguard was standing there.
[img=right]http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb27 ... 7/01-7.jpg[/img]

"Hey, it's me." Yenchin slowly turned to her.

"What the....Mr. President?" Sonija holstered her gun.

"Shhh....Sonija, come in." Yenchin whispered.

"Er why didn't you use the comlink? Why are you wearing like this?"

"Just come with me, you'll know later." Yenchin lead her to one of the pillars in the suite. He pressed a button and a door opened.

A note, signed by Lonestar, simply read, "Enjoy."

The door lead to a garage, in it there parked a red Toyota Corolla. There was a note left on the windshield wiper.
"Guess what, we did find this at the address you mentioned. The place is untouched, go see yourself."

Yenchin took out a pair of keys in his pocket and tried the door.

It worked.


Twenty Minutes Later, Northern San Antonio, somewhere near the intersection of 1604 West and I-10

The red Corolla stopped at a two-story small house. Yenchin took out his keys again and unlocked the door without hesitating.

"Um....Mr. President?"

"Yenchin, just call me Yenchin, Sonija." He said as he went upstairs.

Everything was so familiar. The big television, the scattered DVDs, the Bibles on the sofas, the three rooms...

"Mr....Yenchin, what's this place?"

"Meeow~~" A grey, fat cat ran out of one of the rooms, rubbing his cheek on Yenchin's leg.

"It's where I used to live." Yenchin entered the room the cat came from.

Everything was same as usual. Same laptop, same desk, same sleeping bag.

"But it seems like someone else lives here now." Sonija was confused, but didn't forget to remind Yenchin.

"Yeah, seems so." It would take a lot to explain. Sonija didn't like science fiction stories.

Yenchin looked at the desk. His favorite tea mug was still there. Q forbid him to use the laptop, he didn't say anything about other stuff.

"Er...Sir?"

"Oh, um...just...getting a bit nostalogic." Yenchin put the mug back. "Come, I know another place near here. Let's go to have some enchiladas."

[Lonestar]

Fort Sam Houston, outside of San Antonio
"What the fuck? How is it that he can pull this shit and claim to be the injured party?" Lonestar shook the folder with the report in it at the gathered VIPs.

On one side of the room were the gathered chiefs, CNO ADM Oscar Saldana, CSA GEN Richard Thurman, CSAF GEN Scott Shultz, and rounding out the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, GEN Arnold Reinsch. SECDEF Eric DiBacco was absent, holding the fort in Austin. On the other said of the room were various cabinet members and agency heads. No one said anything. SECSTATE Miranov was busy staring at the ceiling.

"Anyway we can shoot them down? Oscar?"

The CNO shrugged. "Not until those SM-3s get downrange and all the system integration is done. Actually, the system integration is almost done, it's fairly straightforward. We need the missiles, and Northray wasn't ready to accept such a large, single-chunk order. I might also add that establishing a permanent naval patrol with full weapons load is the way to go. Right now we're set up like the USN on Old Earth, we have ships out on exercises from time to time, but they almost never take on ordnance(at least not the expensive kind) unless deployment is imminent. Even without the SM-3s we have a fair shot with our existing SAMs. "

"Fair?"

"Better than even."


"Scott?"

"What, I'm going to shoot them down with my F-16 swarm?"

"Richard?"

The CSA pursed his lips. "As you know sir, our PAC-3s failed to intercept. We had some near misses, but...we may need to look into acquiring Tian Xia's THAAD system."

"Wonderful. Outstanding. So, what advantages do we have in this situation?"

"A sound economy." That came from Secretary of the Treasury Wei-lang "William" Chiu. "You made a lot of sound choices early on, all things considered. Our military is relatively lean and mean compared to others and much of the equipment has a simplified logistics train. Our biggest single expenditure thus far has been the nuclear program. Then the rest of the defense budget. Then, the UHC, education, EPA, transportation...even our space program is way down the list. Compared to some of the OMSK Pact members, our budget is solid. After all, we aren't blowing our money on long range heavy bombers."

"And that's important," Miranov interjected. "Unlike the OMSK Pact we have not made any aggressive moves. We don't do overflights of other countries without their permission. Hell, we even got permission from Shepnukistan for a manned overflight mission. We don't detonate weapons in the atmosphere, poisoning others. We do not have a long range strategic attack arm; our heaviest attack aircraft is the Intruder II. We don't even have ballistic missiles, just a handful of rockets for our space program, certainly not a ICBM missile line."

ADM Saldana and GEN Reinsch raised eyebrows but said nothing. It was a technically true statement, but Miranov wasn't read into FOOTNOTE and would find out about it approximately 5 minutes before the MESS leadership would.

Miranov continued "The Secretary General is angry that we have had a weapons program from the beginning...so what? Only a retard would not want to move quickly to make some security assurances with Shep and the 'Shepnukistanis' around. For that matter, we have repeatably stated that our policy is we will not stop anyone from acquiring the tools needed for their national defense. He may suspect, if not know for sure, that devices have made their way into the Tian Xia air force...in which case, so what again? Shep is offering thermonuclear weapons to every jackass in the Omsk Pact. This is a man who has publically suggested using Libertopia as a weapons testing area, without regard to the poor souls who are there by accident of birth."

"So, what do you recommend, Evan?"

"Sit tight. They'll make asses out of themselves eventually, in fact they already are. I'm not saying to hold off on ROCKFISH," He was referring to the impending thermonuclear weapon test, "We need to show them that we already had the technology and know-how to match them. I would also reiterate to our friends in the MESS that this is technically a joint project, and if they provide the fuel we'll fabricate the devices for them. If they don't provide the fuel, we'll make them at cost."

Miranov took a deep breath, and drank from a glass of water.

"I already have our mission at work in the Royal Rail Republic. There are a lot of perturbed folks there, and its in our interests to not fuck up a chance for peaceful application of Texan nuclear technology. We also have guys in Tonkin making the rounds on the political talkshows. Phong is a pretty smart guy, I'm not too worried that he'll become estranged from us over this."

Lonestar sighed, and drummed his fingers on the desk. "Fine. Everyone out. Big day tomorrow." The assorted members shuffled out, and Lonestar sat alone in the office at the quarters provided for him here at Fort Sam Houston. He got up, walked over to the cabinet, and poured himself a glass of water, then sat down on the couch.

"This," He said outloud, "Is not as fun or easy as I thought it would be."

"Indeed not." Came a voice. He jumped and looked around, but there was no one there.

He was alone.

[Vohu Manah]

News Brief from the Qudlivun Free State

While performing an inspection of the shipyard building the MSDF's new flagship, a local reporter managed to ask the Grand Duke of the Qudlivun Free State what his response was to the international community concerning recent nuclear tests.

"To be perfectly honest I'm not surprised by anything concerning the nuclear tests," Grand Duke Vohu Manah told the reporter. "Our position remains the same, we see no reason why any nation should possess any weapons of mass destruction, regardless of type. Clearly there are members of the international community who disagree."

While asking why there has been no official dispatches of any kind regarding the matter, the Grand Duke noted, "They wouldn't listen so why waste the administration's time. We seconded a recommendation that all weapons development be held pending global consultations some time ago and were ignored for our stance. I don't expect these larger states to want to surrender their toys, nor stop their development."

His Grace added that any serious discussion on the subject of WMD proliferation can only be held if all parties possessing or seeking them agree to meet, a situation he deemed unlikely. "No agreement can be brokered without full agreement of the international community."

When asked if Qudlivun would be willing to host such a discussion His Grace cut off further questioning informing the reporter that he was here to perform a military inspection, not hold a press conference.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Ashford Times Headlines in Brief

Citizens Apathetic Towards Nuke Testing
Police, Royal Guard surprised by lack of rioting

Air Force Opens Dialogue with New Patria
Possible interest in F-16 loan offer, drone purchases, and/or involvement with HAL Tejas R&D

Duke Lelouch Signs OMSK Free Travel Agreement
"Feel free to come and go as you wish," Duke proclaims

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE? Y / N

[K. A. Pital]

Supreme Council Communique

We are strongly inclined to think Tian Xia is concealing information.

The drones' trajectory has been selected to primarily pass over the Lonestar Republic. They were terminated later, although some directions led the hulks to fly over Wilkonia with ocean termination, but the drones' range was exhausted by then. Tian Xia could not have had a drone fall over Nagano; it could only intercept one over Hokkaido, and do so on purpose.

We fully agree that Tian Xia and any other MESS nation has the right to self-defense. However, we presume that the incident with Nagano fall and explosion has been fabricated; quite likely Tian Xia recovered a shot-down craft or debris in Hokkaido or Hokkaido sea, later staging a mock incident in Nagano. We are not sure the "dead people" even exist, and if they do, that they are not the military servicemen who were involved in retrieving the craft. This is highly likely, as the craft may have exploded with retreival team in vinicity, and Tian Xia decided to stage it as an incident involving peaceful population 1000 kilometers away from the actual point.

Tian Xia is insinuating we mistook the trajectory and lost control of a drone craft. It is true that controls over a number of drones have been terminated prior to the drone's actual termination, but their trajectories passed through a neutral-UKB corridor and went over Lonestar Republic.

We think that if civilians have really been killed, Tian Xia would initiate hostilities or at least sever all diplomatic ties with our nation. This has not happened, but instead, we are being bribed for an incident, the information about which is patently false. We realize Tian Xia's right to military security, but when you paint a military incident in Hokkaido as a civilian collateral killing by a failed drone some 1000 km from it's projected territory, it's nothing but ugly, crude blackmailing. So we await explanations from Tian Xia's foreign ministry.

Their "commitment to transparity" is a joke, as their entire alliance was commited to secrecy of the Lonestar Nuclear Programme, which sought to make devices 44 000 times more powerful than the OMSK top bomb at the time, in complete secrecy, in serial production numbers, and using underground tests to conceal their intentions.

We in the OMSK said lound and clear: "We have nuclear weapons and if you attack us we incinerate you". The MESS developed a secretive nuclear program which was, as it seems, only alerting the OMSK Security Council leadership and not anybody else, either from the MESS or not. The posturing about fallout is false accusations too. The device we blew up was thermonuclear; which means far cleaner explosions. More than that, we did it in the North of the entire archipelago on a remote island.

We want Tian Xia to explain it's position regarding nuclear tests and their "strive for openness" which is in a total contradiction. Atmospheric tests are easily detectable, their yields and locations are well-known. But underground or underwater nuclear tests can be conducted in secrecy, concealing the number of devices tested; not to mention that underwater tests do not leave any lasting evidence for surveillance.

We propose instead Transparent Nuclear Testing Memorandum, which would oblige each and every nation testing nuclear devices for either military or civilian purpose to announce every test publicly. This is far greater "openness" than the hypocrisy of Tian Xia. So, the real question is, will the nations of the OMSK and the MESS sign the TNTM or still try to conceal the development of nuclear bombs as if it were some innocent game?

PRAVDA: Free Citizen Transfer Act signed between OMSK Nations


"Remaining commited to the cause of human rights, the OMSK has signed a Free Citizen Transfer Act, allowing citizens to move freely without visas or entry barriers across all OMSK nations.

Rapid upsurgence in tourism sector, education and the greater ease to run multi-national engineering projects are expected as a result.

Naturalization laws of each nation, as well as trade, import-export, tax laws and capital transaction laws of each nation remain in effect.

A citizen residing in a foreign OMSK nation will be not taxed by the host nation, but by his own nation still.

"Thank god this proposal has been met with acceptance! - tells the Omsk City resident, TSAGi engineer Zhukovsky. - "Now we can travel to our colleagues in Byzantium, Crossroadia, Blackadder and Shepnukistan, as well as visit the smaller nations, with great ease. The OMSK leadership took a wise turn in the age of uncertainty and barriers erected everywhere, by allowing us all to strengthen the civilian ties of these brotherly nations".

[Lonestar]

+++Official State Department Communique+++

From: The Lone Star Republic Department of State.
To: The Supreme Council of the Red Technocracy

Subject: Transparent Nuclear Testing Memorandum

Message Begins:

No. We have no interest in sharing military and industrial secrets with you, an aggressive nation that announced an intention to routinely violate the sovereignty of the Lone Star Republic.

Message Ends.

+++Official State Department Communique+++

[K. A. Pital]

Red Technocracy hereby officially severs all diplomatic contact with the Lone Star Republic

"We have no intention to retain any diplomatic contacts with a state that, unlike us, tried to mass test nuclear WMDs in complete secrecy, far prior to our own nuclear programme producing any fruit" - said the Gen Sec in an interview to "Red Inquirer" today.

All Red Technocracy embassies in the Lone Star Republic have been closed down, and Lone Star officials have been urged to immediately leave the territory of the Red Technocracy.


Abandoned Red Technocracy embassy building in the Lone Star Republic plains near Austin

[MKSheppard]

General Secretary's Office; Red Technocracy, 1100 Hours

briiing briiing

"Yes?" replied Stas, slightly annoyed at the interruption of his study of the latest proposed upgrades to the RBMK series.

"It's Shep. What the Christ are you doing, shooting drones over Lonestar? So the MESS is upset over my nuclear test, so what? They're always upset whenever we fart."

"It's a matter of principle, Shep; if we let them take an inch, they'll take a mile," replied Stas.

"Lay off on the drones and rhetoric. Let them impotently fume and scream about how evil we in OMSK are; they're the ones who started this whole cold war by just banding together in their super secret member's club; like they always did in each of these rar threads back on the old board, and then acting like they were the ultimate power."

"Off that, how long until the production RB-71 LeMays are delivered to the 351st Bomb Squadron out at Area Seven?"

"Not long now. Keep in mind we're still carrying out orbital payload release tests with the prototypes. I would say by next year conservatively that they're ready for service personnel in a non-scientific environment."

"Good. My scientists say that thanks to the excellent results from the Alpha shot, we can skip the Bravo and Charlie shot series and do the Delta shots next. I must warn you, if I do decide to go through with the Delta series, international condemnation is likely to be incredibly high."

"Delta? What's that?"

"My scientists are still playing with their spreadsheets and all that, but we expect that in order to have an excellent chance of surviving this shot, the aircraft will have to have a top speed of Mach 2 plus; in order to be over thirty miles away when the device initates."

EDIT:

"Sounds impressive. What else have you got planned?"

"Well, there's the Echo series of underwater tests to judge the utility of nuclear devices to destroy the mega-fauna so prevalent to this world; we still need to locate the spawning grounds of one of these creatures; so we can test the utility of an underwater initation on them."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

News Headlines

IBNS Justinian Steams full speed for Byzantium.

The Emperor is heading back to Constantinople to rejoin the fleet. Alert level raised to DEFCON 2. "I am extremely uncomfortable with the recent tension between OMSK and the MESS. Byzantium urges that both sides come to a certain agreement regarding nuclear weapons and stop the saber rattling." says the Emperor.

[K. A. Pital]

*phone call cont'd*

"It's good to know our program is developed according to schedule", - Stas took a sip of Red Absinth, - "You know Shep, someone might say we shot ourselves in the foot."

"They all do"

"But the MESS is not just "upset" - they secretly tested nuclear devices far earlier than we did. We chose to remain slow and steady about it, as you know, since the only stuff that could be somewhat a proof was Blackadder's VulpeSat-Landsat MEO shots. Then we tested our nuclear device openly and for all to see, in a clean explosion at a remote poligon. And that's what we get. "Ban nuclear tests, except those are OMSK nuclear tests - our nuclear tests are fine"

"And so?"

"We still don't know how many devices he initiated; and if he tested them only one one polygon in his own nation. Given his very early nuclear test times, his nuclear arsenal could already be twice that of the figures our analysts stipulate.

In any case, I'm done talking to Lonestar"

[MKSheppard]

*contd*

"In any case, I'm done talking to Lonestar"

"Sad to hear that Stas. I see on the Nukistani News Network that you've closed your embassy in Austin. I'd suggest limiting it to just that level of saber rattling. We can always de-escalate from this heightened posture; we can't de-escalate as easily from a shooting war."

[beat]

"Anyway, my scientists have been going over their seismograph records from about the times when we think Lonestar did his test shots; and they are remarkably low in yields. The only explanation for this is that he chose to redirect his program towards generating lightweight devices that could easily be carried by any attack aircraft in the MESS, with little in the way of modification needed. Because of the immense difficulty in the maths and equations for such an advanced design, he had to do a series of test shots to proof them before he allowed them into service, which implies that his intital arsenal is small and low yield."

[MKSheppard]

Shepnukistani State Department Release

The Republic of Shepnukistan is sad to see the deepening international tensions between the Republic of Lonestar and the Red Technocracy, and would like to suggest a MESS/OMSK diplomatic summit at the Atlantis Neutral Zone to defuse the rising tensions generated by our peaceful test of a nuclear device.