Don't Save Us From The Flames [IC, Closed]

[Jedoria]

“Therefore, it is likely we will have to make concessions to the Chacoans. Their support in the coming weeks would be most valuable, and we call ill afford to start losing allies at this point.” Dragomir Rotaru, Foreign Minister of the Jedorian Confederation, concluded his report and sat down at the conference table. Around him the current members of the Duke's cabinet were present, in various stages of attention, more or less watching either the foreign minister or the Duke. Constantin Zaharia himself rested in his chair without movement, eyes still on the foreign minister. He spoke without breaking his gaze. “What do you believe will have to be done to placate the Chacoans?”

“Ideally we will make good in their eyes without compromising current operations.” Rotaru replied. “The Edomites will likely remain unsatisfied.”

“Who cares?” Haralamb Rusu, the Minister of Culture, loudly proclaimed. “They now seek to make idle threats and grandiose claims about their capabilities, but to whom? They have no leverage among our allies, and once the Chacoans and Latins are pacified they'll have nothing left but hard power to fall back on.”

“It's not quite so simple.” Rotaru pointed out. “The Adirans are already firmly entrenched within Fineberg's sphere of influence. Most other powers already friendly to the Edomites will fall in line, yes, but their ability to interfere with our affairs at the present is limited.”

“How credible is this threat, then?” Zaharia asked.

Rotaru considered the question for a moment before answering. “Difficult to say. The Edomites can't really threaten us by themselves; they require the assistance of allies both in diplomacy and in the vent of armed confrontation. They can attempt to limit trade but our partners in the CTO can be swayed to remain with us with some effort, minimizing the economic repercussions. Our focus on the CTO has limited our reliance on trade from other states enough that the repercussions will be minimal. Worse comes to worse, there are plans in place on how to deal with decreases in trade revenue, though that will remain an option of last resort.”

“In military matters the Edomites will certainly attempt to rally foreign states to their cause. They can't hope to best us alone; we out number them in too many fields for them to fight us one on one.”

Minister of Defense Remus Gherghel recognized when the ball was in his court and spoke up. “Obvious Edomite allies include the Romans, Imperium, and the Vozgarnor. All however, have their limits; the Romans are not exactly the most capable of militay powers, and the Imperials will be forced to support a war effort far from their shores. Their reliance on such protracted supply lines would make their support limited. Our forces on the Vozgarnor border and the nature of the border itself would be enough to hold them at bay. Much of the situation will depend on how we handle the relationship between our allies and ourselves.”

“And perhaps, the Shraileeni.” Rotaru added. Zaharia and Gherghel both raised their eyebrows at this, and even Rusu seemed confused.

“The Shrailleeni occupy a unique position.” Rotaru explained. “They are allies with the Edomites but they are our siblings as well. Fighting us would be morally reprehensible, an undertaking used only a a last resort. While I do believe that the Shrailleeni would ultimately choose to honor their alliance with the Edomites over us, it's not very black and white at all.”

“The Shrailleeni present themselves as the makers of peace. Their alliance with both Deadora and New Edom has shown their willingness to act as a go between, and a willingness to stake their reputation on it. We saw similar events with Gloria Regis.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Minister of Internal Affairs Otilia Țurcanu asked.

“The situation in Gloria Regis is a rather telling one.” Rotaru explained. “The Shrailleeni have tied themselves to that ship; now that it is in troubled waters, they are as well. The Edomites and the Shrailleeni are clearly at a standoff with regards to the Commonwealth and the feminist issue all together. The Shrailleeni won't abandon Gloria Regis, but neither will New Edom. But the Commonwealth has a lot of enemies, and it puts the Shrailleeni in a bad position. If the Edomites force a confrontation it could end very poorly for the Shrailleeni.”

“Which means they need a new leverage point. Us.”

There were glances exchanged around the room, but Zaharia nodded for Rotaru to continue. “The Edomites are likely to contact all their allies to support them, even the Shrai despite recent events. We can't simply ignore the Mother Empress, Mother Gaia would frown upon it. But neither can the Shrailleeni move directly against us. So they'll seek to play the role of the peace maker.”

“By acting as a go between?” Minister of the Economy Daniel Ghimpu asked.

“Sort of. More like making it so peace is dependent on them. If they make it seem like conflict between us and the Edomite rests on Shrailleeni influence, it gives them the advantage.”

“So they'll try to play us.” Rusu said with a frown.

“Of course.” Rotaru said bluntly. “Would we do any different?”

---

Field Marshall Bianca Cernea was already a busy woman, and her workload did not get any lighter. With the Edomites clearly stating their willingness to use armed conflict to enforce their demands, it became the main objective of the Field Marshall and the Joint Chief of Staff to ensure that the Confederation was ready to send the infidels running back to the swamps that spawned them. As she had already outlined, the Field Marshall made the necessary moves to commence the expansion of the Jedorian reserves, with the aim of creating a sizeable pool of manpower that the Confederate Armed Forces could call upon if need be. At the present, the armed forces had a little under two million men in reserve across all branches compared to a little over one and a half million active duty personnel. Cernea's aim was to create an inactive reserve of personnel with military training that could be called upon if needed. These citizens would voluntarily take part in training events based on the same initial entry training all soldiers enlisting in the armed forces had to undertake. Instead of afterwards becoming soldiers and assigned to units, these citizens would be paid and then returned to civilian life. If ever needed, these trained citizens could then be called up and activated and sent into unit formations where they would continue what training they needed or be rolled into the active duty forces.

Cernea had strongly voiced her objections to the paramilitary and militia forces some members of the nationalist government had called for. Experience fighting the PIF in Peregrino, the Eternal Crusade in Ashab and the Vengeance of Allah in New Othman had formed a bad view of such irregulars in the minds of the Confederate senior officers. While they made occasionally pull off the successful ambush or raid, overall they simply couldn't match conventional forces toe to toe. And the operational objectives they were capable of reaching were often limited, and not always guaranteed to matter much. Insurgencies could compromise political will and desire, but they couldn't destroy divisions or wreck industry. Cernea insisted that any free and able bodied citizen available for drafting be incorporated into the armed forces where they would actually do some good. “The man who picks up a rifle to defend his home may sound nice for propaganda, but it's not going to do us any good when he gets crushed underneath a tank.” She told Minister of Defense Gherghel hotly when the Minister suggested forming a Provincial Army composed of paramilitary forces and volunteer fighters whom would supply their own arms and equipment.

Cernea offered instead her own outline of the inactive reserve, which she presented to the Joint Chief of Staff and the Duke himself. She had meticulously sat down and worked out the numbers and details necessary for the implementation of her plan, and while her efforts were commended, many held their reservations.

“80,000 tanks? Where in the hell are we going to get the resources to build 80,000 freaking tanks?” Was one of the comments she often received.

“It's not all at once.” She would explain calmly. “But arming 3,000,000 personnel is going to take a lot of equipment. That's 264 divisions based on the reserve model. Yes, it's a lot and it's impossible to do all at once, but that's why it's supposed to be implemented in stages. Over the course of several years. This would give us combat ready formations that would actually have an impact on the battlefield, not just some rag tag group of freedom fighters who's only mission capability would be random hit and runs because they have no fire support or armor.”

Cernea would continue to insist on the adoption of her plan as the key to ensuring success in any foreseeable confrontation. To the Field Marshall, war was won by logistics, operations and doctrine. Numbers, sustainment, and organization would be the difference between victory and defeat. Many of her nationalist associates had their reservations, and it was still a fight to convince them otherwise.

[Jedoria]

Night had already fallen in the island of Peregrino as the first of a series of transport aircraft began their approach to Joint Base Alexandru, the main base of operations for Jedorian forces on Peregrino. As night had come so had the rain, courtesy of tropical storms farther out in the Tempesta , which flung thunder storms east towards the continent of Acheron repeatedly during the summer and spring times. As fall began these storms became less frequent, this was probably one of the last major ones, though smaller disturbances would probably spring up infrequently over the next month. The Confederates liked to use these storms to mask movements. The wind and rain had a habit of interfering with radar and radios, but the X band air traffic control systems located in Alexandru could see through the precipitation a bit easier than most other bands.

“Cephei 3 you are cleared to land, decrease to 200 knots and bank right 28 on approach.”

“Aff tower, Cephei 3 slowing to 200 knots.”

Cephei 3 did as it was ordered and lowed it's landing gear, pivoting slightly to compensate for the gusts of wind blowing across the sky. The CCJ-570T was a massive strategic air lifter capable of moving immense quantities of equipment and supplies by air. By now crews like the ones piloting Cephei 3 had run numerous flights from Jedoria to places like New Othman and Chaco, supporting Confederate forces there. By comparison, the flight to Peregrino was rather short, but adding in the storms made it a bit more challenging. The pilots however, successfully managed to land, the sound of screeching tires on the tarmac heard across the airfield as the massive metallic bird came to a stop, slowly but surely, as the engines died down and the 570T slowly crawled to a halt.

A ground technician ran out from one of the hangars with a bright orange reflective vest and two guide rods that he waved and motioned to lead the aircraft off the runway towards one of the hangars. Despite the downpour the ground guide continued to move and wave until the 570T was located just outside one of the main hangars designated for air lifters like itself. Once the aircraft was fully parked, the power to the engines was cut and the rear ramp was lowered. Ground crews moved out from the hangar to the rear where they began the process of unloading the cargo the aircraft had been carrying.

Tracked chassis began to roll out of the ramp of the aircraft and into the hangar. Under the cover of a canvas, eight ballistic missile launchers were disembarked by the ground crews and stored in the hangar. The crew of the aircraft were given two hours to rest and relax while their aircraft was fueled up, then they roared off the same runway they had landed on, heading back to the Jedorian mainland. With eight more systems, the total number of launchers on the Jedorian side of Peregrino were 80.

Ballistic missiles were becoming an increasingly common component of the Confederation's arsenal, and the reasoning wasn't surprising. Jedorian models were relatively cheap to produce and field, and their range allowed them to target a variety of enemy positions and forces. They of course weren't a magic bullet; they could be shot down by ABM systems and some more modern SAMs, but there were ways to counter that; certain models had submunitions that would spread out after reaching a certain altitude, all of them giving off signals that made targeting the actual warhead difficult. Others were so big that even if hit by a missile, the sheer weight and velocity of the debris could crush vehicles and kill troops.

One of the biggest advantages in the Jedorian eyes though were their threat by force of presence. You simply couldn't ignore an enemy weapons system that at any point could target virtually anything; ships, fortifications, infrastructure, troop formations. That meant resources and forces would have to allocated to deal with the launchers, diverting efforts away from other operations like SEAD and offensive maneuvers.

Jedorian military school of thought held that technological superiority was not needed across the board, and parity in certain fields was really all that was required to conduct operations. Certain areas needed to be kept up to date for obvious reasons; cyber security, electronic warfare and countermeasures, signals and communications, and data uplink and transmissions. To deal with enemy threats the Jedoraisn had adopted a number of measures intended to limit the threats posed by enemies with sophisticated technology; serial port interfaces were used instead of IP, AES suites were used when serial wasn't an option. Tropospheric communication systems were used whenever possible, which were difficult to jam and intercept.

Confederate Air Defense doctrine held that older models of mobile SAMs were to kept in usage, as modern radar warning receivers often lacked the ability to detect the older, lower band frequencies used by the seemingly obsolete systems. To further mask their modern systems, older radars from both civilian and military aircraft had been taken and set up nearby and around SAM sites. In the event of hostilities, these radars would be activated and began broadcasting openly, distracting targeting systems and missile locks. As the Jedorians would know the frequencies and modulations of the radars before hand, they would see through them with little issue, and with all the noise around being generated, the AESA radars used by systems like the Calliope would be extremely difficult to detect. As per orders laid out by Lt. Colonel Florentin Miclea, the overall overseer of the Peregrino Air Defense Network, all soldiers part of the network ran soldiers run tests while using an electronic signal simulator, allowing his radar and guidance crews to practice combat scenarios based on imitated engagements. Soldiers who struggled to deal with the stress of being targeted by enemy aircraft were removed and re-trained, meaning the the fire control radar operators and technicians of the PDF were of high quality. Miclea strong insisted his air defense crews be highly trained and capable, and thus he repeatedly ordered extra drills and exercises performed, along with doubling trips to the firing range and fire support simulators. When not in use for training, all SAM sites were concealed, and significant components were frequently moved around and changed positions to keep adversaries from detecting them.

Further changes were underway elsewhere. The 10 Saab Gripen fighters stationed at Joint Base Alexandru were withdrawn and replaced by Rafales, bringing the total number of them to fourty. The Rafale was rapidly becoming the main aircraft fielded by the Confederates, and for good reason. The stealthy, flexible and agile aircraft could do pretty much everything need of it, air strikes, SEAD, air superiority, all while remaining relatively cheap to field. It's targeting and radar systems were incredibly effective and as per orders from Central Command, it was to become the primary fighter of the Confederation within a few years. Supported by two JV-61 AWACS, the air force also supplied 18 F-16Js, 6 GL-17 attack fighters, 6 GL-20J tactical bombers, and 8 GL-32C interceptors.

At sea the, Peregrino was guarded by the Island-class aircraft carrier the CNS Forthencho, supported by two cruisers, six frigates, two destroyers, five corvettes, seven submarines, and over a dozen patrol boats. But it would be reinforced if proven necessary. The Confederate Carrier group around Gloria Regis was officially withdrawn, with the explanation given that with the CSAT threat gone, their purpose was no longer served. The CNS Charum Hakkor, the sister ship to the Forthencho, was accompanied by two cruisers, three destroyers, two frigates and seven more submarines. They would not sail directly for Peregrino but instead head back to the Jedorian mainland for refit, then sail back out into the gulf to defend Peregrino if need be.

More immediate reinforcements were to be in the form of two naval infantry brigades from the 2nd Naval Infantry Division. Lt. General Denis Săftoiu had requested further ground support to augment the 90th Mechanized Infantry Division already stationed on the island. While the 90th already had 288 tanks, 276 artillery pieces and 30 attack helicopters, the PDF commander insisted he would need more troops to fully defend the island against assault. It was agreed by the Joint Chief of Staff and orders were handed down to secretly assemble two brigades for transport to the island. They would sail out with the Charum Hakkor to conceal their movement just as a military exercise before heading onwards to the island. The Jedorians had the advantage of having a direct approach to the island that would minimize detection until they were nearly there without having to swing around or cross enemy lines of travel or detection.

All major components of the PDF were linked together with the ComStar network, which allowed for rapid transfer of data and information between units and coordination of fire support and maneuvers.

Peregrino itself had fallen under the complete authority of the Confederates following the destruction of the PIF. Internal Security held an iron grip over the newly annexed province, having either imprisoned or killed suspected dissidents or PIF sympathizers. The remainder of the population had been cowed through a variety of means, including tax breaks and efforts to improve infrastructure like roads, power grids and irrigation systems. Even some older churches had been renovated and refurbished.

The borders of the province remained patrolled by both ground elements and UAVs piloted by both Internal Security and the PDF, while anti-ship batteries lined the coast in concealed positions away from prying eyes..

The Confederates had turned their half of the island into a fortress, and it would need to be one to repel any concentrated enemy assault.

[New Edom]

New Edomite Military Preparations

"Hello Simon," said Admiral Davenant, bowing to General Simon Daniels as he came up to him in the hall at Shiloam Palace.

"Isaiah," replied the hulking general, returning the bow. "How are you?"

"Not bad. Missing my daughter,' he said, referring to his eldest daughter who had married the King of Ahara. "But getting along alright. You're here to see the King."

"Yes. It's all been weighing on me, you know, our problems. We don't have the numbers to push at the Jedorians, and they know it. They can sit across the border and if need be try to whittle us down while we cannot attack them directly. Their only weak points are in their overseas operations and in Peregrino." Simon frowned and paused to examine an antique vase that stood nearly as tall as a person, one of the rare items given as a gift to Princess Jocasta by the Ditor of Akai, removed from the new house she had been given "Beautiful And fragile. Like our defense policy. I've been thinking about Peregrino, Isaiah, and it troubles me. Same situation but a bit more fluid. It's the one gap in their defense we might be able to exploit."

"Yes. But how? With the Noviteran carrier group and us with the Imperium's we're matched," Davenant pointed out. "if we attack them our only real goals are to destroy their airfields, ports and staging areas, and then overrun the place."

"Not quite," said Simon, drawing him aside a moment. He spoke to him quietly "I think we can manage it. Look: as you say those are the targets. But what we need to do is hit their fleet and air units really hard at the start. Now they have a lot of good air defense in the area. My plan involves gathering improved intel, then launching a number of simultaneous special ops raids to attack their radar and sonar capabilities. We use small craft on land and sea to attack the fleet, small craft to attack their air capabilities, and do demolitions and raids against staging areas and transport hubs. Then when that comes off, we strike at them with all we've got, land forces advancing under a cover of missile strikes."

Davenant rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a bold plan, Simon. Where do we get all those special ops?"

"Well, a combination really. ETC militia--not the rag tag ones, the ones who are serious veterans against the Anarchists, used to bush work, long range recon missions, led by specialists from the Rover Teams and Ministry of Police. Then we also add in allied units, Nihonese troops specialized in assymetrical warfare who can hit those targets and bring them down."

Davenant nodded slowly. "It could be carried off. We'd have to distract them though with a more conventional attack at first, which would put the fleet and air units at great risk."

"I think that could be pulled off, you're the man to do it," said Simon, his broad face earnest with eagerness. "Will you stand by me when I present my plans to the King?"

"The King will want a stronger tech edge on Peregrino and the border," said Davenant. "He doesn't like the idea of risking the fleet in a one on one confrontation, especially when the Jedorians have more submarines than we do. But yes, I'll back you up. So will the Heir. She has apparently written to the Shogun of Nihon on behalf of the King and Queen to obtain some of that technological edge..."

Simon was about to speak further but Davenant held up a hand as a man began to approach them down the hall wearing a white Cavalry Guards uniform. "Your Excellencies," said the young ADC, "The King will see you now."

They that go down to the sea in ships, That do business in great waters;

These see the works of Jehovah, And his wonders in the deep.

For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, Which lifteth up the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths: Their soul melteth away because of trouble.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits' end.

Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble, And he bringeth them out of their distresses.

He maketh the storm a calm, So that the waves thereof are still.

Then are they glad because they are quiet; So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his lovingkindness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
--Psalm 107

NENS Blasco
San Marco, Peregrino

The hangar was cave-dim, oven-hot, crammed solid with noise and the heavy stink of kerosene. The two officers stopped just inside. One stood six feet in his dress whites; the other was shorter and much broader in the hips and areas of the chest. One was male, the other f female. For a few seconds, they looked up at the aircraft. Then the woman tugged open her collar. She blew out, then raised her voice above the clattering howl of a grinder. “Chief. Chief!”

“Ah, lieutenant, welcome to Engineeria!” aid a round faced sweaty Chief machinist’s mate, popping his slick warm looking face out of the engine. “Here in our cave of wonders!”

“If I wanted jokes I would invoke Litotes the Clown, Zuph,” she snapped. “Will this infernal machine be ready to go? You may not be aware, Chief, but there is an extra-regional deployment being ordered up by the admiral.”

“The orders of the great Admiral Davenant are heard and obeyed, Your honour!” exclaimed Chief Machinist’s mate Zuph. “And the wicked shall fear the might of our hydrophones and quake at the noise of our sonar buoys. Alas, you gentlemen in your flight suits always make it harder for a poor mechanic and his mates to keep her flying.”

The TH-300 Sea-Lakota in question crouched ike a great metal insect, painted with low visibility pale paint in the cavern that was her lair aboard the NENS Blasco, a Casso class frigate used almost entirely for Anti-Submarine Warfare patrols around the SOSUS line.

The two pilots glanced at one another. Zph was a clown, but he wa a good mechanic.

“Don’t play with yourself too much down there, and don’t fuck the machine,” warned the woman.

“What an awful thing to imply, Your Honour, I am shocked…” he descended mumbling, back in.

"Hey!" the woman cried.

"Yes Your Honour?" his head popped up like a jack in the box again.

"Is it possible for you to have our bird ready by the time we are underway?" she said insistently.

"Your Honour! Everything is possible in Engineeria!"

They rolled their eyes and left.

“This rust heap is like living in an Elwe village,” grumbled the young man following the lead pilot’s plump rear end along the flight deck and towards a companionway leading up towards officer’s country.

The ship was full of sailors trying to get the ship cleared for getting underway. Until very recently she had been used as a training ship, and as a result she had an old captain, Commander Simeon Ephod, who had stumped his way aboard after spending the last three months largely ashore.

“He used to be a good skipper, a great one, during the First Civil War, and he did win the Navy Cross during the Jedorian War—“ she said.

“As a junior lieutenant on a minehunter! God help us now. How long may a man live on his glory?” the younger man said, leaning on a rail and looking out at the harbour.

They had stood in the wardroom with other officers of the ship litening to their old—he was nearly sixty—captain explaining the mission, wheezing occasionally with some condition he had.

“We are……to join...the Gideon and the Nass on an operation which will be defending another nation in our region… region..providing fire and air support to the nation of South Deweden against the Communists there there. You will have information in your dossiers. We are once again deployed against anti Christian...ah...oppressors and provocateurs...ah...so we must…” he gave a long pause. The officers tried to politely listen but the two pilots were shifting uncomfortably. “Ah…ah…be vigilant…as the fish..hawk…is vigilant.”

“Is he going to die on us?” murmured the woman pilot to the male one. It was almost funny but neither felt inclined to laugh save as gallows humour.

"At least the Shiebel and her crew are in good working order," sniffed thewoman.

"Yes the Schiebel," he said irritably. "Don't mention that soulless little monster and her human drones to me. And where the hell is Deweden?" The officers opened their dossier folders and began to read up on the country, it's security concerns, and how to get there. One of the intelligence officers from the admiral's staff stepped forward and began to guide them through the available intelligence.

The two young pilots’ names were Jacob Alkonah and Martha Ezar. They were both lieutenants, had been friends in flight school, then reunited for service with the Blasco.

---

Exercise Salem


Four vessels were moving across the open ocean now. A blocky broad topped lHD topped with a tower, the more knife like shapes of the Chieftain class destroyera and the frigate moving as escorts. Helicopters moved like flies around cattle away from and near the ships, keeping security watch out. Around them was that flown by Martha and Jacob. There were concerns about piracy and terrorism around their Region as well as security issues.

The squadron was led by a recently promoted Rear-Admiral, Reuben Eglon. Eglon had commanded an amphibious ship before during the invasion of Damoclea. He had a regiment of Marine Infantry aboard his ship, the Reme. The 4th Marine Infantry Regiment had served in a number of actions before, including the Damoclean War, anti-piracy actions, peace keeping duty and a number of them above the rank of corporal or lieutenant had served in the First Civil War during the terry Campaign. The average soldier or sailor in the fleet had seen action before.

The fleet's air patrol consisted of sixteen Terrier VTOL fighters, twenty four TH-300 Sea Lakota helicopters, eight CFHN-1 "Kite" drones and eight Schiebel-100 Camcoper drones. The pilots or drone handlers ere very professional and well trained, and nearly all had seen action recently either in the 3rd Civil War or in anti-piracy actions.

The Orphan Fleet, they were called. For few among them had not terribly suffered in the Civil Wars. Red with suffering, with tortures, losses of family and homes and estates, jailed by the Theocratic Republic, the naked and stumbling brothers, fathers, mothers wives torn from their beds by the End Times Church. And so to take away their vengeance they ahd been sent to a lonely icy exile in the northern seas, to cool their passions. They had been there since, sent by Pahath-Moab to serve his peace.
Mirth now and then quirked their mouths, but no joyous laughter rumbled from bellies; no pleasure lit up eyes. Their eyes were dark, but it was the darkness in the shadows under ice chunks in the winter sea. Their bodies now and then chose to seek appetites dimly remembered, as though they were walking dead who sought food, liquor and fornication because of a cellular yearning that their hearts and minds had lost.

“Beloved,” said Admiral Eglon over the 1MC, “We are reminded every day of our duty: to uphold the honour we inherited from those who went before us. We are the dead.”

‘We are the dead,” murmured men and women at their stations—manning sonar and radar stations, moving along the safety lines on the decks, checking motors and fuel lines far in the engine decks, steaming clean pans in the galley, checking inventory in the pharmacy of the sick bay. Marine Infantry murmured it from their bunks or their positions cleaning weapons.

‘We are called to our duty to the King and Queen. Remember that our King and Queen are descended from the Lawgiver. It is our sacred duty to serve them. The enemies of the Diadem are the enemies of God.”

“The enemies of the Diadem are the enemies of God,” murmured the crew.

The Admiral turned away and said, “We have a new ship now, do we… The Blasco. And soon to have more amphibious ships. We will welcome them. But…’ he looked at his hollow eyed drawn faced officers,

“Remember they are only serving our king and Queen—they are not of us.”
There was no need to wait for their approval or agreement. It was so.

‘Sir, there is report of heavy weather. Shall we put further out to sea?” said the Reme’s Captain.

“Yes. We will replenish when the reinforcements arrive.” Admiral Eglon flexed his hands. “All clean for gangrene… he murmured to himself.

2nd Squadron, First Shock Cavalry, Peregrino

It had started raining and among the units that had been moved from Damoclea, Lieutenant Stephanie Grey, an Anglo-German young woman of 22, sat huddled in her poncho feeling tired and miserable. She was having her time of the month and everything was uncomfortable. One advantage to being in the Army was that women got free prescriptions for The Pill, which helped a bit at least. And one thing was that you couldn’t really talk about it to anyone. You had to be calm, the Troopers had to see you ready to give orders, dispassionate, neat, and authoritative. Her command was full of soldiers who were so rough and tumble she practically needed a troop lawyer to deal with their after leave calling to the carpet. But they were very good in action. Terrible on parade--their mantra was often 'men are dirty, vehicles and weapons are clean'. Grey herself unfortunately was a slob by personal habit, and she had to fight to look decent in the mess. 'dirty as Grey' was another regimental saying.

But...they spearheaded the way into the rebel stronghold of Pelias in Damoclea. It was epic enough that the 16th--arguably one of the toughest Mounted Light Infantry regiments, or indeed any units in the Army--now stood them drinks and saluted them whenever the regiments ran into one another--particularly the Recon troops. Grey received her promotion to First Lieutenant after that, and got the Gold Link and the Iron Wolf.

"I don't care if she shows up for formation naked with her ass painted blue," said the regimental commander of her when in his cups. "She fights!"


Smoking helped; it gave her something to do. You could sit under a tent pitched against a vehicle or under a tarp and be distracted; it was impossible to read. They’d eaten—no one wanted to eat any more and it was not advisable. One of the assistant gunners had been a cook before he decided he wanted to be in the infantry, and a good enough one that he could actually produce a restaurant quality meal in the field. Today it had been lamb and lentil stew with carrots and stewed onions, with pistachio pudding fore dessert.

In the old days, they could get a little drunk, but they couldn’t do that anymore. There was too much information to process in modern war.

It was appropriate that their vehicles, the M28s, were called The Vigilo was designed to be the forward eyes and ears of friendly armored and mechanized infantry formations. With a competent crew in the Vigilo, this information would be passed onto the rest of the force without the enemy knowing that they were there until it is too late to stop them. To assist in this role, the Vigilo is light, and fast. With a total weight of 18 tonnes and an inline-four engine developing 160 kW of power, this results in a power to weight ratio of 11.92 hp/tonne. The vehicle’s design was made to avoid being hit by undercarriage damage, to prevent shock damage to the 3 person crew, and to deal with up to a 65 degree incline. A tough little vehicle, it was designed within the New Edomite department of defense not only to the original Lamonian design but to be fully integrated to the CROMWELL II battlesystem.

She was proud to command a unit of them. They were concealed well, in fact they were ready to slip across the border, but they’d been waiting days now, and she was sick of waiting. She could tell the Troopers were too—she and the NCOs gave no hint of their own weariness, they joked, they gave orders, they maintained discipline, they kept a schedule, they organized the Troopers to stand watches and conduct short distance foot patrols, set ambushes.

Now and then she talked to the Troop commander, gave reports on an unchanging situation, got updates on a larger scale unchanging situation.

Sergeant Letim, her Troop senior NCO, a narrow faced psychopath that she controlled like you'd control a mad dog that loved you and hated the world, approached her with a salute.

“Hey, Lieutenant, message from the CO,”

She had just accepted a nice refreshing mug of mint tea from her driver, Corporal Sharp when this came. The message was that they were to gear up for another attack. So this wasn’t just nuisance firing then.

“Alright, equipment and vehicle checks, and map route confirmations, tactical info prep, let’s do it,” she said, hiding her tiredness, throwing the cup on the little fire they’d made. “Put that out, Corporal.”

'We aren't moving out?" said Corporal Sharp with disappointment.

"Oh why are we waiting," began one of the Troopers to the tune of 'O Come all ye Faithful', and the others began to take it up, "whyyy are we waiting, oh why are we waiting oh why, why why? Why are we--"

"Shut up!' snapped Sergeant Letim, noticing her look of displeasure, though privately she though it was funny as shit and remembered singing the song as a cadet. "Get to work, you blaspheming whores!"

Just in time too--the Squadron Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Ashur Gedor, was strolling by with some of the staff. His eyes sharply took in her ruffians and he simply said with flinty eyes, "Afternoon, Grey."

Shit. Grey saluted neatly, but she knew that she was in for it again.


In point of fact, Gedor liked Grey a lot, but she needed to learn to spruce up if she wanted to make captain,s o he had to be hard on her. He had a lot on his mind. His wife. Tamar, had gone back to her maiden name and was serving on the Royal Crest, one of the AWACS that was assigned to this mission, so he heard her name all the damned time. She was now shacked up with some Ghantar knight since serving at the Air Force Base here, and she liked it here. She had a nturally bawdy mind and it served her well socializing in Ghant. God he missed sharing her bed, sharing her laughter. It was not dignified to make this clear though,s o he just avoided her and was cold to her.

Gedor commanded a formidable strike force and he had to focus on that. 2x Ironheart command modified vehicles
12 x M20 Command Vehicles, 84x M8 Litoneur Main Battle Tanks;,, 60 x Sorcha IFVs
40 x M20 APCs, 20 x M28 Recon Vehicles, 10 x LY6 Werewolf Tank Destroyer, 20x LY7/366 Lammasu SPH, 10x King Shepherd ADA, 1 x Skyguard ADA Battery. Paired up with Lancers and Light Troops with supporting artillery and engineers, it would be a formidable fist against any enemy.

Yet they were stuck in the brush country in the rain. Digging drainage ditches, keeping runways and roads clear. The soldiers were grumbling a lot, wondering what they were even doing here. The officers were to try to keep them busy and focused, but thus far not a word about their mission or when they would move out. At least in the navy you mostly just kept the ship going and they had patrols to take on, as did the Air Force. So he must act with purpose and show that things were normal. The grumbling wasn't the end of the world--it was when they were silent and surly that you had to worry.

[Jedoria]

To: United Federation Department of State, Executor Eric Douglas
From: Jedorian Ambassador to Novitera, Gabriela Țițeica
Subject: Recent Developments
Encryption: High

Dear Sir,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and fortunes. As a staunch and long time ally to the Confederation, my government wishes to express it's thanks to the Noviteran nation in supporting Jedoria throughout what has been a difficult time following the death of our former Duke. Noviteran support for the Confederation is, as always, appreciated.

Recently, certain developments have taken place that had resulted in new issues being brought to light with regards to Jedoria's relationship with several others states. I would like to address whatever concerns your government may have as well as outline what we hope to accomplish through further cooperation both domestically and abroad.

If possible, I would like to arrange a meeting between myself and whatever representative of your government you deem appropriate. We have much to discuss.

Kind Regards,
Gabriela Țițeica, Ambassador of the Jedorian Confederation

[New Edom]

San Marco, Peregrino

Bells rang the hour in the afternoon, and pigeons fluttered away from the dome of the Palace of the Ethnarch. A buzz of buses, motorcycles, trucks and the occasional car owned by an official or rich person, the rumbling and clinking softer bells of city trains was heard as Gabriel Urras peered out of the window of the state car he was in. His companion glanced at him. A junior officer, all clothed in a parade dress uniform, tie and jacket, medal ribbons, clean shaven and clean as though he was used to it all his life.

Gabriel still had the urge to sniff his forearm to smell the flowery scent of expensive soap, but it would be drowned by the expensive paint he had had to spend money on to have his body paint touched up well. Instead of the simple camouflage and little else he had been wearing for months, along with body hair and dirty, he now had one blue and white patterned to resemble palm and olive branches. He looked like a festival piece. His dark short beard was trimmed to a neat point and his moustache to two smaller ones, his hair cut neat and short. Dark brooding eyes showed under his dark brows.

They came to a security check at the gate, and then drove through into the compound, where they were checked over briefly by more security before being ushered into a hall. He was asked for his sidearm and he handed it over.

Along granite floors patterned like flowers and griffons they walked with ringing steps till they came into the room where they saw the neat brisk figure of General Samuel Hod approaching.

"This is Elder Brother Urras, Your Excellency," said the ADC.

"Thank you." Hod looked at him. Urras looked back. He noticed a woman approaching. So smooth of skin, her brown hair shining like foliage, her body wonderfully clean, soft looking, her paint exquisite, and he realized he was having trouble controlling his penis. He had not seen such a woman in nsuch a long time, he was almost more interested in how her soft hair felt, to hear the sound of her voice. As this woman, who was named Tamara, spoke to him offerin ghim tea or fizzy water, he asked for mint tea with honey, feeling it was safe to ask for. All the paintings and vases and such around, he felt like he might break something. Her voie was like cool gentle fingers around his manliness. A wedding ring. He decided to be polite and pretend it was just a physical reaction and she was courteous and ignored it like a lady.

I must get me to my wife he thought, but there had not been time before he was summoned before the Military Governor.

When they had their tea and were seated even in new paint and well washed his buttocks joined reluctantly with the elegant chair that was placed facing the Governor beneath a gently rocking ceiling fan, "Well, Urras, you're wondering why you are here," said Hod.

"Yes, Excellency," he said, "I am. I have already given my report to your staff."

"Yes. The border is a lot more tight now, you say," Hod observed.

"Excellency, it is. The PIF are replaced entirely with Jedorian Army or Internal security. The passes required are difficult to fake, they watch roads, bridges and access to towns. Getting in and out is not so easy save in the wildest areas, and then you must come to the roads eventually." The Hostillian cup was as delicate as a baby's sull and he handled it gingery as it received his tea. His hands seemed ridiculously hard and big around it. He noted Hod handled it easily.

"If you could slip over, how would you do it...if you had to, to go in deep" said Hod.

Gabriel considered. He sipped his tea to be polite, and then put the cup down with relief on its saucer. "Excellency, I would move in small groups through the brush country and farm country. There is still a lack of good communications there, and the Jedorians are tough soldiers but are not so wood wise as we and killed off those who were. It would have to be in small groups, and we could not extract easily. And to be honest, we would not be able to report on much intelligence without being found out."

Hod nodded slowly. "But if you had to...you could do it"

Urras stared at him. "What does Your Excellency have in mind?"

"I need several long range recon patrols, into enemy territory. You would have to wear clothing, you would need to be ready to avoid direct contact, and you would need to plan to move through the Jedorian border and move back." Hod said. "All available SATCOM intelligence will be given to you, along with what our smaller drones can pick up."

"When?" said Urras.

"Soon. Have you gone to your wife since you returned?" Hod asked him.

"No, Excellency."

Hod nodded and stood, whereupon Urras did as well. "Do so. You may not see her for some time after this. Have your men take their leave--but don't leave the city. Expect a call."

When Urras left, he drank deep of the spicy sea smelling air of the city, and wondered if his time would come at last.

The commander of the Holy Cross Regiment of Peregrino told the driver he would walk to his home. The things of life were good, the rewards of the Lord were great, and sadness and joy mingled in his heart as he went home for what might be the very last time.

[Jedoria]

“Watchtower this is Omega Lead, navpoint Gamma reached, over.”

“Aff Omega Lead, proceed to navpoint Delta and report back, out.”

“Solid aff. Omega Lead out.”

Grinding against small rocks, pebbles and dirt, the Swiftwind reconnaissance vehicle lurched as it turned a corner on a lone backwater road. Dust was kicked up and loose debris shot out from under the wheels of the vehicle as it continued on it's pre-designated patrol path. As part of the 387th Mechanized Infantry Brigade's reconnaissance battalion, Omega lead was responsible for scouting out paths and maneuvers for the brigade as a whole, though during peacetime they were relegated to patrol duties like these. The 387th normal operating position was located roughly in between the city of Signifier and the smaller town of Castulo. Signifier was significant because it linked with Aqua Vita through Via Prima, which continued on through Signifier into the Edomite part of the island of Peregrino.

The Jedorian half of Peregrino differed a bit from it's northern neighbor. While some hilly highlands and large forests were found in the former Republic, for the most part the recently annexed Jedorian province was smoother and flatter than the Dependency. It suited Confederate Army doctrine just fine, which focused much more on mobile defense than static positions. To defend their half of Peregrino, the Confederates arrayed their units on a staggered formation. Directly east and west of Via Prima was the 402nd and 387th Mechanized Infantry Brigade. Further along the coast were not Jedorian formations, but native troops; the 1st and 2nd Peregrino Infantry Brigades manned their positions, the 1st north-east of Castulo, and the 2nd south of Odessus on the western coast.

Further south, the 33rd Artillery Brigade, 343rd Tank Brigade, 413th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, and the 4th Peregrino Infantry Brigade remained in reserve ready to shore up defenses or if necessary conduct local and large scale counter attacks. The Peregrino brigades themselves were largely reservists with mostly second-hand Jedorian equipment, with the exception of air defense systems. It was expected that the Edomites, when they invaded, would attempt to out flank the main Jedorian formations with heliborne troops moving along the coast, and therefore the Confederates had ensured their flanks were well covered, at least from air assault.

The border itself was mostly small mountains and forests, with smoother areas near the coast on each side. Patrolling the border fell not just to Swiftwind units like Omega 3, but also UAVs flown out of nearby airfields, and ground patrols by both Army and Internal Security troops. While rigid, it was not unbeatable, though caution would have to be taken when attempting to cross. Via Prima was obviously too high profile, and too well guarded. The coastline was another option, but not without it's own risks. Concerns about amphibious assaults meant these locations, even at the border, were under close survelliance.

At first glance, the mountains and forests that formed around Via Prima would suit infiltration needs well; their rugged terrain would help to conceal movements and minimize the threat of detection. But the Jedorians were fully aware of this, and therefore as soon as the mountains started to decline and the trees grew sparse, the Confederates would be waiting with reinforced patrols of mechanized units backed up by armed drones in the sky.

The best option in fact would be the gaps between the coast and the central highlands, towards the eastern potion of the border. Farmland was the main factor present there, several fairly large homesteads kept by a number of middle class families north of Castulo. Because of the rows and rows of crops standard patrols couldn't run as well through there, and UAV fly overs were more limited in capability.

It wasn't without risk, however; the 1st Peregrino Infantry Brigade was stationed near Castulo, and the 387th Mechanized's forces were not far off from the small city either. Still, it was the best way for the Edomites to proceed if they wished to cross the border undetected.

The only issue came with the nature of the crossing itself. The border north of Castulo wasn't as well guarded as other locations simply because it wasn't that important. There farms there meant infrastructure was limited to irrigation systems, with few major roadways to make use. The hills further south provided a defensive position from which the Confederates could halt and force back invasion routes. The roads here were less patrolled, but again because they just weren't as important. They linked small villages together and farms as well, with little else. The uninspiring flat terrain between the border and Castulo wasn't used much by the Confederates due to the lack of cover and concealment for their air defense systems and artillery, meaning that to gather intelligence any infiltrators would have to move farther south past Castulo. To maximize the chance of success, crossing at dawn was the best option. Night crossings would be expected and detected by infrared and night vision equipped forces, but at dawn when shifts were being prepared to change over would be the best option.

Avoiding detection for as long as possible would be the best way to guarantee success, for as soon they as spies or infiltrators were discovered, all of the Peregrino Defense Force would be raised to emergency alert status, resulting in doubled patrols and unarmed UAVs exchanged for armed missile carrying drones, backed up by attack helicopters if necessary.

Most of the farmers who lived and tended their crops north of Castulo were humble family folk who kept to themselves. They were not overly sympathetic to either side in the Peregrino dispute and were content with going about their business, though there were always outliers.

Omega Lead was one of the handful of Confederate Army units that operated in and around Castulo, the others being companies from the mechanized infantry battalions of the 387th. These were the same forces that just a few months ago had crushed the PIF and slaughtered the survivors in the fields outside of Benevitium. Any trespassers caught by them could expect the same level of mercy.

Discovering where the Jedorians had their air defense systems and command and control points would've been difficult given the limitations. Command post nodes were numerous in their quantity and often concealed, with some locations flat out being faked to trick enemy surveillance attempts. Likewise, air defense systems were camouflaged when not in use, and standard practice was after exercises were conducted for major systems to be moved. That meant large important systems like the long range Calliopes would be difficult to point out, especially given that their radars and detection systems were passive when not part of combat operations. Smaller systems like the 117 SPAAGs, 241 SPADs, and 36J SHORAD were small and easy to conceal amid simply cover, though their location could be narrowed down a bit given their shorter range of fire. Ballistic missile launchers and anti-ship batteries would also prove hard to find, in part because their range meant they didn't need to be kept close to other formations. The Confederation's 80 ballistic missile launchers were scattered all across the island, some closer to Aqua Vita while others were closer to Signifier.

The PDF had several years ago established a conclusive list of frequencies and modulations to use for official transmissions by signals and command teams. This was done so that receiver dishes set up across the island would be able to identify signals that didn't originate from Jedorian forces.

[New Edom]

NENS Blasco, Near San Marco, Peregrino

Soundtrack

Ezar and Alkonah were astonished to find that they were not going to South Deweden ,but that they were required to be part of a series of exercises using the S-1 drones to move as low on their ceiling as they could over the sea. A major stood with them in the briefing room that they used, a small cramped wardroom that had been closed off with the just the three officers prsent, the major looking a tad green as the small frigate rocked and rolled in the rough stormy seas around Peregrino. "South Dewden...was just a cover," said the major, reluctantly accepting a nibble of some halvah and quickly chasing it down with fizzy water.

"Your duty," their liaison from the Air Force Base near San Marco informed them, is to test the drones for a possible series of attacks against surface warfare ships.

"With these things?" protested Ezar. "How the hell can they possibly carry something with enough punch?"

The Air Force major shook his head. "No, you're right of course, Lieutenant, they can't do that. What they will be doing is providing intelligence, recon and signals information for Kites, which can. We hope that the Imperim will have their carrier fleet available and on our side, we hope that our signals countermeasures will be able to attack the Jedorians and defeat their targeting and information systems, but we have no guarantee of that. So the S-1 will have to be ready to be used as our main form of attack approach if need be. They will not be easy to detect and hit due to their very small size, especially if they are under the signature of the ships."

"Even if that is the case," Alkonah said sharply, "Who is to say that the Jedorian CAP won't pick them up, or the Kites?"

"That's the overall duty of the Navy to defeat," the Major replied. "Look here, I'm not just representing the Air Force, but the Ministry of Defense."

"We saw the seal," replied Alkonah.

"So you understand now, your ship will be 'blacked' and you will officially be moving along with other vessels to support the CPO mission in South Deweden. No contact with shore, or with the rest of the fleet. Not even with Admiral Eglon until he contacts you, just report to your vessel commander," the Major said.

He had with an obvious mixed dread and relief gotten onto the Eiko that had brought him out.

"Wind's buffeting it like a nanny being fucked by a buck," observed Alkonah as they watched the helicopter bumbling its way to the dark distant grey line of the shore.

"Charming," said Ezar, as they stood, wind and spray hitting them, ponchos shivering like loose sails. White caps were everywhere around the frigate. Eglon had dispersed the squadron further and they could not see the LHD and the destroyer.

However the little drone and its larger Kite partners were tough maneuverable and not subject to any pilot error but that of their operators. The tests they were conducting had already been done by other vessels' crews, they just had to check off their boxes and be used to what they were doing. It was a new era for the helicopter crew--this might well be their future.

[Republica De Gran Chaco]

To: Foreign Minister Dragomir Rotaru
From: Office of the Assistant Minister for Foreign Relations
Subject: Christian Persecution
Enryption: Highest

---

Dear Minister Rotaru,

We are most willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that the executions may not be state sponsored, however there seems to be a case of negligence on the part of certain organizations that are carrying our these arrests and executions. While the government may have no intention of killing Christians, they seem to be dying in large numbers.

It is upsetting to hear the implication that Gran Chaco would bring up its concerns with Jedoria, a most trusted ally, on rumors from other nations. We think that a meeting would be an appropriate way to work out any misunderstandings that may have arisen.

We believe that it may also be an appropriate place to discuss our concerns with the current crisis in Latium as we feel that the two are intertwined in a sense for our government.

Ambassador Sofia Muñoca will be available. The embassy will contact your office to work out the details for the meeting.

Xeina Ccallo,
Assistant Minister for Foreign Relations

[Vozgarnor]

Karaszon, Arokad District, Joint Staff Central of the Vozgarni Armed Forces

Várador Surad, the Republic's Minister of War had been sitting down with the General Staff for days on end, the Jedorian buildup was immense, and terrifying. The Vozgarni Armed Forces had lost their technological edge over the enemy in the south, it only remained with the potential enemy in the East. Várador Surad sat at one of the glass tables in the building's many meeting rooms along with the Grand Marshall, Danyel Ragardún and three Field Marshals, Pamelnir Harandúr of District South, architect of the Harandúr Offensive during the Jedorian War. Next to him sat a man who looked anything but his age, Field Marshal Telennír Agosz was over sixty, close to Harandúr's age but unlike the commander of District South, the commander of District West looked no older than in his late forties. District West was the smallest border district, it's troops tasked with handling a possible Noviteran assault if war was to come, a difficult task for only three divisions. The last man was Horíkar Olendosz, Field Marshall and commander of District East, facing the long, mountainous border with Hostillia. Olendúr was a clean-shaven man in his early fifties who emitted an air of strength, confidence and utter stoicism wherever he went. These men were brought together by the Minister of War to read through the new National Defense Initiative, as the plans that detailed the expansion and efforts to strengthen the Vozgarni military were called. He had brought bad news to the Admiralty earlier, very bad, but Minister Surad was convinced that the Land Forces would be much more pleased with the new NDI plan.

The NDI program had been passed through the National Consulate yesterday, it would include the formation of 20 divisions, 7 of which were to go into active duty while the other 13 would enter the reserves, increasing the total number of regular military personnel to two million fighting men. But the National Defense Initiative 10-11K was much more than that, it had three main points which were much more relevant to the future of the Vozgarni Armed Forces. The first of these points was the largest of the efforts which was to be undertaken, it entailed the large expansion of the fleet of armored vehicles in the VAF in order to increase the degree of mechanization, the number of Tanks would rise from 2560 to 6580, a similar trifold increase was planned in the numbers of IFV's, APC's and artillery systems, both self-propelled and towed cannons, much of this was not in the form of new divisions but largely in rearmament of Infantry and Motor Rifle Divisions into Mechanized Infantry Divisions, alongside this an expansion in support and logistical structure would be undertaken to maintain the new units. The second main point was the formation of the Military-Industrial Region Plan, a plan for industrial expansion in the so-called "secure triangle" of the country, as far as possible from any borders. The project was mainly supposed to expand the military production of the Republic in regions far from borders and with high population density and unemployment problems to both increase production capacity and combat unemployment. The third main point was an expansion of the Airforce, air defense systems and ABM-systems to defend Vozgarni airspace and infrastructure in the event of war.

These, and the rest of the programs in the NDI 10-11K were to be financed with the military spending increase since the Jedorian War which would be reallocated from the previous NDI, 10-10J whose focus had been on a naval buildup and the transformation of the Vozgarni Fleet from a Green Water to a full Blue Water navy. While the High-Seas Mobile Fleet was not at the planned full strength, expansion of the land forces and airforce took priority in this new time of instability in Southern Acheron where tensions were doing anything but decreasing. Several projects regarding the navy that had not yet been started were simply stopped and torn up, the funding moved to the new NDI, the same happened with projects that had been started but failed to provide any satisfactory results along with the mobilization of some fiscal reserves. 3 planned Admiral Horikár and Duszak Class Destroyers would not be built, neither would the Marine Assault Division, the eight Nuclear Submarines or the Republic's first Aircraft Carrier see the light of day as the projects were cancelled much to the dismay of the Admiralty. The new National Defense Initiative would still be quite costly and very time consuming, but as tensions mounted the security of the Republic was of greatest importance and the national defense had to be optimized to deal with the threat at hand. And that threat was Jedoria, an enemy that would be fought on land and in the skies, not on the waves of Cornellia's oceans.

Yet, even after this expansion the Republic would not be able to defeat the Jedorian Confederation on it's own, every man at the table was well aware of the fact. It did not matter if their hatred for the enemy burned strong or not, it did not matter if their wish to repay the debt of blood was thick enough to cut with a knife or not. They would still be severely outnumbered, and they had lost much of their past technological advantage. What it would improve was Vozgarnór's ability to defend it self for longer, to hold out for those crucial days, weeks or perhaps months until help would arrive.

Indeed, help was the key word in that sentence, what the Republic needed to survive this period of mounting tension was alliances and that is another thing the Republic would strive to acquire in greater numbers. But that was beyond the tasks of the men present in the room. That task would fall to Foreign Minister Werszég and his diplomats.

---

Karaszon, Szalnotag District, Republic Intelligence Initiative HQ

Vozgarnór's intelligence agency, the RII, began it's own set of operations as new directives arrived from the higher-up's. The RII had been keeping a presence in Jedoria since the war mainly in the form of sleeper agents who would now be activated as the situation seemed to call for it. Conducting these operations would likely be much more dangerous as Jedorian Internal Security was on much higher alert in the wake of the bombing that killed the former Duke and the wave of suppression against various left-wing groups, Christians and the Vozgarni minority among others who seemed on the radar of this new government rushed across the Confederation. Operation Quasar was to be conducted through multiple means. While the Jedorian government's focus on security had increased, and while surely tougher than before, no system and no organization was completely impervious.

1. While the VAF already patrolled the Jedorian border with both foot patrols and reconnaissance aircraft, small cubesats were to be used in order to detect the supply centers, transport hubs and staging areas used by the Jedorian military in the occupied territories, the main reason behind this to map out vital supply and infrastructure targets to strike in the event of war along with gaining knowledge of troop deployments and maneuvers.

2. Use human intelligence where disguised agents trained in cultural homogeneity will attempt to find discontent with the new government and state of affairs in Jedoria among the Police, Government Officials and the Military and attempt to extract information. Focus is to be on acquiring information regarding military deployments and political developments.

3. Form Sleeper Cells in major Jedorian cities. These cells will be made up of agents to be used for black operations within Jedoria and would be activated should hostilities break out. After activation the cells would be tasked with conducting diversionary attacks in the form of terror-bombings, assassinations and sabotage to cause confusion and fear.

4. Establish a network of safehouses and front organisations to facilitate moving both agents and equipment around the country and across borders.

5. Use of Cyberintelligence in order to attempt to gain access to classified information by using cracking techniques and malicious softwares while making use of the distributed nature of internet based attacks which makes it difficult to determine motivation and attacking party. Cyberintelligence will also be used to analyze public activity on social networking sites to gain knowledge regarding discontent with the government among the general population.

---

[Jedoria]

All of the sudden, a bunch of progressive minded student activists seized control of the government, kicked out all the nationalists, and promised peace and equality for all people in Jedoria!











































Nah, just kidding.









Camp Hannibal

As part of Field Marshall Bianca Cernea's Universal Service initiative, the first recruits of the inactive reserve began to arrive at training camps located across Jedoria. Some were already existing facilities used by active duty forces, but some were newer constructions built for the express purpose of training these reservist solders. Camp Hannibal was one of the latter, built in the province of Tharkad, though farther away from the city the area was named after. The first thousands of recruits arrived in various camps across the Confederation. Most of these were civilian volunteers, the vast majority in fact, but some were part of alternative programs; people who had committed certain non-violent felonies were given the option of enlisting, debtors, those who had lost their homes to foreclosure or something similar were given the chance to earn their losses back by service to their State. The majority, however, remained volunteers, typically mid twenties to early thirties, not the peak of physical fitness but still well enough that they could be molded into soldiers.

The primary motivation for these recruits were financial mostly, though a good number were citizens with a sense of duty to their homeland. The Ministry of Defense had offered decent paychecks for people willing to enlist and take part in the expanded reserve system, offering half a years pay all in one paycheck. Thousands of people who were a bit strapped for cash, and others simply were willing to take several weeks out of their year to earn some extra credits.

Of course, the nature of the recruiting pool meant that the washout rate was much higher than normal basic training. Lots of everyday people weren't prepared for the high stress, high intensity training regime that awaited them at places like Camp Hannibal. Avram Moculescu was one recruit that didn't really fit into either category. He wasn't really sure exactly what he was doing, even as the Drill Sergeant screamed at him to get off the bus and keep running.

“MOVE MOVE MOVE!” The man in uniform said, loud enough that it felt like he was screaming in Avram's ear even though several people stood between the two. Avram didn't care; he bolted as fast as his legs could carry him. Like most normal people Avram's first reaction to some loudly and angrily yelling at them to move was just to move; perhaps if this had happened on the streets he might have given it a second thought, but in his current situation he simply moved.

Avram found himself amid a throng of people, all of them hustling, all at different speeds. A few thinner people seemed to naturally surge forward and run, while Avram noticed that quite a few bulkier people were lagging behind. Avram found himself running alongside another man who was big and tall, seemingly thick at first until he realized that the bulges in his skin were muscle, not fat. Despite probably weighing thirty more pounds than Avram he kept pace with him easily, though both were huffing and puffing by the time they reached the end of their run.

“FALL IN YOU FUCKING MORONS, I SAID FALL IN!”

Avram wasn't sure what that meant, but as he looked from side to side he could see that some of the other people were lining up next to each other. Realizing that he still wasn't entirely sure what the order meant but figuring it was better to follow the others, he moved and stood next to a tall and lanky woman who was panting heavily. The large and tall man Avram had been running alongside stood to his left. Avram wasn't out of shape but he wasn't particularly athletic either; he was fairly average in that department, and all the running was a workout. His breathing was heavy and frequent, as was most of the people around him. He had been running so hard he barely took in his surroundings. Only now did he glance around and realize that he and his fellow recruits were standing in a meadow, though not the kind you see in fairy tales. The grass on the ground grew only in chunks, leaving exposed areas of dirt and dust visible. The trees nearby were small and didn't seem to offer much shade, in fact they were more like bushes. The sun was high in the sky and seemed to be beaming down extra hard on them.

“EYES FRONT YOU FUCKERS, QUIT LOOKING AROUND!”

Avram automatically snapped his head and eyes forward. At the front of the formation a man in uniform stood, eyes barely visible behind the visor of his field cap. Avram couldn't tell exactly, but he swore the man was looking directly at him.

“COME ON FUCKERS, HOW ABOUT YOU MOVE A LITTLE FASTER?”

The uniformed man yelled out not at Avram but at the people who were still making their way to the formation. Avram couldn't help but but glance over his shoulder. Indeed, there were still people running to catch up with the formation, mostly people who looked rather heavyset. Avram couldn't help but almost feel sorry for them, because the longer the took getting to the formation, the more uniformed soldiers gathered around them and swore at them, demanding they move faster.

Avram figured he was in for a tough ride.

---

The CNS Charum Hakkor cut through the waters of the eastern Tempesta like a massive blade, the sheer size of the Island-class aircraft carrier enough to part the waters with ease, the gentle swaying of it's deck scarcely noticeable as it sailed towards the homeland. The task force associated with the Charum Hakkor had been assigned to Gloria Regis to defend against the threat of the extra-regional power of the Central Strategic Alliance Treaty. With that gone, so was the purpose behind the deployment of the carrier group, and so it was ordered to return to Jedoria. It was publicly announced that the carrier and it's supporting force of two cruisers, three destroyers, seven submarines and two frigates would return to Port Artur, where their crews would have some time on the shore while the ships were reloaded with ammunition, fuel, spare parts, and any extra equipment they needed refitted.

Rear Admiral Sergiu Rebreanu didn't publicly say anything while in the CIC of his ship, but privately the commanding officer considered the whole affair concerning Gloria Regis to have been a waste of time. He had effectively just waved the Confederate flag around, made some noise, and then the war was over. CSAT may have been powerful, but they were painfully inept when it came to operations and strategic planning. On one hand, he was glad that no one under his chain of command had been lost; but undertaking the whole process of setting sail and getting underway, all for it to end with a simple return to port, didn't help morale.

Until he would learn the greater extent of his future orders, the Rear Admiral was left to his devices as his task force began approaching the Jedorian EEZ. The fleet was at minimal operations; weapon systems were only partially online, his CAP consisted of just two Rafales providing early warning with their extended range AESA radars. As they sailed roughly in between the island of Peregrino and the continent of south Acheron, the Rear Admiral sail aloud he would be on the bridge if anyone needed him.

---

The 2nd Naval Infantry Division was the most recent active duty formation to be formed by the Confederate Armed Forces, and it as upon establishment stationed at the naval facility at Port Artur. Port Artur was one of the largest naval bases in all the Confederation, capable not only of supporting multiple nuclear submarines, an aircraft carrier, dozens of supporting frigates and destroyers, but also home to multiple airfields, and now an entire division of marines. They were not long for their home, however.

Just yesterday orders had been passed down that 5th and 6th Brigades were to mobilize and prepare for immediate deployment. Little information was given regarding their ultimate destination, though a rumor had been going through the rank and file that they were being sent to Chaco. Sergeant Surdu didn't know nor did he really care; he had previously served in the Army and knew at this point in his career that more often than not he would just have to keep on trucking and try not to think too much about stuff that was above his pay grade. Far more important to the NCO was the state of readiness for the soldiers of his team, of which their were five including him. Specialist Ursu, Private First Class Albu, Private First Class Bogza, and Private Cocea. All four stood before their Sergeant in fully battle rattle, body armor on their chests, kevlar on their heads, and rifles slung either across their chest or over their shoulder.

“Ursu, mag pouches?” Surdu asked, checklist in hand.

“Aff.” Surdu replied, tapping the magazine pouches attached to his load carrier.

“Helmet?” The noncom asked, damn well knowing it was atop the Specialists head, but with the LT not far off the sergeant knew better than to just skim through the list. Ursu rapped a knuckle against his helmet as a response, and Surdu checked off another box on the list. He moved on to the next soldier in line.

“Bozga, weapon?” He asked. PFC Bozga shouldered his rifle and did a quick functions check, showing his Sergeant that his weapon was fine and ready to go.

“Goggles?” He asked next.

This time however, Bozga shook his head. “Neg, sergeant.”

Surdu looked up from his checklist, eyebrows raised. “Why not?”

“Lost 'em, lead.” Bozga replied honestly.

Surdu tapped the pen he was holding against his lips. “Ask supply if they have any extras. If not, buy some, quiaff?”

Bozga nodded, and Surdu finished checking everything else off the list. Fortunately for the Private First Class that was the only item he was missing, and Surdu moved on to his second Private First Class. Cocea had everything he needed, but apparently was short on answers.

“Where we going, Sarn't?” He asked. Cocea hailed from the province of Los Matar, and like most Jedorians from the eastern half of the country, he had an accent that seemed to bite down or harshly emphasize certain words or phrases. It made the lot of them sound a lot rougher and harsher than most were, especially Cocea, who was just 19 but sounded like he was on the verge of snarling half the time thanks to his distinct vocal pattern.

Surdu replied honestly. “Not a fuckin' clue.”

“I hope it's Chaco. Or maybe New Othman, I wanna see some action!” The youth replied rather enthusiastically. Sgt. Surdu couldn't help but find his eagerness a bit annoying. Three years ago when Surdu was just a Private he had gotten his taste of combat, fighting against Vozgarni in the mountains of the Tung Shao. Surdu had made it through alive, something not all of his comrades could say.

But Surdu couldn't bring himself to reprimand the young soldier. There had been a time when Surdu was filled with the same level of energy, eager to crush and destroy infidels as soon as possible. The kid would learn the reality of war, one way or another.

“Probably just going to Peregrino for some stupid training or something.” The Sergeant said, glancing back down at his clipboard. He could still however make out the slight frown on Cocea's face as his shoulders drooped a bit. “Well, at least we'll have some beaches and bitches.”

“Yeah, and you can watch them all run away from you while they scream.” PFC Albu said, prompting Ursu and Bozga to laugh, and even Surdu had a small smile.

“We'll find out soon enough.” He said, as he finished up the checklist. One way or another, they would find out.

---

To: Xeina Ccallo, Assistant Minister for Foreign Relations
From: Foreign Minister Dragomir Rotaru
Subject: Christian Persecution
Encryption: Highest

Dear Assistant Minister,

I would indeed hope that we can clear up what we suspect is a good deal of confusion. I am aware my government acts with a certain degree of obscurity, though I hope your own government can forgive us for that. Recent events had made it clear that there are certain prying eyes in other states that seek to utilize state secrets for the purpose of undermining the Confederation.

I would like to state for the record that the Confederation considers the Gran Republica to be one of it's most trusted allies, and I certainly do not wish to imply anything that would cast doubt on the sincerity of our relationship.

I look forward to meeting Ambassador Sofia Muñoca and I wil inform her office that I hope to discuss with her further details concerning our relationship and the ongoing situation both at home and aboard. It is comforting to know that in times like this, our allies remain supportive of the Confederation.

Kind Regards,
Dragomir Rotaru, Foreign Minister of the Jedorian Confederation

The Chacoan embassy in Jedoria would have been contacted shortly afterwards by the Foreign Ministry asking for Ambassador Sofia Muñoca to meet with Foreign Minister Dragomir Rotaru and Minister of Internal Affairs Otilia Țurcanu to discuss several topics, including the alleged persecution of Christians in Jedoria, the ongoing situation in Latium, and the future of Jedorian-Chacoan relations. They would suggest meeting the Ministry of Internal Affairs main headquarters in Strana Mechty itself, where the Ambassador would be free to observe any of the evidence Internal Affairs had produced proving there was no persecution of Christians in Jedoria. Since this was the Chacoans, a Jedorian ally, the two had agreed that some concessions could be made, provided they didn't implicate or further raise suspicion on the Department of Internal Security.

Foreign Minister Dragomir Rotaru was a gentle man with a round face, short nose, receding hairline and small lips that easily formed into a smile. He wore a dark gray two piece suit most of the time, looking less like a government minister and more like a friendly uncle or business man.

Minister of Internal Affairs Otilia Țurcanu was a women just recently into her forties, and typically wore a dark grey overcoat over a simply sweater and trousers. Black boots more like what her Internal Security troops wore covered her feet instead of any elegant heels. She was not an unattractive women by any means, but her face always seemed to sport the same serious look and piercing gaze, like everyday was some sort of challenge or obstacle to face.

The office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was like most Jedorian structures, utilitarian and brutalist in nature. Monolithic in form and defined by sharp angles and geometric shapes with no curves or smooth edges in sight. The Ambassador from Chaco would've been offered a ride to to the office by the Department of Internal Security, whom would have taken the Ambassador to the meeting a convoy of dark colored and armored SUVs.

[Novitera]

To: United Federation Department of State, Executor Eric Douglas
From: Jedorian Ambassador to Novitera, Gabriela Țițeica
Subject: Recent Developments
Encryption: High

Dear Ma'am,

Yes, we can always make time for our allies down south. I've set an appointment for you to come meet with myself and Director Mary Takeshi. Looking forward to seeing you ambassador.

Sincerely,
Eric Douglas
Executor of State

Avantine, State of Soletrek, Novitera
Executive Center


The meeting was set for early in the morning on a work day. It was protocol not to keep the Jedorians waiting. They had ponied up enough to the Noviterans to receive such a courtesy and Noviterans were keen on holding up their end. Douglas's office was roomy and welcoming as a high ranking member of the government. It had to be for the comfort of the many foreign dignitaries that met with the Executor of State. Mary and Douglas were already present seated on one of the sofas in front of his desk. Between them was a coffee table and on the other side, another sofa. On the coffee table was an ash tray, a few glasses and pitcher of water and bowl of uncracked pistachios. Mary and Douglas were not speaking to each other. Douglas was reading a copy of the Gallows Street Journal and Mary on her phone taking . They waited for the Jedorian ambassador to arrive.

[New Edom]

Northern Air Command

General Alarion Vrinn, the highest ranking woman in the New Edomite Armed Forces, commanded the Air Force and had begun visiting various bases in northern New Edom and Peregrino a month ago. A dark haired sharp featured lean woman who was nickanmed "Iago' by her rivals and admirers alike, she was known to be an absolute perfectionist. "Not a great pilot, but a fine commander," General Rufus Foliot had remarked of her when asked about her character by Sarah Carmel.

Because there was such a Jedorian numerical superiority, her duty had to involve intense cooperation with the Navy, perhaps more than their opposite numbers, while hoping that the overlap approach involving allies from Arbites and Vozgarnor would be effective--but not absolutely counting on it. After all the Imperium might very well be drawn away by troubles in Ceti, Vozgarnor might face their own war on their own fronts.

Overlapping E-15A patrols used an advanced radar to try to give early warning. The Radar had a 750 kilometer range for high altitude targets, medium sized targets such as the F-15, and 520km for low altitude targets while operating at its operational Altitude. The Radar had a built in system designed to filter out ground clutter, such as cars, and other metallic objects, allowing it to detect low flying aircraft without all of the clutter from none important ground contacts. This allowed for the aircrafts crew to focus on low flying aircraft, and follow them to the best of their ability.

These were each screened by a pair of drones--often a far ranging fixed wing Blackfly, a bulg headed slim plane that was operated mostly by Air Force personnel. In the New Edomite National Air Force, this was seen less as escorts and more as support personnel operating machines to the benefit of the Early Warning craft, literally drones to an airborne queen. So accordingly the drones were named as loyal servants such as Seraph, Guardsman, Chamberlain and so on. They were blessed the same way that livestock and tools were.

This arrangement also existed for the senior recon commands--an AWACS, A565, assigned to larger secotrs as aerial command centers. The MESA radar used by the A565 Battle Command, all named after giant ferocious flightless birds (Tyrannis, Brontornis, Andalgornis, Diatryma, etc) was hard to detect or jam against. Frequent changing pulses and a resistance to white noise and other radar tricks. Their launch points were kept secret, and screening by the other forms of aerial recon were used to hide them. The powerful planes could track up to 200 other aircraft and compute and analyze.

The Shadowhawk LY910, a powerful stealth aircraft, flown by the best fighter pilots in the country, acted as the guards of the air against unexpected blunders or tracking. They were also difficult to track and find, and packed autocannon and AIM 120 air to air missiles. The Sparrowhawk might also be used to sweept an enemy forces CAP from the air or defeat an attacking air force attack.

The Sparrowhawk and Terrier Multi-Role fighters would fill in the necessary gaps if they were required. They were required to provide possible ground support or ground attack missions. They might also be required to attack particular ground targets or face other fighters or helicopters or drones if need be.

On the ground, a combination of Tora Guchi Close in Weapon Systems, King Shepherd Air Defense Artillery, Skyguard Air Defense Artillery, Yuushio - evening tide--missile systems, existed that were generally a failsafe to protect land forces and land targets.

However this was not enough. The Jedorians had a lot of heavy tactical weapons. This had to be matched by the Hermes, Orel, Aloras and Ares systems were long range ballistic and missile systems designed to blunt an enemy's combat capabilities, and guided by satellites and drones were intended to match them. Vrinn was concerned that there were not enough of these.

"Without having tactical artillery and missile systems enough along with our brothers and sisters in the Navy," she pointed out, "What good will the ground pounders do? All we can do is resist an invasion then, unless we can hit them hard."

"I respectfully see that if we cannot have a first strike capability which we assess to be capable of ruining the Jedorians' ability to attack, then Daniels' plan will come to naught," she said in a memo to the Ministry of Defense.

Secret Installations
Saint Nomas Fixed Radar Array
20 x Tora Coastal Defense Batteries
20 x Orel Long Range Artillery Batteries
20 x Aloras Long Range Artillery Batteries

"Would it be enough?"

[Jedoria]

Ambassador to Novitera Gabriela Țițeica had been representing Novitera's closest ally for the last three years. The status of relations between the United Federation and the Confederation was one that was based primarily on economics, substantiated by some mutual interests with regards to security and commerce. As a result, being Ambassador to Novitera was both an easy position and a difficult one at time. On one hand, the relationship between the two states could often be defined by currency and trade more so than mutual strategic interests, but on the other hand, both the United Federation and the Confederation benefited immensely from their mutual defense agreements. While the Noviterans posessed a powerful and technologically advanced navy and air force, they were heavily deficient on the ground. In contrast, while having recently rebuilt their own navy and air force, the Confederation remained a historical land power.

The situation in Latium and the response to it made their relationship clear. The Noviterans were more than willing to defend their shared commercial interests but felt the succession dispute between Constantine and Michael was completely out of their realm. Working with the Noviterans as a result was a often times complex affair; the Directorate saw their alliance with the Confederation purely in terms of financial gain it seemed, while the Executor was more amicable. In a way the Jedorians couldn't fully complain. The Cornellian Trade Organization allowed the Confederation to trade freely, especially in oil, despite the presence of FODE, and ensured Jedorian trade continued to flow.

Gabriela Țițeica herself was an attractive women in her mid thirties, having studied in Novitera and spent a considerable amount of time in the country; her birthplace was near the border between Jedoria and Novitera and therefore had visited the country several times with her family in her youth. She wore a standard women's two piece business suit, dark in color with complimentary slacks and dark heels.

She was familiar with the Executive Center, as this was not her first visit. The early morning sun was just now warming up the city of Avantine, slowed down by the approaching winter. Traveling in an unmarked SUV, she departed her transportation and walked herself into the familiar structure, making her way towards the location of the meeting. Entering Douglas's office, she approached both The Executor of State and the Director.

“Executor, Director, a pleasure.” She said with a bright smile and an outstretched hand. “Thank you so much for agreeing to this meeting, I know you two are busy so I'll try not to waste your time.”

She sat down on the sofa opposite of the two Noviterans and enjoyed a sip of water before beginiging. “Well, let me begin by saying the Confederation appreciates the support your government has given us in recent times, especially with things as hectic and uncertain as they are. There are a number of issues I would like to raise, however.”

“First and foremost, I'm sure you both have heard of the tragic death of Reverend Paul Vlaicu. While my government fundamentally disagreed with his political stances and opinions, he was nevertheless a decorated war hero and a true citizen to the Confederation. His death at the hands of leftist extremists is most regrettable.”

“Unfortunately, it seems that the Allied States of New Edom is intent on using the death of the Reverend to advance their agenda. The Allied States government, prior to the death of Vlaciu, repeatedly made demands of the Confederation that we release imprisoned radicals and criminals, simply because they were of the Christian faith. Despite repeatedly pointing out that under the Jedorian constitution, all punishment is delivered equally regardless of faith, race or ethnicity, the Edomites continued to demand special treatment of their faith, and following the death of the Reverend, went so far as to blame his death on us, and accuse us of acting against the Christian faith. I have a copy of the letter here, in fact.

As you can see, the Edomite government has openly threatened the use of force against the Confederation unless we bow to their demands of treating their faith as above the law. The Edomites believe they have a right to interfere in the affairs of the Confederation, and furthermore have completely ignored our security concerns and insist that their faith be treated as more important than others.”

“As I'm sure you can guess, my government has no intention of letting ourselves be bullied by the current government in Fineberg. However, we do also not wish to see force of arms be required to quell these efforts at undermining the security and stability of the Confederation.” Țițeica paused for a moment before addressing Director Mary Takeshi. “Director, I am aware your branch of government has reservations regarding Noviteran foreign policy and treaty obligations. I do not hold this against you, it is your duty as representatives of your people to look out for their best interests, and in that my government admires even if we do not always see eye to eye. I understand the idea of having to support the Confederation in an armed conflict is not exactly an appealing one.”


“Which is why I will state, for the record and sake of clarity, that the Confederation has no intention on embarking on any aggressive course of action. We will not bow to the demands of states bent on undermining Jedoria, but neither will we embrace conflict as the only solution. I hope you can understand where my homeland is coming from; the Edomites openly espouse their desire for peace with us, yet they allied with our most hated enemy in Vozgarnor. They demand their faith be treated unequally, placing it above the law. The Confederation will not abide by such ludicrous demands.”

“I apologize for speaking so much, but I am aware that my government has in recent times kept quiet about a number of things. Given what we have endured over the past few months, I hope you can forgive our concerns about security.”

She took another sip of her drink. “As for Latium, I will also make my government's position clear. The Confederation supports Emperor Constantine and plans to support him through the use of force if necessary. We have attempted talks with both sides, but it is clear based on our observations that Prince Michael is not the legitimate ruler. I also understand that your government views this solely as a Latin affair.”

She held up a hand slightly. “My government understands the position the United Federation has taken. I am not here to attempt to convince you otherwise. Rather, I will endeavor to make our position clear to avoid any confusion. We will support Constantine with military forces; if ordered to attack we will do so alone, and if fired on in retaliation then we do not consider Novitera to be under any obligation to assist us. However, should Prince Michael's forces, or foreign forces operating in support of Prince Michael, unprovokedly open fire on Confederate forces, we will consider this an act of war and worthy of activating our mutual defense pact agreements.”

“However, I do not believe either of latter two events are likely. Prince Michael seems to be lacking in foreign support and he has yet to take action against us. More than likely Jedorian involvement in Latium will remain solely a Confederate affair.”

“I apologize again for speaking at such length, but I hope this clears up any confusion or concern regarding my government's intentions or stances. We both have profited both politically, financially, and strategically from our relationship. The CTO provides the Confederation an avenue of trade that is most welcome. If either of you have any concerns or questions regarding any of this, please feel free to ask or address them.”

[Jedoria]

For quite some time, most of Jedorian history in fact, the purpose of the Confederate Navy had been to patrol the waters the Confederation viewed as the “Gulf of Jedoria”, specifically the waters between the island of Peregrino and the Jedorian coastline. This area roughly coincided with the Jedorian EEZ, and their air defense identification zone. Patrolling this area fell to both the Confederate Navy and Air Force, usual patrols consisted of corvettes, frigates, and multi-role fighter aircraft from the mainland. Two JV-54 airborne early warning aircraft were constantly flying across the expanse of the gulf on holding patterns that roughly divided the area into two spheres, north and south. Each AEW was supported by four Sasayaku UAVs that flow in a loose circle around each aircraft a few hundred kilometers apart. Along with the patrolling frigates and corvettes down below, all were linked together with ComStar to keep the mainland alerted to any trespasses or transgressions.

An additional layer of defense lay in the two-tiered SOSUS system that the Confederation had built. The first layer ran from southern Jedoria to Peregrino, where it turned north and wrapped around Novitera. It was a joint venture between the two allied states to further keep tabs on wandering submarines and ships from potentially hostile nation states. The second layer was a smaller, Jedorian only endeavor that wrapped around the southern coast before connecting with the northern coastline in Makos. If the first line was circumvented or destroyed, the Confederation had a fall back option to keep an eye out for enemy naval forces.

An increasingly potent part of the Confederate surveillance arsenal was their Halcyon Arms-made MQ-7A Wyvern UAVs. It had proven to be highly capable of high endurance missions as well as stealthy reconnaissance over New Othman, where despite it's 92 foot wingspan it's high altitude capability and lift-producing shrouded propeller and angled stabilizers located beneath the wing helped to keep incoming radar signals from intersecting with the propeller blade, decreasing the overall profile to detect. Jedorian tests flying the Wyverns while Rafales and ADF-60s jamming using EW pods found that detection of the Wyvern against background noise was highly difficult.

The main focus of coordination between the air force and the navy was the task of taking out enemy carrier groups. It was agreed between both Naval Central Command and Air Force Central Command that risking strategic bombers or the Confederation's own carriers was too risky, at least if done unilaterally. Both branches had instead opted to cooperate to draw up plans of attack for elimination of enemy naval forces, and in particular their carriers.

The Air Force for this purpose had supplied JMV-B350 bombers; they didn't have the range to be considered strategic assets and thus their usage was more easy to justify, along with their cheaper price tag. Though slower and older, these refurbished bombers could carry a lot of ordinance, which remained their primary usage now, as large scale missile carriers. When the time would come, they would soar off from air fields across Jedoria and swing into the gulf under protection from Rafales and Vipers, loaded with ZH-93 and LA-79 anti-ship missiles. The older LA-79s had been upgraded for a new purpose; their large warheads had been fitted with canisters that, at the appropriate time, would disperse large amounts of electromagnetic interference producing debris that would clog up enemy radar and make detection of the actual missiles difficult. Other LA-79s had been fitted for a new usage as drones, their warheads replaced with simple but loud, noise generating radars that worked to conceal barrages or distract radar operators and technicians.

While the Rafales would engage the enemy CAP, the B350s would unleash their arsenal of cluttering munitions that would head straight for enemy ships, with some like the ZH-106 dropping to just above sea level to avoid detection and interception. While this was ongoing other flights of fighters and drones would swoop in from other directions so the enemy fleet had to deal with attacks from almost every angle. This 'swarm' tactic had been studied by the Confederate Navy and Air Force for several years now and through their own testing had found it to be a fairly effective tactic. Of course the Confederation didn't have the sheer numbers to utilize such a maneuver in full, and thus great emphasis was place on aforementioned deceptive strikes and munitions.

The Confederate Navy had long relied on the air force for support; Jedoria domestic-carriers like the older Zalmoxis-class could carry only twenty aircraft, and thus were very limited in force projection and capability. Such was no longer the case, in fact the Confederate Navy was a vastly different animal than it had been just a few years ago. Most of their ships now were what some called “missile spammers” they bristled with weapons and armaments, clearly indicating they were ships built for destroying opposing naval forces. Even their frigates contained dozens of VLS-cells and missile launchers. Like their aerial counterpart, Jedorian doctrine had evolved to make use of this massive amount of firepower in what the Navy liked to call tidal attacks. VLS-cells were subdivided into sections that contained certain types of missiles that would fired in a certain order depending on the situation. A common derivative of this was to fire off longer ranged missiles like the LA-88s first, then in quick succession follow up with ZH-34s, launched from a different firing vector and solution so the enemy's defenses would have to deal with a multi-angled attack. All this while MRS-4 UAV variants would be flying, loaded with ECM pods and their own arsenals.

The same swarm tactic was therefore found across Confederate operations, but rather than relying on overwhelming numbers and force that the Confederation did not always have, deception and trickery would be used to shore up such deficiencies. It would already be hard to deal with 80 missiles fired right at your ship, and even harder when another 100 were thrown in, and you had no idea which were real or fake until it was too late.

The Jedorians were confident in the capability of their naval aviation; while they lacked VTOLs, the Rafale more than made up for that deficiency with it's low maintenance, high performance and incredibly maneuverability. Jedorian naval air doctrine often called for aircraft to attack and fight at low angles which suited the Rafale perfectly; it's close coupled canards only made handling easier and the aircraft more agile, especially at low altitudes. Although not a stealth aircraft in the traditional sense, the onboard ECM pods built into the Rafale had proven effective at spoofing radar systems into false leads and detection. Combined with a airframe that was 70% composite, the Rafale was not an easy aircraft to track and target. Making matters even worse for opposing aircraft was that despite it's small size (and thus small IR signature and RCS), the Rafale naval variant could had 13 hardpoints, allowing it to carry a large arsenal of air-to-air and anti-ship missiles. The Rafale was also the go-to counter-stealth aircraft for the Jedorians, given the Rafale carried long range IR systems augmented with a laser range finder capable of BVR identification of aircraft.

It was therefore a mystery to the Confederation why more nations hadn't adopted the Rafale, especially in light that it did all of that despite being cheaper than most other Western style aircraft.

The Jedorians were used to dealing with modern aircraft, as they had against the Vozgarni. But also they were familiar with Adiran design as well. Back when the Republic had been a distant friend to the Confederation, several F-39 Ravens had been purchased. Now that the Adirans were considered a potential threat, the Jedorians had thoroughly dismantled the Ravens to discover it's details and secrets, reverse engineering parts they saw as valuable or useful.

[New Edom]

Peregrino

Lieutenant-Colonel Obadaiah Geryon paused at the crest of a wooded hill only five kilometers from the Jedorian northern border, his feet on the ground on either side of his mountain bike. A few others nearby, in light exercise clothing, were scattered around as well. They wore a motley aray of clothes, some baseball caps, some forage caps, some bush hats, a variety of t-shirts, sleeveless tops, shorts, bike tights and the like, like any number of well off members of a recreatinoal club. It was not unheard of for bird watchers, hikers and others to come through this area, but in fact this group were all staff officers. The other recreationalists were monitored carefully.

He raised his civilian binoculars and swept over the area. If anyone came upon them they were taking nature photographs or making sketches. "This is the spot," he said to Major Dashiel, who was lying on his front nearby apparently sketching a pretty picture of a stream surrounded by evergreen trees. "It's difficult to see consistently from the air even with drones, and it's little more than a smudge on the SATCOM map."

"And difficult going for any heavy vehicles, or any large formation for that matter. and the soil too chalky for building anything useful, it's like the vestigial organ of the island body." said Dashiel acidly. "Do you think it will be of the slightest use for anything other than a very small unit?"

"Anything may be grist for the mill," said Geryon. He was a restles sort, always on the move, eager to get exercise or get a plan in place. "But you see we don't need to necessarily move through this territory, merely use it for a foothold. The river is low enough, this time of year, that we can move a body of vehicles which are relatively light and will keep their blocks above the waterline through. Gun trucks, some lighter IFVs, and we can use that to provide protection for a first strike unit and for covering withdrawal of special ops. And it can be used, more importantly, for the Holy Cross to move through the terrain."

They were speaking in Baran, but Geryon enevertheless decided he had said too much already, though he had kept his voice low as well and turned away from the Jedorian border itself. You never knew. "Well," he said more loudly, "i think that we need to get some shade and look over our sketches. We're going to find the Whtie Faced Reed Warbler yet, gentlemen! Let's head on to the hostel!"

Amiably the party of intelligence officers got back on their bikes and pedaled along the difficult terrain, breaking into a good sweat. But sweat was good for the soul, and was part of their prayers of earnest devotion to duty to God

---

Vice-Admiral Isaiah Davenant arrived in San Marco without a great deal of fanfare. He, Admiral Eglon, Gerneral Hod, General Shofar, General Zarach and some of their staff gathered at Hod's villa for a dinner and reception. This was a parade dress affair with a string quartet, a buffet, some dancing and friendly conversation with family, local officials including clergy present. It was warm enough in San Marco that many of the guests began to end the evening clothed in little but breeze and water.

However the Governor, Commander-in-Chief and other senior commanders in Peregrino spoke quietly in private, retiring to the chapel to discuss matters. "First," said Davenant, "We should all congratulate General Zarach and General Shofar on their appointments."

"Indeed," said Hod amiably, glancing at Shofar, "I am glad to have a deputy who will be suitable to taken on a great deal of the planning and operations."

Shofar, who had suffered a throat injury during the Anarchist attack on Glasstower, sounded like a snake when he talked, his voice rasping and hoarse, a harsh whisper. "Thank you sir," he said, glancing at him. "I hope to perform to your satisfaction, but more importantly to be ready to beat the Jedorians."

"And General Zarach," continued Davenant, "I feel confident that I speak for all here when I say that we are glad to have so highly decorated a warrior of the skies with us."

Zarach smiled and nodded, but he seemed a bit subdued. Thoughe he had gone to the staff college in Neu Engollon and in Nihon, most of his career had been as a pilot and as an instructor, and as was said of such officers "Had an ass more suited to cockpit than office."

"I hope so. Well we seem to have some good units here, but we also seem to be awfully out numbered," observed Zarach.

"Aren't our planes and UAVs superior to theirs?" asked Hod with a frown.

"Yes sir, on paper it looks that way. But if you think of it this way," Zarach said, warming up a bit, "Why, we also have fewer machines and fewer people. What that means is that even if we are flying better, performing better, have a faster action to response time, and more experience...well our people will get tired faster, and they can in theory hold us off with their defense systems if they so choose and then take us out. One thing we can count on is that the Jedorians will take casualties willingly if they think that it is worth it. So my duty is going to be to try to make sure that what we do counts in the first day of a conflict...unless you can get me more planes."

"How many more planes?" asked Davenant.

Zarach glanced at all of them, each in turn. "Twice as many as we have now."

"Twice as many...but where would the numbers come from?" exclaimed Hod.

"We might have to withdraw them from other fronts. I had heard a rumour that Roman and Hutanjian forces may replace some of ours on the Northern and Eastern fronts," said Zarach.

Davenant and Hod looked at one another.

"Not that simple," said Davenant. "Not that simple at all."

"You're the king's cousin, sir," Zarach said. "You could ask him."

Davenant laughed. "If only it were so easy as that! The King, if you must know, wants everything done properly and has to weigh many concerns, not just this one. If we weaken the eastern front, we weaken our stance against Deadora, against Ashab, even against our Shrailleeni allies, bless 'em, we must not be too dependent upon their good graces...And if we weaken the north, the jedorians may take that the wrong way. So if there are replacements, they have to be timed well."

Zarach revealed the stubbornness that had made him a good fighter pilot. He was polite but showed no servility as he said, "Understood, Admiral, but I hope you will ask."

Davenant raised his eyebrows. "I will ask, yes."

"When do we expect an attack might come?" Zarach persisted.

"I think it can only be a question of weeks," said Hod gravely.

"How many weeks?" asked Zarach.

"Well..." Hod pondered.

"I have one of my officers out there looking along the border with other teams answering to him" Shofar said with a hoarse chuckle. "A real whizz-kid, eager lad, wants to know everything. Likes to do things himself if he can, get a fresh look. But he flaoted an idea by me...of a preemptive attack. We may need to. General Zarach is, I fear, right."

Davenant looked down and rubbed his chin a moment. then he looked up again. "Gentlemen: I am afraid he is right about one thing. We will have to talk to the King about this. Thus far our entire doctrine has been based on the idea that we would be preparing an aggressive defense."

"yes," said Shofar, "But we just conceivably might take General Daniels' plan to a farther degree, strike first, and seize Peregrino. And if we are to do such a thing, we would have to so sooner rather than later. Perhaps before we feel entirely prepared to, but it might be the right plan. I would strongly back that idea based on what we know now."

Davenant was already thinking quickly about how he would approach the matter. "I will put that to the King...along with your other suggestions, Gerneral Zarach. Thank you."

[Jedoria]

The Jedorian approach to war was one that was rather unique to the Confederation for several reasons.

The Confederation considered the two greatest factors in determining the scale and scope of warfare were the application of force and the mobilization of resources. The application of force was a rather straightforward but important concept. How much force needed to be brought to bear, and what weaponry, ordinance, and units would actually be needed? Would it be skirmishes between patrols, engagements between battalions, or full scale operations by entire divisions supported by air assets and in conjunction with naval maneuvers? Determining the necessary application of force was critical for the Jedorians when considering what forces to bring to bear and what type of fighting needed to be done, and how it could be countered on the diplomatic realm.

Mobilization of resources were directly correlated to the affect war had on the Confederation's resources, both in terms of financial, but also existing stockpiles of munitions and weapons, raw materials and industrial goods. A distant conflict like Ashab or New Othman required large investments of military stock and resources but ultimately did not greatly affect the civilian market. A full scale war, on the other hand, over Peregrino or right on the Confederation's borders, would have marked impact on the civilian sector, mainly in the form of rationing.

When committing to war, the Confederate Armed Forces employed what they knew as “operational norms”. Norms could be found by reading Jedorian training and field manuals that were handed out and used to teach officers and enlisted personnel about the working of the Jedorian military. These manuals however lacked what other nation's might consider normal content; absent were biographies on former unit leadership or history, no paragraphs dedicated to historical events and significant commanders of note.

Instead, these manuals were filled with charts, graphs, tables, equations and formulas. Together they formed a rather distinct, scientific view of war that emphasized logistics and operations above all. Contained in these training manuals and taught in officer academies were statistics and analysis that explained movement and maneuvers in very tangible terms; how far a certain type of unit could move based on terrain, supply status, combat exposure. Charts and graphs showed how long the average soldier could marsh, fight, maintain a defensive position, and tables showed how much fuel a tank brigade would need to move so many kilometers if the advance rate was X or Y. The Jedorians therefore boiled war down to a very theoretical and mathematical base that formed the core of their doctrine, which in the end emphasized operational level focus with speed and shock being the primary hallmarks.

The Jedorians did not view concepts like leadership and authority as innate characteristics that some people simply had and others did not. Rather the Confederates felt that any skill, regardless of nature, could be taught so long as the teacher was capable enough. As a result training for Jedorian officers and NCOs was very universal and regimented so that every leader was effectively trained to the same standard. While it had a tendency to kill creativity, it meant that replacing Jedorian leaders was never a truly difficult task, since every officer and senior NCO had been trained to the same standard and at least had the basis of which to build policy and lead troops into battle. To compensate for a lack of ingenuity, training exercises in the Confederate Armed Forces often consisted of free play scenarios that placed lower level commanders, especially at the battalion level and below, at seemingly impossible situations, where the simulated enemy held some kind of innate advantage. Sometimes it was air support that couldn't be shot down, or artillery that out-ranged the Jedorian's own, or communications only worked over a very short distance.

In some ways the Jedorian approach to war was similar to a chess game. The Confederates considered the reality as such; each chess piece had it's strengths and weaknesses, and rather than try to change or augment those abilities, the key would lay in teaching the player the utilize the pieces properly so that their advantages were always maximized and their weaknesses diminished or unnoticed, turning the player into a grand master rather than trying to change the pieces themselves.

In their analysis of recent conflicts across the region, including their war with the Vozgarni, Jedorian Central Command and the Joint Chief of Staff had concluded that overall the most successful strategy for the armed forces to adopt were speed and shock. Speed was a relatively simple but important factor; being able to react, move, and engage faster than the enemy kept the initiative with the Confederates. And if the need came to withdraw or retreat, it could be done faster than the enemy could pursue and attack.

Shock was a multi-faceted concept but the Jedorians had boiled it down to firepower and surprise. Firepower was a simple idea that the Jedorians had implemented into their armed forces in various ways. Most of their bombers and fighters could carry heavier payloads than their opposites. Their warships were armed to the teeth and bristling with weapons. Their IFVs were heavily armed and each brigade had a plethora of artillery pieces.

Surprise was based on deception, but not just ambushes or sneak attacks, but also confusion. Jammers, drones masquerading as fighters, or fighters launching ordinance that was actually just a piece of equipment that gave off a lot of electromagnetic interference, confusing radar operators and technicians.

The Confederates had found that when implemented correctly, speed and shock were a combination very difficult to counter, only really possible if the enemy had a lot of reserves and a lot of space to retreat and recover. To emphasize this doctrine, the Confederates had a very aggressive mindset when it came to operations; not just constant attacking, but constant movement, reprisals and counter strokes. The Jedorians had learned in the Vozgarnor War that to properly maintain a defensive line you needed the ability to conduct local and large scale counterattacks, a concept that had firmly been incorporated into their defensive operations. When attacked in one sector, the proper response was to counterattack in another sector.

Using speed and shock, Jedorian forces would attempt to swarm over their enemies from all available angles, using combined arms tactics to encircle, overrun, or simply bypass enemy forces and hardpoints. Since the Confederation did not have the numbers to simply spam numbers at their adversaries, the aforementioned emphasis on firepower and deception would have to come into play.

Because at the end of the day, the Jedorians did not have overwhelming conventional superiority. Rather, they had limited advantages in certain fields that would need to be carefully exploited in order to achieve success. To help determine at what point the Confederate forces held the advantage, the concept of “predetermined damage” was developed. These levels of damage were estimates that an enemy would be willing to suffer to achieve their objectives, and that if the Confederates could exceed that damage, then the enemy could be deterred from seeking to complete said objectives.

Introspectively, the Jedorians had developed their own system of determining combat effectiveness. In essence, it was a system for determining at what point did a unit suffer too heavy a loss to remain capable of conducting operations. When a unit reached a point where casualties became too heavy, it was the role of leadership to determine the best course of action for making use of surviving elements and how they could maintain combat effective despite such losses.

In essence, the Confederation viewed warfare as waged and won through tangible, calculable means determined by equations and scientific principles. Logistics and operations, they felt, were the critical factors in determining the victor of armed conflict, and when correctly employed and understood, victory could often be assured even before the actual shooting started.

[New Edom]

Peregrino

Rain slashed down around the streets of San Marco. The rain and fog made it harder to see the advance of the Holy Cross from the edge of the city in a series of truck convoys, no more than five trucks per unit, moving down the road and off eastward.

General Shofar stood in the rain, the water running down his naked body, his eyes closed as it fell upon his face and trickled own.

I am concerned about the artillery deficit, Shofar, Hod had said. More than 3 to one, it is a fearful odds. Shall we risk all upon such ahazard? We have a challenge to our doctrine here. The Jedorians have singular artillery units, we have put them all on divisional or regimental control. We cannot both take out the units we have designated and artillery batteries at the same time. On the other side of Peregrino, the roads are better, they will be able to project force faster than we can, units which we also cannot match them with. The slightest margin of error, and they eat us alive.

A fearful odds indeed. What had he done? He was committed now.

There was an incident in the 104th where a soldier had gotten drunk and driven a "Mule" tracked cargo carrier--they had more of those than normal because of hte terrain--down the streets of San Marco. "I mark my territory!" he would shout as he would now and then flip open the cab door and urinate out onto the street, laughing like an idiot.

Shofar envied him. His wrongdoing had cost him nothing more than a gauntlet flogging, a fine fo 3 months' pay and being busted down to private from Senior Corporal. The fool might have done worse, but as it was he had just frightened and annoyed people, it wasn't like he'd tried to sell the damned vehicle. All the same, so simple. If he, Shofar failed, it would be a lot worse.

With the arrival of the 3rd Shock Cavalry, a veteran unit with experience in rough terrain ahd tough odds,some were elated. He was dubious. They had mostly fought Damocleans and Edomites. The Jedorians would act as they had in the 70s, he was sure. In New Edom, Jedorian military doctrine was called "Factory Strategy". Basically you had a methodology and machine and you used it, being willing to face attrition briefly in order to maximize your advantage. At first the battle on the frontier had gone badly for the Jedorians. Then they began to increase their artillery and air force committments, and removed any tactical advantages the arguably more well trained and led Edomites' advantages until they were desperately on teh run, entire units obliterated or shamefully surrendering as they ran out of arms and were cut off from lines of communication and supply.

But then what had happened? To put it simply, the Jedorians ran out of steam. Their supply lines became extended, their time of flight from base to operations area had extended without effective and supplied airfields in forward areas, artillery shells, heavy and expensive, difficult to keep feeding the greedy tubes.

This did not make that war any les of a failure. It had resulted in a bloody status quo.

"Darling? Come in to bed..." he heard his wife calling from the door to the garden. "it's late, you need your rest."

"Yes, my dear..." Shofar said over his shoulder. "I'm at prayer."

He heard the door close and this time genuinely knelt on thew wet grass and heard the humming whispering of the rain in the sycamore trees.

---

Fineberg, New Edom

A waltz was being played at Betharan Palace as on the dance floor men and women in evening dress, ball gowns and full dress uniforms moved with elegant surety.

Hosidius Geta was enjoying--very much enjoying--dancing with the attractive young Countess Lavinia Nabal, who smiled at the Foreign Minister, just barely above her own height. "You have much accomplished this year, Mister Geta," she observed. "Governor of Pergrino, presiding over the peaceful partition agreement, and the Adiran summit, oiling the waters with the Shrailleeni..."

"Careful, Your Excellency," he said with a smile. "Pride goeth before a fall. I am merely a mortal man, subject to all the ills that the flesh is heir to. These issues with the Jedorians, the Latins, the Ghantar still greatly concern me. There is no easy solution. While our soldiers, sailors and airmen of high rank concern themselves with possible preparations for war, the roots of the conflict remain."

"Educate a naive young lady in waiting, Foreign Minister," said Lavinia. "What are the roots of conflict?"

He considered. "Two different visions of independence from the Cornellian Empire, with territory divided arbitrarily at the time and much fought over. Intense religious hostility. A fascist vision of democracy versu a constituoinal monarchy's, differing views on trade. It is as much cultural as it is territorial. And in sum, we don't trust them, they don't trust us. They see any concessions as being an attack on the authority of their government. I feel sure in my bones that Raceneau and Caragiale were assassinated along with their followers and members of their families for that very reason. Hatred is behind it."

"In that, Minister, are we the reasonable ones?" asked Lavinia.

He looked at her admiringly. Chestnut softly gleaming hair, piled on her delicate head, flowing down her shoulders smooth and lovely. Her light olive skin, shoulders revealed like Aphrodite's from the foam with her full smooth cleavage which rose and fell in delicious swells with every breath as she moved, the ball gown a crimson and green waterfall around her splendid body.

All that and clever too. And a survivor. Beyond her loveliness, her little flaws revealed in form and in her eyes. Her too sharp nose and chin, and the eyes that had a thousand yard stare, that said she had been in Stonehaven Prison, accused of treason, blasphemy and adultery, and yet she had lived long enough to receive Jocasta's mercy after the death of Pahath-Moab.

"Are any righteous in this wicked world?" he said as he moved her expertly on the floor, forcing his eyes away from her bosom. "We have ambitions and plans we try to bring about, for the safety of our country. They undermine this with every breath. If we were truly just committed to peace, we would do whatever it took, but there is more to it than that of course."

"It seems complicated," she observed. The dance had ended, and they both applauded the band.

"Complicated is the word for it," he agred. "Thank you for the dance, Your Excellency."

"Foreign Minister" she said with a curtsy.

A new dance had begun.

"So many of my friends gone to the wars," said Lavinia. "Only Domris, because he's the King's aide, remains, and my girl friends of course."

"That's the way of it," Geta said.

Only older gentlemen approached Lavinia now, and the next was fat Basil Jerome, the Undersecretary of Transmarine Affairs in the Foreign Minister, blading showing his balding pate and his glasses gleaming. "Excellency, would you honour me with a dance?" he asked. "Unless I am interrupting..." he glanced at his boss.

"By all means," said Geta, not wanting to sem obsessed with the young woman.


"Of course, Mr. Jerome," said Lavinia.

"Two hundred artillery pieces," said General Jonathan Unwerth, before putting his cigart back into his mouth. "Unbelievable. Where are we to get them?"

"Hod's deputy, Shofar, wants to propose that they should come from the strategic reserve and the Deadoran front," said General Augrim. "It may be wise to do so, Jonathan."

"With the Gloria Regian crisis at our feet?" said Unwerth, staring at him. "Are you out of your mind?"

Augrim smiled thinly. "I think not, O Chief of the General Staff. We are after all no longer dealing with foreign possible supporters of the feminist extremists there. Their support has waned. All their extra forces are these foreign legion troops, and they are barely supplied, not integrated properly, and the Gloria Regians are divided against one another as sisters warring for the affections of their father. No. We have only to contend with our allies, and all they want is reassurance of our intended good care of the islands. But the Jedorians must be fought well if they are to be fought. We need two hundred artillery pieces sent to Peregrino. Howitzers and MRLS."

"I think that you may underestimate the effectiveness of Daniels' plan," observed General Josephus, adjusting his eyepatch and then drawing from his own cigar. They all stood on a blacony looking over the dance floor below. "It is bold, and I agree with it."

Augrim considered him. "There are three things that goeth well, my friend. Yeah, four things that are comely in the sight of the LORD. A son devoted to his father, a field which is well furowed and fertilized and watered, a loyal hunting dog also, and an army that is well trained, equipped and prepared."

"You just made that up, damn it," said Josephus.

"My heart ever crieth to the LORD..." Augrim said.

"How is the King minded towards this?" asked old Admiral Galt.

"He prefers a negotiated peace, naturally," said Unwerth. "The Heir believes...I mean Princess Jocasta believes that we must be well prepared though, I agree with her."

"You want to be loyal to your patron, and yet support hte king's views, and must be as two men," said Augrim.

This displeased Unwerth. "I am trying to do my duty as best I see fit according to my conscience and honour, General Augrim."

"As am I, General Unwerth," said Augrim.

"I am no landsman," said Galt. "But it strikes me that three to one odds, in favour of a rather...ambitious plan working...strikes me as very risky. I support General Augrim in this."

"And in the last three years all the possible balloons going up in Peregrino have come to nothing," said Unwerth.

"The Jedorians are devoted to preparations in this vein," said Augrim. "I am sure that our moving Romain to Peregrino a year ago made them hesitate. Let us continue in that tradition. And we must speak to the King."

Unwerth nodded slowly. "Very well. we will speak to him tomorrow. At the briefing."

"No," said Augrim. "We must speak to him now."

The dance had changed to the let the hair down phase when they were able to approach the King, and younger peopel and the young at heart wer twisting and cutting the floor, some hems hiked up to revealed slim or heftier stocking legs, dress jackets open and medals glinting as they moved heartily.

"Sorry to interrupt your dancing, sir," said Unwerth.

"I presume it is important," King Elijah said curtly.

"It seems wise to me, O King, that we should provide more artillery force, of howitzers, aye and launchers of missiles, to outweight his vexatious deficit to our heavy arms and munitiosn in Peregrino." Augrim said. "And this will require us to take them from the reserves and other places."

"And then start establishing an entirely new unit," observed Josephus. "Since we have no full artillery division to move there."

"I thought that Daniels felt confident about his plan," said the King. "And I am surprised it is not a proposal from him."

"It is not, sir, but it is from Shofar, with Hod's support" said Augrim.

"Unwerth, what do you think?" asked the King.

"It may be premature, and weaken us elsewhere," said Unwerth immediately. "I am concerned that the Deadorans may see it as a weakness."

"After the King's successful establishment of detente with them?" said Admiral Galt. "i should hardly think so."

The King looked past them all, a signal that he was thinking about it. None interrupted him.

"I would like a plan of proposal on my desk before the briefing tomorrow," said the King to Augrim.

"Sir," replied the Chief of Army Staff, bowing.

Unwerth and the others bowed. "Your Majesty."

"Now," said the King gravely, "It's time to cut the rug."

[Jedoria]

Beach goers on the eastern shore of the island of Peregrino were close enough to Aqua Vita to hear the roar of jet engines as the planes they belonged to ascended from their normal flight altitudes to more appropriate avenues of approach. Aqua Vita International Airport wasn't the largest airport in the region but it was relatively modern, built in part with Jedorian assistance back when the Republic of Peregrino had still existed. A large 747 was on approach, four engines roaring as it climbed down to approach level. It looked like it was aiming right for the airport at Aqua Vita, except just a few miles from the city, it abruptly swung northwest and began instead heading for Joint Base Alexandru.

The 747 landed at the military installation on tarmac that was still somewhat slick with water from the previous night's showers. There was a brief lull in the rain that day, though based on the storm clouds seen on the northern horizon, their counterparts in the Edomite Dependency couldn't say the same. It was appreciated by the ground and air crews that worked in unison to guide the heavy airliner from it's landing position closer towards one of the hangars on the airfield, where a stair set was rolled out and attached to the doorway located on the aircraft. As the heavy door opened up, out came not tourists from the mainland, but soldiers of the 5th Naval Infantry Brigade, their uniforms of dark greens rather than tropical shirts, rucks loaded with personal supplies rather than vacation amenities.

To facilitate faster a faster transfer rate, many of the personnel of the 2nd Naval Infantry Division had been sent not onto large water-borne transports but rather aircraft, which could carry the personnel well enough and faster than their naval counterparts. Most of the heavy equipment would still have to be carried by sea, but at least the men would be here, with their own personal weapons and supplies. The first of the heavier equipment had already arrived in the form of single cargo ships, labeled and identified as civilian boats carrying innocent items likes apples, clothes, and time machines, but in reality they were unloading armored vehicles, munitions and fuel. The first to arrive had been RU-7 Khan light tanks, which the Jedorians call light tanks but were in fact more like armored cars with their eight wheels and 110mm cannon.

The bulk however would have to come with the convoy of container ships being organized back in the mainland. The plan was still the same as before; the ships would sail out with the carrier group lead by the Charum Hakkor, but after the task force sailed north the transports would continue on towards Peregrino and be received by a small detachment from the island's naval defense forces. The amount of ships in the force had been increased in light of recent developments. Brigadier General Morar, the commander of the two naval infantry brigades, had requested, insistently, that the divisions artillery brigade be deployed along with the two brigades. His superior, Major General Vulcan, disagreed, arguing that the PDF already had a plethora of artillery pieces available. Morar wasn't satisfied and argued that nearly all of them fell under the army's 90th Division, and therefore wouldn't be available to support the naval infantry.

Eventually Vulcan had relented and agreed to dispatch the 2nd Naval Artillery Brigade to Peregrino as well. Though this came with it's own further complications; more supplies, ammunition, spare parts, and personnel needed to be sent now. To ease the burden, cargo ships that were already loaded up were ordered to depart the for Peregrino as soon as they were done, sailing out on their own and blending in with the normal amount of sea traffic that could be found sailing between the mainland and the island. The bulk however would still have to come with the convoy attached to the Charum Hakkor, slipping away as the group moved north and sneaking into port under the cover of David running to the border and banging together a lot of pots and pans to keep the Edomites distracted.

At the end of all these deployments it would raise the total ground forces on Peregrino to something like this: three mechanized infantry brigades, four Peregrino Infantry Brigades, two naval infantry brigades, two artillery brigades, and one tank brigade.

---

“Alright, who's next?”

Pvt. Bărnuțiu wasted no time moving from his position at the front of the line onto the small platform where the Keshta heavy machine gun was planted. Easing himself into the firing position, he adjusted his helmet and stared in awe at he amazing piece of firepower that was before him. The Keshta was a 12.7mm monster that the Confederates used as their heavy machine gun. It was a redesign of an older heavy machine gun, lighter and more accurate, enough that it could be fired with a bipod, though for this training purpose it was mounted on a tripod.

Bărnuțiu had never fired it before; the only machine gun he had ever fired was the ARM-170 and Cagir back in basic training. The only weapon he had fired since then was his standard issue assault rifle. It wasn't hard to guess why; the Private's normal job was a file clerk working in S-1, handling personnel files and finances. Earlier this year however the Army had put out that all support personnel would be further included in combat arms training, to facilitate a standard of combat ready capability across the entire army, even if your normal job was answering phone calls and sitting at a desk all day. A lot of times that meant a lot of bullshit; Bărnuțiu had a friend back in the mainland part of the 338th Signal Battalion who had spent the last three weeks in the field training on how to act as infantry support for a tank battalion, even though his normal job was fixing radios.

But occasionally it led to cool shit like this, blowing stuff up and firing heavy weapons. For the entire morning, Bărnuțiu and his platoon had been at the firing range not far from Joint Base Alexandru, using weapons most of them had handled only one or never before. Earlier he had gotten a class on how to use two mortars, a 60mm and an 82mm, and just before lunch he had been shown basic operation of the AG-50 rocket launcher and RPS-71 recoilless rifle. Unfortunately he hadn't gotten a chance to fire either; that was reserved for the ones who aced the machine gun targeting practice earlier the other day. Bărnuțiu didn't mind, he was just happy to finally get to handle this kind of heavy weaponry.

“Alright, pull the bolt back and load the belt.” The Staff Sergeant running this little machine gun post indicated with a gloved hand as he crouched over the firing position that the gunner was expected to hold. Bărnuțiu did as instructed, grabbing hold of the bolt and pulling it back, opening up the feed tray and placing the first link in the belt onto it. After making sure it was securely in place, he closed the feed tray and wrapped his right hand around the trigger handle.

“Now switch off the safety and take aim.” The SSG instructed. Bărnuțiu nodded and pressed the button in that released the safety and made the Keshta ready to fire. “Fire when ready.” The NCO said. Bărnuțiu took a deep breath and aimed at the targets down range through the iron sights of the weapon. He waited until he had a clear picture before he squeezed the enlarged trigger of the heavy machine gun.

The barrel barked loudly as it began spewing out rounds and the entire weapon shook with recoil. It caught Bărnuțiu by surprise at first, though after feeling the weapon jolt in his hands, the Private tightened his grip on the trigger and dug the stock into his shoulder, gritting his teeth while the rounds kept firing. 700 rounds a minute fired on fully auto, the heavy 12.7mm bullets tearing apart the targets down range, reducing the wooden outlines to pulp and shattered splinters. It was a rush, not just to see such destruction play out from his view through the iron sights, but also to realize that he was the one causing it all. This was a weapon built for war, to destroy bodies and shatter bones, or puncture light armor and soft skinned vehicles. Bărnuțiu regretted his decision to enlist as a support personnel; if the infantry got to fire these bad boys all the time, it couldn't be that bad, right?

Bărnuțiu wanted to fire all day but his belt dried up after just a few seconds. The young junior enlisted didn't realize it at first, and continued to squeeze the trigger for several seconds before he realized he was empty. He looked up from the iron sights and could see that the targets 100 meters down range were no more. “Holy shit.” He muttered, a wicked grin forming around his lips.

“Awesome, huh?” The SSG said with a grin. “Not bad shooting kid.”

“Can I go again?” Bărnuțiu asked eagerly.

“You'll have to wait and see if we have enough ammo. Whole line's gotta go through, remember?”

“Aff.” Bărnuțiu acknowledged, a little disappointed, but he nevertheless cleared the Keshta, pulling the bolt back, opening the feed tray to clear out any links, and leaving the weapon ready for the next soldier as he climbed out of the firing position. As he did, the SSG called out for the next person to step up. As he did, he noticed that there were still at least twenty more soldiers to go through.

“Damn, it's like you guys brought the whole shop out here.”

One of the members of the group nodded. “Yeah, all of S-1 is here.”

The SSG suddenly got a confused look on his face. “Wait, if you all are out here, then who's processing my leave form?”

Suddenly the soldiers of S-1 all seemed to have new found interest in their armor, uniform or the blades of grass that surrounded them.

[Jedoria]

S-81, a Type 212 submarine assigned to the Peregrino Naval Defense Force, slipped silently beneath the waves near the port of Aqua Vita, embarking on the first leg of it's standard patrol.

Diesel-electric submarines had become a mainstay of the Jedorian naval arm over the past decade, with the Type 212 submarine in particular becoming the standard from which others were based on. The 212 was a marvel of modern engineering and science. It's air-independent propulsion system allowed it slowly cruise in near silence, staying submerged for up to three weeks with hardly an exhaust heat. Nearly vibration free and constructed of a prismatic hull cross section that smoothly transitioned from the hull to the sail, improving stealth. Constructed using non-magnetic materials also diminished the chances of being detected by magnetometers or setting off magnetic naval mines.

A total of thirty five Type 212 submarines served in the Confederate Navy. Until this year they had been the only submarines in the entire fleet, until the department had acquired nine nuclear submarines, two SSGNs and seven attack subs. The bulk of duty still fell to the Type 212s however, as their small size, highly advanced stealth features, and ability to sail close to shore made them perfect for patrolling the waters of the Jedorian gulf.

S-81s normal patrol pattern took it through a series of navpoints that ran almost parallel to the Jedorian SOSUS line that extended towards Peregrino before it circled around and brought the sub back to port. It would take about eight hours, primarily because they would be running solely on electric power rather than diesel. They would sail quietly, listening rather than speaking, letting noise echo through the waters of the gulf.

S-81 dived deeper into the ocean, cruising at 19 knots as it's electric seven bladed propeller quietly moved it forward, settling at 600 meters below the surface. The SONAR officers and crew sat at their consoles, headsets on and motionlessly save for occasional turns and twists of knobs and dials, listened. Their passive sonar made no noise as they swept the ocean, listening for signs. They heard plenty; distant propellers of passing cargo ships; screws belonging to Confederate frigates that were on patrol several dozen kilometers away. Aquatic life occasionally came through, whales and dolphins in the distance.

S-81 was not the only submarine on station. About 70 kilometers north, and about 80 kilometers east of Peregrino, the CNS Immortal, the Sea Lion-class attack submarine also patrolled. Unlike it's Type 212 counterparts, the Immortal was powered by a nuclear reactor; easier to detect but more powerful, allowing the submarine to dive even deeper and remain on mission longer. Yet even the Immortal was not entirely alone.

Farther out, nearly in the middle of the gulf, the Poseidon-class submarine, the Dutvutan lurked under the waves. It barely moved, almost drifting in the currents, slowly at just three knots per hour. Like S-81 the Dutvutan was mostly silent, save for the single comm buoy attached to the end of the submarine that floated upwards and bobbed on the surface. However even with this the submarine remained largely quiet, as it was waiting and listening, rather than speaking. The SSGN, one of just two of it's kind within the Confederate Navy, waited for the order it drilled for relentlessly. When given the proper authorization, the SSGN was to rise from the murky depths and unleash it's arsenal of cruise missiles aimed at pre-designated targets, sites of suspected command and control centers, troop concentrations and facilities.

Until that time came though, the Dutvutan would wait, silently floating far beneath the waves on the surface. The world above move on, oblivious to the terrible arsenal that waited in the darkness far below.

[Vozgarnor]

Magnigár, Port Olos

Magnigár was a small city of only some 250 000 inhabitants, but it was still the location of an important night-port, taking in shipments of both raw materials like timber and consumer goods such as clothes. But there was also another important installation in the city, the military harbor of Port Olos, an installation more than capable of docking the Vozgarni Navy's new Amphibious Assault Ships and was at one time, before the new National Defense Initiative, supposed to be expanded to be able to accommodate the now-cancelled carrier. It was more than adequate to receive the New Edomite Expeditionary Force and with the city's good connection to both the highway and railway networks the troops could quickly be moved south to the designated base in Military District South. Preparations in Port Olos had been ongoing for several days, Commander Eskardún no longer had the resources or manpower that he had under the previous NDI, but he still had his best men around him, men who were well acquainted with the base and worked tirelessly to receive the Edomites in the best possible was, after all, there was no reason to make their first impression of the Republic a bad one.

While in the north the port was waiting for the Edomite ships to arrive, the Edomite Expeditionary Force Base was being prepared for habitation and usage by the's VEF engineers and civilian employees. The core of the site was an old construction, an old divisional base complex which was decommissioned in 1989 but was now being brought back to fully usable condition. This included the installation of modern equipment to facilitate communication, command and combat monitoring with signals being sent in from satellites, radar posts, reconnaissance drones and AEW&C aircraft bringing the base up to speed regarding the needs of the modern army and battlefield. A considerable amount of manpower and resources had been allocated to the EEFB in order to have it ready as soon as possible. District South was the most militarized of Vozgarnór's military districts, with very good reason, the enemy lurked right across the border, and many of the men who manned it were waiting for the war to break out once more. There was after all no peace treaty, there was only an armistice. And 90 percent, not a hundred percent of Anrama was in Jedorian hands. Something that nobody was content with on either side of the border, for to both of these nations this was their sacred soil.

---

Outskirts of Halvokad, District South GHQ

Field Marshall Pamelnir Harandúr sat alone in his office, in the distance the skyscrapers belonging to the city of Halvokad could be seen as shining needles rising up in the dark night sky. The city was currently one of the main centers of production regarding military equipment in the Republic, and it was in his district, to close to the potential front for comfort. The Military-Industrial Region Plan would help offset this but it would take time before any of the new military-industrial areas would be operational. The Marshall turned away from the large windows and back to his desk, he quite liked the silence, except for the jazz noir playing softly that filled the room, it was in these conditions that his mind worked best he had found, it was in these conditions that he had planned his offensive during the war. The element for surprise gave the opening weeks a number of large successes, but the increase in casualties when the Jedorians had the advantage of defense and reorganized after she shock and confusion had worn off was untenable for the Vozgarni forces who were incapable of reinforcing the attacking troops and replacing casualties. Soon, the offensive had ground to a halt and a Jedorian offensive later took all the land previously retaken and pushed the Vozgarni positions even further back, Operation Serpent.

The Exclusion Zone included the remains of the Anrama borderlands and their surroundings, empty save for soldiers as the civilian population had been made to relocate further inland after the war. It now consisted of ghost-towns, military positions and defensive hardpoints as the Third and Fourth armies kept a watchful eye at the borders with both foot patrols, drones, radar and air-patrols. Should a new war break out the defensive lines along the Tung Shao mountains were imperative, the hard terrain made it difficult for the enemy to fully utilize their massive numerical superiority in both men and materiel which is why they would probably try to break through as soon as possible to break out into the the lowlands beyond and march on Kelenga and Halvokad.

In order to counteract this a forward defense was to be mounted and delaying tactics used, ambushes and sneak attacks to blunt hostile spearheads and minefields would be laid in more open areas which were more accessible for moving a large concentration of forces in order to delay said hostile forces. District South had access to light infantry and a specialized mountaineer division which would be able to operate in the hard terrain with greater efficiency than heavy troops which would instead be used to reinforce a faltering part of the front or initiate smaller scale counterattacks if the enemy were off-balance and vulnerable. The Independent SP Artillery Brigades would act as "fire-brigades" of sorts. Their main task would be to keep in highly mobile battery-level units and aid in both shelling hostile troops, but mainly to provide counter-battery fire relying on shoot-and-scoot tactics. Air defense was another key component, both ground assets and air assets would be used in order to eliminate airborne hostile threats. The closest to the front would be SPAAG systems coordinating with SAM-sites and Vozgarni Airforce jets to intercept and destroy hostile aircraft. Key infrastructure was to defended in a similar fashion, supported further by Vozgarni ABM systems. The main task of the airforce in a potential conflict would be interception and destruction of hostile aircraft along with close air support for the troops on the ground.

If the plans went well they could hold out, for a while at least. But the heart of the matter was that in the long run, in a war of attrition, Vozgarnor was doomed, it did not matter if they were able to hold for a year, or two, or five. The Jedorians already outnumbered them and the technological gap that once favored the Republic had narrowed considerably in the recent years. They Jedorians were able and willing to whether great casualties in order to be victorious, casualties that they could easily replace. Something Vozgarnor could not afford, every man, every vehicle was much more precious and hard to replace for the Republic. But, allies, allies could change that, the alliance with with New Edom brought hope, and further allies in the future would let that hope burn brighter.

[Republica De Gran Chaco]

Foreign Ministry
Strana Mechty, Jedoria

Sofia sat in the waiting room with her aids chatting softly and making last minute notes for their meeting. She was newly appointed ambassador to Jedoria, a reward for the successful negotiations in Ghant ending the Ashab war. She was an attractive woman in her mid-thirties who had helped pay for her schooling by modeling in her younger days. Today she was wearing a white skirt and top leaving her arms bare and had her long black hair in a single thick braid going down her spine. Sofia was almost never seen wearing anything other than a skirt, after all pants covered up her legs and she couldn’t have that. There was an air of smugness about her, as if she knew a secret that no one else did and Sofia always seemed to enjoy her job as though it was a great game.

The door opened and the group of Chacanos was welcomed into the meeting room. Niceties were exchanged and everyone sat down to begin. Sofia began not wanting to waste any time, it was important that any issues would be cleared up as quickly as possible.

“I want to thank you all for having me here today. Gran Chao views its relationship with Jedoria as a prize. One that we should not take for granted, and one that we have to work to keep. That is why we are so happy that we have a relationship where we do not hide concerns or brush them aside, but one where we bring them up and discuss them in order to form tighter bonds between our two nations.” Sofia began.

She gave a slight smile, shuffled some papers and continued “First let me discuss the deaths of Christians within your country. While we do not doubt that there is no government sponsored killing, or that some have been assassinated by terrorists, the sheer number of deaths has concerned us. We do not wish for this to expand in anyway. Jedoria is a majority non-Christian nation and we would hate to see more impressionable people take these deaths as a sign that they may get away with persecuting or killing Christians. Chaco is requesting that Christians receive protection from the government in order to lessen the death toll.”

“The second issue is the rapid increase in imprisoned Christians. Chaco has no reason to not believe you when you say that they committed crimes, surely you can see that the sudden increase may seem suspicious to outside nations such as New Edom, or more importantly in some ways Latium. It would not be a good time to cause mistrust with a nation that we are trying to help. I am by no means suggesting that these people go unpunished but perhaps an alternative punishment such as expulsion to another nation may be considered.”

Sofia shifted in her seat then leaned back so that her head rested on the seat, crossed her legs and set her hands in her lap and continued to speak, “Frankly this Latium situation is getting tricky politically for us at home. The deployment has been accepted to protect CTO trade. Basically being implied that we are acting as a shield for Tericio in the public’s mind. Novitera can guard their own interests. Getting involved in Latium would mean that we have to be part of a coalition.”

“Jedoria has had some…” Sofia thought for a moment, “hiccups following the tragic death of your former duke. This coupled with the recent increase in Christian deaths and imprisonments have caused rumors have flown through the international community and as heartbreaking as it is, many Chacanos would be hesitant to follow you into a war without a strong reason such as defending a CTO member even after the assistance fighting the Theology Council. Constantine failed to commit to a membership or even a deal that would be worth risking public backlash and has even told us that it would be an act of war to have forces in Latium when we asked permission to cross to attack Michael should Jedorians require assistance. Noviteran support would be good enough to sway many but Novitera seems utterly uninterested at this point in time, even to help an ally, though we have had encouraging news that they are sending a delegate to meet with Constantine’s government. We are wondering if it might be better to cut our losses and to withdraw our fleet. We need your government to make an effort if you wish to have us with you in this conflict. Chaco wants to help but the difficulties on the government are mounting.”

[Jedoria]

The boots of Colonel General Alin Prodan tapped as the general officer walked through the halls of Jedorian Central Command in Davion. It was the first time the Colonel General had set foot in the halls of the heart of Jedoria's military in seven months. Shortly after the murder of the Jedorian consul and the seizure of their consulate, the Confederation had embarked on a massive buildup and deployment to New Othman, establishing the Military Assistance Command – New Othman Stabilization and Security. Over a 100,000 troops from five divisions were now stationed in the young Republic, keeping the forces of fascist and Islamic extremism at bay.

Prodan had expected to be there at least a year before he would take leave and return home, and was surprised to receive an order directly from Central Command requesting his presence back in the homeland. Leaving command of MACNOSS to his assistant Brigadier General Marcel Cosma, head of his chief of staff, the Colonel General boarded a flight over Hostillia and found himself once more back in the Confederation. A lot had changed since he left.

The crackdowns of Internal Security and the persecution of minorities had little impact on the Colonel General, separated not only by his service but his location. As he landed and made his way back to Davion, his noticing of the differences of his homeland were overshadowed by the confusion as to why he was returning so early. Unbeknownst to Prodan, part of the reason for his deployment to New Othman was specifically to keep him away during the nationalist seizure of power. It had worked, and Prodan was no where in the wiser with regards to what really went down in Strana Mechty.

Concerns over the current government were nevertheless in the back of his mind as he exited his ride and walked into the subterranean complex that served as the heart of Central Command. He went through the security checks without incident, though he noted if anything it seemed tighter than previous experience would indicate. He ignored such concerns for the time being as he made his way towards the conference area his orders had summoned him to. Stairwells and deep corridors were his only companion apart from the occasional passing officer or enlisted personnel, who always followed their recognition of Prodan's rank with a clack of their heals and a stiff and quick stand to attention, which Prodan waved off dismissively.

After some time spent walking, the Colonel General arrived at the main conference chamber, past a set of steel reinforced double doors into a room surrounded by concrete. He wasn't sure how far beneath the surface he was, but he guessed it was pretty far. The room he walked into was barren save for light fixtures, a projector and screen, and an elongated table with accompanying chairs for occupants to sit down. The room was already occupied with a number of persons, some whom Prodan recognized, while other faces were unfamiliar. The most prominent however, was one that he knew very well.

“Ah, Prodan. Glad you could join us.” Field Marshall Bianca Cernea, the supreme operational commander of the Confederate Armed Forces, addressed Prodan as he entered. Cernea had, prior to her promotion, been head of the Joint Chief of Staff, a position from where she had laid the groundwork for a number of initiatives and reforms, including modernization and expansion efforts that had turned the Confederate Armed Forces into the war machine it was today. “How's it feel to be back in the homeland?”

“Ma'am.” Prodan said with a polite nod, accepting her handshake. “It's nice to be back, but I'm curious as to why I was recalled.”

“This meeting, actually.” Cernea said. When she saw his expression, she simply said “It'll become clear shortly. Would you be so kind as to join us?” She said, gesturing towards one of the open chairs. Prodan nodded and made his way to an open chair, sitting down and folding his field cap into his cargo pocket. The Colonel General recognized the man sitting next to him, Sever Pușcariu, a Colonel General of his own right, and the commanding officer of Army Group Tau, the largest formation of the Confederate Army. “Sever, good to see you again.” Prodan said as he sat down. Pușcariu nodded at Prodan. “How's the Seljuks?” He asked.

“Still a lot of work.” Prodan admitted. “But we're making progress.”

Sitting across from the two were another pair of Colonel Generals, Vlad Fieraru, commander of 2nd Army, and Loredana Marcovici, commander of 3rd Army, both subordinate to Pușcariu's Army Group. Sitting next to Pușcariu were two faces Prodan didn't recognize. One of them bore the rank of Major General, while the other was a Colonel. Before he could introduce himself, Cernea began her briefing.

“Well, with Prodan here, let's get started. I've gathered you all to discuss a new development with regards to our strategic situation and our response to it, as well as preparations were are to undertake to augment our response. For this, Colonel Lascăr, my adjutant, will take over. Colonel.” She finished with a nod, and Colonel Lascăr, one of the faces Prodan didn't recognize, rose to his feet while the Field Marshall sat down at the head of the table. The Colonel walked over to the laptop that was attached to the projector and tapped a few keys, which caused a map of the Vozgarni border to pop up on the projector screen. Prodan realized that while the Colonel may normally be a high ranking officer and command a certain degree of respect in certain situations, in this case he was the lowest ranking one here. If that bothered or intimidated the adjutant though, it didn't show.

“To start us out; several days ago the National Defense Initiative was passed by the National Consulate in Vozgarnor. While we don't know the specifics, the CIS has informed us that the Vozgarni are attempting to expand their forces. They are foregoing naval development in favor of focusing on land and air power. In addition, they appear to be trying to shift major industry away from their borders where it will be safer from attack.”

“In light of this, along with recent Edomite threats if we do not bow to their demands, the Duke and the Joint Chief of Staff have concluded that both the Bozgar and the Zealots are aiming to attempt to force the Confederation to submission through threat of force of arms. It's entirely possible that they will attempt to intimidate us by this buildup and force concessions. The Duke has made it clear, and the Joint Chief of Staff agree, that we will not back down. As a result of recent developments though, a reorganization of our forces is necessary.”

“We don't know the exact size and composition, but we are tracking an Edomite deployment to Vozgarnor aimed at shoring up Vozgarni positions. These forces are most likely light infantry and other units suited to fighting along the Tung Shao. However, pursuit of Operation World Eater, it is established that while important, the role light infantry play in conflict with Vozgarnor will be limited. Once the Tung Shao is broken through, mechanized and armored forces will be required to exploit breakthroughs and continue offensive operations deep into the heart of the Republic.”

Prodan was familiar with Operation World Eater, but he was more familiar with the Vozgarnor border in general. Three years ago, then Lt. General Prodan had organized what would later be called the “twin offensives”, Operation Serpent and Bulldog. In truth, they were not really twins, as they were never meant to be equivalent in weight. Bulldog had been purposed, despite all the planning and organization, as ultimately a feint, a maneuver intended to draw away Vozgarni forces from the real punch, which was Serpent. The plan had been laid out by Prodan as a means to secure a better strategic position with regards to the situation in the Tung Shao. Operation Bulldog would involve a series of direct assaults on Vozgarni lines to the north, which would draw away enemy reinforcements and troops, paving the way for a series of armored thrusts in the south as part of Operation Serpent. Serpent's main goals were to destabilize Vozgarni positions and put the Jedorian Third Army in a superior position from which it could easily launch follow up attacks that would whittle away the Vozgarni position until they were forced to withdraw, paving the way for future offensive operations.

As it turned out however, Bulldog proved to be a remarkably successful offensive. Just shortly after it's implementation, the forward elements of 2nd Army had already broken through the main lines of the Vozgarni defensive network and reinforcements were funneling into the widening gap. In the south meanwhile, the shocking success of Bulldog forced the already stretched Vozgarni forces to further divert troops to handle the growing crisis in the north. When Serpent struck in full, the Vozgarni were suddenly faced with two breakthroughs when they barely had the manpower to cover one. 14 Jedorian divisions began rapidly overwhelming secondary and tertiary defensive positions. The Vozgarni fought back ferociously, their air force trying desperately to take out roads and bridges to prevent the tidal wave of Jedorian troops flowing into their territory, and entire battalions stood and fought nearly to the death before retreating in the face of being surrounded.

Indeed, in the end the Vozgarni had been forced to withdraw nearly the entirety of their forces on the border or risk complete encirclement. Operation Bulldog and Serpent concluded with stunning success, but the cost was heavy. In just over a day, 6,000 Confederate soldiers had been killed and another 9,000 wounded. Entire brigades of tanks were obliterated, and battalions of infantry were reduced to half strength in some units. But in the end it didn't matter.

The Vogarni, to their credit, reorganized quickly despite their sudden losses and were prepared to launch counter offensives, but then the reality set in. Intelligence and reconnaissance confirmed that nearly 400,000 Jedorian troops were now massing on the new front line. Shattered tank brigades were rebuilt and redeployed, and reinforcements from the Confederation pooled in rapidly. The loss of 90% of the Anrama territories furthermore had weakened the Vozgarni position; they were running out of mountains, as the Tung Shao began giving way to the flatter central fields of Vozgarnor. If the Jedorians broke through this last line of defense, they would have open space to field their massive formations of tanks and mechanized infantry backed up by enough artillery to level every major city in the Republic.

The armistice that followed gave victory to the Jedorians, but it was costly. 20,000 Confederate troops lay dead, nearly 5,000 armored vehicles wrecked, and more than a hundred aircraft shot down. The Vozgarni war had highlighted serious flaws in the Confederate war machine; their late Cold War era equipment was in dire need of replacement; in particular their tanks. Jedorian tanker crews had suffered immensely as their old TR-85Js struggled to compete against the CzG1s fielded by the Vozgarni. Mid war-upgrade packages remedied some of the deficiencies, but it was clear by war's end the 85J needed to be replaced.

There had been no official peace treaty to end the war; technically they were still in a state of war; although the legal definitions got murky since the Confederation resumed diplomatic relations in 2014, and ended several acts that had been implemented during the war. Army Group Tau now monitored the border, staring down their opposites on the other side, waiting the fighting to resume.

“To accomplish this,” Colonel Lascăr explained, “We will begin implementation of our inactive reserve formations, which are being trained as we speak. Once completely mobilized, ten new operational reserve groups will be allocated to the Vozgarni border to support operations there.”

Prodan's eyebrows shot up. “I'm sorry Colonel, did you say 'ten' ORGs?”

Field Marshall Cernea nodded. “Aff General, ten ORGs.”

Prodan couldn't hide his surprise. “Ma'am, that's...half a million men. And, like, 12,000 tanks, three and a half thousand artillery pieces. That's a massive formation ma'am.”

“Indeed.” Cernea agreed. “And you're going to lead it.”

Prodan stared at the Field Marshall.

“Yes General, it is a massive formation. An entirely new army group will be formed from it. That's where you come in. We need someone with experience leading it. It will play a major part in our offensive operations in the east if it comes to that. Colonel?” She asked.

Colonel Lascăr nodded. “Yes, Army Group Zeta, which is the name were rolling with at least for now, will form a multi-level front with Army Group Tau. When hostilities commence, both Army Groups will go to emergency activation and conduct operations in line with World Eater aimed at disrupting Vozgarni mobilization and maneuvers while simultaneously assaulting the border from all possible vectors. Army Group Tau will engage and envelope the Vozgarni 4th Army while Zeta handles 3rd Army. While those formations are being encircled, primary reserve elements will proceed east of the Tung Shao to engage and destroy Vozgarni reserves as they attempt to reinforce the front line. Once 3rd and 4th Army have been pacified, Zeta will begin moving towards Halvokad, the heart of District South, while Tau moves towards Kelenga.”

“Once these objectives are reached, we will commence operations to clear out remaining Vozgarni resistance and manufacturing capability. We will systematically destroy their ability to wage war and threaten the Confederation. Outright conquest is not our objective; the Vozagrni flag will still fly, but only over ash and rubble.”

The Colonel tapped a key on the laptop, and a new map appeared, showing the massive maneuvers of these gigantic formations as they moved and invaded Vozgarnor. Thick blue arrows thrust deep into the heart of the Republic, prompting Prodan to mutter “My God.” Tau and Zeta would combine to form over 900,000 personnel, throwing in air force and strategic defense personnel and that pretty much made an even million. It was a massive strategic endeavor, a kind of mobilization that even the last war hadn't prompted. This was a fight to death.

“I'm sure you all have plenty of questions.” The Colonel continued. “But for now I suggest we take a five minute break before getting any further into the details.”

It was agreed, and the group adjourned. Prodan intended to make his way to the bathroom to take a moment and absorb all he had just heard, but before he reached the door, Field Marshall Cernea stopped him. “Prodam, can I have a moment?”

Of course he wouldn't say no. “Aff, ma'am.” He let her take him aside while the others filtered out of the room. They were left alone and then the Field Marshall spoke, holding something in her outstretched hand. “The Duke has asked me to ask you to attend a memorial service. The Reverend Paul Vlaicu already had a funeral, but there's a memorial statue being unveiled in Los Matar. The Duke hoped you would be there to bestow this on the fallen.” She handed him a small pendant that Prodan at first didn't believe was the real thing. The Confederate Armed Forces were never big on ceremony and parade, and that extended to their medals and awards, but even something of this was impossible to ignore. Prodan cradled the small medal in his hands. It was a simple design, a black shield upon which the blue fist of Jedoria was emblazoned, surrounded on all sides by stars shining brightly against the onyx background. It was the Confederation's highest award, given to those that had displayed exceptional bravery and commitment to the betterment of the Confederation, usually on the battlefield. Prodan turned it over and read the words that were perfectly etched into the medal.

“Paul Vlaicu – Hero of the Jedorian Confederation”

[New Edom]

Magnigár, Port Olos

Flights of drones, fighter craft and helicopters buzzed around the diamond pattern advance of the Edomite fleet like pilot fish around a school of sharks.

Naval Task Force Teman consisted of the following:
1 x James Lawrence Class Heavy Carrier
2 x Tuuliki Class Cruiser
2 x Chieftain Class Destroyer
4 x Kazatlan-class Amphibious Assault Ship (8 Sea-Nagas, 8 Terriers per ship)
4 x Hatchet-class frigate
2 x Pijil Class Arsenal Ship
4 x Divinus Class Diesel Electric Submarines
2 x Duenna Class Fast Supply Vessel

The air component was 24 Shadowhawk Air Superiority Fighters, 60 Sparrowhaqwk Multi Role Fighters, 16 Terrier VSTOL multi role fighters. 20 Cannondale attack helicopters 66 utility helicopters, 26 S-1 Drones, 36 Kite Drones, 2 AEW planes. The ground component was 1 special forces battalion, 1 airmobile battalion, 1 marine infantry battalion, a combat engineer company and a support battalion.

Vice-Admiral Zephaniel Duraga was in command. This broad faced homely man with the dark olive weathered face had served as an escort squadron commander during the Hutanjian War, and had since then held the positions of Plans and Operations Director and Director of Naval Intelligence. Duraga had angled and begged for the next command at sea befitting his rank and had now received it at last. For the last three months he had been engaged in preparations and sea trials, intelligence briefings and fitness reports on his senior officers, and now he felt ready enough.

Duraga had joined the Free Congress during the First Civil War largely for moral reasons, but had become decidedly neutral after witnessing excesses before the 2nd Civil War and had joined with Perrin Pahath-Moab's military coup. It was after this that he achieved a high rank in the Ministry of Defense as he had survived the coup and purges and had a good solid knowledge of naval operations. He had never been part of the 'cult of Perrin' instead merely seeing him as a necessary phase for the country. Relieved at increasingly being able to distance himself from outright politics, he focused on doing his job to the best of the ability he had, which had gained him the approval of King Elijah, whom he had known slightly during their naval service. General Unwerth recommended him as well, stating that he had felt he could rely on him as could Galt during the Hutanjian War.

Aboard his amphibs, Duraga had a mess of Damocleans, Elwe and Haranese troops whom he hoped would fare well enough in this alien land. Them he could leave largely to their commander, Brigadier-General Merari, who had also served in Hutanjia as the area commander in West Cardwith. While the campaign had been a failure a court martial had agreed it was not Merari's fault but a failure of higher intelligence gathering, and that he had performed his duties well. However it was noted that he had been passed over for promotion and would now be tested again. Could he make these units, which had only thus far done a few exercises together, perform wel in a foreign country? Time would tell.

They were making the approach towards Vozgarnor waters, and so they sent out signals indicating their presence over a secured encrypted channel.

[Jedoria]

To some cultures and nations, the upfront and blunt attitude of the Chacoans would've resulted in annoyance or even hostility. But not by the Jedorians, who much preferred the openness and honesty to the alternative of wasting everyone's time with unnecessary pleasantries and small talk. Foreign Minister Rotaru, who unofficially led the talks from the Jedorian side, made this clear with his opening statement.

“Well, let me begin by expressing my thanks that you have made your points and voiced your concerns so clearly. Our alliance is something that the Confederation holds dear and we would be fools to let it go the wayside over some misunderstandings.”

“To start, as the Minister has here,” Rotaru said, indicating to Minister of Internal Affairs Otilia Țurcanu, whom sat next to him, “Evidence that shows that there is no abnormal pattern of arrests or deaths among the Christian populace of Jedoria.” At this cue, Țurcanu would offer a folder with several files concerning arrests statistics and data, compiled by the Department of Internal Security. The data on the report showed that while arrests since the death of the Duke were up, there was no shift showing that Christians were no proportionally receiving more scrutiny and attention than any other minority group in the Confederation.

“Secondly Ambassador, to suggest we expel from our state our own citizens seems rather cruel, wouldn't you say? Some of our finest people are Christians, the late Reverend Vlaicu, Gaia protect his soul, and Colonel General Alin Prodan, one of our finest officers. If you would allow me to, may I point out the primary issue the Confederation has with so many of these claims that there is alleged persecution of Christians in Jedoria is that they all seem to imply that we should treat Christians differently under the law. I'm sorry, but this is just unacceptable; the Confederation is a nation led by the rule of law, and everyone is equal under the law, regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or creed. To suggest that people be treated differently simply because their faith is different is ludicrous.”

Rotaru took a sip from a glass of water (beverages were also offered to the Chacoans if they wanted any), before readjusting the papers in front of him and continuing. “That all being said, my government is aware that perception may not always match the objective reality. The last thing we want is for the Chacoan people to see our government as hostile to their faith, especially the faith of an allied nation.”

Minister of Internal Affairs Țurcanu stepped in at this point, offering her own suggestion. “I have discussed several possibilities with my colleagues in my Ministry and the Department of Internal Security, and we have identified several members of the Catholic faith currently incarcerated for a variety of crimes. While we cannot forgive everything, my Ministry would be willing to release a number of those currently imprisoned, or lessen sentences if it would show your people our government does not discriminate or treat Christians unfairly. Would this be acceptable to your government?”

“And regarding Latium, well, the situation is complicated.” Rotaru explained. “Emperor Constantine is a noble man but he is young and naive and doesn't wish to see his nation rely on foreign support to ensure his claim, at least not too much. At this point, I'm afraid my government believes that we must wait and see and try to develop Latin interests towards the CTO after the throne has been secured. As for your forces...”

“Recently, we have received a letter from the Edomites that very bluntly demands of us compromising of our security interests. The Confederation will not bow to such whines, but it is entirely possible the Edomites may attempt to to utilize force to back up their demands. It's also entirely possible they will target our allies, which includes your homeland. I cannot say for certain anything really regarding how this might affect your nation, but it actually may prove strategically sound to withdraw your forces.”

---

The CNS Charum Hakkor was a massive ship, an Island-class aircraft carrier, purchased from a foreign defense firm, and staffed with sailors and airmen from the Confederate Navy. With a crew of 3,900 personnel, an air-wing of 79 aircraft, and a total displacement of nearly 90,000 tons, it had been the largest ship in the Confederate Navy until the Annihilator-class was acquired. Still, the Charum Hakkor dwarfed it's escorts as it sailed east, towards the center of the Jedorian gulf, roughly in between Peregrino and Jedoria. Nearly 700 kilometers separated the small island from the mainland, but in the days of advanced radar and missiles systems that distance seemed to have shortened a bit.

Still, it was a distance that needed to be crossed. The Charum Hakkor and it's compliment of accompanying escorts left Port Artur early in the morning, sailing directly east, where they intended to arrive at navpoint Alpha, a location roughly in the middle of the gulf, before they would head north towards navpoint Beta, west of the Noviteran coast. Normally the Charum Hakkor would be accompanied by it's normal escorts of two cruisers, three destroyers, four frigates, and and four submarines. These were all included officially and would be taking part in the exercises the task force was slated for.

What wasn't publicly announced and kept secret were the additional ships that would be accompanying the task force, at least until navpoint Alpha. Loaded up onto several transport ships were the heavy equipment and armaments of the 5th and 6th Naval Infantry Brigade, and the 2nd Naval Artillery Brigade. Once alpha was reached, while the task force sailed north, the transports would continue on towards Peregrino, heading straight for Joint Base Alexandru at full speed. Around 200 kilometers east of the island they would link up with escorts from the Peregrino naval forces and then sail together into port.

While the ships sailed below, above in the sky airlifters and commandeered civilian aircraft were being used to transport the personnel and their personal items to the island, cutting down on the total amount of time it would take to move the three brigades to Peregrino. Once they were land, it would bring the total number of Jedorian troops up on the island up to 40,000.

[New Edom]

The Eastern Tempesta

The Kite drone hovered 60 meters above the choppy waves, for all the world like a great albatross with its eye on a fish. It's 'eyes' however were on distant targets more than a hundred kilometers away, its multimode nautical radar fanning out more like a moth's sensors than those of the albatross.

The nest of this electronic bird was nearly 300 km away on the LHD Nass, and its flock were actually nearly all human except for an operating system which was its mate. In a little room adjacent to the flight operations center on the LHD were two operators, the navigator and the analyst.

"So here is what happened," said Quartermaster's Mate 1/C Absalom Shoen. "Chief goes into the barracks closet because he ran out of boot black, and finds them both going at it. I am not joking. They're fornicating." Shoen was a chunky young man, olive skinned, always on the verge of being too fat, always sneaking by barely on a fitness report, but good at his job. Even as he nattered away he was scanning the panels and making sure that their Kite was flying safe. The airframe was tough but light and could easily be buffeted by high winds, a risk with any rotodyne.

"But they're both men!" gawked Signals Op 1/C Rachel Danum. "How were they doing it?" She was a skinny tall for a girl computer analyst and programmer with thick glasses, big horsey teeth but kind of nice to look at once you got used to her.

"Oh they get in each other's mouths, see," explained Shoen.

"Of course they don't, what are you saying!" said Danum, delighted but scandalized. "like they are pissing?"

"No, they both got boners and so it's like they're fucking, on it's in the mouth," said Shoen.

"How disgusting, and so what di the Chief do?" she exclaimed.

"Well, as you can imagine, he just...aw hellfire and heresy, we got some pings, check it out."

"Jedorian ships," she said after reading the data. "I think this is the movement we had anticipated, we should tell the Chief."

"For a second there I thought our count was off. I want to move us in a little more. And yes, we'd better tell the Chief." said Shoen, his jocularity gone, his eyes keen on the screen.

Barely a minute later, Chief Waldura was breathing his goat biryani down their necks as he peered over, a hairy arm over each of them. "Go. Move the Kite in. I'm going to inform the Lieutenant. Let's keep her low still, avoid being detected and defer to that."

"Aye aye, Chief, moving her in now," said Shoen confidently.

Out far beyond their naked eyes, the drone tilted its wings forward and moved towards the Jedorian ships to get a better read on their signals.