Fight of the Faithful: Ashabi Civil War (CLOSED: Cornellia)

by **Ashab** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 6:40 pm

Call to the Faithful Prequel

ORBAT (It's a work in progress).

Map of Bases

Other Maps

Tarnum, Ashab

Air defense batteries around Tarnum went online. Their operators began targeting the incoming missiles. However the process was rather rushed. There were many redundancies of multiple missiles attacking one target. Other times their intercept missiles simply missed. As the missiles broke up in the air the debris created multiple false targets confusing the radar. It was inevitable that many would get through.

The first targets to be hit were the munitions factories. Then the utilities infrastructure of Tarnum which included a water treatment plant and two power stations. The chemical factory when hit triggered many secondary explosions due to the volatile materials within creating an even wider blast radius. Immediately electricity throughout the city of Tarnum shut down. Throughout the city the blasts from the high explosive warheads could be heard frightening the people. They cowered in their homes holding their children and saying prayers for salvation. In some places the ground shook violently. Unfortunately the SCUD missiles used by the military could be both unreliable and inaccurate. Some missed their targets by a wide margin crashing into neighborhoods. One even hit 2 blocks from embassy row.

Emergency fire brigades, police and military rushed to the impact sites to begin putting out fires and rescuing the wounded. Helicopters lifted off to see dozens of smoke plumes rising throughout the skyline. For now the city of Tarnum breathed a sigh of relief but it was far from over.

Saberis Army Base

Air raid sirens blared throughout the base. Soldiers rushed to their posts or to whatever shelter they could find hoping and praying. Their own air defense batteries fared the same as Tarnum's having difficulty catching every missile. Radar confusion, misses and the sheer weight of the attack overwhelmed their defenses.

General Juber Shada was careful to target munitions and fuel depots. Some went wide hitting barracks housing soldiers or were purposefully targeted that way. In the end the Saberis Army Base did not take too many casualties but the damage to their logistical capabilities was severe. They would have difficulty mobilizing.

Amby Air Force Base

Already having suffered from the first bombing the airmen could not believe there would be another. Here the missiles did the same. Shada went for the fuel and munitions depots with a slight alteration. Unlike the ballistic missile batteries under Shada's control, the ones at Amby were still parked at the base. SCUD missiles struck those destroying many as they were grouped together tightly for economy of space.

Tarnum, Ashab
Statehouse Bunker

"Amby reports...destruction of various munitions and fuel depots as well as mobile ballistic missile wings. Minimal casualties. Amdy reports the same." Nagdai stated.

Anjideen was sitting at the table, cigarette in hand puffing on it like a madman. This was the seventh he had smoked since word of a missile attack got out. "Amby has no long range missiles, nor ability to launch the few combat aircraft they have left. Our troops at Saberis had their fuel and ammo stores destroyed. The two closest bases have had their legs cut out from under them. These defectors are preparing for a ground invasion." He mused before taking another drag. "Mobilize our eastern ground forces and have them get to Tarnum. I want one armor division, two mechanized infantry divisions and the 25th Republican Guards here as soon as possible. I want preparations to restock Saberis immediately as well. Make sure supply convoys have proper air cover too."

"Mister President..." Nagdai croaked then pointed at the megascreen. It was showing dozens of radar contacts coming in fast from the Northwest.

"What are those?" Anjideen asked in a demanding tone.

"Fighters." Nagdai responded.

"Where the hell are ours? They will intercept them. They must!" The President shouted. But he already knew the answer and it would come late.

by **Republica De Gran Chaco** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 7:11 pm

Tarnum

From: Embassy of Chaco, Tarnum
To: Nakarshid Kozadeh , Minister of Foreign Relations
Subject: Embassy Security
Encryption: Highest

I am informing you of certain actions that have been taken due to the recent attacks.

I have locked down the embassy and cancelled all services but those that are essential to keep ties between our countries.

I have ordered the evacuation of all non-essential personnel. I hope to have them ferried to the airport via the embassy hueys once it is deemed safe in order to fly them home to Chaco. I would appreciate it if you informed the Airforce that a Chacano C-130 with fighter escort is scheduled to arrive from the north east, as it is not safe for them to travel over western Chaco they will be taking a route mostly over the ocean.

I am also informing you that I have put in an emergency request for extra security and I hope to have them arriving with the aircraft that will take out the diplomatic personnel. I hope you forgive that I am informing you now and that you expedite the approval due to the emergency situation.

Chaco stands firmly by Ashab and a speedy victory

Pepe Silvia
Ambassador to the Republic of Ashab

Yanque

To: Air Reserve Command
From: Office of General Jose Quiñones Gonzales, Chief of the Air Force of Gran Chaco
Subject: Mobilization
Encryption: None

Due to the recent events in Ashab, and in accordance with the wishes of the Prime Minister of Gran Chaco the following reserve units are hereby ordered to active status. The Officers will have one week to report to their units and to begin preparing for potential combat operations.

-VI Fighter Group
-VIII Tactical Group
-IX Tactical Group
-20th Long Range Squadron

Col. Alejandro Morales
Adjutant

Yanque

To: Army Reserve Command
From: Office of General Jose Felix Estigarribia, Chief of the Army of Gran Chaco
Subject: Mobilization
Encryption: None

Due to the recent events in Ashab, and in accordance with the wishes of the Prime Minister of Gran Chaco the following reserve units are hereby ordered to active status. The Officers will have one week to report to their units and to begin preparing for potential combat operations.

-44th Military Police Regiment
-Jungle Ranger Reserve Regiment
-Rico Scouts Reserve
-LRRP Reserve
-Special Advisory Group Reserve

Lt. Col. Octavio Fernando
Adjutant

by **Jedoria** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:44 pm

Jedorian Embassy, Tarnum

The small three story building that belonged to the Jedorian Diplomatic mission to Ashab was largely unremarkable. Beige sand stone formed the exterior, reinforced by some modern architectural advancements. Modern amenities, like plumbing, and most importantly air conditioning were present, a god send in the heat of Ashab. As far as embassies went, the Jedorian consulate was not particularly impressive. Jedoria's diplomatic relationship with Ashab was largely cordial, though Foreign Minister Andrei Paler's meeting with the Ashabi President seemed to indicate a new path down which the two nations might proceed.

For Ambassador Ion Macedonski, the day seemed like it would be any other. Most of his tasks were low level talks concerning tourists and trade, for the most part the Ambassador sat in his office, read over some reports, and tried to figure out what to tell Strana Mechty concerning the future of Jedorian-Ashabi relationships. Thus far he hadn't had much to report. Almost nothing in fact. It seemed like Macedonski was doomed to another day of uneventfullness when the message came through. His secretary had burst through the door to his office like a mad man and practically threw the message at him. The ambassador barely had time to gather himself before he and his staff were rushing down to the basement of their building. Normally used for storage of miscellaneous items like paper, documents and fuel for the buildings back up generator, now it served as the only safe haven for the Jedorian embassy staff.

The sounds of missiles and explosions reverberated through the walls of their shelter, man made thunder echoing from afar. The one device that had impacted within 2 blocks of the embassy sector of the city seemed a lot closer to the Jedorians. Macedonski sat in one corner with his secretary, one of his security detail, and a young intern. Macedonski wasn't a veteran of any conflict, he had served a brief enlistment with the Jedorian Army when he was young to get into college, but after that he hadn't given the military a second thought. Right now though he could recall some aspects of what he was taught when taking artillery fire, stay low, cover vital areas, depressions worked best against the real killer; shockwaves and shrapnel.

As the missile impacted, dust from the ceiling fell to the ground, and for a moment it seemed like the entire building might come down on their heads. His secretary whimpered incoherently, the intern simply stared ahead in shock, while the security officer simply stared ahead, expression blank. Macedonski felt fear creep through his mind, pangs of worry about never seeing his family again surfacing amid the waves of fright that seemed to grow larger with every impact. He hadn't realized it, but the four of them had more or less interlocked arms. His secretary had buried her face in his shoulder, the intern was cowering behind the officer, whom had one arm gripped like iron around Macedonski's back.

Somewhere deep inside the ambassador's mind stirred, something that was rarely put on display but given the opportunity bubbled to the surface. Between blasts, Macedonski's started speaking, trying all he could to stop his voice from quivering. "Everything is going to be alright." He muttered. If anyone paid attention, the ambassador couldn't tell. "Once the bombardment stops, we need to get to work, contact the Ashabi government, and get a line back to Strana Mechty."

The embassy had a satellite phone set up that would theoretically be their line out of the country even the world went to hell in a hand basket, but the last test call they had done was months ago. But Macedonski didn't let that dominate his mind. "Everything is going to be alright." He kept murmuring, as though repeating it would make it true.

by **Ashab** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:50 pm

To: ALL EMBASSIES
From: Nakarshid Kozadeh , Minister of Foreign Relations
Subject: RE: Embassy Security
Encryption: Highest

Right now, I have been told to advise that personnel of foreign embassies remain where they are until the government can properly assess and combat the threat presented to us. All we know right now is that units in the Northwest are in open rebellion against the legitimate government of Ashab. Anything coming out of that region is suspect. As I write this, air forces from that region are en route to Tarnum. Our own loyal air forces are also on the way to intercept. Travelling at this time is inadvisable. Due to the extreme circumstances our government can do little to assist with evacuation. If any embassy wishes to attempt evacuation independently (though it is discouraged), the Ministry of Defense recommends traveling by land South or East to one of the following military bases once our government gives the all clear:

Sevamty Air Force Base
Taporu Air Force Base
Kenobu Army Base
Khesathus Army Base

The Republican government will notify you immediately as more information becomes available to us.

Nakarshid Kozadeh
Minister of Foreign Relations

by **New Edom** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:56 pm

The New Edomite Embassy, Tarnum, Ashabi

The Ambassador, Joseph Magdiel, smiled warmly and held up a small glinting object to his secretary. If the two men had been male and female rather than both male, they could have stood as a portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Spratt, for the ambassador was almost skeletally thin, with drawn cheeks, hooded eyes, a narrow blade of a nose, sharp chin and sunken lips, while the secretary was round, plump, soft faced and yet robust as a young male capybara.

“Look at that, Ichabod,” said Joseph Magdiel proudly, holding up a tiny spoon.”My wife sent it specially, knowing our situation. She thinks of everything, that woman. I almost wish I had not sent her home.”
“What’s this one for, Your Excellency?” asked the young man curiously.

“It’s a sugar spoon, of course,” said Magdiel with mild surprise, though he was starting to lose that surprise in the face of his secretary’s ignorance of tableware. “It is the missing part of the set we need to have the perfect setting for the Heir’s upcoming birthday. It’s the Gesthtei set, you see—well, Google it, you’ll figure it out—“

He was given a priority buzz at that moment and pushed his desk button. “Ambassador here,” he said crisply.

“Excellency,” said the Cultural Attache breathlessly, “There’s a special report you ought to see—a warning of a bombing on the city. We must evacuate all staff immediately.”

“Begin evacuation to the shelter,” said the ambassador. He and the secretary crossed themselves. “Oh and Major—thank you for your promptness. Shall we? Oh and please pass on the usual pleasantries to the President about what is no doubt for him a very difficult situation.” with a faint sadness he put the spoon back in its box and put it on the shelf with the other flatware—hoping that it would still be there when he returned. It was all in God’s hands. To Edomite officials, this was pretty much just like recent times...

by **Republica De Gran Chaco** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 9:49 pm

Embassy of the Republica De Gran Chaco, Tarnum

Rafael Dos Santos the 40 year old Special Security Agent (SSA) of the Chacano Ministry of Foreign Relations jerked up from his sleep and grabbed his chest rig off his rack instinctively when he heard the first explosion. He was throwing it on over his white undershirt when he stopped to reflect on his situation, “What the fuck is happening? I’m in Tarnum at an embassy, why are bombs falling?” he shook his head and quickly threw on a some jean followed by a pair of black low top canvas tennis shoes and ran to the weapons locker to grab his galil. As he was going through the door he heard the air raid sirens screaming from around the city. A voice came on the embassy loud speaker and Dos Santos paused to listen to what it had to say.

“The city is under bombardment, I repeat the city is under bombardment. All security and level one personnel report to your designated posts. Everyone else please calmly make your way to the closest basement”

The voice on the loud speaker continued, Dos Santos tried run to the low building next to the front gate that served as the headquarters for the security personnel in the embassy, but it was a difficult task with all the people running around to various places outside. The bombardment had started at a time when the embassy was allowing people in for visa appointments, and it only added to the chaos. People were yelling and some where a child was screaming, but Dos Santos tuned it out and mad his way to the security building.

As Dos Santos reached to grab the door handle the door opened and army Lieutenant Roy Arroyo, the commander of the 20 soldiers that were the main security at the base, ran into Dos Santos knocking him down.

“Sorry Raffi” Roy said quickly as he helped him to his feet, “the Embassy has gone on total lock down, I have to make sure the perimeter is secured and all my guys are in their spots.”

“It’s ok Roy, you better get to it.”

Dos Santos went through the door. Inside was a 20’ by 20’ room with a couple couches and a small conference table. Normally the room served as a lounge space, as the visible security mainly consisted of locally hired security guards who processed visitors and a couple Ashabi police officers who maintained an armed presence outside the gates. The soldiers kept watch but it was always in low profile role as there was no reason for Chaco to have a visible armed presence in a friendly nation. To the left was a door that led to the control room which had all the CCTV’s where support staff monitored the embassy grounds and walls. Standing next to the conference table listening to a radio was Marco Morales, the head of the four man Special Security detachment. He smiled at Dos Santos’ arrival and cheerfully said, “Good morning Raffi! Glad you could make it! Is the night shift not to your liking?”

Dos Santos and the other SSA’s had been ordered to start taking shifts at night to make sure the soldiers were doing their jobs a couple weeks before. They had not been told why they were taking extra precautions, that it was hoped to be temporary. “What’s going on Marco?” Dos Santos asked.

“Well Raffi, apparently some bad men want to bomb the city. I have no idea who they are, just that we need to go into lock down. Right now I need to you take a radio and to go and try and help Carlito try to get all those screaming people to a safe place and then report back to me for a your next task.”

“Alright, see you later.” Said Dos Santos as he turned and headed back out the door. He was looking to see if he could spot Carlito when an explosion rocked the ground and blew out all the windows in the embassy sending shards into the screaming Ashabis who had come to try to get a visa but had failed to find a safe spot. Dos Santos almost lost his footing and had to hold on to the security buildings wall to keep on his feet.

When he gathered himself he looked and could see some of the Ashabis bleeding from glass from the blown out windows. He turned toward the gate and saw Lt. Arroyo staring with his mouth agape.

“Roy!” Dos Santos called to no avail, “Roy!” he called again.

The young Lieutenant shook his head as if waking up from a dream and shakily answered, “Yeah?”

Dos Santos walked over to the boy and put his hand on his shoulder, he spoke calmly but firmly “Roy I need you to get your medic and to send him to me. We need to help those people. Ok?”

“Yeah I’ll call him right now” Arroyo answered.

De Santos suddenly realized that the explosions had stopped, that big one must have been the last.” He looked at his watch, the whole thing could not have lasted more than five minutes. Still he had a job to do and part of that would now probably include throwing a couple dozen frightened Ashabis out of the embassy compound. He sighed, he would worry about that when the time came, and then went to go see if he could help the people who had been cut up by the glass.

by **Hittanryan** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 10:47 pm

Adiran Embassy
Tarnum, Ashabi

When the warning came to the Adiran embassy, the staff started making their way to the shelter. Ashab's religious tensions were well known to the State Department, and as a precautionary measure ordered non-essential staff to be evacuated from the embassy following the bombing in Saksem. With the sudden warning that the capital was under attack, the State Department was vindicated.

None of this was particularly reassuring to Ambassador Gloria Mayers. A slim woman in her thirties, she had just come from a consulate in the infinitely more peaceful Roman Empire. Apparently she hadn't even been on the short list to receive an Ambassadorship, but her persistence paid off. Considering she was now the new ambassador in Ashab, however, maybe it worked a little too well.

As she and the staff made their way down to the first floor, she asked "So what do we do?"

Lawrence Reed, better known as Larry, was the embassy's intelligence attache. He was a somewhat short dark-skinned man, possibly of Dengali descent but no one really asked, with wide-set brown eyes, a flat nose, broad shoulders, and short black hair. The man was always unfailingly polite and deferential. "Well Ambassador, I would suggest alerting Adiran nationals to the outbreak of fighting in Tarnum. To those in Tarnum, we should send instructions for them to take shelter in basements, stay off the streets, and when the bombardment is finished, for them to make their way to our embassy."

Mayers frowned, confused. "How are we supposed to do all that?"

"Owing to heightened tensions, the State Department put out a travel advisory. All Adirans traveling to Ashab were required to provide mobile phone numbers in case of emergency during their visit. They were also required to provide their anticipated length of stay and destination. We have all that information here."

"Oh, well, good...let's get on that," Mayers said, trying to sound authoritative.

"Of course, Ambassador," Reed replied drily. As he did so, there was a roar from outside, and the lighting went dark.

by **Ashab** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:12 pm

Qisiru Air Force Base

Two squadrons of MiG-25s and two squadrons of MiG-31s had just finished taking off from Qisiru Air Force Base. They proceeded towards their target, Tarnum. Another four squadrons would be taking off shortly to head towards Saberis Army Base. Coordinating the take off of so many planes had been a hassle for the tower. General Toudi figured it would not be as hard to land them all. The pilots knew their duty to God and to Ashab. They knew that not all of them would be returning home. With them was An-12 that would be coordinating the combat mission as well as trying to jam out the infidel radar.

Upon approach to Tarnum, Colonel Saeed did the customary checks. Making sure each pilot knew his or her assignment and their jet was in working order. Three had to turn back because of malfunctions. That still left him with 31 planes to work with. As far as pilots went Saeed could compete with the best in Cornellia which was why he was the flight leader. Very little could be said about the men he was leading though. Some of them he knew had not had enough training. Others would have washed out as fighter pilots in other nations.

"There will be SAMs. Once there's a lock on you break away. Use your chaff and the evasive maneuvering you have been trained in." Saeed said over the comms for all the pilots to hear. No doubt the Republicans knew they were coming. Their long range radar could find them.

Tarnum, Ashab

Once again the air raid sirens blared throughout the city. On the outskirts crew of a Strela-10 looked wide eyed at their radar. Their commander, a short Sergeant grabbed for the controls while another technician plotted targets for the four missiles it carried. "Do you have locks!" He screamed.

"Working on it...I'm painting the target...one moment..." The technician replied in panic. "There!"

As soon as he said that the Sergeant launched all the missiles.

"Missiles away. Evade, evade, evade!" Saeed cried out. All four missiles struck targets just as more were launched. Out of the corner of his eye Saeed saw aircraft burst into the fireballs. As more were launched some planes were able to evade. They changed their speed trying to confuse the radar with a change in doppler, flew low and dumped chaff. Saeed throttled forward as a SAM closed in then broke right dumping chaff all over. After evading the missile he looked at his radar counting 22 planes left. "Dammit!" He yelled. Some of the craft plummeted from the sky crashing into neighborhoods and office buildings below.

Those MiG-31s that survived raced to their targets dropping heavy ordinance. Bombs took out the airport runways and fuel stores which was the primary target. They went after factories that were not hit during the missile strikes. A bomb also struck the MIO Headquarters though the personal had already been evacuated. Saeed's eyes went wide seeing the deployment of long range air to air missiles heading their way.

Captain Harron had no love for the Intaki. He was a devout a Catholic as any man in Ashab. But he also believed in progress, peace, turning away from the violence of the past and Anjideen's ability. It was ironic for he was here now waging war against the mutineers. Honorless thugs who would attack their very own sacred capital. He almost wished he were facing better pilots from another nation than deal with such a heinous betrayal.

Harron knew they had to get in close because of the jamming. When he thought them close enough Harron ordered the squadron of MiG-29s to ping actively with their radar, penetrating the jamming that was going on. They locked targets to their long range missiles and fired at beyond visual range. His squadron was low on fuel. They would get to closer, launch their close range heat seeking missiles then turn back. Those missiles sailed forth downing mutineer aircraft left the right. 14 contacts were left on screen.

Colonel Saeed and other MiG-25s turned to face the new threat. They were interceptors and would not let this attack go unpunished. Fighters and short range missiles crisscrossed one another creating a spectacular show of missile and jet trails over the skies of Tarnum. People below cheered at the sight of Republican aircraft zooming by. Explosions in the air followed showering the city with debris as both squadrons effectively traded punches. Proximity fuses on their air-to-air missiles triggered detonations shredding fighters with shrapnel. There was no clear victor as both sides had to turn around running outming across and launching their missiles of fuel. Not before Captain Harron fired one of his home on jam missiles that took out the An-12. In the end six of his squadron's MiG-29s had been splashed. He had seen 2 parachutes and was happy about that. Colonel Saeed returned to Qisiru with just 8 others out of the 31 he came here with.

by **Ashab** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:17 pm

Ebmayut Army Base

Half the 76th Armor Division and the entire 38th Infantry Division were beginning to mobilize. General Shada knew that mobilizing too many forces at once would spoil the surprise by bringing the scrutiny of the MIO. The delay was something that could not be avoided but they had to move quickly. His plan depended on speed as much as surprise. The 76th Armor was made up of battalions of different tanks. The backbone of the tank corps were T-72s but there were still plenty of T-55s. They were being loaded with HEAT, sabot and high explosive fragmentation rounds. Tanks crews were busy doing final inspections on their vehicles and strapping supplies to them. Many had bags hanging from the turrets. The 38th Infantry was to be motorized as well riding in Ivecos, Tigrs and trucks. In the Ivecos and Tigrs, men's heads poked out of the top manning NSV or PKM machine guns and AGS-30 automatic grenade launchers. Supply convoys were readied carrying food, fuel, ammunition and spare parts. Then came the Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers. In addition to all this the squadron would be screened by Strela-10s and Buks. It was hectic at the base. Every man was ordered to assist in loading vehicles through a rather rushed process. Not that it necessarily helped for the extra help just served to get in the way of others. Still, the officers were harsh when finding anyone that appeared to be malingering. Hopefully the military would concentrate on what General Shada planned to throw at Saberis for these men had an entirely different objective.

Major-General Fikri Farid had been chosen to lead the this group of holy warriors. They were preparing for long dash hundreds of miles South passing evading the Republican strongholds. Republican Guards, fanatically loyal to Anjideen would be a challenge on that front. The mustached general rode in an Iveco of his own accompanied by aides and only a single bodyguard. As tanks filled up on fuel and loaded with ammunition they made their way out of the base. Hundreds of vehicles were awaiting their turn to mobilize and go. It would be a long convoy given the need to stick to the roads. There would be no traversing through jungle unless it was on man made paths. However once they got into the bushlands and plains the situation would alleviate allowing him to bring down the full force of his mighty host. General Farid was somewhat worried. Reports were that 22 of their aircraft had been downed over the skies of Tarnum and the battle over Saberis was just beginning to commence. At this rate the air cover that Shada had promised him would evaporate by the time Farid required it. He shrugged off the thought knowing that God was on their side.

Lighting a cigar while looking over a map, Farid patted the driver. "To war Sergeant. To war!" He exclaimed. The Iveco joined in with the column of tanks leaving the base.

Zaki Nasir poked his head out the top and had one hand gripping the NSV machine gun to stabilize himself. He was the commander of three person crew T-72. Not the finest tank on the market but the backbone of the Ashabi tank force. He radioed to the driver to fall in behind another T-72 as they exited the base. The young man had joined the military willingly wanting to be in a position of power. As a boy the forces of Adid Sararik had passed through their village many times. He gawked at their weapons and uniforms as they were Gods. They were not Gods for such a thought was a heinous blasphemy but they sure did get away with a lot as Nasir remembered. Nasir believed in the Republican government and was a loyal soldier. Since Sararik took power in the 70s they had done much to modernize Ashab and bring it out of the dark ages. He also had faith in the Holy Mother Church. It was a strange moment when the officers told him that they would be going to war against the government. He felt conflicted about turning against the oath he had sworn. So far Nasir had just gone along with the rest fearing to speak up. It seemed that everyone else was on board with fighting their own countrymen. They, rebels, had even aligned with the despicable Eternal Crusade. But how bad could it be? He figured. The Patriarch had given them his blessing and therefore God's. General Shada had declared the Republicans the true traitors for giving comfort to the Intaki and ripping power from the hands of those who should rule, the Church. Nasir put the thought away deciding he did not know what to think.

by **Republica De Gran Chaco** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 9:44 am

From: Embassy of Chaco, Tarnum
To: Dorian Anjideen, President of the Republic of Ashab
Subject: Military Operations
Encryption: Highest

We have received reports of the mobilization of apparent defected units of the Ashabi military in north western Ashab, near where the missile and air attacks originated. The government of Chaco is requesting formal permission to have special operations units cross the border into Ashab in order to gather intelligence on defected units in the region.

Commander Emilio Gomez, Navy of Chaco
Military Attaché of the Embassy of Chaco in Tarnum, Ashab

by **Wielkilas** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 12:51 pm

Tarnum,
Ashab

Lía Guerreiro was a young woman of twenty-one with beautifully complexioned olive skin, long hair like polished obsidian, a slender nose, two almond shaped and expressive light brown eyes, and a pair of red lips that were often turned up in a smile. She was not exceptionally tall but she was not particularly short either and her figure her figure was slender with just enough in the hip, butt, and chest departments to be noticeable without being exceedingly so.

On this day she had decide to dress herself in a pair of mid-thigh denim shorts that showed off her long, slender legs and a maroon midriff bearing tank top that exposed her toned, flat stomach, and a pair of sandals woven from grass with maroon cross straps made of organic cotton. She was walking alongside another young woman her age that was lightly complexioned with brilliant blonde hair, flashing blue eyes, a fairly average build, and that was a head taller than herself.

They had just finished with their afternoon coffee and were heading back toward the Wielkilasin embassy where Lía’s father Uxio worked as the ambassador to Ashab and her companion’s mother worked as the head of embassy security. They were both laughing at a joke that Lía’s blonde companion had just told when the heard a sound in the sky above them. Lía turned her head up and was not sure what she was seeing and queried her companion.

“Is that a plane up there? I haven’t seen one like that before.”

The young blonde woman turned her eyes up and the look on her face immediately transformed from something full of mirth to something filled with horror. “Shit,” her voice was wavering, “We need to run for cover Lía.” She then grabbed Lía’s hand and broke out into a galloping run. They ran a short distance and then rounded a corner. “Over there,” Lía companion was pointing at what appeared to the open doors of a cellar. They continued running, but before they made it half way to the open doors there was a deafening boom and a large explosion not far from them. “Shit,” muttered Lía’s blue eyed companion before she gave Lía a hard shove in the back which sent the ambassador’s daughter sprawling forward.

No sooner had Lía hit the ground than a large crash reverberated behind her alongside an explosion of dust. What had just happened? What the hell was going on? Lía lay prone for half a minute, ears ringing, and then stood with pain in her knees and the palms of her hands. She turned around slowly and then immediately bent over and began to retch. Just a meter behind her, a large chunk of concrete had crushed her companion as it had fallen from a nearby building. The young woman’s once beautiful blonde hair was matted with fresh blood and her left arm lay detached from the rest of her body in a pool of bright red blood dusted with a fine gray dust.

Wielkilasin Embassy
Tarnum, Ashab

Amabassador Uxio Guerreiro looked despondent as he put down his cell phone. His daughter had not picked his call and there was no telling what had happened to her. Was she alright or had had every farther’s worst nightmare come true? Why had he invited his daughter to come visit him on her vacation? He slumped down in his chair and closed his eyes and sat quietly for few moments and then opened them again when tall a woman in a hastily donned uniform opened the door to his office.

“We need to talk.”

The woman’s voice was firm but quivering.

by **Hittanryan** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 2:05 pm

Shop Basement
Near the Airport

Bob Hunter and Vicky Sorensen had been in a nearby market. Bob was a tall, reasonably athletic man in his late 30's to early 40's with a circle beard who had seemingly gone bald early, a crown of short black hair all that was left. Vicky was younger than him by a few years, in her early to mid 30's with a slender but reasonably toned body. Both looked like they were dressed for vacation, shorts, baggier in Bob's case, with a t-shirt and tank top.

The two were academics, a biochemist and ecologist from Hill Valley State University. They were in Ashab despite the risks because their collaborator in chemistry had isolated and identified some novel compounds from a plant sample originating in the Ashabi rain forest. Unfortunately Bob needed more plant material to run a proper screening study for biological activity against various diseases. Vicky, meanwhile, was a new faculty member, an adjunct professor with no tenure and just starting to cobble together a research group. She'd gotten in touch with Bob about collaborating because the ecology of the Ashabi rainforest was poorly-studied, owing in no small part to its political instability. It seemed like low-hanging fruit for publications.

Flying in as soon as they could clear the red tape of both the Adiran State Department and the local authorities for natural product prospecting, they hit the jungle immediately and were mostly done. They had been working with customs to clear the bundles of dried leaves for shipping back to Adiron, and today they were just looking for a place to eat. That quickly turned to horror as the airstrikes and rocket attacks began. Running with the crowds, with a shopkeeper they had been speaking to, they ran through the streets as blasts went off close enough to feel the shockwaves. One went off close and Vicky had made the mistake of looking back, seeing a man blinded by shrapnel, another body crushed beneath the collapsing weight of a wall.

Finally the shopkeeper waved them and several others inside his home. After retrieving his family, they darted down into his damp cellar. The bombs didn't stop, in fact they intensified, slamming into some target nearby with increasing ferocity. Some landed close by, shaking the foundations of the house.

Vicky started breathing heavier as the bombardment worsened. "We have to get out of here!" she finally snapped, leaving for the door. grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"No! We're not leaving!" Bob said, grabbing her arm.

"I'm not waiting here for..for...oh god..." she sobbed, terrified of a loud and messy death which could arrive at any second.

"Trust me, it's even less safe on the street," he tried to argue, when both of their cell phones went off, indicating they'd received a text message. He checked first. "It's the embassy, they said to stay under cover. Only move once the attack is over, and we're to make our way to the embassy. They're asking for information on what's been hit."

Vicky went off and slumped down into a corner. The bombs started to slow, then paused outright, but they could hear the antiaircraft batteries chattering away. When no bombs had fallen in their part of the city for at least 20 minutes, Bob finally acquiesced to leave the house.

From where they were, they could smell fires burning all around them, saw rubble up the street from a stray rocket. The most arresting sight, however, was some distance away. From where they were they had a full view of the airport. It was engulfed in flames, smashed to pieces, apparently one of the attack's primary targets. Vicky raised a hand in shock at the devastation, as she realized they were likely now stranded in a warzone.

Grimly, Bob texted the embassy back. "Airport is gone. Fires all around. Wrecked buildings."

by **Tericio** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 6:53 pm

ignore

by **Ashab** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 10:01 pm

Tarnum
Statehouse Bunker

For now, the fighting was over. Anjideen was sitting in the Statehouse bunker with his staff. Elsewhere administrators and clerks were busy organizing a way to get emergency supplies into the city as well as put out the fires raging throughout. Traffic was a nightmare as thousands of Tarnumites feared the war that was on the horizon and were intent on fleeing to their relatives elsewhere. Anjideen sat at the head of the conference table reviewing reports that were coming in from both the MIO and Army Intelligence. They confirmed that five bases in the Northwest were now under control of General Shada and his Theology Council masters. Their motives were confirmed by the internet video that Patriarch Gehtas released. Anjideen watched the whole thing with fists clenched and turning red. Fanatics were now trying to undo all the hard work and progress achieved since 1978.

In a fit of rage Anjideen had given the MIO a blank check in purging the Theology Council and EC supporters within their territories. In every city, especially Tarnum, those suspected were being rounded up to be sent to detainment camps. On the other hand he had signed a warrant for the arrest of every Arcani Order member, declaring the organization outlawed. Gun battles across Ashab ensued as military and police forces went to make their arrests. Unfortunately he could not declare the Church illegal for that would lose too many supporters as well.

At his side was General Anza Nagdai, the newly promoted Minister of Defense until Anjideen could find somebody better. He had also promoted General Haafil Shaker to take Mattar's place as Minister of Internal Order. The man was busy at the MIO headquarters with the purges and making sure no more units would defect. To ensure this MIO Officers at every base were ordered to follow around the highest ranking officers of those individual commands. Not only that, Shaker was launching an investigation on who let this betrayal slip past. Those found responsible would be on the ugly end of a firing squad.

"Mister President..." Nagdai called out to get Anjideen's attention who was sipping on a coffee. He looked up hoping for good news. "...the air battle over Saberis is over."

"What are our losses?" Anjideen asked.

"14 combat aircraft with their pilots. We were able to shoot down 20 of their aircraft however. In addition there are considerable casualties from the bombings but the majority of the men are in good fighting condition." Nagdai answered.

"At this rate Ashab will have no Air Force when the war is over." Anjideen mused. He had not looked up from the report he was reading.

"Sir, General Jalali reports he still has enough fuel to send some units over...."

"No." Anjideen said right away. Nagdai looked at him incredulous.

"Sir, the Council forces are mobilizing as are our own. Saberis is close. We can get them here faster. If Shada can get the Council Forces here first we will not be able to hold Tarnum!"

It was true. Right now the Council and Republican forces were now in a rush to mobilize. This was the calm before the storm. Shada no longer had the surprise so he would have to rely on speed and strategy. "Shada will not march on Tarnum with multiple divisions in striking distance have they fuel or not. Saberis will recover and can be used as a staging area to attack his flank. He will neutralize Saberis first so he can take Tarnum at his leisure." From what Anjideen remembered, Shada was a methodical man who abhorred a gamble. He trusted what he thought was a superior intellect to win the day in all circumstances. Unfortunately Shada may be right about his own abilities being one of the Republican's best before his betrayal having only been denied further promotion because his deep ties to the Church and lack of enthusiasm for the Ashabi Modernity Party. Though Anjideen wondered if Shada would be doing this had he been granted the promotions he deserved. In any case, if Shada ignored Saberis and took Tarnum he would be leaving himself wide open. Anjideen trusted that Shada knew this. The President finally looked at Nagdai. "You will tell General Jalali to entrench his position and conserve what fuel he has. Tell him he is to hold at all cost until reinforcements arrive." Anjideen said then picked up his coffee to take a sip. "You will concentrate on taking those airfields. Shada will do the same."

Both forces airbases were so far from where the battle was expected to take place. Nagdai had advised they secure airfields closer from which they could launch planes to provide air support when the time came and no doubt General Shada was planning something similar. Right now air cavalry units were loading up to secure such airfields. Mobile air defense batteries were already on the way to protect them. The battle to come would be won by each side's ability to quickly mobilize. What they needed now was speed, organization and logistics. Anjideen knew this. Council and Republican forces would then sprint to meet each other in central Ashab. He hoped the base commanders in the east were up to the task.

by **Ashab** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 11:03 pm

Acherres Army Base

General Juber Shada, age 48, graduated magna cum laude from Detajed Military Academy with a degree in mechanical engineering. He entered the Army training as a mechanized infantry officer. As a young lieutenant Shada led patrols hunting down both EC and ILF rebels in the jungles. Once promoted to Captain the man had commanded units stationed at Ashab's eastern border poised against the Cookish. Once a Colonel the man had played a large hand in modernizing Ashab's military by leveraging his aptitude for technology, analyzing systems to be acquired and developing tactics to go along with them. His reports submitted to the Ministry of Defense had been taken seriously and acted upon. For a time he worked in Tarnum at the Ministry to study conventional military tactics used by the Edomites, Arbiters, Adirans and Jedorians in an effort to apply the same to Ashab. Shada, along with other think tank experts organized exercises practicing a combined arms strategies where he learned the importance of communication. He studied how the Chacanos fought their guerrilla war even though there was plenty enough of that going on at home. For his work it was no surprise that Shada was elevated to the position of General despite doubts of his loyalty to the party. The military just found him too valuable. Unfortunately the ceiling had been set and Shada would never become Minister of Defense as he wanted. Instead of playing the game of politics he stuck to working on developing Ashab's military which gained him prestige. Just not enough to keep those at bay he had gained the enmity of by pushing through his different projects. To recognize Shada's contribution yet at the same time do away with him, his enemies had organized to put him in command of Acherres Army Base. There, Shada was doomed to spend the rest of his days doing paperwork and seeing to logistical problems.

The distrust throughout his career was due to Shada's deep religious sentiments he was often vocal about and his connections with the Church. In Ashab, there was an unspoken rule for higher ranking military officers to put some distance between them and Ashab's dominating religious institution. The Ashabi Modernity Party and the Ashabi Catholic Church served as the centers of gravity for Ashabi culture. Their conflicting ideologies could not be reconciled. The military was meant to be the arm of the Party and thus higher ranking officers had to show they had picked at a side. Those that did not were passed over for further promotion. Shada refused the norm by regularly attending Mass, going to confession, attending events held by the local clergy and making friends with Bishops. He had taken a leave of absence for an entire summer once spending it at a monastery in prayer. Shada alienated himself by not partaking in the debauchery that his fellow officer's at times engaged in behind closed doors. At the Officer's Clubs Shada regularly voiced his belief that the Church could properly guide the country towards prosperity and holiness. Combined with the enemies he had made, General Juber Shada had gone far further than anyone in the Ashabi military with his behavior could hope to.

Shada reflected over his past while looking himself over in the mirror. He had changed out of his service dress uniform into a lizard pattern camouflage BDU. Three black stars were embroidered into the collars. Strapped on his hip was a Beretta M9 pistol. The same one he had shot the infuriating Colonel Hawaz with. The final touch was the green beret of the Army. When Shada stepped outside his home on base his personal guards and second in command General Tufail Hannan were waiting with an Iveco. Elsewhere the sounds of motorized vehicles could be heard as the base was mobilizing. They were surprised by his change in attire. Hannan, a two star general himself was still in the typical tan service dress uniform.

"Why are you wearing that?" Asked Hannan.

"I am a field general Tuf. I cannot fight a war so far from the front lines." Shada replied confidently.

"You cannot be serious. General, you are too important to the cause! You are commander of all Council Forces as well. Not just..."

"You will stay here coordinating logistics and sending me regular updates. The cause will be a failure if I cannot properly command. I must be there. If God intends for me to die then there is nothing I can do about it." He said and put a hand on Hannan's shoulder to assure him.

by **Ashab** » Mon Oct 05, 2015 10:24 pm

Northwest of Saberis AB

General Raamiz Zaher

The General was in his command canopy listening to reports on the radio. Close by his staff clerks were pushing pins into a map and jotting down notes. He felt safe, especially behind 20 miles behind the front lines. Republican forces from Saberis had gone Northwest to establish a 20 mile front. Zaher had put the 10th Infantry and 29th Mechanized Infantry Divisions ahead. As ordered by Anjideen, Zaher had directed them to entrench themselves. Their soldiers had dug trenches, created pillboxes and hidden machine gun nests across the jungle line. Bring up the rear were the Republican Guards who Zaher kept in reserve to plug any gaps in the line that should appear. Soon, their reinforcements would be here. That included the second Republican Guard Division and the 7th Infantry from Kenobu. Another two infantry and mechanized infantry divisions were coming from Khesathus but they would be hear far too late taking too long to mobilize. The incompetence enraged Zaher who wanted to grind Shada and his Council forces into dust. Air cover was at the ready as well. Whatever General Shada was planning, Zaher was confident he would run home with his tail between his legs. He felt excitement, not at the battle ahead but the victory and glory that would come. Anjideen and the AMP would shower him with prestige and money. If anything this war was Zaher's chance to elevate himself in the Party. At the same time General Zaher was impatient. Scouts had reported that Shada was close, lurking in the jungle just outside the range of their artillery. If anything Shada should have pressed on by now, attacking his lines at full forces in an attempt to route them before reinforcements arrived.

Zaher paced about underneath the canopy, cigarette dangling from his mouth. He took a drag while watching over the radar screens and reading the intelligence reports. "Bastard! Come and fight already!" Zaher mused while crumpling up a report that said all units had sighted nothing yet.

General Juber Shada

"Sir, the men want to attack." Said his personal aide, Colonel Salim. Shada was perched atop an Iveco peering into the distance with a pair of binoculars. They had found a small elevated clearing to allow Shada to get a few of the land ahead. All around him were men and vehicles still moving forward into the jungle. No tanks were among them for the vegetation was too thick. Far behind was their artillery which was setup and ready to provide fire support albeit being out of range to have any impact. Salim had questioned the order to not bring the artillery further forward at first at which point Shada revealed his greater plan.

"Not yet." Juber replied. "General Zaher is a creature of his own rage. That will be his folly." He said sagely then peered back into the binoculars. Shada knew Zaher back in the Academy. Impatient, brash and he had more ambition than talent. Along time ago Shada had learned that knowing the man you were fighting was just as important as knowing war.

by **New Edom** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 7:24 pm

Fineberg, New Edom

Hands raised up, people murmured prayers like the tides of a sea meeting the shroe of their faith, the air of the cathedral filled with the spicy scent of bodies washed in the ointment where they had been ritually cleansed in the courtyard. “We continue to pray for the people of Isidium, and express oru gratitude to those who were moved by God’s mercy to help our people in our time of need…” intoned a cantor as he spoke the current part of the list of prayers between hymns.

Two naked women knelt side by side near one of the pillars. They were not painted but were damp skinned still, their hair smelling of spiced ointment, one with long straight plain brown hair that touched her bony knobby spine and nearly to the top cleft of boyish buttocks, the other with a raven sharp bob that exposed her lower neck. Plump as a goose,, she was fair tanned and rounded all over particularly a deeply cleft heart shaped bottom that trembled and flexed with each movement. They held their hands clasped and spoke in pious sounding whispers.

“What’s this Shimei Report?” murmured Elizaeth Corbulo.

“Shimei is one of my civil servants, specifically responsible for the Office fo Logistical Planning,” replied Colleen Fish, her eyes on the floor. “What have you heard?:

“That this Shimei Report concerns the possibilities for military intervention in Ashabi,” Elizabeth Corbulo said. “Why would we want to do such a thing, risk generations of neutrality”

“Why is not really Shimei’s question,” said Colleen Fish,. “My question is only how. But if you want why: because New Edom is the only nation in the region that advances the banner of the Holy Church.”

Elizabeth Corbulo paused, as did Colleen, as a small group of pilgrims doing penance rattled by in dusty chains, their groans of weariness unfeigned. One was a man who looked ready to fall down, his face weathered and skin darkly tanned his hair white. It was written in marker on his chest skin USURER.

When the penitents had gone by and gone to the altar to demonstrate their penance, Colleen continued. “It’s a feasibility study. What we’d need in different circmstnaces, intelligence report summations on the current factions, that kind of thing. You must have seen the update…but how by the way?”

“My political master can be a bit careless with his files,’ said Elizabeth Corbulo drily. “Thank goodness I am not. Having direct military involvement in Ashabi could alarm the Deadorans, right in the middle of our détente.”

“Our détente depends on the good health of Jennifer Thrall,” replied Colleen Fish, crossing herself as did Elizabeth as the prayer concluded and then bowing deeply as the next began. “Which is always in questtion. She’s had attemnpts on her life, her own people are dubious about the value of the détente and those who support it probably do out of personal loyalty to her. Deadora is a despotism more than we were even under Perrin. At least there was a pretense of responsible government then. If she suddenly dies, Jacqueline with take the throne and find some pretext for war.”

“Then why provoke it right now?” Elizabeth said. “Anyway as you said it’s just a study, right?”

Colleen Fish glanced at her.

“Why did Dr. Aphek have a copy?” Elizabeth Corbulo asked her sharply.

“I’m not trying to mess with you, my honey friend,” replied Colleen Fish. “I want the possibility in the minds of our leaders, particularly the King. Just in case. And I knew you would find it.”

Elizabeth Corbulo was thinking rapidly. “If we did support a faction…”

“Then it must be the Council,” said Colleen Fish firmly. “Better a heretic than a heathen or atheist, yes?”

“And it would have to be because we seemed to have been asked to help, and it was the right thing to do,” said Elizabeth Corbulo. “Something else: it will raise our military commitments abroad.”

“Putting us in a superior strategic position,” said Colleen Fish. “It is clearly God’s will that we should prevail, over the forces of immorality and anarchy that reign in the Region. But we must as you osay be careful in how we proceed. All I urge is that we carefully consider the matter. By adding even a division’s strength to one side and supplies, training cadres, air and naval support, we would tip the balance. If we support the Council, the Intaki are a meek and foolish people who would have no real resistance.”

“Then shall the Intaki inherit the earth?” Elizabeth Corbulo said playfully.

Colleen Fish smiled at her slightly. “You joke, but that is for those who are humble before God’s will, not pagans.”

“With the resources of South Ceti and Ashabi…”

“A great nation. Empire.” Colleen Fish said. ‘And taking the place of the Cornellians, inheriting their glory in the name of God. Think of it. On our watch, Elizabeth. We will not just have helped save new Edom, but establish that greatness that always eluded those who came before us.”

Elizabeth looked up towards the stained glass painting which showed above the ascension of Christ. “Mine eyes dazzle…”

by **Republica De Gran Chaco** » Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:49 pm

Fabupet, Ashab

Alexandru Nicolesco glanced away from the papers that he was reading at an outdoor bar to check his watch. He still had about five minutes before he had to make his meeting. He looked up at the apartment building across the street and saw that the curtains were drawn. “Good” he thought, “the meeting was to go forward then.” He returned to reading a letter he had received from a local avocado plantation manager telling him that there was no room on the schedule to meet in order to discuss a contract. Vicente was a middle aged balding man with a light completion who worked as a representative for a fruit distributer from Jedoria. He had been sent to Fabupet, Ashab as a business representative to try and secure new sources of produce that they could import. At least that what it said on his passport and his visa application.

Nicolesco’s real name was Vicente De Santa and he worked for the Chacano Ministry of Intelligence. Being a frustrated businessman from Jedoria who couldn’t get a meeting because his morals wouldn’t allow him to pay a bribe was a convenient cover for spending time in an area that was home to avocado plantations, EC rebels, and one of the largest military bases in western Ashab. Prideaux had been sent to the area a few weeks earlier as a “data collector” to manage the locally recruited sources that supplied intel for the MoI. The government wanted him to try and look for any indication that Ashabi military officers on Embayut army base and in the surrounding area had connections with the local EC rebel cells that operated in the jungle. He hadn’t gotten too much from the base, but he had passed on reports of junior officers conducting meetings with the EC on some of the plantations and in the countryside.

Now that missiles and airstrikes had been launched on the capitol, Prideaux was trying to get some last minute information about the forces on the base before he was recalled. After all what civilian wants to stay in a foreign war zone?

He checked his watch again and saw that it was time to go. Vicente stood up finished the beer he had been drinking, stretched, and packed his papers into bag and casually left the bar. Vicente’ collared shirt was stained with sweat as he walked up the street. The damn place was too humid, and too far from the ocean to have any relief of a breeze. Vicente had grown up in the heat but his childhood home was right on the water in southern Chaco so he always had the relief of the ocean when it got too hot.

Vicente walked up a few blocks and then turned right. The streets of Fabupet were filthy, not as bad as some of the slums in Tarnum, but disgusting in their own right. Vicente crossed the street and entered the local market. It was packed with people, and he had to press his way through the crowd to try and get to his intended stall. As he was shoving his way through the crowd an unseen person slipped something into his hand. Without a reaction, Vicente discreetly pocketed the item and went on with his shopping.

When he reached the apartment he had been staying at he pulled out the little item that he had been handed. To any unsuspecting person it would have looked like a used, cheap, little lighter. It even worked, but it also had a false bottom that contained an sd card. The card was designed so that if it wasn’t accessed correctly it would delete any data that was stored on it. Vicente loaded its contents onto his laptop, one that had the ability to send encrypted data via satellite, and sent what was stored on that card along with his report that a major armored force had just left the base and was moving on the main highway south, to the MoI headquarters where it would be poured over by analysts.

by **Ashab** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 1:10 pm

Statehouse Bunker, Tarnum, Ashab

"What the hell is this?!" Anjideen cried out at the new report given to him.

"Sir, it is a report from the Chacanos. It has been verified by our MIO operatives in the field." Nagdai replied.

The stale air of the bunker mixed with cigarette smoke had now turned from a daily nuisance an afterthought. A pitcher of mango juice sat on the table which Anjideen consistently refilled his glass with. Nagdai did his best to avoid the President quite terrified of the verbal bombardments at this point. All on Anjideen's staff were frantic. They knew if this war was lost they would all be shot, their families disgraced for the next generation or three. On the other hand Anjideen was a rock in the storm. He would win this war and knew it. General Shada may be a competent bastard but there was a reason the Council was no longer in power.

"Why have the Chacanos reported this first?" Anjideen asked.

Nagdai straightened his back searching for one of the canned answers he had planned for the President. "I can't speak for the MIO but Army Intelligence is still in a state of flux. Shada is now in striking distance of our divisions at Saberis..."

Anjideen waved a dismissive hand. He was tired of hearing excuses. "What steps are we taking. It is clear Shada is intent on intercepting our reinforcements coming from Kenobu."

"Preliminary estimates say we will smash through this splinter force." Nagdai replied, elated that finally he could bring good news. There was a slight grin on his face.

"How competent is General Farid?" Asked Anjideen.

"I do not know him personally sir but he was brought up by Shada himself."

Anjideen shook his head. That was not good news. General Shada was one of their best. "The splinter force will be able to delay the reinforcements then. We must plan for that."

TO: Embassy of Chaco
FROM: General Anza Nagdai
Subject: Armored Force
Encryption: Highest

Thank you for bringing this to your government's attention. President Anjideen wants this rebellion dealt with quickly. As such, he has authorized for Chacano military forces to cross the border for purposes of engaging this force if your government is so inclined to do so. These rebels are intent on undoing all the progress our fair nation has achieved in the past 37 years. Military assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
General Anza Nagdai
Deputy Minister of Defense

by **Ashab** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 2:40 pm

West of Tarnum

Republican 10th Infantry Division, Reconnaissance

A small fire team served as forward scouts. They had moved ahead of the 10th's entrenched positions to try to report in on enemy locations and call accurate artillery strikes. Zaher wanted to shake their resolve before the two lines met in intense combat. But in the darkness of the jungle at night, nothing would get done. Sergeant Mona's team had seen two skirmishes against infantry regulars. Both times resulted in a fighting retreat where they eventually melted away back towards the Republican lines only to do the same thing again later.

On this part of the evening Mona was on watch. The others slept a light sleep on their sides to prevent any snoring and maybe reveal their position. Days were exhausting, both on the mind and body. Mona wanted to give them all a full night's rest in case they had to flee again. A heavy rainfall had begun right before the sun went down and from the looks of it, would continue throughout the rest of the night and perhaps the day following. He cursed his fate. He cursed the Theology Council and that traitorous bastard General Shada for putting him in this position.

Mona felt a prick in his neck. He immediately flinched away from it with fear. With luck it would be just an insect and even then he would come down with a fever later. At the very worse from his contemplating it would be a snake. In which case he would be convulsing soon. Mona reached for the prick in his neck and found to find something stuck in it. He pulled out a red feathered dart. Paralysis from the dart frog poison quickly set in and he collapsed to his side. The last thing Mona was were three men, dressed in lizard pattern camouflage and ponchos, hacking away at his men with machetes.

General Shada

"Is everyone in place?" Asked Shada who was sitting in a lawn chair underneath the command canopy. Around was a heavy jungle rainfall the soaked every soldier to the skin. This was perfect weather to launch the assault. Shada wanted to take advantage of the poor visibility for aircraft.

"Yes sir. All units report they are ready to commence the assault." Colonel Saeed answered.

At this point Shada had two infantry division's poised to attack. A third far North that would hold back until Zaher made his mistake. For the past few nights they had advanced in the jungle on foot. Closing the distance to the enemy. Shada sent special teams forward to skirmish with their forward observers and scouts so that the Republican artillery would be firing blind. Those were the snakes. Men who had grown up, lived and thrived in the jungle environment. Ashab's military called them Jungle Snakes unofficially. Officially they were UWUs, Unconventional Warfare Units. Before the attack Shada had met with the division commanders personally.

"Once we engage them they will bring in their artillery. So get close. Use the jungle to shield your advance then grab them by the belt buckle." He said making a gesture with his right hand.

Shada walked forward out of the tent into the soaking rain. Far in the distance he would be able to see the artillery fires and felt pity for his men. They were going to take heavy casualties. Shada had designed the attack plan this way. But in the end their sacrifices would result in a decisive victory.

"Commence the attack." He ordered.

Republican 10th Infantry Division

A hidden machine gun nest had been built from earth and branches. Private Faraj was watching the jungle before him. There was no need for binoculars as he could hardly see that far with all the vegetation in the way. Once in a while gunshots could sound in the distance. Those were clashes with scouts who were trying to obfuscate their location. Once in a while there would be artillery blasts trying to get a lucky shot in but for the most part General Zaher wanted to conserve ammunition. The missile strikes and bombings had hit their munitions depots Saberis.

Faraj's squad was perched in their little hole. The top was well covered and they had little shooting ports to fire from. He himself manned a PKM machine gun although would be stuck reloading the weapon himself. Faraj's partner, Private Guler, had taken a fatal snake bite during the wait. The loss of the squad's comrade was mourned. Private Guler was their source of humor. He always had a good joke to crack and his singing of foreign rock n' roll always livened nights in the barracks. Like Guler, Faraj was a country boy. A poor Catholic farmer who's family owned one of the smaller plots in the village. The second son, Faraj knew he would not inherit yet wanted to marry the daughter of a neighboring family. Sabeeha's father found Faraj of too low status for his daughter so they struck a deal. Faraj would join the Army and get a few years to elevate himself. Sabeeha's father would hold off on allowing her to marry for the two did love each other and he wanted to give Sabeeha a chance at happiness. Perhaps that plan had backfired. Faraj did not account for a civil war.

Council 37th Infantry Division

Maneuvering through the jungle, without the enemy, was dangerous enough. Captain Nagi had to make sure his company changed and dried their socks constantly. Snake bites, insect borne disease and punji sticks had already claimed the lives of 6 of his men. A potshot artillery strike had injured two of his men with shrapnel. But they pressed on, fumbling around in the dark to go east and towards the jaws of the enemy. At night the men would huddle together smoking cigarettes. Before rations were allowed to be eaten they would all say a prayer together which Nagi led, asking the Lord in heaven for strength in the battle to come. Then came an uncomfortable sleep on the jungle floor as insects crawled all over them. Rainfall slipped through the jungle canopy leaving each man wet. They complained quietly, Nagi knew this. Although for the most part kept their mouths shut and pressed on with zeal. Nagi was proud of that. Proud that he would be leading an entire company of holy warriors to accomplish a divine mission.

Right now it was daytime. The sky above them obscured by the jungle foliage and dark rain clouds. All his men were spaced apart evenly as was doctrine. Their AKs slung on their backs as they used machetes to cut at branches and bushes in their way. All of them had twigs and leaves placed in the netting of their helmets as was ordered by the division commander. Every step was taken to mask their advance though Nagi had a feeling the enemy would see them first.

Republican 10th Infantry Division

"Sergeant." Faraj whispered.

The man was trying to relight a cigarette that had been put out by a drop of water that slipped through their covering. "What?!" He hissed in reply.

Faraj quietly manned the PKM and threw back the bolt to load a round. "Movement in the trees."

Indeed, the bushes were beginning to shake. All in the nest peered more closely until out came a figure. A young man, in BDUs, combat webbing, pack and helmet, wielding a machete. Faraj prepared to open fire. "Those are Council men!" He whispered alarmingly.

"Not yet!" The Sergeant ordered. All four men scrambled for their AKMs and got into firing position. More figures appeared moving cautiously towards them until a whole platoon came into view.

Faraj was now thoroughly frightened. The realization that men were coming to kill him had finally sunk in. Aside from the sound of rainfall the only other thing he could hear was the beating of his own heart. "Hail mary full of grace..." He began to whisper and trained the sight on one of the approaching combatants.

"Now!" The Sergeant hissed.

Faraj depressed the trigger on the PKM. The first burst struck home then went wild as he held down on the trigger for too long. He took a moment to pause and remember his training. "Eight to nine rounds." After that Faraj shortened his bursts like a skilled soldier would. He wanted to fight. To defeat the rebels and go home to Sabeeha in one piece. Marry her. Not die in this shithole in the middle of the jungle. Faraj did not hear himself scream. He spent the hundred rounds of the belt quickly and now scrambling to reload.

"Reload FARAJ! QUICKLY!" The Sergeant yelled while firing bursts from his own AKM.

Faraj dropped in the new belt and threw back the bolt. "SABEEHA!!!" He screamed then fired once again. Eight to nine round bursts.

by **Republica De Gran Chaco** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 7:16 pm

The Presidential Palace
Yanque, Chaco

Everyone waited in the large conference room for the Prime Minister to arrive. All the ministers sat around a conference table in comfortable leather desk chairs, while their aids and deputies sat behind them on plainer seats arrayed against the wall. Xeina Ccallo as the Assistant Minister for International Relations sat in one of the plainer walls behind the minister. This was purely a formality, everyone knew that Xeina was the de facto head of the foreign ministry, but because all cabinet members had to have been a member of parliament Xeina could never officially hold the position. Xeina was a Quechua, the biggest tribe of the indigenous population of Chaco. This prevented her from holding political office, but she was still allowed to work in the government, something that she excelled at. This was why she had to sit against the wall and whisper answers to the official Minister of Foreign Relations, Pedro Samayani Picha.

Xeina felt uneasy as she looked around the room and saw everyone who had been called to the meeting. It was supposed to be a national security meeting about the crisis in Ashab, and as such it had the military chiefs, the Ministers of Defense, Intelligence, Foreign Relations, and the Security Advisor, but the additional ministers were what made Xeina concerned. The Ministers of Justice, Indigenous Affairs, and the Head of the National Police were all in the room, as well as a quiet unfamiliar man Xeina could only assume was from the Civilian Cooperation Bureau. “Why did they have domestic heads at a meeting for an international crisis?” Xeina thought to herself.

She quickly stopped thinking about it when the Prime Minister walked in. Luis Fernando Trujillo was as small man. Standing only 5’6” and very thin. He had a thin angular face short black hair. Trujillo looked stressed and it became obvious when he sat down and spoke.

Trujillo got straight to business. “Ok I’m not going to waste anyone’s time, we all have a lot of work to get to, but I want to make sure that we are all on the same page, so I’ll just jump right in.

Trujillo turned to the Chief of the Army, a man who, had it not been for his uniform, would never have been thought to be the leader of Chaco’s army. General Jose Felix Estigarribia was an overweight bald man with a friendly face. His uniform always looked slightly disheveled, but he had also won medals for valor in his younger days and was more than adequate at his job.

The prime minister asked, “Do we have forces in position to intercept that rebel column that is heading south if we need to?”

“Yes sir we do” replied the General, “As you are aware, we have been positioning forces near the border, and the majority of are armor are in the southern region. All we would have to do is to give the corps commander the orders.”

“Fine.” Said Trujillo, turning to the Air Force Commander, General Jose Quiñones Gonzales “Is the Air Force Ready?”

“Yes sir, we have activated several close air support, transport, and SEAD reserve units that are still getting up to speed, but the Active units have all been redeployed to bases on the border.”

The Prime Minister did not even answer, he just turned to Admiral Miguel Seminaro and asked “The Navy?”
“We are preparing the Marine Reaction Force, and have pulled the Riverine Division from patrols and put them on standby. The fleet has been sent to their jumping off stations and are awaiting orders.”

The Admiral was about to say something else but Trujillo cut him off with a simple, “Good.”

Xeina had been listening to all of this with her head down as she looked at some notes when she heard her name called.

“Ms. Ccallo, what can we expect from the Edomites?” Trujillo asked.

Xeina looked up with her mouth agape. The Prime Minister had just broken the polite official protocol and had asked her a question directly, going over the head of the official. She glanced at the Minister who looked furious, he knew that he as a figurehead but he hated being slighted.

“Ms. Ccallo” Trujillo said again, charging through the awkwardness, “New Edom is very close to us and we cannot afford a confrontation with them, so I ask again. What do we expect them to do?”

Xeina, who was usually very composed gave a shaky answer, “Uh, we don’t believe that they will do anything overt for fear of drawing other nations in, but to be perfectly honest, we don’t even know who they favor, or really if they even care.”

“Can we expect to know anything soon?” Trujillo asked.

“Not unless they make a statement or we discover any covert action. We are still waiting for what our embassy in Edom to tell us where they believe their sympathies lye, but we have nothing definite.” Xeina replied.

“Alright, I want to be informed of any new information, even speculation.” Trujillo said and then turned to someone else.

Xeina had to take a moment to recover, she would probably catch hell from the minister for that. She didn’t even realize that the Minister of Justice was speaking and came in for half of the conversation. Xeina now listened intently, wanting to know why the domestic heads were at the meeting.

“… Narciso, but he goes by the name Charlie Cochino” The Justice Minister, Fiorela Casaperalta was saying.

“And how long has he been doing this?” Trujillo asked.

“He’s been a petty slum lord for some time, but we have never had anything to keep him locked up for a while, but now that he has stolen a military weapons shipment, and is suspected of selling them to Indy rebels, we can now go after him and his organization as rebels, which makes it a lot easier to take them down. We have assigned the Special Task Force to dismantle his organization and the Search Block has been ordered to hunt him and his number 2 down.” Casaperalta replied.

“Fine, and how about Indy security? Are you able to keep a lid on things while the Army is elsewhere? With the new rash of farm attacks and military weapons being stolen, I am sincerely worried about a lack of security.” Trujillo said. Xeina thought that he looked stressed at this. She had never thought about the Indigenous people trying to use this as an opportunity to rebel.

Minister Casaperalta thought for a moment and then replied, I believe that we will have a handle on it. We have been working to expand the Tribal Constabulary for the last several years, and with the Military Police reserve units that are being sent, I believe that we can keep everything under control.”

“Alright, but if you start to have problems don’t hesitate to let us know” Trujillo stood up “All right every one, I’m sorry that it was brief but I needed to get up to speed on everything. I will be meeting with all of you individually soon and you can fill in the details then. Goodbye everyone.” The Prime Minister walked out of the room.

Xeina was in a bit of a daze, she constantly had here mind on the outside world that she didn’t even think of the possibility of an Indy rebellion, a Quechua rebellion. She hoped that it wouldn’t come to that. Luckily her family her family had been living in good conditions away because of her position in the government and probably wouldn’t be at risk physically. Xeina hoped that he people wouldn’t be stupid enough to try something that dumb, all it would do would make their lives harder.

Xeina shook it off, that wasn’t he job or her concern. She still had to figure out the international reactions to this whole Ashab mess, and she also had to find a way to get her consulars out of Temethis.

by **New Edom** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 9:49 pm

The Palace of Justice,
Fineberg, New Edom

The beautiful light wood and brass inalid doors opened and two Royal Cavalry Guardsmen entered and stood at attention. A small fluffy black dog with a pink collar pattered in, panting, leading the way for an array of uniforms, medals, gold braid, polished black boots, braided caps, came the King and Queen, Elijah IV and Mara I, with the Heir, Princess Jocasta, following, along with a small party of the royal entourage including Prince Enoch Tubal-Cain, Colonel Marcus Joesphus. The Council of Ministers—sans their president Count Beroth, stood and bowed. Princess Jocasta had a special smile for Dr Paul Aphek, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and for the Minister of Justice Gabrielle Balaam.

“Take your seats,” said King Elijah. “Thank you everyone., Well?”

“Sir,” said Minister of Police John Ashdod, “A briefing on Ashabi as advised by the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Corbulo…”

Queen Mara took a breath. She was dressed in a simle cotton tunic dress with her necklace of gold coins from her ancestor Queen Adah the Liberator. She nodded and her dog Precious jumped up into her lap to receive a good stroking of the back.

King Elijah sat down and his gloomy face, drawn and long as a medieval painting’s showed no other reaction other than a brief nod which was undertood. The Heir hid a yawn behind a delicate hand as the briefing began, detailing the geography, recent history, economics and religious matters. Queen Mara glanced at the King occasionally.

Ashdod had a rich well educated Baran voice, like an actor or radio announcer. “…Dorian Anjideen, the so called President, has is a dictator who controls the military and general governance of the country…”

“That is shocking,” said Count Lalery sarcastically, with a short laugh. There were some chuckles.

“Haha, indeed Count. Er, to continue… Anjideen uses somewhat brutal methods in enforcing his rule, he also is pushing Ashab to integrate more with the international community, expanding international trade and granting the Intaki more rights/uplifting them. Through his bullying the Theology Council is kept from inciting the Catholics to violence against the Intaki.”

“He doesn’t sound like a bad sort,” offered Prince Enoch Tubal-Cain.

“Not a bad sort? Really Prince Enoch, you never cease to astonish me.” Said Princess Jocasta. “He’s suppressing Christianity. You have this way of not seeing how dangerous some modern views are.”

“How well put, Princess,” said Dr. Aphek with a faint smile. “We must resist the temptation to believe that prosperity and success in the modern age can only come with liberalism and agnotiscism.”

“Continue, Minister Ashdod,” said King Elijah quietly.

“Sir. Ahem: there is an opposing group, the former government. Theology Council were once the ruling body of Ashab. They were, er seposed in 1978 by Anjideen's predecessor, Adid Sararik. They are still very influential among Ashabi Catholics. It is a body of cardinals from the Ashabi Catholic Church led by Patriarch Gehtas Kurain. They are fanatics who want nothing more than to return to power and wage holy war against the Intaki. The Theology Council controls the Arcani, a state security arm though mostly enforcers who well, enforce religious law. Also suspected of supporting the Eternal Crusade insurgency.”

“The Crusade insurgency, what’s that?” Count Lalery asked.
“Eternal Crusade is an nsurgency of extremely devout Roman Catholics….”

“Roman Catholics. Heretics,” said the Minister of Culture, Marcus Cotta, with a visible sneer.

“At least they believe in the Nicene Creed,” said Dr. Aphek with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a corruption of the Creed…”

“I’d like to hear the end of the briefing at some point today,” said Count Lalery. “Go on, John.”

“They’re opposed to Anjideen for his favored treatment of the Intaki. There’s an insurgency called the Intaki Liberation Front that does provocative attacks against Cathholics and so on..as I mentioned before they have a kind of high priestess locked up in the old palace. Though recent intelligence suggests that the place was attacked and evacuated.”

“Where is she now?” asked Prince Enoch.

“We don’t know yet,” Ashdod replied. “Anyway that’s the general situation The Mlitary one is another matter. Right now it’s in flux. The capital was attacked by Council forces but they were driven off by the Republican Guards—arguably the est units in the dictator’s forces. The regime is unsteady but we know from personal experience how unstable and unpredictable such situations can be. Diplomats have been hovering around trying to exploit the situation by supporting gthe Republicans—the Jedorians, Deadorans and so on.”

Colleen Fish and Elizabeth Corbulo nodded firmly. “Your Majeaties,” said Elizabeth Corbulo, “This confirms reports out of our embassy. Formal meetings, trde talks, offers of support.”

“My officials are correct in this,” said Dr. Aphek. “Anti-Christian forces in the Region gather. Heretic or not, better a Christian heretic who is merely incorrect about matter sof liturgy and sacrament than heathens and atheists. And the Deadorans could use this as a means to outflank us.”

“Oh God, no, not another war,” said Queen Mara in despair. ‘Can’t any of you see anything other than grasping at power, wealth and killing people?”

“We have a lot of worn out military units too, a lot of repairs that need doing on ships and planes, a lot of ammunition and fuel expended to say the very least in the last conflicts,” said Count Lalery, lighting a cigar and looking around the room. “We aren’t exactly made of infinite resources. Let’s put our cards on the table. Yeah I agree, defend the faith and confusion to our enemies, sure. What can we actually do tht won’t bleed us white?”

“General?” said Colleen Fish, looking at General Jonathan Unwerth, that bronzed tall lean man with the cold dark eyes.

“Wait just a minute…” said Lalery, cutting him off before he start. “We’re already talking about the policy of military intervention? What about selling some guns, pushing some propaganda/ What the hell?”

“If we want to back a side and guarantee victory, we’ll need boms from the air and boots on the ground, Tommy,” said Prince Enoch languidly.

“The Prince is right,’ said Unwerth. “Don’t put a rubber on unless you—“

“General, please,” said King Elijah, glancing deliberately at Princess Jocasta and then at the General, who lowered his eyes.

“Forgive me sir…Princess…”

“What’s a rubber?” said Jocasta.

“A condom,” said Mara irritably.

“Oh God, how sinful and disgusting,” said Jocasta, crossing herself, blushing and secretly delighted by the scandal of such conversation.

Prince Enoch winked at Mara who hid a smile.

“We can mobilize a force of twenty thousand troops if need be, two mechanized infantry regiments, an airmobile regiment, a light infantry regiment, supporting artillery, logistics, engineers, medics, MPs and so on, a reinforced division in effect. Then we can mobilize sufficient fleet elements to provide air and naval support. In ahrot, if our support requires teeth, we can provide it. You are right, Coutn Lalery in stating that we have military units that require a rest and refit, and reinforcements would be slim other than the reserve depots of the units I have mentioned. What I would recommend is a withdrawal plan if it doesn’t work, not to vastly reinforce such an expedition.”

There was quiet in the room other than the puffing of cigars, shifting of papers nd ashtrays, the soft panting of Precious, the whispery creak of Jocasta crossing her legs under her silken dress.

“What do we get out of all this?” Count Sharra asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll tell you all for a start—raw materials. I’ve been concerned about the Deputies blocking some explorations of fuel and mining resources, and how the more we improve the lot of the ordinary farmer, the more we are at the mercy of markets in terms of food surplus.”

“Now just a minute” said Mara sharply. “This is a period of adjustment.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” said Count Sharra kindly. “But Ashbi ha a lot of good resources. I think this could pay off rather well. We wouldn’t have to occupy the area either, we would just be supporting a side we hope will win.”

“There sir, on all counts—foreign affairs, military security, resources—it would pay off if we succeed, in a way it would be wrong religiously not to do it as well,” said Colleen Fish,. “Think of your glorious ancestors, David the Landstrider, Adah the Liberator, who in expanding the reaches of the ancient kingdoms improved our peoples’ strength and stretched the land further for the glory of Christ.”

“We are counting unwhelped capybaras,” sid King Elijah. “I want a real plan. Including the result of probing whether or not this Council would accept our help and would be reliable enough to make an alliance with us, and a more detailed intelligence report on their capabilities and the possibility of them winning—both with and without our help, and analzing the degree of help they would need. And what opposition our involvement would have. If Dedora and Jedoria are potentially involved, the last thing we want is them making common cause against us. So I charge you all, in the name of god, take heed how you invoke our sleeping sword of war.”

“And there is Chaco to consider, right across the border,’ said Ashdod “I have not mentioned Chaco much. They are friendly to the Republicans. Even if neither of these powers are quite up to our snuff, they’re there. Their air bses, their army bses, their roads, communicate, supplies are right there.’

“That is very true,” said General Unwerth. “You are right sir. We must not be rash in this, even if on paper it is a good idea.”

Queen Mara breathed out slowly and leaned down to kiss the top of Precious’ little furry head. Princess Jocasta frowned thoughtfully and caught Dr. Aphek’s eye.

‘And last but not least, this is now a constitutional monarchy,” said King Elijah, “Lest we foret and decide to create a political battle here again. Our own peace here depends on this. We must, if there is a new military policy persuade the people’s deputies to accept it.”

“They’re divided, it won’t be hard,” said Minister Balaam.

“I’ll work on the Chamber,” said Cotta, stifling a yawn. “I have been meeting with Glaber and Campion for squash regularly. They’ll understand. For the others, we need to make sure the numbers are right, and the Free Congress will back us for the glory of the Church.”

“Sir,” said Colleen Fish, “The Shimei Plan is quite sound and just needs to be updated a bit, and we’re working on that. It can be on your desk in two days.”

“And we can investigate the best route of contact with the Council and explore how to discreetly make inquiries, I can work directly with General Ashdod on that, sir.” Said Elizabeth Corbulo.

When the group broke up, Prince Enoch spoke to general Unwerth. “General, would I be right in detecting a skepticism on your behalf?”

“I will want it done right if we do anything,” said Unwerth. “You and I were in Hutanjia. Military intervention abroad where we have not controlled the whole agenda and had to use conventional approaches to military action have had…only possible success. Delvian States yes—because the enemy were inc haos frankly and incompetent. Hutanjia, facing determined leadership, foreign military and economic support, foreign recognition of the enemy government?” he shook his head. “Very hard, very long, and without a serious intent to go to war balls to the wall? I wouldn’t fucking bet on this, sir.”

“I’ll talk to the Queen,” said Prince Enoch. “She’s not too happy about this either. And to the other Ministers who kept a it mum. See if we can slow it down. Lalery isn’t happy about this move either.”

Unwerth nodded and they exchanged bows and parted.

In her car heading back to her residence, Princess Jocasta said to Dr. Aphek, Colonel Josephus and Countess Lavinia Nabal, “This must happen. The glory of the faith is right. I want to see Undersecretary Corbulo and Undersecretary Fish for a privte meeting. To think I doubted their loyalty at one time! How foolish I was. Clearly they understand better than many, including the so called Master of Offices, what must be done. A very good dinner, and then I want to have you al present to ask them questions to make sure it is made very clear. I want to be well prepared before I persuade Cousin Elijah. His melancholy and responsibilities drown him, poor man, and my mad sister is no comfort. And those deputies…a pack of fools and chatterers. My heart bleeds for him..”

“New Edom is fortunate, Highness, that she has you,” sid Colonel Josephus with a smile.

Jocasta smiled thoughtfully. “Yes, I think she is.”

by **Ashab** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 10:02 pm

North of Kenobu AB

General Farid

Plains for miles. Not quite the bushland of far southern Ashab. Here was miles and miles of savannah grass. Great for herds of zebras, lions, elephants, antelope and mechanized forces. In the night the armor leading the pack listened to the howls of the hyenas cutting through the night. Their unnerving song was an omen to the bloodbath that was to come. In close proximity they kept their air defense batteries. Republican forces had been alerted to their advance and had no choice but to turn to face the new threat before reinforcing Saberis and Tarnum. Both forces traded blows launching close air support Su-25's to bomb the others. Each time fewer would come back, shot down by Strela-10s and MANPADs. They still did a number on Farid's vehicles however. Along the way he had left bonfires of destroyed APCs, MBTs and supply trucks.

Now it was time to stop running circles around each other. There would be a clash of forces and one victor. Farid would not fail in his divine mission. The terrain was perfect for maneuver warfare, something that Shada excelled at and Farid was trained by Shada. Speed would win the day here. Farid walked out into the night, cigarette in hand. Shada always chastised him for the habit. He looked at his watch, counting down the seconds. Flashes from 152mm howitzers, Akatsiya and Giatsint-S artillery were seen in the distance. Later the boom of their fires was a welcome sound to Farid's ears. Men around him cheered. In response there were explosions far ahead. Republican artillery was answering to their front line troops. He put his eyes to a pair of binoculars to see. They were already advancing and would clash with the Republicans once there was daylight.

"At sunrise we will send them all to hell!" Farid yelled.

Council 76th Armored Division

In the first minutes of daylight Nasir saw them. Lines upon lines of T-55s and T-72s in the distance. Sergeant Nasir was in the tip of the spear. He poked his head out the top of his T-72 to get a look at the tanks in the distance. All the animals had long vacated the area. Flocks of birds and herds of antelope scrambled away at the approach of the monstrosities set out in a line. "Straight ahead, Republican T-55. Sabot round. Not yet." Nasir wanted to wait. Give them a better chance of getting a kill instead of wasting ammo.

Inside the gunner was training the optical range finder on the T-55 ahead. Taking into account distance along with other factors to get a precise shot at it. Not that Ashab's tanks had much in the way of computer guidance or electronic suites. Nasir knew the motion of the tank would make it more difficult to get an accurate shot. A round struck the ground nearby throwing dirt and grass into the air. "Too early you bastard." Nasir said out loud. Although plenty of other Council tanks had fired back already. Nasir turned around and signaled to the tank behind he was going to stop.

"Full stop." He ordered in his headset. The driver did so.

"Now! Fire!" Nasir yelled.

The 125mm smoothbore gun shook the tank as it did. Nasir peeped through his binoculars again trying to see through the smoke. A smoking husk remained with the top popped off. "Hit!" Nasir exclaimed.

by **Wielkilas** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:16 am

A Dom Wódki on the River
Broków, Wielkilas

“So,” the olive tinted face of the Wielkilasin prime minister, Ángelita Gomes, was turned up in a particularly devilish smile, “We are certain of what we need to do and that we can gain all the necessary support from the Sejm?”

Another woman, Minister of Defense Minka Wisniewski, at the table with the prime minister nodded. She was fifty, though many said she looked at least ten years younger, with steely blue eyes, a lovely face that emitted a predator’s aura, and long blonde hair that was so pale that it was nearly white. “We can indeed be sure of both Ángelita. With one of our service women dead and several of our citizens still trapped inside Ashab, there is little doubt that our coalition and the that of the Liberals will support you in this.” She then picked up her glass of vodka and took a drink.

“And what of the conservatives and the independents? They will surely make a fuss, if for no other reason than to make things more miserable than they should be.” A tall, thin man with slender beak of a nose upon which a thin rimmed pair of glasses rested replied to the blonde haired woman with a huge grin on his face. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lambert St.Martin, and he was well known within the Sejm and the Executive Council for his sense of humor.

Ángelita and Minka looked at each other and shook the roof of the establishment with their laughter. “I think we can safely say that they won’t be causing us any trouble,” the prime minister was trying to hold back more laughter as she spoke.

“Indeed,” Minka’s eyes softened as she took another drink, “They have been like two-legged goats for a few decades now. They bitch and moan constantly thinking that it will do something.”

St.Martin chuckled and held up his glass of fragrant Châteaux de Feu Blanc, “May we win the day and the conservatives make a lovely chorus of their complaints”

Ángelita and Minka raised there glasses as well and the three of them shouted together.

“Na zdrowie!”

Port d’Azur, Dahamy

Captian Jarek Koprosky mulled over the dispatch he had received from the admiral while sipping a cup of wonderful coffee and enjoying a rich, buttery croissant in a lovely little bakery in the center of Port d’Azur. Load up the task force and sail in the direction of Ashab in within the next day and put the Tri-Nations Exercise on hold until further notice. You must be ready to evacuate foreign nationals and provide humanitarian support to Tarnum

His commanding officers had promised him that things might get more interesting when the Nationalist Coalition roared into power during the last election. His current orders seemed to indicate that they had not been wrong. Jarek drank of his coffee and an took a bite from his croissant. Letting out a contented sigh, his eyes then caught sight of a lovely Creole woman with smooth skin like milk chocolate, dangerously curvy hips, a firm round bottom, a slender waist, a nice healthy pair of breasts, ripe and full lips, a pair of enticing green eyes, curly black hair, and a swaying walk that left men completely mesmerized.

“Damn,” he muttered under his breath as his pants tightened a little, “Too bad I have to take off.”

To: the Ruling Government of Ashab
From: The Desk of the Prime Minister Ángelita Gomes

It is with the people of Ashab that Wielkilas grieves this day. The start of conflict and the deaths of so many of your citizens is a truly sad thing as is the death of a brave officer our army.

It is because we morn with the people of Ashab this day that we would like to offer whatever aid we can offer through a humanitarian mission and the offer of transport for foreign nationals unable to return home through the usual means. To this affect we have given orders to a naval task force taking part in a Tri-Nation training exercise in Dahamy to be ready to leave on a moments notice. We will sail with a gale at our backs to give whatever aid we can to the people of Ashab if it is asked for.

by **Ashab** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:22 am

Statehouse Bunker, Tarnum, Ashab

President Anjideen looked at the paper before him. It was a death warrant. On the list were over a hundred names. Their guilt in the entire mess varied from beyond reasonable doubt to speculative. These were just the people rounded up in Tarnum. Some were directly associated with the bombing of Mattar and his daughters. MIO investigators had been able to trace the homemade explosives. Others were merely on a watch list for being too close to the Church and having any sort of military know how. Anjideen wanted clergy round up as well but that would only incite more of the populace. Instead the MIO kept watch on them as they had been doing since 1978. When the evidence was there, Anjideen knew there was no choice. He had those Priests arrested.

Here he was, a man with the fate of millions in his hands. Anjideen thought about how it had come to this. He grew up in a Catholic and Intaki village south of Detajed. Catholic and Intaki children separated themselves from each other. They played basketball at different times and went to the local school at different times. Not that Anjideen ever played basketball for he was a sickly and frail boy that could never keep up with the others. Everything tired him out so quickly and he was ridiculed for it. His father one day after selling their rice in the Detajed markets came back with a model airplane. There were dozens of them now sitting in his office, his only hobby. Aside from reading of course. Anjideen as a young boy poured over every book, old newspaper or instruction manual he could get his hands on. It did not matter what it was. He was a loner, an outcast. Nobody wanted to play with the weird little boy who read books and built plastic models.

One day out in the fields, under the shade of a tree, Anjideen found himself reading a historical fiction novel set in medieval Ghant. His mind was far away in a place of towering stone castles and armies of men clad in steel. Gallant Kings and Princes, beautiful maidens. The boys were coming back from playing an organized competitive basketball game with a neighboring village. Euphoric on victory they had approached the young Anjideen.

"What are you reading Dorian?" Their leader said teasingly then grabbed the book.

"Hey! That's mine!" Anjideen cried back while trying to reach for it. The boy was too tall.

"I can't understand why you read this shit little Dorian." He looked at the title. "At Sword's Point. The only point you'll ever be looking at is the tip of a man's cock."

The book was thrown into a pile of mud before the boys left laughing up a storm. Anjideen scrambled to clean it off. Books were precious, expensive and his only source of happiness in this unforgiving world. This was the third time he had read this one. Satisfied that the book was clean, Anjideen hugged it to his chest and began to cry. There was nothing else to hug. His mother had died giving birth to him, he had no friends and his father was a kind but not affectionate man.

"What do you have there?" A voice said nearby.

To this day he still remembered the look of her as he looked up, squinting in the sunlight. At first Anjideen thought she was an angel like the ones spoken about by the Priests or a Princess from his book. Kameela was about an inch taller than he was, black hair that ran down to her chest, light eyes, olive skin and more beautiful than anything his imagination had been able to conjure up until this point. She had on a feathered Intaki headdress and a weird bracelet made of chicken bones. "Oh you have a book!" She said.

"I like books! Will you read to me?" She said and knelt next to him.

Anjideen wiped away his tears. "Ok." He croaked then opened to the beginning.

From that point on Kameela and Dorian Anjideen were inseparable. They had to hide their two person book club from the others. Intaki and Catholic children were not meant to be seen consorting with each other. Anjideen received his first kiss from her, his first experience with a woman and his first and only love. At the age of 17 he had been accepted into the University of Tarnum for testing very well. Kameela begged him not to go.

"Trust me Kameela. This is the best university in Ashab. I will get a degree then I will get a job in a foreign place. A country like Adiron or Novitera and I will take you with me. I read they will let us marry there! They do not care that you are Intaki and I Catholic! We can live together as man and wife!" He consoled her.

Two months before graduation Anjideen had returned home on a trip to visit Kameela and his father. He returned to find the Intaki homes burnt down. Just a week before an EC band had come through, raping and killing Intaki who did not escape then torched their homes. It took all the power and resolve not for Anjideen to frantically search for his beloved. Instead he appeared indifferent about it to the other villages who told the story.

"They are Intaki. I feel no pity." He had said to incite a chorus of agreements.

Anjideen looked over the list of names that had been killed in the village center. Provided by the MIO investigators who came afterward. His knees felt weak when he read one of the names. Kameela Ayoub. With all his might the young Anjideen went home, stone faced. That night Anjideen sneaked away to the nearby Intaki burial ground. There were fresh graves there. Intaki did not mark their graves with names believing that all people were part of one collective force. A name was not needed once a soul passed on to the spirit world. But Anjideen would recognize the personal headdress of Kameela sitting atop her grave anywhere.

"If you are not in heaven then God is a fool to deny someone with your heart. But God is no fool. I don't care what the Priests say, I know you are there." He had said kneeling before it. Anjideen set down some flowers he had picked and the first book they had ever read together next to the headdress. That by far, was the saddest most difficult moment of his life. He would rather fight this civil war a thousand times and lose it a thousand times than go through the agony of Kameela's death again. A picture of her sat in his jacket breast pocket everywhere he went as if it could fill the hole left in his heart. After long cry, he departed. A few years later Anjideen came home to bury his father. That was the last time he ever went back to that village south of Detajed and Kameela's grave.

A pen sat nearby. Anjideen pulled the picture from his pocket and stared at it. He was alone. "They hate you for what you are. They killed you. Even then I know you would not approve but I must. Please forgive me Kameela." He said out loud then signed the death warrant.

Fight of the Faithful: Ashabi Civil War (CLOSED: Cornellia)

Fight of the Faithful: Ashabi Civil War (CLOSED: Cornellia)

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