StarDestroyer.Net BBS

The Shroomanian Scientific Society (FAP)
REAL ROCKS

The large spherical rock located off the Shadow shores has been an item of local interest for some time. When the Shroomanian Scientific Society sent a man to take a closer look, experiments on samples of the rock yielded rather interesting results.

"It's definitely not of this planet," says Professor Nick Tatopoulos, the SSS' local liaison with the Shadow Scientific Society (also SSS). "It could've been a meteor, it's got sizable iridium deposits and from the other materials composing the rock, we can tell that it's definitely not of volcanic origin. It's also emitting a magnetic field of some kind."

The rock's strange properties are said to have unusual effects on local marine fauna - despite the fact that, for all the centuries it may have been underwater, there has absolutely been zero coral growth on its surface.

"Some animals like sharks and rays have organs called Ampullae of Lorenzini," explains Professor Tatopoulos. "It allows them to perceive electromagnetic fields, and that may be why schools of hammerhead sharks can be seen swimming around the rock in odd patterns."

The Shadow Scientific Society has speculated that the rock's effects may also repel other creatures not attuned to magnetic fields - creatures such as migrating Noctodiles and Leviathans. The closest Noctodile and Leviathan sightings have been at Zoria, while the Central Sea islands have remained largely free of these predatory creatures.

CANISSIAN INTER-LUNAR CRAFT UNVEILED, SIM-TESTED

The People's Republic of Canissia, long rumored to have devoted work to a interlunar spacecraft, unveiled a mockup of the vessel today in a ceremony made up of top MESS and FUN scientists.

"This vehicle, which we have dubbed the 'Eagle', will serve as an inter-lunar exploration and transport workhorse," said chief research director Nathan Foreman. "It will be taken into orbit in a standard heavy booster, but once free of the gravity of NovaTerra, it will be able to fly independently from moon to moon on it's own power."

The Eagle is powered by nuclear rockets, and cannot land in NovaTerra's gravity. It can, however, easily handle the lighter gravities and thin atmospheres of the three moons of NovaTerra.

"You'll note the very sparse, bare-bones lattice-work design to the fuselage," Director Foreman pointed out, in reference to the Eagle's cage-like design. "It provides excellent hull strength with minimal weight. This lack of hull shielding does mean that the Eagle can never land in the thick, NovaTerran atmosphere, but that won't be a problem for this little beauty-- she's meant to fly from moon to moon, and can be outfitted for possible exploration to some of the closer planets in our solar system."


The Eagle, seen above in a computer-flight testing simulation, has a small conical "flight pod" in the front which can be ejected in the event of an emergency. The flight pod can carry a full crew of four: pilot, co-pilot, chief engineer, and loadmaster.

But the most exciting thing about the Eagle is it's multi-role capability.

"The Eagle's lattice-work hull is really just a frame to carry any of a number of payload boxes," Director Foreman said, "There are cargo decks that can be carried, with winches for hoisting heavy loads, there are medical-bay containers that can be carried, with a full surgical suite and ICU if needed; there's common crew transport boxes that can carry up to a dozen personnel; there's recon and scientific exploration versions with labs and the like... if you can think of a cargo box to fit the Eagle, it can be done."

The life-size mockup shown today is an inoperable model made mostly of wood and plastic, and used solely as a demonstration piece for the "transport" version. The Sim-Eagle, however, has been designed and tested in computer simulations, and can fly, hover, touchdown and take off easily in the low-gee environment programmed for it. Many of the MESS and FUN scientists at the unveiling event took turns piloting the sim-Eagle in a flight simulator, an event they described as 'fun, once you got used to it'. The Eagle controls are designed to be as much like a heavy military transport helicopter as possible.

"The Eagle, on the moon, can carry up to sixty tons of payload," Foreman said, "It is designed to work in low gravity, if we could get an Eagle to fly on NovaTerra, it would probably lift about half that, and consume a lot more fuel doing so."

The inability of an Eagle to land on NovaTerra may be it's most problematic feature.

"It is, truly, a dedicated space vessel," Foreman admitted, "But in the event of an emergency, the crew pod can eject, and it does have sufficient shielding to survive re-entry into NovaTerra's atmosphere and deploy parachutes to slow it's descent."

It is hoped that Canissia will get support from the various MESS and FUN space agencies to contract the Eagle for future inter-lunar use as a dedicated space truck.

"Truth is, we're looking way ahead, to the future," Foreman said, "This is something that will serve us once we establish a prescence on Selene, for example, when we decided to start building a base. But we want to get everyone on board with the idea now, so when the time comes, we'll be ready."

While Canissia wants to assemble the bulk of the craft in Canissian factories, much of the electronics, engines, programming and other work will be shared among MESS and FUN agencies, thus making the Eagle a boon to the economies and job markets of all contributing nations.

"Final assembly will, of course, be done in the MESS and FUN countries that have heavy-lift capability," Foreman said, "That way the ships can be finished and loaded and put into space where they can get to work immediately."


Docking Eagle model displayed with extra booster pack on it's back for additional power if needed for heavier loads.


Another Eagle model, this time with the cargo-hoist pod carried.

Indhopal

Detective Sergeant Dietrich was able to tell several things about his counterpart from the FBI Mr Olgierd. He was keen to get down to business despite some obvious fatigue from the jet flight. This was good, hopefully that meant they could close this dead end case quickly. The FBI agent and his team also carried themselves like cops; their whole manner bespoke of who they were.

Dietrich led the FBI agents to two waiting cars. It was low key; Dietrich and one of his three officers were the drivers. On the way to the prison Dietrich gave an impromptu briefing on the investigation to update the FBI agents. On his end Dietrich had interviewed the suspect several times a week. The man had said virtually nothing besides that he was innocent and that the charges against him were false.

The Federal Police had pulled the young mans bank records and done a full background investigation as well. His finances appeared completely normal for a young student studying abroad. The suspect had a tragic childhood having been raised by foster parents after his parents were killed in a car wreck. Nonetheless, he went through high school with high grades. Teachers and class mates remembered him as quiet and intelligent. After graduation he had signed up with a local NGO, Aid Libertia, which did relief work, mostly in Alexandria. After a year down there he had come back to Indhopal and applied for study in Pezookia. Dietrich had all the supporting paperwork for that leg work.

Working on a theory that perhaps the suspect had been radicalized in Libertopia, the investigation team had taken a pretty hard look at his time with Aid Libertia. The aid group was able to account for his time there and interviews with other aid workers had told them more of the same on the suspect; he was quiet and intelligent. More so he had spent pretty much all his time doing administrative support for the charity in New Delphi. The suspect had numerous pictures to show the type of work he had done down there, and coworkers only had good things to say about him (these interviews had to mostly be conducted over the phone).

To Dietrich the investigation looked to be at a dead end here in Indhopal. HE suspected that if the suspect had been radicalized, it had happened in Pezookia. There was no evidence of it here in Indhopal. Secretly Dietrich thought the case was a waste of time, his unit had been pulled off of a promising wire tap case for this and he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Hopefully the FBI would talk to the suspect, review his files and then depart.

The trip to the jail itself took some time. They were soon into the more “scenic” part of Indhopal, away from the glittering capital. They drove past numerous ProTec facilities and live fire ranges, as well as many small farms and even a small munitions plant. The jail itself was located next to a massive tidal swamp to the south of the Capital and was bordered by a large training center ProTec and the military used for training. It was older affair with imposing stone walls; the electronics were state of the art however.

THEL DEPLOYED TO PEARL POINT

Artist's impression of the THEL portion of a typical Integrated Defense Battery.

The THEL system has come to Pearl Point.

The second Canissian city to get laser-beam protection is Pearl Point, a northern coastal town with a proud history of fishing, tourist-friendly beaches-- and the Pearl Point Naval Station.

The first of a planned three IDB facilities is in th efinal stages of completion, and the THEL laser artillery weapon is being emplaced to guard the city form potential rocket or air attack.

Placed in the foothills slightly above and behind Pearl Point, the laser system has excellent visibility and a clear arc of fire over the coastline. Mobile Patriot missile batteries are currently placed next to the THEL facility, but within the next two weeks construction will begin on permanant Patriot and CIWS emplacements for the three IDB facilities.

"Right now we're building the IDB foundations as fast as we can," said Defense Minister Ral Tenn from his office at the Canissian Parliament, "We're building the Patriot and CIWs portions as fast as factories can crank them out. In fact, we have the foundations laid at strategic locations near every major city so far."

The THEL laser is a complex device, however, and so while Patriot and CIWS batteries are quickly built and placed, the THEL systems that the IDB concept is centered around is often a late arrival to the facilities.

"We typically try to get at least one THEL per facility up and running at our most strategically vulnerable areas," DM Tenn said, "Which, considering our current defense doctrines, means Shepnukistan-- so we're kitting out the northern coast and the capitol first and foremost. Later' we'll do the southern, eastern and western coasts, and the interior."

So far there is a complete IDB facility of three interlocked THEL stations at only one city-- Emerald Point, on the north-easternmost shores of Tauron Province. The position of the IDBs there has raised some concern among peace groups, among them the SWINE-- or Students Wildly Incensed by Nearly Everything, the new group headed up by former GENITAL leader Myra Foxglove.

"The laser weapons are situated at Emerald Point, which is no longer the closest point to Shepnukistan," said Ms. Foxglove. "The land across the strait is now the Republic of Shepnukistan, and is not run by the ruthless genocidal warmonger Shep, but by President Garner. By placing such weapons so close to his country, we are signaling to him that we see Garner as an enemy. We should instead reach out to President Garner in peace and dismantle these weapons so close to his shore."

Canissian Defense Ministry
Advanced Project Development Agency: APDA

"We've done a lot of studies on this one, and we think we're on the right track," said General Richler. "No pun intended," he added with a smile. Across the table, the Defense Minister smiled, sipped at his coffee, and waited for the presentation to begin.

"During the brief global war with the UAR, we had a number of rail guns loaned to us by the Red Technocracy," General Richler reminded everyone in the room-- not just the Defense Minister was there, but others. The DM was the most prominent member in the room, but very quietly, at the back, sat Miss Isabelle, taking notes on behalf of the King.

"These rail guns were very effective in shelling Shepnukistani territory, and I propose we keep them in our inventory, with appropriate liscencing and agreements from the Red Technocracy.

"But these guns gave us an idea over at ADPA. The Integrated Defense Battery is a revolutionary idea, but I think there is a weak point-- and that is, that they are fixed in location. President Sheppard is, according to our profilers, the type who is willing to swarm any fixed location with what's known as 'missile spam' to overwhelm the IDBs and score a hit, knocking them out, and then freeing him to nuke our cities at whim."

On the screen, the computer-generated animation showed just that-- the skies darkened with missiles that poured into the IDBs until the THELs eventually shut down.

"With the ADPA's proposed Mobile-THEL, or MTHEL, we can put an entire IDB facility on rails, and have a mobile system that can be brought close to any city that is currently facing a greater threat at any given time. Right now, a threat from the western sea, for example, by sub-launched missiles, would get through because we have no THEL batteries emplaced there yet, only limited, and mostly mobile, Patriot batteries."

The animation switched to show a UAR sub and a Cruiser launching TLAMS towards the Scorpian and Canceron provinces-- getting throught the first time, but being intercepted by THEL batteries on rail cars the second time.

"We wanted to put THEL on trucks, or on tank chassis," General Richler said, "But it is too heavy, bulky, and the chemicals are too volatile and heavy as well. But rail cars can easily handle the load, and we can put some Patriot and CIWS rail cars aboard as well." The image projected on the wall showed an artist's conception of a mobile laser battery on a truck. The Defense Minister himself had axed the plan as too expensive and unrealistic at the time, but it was true-- the device could be shrunk down to the size of a rail car, making portability much more realistic.



"I see," said the Defense Minister, "And how long of a train are we looking at, here, General?" he asked.

"A train capable of replicating a typical IDB ststaion would be about fifteen pieces of rolling stock, altogether," he said. "The THEL car itself, one for the laser chemicals being fed to it, one for the post-use chemical waste-- which is considerable, unfortunately-- two Patriot battery cars, one reload car per Patriot; two CIWS cars, and then crew sleeper cars for the personnel, including a galley and a couple supply cars."

"And this would go on regular rails?" the DM asked.
"Yes, sir," the General replied, and a slide of the Emerald Point rail staion came up.


"The problem is, those are also civilian rail lines," DM Tenn said, "And Shep isn't stupid-- he'll nuke the railroad somewhere, or a railroad bridge, and limit our portability right there. And there's th echemicals-- what if there's a derailment?"

"Well, sir," the General said, shifting in his seat, "Shep won't know where the cars are at any given time. They can be easily disguised as freight cars or passenger cars. Any situation leading up to a war where we'd need these things would give us time to analyze the nature of the threat and move the trains accordingly beforehand. We can park these trains near cities that already have IDBs and give an extra punch to the home defense network-- Shep will have enough missiles to overwhelm the standard three IDBs, but not four or five."

The Defense Minister frowned, and thought about it, and finally sighed.

"Work up a prototype testbed and let's see if it works. Let's share the idea with the Red Techs since they gave us the idea with those guns of theirs and maybe, if they want to look into this as well, we can share the costs and make it worthwhile. I'm... only tentatively sold on this, meanwhile. If you can bring me a good proof-of-concept model, I'll give it a chance..."

The DM left as General Richler and his ADPA buddies smiled and clapped each other on their backs. In the back of the room, in the shadows, Miss Isabelle calmly got up, put her handbag over he rshoulder, and walked out to her waiting car.

Raj Ahten wrote:Mercenary Trade Booming

With many large nations cutting back on their militaries and conflicts continuing in Neverhood and Libertopia mercenary soldiers are becoming more and more prominent in today's war zones. Many of these mercenaries are independents, with a good number working for terrorist and rebel organizations. They do everything from fighting to flying aircraft and providing training and other support. These dogs of war add new complexity and danger to the world’s conflict zones.

Large PMC's such as ProTec and Dark Liquid have also been expanding their ranks and wish to distance themselves from "rogue operators." ProTec has reportedly relaxed its hiring standards in some cases with employees no longer having to be citizens of Indhopal. The company released a statement saying their hiring standards remain high and that all ProTec employees remain fully accountable for their actions.

LIVE on ShroomSat/StratTV
The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel (FAP)
MANY MERCENARIES


An old Mushroom Military recruitment ad now used in Dark Liquid recruitment posts.

With the booming success of Indhopal's ProTec PMCs, and Shroomania's own Dark Liquid security firm, the warzones and battlefields of the New World are now seeing an upsurge in so-called mercenary forces in the pay of nations and governments, as well as less scrupulous organizations.

First it was in Syndromia, and then Terra Libertia - and now the latest hotspot is the Neverhood. East and West, the divided nation has proven big enough for the world's largest PMCs - which have established themselves on each half, like the two sides of a coin.

The exploits of ProTec's PMCs have been known for some time - their decisive actions in Terra Libertia, Alexandria in particular, both widely publicized yet shrouded in mystery.


An anonymous ProTec PMC cradles his sniper rifle and poses for the cameras.

However, ProTec's rival, and friendly competitor, Dark Liquid, is much less well-known to the world at large despite it's history in the world's hotzones. This article will shed light on Dark Liquid's origins - how it came to be in the very first war of the 21st century.


Rob Riggle - also known as Riggle McClintock - founder of Dark Liquid.

The beginnings of Dark Liquid lies in the Syndromian Strike - when the rogue nation Syndromia attacked Zoria without provocation. The war began with the alleged use of chemical weaponry on Zorian coastal cities, perhaps the prelude to an invasion, but the Syndromian aggressors were quickly put down by an alliance of nations that would eventually constitute the FUN.

The resulting occupation lasted for a year, in which the overwhelming presence of Allied forces from the Red Technocracy and Shroomania fought against insurgents and pirates with similarly overwhelming firepower. But the Allied forces, not willing to sacrifice more men and resources in a long-term occupation of Syndromia, decided to withdraw after quelling the piracy, rebuilding the infrastructure, and establishing an interim government. They left hoping for the best.

But it wasn't over yet.

After the Syndromian Strike, the interim government struggled to maintain order. With the Allied forces gone, the Syndromians turned to hiring professional soldiers to keep them safe, and to police their lands. Rob Riggle McClintock, formerly a Shroomanian special forces operator and heir to a billionaire fortune, decided to answer the needs of the distraught nation. He knew that Syndromia's problems would soon bite the rest of the world in their collective and forgetful posteriors.

Like all enterprising entrepreneurs, he foresaw the coming of a profitable market.

Post-Syndromian Strike, the FUNGAL AXIS and LUN nations saw a time of peace and prosperity. Militaries were cut-down, soldiers were discharged and let loose. The governments focused on trade and economics, founding the International Sea Commerce Agency. Fast Commerce Ships and Automated Commerce Vessels took to the seas.

They were easy prey for the pirates who had returned to Syndromia, who had spread over the Central Sea region. Who even recruited former professional soldiers into their midsts - becoming mercenary marauders under the pay of crime syndicates.

The nations of the New World responded, with the United Kingdom of Blackadder unleashing its Task Force Zorro, and Canissia basing warships in New Gottland's Port Serenity, with the Sovereignty of Shroomania deploying forty frigates - it was a powerful reply, and it played its part. Their exploits would be the highlight of nightly newsreels - harkening back to the days when sailors and royal navies did battle against buccaneers.

Nonetheless, the ISCA and private maritime mercantile fleets like Shroomanian Sea Shipping wanted to protect their own property. R.R. McClintock obliged - recruiting from the discharged veterans of the Syndromian Strike, and even from the mercenary marauders of the pirates' own ranks. Fighting fire with fire, boarding actions on unarmed ISCA ships were met by defending PMCs - seaborne firefights would become a common occurrence throughout the Central Sea.

Even when the ISCA armed its own vessels, the mercenaries were still on board - and when they weren't battling pirates, they were repulsing the environmentalists and eco-terrorists that would one day become PAF-GENITAL. Eventually, these actions would make the news - but what didn't make the news were the activities of Dark Liquid PMCs battling pirates in their own turf, R.R. McClintock's mercenaries riding PT boats and Zodiacs to attack Syndromian pirate havens in the night.

Many were killed in those unsanctioned black-ops, mercenaries and privateers traded away for blood money.


Dark Liquid operators, back in '07. Half of the men in this picture have been KIA - lost to watery graves all over the Central Sea.

The enterprise grew stronger, and Rob Riggle McClintock grew richer. His whole company profited from the employment of soldiers of fortune, profited from their operations in warzones and battlefields all over Nova Terra. Dark Liquid itself was a microcosm for the 'War Economy' pioneered by ProTec and Indhopal.

Today, Dark Liquid has won over ProTec in a bid to provide security for the Comona Islands' Riass Space Center - for outrageous fees. But with the increased sea shipping all over the New World, and with the threat of piracy still existing, competition between the two can only grow stronger - and there are no estimates to the costs of this confrontation.

Shroomanian Sea Shipping has recently awarded a contract to ProTec, and ProTec has accepted. Ships once guarded by Dark Liquid PMCs are now protected by ProTec. But in the past, such wasn't always the case.

The controversial actions of ProTec in Terra Libertia, particularly in Alexandria, have often earned the ire of more than a few FUN nations. ProTec has had its contracts suspended more than once, but with its profitable operations in Terra Libertia, the executives in Indhopal accepted it as a more than fair trade.

ProTec still dominates the mercenary market in Terra Libertia. Dark Liquid has minimal presence in the three Libertian nations.

In the latest piece of disputed territory in the New World, the Neverhood, ProTec was also first to get there. In East Neverhood, the PMCs of ProTec have worked together with Shepnukistani security forces to train the local Neverhoodians in battling the local insurgency.

ProTec's presence in East Neverhood has been linked to allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide committed by the Neverhoodian forces. But investigations have ultimately blamed these actions on untrained paramilitaries and militias. ProTec denies any involvement in these unsavory affairs.

On the other half of the Neverhood, the West side, Dark Liquid has been contracted by the Canissian-led MESS taskforce, to provide training to the West Neverhood's military and law-enforcement personnel, aiding the Lonestar Republic troops in the task. Dark Liquid also provides security to VIPs and secures convoys traveling through hostile territory.

But recently released information more than suggests that Dark Liquid has been doing things other than ferrying important people in up-armored Humvees.

Dark Liquid's chief of West Side operations, Rock Ironbeef, has recently announced that Dark Liquid has in fact conducted operations near the border against the terror organization known as COBRA - and that their operations had been supported by another PMC, the so-called 'Mercenary Aces'.

The Mercenary Aces, a fighting force composed of former SAF pilots - most of them TOP GUN trained. There is little known about them, as their operations in West Neverhood constitutes their first ever 'sortie'. It is unknown whether or not they are Dark Liquid employees, or belong to their own company.

Nonetheless, it is now known that the Mercenary Aces provided close air support to a Dark Liquid engagement of COBRA forces near the border - COBRA forces evacuating from the East Side after a tactical atomic barrage courtesy of Shepnukistani artillery.

Dark Liquid contractor Dick Hardstone has - with permission from his superiors, and the Canissian-MESS West Neverhood Command - provided the following records that may shed light on the professional conduct of the PMCs in their latest 'profitable avenue of business'...



Dawn...
Bakalakadaka Street, West Neverhood
Near the border...



Dawn. We're going through Bakalakadaka Street, still in West Neverhood. We're near the border though...

Just a few days ago, all shit nearly went to hell. The Shepnukistanis blew up a nuke over at the East Side - too close to the border for anyone's comfort.

Why? COBRA. Dumbass organizations with dumbass acronyms are popping up all over the place. NINJA, SERPENT, SPECTRE, WHACKJOB, FISHFACE, MOOSE, fuck it - there was no end to it. At least the Nukistanis did us a favor by nuking one of them in the face.

Now, though, it was our problem. The COBRAs were apparently migrating - didn't know snakes migrated. They were heading to the West Side, and it was up to us to stop them. Just a few hours from now, shit was really going to hell.

The Canissians and MESS guys paid us extra for this. Why us? Because if they went over to stop the COBRA too close to the borders, they were worried the Shepnukistanis might get too twitchy and end up nuking them. So we were going to do the job, and they were going to clean up. If we ended up getting killed, or nuked, then no big deal - would save them the ink for writing the paychecks.

Mid-morning now. I'm out of the Humvee, on foot. Why? Well, maybe I needed to take a piss. Maybe they told me to take a hike - walk around and trip any IEDs that might otherwise have ended up blowing up the Humvee. Humvees could've been more expensive than people, I don't know. I'm not a penny-pinching exec back at Dark Liquid HQ.



I heard the whiz of a bullet just missing my face - then I turned around and saw that the Humvee's driver's face had a hole in it.

"Contact!" someone screamed - it was Kirk Cocker, he grabbed my ass and pulled me down.

"It's them!" I shouted as we hunkered down.

"RPG!"

Shriek of incoming projectile, contrail and wash of heat. The Humvee exploded.

"Shit! Shit shit!"

"Return fire!"

"Goddamn it! Motherfuckers! Motherfuckers!"

"Where are they?"



I looked around like a ninny, trying to figure out where they were killing us from.

"Where are they?"

"There are they, right there!"

I cursed and screamed and returned fire. Apparently, the COBRAs had set up shop on the other side of the city - across the bridge.


"There they are, we've got them!"

"The fuck?! We can't take them!" we couldn't. All we had was just an exploded Humvee and a bunch of other surplus Shroomanian shit.

"Shut up, go cross the bridge!" Sargeant Scrooge shouted. "And take this!"

He handed me a laser designator, but at that moment, I didn't know what it was. Could've been a fleshlight for all I knew.

"Machinegunner, lay down some cover fire!"



"FUCK YEAH!"

"Shit!" I screamed helplessly as I shoved the laser strobe into my ass pocket and shouldered my rifle. I shot shit.

"MOVE FORWARD!" Kirk Cocker screamed. He grabbed me and together, we hauled ass.



Rockets and tracer fire were exchanged by both sides, as machineguns and rocket launchers ejaculated death at one another in a battlefield bukkake of supersonic semen. It was obscene.

In front of us, an eighteen-wheeler technical truck was raped (not ripped) to pieces by autocannon fire.

"Private Hardstone!" a voice in my earpiece shouted. "Dick, do you copy?"

"Yeah," I replied feebly as Kirk Cocker and I huddled down the ruinated remnants of the eighteen-wheeler technical truck. "What the fuck do you want?!"

"Take the laser designator and throw it somewhere."

"Throw it somewhere?!"

"Yeah, like the town square!"

As Kirk Cocker screamed and shot shit with his SAW and got a hard on, I took a quick peak.

There, amidst the carnage and the screaming and the shooting and the killfuck, as bullets whizzed and rockets shrieked, was a little plot of undespoiled land. A courtyard with some malformed and undernourished trees growing out of a shitty excuse of a garden.

"Why the fuck should I put the designator there?!" I screamed.

"Cause we're gonna drop a bomb right on top of your sorry ass, now move before you die!"

"Fuck!" I screamed. What the fuck was this shit? "What the fuck is this shit?"

I ran as fast as I could, and in no time I felt hot lead tearing into my ass cheek, ripping through flesh and bone, and then going out of the other ass cheek. I staggered and fell, and the laser designator (which I had pulled out of my ass pocket some time earlier) flew out of my grasp and landed somewhere I couldn't see.

Did I turn it on?



"Galm 2, you're cleared to engage. Move in on killbox 1, danger high."

"Roger that, Diquids."

I looked at the sky and screamed.



The blast was deafening and it was followed by other blasts, as fighters came and dropped bombs all over the particular half of Bakalakadaka Town designated for destruction by my designator.

Eventually, I realized I wasn't dead. But that was after everything around me had been killfucked.



"You alright, mang?" my buddy, Kirk Cocker asked.

"Yeah..." I rubbed my bleeding butt. "My ass feels kind of sore, though."

"Eh, don't worry, we got lots of ice cream back at the base."

Sure enough, he was right.

Shepnukistani Army Barracks, 25 miles east of Inner-Neverhood Boarder

"So why the hell are we here?" asked one of the 11C Mortarmen.

"Beats me." replied another.

Suddenly, a one star entered the room.

"Gentlemen, you have been chosen to test and evaluate the XM-300 Man-Portable 4.2 Inch Light Tactical Nuclear Mortar."

"You will be evaluating it in light of it's wartime mission -- that as a lightweight, highly destructive demolition weapon to be used by mobile destruction groups parachuted into likely threat countries such as Canissia in the event of war."

Aviation Leak

Republic of Orestias orders 70 F-35Bs

The large order for the Republic of Orestias (formerly known as Adrianopolis), is destined for use onboard what have been redesignated aviation destroyers (from the previous helicopter destroyers). The F-35 will provide enhanced strike capability to the small country.

Tian Xia Air Force detects Shepnukistani aboveground testing

In a statement released yesterday by the Public Affairs office, the Peace Department stated that it appeared that the Shepnukistanis have developed a Californium based nuclear weapon. It said that this was mostly likely due to a perceived need to utilize as small of a device as possible. Californium is known to have an extremely low critical mass, which makes it easier to produce a small nuclear weapon.

Slade AFB - 0330 Hours

"Why'd the boss call us all in at oh dark thirty?" muttered one of the RB-73 crewmen.

"Fuck if I know."

At that moment, the four-star who commanded the Aerospace wing of Strategic Air Command entered the briefing room.

"Gentlemen. This is not a drill. We have just recieved valid launch orders from the National Command Authority. We have confirmed via National Technical Means that the MESS plans an overwhelming nuclear first strike on the Unified Atomic Republic in D plus Thirty. We are to prevent that with whatever means necessary."

"The bombers are being scrambled even as we speak, and messages are being sent out to our other assets. You have the most vital mission of all, gentlemen. Your bombers have been equipped with a pair of Mark Elevens. Your mission is to destroy the MESS' major C3I centers to decapicate their command structure. You launch in five. I hope you've been studying up on your homework."

Everyone stood up and shakily saluted the General.

Five minutes later, the people in that region of Shepnukistan saw five RB-73s ascend into the night sky on pillars of fire in a near simultaneous launch.



West Shepnukistani Desert, 100th Missile Group

All along the flight line, the mobile launchers stopped, and deployed hydraulic jacks to stabilize the launchers. Minutes later the solid rocket boosters attached to each MGM-191C LAM fired, lofting each thirty-ton missile into the air, and at a velocity sufficient for their onboard nuclear-powered ramjets to light off



25 nautical miles from Pearl Point, Canissia

It had been publically believed that Shepnukistan had retired its' fast attack boats; but in a deal long ago, a few fast attacks had been received from another nation; and the boats were mainly used as special operations boats; their most notable job being the mining of the West Neverhoodian port cities early on in the Neverhoodian Crisis.

As one of these boats, the RSS Barb, sat outside of the Canissian port city, sucking in ESM emissions, a transmission came in. Minutes later, the first of the six UUM-44G SUBROCs the Barb carried broke the surface of the water, on a low ballistic trajectory that terminated at one of the docks at the Pearl Point Naval Station.



LeMay Air Force Base, Eastern Shepnukistan



The SAC crews had taken off like it was another drill. Only this time it wasn't, as the messages began to spool out in the printers of each bomber...

FLASH REPORT
FROM: CINCSAC//J3 NMCC ROCKVILLE
TO: ALL SAC CREWS
AIG 9734
TOP SECRET
FJO//001//0315Z

1. NATIONAL TECHNICAL MEANS HAVE CONFIRMED MESS PLAN FOR PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE IN THIRTY DAYS. REPEAT MESS PLAN FOR PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE IN THIRTY DAYS.

2. VALID EAM AND NCO BY NCA CONFIRMED. REPEAT. VALID EAM AND NCO BY NCA CONFIRMED.

3. GOOD SHOOTING.

RATHMAN
GEN, RSAF CINCSAC

30,000 feet over Shepnukistan Somewhere...




File Photograph of SAC General JE Jones

"Jim, You got everything you need for battle management?"

"Yessir. Although I don't understand why we're not attacking Byzantium in the first wave."

"Orders from the top; avoid striking Byzantium unless you detect launches from that country."

"That's fucked up, sir."

"It's been a fucked up last 48 hours, Jim."

"You in contact with the PACCS?"

"Yes we are, we also have contact with the E-4B and other orbiting C3I assets, and the battle plans are being sent from SAC, so we'll be ready to take over if Silver Spring or Rockville go up."

OOC: Saddamistani assets are also launching, but since I don't know exactly how Skimmer laid out his stuff, so I'll let him do it

Operation Red Downfall Commences

Stanislav put down the ALMAZ CPC.

- Byzantium is a state of war with Shepnukistan. Hereby the Slavic National Confederacy also declares war on the UAR.

The Tu-2000A test type was soaring at +30,000 over Byzantium.

- Code Red. Code Red. All Units, code Red. Listing our targets. Those are over 200 cities with a population over 100,000 in Wonderland and Abyss. All other areas are to be ignored.

The two Tu-160s were at 2500 km away from their targets in Shepnukistan, rapidly closing in. Each released two Kh-90 dual-warhead hypersonic cruise missiles.

Running at M=5 cruise speed at 15 km altitude, they streamed towards the Shepnukistan capital and the next two cities. Each carried 400 kgs of cobalt.

One of them exploded in a surface burst the gigantic river that crossed Shepnukistan somewhere in the mountains, irradiating Shepnukistan's largest freshwater source for years.

The missiles were too fast for Shepnukistani defences to intercept, but it was merely the beginning.

The 2 T-4 bombers flying at M=3 released four Kh-45 missiles. Those had very simple goals: Shepnukistan's nuclear plants. Being fully aware of their locations, having the maps from OMSK Strategic Threat Assessment yearly report, they went forth to deprive the war-ravaged nation of it's still functioning sources of power. Apparently, around 6 reactors were already destroyed in the warfare of Civil War, with massive contamination, but the Shep government refused to shut down the rest. Now they were easy prey.

***

- This is Red Eye 2 reporting, we have a Shepnukistani CVBG detected at the Bear Launch Zone. They too know, where the best attack points are, - Alexeev was speaking from ALMAZ-1, and his voice was trembling. - Do we release the birds?

- Surely. Units 01 and 02, initial phase. Units 04, 06 - second phase.

Shepnukistan's naval group vanished. The Northern Ocean along the Shepnukistani coast was irradiated by cobalt, but now it was of no major importance.

Units 04 and 06 dropped 10 kT cobalt-encased missile warheads on Saddamistani capital of Greater Baghdad.

The dozen Tu-95MS, which cruised over the Northern Ocean, also unleashed the Kh-90 HELA several minutes after the Tu-160s, each sending one missile.

Ground batteries in the Red Technocracy sent the remaining HELA missiles towards Shepnukistan and Saddamistan. Instead of military assets, those missiles exploded in airbursts over Saddamistan and Shepnukistan, to generate the maximum amount of fallout over their territory.

***

Ivan Drago released it's air wing over Coilerburg. Within several minutes, 10 RN-28 20 kT nuclear bombs were exploded over Coilerburg in over-city airbursts and river groundbursts.

Several Su-27K were lost.

The rest crossed the Central Sea and attacked Saddamistan's coast, irradiating coastal cities, fisheries and rivermouths with RN-28 bombs, each encased in 100 kgs of cobalt.

***

Ivan Danko released the airwing which swung across Bear Republic airspace, joined by the Red Technocracy-based Su-34 and other fighter-bombers.

From over the Republic of Shepnukistan, they approached and in heavy aerial combat, managed to explode over a hundred RN-28 and RN-40 nuclear bombs.

In total, around 15 tons of cobalt was exploded over Shepnukistan and over 10 tons over Saddamistan, and around a ton over Coilerburg.

The fighter-bomber delivered tactical devices had a high failure rate, but hypersonic missiles and spaceborn attacks reached their targets unimpended.

30,000 feet over Shepnukistan Somewhere...




File Photograph of SAC General JE Jones

"Battle damage reports coming in now, Rockville and Silver Spring both went up; we lost one of the PACCS planes. Reports coming in from everywhere about heavy radiological contamination. Unconfirmed reports of NUDETS near the Calvert Cliffs' plant."

"Damn. How are we doing?"

"Sir, a lot of our SUBROCs were shot down by the trial THEL systems that Canissia had just emplaced; but enough got through; we have at least four NUDET indicators over Canissia."

"The RB-1Ds and B-1Cs are starting to penetrate Canissian airspace; we're getting indications of NUDETS from our nuclear flash detection systems along the coastline."

"The Crowbars are taking the long path around, they'll arrive last at their targets."

"What about the FUN? What do we have to hit them?"

"Well, we can land and rearm the bombers from Canissia as they return with their warloads expended; we already have emergency airfield regeneration teams out at secondary and tertiary sites; and we can divert some airborne bombers to new targets."

"What about the 101st Missile Group?"

"The ones with the MGM-191D Crowbars? They were still working up, I dont know if they got nuke warheads yet, but I can ask."

"Don't bother. Transmit an attack order calling for a course optimized for maximum radiological contamination of FUN nations, with emphasis placed on the Red Technocracy."

"Yessir."

Red Technocracy, Omsk Metro, Redundant CP Delta

- So what of their answer?

- They can cause as much destruction and ravage as they want. However, the radiological effects will wear out after a few weeks mostly.

- How is our Terra-1 installation doing?

- There is no heavy clouding thankfully. Apparently, we can lock on the incoming Shepnukistani bombers.

- Good. Blind the fuckers. The Terra laser is too weak to be used against BM warheads, but it is good enough to blind and burn aircraft and spacecraft... thankfully, the UAR is not yet using their ballistic missiles.

ShepNukistani E-4B NEACP, somewhere over Shepnukistan



"And so, Mr President, all indications are that our RB-73 strikes were largely successful, with four out of five strike packages successful."

"The Lone Star Republic and Wilkonia were handled by units one and two, Canissia and Shinra by three and four; but we've got no further responses from five; which was assigned to Tian Xia. We don't think they managed to carry out their mission. Last transmission we got was from a possible enemy spacecraft in orbit engaging them."

"Goddamn Stas and his goddamn SPIRALS."

OOC: Each RB-73 carried a pair of HIBEX style space-to-ground missiles with a 225 kiloton warhead; I dropped them on capital city and/or the most important C3I nodes I was able to identify; to fuck up response times

[OOC: This article has been backdated to before the RT nuke strike on Coilerburg, obviously.]

The Ashford Times

MILITARY ADVISERS WITHDRAWN FROM COILERBURG
Adviser unit formally disbanded

NAVALOPOLIS, COILERBURG - In the opening stages of Coilerburg's "Great Mobilization," the Duchy of Langley was among the first to lend a hand to the small nation, donating surplus arms and committing a small force of Marines to act as military advisers and instructors. With Coilerburg's entry into the UAR, however, Langley's advisers slowly began their withdrawal, turning over more and more of their former responsibilites over to their UAR counterparts. Today, the Military Assistance Command, Coilerburg (MACC) was officially disbanded, and the last of Langley's advisers departed the country without any fuss or fanfare.

Zoria

King Zor-I Wished this had never come to this, but it had. War was upon the Kingdom yet again and this time it was not just gas he needed to worry about. The Cities were being evacuated as fast as possible while those too far inside moved to fallout shelters, the air force was ready for battle to intercept what would come, the Navy had been scrambled and the formations had spread out to protect against nuclear strike, the Army and Marines were called to full duty and the Homeguard had been readied. Requests for Naval Aid had been given out to FUN nations, but what would come was at best shakey. In his command bunker, the King gave the order.

"General, Operation: BLOW UP THE OCEAN is a Go!"

A few minutes latter, a group of thirty RT built low range Ballistic Missiles sprung from their silos along the Coast and seeked their targets. All of them had messages inscribed on them via stencil, among them being "FOR CONQUEST!" and "Your moustache is Substandard Saddam!". A relic of the OMSK Pact, their warheads were of Shepnukistani Manufacture, but the Uranium did not care that they were targeting about the politics behind it. Ten cities were hit in the barrage, five of which with two missiles and each targeted for maximum Military, industrial and infastructure related damage, including several major power plants, along with several major airfields and Naval Bases. The act was designed to be a swift kick in the nuts on saddamistan while the big boys readied their strike. Meanwhile, Zoria continued to brace herself for the Saddamistani Responce.

800 kms over Terra Nova, SDN Archipelago.



- The second one is away!
- Sergei, what news from the ALMAZ?
- They are giving Unit 06 exclusive guidance on Shepnukistan's hardened bunkers. You know, the manned stations are allowed below the 1000 mile limit. Now let's get back to downing any and all space navigation assets those Nukistanis might still have from OMSK days.

PeZookia

The sirens came on, with their ghastly whine. It rose people from their beds, and they wondered what was going on. None of them had any idea about the nuclear war which was playing itself out for the last hours ; Most were fast asleep.

They looked around, disoriented and dizzy...but it was too late.

The SRAMs came screaming over the horizon, with almost no opposition. All of PeZookia's air force was scrambled when it started, of course, and they engaged the incoming UAR bombers as soon as they were detected. But it was too late and - most importantly - too little.

The missiles initiated over Amelia, incinerating the city and killing more than 150 thousand people instantly. Others struck at the mass shelters being prepared in the mountains around Minehead, two hit Astoria. Many were groundbursts, to contaminate as much of the country as possible. A pitiful part of the overall Shepnukistani arsenal was able to pretty much wipe out the country.

The King was evacuated as soon as the whole thing started ; He was in his bunker when Astoria was struck. Somehow, communications lines have managed to survive.

"Stas what the hell happened? Jesus...I don't know what's been hit, but we're pretty much all dead here...was it the UAR?", of course it was the fucking UAR!, the thought to himself.

"Yeah. Yeah, I see. I don't care at that point...launch them all."

Paul put down the phone, sat down heavily and began to cry. It was good there wasn't anybody else inside the communications room.

It took him five years to build everything up, and now it was all gone.

Diocese, Terra Libertia

- Code Red.
- Deploy, - mobile launchers with SCUD-D missiles aimed towards Saddamistan were rapidly deploying along the coast.

A hail of several hundred Scuds rose to the skies.


Bear Republic, West Coast

The closed-down beach resort was filled with rumbling sounds. A thousand silo- and mobile-based SCUDs rose to hit their targets in Shepnukistan, each carrying a 200 liter VX warhead.


Zoria, Southern Coast

The fiords have covered a multitude of Scud launchers - the powerful MAZ trucks.

Soon Saddamistan's coastal cities and waters were to be full of deadly chemical agent.

RB-1D, approaching Saddamistan

The bomber had dropped it's big 50 megaton city buster on a major Red Technocracy urban area, and had expended most of it's SRAMs in air defense suppression; and as it approached Saddamistan for landing at an airfield and refuelling and rearming with whatever weapons Saddamistan had on hand at it's dispersal airfields, the WSO came over the intercom.

"Hey guys, what's this little island?"

"Uh, Quidliviun Free State or something."

"Wait, they're part of the FUN; and we have a SRAM left...no ionization showing up on our radars from NUDETS, so they're untouched. Oh well."

With a sigh, the WSO toggled off the last SRAM towards Quidliviun.

Lubbock Air Force Base

"Morning Chief."

"Morning Airman Smuckatelli. What do we got going on today?"

"Not much, we..." The screens suddenly lit up.

"Must be another exercise...."

The Chief Master Sargeant leaned forward and looked at the feed from the PARs.

"That's no exercise." He growled.

Presidential Palace, Austin
"Well, McFibblestein can go eat a cock. I'm not funding $100mil worth of 'modern art'..." Lonestar stop. He heard a noise. A...siren?

Secret Service agents burst into the cabinet meeting.

"Sir! A UAR nuclear attack is underway!" Agents started manhandling cabinet members and forcing them out towards the helipad, where MH-60s were waiting. Lonestar could hear the public address system blaring over the air raid sirens.

"A UAR NUCLEAR ATTACK IS UNDERWAY. PLEASE TRANSIT TO YOUR NEAREST FALLOUT OR TORNADO SHELTER IN AN ORDERLY FASHION."

Lonestar was shoved into a MH-60, which lfited off and started to move North and West.

"Goddamnit!" Lonestar said. "FUCK FUCK FUCK! WHY WOULD HE DO THIS? WHY??" He glanced out the side and got a pretty good view of the incoming missile as it went off. Pretty, were his last thoughts.

Ever.

The Bear Sea

Major Sanchez glanced to the left of him, at the other 3 B-12 "Bowie" rocketplane bombers. While not officially in service at squadron strength yet, the production aircraft had been put on standby for such an emergency, so had the 5 or so Tu-160s(of which 3 had managed to get off the ground).

A cackle came over the radio.

"Guys, Austin is gone. The air defense network in Lubbock managed to down several bombers and missiles using the SPARTAN-3 system, but one go through. Dyess has been hit as well, although NSC is still functioning. You have your targets, gas up and go. You may get an updated list en route, the Red Technocracy just hammered the UAR."

Sanchez leaned back and sighed, then turned to his bombardier/navigator. His family was in Austin.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."


The Line of Control, Arundal Mountains, in between Shepnukistan and the Republic of Nukistan

Once it became clear that the UAR was launching an attack on the MESS, other plans went into action. It was the belief that any such attack would merely be a precursor to an invasion of Nukistan, and so President Garner ordered an immediate attack on Shepnukistan. Several 280mm nuclear shells went flying across the border, one of them conviently destroying the city of Waldorf and the air defense complex there.

Chemical rounds landed on Prince George Pass, and the 1st Nukistan Armored(Old Ironsides) cut through the picket like a hot knife through butter.

The RoN forces made it 20 miles into Shepnukistan within 30 minutes, reaching the smouldering remains of Waldorf. Overhead RoN B-1s fired SRAMS at Chevy Chase airbase, and the port of Annapolis.

Shepnukistani B-1C "The Spirit of Rockville"
The second wave came in low, ver low, over the Bear Sea between the lSR and the Bear Republic. "Package 7" consisted of 6 B-1Cs tasked with wiping the Midland Missile Range complex off the face of the Earth.

Then they went right into the B-1s natural enemy: A flight of Pelicans. Engines were fouled and all six crashed into the ocean.

B-12 "Spirit of San Antonio"
"We're getting PPPIIINNNGGGGEEDD!" Smith said.

"Shut up! I know." There were still in suborbit but were bearing down on the target fast. The B-12 was larger and more capable than the experimental X-12, and they had planned on testing it in combat on Targets in West Neverhood. Using conventional munitions.

But this package proved that LSR nuclear propulsion engineers were just as good as the Shepnukistanis, if not better. Even if most of the tests were done in space.

They were 300miles out, as the crow flies. And quite a bit higher. Sanchez released the trigger.

The NPGM-1, carrying two 3 MT warheads, dropped out of the bomb bay. the Bay doors closed and the Spirit of San Antonio lifted back up, re-entering orbit.

The NSWR ignited and went screeching towards the Shepnukistani capital of Landover. Similiar packages were on the way to Frederick, the Upper Marlboro Defense Complex, and Montgomery. The warheads split off, barcketing the city.

LSS Roadrunner, Catfish

The TLAM-Ns came out of thw water North of Shepnukistan, each 80kt missile hitting an air defense site or airbase. Some crashed, some where shutdown. A total of 14 made it to their targets.

Of course the Wilkonian SSNs also added to the party, blanketing the northern coast air defense network.

West Coast of Terra Libertia
"VAMPIRE VAMPIRE! INCOMING MISSILES!" The TAO yelled.

The Alamo began to put up a wall of SM-2ERs and SM-3s. In the cloud 20 TLAM-Ns rocket off towards targets in Western Saddamistan.

Sabine Sea
The Texas and Yellow Rose strike groups had been out on workups. As word of the disaster reached the naval forces they surged out into the vast expanses of the Eastern Ocean.

Under Astoria

"Sire, damage assessments are coming in.", an aide said, knocking at the bathroom door.

The King has removed his tie, so that he wouldn't stain it when he was out in the bathroom puking. His wife didn't look much better, to be honest, but she was holding up. He left the bathroom and looked at the assembled military leaders...people were running around with flashlights, since all the lights wents out when the missile hit.

"Paradiso Island received two hits...one device initiated at the Amelia Shipyards, one over the airbase. The 1st Airmobile is gone completely. Two devices hit both mass bunkers, and Astoria was hit once. Minehead and Miranda were not hit. North Point wasn't hit, either."

The King steadied himself by grabbing a technician's chair.

"How many people?"

"We have no details, sire. Best estimates say 200 to 400 thousand.", the general was remarkably composed, seeing as he had his entire extended family in Astoria. And like nearly 90% of PeZookians, they didn't have ready access to a shelter.

"Other countries?"

"We have no data, sire. Coilerburg was definitely destroyed, Quidluvum was hit by at least one device, but we know nothing beyond that."

Paul sat down. Somebody handed him a cup of tea.

"I just hope the UAR got hit much worse..."

I'd never think I would be capable of such callousness, he thought to himself.

30,000 kms over SDN Archipelago

- So that's what you're doing now, Anna? You're...

The Tu-2000A was streaking at M=8 past the Nukistani aerial command post. As it flew by, it shed one last present for the Nukistanis - the internal bay opened and a nuclear-tipped air-to-air missile, a highly modified R-77 (RVV-AE). It was specifically designed for one task.

- Shepnukistan's command post is destroyed, - the woman blinked, sinking into melancholy.

- Very well, - the Secretary General spoke from the second chair. - Where are we landing?

- Back home.

The Tu-2000A was returning to the ravaged homeland.

City 19 "Smalltown", Red Technocracy

- We are receiving data from the ALMAZ. They have taken the role of Supreme Command via Order 1917. It seems that orbital transmissions will be hard to catch, but at least any army unit with a surviving radio can work his way through it! - said Colonel Morozov. - So far the ALMAZ has been taking shots of the SDN Archipelago, but they will leave the area for the day, and be only accessible next day. Apparently from their report, Shepnukistan has not suffered grave casualties... yet.

- However, by day's end, his entire nation... - Morozov shuddered. - Let's get back to the evac team, comrades... carry on!

Nuketopolis, Shepnukistan

The bomb that exploded windward of Nuketopolis was small. By Shepnukistani standards, absolutely insignificant. A nation that waged a civil war with multimegaton thermonuclear devices was used and prepared for that.

However, the fallout covered a hundred kilometers and expanded over an area of several thousand km square, engulfing the city and it's massive factories in a thin layer of radioactive dust. A deadly dust.

Wandering around the nearby Slade AFB, a soldier was looking at his personal "life-death stripe". The indicator was completely black. His body already accumulated the lethal dose.

Still death would not come. He puked, and puked again. Falling down on his knees, he thought of the terrible agony that would befall this nation for many, many years.

- DAMN YOU!!! WHORES!!!

Shroom Force One
Over the skies of Shroomania...

"My god..." Shroom gasped. The telescreen was linked to the ShroomSats, and they were showing him a most picturesque scene of the global holocaust that was unfolding. Only the FASTA astronauts at the ALMAZ would get a better picture than this, and they didn't get it in HD...

Shroom looked away from the telescreen, and just stared out the A380's windows. The setting sun casted blood red light on the clouds above Shroomania... so far left intact despite the carnage that was occurring worldwide. PeZookia... the Red Technocracy... Qudlivun... Canissia... all scorched by nuclear fire.

The SAF F-22 escort passed by Shroom Force One, and Shroom could see it as it kept its pace with the Prime Ministerial plane.

Like all other nations, Shroomania was in red alert. The military was at primary readiness... but save for defensive actions, there was little they could do.

Shroom thought he saw a flash of light from the distance...

The Terra-2 facility, codenamed EXCALIBUR, was now active. Lasers would be blinding bombers and satellites, for as long as it could. It seemed as though that was all Shroomania could do against the onslaught... all it could do while friends and allies perished by the millions all around it...

There were still FUN Force airfields scattered all over the archipelago - a safe refuge for the aerial and airborne assets of the FUN. It would be opened to the MESS as well, for all it was worth. Shroomania also had its fleet of FCSs and hospital ships, and they were now being dispersed - half of them to PeZookia, the other half to the Red Technocracy. Qudlivun was gone.

"I can't believe it's come to this..." Shroom said... and wept.

Alison squeezed his hand and joined him.


SOFIA
Shroomanian Office - Fungal Intelligence Agency

John Baylor cradled Selphie's sleeping form - and the both of them huddled atop the blubbery mass of their pet walrus, who was now a masturbating walrus.

They did not pay heed to the going ons of the world around them. It was all going to hell. Fuck it.

Baylor grabbed the Refrigeron's remote and turned on the TV...



*click*



LIVE on ShroomSat/StratTV
NUKULEAR KITTENS

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
Ill never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...strangers hand
In a...desperate land

Lost in a roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

Theres danger on the edge of town
Ride the kings highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby

Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...hes old, and his skin is cold

The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and well do the rest

The blue bus is callin us
The blue bus is callin us
Driver, where you taken us

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...i want to...fuck you

Cmon baby, take a chance with us
Cmon baby, take a chance with us
Cmon baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin a blue rock
On a blue bus
Doin a blue rock
Cmon, yeah

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But youll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end

200 kilometers over Nova Terra

"...and this is the ALMAZ-1, signing off. Reacquisition of contact in 4 hours."

Mirosław Jankowski got off the radio. He glanced at his comrade, Peter Klimiuk, absent-mindedly playing with a floating cube of jell-o.

He then looked at the Emergency Egress Hatch - the one where the re-entry Soyuz capsule was docked. It looked mighty inviting at this point.

"Isn't it nice to wake up one day, and find out that everything you knew is gone?", Klimiuk asked, finally eating the jell-o cube.

Both astronauts have been going through their sleep cycle when this whole thing began. They literally woke up to watch the nuclear sunrise over their home.

"We don't know the extent of the damage yet, comrade. We must be optimistic..."

"Let's not kid ourselves. Red Technocracy would be one of the primary targets...and we've seen at least one detonation over PeZookia, too."

Jankowski bit his lip. He wouldn't say this, but he was seriously considering abandoning their post and returning to the Archipelago. What possible use could there be for continuing the fight?

"ALMAZ-1, this is Red Eye 1, we need to top off.", the radio suddendly cracked to life.

"Come on, Peter. We still have a job to do here.",Jankowski said, and pushed himself off from the wall to access the mooring boom controls.

Astoria

"Mommy? Mommy? Mommy!", a small child screamed in the rubble, saying the only word she knew. She wore a cute pink dress, now tattered and torn, and her eyes and face were both horribly burned. She screamed for her mother, who laid right next to her, dead.

The sun was rising now, passing through the smoke and irradiated concrete dust. Coughing and wheezing, a lone police officer staggered to the child. He was dead, too - he just didn't know it yet.

"Hello...*cough*...please, come with me...we should find a shelter..."

"No! Mommy! Moooooommy!!!", the girl started to scream and kick and bite. The officer, even now trying to do his duty, restrained her, delicately.

"Please, come with me. I won't hurt you."

He got up and covered the dead woman with a pice of tarp, while the child screamed and wailed impotently.

Kosciuszko Avenue

Lt. Col. Kulinsky lost the lottery. He lost it when he was born.

The RIS building only had enough room inside its shelter for around half its employees, and so the Director decided it would be taken by the women. His reasoning was sound, if ruthless.

Kulinsky decided to find his family - he's managed to warn them before the cell phone networks went down, but the missile came screaming over Astoria while he was driving.

He was now inside his wrecked car, turned upside down, his legs limp. He was breathing in the poisoned air, which he was sure contained radioactive isotopes which would painfully kill him in a few day's time.

He lost the lottery. And he couldn't see the point in fighting anymore.

With stiff, blood-covered fingers, he fished out his service pistol out of its holster.

Paradiso Island Airbase

Plut. Kazimiera Swieta has only managed to get back from Shinra yesterday. She's been training the 1st Independent Airmobile there, along with the Shinra rangers. She was given leave to go and visit her family at the Paradiso countryside, and was riding a trian back to base when it happened.

She and a few other people have collected the wounded and placed them inside the overturned carriages ; Most of the were soldiers and civilian workers. The gigantic, 70-tonne locomotive was now derailed, laying on its side by the tracks. As she sat down next to the carriage and looked at the sky, she saw a white-gray flake slowly drift to the ground.

"Fallout", she muttered to herself, seeing the small flakes start raining from the sky on the grassy field.

Amelia

Grzegorz Brzeczyszczykiewicz stood in his office, the panoramic window blown out by the blast over the National Shipyards. He could see it all from here - the freshly laid FCS keels, the dead bodies of the workers who were going to work in the morning...the smashed buildings.

I wonder how much radiation I took?, he thought. It didn't matter much - he left the shelter to see his life's work destroyed, smashed completely within seconds.

He picked up a broken ISCA logo and sat down on the floor, right on the broken glass. He stroked the stylized commercial vessel on its blue background, lost in thought about the glorious past.

Korolev Spaceport

I suppose there aren't any civilian targets in a nuclear war..., Pavel Golovko thought, laying under the rubble of the Launch Control center. Amazingly enough, the FASTA logo, accompanied by both Selene mission plaques, survived intact.

He has been here for the last three hours. He could tell, because the wall clock survived, too.

He could hear his crew - the fine men of Launch Control, caught during a routine excercise - groan in pain. He wondered how many were laying there in the peaceful embrace of death...

His own wasn't long in coming. He had numerous crushed wounds, and lay there, bleeding to death, staring at the ceiling.

Not the most glorious way to die..., was his last thought.