The First Great War of Hale Isles(IC, Closed)

by **Exantos** » Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:13 pm

I walked up to the tracks and looked around. The station nearby had its lights on, but nobody was outside. I motioned for my fellows to move up. As we placed the explosives, and primed the charges. We ran off into the woods making sure to leave tracks that would allow us to be followed. We stopped farther away and set off the explosives. I radioed command, "Operation Hit-and-Run is underway. I repeat underway."

They replied, "Copy that Standard Bearer 1. Bearers 2 and 3 are also completing missions. Wait for pick up. Remember that the tazers are necessary and try not to resist."

"Copy command." I replied as I relayed the information back to my team.

~5 minutes earlier~

I sat down at my chair in train stop and read through my last sheaf of paper. It was the official declaration of my station being closed down and the scheduled time for the official closure of the sight and the end of my job. I sighed and looked around at the familiar old building I'd worked at for the last twenty five years. As I looked around the old office I sighed once more and closed the document deciding to enjoy the time I had left. As I leaned back a magnificent boom went up and as I looked around I saw the old train bridge collapse with what looks like explosive assistance. Following Exantonian terrorist procedures: I ran towards the weapons locker and took my trusty tazer and after making sure it was primed and I had kevlar on I took out the emergency contact phone and contacted Police command.

"Command we have unknown hostiles who have attacked bridge at Station 191. Requesting immediate backup."

"Copy that officer. Stand-by we have special forces en-route."

"Copy command."

~15 minutes later~

"Men do you know why we are here today?" Commander John O'Hair asked his men.

"Sir, yes sir. We're here to stop terrorists sir." They replied.

"Not only that men, but we will also be bringing the enemies of Exantos to justice of our swords. Remember Tazers only as we want to bring these *expletive deleted* back alive." O'Hair said.

"Sir, yes sir." They replied.

O'Hair felt a minor bump as the helicopter landed on the ground and he said, "Helicopters down go go go!"

As the men ran out he turned on his radio and said, "Everything is according to plan command."

"Copy over and out." A distorted voice responded.

O'Hair walked out of the helicopter and motioned for his troops to move around the explosive sight and see if they could find tracks. he then walked over to his men who were fanning out. He said, "Anything found?"

"Yes sir. Chief Tracker Phil found tracks of the terrorists."

"Alright take me there."

"Yes sir."

As O'Hair ran over to the tracks he wondered how obvious the men were trying to make it. He said, "Alright I'll take point the rest of you follow up with me."

"Yes sir." Said his men as they took out their tazers.

As they ran down the path they came to a clearing. Three men walked out speaking a strange foreign language. O'Hair said, "On the floor up your hands up or else." As the men didn't understand what he was saying he motioned for his troops and Tazers were fired. As the three men fell to the ground writhing he asked the chief translator, "What language were they speaking?"

He replied, "Sir it's the language of the people from the Hale Isles. It seems that these men may be from this land. We need to check Id's to make sure."

O'Hair motioned and one of his men searched the bodies. They found three Hale isles passports.

"Oh shit." O'Hair muttered.

Exantos Post(Official Newspaper of Exantos):DISASTER STRIKES
It seems as though Hale isles a nation of which we have no past disagreements with has decided to commit terrorist acts against Exantos. Recently they destroyed three Railroad bridges which traveled along well followed paths. If they were any later they would have take thousands of Exantonian lives! Zahhak Atash commented recently by saying a great speech. As he said, "The people from Hale Isles will pay for the crimes they have committed. Exantos will not forgive such a transgression against our rights. In fact as an example I will officially declare war on Hale Isles here and now! They had no right and Exantos will make them pay. I call upon my fellow Ravenforce members for assistance in this war. We need to show the world that we are not a group of nations who can be stepped on as if we were common dirt. I call upon the people of Exantos to support this endeavor to show the world that we are a group of people who will not be easily attacked." It seems as though war has been declared and Exantos will rise to the challenge.

by **Congreveopia** » Sun Dec 14, 2014 10:23 am

December 15, 1100 hours, the morning after the attack, Congreveopolis, Executive Central Building, Press Briefing Room:

“Everyone please rise for the President of Congreveopia.”

Doors opened, and President William Congreve walked out onto the stage as the audience politely clapped. Various Commanders were already standing there, and one of Nexus’s robotic avastars was standing beside the podium. President Congreve walked up to the podium and spoke.

“Thank you, please be seated.” he said. He paused for a moment and then continued. “Today, I think I speak for all my fellow Congreveopians when I express my deepest sorrow at this unprovoked attack on Exantos. While Congreveopia urges care, caution, and moderation in all affairs, we recognise the gravity of this deed. This was a coordinated attack by a group with access to top-of-the-line equipment. This is the sort of action that cannot be ignored. And our treaty with Exantos as part of RavenForce is the sort of agreement that cannot be forgotten. For this, and numerous other reasons, I am here today to announce that the Congreveopian Parliament voted, in an emergency session last night, to declare war on the Hale Isles. I will now take questions from the press. Please remember that questions about our military tactics should be directed to the Commander of Defence, so that he may inform you that that’s classified…”

Congreveopian Troop Movements:

Congreveopian Sixth Fleet:

by **Hale Isles** » Sun Dec 14, 2014 12:39 pm

Lesterville (the capital city), 1304 hours, Presidential Building, Strategy Management Room:

“It’s just in.” said an aide “Congreveopia has declared war against us too.”

“Maybe we stop this before it escalates further.” said a political advisor “I’m looking over the President’s statement, and there’s an undertone of ‘We’re doing this because we’re obliged to.’”

“Confirmed.” said another advisor “We don’t have the power to do it, though. If, as we suspect, Exantos staged that attack, they won’t change their minds. And Congreveopia will listen to Exantos, not us.”

“Okay.” said the President “Who would they listen to? Try getting in touch with some of the nations they’ve worked with in the past and see if any of them are sympathetic to our cause.”

“Note that Llamaopia probably won’t work.” said the second political advisor “They are bound by the same agreements as Congreveopia. We’ll need to cast a wider net.”

“Great.” said the first sarcastically “I can probably think of some, though. We can decide on a finalised list later.”

“Right.” said the President “Now onto strategy. Supposing that we can’t avoid this war, how do we fight back?”

“Everything’s, for the most part, deactivated right now.” said the Defence Advisor “We’ll need some time to get all of our assets ready. We weren’t expecting a declaration of war right now.”

“Very Well, but how long will it take?” said the President “And how much time do we have?”

“Extremely difficult to tell.” said the Defence Advisor “Congreveopia doesn’t regularly announce the locations of its fleets. We think the Sixth is nearest right now, because it is transiting this region, but it could be less than a day away or almost a month out.”

“Our Skytrucks have radar systems and we can put them on patrol.” said the Naval Advisor “The radar only covers about 120 kilometers, though. We can use them to patch holes in our ground-based radar system. I think I can confidently cover out to about 300 km, maybe 500, but not much more.”

“Probably I can get the army ready for action in under a day.” said the Army Advisor “All the radars are already online, and the missile batteries will all be up in less than three hours. It is worth noting that our Tomahawk missiles can cover virtually the entire nation.”

“Indeed.” said the Air Force Advisor “That’s something at least. I’ll have my planes ready by tonight, and I’ll make sure to disperse them to avoid a first strike. Unfortunately the 10th tactical air wing is engaged elsewhere and it will take some time to withdraw them.”

“Alright.” said the President “How long will it take?”

“Five days at least.” said the Air Force Advisor “If we withdraw them all at once, the peacekeeping forces they’re supporting will be completely defenceless against the enemy heavy assets.”

“Five days…” said the President “Fine, take the time you need, but have them back here as soon as possible.”

“My situation is even worse.” said the Naval Advisor “The 1st Flotilla is already active and combat capable, and I can have the 4th out of port before nightfall today, but the 8th is practically on the other side of the world. The shortest route back is a bit under eight thousand kilometers. It will take a week for them to return.”

“The submarine has to be the slowest ship.” said the President “What’s the ETA if they leave it behind?”

“Um… slightly under six days.” said the Naval Advisor.

“Make it so.” said the President “I approve all of your plans of action. Let me know as soon as we see one of their ships.” he turned to leave, and then paused and looked back. “...and may God help us all.” he added.

by **Llamaopia** » Sun Dec 14, 2014 1:39 pm

Babylon Llama, President's office.

"Sir, a situation has come up in Exantos," LlamaPrime said.

After listening, President Clark said "Call an emergency meeting of the LlamaGroup."

30 Minutes later, Emergency TV broadcast.

President Clark came up onto the screen.

"My fellow Llamaopians, today is a day of tragedy for our Exantonian allies. This unprovoked terrorist attack on Exantos has been traced back to Hale Isles, and so, honoring the RavenForce treaty, Llamaopia has declared war on Hale Aisles. All that we want is peace, but this is not a peaceful time, so we must stand by our allies and help make this world safe for peace."

Regular programming continues.

Llamaopia's troop movements

BattleGroup Alpha is about 2 days out from Hale Isles.

by **Hale Isles** » Sun Dec 14, 2014 7:28 pm

Lesterville (the capital city), 1332 hours, Presidential Building, President’s Office:

“We’ve got a possible ally.” said a political aide, walking into the room, carrying a tablet.

“Elaborate.” said the President, pleasantly surprised. The President set down a report on the Navy’s status and listened to the aide.

“The nation is called Drekka.” said the aide, plugging the tablet into a projector and pulling up a hastily-put-together presentation. “Population: 7.309 billion. The governing body is the FSNC. They participate in a joint spec-ops organisation called ‘Task Force Atlas’ with Congreveopia and Exantos. If we get them on our side, it will definitely make Exantos and Congreveopia pay attention. Even if we can’t leverage their support to gain a peace agreement, they will be a powerful ally.”

“Sounds good.” said the President.

“We’ve got a telegram drafted for you.” said the aide. I just emailed it to you. You can review and sign it at your leisure.

“Excellent.” said the President, beginning to review the message “You’re dismissed.”

1338 hours:

To: The Federation of Drekka
From: The Allied States of the Hale Isles
Encryption: High

As you are no doubt aware, the RavenForce Coalition has declared war on us for a terrorist attack on Exantos that they have claimed is linked to our nation. Allow me to reassure you that it is totally against all of our government’s principles to commit such an action, especially against a nation that we have no grievance with. We believe that this war is a hasty action, taken on the spur of the moment, and it will appear foolish in retrospect. For this reason we implore you to help us defuse this situation before it causes any loss of life. Help us make this war a passing mistake, not an irreparable tragedy.

Sincerely,
President Anita Morgan

by **Congreveopia** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:13 pm

CSS Tambra Parkey, Flagship of the Sixth Fleet, December 18th 0400 hours:

“We are six hundred nautical miles off their coast, ma'am.” said an officer “The latest reports from Intelligence Command indicate that their radar covers out to five hundred nautical miles. We can probably sneak in to almost four hundred before they’ll notice us, but we’d have to keep a small CAP radius.”

“No, this is fine.” said Admiral Lockette “Order the fleet to halt. Looks like we didn’t make good enough time. Sunrise is too soon, and we want to attack under cover of night.”

“Roger that.” said the officer. “I’ll pass that along to the captain right away. Anything Else?”

“Ah, yes.” she said “I’d like the latest satellite images of the Fourth Ship Flotilla and an accompanying report.”

“I’ll have Nexus get that to you right away.” said the officer, walking away.

OOC: Hale Isles, please post the 4th Ship Flotilla’s course in the OOC thread, thanks.

by **Exantos** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:23 am

14 hours earlier than the drop (December 18th 8:A.M.)

The voice of Praetorian Fred Johnson came over the speaker, “All Marines and Golden Legion attaches gather your gear and get to your aircraft. I repeat all Marines and Golden legion attaches get your gear and get to your aircraft.”

After Fred turned off the microphone he heard a click behind him and said, “Ex-Ai what is it?”

“Zahhak wishes to know how things are proceeding. We need a pre-emptive strike if we wish to defeat Hale Isles. We need you to take out their primary air force or else Congreveopia’s air superiority will be crushed.”

“Inform Zahhak that everything is performing according to plan and I will be going along personally to ensure that we will take out the
aircraft. If we fail it will be on my head and I will die in the glorious battle that should follow.”

“Understood I will inform Zahhak. Also commander you should get to your aircraft.”

Soon the aircraft took off and as they reached an easy 20,000 ft they refueled and continued on for Hale Isles with malevolent intent in mind.
(December 18th 2145 hours)

“Men we’re coming over Hale Isles airspace now. Gather your equipment and prepare for the drop. Remember to look to your squad leaders during the drop for when to unequip the oxygen tanks.” Yelled Fred to get the troops ready. “Remember we are Exantonians and if someone tries to fuck with us we will fuck them up. For Exantos!” As the roar of voices died down, and the 180 Marines and 20 Golden Legion troops readied up to jump. While the remaining troops geared up and also prepared.

Statistics: C-5 galaxy is currently at 35000 feet.

by **Llamaopia** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:26 am

The Osiris (slightly modified Cruise missile sub) moves into position. Satellites have shown that the fleet is taking a course to the southeast. While the rest of the fleet moves to be in a position where they can charge and fire torpedoes at will, the Osiris moves forward and rests deep in the ocean where it is predicted the fleet will pass on the night of the 18th. One frigate moves to the north and prepares to fire missiles.

by **Hale Isles** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 9:27 am

December 18th 2145 hours, Nilwood, Early Alert Radar Control Center:

“Hey, can you come check this out, Tommy?” said one of the technicians, watching his display.

“Sure, Lester.” said another, getting up from his station and walking over. The building was dark and mostly deserted at night, but the room they were in was brightly lit as they sat up all night, watching for an attack. “What is it?”

“Silvia Whiskey Three.” said Lester, zooming in on the area of concern. “Ground Master 400 system there just picked up something just over two hundred nautical miles offshore.”

“Woah.” said Tommy, letting out a whistle “That’s big. It’s running silent and staying high, though. Someone’s trying to slip in unnoticed.”

“Goddammit.” said Lester as the dot disappeared from the screen “It’s right at the edge of our range, but the night’s pretty clear over there. Do you think we should call it in?”

“Everyone’s on a hair trigger as is.” said Tommy. “I’d hate to call it in and be wrong. I’d really hate to not call it in and be wrong, though…”

“It’s not like there’s going to be a flock of birds up there.” said Lester “The Ground Master radars are practically fresh out of the box compared to our other systems and we’ve never had any trouble with them.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” said Tommy “Wait… he’s back.”

The dot had appeared on the display again, exactly where it should be if it was flying at a constant speed in one direction.

“What’s the wind like up there?” asked Tommy.

“Doesn’t matter.” said Lester “If we believe that’s a real return it has to be man-made. Nothing else would be that high up.”

“Crap.” said Tommy, watching the dot slowly advance across the screen. “Okay. I say we call it in.”

“Agreed.” said Lester “We take joint responsibility if we’re wrong.”

“Agreed.” said Tommy. He picked up the phone and paused.

“This is really it, isn’t it?” said Lester. “If that thing’s real, there’s no turning back. We’re really at war, aren’t we?”

“We didn’t make the plane exist.” said Tommy “We’re just going to make sure the government knows about it. We’re doing the right thing.”

“I know man…” said Lester. “Just… shit.”

“I know.” said Tommy. He dialed the number.

“Hello, yes. This is Lieutenant Thomas Adams. Command, we have a contact on the Sierra Whiskey Three radar array. We believe it to be an airplane…”

Folcroft Air Defence Base, December 18th 2155 hours:

“Sargent James Boyd, Corporal Floyd Williams, and Corporal Cora Grant, report to briefing room Charlie in five minutes. Be ready to fly.” said the loudspeakers.

“Shit, that’s the call.” said James. He was sitting in the barracks in his flightsuit with his two wingmen. Most of the other pilots were sleeping. Another group was playing cards in the Su-22 pilots barracks.

“Not necessarily.” said Floyd “It could be something else like… um…”

“Nothing else would occur with this little notice or be this urgently.” said Cora, grabbing her helmet. The squad made for the door.

They jogged through the warm equatorial night air. The administrative building was nearby. Most of the air base's buildings were dark, but the administrative building had all of its lights on. They ran in and walked to briefing room Charlie.

“This may be it, gentlemen.” said the officer there. A radar array on Clio island detected something large and high moving in from the South West. Your orders are to proceed out to that target, identify it, and then await further orders. If it’s civilian, you’ll probably just have to escort it out of our airspace. Otherwise, we may need you to shoot it down. For now, the RoI are simple: do not fire unless fired upon. Your fighters are being prepared for launch now. Your will be each carrying two R-73 short range missiles, two R-77 medium range missiles, and five R-27 long-range missiles. Unless there are any questions, I suggest you get to your fighters.”

Over The Channel, 2215 hours:

“This is Polaris lead to Archangel, come in Archangel.” said James as the three planes cruised along towards the unidentified craft.

“This is Archangel.” said the radio “We confirm that you are approaching the target, Polaris flight. You have permission to give them the call.”

“Roger that, Archangel.” said James. He switched off the radio’s encryption and changed frequencies.

“Unidentified aircraft, this is Polaris Flight” he said “We are a flight of fighter aircraft from the Hale Isles Air Defence Group. You have entered our airspace without following the necessary protocols or obtaining the necessary permission. Change course to two-seven-zero, descend down to fifteen thousand feet, and deliver a complete explanation for your presence, or you may be fired upon.”

The three fighters shot past the massive transport and turned to pursue it, cutting speed to match its.

“Holy fuck.” said Floyd “That thing is massive. Do we even have an airstrip that can field that thing?”

“It’s wearing a very military looking livery.” said James. “Archangel?”

“Aircraft is a C-5 Galaxy.” said the radio “It is operating at close to its maximum speed and altitude. This guy is was definitely trying to stay hidden.”

“Well let’s see what he has to say for himself.” said Cora.

by **Llamaopia** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 2:09 pm

The 4th Ship Flotilla was approaching.

The LSS Osiris is waiting. (about 2,500m out from the fleet minimum.). The clock was at 22:55:37.

That one frigate that went north: Command room

"Prepare to launch missiles."

22:58:54

BattleGroup Alpha: LSS Galactica

"Tell the fleet, Prep torpedoes for fire. We want them to arrive just in time for the party. Lets shoot with 2 per enemy ship."

22:59:17

LSS Osiris, Command Center
"The 4th is coming in now," Said Bill, the head Sonar Technician.

"Aye, Prep torpedo launch. The carrier is the primary target." Said the captain.

"We can fire when ready."

The captain looked at his watch and waited.

"Fire."

OOC: Note, the timing of the launches might not be accurate, but is meant to be so that the Osiris' torpedoes hit first before the fleet suspects anything, then the torpedoes and missiles hit.

OOC: Also note that if any ships survive the initial bombardment, the Osiris can just fire again.

by **Hale Isles** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:36 pm

Fourth Ship Flotilla, 2302 hours, HIDF Hambleton:

“Sonar’s got something, captain.” said the sonar officer. “Direction and speed computing now… approaching quite fast from the West. Small cross section. Five miles out… oh shit, that’s a torpedo! No, multiple torpedoes!”

“All ships!” yelled the captain into the radio “We are under torpedo attack! Multiple contacts inbound from the West.”

“All ships!” said the radio “This is Admiral Deborah Contreras aboard the HIDF Lamar. Fleet is to make high-speed transition wide formation! Deploy anti-torpedo countermeasures when necessary! Apex, Pegasus, make sure your Nixies are online and deploy your helicopters, ASW payload!”

“Hard to Port, thirty degrees.” said the captain “Full ahead. Engage pump jets.”

“Copy all. Accelerating to forty knots.” said an officer.

“Port fifty.” said the captain, keeping the ship in line as the fleet adopted a new formation.

“Torpedoes still tracking, sir.” said the sonar officer. “Four heading for Lamar. Two each on Apex and Pegasus.”

“Looks like the Nixies work.” said the captain. He was still concerned for the fleet, but a lot calmer now that his ship wasn’t in immediate danger.

“All ships, this is Pegasus.” said the radio “New torpedo contacts, directly beneath us. We’re sitting on top of a sub.”

“Fleet, this is the Admiral. All ships to go evasive: plan Charlie.” said the radio as soon as the previous message was finished.

“Bring us full around to port.” said the captain “Maintain full sp-”

He was cut off as a massive jet of water shot up out of the sea behind Lamar. Another followed a second later.

“This is Lamar.” said the radio “We are okay. Nixie array Bravo wa-”

Three jets appeared at almost exactly the same time. One behind each of the ships trailing Nixies. A moment later, another appeared behind Pegasus.

“All ships, report status.” said the radio. “Lamar is fully functional, but we lost both Nixies. Deploying new ones now.”

“Hambleton is fine.” said the captain into the radio.

“Pegasus is undamaged.” said the radio “Nixie is gone. Deploying a new one.”

“Apex is fine.” said the radio “We lost our Nixie too. Prepping another. Does anyone know where the other torpedoes went, or where the sub underneath us is? There’s too much noise for our sonar to… wait… oh fuck, there’s one right bene-”

Two jets of water erupted this time, one from either side of Apex, slightly aft of the bow.

“We are hit.” said the radio “Repeat, Apex is hit. Will keep you informed as the situation develops.”

“Sir.” said the sonar officer “I’ve plotted backwards the courses of that second volley. I think I know where the sub is hiding.”

“How confident are you?” asked the captain.

“I’d like confirmation from the other ships.” said the sonar officer “But we’re the only ones who weren’t just torpedoed, so I doubt I’ll get it.”

“Okay.” said the Captain “Feed the coordinates to the ELMAs. Prepare to fire, numbers one and four.”

“Target data transfered.” said the sonar officer.

“Target data received.” said the targeting officer. “Firing solution calculated.”

“Ready to fire.” said the fire control officer, disarming the safeties on launchers one and four.

“Let’s drown that bastard.” said the captain “Fire.”

“Firing.” said the fire control officer, pressing a button.

Two of the grenadethrowers on the front of the ship shot off their payloads in less than three seconds. The captain waited a moment, and then they saw the splashes as twenty grenades entered the water exactly where they suspected the enemy submarine was lurking.

“This is the Apex.” said the radio “Condition is uncertain. We have heavy flooding in the fore. Forward sonar array offline, and most of the forward weapons are down too. Numerous injuries, no confirmed dead at this time. Advising fleet change to one eighth speed until we have a better idea of the extent of the damage.”

“That’s going to leave us sitting ducks.” muttered someone on the bridge. The captain ignored the remark.

“This is the Admiral, we will follow through on your recommendation, Apex. All ships, drop to one eighth speed.”

“Roger that, ma’am.” said the captain into the radio “Requesting permission to break formation. We believe we have a rough location for the nearby enemy sub, and we’d like to try a run with depth charges.”

“Permission granted.” said the radio.

“Hard to Starboard.” said the Captain. “Prepare to deploy depth charges. Flank speed once the turn is complete.”

The corvette changed the relative power of its water jets and quickly swung around to face in the direction of the sub. Its propellers quickly spun up to full power, caveating the water and greatly increasing noise, but it was obvious that stealth wasn’t an option anymore.

“Sir, there are still at least four torpedoes unaccounted for.” said the sonar officer. “And that assumes that we didn’t miss any.”

“Thank you.” said the captain “Keep a weather-eye out.”

“Roger that.” said the sonar officer. “Ah, here we go. They got confused in the first round of explosions and circled around to go again. Looks like one ran out of power and is drifting. One is going for Pegasus’s Nixie. One is going for Lamar’s Nixie. And… fuck me! One’s straight coming for us!”

“LAMAR!” yelled the captain into the radio, glancing at the sonar display “I need a CONTRALTO-V screen off my five now!”

“Lamar copies.” said the radio. “Firing.”

Three puffs of smoke were faintly seen from the carrier, and then three objects splashed into the water of the Hambelton’s five-O’clock.

“What was that, sir?” asked the sonar operator “I swear it just killed my display. I’m seeing at least twenty ships out there now. Wait… they just teleported.”

“Oh, sorry.” said the captain “It’s still a relatively new system and your sonar must not be set to ignore it. Those are fake ships generated by the CONTRALTO-V system. Those bouys out there are mimicking the sound of a fleet five times as large as ours.”

“Well, it works, I’ll tell you that.” said the sonar operator “That torpedo has gone haywire. It looks like a dog chasing its tail.”

“That’s a relief.” said the captain.

“We are approaching the target now.” said the sonar operator.

“Are we ready to deploy depth charges?” asked the captain.

“Yes, sir!” said the fire control officer “Let’s blow them back to hell, sir!”

“Good man.” said the captain “You may fire on the sonar operator’s command. Ten charges.”

“Spread them out over eight seconds.” said the sonar operator “Prepare to fire in four… three… two… one… fire!”

“Firing.” said the fire control officer “One away. Three away. Five away. Eight away. Ten away.”

“I see them.” said the sonar officer “Good spread, and right on target.”

“Bring us around for another pass.” said the captain.

“Here they go…” said the sonar officer “Good effect. I see all ten detonating right where we want them.”

“Give me hydrophone control.” said the captain. Someone passed him a telephone receiver.

“Attention hostile submarine.” said the captain. “This is the Hale Islands Defence Force Vessel Hambleton. Surrender immediately, or we will continue to fire on you. I repeat, surrender immediately, cease all hostile activity, and surface, or you will be fired upon again.”

by **Drekka** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:31 am

December 15th; 1350 Hours

To: Allied States of The Hale Isles
From:The Federalized Stratocratic Nations'- Compact
Encryption:Applied variant (high)

Its unfortunate that the Ravenforce Coalition would conduct
such an operation with so little insight over its catalyst. Unless some
fringe terrorist cell conducted the attack against Exantos, its highly unlikely
that your nation would commit any act of aggression towards the Ravenforce
members. Its likely that this incident wasn't a genuine act of terror, rather than
a manipulative play or sorts.

As they tend to place pride before modesty, Our forces are likely to fail to
convince the coalition to accept a peaceful resolution. Martial coercion seems
to be the only option. With luck, only low-scale confrontation will be necessary.

Despite past allegiances, our ever-ready Expeditionary Forces have been dispatched
to access the threat sand to defend the sovereignty of the Hale Isles. Expect nothing
less than exceptional service.

by **Hale Isles** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:39 am

Drekka wrote: December 15th; 1350 Hours

To: Allied States of The Hale Isles
From:The Federalized Stratocratic Nations'- Compact
Encryption:Applied variant (high)

Its unfortunate that the Ravenforce Coalition would conduct
such an operation with so little insight over its catalyst. Unless some
fringe terrorist cell conducted the attack against Exantos, its highly unlikely
that your nation would commit any act of aggression towards the Ravenforce
members. Its likely that this incident wasn't a genuine act of terror, rather than
a manipulative play or sorts.

As they tend to place pride before modesty, Our forces are likely to fail to
convince the coalition to accept a peaceful resolution. Martial coercion seems
to be the only option. With luck, only low-scale confrontation will be necessary.

Despite past allegiances, our ever-ready Expeditionary Forces have been dispatched
to access the threat sand to defend the sovereignty of the Hale Isles. Expect nothing
less than exceptional service.

December 15, 1620 hours:

To: The Federalized Stratocratic Nations'- Compact
From: Allied States of The Hale Isles
Encryption: High

We will defer to your better political judgement on this, and limit our exertions towards a peaceful solution. We also agree with your assessment that this attack was a manipulative play, or at least that none of our citizens are responsible. While we haven't ruled out the potential for some sort of illegal terrorist organisation to be operating from here, we fail to see any potential motivation for them to launch such an attack. The first quarrel we have had with RavenForce is whent hey declared war on us.

Your forces are welcome. We thank you for the assistance in this time of need.

by **Hale Isles** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:45 pm

HIDF Lamar, moments after HIDF Hambleton’s hydrophone message:

“Yes, I need the Fifth Naval Aviation Brigade! Not in a few hours, now!” yelled the Admiral into the radio. She slammed it down and turned to an officer. “You.” she said “Apex forgot to deploy another Nixie. Get them to deploy it now!”

“Ma’am.” said the captain, "Message from the Pegasus: 'Radar has multiple contacts inbound from the north-west. Sea-skimming missiles. Roughly sixteen.' They're engaging.”

Jets of smoke could be seen as the Pegasus launched its Barak 8 missiles at the oncoming munitions.

“Admiral.” said the radio “This is Pegasus requesting permission to break formation for the purpose of shielding the Hambleton from the missiles.”

“Yes, of course.” said the Admiral “Permission granted. We’ll move to shield Apex.” she turned to the captain and ordered him to send the ship full aft.

“This is Apex, we are electing to not deploy missiles owing to structural damage from the attack.” said the radio. “We will, however, make use of our Phalanx CIWS.” The Apex was sitting noticeably lower in the water and had developed a nasty list.

“Five targets down from Pegasus’s missile strike.” said the captain. “It looks like seven are bound for Apex and us.”

“Roger that.” said the Admiral “Confirm the CIWS is operational.”

“Confirmed.” said the captain.

“Here we go, then.” said the Admiral.

They watched as four dots approached Pegasus and Hambleton. Occasionally a glint was visible from the missiles heading directly for Lamar as well. A glowing stream appeared from the Phalanx CIWS gun aboard Pegasus as it engaged the missiles. It followed one for a fraction of a second, then jumped to another as the first disintegrated, then the view vanished as both Hambleton and Pegasus deployed massive clouds of flares and chaff.

Next, the three DARDO guns aboard Lamar opened fire. The dual 40mm cannons on each lobbed out explosive shells at the incoming missiles, at a rate of greater than ten shells per second. The shots were invisible, but a trail of explosions as shots nearly missed the first missile could be seen zooming towards them. Then a vastly larger explosion blossomed up as one missile took a critical hit. Then another. Then another. Then the guns changed. The fast-forty system switched the DARDO guns to APFSDS rounds. A missile spiraled away into the water. Then a cloud of flares and chaff sprung up. Smoke isolated the bridge, thick enough that the deck was barely visible. They could still hear the DARDO guns firing, and then the added sound of Apex’s Phalanx gun. Then silence. Everyone held their breath for a few seconds, and then the realisation spread that they were all alive. Someone let out a cheer.

“Stow that.” said the admiral, grabbing the radio “All ships, status report. Lamar has no damage.”

“Pegasus is undamaged too.” said the radio.

“Apex has taken no additional damage.” said the radio.

They waited a second. “Hambleton, report status.” said the Admiral.

“Smoke is clearing around Pegasus.” said the radio “Moving to make visual contact with Hambleton.”

Everyone waited a moment.

“Hambleton is destroyed.” said the radio “Fatal damage from a missile strike. The ship is sinking rapidly. Moving in to check for survivors.”

As the wind blew the smoke clear from Lamar, the bridge crew got their first view of Hambelton. The ship was utterly destroyed. As Pegasus pulled up alongside, all that was visible of Hambelton was the bow and stern, both skewed at least fifty degrees into the air and sinking fast. They weren’t sure if Hambleton had been hit in the middle and split, or whether the missile had just obliterated the center of the ship. Either way, the vessel was gone.

“Pegasus confirms no survivors.” said the radio “Repeat: HIDF Hambelton is sunk; all hands lost.”

“Orders, ma’am?” said the captain.

“Make sure everyone has their Nixies deployed, and then get the towed arrays out as well.” said the Admiral “We destroy the submarine below us, and then we go after the rest of them.”

by **Llamaopia** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:03 pm

LSS Osiris

"Sir, We've taken hits in the bunks. We've lost about 50 people, mostly spec-ops. The section is impassible unless we surface."

A depth charge rocked the sub.

"We can't take many more hits like that captain! We need to surrender."

"We will not go down without taking at least one more of those bastards with us." The captain pushed a big red button...

OOC: Note that the "nixie program" is a program that tracks the movement of the nixies and explodes a distance in front of them. Also note that this only really works when the ships are going in a straight line.

by **Congreveopia** » Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:20 pm

CSS Tambra Parkey, December 18th 2100 hours:

“The ocelot roosts often on the streets of Paris.” said Nexus “I repeat: the ocelot roosts often on the streets of Paris.”

“We can just encrypt the messages with, you know, encryption.” said Admiral Lockette, resisting chuckling with the bridge crew around her.

“Who says its a message?” said Nexus “I’m just trying to find out which of my World Almanacs got corrupted in that last solar flare. Also, Exantos is beginning their assault.”

“Next time you are going to announce it’s time to invade a nation, you might want to just cut to the chase rather than leading with a joke.” said the Admiral. She turned away from the display with Nexus on it and spoke to the bridge crew. “Attention, personnel.” she said “I’ve never been much good at delivering great speeches. So I won’t. We are cleared to proceed with battleplan Alpha. Launch the drones.”

Five Northrop Grumman X-47C stealth drones rolled out onto the deck, each carrying six AGM-88 HARM missiles. They grouped into formation, began to fly away, and then cut all radio communication.

“Drones are flying dark.” said the drone control officer “It’s out of our hands now.”

“I just lost one on radar.” said the radar control officer “Three gone. They’re all gone. Repeat, I have lost radar contact with the drones.”

“Very well.” said the Admiral “I’m going to go below and eat. Alert me immediately if anything occurs.”

Drone Schedule:

-2100: Depart carrier. Fly low (20 meters) towards lone island in the North West.
-2140: Begin climb to max operating altitude.
-2150: At max operating altitude, fire the 30 AGM-88 HARM missiles at the lone island in the North West. Begin descent to low altitude (50 meters).
-2154: Missiles hit the 30 most prominent radar emitters on the island.
-2200: Fly back to the carrier at low altitude (50 meters).
-2240: Land on the carrier.

by **Drekka** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 12:01 am

(this post went through hell and back to get done but here it is. no need to ignore it anymore)

KFS Aerie,TaskForce-15, International Waters, December 17th, 2321 Hours

A silver spearhead glided across the mildly tempered waters, watched above by the occasional
Fulcrum, soared under the cover of a crescent moon. Meanwhile, the picket-line frigates were
accompanied by the faint and dancing reflections below.

With the most recent sorties being commenced from the suspicion from a
some what phallic radar signature , the two Fulcrum pilots were given a
peculiar debriefing due to a somewhat eventful mission.

As for the fleet itself, it neared the outer boarders of the Hale Isle's
naval space, uncontested. Yet the territory it was going to enter is
contested between Hale and RavenForce assets.

Ending nearly 3 days of strict communicative silence,
The Aerie dispatched a message directly to Lesterville.

TO:Strategic Management
FROM: KFS Aerie
SUBJECT:Arrival

This is TaskForce-15 of the FSN-C Expeditionary Force we are requesting sanctuary at
the site of the 1st Domestic Defense Flotilla. Our fleet is due to arrive in December 19 at roughly 2200 hours

by **Hale Isles** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 1:02 pm

HIDF Lamar:

“More torpedoes inbound, ma’am.” said the sonar officer. “Hambleton failed to kill that sub.”

“We can’t deploy Nixies as fast as they fire torpedoes.” said the Admiral. “We need to use CONTRALTO-V, but we can’t while they’re underneath us. We need to move.”

She picked up the radio as two torpedoes exploded exploded behind them. “Apex, we need to get out of here, what’s the maximum speed you can achieve?”

“Our engines are undamaged.” said the radio “Our bow is heavily damaged though. I don’t know if we can put much more stress on it.”

“We need to move or these torpedoes will sink us.” said the Admiral “Give me a number. How fast can you go without breaking anything?”

“One moment.” said the radio. A torpedo exploded behind Apex. “Twenty five knots.” said the radio “We can make twenty five knots.”

“Roger that.” said the Admiral “All ships, heading zero-nine-zero. Speed twenty five knots.”

A torpedo exploded in the water just right of Pegasus.

“Pegasus, status report!” said the Admiral “Is your Nixie still operational?”

“Affirmative.” said the radio “No great damage. Working theory is that it was blind aimed at us and programed to detonate when it hit the surface.”

Another exploded just off the left side of the Pegasus.

“No…” said the radio “That’s not consistent. Let me test a theory.”

The Pegasus made a hard turn to port another torpedo exploded off its starboard side.

“Bingo.” said the radio “I think they’re trying to lead our Nixies. I’d suggest Evasive plan zeta.”

“We defer to our judgment.” said the Admiral “All ships, evasive plan zeta.”

A jet of water shot up to the right of the Apex as it made a sharp turn to port. Unfortunately, the enemy then realised they understood the anti-Nixie program and went back to firing normally. Two torpedoes exploded behind Pegasus.

“More contacts inbound and we’re still replacing the Nixies!” said the sonar operator.

“Fire five pods of CONTRALTO-V.” said the captain.

Five more buoys burst from their launchers and splashed into the water behind the fleet. They instantly began doing their best to mimic a random fleet comprised of Lamars, Pegasi, Hambletons, and Apexes. Most of the torpedoes spit off and headed after fake ships. One of them sped after a fake aircraft carrier. The carrier vanished as it approached, it searched for a new target, found one, and headed after it.

“One’s still tracking!” said the sonar operator.

Lamar, Nixie deployment station:

“Torpedo inbound: thirty seconds!” said the intercom.

“We’re still reeling in the line!” said the lead operator. “Can’t deploy another now!”

“Fifteen seconds!” said the intercom.

“Fuck!” said the lead operator. He grabbed one of the Nixies and thumbed it on. He hefted the small cigar shaped object out of its rack and ran to the rear deployment hatch.

“Five seconds!” screamed the intercom. The lead operator ignored the cable still reeling back into the ship and just tossed the Nixie out the back unattached. A massive spray of water shot up behind the ship, drenching everyone in the room. The ship rattled, but stayed intact.

Lamar, Bridge:

“Damage report?” asked the captain.

“Two engines unseated.” said the intercom. “Small fires, but the automatic suppression got them. A couple of fuel lines broken. I suspect that number four’s main propellor shaft might have cracked too. We’ll be making twenty knots at best now.”

“Roger that.” said the Admiral “All ships, cut speed to twenty knots. We’ll keep screening ourselves with CONTRALTO-V as we depart the area. Alter course to one nine five, and alert Nilwood harbor that we are inbound and need repairs. I’ll let the President know that the Fourth Ship Flotilla is no longer combat capable.”

HIDF Salanan, 10 nmi out from the Fourth Ship Flotilla:

“All torpedo tubes ready. Passive sonar is all online.” said the first lieutenant.

“Descend to ten meters above the seafloor.” said the captain “And cut to silent running. Let’s finish what the Hambleton started.”

Fifth Naval Aviation Brigade:

“Yes sir.” said the wing leader. “We have can have seven planes ready in fifteen minutes. Let’s go hunting.”

by **Llamaopia** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:23 pm

LSS Osiris

The ships were leaving now. The LSS Oisris was badly damaged. It couldn't keep up with them.

"Let's fire missiles and head back to Llamaopia. Plot a course back. Lets try to avoid the rest of the fleet. Prepare to dive and start heading south."

OOC: Note the Osiris maintains its original course while firing. Then it turns to head south.

"Firing!"

The Osiris launches about half of its payload. That is 5 bursts of 22 missiles each.

Then it dives, and tries to clear from Hale Isle waters to the south.

The rest of the fleet moves north while the lone frigate heads south to rondevous with the Osiris and provide an escort out of Hale Island waters.

by **Hale Isles** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 3:56 pm

HIDF Salanan:

“Sir, I’ve got something.” said the sonar operator, looking at one of his displays. The modern 12” screen sat directly next to a 256 pixel one-color display that offered an unwelcome reminder that the submarine was more than twenty years old.

“Is it the enemy submarine?” asked the captain, looking over.

“I think so, but I can’t get a proper fix on them.” said the sonar operator “There’s an increase in noise over here, but I can’t resolve it down to one location. I think they turned on their engines, but they’re still sitting low.”

“Ah, that’s better.” said the sonar operator. “They’re climbing a bit now. I’ve almost got them pinned down. Oh, huh. Noise spike. And another. And another. They’re launching missiles.”

“Turn towards them.” said the captain, and the submarine tilted as it angled towards the Osiris. “Order the torpedo bay to load two Shkavals.”

“Turn complete.” said the pilot “Speed to remain the same?”

“Affirmative.” said the captain “No need to be noisy when the torpedoes are much faster than us anyways.”

“This is the torpedo bay.” said the intercom “Tubes five and six loaded. Ready to fire.”

“Sonar, do we have a lock?” asked the captain.

“Yes, sir we do.” said the sonar operator “They are fairly noisy, sir. I guess Hambleton knocked them around quite a bit.”

“Good.” said the captain. “Torpedo tubes five and six, fire.”

The two torpedoes slid out of the tubes. As soon as they were safely clear of the submarine, their solid fuel rocket engines activated. The torpedoes shot away, their specially designed noses slicing through the water and encasing the torpedo in a bubble of air, minimising drag. They quickly sped up to 200 knots and began closing the 8 nautical mile distance to the target, one hundred and forty seconds away.

“Lets see if we can stop them before they fire too many of those.” said the captain watching the torpedoes shoot towards the blinking dot of noise on the sonar display.

by **Llamaopia** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:17 pm

LSS Osiris

"Sir, I have 2 torpedoes coming in fast."

"Deploy countermeasures. Prepare to fully surface."

Countermeasures shot out of the back of the Osiris. One of the torpedoes changed directions, hitting the countermeasure.

The explosion pushed the ship.

"One torpedo down. Reloading missile tubes."

The other torpedo just missed the second countermeasure and glanced the back of the sub.

"We're hit captain. Second missile set is away."

"Sir! I no longer have control over the engines."

"Damn. Get the remaining crew to the surface. Start to get to the surface."

"Sir, we're blocked in!"

"Can you get a message out?"

"No sir. We've took too much damage."

"Start thinking of ways to contact that sub."

by **Hale Isles** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:51 am

Report on the strike on Port Costa, 2155 hours:

The strike was completely effective. In addition to destroying all military radar and the island’s lone SAM site, the missiles also took out the radar at Port Costa’s regional airport, and blew up several radio towers.

Civilian deaths: 5
Civilians wounded: 8
Military personnel deaths: 9
Military personnel wounded: 23

The First Domestic Defence Flotilla is sailing for the location they believe the strike came from. ETA: 13.5 hours.

by **Hale Isles** » Fri Dec 19, 2014 3:15 pm

HIDF Salanan:

“The submarine is surfaced, sir.” said the sonar operator “At least one torpedo hit it. I doubt its a threat anymore.”

“Take us up to periscope depth.” said the captain “Extend the radio mast and raise the periscope.”

A tube extended down from the ceiling. The captain took it and looked into it.

“Oh yeah.” he said “He’s destroyed.”

The captain retracted the periscope and picked up the radio.

“This is HIDF Salanan.” he said “Enemy submarine is incapacitated. Requesting permission to move in to rescue survivors.”

“Negative.” said the radio. “We need you to locate the main fleet. Head in the direction the other torpedoes came from. Pegasus is breaking off the rescue the crew of the enemy submarine. By the way, no damage from that latest missile attack. You got him in time.”

“Glad to hear it.” said the captain. “Navigator, take us in the direction of those enemy torpedoes. We’ll snorkel briefly to refill O₂ reserves, then take us down to 200 meters under.”

HIDF Pegasus:

The corvette slipped out of formation and turned around to head back towards the Osiris. After about a minute it pulled up alongside. Three medics were dressed in wetsuits and waiting by the side of the ship.

“Attention hostile submarine.” boomed the ship’s loudspeakers “We are assuming your implied surrender, as your ship is no longer combat capable. We are going to me making an effort to rescue as many of your crew as possible. If you make any resistance, or take any hostile action whatsoever, we will send you straight to the bottom.”

“Go. Go. Go.” said the leader of the medic team. They tossed a climbing net over the side of the Pegasus, so that it dangled in the water, about a meter away from the submarine. They then climbed down and swam the short distance to the mostly-intact front of the submarine. The ship, controlled, tossed and rolled as they scrambled onto it, but all three managed to get on top safley. Fortunately, the sub managed to stay upright.

“Go for the front hatch.” said the leader of the medics. The group slowly worked their way forwards to the front hatch, where they saw that the distortion of the hull from a depth charge had jammed it shut.

“Number two, can you cut it?” asked the leader.

“Sure.” said the second medic. He stepped forwards and pulled out a cutting torch. Positioning himself near the hatch, he banged on it a couple times, trying to signal that, firstly, rescue was coming, and secondly, that it might not be a good idea to stand directly under the hatch. He then turned on the torch and began sawing through the metal. Less than a minute later, he finished the cut, and two of the medics lifted the hatch out onto the hull, where it promptly slid off into the ocean.

“Hello?” called out the leader of the medics into the hole “Is anyone in there?”

by **Llamaopia** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 1:16 pm

The sound of knocking on the door was a relief. The submariners had been trapped for a couple of hours.

"Hello?" A voice said, "Is anyone there?"

"Yes. We're here. Please help us."

by **Hale Isles** » Wed Dec 31, 2014 5:07 pm

HIDF Pegasus, alongside the Osiris:

“Okay, we’re going to get you out of there.” said the lead medic. He made a gesture, and one of the medics climbed down into the sub, lighting a flare as he went. The three then began getting the crew out of the submarine. The sailors looked well enough, so the lead medic just pointed them in the direction of the climbing net when they got out onto the sub’s hull and let them climb aboard the Pegasus themselves, where an armed team was waiting to receive them and escort them down to the medbay.

“Hey.” said the lead medic, grabbing one of the sub’s crew who looked like he was fairly calm and unphased by events compared to the rest “Is there anyone else aboard, and how should we get to them?”

The second medic walked over to the lead medic and whispered to him “Bridge advising an unexpected storm front is moving into the area. Sea state five in nine minutes, seven in fourteen. Potentially it might reach eight at an unknown time.”

“Team, we have eight minutes until we pull back to the Pegasus.” said the lead medic. He turned back to the Llamaopian sailor “Sorry, I got distracted. Did you say there was anyone else aboard?”

"Close air support covereth a multitude of sins." - Maxim 4 Congreveopia is an advanced MT nation, managed by the artificial superintelligence known as "Nexus". It is very active in global affairs, and loves manipulating nations to steer the future of the world.	Links: Online Information Repository Factbooks RPs
Equator Confederation wrote:Congreveopia has spoken. Do it now. Vancon wrote:Enter Cong, the smartest of our bunch. The United Remnants of America wrote:Except for Cong, whom I'm now decently sure is a superhuman being we should probably be worshipping.

The First Great War of Hale Isles(IC, Closed)

The First Great War of Hale Isles(IC, Closed)

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