SDNWorld Redux: Story Thread the First.

[Coiler]

President Jeffery was back in Coilerburg, keeping a constant eye on the progress of Operation Extravaganza. He sat watching the news and listening to military reports.

When he heard that the airborne assault troops had successfully landed near their target mines with minimal resistance, Jeffrey felt both relieved and worried. Relieved that the initial deep heliborne assault had succeeded. Worried about the potentially precarious situation the two units were in.

CFR, around the target area

Self-proclaimed General Tafi Rudo of the Central Frequesue Liberation Army knew enough about military strategy to know that an airhead was most vulnerable in its opening stage, before the soldiers could fortify and consolidate their position.

He knew that he had to act soon if he wanted to reclaim his mines from the Coilers. So he sent out orders to gather his fighters and launch a direct assault against the mines, to drive the Coilerburg imperialists away before they could dig in.

[Steve]

Not up to writing a story post ATM, so this is in basic format.

First, Cascadia has identified the former Shinra Republic post as the best landing site. Though the legal principle of terra nullius is considered to provide justification for taking possession, a couple secure calls have been made to Midgar informing them of the fact and offering them a chance to dissent before the Defiant COG arrives.

Second, Cascadia has formally informed the Japanistani Government of their intentions and has offered arrangements as to airspace and sea delineations to prevent "incidents". (When the "fate" of the tug Soyu is discovered there will be the usual condolence-offering and Cascadia offering assistance in "reasonable anti-piracy measures".)

Third, Cascadia has started increasing overtures to al-Itani and Tanvarika on providing them with self-defensive measures.

Fourth, the Kingdoms of Zoria and Serenity have been approached and informed of basic Cascadian intentions. More privately, arrangements have been made with the Kingdom of Serenity for Cascadian RT-15s to use Ketagaran Air Force Base while on refueling missions to support Cascadian T-12Bs flying the Airborne Brigade to el-Yasuj Air Base in the Republic of Adabani (native name for New Olympia, the ex-Cascadian colony), from which they have the range to continue on to Van Halstoff.

Finally, Cascadia has offered formal diplomatic support to Canissian measures to stablize al-Akharabat.

[phongn]

Shepistani Embassy

"... as you can see here, the damages caused by the emergency demolition of your former mission in Tian Xia caused fairly extensive levels of damage, especially the polished granite and paint we use, to say nothing of the cracked windows. In addition, there has been significant incidences of post-traumatic stress disorder and other stress-related issues.

" We see no choice buy to issue a bill for $750K in order to make good these losses: $500K for timely repairs to our Embassy and another $250K to provide for the mental health of our people ... "

[MKSheppard]

"We see no choice buy to issue a bill for $750K in order to make good these losses: $500K for timely repairs to our Embassy and another $250K to provide for the mental health of our people ... "

"Achmed, write a check for $1 million to the nice people from the IRT."

"What's the extra $250k for?" asked the IRT emissary.

"Various, uh..things. Plus, the Great Leader likes nice round numbers."

[Sea Skimmer]

Edited to Nothingness

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times
A paper produced by Veritas News

Navy assures shipping community that regular ASW and antimining patrols are conducted regularly.

The Imperial Byzantine Navy assured the shipping community that the navy regularly conducts ASW and anti-mining patrols. "We constantly monitor and safeguard our shipways to ensure that ships have safe passage," says a spokeswoman. Concern was raised after the mining of a Shinra Republic vessel in an important trade conduit.

BAM offers the Imperial Byzantine Air Force and Army a new AEW&C radar

The Army has been on the look out for airbourne battlefield radars for a while, and BAM has come forward to offer the Phalcon (AEW&C) AESA radar that can be mounted on a business jet. The radar will be optimised for ground scans, though it can still perform airbourne surveillance, along with signal intelligence duties. For endurance, BAM is offering to mount the radar on a BAM A330. The radar will be mostly for army use to coordinate the army's own Close Air Support aircraft, along with giving maximum situational awareness. It is believed that up to 3 will be purchased. These aircraft are expected work along side with the JSTARs and B767-AEW&C aircraft, the latter will now be solely for air force use to monitor the skies.

Rumoured weapons programs.

Rumours are abound that the government has entered secret agreements with Crimson Star Republic to cooperate and develop secret weapons delivery systems, possibly hypersonic aircraft or even space craft. Rumours are also going around about a nuclear weapons program, but that is still unconfirmed and the ministry has been thus far tight lipped.

[Steve]

Van Halstoff Land


The first wave of ashore were combat engineers and the materials needed to begin clearing the jungle, a process already begun by the Defiant's F-4 Phantoms and their payloads of napalm and defoilant. The old Shinra base location thankfully provided just enough space for the Cascadian Marines to deploy and begin setting up camp, special care being taken to create a perimeter to protect the troops from any jungle predators. Overhead the navalized ASF-10 Condors and ASF-7 Hawks from Defiant went on patrol while transport helos from Cascadia disgorged their own loads of Marines.
From the fleet a radio message confirmed that the first flights of T-12Bs had already left el-Yasuj carrying more equipment and the first companies of the Cascadian Airborne Brigade. The establishment of Van Halstoff Base had begun.

[Steve]

Defiant-class Carrier


CRS Defiant
Air Wing:
ASF-10N Condor x 8
ASF-7N Hawk x 16
F-4 Phantom x 12
ECF-2 Skyeye x 4
SH-6 Seahawk x 4


Cascadia-class Amphibious Assault Ship

CRS Cascadia
RLH-14 x 20 (CH-46 equivalent)
RLH-16 x 10 (CH-53 equivalent)
AH-8 x 8 (Cobra-equivalent)
SH-6 x 4


Tacoma-class Amphibious Transport
CRS San Magdalena


Columbia-class missile cruiser
CRS Yukon


Jiang Kai-sheng-class destroyers
CRS Luis Vamos
CRS Nathan Mackensen

John Q. Adams-class destroyer
CRS John Q. Adams


Patrick Jefferson-class frigates
CRS Hadrian Carmichael
CRS Leland Hall
CRS Calvin Ruther


Seawolf-class Nuclear Attack Submarine
CRS Wahoo
CRS Hammerhead


Settler's Creek-class Mine Warfare Ship
CRS Vaymos Creek


Columbia River-class Replenishment Ship, Heavy
CRS Nevada River


Gibbons River-class Replenishment Ship, Light
CRS Gibbons River


Fort Sheridan-class Fleet Oiler
CRS Fort Carter


Attached:
2nd Marine Brigade

[Czechmate]

Chester City, Cheshire Province, Westchester
Mount August Castle
Mid-Spring 2008

Emperor Xavier Westchester II, nee Ezekiel Donley, was developing a headache. Since awakening a month previous in the bed (to say nothing of the fit, asthma-less, clear-visioned body) of the Emperor of Westchester, he had been forced to rapidly learn how to deal with the endless procession of barons, counts, dukes, generals, admirals, and Imperial Boy Scout troops scheduled to visit him in a given day. Doing his best to be gracious and not visibly rub his brow out of frustration, he had listened to the nobles' requests for leniency on the behalf of their children; under the 'real' Xavier II's five-day-old reactivation of Imperial General Directive Three, the Conscription and War Measures Acts had been automatically put into force nationwide, entirely skipping review by the Peerage in the House of Lords under the unforgiving terms of the emergency executive powers outlined under the Imperial Constitution. As such, the noble-politicians were terrified their carefully-structured power bases would be toppled by the mass conscription of so many of their contituents. For his part, Xavier did not care; he had ordered the Royal Secretariat to cancel all nonmilitary appointments for the duration of IGD-3's effect. He had been visited by the heads of the Army and Navy, respectively begging to avoid and chomping at the bit for a declaration of war on the People's Republic of South Frequesue to Westchester's west, occupying the other side of the Leicester Mountain Range.

Most alarming had been Field Marshal Boynton's statement that the Royal Army would be unable to prevent a penetration of the West Highland passes if the People's Army attacked in force. Despite the fearsome firepower of the 120mm L/55 guns on the Empire's Challenger IIC main battle tanks, each of the Empire's roughly three hundred Challengers would be outnumbered by an entire three-tank platoon of surplus Type 59 battletanks of the previous generation; even this fearsome weight of metal in Southron hands was not their total, for they had two independent regiments of homebuilt Type 96 battle tanks, able to put up much more of a fight against Westchester's armor. Upon reciept of this news, Ezekiel's mind had gone into overdrive. Memories of campaigns he'd studied, of the great tank battles of Falaise and Prokhorovka, swam to the forefront of the fog obscuring his thoughts. He'd immediately informed Chief of His Majesty's General Staff Boynton that he would be donning the Field Marshal uniform his position allowed and attending strategic planning sessions at Fort Whitecastle, the great Lancastrian military base in the Lancashire provincial seat of Fielding, forty-two kilometers away across Emry Bay's narrowest point.

The field marshal had, in a futile attempt to smoothly prevent his lord from weighing in at the planning sessions at GHQ, pointed out in some detail the lack of available transport aircraft in the Royal Army Air Force and the risks involved in traveling across the forty-two kilometer chain of bridges, tunnels, and artificial islands collectively known as Emperor's Path to reach distant-but-visible Fielding. Admiral Charles Danforth, First Sea Lord and senior comissioned officer of His Imperial Majesty's Navy, had, with a plainly visible and terribly smug grin, offered His Majesty the use of one of his Super Stallion helicopters for the trip over. Boynton was, as could be understood, aghast.

---

City of Fielding, Lancashire Province, Westchester
Fort Whitecastle
Two days later

Generally speaking, The General Headquarters of His Majesty's General Staff is believed by the common men of His Majesty's Armed Forces to be a place of aristocratic officers sipping tea and making plans of war, calculating and recalculating, isolated from the hubbub of a 'true' headquarters. This is incorrect; it is a madhouse. Officers, commissioned and noncomissioned alike, bustle about the twenty-three-story complex built a quarter century ago beneath Fort Whitecastle, under threat of total, catastrophic war with the People's Republic of South Frequesue. It contained facilities for travel through reinforced tunnels via a train network to nearby Fielding AFB and the single safe nuclear reactor in the Realm to power it. It contained bunking and supply storage for nearly a thousand people for something approaching ten years; the entire project had been seen as foolish and wasteful until now. With Southron forces becoming more aggressive in their pushes into the Leicester Range and PRSF-flagged privateers crippling the Empire's maritime economy, the prospect of all-out war between the People's Republic and Westchester was looming greater day by day. The reserve units of the Air Force were being called up, troops were volunteering or being conscripted or called from reserves to bolster the Army, the Navy's operational tempo had reached a ten-year peak, and all of this was made possible by the contingency plan embodied by IGD-3.

This last point, especially, was a shockingly clear bit of foresight for Edward II Westchester, the man who'd single-handed hammered out the Imperial Constitution during his seven years as Chancellor to his elder cousin, Xavier I. The four increasingly-Draconian General Directives had been included as contingencies in the Consitution's section on the discretionary emergency powers available to the Emperor in times of crisis, and they'd been first drafted in 1908; IDG-3 had been invoked only twice before, during the First World War and the Klavostani War some three decades later. Both times, Westchester had been in tumult; during the closing years of the First World War, the Tian Xian colony of Tian Jiao, 'Heaven Meets Shore', had been wracked by internal violence, the Westchester Family taking over in a brutal multi-sided civil war. During the Klavostani War, the Royal Republic had invaded Westchester, crashing through the East Lowlands and driving to Chester City in a matter of months. Under the social buckling-down and military boost of the combined Conscription and War Measures Acts, Westchester had managed to squeeze enough blood from the proverbial rock to defend against its' enemies and assert its' position as a globally minor but locally major maritime power.

Whether they can do it a third time remains up for debate.

[Karmic Knight]

Headlines from the Vinish Press

-Terrorist Plot Uncovered
A joint action by both RIS and OFI has led to the uncovering of a plot to destroy the Earles Nuclear Power Plant, in Earles Bay

-WVNR to become a radio subsidiary of CNN

-“Ghost Ship” found floating neat Thadon
Every attempt at trying to contact the Ghost Ship of Thadon have fallen upon deaf ears, causing many citizens to fear that the ship is in fact haunted, as it has also dodged boarding attempts by Coast Guard ships.

- King Brandon Returns from San Dorado

-General Edward “Malfunctioning Eddy” Mujica reassigned to Fort Farragut, Near Azzan

- King Urges all Vinish citizens to find passage out of Shepistani
King Brandon Urged the reporters from the Vineyards to leave Shepistan anyway they can, as he feels the place is not safe for citizens. Brandon is not removing his embassy, citing the need for a way for the international community to contact Shepistan without going through Japanistan and the IRT, groups with possible conflicting interests.

- Prime Ministerial race is heating up, Martin Black the stand out candidate

- Stets Buys out another competitor
Stets’ Family Brewery has bought out a third of the Big Four Wineries in the Southern Vineyards, giving Stets’ the second largest monopoly in the Vineyards. This has prompted some to claim that a Socialist Government would keep this monopolizing in check, leading to another pro-Socialist surge in the polls.

-Imperialist Posturing in the Untamed Lands

Office of RISC, <Censored>, <Censored>

As Shrubber looked at the headlines of the major Vinish papers, some outdated yes, he smiled at the removal of the vehement anti-eutopian general. This would make VEIA’s life so much easier. He turned to his aide, “Contact Lead Officer Michelangelo, and tell him he can move his people in a little easier now, unless, of course, the Ministry of the Army fucks this up and puts another Mujica in Eddy’s place.”

”I will pass the message on, sir.”

“Thank you, also, what does the ol’ Fox report?”

“Other than tensions running high, nothing is different from what we expected, sir.”

“Good, have it back off, no need putting her crew at risk. Oh, and tell the Navy about her movements, they should be informed,” while he spoke of informing the Navy, he thought of giving the full reports out to Jeffery, and Raj, as thanks for the heads up in the CFR campaign. Shrubber decided against it, as the full reports would make it to the FTO through official means, eventually.

[Coyote]

LZ Dog
North of Al-Akharabat

FRAGO:

"Intel reports possible aerosol attack of unknown properties at Cascadian base to the north; overflight by Japanistani aircraft with suspect external tanks of mysterious configuration.... exercise caution; see to it that gas masks and injector kits are readily available and that medical personnel are alerted to the danger."

"Meanwhile, the remaining elements of the 5th Airborne Division will be landing in various sorties over the course of the next 72 hours..."

"Standing orders are to avoid contact with Japanistani personnel. However, if any Japanistani personnel are found in any sort of danger, or disoriented, accord them safety and alert Command for Japanistani personnel to be safely evacuated and repatriated."

"Be on the lookout for any sign of a Japanistani tugboat that disappeared in the last few days; particularly if any crew arrive in lifeboats."

[Sea Skimmer]

3 miles off the coast of The Republic of al-Akharabat



Laid down in 1906, the 22,000 tons Imperial Japanistani Navy semi dreadnought Aki had been painfully obsolete by the time of her completion in 1911, thanks to the massive secondary battery of a dozen 10 inch guns besides just four 12 inch weapons in the bow and stern. Survivor of many battles, and for a time converted to an antiaircraft ship in the Great War, she had been rebuild with new engines into a cadet training ship with full original armament in 1947. The 1980s had seen the addition of newer surface search radars, and several MANPADS launchers, but in essence she remained a pre WW1 battlewagon.

Now, loaded as she was with 500 fanatical young Japanistani naval cadets, she was the first ship to arrive at the washed ashore wreck of the tug Soyu and her town on the coast of al-Akharabat. A large number of local villages had shown up, and while some stood and simply watched, a number of them had begun to go onboard and loot the wreckage, picking past dead bodies already decaying in the halls and on deck. Many more, on hearing of the horror onboard instead chose to began removing sacks of cement and boxes of bolts from the barge, its towering high slab sides requiring some ingenuity to surmount.

Guided in by a naval patrol aircraft which had spotted the wreck earlier, Akis crew and cadets were enraged by the sight of a Japanistani ship, a ship in direct service to the Emperor being looted. An armed shore party was dispatched at once to board the tug from its stern, still firmly out in the water, and repel the natives. It was only then that the true insult was reveled, the presence of 20 decaying Japanistani bodies… some almost sawed in half with gunfire and decay.

Agitation among the cadets and lower officers began at once aboard Aki, a demand for action against the savage native barbarians who had massacred a ships screw and then stood to gawk even then from tree line. The Captain swiftly agreed, and ordered battle stations sounded. Clearing for action Aki trained her entire broadside on the tree line and unleashed ten heavy shells, blasting it to pieces. Most of the villages had already fled, and several of the aging shells proved to be duds, but he results were still blood splattered tinder wood. Aki set sail after securing the bodies of the wreck, her captain heading down the coast in search of a larger development to annihilate if only the command with grace him with the order.

A message was flashed to Japanistani Naval Headquarters of the incident and massacre, and then to the highest levels of government. The news also began to priculate into the ranks of the regular military, a savage pirate attack by the barbarians against Japanistan! It would never stand!

Among the many voices to hear the report was that of Special Field Marshal Suchiidetsu Ichiro, head of the National Sunshine Council. His plan was going ahead, and with the past ten years of pent up nationalistic jargon to back up the idea, he was confident that even a greater order to dispatch 200,000 men would not be questioned.

[Sea Skimmer]

Diplomatic Message to Canissia

Imperial Japanistan considers the situation on Velaria to be intolerable, the renegade barbarian hoards of al-Akharabat will be dealt with severely and an orderly government. Japanistan is aware of existing Canissia presence and proposes a joint Japaanistani commanded peacekeeping operation, which will facilitate the withdrawal of Canissias overextended forces and creation of stable and secure conditions on the ground. Japanistan aspires to help al-Akharabat reach its natural potential and will commit 75,000 men from its Eastern Group of Forces to effort.

[Coiler]

General Rudo had managed to scrape together roughly 250 men and several technicals in the short time period he felt necessary for an attack on the newly-landed Coilerburg troops to succeed.

The CFLA fighters simply charged the Coilerburg lines as soon as they were all assembled. It may have seemed suicidal for them to have directly attacked a force that greatly outnumbered them, but several factors accounted for their decision. The first was that Rudo did not know just how many Coilerburg troops there were around the mines-his scouts had not been able to form a definite number, and Rudo lacked any other means of surveillance. The second was that Coilerburg ground forces had rarely ventured into the CFR before. Because of their race and their defeat in Iler's War, many of the fighters in the CFLA thought that the Coilers were incomptent weaklings who would break at the sight of a direct charge involving hundreds of screaming militia.

Unsurprisingly, the Coilerburg soldiers easily repelled the attack with artillery and machine gun fire. The area where the attack was launched became littered with dead militants and wrecked technicals.

After the charge's failure, the local CFLA commander (who's name was revealed by captured militants as Ali Shak) informed Rudo of the heavy casualties suffered during the battle. He still believed that the Coilerburg force was small and that a night attack could catch them unaware and enable him to inflict a victory.

As Shak attempted to move back his wounded and gather forces for the night's attack, Coilerburg airstrikes both inflicted more casualties on his already beaten unit and disrupted his unit movements. He still resolved to launch the night attack, as he maintained his delusion that the Coilerburg forces were small, and that they were just as worn from battle as his own men.

The night attack sputtered out with a whimper. When it became obvious that the Coilers were not taken by surprise, Shak ordered his fighters to retreat and disperse. The attempt by the CFLA to retake the mines had been a horrible failure.

Six Coilerburg soldiers died in the battle. CFLA deaths totaled at least 130.

[PeZook]

Orena Evening News - FUN conference special!

King Paul pledges support to the HEUGE project

As the FUN conference continues, King Paul pledged PeZookia's support to the HEUGE supercollider project. PeZookia can commit two billion US dollars yearly to construction of the device, which will "Serve to unlock secrets of the universe that we are not even capable of imagining yet", as the King said in his speech.

While physicists are not as enthusiastic, many consider the HEUGE collider a necessary investment to further the cause of science.

New FASTA mandate announced

"...as the exploration of space continues, and humanity reaches ever-new plateaus, new territorry becomes open before us. The grand achievements of our ancestors all spurred ahead the development of technology, and fuelled the human spirit of pioneerism and exploration.

It is for this reason that I believe the nations of the Earth should commit themselves to the goal, of putting a man on Selene, and returning him safely before the next decade is over. To this end, PeZookia shall commit a sum of 5 billion dollars yearly, and invites all nations, anywhere, to participate in this great undertaking to the best of their ability."

The speech by King Paul (transcribed above) announced PeZookia's plan to develop and deploy technology necessary to extend spaceflight to the Moons. The grand vision includes development of permanent bases of Selene and other moons of the Near Earth system, and establishment of an industrial base in outer space.

The FASTA, a FUN space agency charged, up to this point, with light satellite launches and maintenance of the FUN's communications satellite network, was proposed as the framework for development of this tehcnology, in conjunction with other space agencies.

Conferences behind closed doors?

OEN reporters have noticed that several closed-door conferences are being conducted in parallel with the main FUN panel in the auditorium of the Royal Congressional Hall. The purpose of these talks has been claimed as "Hammering out the details of multilateral agreements several countries are interested in" by Foreign Ministry officials.

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

Closed-door conference, Room C

"Next is the question of the nuclear bomb development program. Laying aside the question if such a program already exists or not...", said General Stawicki, a man responsible for military R&D programs in PeZookia, to his Byzantine, Crimson Star and Shroomanian counterparts - obviously referring to newspaper articles suggesting Byzantium and the CSR co-operation on the matter, "...I have been authorized by the Royal Court to express PeZookian interest in participation."

[MKSheppard]

RSS Permit, somewhere between the Fourth and Old Continents

The Permit was the very first Shepistani SSAN ever built, and while she had gone to prove many of the systems used in later classes, such as a silent turboelectric natural circulation reactor powertrain, at a mere 23,500 tons submerged, she wasn't as capable as the newest SSANs; though a upcoming refit would help rectify some of these deficits.

However, for the moment, she hovered at a depth of 1,000 feet, and slowly the huge clamshell doors on the special submersible shelter placed on her aft deck opened...

From within came a small ultra deep diving submersible, the Alvin.

It slowly began to descend deep into the abyssal plain far below.

Several Hours Later



The Alvin made touchdown at 15,123 feet below the ocean's surface; and slowly began to search out it's target. After 25 minutes of searching, they found it.



The SHROOMCABLE IV. One of the major data relays between the Old Continent and the Fourth Continent. Capable of carrying a million channels of Shroomanian content.

Slowly, Alvin followed the cable until it found what it was looking for; the cable passing through a rocky area. Carefully, a robotic arm placed special five pound demolition charges amongst the rocks themselves, and then Alvin withdrew to a safe distance, and then triggered the charges.

BOOOM

With a low groan, the rocks shifted and smashed down onto the cable, crushing the delicate fiber optics within.

All across the fourth continent and the old continent, millions of internet nerds screamed as they lost connection, and then minutes later, screamed again as their ping and lag skyrocketed to unacceptable levels as the data formerly sent through the SHROOMCABLE IV was redirected to other smaller, underwater cables.

[PeZook]

New Military Journal

Spending increase looms?

Sources within the Defence Ministry have indicated that the government is planning a massive increase in military spending for FY2009.

While no details are available at this time, the Journal has managed to confirm that purchase of new nuclear submarines, refit programs for currently operational SSKs and deployment of long-range cruise missiles are being considered.

[Zor]

Union Press

Royal Nautical Engineering unveils the Oculus Sensor buoy

RNE Hedquarters, Victorium-Today, RNE unveils it's latest product to keep us aware of what is going on underwater, the Oculus submarine Sensor Buoy.

Based off an advanced deep sea research buoy commissioned for the Hirohito Institute for the Advancement of Oceanic Science, the Oculus is a heavily modified and militarized model built after a program was initiated led by Engineer David Tikashi. In this low cost sensor package is a highly developed microphones capable of detecting submarines kilometers away and a tele-operated Sonar pulse system for more detailed information. The Oculus is still in the testing phase, but the RNE says that so far the tests have been going well and that a final product shall be available on the international market within 9 months. Sales are expected to be high, especially considering the foul play that some have suspected to behind yesterday's failure on Shroomcable IV.

[Shroom Man 777]

LIVE on ShroomSatTV
The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
EMERGENCY EMBASSY EMBOLISM!


Thousands of protesters demonstrate outside the gates of the Shepistani Embassy, so far the demonstrations have been peaceful.

In the last few days, the Shepistani Embassy building in Farbanti Shroomania has received no less than sixty bomb threats, and the Embassy's mailboxes have exploded due to the sheer amounts of death threats and hatemail being sent by not only Shroomanian citizens, but also by PeZookian, Old Dominionite, Canissian, and Byzantine residents within not just the city, but from the whole country as well. Not only that, but hatemail and death threats are also being sent from abroad via airmail - and authorities have been overwhelmed in sifting through these packages and parcels for any dangerous contents.

Just hours ago, a package from Canissia that appeared to be among the few pro-Shepistani parcels received by the Embassy turned out to be a dangerous weapon in the form of a seemingly innocent children's toy.


A Shepistani diplomat with a Canissian children's robot doll that had been programmed to kill, just moments before the incident.

A member of the Shepistani embassy staff was injured when the weapon activated, and was rushed to the MacMillan's Memorial Maternity Hospital for immediate treatment - for not only his stabbing-related injuries, but also for any possible poisonings.

The Fungal Bureau of Investigation has announced that the attack might have been motivated by revenge.

During the FUN Pre-Conference Party (PCP), a Shepistani representative named Al-Fakim shocked the world by stabbing Old Dominion Minister Evan Mironov with a poisoned blade - a move that has catalyzed the closing of embassies all over Shepistan, and the expulsion of Shepistani diplomats from nations in both the FUN and the MESS.

As one of the few still-standing and still-in-use Shepistani Embassies in the world, authorities fear that the Shepistani Embassy in Farbanti has become a magnet for reprisals and vengeance attacks.

Because of this, the Shroomanian government has announced that the Shepistani Embassy was going to be moved to a safer location in the Whiskey Corridor - a desertified place that leads to either the Shroomanian capital Farbanti or San Salvacion.


Shroomermax - a disused prison facility and the new home of the Shepistani ambassador to Shroomania.

To compensate for the sheer distances Shepistani diplomats have to travel to Farbanti, the Shroomanian government is giving the new Shepistani Embassy a number of Shroomswagen W12 roadsters for rent.

"We cannot let recent international incidents - as unsavory as they might be - disrupt international communications, nor can we let them cut the lines of diplomacy," Ambassador Ambrose Ambercrombie said in an announcement from the Shroomanian Embassy in Annapolis. "Shroomania will continue to communicate with Shepistan. The Shroomanian Embassy here will also continue its service to Shroomanian nationals in Shepistan, as well as FUN nationals in the country as well."

Free/Fungal Union of Nations passports allow any citizen of any FUN nation entry into any embassy building owned by any FUN nation.


*click*


LIVE on ShroomSatTV
The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
CABLE CUTTING CONCERNS, CONSEQUENCES

The sudden disconnection of the Shroomcable IV has caused mayhem for countless communication lines between the Old and Fourth Continents as lines had to be rerouted through other underwater cables, or diverted to dishes and beamed off into space to ShroomSats.

The Shroomanian Scientific Society, which maintains marine monitoring stations that use sonar to listen for underwater seismic activity, suspect that an underwater earthquake was the cause of this disruption.

Aside from internet interruptions, the consequences of the sudden cable cutting also affected the Shroomania-based Continental Cable Connections Company - a SchromCorp subsidy primarily dealing with underwater fiber optic lines. The CCCC lost five points in the global stock market exchange -


*click*


LIVE on ShroomSatTV
The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
SHROOMSTRAT STRATOSPHERIC SATELLITE


The ShroomStrat, a proposed stratospheric satellite - stratellite.

In light of the recent disconnection of the Shroomcable IV, the MacMillan Multicorporation, in conjunction with BAM, Zorian Zeppelins and the Royal Aerospace Research (RAR), has announced the continuation and 'enhancement' of their ShroomStrat and ZorZepp projects.

The 'hippotheticel' ShroomStrat or ZorZepp is a design that bridges the gap between land-based communications and space-based satellites, by means of floating up to the stratosphere to relay and receive transmissions beyond the curvature of the planet.

A constellation of ShroomStrats or ZorZepps would be reusable, and would be capable of being refueled, and would have coverage superior to land-based antennae while being more affordable than space satellites.

Concerns over the cutting of the Continental Communications Cable (the Shroomcable IV) has only increased interest in the ShroomStrats and ZorZepps.

[PeZook]

New Military Journal

FUN "Buzzkill" missile unveiled


FUN standard "Buzzkill" supersonic cruise missile

Began as a joint Shroomanian-PeZookian project based on licensed Crimson Star Republic designs, the "Buzzkill" missile has been revealed as the primary armament of the new "Yer Mom" class SSGNs, slated to enter service late next year.


A Buzzkill missile during a test launch

The "Buzzkill" is a supersonic, radar-and-IR guided long-ranged strategic cruise missile, available in anti-ship and land-attack variants. It is equipped with the latest electronics, and can carry a variety of warheads. According to FUN military officials working on the project, the missile will be complimented by a cheaper, mass produced TLAM missile, also to be deployed on Yer Mom-class SSGNs.

As of this moment, the missile is being test fired and tested extensively before its entry into service. The Journal has no access to planned procurement numbers at this time.

Sub-hunting corvette design proposed



During the Fabowice Military Fair, several PeZookian designers have attempted to pitch a proposal for a fast, cheap sub-hunting hydrofoil for use in coastal waters and convoy escort.

Equipped with advanced sonar, anti-sub mortars and torpedoes, and operating in squadrons of 2 to 4 boats, such boats could be a great asset in hunting large, fast nuclear-powered submarines. Proponents of the design also claimed the hydrofoils would be able to easily evade torpedoes, owing to their great speed, however the validity of these claims remains to be verified.

Nuclear SSKs?

Sources inside the defence industry indicate that negotiations are being conducted with Shroomanian shipyards for refitting four out of twenty diesel-electric submarines currently operated by PeZookia into nuclear-electric ships.

Equipped with small nuclear reactors or RTG assemblies to racharge their batteries without the need to snorkel, such boats could perform long-range patrols - a capability the PeZookian navy did not possess before.

New interceptors coming along?

According to sources within the Crimson Star Republic, PeZookian defence officials have approached several design bureaus for the purchase of cheap, long-range, high-altitude interceptors capable of engaging long-range bombers, to compliment PeZookia's air defence systems.

PeZookian companies to enter contest for repair of SHROOMCABLE IV

Several PeZookian sea engineering companies have put their bids on the contract to repair the SHROOMCABLE IV, which was damaged by an undersea earthquake earlier this week. It is unknown if any of them have a chance to actually get the contract.

[Zor]

Union Press

Zorian Responce to Shepistani vandalism: TERRIFS!

Parliament Hill, Port Victory-In responce to the act of vandalism upon Shroomcable IV, Parliament has in a rousing 83% majority in favour of passe a bill on international commerce directed at Shepistan, including a 50% increase on all Terrifs on Shepistani Goods and an increase of 75% on harbour fees for Shepistani Ships.

"If the Shepistani government thinks it can go about the world doing as it pleases with out respect of the property and lives of others, it is dearly mistaken" Prime Minister Alice Hammerfest told Parliament earlier today. "Now, we are sending them a message as we hit them where where it hurts, in their wallets. Hopefully Shepistan's leaders will come to the realization that petty vandalism is not a good diplomatic stratagy as their New tank funds are comming up rather short this year."

[Shroom Man 777]

Closed-door conference, Room C

General Gregorio Gustav Gander of the Mushroom Military did not come alone. Along with him was Professor Stephen Shroom-King, the legendary wheelchair-bound physicist and horror story novelist of Shroomania's Atomic Research Science Experiment (ARSE). He also had the BLAND Corporation's pre-eminent Sherman Kahn - who was gobbling up all the finger food.

"Next is the question of the nuclear bomb development program. Laying aside the question if such a program already exists or not...", said General Stawicki, a man responsible for military R&D programs in PeZookia, to his Byzantine, Crimson Star and Shroomanian counterparts - obviously referring to newspaper articles suggesting Byzantium and the CSR co-operation on the matter, "...I have been authorized by the Royal Court to express PeZookian interest in participation."

"The Mushroom Military," General Gregorio began. "Also recognizes Shroomania's need for a nuclear deterrent. Times are changing, and soon it may be necessary to release this genie from its bottle. We must not be caught unprepared, or at a disadvantageous position.

"Though these weapon bring devastation to degrees unknown, we need them to secure ourselves in a future of ever-increasing Shepistani and Japanistani militarism," the General sighed. This was not an easy decision to make. Memories still lingered of the Second War of the Worlds, when the losing Axis powers desperately tried their Vengeance Weapons. The Atom Bomb....

"But make no mistake. Shroomania will never use these weapons in anything but a retaliatory strike."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

(OOC: This is as secret as it gets, so don't anyone dare try to play games like "We knew you had some so and so...")

Strategos Bilkov looked at the wizened old Shroomanian Physicist and shrugged. He had some of the brightest minds at the Nuclear Energy Institute who could do the job just as well. The only issue is to keep these bored buggers from picking locks for fun, like that... Ricardo Feynmanikos, who was too smart for his own good.

"Let me say this gentlemen, Crimson Star Republic and we do have interests in such weapons, but I would say that we do have an interests in such weapons. While they indeed are a priority, our chief interests are in the delivery system, be they space based, hypersonic, or supersonic. We believe we can achieve the weapon in 1-2 years, plus perhaps some degree of miniaturization by the end of the 2nd year, with our combined resources.

I will add however, that we also do not regard them as a first strike weapon. We don't plan to.. indulge in a military adventure, and we don't plan to use them in wanton violence. I believe I speak for my Crimson Star Republic counterpart, that we do have plans in place for testing the weapon, and we hope to have it in 2 years."

(OOC: Unless someone says otherwise, the weapon will take 2 years. Otherwise, more. One thing to note: Unlike in the past when nuclear engineering was at its infancy, it isn't assumed now.)

[PeZook]

Orena, Royal Congressional Hall, Conference Room C

"Obviously, atomics are not first-strike weapons. I'd like to think there will not be a necessity for a first strike at all.", general Stawicki pondered.

"Our studies on the feasibility of those weapons and their destructive potential confirm your estimates ; However, acquiring the capability to produce them and actually making them in large quantities - fast - will require us to expand production of nuclear materials, especially plutonium. And, of course, current output of uranium enrichment plants is probably not going to suffice."

"All in all, PeZookia can contribute somewhere in the vicinity of 3 billion dollars, and our other resources."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times
A paper produced by Veritas News

Constantinople Shipping bids to repair cable; Debate over laying a new cable emerges

The apparent vandalism of the Shroomcable IV has raised questions of whether Byzantium should be more involved in funding more cables. The Senate has asked the Science & Technology ministry whether or not it should lay more cables as a back up to existing cables. The Science & Technology Minister said that the issue is being studied and the ministry will be make a decision soon.

Meanwhile, Constantinople Shipping has indicated that it intends to bid to repair the cable. "We have an existing fleet of cable laying ships. We are more than capable of handling the job," says a spokesperson.