Mountianeering [MT/Open]

by **Alidina** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:07 pm

OOC: open to anyone, basic back story is my country invaded another one and its neighbors did not like that, you can be that nieghbor or some other interested part. This here is just a hook we will see where it goes, keep the conflict small no need for a million mook march

Border zone

Wiegar pulled his coat tighter to his body trying to avoid the biting cold of the mountains. It had not been so bad a mere hour ago, but at that time the troop had been at a lower altitude and the heat from the trucks was able to keep things comfortable. Now they were half way of some damn mountain near the border, performing what they had been told was a routine patrol.

Shivering in the biting cold, Wiegar decided to restrap his coat and pull his bandanna up over his face, pushing the cold air out of his coat. Thinking about it he remembered one of the vets from this area had recommended he do exactly that, which annoyed the young private that he had been right.

Turning to look out the back of the truck he looked directly at the driver of the truck behind them, the last one in the convoy. The trucks, like the soldiers, were completely covered in a passable winter camouflage making everything white and difficult to distinguish.

Passable, everything is just passable, realizing that thinking about the military's lack luster equipment would only put him in a dour mood he turned to see what his fellow soldiers were doing. Most were simply trying to keep warm while they drove, doing what he should have been doing and keeping warm.

After a few more minutes of driving the trucks came to a stop and he heard the sergeant give the order to dismount. Not wanting to make a fool of himself by falling off the truck again, Wieger carefully started down the latter since he was the first one off on his side. Obviously the ladder on his side was iced over and Wieger fell back into the icy snow.

Glaring out his fellow soldiers for laughing at him he quickly pulled himself up and ignored their jabs and comments. He remembered reading somewhere that the army was suppose to be one big family, from his experience it was more like a bunch of high school bullies.

Then the Sergeant spoke to him, "Private Dant, what the hell are you doing, can you not see the damn ice everywhere?"

"Sorry, Sir."

"Keep up private, pay attention next time or else some enemy soldier might pop a bullet into your head."

"Didn't realize we were here to fight enemy soldiers, Sir."

"We recently annexed this country and I am sure their neighbors were not too happy about that, hence we are reinforcing the border here." The sergeant ended his conversation with Wiegar and began talking to the whole squad, "Lineup and get ready to transport these crates into those woods, we need the radio equipment set up before nightfall so we have a easy line of communication."

The other soldiers quickly began unloading the crates that had been in the central isle of the truck, while Wieger simple wandered up and acted like he was helping. Wieger never wanted to be in the army, but basic training was a requirement for every Alidian so a job in the military was pretty easy to get.

In all honesty he thought he might get stuck doing laundry or cooking food, a nice safe warm job. instead they stuck him out in the ass end of the Empire to plug a manpower gap.

Sighing, he adjusted the rifle strapped across his back so it wouldn't come loose again, that mistake had gotten him chew out for an hour straight last time. shortly after stopping the convoy divided into two teams, one to transport the crates deeper into the woods and the other to provide defense for the convoy and crate teams.

by **New Edom** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:35 pm

Garoten, Lendore

“ALDINA OUT OF BELADIN! ALDINA OUT OF BELADIN!” chanted protestors as they walked in circles round and round the pubic square about 200 metersfrom the Aldinan Embassy in Garoten. They were mostly young people wearing scarves, knitted wool caps, fleece lined jackets, leather boots, warm sweaters and pants or skirts with pantyhose. Many of them were students, but some were also other people, a few had brought children. Police in warm long coats and billed caps stood nearby, watching, making sure nothing got out of hand with the protestors or the occasional passerby.

Not far off some Iron Hand League members, skinheads in leathers and denim, were making obscene gestures as they walked by; the protestors in some cases looked away nervously but in others ironically blew kisses and waved at them. Police shifted warily, flexing gloved hands on riot batons.

A news crew was not far off as well, standing on part of a City Transit “Island” of concrete, and a well coiffed middle aged man in a lamb’s wool hat and a camel hair coat cleared his throat and watched as a finger countdown was given by his director. “Good evening, I’m Weydon Sopespian at Lendore Evening News, and we’re here watching a protest take place following news of Aldina having annexed Beladin. While thus far there has been little word of any protest from within the small nation, there is understandable concern here in Garoten about the dangers and threats to regional peace such a move has caused. As you can see from the protest around me of some three dozen people, there is already worry and protest that the takeover took place at all…”

New Edomite Weather Observatory, Lendore

Some 64 KM from the border, a New Edomite radar array sat. The complex consisted of a central building and two main wings and was equipped with two transceiving phased array radars 200 meters long and 20 meters high. The radars were placed on the sloped surface of a building 200 meters long and 75 meters high.

The array could monitor a sector of space in the range of azimuths 220-3,100 km and at a distance up to 5,000 kilometers. It could operate at about 150 MHz with a variety of PRFs from 25 to 100 pps, variable pulsewidths, a complicated beam scan pattern with two beams scanning in azimuth, two scanning in elevation and one scanning in a circular pattern. Peak power exceeded 10 MW. The other radars deployed by the Allied States’ government for Lendore were smaller, mounted on trucks, with a range of 30 km.

The Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army: Fineberg, New Edom

General Adams swallowed an antacid tablet and rubbed a hand over his roiling gut, and just then there was a knock on the door, and his ADC saying, "Colonel Weber is here, sir."

"Good," said the tall balding general gruffly, "Send him in."

Lieutenant-Colonel Cosmo Weber was an Anglo-German like Adams, fair haired, bronzed and tanned, rather thin in face and body, taking off his black tanker's beret and standing at attention. Adams scanned him. He had two rows of combat ribbons, he was young for his rank--typical of the military officers of any grade from first lieutenant to colonel in the army, which had been bled in two civil wars and in conflicts domestic and overseas.

"Colonel Weber, good, please sit down," Adams said. "How is your family? Your younger sister did awfully well getting on the Olympic team, it’s a shame…well she worked hard, it showed. And your sister Elena, extraordinary service in Hutanjia."

"They're fine General, I’m very proud of them. Elena is glad to be home from there though she said the mosquitoes were the worst weapon the Reds had there. And Adah is glad to be back with the Regiment. By the way, I saw your son at the Drone course a month ago, he seemed in very good spirits." Weber replied politely. "And I understand your eldest daughter is getting married?"

"Yes," Adams said, proud of his children. "Thank you for asking, Colonel...fizzy water, or tea?"

"Tea," said Weber, who had noticed a steaming pot and a minty smell in the office. Adams courteously poured, offered honey and ginger. In Weber's file his digestion had never been the same after a stomach wound he'd had in the Battle for Fineberg. They'd been on the opposite sides.

"I had a talk with General Pahath-Moab, and he says that you've felt like the 14th should do an overseas stint. I agree with him...naturally." Adams didn't vent his real frustration. After Damoclea and then this business in Gloria Regis, no one could touch Pahath-Moab anymore. He had been one of his backers in the bloodless coup last year, thinking that the Boy General as he was called for his relative youth would be the front, and then wiser older heads would get rid of him when he slipped up. He hadn’t. He’d been not only lucky but clever. Now all they could do was bide their time and hope he didn’t turn on them. So of course he agreed. And the frustrating thing is that it was easier to do every day that he did it.

“What we’ve got for you is a mission to help the Grand Duchy of Lendore train and prepare personnel to make use of the LT-10. It is also going to be a training area for temperate/winter forces. I have a dossier on them you should familiarize yourself with. This is part of our ongoing mission—prevent the spread of socialism, feminism and communism abroad. We haven’t got much of a diplomatic mission on the ground, so for the time being it is a training mission. We’ll see if anything happens after that, but we’ll leave it to the Foreign Office and Ministry of Police otherwise. You will go in with the first wave and a squadron and part of your HQ, then you’ll wait for the rest of the Regiment in case things get a bit hairy. It will be a two part plan: the training mission, and an overseas deployment exercise. The 14th haven’t been abroad in years, but you’ve done amphibious operations and such with them, including the Nova Samnium Invasion. This should be…straightforward, but as you know….” He looked Weber n the eye.

Weber finished for him. “No plan survives contact with the enemy. Thank you for the opportunity, General.”

“Not at all.” Adams smiled at him, and felt his stomach growling unpleasantly. Damn. If it was this bad for him with an ulcer, what must it be like for Weber? “I hope things go well. Go with God.”

Colonel Weber had billeted his troops at an old Lendorean barracks near the radar array. Bunkers, sentries, and patrols were deployed near it. The Lendoreans were not a very militarily inclined people, and so much of the real border defense—early warning systems, aviation and mechanized patrols—had devolved on the 14th Hussars, while the Lendoreans dealt with things like customs, local law enforcement and off road patrols which they were frankly better at in this terrain. His Hussars and their auxiliaries had really only just gotten acclimatized….

by **Alidina** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:25 pm

Border Zone

The crate was not as heavy as it looked, which Wieger guessed meant it holding electronics with lots of cushioning between them. Toting the crate, lightweight or not, was more difficult than just holding it aloft though, as the two soldiers marched out over treacherous snowy terrain with it.

A few times Wiegar nearly tripped, but he always managed to find his balance at the last second. The threatening glares he got from the other soldier every time he stepped on a patch of ice were also a good motivator.

Nervous and depressed Wiegar realized he never learned the other soldiers name, "Um, I dont think I caught your name before," as he said that he craned his head to get a look at his insignia, "Corporal."

"Davis, Corporal Davis. Focus your about to go downhill, keep it level"

Realizing the corporal wasnt interested in talking, Wiegar remained silent for the rest of the journey until the Sergeant ordered everyone to stop. Looking around, he could see nothing of importance out here, just more snow and trees.

Then the sergeant called out his orders, "Teams unload the equipment and get it set up. do this quick I don't want those Lendoreans bothering us."

Taking another look around Wiegar noticed that the other teams carry crates were all equally space down from each other in a picket line. Then he heard the electronic locks on the crate pop open and turned his attention to what the corporal was doing.

Inside the crate was a set of small white orbs with a spike on one end for driving it into the ground. The Corporal noticed Wiegars inquisitive gaze and explained "Their motion sensors and cameras meant to assist in border patrol." The corporal then pulled a map out his pocket and handed it to him, "That will show you wear to place the sensors, you're going to have to drive them in there don't worry about them breaking, be forceful."

unfurling the map he recognized the basics of what it was showing him, his training had covered that, but he was struggling to find his bearings. Recognizing the confused look on Wiegar's face, the corporal stood up and pointed on the map where they were then in the direction of the closest spot. "Your going to make a great Lt one day kid."

"Really?" Wiegar's voice broke near the end reveling his youth.

"Yeah, only a Lt could get lost in a 500m zone."

Beladin, capital: Alidian barracks

General Tallium slowly sipped his coffee, listening to the sound of drills and saws working around the clock. Beladin had locked proper army before hand, and the barracks the Alidians had taken were vastly outdated. Now he had most of his command group running around adding electronic locks, cameras, computers and an assortment of other goods.

Across from Tallium was the only other ranking officer in Beladin, Colonel Fulner who was fresh from the academy. The two men had been debating over an old map they dug up from storage displaying the country, when they elected to take a break do to the noise.

With the finishing touches being applied to the door though, Tallium was confident he could continue "We need to establish proper a proper garrison near the border, just to ward off any uppity foreigners. I'd say this old mining town would make as good a place as any, what do you think green?"

"I think it's too far north to be able to get troops to this pass in time, Sir" as he said that he pointed at a small clearly marked mountain pass.

"That area's close enough to the sea a nearby coastal garrison can pull double duty."

"I thought the costal garrisons were going to be long term goals, Sir?"

"They are, there is no pressing need for them while the 3rd fleet sits barely a 50km from here."

"Is it wise to plan our defense so far ahead like that, Sir?"

"No, but its cost effective at the end of the day."

A buzzing from his tablet on the edge of the table alert him to some happenings in his command. quickly scanning through them he saw that the 6th MIB¹was laying border defense near the central pass and that the shipment of tactical tomahawks to the 3rd was delayed again

1: Motorized infantry battalion, your intelligence should be aware that Alidian battalions are about average sized, 700 soldiers.

by **New Edom** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 2:37 pm

Colonel Weber had billeted his troops at an old Lendorean barracks near the radar array. Bunkers, sentries, and patrols were deployed near it. The Lendoreans were not a very militarily inclined people, and so much of the real border defense—early warning systems, aviation and mechanized patrols—had devolved on the 14th Hussars, while the Lendoreans dealt with things like customs, local law enforcement and off road patrols which they were frankly better at in this terrain. His Hussars and their auxiliaries had really only just gotten acclimatized….

One thing after another, thought Weber, and none of it related to the mission, and all of it related to the regular life of the Regiment. But it was funny how quickly a person lost perspective—the petty concerns at hand meant that they were doing the right thing, and it gave him an air of fatherly calm beyond his years. Only six years ago the Regiment was like the rest of the country in a desperate way. Now they had regular barracks, regular expectation of meals and clean beds, and true to human nature, people swiftly forgot and complained. Complained about food, about relationships, about leave…

But now he had received instructions to work with the Lendoreans to make a show of force near the border. The actual politics of it was in the hands of Lendore’s leaders and the diplomats.

An officer’s wife had had an affair during their tour of duty in Northeast Bara; had to handle it quietly. It had been a brother officer. The man ‘requested a transfer’ and the officer and wife, after talking to the chaplain, agreed to stay together. They had a young son.

A drunk soldier had struck his squad leader; he had agreed that he’d rather serve six months at a penal battalion and rejoin the regiment if he had good behavior; this was granted. The man had screwed up several times, done really stupid things, but he had potential, the troop sergeant had vowed. The squad leader had admitted that the man had not been trying to hit him on purpose; it had been during a domestic row and the squad leader had said that he had tried to step in.

Another drunk case—this one a stupid idiot who thought it would be fun to drive a “Mule” down the road at ten o clock at night. The mule being a heavy tracked cargo carrier, this had been something he couldn’t be as understanding about; two years penal battalion servitude and he’d have to apply to another regiment.

And there were other things, but he had reminded the officers and gotten them to remind the rest of the unit that they had been blessed, and to remember to count their blessings, make repentance for their foolishness and get in shape. He wanted near perfect behavior for this kind of duty.

The 14th Hussars were an Armoured Cavalry Regiment—a concept built in part by General Pahath-Moab, who had been their commander. The idea was for it to be a small independent brigade almost, self sufficient enough that it could fight small actions entirely on its own with its own artillery, engineers, supply unit, even aviation. The spearhead was a combined force of light and heavy armour, with mechanized troops challenged by their training to fight in a number of terrain types if need be without vehicle backup entirely. There were only four such regiments in the entire Army. They were not special forces but elite assault troops; you had to really want to join an Armoured Cavalry Regiment, you had to want to be a Hussar.

As he talked to his inner circle, consisting of Major Illarosh Faz, the Adjutant (thankfully having gotten over a bit of squeamishness due to a recent marriage and pregnancy of his wife Gloria, now very much back on his game--an old, old friend from school, level headed and smart), Captain Cloris Fabian, Intelilgence (a niece of the Director-General of Arcanum Armaments, dark haired, very Cornellian in feature and athletic form--a drunk often when off duty, never when on; she was an avid reader, mind like a steel trap though a chronic pessimist when not under pressure), and Regimental Sergeant-Major Tusk (a tough veteran, canny and shrewd, scarred like an old football) , who was in charge of operations and planning.

It was agreed that Captain Pogue, commanding the Reconnaissance Troop of the Mounted Infantry Squadron, would take his unit, which was mounted on M28 Vigil Recon Vehicles and M20 APCs, and an accompanying force of Lendorean Border Scouts would move to the very edge of the border, and that it would officially be called part of a search and rescue exercise.

Garoten, Lendore

The Prime Minister of Lendore met with the New Edomite Ambassador following the agreement about the border exercises, and together they agreed to a public statement. The Prime Minister had been visiting a university in Garoten when the news had broken out, and had been visibly shocked.

PUBLIC ADDRESS OF THE PRIME MINISTER

I am as concerned as any citizen in Lendore about the annexation of Beladin by Aldina, and I have requested a meeeting with the Aldinan Ambassador to discuss the matter. Rest assured: this government will do all in its power to make sure that our own country is safe, and I will certainly be asking about the safety and freedom of Beladinese citizens. In the meantime, I urge people to be calm. At this time I am not advocating any military action. News of military activity on our side of the border are routine military exercises and should not be cause for worry about war. I will however ask that all Category I reservists remain within fifteen minutes' travel of their barracks until we are certain of the nature of the situation. Thank you, and be safe and well.

- Prime Minister Pierre Beaumont

With a lack of response to the public outcry, protests were beginning to grow in Lendore. Radio talk show hosts were questioning how far the ambitions of Aldina would grow, and the ominous silence from Beladin itself suggested repressive action. Civil rights groups began to sign petitions they intended to send to the World Assembly or ICON. There was worry about Lendorean citizens who had been in Beladin at the time, and worry about whether they had been harmed, if they would be allowed to return home.

by **Alidina** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:34 pm

Standing out in the mild weather the sea brought, basking in the sun and wind in felt good on Tallium's leathery face. Tired of the smell of saw dust, he had decided to take a tour of alidina's recent conquest and perform some of his governor duties. Currently though, he just stood in the parade ground enjoy the weather which would probably be growing bitter down south.

Standing behind him was one of the few people he actually requested be assigned to Beladin with him, Major Thomas Reiner. Tallium had sent the colonel off to oversee the army's supplies, he didn't mind the kid but he disliked being assigned someone so unmarred.

holding his tablet up he began sliding through the list of things he would need to deal with and check on, namely how to handle the occupation. Setting off at a brisk pace the General and Major left the safety of the barracks compound to survey the city.

"Major, how did your police work go? any problems from the locals?" while Tallium asked the question, he sent a message off to Beladin's Governor Advisor.

"Compared to Roske, I did not have any troubles sir. Citizens were in their homes by curfew, only 120 political arrest had to be made, which in a country of a five million souls is not too shabby."

"That's good, the Beladin GA has been bothering me about lifting the curfew on his people for a week now. Since they can be trusted with that we will give them a bit of rope, see how they handle more of their freedoms returned."

Tallium had not taken twenty steps since sending the message to the GA when he got a reply. Smiling, the General Imagined the GA was probably dwelling on everything he said.

"So you don't think tha'-" Tallium cleared his throat when he caught himself slipping into his accent. "locals will be a problem, then. Any thoughts about the neighboring country, leba something"

"Lendorean, Sir. They themselves will not be any problem, however I recommend returning their citizenry who were here on business and tourism before we make a scene."

"What are we doing with them now?"

"We are treating them like other citizenry, curfew at 11, cant gather in groups except when it is within reason, cannot say anything against Alidina openly, searches of persons and belongs can be administered at the discretion of any Alidian Sergeant etc. etc."

"Well will knock the curfew off their list of things they can or can't do, see how they handle that. Lets go tell the GA, what's up then will get on with the inspection of our forces."

"What do we have?"

"Just enough, just enough." Tallium swiped his tablet a few times to actually bring up the list and check. "Looks like seven motorized Infantry battalions and one Gunship battalion is all we got combat wise. Standard equipment, so lots of heavy hitting battle rifles and SAWs not much else."

The Major scrunched his face up at those numbers and equipment. The battle rifles he was talking about were outdated FN FALs the army had in surplus. They had nice heavy caliber rounds that could tear through armor well, but their size meant fewer of them could be loaded in a magazine.

"lucklily the fourth fleet is off the coast and once their tacticle missiles get here-" he pulled up his schedule "Next week will have what amounts to artillery."

"No armor?"

"Naw, just trucks and jeeps. Might get some rocket trucks in a month, but till then were a going to rely on what we got and hope nothing happens."

"Should probably ship the Lendoreans back then, before it creates an issue. I heard they are backed by a bigger nation that has to come through the Bay. Is there a possibility for support from other division should something come up?"

The General clicked his teeth together "Yes quite a few to be honest, but whether or not high command thinks this place is worth it is another. If someone comes at us, I could very well be ordered to take out the shipyards and necessary industry and just pull out."

by **New Edom** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 9:52 am

Garoten, Lendore

“ALDINA OUT OF BELADIN! ALDINA OUT OF BELADIN!” chanted protestors as they walked in circles round and round the pubic square about 200 metersfrom the Aldinan Embassy in Garoten. The numbers had grown. It went from being several dozen to hundreds, and not just in Garoten but in other cities and towns in Lendore. A special website and forum was created for Lendorean citizens to discuss it and state their opinions. As one talk show host, Gilles Montmorency put it, “Where is the international community in this? Is it only when oil rich nations or controversial nations get invaded that it makes front page news in other countries? Why is this going unreported? What are they doing there? Why is no media permitted?”

However the Aldinans could not control everything, or at least didn’t appear to be controlling everything. Citizens of Lendore were scattered throughout the country. They ranged from truckers who picked up or delivered goods, to train engineers who did the same, to tourists, students, commercial travelers. The Ambassador to Beladin was being cautious and quiet—she didn’t want to put her own country in an awkward position, but she (Mona Tannen) did ask in a formal letter to the general commanding the occupation forces:

To: General Talium, General Officer Commanding, Aldinan Forces Occupying Beladin
From: Mona Tannen, Lendorean Ambassador to Beladin
Subject: Occupation Authority
Security: Open letter

Dear General Talium,.

I am writing to you to express my government’s concerns about your country’s annexation of Beladin. First—the annexation is considered illegal under international law. Can you provide any proof that the government of Beladin in any way cooperated with yours? If not, what is your justification for the use of military force?

Second: what has become of the former government of Beladin? Would it be possible for me to speak with members of that government?

Third: as I am sure you are aware, Beladin and Lendore have been neighboring nations for some time—trade, tourism and regular travel with proper visas and agreements take place all the time. What is your country’s intention with regard to this? What are your orders concerning the travel of Lendorean citizens?

Finally, I must ask what your country’s general intentions towards Lendore are.

Sincerely,
Mona Tannen, Ambassador

The Border

For the time being, it was the Lendorean Air Force that conducted air patrols near the border. Theo Brynn, a 22 yeear old Air Force lieutenant, had woken up at Schwarz Air Force Base 55 km from the border and went yawning into his early workout routine, doing pushups, situps and pull-ups on the bar in the training room down the hall before hitting the shower, getting a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, toast and orange juice, then heading down to the briefing room with other officers. The squadron commander explained to him that they were going to step up patrols for the time being in order to make a show of force. He and the rest of his flight were first up.

Later he went to the hangar where his MiG-29 was waiting, and after getting a report from the ground crew on her condition (he named her after the secret love of his life, actress Tatiana Rubens, who starred in an evening television show) he began his flight check, reported his readiness to the Flight leader, and rolled her out and lifted her off. No feeling like it. He felt a bit edgy—could this come to war? In this dangerous world it had been deemed necessary to have a functional Air Force, since while Lendore was a neutral nation and kept out of things it also had no real allies until recently. Even the New Edomite agreement was more about them providing security for the radar station they had built and doing joint training exercises. Would they actually fight for Lendore if it came to blows? The Squadron commander didn’t know—he only knew that it was their duty to man the border.

Mountains, snow covered pine forest, icy rocks, roads winding among them, valleys crossed with rail tracks, mining and lumber areas, small towns nestled among the heights flew swiftly beneath him as he soared along the border country. He dashed past a column of moving vehicles, mostly visible by their exhaust and tracks in the snow from above, that must be the New Edomite soldiers on exercise controlling one zone of the border. So they did come out after all, he mused. That suddenly made him wonder how accurate his commander’s info was….

by **Alidina** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:08 pm

"Because of the general compliance with the occupation, I have decided to lift the curfew affecting your people. Donavon." Tallium took a sip of his coffee, while he discussed the occupations details with the Governors Assistant and former Prime minister.

"Thank you for that small favor, But I am still concerned about the other archaic restrictions you have placed on my people. The stress of the situation is mounting, General, and I want to settle this without any more bloodshed. I am worried that my people might react violently if they feel their needs are not being meet."

"If they do react violently then those archaic restrictions will allows us to quickly come down hard on them. At this time until, proven unnecessary Alidian Troops will be stationed in this country. Once I am satisfied that the country understands its position and is willing to submit to all Alidian laws I will return local control."

"How long do you think it will take if things remain stable and peaceful?"

Closing his eyes Tallium thought about it for a moment, the decision was entirely up to him and he normally went off gut instincts for these sorts of things. "If everyone stays calm and nothing comes up I am sure we can grant basic local control over the area again in say a year's time."

"A whole year of living like this? That's horrible, I don't think anyone could stand-"

"That is actually the point really, the rules make it hard to rebel but they also drive people to rebellion. If they don't revolt we leave them alone and collect tax occasionally. If they do, like the people of Roske, We come down hard and make an example. You surrendered peacefully Donavan after we destroyed your navy, your people have not felt the furry of our bombs they do not know to fear us."

"That is barbaric, you want was just so you can make an example."

"Not particularly, it's just necessary. Besides overtime we give back more and more freedoms to the people. I don't expect to keep such a docile populations under such scrutiny for a full year, we will relax are grip and see how they do. removing the curfew is just the first step."

"Your treating people like cattle."

"Life is hard, deal with it." the General paused and looked out the window, "Things do get better though."

"Fine. What about the Lendoreanians you currently have caught up in your human ranch? They won't stand to see their people mistreated and we were at the last peak in tourism before the years out."

"I will send the back, an olive branch if you will. The shipyards were the only thing we were interested in and once we have them secured your lives can return to normal." Standing up Tallium made it clear the conversation was over.

The previous prime minister just sat in his chair looking dejected, only managing a feeble farewell. Not carrying one way or the other Tallium headed out the door, where he meet back up with the Major.

"Message for you General, from Mona Tannen an ambassador from Beladin to Lendorean."

Taking the message Tallium simply ripped it open, not carrying for etiquette or the torn envelope. Reading through he decided to respond, which meant quickly typing up a response and sending it to the Comm team so that it could be printed out and mailed back.

To: Mona Tannen
From: General Eric Tallium, Governor-general of Beladin
Subject: Returning Lendorean citizenry.
To answer your first question, Alidina is operating within the same international laws that were applied to Alidina thirty years ago. Towards your second question, everyone but the prime minister's son is alive and well. The Prime minister's son being the one exception as he served aboard a ship in Beladin's navy before it was engaged by Alidian forces.

AS to the third, we will be returning all Lendorean citizenry aboard the passenger train on the First Beladin- Lendorean Railway. After which the railway will once again be closed until further noticed. No Alidian personnel once we have them all on board we will let them leave with no further input from our side.

We apologize for any inconvenience to the Lendorean citizens caught in this turn of events, we hope that the Lendorean can be convinced of that we have no ill intent on apart of our forces being here. I will trust you, as a member of the Beladin government to ensure that fighting in any form does not sunder your peoples peaceful existences.

humbly,
General Eric Tallium

The Locals should be aware that Alidina was occupied by a Targadia for 200 years until 30 years ago when they won independence. The international community was disinclined to end the occupation as there had not been laws preventing that sort of thing when Alidina was first occupied.

by **New Edom** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 11:29 pm

The Border, 15 KM from the town of Brandesi

The faint hissing sound of skis was heard as the unit of Border Scouts moved along a path among snow covered pine trees in the mountain pass. The dismounted squad had been sent ahead of the BV-206 mounted platoon. Back at the CP the platoon leader, senior NCO and RTO were looking with binoculars over the coniferous forested pass, breath hanging in steamy puffs.

The squad was made up of the most fit of the platoon, the ones who were best on skis--and they were all good at it. However one thing that was baffling them was that they were pretty sure that the maps that they had been issued weren't really lining up with the info their compasses were giving them.

"I'm telling you," said Scout Vang, who had been a contender for the Olympics the previous year until he had blown his arm (and spent a few months in recovery), shaking his head, "That the coordinates for Mount Shara are off by 2 klicks. This isn't good, this map is wrong."

"Damn it, it was checked over by the Air Force and it lines up with that online map satellite thing," argued the squad leader, Master Corporal Gober. They had their balaclavas down and frost was tickling their moustaches. Gober glanced up to where he knew the BV-206s and the rest of the platoon were concealed at the treeline on a ridge, covering them. He didn't want to look like a jackass in front of them.

"Look, boss, all I'm saying--we could be over the border now," Vang insisted. "Maybe we should tell the lieutenant and call Company and sit tight, huh?"

Gober saw the others looking at him; he'd commanded the squad long enough to know the feel for things, and had been a Scout squad member long enough for that too. They didn't want to take the responsibility themselves.

"God damn it," he muttered to himself, and snapped his fingers to the RTO. The receiver was wrapped in foam and duct tape; he took it and said, "Suka-3, this is Suka-1."

"This is Suka-3 Actual, go ahead," said the crisp voice of his platoon commander, Lieutenant Dareth.

"Suka-3 Actual, I think that this map might be off. The compass readings we're getting indicate that we're at least 2km off from the supposed position, but we can see it, the mountain marking what should be our position 2 km back."

"Suka-1, are you telling me that the Lendorean Air Force, Goggle Maps and the Department of Defense are wrong--but you're right?" the lieutenant said sarcastically.

"Well not exactly sir--"

"Yes or no?"

Master Corporal Gober cursed foully in his own mind, and glared at Vang, who shrugged. "No sir."

"Good. Now get moving forward; we're going to secure Ridge 129 and watch the lower pass, I want us dug in and in place before dark. Advance. That's an order." Lieutenant Dareth snapped.

"yes sir," said Gober as though he had intended to all along, cursing the man with all his soul. Then he took it out on the scouts. "What are you waiting for, an engraved inviation? Let's move with a purpose!"

He replaced the receiver; keeping to the woods they moved forward on their long skis, keeping their eyes and ears peeled and alert for anything from opposing enemy scouts to roused and irritated bears to--well--anything. No one wanted to come unexpectedly on a wolverine feasting on a carcass either. Most of them were hunters or fishermen and were used to mountain and forest travel, and now they were just full of hightened awareness of the possibility of hitting a tripwire or getting shot too...

by **Alidina** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:32 pm

Border Zone

Crunching through the snow Wieger marched towards the last point marked on his map, set just being a small tree. Tired and hungry from all the walking he was glad the mission was almost over he could not imagine staying out in the cold any longer, it would not even be daylight by the team the battalion got back home.

The picket line of men spread several miles in every direction and most of them were finishing up their task and heading back towards the trucks. Looking forward to warm food, no matter how flavorless Wieger dropped to one knee and stabbed the sensor into the ground. It took a few tries to get it through the frozen dirt, but he managed and got it wedge in the ground. As he prepared to stand back up though, he saw it. Off in the distance vauge shapes moving quickly across the snowy slope.

Gripping his Fn-Fal in one handed he reached down to his radio and alerted the rest of the force, "I.. A. Think I see something moving on the slope." Wieger was cold, tired and worried it would turn out to be nothing but he was already committed, then he remembered the rest of procedure for this sort of thing. "Position 700m from the convey, North East. Visuals on my 3 o clock. "

Wieger listen to the static for what seemed like a life time when the radio crackled to life, "Confirm your name, Wiegar not everyone knows your voice."

Wieger nearly jumped with surprised when he heard the sergeant "Yes Si-" another soldier interrupted him and he did not bother finishing his sentence.

"I see them to. Their people, They appear to be a ski team. My partner is tracking them with binoculars, they are armed cant tell nationality."

The Lieutenant for Wieger platoon asked over the static of the radio "Baring?"

"Heading south west. 42.21."

Wieger's faced blanched as he realized the unknown force was set for an intercept course with him, an unknown force well within Alidina's borders. Wasting no time he imedately began to skip through the deep snow, trying to cover as much ground as he could.

"All Squads ready weapons, SAW Specialist take rear. Fire Teams partner up, Third-Platoon pull back and reinforce the sixth-Platoon's rear. First Company prepare trucks to move out and man the 50s, Second Company pull up to the road west of the first Company, Third company prepare for engagement."

Wieger's hopping action had allowed him to cross the distance back towards Davis who was already taking aim in the general direction of the enemy. Wieger quickly dropped down next to him and readied his own Rifle.

He was terrified, he never been in combat before, he had never been in such a tense situation. But from the feeling in the air, and the steady stream of updates and orders coming through the radio, it appeared the other soldiers knew what they were doing.

Wieger pointed his gun in the general direction of the enemy and waited, waited to fight and possibly die. His mind felt like it was going haywire, like he didn't know what to do. He thought he heard Corporal saying something, but he was to shocked to think about. Then he made is mistake. His shaking hand, pulled the trigger and the powerful Fn-Fal let loose a crack of gunfire and sent a bullet streaming off.

When his ears cleared stopped ringing he finally understood what Davis had been telling him moments before, remember Get your finger off the trigger have some discipline.

by **New Edom** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:15 pm

The Border

Vang felt something swiftly pass him and a bare split second after heard crack-zip and felt his gut clench. He had been in live fire exercises and hunted all his life; he had never been to war but he had been involved with a fugitive chase once, and while not at the forefront of it (he had mostly done tracking but he had seen the brief shootout at a lonely cabin complex) he realized Holy shit, someone’s shooting at me. He dropped to a squat quickly without even thinking, motioning to the others ‘action ahead’ while fumbling to undo his clips to get his boots free. My hands…I can’t control my hands…focus, cold, do it! He got them free and his heart racing unslung his rifle and threw himself flat.

He heard a soft heavy crunching of snow, and Master Corporal Gober was flanking him, having crawled ski-less to a fallen over trunk of a spruce and peering cautiously over it with his shaded binoculars. “Vang, did you see who shot at you?”

“No, Corporal,” said Vang, his voice cracking a bit. Get it to gether, he told himself.

Gober glanced over; the others had all followed suit with Vang, not all as fast as he might’ve liked, but they were all lying flat and waiting or had moved to use brush, trees, snow covered rocks for cover. They were all waiting for him like kids at a playground. He knew they were all tough, had great endurance, but they had never been in a serious armed engagement before. “Gimme the receiver, get me Platoon CP,” he said to his RTO. The RTO looked up at him from where he was lying in a depression surrounded partly by bare branched bushes, and his eyes were wide. He was about six meters away.

“Mindelstet, get your ass over here,” growled Gober, suddenly furious at his sheep’s face.

Mindlestet suddenly went grim faced; he was barely more than a kid but he’d been born in these mountains, it was funny how just the thought of being shot at made a man shocked. But Mindlestet had also tracked some dangerous game, he remembered his training and began to scuttle forward, keeping low, trying to avoid having his manpack radio stick out too much.

by **Alidina** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:43 pm

The lieutenant colonel directed the first company to began loading the trucks up and to direct what few fifties they did have towards the north east, where the third company was stationed. While the Lieutenant colonel directed the first company personally, he was facing the south west keeping an eye for when the second company would be in position. When he heard the crack of one of Alidina's own weapons he spun around and scanned the forest, expecting a crescendo of a firefight.

Instead an eerie silence blanket the mountain and the Lieutenant colonel directed the Captain of the first company to carry on what he had been doing. Then he started requesting status reports from his various platoons who were spread too thin to make adequate use of their numbers should a fight break out.

The reports that came back neglected to tell him of Wieger's accidental shot but they did give him a rough idea of his forces position. The second company still had not secured their side of the road, which he was counting on to provide cover fire for a retreating third. The Lieutenant had no intentions of fighting an unknown enemy.

The Dozens of fireteams which had been busy placing the border defense suddenly went tense when the rifle cracked off a round, the silence afterwords only made the third even more nervous. Slowly though the sergeants and lieutenants began moving the platoons furthest away from the convey behind those of the closer platoons. The closer Platoons in turn covered the rest of the third company, Wiegers company in particular had taken point.

Following his accidental discharge Davis dragged the Shaking Wieger behind a tree and slammed him against it "What the hell are you doing? Do you want to start a war?"

"N N-No Sir" Wieger appeared to be going into shock, which only infuriated the corporeal even more. Then the seargeant of their squad showed up with the other member demanding to known what happened.

"Wieger accidentally fired his rifle, Sir."

"Did he hit anyone?"

"I dont know, Sir."

"Wieger, man up we dont know who the unknowns are but they are not going to take a being shot at nicely. You and Davis will take position over there," The Sergent pointed to a tree a short distance away "And try and get a visual through that clearing."

Saluting the Sergeant before he left, Davis took Wieger and dragged him over to the tree where the was. Kneeling down to minimize his profile he looked straight at Wieger, "Calm down. This situation has gotten to tense for you to be breaking down right now. I am going to take a look and see if I can get a visual through the clearing. Dont do anything."

Since Wieger appeared to be calming down, Davis moved slightly to the right and got a direct visual on the unknowns. Who were also granted a good view of himself.

by **New Edom** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:48 pm

Master Corporal Gober was beginning to wonder if it had really been a bullet, it could have been that Vang was spooked by something else--sure, why not? Coincidence--ice cracks off a mountain at the same time that a fast moving bird--a jay perhaps--zips past Vang's head. He was about to suggest it when Porthis, one of the snipers, gestured forward, making a shh sound with his lips. There was a flight of birds, a flurry of snow towards the ridge. It could be anything, but it bore out Vang's report enough.

"Lieutenant," said Gober into his radio, "What are your orders?"

"Hold your position," came the terse response. "Wait for my orders. I'm going to issue a warning."

That made sense. The lieutenant could be a jerk sometimes, but at least he didn't have a death wish or anything.

Soon after, the sound of the platoon commander, trying to sound as gruff as possible, came out through the loudspeaker

ATTENTION! PARTY ON THE RIDGE! IDENTIFY YOURSELVES! YOU ARE IN THE BORDERS OF LENDORE! IDENTIFY YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY!

Mountianeering [MT/Open]

Mountianeering [MT/Open]

Who is online