SD.Net World(RAR!) MK IV

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

Unreal Time
Shady Empire

"To be honest, everyone has their own interests and opinions on how to deal with different matters. That is not to be unexpected. Perhaps when it comes to the crunch, everyone will work in unison," the Emperor sighed. "What has always unnerved me was the callousness UAR has displayed towards the rest of the world. I won't be surprised if we have another world war in the next.. 1-2 years again?"

Real Time

The Emperor sat in his conference room in the palace and watched the screens.

"Well, King Arik, I am agreeable to common standards, but the biggest problem in my opinion is getting the UAR to the same table to discuss possible areas of cooperation and common issues whereby they would be willing to at the least hear our pleas. As far as I am concerned, the real problem is communication and a lack of trust.

Failure which, I think we should look to FUN for avenues of cooperation. It is in their interests to work with us, as we share a number of common goals. I hate to be held hostage by belligerent powers who are more interested in themselves than in the world at large."

[Coiler]

PFL Iler had begun to hallucinate, scream in terror at random intervals, and occasionally punch himself. He was not in very good health, and could not run Coilerburg for much longer. He had to rest constantly, and his doctor said that his life was in danger if he didn't immediately resign a position of power and live in relaxation.

So the time came for PFL Iler to choose a successor. His UAR advisers recommended Admiral William Poiskaga, current head of the Coilerburg navy. Simply wanting to get better, PFL Iler agreed with them and handed over leadership in an elaborate ceremony.

"It is with a sad heart that I give command of my country over to Admiral Poiskaga, but it is a necessary measure. I am becoming of ill health, and cannot effectively run this country anymore.

Admiral Poiskaga is a very capable man, and he has vowed to continue the Great Mobilization and act alongside the UAR to ensure continued protection from the superpower alliances."

After more speeches, PFL Iler officially bestowed Poiskaga with the title of President for Life to great applause. The new ruler of Coilerburg saluted the crowd and made his own speech.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

No. of F-100 frigates ordered reduced from 5 to 3. National Service to be revised

The government, in light of the heavy budget spending has decided to scale down the number of frigates constructed. The government has also decided to cut back on spending by reducing the National Service length from 3 to 2.5 years. Further, the Government plans force reductions by scaling back the size of the Imperial Tagmata and Imperial Kataphrateoi. This is in view of the fact that potential threats are more likely to be come from the air and sea. There has been a subtle acknowledgement by the Government that any potential war, is likely to go nuclear, rather than an actual ground assault.

(OOC: I realised I need to rethink the size of my army. A division in my army is obviously much smaller than a US Army Division so I need to rethink the numbers and acronyms).

[Shroom Man 777]

Bright Hill
Farbanti, Shroomania
Conference Room

Shroom sighed.

"The problem isn't a lack of communication or trust," Shroom spat. "It's because they're dicks and they don't give a flying fuck what we think or say on the matter - especially the FUN. The MESS has a nuclear bite to match its bark, the FUN has nothing. Goddamn it, but that's the case and there's no doubt about it.

"They're going to try and get away with whatever they can - at everyone's expense. Especially us saps over at the FUN."

[Raj Ahten]

Alexandria

Treadstone had come across a real piece of work recently. Most of the terrorists they had assassinated recently had been pros, but none had reached the sheer level of indiscriminate violence that they were currently tracking. Jason Bourneholm had taken personal command of hunting down this agent known as Anton.

He was planning truck bombings and kidnappings. He had even gotten a hold of a secure lap top. Pity for Anton that the information he had stolen was obsolete. ProTec, after finding a laptop stolen and an agent murdered (who had foolishly went out without his protective team) had changed security arrangements and schedules for everyone and anything contained on the laptop. Likely it had been a pain in the ass for many a ProTec employee.

Informants and police had found many of the truck bombs. A lot of people knew what to look for now; bombings were fairly common in Alexandria these days. However two bombs that hadn't been found went off. One destroyed a hotel that had previously been a favorite with ProTec personnel, killing dozens of civilians. The other went off near the perimeter of a ProTec owned warehouse. It set off a conflagration near the docks that was later blamed for near 100 deaths, mostly civilian, as well as 8 firefighters trying to douse the blaze.

Bourneholm had the man responsible in his sights now. Someone leaking as much blood as the assassin Anton was hard to miss, and Treadstone had a very wide information base in Alexandria. ProTec and Iron Guard special units were already making preparations to go after the man, but Bourneholm was faster.

He sent in his best men to trail Anton at a distance and placed a heavily armed reaction team nearby in case the man somehow broke free of Bourneholm's ambush. Jason would kill this piece of shit himself. Taking aim from within a darkened room, well back from the window, Bourneholm fired a single shot from his silenced sniper rifle into Anton's head. The terrorist had been changing bandages in an alley.

(By the way I'm going to have to disagree that Anton could have kidnapped hundreds of dependents. First of all, most of them would NOT be in Alexandria, they would all be in Indhopal. Any that would be in Alexandria would be covered by full protective details of at least five men for 24 hours a day in hardened compounds. Anton still got plenty of licks in, but ProTec isn't stupid ).

[Shroom Man 777]

The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
ALEXANDRIA ASSAULT

The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel has received the following unconfirmed reports from Bear Republican journalists currently in Terra Libertia:

HUEG fireworks in Alexandria.

as a result of some mis communication, a few assassinations, and some bribes a strange attack erupted this morning in Alexandria, Tonkin fighters aircraft began targetting Protec and Iron Guard camps for ground attack after recieving an orders from an executive who was later found to have committed scuicide shortly after issuing said orders, A Protec executive was found dead in an Alexandrian Bathhouse, cause of death shell fish reaction, plus sauna steam, his bodyguard however discovered that his finger used for biometric pass codes, as well as his laptop were missing. It was later discovered that two other unknown Idhopol Citizens were found dead from knife wounds and a broken neck in the same bathhouse.

Other cases, a number of Tonkin regular pilots were grounded as a result of nitrogen poisoning that they somehow acquired during a new years party. their air craft were shelled by Iron Guard artillery batteries in an apparent retaliation for the earlier attacks. Just who is responsible is unknown.
-Steve Miller for Ferret News

[OOC: Oh, man. Espionage and invisible wars between the Bear Republic and Indhopal - mang!]

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Shroom sighed.

"The problem isn't a lack of communication or trust," Shroom spat. "It's because they're dicks and they don't give a flying fuck what we think or say on the matter - especially the FUN. The MESS has a nuclear bite to match its bark, the FUN has nothing. Goddamn it, but that's the case and there's no doubt about it.

"They're going to try and get away with whatever they can - at everyone's expense. Especially us saps over at the FUN."

"That is indeed one of the more blunt ways of putting the situation and I won't disagree. I myself have complained consistently about their persistant belligerence and unwillingness to interact with the world at large. Sadly, I have to agree; FUN must seriously consider its strategic situation carefully. At the moment, Red Technocracy has nuclear weapons, but the rest of FUN either lacks the funds, or simply hasn't gotten around to start a nuclear program.

My personal advice for FUN is to consolidate your resources and commit to building a nuclear program. Let's not delude ourselves. UAR is going to go for the nuclear trigger the moment they go to war. If they are going to escalate, so must we. If FUN needs assistance, I believe I can work together with Red Technocracy and help work out a feasible program."

[PeZook]

PeZookia

Blown by fickle winds, the radioactive dust floated over the sea. Irradiated particulates, mixed with flakes of the missile's reactor, have been scattered Vanaheim's coast during their long journey, poisoning birds, animals and beach-goers. As the cloud, slowly growing thinner, edged its way towards the tripple barrier of PeZookian, Shadow and Lincolnian landmasses, radiological measurements taken there were growing more and more ominous. Dead birds were found on beaches and inland ; near Miranda, PeZookian civil defence workers have found a beached whale, hemorrhaging and wailing solemnly in pain.

Preparations were made - people were instructed to stay inside their dwellings and make sure the windows and doors were sealed. Civil Defence vehicles and decontamination teams were standing by, and much of the mobile infrastructure used in such emergencies was moved to the Miranda Voyvodship.

The cloud struck, finally, floating lazily over the shore, mixing with the local soil,contaminating buildings, vehicles, crops and the landscape. Water wells were carefully covered up well in advance, fortunately - there would be no shortage of drinking water for the populace.

Thankfully, there would be little deaths, but the clean-up would take months.

Royal Palace, Astoria

The King was in a teleconference with other MESS and FUN leaders. And he was angry.

"Quite frankly, I am done negotiating with the UAR. We've tried to engage them several times. We didn't escalate that missile strike into something else, because they seemed genuinely sorry - hell, everyone was glad they decided to own up to their mistake!

It's too bad. They are belligerent, agressive and it's their way or the high way. Their nuclear technology is wasteful and unnecessary - who even needs 11 thousand miles range on a goddamned cruise missile?"

In the background, other leaders could see the King's aide enter the office and leave a folder on the desk.

"Great. Civil defence reports from Miranda..."

"Anyway, I agree with the Emperor. The FUN consciously decided not to acquire nuclear weapons, thinking this would be a welcome gesture of good will and rejection of the Cold War model of international politics. But these people don't care - they very clearly consider us a potential enemy.

It is the death of our idealism, but it must be so. I have officially become in favor for leveraging every advantage the world has to put us in a strategically superior position to the UAR. Nuclear weapons, the combined power of the world's economies, the space program, geography - everything. We should deploy our own supersonic cruise missiles - conventional ones, since nobody really needs the range and pollution of the nuclear ramjets, spams of cheap ballistic missiles, long-ranged artillery, and maybe even our very own SCORECARD system."

Paul opened the report after ending his speech.

"And we have our first cases of radiation poisoning. This is going to be a wonderful day!"

[RogueIce]

Presidential Residence, Shinra Republic

"I know how you feel Paul. Plus there are these rumors of heavy strikes in Alexandria. That Bear Republic report is unconfirmed, but my embassy people have been hearing rumors too, independent of that report. We've sent the Wilkonian carrier out into the Southern Seas and they're watching Terra Libertia airspace. We'll see if we can't get confirmation about this."

He sighed. "But I'm afraid you're right. The UAR is a problem and I seriously doubt our ability to handle them diplomatically. Simply because they don't care. About us, or even their own people I'm sure. They spewed that radioactive crap over Saddamistan land as well. And are simply exploiting the East Neverhood for their own ambitions."

[PeZook]

FASTA bulletin

FASTA director congratulates Tian Xia on launch of the Drake superheavy launcher

"This is an excellent piece of engineering, on the level of our Red Technocracy counterparts when it comes to sheer robustness. We are evaluating the launcher with regards to its potential useability for Extended Lunar Presence resupply missions. We didn't get reliable figures on launch costs yet, though, so we're still waiting on those."

Experts claim the Drake launcher would also be useful for support of the FASTAs more military-oriented programs, most of which are classified at this time.

LK-700 launch abort test succesfull

The LK-700, a project chosen as the chief element of the Extended Lunar Presenve program, has seen its first Launch Abort Test today, at a full-sized mock-up of a Vulkan launch platform located on Comona Island, Shroomania.

The launch escape motor lifted a fill-sized mockup of the LK-700 capsule clear of the rocket and it safely landed some 10 kilometers from the launch site. With this success, and engine tests going on 24/7, the LK-700 is running right on schedule.

Proposals for lunar habitats and surface exploration robots evaluated by joint FASTA-MSA comittee

Keeping with the spirit of international co-operation, a joint FASTA-MSA comittee has evaluated several dozen preliminary concepts for construction of moon outposts.

"It would be best to build those outposts out of common blocks: this way, not only both agencies can help build them, but in case a rescue mission is needed, any spacecraft, MESS or FASTA, which happens to be prepared for launch, can run it - especially if procedures are standardized, too.", said the FASTA spokesman.

The most likely habitat design will use EXCAP (EXtended CAPability) lunar landers, landed automatically or with crews, as living quarters for semi-permanent settlements at first, and a specially-designed automatic cargo-carrier variant of the Altair or LK-700 system to deliver resources for construction of permanent structures necessary to house the scientific and exploration equipment.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Presidential Hall, Republic of Mangka

It was sad to see another ideal dead in this world. But like the Vice President often mentioned to him, one always had to prepare for frustration seeing good ideals go away in a snap of fingers.

"I'm really sad to hear the damage in your nation. The Republic of Mangka is willing to execute a medical mobilization in Pezookia, including support from the local branches of the Mangka based pharmaceuticals.

"We will also provide hyperaccumulators to help remediate the contaminated land."

Vice President Yuki Amami, who was sitting next to President Ma, slightly glanced at him, giving him some kind of shiver, but she didn't say anything. The President made a mental note to ask her later.

[PeZook]

"We accept with utmost gratitude. According to our Civil Defence officials, we already have six cases of acute radiation poisoning, two of them children. What we need the most help with, however, is clean-up and relief - most people are safe inside their homes, but they need food and water while the area is decontaminated back to manageable levels. And, of course, this means basically scrubbing the entire city and the surrounding terrain.

Also, the Miranda Voyvodship is our main food producer. We are still ascertaining damage to crops and livestock, but we fear it will be...significant."

[RogueIce]

Presidential Residence, Shinra Republic

"We will of course render all aid we can to you. We've already sent a shipment of bottled water and canned food to assist. Additionally, we will offer the loan of CBRN protection suits and appropriate vehicles to evacuate the effected areas until cleanup can be completed."

[K. A. Pital]

Red Help to fellow FUN nation and our Slavic brothers



Two Il-76MF cargo planes of the Red Airfleet are fully loaded with de-contamination equipment and running off to PeZookia in an hour.

The best radiological brigades from the Red Technocracy will be operating in the contamination-suspected zones.

[Shroom Man 777]

LIVE on ShroomSat/StratTV
The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
SHEP'S SHAVE

When he came back to life, considerably more than three days later, many were shocked, dismayed, stunned - and horrified. The world leaders had seen the President of Shepnukistan - Mark Sheppard - die in Atlantis. Shot in the head by King Blackadder in cold blood.

But it wasn't over yet, because he wasn't dead yet.

He came back to life and regained his nation, and now he is once more at the forefront of international controversy.

But how is it possible, some may ask. Was it merely a body double who was executed in Atlantis? Or is the man leading Shepnukistan today the one who is the doppleganger, assuming the role of the original?

The answer - say some expert Shroomanian neurologists in the MOM - is neither.


An x-ray showing how a man can survive with a bullet in his brain.

Many all over the world now believe that President Shepard actually survived his summary execution at the hands of King Blackadder, survived with a bullet inside his brain.

"It might have ended up in his medulla oblongata," says MOM neurologist Miguel Malachus in a BOOM TUBE podcast. "And now he doesn't feel pain. Of course, it'll eventually kill him, but he'll only get stronger until the day he dies."

And somehow President Sheppard managed to return to Shepnukistan undetected to prosecute a war against the forces of Shepnukistani President Garner, who operated under the belief that his predecessor was dead.


A MOM diagram of President Sheppard's head.

The MOM has expressed concern about the apparent physical and mental well-being of a man many around the world call a 'messianic madman'.

"I call him a messianic madman," says Biff McCain, a professional Shroomanian hobo. "The most messianic and most maddest messianic madman to grace this planet since Emperor Shady and, well, Emperor Saddam the Great. Still, he has to keep himself fit - a bullet in the brain's not easy to have."

The Mushroom Organization of Medicine agrees with Biff McCain's expert assessment.

"The bullet might burrow deeper into his brain, and there's only one way to stop that," when asked what that method was, Miguel Malachus answered with one word:

"Magnets."


Doctor Miguel Malachus displays the 'ARC' reactor. ARC stands for Advanced Resonance Conductor - a type of magnet designed for cardiovascular shrapnel injuries, or CSIs.

"The Shroomanian government has sent President Sheppard an ARC reactor as a sign of goodwill - so that he can bolt it on to his cranium so that he won't die," said Shroomanian Foreign Affairs Minister Kenpachi Zaraki.

[Shroom Man 777]

Bright Hill
Farbanti, Shroomania
Conference Room

"We're dispatching the Flattop to PeZookia," Shroom said - arming the FUN with a renewed runaway defense budget could come later, now it was time to help. "Since it was originally meant to blockade Coilerburg from UAR ships, it was already prepared for any possible nuclear strikes... like last year.

"We're also going to be sending our FSC-Ls. We're gonna cram them up with decontamination supplies, MushroomMeds, and AntiRad. We'll be sending our finest MOM personnel there, and our radiological specialists.

"Shroomania has nuclear reactors - and has had some accidents in the distant past - so we do have some knowhow with this. I hope we can help, man. We can also help with evacuation... or cloud seeding. Zablania had some rain, and the Mushroom Meteorologists say that it decreased the dust cloud's size by a bit... my advisors suggested it... but I don't know...

"Goddamn it," Shroom cursed as a whole gamut of emotions gripped him. "The Shadows, goddamn - they're also going to get hit, if they haven't been already... fuck.

"We're going to be sending relief forces to the Shadow Empire and Vanaheim. Goddamn it. We're mobilizing the FUCED internationally," Shroom said, now gaining some composure. The Fungal Union Civil Emergency Department, FUCED, was designed specifically for this kind of shtick. "Blastification, the Republicbergstatesvilles, the Zorians - none of them got hit and they got resources to spare, and now I'm going to make sure they send help. It's a FUN-wide action. Don't worry about the crops. I'll get the Bear Republicans to ship everything you need to you, and we'll pitch in too. We all will.

"This is a test, that's what it is. A test for the FUN - for all of us to help our own. And mark my words, we will."

[PeZook]

"If I may inteject, Vanaheim was closest, and probably got hit far worse than we did. The cloud moved up towards us while skirting their coastline. We haven't got any reports yet, but this is going to be an absolute catastrophe for them. Shroom, you bought a lot of hospital ships from ISCA last year. I think they will come in handy.

Oh, and we should tell the Saddamistanis to fuck off home. If that's how they're going to 'clean up' the island, we may just as well leave it alone."

[Shroom Man 777]

LIVE on ShroomSat/StratTV
The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
POWER AND COMPASSION (A Non-Alliterative Special)


Radioactive dust from Zablania devastates the Central Sea nations.

Saddamistan's attempts to decontaminate the irradiated wastes of Zablania have failed - their excavation has caused particulates to rise into the air, forming toxic clouds of death that is now the newest scourge of the Central Sea nations.

Despite the rains, and the timely detection of the QFFS Astarte, there may not have been enough time for Zablania's nearest neighbors to protect themselves from the radioactive ravages of that contaminated cloud's coming.

The Lincolnian Union, and the Grand Duchy of Vanaheim may have suffered untold consequences.


The SSS Flattop and the hospital ship SSS Sea Surgery leave port.

The Sovereignty of Shroomania and the FUN Force have sent a force composed of a naval battlegroup - led by the Flattop - and the entire fleet of hospital ships, in an effort to salvage the situation.

[DarthShady]

Shadow Empire

As the Radiation Cloud struck, the people were hiding in their homes swallowing ever increasing amounts of Shroomanian drugs. Decontamination Teams were ready and help from the rest of the FUN was already en route. Meanwhile the God Emperor was in his bunker shouting angrily at anyone who dared approach.

"Goddamn UAR, Fucking Assholes."

[PeZook]

Meanwhile, 380 thousand kilometers above Nova Terra



The probe didn't care about radiation clouds, nuclear warfare scares or even more basic affairs of the people who built it. It's little computer chip couldn't even be bothered by the opressive cold and radiation of deep space. It had only one role in life - to control the LOR-1 probe, and it did the job very well.

Its propoulsion was simple - the upper stage of the Proton-M rocket, blasting it away from Nova Terra on a cislunar trajectory. Now, the stage has been jettisoned after inserting its payload onto a polar lunar orbit.

The polar orbit would allow the tiny spacecraft to methodically photograph and radar-map all of Selene's surface, pass after pass. Its cameras had a resolution of half a meter at this altitude - enough to catalogue individual boulders. As the probe opened its telescopes, it reacted to a flurry of signals sent from Nova Terra, initiating check after check of its on-board systems. An RTG, powered by a red-hot plutonium pellet, supplied the power. The Canissian coat-of-arms adorned the side.

Finally, the signal which began the main part of its mission was sent. The probe snapped the first, test picture and sent it back to Terra. The picture would soon find its way onto computers all around the planet.

It was Terrarise on Selene.

[DarthShady]

Unreal Time
Shady Empire

"To be honest, everyone has their own interests and opinions on how to deal with different matters. That is not to be unexpected. Perhaps when it comes to the crunch, everyone will work in unison," the Emperor sighed. "What has always unnerved me was the callousness UAR has displayed towards the rest of the world. I won't be surprised if we have another world war in the next.. 1-2 years again?"

"Indeed, I a agree with you. The UAR is a big problem, and we should probably do a lot more to strengthen our defences, since diplomacy with them is...hard, to say the least. As for wars, well... you know I have had my share of them. Some of them were my fault, some were not. I don't know if you have been informed on this by Shroom...but I guess you should know."-Shady said.

"Know what?"-Emperor Heraclius asked.

For the duration of the next hour Shady told Heraclius everything. He told him about Elena's betrayal, about the Serpent, the operation in Syndromia.

"We are facing an insidious and evil enemy, brother. An enemy that wants to take over the world."-Shady said, "I must ask you to deliver this information to the rest of the MESS leaders, they must know of this and be prepared to act should the need arise. "

"Can I rely on your help with this problem?"

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

"Indeed, I a agree with you. The UAR is a big problem, and we should probably do a lot more to strengthen our defences, since diplomacy with them is...hard, to say the least. As for wars, well... you know I have had my share of them. Some of them were my fault, some were not. I don't know if you have been informed on this by Shroom...but I guess you should know."-Shady said.

"Know what?"-Emperor Heraclius asked.

For the duration of the next hour Shady told Heraclius everything. He told him about Elena's betrayal, about the Serpent, the operation in Syndromia.

"We are facing an insidious and evil enemy, brother. An enemy that wants to take over the world."-Shady said, "I must ask you to deliver this information to the rest of the MESS leaders, they must know of this and
be prepared to act should the need arise. "

"Can I rely on your help with this problem?"

"Most certainly of course. The issue is what sort of help you want. Of course they need to know more details that what you have told me."

(OOC: Send the info via PM if you wish)

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

Government flies in decontamination teams to FUN nations.

Following the onslaught of radioactive rain, the government has flown in decontamination teams to FUN nations to aid with the decontamination efforts.

Government is said to be interested in expanding strategic forces, will order 12 Tu-142 Bears for ASW and sea patrol.

The government is reviewing the size of the armed forces and has decided to concentrate on strategic forces in the near term. The reasons for this was not given.

[DarthShady]

"Most certainly of course. The issue is what sort of help you want. Of course they need to know more details that what you have told me."

"We need to prepare to act united and stop them. For that to happen the MESS and the FUN must strike at the same time. It is Imperative that we wait for them to reveal themselves, because if we act too soon they will simply go deeper into hiding. Due to my recent actions they have went underground fearing a world wide action against them. They will resurface eventually and when they do we must be ready to eliminate them.

But let us now move on to more pleasant things, what do you think of our roles in the Slavic National Confederacy? We never bothered to elaborate on what exactly does that alliance entail.

[OOC: I will PM you the info. But you can find most of it in Ingame posts me and Shroom made.]]

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

"We need to prepare to act united and stop them. For that to happen the MESS and the FUN must strike at the same time. It is Imperative that we wait for them to reveal themselves, because if we act too soon they will simply go deeper into hiding. Due to my recent actions they have went underground fearing a world wide action against them. They will resurface eventually and when they do we must be ready to eliminate them.

But let us now move on to more pleasant things, what do you think of our roles in the Slavic National Confederacy? We never bothered to elaborate on what exactly does that alliance entail.

[OOC: I will PM you the info. But you can find most of it in Ingame posts me and Shroom made.]]

"The Alliance idea was largely the Secretary General of the Red Technocracy's idea and I don't think he ever figured the parameters for the alliance. Though if you need aid in the form of education and energy, I believe I can provide.

As for those treacherous curs, well, I'd have them exiled after having their eyes gorged out, and their tongues cut."