Prologue to a new Era (MT)

by **Esternial** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:12 am

And so it has begun...

The Imperial Council

3 hours ago

Dozens of booming voices echoed throughout the council assembly hall, reinforced and scattered by the curved ceiling into a clamour of a thousand bitter men. Each word was accompanied by profanity and insults, accusations and threats. With one sweep the council's plan had been beheaded and hung out for the entire nation to see and judge, which was far from what they had intended. Whomever the man was that revealed their intentions, once obscured by a veil of lies and deceit, the council was determined to make him pay and drag his lifeless body down the stairs of the Imperial court to once again stuff their lies and false accusations towards a dead man down the ears of the ignorant populace that walked upon the soil which they named Esternial.

"The Emperor will have each of us investigated and sentenced before the end of the month!"
"I agree! We must assume our rightful place and throw that charlatan family off the throne!"
"No! We aren't ready yet!"

The voices became louder and some senators even began to yell to send their voice across the room, a tsunami of incomprehensible words flowing around them as it ravaged throughout the hall until it all flowed into one mass of chaos.

"Silence!" A voice called out above all others, strengthened by a small device in the hand of and old, white-haired man. His face was filled with frustration and years of stress hadn't done his body much good, his muscles weakened by the bitter tear of time which drew more and more energy from his body as days passes by unnoticed. Even though the man hardly had any imposing or otherwise threatening appearance, the hall suddenly fell into a deep silence as if struck by a spell, their attention fixed on the man as he took a moment to take a breath before he slowly opened his mouth and began to add his two cents to the "debate" - which was hardly an appropriate term in this case.

"The Emperor must realize his days as ruler are numbered. If we act fast, we may end this without any bloodshed on either side."

The Imperial Palace

2 hours ago

Approaching the entrance of the magnificent palace, the senators and their men are met with a small group of guards, their weapons raised in front of them as their fingers hover above the trigger. The band of senators back away, yet one stands still amongst the fearful crowd, the same man that spoke to them not so long ago. Watch by the riddled eyes of his peers and those of the guards, he slowly opens his mouth as words start to flow out.

"I do not wish to see any of you die here today. Surrender and we shall let you live another day. We merely wish to bring power to the people, that is all"

With these words, the man had sown doubt within the minds of the guards, slowly shedding of their loyalty. Venomous snakes each shedding off their skin and discarding it like old garbage. Lowering their weapons, the guards join the ranks of the senators and follow them inside, heading straight for the Emperor's office until they stand face to face with none other than the Emperor himself, accompanied by the Magisters. Their imposing figures strike fear within the spineless bodies of all but one senator, the same old man that convinced everyone to stand by his side and betray their Empire without a single doubt.

"So, it has come to this, Ortheus?" The Emperor spoke, his voice amplified by the massive ceiling above.
"I besiege you to surrender your power, Maximilian. For too long have you allowed our Empire to wither. We need war, and we have all seen that your peaceful methods will only lead us to utter destruction"
"War will lead Esternial to destruction! Are you so ignorant that you cannot see the truth?!"

Ortheus sighed, his serious and pained face suddenly plastered with a smile. Reaching in his pocket, he revealed a gun which he toyed in his hands before aligning the barrel with the Emperor's chest. Maximilian, realizing the senator's intention, reached for his own yet he was too late: Zargabaath, one of his Magisters, had already draw his own weapon and fired a shot straight for the senator, hitting him straight in the chest before he collapsed on the floor like a lifeless doll. His eyes raised towards the ceiling, Ortheus whispers his last few words, made audible by merit of the acoustics of the entrance hall.

"And so it has begun..."

This is an emergency broadcast by the Esternial News Network. The group of rogue senators calling themselves 'The Resistance' have only recently declared war on the Imperial family after a failed attempt to assassinate the Emperor. Across the nation, members of the Resistance have begun to spread destruction and chaos, demanding that the Emperor step down from his position at the throne and sentenced to death. Information from an unknown source reveals that the Imperial Council is at the heart of this organisation and have been planning this attempt at a coup for several years, effectively outnumbering the forces that still remain loyal to the Emperor. Communication to the outside world has been virtually severed with the exception of this particular news station, but we fear that resistance members are attempting to take control of this station as well. Further information on the Emperor is unknown and we d-Apologies, we are currently having several technical difficulties.

by **Arcayna** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:29 am

Somewhere in a dark office a young man writes:

I have been here 5 days now in Esternia. The situation is becoming violent there are rumors that somebody was assassinated last night, near the Imperial Palace! I knew when i came here that some sort of revolution was on the way but this? this is insanity? I hope though that these rumors are in-fact just rumors.

I need to try and get back to Arcayna but security is so tight at the moment and what if there was an assassination? surely a foreigner like me would never be allowed to leave the country so soon. God im getting so scared darling when i got here i was bought into a similar room for questioning. Where they looking for someone? News here is so hard to get people dont trust me because im an outsider. Now i have been brought back to a dark room. Whoever bought me here said write a letter to your loved ones and to tell them when they are ready.

What in gods name have i gotten myself into, maybe i should not have taken this job on. I think my cover has blown......

Becarefull my love,

Cyrus

by **Caturdays** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:16 am

"Your Majesty. One of the Cyber Crime analysts found a video feed from Esternial News Network. Apparently a number of government officials have staged a coup and are attempting to overthrow the emperor. From what we can tell from the history of the nation is that the current leader has been rather passive." said one rather short assistant who carried a Raspberry with him(Caturdayan equivalent of a Blackberry).

Nodding the king motioned for the assistant to follow him. While they walked he told the assistant to get Defense Head Adviser Starosky, Director of the CNIA, and the commanding officer for LAIR to his meeting room. With a few clicks on the blackberry an email was sent to each person and a carbon copy sent to the King's personal email. The king suddenly stopped and turned to the assistant before saying "This is a covert military strike to rescue the emperor or his heir and get them to safety. If this is leaked to the press a lot of our boys and girls will die so don't let that happen. Also send an email to Esternial News Network. Make it say 'We hear your cause and are sympathetic to the emperor and his family.' Now dismissed." The assistant nodded and went back to his desk outside the King's office.

Walking into the dim room, the King grabbed the remote from the desk and clicked the play button. A copy of the news report from Esternia was played so that everyone in the room could see. The king let the video run its course before saying "I want 20 LAIR troops ready to be deployed by five o'clock today. I want 15 CNIA Black agents ready to go with the LAIR troops. This is a covert military mission and their directive will be to get to the Emperor or the next one in line to rule the country. They are to extract them safely out of the country if they wish. If they cannot be forced to leave they are to radio in via SatCom and inform us. We will then begin drawing up invasion plans. I want these men to be dressed in No ID clothing. That means no dog tags, no identification of any kind, and no weapons that can be traced back to us. That means no serial numbers or makers marks. I will have a C-130 on the tarmac ready to go and a couple black hawks ready for the extraction. Gentleman dismissed. Director Ford I would like you to stay for a bit." Everyone but Director Ford of the CNIA stood up and left but not before they saluted the king. After King Vincent made sure that they were out of ear shot he said "I want to keep five of the CNIA agents over there to monitor the situation. They are to blend in with the native populace as best as they can. If they find that they have been compromised they are to escape the country any means necessary and attempt to get to a friendly country. That is all director you may leave."

As the meeting between the directors and the king wrapped up the assistant had just finished up the message. The assistant quickly hit send and exited out of browser as his fiance came up behind him and put her arms around him. The assistant logged off the computer before he stood up and walked towards the restaurant in the Palace with his pretty fiance.

We are sympathetic to the Emperor's cause. Do not be alarmed if someone comes to your radio station and asks to see a white angel.
Signed,
The Black Angels

by **Esternial** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:57 am

The Imperial Palace had been all but left untouched by the crisis that now troubled the mind of every citizen in the Empire, the entrance hall transformed into a massive HQ where nearly a hundred men sat contacting forces stationed to fight back the Resistance's forces and attempting to regroup their forces to minimize losses in this chaos of orders and gunfire.

The northerns regions fell like dominoes to the Resitance, cities falling one by one as the forces that had defected and shed off loyalty to the Emperor pressed on south, towards the capital city where the Imperial Palace stood, a last bastion of hope.

"Sir! All but the Alpha and Beta Corps remain loyal to the Empire, as well as the IMC. We've also lost the Seventh and Sixth Air Force, but we can still maintain air superiority"

Maximilian nodded, taking deep breath and sitting down on the nearest chair he could find. He was no longer donned in his imposing, royal garments but in a full pilot's uniform. A few officers gazed at their Emperor in disbelief, hoping that he would not decided to actively take part in combat and risk his own life. They only spent a moment wondering, as their duties once again called for their undivided attention, filtering out the chatter that was going on nearby directed to microphones and focusing themselves on their tasks, determined to do their part.

"How about our ICBM installations? Have they remained untouched?"
"Well, we've heard reports of Fort Dawnes being captured by the Resistance, but...they detonated the ICBM's before they could take over the base. Fort Dawnes is gone, sir"

His face became filled with anger and frustration, slamming his fist on the arm of his chair as he got up. While his composure was otherwise so calm and controlled, the news of the loss of so many human lives has infuriated him and even though not a single word escaped his mouth, everyone knew how he was feeling. Never had he dreamt that the Imperial Council would scheme against him and his family, who had fixed the mess they made so many years ago, when they had proven to be too corrupt to rule the nation unchecked. Now they sought to reinstate that corruption and lay waste to Esternial for their own purposes, something Maximilian was not about to go unpunished.

Current balance of power:
The Resistance: 75%
The Empire: 25%

by **Marcheria** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:39 am

Presidential Palace, Millennia, The Unites Socialist States of Marcheria, 0900
Premier Alben listened to the sound clip presented to him by his DI, General Hoffman. Upon hearing the words "and sentence him to death", Alben smiled slightly. With this was the perfect chance to show the world that Marcheria meant business when it came to spreading Socialism. He swiveled his chair to face Hoffman.

"Rick, this is perfect. Time to show the world once and for all that we are a true power in it. Ready ECRRT 5 for a Military Advisory Campaign."

Hoffman grinned. He had been thinking the exact same thing. "Yes sir. I'll handle the deployment orders, and they can be on a Short Bus by 1900."

"Good. Now let the Doublestar shine."

Shemya Air Force Base, Gorky, The USSM, 0927
The orders came just after 0926. Within a minute, the entire Emergency Combat Rapid Response team was assembled in the briefing room. They had been on hot-pad alert for days on account of the unfolding Virginian Crisis, and they were eager for an op. The overall head of the ECRRTs, Lieutenant General Beregovoy, came up onto the stage. He spoke through a throat mike.
"Men, we have a job for you. Approximately two hours ago, a failed assassination was made on the corrupt, imperialist emperor of Esternial. The brave senators, who thought in the best of the people, have fled to hidden outposts across the country. We, the best in Marcheria, have been designated to go help them out. We are going in to advise the resistance, act as an envoy for the Premier and, best of all, be the commanders' personal shotgun for covert strikes against Loyalists. We're going to try and find the Resistance Command Center using something new that I've been thinking about for quite some time. You'll see when your transport gets over Esternial. Now, the bus leaves a 1900 hours. You have until then to prepare. Men, this a big moment in Marcherian history. This is where we show what we can do. The Doublestar shines brightly today, boys. Now what are we gonna do?"

The troopers answered with a thunderous yell, that penetrated the soundproof walls of the briefing room, "TAKE OUT THE BAD GUYS! HEY-AAA!!!!!

1855 hours
It was all set and done. The MC-1 Short Bus was on the tarmac, idling its four Stealth turbojet engines. The 25-man ECRRT boarded the plane with all their gear. The massive kit included reproduced, tailored Esternial-styled clothing and uniforms, Marcherian weapons, explosives, radios, and miscellaneous other things. The soldiers saluted once more as they boarded the plane, and at 1900 hours, it rotated off the tarmac.

Four hours later, after topping off its tanks once, the Short Bus stealth spec ops transport arrived in Esternial airspace, searching for the rebel base. Now, Beregovoy's plan was activated. Marcherian intelligence had gathered the names and cell phone numbers of many of the known resistance members, so to find them, Beregovoy had the aircraft's ECM/ECCM suite send out this mass text message to all the numbers:

Code: Select all: ATTN ALL RESISTANCE MEMBERS- USSM TRANSPORT FOXTROT-BRAVO 7 HAS ASSISTANCE & MESSAGE FOR YOU COURTESY OF THE UNITED SOCIALIST STATES OF MARCHERIA- SIGNAL WHERE YOU WANT PARADROP @ 9838485722 TY

From the ECCM console, Beregovoy leaned back and waited for a reply.

by **Caturdays** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:35 am

5:05 pm

Arriving on the tarmac were twenty LAIR soldiers dressed in solid black without name tags, evidence of a rank, or a flag of nationality on their uniforms. Seventeen were carrying fully automatic assault rifles chambered in 7.62x54mm rounds. Two were carrying L96 Arctic Warfare Magnum chambered in the .338 Lapua Magnum and wearing Ghillie suits. The last man was carrying the M107 fifty caliber Anti Material Sniper Rifle. These soldiers were supposedly some of the best that Caturdays had to offer. On the other side of the Tarmac were fifteen CNIA agents dressed similarly to the LAIR soldiers and they all were using assault rifles chambered in 5.56x45mm rounds. Three of the rifles were fitted with variable powered scopes to provide long range marksmanship for when they got on the ground. They were all given tactical equipment and given five clips of thirty rounds each excluding the one clip inside the gun. All the guns, even their sidearms, where using suppressors. Five minutes after the meeting with each other the C-130 was fueled and ready to go. As they were boarding seven V-22 Osprey flew overhead. flew over them and disappeared in the sun. As soon as the gate was up on the back of C-130, the engines roared to life. Each man said a quiet prayer before the plane took off.

11:00 pm

The green light flashed on and each man jumped out of the rear of the plane. These men were seasoned veterans and were accustomed to High Altitude High Opening jumps. They each counted down 15 seconds before they pulled their parachutes. They were gonna land outside the capital city but near enough that they can find a vehicle to take. Their black clothes and black parachutes assisted in them remain undetected during the jump. Once they landed their military training took over and they quickly gathered their parachutes and stuffed them back in their bags. The experience of the men helped them with the jump as only one man was injured. He had sprained his ankle from the impact but he was able to keep going. They had landed in a field about a mile outside the city and they took a moment to get their bearings before they made their way towards the city. It would take them a time to get to the city and a little longer to get to the palace but they had faith in their commander, Lt. John Johnson.

by **Arcayna** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:15 am

Inside The Chairmans office at Arycana:

there is a full scale civil war going on now over there and we have ambassadors over there. I want to know how fast we can get our military ready and how fast we can deploy.

A dimly lit person stepped forward:

Sir, I will brief the military generals and begin an immediate deployment.

The Chairman leaned forward with a bewildered look on his face:

Im sorry Reznia when did i give the order to deploy the military? I am not risking a full international incident here! I want to speak with the emperor ask him does he want our help

by **Blademasters765** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:34 am

Many Hours Ago

Noah was in his study talking his wife Felicia when a general walked in and handed him a message, the message falls out of his hand and he turns pale, Felicia concerned picks it up and reads it, she then turns to the General

"Mobilize the 3rd, 4th and 5th legions and have them on aircraft ready to go to Esternial" She ordered him

"As you wish my Queen" The General bowed and began to make arrangements, Felicia turned around and comforted her husband

Present Time

A single aircraft flew over Esternial, A recon plane, with stealth. It moved through the air documenting anything in its way, its objective was the imperial Palace

It took a little while but as the aircraft got in radio range, the controllers hundreds of miles away opened a radio channel

"Attention, This is Centurion Howe of the 3rd Bladian Legion, do you copy"

by **Esternial** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:55 am

Lyra
Capital of the Republic

"Orthus has not died in vain, my friends. His voice has spread far and wide throughout the world and there are bound to be those that support our cause"
"Sir, I have received word from The United Socialist States of Marcheria. They are benevolent to our cause and wish to support us"
"Socialists? Hah! Our aid comes from an unexpected ally indeed. Accept their help, we will lay waste to their cities once we claim the Empire for ourselves"

The audacity contained within the minds of the senators grew exponentially, assured their victory had been already secured with the overwhelming forces at their disposal, a sweet taste of victory that could very well go sour as this bloody war progresses. Focusing on numbers rather than tactics, the senators ordered every commanding officer of their grand Republican army to send in all their forces to cripple the Emperor's forces and disregard any form of tactic they had learnt through years of training other than a full, head-on assault, one they were told to use with caution.

"Caution", was a word that never did very well in the Council's dictionary...

Answering their newfound allies message, they sent them to co-ordinates of several bases that would plunge the Marcherian forces in the middle of battle, hardly considering any tactical advantages they had at their disposal.

Archadia
Capital of the Empire
"Attention, This is Centurion Howe of the 3rd Bladian Legion, do you copy"

The officer's hesitated, frozen in disbelief until Maximilian himself noticed the man's facial expression. Fearing the worst, he pushed the officer off his spot and took over.

"This is Emperor Maximilian Thermidor, I hear you loud and clear, Centurion. It is good to hear from Bladia. We have lost all contact with the outside world"

The nation was separated into two, forces tirelessly fighting for the upper hand. When the senators fed their commanders their new orders, demanding their obedience as if they were a pack of dogs, the Republican forces managed to push through using sheer numbers. However, using clever tactics rather than raw force, the Imperial troops managed to surround the invading forces by cutting them off, creating several Republican-controlled isles in the middle of Imperial territory. It just so happened that the co-ordinates sent to the Marcherian forces were those of these isles, sending them to battle with little hope of survival.

Current balance of power:
The Resistance: 79%
The Empire: 21%

by **Marcheria** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:48 pm

An MC-1 Short Bus
Beregovoy recived the message shortly after it was sent, and cried out for joy. He ran to the cockpit and fed the coordinates of an embattled village near the origination point of the signal. Within fifteen minutes, they were over the DZ. Beregovoy gave the commandos a "good luck" over the intercom, and the jumplight went green.

Major Frank Wallace, commander of ECRRT team 5, noticed the jumplight go gren. With a "HEY-AAAA" he jumped into the inky sky, the flashes of combat going off below him. Green acknowldgement lights went on as each commando exited the aircraft, and a blue one from the plane's crew to signal that the crates were off. Now, 25 elite commandos and over two tons of supplies were falling toward the ground. Wallace pinpointed a spot just east of the village, a field, and signaled the team to land there. At 10,000 feet Wallace's airfoil deployed, followed in quick succession by twenty- nine more. The team landed in the field without a hitch, and the supplies made it down alright.

Wallace left ten men to organize the supplies and create a defensible position, while he and the other ffteen shouldered their "Soprano" Commando rifles and "Tenor" LMGs and went into the town. They found rebel and loyalist troops engaged in a massive battle for the tiny village. Wallace had his men stealthily move to what looked like a rebel position and tapped the Esternial Leiutenant on the shoulder. "Excuse me! You guys the rebel forces?"

by **Blademasters765** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:32 pm

The centurion smiled and laughed

"We have three legions of men ready to assist you, the 4th legion is just coming over the coast in transport aircraft and needs somewhere to land, do you currently have an airport in your control?" the Centurion replies

Over the coast

The many planes carrying the men of the 4th legion moved over the coast, guarded by squadrons of fighter, they hoped there would be an airport to land at and they would be forced to bail out and parachute into the country

by **Esternial** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:21 pm

"About time you got here. I'm Lieutenant Richards, pleased to meet ya"

The Lieutenant briefly reached for one of the men's hands and shook it before looking around several times as he tried to summarize what was currently going on.

"We got hostile enemy artillery to the east laying down heavy ordinance on our position, as well as heavy fortifications to the south and north, preventing us to either retreat or push onwards to the capital. Our best chance would be pushing through to the west, but we have no intel on any enemy troops stationed there, for all we know we could be walking into a trap"

Gasping for air after explaining everything in one breath, the Lieutenant sat down on a rigid camping chair, placed next to a table that was covered with maps and equipment. Explosions constantly sounded around them, caused by the shells that were being fired from the east as a constant flow of wounded came into the camp.

"Reinforcements from the north are being held back as more enemy forces get sent here to keep us from going anywhere. Orders from HQ are to hold out as long as we can"

The Lieutenant's voice slowly died down as shells still thundered down nearby, men screaming orders through their microphones, hoping to hear a sign of life from their comrades.

As they Bladian forces approached the coast, they saw smoke rise up in the distance. There were no explosion, no sounds of war to be heard, as the bloodshed went on many miles further to the north, at the frontlines. The nations had been virtually split into two, both sides fighting for supremacy over the other...

by **Marcheria** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:36 pm

Wallace nodded. "All right. Tell your superiors that we arrived. I'm gonna take my men around the enemy's backs and take out the arty first. Then, once it stops, you do a pincers in and finish 'em off. Got it? Good." With that, Wallace left the tent. He rounded up the fifteen men and returned to the LUP. After formulating a quick strategy, they loaded up and set off for the artillery positions.
After sneaking around for a while, they reached the first of two batteries. After getting past the perimeter guards, the 25 men crept up to the guns. On Wallace's command, a trooper let loose with an RPW-38 fuel-air RPG. It sped into an ammo dunp near a Loyalist gun and released a cloud of yellowish vapor. After about a second of the vapor spreading, the tiny charge in the center detonated, creating a massive thermobaric explosion, sure to immolate the gun and ignite the ammo. All the ECRRT commandos opened up at once, rifle and LMG fire streaking out at Loyalists.

by **Esternial** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:49 pm

The Imperials were caught of guard, the explosion sending a cloud of smoke into the air. As they held their stance, the Imperial forces that survived the destruction of their ammo dump took cover immediately and did their best to hold up the unknown attackers, whom they presumed were resistance forces. One of the men, realizing they would never survive, grabbed a radio from his dead comrade and contacted headquarters, calling in for air support.

Immediately, several attack aircraft took off and head for the battlefield, where they began to lay down fire on the site as Imperial forces retreated before eventually dropping their payload of unguided bombs down towards the earth, heading straight for the Marcherian forces.

by **Marcheria** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 2:01 pm

Wallace heard the scream of jets and yelled, "COVER!" The men leapt into slit trenches and under vehicles. The bombs exploded around them, killing one man and wounding two more. Wallace, after getting a head count yelled, "SAMS! They might make another pass."
Four troopers removed Helios SAMs from their backs and pointed them at the likely attack vectors for the jets. Wallace himself ran to a self-propelled gun whose crew had been shot up and swiveled it to point at the other battery two klicks away. He fired, the shell causing a massive blast at the other battery. He then exited the vehicle and dropped in a grenade, rendering the gun useless. He turned to his men:"Alright, let's finish other emplacement and move into town!"

by **Esternial** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:01 am

Imperial forces fell back to regroup, preventing anyone from breaking through further to the east. With their artillery gone, the Imperial forces now sent air strikes to discourage enemy forces from continuing, hoping they would surrender and prevent any more bloodshed...

((OOC: Short post, sorry))

by **Marcheria** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:32 am

Wallace and his men had left the front to the rebels as they returned to the rebel position. The two wounded were placed in the medical tent, which was quite full but well-equipped with the supplies the ECRRT brought. The one dead man was placed in a body bag and placed onboard the single MH-26 StealthBird sent from a Marcherian submarine stationed off the coast. Wallace was talking to some rebel planners about their next mission when he heard the roar of enemy jets approaching. Wallace hit a button on his wrist computer that sent a short transmission to a group of 20 F-63E Super Firestreaks on station off the coast. Upon receipt of this command, the squadron commander broke radio silence, telling all his jets to follow as they streaked at the heavily loaded Loyalist ground attack jets, launching guided missiles at their targets....

Prologue to a new Era (MT)

Prologue to a new Era (MT)

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