Namenian Civil War (IC; Ausozera nations only)

[Azenyanistan]

NAMENIAN CIVIL WAR




ANEYT - THE DEVILS ADVOCATE - CONFEDERACY OF AZENYANISTAN - ABOARD THE AZEN GOVERNMENT CONCORDE II - LANDING




"Uh, Chief Aneyt?"


It was the voice of the pilot of the Concorde II. It had reached the ears of the Devils Advocate as she was watching the news on the onboard television. Aneyt pressed a button that was on her seat. She replied as she kept her eyes on the events that were unfolding in Yaneza, Azenyanistan "Yes, Pilot?"



"We are approaching the Namenian airport. Are you ready to disembark when we land?"



She kept her finger on the button as she answered


"I am ready. Right now, focus on landing the plane. You'll do well, Pilot."


"Copy that, Chief Aneyt."


Then she released her finger from the button. She refocused on what the TV was telling her. An Azen female anchor was commenting on the recent stand-off between the crowds and the ACP and the Guards. She said


"It has been the first time since the end of the Age of Chaos that the followers of Akeem to confront Azen government forces. After a brief stand-off, Akeem peacefully left the area along with his followers as the Donnish embassy and the surrounding district devoted to the embassies of other foreign nations. The government has announced that the district is strictly off-limits to the public until they obtain clearance from the ACP and the Guards. Until the conflict in Donnerland has come to an end, the Donnish embassy is under the watch of the Azen police and military."


Aneyt hurmed thoughtfully at this. She felt the hair on her arms and legs stand up. And she felt the strength of the planes air conditioning system become more present. She shivered. But Aneyt had a jacket close by and so she took it and wore it. She hugged herself, attempting to keep and gather warmth. She never was used to the artificial cold. She preferred the cold when it was natural.


And as she was there, one of Advocate Guards came into her part of the plane and said to her "Chief Aneyt, are you all right?" Aneyt honestly shook her head and said "If it is all right with you, then please turn off the air conditioning system and activate the heater. I hate this fake cold." The Guard nodded and went to the wall where the remote to the AC system was mounted upon. She took the remote and pointed it at the AC and turned it off. Then she returned it and went over to the heater and activated it also with a remote.


Then Aneyt said to the Guard "Thank you. Are the rest of your fellow Guards ready?" The Guard nodded and said "Yes, they are. So is our Captain." Aneyt nodded back and told her "OK. Be ready. And don't let your guards down." The Guard nodded and disappeared from her.


When they landed, the pilot left the duties of the plane to her co-pilot and went to where Aneyt and her Guards were. Everyone was standing up. And the Captain was at the left side of Aneyt, speaking with her gently. The rest of the Guards were checking their weapons and ammo. The pilot announced her presence to them by saying


"Chief Aneyt. Guards. We have landed."


Aneyt nodded and instructed the pilot "Stay with your co-pilot and the plane." Then she further instructed the Captain of the Guards escorting her "Have one of your men stay behind to guard the plane along with the pilots." The Captain nodded and she jerked her hand sharply at one of her men and that one immediately nodded and stood close to the cabin of the pilots. The Guards stopped checking their equipment and began to form around Aneyt and their Captain.


After the pilot returned to her cabin, the doors of the plane opened for them. They exited the plane and into the coldness of this Northern land. Aneyt still wore the jacket but she no longer hugged it to herself as greatly as she did when she was in the plane. The Guards kept their guns down. But their eyes darted from one place to another as they stayed close to their Chief. There was no way they were going to let anyone, friend or foe, close to her without her expressed permission.


Now at the airport, they would only have to wait for the Namenians to greet them.

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

Hochburg International Airport, DEN

Snow began to fall in larger and larger clumps as the clouds were packed tighter together by the wind. What once started as a long standing flurry of snowflakes, the weather took a turn for the worst as news came in of a massive blizzard approaching from the south. Temperatures were already dropping rapidly, dipping below the single digits as the winds began to pick up. Ice began to accumulate on the roads, and the airport was forced to start salting the runway and clear the drifts that began to appear. It was going to be a rough day.

To make matters worse, there had been rumors floating around of rebels massing in the forests nearby. Unconfirmed they may be, it didn't help the fact that the city was still worried of any attack possible. It made the troops restless, and the civilians afraid, and the politicians worry. Security for any visiting diplomat or diplomatic figure had, by order of the Emperor, been doubled, and for the first time in a long time, armored cars would be driving them to the Palace. Unsurprisingly, this only made matters worse for the civilians, who feared that an attack was imminent.

All of this was rushing through the head of the squad of SS members standing next to their armored car at the airport. Fanatical as they were, the prospect of having to die for their country in such an unwanted circumstance was not very good. To make matters worse for them, boredom had set in. The arrival of the Azen diplomats had been delayed due to weather, and they were running late by nearly an hour. Where the soldiers would normally had been at attention, they were now chatting in low tones and smoking in the blizzard, with the radio on.

"Yes, sir, Comrade Emperor. As you wish." The squad sergeant replied, putting the transmitter back on the radio and turning around to look at the squad. "Comrades, we've got our orders."

*****

Checkpoint One

"Alright, comrades. What is the issue?" The Commissar asked, standing over the shoulder of the private at the console. The slightly armored building of the highway checkpoint had the door open behind them, and a few guards standing watch with an HMG.

"Comrade Commissar, we're not sure of the readings we're getting. Thermal imaging has picked up something out there in the forests, but it's... Odd." The corporal replied to the Commissar, showing him the thermal imaging of the area in question. "What do you think?"

"That can't be..." The Commissar murmured, and unclipped the holster. "Shoot it. Right here."

Hochburg International Airport

Four cigarette butts lay smoking on the ground near a large grouping of footprints in the snow. The three armored cars had driven towards the middle of the airfield, leaving tire trails behind them in the snow. All three had their two rear doors slid back, and the SS were hanging on to the inside with their rifles in their other hand. Where the jet had landed, the three armored cars had stopped, and four SS soldiers jumped out of the cars and briskly walked to the now descending set of stairs. The senior of the four, a corporal, raised his voice first.

"Advocate, ma'am, please come with us. Your car is the middle one. Please, ma'am, we need you to get in as fast as possible." The Corporal asked the advocate, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

[The Unified Isles]

Hochburg International Airport, Random Multi-Purpose Room

A Heavy Storm in Southern DEN. What else, really ? So, the 2nd Fusiliers had sucessfully arrived at New Hochburg, but the entire rest of the Brigade was had to be redirected, to Hochburg International Airport, where it was standing now, the snow slowly rising around their feet. The General and his Adjudants were holding a small Cigarette Break, out in the snow.

Or rather, it seemed like the entire Brigade was holding a Cigarette Break. The only exception seemed to be Colonel Curran, Commandant of the 5th of Foot, who had been sent out to get in contact with the highest-ranking, local military official. Seing him, marching through the snow, aiming straight for General van Gardaran and his group, told Captain Noyens that he had some news to tell.

Gardaran took a last, deep breath from his cigarette before throwing it on the ground. Then he raised his voice: "What though, Colonel ?", he gave his subordinate the word. "The Namenian Official reporteths yond some Azen Advocate haseth arrivethed a few hours ago.", "Who ?", "A certain Miss Aneyt", "Howsoe'er, when can we continue ?", "Unknown, thy grace. The Official toldeth mineself yond we shall stay hither.", "What, why ?", "Apparently, an attack iseth in making..."

[Empire of Donner land]

LZ Lima, DEN, North of Kursk

---

XX/XX/2015

---

"It was truly, in all ways possible, a hellish landscape we had created. Burning W.P behind us, smoke towering, and in front of us just this... field of dead and craters."- A Veteran of the Seventh Division recalling the short battle of Leon's Peak.

"How many were there?"

"I dunno." That's all he said, a nameless Soldier they had run into said while patrolling the unburned portion of the forest. Looking for survivors. The entire force, less than it was due to the W.P strike which had caused some 150 Casualties, of which 50 were deaths, were patrolling the forest and searching. "They're dead, that's all I care about." he added. Shortly after they had heard something, a snap of a twig it sounded like, the crushing sound of fallen dead leaves. They stopped suddenly and listened, their weapons raised to their chests. The forest was dense, sunlight only slightly got through the tree's, every once and a while one could see a thin beam of light or two but that seemed to be it. Besides being the perfect photography spot, it was good for hiding too.

The two waited for a moment, waiting to see if it was just an animal passing by or something else. Another snap, this time they heard the direction and began sprinting towards it. They saw a figure, two walking, no, hobbling away or at least one was. One was injured, severely in fact. They didn't last long, struggling to move quickly they tripped and were crawling. One got up and tried to get the other back up, one of the Donnish stopped and popped off a shot at the standing enemy who soon fell over dead with a shot placed into their head.

The Donnish Soldiers caught up to the disabled person, the first kicked him over with his boot, hard to do due to the radio that was on his back but was achieved when the Enemy was uncomfortably put on his back facing the two on the ground.

The first thing they noticed was the wounded leg, he was missing a little more than half, all that was left was a mangled mess of bone and body. A crudely created and bloody tourniquet was tied around his leg. He'd been put through hell and back, the Donnish could see it. To the Namenian that faced them, they probably looked inhuman, no face could be seen or skin for that matter as a visor and clothing covered it all. 2 small boxes could be seen strapped and attached to their outer thigh and shoulder with wires going throughout them. They seemed like robots, but of course he knew better, they were Monsters, not Machines.

The Namenians were more or less routed and being cleaned up after the Artillery strike. They moved in quickly, the two must have caught them in the fray of retreating. No Helicopter was going to pick them up now. If there were any pockets of resistance, they'd be in the forest holding up somewhere.

To the two soldiers, he was a mess, his leg was probably undergoing infection, due to the adrenaline he probably couldn't feel any other pain in his body like shrapnel lodged into him. He was dirty and unkempt, bloodied. But not scared, a product of brainwashing and morphine probably.

"Radio?" One asked in Donnish to the other who had kicked him over pointing his Rifle at his body.

"Yeah, long range, probably a signaler. God damn cockroach he is." the other responded in Donnish.

"Think he called the rocket strike?" The two looked at eachother for a moment pondering. It was likely, with the Donnish, shooting a person or shelling them was one thing, but burning them alive if they didn't deserve such a painful death required the appropriate punishment in return. An eye for a head they called it in English.

"We cant kill him, hes got intel." one said. "That's what we're here for."

"We won't, the LG will make sure he gets what he deserves." He said and then looked at the soon to be POW. "An eye for a head." He said in gruff heavily accented english before kicking over the Namenian again onto his back. "HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK DIPSHIT, think you're a real fuckin' hero of the empire callin' in that strike dont'cha?!" he placed a boot on the Namenian's head "If you cooperate you might just see a shiny medal."

"Medic's dead, leave him for the clean up crew. He didn't do anything wrong." The other said moving to the deceased corpse of his comrade. The Donnish soldier simply removed his weapons from his body and fashioned him into a resting position. Head looking straighting up, legs straight and their hands by their sides. It took some wrestling with the onset of some rigormortis, but it was achieved none the less. "We have to get him back soon to get anything out of him, probably lost a lot of blood." he said in Donnish.

In the distance, they could hear jets, above the F-11's were flying, but soon their own air force would enter the AO.

[Azenyanistan]

Hochburg International Airport, DEN

Snow began to fall in larger and larger clumps as the clouds were packed tighter together by the wind. What once started as a long standing flurry of snowflakes, the weather took a turn for the worst as news came in of a massive blizzard approaching from the south. Temperatures were already dropping rapidly, dipping below the single digits as the winds began to pick up. Ice began to accumulate on the roads, and the airport was forced to start salting the runway and clear the drifts that began to appear. It was going to be a rough day.

To make matters worse, there had been rumors floating around of rebels massing in the forests nearby. Unconfirmed they may be, it didn't help the fact that the city was still worried of any attack possible. It made the troops restless, and the civilians afraid, and the politicians worry. Security for any visiting diplomat or diplomatic figure had, by order of the Emperor, been doubled, and for the first time in a long time, armored cars would be driving them to the Palace. Unsurprisingly, this only made matters worse for the civilians, who feared that an attack was imminent.

All of this was rushing through the head of the squad of SS members standing next to their armored car at the airport. Fanatical as they were, the prospect of having to die for their country in such an unwanted circumstance was not very good. To make matters worse for them, boredom had set in. The arrival of the Azen diplomats had been delayed due to weather, and they were running late by nearly an hour. Where the soldiers would normally had been at attention, they were now chatting in low tones and smoking in the blizzard, with the radio on.

"Yes, sir, Comrade Emperor. As you wish." The squad sergeant replied, putting the transmitter back on the radio and turning around to look at the squad. "Comrades, we've got our orders."

*****

Checkpoint One

"Alright, comrades. What is the issue?" The Commissar asked, standing over the shoulder of the private at the console. The slightly armored building of the highway checkpoint had the door open behind them, and a few guards standing watch with an HMG.

"Comrade Commissar, we're not sure of the readings we're getting. Thermal imaging has picked up something out there in the forests, but it's... Odd." The corporal replied to the Commissar, showing him the thermal imaging of the area in question. "What do you think?"

"That can't be..." The Commissar murmured, and unclipped the holster. "Shoot it. Right here."

Hochburg International Airport

Four cigarette butts lay smoking on the ground near a large grouping of footprints in the snow. The three armored cars had driven towards the middle of the airfield, leaving tire trails behind them in the snow. All three had their two rear doors slid back, and the SS were hanging on to the inside with their rifles in their other hand. Where the jet had landed, the three armored cars had stopped, and four SS soldiers jumped out of the cars and briskly walked to the now descending set of stairs. The senior of the four, a corporal, raised his voice first.

"Advocate, ma'am, please come with us. Your car is the middle one. Please, ma'am, we need you to get in as fast as possible." The Corporal asked the advocate, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

The Advocate Guards were still quick to maintain their positions around the Devils Advocate. As they noticed the SS soldiers approaching them and as they listened to the Corporal speaking to the Advocate, the Captain of the Guards, Naomi ur Kassis, frowned at them and told them when they were done talking to her

"We're with her. As her Guards, she's not going to go alone, especially not with you."

She then told the Corporal

"You. Think you got some more wheels for us?"

Even the rest of the Guards didn't seem too sure. They instinctively got their weapons ready but not too suddenly or too slowly. But Aneyt commanded her Guards

"Stand down. I'll go with them. But I'll want to know why we have to go immediately, why you do not have an official with you and if my Guards can continue to accompany me."

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

Hochburg International Airport, DEN

"Corporal, bring around the armored cars! Now!" The Sergeant ordered, turning around to address his team leader, waving his hand in the air to show where they should bring it. The armored car drove forward, the doors open, revealing three seats. The armored car could hold six maximum. "Ma'am, there is space for you and two guards of your choice. Quickly now!"

As the sergeant spoke to the advocate, he heard the rising wail of air raid sirens drifting in the wind. Loud, long, and clear, their message was quite clear to the soldiers on the airfield, even though they had already been told what was happening by the Emperor himself. The sound of the air raid sirens only made the soldiers more nervous, and more eager to get the Advocate out of the open and into a safe place.

"Eagle's nest requesting reinforcements. I repeat, Eagle's nest requesting reinforcements."

"What? That quickly?" The corporal asked, looking at the Sergeant. It was not going down well.

Eagle's Nest, Hochburg, DEN

"How did they get this close to us? Hochburg is supposed to be impenetrable!" Maximus swore, staring at a holographic image of the Eagle's Nest, the interior fortress that housed his own living quarters. Pressed against the cold, hardened rock of the Namenian mountain range, his own quarters were actually higher up, having been cut into the rock itself. Right now, the Emperor stood inside a concrete bunker, located partially inside the mountain, with a view into the city below them. According to the reports, only the outer walls of the city itself had been breached, and the inner walls were still holding out.

"Comrade Emperor, the enemy had intelligence within us. They managed to get in through old, wartime tunnels, and broke through the streets. They currently have no armor, no heavy guns, but their numbers are growing." Field Marshal Junkers reported, showing the Emperor the images from the outer city. Indeed the enemy had broken through the streets, as they had identified multiple entry points, where manholes usually stood.

"That's not the only threat, Junkers. How is the outer garrison holding?" Maximus asked, using his gloved hand to scroll the image to see the outer walls.

"They are... Holding. The reserves have been deployed into the city itself in response to the threat. The outer walls, however, are still holding. But they've been assaulted. Quite ferociously, too." Junkers responded. There was something odd about this. "They planned this well, sir. They knew that the Guardsmen would be out, and they hit us just as we were changing the guard."

"We'll get the artillery to place a defensive minefield here around the walls where there is no fighting yet, and try to hold them off. Bring the IFVs out of their garages and into the streets, and get the 1st Gaurd into the entry points to clean it up." Maximus ordered, already issuing fire orders to the artillery via the screen in front of him, selecting the areas needed, then marking the points needed for clearing. "Get me recon on the outer walls, and initiate lockdown in all single digit sectors, and on the outer edges of the four digits."

"Roger, sir. Issuing orders. Closing the all gates." Junkers replied, knowing that issuing a lockdown would slow the movement of both the friendly troops, but also the enemy's. "Should I issue a recall order for the reserves?"

"Negative. Open Gate 2. Send the 18th battalion through Gate 2. I'm issuing a civilian evacuation order." The Emperor again maneuvered around the screen. "Send half of the reserves to the wall. Issuing orders for the mortars to shell the entry points with WP."

"Aye, sir. Are you sure about weakening our 2nd Guard?"

"Yes, Junkers. I am. Send the 11th through Gate 2 as well. We need to ensure the safety of our civilians."

As the Emperor and the Field Marshal gave the orders for the defense of the city, the fortifications began to reveal themselves. Gate one, the main gate into the city, suddenly began to close, her huge concrete and metal doors slowly sliding along rails in the ground. The noise was huge, and something that no one had yet heard before. The orders to close the gates were only given during the worst times in history, and the troops who defended the walls knew that, right now, something terrible was going to happen.

At the same time, concrete barriers, intended to stop, or at least slow down, the movement of vehicles and soldiers, began to rise from the ground at specific locations. Major grid points in the streets were suddenly being blocked off by the walls, which acted as cover for both the defenders and the enemy. But even that wouldn't help if they didn't clear out the tunnels, something that the Emperor knew very well.

"Junkers, get the 12th and the 13th to start sweeping the tunnels from the rear." Maximus ordered once again, and selected every known manhole on the map. "Ordering all mortars to torch all possible entry points. I'm not letting them through a second time."

[The Unified Isles]

Hochburg International Airport, near the Isle'ish Planes

”Eagle's Nest requesting reinforcements. I repeat, Eagle's Nest requesting reinforcements.”

“What seth yond Eagle's Nest ?”, the General asked around. Noyens could only roll her eyes on her superiors ignorance. She wasn't among those who heavily opposed the Elitism within the IRA due to the lack of education many higher officers enjoyed, because it only happened on very rare occasions. She personally found most Generals she had worked with very smart, and even Gardaran wasn't totally incompetent... he had a good tactical feel.

“The Namenian Emperor's iseth what iseth referred to, thy grace.”, Colonel Curran noted. Gardaran gazed it him shortly, and after that towards Major Stephenson, “Me bethinks yond protocol demandeths us follow this request, thy grace.”, “Aye...”

A Plan was relatively quickly drawn up and organized. The 5th Regiment of Foot, an Airborne Light Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Curran and Captain Noyens, would follow the request for Reinforcements, while the remainder of the Brigade would stay near the planes, protecting the airfields against a possible attack. Luckily for the young officer, Noyens found herself in at least somewhat of a Combat Command in the end... the 5th of Foot's precious Sharpshooter Section. The 5th of Foot's Sharpshooter Section was a sort of “Reconnaissance Task Force” formed by two reduced Light Infantry Platoons, usually under the command of a Lieutenant. Given the very important task granted to them this time around, namely to scout ahead in an unknown territory filled with unknown enemies...

The Captain took a deep breath of the air while they were moving through the city. Strangely, despite the rush of the moment, she somehow noticed how different DEN was from the Isles, at least architecturally. Namenian Architecture was cold, straight. Isle'ish Buildings meanwhile tended to emphasize their cultural openness. Large windows, asymmetrical shapes, warm colours. It also made her aware that she barely had an idea of whom she was actually encountering here. The Namenians were, while often proclaimed “Our Great Brethren from the North” by the Directory, actually a culture she had no clue about.

The woman was taken from her architectural thoughts when the Lance-Sergeant at the head of the Column which the section had formed signalled a stop. Noyens walked up to him, her sidearm at the ready. The Sergeant almost whispered, “Namenian Column before us, milady”. What the Lance-Sergeant tried to convey was very obvious. The majority of the Namenians probably weren't away that they were here, so it was not very smart to just approach them like that... or was it ? “What doest thou suggest, Sergeant ?”, “Signal them very loudly and clearly, milady.”, “Makest it so, Sergeant.”, “Aye, milady.”

“DON'T SHOOT !”, he called out to the Namenian Column and went into a straight position, aiming his Rifle to the Ground. The others followed his example. Noyens and the other Officers holstered their sidearms. “US ART ISLE'ISH SOLDIERS, 5TH REGIMENT OF FOOT.”

[Creatle]

The Daily Herald

UCAF Withdrawl?

In a formal Press Conference yesterday, President James Smith declared that effective immediately all military forces currently involved in the deteriorating Namen Civil War would be pulled out of the region. This follows several reports indicating increasing tensions between neighbouring countries who denounced the actions taken by the United Creatlean Armed Forces. In response the President ordered the withdrawal of all troops in the region.

Although the withdrawal is underway, many are concerned about the forces, currently trapped inside enemy territory, as the Namen Armed Forces still have not recognised the withdrawal of UC forces as a formal ceasefire, when questioned about the issue, the president simply responded, "I can assure you that we are dealing with the matter as we speak, and will begin negotiations for the return of all forces that are behind enemy lines as soon as possible." However many have criticised the response, claiming that the Namen Armed Forces are more likely to shoot them then agree to a ceasefire.

For now however, tensions remain high as the situation in the north is sized down. The Presidents opposition, John N. Howard, claims that the presidents withdrawal of forces in the region is a weak and hollow motion, and that simply we should continue placing pressure on the Namen forces. As of now the president has not responded to this, but we have been assured there will be a conference in the coming days detailing the plan to withdraw troops from the region.

[Azenyanistan]

Hochburg International Airport, DEN


Because of the obvious urgency, the Advocate and her Guards nodded. Most of the Guards were ordered to stay and protect the plane while the Captain and another Guard went with the Advocate. Aneyt proceeded into the open car as did her Guards. Meanwhile, the Guards at the plane were now speaking with the pilot. After some talking, the pilot nodded and went back into the cockpit. There the pilot operated a few instruments and one of the cargo doors of the plane opened up. Within the Concorde II, there were motorcycles. Military motorcycles that were stored within for the Guards to use. The Guards took the bikes and one by one, they joined the Namenians. They wouldn't abandon their Advocate and the command which they received they were free to disobey. As for the plane, it would remain in the airport.

[Creatle]

Dry Dock, Hope Island, Creatle Isles

Julia Reed struggled to breathe, the smoke was all around her, she thought she could hear a fire alarm, along with the sound of a roaring fire, but she couldn't tell what was real on account of the ringing numbness in her ears from the explosion. She stumbled blindly in a direction, staying as low to the ground as possible to avoid the smoke, her hearing gradually improved as things became easier to hear. She grabbed hold of what she thought was the handle to a door, pushing it open, the smoke instantly cleared as it was replaced by daylight.

As she looked around in stunned silence, she took in the carnage, the missiles had devastated the dockyard and most of the defences. She stumbled further away from the building, feeling blood run down her head, she stopped to take a look at the UCN Kori. A missile had struck it's bow, ripping the entire nose of the ship off. The ship was now extremely front heavy and was listing heavily.

She watched in horror as those who survived the initial detonation, frantically bailed over the side of the ship. The Kori wasnt the only one hit, several other destroyers moored in port had been struck, severely damaging or destroying them in the process, a majority of dry docks, that were constructing all soughts of vessels had been struck, lighting anything inside them on fire.

There were civilians, people, dying around her, there was little she could do. In the distance, over the sound of the roaring fires, were sirens, dozens of sirens. But still not enough to deal with what had happened and what was too come of it.

---

Undisclosed Location in the Turi Mountains

The black convoy stormed up the dirt trail, leaving a trail of dust behind them, so thick it could blot out the pillars of smoke arising from the city. The convoy eventually stopped outside what appeared to be an old tunnel entrance, it looked heavily run down and had a warning on the front of it stating 'Do Not Enter'. As the convoy came to a halt, about two dozen guards, all wearing black stepped out, almost in unison. It was shortly followed by the President as he stepped out, the group of men quickly made there way to the cave entrance, where two men were already lifting the heavy block of wood off the gate and opening it. As soon as the mass was inside, the entrance was closed, and the cave was engulfed in darkness. A single light flickered on before the entire network lit up brightly, the group of men walked in synchronisation towards what appeared to be a single metal door, in had a combination of security measures in order to access it.

---

As the big steel door to the vault closed the President let out a sigh, he looked challenged and worried, "Will someone tell me what the actual FUCK just happened!" He yells, "Why the fuck is half the city on fire, and why cant I contact anyone?"

The guards all looked at each other, unsure what to say,

"The remaining survivors of your cabinet are en-route to the vault now sir, they should have an explanation to what happened"

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

LZ Lima

The radioman groaned as he hit the ground hard, looking over to see the medic dead on the ground beside him, a bullet hole in the medic's chest. He hit the ground on his chest, and his hand ran out the side of his belt where he kept some of his grenades. The Donnish bastards had found him, and he knew that they were not going to take kindly to him being the man who called the WP rocket strike. Not only that, but his radio was an important piece of Intel, and he would not let it fall into enemy hands without a fight. As the soldiers kicked him onto his back, his left hand had gripped a frag grenade and pulled it out of it's container, his thumb on the ring. Put my hands behind my back? Eat shit, donnish scum.

"We are Imperial Guardsmen... And we shall know.. No.. Fear..." He spat at the donnish, his thumb pulling the pin on the grenade and the spring releasing the safety feature on the grenade. He spat at the donnish again. "For the Emperor!"

Eagle's Nest

The heavy mortars shelled the entry points with white phosphorous munitions, turning the area around the manholes into a blazing inferno that torched anything inside. Dozens of soldiers were suddenly hit by smoking chunks of toxic, high temperature chemicals, while the streets themselves were obscured by smoke. From the Eagle's Nest bunker, the scene was definitely something to be watched, even though they were watching the destruction of homes.

"Comrade Emperor, is that what I think it is...?" Field Marshal Junkers asked, pointing out the armored window into the roads. Through the smoke, a group of large figures appeared, and although the armored cars and IFVs were firing into the smoke, the figures could be seen moving along anyway. Maximus leaned over the table and looked out the armored window at the roads below, almost squinting.

"Oh for fuck's sake..." Maximus swore, just before the figures burst through the smoke. Large, green, and holding huge weapons of war, the figures could only be Orks. Large Orks. The first squad they came up to almost broke and ran before they were overrun by the loud, bloody Ork horde. "Get the armor over here! Pull all men back to cover!"

"Sir, we've got breaches in the bunker!" Junker reported, grabbing a shotgun from the wall. "Breaches in level ten!"

"What? How?" Maximus asked, turning towards the door and bringing up the camera. The automatic sentries at the hallway began to open fire, sending as much firepower down the hallway into the massed Ork horde as possible. They, in return, fired back at the sentries, filling the concrete walls with impact points. Maximus pulled out his sidearm and unsheathed his sword, then opened up a channel in the radio. "Level ten breached, level ten breached, Orks in the Bunker, Orks in the bunker!"

"Sir, sentries are down!" Junkers reported, checking the ammunition in his shotgun before getting the SS squad in the room to maneuver in a defensive circle. "They're at the door!"

"Hold this line, men! Do not let them through!" Maximus ordered valiantly, staring the door down.

"Comrade Emperor, sir! Please! Come with us! We must get you out of here!" The guards in the room begged, their rifles cocked and aimed at the door.

"No, comrades. I cannot leave this city to these monsters!" Maximus shouted. The door was thrown open by the Orks, ripping off its hinges and slamming into Junkers, who was thrown to the back of the room violently. The soldiers open fired immediately, filling the heads of the Orks with 7.62 mm lead. Dozens fell to the ground, before the first actually entered the room. He ran at Maximus, raising an axe above his head and screaming as loudly as possible. Maximus raised his arm to attempt to parry the blow, but the sword he was using was only ceremonial, and not nearly as strong as his original sword. The blade broke upon contact with the axe, which then cleaved through his shoulder.

Maximus nearly screamed as his arm fell to the ground in a pool of blood, and aimed his sidearm at the head of the Ork. He fired three shots in succession, killing his enemy. Another Ork behind him also succumbed to the bullets from his gun, but after he ran out of ammunition, the next Ork rushed him. He swung what appeared to be a makeshift sword, made out of scrap metal and viciously sharpened. The makeshift blade cut into Maximus's leg, lifting him into the air and sending him slamming into the wall, his left leg cut off at the thigh, and his blood pooling at the ground. The same Ork charged him again, standing above the Emperor and about to finish him off.

It seemed the whole world had come to a crawl as he lay there on the floor, blood pouring from his fresh wounds. He could see, with incredible clarity, the bulging muscles of the Ork who was about to kill him, the blood on the crude blade, his own blood, dripping from the rusty, sharpened edge. He saw the rage in the Ork's face, the released, unleashed, blood fueled, murderous rage of the green skins. The bodies of the guards who would give their lives to protect their Emperor, strewn across the ground before him. The anger in the eyes of his soldiers, fighting for not only their lives, but his own. He saw all this, and he saw how futile it seemed. And for the first time in his life, he was truly frightened.

He stared his executioner in the face with as much bravery as he could, and accepted his fate. If he was going to die, he was going to die with honor and dignity, not fear and cowardice. As the blood drained out of his face and pooled on the ground beneath him, his face was suddenly spattered with blood, but it couldn't have been his own. The Ork's face had exploded onto his own, and a moment later he heard the loud boom of a shotgun. Junkers hadn't died in the fight, but had instead been knocked unconscious by the blow. Even as the brains from the Ork's head covered Maximus's face, the momentum from the blade continued, and slammed into the wall beside him with a spark and a clang.

Junkers dropped his shotgun on the floor and reached for his radio as the soldiers, having defended the room successfully, rushed to the Emperor's side. He pressed the transmit button with his thumb, and yelled as loud as possible into the microphone, but to Maximus, it sounded more like a whisper. Even so, he could make it out. Just barely.

"Broken Arrow! Broken Arrow!"

[Creatle]

Telegram

To:The Emperor of The United Socialist States of Die Erworbenen Namen
From: President James L. Smith of Creatle Isles

To whom this may regard,

Due to increasing tensions on the home islands of Creatle and surrounding areas, I, James L. Smith, am formally requesting a cease-fire between our nations followed by the immediate meeting of diplomats to arrange for all UCAF forces currently on enemy soil to be pulled out of the region unharmed in exchange for the immediate withdrawl of all UCAF and UCN forces from the region. I certainly hope you can agree to these terms, further negotiations can be held when a official meeting has been set up.

Regards President J. L. Smith

---

Hope Island, Dry Docks
"Yesterday, January 24th, 2017 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of Creatle was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of The United Federation of North Arkana." - President J. L. Smith

The entire island had smoke pouring from all different buildings, ships and generally anything that was remotely important or flammable. of the 9 destroyers in dock, only the UCN Endurance II had survived the onslaught, the ship was unscathed and its defence guns roamed the sky for anything to shoot at. Meanwhile firefighters, paramedics, police officers even civilians worked around the clock, trying to control the blazes and treat the wounded. So far the death toll had reached 1907 civilian and 435 military, but that was only accounting for half of the island. The UCN Kori, being split in two, was half submerged after it had stuck the bottom of the dock. It had come to a rest now, lifeless.

The airfield on the north most part of the island was struck, but sustained minimal damage, with two of its four fuel depots being ignited and structural damage to the control tower. 24 of the 30 fighter and attack jets were already airborne, with the remaining being too damaged to take off.

---

Yuri Mountains, Presidential Bunker

James sat at the end of the oval table, tapping a pen consistently on the table, the expression of his face was stern, worried, angry, upset. in truth he couldn't decide what to feel at the moment. Everyone except for the speaker was at the table, who was currently being treated in hospital for severe burns. They all looked at the president, unsure what to do.

"What are our options?" He says, staring directly at the Secretary of Defence, "What can we do?"

"Well sir, my best advice right now is to mobilise everything on the island," says the Defence secretary with commitment, "put everything on high alert while we figure out what to do!"

"Any chance we could launch a counter-attack?"

"At the moment, we have neither the resources or the manpower for a capable defence, we /must/ bring back the fleets in the north to assist down here, otherwise we don't stand a chance"

---

Outside Minsk

The officer rushed through the interior of the ship, passing by dozens of marines and crew members. The officers rushed into the command room, red faced and out of breath, while Fleet Admiral Christian looked on in stunned silence at the officer.

"Something the matter Lieutenant?" Said the admiral, looking rather bothered.

"Sir," The officer was out of breath and trying to get the words out, "News from...the homeland. They've just been attacked"

The admiral looks around stunned, "By who? When was this?"

"About...A day ago, reports indicate North Arkana vessels in the region, sir," The officer coughs, "We've been called to pull all fleets out of the region and return to the mainland"

"Did they say where the attack was?" The admiral asks, digging for anwsers.

"Negative, we've simply been called back to assist"

"Thank you Lieutenant, you can go now" The admiral slumps down in his chair, shocked.

[North Arkana]

Ocean, South of Creatle Home Islands
Joint Mobile Fleet
XX/XX/20XX
Situation Update for Admiral Cole, JMF Admiral Commanding

"Initial strikes were apparently successful, we have battle damage assessments coming in from returning aircraft now, and some HKB drones are being vectored in to get a better look and give priority targeting for the second wave of attacks."
"What about the SEADS?"
"Still working over whatever radar emissions sources they can find, sir. Several EW/SEADS aircraft have been forced to turn back and make a run for the fleet under fighter escort due to damage sustained from AA fire from what defenses managed to get shots off. So far three have had to ditch in the sea, search and rescue is already en route, and the escorts have made sure nothing of value is being left behind for the enemy to scavenge."
"Any word on the status of the Poseidons?"
"HICOM is keeping a tight lid on their location still. They are a step above 'strategic asset' after all."
"What about enemy aerial response?"
"AEW&C is apparently picking up some signatures originating in the north, spreading out into patrol patterns. It looks like one of the airfields wasn't hit as hard as it could have been."
"The air operations commanders know about this?"
"Yes sir, an ordnance swap was made for some of the flights in the next wave to beef up the air superiority assets covering the strike aircraft."
"Time on target for the second wave?"
"Estimated 2 hours sir, once they hit their targets and are back on deck we estimate at minimum a 4 hour turn around time before first wave aircraft are fully prepped and ready for a significant coordinated strike package again. There is potential for delays regarding EW/SEADS aircraft making their returns, as they have flight ops priority for this operation, sir."
"Good, let's keep the ball rolling."

[Free Asian Ports]

Sea South of Minsk

"Popeye 3, Flight Bravo is Oscar Mike, on vector one-one. Advise remain on station. Friendly air support to provide defense. How copy, over?"

"BLUE, solid copy. Will remain on station to provide fire direction for Bravo Flight, over."

High up in the clouds, the E-2 stealthily orbited the target zone, trying to remain out of radar range while also keeping an eye on radar contacts. The rest of the initial wave had passed the enemy fleet and was heading towards the combat zone further inland. Now that the AWACS was in the air, it had temporarily plugged the hole left by the destroyed radar station. At the outer edge of the formation, the EA-18s scanned for hostile air defense to take out. High above them, F-44s and F/A-18s waited to pounce on interloping fighter interceptions. This left several other F/A-18s free to provide air support where needed.

Two such Super Hornets were already being tasked with a fire mission. They were fairly typical, loaded with two 2,000lb JDAM and two 1,000lb Paveway guided bombs for attack, two Python 5 and two AAM-4 missiles for self defense, a targeting pod, and a load of fuel. "Mako Flight, priority target. A Namenian unit has requested Broken Arrow, authorization code has been confirmed. Strike coordinates have been transmitted. CAS is urgent, over."

"Copy Popeye, Mako Flight is offensive, out."

The two sleek fighters rolled onto their attack vector and accelerated in speed. In a few minutes, they'd be on target and ready to destroy something...

[Creatle]

Yuri Mountains, Presidential Bunker

James watched the live broadcast from the news helicopter that was hovering over the city. The fires were spreading at a ridiculous pace and fire teams were stretched thin. The damages sustained on Hope Island were beyond comprehensible, every ship but one was either ablaze or partially submerged. One video feed showed a flight of the new C-35 Lightning Eagles fly by.

"Do we know where the origin of attack is?" He says as he turns the TV off and proceeds to sit back down at the table, "Is it within striking range of one of our HEMP's?"

"Sir...I....Uhhhh" The Defence Secretary stutters, trying to comprehend what the president was saying, "Yes...But....You cant be serious?!"

"I dont think we have any other choice," He sighs heavily, "We need to detonate the warhead over them, this should create an Electro-Magnetic Pulse completely frying their electronics"

"I...Is this a wise choice sir?" The Secretary of Trade states, "I mean...The EMP will knock all of our electronics out as well! There are people in the capital, who are injured, the doctors need their equipment to save them, the firefighters wont have water pressure!"

James eyes dart around the room, trying to figure out a plan.

"We need time...We have to buy time, the blast will knock them out for a while. We can figure out what to do then."

He stands up walking over to a computer mounted into the wall. He begins to fiddle with it, typing something into it.

---

Fort Hannah

Two more C-35's were beginning to taxi to the runway, the control tower was now operational again and business resumed as usual. Zhang Crow sat in his chair up in the control tower, directly talking with the pilots, however mid-way through preparing another C-35 for launch, the phone beside him rang, he picked it up putting it towards his ear.

"You need to get all your fighters back on the ground immediately," The voice on the other end says with a stern tone, "The President is launching an HEMP and it's going to fry everything for miles. So unless you want your planes to start falling out of the sky, get them on the ground"

"Who is th-" The line goes dead before he can get another word out. He sits there for a minute before calling out to address the room.

"I want every plane back on the ground right now!" He yells out, "And I mean now!"

The room looks at him confused before they begin alerting the patrolling aircraft to RTB. Meanwhile the pilot in Zhang's headset questions whats going on.

---

South Of Minsk

"Sir, EWS is picking up multiple bogies on attack trajectory!" The Lieutenant calls out, "I'm reading at least a dozen currently, they probably have more as back up in the area"

"Scramble the fighters, get CIWS, AA and every god damn weapon we have scanning the skies, "The Admiral steams furiously, "I am sick of this shit. They are like flies they just keep pestering us"

"Sir, all fighters are being prepped for launch, they will move to intercept the bogies once airborne" States the Lieutenant.

The Admiral appears to have calmed down now, his expression more concerned, "How many bogies are on an attack trajectory?"

"About six," The Lieutenant repeats, "Is everything alright sir?"

"I don't like this, tell the pilots to maintain a pattern around the fleet and to only intercept once we have visual contact with the enemy"

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

Hochburg, DEN

The 'Broken Arrow' code resounded in the minds of the SS who guarded the Emperor, even if they could see the Emperor bleeding on the floor. They had only heard the code mentioned in training drills before, and even then, they never really could get the full feeling and meaning behind the code. Now, as their bodies formed a wall between the Emperor and the door, the realization that their Emperor could be killed crept over them, and they found courage once again.

A second squad burst through the rear door, running to the Emperor and attending to him immediately. They wrapped tourniquets around his severed limbs, trying to cut off the blood flow. At the same time, the medic gave him morphine, and handed a small, handheld item to another member of the squad. He pushed a button forward, which pushed forward a metal rod, which then began to heat up after he pressed another button. When it got hot enough, the medic began to cauterize the wounds, then bandaged it quickly. It happened very fast, after which, the medic gave hm a shot of antibiotics and ordered the radioman to request a medevac.

"Comrade Marshal, sir, we must get the Emperor to a chopper. He is in critical condition. He may die soon if we do not act fast." The medic reports to Junkers, who was standing at the table, still holding his shotgun.

"Very well, Comrades. Get the Emperor to safety. Even if it means your deaths. There are choppers waiting. Go, comrades!" Junkers ordered. The twelve men of that second squad on again ran out the door, carrying Maximus with them. They could hear Junkers giving orders to the defenders as they ran off, and informing the military of the dire situation that had befallen their dear Emperor.

As the Field Marshal had said, two military choppers were waiting on helipads on the mountain, their rotors already spun up, and their gunners reading the pintle weapons. The twelve SS got onto the two helicopters as quickly as possible, and began running an IV into Maximus's good arm, even as the helicopters took off.

"Eagle One is away. Eagle one is away!"

[Nauchrtenfield]

The city and region surrounding South Leningrad might have been a busy town before, then it was a metropolis now. Seeing as the units making up NAUCHNARMCOM-2 had landed in it some time ago, and now, the entire Division, and it's independent Paratrooper-Mountain Battalion started to move out with all haste. Well over fifteen thousand soldiers setting off. Leaving in the safe confines of the city an administrative staff needed to keep the soldiers moving and content. The soldier's goal was Kursk, a city who stood close to falling, the Nauchrten soldiers would prevent that, or leave a graveyard of armoured crafts in thier attempt to do so, and a sea of blood that would transform the transports into sunken ships. No, such a failure would not stand. On the roads and highways the troopers approched the city, they could already see the city's silluethe, and in the sky they could see the battalion they had untill now followed them on the ground, now, soaring in the sky in thier helikopter 30's. Well over a hundred of the flying crafts dotted the sky, flying in formations in high speed as they approched the city. They would act as the advance guard, a kind of reversed Forlorn Hope. They would be the first in, and hold the line untill the rest of the division arrived. doing one of the things they did best, plugging holes and .

Dotted all over, operating indepedeantly they would strike unseen, hit, and then retreat. The plan was to keep the enemy out of the area untill the rest of the force arrived, from there they would resum the role of light infantry, plug holes, or stike where it woudl hurt the most. The Paratrooper-Mountain Battalions where some of the most mobile units in the army. Well versed both to move on foot, in thier APC's, or, as now, as birds of prey in the sky.

But they did not fly alone, arround them flew the attack helicopters of the 23rd Rotor-Attack Wing. The deadly birds protecting the less armoured and armerd transports.. As they in high speed aproched they city, the attack helicopters tilted more forward, and passed the transports entirelry, they escort mission was over for now. Now they needed to conduct spet two of thire operation, flying over the currently combatted area they would supply the friendly and allied boots with supportive fire in the shape of 30mm auto-canon fire, and missiles. they could do so with inpunity for now, the airspace was clear of holstiles and they had friendly aircraft flying as well.

At the same time most of the transports slowed down, leaving only those of 1st company to fly at full speed, they would land first, dismount, and once they helos had picked up wounded for evac, they would fly back to friendly lines, and the HQ company would do the same, followed by the rest of the companies. Most of the helicopters would then return to the rest of the divisions temporary resupply point, where they would load more equipment, and the veichels of the battalion, they fly in to re-supply them with cargo and tracks.

Soon just that happened, the first eighteen helicopters landed at the LZ, the Nauchrten soldiers wasting no time to dismount and form up, before running towards thier dicated postions. The Namenian staff, consisting of medical and other rear-echelon, and those wounded that could still move those worse of, started to fill the helicopters with the most wounded to be transported back to friendly lines. Everything working like a well oiled mashine. As they started to take of the order went to the transports of the HQ company to move in, and there was little down time between the lift off of the first wave, and the next landing. So it contined, the HQ comapny before long setting with the Namenian command staff, and the Nauchrten soldiers linking up with thire Namenian combrades and allies, to fight for the first time as friends and breathren, and the dragons protection failing, die as friends and breathren.

[Creatle]

Hope Island, Missile Site 22A

Although the attack had almost completely destroyed everything off the island, the missile silo had sustained little damage. All but one of the silo's were operational, with the one silo having minimal structural damage. The commander Morroca Cambre sat next to one of the operators, she had thick bandages around her head after falling down a flight of stairs a few hours ago. She appeared to be on the phone with someone important, the expression on her face was tense.

"Operator, prep silo 10, HEMP for launch, the president has just authorised an electronic strike on the enemy fleet!" She says in a stressed tone.

"Affirmative, I now have access to Silo 10, opening the 'door' now," The operator says in a calm manner, "Missile will be prepped for launch in 1 minute"

"Launch when ready"

---

The Cretan Straits, UCN Invisible

"Alright, we've just received orders to move south-east to search for the Arkanian fleet, we have strict orders to locate the fleet and to remain unseen," The captain addresses the crew, "so from now on we will assume battle stations, take us to periscope depth and put us up to three speed"

"Affiramtive. Taking us to periscope depth, three speed"

---

The ground shook tremendously as the missile rose out of the silo, it was a slow start but gradually gained speed as it left the ground trailing a large smoke trail where it went, after it reached about 300 meters it began to arc before the ground crew lost site of it.

[North Arkana]

ADF SATCOM HQ, North Arkana
ADF SATCOM
XX/XX/20XX

The first sign of anything interesting happening was when one of the ballistic missile launch detection satellites gave a reading of a massive IR spike in the Creatle home islands. Within a few seconds, a second satellite confirmed the launch as well.

"Get an immediate emergency priority message to Joint Fleet command, now! Ballistic missile launch detected, they are cleared to intercept by all means available!"

The command room bursts into action. A ballistic missile with an unknown warhead has been launched by the enemy, and more than just intercepting it is now on the table.

Ocean, South of Creatle Home Islands
Joint Mobile Fleet
XX/XX/20XX

"Sir! Emergency priority message from SATCOM! Ballistic missile launch detected from the enemy! AEW&Cs and ballistic missile defense systems are confirming the launch as well, and we have orders to shoot it down. Launch signature indicates the weapon to be of IRBM class, with an unknown warhead."

Admiral Jacob Cole was frankly shocked. Not shocked to inaction, but shocked the enemy had made possibly the dumbest decision he'd ever seen in his lifetime. The launch of an ballistic missile of any type at an opposing force would invite retaliation in kind, and only in hind-sight would anyone be able to tell if the enemy had even been trying to actually nuke them. But that wasn't important at the moment. What was important, was that the enemy had, frankly, fucked up. The launch of an IRBM, either at, or within range of, a fleet with twenty-four Svalinn BMD equipped ships was foolish to say the least.

"Do we have targeting data on the enemy missile?"

"Yes sir, we have six vessels already tracking on their systems, with several more vessels and AEW&Cs providing refined targeting data. To be frank, sir, this BMD scenario is friendlier to us than any practice secarioro we've had before."

"Good. Shoot it down. Then may providence have mercy upon the enemy's souls, because the Poseidons will not."

---

To the weapons officers, this was easier than any practice intercept they'd ever had to perform. Multiple targeting systems working in concert providing a pinpoint lock on their target, much better than the usual single source of data in the practice scenarios. Their target, an IRBM, had finished it's boost phase, and was in it's sustainment phase, within range of the Svalinn BMD system of the Joint Mobile Fleet. Clearance was received to fire the interceptor missiles, and six vessels, five destroyers and one cruiser, launch their designated missile. In live fire testing against IRBM targets, the Svalinn BMD system had shown itself to have an approximately 81% kill rate in missile intercept scenarios, including the launches made using experimental and early missile models. This single IRBM would be facing interception by six vessels and their interceptor missiles, with another six available to fire should the first six all fail.

The missile never stood a chance.

[The United Remnants of America]

Minsk Harbor, DEN

Adam Danielsen sat on the bridge of the URS Hera, surrounded by busy-body crew members. On the printed-out map of the area, Danielsen could see the topography of the harbor of Minsk and the surrounding waters, as well as the markers indicating where the two radar contacts of ship groupings had been seen. The closest one they had decided was a fleet from Creatle, but from what they could tell, it had stopped approaching and might be turning around. That gave him room to operate.

They'd spent the last few hours loading up the LCAC's into eight of the nine amphibious assault ships, which had all readied and surrounded the three under-defended hospital ships, Hera, Sage and Reputation. Now they were in formation and moving out of the harbor of Minsk.

"Um, Commander?"

Danielsen looked at the Remnant conscript, a young Torian girl. She used his honorary term of "commander" since he was the commander of the fleet, which was nice, since older Remnants in the military didn't give him the same respect. Though the girl was part of the CPD, and not the Remnant Navy, so she may lack the same respect from her military counterparts.

"What is it, ensign?"

The Torian Remnant crew member looked down at a small note pad, "The XAAS-1 at the front of the formation has stated that they have a firing solution on the closest ship we've identified as belonging to Creatle. Orders?"

"Tell them to hold fire for now. Also, give me the radio."

The crew member nodded and relayed the message while handing a radio transmitter to Danielsen. Danielsen took it and began to transmit on an open band, which he knew was really the only way he could contact the ships that had to be from Creatle. If he'd had better sonar equipment, or even aircraft to scout ahead, he'd know more, but this is all he had.

"This is Adam Danielsen, commanding officer of CPD Task Unit 4 Fleet. I am broadcasting to what I assume is the flotilla from Creatle approximately five kilometers off our bow. I assume you have already seen us on your radar and know we're here, because we can see you. I request you retreat and leave the area or risk being fired upon. If you ignore the message, I will interpret this as disregard for my warning and you will be fired upon. Again, this is Adam Danielsen of the CPD Fleet. Turn back or be fired upon."

Danielsen handed the radio transmitter back to the crew member, nodding his thanks. He moved towards the comms station on the bridge and awaited a response. He hoped he heard a response, otherwise he'd have to order the lead amphibious assault ship to open warning fire with its 25mm gun. His entire flotilla was relatively lightly-armed for surface warfare, but if they could draw close enough, they could do some damage, especially with the retrofitted 40mm stationary turrets that sat on the three hospital ships. Too bad the flotilla lacked surface-to-surface rockets, but they had plenty of anti-air capabilities from the amphibious warfare ships, and they could expand their presence with the 16 LCACs.

Danielsen sighed. He hoped it didn't come to war.

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

LZ Lima

Four AH-10 Longbows flew over the LZ and unloaded a barrage of fragmentation rockets into the enemy. Turning around, the four choppers split up into two pairs, and again attacked the LZ, this time with their 30 mm auto cannons. Dozens of high caliber cannon rounds detonated on the forest floor, tearing through men and vegetation alike. The second pair of choppers came in once again, and rippled off rockets into the Donnish lines, before pulling up and turning around to support the two Mustang choppers that were landing. Monsters in size, the Mustangs could carry 100 men each, but were slow to maneuver, and could be killed easily if targeted.

As the Longbow attack helicopters suppressed the enemy forces, the CH-96B Mustangs opened their cargo doors and began to land, their rears open to the forest. Each chopper had a minigun in the cargo door, which instantly began to tear through the forest in a suppressive fire effect, before the choppers touched down and the two hundred men rushed off the helis. The soldiers who made it off began to pull the wounded and dying back into the helis, which still remained, before they gave them a thumbs up, and the choppers disappeared once again.

The last person to get off the chopper was the 82nd battalion leader, Commissar Irma Winther. Her carbine hung around her shoulder as she ran to a ditch in the ground, and established her command center right there. The radioman got down right next to her as the soldiers started digging into the ground. He began to radio the command to tell them that they were already down, and they could see the Nauchterns heading their way.

Nova Hochburg, Makeshift Central

"Arrowhead! Arrowhead! Ballistic Missile launch detected!" The voice over the PA system boomed in the bunker. Everyone in the bunker immediately stopped what they were doing and looked up at the massive video screen, showing the entire world of Ausozera. Creatle immediately appeared on the screen in red, and on one of the other screens, which showed where the launch originated from. Nobody thought that any launch could happen, but even less from the nation that they were at war at.

"Attention Central Command, Attention Central Command, DEN has moved to DEFCON 1. DEN has moved to DEFCON 1." Vladimir Lenin ordered on the PA system. He turned off the coms and turned to the officers beside him, and handed them a folder. "I am authorizing Fall Grün. Launch a retaliatory strike against Creatle immediately."

"I understand, Comrade Führer." The missile command officer replied, and saluted before turning around to give the orders out to the missile silos. Five missiles were to be fired from five different silos, which appeared on the screens in front of them. Each one of them gave the ready signal, and Vladimir was presented with a black suitcase. He opened it to find two keyholes, a keyboard, a switch, and a button. Vladimir and the officer next to him took out their keys, put them in the keyholes, and turned it in union, making an audible click, and a loud beep. Vladimir opened the protective cover for one of the switches, which he then flipped, and a second cover opened up. Inside was a red button which he put his thumb on, and pressed immediately without any hesitation.

Launch Codes received. Missiles away. Missiles away. ETA 30 minutes

Dotted lines appeared on the screen from the positions of the silos, to the targets in Creatle, and an arrowhead appeared on the dotted line, with the time stamp of launch at the origin, and the ETA in them.

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

[Creatle]

Just below the Stratosphere, high above the Cretan Home Isles

The missile had been going straight up until now, just before it broke into the lower stratosphere it began to make a slow bank to the east, stopping as it reached 45 degrees. The entire craft shuddered and groaned as the vessel reached the end of the troposphere. Thats when something buzzed by, leaving a brief trail of smoke. It was too fast to identify, not like it mattered anyway. Then another buzzed by. And once again another. Something, or someone was firing at the HEMP. There was a moment of piece for 10 seconds before another missile came through the clouds, slamming straight into the side of the rocket, this caused fatal damage to the rockets aerodynamics, electronic and fuel systems. The combination of all the damaged components caused the rocket to initially drift violently off course before beginning a dangerous roll, the fuel and electrical systems ignited a fire, with inevitably detonated the remaining fuel in the craft blowing it to pieces. However it was shortly followed by a very bright flash and crack.

---

400km, Endurance Space Station

"<Bleep>"Solomon do you have a visual on the launch?<Beep>"

"<Bleep>Negative<Bleep>"

Captain Solomon Maroon remained outside the shuttle, waiting, watching staring at the earth below, looking for something. With him were First Lieutenant Lastimosa Amoore and Second Lieutenant Kaitlin Rogers. They were officially civilians as part of the space program, but received special orders to look for particular launches.

"<Bleep>Still no visual. You sure they got the right guys?<Bleep>"

"<Bleep>Affirmative. Just keep your eyes out for anything.<Bleep>"

A moment passed.

"<Bleep>Happy Birthday by the way Kaitlin<Bleep>"

"<Bleep>Thanks I-<Bleep>"

There was a bright flash over the Creatle isles, it was as bright as the sun.

"<Bleep>Control, be advised i have visual on some sought of detonation. Lastimosa you have visual?<Bleep>"

"<Bleep>Affirmative<Bleep>"

---

Undisclosed Location, Yuri Mountains

"What the /FUCK/ was that?!" James steamed furiously, "Did we just launch a nuke? SHIT!"

"Sir, we have multiple launches across the globe, they are retaliating to the launch," Said the Minister Of Homeland Security, "It's time we gave this up, whats the point if everything gets blown to oblivion anyway?"

The president doesnt hesitate, "Get me every single nation involved on the line, I'll declare the official surrender of the UCF," He looks dejected, "And quickly too, we got shit for time before we become a nuclear test site"

---

Addressed To The Leaders Of: DEN, North Arkana and URA
From: President J. L. Smith, President of the United Creatlean Isles

"I, J. L. Smith, hereby declare that due to overwhelming odds, major civilian casualties and the impending threat of complete destruction of the isles of Creatle, I therefore officially announce the surrender of all UC Forces across the board," There would be a short pause, "I will also agree to sit down with world powers to discuss the future of this nation and it's people in a yet to be discussed location."

"In the meantime I ask that all major countries cease actions on all UC Forces as they have been informed of this and will not engage. I am fully confident we can end this in a civil and peaceful manner"

The recorded message would end there.

[North Arkana]

ADF SATCOM HQ, North Arkana
ADF SATCOM
XX/XX/20XX

From one of the primary tracking stations within the SATCOM headquarters, a monitor delivers a slightly panicked report. "Goddamn it... sir, early warning satellites just detected five launches from sites within DEN!"

A further update is provided from another tracking station. "Initial tracking of launch vectors suggests the missiles are heading for Creatle, with potential for collateral damage to the Joint Fleet!"

"Inform the Joint Fleet they are authorized to attempt interception of the incoming missiles by any means necessary."

"Roger, sir, we'll tell the- hot damn!"

"Report!"

"Early warning satellites just picked up a high order detonation from the intercepted missile!"

"Roger, confirming attempted use of nuclear weapons by a hostile power against ADF forces."

"As of this time, I am authorizing the destruction of Creatlean orbital assets, as well as authorizing the interception of any missiles threatening the Joint Fleet."

---

Ocean, South of Creatle Home Islands
Joint Mobile Fleet
XX/XX/20XX

"Sir, you aren't going to believe this, but SATCOM has informed us the incoming missile has been destroyed, with analysis showing a high order detonation in the upper atmosphere. However, they also report an additional five missiles have been launched, originating from DEN. We have been authorized to intercept at our discretion. We only have a few minutes to decide."

Admiral Cole examines the report for approximately a minute before delivering his response. "The two missiles on the southernmost vectors are to be intercepted as a minimum. Both ship-borne and airborne weapons systems are to be utilized. Prepare a flight of Archangels and load them for orbital interception."

"Right away, sir."

[Free Asian Ports]

Geostationary Orbit
Altitude: ***.* km ASL
Inclination: **.** degrees

A military satellite sat silently, hung in space by Newtonian physics thought of three centuries earlier and actually accomplished half a century ago. It wasn't old by industry standards, but one would be amazed to learn it had been here for nearly 10 years. Military satellites like this one were not uncommon, nearly every civilized nation can slap a camera on a chassis and shunt it into space atop a tube of metal and fuel. As long as you got the math right, just about any object conceivable counted as a satellite. And 10 years surprisingly does not take its toll. With no atmosphere, equipment does not rust. The only force acting on this little satellite is the gravity well of Ausozera, threatening to drag man's arrogance back to the surface to burn up on reentry. This is occasionally offset by a little spurt from the satellite's thrusters, small monopropellant engines that function on stupidly simple physics. It had a respectable service life, and would serve well enough in its role for the foreseeable future.

Telemetry came up from the surface, being collected by the satellite's antenna. The simple cryptography and communications systems of the old drone were sufficient to maintain OPSEC for the peculiar missions of the FAP's space forces. The satellite was unarmed, being merely a reconnaissance satellite. It was part of a wide network, providing valuable intel for the FAP and its allies. Such a task was levied to it now. The dumb machine was unaware and incapable of comprehending the drama below, but nonetheless conversations relevant to its function were being had.

"S-4, 5th fleet, new mission order. Shield mission requested. SATCOM wants target telemetry for targets with the following IFF in all sectors. All satellite stations on alert. Begin mission immediately."

"Roger CENTFLEETCOM, mission order received. Scan and maneuver profile in progress."

In microseconds, brief flashes of various types of radiation came to and from the satellite. Radar, UHF, lasers, damn near every useful spectrum was being used for the drone's mission. The most relevant target was identified by a different satellite and the mission was handed over to this one. RCS motors flashed in precise order and for specific periods of time to get the desired motion. The flashes kicked the satellite into a spin in the desired direction, immediately stopped by identical but opposite thrusts as soon as the sighting instruments were on target. The drone hardly cared, if it did at all, what it was aiming at. The data it sent back noted that it resembled a space station. The data was received and transmitted through to Arkanan SATCOM through the satellite sharing program. Without a doubt, it was more information than they needed. But redundancy never hurt...

[Die Erworbenen Namen]

Above the earth

Hundreds of kilometers up in the air, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile's rocket engine shut off, and the first stage of the rockets fell away from the rest of the bodies. Suspended in near orbit, the missiles began to curve back towards the earth, and started to fall back once again. Five missiles, each with ten 350 kiloton nuclear warheads, began to head towards their general targets, and would soon unleash their warheads onto Creatle below. They were traveling fast, hypersonic, and would soon speed up once more on their reentry.

Hochburg International Airport

A company of SS guarded the large aircraft that idled on the runway. Ordered by the Field Marshal, they had assembled a medical team and a group of surgeons in the massive plane to stabilize Maximus for his travels to the UAE. A stretcher, surrounded by ten medical personnel, stood in the open near the ramp heading into the plane, and was ready to get him to safety as quickly as possible. They only had a short amount of time to stabilize him, as the reports had indicated that he was about to lose a large amount of blood in a short amount of time.

"Eagle two inbound, Eagle two inbound. Get ready, men!" The captain ordered, having caught a glimpse of the military chopper inbound. The medical personnel quickly readied the stretcher to receive him, and two SS ran out into the open, waving emergency flares. Apparently spotting the makeshift landing zone, the choppers slowed down and descended into those open, with the helicopter carrying Maximus opening the doors violently, and the soldiers jumping out just before it touched down. "Medics! Get him on the stretchers! Go go go!"

Maximus was instantly approached by the medics, who, in a rush, got him on the stretcher and ran towards the plane immediately. The squad of SS guards around him followed him, running alongside, and watching the nurses try to insert IVs into him. They ferried him into the plane, and closed the door behind him as quickly as possible, while the sergeant ordered the pilot to immediately take off and head for UAE.

((Shitty post, sorry.))