Shepistan/Old Dominion Relations since the 2nd Shepistan-Dominion War
Lion of Shepistan ramming incident
In 1985 the new ODN CVN
Bulwark was finally completed, after a long construction and design process that include 8 years of intermittent work on the slipways.
Indeed, despite inter-service cooperation during the two wars, the various Dominion branches were at each other's throats over rapidly shrinking defense budgets, a result of the Liberals taking power in the House of Burgesses. The
Bulwark left Occoquan on the 12th of March and went on a 2-week shake down, after which it would return to the Occoquan Navy Yard for the a month, then depart to the Shinra Coast to complete workups, far from prying Shepistani eyes.
On the 14th the Shepistani destroyer
Lion of Shepistan began to close and act in an aggressive manner towards the
Bulwark, such as maneuvering in between the destroyer screen and the CVN.
At approximately 1920 the
Lion of Shepistan began a high speed run towards the
Bulwark. Captain Evans of the
Bulwark commented "a 97,000 ton vessel always wins" and ordered the carrier to commence a high speed run. The
Bulwark collided with the
Lion of Shepistan.
Collision damage on the Bulwark.
Onboard the
Lion of Shepistan fires broke out, and several vessels of the ODN offered to render aid, but the offers were declined by the Shepistani CO. Eventually the aluminum superstructure began to melt as a Shepistani frigate,
Alligator came along side to help with the damage control. All through the night fires raged, and morning brought a terrible sight.
The
Lion of Shepistan was escorted back to Shepistani waters by the
Alligator, while the
Bulwark returned to Occoquan Navy Yard. Captain Evans was relieved on the spot as the
Bulwark tied up pierside.
The Sharpsburg War
Shepistan made very little noise regarding the incident, and beside "normal" border skirmishes and artillery exchanges there was no further conflict until April 19th, 1988 on that day a Shepistani and Dominion patrol ran into each other in Sharpsburg county. The Shepistani patrol got the drop on the enemy and wiped out the Dominion patrol.
Although such incidents were(and are) fairly common along the border, the commander of the Dominion patrol happened to be the son-in-law of the Dominion sector commander, Major General William Randolph. Due to the nature of the border, the coalition commanders(that is, Dominion and MESS commanders) were permitted a great deal of latitude in their actions. And so, MG Randolph ordered an airstrike on the Al-Waldorf rail bridge, with 6 F-4Gs in Wild Weasel role hitting air defense sites, and 4 A-7Ds tasked to destroy the bridge.
The mission was a success, but rarely were airstrikes used in the border war, and
never on targets beyond the line of control. By the time the Dominion Joint Chiefs had heard what MG Randolph had done, it was too late. Sheptistani retaliation was swift. The 29th Special Commando was ordered to seize Sugarloaf Mountain, were several ODA observation posts were located. On the 21st the attack began, with Shepistani aircraft using PGMs on the 400 or so ODA soldiers manning the Sugarloaf defenses.
The airstrike was remarkably successful, and feed from the Su-25s was disseminated to the global media.
The ODA and ODAF began a counter attack, and the
Bulwark strike group left port.
On the 28th ODAF A-4s began a bombing run on Sugarloaf Mountain. Of the 6 tasked for the strike, 2 were shot down by SAF MiG-25s. The ODAF then bombed Arundal Air Field, though only minor damage was inflicted. The Old Dominion formally asked for MESS aide.
The Old Dominion found support lacking. Canissa was loathe to send troops that, in the words of the a statement from the Royal Palace "would turn a minor squabble into a 3rd major war." The Shinra Republic likewise was immobilize, due to a Presidential Scandal involving the 1988 Boy Scout "Klondike" Jamboree(in fact the Shinra 5th Infantry division, stationed in the Old Dominion, remained on post the entire duration of the conflict). Only Byzantium and Tian Xia prepared to send limited aid, although both with caveat that the Old Dominion and Shepistan actively seek a diplomatic solution.
With the Old Dominion military woefully under equipped following over a decade of the Liberals being in power, and lukewarm support from her allies, the Old Dominion announced a unilateral ceasefire, effectively ceding territory to Shepistan. The Liberal government soon fell, and the Whigs began a plan to re-arm the military....
Why that insolent priest...
By the way, wasn't the basic idea of your state that you are constantly experiencing urban unrest or something similar? That would certainly make living nearby interesting.