The year is 2016. Decades full of failure in economic advancements, famine, and discontent has driven the Democratic Republic of Karadanay to it's knees, the cruel axe of fate at it's neck, unhindered by anything. Starving, impoverished citizens have thrown down their rakes and picked up their rifles, and surged into the cracked and searing streets of the few cities of Karadanay. Civil war- and the end of the Karadanay state- is at hand, with radical factions already arming and preparing.
One factor, however, is that Karadanay possesses nuclear weapons.
With a rather large amount of somewhere around 20 nuclear weapons, Karadanay's destabilization may lead to rogues, paramilitaries, or even terrorist groups to acquiring these weapons. Mediation between the crumbling government and the people is impossible- and so, the eyes of the world are upon the small nation, as many move to act.
CVN-41 Vindicatum
15 miles offshore of Karadanay, near the city of Marencep
The sky was a plain blue, without a cloud in sight. The scrubland mountains surrounding the city contrasted with the overly modernized city, a forced facade of prosperity thrown ontop of a crumbling nation of poverty.
The steel-clad Vindicatum was the lead of Legatia's 6th Carrier Strike Group, accompanied by 2 Scopuligus class cruisers, Amber Hill and Ingall Strait, and 3 Fortitudo-class destroyers Tiberius Rufius, Titus Carbo, and Camilla Arcadia, one of 2 ships in the 44-ship Fortitudo class that bore the name of a woman. They were accompanied by Marine Expeditionary Legios IV and VI, who were aboard amphibious assault carriers and dock landing ships. The marines across the strike force numbered a rather large 14,000 men- a rather staggering force, fit for an invasion- but truly, this was nothing else.
As a Sea Peregrine fighter lands aboard the Vindicatum, helicopters spool up aboard the LSDs and LHDs accompanying the strike group, the Marines aboard them meticulously preparing their weaponry and gear for what was, likely, to become a drawn-out campaign. No war had been declared, nor had this been announced. "Strategic necessity" was the official term for this operation, and so "Operation Strategic Necessity" would become the popular name of the maneuver among the rank and file Imperial marines.
Operational planners had absolutely no desire to drive pure fear into the hearts of an already unstable populace by landing armed forces directly into the city, where incidents could escalate in an area that was not strategically important in the slightest. Instead, forces would land outside of the city with much less resistance, and occupy a smaller, nearby city. Any government forces, it was expected, would be powerless to retaliate, and this would allow Legatian forces the relatively short amount of time needed to set up within the city. A permanent garrison of around 150 men would remain at that area at all times, which was expected to be supported at all times by a cruiser, able to support ground forces with cruise missiles or precision fire from the 8-inch guns carried by it. The remainder of the force would systematically sweep through the country like a broom, securing strategic areas by force, and allowing for the capture of any nuclear devices, which would be loaded onto a destroyer- which, in secret, had a detachment of Praetorian guardsmen aboard them, who would safely deliver the weapon back to Legatia for it's destruction.
However, the capture of said nuclear weapons could not be accomplished until the steel ramps of the landing vehicles offloaded the Marines onto the beachhead, and that would begin now.
At 10:40 AM, the rear doors of the landing ships opened, and the tan-booted, tan-uniformed, and overencumbered marines flooded onto the beach in an orderly manner. Expecting absolutely no organized resistance, especially here, the Marines nevertheless landed their armored landing craft first, before the air-cushioned landing vehicles offloaded floods of marines, Taurus tanks, AFVs, and a sizable contingent of both mobile artillery and tank destroyers. Screened ahead by carrier-based craft and supplemented by contingents landing ahead via helicopter into the small town they were to occupy, the Marines would make their way up and off of the beach to make contact with the friendly forces in town.
However, the landing did not go as smoothly as expected.
****
As Legatian Caestus and Sea Challus helicopters descended into the small town of Bahramli, it did not take long for things to go off plan. A rocket was fired at a descending helicopter, which was forced to make evasive maneuvers to avoid it. Immediately after, the gunfire began.
Fastroping instead of landing properly, the rank and file Legatian soldiers quickly engaged in a form of combat more suited to special operations forces. The PIL-V rifles of the soldiers began to put down suppressive fire, as their helicopters bugged off. The Marines, originally intending to take the city from all angles, were in many cases forced out of it and made to concentrate their defensive efforts in a large house.
Fifteen minutes and 4 casualties later, near the entire first wave of 2,000 men swamped the small town. Easily outnumbering the militia, these men were easily able to overcome the non-unified, inferior militia group that was holding the town, even despite the fact that they were accompanied by attack helicopters, main battle tanks, and IFVs, of which the militia could not hope to defeat. Killed or driven to a man, the Legatian forces secured the town of Bahramli in a rather embarrassing show of unpreparedness, one that would likely not be repeated- 16 casualties, one was barely saved from the clutches of death, the others suffering bullet or shrapnel wounds.
With a proper beach-head and forward operating base secured, the Legatians were able to secure the airport that would be used as their primary base, as well as the only fully-fledged airport in the country able to accommodate international flights, and strategic airlifters such as the Legatian C-10 Titan, and one of the few remaining paved airstrips in the country. With this strategic assets, the so-called "Operation Strategic Necessity" could move forth.
