Show of Force (MT, Semi-closed)

[Automagfreek]

The Nordic Cvil War had been a bloody affair, with untold scores of Christian scum being put to the sword. Automagfreek had undoubtedly helped turn the tide in favor of the Nordic peoples, and the resulting victory was one-sided and extremely brutal. In the fires of war a new friendship was forged, and in the weeks and months after the fighting had subsided, a union was formed between the Kingdoms and that of Aquitayne, and the Freekish Empire hailed this merger and offered forth its economic assistance in establishing the Aquitayne union as an up and coming power.

A small contingent of Freekish Sentinels, aircraft, and naval vessels were stationed in now formerly Nordic territory, to train the Nordic/Aquitayne army and provide advice and even assistance if necessary. With such assets in the theater, there was no doubt that the Freekish military was aware of the hostile actions taking place inside Aquitayne territorial waters.

Radar and imagery satellites which passed overhead were utilized to provide a picture of what exactly was going on, and almost immediately the garrison commander, a General by the name of Samael Vandenberg, contacted Aquitayne brass to not only report on their findings, but to fully assess the situation.

Though separated from Aquitayne, the Freekish forces inside Nordic territory would be able to respond within hours if their assistance was requested. Either way, the entire military contingent was put on the highest alert, and both air and sea patrols were doubled. Sentinels throughout the base began to assemble and prepare themselves for possible deployment, and as this was going on AM-25 'Stratosfighter' II air superiority fighters were being armed and fueled, along with FAF-1 'Vassago' stealth attack helicopters.

Though the Sentinels were not aware of what exactly they were facing, they prepared nonetheless to defend their new allies no matter what the cost, if their friends wished for their assistance.

[The Ruivan Empire]

From: Fizbar Naval Command
To: The Ruivan Empire

Please understand that we are in the middle of a large scale naval conflict. Thus, we will allow you to investigate as long as you steer clear of 250km of our carrier battle groups. If you come within this distance, our forces may mistake you for enemy ships and attack you.

Transport aircraft and escorts

Captain Adrian was in charge of the escorts flying today. One of his wingmen who suddenly announced that he had detected multiple incoming aircraft from the Northwest at about 100 miles. Adrian and half the escort team quickly turned to engage. They would have to make sure the enemy aircraft were kept away from their transport planes. As they closed in, they fired salvos of long range missiles at the enemy aircraft, before taking evasive action to ensure no return salvos hit. The enemy Tomcats would be forced to turn away for evasive action if they wished to survive the missile attack. After their first evasive action, Adrian's flight crew quickly closed in for short range combat. The Tomcats had three options. One was to turn and run. The second was to engage his aircraft in turning close combat, where the Fizbarian aircraft had a massive advantage in maneuverability. The third was to try and break past Adrian's fighters and head for the transports, but that would make the Tomcats very vulnerable to attack from the fighters.

Naval Task Forces

The aircraft continued searching for submarines and carrying out their anti-submarine operations, to prevent any submarines from sneaking up to the carrier battle groups. However, the rest of their aircraft were now told to carry out defensive actions only, making sure that no one tried to penetrate too close to the Fizbarian fleets, which were kept constantly moving to prevent the enemy from locating them.

Land Forces

The land forces were ordered to sweep out and engage enemy forces around Mordan and Fenra. They would not enter the cities yet, but wanted to make sure they had secured all the ground around the cities. Additionally, they began constructing a makeshift airbase on one of the larger highways in the area. They setup air defenses and converted the highway into two runways.

That is agreeable we are altering course and will steer around your battlegroups at 300 KM is this agreeable?

[Aquitayne]

Tomcat Squadron
Closing in on enemy Transport

As alarm bells rang throughout Sam's cockpit, he immediately dropped his external fuel tanks and gained altitude. As the missiles came in close, he deployed his flares, effectively getting the missile off his tail. He could see other planes conducting evasive maneuvers to avoid getting hit, but he could see at least 3 planes go down in a huge ball of red flame. He immediately ordered the squadron to regroup and count off. They got up to twenty eight, seven fighters went down. They would have to make due. As they kept their intercept course, they saw fighters headed their way on radar. The order was given to go past them and to hit the transport planes, however, 4 planes were kept behind to bait the enemy fighters and keep them at bay long enough for the main force to reach the transports and inflict as much damage as possible.

As the Tomcats passed the Frizbarian fighters, 4 fighters peeled off of the formation to engage them. They knew their mission was futile, but it was necessary. The rest of the squadron kept intercept course and made their way towards the enemy transports. As they got within 25 miles, they released their air to air missiles and waited for visual confirmation of kills.

Outside Mordam
Third Artillery Regiment

Scouts in the suburban areas around Mordam and Fenra were reporting enemy forces on interstate 6-3. It looked as though they were building runways out of it. As the coordinates came in through a secure radio channel, the mobile howitzers began to align their turrets at the proper angle and degree. There were a total of 9 howitzers there, a set of 3. Each howitzer fired almost simultaneously, at different angles to maximize pinpoint accuracy and damage. They loosed their first volley of rounds, and waited for the scouts to report back in on whether it was a successful hit or not.

[Fizbar]

That is agreeable we are altering course and will steer around your battlegroups at 300 KM is this agreeable?

"This is certainly agreeable. Thank you for your understanding."

Sparrowhawk Squadron

It appeared the Tomcats were heading for the transport aircraft anyways. However, four of them were turning to engage the. Captain Adrain and his wingman turned to fight those four, to allow the rest of the fighters to engage the Tomcats. It was only minutes before the two outnumbered Sparrowhawks were shot down by the enemy Tomcats in close combat.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Sparrowhawks dropped in behind the other Tomcats. They fired a mixed salvo of infrared and radar missiles to make countermeasure usage and evasive action difficult. In any case, the missiles would be almost impossible to dodge, especially as the Tomcats would have to be afterburners to avoid getting overtaken.

Nevertheless, as several additional Sparrowhawks peeled off from their escort formation to intercept the Tomcats, several fire and forget missiles slammed into the transport aircraft, destroying 7 and forcing 4 others to abort their mission due to heavy damage.

[Fizbar]

Fizbar Ground Forces

As the crew was busy fixing up the highway to create a runway, they came under heavy artillery attack. That portion of highway was destroyed, and dozens of people were killed and wounded.

Strike aircraft were quickly called in to strike all enemy artillery and tanks in the area, and then to destroy vehicles. They also began precision strikes against government buildings Mordan and Fenra. They had already struck army bases, but continued to strike anything they could find.

With enemy artillery quickly being neutralized, the crew began work building runways on another section of the highway. This time, the ground forces were ordered to create a large perimeter around the runway to make sure no artillery would sneak up within range of the runways.

[Aquitayne]

Tomcat Squadron

As they confirmed at least 5 kills to the transport planes, they were about to turn around to head home when their air to air alarms went off. Immediately Sam pulled up his joystick to gain altitude, then rolled as he began going the other way. A head on collision with the missile would not happen, but he hit the afterburners and then dropped altitude quickly, trying to get the missile off his tail. It didn't work. The missile closed in quickly, ripping into the side of his plane. Luckily though, he reached for the ejection lever before the missile impacted. As he was thrown out of the plane, he could feel his foot be engulfed in flame. As his parachute deployed, he floated to the ground.

As he landed harshly in a tree, his head hit a branch - knocking him unconscious.

[El Bondel]

Bondel Interference
To all opposing forces. This is the Bondel International Military Is fully mobile. Aquitayne is apart of a alliance. Opposing foce standdown or 2,000,000 Bondel soliders allied with Aquitayne Soldiers will tear your capital a new A$$hole.
We are now in MonoCon 3.

-General Mcknight

[Emporer Pudu]

International Waters aboard the INS Virile
Approximately 50 kilometers from Aquitayne coast

The Armed Republic of Aquitayne had never been on Imperial radar before, it was a regional power and not adjacent to anything vitally important, so it was simply never mentioned. Someone, however, had taken notice recently of a rather large number of missiles of various descriptions headed to the republic, and not in storage crates, either. The Geospatial Intelligence Service tried to watch out for things like this around the world, and generally did a pretty good job. It was agreed by the Dignity on Insight, an intelligence body of the Pantokratocracy subservient to one body or another (it was hard to remember sometimes, it was so damn complicated), that this warranted further investigation.

That was were Captain Cepek came into the picture. He was captain of the Virile, which in a nation with a more developed sense of humor would probably have made a great part of some joke or another. The Virile though, was rather dismal. It was a Helina-class battlecruiser, which made it one of the very few ships of comparable size in the Imperial Navy, outgunned only by the even more rare Roydia battleships. Big-gun vessels were strategically not in the picture, as it were, for the future of the Imperial Navy, and so ships like this were generally relegated to cruising the trade lanes, often alone, and waiting for duties just like this one.

Captain Cepek, whose first name was Lazar (which also might have been popular in the hypothetical more-comedic-nation), was therefore somewhat pleased by his assignment. Presently he was in discussion with an officer from the Military Intelligence Agency, another group that worked for the Dignity on Insight.

"We've informed the captain of the Dervish of your position, and he's on his way. You can expect him in seventy-two hours."

"We'll be waiting, there's not much we can do without eyes. The action's pretty far removed now, and the fleets are moving too fast for the satellites to pin down where they're at, all we can see here is the wakes."

"We've got the same problem here, sea-searching isn't the most efficient method we've come up with yet."

"No," quipped Lazar, "That's setting a cruiser up thirty miles away and air-dropping some binoculars."

"You don't have your own binoculars?" replied the intelligence officer somewhat jokingly (it's not as if they had no sense of humor, it was the military, after all),

"No sir, that's what you guys are for, isn't it? I thought you were the observe-and-report guys. I have the guns."

"Yeah, well maybe if you elevate one and sit on top you can see something. The action wasn't that far away, last we knew."

"Maybe I'll try that. I've got a couple days to kill yet."

"Alright," replied the spook, "You get busy with that then. We'll keep you updated on the situation, not that we know a whole lot. We're not even sure what started the whole mess."

"Do that, I'll try and dig out my binoculars."

"Fiat." and the line was cut off.

For now, Captain Lazar Cepek was just cruising, making less than ten knots, moving in a wide circle that kept him just outside of Aquitayne waters, and hopefully far enough away to avoid being mistaken for a target. In three days a small carrier would arrive, and there would be some eyes in the sky. At the rate this was going through, someone might have resorted to nuclear weapons by then.

[Fizbar]

Fizbar Naval Forces

The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th carrier battle groups had arrived. They deposited the 197th Armored Division on the previously used beach.

Land Forces

The 196th Heavy Armored Division was ordered to force the surrender of all enemy forces around Mordam. Similarly, the 197th Armored Division moved to force the surrender of all enemy forces around Fenra. They would later move into the cities. The 199th Mechanized Division was ordered to move forward towards Polsta under the support of air cover, securing a forward frontline.

Meanwhile, with the runway nearing completion, the 99th and 100th squadrons of the Fizbar Air Force were dispatched to land at this makeshift air base. The crew quickly moved to begin construction of another makeshift air base on another runway.

Fizbar Mainland
Fizbar High Command was preparing to 194th Mechanized Division for dispatch to Aquitayne. They would help bolster the Fizbar troops already there.

[Fizbar]

6th Fleet

"Sir, my radar shows a ship within our battlespace," radioed a fighter pilot flying combat air patrol. The admiral of the 6th carrier battle group was worried by this news. He was hoping they could have a relatively peaceful sea standoff. Instead, it looked like the Aquitaynians were attacking. "Hit it with anti-ship missiles. We're firing cruise missiles and ordering our frigates in the area to engage. We're also sending and additional fighters to the area.

[El Bondel]

Central Command
"Sir! They did not comply with international orders." A troops shouted
"Alert Air-Squadrons,Alert Admiral Urlain in Aquitayne waters to form a blockade." General Mcknight said

Admiral Urlain Fleet Bravo 3
5 destroyers,2 Aircraft carriers,8 submarines
Aquitayne Waters 40 miles off shore.
"All stations! Red alert. Sound the alarm. All wings prepare for incoming." he shouted
"Yes,sir. All units MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS" the captain said over the loud speaker.

The ships where forming in a cascade form not letting any ship other then allied and Aquitayne forces in or out. All ships are battle ready.

Ground Forces
Aquitayne Shores
Commander Hoover
40,000 Bondel Troops

All troops are in position.All troops are battle ready. 40,000 troops stocked with armor and weapons. 3,000 tanks swarming the shores and encampments with heavy gurney all throughout the sandy plains of Aquitayne shores.

[Aquitayne]

The House
Telora, Aquitayne

"What's the status?" The President was in the War Room with his advisors. Their invasion had stopped for now, and it was high time that Aquitayne inflict some damage.

"Well sir, as you can see here," The Commandant of the Marine Corps opened up satellite photos of Mordam and Fenra "the enemy is constructing runways on interstate 6-3. They're going to use this to bomb Telora and other major cities - I highly suggest we bomb the entire highway. We can do this by launching more UAVs than they can handle at once. A handful are bound to get through." The President nodded his approval. If they were going to at least halt the invasion, it was imperative that that highway be demolished.

Telora AFB
Telora

At the base, hundreds of UAVs carrying 500 lbs of munitions were prepped and launched. They flew quickly to interstate 6-3, cutting through Frizbarian airspace. It was fortunate that they had so many of them, and as they got within range of the highway, most of the UAVs, (being controlled by people back at the base) dropped their munitions, hoping to hit home.

[El Bondel]

Destroyer Hardnose
Aquitayne Waters

To Bondel ground forces:
"Commander we are picking nothing up on radar and nothing on scopes." The captain said into the microphone
"Very well, keep a close eye on the waters,we are in full battle positions." He said in return

[Fizbar]

Ground Forces Runway Construction Command

The radars detected hundreds of blips. At first, the operators thought they were being jammed, and sent in fighter aircraft to investigate. Turned out that wasn't the case. Hundreds of objects, probably UAVs, as they were too slow to be cruise missiles, were flying in.

All air defenses were turned on and began firing. Dozens of aircraft took to the air to engage the UAVs. They shot many of them down. But many more got into Fizbar lines, where they were met with heavy flak and anti-aircraft gunfire. In the end, only a handful made it through in the confusion. This was enough to destroy large portions of the highway, including one of the runways under construction. But the already built runway survived, and the other runway under construction also survived.

[Emporer Pudu]

International Waters aboard the INS Virile
Approximately 50 kilometers from Aquitayne coast

"Shitting-wanking-fucking-cock!"

"They're fucking nuts!" And other such expressions ran through the head of some of the RADAR operators aboard the Virile. They were professionals though, and the most anyone could hear, other than their official chatter, was a quiet and drab fuck.

The Virile was a big ship. It was operating alone, which means it was short much of the defense a fleet would have normally afforded it, but it's size would work in it's favor. It is very hard to sink a 60,000 ton ship with 970mm armor (in some places, it would have been very big indeed with 970mm deck armor).

The cruise missiles were identified as the priority, and were engaged immediately by the automated anti-missile systems. The anti-ship missiles, not a priority partly because they were harder to spot, and therefore were not identified quite as fast, would receive only a paltry supply of defense missiles by comparison. The CIWS would be in charge of them.

At the same time, the Virile began taking evasive action. This also meant that the ship would have to get up to speed, which would take a minute or two (it being so large). While this was going on, the first of the anti-ship missiles appeared within range of the defense systems, which engaged valiantly. The big ship never rolled that much on the open sea, so the shaking the missiles caused was a definite surprise to the crew. Many of the missiles which impacted the heavier-armored sections of the ship simply failed to penetrate, and would do nothing more than put some ugly scars on the impeccable all-white color scheme that was the trademark of the Imperial Navy.

Some of the other missiles though, which had targeted softer parts of the ship, scored some kills. One of the 14" turrets was down, although there had been no ammunition stored in the turret, so it hadn't triggered a larger explosion. Missiles had also hit the towers, one of which was nearly destroyed and presently on fire. One of the RADAR turrets was destroyed, and numerous control systems had been fatally damaged. '

The missiles were already away, though, to engage the larger incoming cruise missile attacks, which proved very successful. A single missile scored a glancing hit at the stern of the vessel, which tore through part of the deck and destroyed the four helicopters and killed nearly 100 crewmen and naval infantry belowdecks.

All together, the ship was very badly damaged, although still mobile. The powerplant had survived, which was good, because nobody wants to sink a nuclear reactor if they can help it. More than two-hundred crewmen were dead, although official counts were unknown yet in the chaos. Much of the offensive capability of the Virile was also destroyed: although she still had six of her 14" thermal guns, all of the 6" guns, as well as GK26 missile system and many of the half-inch AA guns were gone.

A radio message was broadcast on open channels directed at whomever had done that,

"This is the Captain of the Imperial Pudite Navy Ship the Virile, we have just been attacked. Please don't do it again. Repeat, we are the INS Virile of the Pantokratic Dominate of Emperor Pudu, we are not hostile. We are not retaliating. Please don't do that again. Thank you. Message repeats."

It was looping while the captain tended to more important duties: he was on the phone with Military Intelligence back in the Dominate.

[Fizbar]

From: 6th Fleet Fizbar Navy
To: Imperial Pudite Navy Ship Virile

We sincerely apologize for attacking your ship. Please move away from the battlezone to avoid any further identification issues. We are in the middle of a large scale naval war and do not have the luxury of careful identification.

Do you require assistance? We can send medics on board your ship if necessary.

[Aquitayne]

The House
Telora, Aquitayne

Satellite images showed what they had feared. The runways were still operational. At least one of them, at least. The President sighed. There was only one thing to do now, order the surrender of all troops in the Occupied Zone. The soldiers on the outside of the OZ were ordered to retreat to Poltsa, where they would bolster their defenses and equipment for a heavy battle against the enemy. Troops in Mordam or Fenra were ordered to surrender. They hoped that the enemy would show mercy on them. After all, it was more than 1,000 POWs.

Mordam, Aquitayne
Field Command
Field Marshal Wright

As the Field Marshal looked at the orders that had been given, banged his fist on the table. He was a loyal man, not only to the President but to Aquitayne itself. He was disappointed that the President was giving up the area completely, but then again they were surrounded. After receiving the orders, he regretfully ordered all soldiers to march out of the city unarmed. However, he gave their weapons and ammunition, (minus a small supply to make the enemy believe that was all they had) to the populace of the city. The citizens were armed in case they felt like engaging the enemy by themselves, and one or two Officers stayed behind to organize the rebel groups.

As the bulk of their Regiment, about 950 soldiers marched out of the city with their hands up. The Field Marshal wielded only a pistol. He walked up to one of the soldiers and demanded to see his superior. He was lead to the Field Marshal of the Fizbarian troops. Upon meeting him, he unholstered his pistol and handed it to him in a sign of surrender.

[FnFail]

Interstate 6-3
Telora Aquitayne
65,000 thousand

An SR-72 black bird was on combat patrol.
Darren was the pilot of the blackbird now after the fate of the first blackbird he wasn't sure about flying it
"Don't worry" his commander insured him this plane has the best countermeasures and it still holds the
speed record for a plane.With its new afterburners nothing can hit it.
Now his command had told him that there where predator drones bombing an interstate
Must belong to fizbar he thought himself
"keel 25" his radio crackled
"keel 25 here"
drop down to 35 thousand feet and Engage all UAVs and then return to base
"Affirmative"
With the new SR-72 black bird it was not more than a minute till he hit mach 4.5 speeding faster than most bullets he released 2 missiles which immediately decelarated and split up into many different projeciles
His radio suddenly shouted " DECIST DECIST FRIENDLY FIRE FRIENDLY FIRE
"fuck" he shouted into his helmet.And watched as the projectiles descended rapidly towards to Their targets........


Dublin
FnFail
"WHO ORDERED THAT ATTACK" shouted the president........

[Automagfreek]

Sir, no response yet from allied command.General Vandenberg tightened his lip and shook his head as he was informed, for it was obvious that the Aquitayne forces were somewhat in disarray, a grim sign that the aggressors had made considerable headway into the territory of their brethren. After consulting Freekish High Command for orders, the acting Warchief for this particular theater of the world, Vidimir Breathstealer, gave the order for intervention. While Freekish reinforcements from either Gholgoth or overseas territories would be long in coming, the decision was made to deploy the whole of the 3rd Sentinel Expeditionary Force's assets in the Nordic territory to the northwest coast of Aquitayne.

The majority of the fighting appeared to be taking place in the south, and with the sizable naval deployments made by the Fizbar military, an all out confrontation at sea was dismissed. General Vandenberg simply did not have enough naval firepower in the area to be able to properly engage, so instead the Freekish ships would use to protect troop landings and allocate air power.

The entire division, four infantry regiments, an armored battalion, recon battalions, and so on would soon be pouring into northern Aquitayne in several coordinated amphibious landings and airdrops, under support of the 2nd Sentinel Marine Aircraft Wing.

The first high altitude insertions of the 1st Elites from the 18th Special Operations Force were being prepped, and soon two modified AF-6 'Intruder' stealth aircraft took off from the runways at the Freekish installation, each carrying an eight man team and assorted equipment they would need to secure landing zones for the larger airdrops. The bigger cargo planes were being packed with Sentinel infantry and light vehicles and would be dropped slightly inland from the primary beach LZ, while the main amphibious landing force and heavy armor would come ashore and rendezvous accordingly.

As the coordinated deployment continued at a breakneck pace, Freekish Special Services had been monitoring the various communications frequencies bouncing off the satellites which lingered in the heavens, sorting through them with the aid of AI supercomputers in order to single out those of the enemy. Once the computers were able to acquire positive identification, jamming of the Fizbar satellites was promptly engaged, and an intense package of electronic bombardment was projected in order to jam and overload the on board electrical systems. This was done to cause confusion and make the issuance of mission orders to both man and computer system difficult, and several AM-25 'Stratosfighter II-E' electronic warfare planes from the Nordic outpost were put into the air at extremely high altitude to further dominate the airwaves.

These plans would also soon be brought to bear against enemy radar systems when the time came, but for now they were content to disrupt and jam communications as much as possible. The highly advanced 'Cryocom' avionics suite was unlike anything else in the world, for it was able to actively seek and jam a wide variety of RF, microwave, and other communication systems, but also simultaneously disrupt radar and employ a wide range of ECCM to protect not only itself, but friendly electronic systems as well. It would play a critical role if giving the edge to the greatly outnumbered Sentinel ground forces, who would rely not only on their superior training and hefty experience, but also their highly advanced gear.

As the first combat ships began to slip from the shallower waters and out into the seas outside of Nordic territory, several 'Supremacy' class submarines began heading straight towards their objective in Aquitayne in order to clear the way of any enemies which may be lurking in the blackened deep. Silently they scanned the depths as they sliced gracefully through the cool waters, their passive sonar and magnetic detection systems picking up any slight disturbances and analyzing them accordingly. In the event contact was made, UUV's would be deployed to take a closer look, though intelligence suggested that the enemy was primarily operating in the south and had not yet ventured northward.

Within hours the final deployments of the first wave were complete, and the armed convoy of ships began heading full steam towards north Aquitayne, while the subsequent waves of Sentinels would follow closely behind. It would not be long now before the airborne forces of Automagfreek would drop down into Aquitayne, and yet another bloody chapter in Freekish military history would be penned.

[Emporer Pudu]

International Waters aboard the INS Virile
Approximately 50 kilometers from Aquitayne coast

Captain Lazar was given a copy of the Fizbarian message, but couldn't respond at the moment,

"Damage reports are still coming in, we don't know but it looks like there are a couple hundred casualties. We're also short one big turret. I'm not sure what other systems aren't working, I'm sure I'll be briefed on it momentarily."

The officer on the other end of the phone had patched in the director of the Military Intelligence Agency, as well as the naval attache to that office, and Captain Lazar had also patched in his superior, Fleet Admiral Kakova of Operations Command, of which the independent ships were a part.

It was Kakova who responded, "I'm pulling you immediately. Return to Port Herbert at safe speed, I'll send someone there to debrief you and the crew. It sounds like we won't have to dry-dock you, but it could be a few months before you're at sea again."

The Director of Military Intelligence, Dr. Chiltonov, spoke up "The Dervish is still en-route, and you're in the loop until she closes the distance with Aquitayne, you're still our only force operating in the area."

"I can tell," remarked Captain Lazar, "Don't worry, I'd be more than happy to have to punish the fuckers. I mean, we're flying the ensign for shit's sake, what kind of reconnaissance is that."

"You shouldn't concern yourself with that. There'll be compensation made to us, and to you, for this afternoon. I can guarantee you that much."

"You can spend it on a house on the islands, you'll be in port long enough you might want a place to stay." laughed Admiral Kakova.

"Yeah, courtesy of the Fizbar navy and 200 dead sailors." said Lazar, "It's gonna be a big damn house." he finished noticeably more upbeat.

"Dispatch a copy of the damage report to my offices as soon as you have it, we'll be in touch a little later. We have to take this a little higher." replied Dr. Chiltonov,

"I'll be waiting for my copy too, but you knew that." added Admiral Kakova.

"Good luck," finished the doctor, before he hung up.

The call was ended, and the captain dispatched a quick reply to the Fizbarians,

"Captain Cepek of the INS addressing 6th Fizbar Fleet: the Virile is under power and returning to port. Assistance will not be necessary. Your government will be contacted regarding compensation for the incident. Eyes on target son, that's the key. Write that down."

[Shazbotdom]

Deleted

[Emporer Pudu]

Immersed in International Waters
Approximately 200 kilometers south-east of island of Tyras

The Director of Military Intelligence and Admiral Kakova had not necessarily been lying when they told Captain Lazar Cepek that the Virile was the only Pudite asset in the area, but it had certainly been a misrepresentation. Area having not been defined in the conversation, in order for them to have been telling the truth that area must have not included whatever 'area' the INS Slipstream would have been inside, theoretically. The Slipstream was a Haenulf-class long range patrol submarine, and had been dispatched by Operations Command at the same time as the Virile.

She was currently submerged and running only passive sonar, and was moving carefully and deliberately north-west, toward the Fizbarian landing sites in southern Aquitayne. The Pantokratocracy was not at war, and Captain Andreian had not yet been informed of the attack on the Virile. The Slipstream's only objective was the observation of the naval operations occurring off the Aquitayne coast.

Presently the Slipstream was submerged at a depth of 300 feet, but had floated an antenna and was attempting to monitor communications in the theater. The sub was fitted with both COMINT and ELNIT suites, and although it wasn't privy to naval code measures used by the parties involved, the hope was that traffic analysis would yield some valuable information while the decryption software worked on anything that was intercepted. They were also hoping to identify the locations of the transmissions for analysis: three signals intelligence buoys had been deployed previously and were triangulating positions with the sub. They were communicating via VLF using burst transmissions, and otherwise the sub was under strict radio silence.

[Emporer Pudu]

ARM. REP. OF FIZBAR
FIZBAR CITY (? or whatever)
PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE
------------------------
RE: VIRILE INCIDENT

PNTK. DOM. OF EMP. PUDU
HOLLARUM
FOREIGN RELATIONS OFFICE
DIRECTOR WHITE

To whom it may concern,

Recently it has transpired that a Fizbar naval vessel, having failed to identify the INS Virile, an Imperial Navy vessel, as neutral, fired upon the Virile and did cause damage and loss of life aboard that vessel. It is understood that the attack was a case of misunderstanding, and not in a spirit of enmity and so the Dominate has shown great mercy and will allow the government of the Armed Republic of Finbar to make an official apology, which the Dominate will accept.

In addition the cost of the damages to the Virile and the cost of the loss of 244 lives and numerous armaments aboard the Virile will be charged to the Fizbar government. An itemized list of the monetary remunerations required for the attack on the Virile follows in this message. These costs will include both costs of repairs and replacements, as well as compensation to the Dominate for the unwarranted attack on her vessel in intentional waters. I have expressed to my Emperor my certainty that this was a mistake, and will not happen again. He awaits your apology.

Cost for damages to the INS Virile: 2,000,000,000 USD
Cost for loss of munitions aboard the Virile: 600,000,000 USD
Cost for loss of life aboard the Virile: 100,000,000 USD
Compensation for loss of life aboard the Virile: 200,000,000 USD
Compensation to Captain Lazar Cepek of the Virile: 50,000,000 USD
Compensation to the Pantokratocracy for the attack on the Virile: 5,000,000,000 USD
SUBTOTAL (COST): 2.6 billion USD
SUBTOTAL (COMPENSATION): 5.25 billion USD
TOTAL: 7.85 billion USD

Good day,
Mr. White
Foreign Relations Office
Pantokratic Dominate of Emperor Pudu

Undersigned:
Anton Nedej
Imperial Prefect
Pantokratic Dominate of Emperor Pudu

[Fizbar]

Fizbar High Command

From: General Flio, Ruler of Fizbar
To: Emperor Pudu of the Pantokratic Dominate
Subject: Apology for attack and compensation claim

"On behalf of the nation of Fizbar, I sincerely apologize for the unfortunate attack and tragic loss of life on the INS Virile. I thank you for your understanding and have forwarded your government's list of monetary remunerations to my claims department and foreign relations department. They will verify the validity of the claims and then our treasury will disburse payment to your government."

Public Statement by Navy

"Because of the nature of beyond visual range combat, and the dangers of hostile fire when attempting to visually identify an unidentified object, we have decided to impose a no-fly-zone and no-boat-zone across Southern Aquitayne and around 250km of our naval fleet. We require all ships and aircraft to leave this zone within 24 hours. If they are unable to do so, they must inform us of this fact, and the reasons for being unable to leave, within 12 hours. Failure to do one of the above means that we cannot guarantee the safety of such a ship. While we do not speak for Aquitayne, with whom we are at war, we also recommend that you inform Aquitayne if you are within the battlezone."

Electronics Command

Recently, Fizbarian satellites in the area had come under heavy jamming. Satellite communications and GPS were down. The former was not a problem, as the Fizbar forces mostly relied on spread spectrum radio communications instead of satellite communications. The latter was a bigger problem, as they relied heavily on GPS for navigation. However, by switching to various foreign GPS networks, the Fizbar forces returned to being able to operate GPS. Whoever was doing the jamming could also jam those GPS networks, but that could cause an international incident.

Mordam

The 196th Heavy Armored Division graciously accepted the surrender of forces from Mordam. The Aquitaynian troops were treated well, with ample supplies of food and water, and proper medical treatment.

The artillery forces stayed outside Mordam, along with thousands of troops who watched the prisoners. The rest of the division, however, began entering the city.

Some of the spies had claimed the troops had given away weapons to people inside the city, and they wanted to make sure they could try and clear out the city. As they entered the city, groups of soldiers began searching from house to house, and using bomb and ammo sniffing dogs to look for weapons and ammunition. So long as the population cooperated, the army would not bring destruction upon the city. However, if they encountered resistance, they would not hesitate in using heavy weaponry against insurgents, even if those insurgents operated from buildings with civilians inside them. It would be the fault of the insurgents for operating from civilian areas.

Poltsa

The enemy appeared to be fortifying their defenses at Poltsa. The 197th Armored Division was ordered to perform a rapid advancement West of Poltsa, far enough West to flank the bulk of enemy forces at Poltsa. The 199th Mechanized Division performed a similar high speed charge to the East of Poltsa's defenses.

Fizbar Air Bases

The 194th Mechanized Division had almost fully been shipped out now, and the 189th Mechanized Division would soon begin transportation to Fizbar.

[Aquitayne]

Ten Minutes Before Aquitaynian Surrender
McMillion Residence
324 Fredrickson Road
6 PM


Tom McMillion was a car technician. He worked long hours at the station, but the people in the area knew him very well. He was known around town as the go-to man if you needed anything fixed, not just a car. He also served as a handyman. He was what you could call, the Jack of All Trades. He did not however like guns. He thought this war was stupid, and it wasn't even completely clear on why it had started. Everyone knew that they were losing, anyway. He was glad the garrison surrendered, that way they wouldn't have to be put under siege or go through the horrors some others might have to encounter. He was a modest man, a family man. He'd do anything for their safety.

He was greasing a cog to be used tomorrow as he heard his wife calling for dinner. Shannon was a great cook, and often made his favorite dish, a nice meatloaf. He could smell the aroma floating throughout the house, the spices mixing together rhythmically and the meat cooked to a tender pink. He walked into the living room where his son and daughter were already sitting down waiting for the food. They were a wild bunch, always running around and getting into trouble. They were good kids, though. Hell, he couldn't say that he didn't get into his fair share of quagmires.

As he sat down, placing a napkin on his lap, he looked over to where his wife was walking in with the hot pan. He smiled and helped her place it down on the table. She sat down with them and started cutting it with a spatula, equalizing the pieces for the kids, and as always, giving a slightly larger piece to her husband. Tom had an odd eating habit, he loved ketchup and put it on a lot of things. Including meatloaf. He cut it up with his fork and then shook the bottle, squeezing a fair amount onto the mashed up pieces. He then mixed it up and put a bite of it into his mouth, loving the mixture of flavors and tangyness that his wife so easily put in.

As he went down for another bite, he heard a knock on the door. It wasn't uncommon for someone to need him. "I'll get it." He stood up, placing the napkin next to his plate on the table. He walked out of the living room and into the foyer, opening the white door. Standing there was a soldier holding two rifles and ammunition. Tom wasn't sure what was going on. "Can I help you..." He looked at the rank on the soldiers collar. "Corporal?"

"Yes sir. We are arming the people of the city, and according to records you have a child that can use a gun, so, we are giving your family two rifles to defend yourselves with."

Tom just looked at the man, trying to figure out if he was serious. "I don't want any guns." He shut the door on the soldier and walked back to the living room trying to enjoy the rest of his meal. He knew that if the military was trying to arm the public it meant one of two things. Either they were going to attack, or they were surrendering - and they wanted the people to hold revolt.

Twenty Minutes Later

As Tom was helping his wife clean the dishes, he thought about the war and what was going on. He knew that Mordam was behind enemy lines, but he hoped that the army would push back and kick their asses out of the country. Unfortunately it just wasn't that easy. He had avoided draft for the fact that he was behind enemy lines, and that the government couldn't get to him. As he placed the dishes into the dishwasher, there was another knock on the door. But this one sounded much more forceful.

Tom walked over and opened it, to see a Frizbarian troop standing there with a dog. Tom now knew what was going on. Frizbarian occupation. "Can I help you?"

"I have orders to search the premises. Move aside." The soldier stood there waiting.

"Search for what?"

"Guns and munitions. Move aside." Tom did as he was told, not wanting to anger the man or any of his superiors. As he moved inside, four more soldiers followed. They threw around their possessions, and broke many things. After about ten minutes they left, leaving their house in shambles. So this is what it came to. He knew that people would be putting up a fight... But he wouldn't be one of them.