The Merrit Isle Disaster (OOC, TWI ONLY)

[Atnaia]

IC

Most of Merrit Isle's power is provided by a single nuclear reactor on the Isle's southern shore. It's an old thing, built by Atnaian engineers during the height of the Cold War, and since Atnaia's disarmament and de-nuclearization, Atnaia has not been helping Merrit Isle with its upkeep. Despite this, the reactor operates at a surplus for the Isle and sells most of its excess energy to Atnaia. This is fed by a tiny uranium deposit on the Isle.

Merrit City is small, but houses sizable resorts for tourists and business conferences. The city is at a low-water point, and flooding was frequent before the construction of levies in the 1990s. Much like the reactor, the levies are falling into some level of disrepair.

Early in the morning, an earthquake hits the area to the north of Merrit Isles, near Merrit City. This heavily damages the levies and causes a tsunami that sweeps through the city. The death toll, including on foreign tourists, is fairly sizable, and continued flooding after the tsunami threatens much of Merrit Isle's central infrastructure.

Atnaia moves in troops and engineers, ostensibly as relief aid and to help prevent a meltdown at the reactor, which was minorly damaged in the quake. However, Atnaia has no intent of leaving. This is not relief, this is an occupation. Atnaia sees Merrit Isle as a cultural and traditional holding, and as part of its new mandate of semi-autarky, looks to use the pastoral republic as lands for food production.

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This is the basis for the events of the Merrit Isle Disaster. So far, the Grand Royal Commercial Prefecture and Ostehaar are in for some espionage related to a Cold War-era Atnaian nuclear silo and research facility somewhere on the Isle. We'll use this as the place to organize posting and discuss people joining. I want to keep this one limited, so maybe one or two other people, tops.

Any ideas to start with? firstly, I think we should figure out just what exactly was going on with the prisoners Atnaia transferred to the facility in the 80s...unless you guys want to be surprised by that later down the line when it comes up.

[Keomora]

Deleted.

[Atnaia]

So is this okay?
At the time my country sends special military operatives to observe the situation due to suspicion of unwarranted and unnecessary activity in the area by intelligence operatives of other country's... and a political prisoner of high importance to the Keomoran government held at the island...

There's no prisons on Merrit Isle. It has too small of a population to support it.

[Keomora]

Deleted.

[Grand Illon]

I'm interested in joining. Is this okay?
Here is how Grand Illon will partake in the story:

Publicly:
- We will send aid to the Merrit Isles through food, money, and infrastructure reparations work.
- Grand Illon will cooperate with Atnaia in helping the Merrit Isle Disaster victims.

However, Secretly:
- We will secretly support Atnaia in their occupation of Merrit Isles
- We will send in RSIS agents in the field to check and gather intelligience on the subject matter, like GRCP and Ostehaar, but Atnaia won't know it.

[The Grand Royal Commercial Prefecture]

To clarify the GRCP's intentions:

HMHS Vitality shall operate offshore from Merrit Isle, ferrying supplies by small boat, and providing medical airlift to the severely wounded. In sincerity, the HMHS Vitality will, in fact, be providing medical aid. However, perhaps if a particular political activist (in opposition of the Hegemony or the GRCP) is scooped up for medical aid, they'd likely be bagged and tagged in their sleep, and tortured into either complacency or obedience to the existing regimes (or the GRCP).

The Hospital Ship will serve as a front for corrupting the minds of traumatized victim,s in favor of GRCP politics, while also shrouding the greater looting operation going on by GRCP Jagdkommando, upon the disaster stricken area. Improvised Hospice Transports will secretly be surveillance vehicles, Disaster workers will seem to look for computer components and filing cabinets as if they too deserved 'rescue' from the collapsing city, and blue-gloved GRCP doctors shall become known for their ability to expertly mend wounds of their patients, as well as dissect information from their patients.

The outspoken ones who claim to know the GRCP's secret will be diagnosed as simply paranoid from disaster-induced psuedo-PTSD, and to be placed under 'protective custody' for their own safety.

[Ostehaar]

One of Ostehaar's secret government units (the most secret one, actually) is called Unit 1088, and its purpose is to promote and protect the nation's political and economic interests by all means necessary, including fraud, extortion, bribery, and black operations (copied from the dispatch describing the unit). Since one of Ostehaar's main trade interests in the region is securing its position as exporter and operator of civilian nuclear facilities, It's only natural that the Oster government would send agents of Unit 1088 to investigate the status of the nuclear reactor and to "sniff" for trade opportunities in the island.

Along with those, a few Oster government agents would be sent to the island for intelligence gathering purposes. Their main goal would be to establish a covert intelligence collecting station on the island, since Ostehaar is relatively far away from that area and has no "assets" around.

[Atnaia]

Instead of the prisoner is it possible a member of our royalty is currently at the island and we want bring him home?

Certainly. I mean, Merrit City's economy is based on tourism, so it would make sense that a person like that could be visiting.

snip.

Sounds good to me. In what capacity will you be undertaking intelligence operations?

snip.

So you aren't doing overt intelligence gathering then? Or is this in conjunction with the operations discussed on RMB?

snip.

Alrighty then.


So how many people are each side bringing? I'd figure that Atnaia would probably send the HMS Duke Attington and likely the 1st Airborne Regiment as their initial relief aid (about 800 soldiers, including airborne, infantry and logistics), likely to be backed up by the rest of the 1st Airborne Battlegroup later as part of the occupation (about 1600 total soldiers, unless more are needed). In addition, they'd send in a small team of engineers, doctors, nurses and other civilian relief aid (maybe about 100-300 total people). Since this is looking to be espionage-based more than military-based, maybe I'll say that RISA is also interested in "reacquiring" intel from its operations in the 80s and destroying whatever blacksite they had there. Maybe send in a few ANIA Knights, Squires and Pages, and a Cavalier to oversee operations.

[Ostehaar]

So how many people are each side bringing?

A dozen or so individuals (Government operatives of various types and one or two nuclear experts). They'll be embedded with a small bunch of humanitarian aid workers which will arrive to the island on board an Oster transport aircraft.

[Atnaia]

So how many people are each side bringing?

A dozen or so individuals (Government operatives of various types and one or two nuclear experts). They'll be embedded with a small bunch of humanitarian aid workers which will arrive to the island on board an Oster transport aircraft.

I figure that the Merrit City Airport would likely be in some form of chaos following the disaster, so an aquatic landing craft would likely be more efficient, but the airport would obviously be setting aside area for humanitarian landings, since other flights to the Isle would be cancelled in the meantime.

[Grand Illon]

Sounds good to me. In what capacity will you be undertaking intelligence operations?

RSIS (Royal Secret Intelligence Service) will be conducting investigation by secretly planting agents in one of the relief aids. We will gather intelligence on both the Merrit Government and Atnaia's so called nuclear materials.

The purpose of this is to:
1. gain information on potential trade partners, particularly, Atnaia/Merrit government (Whoever wins the conflict)
2. Check the possibility of Atnaias acquisition of nuclear weapons without knowledge of the public eye.
3. To check Atnaia's growing military power in the region.

Other than that, Atnaia is still a good ally of Grand Illon and we will still maintain good relations. But we will just be checking Atnaia, if he has any plans to gain dominance in the region.

[Atnaia]

Just to note, Grand Ilon and Keomora, I think part of what is driving GRCP and Ostehaar to conduct operations in the area is recently declassified Cold War-era documents from the Atnaian Military Coup of the 1980s that, in addition to suggesting that James Lucer cooperated with RISA in assassinating Prince August and Gen. Thatch, has evidence of a RISA blacksite on Merrit Isle, perhaps related to a Cold War-era Atnaian nuclear silo on the isle.

[Grand Illon]

Just to note, Grand Ilon and Keomora, I think part of what is driving GRCP and Ostehaar to conduct operations in the area is recently declassified Cold War-era documents from the Atnaian Military Coup of the 1980s that, in addition to suggesting that James Lucer cooperated with RISA in assassinating Prince August and Gen. Thatch, has evidence of a RISA blacksite on Merrit Isle, perhaps related to a Cold War-era Atnaian nuclear silo on the isle.

Then perhaps we could add that to the list of objectives.

[Atnaia]

Essentially what the documents will have said is that RISA performed a prisoner transfer to Merrit Isle during the Coup, which would raise eyebrows because

1) There is no prison on Merrit Isle
2) Why would Atnaia extradite POWs to Merrit during the height of their Civil War?
3) Why do those prisoners never turn up in any other records?

[Grand Illon]

Essentially what the documents will have said is that RISA performed a prisoner transfer to Merrit Isle during the Coup, which would raise eyebrows because

1) There is no prison on Merrit Isle
2) Why would Atnaia extradite POWs to Merrit during the height of their Civil War?
3) Why do those prisoners never turn up in any other records?

So that's what we need to find out then?

[Atnaia]

Essentially what the documents will have said is that RISA performed a prisoner transfer to Merrit Isle during the Coup, which would raise eyebrows because

1) There is no prison on Merrit Isle
2) Why would Atnaia extradite POWs to Merrit during the height of their Civil War?
3) Why do those prisoners never turn up in any other records?

So that's what we need to find out then?

Not necessarily. It may be what drove GRCP to enact old plans, but it doesn't have to be why everyone is there.

[The Grand Royal Commercial Prefecture]

So you aren't doing overt intelligence gathering then? Or is this in conjunction with the operations discussed on RMB?

This will run parallel to the intelligence gathering.
A three pronged assault intended to maximize the intel and influence yield.

1. Suppress or convert activists discreetly aboard the HMHS Vitality
2. Unravel Atnaian Secrets on the island discreetly
3. Deliver quality medical service and maximize positive public relations

[Atnaia]

Anyone have any specific ideas about what they want to see or have happen or get out of this RP?

[Keomora]

Deleted.

[Keomora]

Deleted.

[Atnaia]

Essentially what the documents will have said is that RISA performed a prisoner transfer to Merrit Isle during the Coup, which would raise eyebrows because

1) There is no prison on Merrit Isle
2) Why would Atnaia extradite POWs to Merrit during the height of their Civil War?
3) Why do those prisoners never turn up in any other records?

And is it possible that on that Island there are secret documents that Ostehaar/Grand Illon/GRCP/Atnaia want?

Just to note, Grand Ilon and Keomora, I think part of what is driving GRCP and Ostehaar to conduct operations in the area is recently declassified Cold War-era documents from the Atnaian Military Coup of the 1980s that, in addition to suggesting that James Lucer cooperated with RISA in assassinating Prince August and Gen. Thatch, has evidence of a RISA blacksite on Merrit Isle, perhaps related to a Cold War-era Atnaian nuclear silo on the isle.

There's enough of a chance to drive them there, and for Atnaia to want to send in Knights to destroy the blacksite. Even if there aren't documents, there's enough of a chance of some evidence of something shady that Atnaia will send in highly skilled operatives just to track it down and demolish it.

[Atnaia]

A positive relationship with your country, and intelligence, the safe return of Prince Lewin.

To achieve this we will send STG, or Strategic Team Gamma, our black-ops top secret special forces.

I mean more along the lines of anything you, as a player, want to see. For example, I'd like to do some scenes of Cold War-era spy movie espionage: dark, smoky bars, secret hand-offs, a chase scene of some sort. I'd also like to experiment with a civilian perspective.

[Keomora]

Deleted.

[Ostehaar]

I'd like to do some scenes of Cold War-era spy movie espionage: dark, smoky bars, secret hand-offs, a chase scene of some sort.

Where have you been all my (RP) life?

[Keomora]

Deleted.