A Changing World (OPEN, MT, ATTEN: Reformed Britannia)

[Alexiandra]

OK guys I'm retconning. If this RP is still going when I get my computer working again, I will re-join. RB can act like the raid never happened. I just can't bear writing on this netbook anymore, it's so awkward.

[Reformed Britannia]

"White-Dove, you may land. A group of representatives will be on hand to greet you on the tarmac."
There were, in fact, two representatives accompanied by a squad of Paracommandos bearing the traditional red berets of their corps. The first representative was General Wilkinson, who had undertaken a Herculean effort in directing the establishment of an effective depot system within a few days' notice. The other was Air Marshal Jamieson, whose role in the war was yet to come truly into play-although the RAF's strike against Nitomian satellites had been the first real shots fired by the Britannian military.

Field Marshal Cunningham, an ageing but renowned commander, would be orchestrating the defence of the homeland and leading the BEF while Admiral of the Fleet Lord Jonathan Trenchard would be overseeing the naval campaign, which he was fully confident he could win-and therefore prevent Nitomian soldiers from setting foot on Britannian soil.

The preliminary attacks against Nitom were intended to buy time-something the Britannians needed desperately. They had already made the assumption that the enemy had been meticulously planning their attack upon Britannia for quite some time, and were therefore in a significantly better position than Britannia, which had undertaken a decolonisation process and was very vulnerable in a sense. The relatively small size of the Britannian armed forces, however, meant that they could be mobilised and combat effective within a very short time frame-a matter of days, or so High Command hoped. Mass production of munitions had already begun in some factories as the Britannians began to create stockpiles and send ammo and supplies to the depots that they had created-thankfully, the Britannian industrial sector was already quite adept at producing 7.7x57mm Lucknow ammunition for their FGR Mk. III rifles meant that the cost of mass producing ammunition was much lower than it could have been.

The Britannians continued conducting combat air patrols throughout their airspace, and closely surveying the waters thousands of kilometres in every direction using their long-range radar systems, AWACS patrols and satellite reconnaissance. If the Nitomians came, Britannia would be ready.

[Nitom]

8:43 P.M.

Several planes get ready to take off. "Sir, we are ready." One of the pilots said. "Rodger that, Operation Falling Skies is a go." A man from the tower said. Soon 30 B-2 stealth bombers took off with a escort of 20 F-35's, 50 MK-5 Killers, and 10 F-22's. All of the escorts had the same stealth abilities as the B-2 bombers. Once all the air craft took off several different types of air craft were put on stand by for any Britannian attacks.

11:59 P.M.
Kensington, Britannia

"Target in sight." One of the bomber pilots said as he flipped a switch. "Rodger, you have the green light." A voice over the radio said. Soon 10 of the bombers launched their cruise missles, there was a total of 10 missles shot. They then flew to their targets and hit their marks. If the first attack had hit the defenses was unknown untill the smoke cleared. "Move to next target." A pilot said. Soon 10 more bombers came out with their escorts as they launched their missles at the air fields. "Final target." The pilot said. The last 10 bombers launched their missles and turned around. "All bombers make your way back." A fighter pilot said as he flew ahead with his part of the fighters. 40 of the fighters went with the bombers and would come back to aid the fighters. Meanwhile, the other 40 were ready to fight the enemy positions.

[Gibet]

Kensington Airport, Reformed Britannia

As the jet touched-down on the tarmac and rolled to a stop, the ramp was dropped and the first of the four S.S. guards stepped out to scan for any dangers. He was dressed in the usual Black with one exception; he carried a semi-automatic M14 Carbine. His eyes darted rapidly back and forth, scanning the area before sighting the Britannian representatives. He looked back into the cabin and nodded his head. As he stepped-aside, the other three guards worked their way down the ramp and onto the tarmac, itself. Then, accompanying the Ambassador, Colonel Joseph Von Schukt, a decorated commander of the first and second Gibetan-Nitomian Conflicts, made his appearence before the representatives just seconds before Ambassador Stiener did. Both were aging--neither one of them under fifty--and both knew the nature of their business. Von Schukt made the first move.

"Greetings from the Reich, honorable Britannian Allies. The Fuhrer sends his regards." Schukt saluted traditionaly (militarily, not National Socialist) and turned briefly as Stiener approached. "Ahem..." Schukt cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, may I introduce the whole reason we're here, Ambassador Friedrich Stiener; a very-dear friend of the Fuhrer, and our Military-Arm's representative here, in Britannia. Herr Stiener..." The Colonel motioned slightly for Stiener to begin.

"What the Colonel has said is true. However, you know who we are.....might I inquire who, exactly, are you?" Stiener asked curiously. It was considered rude not to properly know who one was addressing--particulary if the ones you were addressing were representatives of an ally and a friend.

[Reformed Britannia]

Skies over Britannia
While the Nitomian planes may have possessed individual stealth characteristics, the fact that they were flying in a considerably large formation without at least maintaining radio silence made them easy to detect on long-range radar surveillance. By the time the Nitomian strike force was even within a few hundred kilometres of Kensington, the Britannians had their response at the ready.

30 LY910 Shadowhawk AASFs, maintaining radio and emissions silence and flying in fairly loose formation, were detached from combat air patrol duties and sent on an intercept course with the Nitomian strike force. In addition, SAM sites in every Britannian city were put on maximum alert-and with a striking range in excess of 120km, they provided a formidable defence indeed.

When the Nitomians got within the 120km range, the long-range SAM sites would open fire, sending a veritable firestorm of munitions into the sky. The long-range missiles weren't particularly manoeuvrable, but they were certainly the biggest and the fastest. The mid-ranged missiles would be launched starting from a range of around 75km, and finally, short range point defence AMMs -would be launched from within the 10km range, targeting primarily the missiles launched by the Nitomian bombers.

The LY910s would them sweep in on an attack vector, launching long-range SAMs at the cumbersome B-2s while closing to within engagement range of their mid-range missiles and then targeting the F-22s and F-35s. The SAM sites on the ground would continue to launch missiles at the enemy strike force while the LY910s kept their distance, allowing the sky over Kensington to become a confused and twisting spectacle of planes and missiles-hopefully breaking up not only the Nitomian formation, but also keeping the risk of friendly fire at zero.

On the ground, specialised jamming stations began jamming the radar of the Nitomian planes, preventing them from effectively engaging the LY910s or even getting a lock on for their radar-guided missiles. Some of these stations also attempted to send false contact signals to the Nitomian radars, hopefully further confusing the pilots.

However, the Britannians could not stop all of the missiles. While military and industrial targets were very well defended as they were seen as the backbone of the Britannian war effort, civilian areas were not so well defended. These attacks would doubtlessly incur the wrath of the Britannian people and government, further embittering a conflict already deepened by hatred for an enemy who dared to commit a terrorist attack.

---

Wilkinson was the first to step forward, a neutral expression remaining on his face as he regarded the delegation from Gibet.
"Of course, how rude of us. I am General Daniel Wilkinson of the Britannian Expeditionary Force, and this-"Wilkinson gestured towards Jamieson, who took the opportunity to introduce himself, removing his Air Marshal's cap with a well-practiced flourish.

"Yes. I am Air Marshal Robert Jamieson. A pleasure to meet you, gentlemen. On behalf of Field Marshal Cunningham and Admiral Trenchard I wish to state my regret that they could not be here; however, as it stands, they are working desperately hard to try and get things in order. As Dan tells me, the BEF's very nearly at full combat capacity. We just need a day or two more and then we'll have things running up to speed here." Jamieson nodded towards Wilkinson, who brushed some troublesome specks of dust off his uniform before he spoke.

"Indeed. I'm sure that the Nitomians are no friends of yours, either. According to preliminary surveillance and a good dose of common sense, we're thinking that the Nitomians may be overstretched. It probably won't stop them from trying to attack Britannia, but I'm sure they'll be loath to take troops out of the territory they've occupied in your country." Wilkinson paused, clearing his throat thunderously.

"Now, I wish to state that my government has the fullest intention of getting you your land back, since the Nitomians sent commandoes to attack us in some form of deluded 'revenge' for that whole fiasco a while back. In the view of His Majesty's Government, the most simple and sensible solution to the current situation in Gibet would be to simply remove the Nitomians. We used to be those kinds of imperialists, you know. Gallivanting all over the globe, fighting savages and whatnot." Wilkinson snorted derisively, shaking his head.
"The lot of good it did us in the end."

[Gibet]

Kensington, Reformed Britannia

Herr Stiener smiled warmly. "I can certainly say that my government will be more than willing to agree to launch a number of attacks against Nitomian-Gibet. I cannot speak for the Fuhrer, himself, but......I can assure you that you have our full support in this war. Nitom will learn, one way or another, that it is never a good idea to have two-fronts. Unfortunately, most nations find that out too late. I have, in my briefcase here," He motions towards the tan-briefcase in his left-hand. "the Operational Plans for the region. My government would like your commanders to look them over before we proceed. Also, I'm sure, by now, you know what I'm doing here. I am to observe your Military efforts here and report what I see to Krakow. This is just as a means of helping the Fuhrer understand what is going-on here; how far the Nitomians are willing to go; and what seems to work against them. ................I'm sure you undoubtedly know or have heard about the Nitomian Missile Systems. The blasted things killed thousands--not many of them Military personell, either."

Colonel Schukt looked back towards the jet and then, back at the Britannian Representatives. "Gentlemen, perhaps we could move our conversation to some-place a bit-more.....convinient ad relaxed. I'm afraid the Military-sde of me wants to feel secure while discussing the plans for future operations."

[Nitom]

Skies over Britannia

"Radar is out. Use SRWS's to detect enemy units." A pilot said as he looked at his radar. "Formation Alpha Delta 9-21." The man said as he turned left. Soon all of the air craft got in their formation. "Satalite support?" Another pilot asked. "Ya, we will have one over us in 3 minutes." The first pilot said as he scanned the area. "I think I see fighters coming at us. High altitude, 200 KM." The pilot said as he pulled up. The air craft continued to rise untill they hit 200KM. They then watched over the whole city. If anything came at them it would be seen from their positions.

[Reformed Britannia]

OOC:The service ceiling of F-35s and F-22s is only about 19km.
IC:
As the combined land-and-air assets of Britannia continued to engage the Nitomian planes, the Britannian defence satellite network picked up another Nitomian satellite moving in orbit towards Britannia-identifying the satellite was accomplished by comparing the IFF protocols broadcast from the other hostile satellite and comparing it with those emanating from the new contact. Almost immediately, the Britannian defence network sprung into action.

There was no time to get planes off the ground, but the Britannians had some orbit-based ASAT capability as well. Specifically, several satellites were equipped with autocannons-it wouldn't be practical to mount ASAT missiles on a satellite. Some of these satellites manoeuvred onto an intercept course with their Nitomian opposite, ready to fire their weapons once they got into effective range.

On the ground, land-based ASAT missiles were launched at the Nitomian satellite from VLS systems in the south of Britannia, concentrated around the country's major cities.

---

"Of course. There's a barracks just back here," Wilkinson said, motioning towards a small building off to the side of the airfield.
"I'm sure it's a more secure place to discuss military matters. It's been thoroughly checked for bugs, wiretaps and the like." The general walked over to the building, opened the door, and casually stepped inside.

Once he was within, he stood in the doorway and called out to the Gibetans while he waited for them to get inside.
"Yes, I heard about the Nitomian missile systems. But I've been told that our nation has launched something of a first strike against Nitom with the hopes of crippling their ability to launch ICBMs, among other things. With luck we may even get what we all want out of this conflict with a simple peace treaty as opposed to fighting the Nitomians and causing endless bloodshed."

[Nitom]

The fighters continued to manuver around the slower Britannian planes and try and engage the faster one to take them out first. Above in orbit the satelite moved to avoid the enemy satelites. Missles were soon armed along with other defense systems. The Satelite would take the first shot to hit the closest enemy satelite and then manuver around the others and arm their other weapons and try to take out the enemy. If the satelite went down more would have to be moved in wolf packs for security. Meanwhile, news of the battle was reaching Rumek. Several MK-5 Killers with orbital flight capibilities would be put into orbit to start targeting enemy craft.

ooc: I did read about a new US military air craft that can go into orbit for about 15 minutes before it has to go back into earths air space to get more oxygen into its engines.

[Gibet]

Kensington, Reformed Britannia

Colonel Schukt smiled warmly and accepted the idea of discussing the plans within an Army Barracks. He walked briskly behind Ambassador Stiener who was, in no way, waiting on him nor the Honor Guardsmen accompanying them. The small group of six stepped into the barracks one or two at a time. Stiener, his briefcase in hand, pulled a small table over before the group.

"Gentlemen, if you'll please take a seat, I'll explain the plans for the near-future in this conflict for the Reich. With that, he withdrew a small bundle of papers of various importance from his briefcase. He laid them out on the table before him. The documents pertained to anything from "Top-Secret" Weapons and Operations to the plans to initiate "Ascension: One-One-Six"--the planned invasion of, not only Nitomian-Gibet, but also Nitom itself. Then, after rifting through several documents, he found what he was looking for. He un-folded the rather-large document upon the tale and stood-back. It was a map of Gibet and the surrounding territories.

"Now then, the Fuhrer wishes to proceed as soon as possible with his plans. While we do intend to support your efforts here, we also wish to place as much suplies and materials into this operation. The Third Army Group, comprised of the 16th, 7th, and 2nd Armies and commanded by Field-Marshal Karl von Hoeth, will strike in the center, from Kiesfurt, into Bassum and Belsen. He will be supported by elements of the Fifth Shock-Army, Commanded by S.S. General von Halder. However, our main push will be towards Correllia, from Bebra. It will be a large Armored-push supported by ourmost experinced troops, pilots, and tank-commanders. We will be throwing our national existence into this fight. That.....must be understood."

[Salzland]

OOC: Sorry to hear about your computer problems Alexiandra, hope they're sorted out quickly.

I apologize if I came off as unduly grouchy toward you, that was not my intent. What I would like to do is seize this as a teaching moment, and attempt to impart (in my own way) a little hard-earned knowledge and experience regarding roleplaying here. Details matter, and mastering the following details will help a great deal in RPing here.

Establishing and sponsoring an opposition movement in a foreign nation (regardless of whether it is a friendly, neutral or hostile nation), especially an opposition movement with substantial military capabilities, requires a massive amount of time, effort and money in order to pull off successfully. The more hostile a nation is, the more of each will be required. It is not something that can be spontaneously created in three posts or fewer, without the host nation's permission, and a handful of sentences over two or so posts describing repeated increases in the quality and quantity of the military capacity of the opposition force is equally impermissible.

Above everything, you have to give your target (for lack of a better term) input into the process, and the ability to interfere with your operation. Be it through infiltration of the group, the elimination of some cells courtesy of the efforts of internal or external police, intelligence and military forces, etcetera, the fact is that unless you're willing to play the long game and take years upon years to set up an operation, you will have failures along the way. The larger the scale of the operation and the more complex it is (tanks, SAMs, etcetera), the higher the likelihood of failure. After all, all of that material has to be transported to Britannia (covertly, because any idiot knows what a tank or missile looks like and knows that John Q. Public should not have access to that equipment), has to clear customs (which means bribes have to be paid, meaning that the targets of the bribes have to be carefully selected in order to prevent the operation from being blown), has to be transported to the specific groups who will receive it (which means doing so in a manner that someone doesn't look out the window and see a convoy of trucks with foreign tanks on the back driving by), who then have to be trained by foreign personnel (who run the risk of falling prey to a sting, being turned over by someone who develops a sudden burst of patriotism, etcetera), and then those foreign personnel have to be withdrawn while the opposition members disperse to find and train other potential opposition fighters (with the same risks of detection carrying over).

There are many, many more concerns and potential pitfalls involved beyond those that I have just mentioned. Regardless, the target nation must be involved in the process OOCly. Having a massive presence develop and show up instantly is a mark of very, very poor form, and it is one that can easily be avoided with a brief telegram.

If you're interested, I will happily telegram suggestions on ways to conduct successful and much more effective covert operations (keeping in mind the requirement to secure the target's permission), for future reference. In the mean time, back to the RP.

IC:

Strategic Defense Command
Rostgard, Salzland

As the Firefly-class satellites began reaching their launch windows, the Strategic Defense Command received word of the existence of the Nitomians' orbital weapons platforms. A priority order was passed down to immediately target those weapons systems, along with every other Nitomian satellite in the sky, and destroy them all. Every available non-vital Strategic Defense Command resource would be tasked to this operation.

Sentinel-class defense satellites, orbiting at an altitude of roughly 1,400 miles, began charging their solid state laser arrays and firing hydrozine chemical thrusters, to align their primary weapon with any Nitomian satellites in range before firing at the Nitomian satellites. Brilliant Pebble constellations were vectored onto intercept courses with other Nitomian satellites, while ground- and sea-based missile stations began firing RIM-161 Standard 3 missiles at any satellites in range, supplemented by ground-based chemical laser batteries, both in the Salzland mainland and at various Salzland military bases throughout the world.

In addition to the storm of weaponry being fired at the Nitomian satellites, other orbital weapons systems were being readied for use. A second constellation of Firefly-class offensive satellites were being directed to target known Nitomian ground-to-space satellite relays, to rob any surviving Nitomian satellites of command, control and communications with the ground. The sensitive electronic equipment, including antenna farms and electrical grids, at those sites would be easy targets for the Golf Balls from Hell. Once knocked out, the Nitomians would be extremely limited in their ability to control any surviving satellites, and their ability to benefit from any satellites' survival.

The final phase of the Salzland push to secure space relied on another piece of new weapons technology, the Mark IV Orbital Threat Intervention System, or OTIS. Envisioned as a cheaper, more disposable supplement for the existing Sentinel constellation, each OTIS unit carried a battery of 40 modified AIM-120D AMRAAM missiles, fitted with kinetic kill vehicles and generally enhanced for operations in space. These units would be tasked with finishing off any Nitomian satellites that survived the initial strike.

In the mean time, the order was passed down for the first wave of Firefly-class satellites to engage their targets. Launch keys were turned in the Strategic Defense Command, leading to the eighteen satellites firing their full complements of weaponry at their targets in Nitom. One hundred and eighty re-entry vehicles sped toward the ground, aimed at roughly one hundred of the highest-priority targets in the Nitomians' logistics chain that the Defense Intelligence Agency could identify.

The presence of some type of Nitomian manned space fighter was also detected courtesy of the extensive space-based infrared, RADAR and LIDAR detection capabilities maintained by the Salzland Defense Forces. Once the fighters reached Low Earth Orbit, they were promptly targeted by whatever weapons systems were in range, and were engaged. Everything from Brilliant Pebbles to AMRAAM and Standard 3 missiles to chemical and solid-state lasers were fired at the aircraft, in an attempt to shoot down what were in all probability multi-billion dollar vehicles. Each loss would likely be keenly felt by the Nitomian military.

It was long past time that the Nitomians learned that, as far as they were concerned, the Salzland flag was firmly planted in space and would require far more to dislodge than the Nitomian military had displayed thus far.

******************

Outskirts of Kensington, Reformed Britannia
3rd Company, 1st Brigade
57th Infantry Division

The men of the 3rd Company, 57th Division had become used to the roar of jet engines over the past few days. In addition to military and civilian aircraft belonging to the Britannians, the aerial armada from Salzland had continued to ferry men, equipment and supplies from the Armed Republic to continue bolstering the Salzlander ground contingent. The Salzland Air Force had also begun to make its presence known, flying joint Combat Air Patrols as pilots and aircraft arrived in Britannia, received some crew rest and basic maintenance respectively, and returned to the skies.

For the time being, the men of the 57th were being stationed around Kensington, in facilities provided by the Britannian military. For many of the men, who were expecting to disembark under fire and be driven to the front lines, where their only comforts would be their fox holes and rifle pits, the comforts provided to them came as a shock. Of course, there was also a practical consideration at work. As a transportation hub, Kensington had the capacity to ferry the Salzland forces to wherever they were needed in a much faster and more orderly manner than would be possible if they were left to dig in at some wooded position in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, the availability of creature comforts did not mean that the men and women of the 57th would allow themselves to become lax in their duties. The near-certainty of invasion loomed over their heads, leading to near-constant PT and drilling. Several rifle ranges had been commandeered outright, since enough ammunition had now been stockpiled in Britannia to allow the Marines the opportunity to once again expend at least some munitions in training.

Some units had also been provided the opportunity to begin cross-training with Britannian small arms. Unlike the Marines' own weapons, ammunition for these small arms was plentiful, and it was entirely possible that an ammunition shortage in the field could cause these Marines to rely on their own proficiency with Britannian equipment. Plus, it provided the Marines with further opportunities to fire weapons and in general blow stuff up.

Overall, morale was high among the Salzland forces in Britannia. The airlifts were continuing, bringing more men and equipment into the country each hour. They had warm, secure facilities to live in and train at, and they had access to weapons, plentiful ammunition (at least for the units cross-training on Britannian weaponry), and hot chow. While the situation was unlikely to last, for the time being life was pretty good for the men and women of the 57th.

How long that sense of contentment would last was anybody's guess.

******************

Task Force Britannia
En Route to Reformed Britannia

By this point, the naval armada en route to Reformed Britannia easily numbered well over three thousand five hundred vessels, including support, logistics and transport ships. The formation was stretched across over ten thousand square miles of ocean, with RADAR and SONAR coverage extending far beyond that courtesy of the Task Force's submarines, AWACS, Combat Air Patrols and sub-hunters. Not to mention orbital surveillance of the surrounding seas, constantly on the hunt for any hostile naval or aerial formations.

When it arrived in Azhukali waters, the Task Force would be bringing with it enough firepower to destroy many nations outright. All of it would be directed at first delaying, then driving back any attempted Nitomian invasion of Reformed Britannia. That firepower would also be directed to ensure that the 600,000 Marines and the tens of thousands of vehicles in the formation would safely arrive in Reformed Britannia, ready to bolster the defenses.

Stealth was not an option for a formation of this size. From space, its wake would be larger than any hurricane that had ever formed. It would take an act of unparalleled incompetence for the formation's transit to Reformed Britannia to remain undetected for the entire duration. Knowing this, and anticipating at least some attempt to stop the formation, from the moment the ships had left Novan waters they had been operating at a hightened state of alert. While, eventually, operating in this manner would cause a higher rate of crew fatigue, arriving safely in Britannia was judged to be well worth the risk.

The only questions that remained were when, and how the formation would be attacked. Each mile closer to Britannia that the formation travelled meant it was just a little safer than it had been, as each mile brought it further from any Nitomian long-range strike capabilities and closer to friendly forces in Azhukali. If the enemy was going to attack, from a purely logistical standpoint it had to do so sooner rather than later.

[Nitom]

Room 357
3:47 P.M.
Rumek, Nitom

"Sir, we must focus on taking on Salzland. They are a major threat to our air and orbital power." Kegan said to Ethan as he placed the planes for Flight 9-15. "If we use Flight 9-15 we could put them out of the game." Kegan continued as he sat down. "Very well, you have permission to procede with Flight 9-15." Ethan said looking at the plans. Flight 9-15 would be put into motion and would strike into the heart lands of Salzland.

Flight 9-15
9:34 P.M.
Orbit Over Salzland

Thirty orbital MK-5 Killers moved in orbit above Salzland. They then began to free fall down to low orbit. After five more minutes the Nitomian planes began to drop down into attack formation. The goal was to attack Salzland's ability to launch missle attacks against Nitom or it's military. If they completed their mission it would mean Nitom would be one step closer to victory. The planes then hid in the clouds above Salzland. Soon all of the p;lanes bay doors opened and three cruise missles came shooting out of each of the planes. If the targets were hit it would mean Nitom would be the only one with a large enough missle capability to win the war with the MAD theory but without being destroied.

Operation Black-Water
5:17 P.M.
Nitomian-Gibet

Operation Black-Water was soon being put into effect. All trade coming from the sea would be stopped and captured and the air space along the bourder would be patroled continueisly. 10 Million troops were still in Nitomian-Gibet waiting for orders to strike. The orders wouldn't come without proof that Gibet was conspiring with Britannia. If the invasion began it would be a shock & awe operation. If it was a defencive war Nitom would use their HFLMS's to bombard the enemy military as they came into range.

Combat-5
6:59 P.M.
Skies over Britannia

Soon a message was heard over the radio. "Fire base!" A pilot said as he turned his plane to the Britannian factories. "Take your shots." Was the last thing he would say before he launched all his misssles and fired his machine gun. If it came down to it the pilots would rather run into the enemy factories and military bases raqther than be shot down. As the other pilots saw the lead pilot they did the same. The planes shot all their missles and began a machine gun attack on the factories and military bases in the area.

[Salzland]

SBIRS-High Satellite 14
Geosynchronous Orbit
Over the Alliance of Grand Powers

The thermal bloom caused by numerous orbital boosters firing triggered the software of the Space-Based Infrared System satellite maintained over the Alliance of Grand Powers, along with several other bordering regions, by the Strategic Defense Command. Within seconds of their launch, the Nitomian space planes were being tracked by the SBIRS satellite, side-scanning radar satellites over international waters, and they were being painted by a Sentinel satellite's LIDAR. As the assault upon the Nitomians' satellite network continued, the space planes were still being tracked tracked as their orbital path firmed up into a ballistic trajectory toward the Salzland mainland.

Once their flight plan was confirmed, the wrath of God fell upon them.

As the Strategic Defense Command was not willing to take any chances handling the space planes on its own, the Oceanic Defense Coalition's ODESTAR aerospace defense command had been alerted to the threat, along with the Nova regional aerospace defense network. While Novan assistance was unlikely to be provided unless there was a confirmed threat to the region, the ODESTAR network had no such limitations, and in fact had been built for precisely such a situation. Salzland companies had developed and built many of the detection, tracking and interception platforms used by ODESTAR, and today those ODESTAR platforms would be used in anger for the first time.

Everything from the two-megawatt solid state lasers on Sentinel-class satellites, to OTIS-based AMRAAM missiles, to ship-based Standard 3 missiles, to Brilliant Pebbles, to one-megawatt chemical lasers were fired at the Nitomian space planes before they had even reached Novan aerospace. In total, a half-dozen Sentinel satellites, two Boeing YAL-1 chemical laser platforms, three dozen Brilliant Pebbles and over five hundred missiles of varying types had fired at the Nitomian space planes before they could even enter Nova. Once they crossed into Nova itself, the firepower arrayed against the Nitomians would increase exponentially until the planes were destroyed, in all likelihood far short of their objectives.

However, the massed space plane assault had already succeeded on one account. It got the attention of the Salzland government.

****************

Executive One
Over Rostgard, Salzland

As the first space planes were detected launching from Nitom, the capital city had immediately swung into 'continuity of government' mode. Key members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches were being airlifted out of the city, to special facilities designed to survive what everyone thought was the beginning of a full-on nuclear exchange. While the launches had turned out to only be a large flight of space planes, the threat remained real enough.

It was that thought which led to the President and several members of his cabinet to be placed on board Executive One, the President's personal passenger jet, and flown out of the city as fast as possible. Evacuation orders were being issued for the citizens of most major cities, in anticipation of an actual nuclear strike. Most of the evacuations were proceeding in an orderly fashion, with no one wanting to be stuck in a city that could be wiped out at any moment. There were, of course, the inevitable civil problems that one would expect to encounter in such a mass exodus.

"This can't continue," Defense Minister Ian Williams said. Minister Williams, like many other government officials, had been placed at a separate facility outside Rostgard in order to prevent one lucky (or unlucky, depending on the perspective) strike from decapitating the entire Salzland government. "We've thrown everything we have at the Nitomians, and it's been entirely ineffective. They are continuing to attack the Britannians with impunity, flying right through top-tier air defense networks like they're not even there. We only have one option left on the table. We need to launch a nuclear first strike, before they kill us all."

"But if we push the button, then billions of our own people, and our allies' people, will suffer," shot back Foreign Relations Minister Johnathon Marcus Davis. "We cannot afford a nuclear exchange, because we will not be able to stop everything. Someone will end up paying for our decision to nuke the Nitomians."

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid that the decision is about to be taken out of our hands. There hasn't been enough time for panic to set in among our people, but it will soon. The Nitomians keep throwing multi-billion dollar space planes around like they're going out of style, and at the rate we're going we're going to run out of ammunition before they run out of space planes. God only knows how that's possible, but that's the situation we have to deal with. Once our orbital defenses begin to feel the pinch, they will nuke us, plain and simple," President Phillips said.

He paused, before continuing, "I want all Commands placed on DEFCON 1. Everyone. Tarquinia, Gathustria, Iceland, the Marshalls, every facility that we maintain on this planet, and every asset that we have in space. If we have any boomers left in port," he said, meaning the Fleet's numerous Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, "Get them out to sea now, along with the rest of the Fleet. Scatter our SAC bombers and as many land-based aircraft as we can spare to ODECON bases in Etoile Arcture and Kirav, along with as many Marines as we can manage. Get the Katonazag government on the phone, and see if they'll open their borders to accept refugees."

"Are we really considering a first-strike?" Asked Minister Davis, with a frown.

"No," President Phillips replied. "Not yet. But we cannot afford to delude ourselves any longer into thinking that conventional forces are going to win this war. God only knows what weaponry those space planes were carrying. Based on what we know of their size and capabilities, about the only thing they could've been armed with that would have made a difference were nuclear weapons. If we confirm that they were armed with nukes, then I have no choice. If I have to choose between them and us, I will wipe those sorry bastards out in a heartbeat."

"We have crews on stand-by to recover any wreckage from the space planes, and any radioactive isotopes among the wreckage will stick out like a sore thumb to our satellites," Minister Williams added.

"Not good enough. I want one of them taken intact. The Sentinels ought to be able to disable one, without destroying it outright. We shouldn't have any problem intercepting one with a shuttle then, and capturing it. I want to be able to go on television and show the world that these lunatics launched a nuclear attack against us, for all intents and purposes, and then show them live video of the Nitomians' damn bombs in our custody, along with the space plane."

"I'll make it happen immediately, Mr. President," Minister Williams said, before cutting off the video feed to carry out his orders.

"In the mean time," the President muttered, "God help us all."

******************

Rostgard Aerospace Center
Rostgard, Salzland

The night sky lit up as an ear-splitting roar announced the lift-off of a space shuttle from the Rostgard Aerospace Center. While typical shuttle launches were conducted for more-benign purposes, this would mark the first time that a Salzland space shuttle had been used in combat. The crew reflected this situation.

In addition to the pilot and mission commander, a half-dozen specially-trained Marines had been added to the crew of the shuttle. Their mission, in addition to performing the normal functions of a space shuttle crew, was to intercept a disabled enemy space plane and ensure its successful capture. If the plane they captured had a pilot who was still alive, the shuttle had been equipped with a special bubble made out of a heavy composite material, which would allow a temporary breathable atmosphere to be erected over the plane's cockpit until the pilot was successfully detained, restrained and transported to the shuttle, where he would remain under armed guard for the duration of the flight.

Once the pilot was removed, the weapons bay would be pried open and the contents videotaped and disarmed. Other crew members would perform quick technical examinations of the plane, searching for any valuable components that could be salvaged. An explosive charge would then be attached to the hull of the space plane, destroying it and pushing the debris into a deteriorating orbit where the remnants of the plane would safely burn up on re-entry.

Based on current tracks, any disabled space planes would likely be intercepted just off the coast of Katonazag, or over the interior seas of Central Nova. The mission was expected to be a cakewalk, presuming that any of the Nitomian space planes had actually been disabled, rather than destroyed outright. Only time would tell.

[Gibet]

OOC: Nitom, if you want, your code-breakers or spies or something could pick-up this message as it's transferred across my own government's lines. It's a transmission regarding my nation's position.

IC:

Code: Select all

Attn. GHCC-K (Gibetan High-Command Center-Krakow)
Threat of Nitomian-agression believed immenant.
Nitomian blockade of shipping believed to be occurring.
No contact with Convoy-LS153 (Supply convoy going to Britannia)
Recommend full-scale alert.
Repeat: Threat of war with Nitom imminent.
No longer capable of peace negotiations.
Nuclear Exchange plausible.
Recommend Ascension One-One-Six.

The transmission, from the Abwehr (Army Intellegence), had been recieved with mixed feelings. Many of th Gibetan High-Command wane to flat-out engage Nitomian ships blocking the routes taken by shipping--both in and out of Gibet. Others felt they should await a Nitomian Strike. This was put-down because, as everyone knew perfectly well, Nitomian Fist-Strikes usually involved some type of missile which was never good.

Fuhrer Sturmgiest, however, had the last say on the matter.

"We will launch Ascension One-One-Six. Gentlmen, send the orders out to all available troops. The strike will begin in twelve hours. All our carefull planning--all the troops moved carefully to the border--it all pays off now. May God have mercy on any enemy of Gibet."

[Katonazag]

St. Istvan, HCSK
Strategic Command Center, deep beneath the War Department

Even after several months' respite, General Lajos was not eager to go back down into the command center where he hadn't seen the light of day for weeks and months on end. He had been summoned by the Operations Center at Száraz AFB, with a most ominous notification of strategic orbital activity over Nova.

"Oh God, not again..." he said. For the second time in as many years, the government of the HCSK was going to have to issue a warning for the population to take cover, and the government to take all measures to ensure continuity. He entered the code and sent the command through BMS, knocking over the first domino.



Száraz AFB, HCSK
SATCOM Operations Center

Colonel Ćakovec was ready, knowing well what General Lajos was going to order. He had already made preparations in the Operations Center to use part of the strategic defense systems to shoot down the orbital vehicles launched at the neighboring nation of Salzland.

Back in the 1970's, the HCSK and Salzland had a brief cold war when the HCSK gained and began enriching and weaponizing the uranium it found in great deposits. It didn't take many years before it was determined that the collateral damage that would be caused to the launching nation by their own weapons was too great for either nation to credibly threaten the other. It would have been akin to two men dueling with hand grenades at three paces. It was this precise geographic factor that made a response to this new situation so critical.

SATCOM's primary anti-ballistic missile system consisted of the Carrion satellites, of which even the previous model had performed well during the Blackhelm War. There were still seven of the older ones in service, which were designed mainly to destroy the classified components on domestic satellites before allowing them to de-orbit. The new ones were war machines; more power storage, self-defensive weapons against ASAT so that it's primary weapon wouldn't be needed to defend itself so often, and painted a radar-absorbent matte black to help reduce visibility and signature.

The microwave beam primary weapon wasn't something that would be effective deep inside the earth's atmosphere. But in space and on the edges, there was little to no air to attenuate the intensity. Operating in teams of three, five teams opened fire on the space vehicles as they began their descent, just as they were designed to for a ballistic missile. The microwave radiation would cause metallic surfaces to begin electrical arcing, which meant that the energy-sensitive communications and external guidance sources would be the first systems on the target to go. The longer they were exposed, the more systems would fail. And without external guidance and telemetry, the pilots would have to re-enter manually - something nearly impossible to do without outside assistance. Those who came in too steep would burn up. Those who came in too shallow would bounce off the atmosphere and off into space, possibly lost forever.

[OOC: Yes, the borders are open to refugees, per standard policy.]

[Etoile Arcture]

Southern Sea of Mephras
Nova

The incursion into Novan airspace by the Nitomian spaceplanes triggered a cascade of alerts generated from numerous early warning and surveillance assets stationed across the region. A kill chain was instantly established between ground based radar tracking stations handing over to long-range search and track radars on a quartet of Kali class air defence cruisers. The vessels were part of a task force in the Sea of Mephras, roughly 200 kilometres off the Katonazag coast.

No human input was required or desired, with operators monitoring from their consoles in each CIC as the AEGIS suites executed their tasks. Switching high power descriminators atop the enclosed masts of each vessel on to the targets, using the Keplerian orbital elements returned to compute the interceptions, programming in GPS/INS data sets into Block 2 SM-3 missiles in the VLS magazines, and remote launching at the spaceplanes. The interception would occur at the hottest phase of re-entry as the spaceplanes streaked an ionised trail while bleeding speed in a thickening atmosphere as they descended over Nova.

---

OOC: More to come. Borders and bases are open to Salzlander military and civilians.

[Nitom]

Orbit over Salzland, Nova

"Attack 9-5-1." A pilot said as he turned left. The planes soon split into groups of two. One air craft would be in the fropnt a few meters ahead of the second plane that would follow behind. "Engage targets." The Pilot said as he released his missle. Soon several more missles were launched. The battle would signal the race for the worlds powers to rule space.

Rumek, Nitom

"Sir, we must use our full space and orbit powers to win this." Kegan said as he looked at Ethan. "Alright, how many air craft do you need up in the air?" Ethan asked as he took a sip of his vodka. "I need the full force of the Nitomian military at my disposal." Kegan said looking around. "Very well, you have permission to use what ever you want." Ethan said as he sat back in his chair. "Thank you." Kegan said as he walked out.

Ellis Island, Nitom

Upon recieving the orders to launch all the space craft the commander of Nitoms main air force base ordered a full launch. Soon several space craft were launching and more were getting onto the run-way. If all of the space craft launched, Nitom would be attacking a well defended nation in a powerful region.

Nitomian-Gibet

More and more troops continue to pour in as they set up a sieres of defencive networks along the border. Meanwhile, the navy continued to sail between Nitom and Nitomian-Gibet. Air craft continued to do their patrols and the population of Nitomian-Gibet continued to make war supplies for Nitom. The population was kept under strict control but were treated with respect and were feed well. The main job for Nitomian-Gibets was in the factories making war supplies or in the fields farming or ranching. Nitom needed Nitomian-Gibet for a industrial and food supplies base. The oil from Northern Nitomian-Gibet near Correllia fueled the Nitomian war-machine as it went on its way to get revenge on Britannia. Nitomian-Gibet was turning into a fortress just like Nitom.

Rumek, Nitom

"Sir, we have part of a message gotten from Gibetian officials. It says Attn. Gibetan High-Command Center-Krakow, full-scale alert, Recommend Ascension One-One-Six." A officer sazid as he ran into a office. "Is that all?" A man said sitting at a desk. "Thats all we got, but there is more that we didn't manage to get in time." The officer said catching his breath. "I will notify Ethan and Kegan of this right away." The man said as he picked up the phone. After several minutes he put down the phone. "Alright, they know about the situation and are moving troops and reading Nitomian-Gibet accordingly." The man said as he went back to work on his computer. The office then left and went back to work to look for more information.

[Katonazag]

[OOC:

Orbit over Salzland, Nova

"Attack 9-5-1." A pilot said as he turned left. The planes soon split into groups of two. One air craft would be in the fropnt a few meters ahead of the second plane that would follow behind. "Engage targets." The Pilot said as he released his missle. Soon several more missles were launched. The battle would signal the race for the worlds powers to rule space.

Am I to interpret this as an ignore in response to my post? Choose the wording of your answer carefully.]

[Etoile Arcture]

OOC: @ Nitom, three nations have engaged your spaceplanes with various weapons BEFORE they reached Salzland. As Kat said, consider your reply carefully.

[Nitom]

ooc: Sorry I didnt see your post. Also, I wont be able to post much since I am deraling with RL problems, but I will try and get a post in asap.

[Salzland]

OOC: That's fine, whenever you're ready we'll wrap this up

[Alexiandra]

OOC: That's fine, whenever you're ready we'll wrap this up

Alexiandra will be more than happy to host peace negotiations, as offered earlier.

[Obamacain]

OOC: I was trying to wait until the RP had gone on for long enough in its time that my fleet would reasonably have arrived but a peace conference would be interesting as well

[Reformed Britannia]

OFFICIAL COMMONWEALTH COMMUNIQUE


The Britannian government would be willing to negotiate an end to the war with Nitom, should the government of that nation be willing as well. If such a meeting were to take place, however, we feel that it would be best if it occurred on our own soil-perhaps the overseas base in Tel-el-Kebir, Gathustria.

Sincerely,
The Britannian Government

[Nitom]

ooc: We agree to having a meeting, but not on Britannian soil.