SDNWorld Redux: Story Thread the Third

[Lonestar]

Dominion Defense

Ronaldus Magnus returns from propulsion tests
The new ODN CAGN, Ronaldus Magnus, has returned from a week long propulsion test sea trials. Work on recommended modifications will commence at NNSW&SB, after which the vessel will depart for combat systems testing. Work on the other two STAR CAGNs has slowed until testing and trials on the Ronaldus Magnus is complete, and a decision on further orders will largely depend upon the current set of trials...[More]

2 new Amphibs to be ordered
The Old Dominion Navy has ordered two new amphibious warships, one LHD and one LPD. The new amphibs are needed in order to give the ODN 3 ARGs consisting of an LPD and a LHD by 2015...[More]

[PeZook]

Grand Hotel, Tri-cities Metropolitan Area

The PeZookian delegation took over four rooms of the renowned seaside hotel - even after five years in this world, and more than forty in the last one, Paul was still surprised by just how many people were needed for security and administration during a relatively simple trip like this. He vaguely remembered times when he and his wife were backpacking around Poland, staying in the cheapest places and carrying all supplies on their own backs.

He sighed, looking at himself in the mirror. He missed home.

"Honey? What's wrong?", Agatha asked him as she walked into the bathroom.

"Oh...nothing, I was just recalling simpler times."

She was quiet for a while, "I do that a lot...I wonder what's going on with my parents."

Paul shook his head, "I'm not sure we'll ever know, to be frank."

"I can always hope", she finally said and began undoing the work of a 1000 dollar-an-hour hair stylist, "I'm going to take a shower. Care to join me?"

"I still have to talk to Kamila...sorry, baby. Not that I wouldn't love it, though."

She shot him a playful smile and undid her dress, "Your loss, honey", she said as the fabric flowed to the ground.

Goddammit, was Paul's thought as he left the bathroom, Goddammit all to hell!

Five minutes later

The room was only sparsely lit. Paul knocked on the door and walked in - Kamila was sitting at the heavy oaken desk, working on her laptop.

"Your highness", she said, standing up, "I didn't expect you to visit so late..."

"Sit down, please", Paul walked over to the coffee table and poured himself a glass of water, "We're not on an official meeting. I'd like to ask you about what you told me at the naval base today."

"Oh...", she said, sitting down in one of the plush chairs.

"Oh?"

"I was afraid you'd say that, sire."

"I'm sure of that. But you understand that I need to know."

"Yes"

"Good. So...why, exactly, do you feel you'd be unable to act profesionally in president Shinra's vicinity?"

The silence was long and quite uncomfortable. Kamila sat there, trying to figure out where to begin.

"It began...no, not like this...ever since we flew to Shinra and met the President, I've been having those strange...dreams. Really vivid ones..."

"What kind of dreams?"

"They're...umm...It seems as if we're, um, together. I've dreamt of a wedding we had together...then some disjointed scenes, and one, umm...", she blushed, "Anyways...I know that it's not a very important thing, and shouldn't really influence my professional work, but...I'm not sure that you understand sire, the feelings associated with those dreams are..."

"I understand", Paul leaned back in his chair and lost himself in thought. They both sat like this for several minutes.

"I probably should resign...", she weakly suggested. Paul fought with his thoughts for a little bit longer, before finally coming to a decision.

"That wedding...it took place in a ruined chapel in the middle of Midgar, right?", he finally said. The only reply from Kamila was a dumbfounded look, "It had no roof, and you could see the rising sun..."

"How...?"

"Well, I was at that wedding.", Paul put down his water glass and leaned towards Kamila. Her expression was one shock and utter horror, "Now, listen closely. What I'm about to tell you will change your view of this world forever."

Kamila nodded weakly, feeling a lump building in her throat. She expected to wake up any second now.

"It all began...a long time ago, in a place and a time far away from here..."

[Siege]

This is WorldWide One, global news and entertainment straight from the Radio Tower: the heart of San Dorado!

CHAOS IN THE SPRAWL!





“This is Richard Jameson for WW1 in the San Dorado Sprawl. It’s absolute chaos here. After the wanton civil violence of last night AIP has moved in early this morning, and now armoured vehicles are firing at the rioters. As far as we know at least 155 civilians have been killed so far.

Interdiction Police helicopters are flying over the Sprawl and they have just targeted another violent disturbance in the vicinity of Ozone Hill, in a place called Shell Beach. I can see what looks like tracer fire going up from that neighbourhood.

We can also see from our office here in Middle Park, on the edge of the Sprawl, ambulances are still evacuating the injured from buildings and school kids are trying to find secure places. It is a very bad situation here… I can see smoke from north to south, I can hear gunfire somewhere nearby. The violence is right in the middle of the city. In twenty years of reporting I’ve never seen anything like this.

People who were going to their work were turned back and went home, and most of the residents in this part of the Sprawl have been ordered by DELEJ officials to stay indoors.

The community centres in the Sprawl are calling the people here to go to the hospitals and to donate blood. Doctors say the operating rooms are full and the morgues are full and they have no place to put the dead bodies.

They are asking for every doctor who is not working today to come and help.

We have seen in the streets of Ozone Hill today and this evening many dead bodies…”

With a groan the President turned off the TV and tossed the remote in a corner. “Don’t tell me, it’s bad, isn’t it?”

Sinclair shrugged. “We’ve managed to suppress news of the infection and we’re trying to pass it off as just another block war, but yeah- it’s pretty bad. The infection has spread farther than we thought. Whenever they try to clear up an infection cluster AIP are opposed by the local gangs and even some independent corporations, all of whom fear we’re there to take their turf. Turns out most of the gangs consider the zombies to be little more than a rival group, no different from any other crew of goons. Some of them even try to form alliances with the infected.”

“I bet that went well.”

“They got made into dessert alright, but the fact remains that like we predicted, our troopers are considered the greater threat. As long as that’s the case I don’t think we can get a handle on this situation. Some of these gangs are sporting milspec gear. We can try to stop the infection from spreading further, but we have to make our way through all the other trash before we can root it out completely.”

President Hank tapped his fingers on his desk as he briefly pondered the situation. Then: “alright, increase the alert level to five.”

Daphne Sinclair frowned. “Borough Mania? Bring in the army? Isn’t that excessive?”

“Have we been looking at the same newsflash? We’ve got a deadly infection loose in a city of nearly eleven million, and you’re telling me AIP can’t get a handle on it. Meanwhile the chaos is all over the news, causing more panic. And we all know what panic does with our stock prices. So, for all I care the army flattens the entire Sprawl with artillery, but I want this situation controlled, right now.”

Result: the Astarian EAS virus* is still slowly spreading through the Sprawl. San Dorado sends in the army to deal with it.

* San Dorado calls it the Extreme Aggression Syndrone.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

Travel advisory issued for travel San Dorado

In light of the recent violence in San Dorado's capital, the Byzantine Foreign Ministry, under the aegis of the Emperor, issued a travel advisory against travel to San Dorado for the duration of the violence. It advises that Byzantine citizens should avoid all forms of travel to San Dorado till the cessation of the crisis. The Byzantine Government is working with San Dorado in the repatriation of affected citizens in San Dorado.

Energy Ministry tables legislation in the Senate to push for the adoption of algae based bio-diesel.

The Energy Ministry today tabled a legislation in the Senate to push for the adoption of algae based bio-diesel in Empire. After 2 years of testing at the Algae Biodiesel plant constructed off Trepizond, the Algae Biodiesel has proven to be a great candidate as a fossil fuel substitute. Production at the biodiesel plant has gone in full swing producing nearly a hundred thousand barrels of biodiesel per month. The Senate is said to be in favour of this move, though it advocates some fuel rebates for low income earners. The Energy Ministry is said to be open to such rebates as well. In recent years, the Energy Ministry has funded a number of biofuel initiatives, most notably in cellulose based biofuels.

[Coiler]

President Stone pondered as he read the top secret report sent to him by San Dorado's authorities. These guys are nuts, he thought to himself. Keeping this all a secret just so that their economy can keep moving. The economy will be moving a lot less if these monsters break out across the world-ugh.

It was an opinion he was unlikely to reveal to President Hank, if he could reach him. "Try and arrange a telephone meeting. I would like to speak to him about this sort of-violence that is plauging his nation."

[Beowulf]

Travel alert issued for San Dorado

Until revoked, a travel advisory has been issued for San Dorado by the Tian Xia Ministry of State. Travel to the nation of San Dorado is to be avoided.

[Siege]

In military bunkers across the continent of Frequesue, telexes began to chatter as a message arrived from the headquarters of the armed forces of San Dorado. The message was heavily encrypted, and was classified as top-secret:

CRITIC CRITIC CRITIC

ATTN: ALL FTO HEADS OF STATE

CASE RED CONFIRMED IN SDC SPRAWL
DEFENSE READINESS CONDITION FIVE IN EFFECT
ASSUME STATUS ALAMO ONE

Even if the message was intercepted it would be impossible to tell what it said without the proper code books - but those who received it would know what was meant: A highly infectious pathogen was loose in the San Dorado City metropolis, and all FTO members were advised to institute covert monitoring of all incoming human traffic, just in case something slipped the San Dorado dragnet.

"Try and arrange a telephone meeting. I would like to speak to him about this sort of-violence that is plauging his nation."

"I'm sorry sir", said a perfectly neutral voice on the other side of the line. "The President is currently unavailable. However, Executive Director Skye of DEPICOR is willing to answer any questions Mr. Stone might have."

Result: FTO allies are being informed that something unpleasant is going on in SDC. And the President is busy .

[Ryan Thunder]

"They say he's busy, sir."
"..busy!? What do you mean, busy!?" Gero screeched. He was about to continue when he realized that he'd scared the poor secretary. "Sorry, you're just the messenger, I know. Well, what can you expect... Fax the offer, then."
"Yes, my lord."
"Thank you."

Result: Miratia offers to have the Miratian Army assist in containing the virus. With incendiaries, if necessary.

[CmdrWilkens]

Foreign Ministry issues travel advisory

Early this morning the Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory to all Wilkonian citizens planning to v isit San Dorado City. While the travel advisory is not binding officials have indicated that access to the embassy in the city itself and the few consulate stations throughout the country are being restricted with the upswing in violence amongst the poorer residents of San Dorado City. At this point comment has not been forthcoming from any sources within the ministry except that the advisory currenty does not affect any travel to portions of San Dorado so long as such travel does not pass through San Dorado City itself.

The only quote we have on file is from a senior official saying "We simply do not have any firm idea as to the cause, breadth, or depth of the current outbreak in violence. As such while we conintue to monitor the situation there is simply nothing on which to base a more general travel alert."


Ministry of the Interior announces new recruitment efforts

The Ministry fo the Interior is stepping up efforts to recruit volunteers and paid workers for both the new Air Defense Battalions and Civil Defense Battalions that serve under the aegis of the Homeland Security Department. While early enthusiasm during formation in light of the one week war has helped form a core staff the Department is in need of thousands of additional hadns to round out its mandated service levels. Officials at the Ministry and at the Homeland Security Department have all stressed that all of the new systems being brought online with the "New Horizons" program are being sufficiently manned to utilize their capabilities.

[Siege]

The Sprawl



Shell Beach, The Sprawl, San Dorado City

AIP Inspector Preston Affright walked into the burnt out community centre in the heart of Shell Beach surrounded by soldiers of II battalion, 1st Mechanized Brigade. The inspector was instantly recognizable, his black full-body armour contrasting heavily with the camouflage-patterned combat fatigues of the SDA troopers. He looked grey and weary from the last few week of constant operations.

Fighting on the streets of Shell Beach was unmatched in its brutality, as the forces of law and order who tried to reimpose order on the Sprawl were faced with bands of infected caring only to kill and maim. The infected were far from mindless. Instead, they were possessed of a ruthless cunning and a total disregard for personal safety. The inhabitants of Shell Beach called them ‘Reavers’ after the pirate raiders who’d rampaged across the Frequesuan coast in the 18th century. Now AIP troopers, well versed in the art of urban combat, were being attached to army troops in order to sweep clear the Sprawl of opposition, but progress was slow and very, very bloody.

Until the war came here the community centre was an oasis of calm in the chaos of urban decay, a modest building surrounded by gardens and playgrounds on the edge of the Ozone Hill Reservoir. Now Shell Beach had been fought over twice in the course of the past week. The neighbourhood was smashed almost beyond repair, and any beauty left in the basin and the gardens was marred by the atrocity at the community centre.

Desperate to flee the chaos and the fighting many of the citizens of Shell Beach had taken refuge here, in the hopes of finding safety. But the few defenders had been overrun and the infected had rampaged through the centre, maiming and killing, almost as if to make an example of the refugees. Now, only hours after the slaughter and in-between the push for the next city block, the inspectors and the advance troops of the vengeful II battalion had come here to bear witness.

Affright looked at the heaps of corpses. He was a man who had seen a lot of slaughter in his life but for a while it seemed to the onlookers that the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Finally he moved, turned and strode away.

“Get the engineers here. Take care of them.” His pace was faster than normal. One more atrocity, a few hundred more dead on top of the hundreds the Reavers had killed already. “Tell the men. No prisoners.” In the distance echoed the crack-thump of artillery. The lieutenant in charge didn't have the heart to remind him they hadn't been taking any since their arrival in the Sprawl.

Result: The Sprawl is a bloody mess.

[Coiler]

Message from Coilerburg to San Dorado

Coilerburg will gladly offer as many troops to assist in the containment as you would like, should you require our assistance.

End message


CBS Overseer, north of San Dorado

Coilerburg's submarine had been diverted from its activities in the northern Pacific to take station off the San Dorado coast. The reason given was a simple navigational change, but everyone on board knew why they were really there.

A submarine is never the most relaxing vessel, but the atmosphere on the Overseer was particularly tense, as the crew waited with little news of how San Dorado was coping. The captain was having nightmares about the "Reavers" breaking loose and ruining the entire world, with his submarine's crew being the only normal people left. Crewmen were glumly wondering if they would ever receive the order to fire their missiles.

Several conventional submarines had also been placed around San Dorado, and their crews were equally worried about the situation.

[Lonestar]

+++Notice to Mariners+++
The Old Dominion Armed Services will be engaging in a large, live-fire exercise around Bloodsworth Island in the Northwest corner of the Impact Crater Archipelago this week. Surface combatants, submarines, aircraft, and land-launched missiles will be taking part in the exercise. All Mariners are advised to stay clear of the exclusion area.
+++Notice to Mariners+++


Royal Palace
Lonestar put down the stack of papers detailing the Ministry of War's requirements for more CA101 utility/transport Helos and CH-47Fs, and rubbed his eyes. The request was reasonable: The establishment of a couple dozen FOBs in the former Shepistan had stretched the ODAAF rotary-wing assets to the near breaking point, and the currently planned expansion of the ODN dictated an increase in numbers of their version of the venerable copter.

Still, the House wouldn't like it. The economy was finally turning a corner and growing robustly, in large part due to the strict economy measures undertaken by the military establishment(The ODN lagged far behind in it's MESS contemporaries in size and quality of weapons systems. The ODAAF wasn't much better, even the F-22A was less capable than the Tian Xia "B" model).

"Alright." Lonestar said. "What else?"

SECWAR DiBacco coughed. "Shinran Naval Aviator LCMDR Fellows lifted off this morning on our third manned X-20 flight…"

"I saw that. What else? Speak your mind."

"The San Dorado situation is serious, it is the opinion of our illustrious scientists in BioDefense that the San Doradans had an oopsie with a biological agent."

"Ha!" that came from Blitzschlag. "Trust those idiots to not take the basic precautions in preventing outbreaks."

"You think the San Doradans released something that is causing the civil disorder?" Lonestar raised his eyebrows. This time it was LTG Sharpe's turn, from BMI, to cough.

"We have, ah, managed to gathered sufficient evidence that the rioters are largely infected with a virus that heightens aggression."

"Not the…"

"No, not the HERV." Blitzschlag said. "Nothing so…elegant. But it very likely was engineered. It seems to be a derivative of rabies."

"Alright." Lonestar paused. "Keep the pathogen stuff quiet for now. What do we have in the AO?"

"The Nautilus is actually on trials out in the Fucklands, we can send her West to keep an eye on the situation. In addition, we can stage a DominionHawk or two out of Tian Jiao for monitoring purposes."

"Oh, that's right, the Talent is being turned over to the Augustine Navy today…very well, make it so."

[Beowulf]

Integration of Tian Xia/Tian Jiao Armed Forces continues

The integration of Tian Jiao forces into the Tian Xia military continues. A spokesperson for the former duchy's army has said: "We're getting a lot of support from the top to accomplish this. They're really listening to our ideas and plans, which i suppose shouldn't be a surprise, given that we, along with the Marines, will be making up about a third of the Imperial Army when this is complete."

Similar statements have been made by members of the Tian Jiao Navy. Officials expect that the Navy will complete its transition within the next year. The Imperial Army is projected to be fully integrated in 2014, and the Imperial Air Force will complete its transition by year's end.

Laser CIWS

Utilizing advancements in fiber laser technology, LTVR has created a 20 kW prototype of a laser based CIWS design. The design is to be a near drop in replacement for the Phalanx CIWS. The advantage is an infinite magazine. For a nuclear ship, it can be fired continuously for years. Another prototype is expected to raise the power level to 50kW.

[Siege]

This is WorldWide One, global news and entertainment straight from the Radio Tower: the heart of San Dorado!

DARK DAYS IN THE SPRAWL: DAY SEVEN


SDA M-118 Antlion IFVs move through Ozone Hill.

AIP and SDA forces have pounded the Sprawl for a seventh day, hitting key locations linked to armed groups responsible for the recent upswing in urban violence. The neighbourhoods of Ozone Hills and Shell Beach were the main targets, but surrounding areas have also come under heavy fire. 1,400 people have thus far been confirmed killed in the week-long craze.

Sprawl resident Sharon Keyes by phone informed us that her block in Old Raven Park has come under heavy attack. “I heard some very loud explosions and I went to my windows and looked out and in several directions I could see smoke rising. I hid in a basement with a family. We heard the loudest explosion yet and we saw flares of fire and it was terrifying. When we came back out the street had been ravaged. There were dead bodies everywhere.”

Aerial footage shot from a news chopper belonging to this station show thick plumes of smoke rising from the Sprawl. Many buildings appear to have been flatted by artillery. Others are on fire, or have collapsed from gas explosions. Lines of soldiers and armoured vehicles can be seen to prowl the ruins of burnt-out shops. Helicopter gunships circle above. Shell Beach looks like a warzone.

Still more elements of 1st Airmobile Brigade continue to arrive at Camp Kittyhawk Air Force Base, and are ferried by express train to the edge of San Dorado City. Some eighty percent of the brigade have now been redeployed from Valley Forge. Elements of 2nd Mechanized Brigade have also moved into the city. SDA soldiers have now fully surrounded the three Sprawl neighbourhoods where the violence occurs, and are monitoring each person passing in or out. The entirety of SDC AIP has mobilized in support, and DELEJ has hired elements of near every PRISEC company in the city to assist.

Board officials continue to refuse to comment in detail on the Sprawl campaign, which is now officially the largest-scale deployment of military forces on San Dorado soil in the history of the city-state. “We are working to get everything back under control” one spokesperson said. “We want to reassure the world that we won’t let it slip away from us.” When asked to clarify what was meant by ‘it’, the official refused to comment any further. No initial cause for the violence has yet been given.

Meanwhile, protests continue to rock the city centres of La Palma and Port Regal. Many demonstrators are agitated over the lack of information on the actions in the SDC Sprawl. “Something’s off!” said one protestor who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “This is not just an ordinary mania, if it was it would’ve been settled by now. There’s something the Board is not telling us!”



Many thousands of refugees meanwhile have fled the Sprawl, hundreds of which have flocked to the Shroomanian embassy, on the border between the Sprawl and the Central Districts. The embassy guards have repulsed several attacks on the compound from neighbouring Sprawl blocks. “Let them come!” boasted marine colonel Bruce Blewitt. “We got tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks! We’re goddamn Mushroom Marines!”

Result: More violence in the Sprawl, but the three affected neighbourhoods have been cordoned off, so one suspects the plague will be under control soon-ish. Lots of damage though.

[PeZook]

Orena, Royal Palace

"Do you have a report on the San Dorado situation?", Paul asked, rubbing his temples. What he hated most about this job was that when things went wrong, they did that in style. And he still didn't get the hang of sleeping well in times of crisis, even with forty years of experience.

"Yes, sire. We have evidence suggesting the violence was caused by the Rage virus, or something similar to it.", general Kulinsky stood up and handed the King a pendrive, "It's all here."

"Rage? I believe we've been researching it along with the Shroomanians..."

"Yes, this is correct - and BIOCOM has samples of vaccines we developed. Starting full-scale production will take some time, but we have around twenty thousand doses in emergency stockpiles."

"Okay...distribute them to maritime and airport customs offices and such. I want you to figure out who may come in contact with the thing and get them vaccinated. Issue a travel advisory for San Dorado, and get in touch with their government to see if they need any help with containment or investigation of the thing's origin."

Paul's advisors etched down their notes, nodding. This was quickly becoming standard procedure.

"Do we publicize the cause?"

"Not yet. Stay in 'no comment' mode - but don't deny it. We'll have to tell the truth eventually, but I'd prefer to do that after liaising with San Dorado."

Organizing and suggestions took a few more minutes before they moved on.

"The strategic reconeissance airplane tender...", Paul looked at the next item on the briefing's agenda, "Did the military finally agree on what the hell they want? The Parliament would really like to finally close the budget..."

"Uh, yes,sire...", the Defence Minister took a look into his notes, "They want the Spectre and several Dominion Hawks..."

"Huh? I though we made our own UAVs..."

"Yes, but the Hawks are way better than anything Mielec can offer us, and have better electronics. And the Spectres are apparently quite impressive."

"Okay. You can buy the Hawks, but negotiate a good offset deal for spare parts production and such. We can't afford to have Mielec go out of business - same goes for the Spectres."

"Yes, sire. Naturally."

"So...any other matters to discuss?"

"I was asked to present you with the report about the Archers.", the Defence Minister handed Paul another pendrive, which was added to the pile growing quickly on his desk

"Good. I'll review it later."

Results:

- PeZookia releases travel advisory for San Dorado. The Foreign Ministry makes a call asking WTF is going on, and basically pointing out we know it's a virus.

- Tender closes for strategic aircraft. We'll buy six spectres and forty DominionHawks, but want an offset deal so that our factories can have a piece of the pie, too.

- The military has finished their review of the Archers, and a report will be posted later.

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



250 kilometers above the Earth

The toilet flushed - which didn't sound anything close to normal. It wasn't really a flush, even - the suction pumps made it sound more like a vacuum cleaner.

Colonel Lev Titov didn't mind, however. He opened the door and floated out of the cabin, bent in half in order to close it, and stuck his head into the re-entry module.

"It's the beginning of a new era, comrade. No more diapers!", he told his PeZookian colleague, Maciej Zakoscielny, who was still strapped into his seat.

"Yeah. I always said this is the single most significant technological innovation of this capsule.", the PeZookian answered, "...too bad it won't make it into the news."

"You can thank socialist technical thought, comrade. The Old Dominion capitalists are still crapping their pants today!"

Maciek tapped the mission clock in response,rather than commenting, "Thirty minutes to re-entry, Lev. How about you stop marvelling at the genius of your engineers and get strapped into your seat?"

The Russian floated back into the re-entry module - significantly smaller than the orbital habitation module attached to the front of the spacecraft - and after a bit of acrobatics, managed to secure the connecting hatch and land in the right-hand seat.

"Okay...rig the spacecraft for re-entry.", Maciek commanded, and both astronauts began running their checklist. For a spacecraft which had four prototypes blow up in spectacular ways, this particular flight was surprisingly problem-free.

"Initiating re-entry autopilot...now.", Lev selected the proper program, and the ship's computer rotated the entire Soyuz assembly into the proper position, "Five minutes to main engine ignition."

Both astronauts worked in silence for a while, checking every sensor and status gauge. Everything seemed okay, and the main service engine ignited on schedule.

"Three, this is Comona - we read you on a proper re-entry trajectory.", the radio squawked once the burn was complete. The capsule was whizzing over Velaria, now covered in darkness - far away to the east, lights of Messican cities illuminated the dark side of the planet. But neither crewmember bothered with the sights - they were already on their fifth orbit.

"Copy that Comona. Moving into checklist section four.", Maciej answered the mission controllers.

"Jettisoning orbital module", Lev reported after flipping a yellow-and-black striped switch. The spacecraft shuddered as explosive bolts threw the orbital module away, along with the most expensive port-a-potty in the world, "Orbital module jettisoned. Switching to internal capsule power. Switching to internal fuel supply. Disconnecting service module umbillical. Jettisoning service module."

Another shudder signified that only the re-entry module remained of the spacecraft. With it went the powerful primary service engine - the only propulsion system capable of altering the capsule's orbit to any significant degree. There was no retreat now.

"Let's hope nobody left a wrench in the mating port this time.", Maciej muttered under his breath. As they passed over the Eastern Seaboard, the capsule began to shudder.

"We're getting some vibration...", Titov announced

"Yeah, it's normal. Velocity looks good, attitude looks good."

The shudder became worse. With a loud bang, something came loose from the capsule's front and flew past the window.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Debris of some sort..."

Suddendly, the capsule began rotating, shifting geometry of the lifting surface. G-forces jumped to 2.4 in a split-second.

"Shit!", Maciej let out, and flipped the switch to manual control. Down in Mission Control, the flight surgeon watched in horror as both astronaut's heart rates jumped.

"Three, your trajectory is drifting! What's wrong?!"

"Something didn't separate properly! We have a disturbed lift surface...goddammit!", Maciej answered via the radio, but was cut off by another loud bang, which signified the last bit of debris being burned away from the surface of the heat shield. The crisis passed as soon as it appeared, and after some maneuvers, Maciej managed to stabilize the trajectory. Five minutes later, Soyuz 3 landed - in the middle of the Atlantic, nearly a thousand kilometers away from its designated landing site in Anatolia.

"Well...this is gonna take a while.", were Lev Titov's first words after hearing of their position.

Result: Soyuz 3 lands safely, but far away from any recovery ship and/or team.

[CmdrWilkens]

Foreign Mid-Cap Funds take a beating

In the wake of the pirate scare around the continent of Frequesque and now news of continuing riots being addressed by military personnel in San Dorado a series of mid-cap investment funds trading in Columbia Exchange Market have been losing value rapidly. While trade figures will not be availabel until well into next year already several companies doing business with the FTO nations have indicated cost increases across the board paticular in regards to insurance costs. Re-insurance giant Lloyds and Grant of Westchester has been mum about its pricing however several business have indicated that virtually every shipping based re-insurance policy has been going upwards in cost over the past seveal months due to distrubances throughout the developing world.

Economics policy advisor Lady Charolette Ashbury has this to say: " What we are seeing right now is a bit of panic, the world has just truly started to recover in terms of international trade from the One Week and Pathogen Wars of the previous decade. Suddenly they are confronted with what seems to be a truly dangerous witches brew combining domestic insecurity in one of the economic pillairs of the FTO along with piracy on the rise and a general reduction in the availability of IRT backed shippinbg securities. Given this environment most aren't able to look beyond the immediate problem to see the rising domestic output that is already starting to show promise in the Byzantine Levant projects nor the boon in industries out of the Old Dominion's expansion into what was Shepistan. In other words shipping agents and insurers are panicking."

Several other experts have concurred noting that world GDP remains steady or rising over the last few years and, notably, international tade has significantly increased now that the Shepistani market is open. While it is mostly MESS-aligned nations that are reaping that windfall overall growth in durable goods orders means that there is plenty of production capacity to deal with the temporary hiccups around Frequesque. However, in the short term this panic means that shippign world wide is becoming a touch more expensive. This hasn't yet trickled down into consumer goods but experts say that it would take more than a year of sustained insurance premium inflation before we would begin to see an impact on such prices.


Result You have shit go down somebody is bound to panic and the pirates have teed off a temporary bubble in insurance and re-insurance. A short term boon for financial services but a trap for manufacturers if it takes hold.

[PeZook]

Classified SECRET
Restricted access document

Systems evaluation: AM-1 Archer

Evaluation was conducted June 6th-21st at Army Proving Grounds, Deblin, Mazhury. Conclusion drawn by comission including the following officers...

...

...during field testing, several critical deficiencies of the system were identified. These are listed and discussed below:

1) Technical problems

High complication, demand for routine field landings and extended operations away from friendly support infrastructure, plus small crew size, resulted in a horrible failure rate on the field. Out of sixty deployment/takeoff cycles of the test battery, twenty were interrupted by mechanical failures of one or more guns, resulting from firing the primary weapon system. Out of these, twelve failures were impossible to repair in the field by the vehicle's crew.

The system is also impossible to recover using standard artillery tractors or even the UH-60 utility helicopter, requiring double-rotor utility helicopters to serve the role of technical recovery vehicles. The small crew also raised concerns for maintenance: the Pzh2000's five-man crew allows routine maintenance to be performed adequately in the field, whereas high technological sophistication of the AM-1 mean its four-man crew is unable to perform several critical maintenance procedures without assistance of specialized helicopter ground crews.

2) Survivability

The AA-1 Archer's poor armor makes it extremely vulnerable to counter-battery fire. Incoming fire easily survivable by the Pzh2000 results in 100% total kill rate of the vehicle, while fire survivable by towed artillery pieces invariably results in mission kills, mostly due to failure of the propulsion system. The gun is impossible to move into a prepared, covered position by its crew, requires open areas to land and is easily tracked by anti-air radar and infrared sensors.

In practice, a unit expecting to be engaged by the AM-1 archer can bring in counterbattery fire against deploying guns before they are ready to fire.

3) Firepower

Manufacturer's specifications state the gun is deployable within 30 seconds by a trained crew: this is misleading, however. During testing, AM-1 crews required an average of 60 seconds from landing to opening fire, mostly due to the need to ascertain the landing position and co-ordinate fire with rest of the battery. When working with a single gun, high automation levels allowed a single crew to open fire after an average time of 34 seconds.

The gun itself performed adequately, with the autoloader being an especially notable feature: finely machined and reliable, all 12 guns were able to fire without a single jam during testing. Firepower of the howitzer was deemed inadequate to support mechanized units, however.

4) Mobility

Mechanical failures and natural limitations for landing sites reduce mobility of the gun significantly: while in the air, the AM-1 in unsurpassed in speed by anything save underslung towed artillery pieces, however getting it there is a chore and often results in catastrophic delays.

Testing conducted in conjunction with rapidly advancing mechanized units turned out unsatisfactory. The guns often got lost, scattered (thus reducing firepower and overall efficiency of command) or depleted by failures to take off.

5) Cost

Cost is the single biggest issue the Army has with the system: one AM-1 Archer costs as much as half a battery of the Pzh2000. Operating costs are also sky-high: every gun requires two flight-trained crewmembers, ground crews and support facilities typical of a helicopter and of course significant amounts of fuel. Costs when compared with towed guns used by airmobile units are even more lopsided, as their service helicopters can be used to ferry ammunition, supplies and evacuate the wounded in addition to moving the guns themselves.

6) Conclusions

The weapon system is unsuitable for use by mechanized units due to poor survivability and support requirements. Airmobile units do not want the gun due to nonstandard caliber and support requirements, preferring to use helicopter moved towed guns instead.

Some special operations units would like to evaluate the gun system further, deeming it suitable for mission where artillery support would be useful,but was previously deemed unfeasibly to provide, however they would prefer to wait for the resolution of mechanical problems before purchasing any significant number of the guns.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

Constantinople Shipyards enters an agreement with CNFN and Blues Brothers Steel & Shipping to jointly design a command ship and dedicated ASW frigate

Constantinople Shipyards has entered an agreement with CNFN and Blues Brothers Steel & Shipping to jointly design a command ship and dedicated ASW frigate. While the details are classified, it will leverage on Constantinople Shipyards' long history of designing excellent warships that now service the Imperial Navy. The share price of Constantinople Shipyards rose by $5.32 today on the Constantinople Stock Exchange.

Contract awarded to Byzantine Port Authority to construct and build ports in Arabiapolis.

Byzantine Port Authority, partly owned by the government, was given the contract to construct the major port complex in Arabiapolis. It will construct the necessary infrastructure to service the port. "All ships of various ports of call are welcome here," says a BPA representative. It is estimated that construction will take 4-5 years and the cost of construction is over ten billion, with most of it funded by the Byzantine Government.

Tender opened for the construction of new oil extraction facilities and refinery plants

Tender has been opened for the construction of a number of oil extraction fields in Arabia. The Byzantine Government is willing to allow exploration of additional oil fields and the construction of additional refinery plants to service the oil extracted in areas delineated in the government gazette. However, it adds a caveat that corporate tax on the extracted oil will be an additional 20% of which will go to the two Caliphates as an annual tribute. Parties who wish to invest in the oil fields will receive generous initial grants and credit lines to ensure the success in the project.

[Lonestar]

Off Bloodsworth Island

Inside the CIC of the Ronaldus Magnus stood Rear Admiral Kirk Barley, currently head of BuShips, watching the ship's company prepare for the exercise.

"Contact! We have multiple IRBMs inbound!" A OS1 said. The voice of the BMOOW came booming over the 1MC.

"General Quarters, General Quarters, all hands man your battlestations. The reason for general quarters: ballistic missile threat inbound."

"Looks like 12 DF-25s." The TAO said. "Alright, prepare the…"

"Contact! Two Ja-34s inbound, at Mach 2.9 60,000 ft."

Barley nodded. Those would be the mach 3 drones. Which meant…

"Contact! 4 cruise missiles inbound…"

And there were the firebees. They'd been coated in radar absorbent material and the body altered to minimalize RCS, but the SPY-3 had picked them up pretty quickly.

The ship began to shudder as SM-4 family missiles exited the VLS. Barley nodded with satisfaction as there were one-to-one kills on the DF-25s. Would have been nice to have this in the War of Cities. All 4 Firebee drones were also shot down in rapid succession. He scowled a little as the Ja-34 drones maneuvered and managed to avoid getting shot down in the first wave. 4 more air defense missiles leaped up and took out the Ja-34s. There was a cheer in the CIC. 22 missiles took out 18 targets, and all from one ship. Integrated with other STAR ships and AEGIS vessels? It was a new day for the ODN.

Results:Ronaldus Magnus completes trials. The ODN CAGN class has significant differences than the other MESS STAR CGNs(two 155mm guns vice one 8inch gun, one 57mm gun, large missile load out, etc) which is what caused the extensive sea trials. Also, a buncha ex-Shepistani stuff I wanted to blow up

[PeZook]

Unreal time
Tri-cities Metropolitan Area

All things considered, Kamila took it pretty well.

"Are you crazy?", she asked, quite sensibly.

"Not as far as I know. I did describe your dreams in detail, right? How would I know all that? I'm either genuine or a mind reader."

"I...don't know what to say. I'm not even sure I believe all that...even if I do...what does it change?"

"Why, you know the truth now. Isn't it interesting, how truth doesn't usually make you happy?"

"I can't just...what do you want me to do? I have a family...a husband...my entire life on one hand, and some disjointed dreams and visions of the other! Why did you even tell me?!", Kamila's voice was starting to break up. It was obvious she'd inevitably start crying, or shouting.

"I thought it was only fair you knew."

"And it's not unfair to keep everybody else in the dark?! You're lying to everyone, the entire time!"

"Frankly, most people don't care. Listen, Kamila...I did this because I care about you. Rufus Shinra cares about you, too, and we felt it was important that whatever decision you made..."

"You care about me? That's nice. You're selfish,sire - 'most people don't care' is a really weak excuse for your moral cowardice!"

"Fine. How about 'nobody would believe us anyway'? Is that better? You know both of these 'excuses' are true. The damage done would be greater than any possible benefit.", Paul took on a stern tone he's learned only recently. Kamila seemed taken aback by it.

"But now I could expose you...you're taking a terrible risk..."

"Nobody would believe us, and they wouldn't believe you, either. Think about this for a minute: the world was created by an all-powerful alien being with an axe to grind, and its leaders are actually forum geeks from another planet. If it wasn't for your dreams, you'd have laughed at me yourself."

Kamila tried to say something again, but Paul raised his hand, "Listen...I know you have a lifetime of memories. You have a loving husband, a family...it's your decision what to do. It's going to be hard, yes, I know that - but you would've had to make it sooner or later. If you decide to quit your position, fine. I won't make it difficult - I have just one request, that you talk to Rufus Shinra before taking a stand."

She pondered this speech for a while, before nodding weakly. Not wanting to pressure her further, Paul bid her goodnight and left the room.

"Talk to Rufus Shinra...now that is going to be awkward..."

The next morning, breakfast

The BOR cordonned off the restaurant balcony for the morning, and the press was told the first conference would be held later during the day - breakfast was a sacred meal, after all, and nobody was surprised the king would like some privacy with his guest.

"So...how did it go?", was the first question Rufus Shinra asked once they were all settled in

"Well, she'll think this whole mess over. This is kind of turning into a soap opera, but she does have a tough choice to make..."

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

SUPER DAILY TOTALLY FACTUAL NEWS

FRONTAL IN ALL CAPS: KING PAYS NIGHT VISIT TO CO-WORKER!!!

You say King Paul is a stately politician, a happily married man of no vice and impeccable character? Think again!

A maverick SDTFN reporter was able to take an incriminating photo of our beloved sovereign gallavanting into the night with his female chief of protocol, Kamila Brzozowska! He visited the (married) girl in her room shortly after 9 P.M. and let me tell you - the action lasted well into the night!

We all suspected his image was just a ruse, but this is cold, hard proof showing how in the corridors of power, women are just another perk. Shame on you, King Paul! Shame on you...are we gonna see a royal divorce this year?

[RogueIce]

The next morning, breakfast

The BOR cordonned off the restaurant balcony for the morning, and the press was told the first conference would be held later during the day - breakfast was a sacred meal, after all, and nobody was surprised the king would like some privacy with his guest.

"So...how did it go?", was the first question Rufus Shinra asked once they were all settled in

"Well, she'll think this whole mess over. This is kind of turning into a soap opera, but she does have a tough choice to make..."

"She does, indeed," said Rufus. And Paul is right, it is sort of a soap opera. A weird soap opera, I suppose. Of course, Rufus really didn't know what soap operas were like, in any of the three worlds he had lived in. So he supposed this sort of thing could have happened in one.

Truthfully, he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about all of it, anyway. Yes, he had been married to Kamila for 40 years. And they had indeed been happy...or at least as happy as anyone could be, given the circumstances.

But did that mean they could be as happy again? After all, this wasn't the Kamila he'd married. Sure, she looked the same and even held the same job. But did that make her the same person? She after all hadn't been through the same things in this world that her self had in the old world.

When he had first seen her, his feelings were to pick up where things left off, in some fashion. However, some four years later he'd had time to put things in some perspective. There were simply too many unknowns. And he wasn't so foolhardy to think it'd be a good idea to instantly marry her, even if she chose to go that path. For all he knew, Q had deliberately set this up, and this world's version of Kamila would be hopelessly incompatible with him. Not to mention the fact the tabloids would have a field day if any relationship began between them. He had no way of knowing if this was some kind of trap set by Q just to make his life that little bit more difficult than it had to be.

Of course, he also didn't know if a relationship with Kamila would be as happy as he would ever hope for. In other words, just like the questions any couple faced before starting down that rocky road. Well, aside from the whole multiple universe thing... he told himself.

He looked back at King Paul. "Well, the decision is ultimately hers to make. And we'll simply cross whatever bridge needs to be crossed when the time comes."

[Lonestar]

Royal Palace


Lonestar frowned as he looked at the FMS report. Wish I owned Combat Optics stock right now….40 DominionHawks at $105mil a pop?. "What's the plan on this, Chiu?"

The Economic Advisor looked down at his own copy. "Combat Optics is going to build 5 of the DominionHawks here in the Old Dominion, while subcontracting to the Pezookian firm Mielec for assembly for the rest…"

"Hold on! We aren't letting any state secrets slip out, are we?"

"No, the vast majority of the aircraft components are to be fabricated continent-side. We, that is to say Combat Optics, will send out the components in 'assembly kits' so Mielec can employ Pezookians for final assembly. Most of the lightweight composites that go into the airframe as well as the PW308 engine are proprietary, so the Pezookians will not be involved with that. In addition a fair chunk of the electronics and widgets will be Pezookian in origin, such as the communications suite and the signals collection suite."


"Ah, okay…I'm going to have to call Sharpe in here and remind him no shenaghians with the sale, last thing we need is the PeZookians finding a bug inside a wing. Any other exciting news in the world of business…?"

"Dominion Boeing and the rest of the Sonic Cruiser team is rolling out the first prototype. Once it gets flying there's going to be a fair chunk of capital flowing into the country. For once the 'tyranny of distance' is working in our favor, at least in regards to civil aviation..."

Results:Nothing much, just bullshitting about the DominionHawk sale.

[PeZook]

He looked back at King Paul. "Well, the decision is ultimately hers to make. And we'll simply cross whatever bridge needs to be crossed when the time comes."

Paul stirred his tea, nodding to himself. "I fear that there is no good way out. Anyway, I'm glad we told her, all things considered."

He sipped some of the 12 dollar a cup beverage and leaned back in his chair, taking in the morning breeze. An assitant laid out the morning papers on a small table nearby, articles of interest marked with color-coded sticky notes.

"This is your last day here, right? We're pretty much done with the actual agenda, so I guess we can do something, ah, 'freestyle' today...", the King reached for a newspaper and froze, seeing the red sticky note attached to some tabloid rag or another, "...oh for fuck's sake!", he exclaimed after skimming over the headline.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles

"Groan... so the latest disaster to strike the FTO is this ... 'rage virus'?" grumbled the Finance Minister.

"Apparently so," says the Exarch Decius. "I'm afraid that we just have to hope this one blows over as soon as possible."

"Constantinople Shipping is grumbling about the piracy. Their ships are quite.. well equipped to deal with pirates, but it is getting irritating."

"I can understand that. No one likes his ship getting shot at."

"Then what of this latest brouhaha? Can't they keep their .. research under wraps at least? The World Economy has had enough shocks already."

"Certainly, none of us are particularly pleased by the incident," Decius sighed. Perhaps it was time for another visit to San Dorado to have a chit chat with President Hank over the latest round of problems.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Imperial Chronicles



The modified Tu-95MS bomber soared at high altitude above the sea. Stocked inside the Tu-95MS was a series of instruments, including cameras and other data logging devices to log in data from the bomber's precious cargo. Not far away from the bomber was a A380AEW&C and a A-50M and some fighters that patrolled the area and also ready to track the trajectory of the test vehicle. One of the two Byzantine X-Band radar command ships and CSR command ships was in the vicinity as well. The pilots causally flew the Tu-95, waiting for the order to release the test vehicle. Finally, came the voice of mission control over the headphones: "The order to release the test vehicle is given."

"Roger that, mission control." With a deep breath, the pilot released the test vehicle. The test vehicle was the Igla hypersonic test vehicle. Designed to go up to MACH 6 and possibly beyond, the vehicle was a product of intra-SNC research, building upon the research experience gained from building many hypersonic missiles capable of up to MACH 5 speeds.

The test vehicle soared ahead on a rocket engine that pushed it up into the upper atmosphere. When the test vehicle reached the required velocity, the scramjet engine engaged. The test vehicle surged forward. At mission control, a number of engineers were looking at the data stream from the Tu-95 and the AWACs. "MACH 4.5, 5.0, 5.4, 5.8, 6.0, 6.3, 6.6... Some vibration problems here and there. Throttle down the engine a little. MACH 6.8, 7.0! Holding steady and keep it there! Excellent!"

The hypersonic test vehicle finally came to a stop a few minutes later and then released a parachute and dropped down ground somewhere in the CSR. Ground crews raced to recover the vehicle, to be sent for further study and testing.