[EarthII] Fury and Words

[Valinor1]

OOC Note: For the purposes of this RP, a Legion will be 6,000 men, divided into 10 cohorts of 600, which each consist of 6 centuriae of 100, which consist of 10 contubernia with 10 men each

Legionnaire Quintus Virius Silo
3rd Century, II Cohort, Legio XV Italia
Near Colletorto, Molise, Italia - 41.662447, 14.996877
March 18, 2016; 1947 Local Hrs

The crunching of the tree leaves underneath the boots, the snapping of sticks and the heavy silence that the legionnaires ignored all filled the air as the olive-green uniform clad soldiers, marked soldiers of Rome by the standard on their uniform and by the Latin they spoke, though there was little speaking going on as the Decanus, leader and most junior NCO in the Legion, of the contubernia was a burly moderate height man by the name of Sisenna Vatinius Durio who had seen combat in Egypt and Sudan and had ordered them to silence on this patrol unless it was required, but then they did all have an interconnecting radio network if they became too separated for speech - right now they were in what was called a "peak" or V formation, the ten of them, and were spread out a good fifteen to ten yards as they walked through the forests and fields of southern Molise region, patrolling looking for any Achaean trouble or such nonsense, and there was other patrols like them all sent out from the castra of their legion, Legio XV Italia. They had only recently arrived in Molise, having originally been based in northern Italy near the Rhaetian border, once their Legate, Kaseo Piliana Cyprato, had declared his allegiance to the true Roman state, the Republic, they had been rushed south - especially after Consul Belluso's demand to the Achaean "Empress" to surrender and face criminal prosecution - and that demand had four hours left before the small forces of the Republic would military force the lands back into Roman control.

The contubernia was on the third hour of their patrol, a decent amount of miles out from their castra, even with only walking a decently slow pace, and Quintus's mind was already thinking about the warm bed and the good roast beef that the canteen was serving for this day, even though he now and then would look down at the ground that was illuminated by the flashlight mounted to the side of his rifle. His radio buzzed slightly as the deep voice of Decanus Durio came over into the earpiece that was in his left ear "Increase the spread by five yards each, we have two more miles before we turn east to begin the second leg of our patrol."

Quintus compiled and spread out further from the legionnaires on either side of him and briefly turned his left wrist over to read the time, and mentally did the math that the Consul's demand had only four hours left, and as far as he had been told, they were just going to keep patrolling the empty fields that they had been for three hours so far. As his mind wandered, the contubernia continued their patrol, making their turn east to begin the second leg of their patrol which was three miles long before they would turn north again and head back to their base, and the night grew darker and darker, requiring the legionnaires to switch off their flashlights and pull down and use the night-vision gear each had attached to their combat helmet, and then the sullen patrol continued with no real excitement.

Quintus really wasn't paying attention very much, he had looked at his watch a few minutes ago when it read just a minute after 2000 hours, he was really thinking about maybe hitting the gym with his friend Avus, who was in a differing contubernia and back at base, probably sleeping, when suddenly the silence was disturbed by a loud explosion, and at that minute the military training of each legionnaire took over and they snapped into form - the laser part of the LEU rail attachment on their rifles was activated and the rifles were raised into a shooting position and they were now actively scanning their surroundings, though still advancing for maybe a hundred meters before Durio called a halt and everyone took a knee, and the chatter began on the radio "What direction was that sound from sir?"

"Sounded like it came southish, southwest of us, possibly near the border."

"Could it be Achaeans?"

"Possibly, I'm going to call it in, someone get me a compass bear-"

The words of their commander where drowned out as suddenly the familiar roar of a helicopter was heard and one in dark olive paint, appearing black due to the lack of light, zoomed overhead in a northernly direction, high off of the ground but low enough for the men to make out the appearance of rockets mounted to it "Sir, I didn't think we had any choppers on patrol"

" We don't, definitely calling back to base about this."

Durio reached to the radio attached to his belt near the nape of his back and switched the channel through it's digital interface and could be heard by the men, who at this point were now huddled in a circle around him "Ostius 3-2 to Lumen, PATROLREP Priority 1 over"

Silence on the radio for a few moments before the reply came through "Roger, Lumen to Ostius 3-2, send traffic over"

"Lumen, Ostius 3-2, loud explosion was heard from a south, south-west direction approximately three mikes ago, followed by an observation of a fly-over by an possibly tango attack helicopter, flying towards your location at a north pace, brisk speed, how copy over."

Silence followed but the legionnaires swore they heard something and some strained their ears, removing helmets, to hear the small sound of some disturbances, and this made them slightly uneasy until further radio traffic came "Ostitus 3-2, Priorty 1 Orders, abandon current patrol route and RV with 3rd Century units at coordinates 41.666061 mark 15.018440, break"

"Break-Break, all units be aware that border garrisons have been engaged by Achaean forces, PID confirmed 1 mike ago; HUMINT indicates infantry, mech and possibly air units, standby for unit orders"

"Ostius 3-2, RV with the rest of 3rd Century at provided location and from there you will be briefed, over"

"Copy Lumen, wilco, out"

Durio pulled out a map from the side pouch on his uniform, which had a plastic overlay sheet which he used to point make dots with a marker on their RV point "Alright everyone, you heard the traffic, stay at high alert, scan your horizon and keep up and keep the radio chatter to a minimum; stay in a diamond formation on me from here out, Scusorio take point"

The men did as ordered and formed a diamond formation on their commander and began moving out, no longer at a lackluster pace but at a jogging pace, with their rifles not raised by held by both hands and ready if needed to be used immediately or as required; LEU's were left on for easy use and the radioman for the unit was already dialing in his LR radio, contained in a backpack, to the Century command channel and was communicating with the Century commanders as they ran, Quintus could only slightly hear him as the adrenaline began to build up in his body - Achaean forces attacking now, it made no sense to him unless they were hoping to overwhelm them quickly and force a counter-demand.

As they were running, the voice of their radioman came over their earpieces "Sir, Centurion Bolanus has already arrived at the RV location with some of the century, said to look for a small farmhouse on a raised hill, he's deployed lights so the building will be illuminated."

Durio made a motion with his hands acknowledging the call and the squad continued to move at the brisker pace, the sound of gunfire was coming into their ears as they drew closer and closer to their destination - it was only about eight hundred meters from their position at the time of the new orders and wouldn't take them much time at all to cover, Durio even ordering his men to pick up the pace slightly as they entered what appeared to be farm fields and the men could see the farmhouse as described. They reached it within a few minutes and could see the century slowing taking it over as camo netting had been erected over the entirety of it and some engineers were installing a radio antenna and approperiate equipment inside the house, where the Centurion, as indicated by the rank on his uniform, was inside looking over some maps, men running all around the house. Durio ordered the unit to a halt outside the house and walked inside, nodding with his head at his superior "Sir, Decanus Durio reporting with my contubernia."

"At ease Decanus, we've got a hairy situation coming up. Notice that ridge of great trees northeast of here? Just on the other side of it, about a klick and a half east of it is a farmhouse, CP Faeles, which is currently held by about half of 2nd Century. It came under indirect mortar fire approximately fifteen minutes ago and then was attacked in a rocket barrage by an Achaean bird, that's the one you saw, which disabled their patrol vehicle and was followed with what has been reported by at least a battalion's worth of men crossing over the border and assaulting the post. Right now, our orders are to reinforce them and assist in it's defense and eliminate the invaders, so far I've managed to get three of our contubernia's out there and the rest of 2nd Century is additionally on the way. Our plan is simple, we will be coming in from behind them, so we shouldn't face too much fire. You're to proceed to the ridge with the remaining men of our century and then head directly to the CP; I'm going to have two of the contubernia's go a little south of you to provide an southern flank for the CP, and the rest of 2nd Century is reinforcing from the north and will attempt to flank the hostiles on their right side and we will then attempt to put them in a killbox. Mortar support will be available, we have a battery of four 80mm's at the moment, and so far we've only seen infantry units. Get your men out there, end this little siege of the CP and then report back for further orders."

" Aye sir, we'll move out immediately. "

" Good. I know you were on patrol before so a little light on gear and ammo, we got an impromptu arsenal in the back of the house, have your men stock up for the long haul."

Durio nodded and proceeded out of the house and back to his men, some who were taking sips of water and otherwise just resting on a knee "Alright men, we're going to redeploy out east, moving towards that ridge line of trees. From that point, we'll move 1.4 kilometers east to reinforce CP Faeles and end the assault of it. HUMINT indicates currently about an battalion strength of hostiles, possibly more coming. They have a gear pit in the back, everyone fill up on ammunition, grenades; Ennodius I want you to make sure you're carrying at least four rockets for that AT launcher of yours, no telling if we will have need of it or not and make sure all of you grab an IR beacon in case we get some air support. You have two minutes and then meet me back here, go."

The legionnaires snapped at the command and rushed to the gear pit, which was indeed just a rough collection of ammunition boxes, cardboard boxes containing gear and other containers all being overseen by a Armicustos, or a Quartermaster, who was trying to keep track of what was being taken but with fifty or so men all grabbing things at the same time, it was slightly not possible. The men retrieved their gear within the allotted time and then returned to Durio and they immediately resumed their jog pace out to this ridge line, which was approximately four hundred and a half meters out, and they were joined on their job by the other four contubernia's in the century, and the fifty men were running together in a coordinated formation as the Decanus's coordinated over the radio for the formation which was a rough two tier line. Once the group reached the ridge line they all paused with their rifles raised as appointed legionnaires began scanning the region below with thermal rangefinders, and once confirming that the way was clear, which was ironic because they were now close enough to hear the constant rattling of gunfire coming from the CP and the Achaean intruders, the unit continued to move out, maintaining the jog pace and the men ignored the tall grass, normally annoying as it brushed up against them at waist level but they were all now filled with adrenaline, their rifles raised and ready to execute their orders, and enemies.

Within approximately twelve minutes, they were in the fray; the two separate contubernia's were already in position approximately 177 meters and then 344 meters out from the CP, and were engaging with enemy forces who were reported to be in prone or crouched positions slowly advancing on the CP and were currently 440 meters out, with a second group 750 meters out and then another to the northeast at 452 meters out; the CP was essentially being assaulted from a number of sides, and from the sounds of radio chatter, being hit heavily. The large farmhouse, as well as the H-barriers and pre-fabricated buildings emplaced for the CP were now in full view, and the legionnaires prepared to come in the rear entrance, basically a gap in the H-barriers that surrounded the base and immediately the signs of battle were evident; two legionnaires lay slain in the center of the CP, dead from a mortar judging from the crater near them, and there were others dead by the walls, obviously from gunshot wounds multiple times over and the remaining legionnaires of 2nd Century were huddled behind the H-barrier walls firing, with some also inside the house. Immediately upon entering Quintus and his fellow legionnaires joined them in this site, running for a wall and then resting their rifle on it, his fingers quickly turning off the safety and he began looking through the simple red dot sight for targets, looking for the flashes of their muzzles or if he could make out their forms moving, and then firing off a few rounds, he even saw the grenadiers of their units firing off 40mm grenades at locations, the large flashes stood out with his NV gear.

The battle went on this way for approximately ten minutes; Quintus was sure they were winning he knew for a fact he had atleast killed four hostiles and he could see the motionless dead forms of others on the field as well and suddenly he could see they were now going to go on the offensive; the rest of 2nd century had arrived to flank from the north and had also sent from marksmen over to the CP and they had set up on the roof of the farmhouse and were being provided data from spotters and were downing Achaeans with remarkable progress; the advance plan was now simple. The southern flank was to swing right and the legionnaires from the CP were to push outward, forming a killbox and tightening the proverbial noose for these invaders, and it was quickly executed; the two contubernia's to the south had been surprisingly effective in downing the hostiles they were engaging and with well placed mortar strikes had mopped up and were now even more advanced in position then planned which worked well, and Quintus and about twenty four other legionnaires were now advancing out of the CP, mortar strikes ringing out in succession as they were used as supressive fire as the legionnaires advanced. Quintus didn't fire a round as he advanded out, first with his weapon raised and then in a sprint as he and the others formed a line a few dozen meters out; occasionally someone would fire a round, and Quintus fired off eight when he saw an Achaean soldier trying to make a run for it, easily downing the enemy soldier and after twenty minutes of the legionnaires slowly closing the box more and more, they finally fully secured the fields and ended the skirmish by 2047 hrs; they then began advancing towards a small hamlet called Vallenova, which was small hamlet that was seventeen miles north of Lucera, which was the first of two major cities being targeted in the initial assault. Since the Achaeans had made the first move, not just assaulting in this one spot but all across their border, Legio XV Italia and the two other legions, Legio XII Sarmatia and Legio III Massenia were making a three pronged assault spear-headed by armored and mechanized units for Lucera, San Severo and Potenza in the Basicilita region; the Achaeans had gotten to hear the words of Consul Belluso, and now they would face the fury of his Legions.

[Layarteb]

.:. reposted below .:.

[Terra Reborn]

His Majesty King Arthur of Apilonia, Australia and the Imperial Dominions
The Imperial Fortress, Karin City
The Duchy of Alaska, The Empire of Apilonia
Friday 18th March 2016, 1300hrs Local Time (1300hrs Imperial Capital Time, 2100hrs Zulu Time)

Although the circumstances of his birth had always meant that Arthur Karin would always one day be King, he was an historian by training and had a passion for the study of the past. It had been unsurprising that when it had been announced that then Prince Arthur was to attend the prestigious University of Washington it would be study a Bachelor of Arts in History. His professional interests had been primarily focused on two broad areas of study; military history and the classics, two perhaps very different fields but he had managed to make them work, and had graduated with first class honours. His subsequent career in the Imperial Navy had made it difficult, but not impossible, for him to keep up his studies and he had indulged wherever possible, eventually earning a Masters Degree through past-time distance learning whilst deployed abroad. Since he had become King what little time he had to himself was shared between his family and his love of history; it was not uncommon to find the King during some quiet days engulfed in some book or another. Above all else Arthur was a strong believer that those who failed to learn from history were doomed to repeat it, and as the leader of an entire Empire it was perhaps a very good thing.

Given his interest in the classics it was perhaps hardly surprising that King Arthur was very interested in the Story of Rome; particularly in the classical period but also in the years and centuries since as Rome endured. In recent years the historian inside him had died a little every time the Roman Empire, such as it was, had descended steadily into a deeper and deeper decline. Where once Rome had led the world, it had become a joke on the world stage, led by strutting fools to their detriment. To see that Rome had sunk so far was saddening to one who knew its history as well as its own people. The Empire of Apilonia had had very little dealings with Rome since the Fall of the First Empire, the only real interaction being over Malta, in which the Roman Emperor had rolled over and handed the island back to its rightful owners without a fight. Arthur had sighed heavily when he had heard, even though he should be happy that Malta had returned to the fold. What he wouldn’t give for a new Rome to rise from the ashes of this fallen one, ideally one that was friendly to the Empire.

The collapse of the Roman Empire and the forming of the Roman Commonwealth however had seemed like the final straw when it came to that particular dream, as with the Empire fracturing it would only be a matter of time before the Commonwealth followed suit in short order. When word had begun to trickle out in November 2015 he had been unable to restrain himself from a small amount of hope and excitement, which only increased as time had passed and the momentum had begun to grow within the Roman Republican movement. The King’s satisfaction and approval at this change to the state of affairs manifested itself in the form of the Empire’s Foreign Policy, which was generally supportive of what was going on. The fact that the Romans looked likely to bring Achaea to heel, albeit not willingly, only made things better, as the links between that Empire and the organisation known as Virtue, and through it the hated Republic of the Khorsuni Nation, made it the Empire’s posture towards it hostile to say the least.

Upon the election of Belluso as Consul on, of all days, the Ides of March, the Empire of Apilonia had been amongst the first to formally recognise the Roman Republic as the rightful successor, not only to the Roman Commonwealth, but the Roman legacy. The ultimatum to the Achaean Provinces had been unsurprising although Arthur had worried that it would be a little soon, given the sorry state that the Roman Military was likely in at the moment. It would be a damned shame if this new Consul’s attempt to breath new life into Rome was tainted by a military defeat at the outset; it might not bring them to their knees but it would be a far from ideal foundation upon which to build their new Republic. Given that the Roman Republic’s aim of subduing Achaea handily coincided with the Empire of Apilonia’s desire to see the threat posed by Achaea removed, Arthur would likely to be open to military options in support of Rome.

All things considered the Empire would be in a relatively good position to do just that.

Given the sheer amount of Imperial Shipping that passed through the Mediterranean, and the presence of Imperial Colonies on Gibraltar, Malta, Rhodes and Cyprus, there had already been a significant deployment of Imperial Military forces in the Mediterranean and the wider European theatre. This had only increased when the Duchy of Valencia had joined the Empire late the previous year, following the marriage between cousin and the young Duke of Valencia. If at all possible this had increased even further as a result of the Tolorian Empire’s continuing potential threat to the Imperial Shipping lanes, not to mention the potential succession of Israel from the Theocracy of Amigard. In short over recent years the Empire’s interests and concerns in the theatre had increased steadily alongside the increasing threats posed in the area, which had resulted in an increased deployment of Imperial forces to the area. Once there had just been a few relatively small defensive forces based out of each of the colonies, these had grown to larger defensive forces which had transformed in recent months to larger forces very capable of offensive operations.

The possibility of having to leverage that military strength in support of Rome had come shortly before the Roman ultimatum was due to expire. Reports had flooded in, first to Imperial Regional Command, Europe, based in Valetta on Malta, then to Imperial High Command in Alaska, of the fighting that had broken out as Achaea launched its pre-emptive strike against Roman military forces in the border regions. Fortunately it was just after midday in the Imperial Capital, and all the necessary people were still in the City and as such within an two hours of the fighting beginning the National Security Council of the Empire of Apilonia had assembled at the Imperial Fortress to brief the King, who had cancelled several appointments that afternoon. King Arthur stepped into the Situation Room beneath the Imperial Fortress and the gathered civilian and military personages inside all climbed to their feet, the military officers with more snap and vigour than their civilian counterpart. Arthur was in civilian attire, a crisp business suit, and settled into his seat at the head of the table. At first the marks of respect displayed by these officers, far senior to the rank that he had achieved in the Imperial Navy, had unnerved him, but he had got used to it easily enough.

“Good Afternoon everyone, I assume you’ve all had a chance to look through what little briefing material we’ve been able to bring together over precisely what is happening,” Arthur commented with a slight smile. “As we know precious little the purpose of this meeting is not to decide on a course of action, rather its to make sure we’re all up to speed on what we have in-theatre… Sir William.”

Field Marshal Sir William Trask was the Chief of the Defence Staff and spoke first.

“Imperial Regional Command, Europe, has been at Defence Condition Three since the New Year, as such the bulk of our forces are at Readiness Condition Four or higher,” Sir William replied promptly. “Our recommendation is to increase IRCEUR to DEFCON 2 and bring all our forces to Readiness Condition Three, so that if we can get our forces moving, we should also place the wider military at DEFCON 3.”

Sir William paused.

“We’ll obviously have Special Forces, Rapid Response Forces and IAF Quick Reaction Squadrons that can move immediatly, but we’ll want to start decreasing our readiness times in the event of needing something more significant,” Sir William added. “For more detailed rundowns we’ll go round the table… Sir Timothy?”

Field Marshal Sir Timothy Brooks, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, leant forward and spoke next.

“The Imperial Third Army has operational control over the 37th Mechanised Division, usually responsible for defence, but we can bring them together to go on the offensive, as they did in Cyprus, however they’re at REDCON Four, so they’ll take some time,” Sir Timothy said simply. “Fortunately we do have the 3rd Cavalry Division on Malta, they’re specifically designed to be rapidly deployed, not quite as quickly as IRRF but enough, so if we start preparing them they’ll be good to go by the time they’re needed.”

Marshal of the Imperial Air Force Sir William Stryker, the Chief of the Air Staff, picked up the briefing smoothly. He had once served as Imperial Regional Commandant, Europe, so he knew the theatre well and he knew how most of the Empire’s military strength was shouldered by the Imperial Air Force and the Imperial Navy, rather than the Army.

“The Imperial Air Force has a significant amount of hardware in the region, aside from the Navy we’ve been shouldering much of our strategic options in the theatre, at least before we absorbed Valencia last year, so we’re in pretty good shape,” Sir William Stryker replied promptly. “We’ve got No. 9 Group of Fighter Command, with squadrons at Malta and Rhodes, who are in prime position to provide air cover over Italy and the Aegean if need be, as well as No. 20 Group of Strike Commander, with a full wing on Cyprus, to provide us with strike options.”

Stryker paused.

“We’ve also got a full wing of bombers based out of Cyprus, meaning that we have a great deal of options with regards to high level strategic strikes against critical enemy targets,” He added. “Not to mention the various combat support and transport assets we also have in the region to support the direct combat arms, we’ve also got a Coastal Command wing available if we need to support the Navy.”

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Steven Deaver, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, took the cue and leant forwards.

“The Imperial Mediterranean Fleet will shoulder most of the burden for any operations we undertake, although we can take units and assets from the Atlantic Fleet if we need to, and given the circumstances we have a number of ships and squadrons at sea or on high readiness,” Sir Steven said evenly. “We’ve got the 5th Surface Action Group based out of Cyprus, the 13th Carrier Battle Group centred around the Reprisal based out of Gibraltar, and the 14th Carrier Battle Group around Illustrious has been deployed to the Mediterranean for several months now.”

Sir Steven paused.

“We’ve also got the Gibraltar and Rhodes Squadron, my thinking is that we keep the Gibraltar Squadron in the Straits to block any potential Khorsuni intervention into the situation, and the Rhodes Squadron to the Suez Canal to do the same, the best bet is to leave the Suez to the Layartebians and take the lead on Gibraltar ourselves, given the defences around the Rock,” Sir Steven continued promptly. “We’ve also got our Amphibious Squadrons based out of Cyprus, with their embarked Imperial Marines which will give us options for amphibious assaults should the need arise, as well as the 4th Submarine Flotilla based out of Cartagena, in short we’ve got a lot of options.”

King Arthur leant back in his chair as the briefing concluded. They certainly had a lot of options when it came to getting involved if they had to; although in the short term at least they were best suited to providing support via the Imperial Air Force or the Imperial Navy. If they needed ground troops they would have to rely primarily on either the Imperial Marines or the 3rd Cavalry Division, with the 37th Mechanized following shortly after, anything further would require deployments from either North America or Australia, which would naturally take a lot longer to organise and pull off. If they were called upon to intervene their best bet would be to make full use of their strike capabilities to support the Roman forces on the ground, whilst any ground intervention would be focused towards securing key positions or operating in support of the Romans, at least in the short term. Of course the bigger concern was that the Republic of the Khoursni Nation would get involved, which wasn’t out of the realms of possibility, however they couldn’t start making plans based on maybes and what might happen. All thy could do was watch, wait and start getting the pieces into place ready in case they were needed.

“Alright, it’s clear that we’ve got enough forces in the region to defend ourselves and put a lot of options on the table for operating in support of, or if the need ever arose, against Rome, however I don’t want to start getting bogged down on hypotheticals,” Arthur said firmly. “We know far too little about what is going on, so for starter I want to changed; get the SIS and Defence Intelligence on that immediately, also raise the DEFCON and REDCON states in IRCEUR, and anything that can assume high readiness should, let’s also get some SF and IRRF forces geared up for immediate deployment, forward deploy them to Malta if you have to… I want to be ready no matter what happens next.”

[Valinor1]

OOC Note: Part III for this post written in cooperation with Layarteb

Tribune Decaius Paronius Vola
FOB Ora, Lucerra, Legio XV Italia
Inside Damaged Hotel, Lucerra, Italia - 41.662447, 14.996877
March 19, 2016; 1047 Local Hrs

"Legionnaire, word back yet on status of the Fourth Cohort?"

The young man shook his head as he continued to monitor radio transmissions in and out of the building, not even turning to address the officer speaking to him "No sir, last update was approximately ten minutes ago, report heavy contact Viale Ovidio, receiving fire from defenders inside the buildings, they're moving but are being bogged down. Similar reports coming from the Fifth Cohort as well sir, both it and the six are struggling to maintain a foothold on the Ampitheater and the surrounding region."

The above status update was one of hundreds being relayed and decimated by the six Tribunes which served as the support staff and planners for the Legion and were third in command if the Legate was indisposed or killed. At the moment, they were all operating out of a damaged hotel that the armored counterpart of the Legio, the 7th Cohort, had seized, which was evident because the top right half of it's roof had been blown off and several holes punched through the wall but it still served as the temporary FOB of the Legion has it battled for control of the city. Control of Lucera was important because once it was secured the SS17 freeway would be open to Foggia, and doubly, the city of San Severo to the north was also being besieged, by Legio XIII Raetia who upon capture would open up the major freeway into Foggia which would allow the more armored units of that Legion to assist in the capital of the Puglia region, as Legio XIII had 3 armored cohorts, with 60 main battle tanks each, versus just one for Legio XV.

Currently, the legionnaires were enacting a encirclement and push into the city full on - members of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cohorts had already completely secured the western third of the city, basically everything west of Via Napoli which was the major road that cut the third from the rest of the city and it was currently the front lines as the three cohorts were fighting for an edge to push out the Achaeans from the San Domenico district, but as the other cohorts were facing mounting losses and being bogged down in a grueling urban brawl - HUMINT indicated that the Achaean garrison had been depleted by the first assault on the Campania border defenses but it still would have had atleast a Legion worth of men if not more, and they had the upper hand as they had been afforded some time to prepare for the onslaught - however the one thing the Romans had over them, would be, air units, specifically those coming straight in from an air base near Naples; they would be dropping munitions on pre-designated targets in the Rione Opsedale district, heavily targeting the emplaced defenses that members of the 7th and 8th Cohorts were trying to battle, and hopefully allow them to over-run and then establish a perimeter along the Viale Aldo Moro, which would then allow the Legion to button up, and fully encircle the center of the city and overwhelm the defenders there.

In addition to that, there was also word coming in from the progress of Legio VII Victra, which was bearing down on the regional capital of Potenza with it's full force, using it's ability to move quick due to it being almost an entirely mechanized force and with heavy air support from the air base from Naples as well; its why Legio XV had no air support for the last eighteen hours or so, all the bombs had been dropped down south to prevent any flank attempts out of Potenza and to allow a hard forced breach into the city, which from reports so far, had been achieved to rousing success, and now those air assets would be used to finish this city off so they could focus on the last remaining major target once Potenza fell; Foggia.

Legionnaire Quintus Virius Silo
3rd Century, II Cohort, Legio XV Italia
Luceran suburbs, Puglia, Italia - 41.662447, 14.996877
March 19, 2016; 1427 Local Hrs

"Rocket get your fucking heads down!"

Quintus only heard the words and ducked behind his cover of the rubble remains of blownout walls as a rocket flew over his head from across the road and slammed into a building behind them, setting off an explosion whose force kept him down but for the most part didn't injure him, at least not beyond the injuries he had already sustained; he and his Cohort had been in non-stop contact since the border scramble the previous evening, and it was pure adrenaline keeping him moving at this point and even then, his body was weary from the weight of his gear, the stresses of battle; his ears either stopped ringing or he just phased it our hours ago, his ear plugs were overwhelmed by the amount of ordinance going off around him. Right now, his entire Century was fighting for their lives as they tried to secure a holding on the other side of the Via Napoli and into the San Domenico district for it and it's neighboring Piazza Mercato were the last strong bastions of resistance in the city and it was widely believed that once secured, the defenders would crumble and surrender. At this point, though, all that concerned Quintus was the fire squad across the road hiding among the ruins of a cafe, and he eliminated at least two of them who had been trying to run for a new position just as Quintus came back up into the shooting stance; it took him seconds to put his sight over the lead man's head, two rounds were pulled off, one landing on the man's neck and the other going high, and then three more at the second one, all landing on his side, and both cut down and flung as their velocity was cut short by another. An Achaean soldier up high on the second story of the building, whose exterior wall had been blown off so the interior was entirely exposed, must have seen this and redirected his fire towards Quintus because three rounds landed right next to his left arm and he rolled right and fired off a burst of rounds at the man, all missing but it was enough to daze him long enough before someone else cut him down with rounds of their own.

The battle had been going back and forth like this, the dead were all around, hanging from the buildings, Roman dead in the road from their first of many failed attempts to advance - what had down it was always a new machine gun emplacement on one of the buildings, but hopefully that wouldn't matter for much longer. As Quintus continued to fight, the immediate battle space was suddenly interrupted as more then a half dozen explosions went off on the Achaean side of the road, sending massive clouds of fire and smoke into the air as eight JDAMs had been dropped on designated locations and a number of the buildings were now reduced to ground level, one even toppling over onto the road. "Over the road you slackers, go go go go!"

The Decanus behind him was urging the men on and Quintus heeded the orders, as he and the other members of his century and other centuries down the road were now rushing over the road, not uncontested, machine gun fire from further back spots cut a few of them down and Quintus and his contubernia had taken cover against the wall of a building which led into an alley way, joined by some other soldiers, making approximately twenty, though Quintus only saw his own Decanus, Durio, who was quickly and calmly speaking out orders, though his dirt covered face looked hotter "Alright, we're across but we need to seize a hold. There's a church down this alley here, we need to secure it and we're going to make it Century CP. We've got another contubernia with us, everyone stay alert and I want rifles pointed straight at all times, shoot first."

While he was speaking the legionnaires were both paying attention to their new orders and reloading magazines, chugging a quick gulp of water or otherwise readily replenishing themselves for the coming fight. The men filed out, two columns on other side of the alley way tight against the wall with four men on each side scanning the rooftops and the rest scanning forwards. Then they came up on the back end of the church, they sharply turned the corner to the right, quickly gunning down two Achaeans who were moving down it in the opposite direction and they almost immediately came under fire from defenders in the residential buildings across the street. The front two Romans were cut down in a hail of gunfire before the legionnaires burst into the ground floor of the building that was to the right of the church, medics dragging their fallen brothers into there seeing if they could render aid, while the others took positions in the few windows and immediately began returning fire; Quintus took the man wielding their squad assault weapon along with two others who were carrying an machine gun and quickly filed up the stairs, clearing the rooms before coming up to a large room that faced the eastern direction they wanted, the men knocking out the windows and immediately putting suppresive fire on the ground, Quintus and the riflemen quickly found some targets that were exposed from this angle and cut a few down, mostly those behind walls or debris in the street as the machine gun was quickly assembled and was cutting across the fronts of the buildings that were firing off rounds at the legionnaires, and it didn't take too long for Quintus too empty two of his magazines, which troubled him because he only had one remaining. "Silo, get your ass down here!"

The shout from his Decanus made him quickly move back down the stairs and towards Durio who was around a table with his combat map and two members from the other contubernia who had joined them for the moment. "Alright here's the plan. Vopita and Onnaeus here are going to lay down covering fire with their grenade launchers, I want two waves, put some 40mm's in these buildings here, here and here at ground level and then put some smoke down in the same place. We're then going to file out and move into that church, Quintus I want you on lead for our column, we're going to move fast, hit hard, get in, secure and set up. Let's move"

Quintus nodded and rushed over to the two fallen Romans, who were confirmed dead and had been tagged with a GPS tag that would be used to locate their bodies for retrieval by a cleanup unit, and removed some magazines and grenades, his long since used, from the fallen men who had no use of them anymore. He quickly moved towards the door, his column already assembled in the room and they watched as the vicious explosions of the half dozen 40mm grenades exploding on the buildings, and then the white smoke that was rolling over the defenders, obscuring their views, even though they kept firing off stray rounds. The minute the smoke cloud was a cloud, the columns moved out, Quintus on lead for his contubernia and Durio on lead for the column consisting of troops from the other contubernia. They moved down the street at jog pace their rifles still readied, the columns rapidly gunning down three Achaens on the street, and then Quintus took down one on the porch of the church while the man behind him took down another by the door. They quickly stacked up on the door and slammed it open, tossing a flashbang in before moving in, Quintus gunning down two men who were stunned and on the right side of the room and Durio gunning down one Achaean who had stumbled out from behind the altar. The columns quickly split up to clear the rooms, but there wasn't many in the church and soon Quintus and the others were moving aside the pews to against the wall to make room for equipment as Durio sat with his radioman dialing into the century command "Aes Actual, Ostius 3 Actual, I'm here with the remaining of Ostius 4, their CO is KIA. Santa Maria church along Via S. Domenico is secured, send the convoy in and have your gunners watch east, we'll provide covering fire."

"Roger Ostius 3 Actual, GEARCHECK over."

"Roger Aes Actual, yellow on rounds, yellow on 40mms, yellow on MG rounds, red on MED gear, I have 3 KIA's, 1 WIA, over."

The one WIA was a legionnaire who had taken a round to the shoulder but was still fighting on, his fighting capacity still reduced. As they awaited a convoy that would come trucking in to set up gear and deliver supplies, Quintus and the men continued to fire out from behind the fence that was on the front edge of the property and their machine gun had been relocated to the top story of the church and was now effectively firing at targets as it had a good vantage position. For the next thirty minutes they spent returning fire, until a lull was reached and Durio sent a team of eight men over to sweep the buildings, and all they had found was dead Achaeans, apparently they had overwhelmed the resistance in the area, which the men appreciated. They staid on alert but many took the lull to rest, drink water, and some even tried to eat to replenish their energy, as they awaited further orders which would only come once the CP had been established.

Another half an hour later until two medium trucks the Legion used arrived escorted by two APCs whose .50 caliber MGs were fixed east, constantly training for targets and Quintus and his fellow legionnaires were called out to help set up the CP - everything was delivered, ammunition, medical supplies, and soon even four more contubernia's who would work with Durio and the others until the rest of the century arrived at around 1614 hrs, and were briefed by the Centurion. Airstrikes, they were being informed, had been more effective then planned and the resistance towards the 5th and 6th Cohorts around the ampitheater had crumbled entirely and now they were recovering and launching a new assault on the Carmine and San Leonardo's eastern fringes, and the cohorts in Rione Ospedale had completely secured the district and were now securing the San Franceso district with assistance from 4th Cohort. Now, 1st and 2nd Cohort would launch an massive assault to secure the other half of San Domenico while 3rd moved on Cassella and would later be joined by the rest of the Legion once the other districts were secured.

The plan for Quintus and his century was simple, at approximately 1630 hrs, a massive airstrike focused on the heart of the city would commence and 7th Cohort would then launch an attack straight up Via Marrone, heading towards to secure Piazza del Duomo, while 3rd, 4th and 5th Century would move up Via Cairolli and secure the mall along Piazza Nocelli, and then await further orders.

The moveout happened at 1645, the sky was beginning to look early evening as the sun would begin to set in a few hours, and it made Quintus's already sore muscles ache as he marched down the road with a full column of 50 men on either side of the road moving; for now the century would travel together and then split as required, or commanded. The sound of battle consumed their ears, and they were on edge, despite being fatigued, as they knew they marched out into the battle once more, and truly it didn't take long. The minute they turned down their intended street, Achaean soldiers appeared from behind preset rubble or debris and began firing at the Romans, scoring a few effective hits as the rest rushed for cover; Quintus in particular snapped right into action as he sprinted for cover behind the corner of a building in an alleyway, taking a breath for two moments before snapping around the corner with his rifle raise, firing a spurt of rounds at a group of hostiles behind the remains of a car, clipping one possibly before he stopped. His ears suddenly detected the familiar loud noise of a machine gun, nearby, and he peered around the corner and noticed one had been set up in the center of the road and it was absolutely pinning most of the Romans down, he could see already four or five dead from it directly and the rest being pinned behind cover by it's fire. His mind immediately began working, he plucked a grenade from his vest, pulled the pin and cooked it for two seconds before lobbing it at the car where he had previously fired, it exploded near instantly and certainly killed the two men, in fact sending one half of one thirty meters into the middle of the road. He then sprinted from his cover two buildings up, and then took cover again in another alley. He figured he had about four hundred meters till the machine gun, so he made his advance methodical, but quick. He'd fire off rounds taking down nearby hostiles and then move up swiftly, also allowing a small number of fellow legionnaires behind him to join up.

When he got within two hundred meters, he was sitting behind a bus stop that was covered, he activated his radio "Ostius 3 Actual, Ostius 3-5, I'm approximately one hundred meters from the MG, I'm going to make a run on it, if you can, lay down fire on the other defenders."

"Ostius 3-5, Ostius 3-2 and Ostius Actual, wilco, out."

Some of his fellow legionnaires behind him dared to peer from cover despite the intense covering fire the Achaeans were putting down and began firing off short bursts at the other Achaeans, namely three other soldiers who were clumped behind the MG, about fifty meters behind, but it was enough that Quintus needed. He quickly sprinted forward, his rifle raised and began pulling the trigger rapidly, the barrel aimed straight at the gunner and his assistant who were only protected by a ring of sandbags three high; he fired off more rounds then he should off, nearly severing one of the Achaeans head from their body and his charge grabbed the attention of all the others who quickly were now focusing fire on him as he slid behind the sandbags, popping up once and taking the enemy down to his left then turning forward and putting a round in two in front of him before all he felt was a large force and he was slammed rightwards into the sandbags and then fell the floor; his chest was on fire, it felt like a God had just kicked him. His rifle was still in his hand but he was on the floor, struggling to get up and try to look down at his chest, when he heard the sound of boots rapidly approaching. He raised his rifle and tried to aim, but it was just Durio who helped him onto his feet, slightly grinning "Thank God for plate armor heh?"

All the while, Durio jabbing at the flattened round that was stuck square center in Quintus's vest, thankfully not penetrating. His fellow legionnaires praised his bold actions and they continued to move on towards their objective; the battle would ultimately rage for the entire city for a number of hours, all districts but Santa Lucca, the downtown district, were fully secured and cleared by 1941 and at 2013, the last of the Achaeans surrendered to 2nd Cohort which was rapidly advancing on their final holdouts. The initial count for losses stood at 417 KIA and a further 546 WIA for Legio XV while approximately 3,500 Achaeans had been killed, another 540 were wounded and captured and another 1,200 were taken as prisoners of war. At 2231, San Severo was secured with near similar losses from Legio XIII Raetia, who had also lost about 25 tanks to well placed mines in the tight streets where they had a hard time with agility and Legate Cyrpato had ordered a 24 hour hold to secure the surrounding countryside before assaulting Foggia, he wanted his men rested and has many wounded back out there as they could get out there, but they wouldn't let the Achaeans sit idle there, he was having the artillery which was now well within range pound on the city, first on the outskirts and then moving their way in on coordinated targets which were acquired by drone flyovers operated by the Air Force.

Consul Aurius Ostius Belluso
Senatorial Office, Curia Julia
Roman Forumanum, Rome, Italy
March 16, 2016; 1407 Local Hrs

"Look that's why you need to call him, I've already been in touch with their ambassador at their Embassy over across the Tiber, we're going to need them; three Legions isn't enough to fight off the damned Achaeans!"

Cerusea was practically chasing after Belluso who was walking with a fast pace and trying to down a refreshing cup of coffee from the paper cup in his hand, he had picked it up on his way back from the Senate session in which he had to give two, two many, speeches on the same thing and entertain even more stupider questions and now his number two was trying to aggressively convince him on a point he was still undecided on, but did agree with Cerusea on most parts. His office which the two were now entering was not anything special that he gained from his rank, no it was the same office all the other Senators inhabited - a rather small room with a single desk, many filing cabinets, and a over-abundance of paperwork that was stacked everywhere. Normally, the Consul would take up residence in the former Imperial holdings, but there was still so much in chaos over whose property they were, Valerians or the states, and with this war coming up, it was a non-issue for the time being. "While I want to repair the alliance with the Layartebians, I'm just not so sure I want to involve them. What if I involve them, and Alexia calls in Khorsuni? We are still allied for the time being, as much as I dislike that, and you and I both know, the minute they move, anything Apilonian and Layartebian is going to go red-hot and we're going to have regional conflict number one million right here in our backyard, and I refuse to allow that. I still think Canada is a solid option, which is why I'm still leaving tonight, if I can convince Palmerston to join us, we could have all of their forces and resources and it'd be a big enough boost I think. "

"Aurius, listen, we're going to need outside help. Even if you get Palmerston to join, or just give aid, it'll take some weeks and that deadline is coming in days. At the very least, give the Emperor a call, then call the British. They could help with Greece, ever since they buried the hatchet with Lacoze things up north have been stable enough for them to move, despite their still cold relations with the Cots."

Aurius nodded in conclusion and moved away from Cerusea, who was now moving to a small cabinet that where he knew Aurius kept wine, at least the good stuff. He poured himself a bottle as Aurius took a seat on the worn-out simple chair that was behind his desk and tried to sort out the stacks of paperwork so he could access the phone, which was buried under a half-stack of the manila folders of varying thicknesses. He looked at Cerusea one more time and chuckled, "I can't believe I'm about to call one of the most powerful man on the planet, from this rinky-dink little office and this old phone. You're sure it's going to be encrypted?"

Cerusea waved his hand as he finished taking a sip of wine, "Yes, yes, I talked with the Senate security services and they've encrypted your line has much as they can. Probably not the same degree that your caller gets, but this works."

Aurius nodded and dialed the number that the Layartebian ambassador had provided and waited as he heard it ring.

Thousands of miles away on Governors Island, the line routed to the switchboard and from there, Aurius passed on a special code word given to him by the ambassador - "lighthouse" - and waited through a series of switches, clicks, and hums. The next voice he heard was the voice of Judy Mitchell, the Emperor's 33 year old receptionist who was the youngest when she was hired and was now his go-to girl practically. "Office of the Emperor, please authenticate your code word and identity." Before her was a small notepad with the code word and identity she was waiting to hear. She already knew the origin of the call, the phone said so, all she needed now were the peculiar details. Aurius' code word was his own and it would work only this one time, in this one situation.

Aurius heard the young woman and has instructed spoke into the phone, his English a little husky, it’d had been a long time since he had learned and used the language “Octavian, Consul Belluso for the Emperor please, my code word is ‘light house.’”

“One moment sir, let me pass you through to the Emperor,” with a few pushes of a button, Judy patched the call through to the Emperor who was waiting at his desk. He’d been given the warning when the switchboard picked up the call and thus, he was ready.

When the phone rang, he took the patch and lifted the handset to his ear, “Consul Belluso, it’s good to speak with you this morning, well afternoon in your case.”

Belluso smiled as the words came in through the phone “Emperor, it is indeed good to be speaking with you this afternoon, I hope I didn’t force too early of a wake up call, I’m just happy I managed to un-earth my phone, we’re a bit too caught up with this Achaea thing and I’m still in my tiny Senate office. Anyways, to end the derail as you say I believe, Achaea is precisely why I’m calling. Now, I have issued my demand to “Empress” Alexia, pains me to even call her that, and to be honest, I fully expect her to let it expire and force my hand. As much as I’d like for my movement to remain peaceful, her mental stability is considerably lacking in my opinion, which is why we’re preparing for war.. As far as we can tell, the Achaeans have roughly six Legions in this part of their lands, which would roughly equate to a full division for your system of organization. Right now, I have half of those forces; now, I am confidant that my men can win this battle, I am going up against a formidable enemy here that controls lands across the Aegean, and I’m concerned this could go very poorly for me if that insane person they call an Emperor sends reinforcements from Greece and Egypt. Valerian did our relationship poorly, but as with many things, I fully intend to undo everything he did, especially in regards to our relations, to this effect, I’m bluntly asking for Layartebian assistance in this Achaean matter.”

These were the words the Emperor had been fearful to hear, “Layartebian assistance” because in truth, the assistance that the Empire could render was paltry, at best. “I’m afraid our assistance is limited. As you’ve no doubt seen, the situation in Mexico and South America is reaching the boiling point and we have a significant number of forces committed to the peace and stability there. I’m afraid the majority of our resources are already levied against that theater of operations and conflict, like with Achaea, is a virtual guarantee. It’s just a question of when it will occur.

“In the Med though we are prepared to sure up our positions. I have directed a snap buildup of forces on Crete, Altis, and Stratis. Our objective is to ensure that the Achaeans do not get overzealous and look to strike our territories, or worse, invade them for annexation. In the same vein, we’re preparing to rapidly build up our forces in the Sinai to protect the Suez Canal. It has never sat well with Achaea that we continue to hold dominion over the Suez Canal and we’ll be damned if we allow ‘Empress’ Alexia to utilize this opportunity to seize it. In short order Consul Belluso, we’re going to put over 100,000 men into the Eastern Mediterranean as fast as we can but their capabilities will be limited. They’re mainly going to be required to prevent Achaea from seizing our islands or the Suez Canal.

“In addition, we’re to have four carrier groups and two amphibious groups. One of these carrier groups can provide limited assistance in the Ionian Sea but they may not be well situated. In our present situation what we’re looking at for a means of assistance would be to allow your forces to base off our islands, if need be, and to provide you with real time intelligence as to the movements of Achaean forces in and around the Aegean Sea. I can tell you, with confidence, that any naval group attempting to exit the Aegean Sea may find itself within our gunsights.” The Emperor offered for not, not much but the best he had. He would bring up “other matters” shortly though, matters that could spiral the whole defensive arrangement out of sync.

Though Aurius slightly grimaced on his end of the phone, he completely understood. Layarteb couldn’t be solely focused on this part of the world, a nation of that nature had interests dividing its limited attention at points all across the globe, and this war had picked the wrong time to begin “Understandable Emperor, I can’t expect you to give me your undivided attention, after all we’ve hardly met. Putting joking aside, we’re going to do our best to get this war through and put that crazy woman behind bars. I’m going to be flying to our former Canada holdings to meet with Mr. Palmerston in hopes they can give us some aid and rejoin the fold, or at least the former. Speaking with my defacto top ranking Legate, our naval assets are a mix of things at the moment, everything is very disorganized and the pieces are still falling into place, though I do want to make one thing completely clear, no one from my office will be asking anything of Virtue, aside to stay away and let us handle it. I believe we have enough forces to overrun their Italian holdings easily, it’s just their oversea ones that will probably give us trouble, but to that end I have a few more phone calls after you to place to try and solve that. I thank you for your time, I’m going to be in contact more once this is over, I have a lot of work to do to repair the damage of the madman who was my predecessor.”

“For the time being, I am truly sorry I cannot give you more. I can guarantee you that any move by Achaea to act against our holdings in the Eastern Mediterranean will be met with such swift and violent force that Empress Alexia will wish to all things holy that she had chosen a different course of action. Her military is going to see our build up and they’re going to wonder what is going on, if we have anything planned. To prevent a conflict, I am going to direct our consulate in Athens to signal that we’re merely being defensive, that we do not intend offensive action. We’re only acting in the interests of self-defense. If any violence comes it will be her hand that forces it and I can guarantee you it will be her last act.

“Insofar as Virtue is concerned, we do appreciate your leaving them out of this. I don’t have to tell you how the Empire feels about Virtue. I can promise you though that should Khorsun become involved it would destabilize the situation greatly. While we fully intend to deny them access via the Suez Canal, we cannot speak for what our Apilonian allies will do with Gibraltar or whether we can stop air transports easily enough. However, I can say with the utmost confidence that should Khorsun become involved, the Layartebian posture to this whole situation will change dramatically. I do wish you the best of luck and all luck in that matter. My administration is rooting for you to be successful in bringing the renegades to justice. You have my guarantee that when this situation is settled, you and I can work through the past few months. Our nations have over two hundred years of good history between ourselves, I see no reason to toss that away.”

“I completely understand you on the Khorsuni subject, to keep you ahead on briefs then most of my government, I fully intend to review our whole relationship with them once this matter is resolved, but that’s another day, and another fight. Suffice to say, we will do everything in our power to keep them out of the conflict, I have no desire to see them fighting on my lands in my war. I am eager to the follow up phone call once I have Alexia in chains, but until then Emperor, I bid you Salve as my people say.”

[Layarteb]

.:. reposted below .:.

[Terra Reborn]

Admiral The Viscountess Stanford DCS DSO DSC**
HMS St Angelo, Valetta
The Crown Colony of Malta, The Empire of Apilonia
Saturday 19th March 2016, 1500hrs Local Time (0400hrs Imperial Capital Time, 1400hrs Zulu Time)

Alice Stanford, as she was before all her ranks and titles were considered, stood on the upper battlements of HMS St Angelo, the Imperial Navy stone frigate that served as the Headquarters of the Imperial Mediterranean Fleet, and looked out at the Grand Harbour of Malta. Located at the very centre of the harbour Fort St Angelo, as it had been known before the Imperial Navy had taken up residence, commanded an impressive view of the harbour and it was obvious why the Admiralty had chosen St Angelo when the headquarters of the Mediterranean Fleet had moved from Gibraltar to Malta the previous year. The Imperial Navy now watched over one of its most vital trade port and naval bases, with a massive white ensign flying over fortifications, visible across the Grand Harbour, as a reminder that the harbour was under the protection of the Imperial Navy. At any given time there were a number of Imperial Warships at Malta, the 4th Patrol Flotilla which ensured the protection of the imperial shipping lanes in the Mediterranean was based at Malta, and given the presence of a Royal Dockyard, many other ships frequently stopped at Malta as well.

Indeed, looking down from her position Stanford could see a lot of activity going on within the naval context. The 14th Carrier Battle Group, based around the Intrepid-Class Supercarrier HMS Illustrious had puled into the Grand Harbour the previous afternoon, bringing with it the 14th Escort Squadron, consisting of one Tiger-Class Light Cruiser, four Type-45E Destroyers and six Type-26 Global Combat Frigates. The Illustrious and her group had deployed from their Gulf Coast base in North America on a standard six month cruise of the Mediterranean, marking a return to the regular deployment of two Imperial Aircraft Carriers to the Mediterranean Fleet, a development that Stanford was very, very pleased about. The Illustrious had been due to head back home, however with the escalating situation the Admiralty had approved her request that her deployment be extended, hence why she was alongside taking on additional supplies. The commissioning of her sister ship, HMS Invincible, had recently taking place and she was working up for deployment, but there would have been a few weeks gap time, a gap that Stanford would much prefer to avoid during times of tension such as these.

Stanford had served in the Mediterranean Sea for some years now in various roles, originally as mere Commodore of the Gibraltar Station, and in her time she had seen the Imperial naval presence grow from that one small squadron to a powerful fleet that rivalled some national navies in the area. A fleet that she had at her finger tips as Commander-In-Chief of the Imperial Mediterranean Fleet. It was not uncommon for her, especially when the fleet was in, to come up here on the battlements and look out at the ships whose destiny she held in her dainty hands. She was young for her rank, having distinguished herself during a period when the Navy was being rapidly expanded, and had rapidly ascended the ranks as a result of that and her service, though none would doubt her achievements, nor her competency for command. Given her intimate knowledge with the theatre her assignment as CINCMED had been extended for another two years, and it was entirely likely that she would go on to serve as Imperial Regional Commandant for Europe in due course, with the situation in the Mediterranean, and Europe in general, looking to get increasingly interesting, the Admiralty was eager to maintain its experience in-theatre.

“Somehow I knew I’d find you up here.”

Stanford turned with a smile on her face as she heard the voice behind her. A male officer, wearing the same No.3WA tropical service uniform as she was, with the same shoulder boards of gold broad as her, was walking towards her with a matching smile beneath his peaked cap. He reached up and removed his cap, and she had barely done the same with her tricorn when he swept her up in his arms and twirled her around, laughing like a child, before placing her back down and kissing her firmly on the lips.

“Well what do you expect when the Admiralty, after making me spend months transferring my headquarters from Gibraltar to Malta, gives me a headquarters with views like this,” Stanford replied with a grin. “Besides, I didn’t see you complaining whenever we climbed the Rock of Gibraltar to take in the view, mainly cos you spend most of your time kissing my face off, Nicholas Harrington.”

Admiral The Earl Harrington, or Nicholas Harrington as he was known to his friends, was Stanford’s counterpart in the Atlantic, CINCLANT (Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet), and had for several years now been her lover. Initially they had kept their relationship a secret, although it proved an open secret given that even the Admiralty had started to send copies of orders to one of them to the other’s commands, just in case. They had at first been concerned that the Admiralty would disapprove of a relationship between two such senior commanders, particularly given they were technically in the same (albeit broad) chain of command, IRC Europe, however ultimately the Admiralty had clearly decided that the separation of commands was sufficient and, aside from anything else, the two had proven their ability to be trusted to behave properly, and Admiral Griffin, the Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel had subtly given his blessing. Given this they had decided, the previous year in fact, to get engaged and go public about their engagement. Indeed it seemed that pretty much every flag officer in the fleet had been aware of what was going on, despite their best efforts, if the number of congratulations that they had received was anything to go by. And in the internal social scene of the Imperial Navy’s Officer Corps the impending nuptials were a highly sought after invitation.

“You have a very kissable face,” Harrington replied wryly. “However, the question does remain, why are you up here, and in uniform no less, on a Saturday?”

Stanford nodded and grimaced. It was not unusual for Harrington to regularly come out to Malta to see Stanford for the weekend, or for the reverse to occur and Stanford to travel to Scapa Flow to see Harrington, indeed the opposite was true, it was unusual for them not to. However most times when Harrington arrived Stanford was at her Malta house, rather than at St Angelo working. Fortunately Harrington usually travelled in uniform, meaning that he was suitably attired to make an appearance at St Angelo; his presence so common that, at his orders, the HMS St Angelo staff had stopped making a song and dance overtime he appeared.

“This bloody Roman-Achaean situation, my staff is putting plans together,” Stanford replied. “Indeed they’re due to give me an updated report on our disposition, it’d be useful if you could do the same for Atlantic Fleet, if you don’t mind an impromptu briefing, perhaps tomorrow?”

“Ah, so my visit here isn’t purely for pleasure,” Harrington grinned.

“I’ll make it up to you tonight,” Stanford replied demurely, kissing him softly. “Come on, the sooner we get started the sooner it’s over.”

Harrington smiled and nodded his head and followed her from the battlements into the, mercifully air-conditioned, interior of HMS St Angelo and through the stone corridors until they reached the CINC Briefing Room where her senior staff was waiting for her. They all jumped to their feet and snapped to attention as she entered the room, although she didn’t miss the small smiles that were exchanged as Harrington followed her into the room. She gave her Chief of Staff a very old-fashioned look as she settled into her seat at the end of the table.

“Good Afternoon everyone, thank you for gathering on a Saturday, given that he was, um, fortuitously on Malta, I’ve asked Admiral Harrington from Atlantic Fleet to join us,” Stanford began, a small smile daring anyone to exchange smiles of their own. “The purpose of this meeting is to make sure we’re all on the same page, so we don't start getting too smart for our own good… Dame Ashley?”

Vice Admiral Dame Ashley Kincaid was, perhaps, the biggest asset that Stanford and the Mediterranean Fleet had, from a personnel point of view. A decorated combat officer and a strong proponent of the effectiveness of the heavy surface vessel, the battleship and the battlecruiser, she now served as Commander, Naval Surface Forces Mediterranean (COMSURFMED), responsible for all the surface vessels, which in the Imperial Navy included everything from the largest aircraft carrier or battleship to the smallest patrol boat. As such she was the lead commander for most operations, and as such was formally designated as second-in-command in the event of Stanford’s incapacitation, as Imperial Navy fleet’s did not have Deputy CINC billets.

“We’re in a very fortunate position, as those of us blessed with the gift of sight will have noticed on their way in this morning, in that we have two Carrier Battle Groups currently in-theatre, the Thirteenth based around Reprisal and the Fourteenth based around Illustrious,” VADM Kincaid began with her unique style of wit. “The Reprisal and her group are currently deployed in the Aegean Sea, our options for Illustrious are pretty broad, and my thinking is to keep her at or near Malta until we know exactly where ewe’ll need her.”

VADM Kincaid took a breath before continuing.

“We’re also blessed to have the 5th Surface Action Group in theatre, four of her six battlecruisers and her escorts are available for deployment, and indeed two of them are already at sea, the other two are alongside Cyprus,” She said. “One is operating in support of the Reprisal in the Aegean, the other in support of the Gibraltar Squadron in securing the Straits of Gibraltar against any potential Khorsuni entanglements.”

She paused again.

“We’ve also got all the 11th Amphibious Assault Squadron holding position in the central Mediterranean with her embarked Marine landing force, with another working up to mobilisation status at Cyprus,” VADM Kincaid added. “The Rhodes Squadron is at sea around Rhodes, forming a perimiter, and the 4th Patrol Flotilla is undertaking their standard deployments along the shipping lanes, so our duties in that regard won’t be neglected.”

Stanford nodded, satisfied with the current disposition of her surface assets. Without any firm information about precisely where they were needed and what they were going to do there was little else she could do.

“Alright, thank you Ash,” Stanford said with a nod, turning to her next senior command. “Vice Admiral Edwards?”

Vice Admiral William Edwards was a solid enough officer, he wasn’t the poster child that VADM Kincaid was, but he had proven himself in numerous campaigns, first as a Naval Aviator and then as a Carrier Battle Group Commander. His current assignment as Commander, Naval Air Forces Mediterranean meant that he was responsible for the training, admin and (when not deployed aboard a carrier) the operational control over all Naval Aircraft in-theatre, including the Carrier Air Wings and any other assets. It was a less operational duty billet than SURFMED but it was just as important in ensuring that the Imperial Navy’s carrier strike capability was maintained and effectively employed.

“Carrier Air Wing Thirteen is currently stationed aboard the Reprisal, they and the carrier just came off a three month self-maintenance period so they’re a little rusty, but they’ve all been working together for eighteen months now, so they’re in good shape,” VADM Williams replied. “Carrier Air Wing Fourteen aboard Lusty are at the end of their first six month deployment of their two year rotation, after six months at sea and their month and a half at BOST before deploying, they’re right on the cutting edge at this point, so we’re in good shape from a carrier strike perspective.”

Stanford nodded, there wasn’t much to say that VADM Kincaid hadn’t already covered. NAVAIRMED, as a command, was primarily responsible for force provision, rather than operational control, especially as all maritime patrol aircraft were, currently, under the auspices of IAF Coastal Command. Stanford knew through her contacts at the Admiralty however that they were about to launch another Parliamentary effort to disband Coastal Command and give the MPAs and MSB squadrons handed over to the Navy, a chance that Stanford strongly supported.

“Vice Admiral Harper?”

Vice Admiral Jack Harper was, like VADM Williams, a solid officer with a good record. He had commanded submarines at sea for quite some time and had subsequently commanded various submarine squadrons and flotillas before taking up his current position as Commander, Naval Submarine Forces Mediterranean.

“I’ve sortied four of our Astute-Class boats from HM Naval Station Cartagena, two were already in the eastern Mediterranean and have began to make their way into the Aegean ready to hunt down hostile shipping if the need arises,” VADM Harper replied. “The other two are available for taking, and I’m going to try and get another one or two underway to lurk around the Straits in support of surface forces.”

Stanford nodded once more, everyone now had a good picture of where all the Fleet’s assets were currently deployed and how they fitted in with their plans. What would happen now was that they would all break up into various planning cells and work together to get a good operational plan together. Fortunately for her plans with Nicholas, Stanford didn’t impose herself on that planning process, in her experience staff worked best when their Admiral wasn’t hovering over their shoulders, her job was to make decisions, not to become too heavily involved. Her Chief of Staff in particular would know what sort of things she would approve and they ensure that the planning in the right direction. Aside from setting the direction she wanted to go in, and look at the strategic picture, her job was also to liaise with the other branches through IRC Europe. Of course this evening she would be taking some well deserved R&R, she’d been working damn hard throughout the past week.

“Alright then everyone, I know we have precious little information on what exactly is going to happen so I want our focus to be covering as much as possible whilst ensuring we can concentrate forces wherever we need them as quickly as possible,” Stanford said firmly looking around at her senior commands and flag staff. “We’ve always managed to do things on a shoestring in the Mediterranean Fleet, we don’t have to do that any more, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to make the most of what we have at hand, I have every confidence we’ll be able to face whatever challenges await us, so let’s be about it everyone.”

With that the staff broke apart to get started on their work leaving Stanford and Harrington walking the corridors, the few junior officers and ratings were moving about made way for them easily enough, given their rank and positions. With her staff getting to work Stanford felt more confident about leaving them to it, and after not seeing Harrington for several weeks, for various reasons, she wanted to make the most of the few days she’d have with him before this situation.

“So, where do you want to get dinner?” Harrington enquired.

“Well, there’s a new restaurant in the old city, our favourite place on Gibraltar set up a branch here, their first part of a franchise,” Stanford replied with a smile that provoked a raised eyebrow. “So maybe I made the investment to give them the funds to do it! What’s the point of being wealthy if you can’t do extravagant things like that.”

Harrington merely laughed.

“Alright, it’ll be just like old times,” He smiled. “Lead the way, my dear.”

[Marimaia]

March 19, 2016, 13:00hrs [UTC-3]
La Casa Rosada
Buenos Aires, United Provinces of La Plata

Supreme Director Francisco Diego Velasquez had never been known for possessing a particularly sunny disposition, and recent events had done nothing to dispel that reputation. A year which had started well enough now saw increasing complications arise for the United Provinces, firstly in the form of the Mexico situation and now the apparent outbreak of hostilities between member-states of the Roman Commonwealth. As Velasquez took his seat at the impressive desk in his office in preparation for a live television address Rome was the only thing on his mind, as he could foresee the unfortunate implications of the Roman states engaging in a drawn out conflict. The international organisation known as Virtue could be irreparably damaged by member nations going to war with each other, particularly if they began pulling other members into the conflict; the idea of a Virtue civil war was not an outcome that Velasquez or anyone else in the Platinean government wished to see. Unfortunately La Plata was in no real position to intervene in any substantial way. Geographically they were separated from the warring states by the Atlantic Ocean and the Platinean Naval Defense Force was primarily a green-water navy with no real global power projection capability, so any Platinean naval involvement would be a token gesture at best. There did exist the possibility of transporting troops by air, but logistical considerations meant that it would take forever to build up any meaningful presence in the region and more than likely the conflict would be over before Platinean ground troops were in any position to take action. The Platinean Defense Forces were focused almost exclusively on the protection of the Platinean homeland in the Southern Cone of South America and that meant that they could play no feasible role in the 'Roman situation'.

Velasquez was also somewhat irritated that he could not really speak out in favour of one side over the other. The Platinean S.I. (Secretariat of Intelligence) had been reporting their suspicions that Empress Alexia of Achaea was trying to build closer ties with the Khorsuni government and if that were true then La Plata could end up on the opposite side of a conflict from the Khorsuni because, in all honesty, Velasquez wanted Consul Belluso to triumph. The two had a great deal in common from the perspective of the Platinean dictator as Velasquez saw Belluso as a fellow strongman determined to rebuild and strengthen his nation. Unfortunately La Plata could not really risk supporting Belluso if it could bring them into conflict with the Khorsuni government so it had been decided that La Plata would adopt a neutral position in this internal conflict. Of course, if it turned out that the Khorsuni were actively siding with Alexia then the Platineans would quickly throw what support they could behind Belluso and claim that they were only doing so to try and balance the situation. For now though, Velasquez had to present La Plata as a neutral friend to all states involved in the Roman conflict. As he received the signal from one of his aides who was positioned behind the television cameras in the office, Velasquez clasped his hands together and rested them on the desk in front of him as he began to speak.

"My fellow Platineans, I speak to you this afternoon on a matter of grave importance. As many of you will have heard by now, conflict has erupted in Europe between the Roman Republic and the nation of Achaea. I am certain that you can imagine my concern at these hostilities as both of these nations are valued members of the organisation known as Virtue, and as such are both valued friends and partners of the United Provinces of La Plata.

"I wish to take this opportunity to appeal to both Consul Aurius Osius Belluso in Rome and Empress Alexia Comnenus in Athens. There is no need for hostilities between member nations of Virtue. I implore both sides in this conflict to declare a ceasefire so that we can reach a peaceful and permanent resolution to the differences which have arisen between your respective governments. As a friend to both nations, I wish to make it clear that La Plata will not choose sides in this conflict. We believe that it would be impolitic for any non-Roman Virtue state to intervene in this conflict as that intervention could only exacerbate the situation and turn it into a much wider confrontation between nations. As a friend to both nations, the United Provinces of La Plata will offer ourselves as a middleman for the purposes of bringing both sides to peace talks so that there is no extended warfare or loss of life in this conflict.

"Consul Belluso, Empress Comnenus. Step back from the abyss, there is still an opportunity to stop this from escalating even further. Make sure that you have not rushed headlong into open and protracted warfare without exhausting all other avenues to resolve your disputes. You both rule successor states of the Roman Empire, you share a common ancestry. Your nations are family to each other, and your nations are family to the United Provinces of La Plata by dint of Virtue. Remember this before too many innocent people lose their lives, and allow us to help you find a resolution to the dispute which has arisen between you."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 19, 2016, 13:15hrs [UTC-3]
Hotel Imperio
Buenos Aires, United Provinces of La Plata

As he finished watching Supreme Director Velasquez giving his live speech on television, Felix Elizondo gave a short round of somewhat sarcastic applause, much to the amusement of those in the Presidential Suite with him. While Velasquez and the Platinean government could not actively involve themselves in the conflict between Belluso and Alexia, the Escorpión Azul cartel which had put him in power had no real impediment to meddling in the situation. Ordinarily they would not have paid much attention to a conflict between nations in Europe but the involvement of Empress Alexia had attracted Felix to the idea of interfering; to say that he disliked her was something of an understatement. On their first (and only) meeting Alexia had tried to use her 'feminine wiles' to make him more pliable to her agenda, forever earning Felix's enmity as his relationship with a male model named Matías (now his husband) had been constantly covered by the Platinean media at every turn, particularly by the Canal 9 network which Felix owned. It was hard to tell precisely why Felix despised her, whether it was for trying to influence him or because she had obviously never paid much attention to his glaringly high public profile, but suffice to say that he dearly loved the idea of taking her down. There was of course the side consideration that she knew the truth about him being the head of one of the world's largest and most powerful drug cartels, and it would be rather useful to see her removed from office in case she ever tried using that information. In Felix's mind it would be easier to dismiss her as a liar if she was just some ranting deposed dictator rather than a recognised head of state.

"Ignore everything that my dear Francisco just said, Alexia needs to be taken down. She was the one who declared war on Belluso, she's the one who's standing in the way of Roman reunification, and above all-"

"She's a bitch?"

Felix beamed at Benito Garza Salamanca, the Mexican 'refugee' from the Gulf Cartel who had proven to be disturbingly good at reading Felix's personality. "Precisely, I couldn't have said any better myself. Now as we all know, wars can be expensive. Loyalty can also be expensive. Consul Belluso is going to need money far more than he needs more troops and that is one area where we can definitely help him. The only problem is that Belluso is going to be under a ton of scrutiny from every nation on the planet because he's one of the national leaders involved in this conflict, nevermind the scrutiny he could potentially be facing at home. That means that we can't just turn up and offer him help because if it got out that the Consul of the Roman Republic was taking assistance from a South American drug cartel then everyone would look more favourably on Alexia. So we need a way to help Belluso without him knowing that we're helping him."

There was a great deal of discussion amongst the gathered cartel lieutenants until Ricardo Sanchez, Escorpión Azul's 'chief financial officer', spoke up. "What about that guy who was mentioned when Belluso first popped up? What was his name?"

Benito quickly used the search engine on his smartphone. "Aucius Orius Cerusea, I think that's the one. Apparently he helped to bring Campania into the Roman Republic." He continued looking through the search results. "You know what, this might be worth chasing up. He's a Senator and people talk about him like he's Belluso's second-in-command."

Felix took a draw on his cigarillo as he mulled over the information. "So we approach Cerusea with an offer of assistance, that could work. I'm sure we've got someone in Rome...Alejandro, check who it is and get them clued in about the plan."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 19, 2016, 21:30hrs [UTC+1]
Rome, Republic of Rome

Due to the size of Escorpión Azul, Felix could not be expected to remember everyone who was part of the organisation but he was indeed correct that they had someone in Rome. Nicolás Maldonado had been a low-level functionary under several governments before he was recruited into the cartel, and his affiliation had done wonders for his career since the Platinean regime had come to power. Nicolás was now stationed as Deputy Head of Mission at the Platinean embassy in Rome, continuing the cartel's policy of having at least one operative in every Platinean embassy on the planet for purposes of observation and, whenever possible, exploiting business opportunities. He was enjoying a glass of Chianti at his well-appointed apartment when his smartphone chimed to indicate that he had received a text; upon checking, the text was from an unidentified number and simply read "E-mail".

Nicolás knew precisely what this meant and promptly opened his laptop computer, accessing his personal email account and opening the latest message which had come in. On first glance the message appeared to be a poorly-worded spam email without any attachments or links, the sort of email that someone might delete without a second thought. Given his affiliations, Nicolás knew better. He clicked 'select all' and then 'copy' to acquire the text of the email, closed the web browser and then opened an application on his desktop marked 'Translation'. An empty box with a text prompt opened and Nicolás pasted the email's text into the box, then clicked the option marked 'translate'. He allowed himself a wry smirk as the program deciphered the email text into an actual communique from the cartel; Escorpión Azul's 'information specialist' Alejandro Madrazo had developed the program and the cipher code it used as a method for the cartel to relay information while reducing the risk of it being intercepted and used against them.

After reading through the communique, Nicolás realised that it would be relatively simple for him to arrange a meeting with Cerusea thanks to his own position within the Platinean embassy. He would contact Cerusea's office to arrange the meeting once he got into work in the morning.

[Layarteb]

OOC: Re-rewrote all of the posts because A) I completely blundered the OOB and B) I completely blundered the timing.

March 15, 2016 - 19:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Layarteb City, New York
Fortress of Comhghall
(40° 41' 28" N, 74° 0' 58" W)

When Emperor Wright - the Emperor - assumed his position on July 4, he had done so underneath the dark spectre of the collapse of the Roman Empire and worse, the alliance of historical Roman lands with the organization known as Virtue and one of the Empire's worst enemies, the Republic of the Khorsuni Nation. Despite the split, despite Valerius' resignation, and despite the rise of Empress Alexia, the Layartebian government never truly bought on to the fact that the entirety of the Roman government wanted to sever its closeness with Layarteb; after all, the two nations had history dating back to 1492 when Catholic missionaries from Rome first arrived on Layartebian soil, "to spread the word of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior." Even if they weren't well received by the pagan Layartebians - in fact many of them had died horrid deaths - by the 1700s and the Republic's formation, the Roman Empire was one of Layarteb's staunchest allies.

To the Emperor and to many within the Layartebian government, the prospect that everyone in the Roman government was willing to toss aside over five hundred years of history was an alien concept and so, for that reason, the Layartebian government decided to wait it out, playing the long game. They knew that within the ranks of the Roman government there would arise opposition to the new plan, to the dissolution of the world's oldest nation, to the rise of Empress Alexia in Achaea as the strongest executive in the former Roman Empire. Relations with Roman Canada were unaffected but Roman Canada wasn't Rome itself. It had always been separated by an ocean rather than a sea. Furthermore, the Layartebian government knew that other levels of internal opposition would arise, specifically from the Roman military. For centuries, the two militaries had fought side-by-side in various conflicts, they had trained together, supplied one another, and so on and so forth. Then, in July 2015, the military was told to adopt a new level of thinking, that the Empire was the enemy.

Empress Alexia and Virtue trashed "Layartebian imperialism" but the irony and hypocrisy of the call was laughable. The Empire had learned how to be imperialistic from the Romans, who had invented imperialism and cast it upon the world. No nation in history stood more imperialistic than the Roman Empire and Layartebian imperialism was merely an imitation of it out of the great respect the former Emperor held for the Roman Empire and it's thousands of years of history.

So, when November 2015 came and there arose a sense of excitement. The Empire's networks in Rome had never been fully dismantled and though the Achaeans had made it a point to roll up as many agents and assets as they could find, they only hindered the networks, they didn't destroy them. So it was through these old networks that word of Senator Aurius Osius Belluso's desire to reunify the Roman Commonwealth under one, central banner reached the Layartebian executive. Senator Belluso was moving cautiously and quietly but he was moving nonetheless. Of course, at this time, Layartebian attention wasn't being siphoned off by other problems. Then December came and word reached the Empire that Belluso was working on Sardinia and Rhaetia, that Campania and Venetia were on board, and that the momentum behind the move was gaining real traction.

But then January came and the Empire's attention had to be diverted. Los Soldados de Puebla had arisen in Mexico and what little order and stability still clung on in Mexico was about to be erased. While Belluso moved in the background, the Empire was hard pressed to do anything in support but then again, there was nothing to do. The Emperor had agreed with his National Security Council in mid-summer that any Roman reunification had to be seen as entirely Roman. It was Roman-born and thus it had to be Roman-led. There couldn't be any Layartebian influence as there could be two potentially fatal outcomes. First and foremost, it could incense the Roman public and drive them away if "Layartebian meddling" were exposed. Secondly, it could undo any hope that a repairing of relations could be had, which the Empire so much wanted to achieve.

The chaos in Mexico, which soon put war with Sergipe on the very near horizon, meant that the Empire had to focus its attention and its resources. So in February 2016, when Belluso secured the support of five of the nine former Roman states, the Layartebian government had little to offer. The excitement of just four months earlier had turned into dread when Belluso contacted the Emperor with the desire to repair relations and secure help against Achaea. The Emperor had to give the Roman a plain and straightforward answer and he had.

The Empire had, for some years, formulated a plan designed to defend the Roman capital from invasion. The Roman capital was seen as the center of knowledge in the world given its libraries, architecture, art, and history. If any invading force threatened to encroach upon that, the Empire would enact Operation OCEAN BLUE. OCEAN BLUE would put 550,000 Layartebian troops in and around the Roman capital with one and only one purpose, to defend the Roman capital from invasion against whatever enemy, foreign or domestic, threatened to harm it. Yet OCEAN BLUE was very resource heavy and though it could be launched unilaterally if need be, war with Sergipe needed to take precedence as it was a clear and present danger to Layartebian national security. There was no invasion force threatening the Roman capital and none that could be formulated at the drop of a hat.

The Emperor explained this much to Belluso telling him that the Empire was more than willing to forget the past few months and move on to a new chapter with a new unified, Roman state. Belluso could count on Layartebian support against Achaea but it wouldn't be massive. EURCOM had forces but insofar as resources were concerned, the Empire couldn't allocate too many because of the situation. Sergipe threatened to involve all of HOMCOM and SOUTHCOM, which just left EURCOM, CENTCOM, AFRICOM, SEACOM, and PACCOM on their own. SEACOM and PACCOM couldn't be reduced because they needed to be there to defend against hostile action from China or Hi No Moto and either state could take advantage of a Layartebian conflict in both Sergipe and the Mediterranean to fight the Empire. Without resources, those two commands could only fight for so long before the Emperor would be faced with a decision to either abandon one of the other fights or use nuclear weapons. AFRICOM needed to remain strong to fight against Khorsuni action and if Belluso was indeed going to go after Empress Alexia, Khorsun would get involved.

Thus this left only EURCOM and CENTCOM though pilfering from CENTCOM was troublesome given a potential return of strife to the Theocracy of Amigard and the generic apathy of their British allies. Some saw CENTCOM as beholden to keeping Baghdad stable. Surely, EURCOM alone couldn't initiate OCEAN BLUE and though it could levy resources against Empress Alexia and Achaea, it couldn't present the kind of force needed to wipe her out, a painful admission given how much Empress Alexia was despised by the Layartebian government. Belluso would need to secure more allies and more help since the Empire could only do so much and though the Empire would do everything it could, the stars were aligning against the Empire getting too vested in the situation. Belluso might have been taken aback by the response but the Emperor was honest in his dialogue. What he told Belluso was nothing short of the whole truth.

By March, the situation in Sergipe was truly boiling over and war was inevitable. Neither China nor Hi No Moto materialized a threat but that didn't mean they still couldn't at the drop of a hat. The situation in Amigard was slowly sliding downhill again and so there wasn't much the Empire could do. As Julius Caesar had said over two thousand years earlier, "The die [was] cast" and the Empire could only do so much. Then came that ever fateful day, when the situation spiraled, the Ides of March…

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ | ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

It was already March 16 in Rome but in Layarteb City it was still the 15th and the announcement by the now Consul Belluso was ringing in Layartebian ears. The Roman Republic was the "true Roman state" and Empress Alexia had less than seventy-two hours to capitulate and bring Achaea back into the fold. It was likely she would lose her authority and for the strongest executive in the former Roman Commonwealth, that wasn't going to go over well. Belluso's Roman Republic consisted of Sardinia, Switzerland, and both northern and central Italy. Roman Canada remained on the periphery, silent so far as to Belluso's announcement but wholly aware that the time would come when they would be requested to join the new Roman Republic. Sudan and South Sudan stood on the edge too, quiet and uninvolved but biding their time. That of course left Achaea, the biggest opposition to Belluso.

The announcement had come as a surprise to the Layartebian government and at this late hour, the Emperor convened the Special Council and called them before him for a post-dinner meeting. There they sat around the table as refreshments were handed out by the Emperor's secretary, who retreated out of the office when her job was done, shutting the doors in her wake. "Yesterday's announcement by Belluso comes at the worst possible time," the Emperor began. "We've got no choice but to bring hostile action against Sergipe. Chairman-General, I need an update on that matter."

"Sir," Chairman-General Barnes began, having rapidly thrown his uniform on in the car over to Governors Island, "We have a quarter of a million men deployed to our initial staging positions. They're not ready to go just yet but they'll be there soon, we estimate three to five days before we can launch offensive operations. It will take at least ten days though to finalize all of our logistics lines so it would be the best course of action there to wait. We can sustain the fighting if we're attacked and we're on the defensive however. We're still bringing forward approximately seventy thousand men to support post-combat operations and it will be at least two weeks before they are all in position and set. By that time we aim to have nearly three hundred and sixteen thousand men for the invasion of Sergipe.

"However sir there is a caveat to this. We completed a logistical study just recently. The footprint of our men is virtually double what we would expect with a force this size. The reason behind this is the advanced state of military that Sergipe possesses, the terrain, and the lack of total Brazilian cooperation. We're effectively committing all of the resources from both HOMECOM and SOUTHCOM sir."

"What is the ideal point to launch our attacks then?"

"Three weeks from today sir. We won't have an element of surprise but after three weeks the OPFOR will be able to assault our staging positions with unsurmountable force."

"All right and the situation in the Far East?"

"Sir, both SEACOM and PACCOM are on a heightened state of alert. We do not anticipate hostile moves from either Nanking or Tokyo but if they were to attack our possessions in the South China Sea, the Thai Canal Zone, or other weak points we could fight them sir but not indefinitely. We would need the full resources of SOUTHCOM and CENTCOM to fend them off completely. Or we'd have to make a call on using nuclear weapons sir." The words hung in the air like a thunderclap. The last review of nuclear weapons usage permitted first use in very dire situations. It was always envisioned that such a scenario would be involving the Empire of Hi No Moto and no one else.

"Well I think we'd all like to avoid it coming to that decision. Then that leaves us with the reason we're gathered here this evening, Achaea and the new Roman Republic. I've spoken with Consul Belluso previously and he's wishing to repair relations between our two nations and I for one want our relations repaired. He didn't mention withdrawing from Virtue but I have to think he might decide to favor us over the likes of Verela. I would be pleased if that were the case. So what's going to happen now? Robert, do you have this sorted?"

"Yes sir, we have an anticipated timeline of events. Empress Alexia has less than seventy-two hours to capitulate to Consul Belluso's ultimatum. She will either do one of two things: launch a surprise attack early or resist at the moment of deadline. No one anticipates her capitulating whatsoever. She's arguably more powerful than Belluso is and she'll use that leverage to her benefit. She has a sizeable military, the largest outside of Roman Canada and she's got the guts to use it."

"How are the odds leaning?"

"Preemptive strikes sir," Robert Crawford continued. "We don't know when or where, we just hope she'll focus on Belluso and not on our holdings in the Aegean, Crete, or the Suez Canal."

"Where are our vulnerabilities?"

"Well sir," Minister Sanders of Defense began, "the Aegean Sea could use a carrier strike group to protect our holdings, especially Altis and Stratis. Empress Alexia has publically denounced our 'imperialism' in the Aegean Sea and she could use any opportunity present to attack it but I believe she'll have her hands tied with Belluso's men. If she defeats Belluso, we can expect her to launch attacks against us while her military is in a full state of readiness.

"We have elements of both the 133rd Cavalry Division (Guards) and the 134th Infantry Division (Guards) protecting our four, Aegean islands. The total deployment is around seventy-four hundred men sir. We have air cavalry elements on Stratis and Altis, air defense elements on all four islands, a mechanized infantry regiment, and a motorized infantry regiment. The addition of the 7th Carrier Strike Group and the 4th Escort Group would provide a significant boost in firepower. We're looking to resist attacks in the Aegean, not secure land. With these forces we can do it sir."

"Are we in that position now?"

"No sir, we need forty-eight hours to ready both groups to sail. If we pull the trigger tonight sir they'll be there late evening on Friday."

"All right, well that's a no-brainer, let's pull that trigger now and get that actioned. I don't want to leave our territories in the Aegean vulnerable. I'm not looking to incite anything with Empress Alexia but I want her to know this isn't the opportune time to go land hunting."

"Understood sir," Minister Sanders made a note before continuing, "We will need to beef up our naval presence in the Eastern Med big time sir. That would require deploying the 15th and the 18th Carrier Battle Groups out of Crete, the 8th Carrier Strike Group, and if we can, the 2nd Carrier Strike Group out of the Azores. Currently, the 8th Carrier Strike Group and the 6th Escort Group are on patrol in the Azores. Recalling them would put them into the Eastern Med by Saturday evening.

"The 18th CVBG can deploy in under twenty-four hours and be on station sooner rather than later. The 15th CVBG is present in port for post-deployment maintenance and it will take a week to get them out of port. The other groups are in various states of availability. All can be surged into the Eastern Mediterranean. We would utilize the 8th CVSG to act as a screening force in the Ionian Sea to prevent naval incursion against our western flank. The 2nd CVSG would cover Crete's southern flank. The 15th and the 18th CVBGs would go to positions off of Egypt to ensure protection for the Suez Canal. Going with all of these units will be the 5th, 7th, 10th, and 2nd Escort Groups."

"We're talking about a lot of shipping in the Eastern Med Minister."

"Yes sir we are but it is necessary if we want to show Empress Alexia that we're serious about defending our holdings. Crete is fairly secure sir; it would take a very large military, all of Achaea's in fact, to unseat us there. It's all a matter of our weakest point sir."

"Which is the Suez."

"Which is the Suez sir," Minister Sanders repeated. "The Suez Canal is our biggest risk. At present, we have only a small deployment into the Sinai Peninsula that includes five thousand men from the 41st Air Force Support Division to protect both Bir Gifgafa and El Toro along with the three thousand men of the 7th Foreign Legion. The defense of the Suez Canal itself is under the direction of Manchurian Global, which is presently occupying fourteen of thirty-one strong points along the Suez Canal's eastern bank. Each strong point is occupied by approximately ten to fifteen men from their PMC sir. It's a little over one hundred and seventy men in total. The purpose of the fortifications is just to serve as observations posts. Originally they were designed to watch over shipping and to prevent land-based attacks on the eastern side of the Suez Canal. There were similar positions on the western bank but the Achaeans occupy all of those sir."

"Just great," the Emperor said, slightly exasperated. "So we've got eight thousand men and less than two hundred mercs in the Sinai Peninsula. What do the Achaeans have?"

"Not a lot sir, the majority of their military is held west of the Suez Canal in Egypt proper. They have one legion of six thousand men in the Sinai Peninsula. That's about the equivalent of a brigade sir and these legions are subdivided into ten cohorts or battalions. That is why we haven't increased our deployment over our own 7th Foreign Legion sir."

"So then let me ask the question," the Emperor held the room's attention for a moment of silence. "If the Achaeans want to seize the Suez Canal what do we need to do to stop them?"

"Activate all of EURCOM and take units from CENTCOM sir," Minister Sanders answered. "We have an OPLAN devised for this scenario sir. It will need some updating but it calls for divisions from both EURCOM and CENTCOM to secure the Sinai and push to the Suez Canal and hold it, defeating any crossing force sir."

"How many men are we talking Minister?"

"Over two hundred thousand sir, the plan would need updating at present. It involves four marine divisions, at least one armored division, two infantry divisions, and two cavalry divisions sir. We would utilize a paratrooper brigade as well."

"How long before we could reinforce our positions or be in a position to adequately secure the Sinai?"

"Sir if we hit the panic button," this was Chairman-General Barnes, "we could feasibly have QRF forces there within three to seven days, which would include tank battalions and paratroopers. To be in a position to occupy the Sinai it might take until mid to late April sir. The present OPLAN envisioned an entirely different scenario sir."

"What kind of scenario?"

"A joint Achaean-Khorsuni invasion sir, we would have had a lot more warning. We've been watching this scenario with Belluso develop but we didn't anticipate any action prior to summer sir. Consul Belluso's caught us off guard."

"How long to build up the OPLAN and get everyone moving?"

"Sir, since the announcement we've been rehashing it. Within three days we'll have the whole plan figured out sir."

"Three days," said the Emperor, "get the QRF units moving, we don't have any time to waste. Do we have any indication of Khorsuni involvement yet?"

"No sir but if the Khorsuni military does get involved sir we can do a number of things. We can work with the Apilonians to block their naval access to the Med. We won't allow them through the Suez either sir. If they move aircraft we can engage those over Libya or the Med with our warships. It gets dicey if they fly them to Egypt, we would be stretching our range there sir and it would require flying CAP missions over Tolorian territory or Chad, neither of which we believe we'll receive permission to do," Minister Sanders said.

"There is something else I'd like to request sir," Chairman-General Barnes said, his voice echoing in the silence of the room after he spoke. The Emperor nodded and he continued, "The Achaeans have CBRN weaponry and we know that they have planned exercises utilizing tactical nuclear and chemical weapons against our positions in the Sinai. While none of us believe they'll be dumb enough to start a conflict that way, we have to be prepared. Deploying the 33rd Tactical Missile Battalion from Quebec to Crete would put the entire region, including Athens and Cairo, within range of the Vesta missile and the Cobalt missile. We would utilize conventional warheads but it would be unwise to send them there without a few specials sir. It might give Empress Alexia a moment's pause if she wants to go the CBRN route. Nothing she has can stop a Vesta missile coming in at Mach 8 or a Cobalt missile cruising on the deck with a radar signature the size of a ball bearing sir."

"It's a smart move sir," Crawford agreed and soon so did Minister Sanders.

The Emperor merely nodded and gave his assent, "Yes deploy them with the rest of the QRF elements. What kind of a force are we looking at with the QRF elements?"

"Doing the rough math here sir," Minister Sanders said, looking down at his notepad, "approximately thirty-two thousand. It would involve two armored brigades, a paratrooper brigade, and possibly the 10th Foreign Legion from Kharg. Give us ten days and we'll have all QRF units fully deployed and operational on the ground in the Sinai sir."

"Sir I must protest," said Minister Fisher of Foreign Affairs, "this amounts to an invasion of the Sinai and by proxy, an invasion of Achaea as well." Minister Cooper of Justice agreed as did Minister Flores. This was a precarious situation. In the Special Council, votes mattered and actions required votes, at least when the Emperor's plan met resistance and it had. Three were in favor and three were against with only Minister Spears of the Interior sitting out of the fracas.

"Timothy is partly right," Minister Spears said moments after the debate drew to a pause. "While it is technically an invasion of the Sinai Peninsula, and of course Achaea by proxy, if our forces do not leave the confines of our sovereign territory - the bases - they would not be legally invading. Bringing in our tank brigades to each airbase would make things a little crowded but there is ample room. Occupying the forts along the Suez Canal would drive out Manchurian's mercs and that would allow us then to occupy their regional barracks and supply deploy in Baloza. They're legally required to vacate if we signal a deployment. Achaea reaffirmed the provisions of the Suez Canal Treaty just days after the Roman schism. It might not have been in line with Empress Alexia's policies but she still legally affirmed it. We're in the right here." This revelation held the room in a bit of rapt attention but the vote had gone, as informal as it was, in favor of deploying the QRF units. It would introduce nearly eighteen thousand more men in the Sinai.

"Very well then, we have to act in the defense of the Suez Canal, our airfields, and all of our territories in the Eastern Med." At 04:00 hours, Greenwich Mean Time, March 16, 2016, the orders went out, the Empire of Layarteb was about to conduct a second, massive deployment, this time in the Eastern Med, virtually stretching all of its resources to the limit.

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March 16, 2016 - 08:45 hrs [UTC-5]
Layarteb City, New York
Fortress of Comhghall
(40° 41' 28" N, 74° 0' 58" W)

The Emperor set the handset of his phone down in its cradle gently and looked up from his desk to the gathered men and woman in his office. "I do believe that was the hardest thing I've had to do yet," responded the Emperor with sadness in his voice, "to tell the Romans that we cannot help when we need to help." In his mind he cursed the very existence of Sergipe, of the Bavinese, and of Mexico. Anger welled up in his gut at the necessity to deal with them over an issue that should have been solved years ago when La Plata squashed the likes of the Bavinese movement. "That's the end of my calls for the morning," he continued. "Baghdad granted us only a limited right of passage to allow our transports the permission to overfly their territory. We're not going to get CAP assistance over the Red Sea and we're not going to get much else. We'll have to establish our own CAP patrols over the Red Sea if we need to bring in the transports from CENTCOM.

"The Apilonians were more forthcoming. We've been given permission to deploy as many as eighty-four aircraft to IAF Akrotiri on southern Cyprus. I presume we have a wish list?"

"Yes sir," spoke Minister Sanders of Defense. "Our plan involves moving two F-57A Wraith squadrons, the 11806th and the 7701st along with eight C-17s as part of a large Rapid Wraith Package. Then we'll bring in the 103rd Fighter Wing with EF-46B Enforcers for electronic warfare and F-46E Enforcers for strike sorties. That will bring us up to eighty-four exactly and allow us some flex room. The C-17s can depart to Incirlik afterwards or return back to their bases following the offload of supplies. We're going to need to maintain constant flights into Cyprus, Crete, and Incirlik to keep our forces supplied. That is going to present a bit of a logistical impediment. We cannot overfly Achaea or Rome so we'll need to fly one of two routes. The first route will be over the British Empire, over the Federation of Lacoze, over the Black Sea, and over Turkey. We've secured overflight rights from both nations. The second route involves flying over Dalmasca, the Tolorian Empire, and the Kingdom of Libya. The Libyans are okay with the move, we don't anticipate trouble from the Dalmascans, but we need to specifically approach the Tolorian government sir."

"I'll make sure it's done by the end of the day. What is our present situation then?"

"We're ten hours into the deployment orders. We still have eight hours before the 107th Paratrooper Brigade of the 27th Airborne Division or JSOC's forces will be ready. We've got the 10th Foreign Legion ready to go in a little over twenty-four hours and in a little under thirty hours we'll have both the 142nd Armored Brigade and the 168th Armored Brigade in the air with their initial battalions. By dawn on next Friday we'll have just over thirty-three thousand men on the ground in the Sinai sir. We've already signaled to Manchurian Global that their mandate on defending the Suez Canal is ending once the first paratroopers hit the ground. They've agreed to maintain a defensive posture until they are relieved sir."

"Well that is surprising," said the Emperor, having expected more pushback from Manchurian Global.

"Not so much so sir," Minister Sanders answered, "it seems that Manchurian thinks this one is going to go hot and they don't want any part of it. That would be bad for business."

"Of course," the Emperor smiled, "where are we sending who then?"

"JSOC is going to put its forces into Bir Gifgafa and from there distribute them to Baloza and the Canal forts. The 107th Paratrooper Brigade will take over each defensive fort with one company per fort. At twelve forts that utilizes nearly the whole brigade, four battalions. They have five battalions in total. We're going to spread out the companies and the battalions in line so that they are responsible for specific sectors and utilize the additional companies as relief forces. We'll have the battalion support units like air defense and mortars set up in key defensive positions behind the Canal's line so that they can provide extra support.

"The 142nd Armored Brigade is going to land in Bir Gifgafa and proceed to Baloza along with the 714th Naval Mobile Construction Battalion. We've activated the 105th Naval Mobile Construction Brigade of the 27th Naval Support Division. Seabees will help when the time comes to hit the peninsula. We'll have six Seabee battalions that will help establish floating docks for our landing forces, an expeditionary airfield, and of course assist with securing any bridgeheads if the Achaeans decide to cross in force.

"The 168th Armored Brigade along with the 7th Foreign Legion and the 711th and 715th Seabee battalions and the 716th special Seabee battalion will all consolidate at Bir Gifgafa. At El Tor we'll bring in the 10th Foreign Legion and the Seabees from the 712th and the 713th."

"Good, what about the navy?"

"Sir, the 8th CVSG and the 6th Escort Group are already making flank speed towards the Eastern Med. The 7th Prepositioning Group is on the way as well. We had to go with them to support the 7th Marine Division sir. This presents something of a problem though. Prepositioning forces are generally not combat ready. We estimate we'll have a half-strength division in the best case scenario. Our goal is to get them to Crete as fast as possible, have the marines look over the equipment, and choose the best to equip an expeditionary brigade."

"They'll make due, they are Marines after all. How else are we looking?"

"Within the next sixteen hours we'll have three amphibious ready groups with expeditionary brigades, one CVBG, two additional CVSGs, and their associated destroyer and cruiser squadrons all on the move out of port. We're looking at waking up next Friday morning with all of our QRF elements and a sizeable naval presence in the Eastern Med."

"In that case we're going to have to tip our hand," said the Emperor. "Timothy we need to get word to Empress Alexia that we're about to undergo a rapid buildup of forces in the Sinai and along the Suez Canal and that we're also going to have increase naval activity in the Eastern Med. We need to stress to her that it is not a prelude to offensive operations. We're merely acting within our standard protocols of defense. We won't be throwing caution to the wind here. Advise her that any military action taken by our forces will be purely defensive in nature as our rules of engagement shall be, 'do not fire until fired upon,' we need to state this with significant emphasis."

"Yes sir, I will have a cable drafted and transmitted in the next two hours sir. It will come directly from your office, correct?"

"That is correct; it should be seen as coming from the highest authority in this land. Empress Alexia needs to be aware where the decisions are being made."

"Yes sir."

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March 16, 2016 - 22:00 hrs [GMT]
Tralee, Ireland
Tralee Air Force Base
(52° 17' 52" N, 9° 43' 4" W)

It had been eighteen hours since the panic button had been pushed and those eighteen hours had seen unprecedented military activity in the Empire's European territories, especially in Ireland, where the whole of X Corps and its 99,300 men would be shipping out via air or sea to the Eastern Med. The three major departure points would be Fintona Air Force Base for the 142nd Armored Brigade of the 36th Armored Division, Tralee Air Force Base for the 107th Paratrooper Brigade of the 27th Airborne Division, and the port of Ringaskiddy (south of Cork) for everyone else.

All over Ireland, helicopters and transports were shuttling around the Layartebian soldiers. For the paratroopers of the 107th Paratrooper Brigade, the drive from Fort Limerick to Tralee Air Force Base had passed through sixty miles of beautiful, Irish scenery. That had been hours earlier though, when the sun was still up and they could see the sea along the Irish coastline. Now it was pitch black and the majority of the paratroopers were either in their seats or buckling into them. Their ride from Ireland to the Sinai would be in seven C-17ER Globemaster III transports, all of which were raring to go.

In the lead transport was Alpha Company, 789th Paratrooper Battalion, one hundred and thirty men with all of their gear. The company was actually one hundred and eighty men but because of space limitations, the XO, the company sergeant, the company clerk, one JTAC, and one signals technician along with the rest of the men were all going to be riding on the bird with battalion's staff. That company was under the command of Captain Rob Cardenas and like most of the men in his company, and the 789th Paratrooper Battalion, the closest he'd gotten to combat was training. His company was a number of young faces and while some of them itched for contact with a determined, hostile force many others didn't want to believe that this was going to get hot.

Paratroopers were all volunteers and many said they had a few screws loose to jump out of aircraft at less than 500 feet - often at night - but CPT Cardenas knew better than to presume his boys were insane. They were definitely a special breed of soldier but he didn't see them as reckless. They were good soldiers, some of them barely nineteen years old. The oldest man in the entire company was his thirty-six year old company sergeant who'd spent the past eighteen years in paratrooper companies and who shunned the opportunity to be a battalion sergeant. If things went south, CPT Cardenas knew he would be leaning on the grizzled and humorless sergeant for just about everything but calling in airstrikes.

The C-17 slowly taxied out of its parking spot a few minutes later and it was then that CPT Cardenas realized that the rear ramp had been raised and locked. He hadn't even noticed the aircraft's loadmaster come by and give him a thumb's up just moments before. Now with the aircraft taxing, the cargo bay was bathed in red light. It would be three thousand miles and nearly seven hours to get to Bir Gifgafa. Before they boarded, he urged his company to sleep as much as they could on the flight. They would be landing around 07:30 or so, give or take fifteen minutes, and from there they would hustle into trucks and bounce along a likely unpaved desert road for fifty miles to get to their post on the Suez Canal. His company would occupy one of the twelve canal forts and it would be up to him to keep his HQ section dispersed between them. He had his ten-man command staff, which included himself, threee 45-man rifle platoons and one 35-man weapons platoon, which included a 10-man anti-tank squad and a 10-man mortar squad with three, 60-millimeter mortars.

As the aircraft taxied to the runway, holding short, CPT Cardenas wondered what it would look like on the ground. The mortars would protect him and his main command section but they might not be able to protect the whole area. He also wondered if they would even get a chance to use the mortars. He'd reviewed the maps long before he got onto the C-17 and he could see plain as day that it wouldn't take much to suppress the forts and prevent them from being effective. They could be targeted by heavy artillery or even light artillery well beyond the range of any mortar or they could be destroyed using airstrikes, cruise missiles, or direct fire from tanks. The purpose of the forts wasn't to defend against an invading army but rather to watch over the safety of the Suez Canal. Using them as watch posts for an oncoming Achaean invasion force was, to CPT Cardenas, one of the worst ideas he could imagine.

These thoughts clouded around his head as the C-17 lurched forward. The noise in the cargo bay drowned out all but the most stubborn thoughts and within a short distance, the cargo plane was lifting into the dark, Irish sky. CPT Cardenas knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, not with so much on his mind but he would have to try. He knew he had to otherwise he would be letting his entire company down and that just wasn't an option in the paratroopers, or really any company in the entire Imperial Layartebian Military.

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March 17, 2016 - 04:00 hrs [UTC+2]
Akrotiri, Cyprus
IAF Akrotiri
(34° 35' 22" N, 32° 59' 9" E)

Lieutenant Colonel Mike "Ruler" Miller his feet onto the busy tarmac at IAF Akrotiri and stretched. After five hours in the cockpit of his F-57A Wraith, he was more than a little sore. Behind him, his RIO was doing much of the same. For Captain Phil "Batboy" Smith, the five hour flight had been even duller. While Miller flew the plane, Smith did nothing but watch the radar for commercial contacts. They had been cleared over British, Lacozen, and Turkish airspace at a flight level of 38,000 feet and cruising along at 550 mph, they had flown through several commercial traffic corridors but the skies over continental Europe were quiet on this particular late night, early morning. As the commanding officer of the 7701st Fighter Squadron, LTC Miller was the first to arrive on the ground at IAF Akrotiri and even though it was extremely early, he could see just how packed the base was.

The Apilonians had granted the Empire permission to move two Wraith squadrons and an Enforcer wing to the base and they had said it would be rather crowded, and it was. In the hours before the Wraiths had landed, the Apilonians moved out an entire fighter wing - four squadrons of Wraiths and Vipers - off to other airbases, leaving just a bomber wing, which was composed of four squadrons of Lancers. The B-1 Lancer was no small aircraft and the bombers towered on the tarmac in the darkness as ominous shapes ready to deal unmistakable pain upon any enemy they had been vectored against. The Wraith, by contrast, was a sleek and nimble fighter, the Layartebian version of the Soviet Blocian F/A-77 Kovas, which had been selected over the F-22 Raptor. They were built for speed, agility, and shooting down the best fighters that the enemies of the Empire possessed. So far only four of the Wraiths were on the ground now but another four would follow in forty-five minutes and every forty-five minutes thereafter another group of F-57s would land until there were thirty-two fighters on the ground. Along with them would come eight C-17ER Globemaster IIIs, bringing supplies enough for the aircraft to fight for a short duration of time. Those would depart and return to Ireland where they would load up more cargo and fly back down. The goal would be to operate the F-57s without dipping into many Apilonian resources.

By the following evening, the F-57s would be joined by twelve EF-46B Enforcers and thirty-two F-46E Enforcers, pure strike aircraft designed to decimate ground targets from near or afar. While the other squadron of F-57s would be the 11806th FS out of White Sands Air Force Base in New Mexico, the Enforcers would be all part of the 103rd Fighter Wing based out of Hainan. There would be four total squadrons, the 10301st and 10302nd for six EF-46s each and the 10303rd and the 10304th with sixteen F-46s each. Together, the six squadrons would make up Task Force Archer, the advance fighter force designed to provide immediate covered into the Sinai to support Layartebian assets. For support they could lean on a slew of aircraft at Incirlik Air Base, which would be seeing its own revetments reach maximum capacity soon or the number of airfields stationed around the Aegean Sea where Layartebian fighters and support aircraft were based. There were even ninety-two aircraft from the ILDF based in the immediate region to assist TF Archer.

[Terra Reborn]

Group Captain Harry Fitzgerald DSO IAF
IAF Akrotiri
The Crown Colony of Cyprus, The Empire of Apilonia
Thursday 17th March 2016, 0400hrs Local Time (1700hrs Imperial Capital Time, 0100hrs Zulu Time)

All things considered, Harry Fitzgerald ought to be tired. It was the small hours of the morning, zero-dark-thirty as the old saying went, and he was still awake, after a long day previously too boot. However, as was so often been the case the sheer excitement and energy of what was going on had given him, and those around him, all the energy they needed. Group Captain Fitzgerald was the Station Commander of IAF Akrotiri, he was a IAF Regiment Officer by training which meant that he was something of a rarity; Regiment Officers rarely commanded Stations. However Fitzgerald had been based on Cyprus for quite some time now, he had commanded the Defence of the Sovereign Base Area during the Cypriot Civil War that had brought the island into the Empire and when the overall commander of IAF Forces at the time, then Group Captain William Dance, had been promoted and re-assigned he had personally recommended that Fitzgerald succeed him as Station Commander. A recommendation that Air Command had clearly been inclined to accept.

Dance was now a Knight, an Air Vice Marshal and the Air Officer Commanding, No.9 Group which was responsible for all Fighter Command operations in the European Theatre, hardly the worse person to have as something of a patron.

Of course with a great deal of combat experience, not to mention the Distinguished Service Order, Fitzgerald was more than qualified to command the Station and had done so now for several years. When the orders had come down to start clearing out the station to provide space for allied aircraft, Fitzgerald had, despite the hour, leapt into action. Working closely with AVM Dance they had promptly moved an entire fighter wing to King Walker International Airport, so they could still conduct their air defence mission over Cyprus, whilst moving a second strike fighter wing to IAF Rhodes, leaving just the bomber wing. There was just enough space for the Layartebian aircraft, and besides the bombers simply couldn’t fit anywhere else, big damn silly things that they were, in any case Akrotiri was the best position for them as they were will within striking distance of pretty much all of Achaea, and would be within range to support Layartebian operations in Egypt, if they were called upon. It had taken some doing, both to organise and to get the aircraft on their way, not to mention logistically, but it had been done.

Fortunately there had been a contingency in place for IAR Akrotiri, and other isolated stations like it, that would normally be enacted in the event a conflict to start spreading out assets to neighbouring airports and airfields to prevent a single enemy strike wiping out all Imperial air power in a given region. Although not what it was intended for it had worked just as well in this case. The aircraft of IAF Akrotiri were now spread all over Cyprus, and beyond, but they were still in the general area and it was the best way to handle the arrival of allied aircraft. Doubtless, if the rumours coming from the Ministry of Defence about another increase of military forces deployed to Europe were true, there would be new IAF Stations being built in the theatre and either the concentrations of IAF assets would be spread out, or there would be more of them in an absolute regard. Given the fact that most of the recent International Incidents had been focused in the European and Near Eastern theatres, Fitzgerald rather suspected those rumours were indeed correct.

As a former infantry combat soldier it was Fitzgerald’s custom to get down on the flight line and get a hands on appreciation of the situation, and he had become a familiar sight. To the IAF personnel working around him his presence was not unusual, wearing a flight jacket over his uniform, his rank identified by the IAF bars on his shoulders, and the two eagle insignia on his collar (the Imperial Military had adopted the latter, alongside its existing insignia, which it absorbed the United States of Western America). His understanding was that the Layartebians aimed to operate their aircraft as independently as possible, without putting any more stress on IAF resources than necessary, however he had made sure to ensure that it was available if need be. Most of his resources and ground crew had gone over to KWIA, however enough stayed in case they were needed. Overall, it was a busy early morning at Akrotiri, with Fitzgerald merely thankful that they had managed to get the aircraft out of here whilst they had had the chance; otherwise it would have been ridiculously packed, and even more vulnerable to a decapitation strike than it already was. This was one of the reasons for the formidable air defences around the Sovereign Base Area (Not that it tremendously needed to be called the Sovereign Base Area anymore, given that Cyprus was now a Crown Colony of the Empire, but the name had stuck).

Fitzgerald glanced up and watched as another group of Layartebian aircraft came in on their approach, things were going to get even busier before daylight.

[Valinor1]

Consul Aurius Ostius Belluso
Prime Minister's Office, Vancouver, Roman State of Canada
Driving through Downtown Vancouver, Borellius, North America
March 20, 2016; 1130 Local Hrs

"Quite the bustling metropolis is it not?"

The comment from his aide threw a small grin from Aurius who was resting his head against the window of the car, his brown eyes staring off into the city skyline that his limo was now driving through, trying to block out the consistent wailing of police sirens from their escort which they had received at the airport.

"Yes Omibe, it is quite different then Roma. Much more steel and concrete, much newer, and also, beautiful in it's own way. If only Cerusea saw this, he would see why I wouldn't be talked out of this trip."

Aurius said the last bit with a tease that got his assistant, Omibe, also chuckling "Yes, very true. A gorgeous city, and hopefully, we'll enjoy the sight and get the results we would like."

"I hope so. Palmerson was a formidable force in the local political arena from what I've read from the intelligence reports and local clippings, certainly came up to power once the old Prefectus resigned in the wake of Valerius's shit. I just hope I can convince him that we're the ones to join, especially once I reveal that Virture is going to be out the door the minute we can get stable and get our feet on the ground."

"You think he's going to be convinced of that? He was pretty against even considering it in the first place, I remember his speeches on the Curia floor before the Senate when it came up, I'm not so sure he's going to take your word for it and join us; he's probably thinking we're just going to say what he wants to hear and have no intentions of honoring it."

Aurius scoffed "We're Romans not some mongering barbarians, if I make a promise, I keep it.Though, I agree, but I can't publicly declare now that we're out of Virture. The Senate's in too much of a disarray with this reunification, I don't even have a proper office, no, the process is still in chaos and we need to take extraordinary measures. He's a intelligent man and he will understand this."

" I hope so sir."

The rest of the drive took approximately half an hour as the Lincoln-brand limo was expertly guided down the freeway and roads of the major city, through the downtown area and then back out again towards the Vancouver City Hall, which was one of the few cities that did not have it's center of government inside the downtown area. The Hall itself was a massive multiple story building with a statue of Gnaeus Vancouver, the Roman explorer who had discovered and led the initial settlement of the area, and behind it was a small group of people presumably waiting for Aurius and his delegation - which really was just him, Omibe, a few other aides and then two guards from the Praetorian Guard, who kept a low profile in their business suits that blended in with the others.

The limo pulled around the statue that was in the center of the drive-path so Aurius's door would open up to the large set of white stairs that led to the City Hall, and as the car parked, a Guard exited first from the passenger side of the vehicle and opened the door for Aurius who exited, buttoning up his suit jacket as he exited the vehicle and walking towards the approaching man, tall with a few inches over six feet, very lanky with long arms and legs and white hair beginning to dominate the salt and pepper of the full crew cut the man sported. Aurius extended his hand for a shake which the other man met with a firm grip and the smallest smile "Consul, hope you enjoyed your trip through our city."

"I did Prime Minister, I did indeed. A very beautiful place, it was a pleasant trip."

"Indeed. Come, let's head inside and begin our work."

There was no press to bombard them with flashes, as they both had agreed to keep this meeting press-free, and they walked up the stairs in a bit of a somber silence, the heels of their leather shoes and those of the heels of the women present clapped on the richly decorated floors of the building and the trip remained in silence as they reached an elevator and used it to travel to the sixth floor, where they all entered a large conference room with a oval black table in the center with plush leather seats around it and nameplates in front of chairs. The individuals filed into their marked spots, Palmerson was on the right side and Aurius saw he was directly opposite him and found his spot and then slid into it, removing a few papers from a briefcase that he carried and set them on the table. The room remained quiet as the individuals filed in and were seated and as the last was taking their seat, Palmerson spoke "Consul Belluso, welcome to Vancouver, let's get this conference underway. We all know why you've traveled this far to come here today, undoubtedly to ask our entrance into the Roman Republic on your quest to reunify our ancestral state. But, why should I? The Republic last I checked still subscribes to and is a member of the vile organization that is Virture and I thought I had made it clear enough my opinions on that pit of lunacy so you wouldn't have to waste jet fuel to get here."

"You have made your opinions abundantly clear on them Prime Minister" Aurius let a slight pause in "and I agree with them. Rome has no place in that organization and the minute we can get through this crisis, I intend on introducing the idea of exiting the alliance on the Senate floor."

A few quiet murmurs went around, the Vancouveran side was definitely surprised by Aurius's statement, Rome had always defended the organization; until now. "Still, as my father once said, men are words, and words are wind. I have no guarantee that if I join you, you just go back on those words and stay in the organization. "

"Prime Minister, we are Romans; the Elder Civilization of the world. When we created our state all those hundreds of years ago, we breathed civilized life back onto this planet not seen since the Greek states had collapsed, and we remained. We are the foremost pillar of Democracy, the Defender of Civilization and Democracy, and it's time we stopped acting like squabbling siblings over a dead relative's estate and got back together. The world is dark and full of evil, and we can't afford to be splintered now, nor can we throw away thousands of years of history and culture all because of some African mad-dream. The forces of that temptress Alexia have attacked us overnight on our plane trip here, and while I can expel here from Italia, I do not have the manpower to forcibly bring her lands back into the fold, and I need your help. Together we can stand, and rebuild. Divided, we will allow the evil that she is run amok in a region that desperately needs stability."

Vincent was speaking to an assistant for a few moments before he turned and smiled, larger then he had yet today, and spoke in slightly accented Latin "Et nos ipsi faciamus"

Senator Aucius Orius Cerusea
Capitoline Hill, Rome, Republic of Rome
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus,Capitoline Hill, Rome
March 20, 2016; 1500 Local Hrs

The utterings and chants of the priests all around the large spacious room inside the grand Temple as Aucius pretended to be praying to Jupiter, but instead his mind was swirling with political intrigue and plots, how to maneuver around the Senate and gain more votes and how to help Belluso reunify this damn state of Rome.

He glanced down at his watch and realized he was supposed to be meeting someone soon so he got up and exited the Temple and found a seat on the front porch on a bench which was behind a statue of Augustus, and waited for his meeting, who he had already emailed the other day to meet him. He was to meet a Nicolás Maldonado, the Deputy Head of the Mission from the Platinean embassy, which was located in a former richly domus in the southern fringes of the city. As much as he would have liked to put the meeting off, Platineans were one of their fellow Virture members and he could not unceremoniously refuse an audience, or he'd risk an political scandal and he and Belluso already had one too many of those.

Legate Legionnis Kaseo Piliana Cyrpato
Castrum Inferus, Outside of Southern Lucerra, Legio XV Italia
Castrum Command Tent, Lucerra, Italia - 41.662447, 14.996877
March 20, 2016; 1247 Local Hrs

"Gentlemen, we have about eight hours left before we resume the offensive for Foggia, I'm going to need status updates on your Legions."

Kaseo sat looking at the large monitor which currently was in a split-screen display, with two different faces. The one on the left was Legate Juluc Fiusestia Carusa, who was the commander of Legio XIII Raetia, who had recently secured San Severo and were now holding on the outskirts of the city, repairing vehicles, healing wounded and preparing for the battle that was coming and on the other side of the screen was the Legate of Legio VII Victra, Decaius Vesiusos Macruso. Juluc was originally from the Balkan lands and had more of a bullish appearance, fitting with his 6'6 stature and stocky build, they called him the Bull behind his back and his heavy handed assault tactics helped with this. Decaius was more of the traditional Roman officer, more stocky and slender with waning blonde hair kept in a very close crew cut and was hunched over leaning on a desk on the monitor. Juluc was the one speaking first "Sir, I've had to scrub about 30 Cataphracts, they were simply too damaged for my mechanics to repair and on top of that my medical staff is informing me we are up to 611 KIA and 450 still remain wounded. They estimate about 150 of those wounded will be able to return to the field in time for the offensive, but the rest will have to remain in the field hospitals we've set up here."

"Legionnis, much like Carusa, Victra too has taken losses. Our final log will show 312 dead, 211 wounded, we lost 4 P.69's in the short aerial battle, as well as 19 of our main battle tanks, 54 APC's and 17 IFV's. Our field workshops are in overdrive to repair the damage, and my unit is already setting up for the offensive of Foggia, what is the expected resistance?"

Kaseo nodded "Well, first our assault plan will be thus; at 2013, Legio XV will move out from here in Lucera and assume a southernly course, Juluc you will do the same following us down from San Severo, where we will begin to encircle the city but out of engagement range. We will set up artillery batteries at pre-coordinated locations and we will begin to target key fortifications, we want to avoid the urban clash we got into this last time or we won't have enough troops to retake Graecia. Our AB70's are already in range here, but Juluc yours will have to move further south to begin the bombardment. In addition to this, I.81 Noctuam's in coordination with I.60 Auster's will begin striking fuel depots, barracks and rally points in attempt to scatter them, I want to destroy their defenses and scatter their men so when our iron hammer comes down on them, they'll be crushed easily. Now, Macruso you and Legio VII Victrax are going to head north and secure Melfi on our southern flank before then moving to secure the southern and western sides of Foggia, to complete the entire encirclement, we can't allow any survivors to escape. We will remain in holding positions, called Perimeter Line A, until approximately 2200 which is when the Aeris Ala's will cease their strikes until we can call new ones in and the artillery will lighten up and then we will proceed in.In addition to our three units, Legio XII Sarmatia and Legio III Massenia will be joining us, they were the two Legions under Campania and will bring our forces into a considerably higher position, I'll be sending you their command contact protocols through encrypted mail once we're done here. Cut orders and get the gears moving, we've got eight hours to get ready and going."

Decanus Quintus Virius Silo
3rd Century, III Cohort, Legio XV Italia
Approaching Foggia, Puglia, Italia - 41.472341, 15.501256
March 20, 2016; 2020 Local Hrs

The interior of the Elephanti APC was crowded as the ten men of this contubernia were crowded into it's holding area with their rifles, sacks, gear and all other equipment. Quintus hadn't known them for long, he had been pulled out of his old contubernium just a few hours after the battle for Lucera had ended and they were just resting for the first time in a day, and then he had been told to report right away to Centuriae CP, and so he did, marched right up to the church that housed it and it was there he was promoted to Decanus for his actions the previous day, apparently his Decanus had written a report and handed it to the centurion of 3rd Century, and apparently a contubernium in III Cohort needed a new Decanus, so now here he was, riding with nine other men he didn't know too well and was expected to lead them into battle valiantly; of course that didn't matter, they would follow his orders, and they would do as told, it would just be ...different.

The plan as given down by their centurion was simple, they were now advancing along with the other men of the 3rd Cohort, and really the entire Legion was moving down the SS17 freeway towards Foggia - the sounds of battle had already begun has the large booms of the AB70 155mm howitzers filled the night as every battery belonging to the Legion was unleashing the explosive rounds on the city that was awaiting the siege. Basic plan was simple, they would dismount about 2,000 meters short of the siege line, a highway crossover, and would then proceed to the objective where they would then wait for further orders. A clean plan, and the lines were a good two miles from the furthest fringes of the city, so nothing could really touch them, but it'd still keep them on edge - they'd have a front row view to the destruction the artillery was causing.

As he sat there in silence contemplating some tactical assignments and the brief things he had learned about his men, the co-driver of the APC opened the door that secluded the driver compartment and the cargo bay and looked at Quintus "Decanus, might wanna poke your head up here, we have serious developments."

Quintus nodded and got out of his chair and took a knee in the doorway, holding the door open with his body as there wasn't room for him to properly get into the area but was in it enough to hear the radio chatter coming through the vehicle's radio set "All channels be aware, large hostile force detected surging from Foggia, await new orders break"

"Iaculus Actual to all subunits, Achaean Legions are sallying out for a direct engagement, you are to head to the SP13 turnpike and set up defensive positions ASAP over"

As all the different units began replying that they had heard their new orders, Quintus nodded to the drivers as they modified their course and Quintus went back to the men, the door closing with a bang "Listen up guys, appears the Achaeans don't want another urban tango, they're surged out for a proper battle. They've already almost reached our pre-marked siege lines so we're gonna stop at an earlier turnpike, set up and get ready to fight. Ustus, have your AT ready they will without a doubt have armor and vehicles and we'll need to take those out immediately."

The men nodded in acknowledgement and the remainder of the three minute right was a tense one, as they all knew what was coming. More of the fierce fighting like in Lucera, and the very real possibility that no one in the APC was going to go home from this.

Quintus knew the minute they reached the spot because the APC suddenly lurched to a halt, and the ramp was lowered, the Legionnaires on que began filing out. They had picked a spot that was a four-way intersection on the freeway, but the section going south bound was down hill so they were above ground almost here on the intersection and they could already see the blinking lights and dark forms of the approaching enemy force. As the Legionnaires rushed to get into position, behind side walls on the freeway's sides, they could see to their right and left, the massive forms of the Cataphract main battle tanks surging forward to meet the opposing force, mixed in between them was a few smaller forms of the Fratrem light tanks who were to join their larger brethen in the clash. Their guns erupted in a ferocious wave of explosions as their modern computing systems allowed them to engage the enemy already and the rounds could be seen like small comets being flung across the landscape, and impacting into the enemy forces, who were also returning fire. Rounds were already being flung left and right, and Quintus just gritted down and aimed down the AIMscope on his ARX rifle hoping to hell he'd make it out of this too.

Immunes Gnaeus Junius Atinius
XXII Turma, XXVIV Pulso Classis, Aer Ala LIII, Legio XV Italia
Flying towards Vigna Nocelli, Puglia, Italia - 41.474820, 15.414375
March 20, 2016; 2047 Local Hrs

"Gnaeus, removing MASTER ARM"

"Roger, begin armament process"

The talk between the two Roman pilots was terse as the two prepared for the strike run they were now entering - they had been put into the air about an hour ago in one of the first waves aimed at bombing the city of Foggia but about twenty minutes ago, Lavus who was the bombardier on the Romanified A-6, had been feed new coordinates and informed that the Achaeans had meet the attacking Roman forces in the field and an open ground battle was now ensuing. It didn't matter, the I.60 Auster was meant for ground strikes and it was loaded to bear, currently carrying a number of Mk 83, 82 unguided bombs as well as 4 MK-20 cluster munitions and 8 JDAMs of varying pounds, but their 8,000 or so limit for weapons had definitely been reached, Gnaeus could tell the aircraft was heavier then he was used to as he guided the attack plane through the air at 563 knots, much slower then was necessary but it partly made him glad as he watched the sleek forms of P.89 Vertex's sleek by them, engaging the number of Achaean craft that had been reported in the area.

The plan was pretty simple and was quickly apparent as they reached the battle field, approximately fifteen I.60's were in this first wave as they dropped munition after munition on the battle raging below, all they could see from their viewpoint was the zoom of tracer rounds, explosions from a vehicle being destroyed or the flash from their own bombs. Further off in the distance they could see the large fires raging because of the targeted strikes from the I.89's that had preceded them, the Legion loved their stealth strikecat - in service for nearly 30 years and not once shot down. Right now, the attack craft were just doing their best to stay out of the deadly dogfights and long engagement engagements between the P.89's on both side of the battle; Gnaeus saw more then one explode after being hit with a missile and then it's debris dropping to the ground in a fiery storm.

Gnaeus's target zone had been what looked like on the targeting pod a region where hostile Cataphract MBT's were roving and within minutes of them passing over, the guided laser JDAMs were expended first, eliminating a whole squadron of enemy tanks before Gnaeus turned the craft eastwards and they made a bombing run with their unguided munitions on the swarming enemy infantry and mechanized forces below, hot, fiery trails of explosions appearing all over the battlefield.

[Marimaia]

March 20, 2016, 15:00hrs [UTC +1]
Capitoline Hill, Rome, Republic of Rome
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

As he approached the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Nicolás Maldonado had to admit a certain admiration for Roman architecture and design. While Maldonado was best described as a 'lapsed Catholic' he was always impressed by the beauty of form that Roman temples possessed, as he regarded them more as a work of art than a house of worship. He made his way behind a statue of Augustus near the front of the temple and gave a slight wry smile as he located Senator Cerusea. Although Maldonado had worked for Escorpión Azul for quite some time he never stopped finding some degree of amusement in the idea of clandestine meetings and secret deals.

"Senator Cerusea? Nicolás Maldonado, I do hope I haven't kept you waiting too long."

Maldonado exchanged greetings with the Senator and took a seat next to him.

"As I'm sure you're undoubtedly aware, my government has taken a neutral stance in this war between the Republic of Rome and the Achaean state. There are numerous reasons for this and I'm certain that you can imagine what they are. So at this point I would ask you to agree that this meeting is being held to discuss your government's understanding of the official Platinean position, and nothing more."

He lowered his head slightly and raised his eyebrows as he clearly stressed the final part of his sentence, hopeful that the Senator would realise that something decidedly unofficial was about to be discussed.

[Valinor1]

Empress Alexia Commenous
Old Royal Palace, Athens, Roman State of Achaea
Imperatrix's Bedchambers
March 20, 2016; 1130 Local Hrs

He'll be good for another week, we'll see, last night was already starting to become boring

Alexia thought as she turned her view from buttoning up the blue blouse, towards the crumpled form of a man that was still obviously sleeping, judging from the loud snores. She sighed and then continued to button the ocean blue blouse, leaving the top three unbuttoned which was just enough to feed the fringes of other's creativity, before she walked over to the floor and picked up the black business skirt that had been carelessly removed and thrown last night and slipped it on, and then slipped her feet into some black wedges that were found in a similar position as the skirt.

As she finished she heard a knock on the door and a young man, boy really from the looks to her he looked like he hadn't left secondary school yet, stuck his head through the door, the apprehension of nerves plainly on his face, and then came through when beckoned by a hand motion from Alexia who was putting earrings and some other jewelry on. The boy walked up and kept a large distance from Alexia, whose back was to him as she looked at herself in the mirror, and she smirked at the distance. She turned and walked over to him, getting close but not too close, and spoke, the soft Greek accent and words coming off of her tongue like a good cold drink on a hot day "So you must be the new assistant that we had hired, don't be so nervous, I don't bite, I'm sure someone told you that. I need you to clean this room up and make sure breakfast is brought to that."

The young man didn't mention what his fellow servants around the Palace had told him, just nodded as he was stuck in the awe of the obviously beautiful woman before him and nodded like a stammered ten year old as she spoke.

Alexia smiled as she finished and then walked out of the room in a good stride, the wedges still making noise on the rich marble floor despite not being true heels. Her morning agenda, or the one she made really because who has time for that long official bullshit her secretary compiled, consisted of nice breakfast and then trying out her new Audi sportscar, she saw the luscious rays of sun in her bedroom windows and today would be perfect for a long, fast drive down the winding roads; if anything, it'd serve to be perfect to distract her from the recent troubles.

She made her way through the large palace that had long been her family home; it was originally built as a summer residence for the Rhomanion Emperors hundreds of years ago, but it like many things Roman was consumed in a fire in the late 1200s and wasn't restored until the Empire was reunited. After that, it was given to the Kommenous family who had distant relations to the former houses that had ruled the eastern half of the empire and thus were appointed as Praefects of Achaea province, and ruled it well. She specifically was going to enjoy the ride down the alterior exit of the Palace, a benefit of being on the far end of the Athens city limits.

Her garage was large, and contained a number of luxury cars, approximately eight, from all across the world, all modified for more horsepower; the faster it went, the better for her. Today's selection as her recently purchased Audi sports car, painted in a midnight black, it was ironically fitting for her mood of late - this damn Belluso over in Rome had her in the foul mood most days. She got into the car and quickly backed it out of the garage and within minutes was outside the Palace property and with the nice hum of her engine, roaring down the country roads in northern Greece.

Her mind tried to focus on the road, but really, kept turning to this stupid Belluso. She had been beyond enraged when she was informed that the surprise assault, which her commanders had fucking advised for, had ultimately failed and completely backfired; to say the least, it was only eclipsed in rage terms when she learned of the fates of Lucerna and Potenza. Her entire Italian holdings were on the crisp of falling, her freaking commanders were worthless, though she would soon fix that. She had ...met a Legatus during her vacation in Alexandria and he had impressed her with a number of items, but one of them was his grasp of modern strategy and tactics. Confusing still the terms were for her, but they sounded much more likely to succeed then the same crud her soon-to-be former top commanders still advocated.

As she came up on surprisingly a traffic light, which turned red shortly after appearing, she slowed to a halt from her high speeds and sat at this light, her fake nails tapping on the leather brown steering wheel, her mind fuming, her green eyes consistently thrusting upwards to check the light. Ideas were running through her head, how to fix this "Roman" problem, how to ensure she remained rich, wealthy and in control. An idea suddenly seemed to be very good, causing her to smile, and suddenly whip her car around into the opposite direction from which she just came and return at above-legal speeds to the royal palace - she had a meeting to attend, commanders to replace, and a plan to get rolling.

Icarion Gnaeus Vipsanius Andronicus
Flying over Foggia, Italy, Roman State of Achaea
P.69 Sagitta, 19th Praelia Classis, Ala III Aeris
March 20, 2016; 1130 Local Hrs

"Bellator 2-1 to Bellator 2-2, watch the radar, Truncus Actual has already reported contact from earlier flights with bandit fighters. Engage with the spears first then go fangs, we just gotta get the I.60s through so they can hit their targets and then we're RTB."

"Bellator 2-1, Bellator 2-2, roger roger, out."

Gnaeus tried to relax into the cockpit of his P.69 but he just couldn't get the nerves to calm down; they weren't flaring all over the place like a bad hurricane, but he definitely was more heightened then usual, and he was hoping to use that to his advantage as he and his wing-mate, as well as 6 other P.69'
s, were escorting in a strike formation of I.60's who were to deliver their deadly bombs to pre-designated targets. There was 3 formations going to different locations, eight I.60's in each with 2 P.69's escorting the each of them, the light escort number was because apparently in the early bombardment the AB70's 155mm guns had severely damaged the runway in the city and even got a few planes on the ground, so they had surprisingly achieved air superiority with no losses yet - the rally out of the Achaean forces was a surprise and now 2 of the 3 formations was heading to run bombing runs on armor clusters, infantry locations or artillery/mortar suspected locations, while the formation of the attack craft that Gnaeus and his wingmate were escorting was to hit locations in the city - SEAD operations had already been run by formations of P.69's and I.87's, so the city was open for the bombing so to say, though he had no idea what they were hitting, just that his sole job was to make sure everyone got in, bombed, and got back safely.

They only had a few more minutes left, Gnaeus was flying a little ahead of the formation while his wingmate remained back, they were going at the ridiculously low speed, for their plane anyways, that the I.60's flew at and within about five or six minutes they were cruising, or walking as Gnaeus remarked in his head, over the city of Foggia. It didn't take long before he could see the hot flashes of the Mk.83's 454 kilogram warhead detonating as it slammed into it's target; each of the I.60s carried two Mk.83's on each wing, one wing carrying the GBU-16 and the other carrying the unguided Mk.83s, and then the deadly Mk.84 was carried under the fuselage, which were probably reserved for hardened buildings, probably something from the airfield as he noticed them flying over what looked like a hangar or something. The flight had passed without any incident and he promptly turned around to return to base, where he'd probably get a rest and then sortie out again for another escort - they weren't about to run out of targets soon.

Senator Aucius Orius Cerusea
Capitoline Hill, Rome, Republic of Rome
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus,Capitoline Hill, Rome
March 20, 2016; 1505 Local Hrs

Aucius knew who the man was the minute he sat down on the bench with him; he couldn't have picked him out of the crowd for the Hill was bustling with many of the millions of denizens who called this city their home and he looked similar to most of them, but his face was familiar from a picture he had been shown once he had gotten close. When he sat down, Aucius gave him a nod of respect and a short greeting, and listened as the man spoke for a few moments, and grinned slightly letting out a kip of a chuckle on the emphasized end part of the short speech "Of course, of course good sir, only official things here, its what I've been doing all day on the Senate floor and in my office."

Aucius looked at him with an odd look in his eyes, hoping the young Platinean would catch on, these kinds of meeting had been all Cerusea had been up to for the last year or so "Though, I'll confess, even for a Roman, I'm fatigued from bureaucracy and political meandering for the day and was hoping we could discuss a informal friendship between two allies, hypothetical of course, if you're willing to indulge my crave for debates"

[Marimaia]

March 20, 2016, 15:05hrs [UTC +1]
Capitoline Hill, Rome, Republic of Rome
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

Maldonado nodded in understanding at the Senator's words.

"I think I may just have a cure for your fatigue, Senator. An extremely informal discussion about Empress Alexia and a hypothetical group who have absolutely no love for her. She has turned out to be a most troublesome individual, hasn't she? Rather than try talking to Consul Belluso she responded to calls for Roman reunification by going to war. That sort of impulsive warmongering shows a complete lack of civility and a lack of appreciation for the concept of diplomacy. People like her make me glad that La Plata is in South America, between us and the Layartebians we've managed to remove leaders like her from the continent and it's much more pleasant as a result. That is what a member of our hypothetical group of Platineans would undoubtedly say, I would imagine.

"It's an interesting idea, isn't it? A group of Platinean citizens with considerable resources, who want to see Alexia removed from power and are willing to offer assistance to your government. Without telling Supreme Director Velasquez, naturally. Plausible deniability and all that. So Senator, what would be your reaction to that idea?"

[Valinor1]

Miles Gallio Labienus Venustinius
2nd Century, V Cohort, Legio XV Italia
Inside Gunner area, Cataphract 1A4
Via Napolia, Puglia, Italia - 41.472341, 15.501256
March 20, 2016; 2105 Local Hrs

"Mark it, bearing 257, it's moving fast, fire when ready"

"Ready"

"Fire!"

The minute Gallio heard his commander above him, Paulus, issue the command his finger was already pulling the trigger commanding the 125mm rifled gun of their main battle tank, and the sabot round it spewed out was flung at ridiculous velocity speeds towards the enemy Cataphract tank that they had got turning; the sabot round hit just where Gallio had aimed, right underneath the armor of the turret, penetrating right into the tank, exploding it and blowing off half of the turret, leaving nothing but a burning hulk left.

The minute he had fired, Gallio was already retraining for a new target, not like there wasn't plenty, he and his fellow tankmates had been engaged in a armored clash since the minute the battle had start, the two sides rushing at each other and firing everything they had - no one side had a technological advantage, they were all using the same gear, the same equipment, it was just a matter of skill, and training; and right now, Gallio and his tank was at the top of the pack. They themselves had lost nearly as many tanks as they and their unit had shot up, the whole battlefield was filled with the wrecks in varying states of damage, but now finally they had the Achaeans on the run.

Initially the battle had been all over the plains of the SS7 highway that led into Foggia, about six or seven kilometers from the city itself, but after the first twenty minutes, the Romans had started gaining groud; infantry had been advancing with them, using the hulks and remains of disabled or destroyed vehicles for cover and the two sides were playing a cheese game with their infantry and a mash it up game with their armor, but it appeared they had been winning. Of the 8 tanks in their contubernium, five remained and all were now loosely reforming as Paulus and the other tank commanders were forming up an assault plan, and after a few moments, Paulus was feeding them data, the words coming in through the bulky headsets they wore over their ears. "Alright, we're going to go in with the whole Cohort and make a singular push for the city, fighting is getting way to intense out here and we need to help bring it an end and eliminating their armor would be a major step. We've been getting help from the air but if we can collapse their armor elements, the infantry would have to fold back into the city once we can support our legionnaires too. Now, overflights have been giving us real time images as they fly over and piecing them together, Century CP has pieced together a pattern. They have approximately fifty, maybe sixty tanks left, right past this small hamlet, and they are moving in a singular line pattern back in forth, over a two kilometer distance. Now, we're going to charge through the center where the harshest fighting is, so gunner you're going to use the RWS for this and help our boys outside as we drive by, and we're going to engage at maximum range; Gallio pump out rounds as fast as the autoloader can keep up, I'll call out the targets but if you see a better one, acknowledge it. Lar, full speed but I trust your judgement, use the TAR to see the targets we're talking about and judge appropriate speed. Let's move"

The large olive painted tank rumbled back to life, it had paused behind a ruined tank as they got their orders and soon joined in formation with the other Cataphracts that were now charging forward, their loud roaring of their engines like the battle cry of the lions they could be. Their was 280 tanks in their entire Legion when at full strength, and they had approximately 89 left, which were all being used for this charge. Normally, they were divided into two Cohorts, in this Legio's case, the V Cohort and the VIII Cohort; Gallio's Cohort was charging down the center and hit the Achaean tanks hard while VIII Cohort was disengaging out of the battle and going to attempt to flank the Achaeans, the rough plan was once V Cohort had engaged, they'd all draw up and cluster, at which point the VIII Cohort comes in from the east and is the hammer smashing them on V Cohort's anvil. In addition to this, their Century CP had gotten one of the I.60 strike formations to conduct a run on this line approximately sixty seconds before the assault just to help out their own tanks just a little bit, and if one popped their heads out and looked upwards, as the Cataphracts roared past infantry forces, dead bodies, storms of gunfire, the RWS machine gun station whirling as fast as it's servos would let it, or its operator could, firing at the targets as they could, but with the tank going full speed, it was only in short bursts. Within a few short minutes, they and the other tanks were entering the maximum range that their guns could engage at, but that wasn't going to be the first weapon they fired; some of them, like Gallio's tank, still had the two ATGMs each tank was mounted with on the side of it's turret and within seconds, most of them let the missiles rip at multiple targets, the flash and large smoke plume soon being joined as the tank's main guns blared to life as they ripped sabot rounds down range at Achaean tanks.

The effect was devastating, for the formation had been hit just a few seconds prior by 18 thousand pound warhead Paveway II's, 15 of which hit their targets, one missed and 2 failed to detonate, which cut down the remaining Achaean tanks to about forty Cataphracts. The ATGM missiles, approximately a dozen were fired but many were from tanks that had taken a few hits or were damaged and so roughly half hit their targets and successfully destroyed or disabled them, which left not very many to be pummeled by the advancing Roman tanks. The initial volley from the Romans was met with a vicious returning fire, some of it more accurate then the Romans because moving tanks at their high speeds tend to be not so accurate and the Achaeans were moving at lower speeds and could easily, and quicker, stop and fire. Paulus sighed as he watched more then one Roman tank get ripped open, but they pressed on, continuing the assault.

It was quick, vicious and gruesome, like the duel of alpha tigers - the tanks got in pretty close range and just started exchanging fire; those that were out of sabot rounds resorted to AP or HE rounds, some working better, some not, many deflecting hits as their ERA armor worked as marketed and absorbed the hits so the tanks could fit on; Gallio's certaintly took a few as their APS system was activated, fending off an ATGM aimed at them and then just a few moments later a glancing hit swept right across their armor skirt above their tracks, but the crew took it in stride and kept fighting. '

By 2020, about fifteen minutes after the first assault and seven minutes after VIII Cohort successfully flanked the bunched up Achaean tanks and pummeled them from their flanks, Gallio and their tank remained still as a tree, the gun of their tank training on the tower of some church, and then firing off a single HE round which exploded the entire tower and part of the roof, killing the enemy soldiers which had been pinging the armor of the tank with their rifle fire. Their assault had been a resounding success - every Achaean tank remained around them, burning out hulk of twisted metal and bone, or remaining silent and damaged. Of course, the Romans had taken losses too, approximately seventeen tanks, eleven of which that were outright destroyed, for estimated sixty one they had destroyed.

Decanus Quintus Virius Silo
3rd Century, III Cohort, Legio XV Italia
Approaching Foggia, Puglia, Italia - 41.472341, 15.501256
March 20, 2016; 2020 Local Hrs

"Vibius, left side, left side! Focus your fire on that squad hiding behind that support pillar!"

"Cossus, use your fucking grenades man!"

Quintus shouted out orders over the radio as fast as he could, his voice going as loud as it would, trying to get over the sounds of the immense clash that roared all around them. He and his contubernium were all laying prone on the grassy fields underneath the now-destroyed SS17 highway they had previously traveled on to get here, chunks of concrete and debris all across the field, bodies and wrecked vehicles as far as the eye could see. The battle had originally gone in favor of the surging Achaeans; the highway where most of the Roman soldiers were was instantly barraged with rocket and heavy munitions fire and a good number of Romans were lost trying to get off of the crumbling roadway, but once they were on the ground, it was an even-matched stalemate being fought out between the chunks of industrial debris and burning vehicles. The air was so thick some of the troops had equipped the light gas mask they had been issued, a almost-thick haze existed over the entire field from the sheer amount of gunfire, heavy munitions and bombs being employed, it almost made it hard to see the staggering amount of losses; but the men ignored them, they were just focused on the fight at hand for those of them that still could fight.

Quintus's contubernium wasn't in too much of a rough shape, he had lost his radio man to a shredding burst of gunfire, the man's torso was nearly split in two, even destroying the radio set he had been carrying and they had been forced to liberate one off of a fallen comrade in order to stay in touch. On top of this, the two men from his unit that had been in charge of their carried machine gun were eliminated when they failed to advance and got four rounds from an roving enemy IFV before an AT rocket destroyed it as well; it was all so high-paced and quick, their brains were in high speed trying to keep up with everything.

Fifteen minutes ago when they had seen the large column of tanks charge forward, their tanks, they went with them, charging head first into the Achaeans who were barely holding on their positions; twenty three minutes of the most intense combat to take place in Italy in more then four centuries will do that, as will the hail of artillery and mortar shells, machine gun and rifle rounds and bombs being laid down on them like a hammer strikes an anvil. It was a sheer test of who would break first, and when the Roman tanks slaughtered the remaining Achaean ones, their infantry folded without the armor support. Quintus and his men had helped overrun the small hamlet in the center of this huge clash and were now within five hundred meters of the city limits, and a whole new battle, one he was eagerly looking forward to.

As his men did as ordered, laying down as much gunfire as they could before having to replenish their weapon with a fresh magazine, Quintus was fighting just as hard, aiming down the Aimpoint sight on his ARX rifle, squeezing off rounds at the abundance of Achaean targets. As they eliminated the small unit they were aiming for, they all got up and made a surge forward, rushing into the outskirts of the city and their boots for the first time, clamping down on asphalt and blood. Quintus felt a surge of adrenaline come in again in a new wave, and then, he was blinded by a large sudden burst of light, a strong heat felt on his face, and then the darkness came in swiftly.

Legate Legionnis Kaseo Piliana Cyprato
Inside of a Elephanti C1 APC, Fields Northeast of Foggia, Legio XV Italia
March 21, 2016; 0615 Local Hrs

The silence that hung between Kaseo and the other four commanders on screen wasn't a good one; there was no celebration for the hard-fought victory, only the somber silence of it all. Kaseo himself had a grim look on his face as he read another electronic report on a tablet that was in the back of the command vehicle with him and then looked up at the screen and spoke to Legatus Juluc "What's the final count"

Juluc responded in a even more grim voice then he had been asked "Won't be completely final for a few days, hospitals have many in flux, but we're at 8,900 killed and 2,800 wounded, and a further 450 missing in action, though we estimate most of those are probably crushed when the highway was destroyed or simply haven't been found yet, we're still rounding up all the remains. Achaeans are even worse off, they had 52% casualties, 23,100 in total are dead or wounded, HUMINT estimates now from that figure and captured intelligence we fought close to 7 full legions. In addition to this, for a breakdown on our own losses, Legio XII Sarmatia was the vanguard for our advancing force and featured the heaviest losses, Legatus Renatus retains a mere 3 cohorts estimated at no more then 40% strength each. Legio III Massenia is even worse off, we're calling them completely eliminated with the exception of the command staff, even Legatus Iustus was wounded."


Kaseo sighed "Alright, here's what we'll do. Iustus, Renatus, I'm disbanding your legions. They fought honorably, but they're gone. You and your command staff, integrate with Carusa and Marcruso, give them some hand in the command department and take your former men with you as replenishments. Boys, with those kind of losses, I don't see a way we could reasonably accomplish our objectives in Greece and Sicily, but we need to secure the rest of Italia now. 7 legions, that kind of firepower had to be most of everything, if not all, they had and I'm willing to bet the southern regions are largely undefended. Victra and Italia will lead the way in securing the boot of the peninsula, Raetia you'll secure the rest of Apuila. Get your orders cut and tend to your men, I have a phone call with Rome to attend to."

Senator Aucius Orius Cerusea
Capitoline Hill, Rome, Republic of Rome
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus,Capitoline Hill, Rome
March 20, 2016; 1508 Local Hrs

Aucius nodded in agreement as Nicolas spoke "I would say sir if such an idea were put into practice in our present day reality, it'd be a very good idea; incredibly beneficial to Rome, it would save Platineans from any diplomatic recourse, that nasty business, and it would help strengthen two allies ties even more so once everything was all said and done."

"If only theories actually were reality am I right? " The last part said with a smile, as if almost played off as a joke, but maybe not.

Empress Alexia Commenous
Old Royal Palace, Athens, Roman State of Achaea
Command Room
March 20, 2016; 1430 Local Hrs

Gods, I can't wait for him to arrive

The thoughts of the hammer she was about to drop on the group of old men standing in the room with her, jabbing and motioning at a map with symbols that meant nothing to her, their voices droning on and on in Greek with military terms she hardly kept up with, and merely kept looking at the clock till her new friend would arrive and help her fix this problem and rid her of this codger problem.

"Imperatrix, the last of our Legions arrived in Foggia this morning, bringing our full garrison up to 7 legions. With that force, we outnumber Cyprato's legions nearly 3 to 1, and there's no way he can withstand our firepower in the open fields outside the city, and once we bloody them and draw them into the urban grinder, we will eliminate them completely, and then the problem will almost be completely solved."

As the legatus finished his speech, Alexia had briefly looked down at her phone which had let up with an alert about a new text message from a GCM and it made her smile briefly. "Good."

She got up out of the comforting arm chair she had been sitting in and walked towards the door, her voice suddenly raising in pitch and volume "Now, gentlemen, I'll be completely honest. I heard that same promise when you proposed our sneak attack on the Romans, and that didn't work, and I heard the same promise about when they sieged our cities, and that didn't work, in fact, it failed very badly, and with this major of a situation, I can not tolerate that measure of grand failure. So, boys, I'm bringing in some outside...cavalry as you would say."

She opened the secured door leading into the room, and in walked a man; an legatus, denoted by the crossed palm leafs on the lapel of the burgundy dress blue uniform he was wearing. Above his heart on his left breast, a number of campaign medals and combat medals, more then any other legatus in the room, shone as if brand new or well polished and his six and a half foot frame squeezed through the doorway and into the room, giving no salute to the other commanders, merely shooting them a steely look with his charcoal colored eyes. Alexia did the talking for him, walking out from behind him to stand next to him, her five foot nine frame looking very small next to his "Gentlemen, effective immediately I'm replacing you as Commanders of my combined legions with this legatus, Dux Gnaeus Ceiusentia Marsana, who has served our nation and legions before that faithfully for a long time, and for even longer, been unjustly denied a command properly fitting him."

Even as they raised their voices in protest, something about how she couldn't do this, Gnaeus used his "Accordant to the wishes of the Imperatrix, the Achaean senate and her people, I am stripping you all of your ranks with the powers suited to my office as Dux of the Achaean Legions and arresting you for treason. Legionnaires, arrest these men."

The guards in the room stepped forward to arrest the four now former-legatus's, who immediately put up a fight. The guards manage to get their hands on one before the middle one, Alexia thought his name was Appius or something, with blonde scruff on his face drew his sidearm and fired one round at the guard, clipping his arm, but the other guards reacted quickly, gunning him down with several rounds and gunning down the other who also reached for the fallen pistol. The remaining two were quickly subdued and ushered away, with Gnaeus stepping forward and examining the maps, ORBATS, organizational forms and other data the commanders had scattered all over the room. "Now love, I mean Dux, put that in plain Greek for me."

"As they said, the firepower we have assembled at Foggia will more then assuredly undo Cyprato or at the very least, severely damage his forces. Now, I believe there is a matter that those fools completely ignored."

Gnaeus held up a piece of paper, a letter that had type covering the full spread of it with a falcon emblem at the top "This communique is from the Empire of Layarteb, declaring a massive buildup of troops on their Suez Canal; they want to assure us nothing but peace but put a massive horde of troops on our borders, they will seek to seize the Sinai, and then Aegyptus, with this force and we must counter it. "

" So how? "

"It will take them a while to gather this many units, but we still have most of our legions in Aegypt and Numbia after our campaigns under Valerius that brought them into the provincial fold. I say we organize the large bulk of them and strike them hard like the hammer of Mars himself and seize the canal. It will severely damage the global workings of their military and give us the very strategic canal, and it will send a message to stay out of our business and never try to play as us a fool. I will assemble 46 of our legions for this fight, and I will leave 11 in major cities in case they try to sneak a naval landing behind us on us, or if the Romans try to, but I dare say after Foggia, they won't be able to even hold Rome."

Alexia approached the towering man and looked into his charcoal eyes with a knowing smile "Fury and words m'dear, fury and words."

[Layarteb]

March 20, 2016 - 15:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Layarteb City, New York
Fortress of Comhghall
(40° 41' 28" N, 74° 0' 58" W)

"Let's talk Achaea sir," Minister Sanders of Defense said as the meeting's topic concerning Sergipe finished up and segued into the rest of the Empire's snap deployments. "The 34th Cavalry Division and the 45th Infantry Division are both at full readiness along with the 6th Legion on Crete, both the 7th and the 10th Marine Divisions, and part of the 27th Naval Special Division. JSOC is fully deployed into the region with just under 2,500 men."

"How about the navy?"

"The 10th Amphibious Ready Group, the 18th Carrier Battle Group, the 5th, 7th, and 8th Carrier Strike Groups, the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th Escort Groups, and the 6th Surface Action Group are all in position in the Eastern Med in and around Crete, the Aegean, the Egyptian coastline, and the Ionian Sea sir."

"Where does that leave us then?"

"That's thirty-seven units sir with another forty-six units to get up to readiness and deploy. It does not constitute much of our quick reaction force however. The 10th Legion and the paratroopers will arrive by end of day tomorrow and the tank brigades not until Friday morning. Only then will we have all of our assets poised."

"Any response out of Achaea Timothy?"

"None sir," Minister Fisher of Foreign Affairs answered. "The message was in fact delivered we just haven't seen an official - or unofficial at that - reply."

"It's been four days and that's disheartening. They're probably assuming we're about to steamroll into Egypt," the Emperor said, "this is a miserable situation, at best! We'll just have to sit back and wait this one out; we're not going to be the aggressors. We have a duty to protect the Suez Canal and our assets there. We're going to stick by that duty. What's the word from Foggia?"

"It doesn't look good sir," Minister Flores of Intelligence answered, "the Romans took a heavy beating, not that the Achaeans did not. Both sides have gotten clobbered pretty badly, which doesn't bode well for what we're going to face in the Sinai sir if the Achaeans decide to push eastward."

"The one benefit sir," Chairman-General Barnes began, "is that any clobbering that the Achaean legions take in Foggia might lead to them being cautious in Egypt. It may require Athens to pull reinforcements out of Africa to support Greece and southern Italy. It's too early to tell right now but the estimated strength of the Achaeans in Africa is just under 350,000 troops sir. If they siphon off some it will only be to our benefit. Even a few legions will help us."

"Sir I wouldn't hedge our bets on it," Minister Flores said, shaking her head. "The Achaeans still have plenty of men in and around southern Italy and Greece. The likelihood of a sizeable exodus out of Africa is small."

"How are the odds favoring?"

"War sir," said Minister Sanders. "This is Alexia's best opportunity and she'd be a fool not to seize upon it. With the way her forces are poised in Italy; this could be a short affair for Belluso. If her forces were to seize upon the initiative and roll through the rest of Italy, we can kiss the region goodbye."

"What else do we need?"

"Time sir," this was Chairman-General Barnes, "as much of it as we can get."

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ | ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

March 21, 2016 - 06:00 hrs [UTC+2]
El Gefgafa, Sinai Peninsula
Bir Gifgafa Airfield
(30° 24' 21" N 33° 9' 12" E)

General David Highland walked down the lowered ramp of the C-130J Super Hercules amidst the roar of the tarmac. A few hundred meters away a second C-130J Super Hercules was pulling up to its resting place amidst a sea of waiting forklifts and supply trucks. The two cargo planes had just flown two hours and 625 miles across the Med from Crete to land at the Sinai airfield where the Imperial Layartebian Military was routing all forces and supplies for its buildup east of the Suez Canal. The two aircraft brought thirty-five tons each of medical supplies and ordinance but more importantly, they brought a man of fifty-five years who wore the four stars and camouflaged uniform of an army general yet as he walked from the ramp to an awaiting staff car there were no salutes, just subtle signs of recognition and respect befitting a man of his rank.

He was a man whose reputation was well known. He'd only been a four-star general for three months but in the past thirty-three years he'd done something few Layartebian officers had ever done. After graduating from West Point in 1983 and commissioned as a second lieutenant, Highland passed jump school and joined the 4th Airborne Division as a platoon leader. By 1987 he was a captain, decorated several times over, and still a paratrooper. That year he had an accident during a training jump and wound up restricting from jumping again so, rather than call it quits, Highland went to armor school and became a company commander with the 5th Armored Division. By 2004, when he rose to the rank of colonel, he'd spent almost sixteen years commanding armored units, fighting in some of the heaviest and worst fighting of the second phase of the Conquests. In 2009 he received his first star and three years later his second. During the Sino-Layartebian War in 2012, he was on the field of battle and distinguished himself in such a way that the following year, after barely thirteen months as a major general, he received his third star. He was then put in charge of XI Corps and now, as a newly promoted general, he was there to lead the fight in the Sinai.

He was given a short ride to the base's command bunker and operations center for the entire theater. There, he descended fifteen stories underground to where the main operations center was located. Here, out of the eye of potential Achaean spies, he was saluted and given a brief tour of a place he'd never visited before. Afterwards, he was brought into a large conference room where the lowest rank was colonel and where every seat was filled. When the doors finally shut, the 6'2" general addressed his men, "Gentlemen, I have been directed to assume operational authority over the Sinai Theater of Operations, hereon referred to as STO for our acronym loving pencil pushers back in Layarteb City." A slight chuckle went around the room. "The latest intelligence reports show nearly 350,000 Achaean soldiers on the other side of the Suez Canal and our objectives demand that we hold the Canal and our positions in the Sinai at any and all costs. This will not be easy.

"The Achaean military is arranged around the concept of the integrated legion, a brigade-sized element that is highly maneuverable, well-equipped, and well-led. We're not facing off against camel traders or farmers but profession, first-world soldiers. Yet, the situation is not grim and it is not dire. Our military doctrine may have been built for tackling large, Soviet-style divisions but we can counter the agility and the mobility of the legion through effective use of combined arms tactics.

"This gentlemen is the key to our success. Our air force must gain control of the skies and hold them without contest. Our navy must establish secure beachheads to keep our supply lines intact and it will be up to them and our air force to keep those supply lines free of harassment whether by air or artillery. That leaves our marines and our army whose job it will be to take the brunt of any Achaean advance, put a halt to it, and drive them back across the Canal with such force, ferocity, and fury that the Achaeans regret the very nature of their existence.

"We can win this fight but it will not be on the first days of battle. We're in this for the long haul gentlemen. If we take losses on the first days, and we will, the situation will seem dire and it will seem 'unwinnable' but that is defeatism and I will not suffer it. We will regroup, we will counter, and we will prevail.

"So allow me now to introduce Vice Admiral Kevin Graziano and Lieutenant General Gerald Wyman. These two men, respectively, will be the leading naval and air commanders. Lastly, allow me to introduce Lieutenant General Leonard Salvato. When I asked Chairman-General Barnes for the very best infantry man in theater for an executive officer he sent me a marine," chuckles filled the room again and LG Salvato puffed out his chest a little. "I can only surmise that Chairman-General Barnes wishes that we utterly annihilate and obliterate our foe should he desire to push war upon us. Gentlemen, I have the utmost confidence in every field and staff commander here. I have reviewed the dossier of every single man in charge of each division and who serve directly under me. There was not one man whom I did not feel capable of getting the job done and that is a lot to say gentlemen. That is the level of confidence that I have in executing this operation.

"The only thing we can hope for now is that the Achaeans gain a moment's pause and let this entire ordeal slide by us like an echo in the wind. That is what our political leaders have conveyed but as politicians often fail miserably in getting the point across, I want each and every one of you to know that should war break out, we will be ready. I want every unit in theater, upon their arrival, to drill and drill and drill. They need to be ready whether they are for the spectre of war. They need to be ready for incoming artillery and air support at any moment of the morning, day, or night. There are to be no assumptions but one, that war could break out at any moment. Our enemy will have set their time and place and it is up to us not to guess when and forsake our duties but to be ready from the moment our boys arrive in the field. We need to make sure that our supply lines remain intact and that no unit is forgotten about, no matter how small it is. If we lose a platoon due to memory loss it will be as if we killed them ourselves! I will not stand for that level of indifference towards our men.

"Now, without further ado, let me present the plan as handed to me by the genius' in the Ministry of Defense. Colonel Aaron Simmons will explain it in detail. Then we'll break for thirty minutes and when we return we'll tear it asunder and build the proper plan, from the field. Colonel, you may begin…" If the men weren't impressed at his arrival they were now. GEN Highland wasn't a lackey of the Ministry of Defense and he wasn't going to take a template from the Ministry of Defense and doom his men because someone looking at a fake map thousands of miles away "predicted" how the Achaeans would advance. He would tear the plan apart with the men in the field, rebuild it, and hand it back to the Ministry of Defense and dare them to argue with him. Few men would, least of all staff officers who'd never been in combat before. Those who had would think twice about arguing with a man who wore two Distinguished Service Crosses, three Silvers Stars, and nine Purple Hearts, among a myriad of other decorations.

[Marimaia]

March 20, 2016, 15:08hrs [UTC +1]
Capitoline Hill, Rome, Republic of Rome
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

Maldonado chuckled slightly at Cerusea's words and then leant slightly closer.

"What if you were to discover that this hypothetical group were the ones behind the mysterious occurrence during the war between La Plata and the Republic of South America, when approximately $120 million disappeared from the bank accounts of prominent South American officials overnight? If they could manage something like that against one of La Plata's enemies, imagine how much damage they could do to one of La Plata's allies. Wars swallow money with disturbing speed so I would imagine that this conflict between Rome and Achaea would be won by the state which not only has the most allies and international support, but also the greatest financial resources. It's rather more difficult to fight a war if you don't have the money to pay for it.

"That is no theory, I can assure you. The reality is that Rome can receive completely unofficial financial assistance from a group of Platinean private citizens, with the option of that group performing a cyberattack on Achaean financial institutions to divert even more money to Rome. Not directly to Rome, of course. They could keep the money bouncing from account to account around the globe until you required it."

Maldonado sat back up straight and smiled at Cerusea. "Sometimes I feel that this world is so obsessed with bureaucracy and 'good governance' that people deprive themselves of the simplest solutions to problems, just because the solutions bypass the ideas of 'integrity' and 'legality'. War is hardly a situation where legality plays much of a role. It may just be the opinion of a lowly Platinean official, but I believe that Alexia would not hesitate to use every trick in the book to bring down the Roman government. Why should Rome hold back in such circumstances?"

[Layarteb]

March 25, 2016 - 10:00 hrs [UTC+2]
El Gefgafa, Sinai Peninsula
Bir Gifgafa Airfield
(30° 24' 21" N 33° 9' 12" E)

"Sir, we've got Admiral Graziano on the horn for you," the runner, a young corporal, said to General Highland who was sitting in his office reviewing maps of the intended battle area. With a nod, he dismissed the corporal and picked up the phone at his desk, waiting for the operator in another room to route the call.

"Kevin what do you have for me?"

"The 5th Carrier Strike Group is about two hours from the mouth of the Red Sea and we've got a whole trail of ships in her wake."

"Once we make the mouth how far is it again?"

"Just shy of eleven hundred nautical miles, three days in total to make it to their positions south of the Sinai. With the 5th in the lead we've got fighters and tankers out of El Tor to provide coverage. The Amigardians aren't doing squat for us in terms of air cover, not that we can really expect them to I guess."

"It was requested Kevin but they don't want to get involved in this one, politically speaking."

"What's my ROE?"

"The ROE is going to be strict. On the transit we should do everything and anything we can do to ensure that we have maximum coverage ahead of, behind, and around the fleet. That means you have no limit on fighters and Gerald is going to give you everything you can need and more. Hostile acts are to be engaged and defeated. Do not pursue hostile fighters or ships outside of a strict need-to-act engagement zone. The last thing we want is to get drawn into an ambush."

"What's the intel say?"

"Nothing," GEN Highland looked over at a folder lying on the opposite side of the desk. "The Achaeans are readied but they aren't acting with hostility yet. What's the situation in EASTMED?"

"The only unit missing is the 7th Support Squadron and they're due by 18:00 on Sunday evening. The 9th and 10th Support Squadrons will transit the Red Sea starting the 30th and be in position by 18:00 on the 2nd. That will solidify all naval units in theater."

"What do we have for subs?"

"One attack sub is already in the Red Sea looking for Achaean diesel-electric boats. We'll have Poseidon support as well. Another one is going to take the rear flank to make sure no one sneaks in behind us. We're watching the Achaean ports and we don't see much of anything just yet."

"Fine, fine," GEN Highland looked at his watch, "let's hope this goes smoothly." With that he clicked off and turned back to his maps. The two naval groups were critical to the operation and the Red Sea group had the most difficult and dangerous transit. They had to move alongside the coast of Africa, aiming to keep at least fifty nautical miles away from it at all times. Fighters from the carrier and amphibious groups would be in the air with air-to-air and air-to-surface ordinance. If the Achaeans launched fighters or attack aircraft they would have to fly through a shield of surface-to-air missiles from the escorts and from the fighters. If they launched ground-based missiles they would have to survive strikes by cruise missiles and naval aircraft. The go-to weapon for this sort of thing wouldn't be the cruise missile but rather the RGM-165B Super Standard SM-4 Block II, which had a range of 500 miles and a maximum speed of Mach 3.5 that would deliver a 253 pound blast-fragmentation warhead into the target. Guided by a combination seeker that utilized GPS/INS and a millimetric-wave radar for terminal homing, the missile could also lock onto the radiation signals from emitting radars or fly completely passive, utilizing its datalink, allowing AEW to guide it into the target of choice.

GEN Highland was engrossed in the map for all of ten minutes before there was a knock on his doorframe. Looking up and over the top of his reading glasses, he saw the figure of a man he'd fought with ages ago and a man whom he was more than happy to see. "Joseph," GEN Highland said as he stood, coming around his desk to shake the hand of a subordinate but a man that GEN Highland respected well enough to discard rank. "Take a seat, I'm glad you got in when you did."

"Thanks David," Brigadier General Joseph Brand said as GEN Highland shut the door behind him. "It wasn't a short flight."

"I bet, how are your men, are they rested and ready?"

"They're anxious. You know how soldiers are when they deploy into a new theater. They want to get to the bad guys and kill them right away."

"That's why we old men have to old them back," GEN Highland sat down and smiled. He pulled out a map from underneath the pile and motioned for his colleague to draw closer. With the scooting sound of a chair, BG Brand came right up to the edge of the desk. "I want you to take the 142nd up to this town here called Baloza. Manchurian Global has their regional barracks and a supply depot here. They're still occupying it and waiting for a ride home. We've gotten them all pulled back from the forts along the Canal because it's just our boys there."

"Who's there?"

"The 107th Paratrooper Brigade from 27th Airborne, a platoon from Bravo Troop of SEAL Team 6, and the 19th Recon Platoon from 3rd SOG."

"Special forces along the Canal," BG Brand liked the sound of it. "Do I get any special forces then?"

"I wouldn't leave you or the 142nd Armored out of it. I've got Foxtrot Squadron of Delta Force and the other platoon from SEAL Team 6. That gives you sixteen SEALS and sixty-four Delta operators. Good enough?"

"That's good for me. Where are they now?"

"SEALS are already near Baloza. They set up a reconnaissance site near the town to watch for any Achaean police units. We think there's a couple, nothing that will be a problem. Delta is going to fly in ahead of you with twenty-four men and secure the town's police headquarters. The rest of the forty guys will go on ahead of you in some of those desert dune buggies that they love so much and some of those new armored trucks we just started buying."

"I am still waiting for them. I've got Dingoes mostly."

"Better than a Humvee," GEN Highland said with a snort. His colleague agreed with a nod of the head. "Once your boys secure Baloza I need you to dig in and set up a defensive perimeter. If the Achaeans come over the border their entire northern group has to pass by Baloza to get deeper into the Sinai and the town is a crossroads for the road to Al Qantarah Sharq. It's vitally strategic."

"What about artillery?"

"You'll be at the extreme range of their guns unless they move those guns over the Canal, which if they do will just be suicidal. We'll pick them off without effort. If they're smart they'll keep them a few klicks behind the Canal so that they can fire onto the Canal's fortifications without putting themselves as risk for counterbattery fire. Of course, they don't have to know that our MLRS' can probably reach them. Once you get Baloza secured we're going to move up the 714th Naval Mobile Construction Battalion."

"Seabees? What for?"

"If the Achaeans cross, the Seabees are the ones who are going to get us onto the other side to take back the Canal. They'll be heavily armed."

"This is a big force for Baloza. What are the Achaeans going to say?"

"They're going to think the worst but we're just making our battle plan now. This will be the closest we'll get with armored units. I'm keeping the 168nd here to hold Bir Gifgafa and three Seabee battalions plus the 7th Legion. We're keeping this perimeter secure. They're going to need all of their men to come through it and the Achaeans aren't stupid. You'll be the tip of the spear, so to speak. The men we have along the Canal are just infantry, mobile as all hell but just infantry. You're the closest armored unit to the fight."

"Jesus," BG Strand looked at the map. "We'll be twenty, twenty-five klicks from the Canal, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Close but not close enough. If we move westward they'll know it."

"Which is why you're getting there and no further."

"Well I've got six tank battalions; I can easily cover the area around Baloza."

"Plus the engineer battalion, which will come in handy if we have to cross and I want to make sure your air defense battalion is fully operational the moment the Seabees get there. It's not much but four batteries of NASAMS 2 and two point defense batteries will give us a major umbrella over the northern Sinai. Position them to maximize coverage in your theater of operations. What's the range on the missile?"

"Sixty kilometers and we can engage at that range too. We've got the ER missiles."

"Beautiful," GEN Highland said. What BG Strand was referring to was a new missile for the NASAMS battery. Previously, the weapon to be used was the MIM-120C SLAMRAAM. The Imperial Layartebian Military had tens of thousands of the missiles lying around and put them to good use as a SAM. The air force had switched over to the extended range AIM-120D AMRAAM and thus had no use for the AIM-120C anymore. The new weapon took the RIM-162A Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and slapped an AMRAAM seeker onto it, thus creating the MIM-202A Vulcan. Previously they had a maximum range of only thirty-five kilometers but now, with sixty kilometers, they could really extend the battlefield umbrella. Point defense would be handled by Stinger II MANPADs and the M2055A1 AMADS unit that combined a 35-millimeter gun system with short-range, MIM-220C/D Night Flyer missiles, which had a maximum range of twenty to forty kilometers, depending on the target's altitude, speed, heading, et cetera.

"What about air cover and artillery support?"

"We don't have any artillery to give you here and the navy isn't in position to give you gunfire support. Air support will be available but it's on an on call basis. We don't want to give the Achaeans the impression that we're steaming for the Canal."

"So what's available to me then?"

"We've got two squadrons of A-10Cs and two squadrons of F-58As here at Bir Gifgafa. I'm going to put up an MQ-1B Predator and an MQ-9A Reaper to provide reconnaissance over Baloza and the Canal, respectively. Both will be armed but we're only talking a few Brimstones. They're not going to stop anything and I'd like not to use them. The SEALS haven't reported any major elements in Baloza to resist you and Manchurian Global wants to get out as fast as possible. We doubt the police will put up much of a fight against you guys. This'll be a political headache but not likely a military one. Outside of this, the 7th Legion can fly in a Vanguard or two and some Cheyenne attack helicopters. You'll be about ninety klicks away from us so they will take some time to get to you. The A-10s and the F-58s will be on an alert status. We'll get the first flights up in five to ten minutes and they'll be there post haste."

"Well doesn't seem like I'll need them. Does it?"

GEN Highland shook his head, "Should be a piece of cake. The Achaeans will raise a stink diplomatically and prepare themselves on the other side of the Canal but we aren't expecting them to run eastward. They don't have the force there yet and the navy has fighters and AEW airborne just in case they send up something. Tomcats and Wraiths will zoom over the Sinai and swat down whatever they fly over to you."

"Well then," BG Strand stood and so did GEN Highland. They shook hands and GEN Highland opened the door where BG Strand said, "I'll give you a ring when I'm in Baloza."

"That's what I want to hear. Predator will be up in thirty minutes. The Reaper is already up now. How long until you get Oscar Mike?"

"Give me an hour…"

"An hour's good," GEN Highland followed BG Strand back out to the operations floor and deviated to a different part of the room with a final handshake. There, he looked at the display map of the area. Bir Gifgafa was in a good position with the 168th Armored Brigade under the command of BG Maurice Godfrey forming a wide perimeter around the airfield with his six tank battalions, combat engineering battalion, and air defense battalion. There would be a lot of SAM coverage over the Sinai and for good reason. The Achaeans had a lot of aircraft in Egypt and they posed a major threat. Bir Gifgafa was also home to one of several surveillance units of the Imperial Layartebian Defense Force.

Each surveillance unit was a platoon-sized element with three radars, the AN/MPS-180, the AN/MPS-181, and the AN/MPS-182. The AN/MPS-180 was the biggest of the three and that was because it operated on VHF band, which allowed it to have a wavelength of over one meter. The AN/MPS-181 was an L band system and the AN/MPS-182 was an S band and C band system. All three radars used the transmit/receive modules of an AESA system. Their primary goal was for monitoring the battlespace and that was just what they did, out to over four hundred kilometers. Their equivalent in the Soviet military was the Nebo system and like the Nebo system, the primary purpose of the VHF band radar was the detection of low observable, or stealth, aircraft.

"Give me a full SITREP will you?" He asked a nearby lieutenant who was monitoring the deployment of units in the Sinai.

"Yes sir," he said, snapping to and bringing his clipboard over to the map. "As you can see sir the 168th Armored Brigade is establishing a defensive perimeter around our airfield along with the 7th Legion. The 450th Air Force Support Regiment is holding the innermost perimeter as part of their charge. We've got the three Seabee battalions scattered as well sir to provide additional, light infantry coverage. The 451st Air Force Support Regiment along with the 10th Foreign Legion and two additional Seabee battalions have El Tor completely secured as well sir. Given El Tor's presence in the extreme south sir there isn't likely to be any crossing force to assault them. We're monitoring the Achaean side of the Suez at all times sir."

"Then I guess this is as good as it's going to get for now, until we get the rest of the army and the marines here?"

"Yes sir, there aren't any further ground units to deploy into the Sinai. We've got the men we need sir."

"How many men is it?"

"Just over thirty-three thousand sir."

"Facing down three hundred and forty-two thousand on the other side. Those are shit odds lieutenant."

"Yes sir they are, which is why we're not provoking the fight."

"Oh we are, trust me, we are…"

[Terra Reborn]

Lieutenant Daniel Cooper DSC KGM IN
HMS Cochrane (C49)
International Waters, The Red Sea
Friday 25th March 2016, 1300hrs Local Time (0300hrs Imperial Capital Time, 1100hrs Zulu Time)

His Majesty’s Ship Cochrane, a ship of the Ajax-Class of Heavy Cruiser in the service of the Imperial Navy, cut its way through the waters of the Red Sea. The Cochrane was currently assigned to the Red Sea Station of the Eastern Fleet, which was responsible for all naval operations in the Red Sea, particularly the protection of Imperial shipping passing through the area, indeed she was the largest ship assigned to the station. Whilst the bulk of the ship’s assigned to the station were sloops of the Leander-Class, for the commerce protection role, the Cochrane was tasked both co-ordinating the sloops and for any major war fighting that might be called upon. Most seriously the Cochrane was responsible for flying the flag to remind Eritrea who had so effectively cleaned their clocks the previous year, and for escorting any major warships or other targets that might come through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. It was a role that the Ajax-Class had proven itself well-suited for, being infinitely more capable than any of the escort surface combatants, yet more affordable than the likes of the Saga-Class Battlecruiser, ensuring that the Imperial Cruiser was a sight seen all over the world.

Lieutenant Daniel Cooper stood on the bridge of the Cochrane, as Officer of the Watch, his careful eye keeping an eye on everything that was going on. He had only been in the Imperial Navy for three years and had had a busy career and, despite his short service, a distinguished one. He had earned the King’s Gallantry Medal during the Battle of Los Angeles in the incident that led up to the Imperial Invasion of Missouri whilst serving aboard HMS Ventura. After being involved in the Liberia Incident a few months later he had been re-assigned to HMS Fraser and had, of course, been caught up in the Incident. His bravery and leadership during the ordeal earned him the Distinguished Service Cross and assignment to HMS Cochrane. To move from a patrol ship to a Cruiser was relatively unusual, and a significant professional compliment, but it was obvious that in his few short years in the Imperial Navy he had caught the attention of people at the Admiralty, which meant that when they Office of Naval Personnel had been looking for a young Lieutenant to serve as one of several Officers of the Watch aboard the Cochrane he had been at the top of a fairly long list.

At present the Cochrane was cruising around the Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, loitering threateningly offshore from the Eritrean Port of Assab, the site of a major battle during the Eritrea Incident, flying the flag. In short they were sat in a navigation box performing circuits at low-speed, using the time for the seamanship department to do work on the upper decks without any issues; if they were going to sit around doing nothing it made sense to get some work done. Of course this made Lieutenant Cooper’s job more interesting than it otherwise would have been; he didn’t just have the navigation to worry about, he also had the safety and conduct of the ship’s company on the upper deck to keep an eye on, co-ordinating with the Operations Room to ensure that no dangerous emissions were radiated too close to exposed crewmembers. In fairness however, a busy watch was far more preferable to four hours of boredom.

“Officer of the Watch, Radar.”

Lieutenant Cooper’s head shot up up from the chart table where he had been filling in the Ship’s Log, and over at the Petty Officer manning the repeater for the surface search radar. The bridge of an Imperial Warship was principally responsible for navigation and general operations, the ship was fought from the Operations Room, however in order for the Captain, or the Officer of the Watch, to have a full picture of what was going on a repeater for the main surface search radar feed had been installed upon the bridge.

“Report,” Cooper replied.

“Major surface formation, looks like a flattop and escorts,” The Petty Officer reported. “Matches a Layartebian battlegroup that was reported in the area by the Socotora Naval Station.”

“Interesting,” Cooper nodded thoughtfully, moving over to the help stations and picking up the internal communications phone and punched in the code for the CO’s Cabin. “Captain, Sir, Officer of the Watch.”

”Go ahead, Lieutenant,” Captain Rebecca Wilson replied promptly.

“We’ve detected a Layartebian Battlegroup,” Lt. Cooper replied. “Looks like they’re about to transit the Red Sea and Suez.”

”Understood, I’m on my way up.”

It was only a few moments before Captain Wilson strode onto the bridge of her ship and took in the situation as she settled into the command chair. Captain Wilson was one of the Navy’s rising stars, she had served with Admiral Alice Stanford on several occasions and was seen by many as her protege, although she had more than earn her command in her own right.

“What would you say they’re here for, Lieutenant?”

“I would imagine they’re steaming north to reinforce the Layartebian presence in the Mediterranean, most likely as a result of the growing conflict between the new Roman Republic and the Achaean Empire,” Lieutenant Cooper replied after a few moments. “That or they’re moving to support Layartebian garrisons along the Suez; the canal is as important to them as it is to us, it’d be like the Layartebians to take the proactive response.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Captain Wilson nodded, pleased with his response. “It’s no coincidence that we’re underway in the Red Sea right now.”

“In case we need to enforce our own right to transit the canal?” Lt. Cooper replied. “Makes sense, the Mediterranean Fleet is being reinforced just like the Layartebians.”

“Indeed it is,” Captain Wilson agreed. “I doubt the Admiralty will be unaware of the Layartebian presence here, and I think they’ll agree with what I've got in mind.”

“I’ll have Corro set up a secure satellite link to the Admiralty for you, Ma’am,” Cooper smiled. “Any message for the Layartebians?”

“Indeed, perform passing honours and make the following signal,” Wilson nodded. “Send my compliments to the Battlegroup Commander, ask him if he would like us to join his escort, allies help out allies, especially when our interests align.”

Lieutenant Cooper nodded, that certainly made sense, particularly given that the Layartebians were October Alliance members just like the Empire of Apilonia was. It also made sense to offer the services of the Cochrane, as Captain Wilson had said she was in the Red Sea for much the same reason, and it made sense to co-operate with such close allies towards the same goals. More to the point the Cochrane was a formidable warship in her own right, both in terms of the defensive ability she would add to the Layartebian carriers escort and in terms of her own offensive capability. Lieutenant Cooper strongly suspected that the Admiralty would fully endorse and authorise her decision to offer her services to an allied battlegroup; it wasn’t like such thing wouldn’t occur in planned situations, so why not in unplanned. There had been sufficient training exercises, such as the annual RIMPAC exercises conducted by the Imperial Navy, to ensure that the October Alliance allies could all fight and work together, and there was of course the standing anti-piracy task forces of various October Alliance ships.

“Yes Ma’am,” Cooper nodded, and watched as she left the ship. “Pass word for the Correspondence Officer to report to the Captain’s Cabin, Quartermaster of the Watch, make signal to Layartebian warship…”

[Layarteb]

March 25, 2016 - 13:00 hrs [UTC+2]
Mandeb Strait, Red Sea
ILS Raef (CVN-109) Washington-class CVN
(12° 41' 26" N, 43° 18' 37" E)

"No sir we had no idea they were operating in the AO," answered Senior Admiral Clifford Turner from the radio room of the ILS Raef (CVN-109), the Washington-class aircraft carrier at the center of the 5th Carrier Strike Group. In all direction around the carrier, warships of the 5th Carrier Strike Group were forming a protective umbrella around the carrier and the amphibious warships bringing the marines involved in the southern landings.

On the other end of the line, Vice Admiral Graziano was pondering the implications. "While we need all of the help we can get, the political sensitivities are higher than normal on this operation." Silence stayed on the line for a moment, "Unfortunately we cannot partner with the Apilonians for fear of the Achaeans seeing it as a joint maneuver. They'd be stupid not to guess what we're doing but to guess and to affirm are separate entities entirely."

"Right, so how am I going to convey this one? I want their support Admiral. I want their warships here if the Achaeans launch hellfire fury upon me."

"So do I Clifford," VADM Graziano answered. "Keep them close but unrelated."

"Aye aye Admiral," SADM Turner ended the call and put the handset back in its specific cradle. He looked around at the young, shaven faces of the radio operators. "Right, send a response to Captain Wilson, ready?"

"Yes sir," replied the one who would take down the message and subsequently transfer it over the radio to the Apilonians.

"We appreciate the assistance of the Imperial Apilonian Navy. However, at this time we are not in need of assistance or escort. While we cannot dictate the routes of Apilonian warships in international waters, we feel it would be best if they maintained strong watch both above and below the waters of the Red Sea. There shall be significant, naval presence in the Red Sea and it would be most wise for them to maintain a heightened attention to the north and the west. That is all."

"Yes sir," the radioman read it back and the message was transferred over the encrypted channels used by the warships of The October Alliance. For the time being however, SADM Turner would return to the CIC and maintain close watch over the transit through the Red Sea, trusting that the Apilonians would find enough hidden meaning in the message to join along the group under their own recognizance.

[Terra Reborn]

Lieutenant Daniel Cooper DSC KGM IN
HMS Cochrane (C49)
International Waters, The Red Sea
Friday 25th March 2016, 1310hrs Local Time (0310hrs Imperial Capital Time, 1110hrs Zulu Time)

“What’s the word, Skipper?”

“The word, Lieutenant, is no,” Captain Wilson answered with a slight smile as she stepped back onto the bridge. “We are therefore going anyway.”

“Ma’am?”

“Given how paranoid the Achaeans are the Layartebians don't want to risk encouraging the kind of action they are doubtless trying to avoid, and politically speaking our overtly joining their battlegroup steaming north could be seen, by someone as paranoid as the Achaeans, as a joint operation,” Captain Wilson replied promptly. “However, if we just so happen to be operating in the same general area as the Layartebians we get the same advantage, from a tactical perspective, without overtly showing our hand; sure the Achaeans will likely suspect what we’re up to, but there is a great deal of difference between what they suspect, and what they can prove.”

Lieutenant Cooper nodded thoughtfully as he took in what his Captain had just told him. It certainly made sense, it was well known that the Achaean Empress was as paranoid as they came, and likely saw conspiracies where none existed. It also made sense that the Layartebians, although moving their forces into position to respond to any threat, would want to avoid provoking the kind of problem they were preparing to counter. However the Layartebians weren’t fools, far from it; they knew that, if they every came under a major assault, every ship would count, particularly one as large and capable as the Cochrane. By doing what Captain Wilson had indicated that they were doing, they got the best of both worlds; they trusted Wilson to put her ship far enough away from the battlegroup to give plausible deniability, whilst close enough to support them if the need arose.

“I understand, Ma’am,” Lt. Cooper nodded. “Orders?”

“As long as it is navigationally safe to do so, I want us to cut across in front of the Layartebian battlegroup, keeping well clear of their ships, then assume a position to the north and west of their track,” Captain Wilson ordered firmly. “Make sure your relief and their relief knows to keep a weather eye on the North-West vector, I’ll do the same for the Operations Room staff, if something happens I intend to be ready.”

[Layarteb]

March 25, 2016 - 18:00 hrs [UTC+2]
Suez Canal, Sinai Peninsula
Observation Point Syracuse
(31° 5' 24" N, 32° 18' 51" E)

"You have to remember, the chances are you'll be alone out there. You've got to hold your sector; you've got to defend your sector; and you've got to endure the onslaught that the Achaeans will throw at you. And you and only you will be there to pull your men through!"

BG Greg O'Neill's words echoed in CPT Cardenas' head as he took off his helmet and looked out to the west where the sunset was beginning to cast a deep palette of colors across the clear, Egyptian sky. It was a beautiful sunset and he saw no reason to scorn it, even if it was over hostile land. The day had been long and Cardenas was tired, itching to get back to his bunk at Fort New York and take off his boots. Of course, he would have to pass a report up to battalion where LTC Nick Helton was waiting to hear on the status of the strong points under his control. The Suez Canal's defensive line wasn't just twelve forts; it was twelve forts and thirty-six strong points. Each of the forts was named for a state and each of the strong points under its thumb for a city in that particular state. Since CPT Cardenas drew Fort New York he had Niagara, Albany, and Syracuse from north to south.

Having spent the day getting a full tour of each strong point as well as his company's mortar pit, all of which were within 2,800 to 3,900 meters of Fort New York, CPT Cardenas liked what he saw but only from his men. His three strong points, called observation posts officially, were located within a few hundred meters of the Canal's eastern bank and in that dead space, the paratroopers of Alpha Company, 789th Paratrooper Battalion, 107th Paratrooper Brigade had created a hostile no man's land that would give the Achaeans misery if they wanted to cross it. The most visible defensive barrier was the rows upon rows of concertina wire. Hidden beneath the sand were at least a hundred anti-tank and anti-personnel mines ranging from sophisticated, pressure-plate devices for armored units to command-detonated Claymores for the innermost perimeter.

The way CPT Cardenas had arranged his 180-man company was simple. He had three rifle platoons, each with three rifle and one weapon's squad. Each rifle squad was 10 men and further broken into two, 5-man fireteams. The weapon's squad had two light machine guns. That gave each strongpoint a total of thirty-five men, which included a joint fires observer who could call in air or artillery support. Each strongpoint also had a corpsman and enough ammunition to withstand a dithering onslaught. First Platoon was led by 2LT Jim Martinez, a West Point Graduate, and they held OP Syracuse; Second Platoon was led by 2LT Percy Springer, who'd gone from enlisted to officer after two years of service, and they held OP Albany; Third Platoon was led by 2LT Luís Rosario, who'd gone into OCS straight from basic, and they held OP Niagara. Like CPT Cardenas, they were all green, never before having faced combat but he knew they were solid men, he just hoped they would hold it together if the Achaeans decided to make something of this entire ordeal.

At Fort New York, CPT Cardenas had his 9-man company staff (not including himself) and the third rifle squad of each platoon for a 30-man perimeter force. He dispersed his weapon's platoon by putting an anti-tank squad - of which he had three - at each OP. The mortar squad and the platoon's HQ element were located in between the fort and the OPs, which allowed them to use their M224A1 60-millimeter Lightweight Mortars on both sides of the canal. The mortar had an effective range of around 3,500 meters; and with three mortars, his men could deliver a good volume of fire to help protect the OPs.

If battle was given, the JFOs at each OP could call in the mortars directly. If they needed heavier support, say from 155-millimeter guns, they could route the call to FOB Haboob, where the 107th Paratrooper Brigade's command staff and fifth battalion were stationed. Just south of Baloza, FOB Haboob was just over twenty-six klicks away. There wasn't an artillery unit there yet but soon enough a light artillery battalion was going to move in there with towed howitzers. Using base bleed rounds, they could reach out and drop ordinance all around the area, one of the few areas their guns could cover without any sort of rocket assistance. If the JFO needed air support, CPT Cardenas would route the call to a JTAC air controller and then handoff to the JFO. If they needed something other than mortars, artillery, or CAS support, battalion had a chaplain.

CPT Cardenas looked across the canal and then back up at the sunset again. By his side was Martinez who had seen his company commander and decided to catch him alone. "What's on your mind Lieutenant?" Cardenas asked after a moment of Martinez' uneasy shuffling.

"We're barely four hundred meters from the canal sir. This is going to get ugly fast if they make something of us. I don't think mortars and some artillery will stop them. We need some major firepower here."

"Brigade is supposed to get some attack helicopters at Haboob, not sure if they'll be here by the time the fight kicks off though," this was something of a rumor, that battalion would have attack helicopters at FOB Haboob. Whoever started it was in serious trouble since there were no plans to forward deploy a helicopter unit there.

"I'm talking light armored support sir."

"We're paratroopers Lieutenant; we don't ride around with armored plate between us and the outside world. We drop into battle in extremely vulnerable ways and then, when the shit hits the fan and we're surrounded, we fight our way out of hell only to do it again. You went to West Point Lieutenant, surely they taught you that there."

"Whatever they taught us sir I can't remember right now."

"Just remember tactics, that's all you need to know out here. You need to recognize the enemy, recognize what they're doing, counter, and keep your men alive and your sector defended. That's what I ask of you."

"Thanks sir."

"Your defenses are fine. Your machine guns can each cover a good arc of fire and overlap if they have to, you've got an anti-tank squad with a Carl Gustav and I've watched those guys on the range. They can hit a tank moving at 30 mph from a hundred meters, a lot further if it's just light armor and it isn't moving. This is what they do and they're good at it. If you see a bridge going up you call in the artillery and we'll nix it, sounds good?"

"Yes sir."

"Be confident Lieutenant, you're about to have either a nice taste of combat without the bullets or the finest hour of your life." With that CPT Cardenas offered his hand, shook Martinez', and left with his radioman to head back to Fort New York, running over in his head his own desire to have light armor around his defensive sector, the same things the young second lieutenant had requested. Of course, he couldn't express his own doubts to his subordinate, that would shake the man's confidence in him as the company commander and nothing could be any farer from toxic in a combat situation.

[Valinor1]

Legate Legionnis Kaseo Piliana Cyprato
Operations Command Room, Castrum Garibaldi, Legio XV Italia
North-east of Naples, Campania, Italia
April 3, 2016; 0845 Local Hrs

In the past two weeks, the three Legions remaining under Cyprato's command remained busy by finishing their sweep through the Italian provinces still under Achaean control, and after Foggia, they didn't meet much resistance, most of the remaining Achaean troops were either auxiliary units or scattered remnants of the Legions shattered in Foggia. It took them approximately eight days finish securing the peninsula, and for the first time in a year, the entirety of Italy was unified and under Roman control.

In addition to this, they were also working to regain the losses they had suffered at Foggia, and most of this was being done with thanks to the four Militum Castra's in northern Italy, which served as training centers for the legionnaires that would join the oldest military force in the world. The process was slow, but thanks to the rotational schedule that they maintained, and that Belluso's speech for the reunification of Rome was meet with fervor in the public, volunteer enlistments jumped, much to the Legion's happiness. By the start of the current week, most of the three Legions had been given fresh legionnaires and had more or less completely replaced any losses they had incurred, but in addition to this, the seizure of old Legion armamentarium's, or armories, in the southern countrysides, and as more military officers joined on and the command chain was unified, more resources were unlocked, like namely the deployment of a number of missile systems, which were secured once Valerian's old codes were discovered. The codes provided access to the three tiers of missiles used by the Legion, the TIP-5 Velites which is a moderate ranged conventional ballistic missile, which along with the TIP-7 Contiger which was the heavy alternative, formed a formidable weapon system that they could be used. Belluso had given full control of them over to Cyprato, who was planning to use the missiles and their launchers in the invasion of Greece; even the light TIP-5 could strike the entire Greek region, which presented Cyprato with a number of options, options he was now considering here in his theater command operations room in Naples, with a number of his command staff gathered around a digital table with map, unit placements and options.

"Alright, so Tribune, according to your count, that gives me a lot of missiles. Here's what we're going to do, Praevictor's are obviously off the table, we do not want Alexia to respond in kind, and Contigers are a bit heavy for this conflict, so we'll just utilize the Velites. We have currently two hundred fully operational launchers, which gives us 1600 missiles. We're going to break them down into Ballista Filum's, 40 launchers per unit, and we'll position them at four locations. I want one at Taranto, one at Syracuse and another at Brindisium, we'll keep the fourth in reserve. They're going to target their salvo's on three individual locations, and then break firing coordinates down at the unit level, but we'll have them target first that defense line at Igoumenista, Parga, Louras and Arta, then secondly have them strike the three air bases that are in at southern region, Agrinium, Araxium and Lechaina. Avoid striking the runways, but target the hangers, planes parked on the fields and command buildings. The Navy will be sortieing out to confront any possibility of a Achaean force coming out of the base at Patras, which then will set the scale for our landings."

"Reinforcements from Canada will be here on the 12th, we launch on the 15th, they're going to be bringing us a total of twelve Legions, which will give us more then enough to swarm them over Greece. Initial landings will be at two sites, eight Legions at the northern one which will be at Parga and then seven at the southern site which will be on the coast near Lechaina, where they'll work to secure that base. Now, the northern force is going to then head east towards Trikala, while the southern force will secure the island of Moros and then head for Athens, where the northern force will also send forces once they secure their primary objective. The Navy will run up the channel behind Athens and help us in securing the city if Alexia want's a siege, but we're hoping to secure it without one."

"Now, in addition to all of these, we've gained the assistance of the British Empire, more or less, who will be sending some forces to assist us in the initial landings. While the missile barage should eliminate most of the resistance to the first landings, I expect them to possibly send forces from Ioaninna or even possibly further eastern locations, so to that end, they're going to deploy Special Operation forces across the northern border, sabotage supply lines, disrupt communications and harass individuals around the area of Thessalonika, and possibly, even commit some regular troops into securing that city, we'll see on that end. If they don't, once we have Athens, we will, either way it will fall. Alright, let's move on to covering the logistical distribution for the preparation for this.."

Praefectus Classis Aleriu Sentiusal Soriuso
Combat Information Center, Deck 4, Graecia, Victoria-class carrier
East of the Island of Sicily, Ionian Sea ( 37°58'22.41"N 17°40'28.57"E)
April 15, 2016; 1435 Local Hrs

"Sir, all ships are at combat stations, Frigus was the last to report in and Celers and [/i] Velox[/i] are ready to enact the first vanguard routine."

"Well then tell them to get the move on, they're not to engage if they're endangered, but any enemy submarines are first priority and are to be taken down at any measure."

"Aide, get the CAG on the horn and tell him to increase CAP to four birds, and I want the AWACs flying out further, I want to find this Achaean carrier and we're going to sink her before she interferes with any plans. Any update on the intelligence gained earlier?"

As Aleriu spoke out the rapid orders, thirty some years in the naval career made him no stranger to combat or naval operations, he thought back to the intelligence tip off they had received from an asset in Greece; apparently the Achaean naval forces were indeed located at Patras and had sallied out, either to make a run at now Roman-held Syracuse or attempt to flee to Alexandria or an Egyptian port, which was why Aleriu, here in the command room of the Graecia, one of the two nuclear aircraft carriers employed by the Roman Navy, was steaming towards the last reported location of the hostile task force with it's own task force; four Cirrus-class destroyers, which were on par with most modern destroyers that were fielded by the current navies around the world, they were a multi-mission platform that fielded a hundred or more missiles launched from the VLS systems on the rear and fore of the ships, missiles designed to sink a ship, or wrest an aircraft out of the sky. In addition to these, there was four Passer frigates, built in the early part of the current century and were basically a downsized Cirrus, meant for more anti-shipping roles then anti-air, and thus would be the first to engage any hostile surface combatants. To round out the group as a whole, there was the 2 Velox-class SSN's attached, having been built within the last five years, were one of the most advanced on the planet and thus, where now scouring the oceans bellow for the hostile Velox SSN that was sure to be accompanying the enemy carrier.

This battle would be more of a war goal, it was also a bit of a rivalry. The Achaean carrier was the Constantine, an Aquila-class carrier which was conventional aircraft carrier that was intended to have replaced those of the Victore-class, like Graecia, but never happened for a number of reasons. A competition existed between the crews before the Schism, and now it was a chance to settle it; the older, larger carrier versus the smaller, yet more modern, carrier. Both with equally capable of air wings, Aleriu held the advantage because his fighters were the more modern type of the multi-role employed by the Navy, the G.97 Aeqour, which was a testament to Roman engineering, on par with more then most modern naval fighters and more then capable at its role.

At the moment, twenty G.97 Aeqour's were flying in a patrol ahead of the carrier group, and would soon be joined by four more, and ahead of them was the naval AWACs that was carrier-borne, searching like a lighthouse in the night for the enemy carrier group, and once found, the battle would be afoot.

Centurion Durio Tullius Lucianus
V Century, VI Cohort, Legio XV Italia
Inside Horreum , Troop Transport, 11 km off the coast of Lechaine, Greece
April 15, 2016; 1923 Local Hrs

"Mitus, are the men ready?"

Durio looked at his new subordinate, one of the many Decanus's under him, who returned Durio's frim look with an equally confident look "They are indeed sir, all of the former 3rd Cohort men have acclimated with the fish, many of them taunting them as they face combat for the first time,but they are prepared."

"Combat will indeed be rough, Foggia was hell, and I'm sure we'll face that or worse the closer to Athens we get."

"I heard about that, I was lucky enough to be south in Potema with the other legions; how fares your friend, Quintus Silo wasn't it? I've heard about him from a few of the other men, the Senate really confer the Order of the Lion on him?"

"Him and his entire contubernium, of which only four survived. He himself is currently in a hospital back at Naples, mortar shell landed within a few meters of him, severe burns and shrapnel, if we're good, we'll finish this war before he heals."

Mitus grinned and Duro continued to walk on, joining the rest of his century on one of the three landing ships that were inside the welldeck of the troop ship, something built in the 50s and never really used till now, but now, the Horreum, Stabilis and the Puteus were transporting the first wave of the Roman Legions that were about to unleash war to the Achaeans residing in their home region of Greece. Cyprato's vanguard consisted of the three Legions that survived the Italian peninsula, Legio XV Italia, Legio XIII Raetia, and Legio VII Victra. In addition to those three Legions, another twelve were behind them in other transports, freshly arrived from the Canadian frontier and with them, it put 90,000 Romans under Cyprato's command and geared towards the forced liberation of Greece. Their arrival was aided by a missile barrage that, from BDA's and flyovers, completely eliminated the coastal defenses erected by the Achaean Legion in northwestern Greece, as well as eliminating the three air bases in the region which completely neutered the Achaean Air Force from responding and targeting the slow moving transports. Once they landed, the Legions would land in waves of three, five waves in total, in the two sites that Cyprato had already selected. His vanguard would be apart of the northern group, where the fighting was expected to be the fiercest, especially because captured intelligence indicated that after the missile strike, Achaeans were already sending four Legions to the area.

As the ramp was lowered and the landing ships moved out, Duro was reminded of the Legion's motto, as the sounds of battle filled his head once more, the boom of the artillery on the coast, the buzzing sound of the CIWS defenses on the ships, the quick bursts of gunfire, tracer rounds zipping back and forth. He smiled as he gripped onto his rifle more, and thought Into the breach once more, fire and blood

[Terra Reborn]

Admiral The Viscountess Stanford DCS DSO DSC**
HMS St Angelo, Valetta
The Crown Colony of Malta, The Empire of Apilonia
Friday 15th April 2016, 1500hrs Local Time (0400hrs Imperial Capital Time, 1400hrs Zulu Time)

“Looks like we’ve got a fight shaping up in the Adriatic Sea, my Lady.”

Admiral Stanford nodded her agreement with the assessment of her Chief of Staff, Commodore Timothy Brigham, as she stepped up to the large electronic chart table at the centre of the Fleet Operations Room and looked up at the large situation display mounted on the wall, upon which were marked the movements of as many ships and aircraft as were detectable from various sources. The display only confirmed what she had known for some time; that there was a Roman carrier group underway in the Ionian Sea; and that certainly made sense, given that they probably had as good a intelligence on the movement of Achaean assets as the Imperial Navy did, perhaps even better given that they were both closer and more intimately involved. The intelligence that Stanford had seen indicated that the Achaean forced based in Greece had sailed, and whilst their exact destination was unknown it stood to reason that the Romans would want to try and contain them; every enemy ship they sank now was one less that they had to sink later, it was just good strategy. Indeed had Stanford been in their position, she would likely have done much the same.

Indeed she pretty much had done the same thing.

Given that the Empire of Apilonia was viewing this resurgence of the Roman Republic positively, and the Foreign Office was proceeding along with that view through diplomatic channels, they are not deemed to be hostile. The Achaean, by contrast, had long been viewed with a degree of suspicion by the Empire, and the sudden outbreak of conflict in Europe had done nothing to change that. As such Stanford had deployed her to contain the Achaean Navy as much as was possible. The Reprisal Carrier Battle Group was operating in the Aegean Sea just north of Crete, keeping an eye on the eastern coast of Greece, whilst the Illustrious Carrier Battle Group was deployed two hundred nautical miles due east of Malta, doing the same for the western coast. In addition to the SAG Divisions operating in the Aegean and by Gibraltar, she had deployed the other two SAG Divisions she had available for deployment to a position south of Cyprus to contain Achaean naval assets based out of Egypt.

Both Carrier Battle Groups were identical in make up, the only difference being the type of carrier. Reprisal was a, smaller, Washington-Class Fleet Carrier of 65,000 tonnes; capable, very effective and, partially as a result of her conventional propulsion system, was permanently stationed in the Mediterranean. The Illustrious was a new-build Intrepid-Class Supercarrier of 100,000 tonnes on her first deployment, very capable, with a somewhat larger air group and nuclear powered, home-ported in the Empire proper it was slated to be routinely deployed to the Mediterranean. Each Carrier, regardless of size, was joined by the same Escort Squadron, consisting of a Tiger-Class Light Cruiser, four Type-45E Destroyers (the Imperial Navy's far more potent enhanced versions of the base T45 design) and six Type-26 Global Combat Frigates, ensuring that they were very well protected from air, surface and sub-surface threats that might decide to try their luck with the Imperial Navy. Each of the SAG Divisions were potent forces based around a Saga-Class Battlecruiser, escorted by two Type-45E Destroyers and four Type-26 Global Combat Frigates. In addition to these concentrated forces on the surface, several Astute-Class Fleet Submarines operated independently beneath the surface, tasked both with supporting the actions of the surface groups, but also hunting down enemy submarines on their own accord.

Of course it was more than likely that these preparations would not result in anything. The likelihood of hostilities breaking out was slim, the Achaeans were too busy dealing with the Romans to be getting into fights with the Apilonians, however Stanford had to make sure her assets were in position for two reasons. The first was in the event that the Achaeans did indeed decide to come off of the reservation and attack either the Empire or its allies, such as the Layartebian battle group that was currently transiting the Red Sea. The second was in the event that His Majesty’s Government decided to take some form of proactive action, likely in support of the Romans, in which case it would primarily fall upon the Navy to provide a wide range of potential options. Of course this was what a great deal of what military life was; strategic manoeuvring to ensure that you were in the best possible position in the event that hostilities broke out.

Indeed the likely engagement they were predicting in the Ionian Sea was the most excitement of the ‘crisis’ so far.

“Make to Illustrious, make sure they are aware what our MPAs here are seeing in case they’ve not already aware, advise that they increase their CAP and expand their AEW perimeter,” Stanford ordered thoughtfully. “Their priority is to maintain the containment perimeter, we’ll keep tabs on the developing situation from here, besides I don’t want our assets getting caught up in their carrier duel.”

“We’ve also got what we believe to be troop transports sitting here, just off the coast of Greece, it seems likely that they’re going to attempt a landing soon,” Commodore Brigham added. “I wonder why that Achaean carrier hasn’t tried to intervene and stop the landing, that close to Patras, the Romans should never have got close, the Achaean Flag Officer deserves to be shot.”

Stanford nodded.

“It does seem rather incompetent of whoever the Achaean Commander is over there, even if you don’t have a chance to stop the landing you still make the effort; every troop transport you take out could be thousands of enemy troops less that your own ground troops have to face, especially after that missile strike,” Stanford frowned. “It’s possible that they have got their blood up and they’re making a run for Italy to try and do some damage, even if its not the best strategic move they could make, either that or they’re cowards and are making a run for their bases at Alexandria, abandoning Greece to its fate, it seems unlikely the Achaeans can withstand Rome at this point.”

Stanford shrugged.

“To be fair on them they may yet try and intervene, although I suspect it may be too late,” She added. “I guess we can’t judge these people by our standards, just because we’d wade in and make our stand doesn’t mean the likes of the Achaeans will.”

“Very true, my Lady,” Commodore Brigham nodded.

“Alright then, keep me updated on the situation as it develops, however I doubt anything will happen that will require us to take action,” Stanford replied with a smile. “I think for once we can sit back and watch, but make sure our MPAs are spread out so we see everything, I do not want to be blindsided by an Achaean Carrier appearing near our Battlecruisers over near Egypt.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Commodore Brigham nodded, albeit with a wry smile. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

[Layarteb]

April 4, 2016 - 08:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Layarteb City, New York
Fortress of Comhghall
(40° 41' 28" N, 74° 0' 58" W)

On this particularly brisk, Monday morning most Layartebians were wondering when spring was really going to start. The air temperature was barely above freezing and on Governors Island, where the wind swept from seemingly every direction at once, freezing might have been where the temperature was. Inside of the Emperor's office, the fireplace was burning at maximum intensity with logs cracking and popping left, right, and center. The radiant heat it provided was enough to fill the entire office with a warm though dry air. A humidifier was running in the corner to ensure that there was some humidity left in the room.

The Emperor was joined on this early, Monday morning by the entirety of the Cabinet as the full meeting was scheduled to begin promptly at 08:00, which it was. "All right good morning ladies and gentlemen, I know it's brisk out there so thank you all for being here so prompt and early," the Emperor began though his thanks weren't necessary. No one was late to a meeting with the Emperor lest they achieve a full slap across the face, metaphorically speaking. "Where do we stand with units deployed to the Sinai and the Eastern Med, Chairman-General?"

"Sir, as of yesterday evening, the last elements of the 42nd Armored Division arrived, completing our deployment. We are fully deployed to the region sir, as expected."

"I presume our defensive preparations are complete?"

"Sir they are not yet fully complete but they will be within seventy-two hours."

"What if we're attacked tonight Chairman-General?"

"Sir we prioritized front line defenses and artillery pre-sighting. If we're attacked tonight we're ready to go. The air force will provide aerial sorties and the navy will respond with cruise missiles and aerial sorties as well. Our defensive positions not yet complete concern our final fallback positions, which sir we need to discuss."

"All right," the Emperor said, suspecting that Chairman-General Barnes was just letting the topic approach, that he wasn't the one to discuss it specifically. His suspicions were right when Minister Sanders of Defense spoke up next.

"Sir we need to be prepared to move to CBRN options. We do not have the manpower in the Sinai to fully resist what the Achaeans have in Egypt nor can we hold out forever," the Emperor didn't want to discuss this primarily but he knew it would have to be discussed sooner or later. CBRN or special munitions had been moved to the theater but their use had yet to be discussed. "We have chemical munitions in theater in both artillery and bomb form. We have chemical warheads for the Vestas just the same."

"How many Vestas do we have?"

"The 33rd Tactical Missile Battalion is equipped with eight Cobalt TELs and twenty-four Vesta TELs. In total they're carrying two hundred and forty missiles. We have forty-eight chemical and twenty-four nuclear warheads alongside them in secure bunkers sir."

"What else do we have then?"

"Besides air-dropped bombs sir, we have thirty-six nuclear cruise missiles of the Cobalt type aboard the 6th Surface Action Group."

"So needless to say we have enough tactical warheads in theater to turn northern Egypt into a glowing, irradiated mess and enough chemical munitions in theater to wipe out the entire populace?"

"Yes sir."

"I hate these weapons," the Emperor said after a few moments of silent, contemplative thought. "The last thing I want to do is order their use."

"Sir if it looks like we're going to lose the Sinai completely we need to be ready to utilize them. Our doctrine demands it," Chairman-General Barnes said authoritatively.

"We used chemical weapons in southeastern China and look where that got us, nowhere. It got a lot of men killed. There is a slippery slope argument and if we launch VX at them, the Achaeans might respond with VX or they might respond with nuclear warheads. If we launch nuclear warheads we can be fully assured they will launch nuclear warheads in return. There's no winning when these weapons get launched and the Achaeans have no shortage of ballistic missiles. I am sure we can shoot some of them down but I know we cannot shoot all of them down. Even as a last resort these weapons do nothing but endanger the lives of everyone involved. Empress Alexia knows they are there and that's what matters. They're to give her a moment's pause on using weapons herself."

"Sir and if she does?"

"If Empress Alexia uses chemical or nuclear weapons first then we will respond with such ferocity and viciousness that her own people will clamor for her head," answered the Emperor rather quickly in response. "I'm not looking to start a nuclear exchange but I can promise you that I will see to it that should one take place, it won't go further. End of discussion on this." No one thought to challenge him though Chairman-General Barnes was slightly disappointed. He wanted to have the authorization to use chemical weapons on Achaean positions should it be evident that Layartebian forces had to fall back to their final positions. When the time came, if it came, he would press the Emperor again to release the munitions, hoping that the attack of VX warheads would be enough to squash the Achaean forces and permit a full drive right to Cairo, unseating Alexia's government therein and handing the Achaean regional forces a swift defeat.

"How do we stand with regards to force intelligence, Carmen?" The Emperor asked, turning now to Carmen Flores, the Minister of Intelligence.

"Sir we know fully what they have and where. We have satellite passes regularly and long-range ISR assets roaming over the Sinai and international airspace in the Med and the Red Sea. Couple that with the fact that we integrated so completely with Roman forces once upon a time, we know their capabilities sir."

"Then where are the biggest threats?"

"Ballistic missiles and stealth aircraft sir."

"Minister Sanders what is our counter?"

"Ballistic missiles are tricky sir. Our plan is to establish hunter-killer patrols linked to J/STARS components for real-time strikes. The moment a launch is detected we'll utilize early warning satellites and air platforms to triangulate the positions. The normal launch sequence for a ballistic missile unit spans ninety minutes and we figure the Achaeans can do it in thirty in combat. We won't have the best opportunities to get the launchers sir but we know that by establishing air superiority early on in the fight and keeping our hunter-killer teams on standby in the air at all times with dedicated missions we can strike quickly. We have surface-to-air systems protecting our bases and our positions with anti-ballistic missile capabilities. We can shot down a sizeable portion of them we feel confidently."

"What's our hunter-killer teams look like then?"

"A two-ship formation of F-46 Enforcers with laser-guided bombs and anti-tank guided missiles protected by a two-ship formation of F-58 Vipers for armed escort sir."

"What about reactive strikes with conventional ballistic missiles?"

"That option is available sir and the flight time on the Vesta is short enough that we could use it but we would prefer to utilize fighters to ensure thorough destruction of the target. A Vesta might not get all of the launchers sir."

"All right I can buy that then what about stealth fighters?"

"Sir we know that the Romans utilized the F-117 Nighthawk, which they called the I.81 Noctuam. The Noctuam is just as difficult to engage as the Nighthawk is and it requires very low wavelengths on radar. I'm not going to get into the technical aspects as I do not fully understand them but we have counters in place."

"Sir, if I may," Chairman-General Barnes said and to this both Minister Sanders and the Emperor deferred to him. "The Soviets built a system called the Nebo, which utilizes three radars. At the lowest bandwidth is VHF, which means a very long wavelength, capable of picking up an F-117 at range in excess of its own weapon's capabilities. While this isn't a very accurate system the error rate is slight enough that we can fire surface-to-air missiles into the vicinity, guiding them via datalink. The missiles' own radars or infrared seekers would be able to get close enough to get a lock onto the target and engage it. We have our own version of the Nebo with identical capabilities. In addition, the radars on our airborne early warning aircraft have sufficient bandwidth and peak power to pick up these aircraft though not at maximum range. The radar on our Scarecrow can operate on UHF frequency, which is one bandwidth higher than VHF. On our E-10 we can utilize S band for search. I know it's very technical sir but we have the capabilities."

"Supposed the SAMs don't work?"

"Sir the Noctuam like the Nighthawk is useless against fighters. We could vector fighters to engage and destroy them with air-to-air missiles. They're vulnerable, as are our own fighters sir and we have F-19s in theater."

"Well we know how to counter so I want to ensure that these things don't slip though. Do we need more assets in theater?"

"Well sir we do and we don't," Minister Sanders said, explaining quickly, "we have what we need in theater now and we fully believe that we have enough and that any more will only clutter up the situation but we're going to need reinforcements quickly. We need to be prepared. We're going to be engaged fully with Sergipe in the next few months and that is causing problems on the supply train but we have resources en route."

"When do they arrive?"

"By the fifteenth sir."

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ | ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

April 15, 2016 - 10:00 hrs [UTC-5]
Layarteb City, New York
Fortress of Comhghall
(40° 41' 28" N, 74° 0' 58" W)

The Layartebians were more concerned about getting new and fresh supplies into the Eastern Med Theater of Operations, depositing them on Crete for safekeeping for the time being. This wasn't to say that they weren't watching the Roman movements in the Ionian or the Aegean seas but without a direct threat from the Achaeans against Layartebian assets in the region there wasn't a lot to do but keep patrolling as ordered. The 7th Carrier Strike Group with the 4th Escort Group continued to patrol in the Aegean Sea, mainly focused on protecting the few Layartebian islands within the body of water. Further south, protecting Crete were the 2nd and 8th Carrier Strike Groups along with the 10th and 6th Escort Groups, respectively protecting each CVSG.

The main focus of forces was to the south in what was termed the Sinai Theater of Operations. That was where the full brunt of the Imperial Layartebian Military was focused. If Empress Alexia attacked either Crete or the Layartebian territories in the Aegean, she would need to commit major forces to do so. The Empire wasn't as entrenched or focused there as they were against the Sinai but that didn't mean there wasn't a presence. Fighters and interceptors from the Imperial Layartebian Defense Force maintained around-the-clock patrols along with maritime patrol aircraft capable of sinking any shipping. Surface-to-air batteries on the islands would ensure that the Achaeans were facing an uphill battle should they manage to avoid the fighter patrols. Then, in combination, the Imperial Layartebian Military had a number of anti-ship batteries with both supersonic and subsonic anti-ship missiles. Cruise missiles could strike anywhere in Greece and so Empress Alexia had to think long and hard about striking any of these islands simply because they were sovereign, Layartebian soil. The Empire might have been digging into the Sinai but they'd only just arrived.

In Layarteb City, the Emperor and the Cabinet had just finished off another round of discussions. Sergipe continued to dominate the topic but the Sinai and the Achaean situation wasn't being ignored. Minister Fisher of Foreign Affairs had done everything he could do to convince his Achaean counterparts that the Empire did not want war but that it was prepared to fight it should its sovereignty be threatened, which included the Suez Canal. He couldn't stress more than the Suez Canal, being in Layartebian hands, would remain as such and that no spectre or threat of war would change the Empire's mind. The Empire, simply put, would not negotiate anything under threat of force or violence. If the Achaeans wanted to discuss the situation calmly and peacefully, the Empire would listen - and likely decline but it would still listen.

Keeping on the move in the Red Sea and the Eastern Med, the Layartebian battlegroups were on full alert, just waiting for the attack. They suspected that the Achaeans would, at any given time, sortie large waves of fighters and attack from low-altitude. Surface-to-air missiles were kept in good order and airborne early warning was set up around the clock along with the standard fighter patrols and alert aircraft. The Imperial Layartebian Navy was fully prepared to fight Hell's battle both at sea and in the air. There was no area that was less of a focus than the other.

The Red Sea was considered the most vulnerable theater but it was the Ionian and the Aegean seas that were considered the most volatile given the Roman conquest of Italy and the subsequent Achaean defeat. Empress Alexia, handed a major defeat in southern Italy, was certainly going to want to retaliate quickly and the best opportunity was across the Ionian Sea where her forces could strike Italy's southern boot. In the Aegean, her forces would attempt to trap the Romans and attack them from multiple vectors owing largely to their dominance of three parts of the sea.

[Valinor1]

Legate Legionnis Kaseo Piliana Cyprato
Operations Command Room, Castrum Garibaldi, Legio XV Italia
North-east of Naples, Campania, Italia
April 16, 2016; 0630 Local Hrs

Kaseo climbed up the small circular stair case that led into the command room, it sat in the third floor of a large structure inside the military fort that was close to the city of Naples, painted a sand color with brick facades, it was both functionary yet pleasing on the eyes. The room that Kaseo entered had two Legionnaires, with proper clearance, on guard at the top of the staircase, both of them saluting as he entered. The room itself was enormous, it was afterall designed to command an entire theatre of operations, has such it had dozens of computer terminals, screens for data interpretation, four or more digital map tables that could project any terrain that the Roman satelitte network would pick up, which was almost everywhere on the globe, and more, all filling the room.

Normally, there would be dozens of staffers, tribunes, optio's, officers of all kinds that were rushing to distribute orders, interpret intelligence, and assess reports, as well as dozens of other functions that were required of any command staff. At the moment though, most of the people in the room numbered twenty or less, mostly slowly refreshing report centers and emails and report intake feeds, it was a busy night but most of the command staff wouldn't arrive till 0800. Kaseo himself made for the center table which was projecting the eastern coastline of Greece, with updated unit positions, if he clicked on one he could see unit status and notes, but he didn't simply taking it all in as he was offered a mug of coffee by a shorter dusty-blone haired man coming from his right, Kaseo taking it and immediately taking a swig of it and offering a small smile to the man " My thanks Doman, sleep wasn't especially restoring last night."

"You're up early sir."

Kaseo put a blunt grin on his face "Just tell me; how'd our boys do last night?"

Doman pushed a few reports onto the edge of the table where Kaseo had his hands propped, and then spoke, Kaseo bothering to briefly flick his eyes over a few "They did well; the missile barrage completely eliminated the defenses as expected, the isle of Corfu and Paxio were seized outright with no resistance, first wave landed in Vola, with one legion proceeding southwards and others east-north to establish a perimeter and to seize Karavostasi. As it stands, as of the last report from 0600, the front line extends from the Greek border down to Parga, extending approximately 7.45 kilometers from Parga and 6.89 kilometers from Ioumentisa, with primary center of resistance in the city of Paramythia, Legio XV Itali has reportedly engaged what they're calling "hastily raised two Legions" that are fighting "disorganized yet effectively", they're stuck about 6 kilometers southwest of Paramythia, apparently the majority of the fighting is on the slopes of a hill that a large church resides on, the Church is being a hotbed of coordinated AT fire and they've already lost a few tanks to fire from it."

"Get a P.69 and level the place."

"Already approved sir, strike package will be executed in five minutes." Doman continued without skipping a beat

"Moving on, the southern task force landed just northwest of Lechaina with no opposition and over-ran the damaged base within 2 hours, that includes securement time. The few garrison units left were simply overwhelmed by the might of a full legion, and their engineers are already working on repairing the aviation facilities, and have secured all towns on the way to Pyrgos which is their first objective, while four of the legions are on the move to secure Patras, which will secure a link to the peninsula, and then they'll secure the core of the island before moving on the southern cities, at which point we anticipate to have the second wave of legions from Canada to them as cavalry."

"In addition to this, Soriuso and his carrier group are on the tight pursuit of the Constantine, apparently the Velox got into a tango with the Achaean submarine, and managed to get a torpedo hit on it, and are currently searching for confirmation of a kill, oil slick was observed on the surface but they were still taking sonar contact so it may have just been wounded, this was at 0715, so an update should be along shortly. In addition to this, we've continued to witness a massive Layartebian buildup on the Suez, and our contacts inside the legions in Egypt report they're moving for a massive assault on the Canal."

"How solid is this intelligence?"

"Decent."

"Get it better then decent, so we can pass it along to them."

Praefectus Classis Aleriu Sentiusal Soriuso
Combat Information Center, Deck 4, Graecia, Victoria-class carrier
East of the Island of Sicily, Ionian Sea ( 37°58'22.41"N 17°40'28.57"E)
April 16, 2016; 0845 Local Hrs

"Sir, flash message from the Alcyon, its pinging two sensor contacts coming in, CAP is already in pursuit, confirmed to be a P.69N."

"Start sortying an additional flight, we've finally located them. AWACs already redeploying?"

"Aye sir, with a fighter escort just in case."

Approximately twenty minutes went by, the entire battle group on combat stations when the first comms traffic came back "Sir, the G.97's have engaged and eliminated both bandits."

A few claps went around the bridge, but they kept it professional, they knew they still had a large enemy force out there, and it wasn't to be shrugged off. "Sir, we got contacts, appears to be hostile carrier group ,they're at the far extension of our detection range and we've also picked up what appears to be ten or fifteen bandits holding north of the group, they're now moving in our direction."

"Prep SAM batteries, I want the air group brought up to half in the air, any that are damaged are to return immediately and be replaced by a fresh bird. Give the order for the ships to begin targeting the surface ships, pick of the escorts first, let's isolate that damn carrier."

Unlike what was depicted in movies and shows, the carrier group wasn't tightly knit, they were spread out by a number of units of distance, enough to be in view of each other, but still formed out in a formation circled around the Graecia. The carrier's flight deck was already alive as her two catapults were launching G.97's as fast as the deck crew could get them off, while around her, the destroyers were already readying their SAM missiles, while within moments, the fore and aft decks of the frigates came alive as they launched a trio of missiles each at the hostile forces. The destroyers would engage them later, but they were first targeting as many of the oncoming enemy fighters as they could and firing off a limited number, twelve, SAM's at them from each of the four destroyers, trying to thin out the herd before the Roman fighters could reach them, which would be only a few moments behind the missile strike.

The SAM's hit the enemy P.69N's first, the 48 TDP-18 Merlinus's was the long-range air defense missile equipped by Roman ships, and it was comparable to the most modern technology available, and it performed its job excellently. 36 of the 48 hit their targets and destroyed or downed them, a further 4 clipped or damaged their targets and 8 were either destroyed or evaded with chaffe, flares or expert piloting. The enemy carrier was still flinging out birds much like the Graecia, but still by the time the 40 G.97's reached engagement range, only 12 P.69N's were in the air to engage them; BVRAAM missiles were the first to streak across the sky, occasionally lighting up the open canopy with an explosion from a direct hit or destruction of the missile through countermeasures, and below the battle opened up as the Achaean missiles themselves started firing on the Roman carrier group. In turn, RIM-162 ESSM's were being fired off to thin out the oncoming missile offensive from the Achaeans, and they were doing the same to the Roman missiles.

For whatever random reason, fate, or just dumb luck, the Roman defenses seemed to have performed better then the Achaeans. They managed to down 87% of the Achaean anti-shipping missiles at extreme range, another 8% at moderate range, and CIWS finished off all but three of the remaining missiles. Passer, Alycon, and Ardea all took direct hits; none were particuraly threatening except Ardea losing one of it's CIWS mounts and a significant hole in the top of it's upper compartments. At this point, all ships were firing off their missiles, the deck guns were opening up to join in the defense against Achaean missiles, and in the distance, fires could be seen as four missiles at struck the same Achaean destroyer, her deck torn open in the rear, exposing the decks below, twisted steel and wiring, while her deck gun was half vaporized by a near hit. The ship was floundering and was soon put out of it's misery when an ASHM hit directly on it's port side waterline, the ship listing towards that side, effectively mission killed and soon sunk.

Two Roman frigates took hits from oncoming missiles, one losing 45% of it's rear VLS systems and the other taking a hit on the side, leaving a gaping hole, while Alycon took a second hit, eliminating it's landing spot for helicopters, but it would score revenge soon. Three ASHM's fired from it's fore VLS systems took on a lone Achaean destroyer; one was destroyed by CIWS but the other two hit, one directly on top of the destroyer and the other just below that first strike, but on the side of the ship. Almost four seconds after a large burning hole was left, a Mk.48 torpedo from the Velox collided right below the same strike zone, and with a large explosion that sent a hair-burning fireball into the air, the ship was split into two as the superstructure of the ship was pushed beyond it's limits.

About twenty two minutes into the engagement, every Achaean bird was eliminated in the air, at the cost of eleven G.97's who were destroyed or mission killed, and three of the Achaean frigates had been sunk, with two destroyers sunk or listing, the final note of the battle was when two ASHM's launched from the wings of a G.97 who penetrated the struggling air defenses of the three remaining escorts and the carrier itself, which was equipped with SAM's, and they crashed into the side of the carrier with a streak of fire, and then an deafening explosion; both impacted in the midsection of the carrier, and they were joined by a third ASHM strike on the rear portion of the flight deck, completely vaporizing the rear parking area and exposing burning, twisting steel. At this point, the Achaeans began a steaming retreat and due to damages suffered on the Roman ships and Aleriu not wanting to being risked drawn into a trap, he let them go, estimating that at this point, they either used most of their missiles or were sufficiently damaged to not risk any trouble for a significant period.

Centurion Durio Tullius Lucianus
V Century, VI Cohort, Legio XV Italia
2.8 km to the city of Pyrmythia, near the ruins of Donnatos Catholic Church
April 16, 2016; 1128 Local Hrs

"Left side, left side, move it up!"

The legionnaires surged forward with advancing gunfire, the two Scorpio IFV's behind them slowly rolling their massive wheels forward as their main autocannon was spurring to life as it saturated either side of the large hills in front of them, the enemy infantry was slowly entering a rapid retreat, but most of them just joined their fallen comrades on the ground in bloody pools and shredded flesh.

Someone fired off an AT rocket, it colliding with a rapidly retreating enemy Elephanti APC, impacting underneath its left track and sending the whole of the hull flipping so it was upside down and seven meters from where it was, on fire, and casting off black smoke like a number of other burning hulks in the remain of the church compound that was becoming increasingly behind the very mobile fight.

Durio moved with his men as they were moving forward at a rapid pace, the full force of the VI and V cohorts was moving towards the mountain channels that fed to their destination, the city of Parmythia, which lay at the mouth of the two passes through the large hills/small mountains. The two legions that had quickly tried to deploy to deny the Romans access to further inland of Greece was quickly caught off-foot by the highly mobile legions, which were fully mechanized and use this ability to rapidly counter the opposition. Legio XIII Raetia had already Kerasochori and were now moving to secure the other cities at the start of the northern mountain passes to completely lock down at avenue of access to the Achaeans, and were moving with a speed and ferocity the enemy seemed unable to counter.

Back on the ground with Durio, he quickly gunned down two fleeing targets before he paused to refresh his magazines and then jog back up to the Scorpio IFV that was serving as his command vehicle, accessing the telecomm mount on the inside carrier portion and contact his cohort commander "Feles Actual, Feles 1-5 actual, we've secured the ruins of the church and are pushing forward to the objective with Feles 1-6 actual, over."

"Acknowledged Feles 1-5 actual, advance on pace, town ahead of you in one klick is about to be hit by a bomb run, regroup for 5 mikes, once you hear the booms ride out."

"Acknowledged Feles Actual, Feles 1-5 out."

Durio proceeded to relay the commands to his troops who were stopping short of half way through the mountain pass, many taking the time to replenish their vests with ammunition stores kept on the APCs or the IFV's, a few tactical M-ATV's were pulling up and being mounted up with soldiers, the legion operated a mix of M-ATV's, 1/3rd was equipped with a TOW launcher, with six reloads and a crew of three, another third with Mk.19 grenade launcher fired from a RWS control suite and the final third was equipped with a RWS operated heavy machine gun, they were going to be crucial to the rapid pace that the Legion had planned for their offensive hear. As they checked each other, tessarius's and decanus's checking over their men, seeing to the wounded and re-organizing units as needed, they could hear and even see as the grey jets that were a formation of eight P.69's streak overhead, the infamous sonic boom over-riding temporarily the clap of near-distant gunfire and the crashes of artillery rounds, only for successive fireballs to be seen on the horizon and with that, the soldiers mounted up inside their APC's, M-ATV's or IFVs and the cohorts, now four in total, were on the move towards what was the town of Pagkrates.

The vehicles diesel engines were roaring to life as their drivers were pushing them to their speed limits as they rushed to push the offensive and further shove the off-foot Achaeans until they simply disbanded or gained a foothold worth holding at; as they surged through the grass and passed through the mountain pass, they couldn't ignore the smoke in the near distance and the bodies that littered the ground, some even being run over as the large vehicles steamed through. As they exited the mountain pass, it was apparent that the P.69's had done some serious damage; each had been carrying eight GBU-39 small diameter bombs, which meant there was sixty four for the whole flight and using their laser guided software they had been exacted upon the town with lethal precision, any building that may have been used defensively, or in an command post manner, had simply been leveled; but there was only 72 buildings in the whole town in total, which meant that as the three cohorts of the XV Italia drove through, all they saw was smoking, burning ruined foundations, crumbling inflamed husks of buildings, and fragments of humans strewn throughout the roads.

The minute they cleared the town, the vehicles could hear over the radio that the thirty Cataphract tanks belonging to their legion were now clearing through the pass north of them, just half a kilometer and were already engaging fortified positions or enemy tanks that were on the rims of the large town. Quick flashes could be seen as more P.69's zipped overhead, dropping laser guided munitions onto unsuspecting targets below, and they were accompanied with large sprays of dirt, debris and smoke as the high velocity rounds fired by the AB70 and the self-propelled howitzers of the Legion unleashed their full fury on the city, which was estimated to have a garrison of 3,000 men. As the tanks, artillery and fighters were pounding the city, the mechanized units were now splintering; the M-ATV's were now surging forward, outpacing the slower Elephanti APC's and engaging enemy tanks with TOW's, crumbling the side of houses or buildings with their MK.19's, or even engaging enemy troops, ripping open torso's, shredding limbs and gear with grenades, machine gun fire or even rifles fired out the window.

The APC's would head for a town south of Paramythia, called Kariloti, and unload their infantry, who would then progress forward in a loose 'U' shaped formation, set to encircle the town on every side by the northern part, where the Cataphracts would wait to smash any retreating forces; it was a deliberate killboxes and so far, it was working. The initial onslaught was proving too much for the defenders and even as the jogging legionnaires met the entrance to the city, there was already dismounts from the M-ATV's securing damaged positions or securing POWs. Durio and his men proceeded northward, quickly but methodically checking each corner, doorway and alley as they moved forward, odd bursts of gunfire heard as they found an Achaean. This process seemed to be working, because the distinctive sound of tank cannon fire was soon heard ahead of them and by the time they reached the bombed out remains of a central building, Durio could hear on his personal radio the call that the town was secure and the battle was, for the moment, over.

The rapid offensive all across the initial mountain chain caught the Achaean forces completely off-guard; initial Roman estimates put them at 2 legions, but later BDA's turned them out to be a full six legions, with approximately 18,345 of them killed in action, a further 11,321 wounded or paralyzed, and the rest captured, exchanged only for four hundred Roman causalities, and 623 fatalities. The dominance of the air was what was the turning point and a key point that helped the lightening blitz succeed, the AA defenses that weren't eliminated earlier the previous daywere quickly struck out, and that proved to be the undoing for the Greek defenders. By 1423, Roman forces had fully secured and moved into Paramythia, and had secured all of the mountain passes that led through the Lourous mountain range, and the city of Lourous was currently held by no less then three Roman legions, which were fending off a Achaean armored assault, but with MLRS and artillery emplaced now behind the mountains, each pass was turned into a smash-box, and by the end of the 16th, the Achaean's total losses climbed up to 24,000, and more then 600 tanks, and other vehicles. If the rest of the campaign turned to be this way, Cyprato's staffers put them in Athens by the 22nd.

Senator Aucius Orius Cerusea
Capitoline Hill, Rome, Republic of Rome
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus,Capitoline Hill, Rome
March 20, 2016; 1511 Local Hrs

Cerusea smiled at Maldonado's words and then sat upright with the man, his back flush against the cold brick wall "Indeed, it's time we realize that we battle the more sinister forces that we have faced in years, and we shouldn't be restricted by out-dated moral codes. Should this group of private citizens require an answer immediately, tell them the Senate and People of Rome will be beyond thankful and gracious of their contributed support and will not forget who aided them when asked; as private citizens of course. A friendship with Rome can be a two way street of support."

He passed a card along the bench to Maldonado "This is a ...secretary of mine. Contact her with any information, and it will get to me, and from me to the Consul. I must go before my absence is questioned, Salve sir."

Cerusea left the bench and walked down the steps of the grand temple, blending back into the hundreds of thousands of citizens that walked through the Eternal City, and he wandered back into the game of schemes that he and Belluso had started.