SDNWorld Redux: Story Thread the Second

[Coiler]

Border of the NorthCent Republic

Billy was just a common fighter in the Revolutionary Front, and even he could tell that this was not what they had anticipated. The artillery-oh God, there was so much artillery. It seemed that one second they were laughing at how dumb the Minoyans were for uselessly spreading their men out, preparing to charge and break their line, and then the next they were being pummeled by barrage after barrage after artillery.

Artillery was something very precious. You only used it sparingly, as there was always limited ammunition. Yet the Minoyans had simply unleashed it all at once, with seemingly little regard for their ammunition stocks. That wasn't like them. In fact, there was rumor going around that the FTO had come in and reinforced them with its own army.

Whoever's artillery it was, it was effective.

Coilerburg Central Command

"President Stone, the recent battle that we have observed in the northern CFR, though unfortunate, is not anything unusual in and of itself. The way it's fought, though, has.

We've observed the Minoyan troop positions, and they seem very unconventional, for that war. Normally, they'll cluster all their men around mines, airfields, or some other strategic location, after all, there's no need to waste men guarding useless empty land. Yet the Minoyans simply spread their men across a wide front, for some strange reason.

Also, the reports we have of their artillery usage-they aren't firing shells here and there, they're firing huge barrages. They wouldn't be doing this if they weren't getting ammunition from somewhere, and we're trying to find out where.

Of course, the rest of the CFR is tipping back into this war, with this battle simply being the kindling that reignites the fire...."

Geoffrey Stone looked concerned. "Try to arrange a meeting between me and President Hank. This is a matter that we need to talk about, along with-some other, strange information I have. If you can, invite the leaders of Miratia over too, they're physically closest to the CFR..."

[Master_Baerne]

Baernish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Private Communique
FROM: Her Excellency Countess Domizia, Minister for Foreign Affairs
TO: His Excellency Mr. Stone, President of Coilerburg
SUBJECT: Minoyan Military Expenditures

Sir,

It has come to our attention that the recent use of massed artillery barrages is a cause of concern for Coilerburg, and we feel bound to inform you that we have been providing decommissioned artillery and ammunition for same to Minoy.

Countess Domizia

[Karmic Knight]

Border between the Commonwealth and the Principality of Miratia, Commonwealth Side

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked the driver.

“Of course, we only need to get a few kilometres in and we’re golden,” responded the passenger, as the driver had learned over the course of the ride from Mining Country, a deplorable fellow.

“Why are we golden, just cause some pallid fucker told us it was a good idea does mean it is.”

“Well, ‘just cause some pallid fucker’ gave us this truck of high explosives, and these,” the passenger responded as he hefted a pair of incendiary grenades, “We can give these oppressors a fine view of hell with a handful of these babies. Does, mean it is. Look, just focus on not setting this bomb off before we get to the service station.”

Audible Sigh, “Look, just answer me this, Do you honestly think we can bring Freedom to these people out there?”

“Of course.”

Ten Days Later.

The truck was parked in front of a gas station on a lonely stretch of mountain road in the Principality, with the former drivers nowhere to be seen.

Without warning the truck exploded, taking the gas station with it.

From the distance the, now successful, terrorists could see the fireball, even while dashing away as fast as their stolen car could take them. They were rushing for the treacherous mountains of Valour, the very geographical feature that had kept the terrorists from getting to the principality during the Civil War. They could have hid out in the mountains for the rest of their lives. They wouldn’t, but they could have.

Result: Minor Terrorist Attack in Miratia, Welcome to the God Damned Fucking Continent.
I may/may not play around with these maniacs later.

[CmdrWilkens]

"But, I will spare you the humiliation and dishonor that will come from you attempting to bribe my people. As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I have the authority to make policy. So, I will issue a new set of military regulations and policies that will essentially recreate the BW Ban treaty. They will have the force of law…at least until the next Chancellor takes power." Lonestar sat down, shaking with anger.

"We may be in agreement...we may and indeed are insofar as that action will be seen as sufficient by most."

"What I am not in agreement on is your decision to take the high road. Your military is currently engaged in the slaughter of countless people who have neither trial nor defense. I won't pretned that my military has likewise been present to watch as the people of Eat Shepistan were all but literally eating their young and did nothing until their numbers were few enough tat we could hope to regain order."

"I may not have common decency to suggest buying off a country but don't you dare get fucking high handed with me.


Nations since time immemorial have bought each other off. Fuck that's what treaties are, they arent' some sort of idealistic mishmash that folks agree to. They are bought and sold by appealing to another nation's best interests whether by threat or incentive. Offering to give your House of Burgess what they want in order to sign the ratification wasn't an attempt to apd their pockets. They saw achance to play for pwoer by shooting the treaty down, that means they want something they weren't getting. I am offering to give it to them whatever it is. If they want to flay the corpse of Shep in front of a live TV audience with a Wilkonian-backed show court giving the verdict I have no issue with that. My point is that your House of Burgess wants something and they will KEEP fucking over your foreign policy until they get it. This means they will assuredly keep fucking over MY foreign policy until they get it. This isn't some dirty money changing hands on the street corner this is me, as a representative of a nation which once ruled a third of the planet, deciding that giving your House what they want is cheaper to my nation than intereference with our goals in the world at large.

Be angered by my choice of words. I'm speaking bluntly because here, and only here, can we be blunt.

Be angered and take the course of least resisstance. I will publicly call for it to be taken as acceptance. I will beg borrow and steal to get the inspection agency up and running and I WILL keep an eye on your House because they are going to make another power play and I just don't want it to fuck us over.

I had the luxury of appealing to the better nature of manking the last time around and I watched my cities BURN Matt, I watched them BURN. So hate me if you will but I will use every tool at my disposal to make sure that every horror I can prevent is averted. If that means appealing to the baser nature of manking then so be it.

"Guys," Coyote was trying to interject. Things had gotten heated beyond beleif and I certainly wasn't helping things. "You both need to calm the fuck down."

He was right of course. One man's productive negotiations is another man's insult to his honor. Matt was right and I was right and we were both wrong. I don't think I had ever been so mentally tired in my life.

.
.
.

" I don't have anything else for the conference. There are some reports of additional Red Cross and Red Crescent aid coming down to Shepistan but that was something the technical teams can sort out...
.
.
.
Matt. I'm not trying to insult people. I'm not trying to buy their sense of honor. I'm trying to solve things in the way I see causing the fewest bodies to pile up. If you keep the germs then the bodies are going to pile up...its gonna happen. What I said was indelicate and the words I chose the poorest possible. I don't want to buy off your politicians, I want to find out what they want and I want to get it so that we can trade...just like any other negotiation. If you don't want to do it that way its your people and you know better than I whether the hits you are going to keep taking from the House are worth it or not."

[Beowulf]

Ares Blog

Aircraft recapitalization

The Imperial Air Force has decided to finally scrap some of the oldest types in its inventory. The F-15As currently in the boneyard will be pulverized then sold as scrap metal. Additional types being retired include the B-66B currently operated only in Tian Jiao, along with the KC-10, KC-135 and F-4F. Some of the listed types will be sold to interested countries, if any, or destroyed.

In conjunction with the scrapping of theses aircraft, additional aircraft continue to be procured to take their place. The total expected end strength of the TXAF is to be approximately 80 wings of various types.

EC-45B takes flight

The first preproduction EC-45B has taken flight for systems tests. It's multi-mode radar has been designed to allow it to conduct air and ground control simultaneously. It's expected that this type will augment, and eventually supplant the EC-42 types.

TXN submarines conducted chemical attack on Astaria

Leaked documents have confirmed what many have suspected: That Tian Xia Navy submarines conducted the deadly attack on Astaria that killed multitudes of survivors of the Shepistani plagues. The rational listed in the documents was "Pour encouragez les autres", which translates from Canissian as: "For the encouragement of others". The attack was not claimed by Tian Xia, due to the bioweapons ban shortly thereafter being proposed. Also included in the leaked documents are portions of war plans for the Old Dominion. The Tian Xia Department of Peace has refused to comment on the leak's authenticity.

---

Miratia
Capital

It was a routine traffic stop for Officer Guzman. The car had a broken tail light. Probably just end up giving the driver a warning. When he reached the driver's side window, Guzman asked for the driver's identification.

Well, it started out routine. The driver handed over a diplomatic passport, instead of the driver's license he expected. And then he saw the semi-automatic pistol.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Byzantine Military Journal

New Tu-160BMs and Tu-22BM this year have slightly tweaked airframes

It was revealed today that this year's Tu-160BM and Tu-22BM airframes and engines had certain modifications to allow for slightly better airflow than before. "Basically we wanted to tweak the airframes a little to reduce drag and improve supersonic speed a little. The new engines are slightly more powerful variants. The last variant emphasized efficiency more and reliability. This new variant emphasized on power," said one engineer. Modified Tu-160BM and Tu-22BM were said to have been tested last year as part of the efforts to improve the performance of the two aircraft. It is believed that the older Tu-160BM and Tu-22BM in service will eventually get the new engine upgrades and might possibly be rebuilt to incorporate some of the new changes.

Shakedown tests on the new cruisers continue.

The Exarch and Consul began a series of tests to test all weapon, sensors and propulsion systems. The Mk52 VLS was tested, along with the General Purpose Missile VLS system that was developed to launch joint-CSR-Byzantium supersonic missiles. "Tests so far have been sucessful and maybe we will be entering active service sometime next year," said the Captain of the Exarch.

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

Imperial Chronicles

"So there is no way to run with only 2 laser trains stacked next to each other?" said the Strategos.

"We can, but there will be heat issues. I mean, we can get the 100KW right now. What is the fuss?" said the scientist. "Plus, scaling to high power will simply lead to problems with beam quality, thermal issues and a host of other problems."

"Oh right, so what do you have here?"

"We have 4 30KW laser trains here stacked close together in a 2x2 grid."

"I see. Let's see what you have got."

The 4 phase locked laser trains were fired and then the beams were rapidly expanded by a lens to simulate farfield effects and aimed at a massive water cooled power meter. The reading on the power meter gave 116KW. The beam was then aimed at a camera which characterised the beam quality. The beam quality was excellent. The laser train fired continuously for long period of time.

"Impressive. How soon can we weaponise it?"

"Give or take a year or two?"

"Excellent job. I will forward this to the Emperor. He will be pleased."

Results: 119 KW from a 4 laser train solid state laser system. Next step, weaponisation. Note: This is classified except to Byzantium's allies.

[Siege]

Negotiations

Geoffrey Stone looked concerned. "Try to arrange a meeting between me and President Hank. This is a matter that we need to talk about, along with-some other, strange information I have. If you can, invite the leaders of Miratia over too, they're physically closest to the CFR..."

Preciously little pomp and circumstance surrounded the very first state visit by the President of San Dorado to Coilerburg since the end of the One Day War and the restoration of civil rule over the country. His personal jet landed on a military airfield near the capital, and an unmarked motorcade escorted him and his PSS bodyguards to the meeting with President Stone.

After the usual shaking of hands, Sidney Hank sat down. "So, Mr. Stone. I hear you've called this meeting because of the recent instabilities in the CFR... What can you tell me about them?"

[PeZook]

Orena, Royal Palace

"...and we will be happy to host a visit from President Shinra.", Paul finished his dictation to the secretary. He sat down behind his oaken desk - the thing was almost like a second home to him by now.

"Thank you, Caroline. Please make sure this goes out today."

"Of course, your majesty", the secretary stood up from her chair and left, taking both letters - to Miratian and Shinra government - with her for retyping.

Paul took five minutes to compose himself, and then looked at his computer screen. To his shock, the scheduling software had no outstanding tasks, briefings or meetings.

"Holy shit...", the King muttered to himself and called Karol in through the intercom.

"Is the system broken?", he asked once his assistant came in

"Uh, not that I know of, sire. Why?"

"It seems I don't have any other issues or appointments left for today"

"That's correct, sire."

"No international crises, no stern statements to make, no consultations?"

Karol sighed, "Yes, exactly"

Paul sat there for a moment, and then decided to take advantage of his day off

"Awesome. Reserve me and my wife a table at the Count's, will you? I'll go and change. Then the rest of the Royal Office can take the evening off, too."

[Siege]

Man Apart

Shipborough, Sabika

“Jesus Christ man, don’t you know who I am?” Timothy Mayall raged impotently. He was tied face-down over the hood of his own racing red Ferraroi. His pants were on his ankles, and he had a very uncomfortable feeling in his rear end he didn’t want to think too much about.

“You are Mr. Mayall, a colonel of the Sabikan national police”, an oddly nondescript man appeared in his view and bent over to look in his eyes. “To your credit, it took me quite a while to get to you. You are, of course, the ringleader of the corrupt police fraternity called the ‘Rozzers’. In that function you have organized delivery of weapons and explosives to the Sons of Sabika, weapons and explosives that were then used to commit terrorist acts against the lawful government.”

“You can’t prove any of that”, sputtered Mayall.

The man shook his head. “Oh, but I can. I have a confession, on tape, by a Mr. Cox, who was formerly in your employ. He was quite explicit… In the end.”

Despite his predicament, Mayall frowned. “Cox? Richard Cox? Where’d that bloody bastard disappear off to? Did he rat me out?”

His interrogator smiled a creepy emotionless grin. “If it’s any assurance, it took some rather forceful coercion to get Mr. Cox to answer my questions. But that’s neither here nor there right now. I want the names of your contacts in the Sons of Sabika.”

“Or else what?”

“Any discomfort you may currently be experiencing in your nether regions”, the man calmly explained, “stems from the fact that a moderately sizeable stick of blasting gel is currently lodged in your anus. The detonator is wired to a timer, which is now ticking down from ten minutes. I’m sure that, to a man such as yourself, I don’t have to explain what’s going to happen when the clock reaches zero.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“Van Zandt will suffice”, the man smiled sardonically. “Now, the names please, Mr. Mayall?”

Mayall talked. Of course he talked, they all did, in the end. And Van Zandt nodded calmly and carefully jotted down each name in his notebook. And when the corrupt colonel was done talking, he clapped the little book shut and put it away in his tailored suit.

“There, I gave you what you wanted. Now – please, let me go!”

“Oh, I’m afraid I can’t do that, Mr. Mayall”, Van Zandt shook his head. “But please take consolation in the fact that I did not have to visit unnecessary violence upon you. Consider it a reward for your cooperation.”

“But, but the-”

“Ah yes, the blasting gel. Very unfortunate. Pray make good use of the two minutes of your life you have left, Mr. Mayall.”

Van Zandt walked away, heedless of the screams and the curses and the begging that grew progressively weaker behind him, only to be abruptly cut off by the dull thud of the explosion. The assassin didn’t even blink. Shame about the car, though.

Result: CBI cleaner Van Zandt continues his one-man rampage through Sabika, compiling a list of Sons of Sabika personnel as he goes.

[Coiler]

After the usual shaking of hands, Sidney Hank sat down. "So, Mr. Stone. I hear you've called this meeting because of the recent instabilities in the CFR... What can you tell me about them?"

"As you know, the government of Sabika recently recognized the breakaway NorthCent Republic as a nation. They started behaving like a nation as well, not like another militant group fighting over mines."

An aerial photograhph was passed to President Hank. "This depicts NorthCent Republic troop formations. As you can see, they're spread out along the 'borders' of the claimed area. Normally, the groups don't bother with this sort of movement and just cluster their men around whatever strategic area they want. No use defending small towns and empty land.

This formation is very reminiscent of a nation that must defend its territory at all costs, not a simple pillaging militia."

Stone took a breath, then continued in full swing.

"So the Revolutionary Front saw this deployment and thought that they had a great opportunity to break their rivals. They're spread thin, just ready to be smashed. Revolutionary Front fighters began to launch an attack on several points in the NorthCent line.

They were beaten back by massive artillery fire. I'm talking giant barrages here, not the piddly few shells that most militants with limited ammunition use. They had to have some sort of supplier of ammunition, otherwise they wouldn't be throwing so much of it at the enemy.

After that, well, that sort of sparked a fire, and now its back to its old mass of semi-organized armed bands fighting each other that we all know and love in the CFR."

"I'm putting the armed services on alert, but I'm not sending them in yet. We've had enough direct war. Instead, I've made a public message that any sort of attack in Coilerburg will be responded to with extreme force."

[Siege]

"I'm putting the armed services on alert, but I'm not sending them in yet. We've had enough direct war. Instead, I've made a public message that any sort of attack in Coilerburg will be responded to with extreme force."

President Hank looked at the aerial photographs and nodded. "I've heard of these NorthCent folks. Supposedly they're not half-bad, certainly not by the CFR's usual standards of thuggery."

Sidney Hank scratched his chin. "You know, we might want to seize this opportunity to definitively knock out the Revolutionary Front. They've been nothing but a nuisance - they get into scraps with Baernish and Indhopali peacekeepers all the time. Back on the plane I was in touch with the field commander of 1st Mechanized, he assured me that in his locale everything was quiet. Over the past two years we've trained local forces in the south-west to take care of themselves. Right now the 1st is only providing logistics support and some training and intelligence - given sufficient motivation, the locals should be able to move in and engage the Front. The SDAF has aerial assets stationed in Sabika which can provide close-air support.

The President leaned back. "What do you think, do we sit back and watch what happens... Or do we organize a campaign by FTO and local forces to eliminate Revolutionary Front irritant? "

[Coiler]

The President leaned back. "What do you think, do we sit back and watch what happens... Or do we organize a campaign by FTO and local forces to eliminate Revolutionary Front irritant? "

"Something even better."

"You see, right now the Revolutionary Front is concentrated. Now generally, when force is applied to them, it does nothing but make them disperse, temporary taking away their offensive capacity but still leaving them intact, and still able to cause damage and be a threat to the piece. Trying to use conventional force on them is like trying to get an animal to stay out of your orchard by yelling at it-it drives them back temporarily, but they'll return. No, we need to use greater force on them. While they're concentrate, hit them with something so powerful it won't make them disperse, it will make them roast.

The devices we possess are currently intended as an international deterrent, but I feel that they could be used as a hammer to bring peace to the continent of Frequesue itself. I've already spoken to the leaders of Omago, and they're all for it, recognizing them as the greedy bastards that they are.

Look, this may seem overly harsh, but consider this-we may not have this opportunity again. Right now they're concentrated, and with one strike, we can put an end to them. But I don't know just how long they'll stay this way. President Hank, sometimes we need to take a painful shot for our own own good"

COILERBURG NAVY: TO CBS WARDEN, CBS OVERSEER

BE READY TO LAUNCH AT ANY MOMENT. THAT IS ALL.

[Coyote]

Canissian National Assembly
Neve Tikveh, Canissia



Science & Industry Minister Mark Reebo (Libertarian Party, Gemenon), was eager to begin the next phase of Canissia's lunar expansion mission. He'd already received an email from the King, at the MESS Conference, warning him that the science budget was going to be cut back to re-expand into the military sector-- but there would be targeted plans for the space agency of Canissia.

Canissia's space agency was small-- it did not even have a catchy name, nor even seperate, dedicated offices buildings. It was simply "the space branch" of the Science Ministry offices, which served as an accounting and administrative bridge for the various field offices. The field offices themselves were spread across colleges, universitties, and various corporations that coordinated on specific projects.

CaE-- Canissian Aerospace-- was the closest thing to a "space center" the country had. And their influence had grown significantly with the invention and testing of the EGL, or Exo-Gravity Lander. And it was to the CaE chief that Minister Reebo was calling.

"Hello, Max Waxman? This is Mark Reebo... yes, from the science ministry," he said. They had worked out a fairly informal relationship during the time the EGL was being designed and engineered. "Oh, they're fine," Reebo replied to Waxman's question, "Todd will be off to university in a couple months, so Miri is getting all weepy-eyed. Yourself?" He listened to Waxman's brief description of his own family life. The two men had become friends of a sort over their time working together on Canissia's small, but important, space program.

"Well, the reason I'm calling is because the boss wants us to put the Lunar Recon Orbiter on the front burner," he said. "Yeah-- that one. We got a working model of the Eagle so now His Majesty is getting ants in the pants to use it. Can't say as I blame him, either..." He listened to Waxman for a bit as he went through the systems that were ready, and those that weren't. It coincided with a list of things that Reebo had checked off as well.

"Good deal," Reebo said, "Look, our budget is set to shrink. It's going back to the defense department. But the KIng wants two things-- get that Orbiter up there, and then contract with someone to lift the Eagle. There's a MESS program and a FASTA program working on heavy-lift boosters-- he's willing to help fund that if it means that the Eagle program will get priority...

"Yeah, I know it'll be expensive, but look, sharing a budget on a heavy-lifter will be cheaper than doing it ourselves from scratch, especially when it means duplicating everyone else. We've done the heavy lifting on the EGL, now we need someone to help us get it to Selene. But the King understands that whoever puts in the money for the lifter will want us to chip in since we're asking them to boost something bigger than anything else ever put up.

"...Right. Since half the stuff for the Recon Orbiter is done, we'll divert the first bit of the science budget to finishing & boosting that; then, everything will go towards getting the Eagle off the ground and into space where it belongs. But Max, you know these guys better than I do. You've been working with the FASTA and MESS guys on the hands-on stuff, and it's more your ballgame than mine. So I need you to rub elbows with them and see who can get our stuff in orbit.

"Sweet deal, Max. Thank you. The King will be very pleased to see us making progress on this..."

[click]





Results:
Canissia (using CaE as an intermediary) goes shopping to see who can lift the following:
Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter (not too heavy)
Exo-Gravity Lander prototype for remote space trials (harder; weighs 116 tons)

Canissian government willing to help fund research & development of heavy-lift boosters for whoever can lift the Eagle first & safest.

[Ryan Thunder]

The President leaned back. "What do you think, do we sit back and watch what happens... Or do we organize a campaign by FTO and local forces to eliminate Revolutionary Front irritant? "

"Something even better."

"You see, right now the Revolutionary Front is concentrated. Now generally, when force is applied to them, it does nothing but make them disperse, temporary taking away their offensive capacity but still leaving them intact, and still able to cause damage and be a threat to the piece. Trying to use conventional force on them is like trying to get an animal to stay out of your orchard by yelling at it-it drives them back temporarily, but they'll return. No, we need to use greater force on them. While they're concentrate, hit them with something so powerful it won't make them disperse, it will make them roast.

The devices we possess are currently intended as an international deterrent, but I feel that they could be used as a hammer to bring peace to the continent of Frequesue itself. I've already spoken to the leaders of Omago, and they're all for it, recognizing them as the greedy bastards that they are.

Look, this may seem overly harsh, but consider this-we may not have this opportunity again. Right now they're concentrated, and with one strike, we can put an end to them. But I don't know just how long they'll stay this way. President Hank, sometimes we need to take a painful shot for our own own good"

Gero leaned rather suddenly back from the table. "Make no mistake, I wish for peace, and accept that sometimes we must use violence to achieve it. I have no issue there. However, if you mean to use a nuclear strike, I have concerns about the fallout. How far will it spread? Also, I strongly urge you to consider how the international community will view this."

"Miratia is willing to contribute fighters and bombers towards dealing with these revolutionaries. Unless my calculations are off, we have four flights of Lightning tactical bombers that can deliver thermobaric bombs to that area in a matter of hours. Or less."

[Lonestar]

"Matt. I'm not trying to insult people. I'm not trying to buy their sense of honor. I'm trying to solve things in the way I see causing the fewest bodies to pile up. If you keep the germs then the bodies are going to pile up...its gonna happen. What I said was indelicate and the words I chose the poorest possible. I don't want to buy off your politicians, I want to find out what they want and I want to get it so that we can trade...just like any other negotiation. If you don't want to do it that way its your people and you know better than I whether the hits you are going to keep taking from the House are worth it or not."

"You have what you want Greg, leave it at that." Lonestar said. "I have something to show you all, if you have a moment. Something that dovetails nicely with Beowulf's comments." He took out a Dominion Electronics SMEPED, walked over to a LCD display, and plugged it in with a HDMI output. He quickly moved to a small slideshow presentation.

"As you all know, we have long suspected that someone other than Astaria finished off Shepistan, honestly only the CSR would try something like that. After our recovery of most of the...National Command personnel from Corvid Rock, we confirmed that it was the CSR that launched this attack. Before the total collapse of civil order in Shepistan, the government recovered the remains of a CSR cruisemissile."

"Hold on," Arik said. "You have proof? Proof that Stas dusted Shepistan?"

"We have convincing evidence, yes." Lonestar said. The slide now showed the parts of the cruise missile laid out. "Apparently, the missile failed to self-destruct. Unfortunately, the missile was completely devoid of any kind of identification, but Shepistani Intelligence believed it was of a type used by CSR naval vessels. BMI agrees with this assessment, it's very stealthy."

"So, you don't have proof. And you believe that the CSR did this, why?" Arik said.

"Who knows? We can just add Stas to the list of traitorous assholes who egged Shep on and then had buyer's remorse. As for belief, well, the Shepistani Intelligence Agencies uniformly agree it is not a MESS missile, or IRT missile, or Astarian. The list of nations developing such a missile after that goes small. If the ISI was willing to overcome it's anti-MESS prejudices to reach this determination..."

"So, what? You want to go to war with the CSR?" The Byzantine Emperor asked. By the tone of his voice he didn't like where this was going.

"No. Even if we went public with it...as I said, there are no identifying markings on it. But I think that from here on out, we should perhaps be making warplans with an eye towards fighting, and destroying, the CSR. Stas has shown himself to be as insane as Shep was."

[Coyote]

MESS Conference



"Oh, I dunno," Arik said, folding his hands on the table before him, "If Stas did, indeed, egg Shep on and then turn on him, let's face it-- he only pushed the inevitable. Do any of us seriously feel that, if left alone, Shepistan would have been a peaceful, quiet neighbor? I mean... seriously?" he looked around.

"No," he continued, witha wave of his hand, "If this is the case, Stas only made it happen faster than we might have liked. But time wa snot on our side. Shep would have had time to develop particularly nasty.. nastier.. bioagents and then wiped you out," he said, looking squarely at Matt. "I'll be honets with you, if anything, Stas helped do us a favor. Poke the mad dog, it attacks, help put it down. 'Cause there was no other way out of this except through Shep, and if anyone here thinks otherwise, they're head's not on right." He sat back and sighed.

"I'm not discounting your casualties, Matt, I took some as well, and he did try that last-ditch attack on the Old Continent... which we mostly shot down. But if Shep hadn't been backed into a corner, and allowed to do as he pleased, your whole nation would be a mass casualty. And Shep would be peeing on the graves right now, giggling his fool head off."

[CmdrWilkens]

MESS Conference
Shinra Republic
City of Miami

"Arik, he's got at least one point," oh for days when we didn't have political intrigue. "I don't want to put Byzantium in a place of having to chose between the MESS and the SNC but the incident as a whole raises questions about Stas and how he operates. Had he called for Shep to stop, had he repudiated the attacks on Astaria or had he even shown that despite helping to plan the invasion of Astaria he backed out once he became aware that Shep intended to bio-nuke the place.

Simply put Stas was all for killing Astaria off until it happened and that worries me. The turnabout and killing Shep worries me because he got in close enough to then burn the country to the ground. A nation which stabs another in the back after being allies would be a pariah in our old world. In this one we make allowances because it was Shep. I don't know that its the right way to do things.

That said, Matt, the last thing we need to do is force Fin to have to chose between us and Stas. Just as you were so close to Shep that your policy could not help but be geared towards him so too is Fin so close to Stas that it would force him to abandon everything except defenses against Stas. Moreover it would earn us enimity amongst the other members of the SNC.

I think it would be better if we let some of the other SNC members in on the knowledge of who killed Shep off. At the very least it should allow for a more even power distribution within their alliance AND it will help Fin maintain his position straddling both. So long as one of our own is part of the SNC we should seek to keep our ties close but wary. You know the saying about keeping your friends close? I think we need to keep Stas close by for he will either be a good friend in keeping the world safe or he will be a secret enemy that we had best cling tightly to so that he fears stabbing us in the back lest he slip and cut himself.

As to the first issue, they are your people Matt so do as you will and I will try my damndest to sell it to everyone that hasn't signed on yet."

[Coiler]

"Miratia is willing to contribute fighters and bombers towards dealing with these revolutionaries. Unless my calculations are off, we have four flights of Lightning tactical bombers that can deliver thermobaric bombs to that area in a matter of hours. Or less."

"The question is, will it be fast and decisive enough? We can firebomb them all we-Look, if we kill, say, 70% of them, there's still 30% that can exist, rebuild, and supply from their hidden bases in the northeast. However, if we kill, say, 98% with the nukes, and destroy their hidden bases in the process, we can completely eliminate the Revolutionary Front as a threat.

I've even-"

An official rushed into the room and threw several papers onto the table. Stone read them and then stated the conclusions

"As of today, there have been several attacks on Coilerburg by CFR-based militias. Cruising off the coast of northern Frequesue on the surface, at 8:01 AM today, the corvette C-33 was attacked by small arms fire from a light plane, which it proceeded to shoot down. At 9:06, two more planes attacked the C-35, killing one crewman. Both were shot down, and the pilot of one was taken into be questioned, results still pending.

The submarine Herd was attacked by a plane while it approached Navalopolis Station on the surface at 9:25. Two crewmen died, including the captain. The first officer reported that it dropped depth charges in the water in addition to strafing the Herd. We do not know what group was behind these attacks as of yet, but we know that it is not any national government."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

"You do realise if it appears to everyone else in the world notices that we are going at each others' throats, they'd have a reason to wonder about the largest military alliance in the world goes around wielding a fist. It will be downright petty to some especially when there was much rumbling about obliterating Shepistan outright, which by the way Matt, you benefited greatly from Shep's downfall... new real estate and so forth, and one less rival in your backyard," said the Byzantine Emperor, sheepishly.

[Ryan Thunder]

<snip>

"Very well. Let it be recorded that I still have reservations about Coilerburg's use of nuclear weaponry, but if that is what it takes to bring stability to Frequesque, then so be it." he said, though his mind was turbulent, Fuck, it isn't like I could stop you, you bastard. Damage control; He continued, "Before you proceed, however, I must warn you not to forget about fallout. If necessary, we will conduct an extensive air bombing and ground invasion against the revolutionaries that are inside the unsafe zone, where fallout from a nuclear detonation could reach Miratia. Do you find that acceptable?"

[Siege]

Look, this may seem overly harsh, but consider this-we may not have this opportunity again. Right now they're concentrated, and with one strike, we can put an end to them. But I don't know just how long they'll stay this way. President Hank, sometimes we need to take a painful shot for our own own good"

The President blinked. Twice. Then he spoke, slowly and carefully. "Mr. Stone, perhaps I am misunderstanding you... Are you seriously suggesting we launch a nuclear attack on the Revolutionary Front? Because if that is what you are suggesting I have one thing to ask - have you lost your marbles? The Front is a rebel group, the best weapons they have are AK-47s and perhaps a vintage tank or two. You cannot seriously be considering what I think you are considering. It's like..." the President was briefly lost for words. "It's like swatting a mosquito with a 2,000lb bomb. It's insanity! Look, the SDAF has a full squadron of Super Aardvarks on alert in Sabika, we can launch them within hours to deliver a conventional attack on the Front. Whatever concentrations of troops they may have, after that I can assure you they will not be a threat any longer, particularly not if we move in a force to mop them up directly afterward."

Sidney Hank shook his head. "I don't think you've considered the reactions of the world when they find out you've used nuclear weapons against a force so puny they might as well be insignificant. Nuclear weapons are a deterrent, weapons so frighteningly powerful no-one in their right mind wants to be the first to use them in anger. If we set a precedent and use them against such a pathetically useless target, what will the repercussions be? How will the world look at us? Don't be a fool, Stone. This course of action is madness."

[Ryan Thunder]

"While you make an excellent point, President Hank, I believe you are mistaken about the nature of these revolutionaries; they have artillery, and have been using it to great effect, if the reports are to be believed. Nevertheless, I'm still inclined not to support a nuclear strike. The precedent it would set is simply unacceptable."

[Siege]

"While you make an excellent point, President Hank, I believe you are mistaken about the nature of these revolutionaries; they have artillery, and have been using it to great effect, if the reports are to be believed. Nevertheless, I'm still inclined not to support a nuclear strike. The precedent it would set is simply unacceptable."

President Hank shook his head. "No, the artillery is that of the NorthCent Republic, sold to them by Baerne, and used against the Front. The Front itself is the usual collection of central-Frequesuan rabble..." he glanced at Lord Gero "... err, no offense... They might possess a tubed artillery piece or two of from WW2, but nothing that warrants nuclear bombing."

The President beckoned at one of the men of the Presidential Security Service, who provided a black leather file map. He zipped it open and took out a number of high-resolution photographs, taken from high up. "These were taken by a Keyhole-11 the MIC orbited over the CFR yesterday..." Hank pushed them over the table. "We've identified troop concentrations, ammo dumps, field headquarters, lines of communications, forward casemates, motor pools, everything that makes the Front tick is in there. Now..." The President produced another set of pictures, these with concentric markings surrounding the targets he had spoken of, and identifying them as primary, secondary and tertiary objectives. "This is the targeteering data I had the SDAF draw up as an exercise. We can execute this attack in under six hours. If it's successful, I can guarantee you the Front will cease to exist as a cohesive fighting force for quite some time."

The President leaned back. "We don't need any unconventional assets to make this happen. The proper mix of high-explosives, incendiaries and fragmentation bombs will do the trick quite nicely."

[Coiler]

Stone seemed to fold to the pressure.

"All right, I see your point. Let's bomb the bastards conventionally. Signal all squadrons."

[Ryan Thunder]

President Hank shook his head. "No, the artillery is that of the NorthCent Republic, sold to them by Baerne, and used against the Front. The Front itself is the usual collection of central-Frequesuan rabble..." he glanced at Lord Gero "... err, no offense... They might possess a tubed artillery piece or two of from WW2, but nothing that warrants nuclear bombing."

Gero rifled through his papers, then squinted at the titles. Out loud, he said, "Forgive me, gentlemen, my reports seem to be mis-labeled." Privately he thought, Heads are going to roll for this embarrassment.