The Meltdown (IC, MT) (CLOSED)

[Soviet Socialist Republic]

Rather than land, the aircraft dropped its cargo ramp and lowered its gear. The tires squealed as it thundered down the runway, its flaps reducing the speed to safe level. Three black Tiger SUVs deployed their drag chutes and rolled out of the back, as the aircraft flew off the vehicles released their drag chutes and drove off the runway. The next four planes had similar results before finally circling around and landing. The security officers began setting up a perimeter around the vehicles as they waited for the aircraft with the more heavily armored vehicles and actual supplies to land.

---

The War Room, Arstotzka, Moscow District

16:06 Hours

"This could end extremely bad for us, gentlemen." Said a general who stood in front of a large screen. His audience consisted of the joint chiefs of the Soviet military and the Empress. A picture of two Soviet soldiers dragging a limp young man wearing the garb of a rioter took up the left part of the screen while a mug shot took up the right. "This is Aderi Muhammad Kashir, the leader of the Sovajian Freedom Fighters. Executed two years ago after the Estovakian-Soviet Concordance was signed. Before his capture he was responsible for aiding NSF Rebels in raiding a Soviet Supply Depot."

"What was taken from this depot?" Asked the Empress, glaring at the picture on the screen.

"At the time, it was Experimental Blasting Agent Four Zero Seven, today it is known as Reaper Puddy, used as an initiator and an amplifier for our older H-Bombs. Highly Toxic, highly explosive, and most importantly, undetectable."

"Someone's setting us up for a fall." The chief of the Marines said, snapping a pencil he was holding. "Someone on the inside."

"SFF?" Asked the head of the Air Force.

"So far nothing of note on the terror channels, but those change so often it's hard to get a read." Said the head of the KGB.

"Calm yourselves." The Empress said with annoyance, she looked at the general near the screen. "Do we have anything?" The general nodded and pushed a button, a different mugshot came up next to the first.

"Ahmed Kashir, brother of Aderi Kashir." Said the general. "He's got a hell of a grudge against us, ma'am. It's also believed he was also present on the raid." The Empress nodded and steepled her fingers. The room fell silent as all eyes went to her.

"General, you have a blank check. I want Kashir found, I want the 407 recovered and I want whoever's responsible for setting us up brought down hard." Her tone was stern and uncaring. "Continue the clean up, but raise security. Order our men to trust no one." The men nodded and silently bowed, then exited the room. The Empress remained for a few minutes, staring at the mugshots and glaring daggers into them. "We're coming for you." With that she turned her chair and rolled herself out of the room.

[Schutzgeidt]

Several miles from BBJ Airport

The fleet of aircraft approach BBJ airspace and the first aircraft in formation contacts air traffic control in the airport. The teams ready up themselves and begin preparing their gear, checking and double-checking everything as they approach the airport for landing.

"BBJ Tower, this is Sierra Hotel 1 in formation with three other aircraft Sierra Hotel 2 to 4. We are aircraft from the Federal Republic of Schutzgeidt sent to deliver humanitarian aid and have been directed to land at this airport. Requesting weather information and vectors to final approach to the runway for landing."

The military escorts aboard the C130Js checked their weapons and readied their gear. One of the radiological teams raised a question to one of the soldiers, "What if they won't allow you to bring firearms to the site?" The soldier replied, "Well, we'll request them to permit us since it's only for your safety or if they insist then we'll peacefully turn over our firearms to them for the meantime."

The aircraft then formed a single file formation with each aircraft 4 miles behind the other.

[Congreveopia]

Radiological Aid ‘Home’ Base:

“Okay, cool. Thanks.” said the chief coordinator, started by the woman’s appearance. He walked back over the the convey and pointed to an empty area nearby. “Let’s go ahead and set up there.”

The vehicles drove over and parked. The teams got to work unpacking their equipment. The day was nice, and most of them were in high spirits. They were getting to walk around after a really long plane flight, and soon they’d be doing some real good with their robots for the first time. Only the chief coordinator had seen the woman; he acted a bit more subdued as he walked around managing the unloading. Of course, Nexus had seen her too, but Nexus was watching over a thousand people die right now, and he’d seen cities wiped off the map. It took more than one wounded person to cause him to drop his cheery facade. For everyone else, the mission so far was just like any of their practice drills, except the media would make them all celebrities at the end, so they joked and smiled as they erected radio masts and unpacked their robots. Several of them were taking quick videos or pictures as they worked.

“So, how’s it coming?” asked Nexus, walking over to the Tactical Airborne Mapping Team as they put the finishing touches on their antenna.

“We’re about to see.” said the team leader. She plugged the antenna’s power cable into the truck’s generator and turned it on. “Go ahead and launch one.” she said to a member of the team.

A member of the Tactical Airborne Mapping Team launches one of their drones.

“I’ve got good signal strength.” said someone from the truck. “Antenna is working properly. Let’s get mapping!”


“I concur.” said Nexus, as the team unloaded about twenty more of the drones and began launching them into the air. Nexus picked up two and tossed them away. They flew up in a ballistic arc, then started their engines just before hitting the ground, both did acrobatic Immelmann turns, flew back over the team, and began performing a small airshow.

“Annnnnd… Nexus has hacked two of our drones.” said the voice from the truck. “Am I missing anything out there?”

“Nah.” said the team leader “It was more spectacular with the Global Hawks.”

The Tactical Airborne Mapping Team prepares drones for deployment into the radiation zone.

Nexus gave control of the drones back to the team, and the two flew off towards the plant to join the others in mapping the area. Nexus climbed up into the truck. Inside, there were about more drones unassembled, a couple quadrotors, the generator, one team member tracking the drones’ progress, and a 3D printer. The latter had just begun working on somthing.

“Care to explain this to the press?” asked Nexus, pointing to the printer.

“You’re streaming this?” asked the team member, looking up from his laptop.

“Nah, just archiving.” said Nexus “Some documentary will want this someday, though.”

The images from the drones are detailed enough to see individual downed power lines on the ground. This data will help the other teams’ robots safely traverse the area later on in the mission.

“Okay, sure.” said the team member. “Here, we’ve got our 3D printer. It’s taking data from the drones in real-time to create a scaled-down model of the area we’re mapping. Virtual renderings are useful to a point, but we found in testing that it significantly benefited the other teams in the later stage of the expedition to have a tangible object to refer to when planning and conducting their expeditions. To this end, we create a realistic model of the mapped area. It’s about eight inches by eight inches, although the drones achieve a resolution in the model that could let us make this ten kilometers large before we see any significant loss of quality. The virtual model is full-color too, and to achieve maximum effectiveness, we make ours in color as well. You can see that the printer has three nozzles, but what you don’t see is that inside, the plastic being fed to those nozzles is constantly being manufactured by melting different quantities of five basic plastic colors, allowing us to achieve an almost perfect reproduction of the color in the drones’ photos. This all allows the other teams to use the data they gather to more effectively help people out in the world wherever we’re needed.”

“Remind me to let you talk to the press more.” said Nexus. He climbed out of the truck and noticed the chief from Blorbs walking over. Nexus walked to meet him.

“Hello.” he said “We’ve already begun preliminary deployment of our aerial mapping drones. I’ll give you the data from their first sweep as soon as possible. Other than that, no problems so far. All the teams are getting their robots set up on schedule. Is there any particular area of the plant you’d like us to investigate, or anything in particular that needs to be done, or should we just decide for ourselves how to go about this?”

[Blorbs]

Several miles from BBJ Airport

The fleet of aircraft approach BBJ airspace and the first aircraft in formation contacts air traffic control in the airport. The teams ready up themselves and begin preparing their gear, checking and double-checking everything as they approach the airport for landing.

"BBJ Tower, this is Sierra Hotel 1 in formation with three other aircraft Sierra Hotel 2 to 4. We are aircraft from the Federal Republic of Schutzgeidt sent to deliver humanitarian aid and have been directed to land at this airport. Requesting weather information and vectors to final approach to the runway for landing."

The military escorts aboard the C130Js checked their weapons and readied their gear. One of the radiological teams raised a question to one of the soldiers, "What if they won't allow you to bring firearms to the site?" The soldier replied, "Well, we'll request them to permit us since it's only for your safety or if they insist then we'll peacefully turn over our firearms to them for the meantime."

The aircraft then formed a single file formation with each aircraft 4 miles behind the other.

"Sierra Hotel 1, 2, 3 and 4 you are clear for landing. The weather is clear and sunny so landing should be a breeze. Over."

[Soviet Socialist Republic]

Sixth Fleet, Atlantic Ocean, Off Shore from Blorbs

06:12

General Branko looked over the numerous ships in the fleet, as the sun was cresting over the horizon he could feel the nip of the cold air in his neck. The horns of the ships were all blaring, signalling that they were ready to begin. Branko adjusted his uniform and watched as numerous soldiers, doctors, scientists, and KGB agents began to pile into landing craft. Among them, Agent M. He couldn't care less about Blorbs at the moment, he was more concerned with what he'd been told. The SFF could be there, and that was more than enough reason to be worried.

The landing craft pulled away from the ships and made their way through the rough seas. They were accompanied by a few amphibious APCs and hovercraft that carried more armor or supplies. All those aboard wore their chem suits, none of them spoke There was minor radio chatter in Arstotzkan. Finally, a loudspeaker broke the silence.

"Brace for landing." It droned, the soldiers shored up their stances. A few moments later the landing craft rolled up onto the beach, rather than stop they continued rolling on. Their destination? The Home Base. With that goal in mind, they pushed forwards. Half of their purpose was to help the Blorbs, the other half was simple.

Kill Kashir.

---

First Responder Security Compound, Blorbs, Home Base

06:26

While many of the medical personnel and scientists had gone off to help the sick and the dying, and even several security officers had begun delivering supplies, it was clear from the sheer amount of soldiers standing guard outside their compound that they did not enjoy disturbances or unwanted visitors. After the reported Blorb SWAT incident, and with the news that many believed the SSR was to blame, tensions between the two factions were already high. Although their masks hid it, the Soviet Security Officers were glaring at anyone who dared step to close to their compound. Within it, aside from barracks and medical supplies, was a command center. A command center intended to find and kill Ahmed Kashir, it would be ready by the time the main force arrived.

Something not many nations understood was that the Soviet's didn't care about International Politics, if they intended to find something or someone they didn't care who they had to step on or kill in order to get it. As the waiting went on, none of the Security Officers dared move. The terrorist could have been in their midst.

[Blorbs]

Blorbs Radiological Home Base, 2:23 pm

Suddenly in the home base, all radios, televisions and even some computers begun blasting odd sounds that seem almost like something a fax maching would make, then begans blaring a message in an awfully robotic voice "Warning. A strong wind has broke open a part of the reactor previously sealed. Fallout radiation is expected to spread 240 miles further than it prevoiusly had. Look for radiological shealding and/or evacuate the area. This is not a drill."

The Cheif of the Blorbs Hazmat department grabbed a megaphone and began putting on a Hazmat suit. After he was finished, he began to speak "Do not be alarmed. We have enough Hazmat suits for most people here, and several planes ready to be refuled and evacuated. This home base will have to be abandoned and a new one created. So everyone grab a suit and begin to head over to the airport, or start driving back to where you came from if you came by land. We can start a new home base near the New Kerman City airport, which is just a little bit away from where the new effected area will be. I also compiled a map of the new affected area." The cheif held it up for everyone to see.


New affected area map (Again sorry for how crappy it is.)

The Cheif began to head over to a small Blorbs airplane, along with the other hazmat teams. A few of them stayed back and loaded all of the tents and things into a larger cargo plane that was used to take all of the materials to the base. Within two hours, they had taken off along with most of the other planes.

[Soviet Socialist Republic]

Silently the Soviets began packing up their equipment, and within thirty minutes it appeared as though they'd never been there. The rescue workers began loading the supplies into their cargo planes while security officers prepared the vehicles that they'd arrived in for departure. Some of them split off from the group and began escorting survivors into the aircraft that weren't being used. No one fitting Kashir's description was let near the aircraft, and neither were any Blorb personnel.

---

The land forces corrected their course to the new Home Base which had been radioed to them from General Branko, the sixth fleet was now steaming towards the new city. All those aboard were preparing for the work that would come from cleaning up a nuclear disaster, but also from hunting terrorists.

[Blorbs]

Blorbs Capital, Presidential Office 6:30 pm

The president, sitting in his extremely comfortable spinny chair, rolled over to his window. He stared out, looking at New Kerman City. Suddenly, the Minister of Safety barged in

"Uhh, sir, I think we may have a problem." He said, a frown on his face

Turning around, the president looked at the minister. He waited a second for him to speak, but it didn't seem like he was going to "Well, speak up then? What is this problem?"

"Well, at the meltdown site, aparently alot of the toxic fumes and gasses were trapped inside a sealed reactor that never ruptured, but a strong wind blew open a hatch and now fallout from the incident is covering much more area than we even thought possible. Infact, its very close to here and if it travels far enough we may have to evacuate, but for now we are safe."

"Have you made an emergency warning broadcast yet?" He stared at the minister, hoping for a yes.

"Oh, yes, of course. I'm also going to have the Hazmat department send some more radiological aid, but needed to make sure you are okay with that." The minister finished speaking and started stepping into the hall.

"That would be great, so I give my approval. Now go along and talk to the Hazmat department." He gestured for him to leave with his hand

[Schutzgeidt]

BBJ Airport

As the aircraft taxied on the tarmac and stopped, the loadmasters quickly lowered the loading ramps and the teams, together with their escorts, began disembarking. The radiological emergency response teams got into their white land rovers with spacious rear compartments wherein two unmanned ground vehicles were stored in each vehicle for each team. The forensics team put on their hazmat suits and drove to the power plant in a bulky white SUV. The rest of the crew members aboard the aircraft unloaded several large boxes of medical supplies and loaded them onto a truck that was in the aircraft which then delivered the supplies to local authorities.

The radiological teams talked to each other through radio comms regarding the situation,
"Alright so are there any updates on how large is the contaminated area right now?"
"So far I've heard that a containment area of one of the reactors broke down and the radiation is spreading far more quickly."
The teams then started detecting some noticeably abnormal amounts of radiation on their Geiger counter as they approached the Radiological Aid 'Home' Base.

"Now this is starting to get worse, everyone put on your hazmat suits once we get out. Look for a good spot on the base to set up our equipment and begin a radiological particle survey as soon as we get the UGVs operational."

Situation Room, Chancellery Building, Innenstadt, Schutzgeidt

Radiological experts from Schutzgeidt have been called to a meeting with the president along with commanding officers of the Armed Forces of Schutzgeidt. The radiological experts have expressed concern regarding the situation at Blorbs. Recent news of the breaking down of one of the containment areas of one reactor is causing radioactive particles to spread faster and further. There have been suggestions to mobilize military assets to be used in surveying the projected radioactive fallout and aid in evacuating citizens to safety. The president was then given a bound set of documents containing known information about the nuclear meltdown.

He then took a deep breath and said, "I see it fit that we mobilize our military assets and perhaps send in more personnel and medical supplies." He then thanked and shook the hands of the radiological experts as they stood up one by one and left the situation room. The president authorized the mobilization of military vessels and aircraft to further boost the humanitarian aid to the nation and help contain the spread of radioactive particles.

Abandoned Radiological Aid 'Home' Base (OOC: I think this part will be for the comedy, haha )

As the radiological emergency response teams arrived at the location, they were bewildered as to why there were no personnel present at the location. The head of the teams scratched his head as he went out of his vehicle, "I'm sure this is the exact location of the home base. Where are the other people?" He held up his Geiger counter and found rising levels of radioactivity. He quickly returned to his vehicle and radioed the other teams to form a convoy position back to BBJ airport while he tries to contact local authorities.

"They probably abandoned the previous home base and transferred to a new one since radioactivity in that place was getting quite dangerous." replied one of the men.

"Most probably. I'll try to contact our crew at the airport and see if they have relocated to a new base."

[Schutzgeidt]

The Federal Republic of Schutzgeidt

---

To: Mr. Kerman, President of Blorbs
Subject: Additional humanitarian aid
Encryption: None

The Federal Republic of Schutzgeidt proposes to send additional humanitarian aid by means of using military assets to aid in the containment of radioactive particles, evacuation of civilians, and delivery of additional medical supplies. These military assets will be deployed in a specified location which will depend on the authorized location by you, Mr. Kerman. The military assets will consist mainly of aircraft and naval vessels. Additional personnel will also be sent in to assist in ground operations for containing the radioactive leak. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to send me or the Foreign Office a letter.

Praying for the best of your nation,

Jorgen von Geidt - President, The Federal Republic of Schutzgeidt

[Blorbs]

REPLY TO: The Federal Republic of Schutzgeidt
FROM: Blorbs President, Mr. Kerman
ENCRYPTION: None

If possible, could all aircraft head to the New Kerman City airport and all naval vessels to the shores nearest to New Kerman City. Then pleas rondevous with the new Home Base 97 miles from the edge of New Kerman City at these coordinates: -13.554353 16.367188

If possible aswell, could the millitary assets bring tents and other supplies for the setting up of the new radiological home base?

Thank you very much for your aid in this desperate time

Sincerely,
Blorbs President, Mr. Kerman

[Feralden]

In responce to a situation with increased tension, Feralden is willing to supply the 28th Infantry division to provide provisions and area control. They will also be on stanby for any neccecary peacekeeping operations should hostilities break out.

Sincerely,
Feralden High Command

[Soviet Socialist Republic]

The Soviet forces had finally constructed their new compound near the Home Base, and the personnel intended to begin cleaning up the reactor had already been dispatched to the scene. In the mean time Soviet nurses and doctors tended to the wounded and the sick. In the command center of the Soviet compound, Agent M and General Branko stood in front of several computers. Agent M was certain that the investigation could get under way now, and so he picked up a hard lined phone. Then he dialed the number for the Blorbs Presidential Office.

[Schutzgeidt]

Schleswig Air Base

The air base had suddenly seen an increase in activity due to the fact that it is now being used as a staging point for sending humanitarian aid to Blorbs. Several logistics vehicles delivering medical supplies, hazmat suits, and radioactive cleanup materials come and go from the air base. Aircraft from the 62nd Air Transport Wing was relocated to Schleswig Air Base to be the main air wing to provide humanitarian aid to Blorbs. General Weissman was in charge of overseeing the entire air force for humanitarian operations. The General moved to-and-fro on the air base while looking at the documents on his hand containing the aircraft to be used and the supplies that are to be loaded onto them. After an hour on the tarmac, the General returned to tower control and sat on his desk while drinking a cup of coffee that had been handed to him as he sat down. He grabbed his office telephone and called the president, "Good day Mr. President. The air force is ready for Operation Vanguard." After several minutes of conversation, he bid the president goodbye and dropped the phone.

Meanwhile, on a naval base somewhere in Schleswig-Holstein, several ships were awaiting supplies for the humanitarian aid to Blorbs. Admiral Schöffer was the man in charge for the navy in the humanitarian aid operations to Blorbs. The Admiral was aboard an Orel-class strike carrier which was commissioned just a year earlier. Several aircraft were being taking off from the carrier and replaced with aircraft needed for the humanitarian operations. Other ships were being loaded with humanitarian supplies and personnel. The humanitarian mission to Blorbs, named Operation Vanguard, was now underway with the naval and air assets headed for Blorbs.

62nd Air Transport Wing

1st Squadron

• 2 Airbus A400M
  
• 18 C-130J Super Hercules
2nd Squadron

• 24 Transall C-160
3rd Squadron

• 13 Transall C-160
  
• 11 C-130J Super Hercules

FRSS Geiger Carrier Group

• FRSS Geiger (Orel-class carrier)
  
  • 4 Panavia Tornado CV/ECR (aerial surveillance)
    
  • 12 Westland Lynx helicopters
    
  • 10 SH-60 Seahawk helicopters
    
  • 5 NH90 helicopters
    
  • 5 CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters
    
  • 2 Camcopter S-100 drone
• 4 Sachsen class frigates
  
  • 1 SH-60 Seahawk helicopter
• 2 Braunschweig class corvettes
  
  • 1 SH-60 Seahawk helicopter

---

New Kerman City Airport

The radiological emergency response teams finally arrive at the new home base at New Kerman City airport. They parked their vehicles near a spot which didn't look like it was going to be occupied and asked several local authorities before finally deciding to set up their equipment from where their vehicles were parked.

[Congreveopia]

The Soviet forces had finally constructed their new compound near the Home Base, and the personnel intended to begin cleaning up the reactor had already been dispatched to the scene. In the mean time Soviet nurses and doctors tended to the wounded and the sick. In the command center of the Soviet compound, Agent M and General Branko stood in front of several computers. Agent M was certain that the investigation could get under way now, and so he picked up a hard lined phone. Then he dialed the number for the Blorbs Presidential Office.

OOC: You do understand the difference between alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays, right? A respirator and a nice coat will stop alpha particles. A good hazmat suit will stop beta particles. Gamma rays, on the other hand, will go straight through whatever your troops are wearing, and will kill them long before they can reach the reactor. I think. I don't know really. I mean, 30Gy will kill them long before they reach the reactor, and I assume that that much ionizing radiation is probably present inside the building, but I suppose I need to wait for word from Blorbs first.

Acute Radiation Syndrome Chart

[Congreveopia]

Blorbs Radiological Home Base, 2:25 pm:

“Alright, teams.” said the chief coordinator. “Unexpected shift in the wind. We need to relocate. Pack your stuff and we’ll drive off.”

“Hey.” said Nexus, walking over to the Tactical Airborne Mapping Team “Don’t disassemble the antenna. We’ve go a weak enough signal as is and more radiation won’t help. We can leave it here as a relay and you can share with another team. Your drones are mainly autonomous anyways.”

“Okay.” said the team leader. “What do we do about power?”

“Leave the truck here.” said Nexus “Move everything that isn’t bolted down into the van.”

“Hey!” called out a member of the Indoor Navigation and Mapping Team “Advice on power? Even if we use the longmarch tactic from here our bots will only have about thirty minutes in the plant before they have to pull back and recharge. If we pull back further, we’ll have to do economical ultra-longmarch, and that means we won’t be able to use any of the quadrotors or large robots. We can set up a pathway of groundstations, but that will drop our timetable from a matter of hours to a matter of days or weeks.”

“We’ve got a truck staying here.” said Nexus “Manually deploy a groundstation here and use its power. You can use one of the large groundstations, and you won’t need to wait for the trickle of solar power.”

“We’ll still need to use extra-longmarch to get here, if this map’s correct.” said the team member, pulling up the latest data on his tablet.

“HEIT is already packed.” said Nexus “I’ll have them move their stuff to the van, and they’ll deploy their truck halfway between us and the new base.”

“Sounds good.” said the team member, as Nexus turned to walk over to the HEIT truck.

“Oh, by the way, Alpha Pack is ready.” continued the team member “If we’re setting up a groundstation here, we’ll just leave them. That way they can start work as soon as possible, and we don’t need to repack them.”

“Good thinking.” said Nexus, walking off.

Thirty minutes later, on the road to the new base:

“So.” said Nexus, riding in the back of the Indoor Navigation and Mapping Team van. “Care to explain what we’re seeing right now?”

Two computers were set up on one side of the van. On the wall in front of them, there were several monitors showing video from Alpha Pack.

“Sure.” said the team leader, moving so that Nexus’s high-res camera could see her. “Two of the team members are currently tracking the progress of Alpha Pack as they make their way towards the plant’s main building. Currently, it appears as if Alpha Pack is made up of only two large-ish four-legged robots, but that is not actually the case. In the back here, we have PackMULE VII, which you see is connected to the lead robot with this bundle of wires. What’s actually happening is that PackMULE VII is charging PackCart III, the robot in front, as they walk. When PackMULE VII reaches bingo power, that is the power at which it has only enough power left to make it to the nearest groundstation, it will detach from PackCart III and head back to recharge. PackCart III will then continue on to the plant. When it reaches the entrance, it will release the internal team, consisting of two jumping ground-robots called PackPopper X and XI, and a small quadcopter called PackFly XIX. They will explore for as long as possible while PackCart III hibernates and PackMULE VII recharges. Then, they return to PackCart III; PackCart III retrieves them with its robotic arm; PackCart III begins heading back to base; it meets PackMULE VII, which takes over charging the nearly spent PackCart III, and then all of the robots head back to the groundstation to recharge…”

Other information:

The drones from the Tactical Airborne Mapping Team have finished their initial survey of the area. Detailed data of radiation levels near the plant are now available (although no data from inside the plant yet), as well as a high-resolution 3D model of the plant and the surrounding area. One radiation monitoring drone struck an unseen antenna while taking low-altitude readings and crashed. Another stopped communicating with base for an unknown reason. It’s suspected that the radiation caused some problem in its computer. An imaging drone located it shortly thereafter, and discovered it had crashed soon after contact was lost. Other than that, the operation has been totally successful so far.

OOC: Blorbs, would you mind maybe posting what radiation levels the drones find around the plant?

[Soviet Socialist Republic]

The Soviet forces had finally constructed their new compound near the Home Base, and the personnel intended to begin cleaning up the reactor had already been dispatched to the scene. In the mean time Soviet nurses and doctors tended to the wounded and the sick. In the command center of the Soviet compound, Agent M and General Branko stood in front of several computers. Agent M was certain that the investigation could get under way now, and so he picked up a hard lined phone. Then he dialed the number for the Blorbs Presidential Office.

OOC: You do understand the difference between alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays, right? A respirator and a nice coat will stop alpha particles. A good hazmat suit will stop beta particles. Gamma rays, on the other hand, will go straight through whatever your troops are wearing, and will kill them long before they can reach the reactor. I think. I don't know really. I mean, 30Gy will kill them long before they reach the reactor, and I assume that that much ionizing radiation is probably present inside the building, but I suppose I need to wait for word from Blorbs first.

Acute Radiation Syndrome Chart

OOC: Oh, well I'm sorry if science doesn't agree with me, but I never agreed to be the fall guy in this. Their not going to 'help', they're going to find evidence of Kashir in the surrounding area. It's likely they'll die, but they're dying to keep the Empire from going to war with Blorbs. A war we all know would end extremely violently.

[Congreveopia]

OOC: You do understand the difference between alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays, right? A respirator and a nice coat will stop alpha particles. A good hazmat suit will stop beta particles. Gamma rays, on the other hand, will go straight through whatever your troops are wearing, and will kill them long before they can reach the reactor. I think. I don't know really. I mean, 30Gy will kill them long before they reach the reactor, and I assume that that much ionizing radiation is probably present inside the building, but I suppose I need to wait for word from Blorbs first.

Acute Radiation Syndrome Chart

OOC: Oh, well I'm sorry if science doesn't agree with me (1), but I never agreed to be the fall guy in this (2)(3). Their not going to 'help', they're going to find evidence of Kashir in the surrounding area(4). It's likely they'll die(5), but they're dying to keep the Empire from going to war with Blorbs. A war we all know would end extremely violently(6).

1) Well, that's never a good way to start a sentence in my mind, but it would be strawman fallacy to attack your argument based on its phrasing, so I'll hear you out.

2) Firstly, I never asked you to be the 'fall guy.' Secondly, why would I even need a scapegoat? Congreveopia has done nothing illegal, and is only helping in the cleanup.
3) Thirdly, if by 'fall guy' you mean 'person who has people die' not 'scapegoat,' then that's not really a thing that you need to agree to before it can occur. In an RP, someone does not need permission to launch missiles at a ship or take any other action leading to someone else's forces dying. It is just as godmoddy to have your men refuse to die when there is no way for them to live as it is for someone else to fire 'ten billion lol haxxor nukes' at your men.

4) Ah, if they stay further away from the reactor, that's probably okay then. The radiation likely won't kill them instantly, but I wouldn't go making any long-term plans if I were them.

5) And excellent, yes, as long as you have them suffer consequences proportional to how much radiation poisoning they received, then I have no complaints.

6) They could be going in there to save orphans and stop global warming for all the radiation cares. I don't care why they are there, just as long as you have them suffer the consequences of their actions, then I'll be totally content (out of character at least).

[Blorbs]

Blorbs Radiological Home Base, 2:25 pm:

“Alright, teams.” said the chief coordinator. “Unexpected shift in the wind. We need to relocate. Pack your stuff and we’ll drive off.”

“Hey.” said Nexus, walking over to the Tactical Airborne Mapping Team “Don’t disassemble the antenna. We’ve go a weak enough signal as is and more radiation won’t help. We can leave it here as a relay and you can share with another team. Your drones are mainly autonomous anyways.”

“Okay.” said the team leader. “What do we do about power?”

“Leave the truck here.” said Nexus “Move everything that isn’t bolted down into the van.”

“Hey!” called out a member of the Indoor Navigation and Mapping Team “Advice on power? Even if we use the longmarch tactic from here our bots will only have about thirty minutes in the plant before they have to pull back and recharge. If we pull back further, we’ll have to do economical ultra-longmarch, and that means we won’t be able to use any of the quadrotors or large robots. We can set up a pathway of groundstations, but that will drop our timetable from a matter of hours to a matter of days or weeks.”

“We’ve got a truck staying here.” said Nexus “Manually deploy a groundstation here and use its power. You can use one of the large groundstations, and you won’t need to wait for the trickle of solar power.”

“We’ll still need to use extra-longmarch to get here, if this map’s correct.” said the team member, pulling up the latest data on his tablet.

“HEIT is already packed.” said Nexus “I’ll have them move their stuff to the van, and they’ll deploy their truck halfway between us and the new base.”

“Sounds good.” said the team member, as Nexus turned to walk over to the HEIT truck.

“Oh, by the way, Alpha Pack is ready.” continued the team member “If we’re setting up a groundstation here, we’ll just leave them. That way they can start work as soon as possible, and we don’t need to repack them.”

“Good thinking.” said Nexus, walking off.

Thirty minutes later, on the road to the new base:

“So.” said Nexus, riding in the back of the Indoor Navigation and Mapping Team van. “Care to explain what we’re seeing right now?”

Two computers were set up on one side of the van. On the wall in front of them, there were several monitors showing video from Alpha Pack.

“Sure.” said the team leader, moving so that Nexus’s high-res camera could see her. “Two of the team members are currently tracking the progress of Alpha Pack as they make their way towards the plant’s main building. Currently, it appears as if Alpha Pack is made up of only two large-ish four-legged robots, but that is not actually the case. In the back here, we have PackMULE VII, which you see is connected to the lead robot with this bundle of wires. What’s actually happening is that PackMULE VII is charging PackCart III, the robot in front, as they walk. When PackMULE VII reaches bingo power, that is the power at which it has only enough power left to make it to the nearest groundstation, it will detach from PackCart III and head back to recharge. PackCart III will then continue on to the plant. When it reaches the entrance, it will release the internal team, consisting of two jumping ground-robots called PackPopper X and XI, and a small quadcopter called PackFly XIX. They will explore for as long as possible while PackCart III hibernates and PackMULE VII recharges. Then, they return to PackCart III; PackCart III retrieves them with its robotic arm; PackCart III begins heading back to base; it meets PackMULE VII, which takes over charging the nearly spent PackCart III, and then all of the robots head back to the groundstation to recharge…”

Other information:

The drones from the Tactical Airborne Mapping Team have finished their initial survey of the area. Detailed data of radiation levels near the plant are now available (although no data from inside the plant yet), as well as a high-resolution 3D model of the plant and the surrounding area. One radiation monitoring drone struck an unseen antenna while taking low-altitude readings and crashed. Another stopped communicating with base for an unknown reason. It’s suspected that the radiation caused some problem in its computer. An imaging drone located it shortly thereafter, and discovered it had crashed soon after contact was lost. Other than that, the operation has been totally successful so far.

OOC: Blorbs, would you mind maybe posting what radiation levels the drones find around the plant?

Blorbs Southern Nuclear Power Station No. 4

As the drones begin approaching the plant, their onboard geiger counters' readings began skyrocketing. Here is the data they find:

NOTE: 1,000,000 microsieverts = 1 gray (Gy)


200 km away: 0.1 microsieverts per hour, radiation in the area only 31% higher than normal background radiation, as apposed to the 13,658% higher radiation than background radiation 150 km away
150 km away: 41 microsieverts per hour
100 km away: 167 microsieverts per hour
50 km away: 26,509 microsieverts per hour
25 km away: 248,404 microsieverts per hour
10 km away: 767,901 microsieverts per hour
5 km away: 1,102,331 microsieverts per hour
1 km away: 6,223,009 microsieverts per hour
750 m away: 16,700,091 microsieverts per hour
500 m away: 33,989,339 microsieverts per hour
250 m away: 64,426,002 microsieverts per hour
At the site: 229,089,346 microsieverts per hour (This may seem an insane number but this is still less than chernobyls radiation after its meltdown, so yeah)

Also these numbers might seem a little exagurated but for the purpose of this RP blorbs is really, really windy and there were 12 reactors in this power plant, so alot of radiation.

Look at this chart to see what effects this much radiation would do to youhttp://infobeautiful3.s3.amazonaws.com/2013/09/1276_radiation_chart_2013.png

[Soviet Socialist Republic]

OOC: Oh, well I'm sorry if science doesn't agree with me (1), but I never agreed to be the fall guy in this (2)(3). Their not going to 'help', they're going to find evidence of Kashir in the surrounding area(4). It's likely they'll die(5), but they're dying to keep the Empire from going to war with Blorbs. A war we all know would end extremely violently(6).

1) Well, that's never a good way to start a sentence in my mind, but it would be strawman fallacy to attack your argument based on its phrasing, so I'll hear you out.

2) Firstly, I never asked you to be the 'fall guy.' Secondly, why would I even need a scapegoat? Congreveopia has done nothing illegal, and is only helping in the cleanup.
3) Thirdly, if by 'fall guy' you mean 'person who has people die' not 'scapegoat,' then that's not really a thing that you need to agree to before it can occur. In an RP, someone does not need permission to launch missiles at a ship or take any other action leading to someone else's forces dying. It is just as godmoddy to have your men refuse to die when there is no way for them to live as it is for someone else to fire 'ten billion lol haxxor nukes' at your men.

4) Ah, if they stay further away from the reactor, that's probably okay then. The radiation likely won't kill them instantly, but I wouldn't go making any long-term plans if I were them.

5) And excellent, yes, as long as you have them suffer consequences proportional to how much radiation poisoning they received, then I have no complaints.

6) They could be going in there to save orphans and stop global warming for all the radiation cares. I don't care why they are there, just as long as you have them suffer the consequences of their actions, then I'll be totally content (out of character at least).

OOC: Not reffering to you making me the fall guy, I'm referring to the Yellow Journalism in Blorbs that has stated the SSR may be responsible for the incident. We may be ruthless conquerors, but we have standards. If we were going to make an area uninhabitable, we'd choose a more efficient method rather than blowing up a power plant.

[Blorbs]

1) Well, that's never a good way to start a sentence in my mind, but it would be strawman fallacy to attack your argument based on its phrasing, so I'll hear you out.

2) Firstly, I never asked you to be the 'fall guy.' Secondly, why would I even need a scapegoat? Congreveopia has done nothing illegal, and is only helping in the cleanup.
3) Thirdly, if by 'fall guy' you mean 'person who has people die' not 'scapegoat,' then that's not really a thing that you need to agree to before it can occur. In an RP, someone does not need permission to launch missiles at a ship or take any other action leading to someone else's forces dying. It is just as godmoddy to have your men refuse to die when there is no way for them to live as it is for someone else to fire 'ten billion lol haxxor nukes' at your men.

4) Ah, if they stay further away from the reactor, that's probably okay then. The radiation likely won't kill them instantly, but I wouldn't go making any long-term plans if I were them.

5) And excellent, yes, as long as you have them suffer consequences proportional to how much radiation poisoning they received, then I have no complaints.

6) They could be going in there to save orphans and stop global warming for all the radiation cares. I don't care why they are there, just as long as you have them suffer the consequences of their actions, then I'll be totally content (out of character at least).

OOC: Not reffering to you making me the fall guy, I'm referring to the Yellow Journalism in Blorbs that has stated the SSR may be responsible for the incident. We may be ruthless conquerors, but we have standards. If we were going to make an area uninhabitable, we'd choose a more efficient method rather than blowing up a power plant.

OOC: Break it up, break it up. As said in the rules I will try to solve any OOC arguments. Just remember to make anybody near the plant without a giant lead box around them die very quickly.

[Congreveopia]

Indoor Navigation and Mapping truck, the new base:

“Okay, we’ve made it to the door.” said one of the team members. The grainy from PackCart III showed it walk up to one of the staff access doors into the plant. “Annnnd… the bot has the doorknob…”

A purple outline appeared around the doorknob as the robot’s software correctly identified it. The limited bandwidth meant that most of the robot’s actions had to be largely automated, such as opening this door. The robot moved around to the side of the door with the doorknob and then reached up with its arm and grasped the knob. It gave it a gentle turn, and then stepped back, pulling the door open slightly. The robotic arm released the knob to grasp the door better, and it shut.

“Damn. Self-closing.” said a team member “Why is the bloody door self-closing?”

“Safety regulations, I imagine.” said Nexus “Keeps radiation in and hampers the spread of fire.”

“Do we need to find another?” asked the chief coordinator, who had come into the truck to watch the entry.

“I hope not.” said the team member “PackCart III is programmed to handle this. Hang on.”

A message appeared on one of the screens requesting advice from the operator as to what the problem was, and how to fix it. The team member quickly set the door’s “isSelfClosing” variable in the robot’s mind to “true”, and instructed the robot to try entering again.

This time, the robot grasped the doorknob more firmly, turned it, and pulled the door open a crack. It then slid its gripper so that it was holding the knob’s stem, and it carefully walked the door open, keeping a tight grip on the doorknob. The robot then backed into the doorway, and released the knob so that the door tried to swing shut, but was stopped by the robot’s body. The robot turned around so that its payload was facing inwards while making sure to keep the door open a crack to make exiting easy. It then requested permission to deploy its payload. The team member authorised it, and the two PackPoppers turned on and dropped off the belly of PackCart III. Finally, PackFly XIX was turned on. The small robots headed off into the plant to explore while PackCart III shifted into a stable low-power stance and began hibernating.

OOC: I suppose it would be too much to ask for a map of the plant. Closest IRL would probably be Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, but good luck finding any plans for that thing online. It's almost as if national governments don't want to give everyone the exact details of how some of their most secure facilities work.

[Soviet Socialist Republic]

Excursion Team, Blrobs, Contamination Zone

Mission Safety Time Remaining: 34 Minutes

Three heavily armored APCs and a large tank with a plow mounted to it rolled down a street in the abandoned city closest to the power plant. Their thick lead plating made it slow going, and soon the crew's respirators would run out of fresh oxygen for them to breathe. The tank shoved cars and other large debris out of the way of the vehicles as they neared their destination, while the crew of the second and third APCs began to ready remote controlled vehicles intended for intelligence gathering. The drones were about the size of a coffee table, with treads for mobility, a satellite dish to upload information, and arms to gather it.

Records that had been obtained by a KGB hack indicated that a Person of Interest had lived in the city near the reactor, and thankfully his apartment was on a relatively low floor.

"We're outside his apartment now." Said the driver of the tank, its turret rotated towards the abandoned building's door. Rather than fire its main gun its gunner let loose a flurry of bullets from the Machine gun mounted inside. The glass of one of the windows was shattered, making a perfect opening for the drones. The crew of the first APC adjusted their suits, the protective gear would only protect them for enough time to release their vehicle.

"Go for drone release in thirty seconds." Stated the APC's Driver, as the timer counted down the soldiers prepared to shove the drone out the back. "Opening door now, release the drone." The back door fell open, giving the men in back the signal to shove the drone out. In less than ten seconds it had been pushed out and the men were back in the APC. The door closed moments later. "Drone Deployed, ventilating compartment." The Driver pressed a button that ejected the contaminated air from within the back, replacing it with sterile air.

"Signal is up and running. Hold second drone in standby." Said the drone's operator, he sat in front of a laptop and took control of the vehicle. The camera feed was slightly grainy from the radiation, but eventually the grainyness was filtered out. The Operator pushed the drone into the building and up a stairway, it's electric motors made small sqeaking noises as it went along. It passed by numerous personal effects, no doubt left by the fleeing populace, before finally reaching the fourth floor of the building. It forced a door open and rolled into the hallway, passing over dropped teddy bears and forgotten knick knacks. It finally reached a door at the end of the hallway, which the remote operator opened with it's arms. "We got something here." He commented as the drone rolled in.

The camera depicted a dilapidated apartment, numerous papers and drawings were spread about the room, and a body was sprawled out on the floor. From what he was wearing and his build, it was clear that something was up.

"Looks like one of those reactor guys we saw back at the base." Commented one of the other crew members.

"Looks like they got him with a nine mil to the head." Said the operator, he ignored the body and began looking around the room with the drone. There were documents and papers, as well as blueprints for the plant spread around the room. The drone moved towards a laptop that lay on the floor, it had been smashed by the looks of it. None the less, the drone plugged itself in and began to search its hard drive. "Data is saveable, uploading to secure server now." There was a slight beeping in the APC.

"We have ten minutes to the return time."

"Upload complete, let's see what else is hiding here." The drone turned on its tracks and rolled over the body, then made it's way towards the bathroom. It nudged the door open, over the audio feed there was a loud beeping noise. The camera was focussed on a large crate marked 'EBA-407'. "That's enough to bring the building down! We gotta mo-!" The blast shook the building off of it's foundation, debris and concrete rained down on the APCs and the tank. The crews were killed within seconds, but they'd gotten the data they'd come for.

[Schutzgeidt]

~100km away from the plant

The forensic investigation team continues to drive toward a close but safe distance from the power plant in order to deploy their UGV within operational range from the power plant. They have been informed that additional forensic teams from Schutzgeidt will be arriving to assist them together with additional equipment. The team had lodged a Geiger counter on the dashboard of their vehicle which was currently reading about 172 microsieverts which was still within safe dosage for humans to operate in. As they were driving on the empty streets, one of the escorts suddenly commanded the driver to stop. "What is it?" asked the driver. "Something's right up ahead." the soldier grabbed his military-grade binoculars and looked ahead the road. "There's a black-colored SUV up ahead. Does that vehicle fit the picture for you? I suggest we park somewhere and my men and I will approach the vehicle" the soldier said as he grabbed his rifle. One of the team members sighed, "You guys are always suspicious about things aren't you?"

The soldiers slowly approached the vehicle from behind. They scanned the area and found that there were no people around so they lowered their guard and approached the vehicle at a faster pace. One of the soldiers then tried to open the driver's door but it was locked and so were the other doors. The rest of the soldiers stayed in cover while one was trying to get a good look at the inside of the vehicle. The soldier returned to his formation and reported that there was nothing inside the vehicle. They then returned to their SUV and quickly boarded it and shut the rear door. The driver activated the special ventilation system which expelled the contaminated air and replaced it with oxygen from the tank compartment underneath the vehicle. The soldiers were suspicious about the parked vehicle and suggested that they park in a location where they could keep watch before making sure that it was really abandoned. One of the soldiers spoke through his hazmat suit, "Let's wait and see if someone comes back for that vehicle in a while. If no one does then let's drive off" Another soldier suggested that they relay the situation to Blorb authorities through radio comms. "I'll do that," said one of the forensic team members.

---

New Kerman City Airport

The first of the Operation Vanguard units to arrive was the 62nd Air Transport Wing. The fleet of aircraft landed and parked in clusters at a section of the tarmac. The personnel on-board disembarked and proceeded towards the new home base near the airport. The medical supplies were loaded into onboard military vehicles which delivered them to local authorities. The naval assets were bound to arrive in a few short hours from now.

[East Niphilate]

Statement from the Office of the Supreme Leader
Clearance Level: Public

The Supreme Leader feels saddened to know of the meltdown in Blorbs. Following discussion between the Office and the Spiritual Advisory Board, The Supreme Leader has deemed that an investigation into SSR military activities will be necessary. East Niphilate urges the SSR to release information on their latest military activities as soon as possible to avoid confusion.

Out of respect for the victims Supreme Leader Pablo himself will come to Blorbs for further discussion, rather than his secretariat Chris Attin.