SD.Net World(RAR!) MK II

[General Deathdealer]

Baal Daily News

1st HBCT Standing Down

The Ministry of Defense announced today that the 1st HBCT, which had been brought onto active duty during the crisis with Saddamistan, is being returned to reserve duty status. The Ministry said the reason for the deactivation was due to the lessening of tensions between the world and Saddamistan. However, the Air Defense Company belonging to the 1st HBCT will remain on active duty for the foreseeable future.

[Shroom Man 777]

SECRET MESSAGE SENT TO KING PAUL OF PEZOOKIA AND MINISTER SHROOM OF SHROOMANIA:

King Arik Coyotus sends tidings of friendship in these troubling times.

Please do not let Canissia's sudden coldness put you off; I am doing what I think is best to ensure the survival of my people in the face of almost certain future belligerence from Saddamistan

I am willing to participate in the Libertopia discussion, but I suspect that, like yourselves, we of Canissia don't trust any of the warlord factions and hesitate to give them recognition as responsible leaders.

In the interests of stability and peace, however, I will attend and hope that at least some sort of equilibrium or agreement can be reached-- or, at least, some sort of agreed-upon series of preconditions that will allow all concerned to act in coordination (for good or ill).

The elephant in the room is Saddamistan, however, and if it goes unremarked during this summit I fear that we will have only delayed the inevitable.

PRIME MINISTER SHROOM's REPLY:

I am thankful for your assurances and am glad that, despite these troubling times, our parties are still willing to communicate with one another. I believe that your judgment can be trusted, and that you can be trusted.

I understand that these circumstances test you, as they do all of us. Your reactions, and the actions of your country, are understandable and I sympathize with your frustration at the current state of things.

It is reassuring to find another leader who shares my doubts regarding the... readiness of the warlords of Libertia in leading actual nations, instead of merely infighting factions. Their responsibility is in question, and the Libertian picture is certainly very unclear. While I have faith in my fellow man, the actions of all three lords of war make it hard for me to bestow upon them any sense of trust. Yet, there has been some progress in Libertia - with Alexander and Ramsley in particular. Even the Sultan has made a few concessions, and King Paul is directly to thank for that. If there is an international concession and an agreement, we cannot ignore the voice of the world community.

Yet, apparently, Saddamistan has, does, and will mostly likely continue to ignore the international community's decisions and resolutions.

Like you, I worry about Saddamistan. It is a nation that is large and dangerous, yet unknowable, and it looms beneath all of us. You call it an elephant, but I think it is more like a shark - circling around us as our island-nations struggle to hold on to one another in the waters of the Central Sea.

We have all heard Saddamistan. Now it is time for them to hear from us. For once, words must speak louder than actions.

On that less-than-pleasant note, I hope that I will get the pleasure of personally meeting with you once more at Atlantis. Hopefully, we will also have the pleasure of personally meeting with 'Saddam the Great'.

Sincerely,
Shroom the 777th
Prime Minister of Shroomania

[Raj Ahten]

All the activity in the North of Libertopia, the Sultan's territory, made ProTec realize they needed to expand their information network to the North. Doing so would not be easy, but in Libertopia, someone was always available for a price.

Small numbers of ProTec's men went north to quietly build up their information network, while more SIGINT personnel were flown in to start listening in to the North.

ProTec's men in the South had been aware of arms shipments coming into Ramsley's territory for some time. Disguising arms as aid shipments was a common trick that arms dealers employed to sell to all the warlords. The arms dealers themselves were a fantastic source of information, so far now ProTec let them operate. After all, everyone was getting weapons.

[Master_Baerne]

Baernish MinState Communique
File BMSQ-15

From: His Grace Duke James of Baerne
To: His Majesty King Blackadder VI

Your Majesty, it is my intention to sign the Atlantis Accords, but I feel that an important gesture of international cooperation would be made if I were to sign them on Atlantis. Therefore, I ask for you permission to travel through your airspace, in an unarmed aircraft.

Sincerely yours,
James of Baerne

[Coyote]

CANISSIAN UNDERGROUND BUNKER


King Arik Coyotus-I was in a far, far better mood. He had received a very favorable response from Minister Shroom the 777th, and was going over some recent files relating to talks with Byzantium.

Miss Siobhan knew that Arik was in a good mood because he was playing Transvision Vamp's album Velveteen on his desk PC.

"Good news?" she asked.
"I believe so," Arik said, "There are a number of nations out there that are quite sick of the posturing and the constant attempts to hijack diplomacy in exchange for a few moments of spotlight on the international stage."

"Is there a chance to de-escalate things?" she asked.
"I hope so," Arik said, "I mean, I'm still irked. I never wanted nuclear weapons, and I really feel backed into a corner on this. I lived through the last decades of the Cold War back on Earth and the threat of nuclear war hanging over everyone is ... well, it's psychologically unhealthy, I think."

"So what about the discussions with Byzantium?" Siobhan asked.
"Well, Parliament announced the Good Neighbor Policy and barely had it been picked up in the press when the latest crisis erupted. So it seems to have slipped under the radar."

"Are you going to bring it up again?"
"I will," Arik said, sipping at his coffee, "But I think I'll go about it more one-on-one, and I think I'll start with folks like Shroom, Paul, and Noldor, and Stas."

"Do you think this policy will be seen as hypocritical... I mean, you know, considering..." Siobhan said, being politically coy.
"The potential for protest is there, I don't deny that," Arik said, "But Canissia is behind the curve in weaponry and militarization. I never wanted CASE HURRICANE; I sincerely feel that this has been forced on our people."

Arik got up, and embraced Siobhan, then turned off the CD and grabbed his coffee.
"Let's get ready," he said, "The defenses on the Seaside Palace itself are being beefed up-- lasers, ABMs, you name it. In a couple weeks we should be able to get back upstairs and return to using this for emergencies again."
"Good. This bunker is so dreary. The fake wood paneling and thick curtains are gaudy."

[Mr Bean]

Baernish MinState Communique
File BMSQ-15

From: His Grace Duke James of Baerne
To: His Majesty King Blackadder VI

Your Majesty, it is my intention to sign the Atlantis Accords, but I feel that an important gesture of international cooperation would be made if I were to sign them on Atlantis. Therefore, I ask for you permission to travel through your airspace, in an unarmed aircraft.

Sincerely yours,
James of Baerne

From:His Majesty King Blackadder VI
To: His Grace Duke James of Baerne

Diplomatic flights have over-flight rights at all, simply file your travel plan 12 hours ahead of departure time and over-flight rights and an escort will be provided while over UKB territory. I'll see you in Atlantis


HGKBAVI


OOC:"Escort" means an escorting pair of EA-18G armed with air to air missiles, chaff, flares and enough jamming gear to blanket an entire country in white noise. It would never do to have the plane of a World Leader shot down while in the protection of the UKB. /OOC

[Coyote]

Type-332 Class Minesweeper plans shared with all MESS nations
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... römitz.JPG[/img]

The People's Republic of Canissia, recognising the recent development of unmonitored and unrestricted mine warfare by certain rogue states, had developed the Type-332 class Minesweeper and shared the plans among MESS member states.

The Type-332 was developed over a year ago, but never built, due to budgetary constraints and the perceived lack of immediate need. However, in the wake of the recent mine strike against a LSR vessel, the schematics of the Type-332 were brought out from archives and given more importance.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Bear Republic deploys first "Fort Apache" trade mission to Syndromia. while currently in a disorganized state, there is a need for food, and essential supplies to be unloaded. however worries about piracy and lack of safe landing zones has prompted the BR to build "Fort Apache" class prefabricated Airport/airship ports. hangers, towers, trade areas etc. are all made out of lightweight airship transportable aluminum. Secondarily the airport can defend it's self from pirate/mercinary atttacks by including defensive clusters. (contracts for 4 additional Blackbeard air defense battallions will be posted for 2011) in the mean time, the BR has access to basic radar+ammraam clusters. As well as phylanx systems built on top of the main control towers.

Fort Apache facilitites are a combination Trade Mission/Airship Port as well as Airport serving the Bear Republic. in areas with reduced infrastructure/anarchy. While the BR isnot recognizing governments in Syndromia, or the three Libertopian areas, The BR does recognize a need to protect it's merchannts as well as food shipments to those locations. While diplomats are welcome at a Fort Apache trade mission, these are not embassys. Furthermore any military aircraft entering the airspace of a Fort Appache will either land or be presumed to be initiating hostilities against those nations whose trade missions are represented there.

Note the first FA trade mission is being built in Syndromia. Others are expected to be built in Libertopia.


*Stages of a Fort Apache Trade Mission
1a. Delivery of Generator, Radar Control Tower, and Drone AAA 20mm
1b. Delivery of prefabrecated Fuel Depot (bio-desiel, from BR or FUN or Canassia)
2. Delivery of Prefabricated Warehouse structures, that can be convereted to office or merchantile facilities as needed.
3. Delivery of concrete and construction vehicles, & rubber/plastic concrete/tar filler. when ever possible contracting with indigeounus people to construct roads and runways.
4. Delivery of security structure phase 2 air defense upgrade (Surface to air missile battery), military mission barraks, ammo depot for air defense. as well as guards small arms.
5. second phase of prefabricated warehouses and hangers, these are ment to be for vehicle offloading coustomer service etc.
(projected for 2011)
6. Construction of perimeter to keep sabotage/theft down
7. Delivery of Blackbeard air defense should OMSK make them available.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

Constantinople Shipyards offers OMSK and ISCA nations a Minesweeper platform based on the Dromon class corvette hull form



In response to the recent mining of a Arleigh Burke vessel, Constantinople Shipyards offers the ISCA nations a new Minesweeper platform based on the Dromon class corvette. Designed to patrol and minesweep narrow straits, the corvette has excellent sea keeping abilities and is an economical solution for even the poorest of states.

ADDENDUM: These ships are largely constructed of steel and thus their stealth qualities are more akin to the La Fayette Frigate. Note also, that Byzantium already employs this hull form with a largely steel superstructure as the ship employs Greek Fire which is obviously extremely combustible.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

The Emperor was thinking very deeply about the conference on Terra Libertia, before he finally decided to make a decision.

"Send word to Pezookia that I will attend, only to restate my position even more strongly. Also, I would like to have a private word with King PeZook about certain matters."

The Emperor also ordered that preparations be made for the arrival of King Arik. It was clear that Terra Libertia was torn in the Emperor's mind as he pondered the diplomatic options available, which I must admit, are narrow and few.

[Coyote]

[OOC: Since the PM system here doesn't seem to support multiple-sender PMs, I'm going to send this miniaturized and darkened to represent "coded & encrypted". I guess it'll be up to good ol' honor system to not use player-character knowledge...]


SECRET CODED/ENCRYPTED COMMUNIQUE
FROM KING ARIK COYOTUS-I OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CANISSIA
TO KING PAUL OF PEZOOKIA
TO MINISTER SHROOM OF SHROOMANIA
TO EMPEROR NOLDOR OF BYZANTIUM:

It appears we all have a great deal in common regarding our concerns of recent political events.

After consultation with each of you via private courier, Emporer Noldor and I have determined that now is an ideal time to draft a multi-national/cross-alliance statement of protest regarding the way that the Libertopia and Saddamistan situation have been handled.

I for one feel that the situation was, and continues to be, spun out of control. The risk of escalation was great, the cost of failure potentially catastrophic, and the gambit employed irresponsible.

Disputes between nations carry hefty price tags, and fallout knows no borders. If international action is called for and agreed upon, then there must be one Headquarters to coordinate action and expedite communications-- no nation or battle group must be left in the dark.

The nation of Canissia will not contribute so much as a single worn out old Army boot to international disputes until some sort of common agreement is reached. I also do not want to get involved with anything in Libertopia until we can all agree on what, exactly, the goals are and how we're going to reach those goals, who will contribute, and what to expect in return from the societies that exist there.

I think it is also high time we agreed on arms-control limits for size, type and yields of weapons of mass destruction, primarily nuclear weapons, but first thing's first-- the LIbertopian situation, and what will be the global situation vis-a-vis Saddamistan.

I eagerly await your replies.

With great regards,
King Arik Coyotus-I
People's Republic of Canissia

[RogueIce]

Shinra Republic outlines current position regarding recent actions in Terra Libertia:

1) We have offered to establish embassies in all three Terra Libertia nations, and extended an offer to allow them to establish diplomatic missions in the Shinra Republic (any other countries they would have to talk to on their own, though the Republic will help set up contacts, should they ask us to). With those diplomatic missions will come aid shipments in the form of food, water, medicine, etc. Also, since we willll need to build the embassies, we would send in construction crews. If, once the embassies are built the new Leaders (not warlords) of Libertia would like to request through the ambassador their help in other projects, they can certainly do so.

1a) Due to the uncertain situation in the Sultanate, such aid might be difficult to accomplish. We will seek an international consensus before intervening, however.

2) We are offering mutual defense agreements to each of the nations as well. This will extend only to defense against unprovoked attack.

2a) Again, due to the situation in the Sultanate, this will be on a "wait and see" basis.

2b) Should Saddamistan make some public gestures of diplomatic good faith, showing a willingness to enter full and public talks on resolving the crisis, we can begin a stand down in the area. Private back-channel deals with the UKB or any other nation does not count. I once more state we are willing to work with Saddamistan, but it has to be a mutual effort.

3) We will not be shipping arms or military advisors, publically or covertly, to any Libertian nation without full disclosure to the international community, and we will seek at least a partial consensus before doing so, most notably from the FUN, Red Technocracy, and Byzantium.

[Raj Ahten]

General Alexander held a press conference in which his representative said they welcomed the decision of the Shinra Republic to set up an embassy in the General's nation, and would reciprocate as soon as possible. He welcomed all nations to put in an embassy. They also looked forward to working with foreign partners to bring investment and aid to the country. The current security situation necessitated, however, that all foreigners have an escort while they moved around in Alexander's territory, at least for the time being.

In closed door sessions after the press conference Alexander made clear that now that he was considered a sovereign nation, he wanted the rights of a sovereign nation. Such as buying arms. With Sadaamistan still a threat, he needed modern weapons.

Meanwhile, ProTec quietly sent feelers out trying to contact the Sultan. With a civil war on, it would likely be even harder than before. Old channels of arms dealers were tried again, and the word was put out that ProTec would like a talk with the Sultan, and that it would be in his interests.

Other parties took note of this activity however, and the Sultan’s rivals would now kill any ProTec men that they found. ProTec’s men in the North were pros, were already on the look out for danger, but they knew they looked to be in the Sultans corner. That made their job harder.

[MKSheppard]

Nukistani News

The Department of Defense has issued preliminary contracts to study the feasibility of acquiring three or four CVH multi-mission warships for a variety of missions from minehunting to supporting air assault expeditionary forces.


Artists rendering of possible CVHs. - Ignore the F-35s on deck; they're pointless; in service, they'd consist of SH-60s entirely.

[Lonestar]

Odessa Observatory, University of Texas. 8hrs ago.
Despite all the trouble, civil defense drills, impending destruction of civilization, etc. life went on. And for Arnold Giles, it meant more work for his graduate degree in Astronomy.

The Odessa Observatory was in the Western Desert, near the Midland Missile Range. It was far away from light pollution, although the past two days there had been an unusual amount of clouds, and frustrated, Giles had turned in early both days.

Today though, the skies were clear. Giles turned the telescope, which was one of the best on the planet(The planned orbiting space observatory would be far superior) to the sector of the sky he had been studying. It was out, in the general direction of the Gas Giant that was the 6th planet. Giles turned back to his computer barely giving the snapshot a second thought...

..Then he turned back. There was a...smudge?

"Hello?" He murmured. "Where are you going?"


Site M, Underground Command Bunker
"I'm sorry," Lonestar said. "You'll have to run this by me again." Christ his head hurt. He popped two Excedrin and drank some ice water.

GEN Shultz, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, shifted uncomfortably in the VTC. "A Mr. Arnold Giles, a astronomy Grad student at the University of Texas detected a...object of interest. His dad is actually BG Giles of the 1st Air Defense Wing, and he called him first."

Oh God. I cannot possibly see how this will end happily "When you say 'object of interest' you mean...boom-boom interest?"

Shultz shifted again. "Well...it is not heading in this direction. It's so far off course that we managed to confirm that without further study. It's, uhm...19light years out. And it doesn't look like it will even enter the solar system."

"Fuck Scott, you called me up over this? An asteroid and/or comet that isn't even coming in this direction?"

"We, uh, seconded some FIRE scientists real quick. The intial assessment is...that it is not an asteroid or comet."

NAC Director Jim Hickam suddenly leaned forward with interest. "Are you saying..."

"A lot of energy is being put out by something, it's acting a lot like a giant rocket. With, I think that one of the scientists called it a 'antimatter photon rocket'. Uhm...Actually, once we gathered more information we kind of regretted bring in folks from outside the DoD." Shultz said lamely.

Jim was grinning. "This is wonderful! This is fantastic!"

"Jim, we sure as shit are not going to publicize this." Lonestar said. The smile on Jim's face disappeared.

"We can pass this on to MESS members, in fact we should, so there can be continuous observation, but this is something we need to keep from the public for as long as possible."

"Keep from the public?????!!! Sir, this is proof of alien life!" Lonestar glanced at Secretaries Chiu and Mironov, both of whom came from "Old Earth" and knew the whole story. To their credit they kept meticulously straight faces.

"It ain't proof of shit. It's a one night snapshot of a smudge with pretty lights. Obviously this warrants continued observation, but I'm sure that a scientist of your caliber can see why it would be a Bad Idea to containminate the study with outside publicity." Lonestar said. Jim Hickam's face went through several emotions, then he sighed.

"Yes Sir."

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

The Battalion
Austin, Davey Crockett depart for CJTF-4.
The DDG Austin and the Davey Crockett have departed for CJTF-4 in support of operations there. The Austin will be replacing the Damaged Abilene on station, and the Davey Crockett has 4 modified CH-53Es with MK105 minesweeping sleds embarked.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

SECRET CODED/ENCRYPTED COMMUNIQUE
FROM EMPEROR HERACLIUS IV OF the EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE
TO KING PAUL OF PEZOOKIA
TO MINISTER SHROOM OF SHROOMANIA
TO KING ARIK COYOTUS-I OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CANISSIA :

I agree the situation has spun out of control, due in no small part to the great deal of historic hostility between certain MESS and OMSK nations. The situation was not just a matter of lack of communication, but also a gross lack of trust.

It is determined that the best possible approach is to draft a separate statement with the signatures of select members of the various alliances to express our complete disapproval of the situation with regard to Saddamistan and Terra Libertia and the manner in which it was handled. In my opinion, it was riddled with too much posturing and lack of progress, and too much brinkmanship. With the endless bickering, the end result was either lack of progress, or a rise in tensions that is in no way helpful or conducive to negotiation.

It is also in my opinion that with regards with Saddamistan, some form agreement must be achieved with the Saddam the Great such that he will be more transparent with his actions and not take unilateral action especially with regard to weapons of mass destruction.

With regard to Terra Libertia, I have stated my position repeatedly that recognition, aid, recognition, monitoring the peace, and non-interference are the key elements in ensuring peace in Terra Libertia. However, some mutual agreement in which all nations agree to, and including Saddamistan. Also, we must somehow deal with those rebels and stabilize the Sultanate.

I also agree that an arms control summit must be held in which all nations agree to limit their WMDs, and Saddamistan must also be held accountable to this agreement. Under no circumstances must Saddamistan be excluded from these discussions. We must engage the Saddamistan.

The Eastern Roman Empire is more than willing to commit its resources to help in any way possible, but if no agreement between nations can be reached, I foresee more troubles ahead.

I eagerly await your replies.

With great regards,
Emperor Heraclius IV
Konstantinopolis, Nova Roma
Eastern Roman Empire

[Sea Skimmer]

Western Saddamistan
New Port Az Zubayr

Over the past two and a half years the inland river port Az Zubayr, located near the coast but completely concealed from it by a broad bend, had seen major expansion of its local shipbuilding industry. Saddamistan was proceeding bore full with a program to replace its aging surface mosquito fleet of rocket cutters, torpedo armed hydrofoil, small submarines and older corvettes with a modern coastal force employing a new generation of weaponry. This was to be reached from a high-low mix of capability mass produced at multiple shipyards, one of them at Az Zubayr displacing an earlier program for sea base ships.

Now the Saddam Our Glorious Leader Naval Shipyard had three huge building barns, accommodating production of part of the low mix in the form of more then a dozen hulls for a new redesigned mark of Nanuchka missile corvette. Two more corvette were already afloat at the outfitting dock; they would immediately join active duty small missile ship brigades on competition and have a cadre bolstered recruit crew trained on the job, so serious was the naval situation.

One area of the yard however, was located across the river and was under complete military control, used for the installation of certain sensitive electronics, and the loading of munitions. This necessitated several moving cranes, and a railway on the quay side, and was prefer for the loading of Abdullahi.

Abdullahi was officially a naval auxiliary container freighter, an older smaller ship purchased rusted and worn by Saddamistan from a Greek shipping magnate more then ten years in the past. She’d made a few trip to support Saddamistanis island missile test sites, but breakdowns and leaks had plagued her. Now she was being prepared for a finally voyage, tied up to a long quay.

Only a few men in chemical protective gear stood on the dock as several trucks drove up, a dozen men in much heavier and far bulkier radiation suits. Those in chemical gear stood far back the trucks departed, and the first train was brought in. The heavy suited men took over operating the dock cranes and the ships deck as long strings of flatcars were rolled in. Each held a huge steel vat perched inside a rectangular steel rack, ostensibly for the vat’s protection in a crash. The recent emergency surge of nuclear material production ordered personally by Saddam The Great had surged waste production far beyond storage limits. Now the order had come to purge existing storage, while access to the ocean was still guaranteed.

The cranes had not been designed for the quasai containerized cargo, but with proper rigging they began to lift them and load Abdullahi. Each vat of 15 tons of high grade liquid and suspended solid nuclear waste was slotted into the ships hold with difficulty, but by the morning more then 150 had been loaded, and the hatch covers replaced. As the suns rays shone over the landscape the suited men disappeared, the quay was hosed down and tugs arrived to take the freighter downriver to the larger commercial loading docks near the rivers mouth. Some workers on the night shift at the shipyard quietly questioned why a container freighter had been loaded at a naval arsenal, but few thought it even worth the bother to speculate in a nation cloaked in state secrecy.

[Mr Bean]

Riverhome, July 14th 2010
Personal Briefing between Doctor Kieth Monroe and his Grace King Blackadder the VI

[Blackadder VI]Thank you for coming Dr, I know your busy at White Sands

[Kieth Monroe]I always honored to answer my Grace's request.

[Blackadder VI]Please Dr, lets put ceremony aside, tell me two things, one why Silver Canyon is delayed, and two what HIGHTOWER is all about. I could ask for a briefing but I want a report from the man running the show.

[Kieth Monroe]Well your Highness, as to the first, the problem is the Vulkan assembly line, we can only make so many each year, even pulling triple shifts we can only build 24 a year at most.
And it's been more like 22 a year so far. We had a stockpile of rockets on hand before we finally got the first system completed so we were racing how quickly we could assemble satellites vs how quickly we can build rockets. And by the end of this year we should have all the rockets built.
he framework takes a six man crew two weeks to assemble and they can go right on assembling more while the wiring harness and all the other "fiddle bits" as my Crew Chief calls them take weeks and weeks. In fact I'm pretty sure some parts of the assembly crews will be idle by the end of this month.

[Blackadder VI]Hmm, Framework, wiring, shielding, communications, then alignment, trouble shooting, the testing, the simunlation crew with two Quality control checks. Six month production cycle according to this


[Kieth Monroe] With practice we've cut that to four months, being able to work side by side and move team members around has boosted our productivity by a great deal. The Harness people can switch over to help the simulation crew and once their done we can move them to trouble-shooting, and most of the crew captains are certified in QA.

[Blackadder VI]I see, and if we put more people into Vulkan construction?

[Kieth Monroe]With all due respect your grace you'd invest 40 million dollars tos ave two months at most, then being able to build 30 rockets a year would mean many idle lines.

(Paper shuffling)
[Blackadder VI]As you say Doctor, just a thought. Now for my second question?

[Kieth Monroe] Doctor Magnusson is a better one to talk to, that project was his.

[Blackadder VI]Can you give me the rough outlines at least, you did work on the project for three months it says here

[Kieth Monroe]You'll call the Dr Magnusson in later?

[Blackadder VI]Of course sir, now then HIGHTOWER?

[Kieth Monroe]Well, properly it's called the Arbiter system and based off the old US defense department work form the sevemties. Lots of good ideas from them, but flawed execution and no willingness to throw money behind any one concept, as a result they ended up with almost nothing useful.

[Blackadder VI]I see, and Arbiter?

[Kieth Monroe]Aribter is a refinement of the original concept by Mr Teller and Mr Canavan. The targets we are trying to hit are big, slow but mobile, so the weapon system to hit them must be as well.

[Blackadder VI]8 units per system?

[Kieth Monroe]That's correct, it gives us the most weapons per target while retaining room to mount enough juice to get a powerful enough radar to beat jamming.

[Blackadder VI]And the cost?

[Kieth Monroe]Very cheap, a steal at only 11.2 million a system, the most cost acutally comes from raw materials and the frame-work. Since it's designed to be two shot max, long-longevity is not an issue?

[Blackadder VI]Is export a possibility at this time?

[Kieth Monroe]No, the materials needed and the eletronics used are still Class 1 classified so we can't export it, and using anything else would make them to inaccurate to be anything but useless

[Blackadder VI]And if the system misses? Collateral damage?

[Kieth Monroe]Not that bad... a similar test was preformed before, Something Hat was it? Can't remember, but it was the same range. If they put one in a down-town area then yes there will be casulities, but otherwise no wave-motion effects, and crater effects would be minimum.

[Blackadder VI]Debris?

[Kieth Monroe]Less than normal due to vaporisation, but much higher of course because of the possibly of short-term Plasma formation

[Blackadder VI]Plasma, seriously Doctor?

[Kieth Monroe]That was off hand your Grace, again I urge you to talk to Dr Magnusson. I've probably mangled half a dozen things about HIGHTOWER, plus what's changed since I left the program.

[Blackadder VI]No no, thank you for your time Dr, let me walk you to the door, I have a few odds and ends questions

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

End Record

[Lonestar]

Landover International Airport, Shepnukistan
James "Jimmy" Hanks strode off the plane and into the terminal. Standing there were two large men in suits.

"Mr. Hanks?" The first one said "I'm Frankie, that there is Seppo." Frankie held out his hand, Hanks shook it. "Come with us." Both of the men had a .45 on a belt holster. They drew some looks from bystanders but not much else. The two OSS men were not to be fucked with.

Hanks was escorted out to a black towncar, Frankie got into the front seat, Seppo got into the back with Hanks. They started to drive.

"So, what do you do for a living, Mr. Hanks?" Seppo asked. Hanks shrugged.

"The import-export business."

"What kind of import-export?"

Hanks smiled. "The profitable kind."

Seppo nodded. "President and CEO of Texas Parcel Service, the largest courier service in the world? If the LSR had an open Embassy in the Red Technocracy your monopolization would be complete. So why do you get a conversation with the Undersecretary of Technology Utilization for SAC?"


Hanks shrugged again.

"Hey Mr. Hanks," Frankie spoke up "We got ourselves a little side business. How would we go about getting you to provide one-day porn delivery?"


SAC Wing, Department of Defense Headquarters, Shepnukistan
"Thank you for seeing me Undersecretary Conrad." Jimmy Hanks shook his hand, who looked non-too-pleased to see him

"I don't know what the fuck you're trying to pull, you Texan Son of a Bitch, but you being in charge of T.P.S. must give you access to a lot of skeletons to get you in here."

"T.P.S. has seen more than a few reports." Hanks said. He held up a DVD. "I have a powerpoint presentation. May I...?"

The DVD was promptly inserted. Powerpoint was brought up and Hanks started to speak.

"The Texas Parcel Service was founded in..."

"Hold on." Undersecretary Conrad said. "You didn't come here to give me a shareholders meeting. What the fuck is so important that you came here?"

The same smile remained on Hanks' face. Then he clicked through several slides...until he got to the unmistakable photo of a YRB-71 in SAC colors sitting on a runway.

"There is overnight delivery, and then there is rapid delivery. As you know, and don't deny it because Shepnukistani nationals have been detained over it, the LSR is working on a rocket plane under the codename: BLACK COLT. We believe that there exists a huge market for very rapid delivery. Sooner or later these kinds of vehicles will become public knowledge. T.P.S. would like to be amongst the first to purchase the technology for civilian use."

The smile remained. "Is that the fuck important enough?"

[MKSheppard]

SAC Wing, Department of Defense Headquarters, Shepnukistan

"Don't make me laugh, Hanks. Do you even have any idea of how much it costs to fly one of those RB-71s?"

"How much?"

"In excess of a hundred million. And it's got a payload of what; three thousand pounds. Assuming the average markup of 50%, that means each pound spacelifted is going to cost you $100,000 dollars. Who the fuck is going to pay for 5 minute delivery of pizza from Adrianopolis to Landover if it costs about $200,000?"

[Lonestar]

SAC Wing, Department of Defense Headquarters, Shepnukistan
"The market is more in line for organ transplants, sensitive electronics, and just-in-time parts for factories than pizzas." Hanks said outloud.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Al Gazira News Network

"Welcome back to Al Gazira News Network. Thank Allah we are back on air. Latest news on the civil war.

"In a daring move, the 2nd Infantry Corps, led by General Mousavi, has successfully secured Al-Freedom, which signifies that the western half of the Northern Sultanate now all belongs to His Highness. Earlier today, His Highness arrived at the war battered Al-Freedom to review the troops. After a short prayer His Highness left to meet ProTec personnel in an anonymous location.

"The retaking of Al-Freedom is an important victory. Not only the Grand Mosque of Libertia is located here, but it is the city where the Sultanate begun. The liberation of Al-Freedom signifies that the Lord is indeed on the side of righteousness."

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

Underground Bunker, Outskirts of Al-Freedom



The Sultan looked tired. Although he didn't participate in the battles, the psychological stress these days made him quite sleepless. Nontheless, when the contacts of ProTec arrived he still was willing to meet them.

Everyone was straightfoward. "Your Highness, congratulations on your victory. I am Colonel Smith, my partner here is Sergeant Baracus. Despite this victory of yours, we need to point out..."

"...that the Eastern half is the traitor Zahedi's turf. His troops are totally familiar with the land, locals, not to mention we are still outnumbered." The Sultan said, "What do you have to offer, Colonel Smith?"

[MKSheppard]

SAC Wing, Department of Defense Headquarters, Shepnukistan

"I'm still sorry; I must deny you this technology; as it was jointly developed in conjunction with the Red Technocracy; and it is still considered a state secret there....It isn't for nothing that the MiG logo is on the control stick....However, if you want to pursue this further, I can put you in touch with my counterpart in the Red Technocracy."

[Lonestar]

SAC Wing, Department of Defense Headquarters, Shepnukistan

"Of course Mr. Undersecretary." Hanks smiled. "I would appreciate any help you can give me. I'll be staying at the Doubletree Airport." Hanks placed the DVD on the table, turned to Frankie and Seppo, and was escorted out.

Endersecretary Conrad put the DVD in his computer, and clicked through to the picture of the YRB-71. Damned if that photo was taken from a brief sent to Red Technocracy.

[MKSheppard]

Spiral Development Complex, somewhere in the Red Technocracy

"Orders from up top. Due to security breaches, we're instituting a new password system, and we fully expect you all to comply with it."