Highway to the Dangerzone

[The Kingdom of Rhamos]

The South Seas

The Nova Prussian ships were right for the most part, the pair of fighters were meant to obtain visual contact with the ships and help direct/escort the SAR helicopters following them to the ships position. They did after all have no actual idea of the situation surrounding the ships meaning they were more of a reconnaissance than anything else. The short time in sortieing the flight meant they were equipped for CAS not sinking ships.

While true that there was no love lost between Osatia and Prussia, NP had up until now given them a reason to suspect foul play. Thus the jets approached at a medium altitude ensuring visibility on radar and an ability to visually identify the ships but not leaving them fully exposed if they had to react by running.

The SAR helicopters were updated with the current situational report on their approach and a secondary mission was added that once they had landed on the ships they were to instruct them on the nature of the operation taking place on the small Cynic island. In accordance with this they would also inform the Prussians of the corvette making its way towards the formation to lead them into a suitable Osatian port for repairs.
The instance on heading to the Cynicodian island, however, was beginning to raise suspicions about their intentions and what exactly it was that the three ships were supposed to be doing in the region. The operation had after all, already been underway when the Prussians went dark meaning that they had to at least have a vague idea that the island was now currently restricted.

Thusly a small situation briefing was prepared and began to worm its way gradually up the chain as more levels were brought into the know on what exactly was now taking place. Corresponding to this, the destroyer flotilla had moved its way in between the approaching ships and the island. They were still far enough out to not be involved but should the situation turn side ways they were instructed to prevent the ships from breaching the AO around the mission space.

The flotilla was but a small sea control element on patrol in the area assigned with ensuring security for the current ongoing operation taking place on the island. Organized around a Flight Deck Destroyer and its escorts, the group would be sufficient to ensure that the incident did not escalate further into an “operational jeopardy” should the need arise.

Denethrien Tambayé-ASPRT Border

Liaisons from the Osatian military were appraised of the situation and elements dispatched to the border to inspect the current affair themselves. The attitude of the Dennis had been increasingly seen as posturing and the present officers had no intentions of spooking them further while still providing an adequate air of readiness. “Posturing for posturing” essentially. Recommendations were compiled shortly after their brief tours and forwarded to the relevant Punic individuals.

They had advised increasing the ADN network and bringing in a few battalion tactical groups to conduct readiness drills opposite the Dennis for a short time before settling into their own defensive positions. Didn’t want to make them to jumpy after all.

Cynicadonian Island

The relative ease of the operation had given the Osatians an air of ease, which was quickly smashed as usual by higher level commanders. The developing situation with NP ships and Denni posturing along the borders had seen fit to have Osatian commanders trample upon carefully planned time tables as they pushed for the operation to be wrapped up as soon as possible.

Police, Gendarmerie, and the few elements of Cynic military on the island, already surrounded and isolated from earlier, are quickly swept up and processed mostly without incident as their compounds are seized. One particular such event unfortunately saw a small outbreak of fighting which was quickly silenced with few casualties on both sides. The police for the most part are allowed to return to duty in order to prevent looting with Osatian oversight.

Gradually the layers of jamming are pulled back while prominent Aelian nations, representative of the various factions are filled in on the actions that had taken place. Invitations for observers are also but forth as well.

[Barnopea and Nordmark]

South Seas Barnopean SSN S-165 HMBS Sans Pareil

Cmdr Torson looks around the Bridge of the Sans Pareil, Like many Boats of the Barnopean Royal navies submarine force, they have been sent into the south seas on patrol, ostensibly to keep the fleets skills current in realty a lot of subs have taken the time to gather both SIGNIT, ELIT as well as SONAR data and the Sans Pareil is no different to her sisters in this regard.

this cruise though has been different with the Osatian invasion of the Cynicadonian Island that Barnopean charts call South Muirland, has made things interesting and as such he has ordered the Sans Pareil to periscope depth to use her coms mast to get orders from Fleet.
the Duty Com officer gets his attention.
"Cap? We're having some issues with the long-range Coms mast were being Jamed, I think we're also getting a distress call looks like some Prubies have got an issue with one of their ships"

"Thanks, Eddie keep trying to get through to fleet and get some info on that jamming signal. Mike?" he calls over to his first officer
"Cap?"
"what do you make of this?" showing him the Jamming data and the Nova Prussian distress call
"Well boss I was just about to come get you there is a set of Prubie ships that Sonar has picked up, as well as some Oiks on long-range SONAR"

"Ah the plot thickens "
"Should we investigate sir? Orders are"
"Vague in the best way and at the very least we can even maybe render aid"
"Aye sir"
"helm plot a course to near those ships, Coms drop the masts"

With orders given the Sans Pareil begins her dive to cruising depth and begin her manoeuvres to near the group of NPN ships.

[The JVP]

Royal palace Ferris, Luar, Aels

Vivi walked the halls of the Setting Sun Palace, nickname given to the royal palace in Aels. A small escort of Valkyrie knights, and royal aids followed, some asking what her thoughts on matters to the south were, most wanting to know if the Princess heir would also be making a visit. But most of them, mainly lowly nobles looking to get some boot licking in, just wanted to know what THEY could do for, better then so and so from house what ever.

It was at these times that Vivi wished the nation was ran... in a different fashion then what it already was, but she knew the game of houses all to well, and how to play the houses off each other if she needed to.

"Oh, House Yi-san, asked about that the other day. I think them and house Leamont are working together on that." Vivi said as she watched a noblemen go white in the face, and leave her escort with a "sounds wonderful my High Queen." And "By your leave my High Queen" Vivi would watch the noble leave, smile, and then roll her eyes as she pushed forward, her small escort getting even smaller as questioned were asked and people dismissed.

After a few more minutes of this, Vivi, and just her escort of knights and aids, finally made it to the throne room with Vivi opening the large doors on her own.

The Luar Throne room was a marvel to behold, a large circular room of black marble, with white marble tile. In the center sat the Evening Throne, crushed red velvet seat and back, on a golden throne in the shape of a penguin, who wings formed the armrest. Along the walls hung the banners of the many higher and lower houses of the Luar Mainland.

Vivi always looked around the room in awe, the many statues, bust of famous leaders and nobles, paintings on her father and brother as youth naval captains. And image of herself in her Knights uniform. All things she took in as she took her seat on the Evening Throne. With a slight sigh, Vivi opened herself to the daily briefings she was never going to get use to.

"My High Queen. We have a few concerning matters to bring to your attention, about the state of other Aelian powers." Came the voice of her trusty regional keeper.

Vivi took in a quick view of banners around her, before speaking. "Let me guess. The Denethrien are involved in this somehow?"

"Maybe, My lady. It involve Cynicadonia's lands to the South East." He Keeper said

Taken aback by the news Vivi locked eyes with her keeper, hoping he was just pulling a fast one on her. "And?"

"And, Osatia, the break away from Rhamos."

Vivi placed a hand on her head to help stop the growing headache, she knew would send her to bed early today. She should have known better, this was Aels, the lands lived on war, always war, always and she grew tired of it as the days went on. Be it Denethier threats, the NADP, or the fall of Spain in the South. These lands only seen conflict, and well the Empire is more then willing to engage in such actions, here on Aels is not were they wished to fight.

"But units in Namijistan on alert, but not a full mobilization, last thing we need is for the fools in Denethier to think we are gearing up for something we are not, just beef up border patrols." Looking up as she spoke, Vivi looked at the large map of Aels on engraved above her.

"Move a few more destroyers to the South, make sure our trade routes to open, if need be give escort if they have to cross close to waters near the conflict. I'm sure other nations with have some ships in the area... maybe, so lets not take any chances. Other then that, we are to stay clear of this shit show and focus on other matters, China tests or DMZ almost monthly now, and their ships come to close to our waters. We need to show force on that front. Aels has to become a second thought to us as our main threat is China."

Her keeper looked up as she finished relaying her orders. "I'll assemble the General staff, and have relay your orders. Now for my second peace of news. All nations in the WADP have agreed to your early terms for the Grune Union. Some still have points they would like to hammer out, but all agree we should move on the next phase. The documents are on your desk."

Vivi let a small smile grace her lips. This is the news she had been waiting for. The Grune Union would be her greatest achievement, and would see peace on her sphere of Aels, peace, or a union to tightly linked to A, fall apart and B, be an easy target for anyone looking to slice up some smaller nations. Once off the ground, her and her union would turn its eyes back to the main threat.

"Wonderful, i'll get to those after I receive. Now, tell me of the payback of Namijistan?"

"With the buyout and rebuilding, the nation has fall more into our debt, but as you have ordered we have granted them a grace period of not adding to the massive debt until the first one is paid off."

"Wave all future debts. I'm hoping for them to be GU members, and I want them at a clean slate."

"Umm... Yes... Umm... From their records it seemed a lot of the money borrowed from us went to the military, a good 80%. Of that money most went to lining the pockets of corrupted generals, and the rest to buy equipment, which was then sold sold by said generals. So very little is left to repay, as was noted during the first few days of their lands falling under the crown. Allowing major contracts to be award to some of the companies has helped in unemployment, with is down to 8%. That's close to our 5% as some people just don't want to work."

Vivi tapped her lips thoughtfully as her keeper spoke.

"Over all my High Queen, I think in the next 30 to 40 years, the nation will have paid off its debt and be freed from its agreement." The Keeper said as he handed Vivi a sheet of paper.

"Good." vivi said looking over the numbers. "40 years is a long time to wait to hold this vote, I fear they will forget themselves and any vote of leaving the crown will be tainted in the eyes of others. Make sure pride in their nation is still upheld along with the crown. We are not there to own them, but to make sure they don't go the way of most corrupt nations." She handed the paper back. "In 5 years, we'll hold a vote to see if the people want to increase the repayment taxes to speed up the repayment time. But in the mean time get feelers out about what they think of life under the crown. I'm sure it will not be so good with only 5 years under crown rule, but we'll go from there."

"Ahh, yes. Very thoughtful my lady. My next report is about Nutk refugees spilling in from former Spain. Most have found housing in the Luar Nutk lands, others have been moved to the Refugee city. But a sizable group wish to enter the Empire as citizens. Those reports are also on your desk."

"Concerning, but not a problem, but still concerning." Vivi said raising from her throne. "I think that will be all for today, i'll take any other reports in my office." she spoke, each word making her move faster as she exited the throne room, her escorts falling in around her.

"My High Queen, don't forget your meeting with the Lower house." Her Keeper yelled to her as the large doors closed.

Vivi walked the halls at a speed that short of running, but past a quick pace, as she rounded corner after corner till she came across the door she was looking for.

"I will enter alone." She said as she quickly entered the room, closing the door behind her.

The Queen Mother

Vivi rested on the door for a few seconds as she scanned the room, eyes looking over the table of cloth and yawn before falling on an elderly woman in a blue grown knitting what seemed to be a pair of gloves.

Vivi quickly made her way to the woman and flopped to the ground, her head rest in the elderly woman's lap.

"Baba, the weight of the empire feels so heavy on me. What do i do?" Vivi said, snuggling her head into the woman's lap.

The elderly woman put aside her needles and place a firm hand on Vivi's head and smoother her hair.

"Come child. You have grown to old to want to treated like a child." She said, but still ran her hand over Vivi's hair.

"But Baba, these lands baffle me. Their leaders are so quick to back stab you. One day a friend, the next day your enemy. I don't even know who to rust as allies. I feel like I'm going at it alone. How did the King handle these rulers?" Vivi said, a small tear forming at the corners of her eyes.

Baba, her real name being the Former Queen Taeyong, was the wife to the late King. She holds the title of the Queen Mother, but is not the birth mother of Vivi, really an aunt that raise her after the death of her mother and father. A true beauty in her day, the Queen Mother was know to be a fair yet tough leader as she ruled at the side of her husband. Now a days she spends her time visiting friends and family and makes a permanent home in Luar, to be close to the graves of her three children, all lost after birth. So it was only natural for her to take to the Young Vivi and her sister when they came to palace to be raised by her.

"Be calm my child. My husband played the game of houses with the rulers of these lands. But it was a different back then, more of the wars were about keeping these lands safe from outsiders, and protecting allies. But we still had other duties outside of these lands." She wiped a tear that had fallen to Vivi's cheek.

"You need to keep showing a strong front. Cause even when all is burning around us, will be say. Even from the ashes, the Empire will raise. Your Uncle knew that, your father even more. It drove my husband mad to hear that your father was killed. I had to drug him to keep him from doing something crazy." Vivi began to cry heavily in the Queen Mothers lap.

"Oh dear. I should have not brought that up. I know it still pains you. But know your father and mother would proud of what you have become. So lovely, and strong. The strongest queen to sit on the Phoenix Throne. Stop your crying, you most show strength in these troubling times. You most never let the people see you weak, for they relay on you and your strength during these times." The elderly woman grabbed a piece of cloth and wiped away the tears as they fall.

"I spoil you so much child. I swear, you and your sister, always crying on an old woman. You will drown me one of these days. Come now, be strong. Sit up now." She said as she gently lifted Vivi head off her lap. "Now since you wish to waste my time on childish behavior, you can sit there with your hands out as I finish this gift." She eyed Vivi. "don't give me that face young lady. Hands out... good." Baba began to wrap some yawn around Vivi's hands.

"Now, let me tell you a story about when your father and uncle were young boys. They already had their marriage arrangements to me and your mother, but that did not keep them from shining their shoes and wearing their best navy uniforms, and going out on the town looking for women. I swear, if not for that arrangement, those two would never see any action." She laughed. " One day, me and your mother figured when play a joke on them by..........."

[The JVP]

Blue Palace, Seoul Korea

"ROMEO AND JULIET" Vivi yelled as she moved to grab the remote.

"No, we watched that last time." Gemma said knocking the remote from her sisters hand. "Let our guest have a pick."

MaryAnne watched the remote fly from the small table and onto her lap. "Ummm... I don't know. Maybe "Highway Star." Moving the remote from her lap to the empty seat next to her.

"Highway Star?" questioned Vivi, looking over at her old Knight friend. "Why..." she narrowed her eyes. "I see." She said as she launched herself at MaryAnne. "You still have a crush on Cha Tae-hyun."

"No, No i don't." yelled a fighting MaryAnne, as she tried to pull away from Vivi, who know was now hanging off her back.

"I remember. You had that poster, Papa or something." Vivi said struggling to keep the Lord Knight in her grasp.

"Wha... Hey, get your hands from under th..." MaryAnne cut off as Vivi slipped her hands under the blue shirt she wore.

"I remember, you would kiss it everyday for for training, and every night from lights out." Vivi began to grope her old friend. "Ahh, he is just an ajushi now." Vivi started, switching out the JVP Common word for Unlce, for the Korean term for Older gentlemen. "I can order her to marry you, I have the power." Vivi said as her eyes grow from feeling up her friend, gasping. "You have betrayed me. "she said, as looked from her small chest, to the large mounds on her friend. "I'll tear these off, and put them on me."

"Nooo... Stop pulling." MaryAnne yelled, trying to fight her way to freedom.

"You have enough, I just need one." Vivi screamed, a predatory look on her face, as she upped her groping.

"Nooooo, Sister Gemma, help me." MaryAnne pleaded, as she looked at Gemma checking her own small chest, knowing no help would be coming for her.

"No help for you, you big titty cow." Hands reaching and rubbing. "NO MERCY"

~tink~

Vivi looked down, hands stopping, as she looked at the silver chain, with a ring on it.

"What is this?" Vivi said, snatching up the ring and looking it over, eyes growing wide. "A signet ring... A MALE SIGNET RING" Vivi said as she looked over the symbol on it. A black Boar over a Sword pointed East. Vivi narrowed her eyes, she knew these symbol, or better yet the knight that wore this. "The Black Charger" The name rolled off her lips without her even knowing.

MaryAnne, having recovered from her assault, grabbed the ring from Vivi's hands and clutched it tightly in her fists.

"The Black Charger.... Knight Kirik? But... he..." She Started, before MaryAnne cut her off.

"He was my pillow friend. You remember. The person you seek comfort in after a deadly mission." She looked at the ring. Kirik was that friend for me. You remember him, black hair, from Vedoric."

Vivi closed her eyes, as she sat back to remember. It was pretty common for knights in the same unit to seek the flesh of others, mainly when a mission was extremely costly. If the butcher was to take his cut, then best that you have fun with the flesh before hand. A weird saying, but a saying. Vivi had her own pillow friends. But she never kept the rings... She looked down at her own. a red Falcon, on a white rose 'The raptor of white' An odd name for her, since she was just their teams long range killer, but their Knight Captain had said she had the Eyes of a Falcon, and so she was awarded the name and right to make her signet.

An Honor in and of itself. Everyone was a knight, but not all knights had signet rings. a ring was a sign of honor and glory. It meant you were someone to trust, and also someone with a name. The True name as some knights called it, was awarded to a knight when they showed a skill, talent, or some feat above others. Your ring was crafted from that name. Some animal over another object.

"Why do you have his ring?" Vivi Began. Knowing it was a great dishonor for any knight, Alive or dead, to be without their ring.

Tears began to form at the corners of MaryAnne's Almond shaped eyes. "You remember that mission in Africa. the one to kill that Chinese arms dealer." Vivi nodded her head. Their team took heavy losses that mission. "Before the mission, me a Kirik went off to small hiding spot. standard for a mission, some alone time to you know... connect." She blushed. "Anyways. Kirik said that after the mission he wanted to get married. We had been dating for some time, and he wanted to get married and leave the corps. Something I had been thinking about doing for some time. Funny you know, he did not want to leave, he was all about making it to Lord Knight, becoming a proper High Noble. He gave me is ring as a promise and... and." The tears streamed down her face in floods.

"And then he was killed when the mission went south, oh my gods MaryAnne, I did not know you two were that close. I just figured you like his package, it was pretty nice from what I remember of the showers." MaryAnne tried to laugh through the tears. "Wait... After that mission we became pillow friends... Why did you never tell me?"

MaryAnne dabbed at the tears in her eyes with a piece of cloth that Gemma had handed her. "I just could not bring myself to tell you, and would have taken it to my grave. I used his memory of Kirik that mad me stay in and aim for Lord Knight." She fall in the arms of her old friend. "I should have told you. Kirik was a big part of all of us, and his death was a big hit to our squad. He gave me the ring, so i kept it. Gods Vivi, I have not dated since then, and I'm nearing my forties."

Vivi laughed, remembering that she was single, and only five years from forty. "Maybe we can be old hags together. If Gemma stays single then we can be a coven of witches. Casting spells on all the young couples of the empire." She said, wiping a tear with her thumb.

"Speak for yourselves. I'll find my prince and marry him." Gemma said, turning her nose up to the idea of hanging around these two all day.

"Hey MaryAnne. remember when Gemma had a crush on the leader of Serderistan." Vivi Began, as her sisters eyes grow wide in terror.

"You bitch, I told you that in confidence." Gemma said, launching herself at her sister. "I'll kill you and take the throne for myself." She said as she pounded lightly on her sisters back, who was laughing and trying to shield herself with MaryAnne. "You tell my secrets, I'll tell your yours. Vivi has a crush on Prince Harry. There, how do you like that." Gemma siad, smug smile on her face.

Vivi's face grew pale. "How could you." She said as MaryAnne broke in. "Prince Harry, the red head... He is cute, I've done some joint training with his unit. Charming guy." Vivi filled with rage. "You whore. He is mine. he does not want a cow chest bitch like you." She said, groping MaryAnne again.

"Better then a cutting block." She said, moving to grope Vivi.

"You cross the line." Gemma said, reaching to grab a handful of MaryAnne. " We have cute butts, and that what men really like." All three of them locked together, each trying to grope whoever they could.

The door opened as a female walked in, pushing a cart of food. "Your High Queen, the pizza and..." She trailed off as she looked at the intertwined forms of the girl, MaryAnne Shirtless, Gemma bottomless, and Vivi somehow wearing he sisters shorts on her head.

"I'll leave the food over here. sorry to interrupt." she said, backing out of the door.

Vivi, a look of bewilderment on her face looked to the other two. "Did you see her? She had a cow chest also. Why are you all so blessed." She said, beginning her attack anew. The three girls played around like that for another few minutes, before giving up. They figured Highway Star was a good movie, and that singing would be fun.

[Gottsburg and Hannland]

The South Seas

Of course the fleet couldn't allow the Osatian coming in by helicopter know what was actually going on. Nor could they allow them to report back the subterfuge that Admiral Donnder had ordered. For one it would make their mission rather moot and for another that maneuver was fairly illegal under international law.

But the commanding captain saw no reason to kill perfectly innocent men for just doing there jobs. So the SAR men were allowed to land on the ships. The Osatians made their reports to the captains, about the corvette coming their way and the situation on "Rhodes". They were thanked and then promptly arrested, and led to a security cabin at gunpoint. Their helicopters were left where they were as to not tip off the Osatian jets, left long enough they would still raise suspicions but the plan had shifted with the intel gained, by the time the Osatian got worried about their helios they would have bigger fish to fry.

The captain of the Icedake breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to engage with Osatian forces on the island after all. They were sending him a corvette to sink and a nice little destroyer formation to engage. All he had to do was claim they fired first, on injured ships at that!, and Donnder would have his casus bellum.

Wait till the Dennies got off their asses and did the heavy lifting and New Prussian forces could sweep in to take the capital. Trade it back to Rhamos for concessions on the mainland and a bump in relations between the two nations. The navy would be heroes and the prestige gained by Donnder would allow him to make was political moves back home to strengthen his faction's hand in the coming negotiations about exactly how New Prussia was going to integrate the mass of territory and peoples that now found themselves governing.
Of course if Donnder had shared the full extent of his plan with the captain of the Icedrake he may well have realized that a good deal more than prestige and a place at the table was what he wanted. He may very well have reported his superior officer. For Donnder was playing a bigger game, one that left New Prussia not just in control of South Aels but the South Seas as well.

New Hamburg, New Prussia

NPIA was something of a personal fiefdom for Alena Brun, oversight was minimal both of a professional level and a personal one. Being the Kanzler's wife meant that a certain amount of trust was given and interference not tolerated. This was ideal because she would certainly have lost her job and Alexander his Kanzlership had any elected official known where she was turning a blind eye to and what she was allowing to happen in the south.
Naturally Alena had no intent of allowing Donnder's scheme to actually seize Osatia as an Prussian outpost, what use did they have for such a thing when soon the whole Spanish Coast would be their's?
Alena played a bigger games than even Donnder, which was why she was now reaching out to the Head of Rhamosian intelligence in that special way that was both top secret but also very clear. The question was simple: "Do you want your colony back?"

[Raltirian Denethier]

South Seas
Denethrien Nuclear Attack Submarine K-233 Karkharios

The Barnopeans were not the only ones keeping an eye on naval activity in the seas around South Muirland. Commander Armagh had been deployed to sail the K-class submarine, Karkharios, to patrol the waters off of Osatia's northern coasts to monitor naval activity in the area. It had been suspected that Osatia planned military action against Cynicadonia, but the onset of the actual operation came as a surprise to those watching from the sidelines.

This most recent development, though, was even more unexpected. A trio of Prussian warships had been detected sailing straight for South Muirland, just as Osatian landing operations were underway. The largest of the two matched the profile of one of Prussia's large anti-air warfare ships, while the second two seemed to match a type of lighter anti-submarine vessels. One matched the profile of the class quite perfectly, while the second of the lighter ships seemed to have some differences from her suspected sister-ship, casting some doubt on the identification of the third vessel.

Karkharios held at a depth of around 60 meters, maintaining a northerly course at a calm, 5 knot drift, her pump-jet working only gently to maintain such a modest pace. Armagh was not expecting a combat situation; as long as he kept his distance and did not make any aggressive moves or suddenly order a jump to high speed, he felt he would remain happily unnoticed.

Before long, a call from Armagh's sonar operators announced the arrival of Osatia's emergency relief aircraft.

"Conn, sonar, new contact bearing zero-seven-seven--low-flying rotary-wing."

"He's probably going to find out what three Prussians are doing so close to an Osatian operating area. Just keep an eye out and let me know of any changes."

The muffled sounds of helicopter rotors above the surface of the water could only betray so much about the helicopter's location and purpose, and Armagh hadn't surfaced to try transmitting any intelligence back home to close to any foreign warships. Was unaware, then, of the jamming from the Prussian vessel thought to be a second submarine hunter.

Raltirian Military Forces, Tambayé

As tensions flared over the Osatian strike against Cynicadonia, as well as the potential for a clash between Denethier and its Punic neighbor, the navy was moved to deploy a pair of diesel-electric attack submarines to prowl the waters south of the border with ASRPT, from which an incursion by submarine forces aligned with the Margrave might threaten major Denethrien naval bases on the south side of the island. As-yet, the fleet's nuclear heavy cruisers and fleet carriers were held in port.

Denethrien Tambayé
Border with ASRPT

The situation along the eastern border was of most immediate concern to Denethrien military leaders in the region. Should the Margrave decide to strike from the east, he would have to cover only a short distance to threaten Denethier's valuable naval bases on Tambayé, as well as her space launch facilities closest to the equator. While additional ground troops would not be deployed at the moment, regional air forces were kept poised to respond to a strike if necessary, and the order was given to begin conducting aerial reconnaissance missions near the edge of Punic air-space.

[The Kingdom of Rhamos]

Aboard the NP Ships

The SAR crews are mostly confused about the situation and offer no resistance, most assuming that there is some form of miscommunication taking place. They attempt to explain themselves and make light of the situation but otherwise try not to provoke the situation any further.

In the skies above, the strike fighters loiter a little longer before heading to exit the jamming and update the brass of the current position of the ships and the success of the SAR crews. Depending on fuel levels they would mostly likely return to keep eyes on the ships until the Corvette arrived.

St. Meistair Naval Air Station

A proverbial dick measuring match was taking place between the Airforce and Naval commanders present over who was in charge of the situation developing at sea with the Prussian ships. The argument had crescendo-ed until the station commander finally stepped in and pulled both men into his office and delivered a not so subtle ass chewing to both parties.

The possible implications of what might be transgressing out at sea were not lost on him and he made sure his subordinates were just as clued in as he was. The navy would be taking point should the situation escalate further, while the station commander began to contact diplomatic affiliates for clarification on just exactly why there was a situation in the first place.

Diplomacy

For once the politicians were ahead of the military, a rare occurrence, and a summons had been sent to the Nova Prussian ambassador to establish what it was that the ships where doing.

ASPRT-Denni Frontier

Surveillance overflights were watched and monitored with increasing suspicion as the Punic command grew anxious of the situations developments. The growing theory was that the Dave were rather vexed by losing their shoot at the Cynic island and were looking for "options." While unlikely, their actions as of late did lend credibility to the idea.

To dispel any such rash thoughts on the Dave's part, the parent regiment of the previous tactical groups was finally moved to the frontier having finally mobilized to operational capacity.

Coinciding with these developments, a second motor rifle regiment was being moved north towards the border with the Spanish colony. More rumors had abound that the success of the northern operation as well as Denni actions had seen the Spaniards as a vulnerability for either side to exploit.

More likely though, was that the Margrave was afraid the Dave would seize the colony and aimed to grab it first. A mix of Osatian and Uvongo units had begun to marshal along the coastal border.

[Gottsburg and Hannland]

Osatia

Gywin Utretch made her way down the hall to the summons from what was, at best, the leaders of a province in revolt from it rightful government. Now there might well have been a time when New Prussia could have thrown its support behind such a rebellion, they had once been a far-flung colony of an ungrateful empire themselves. But the current situation at home meant that they were quickly becoming an empire themselves and supporting a rebel cause might give some uppity Nutks or Provincials ideas.

Still as consul-general of Tambaye she was in charge of the four consulates on the island and as such the closest thing to an ambassador on hand. Osatia may well be a province in revolt but diplomacy still had to be done on the island. She quietly hoped that this would be about a few drunk tourists than needed to be sent home or maybe a complaint by a wayward merchant ship caught too close the sudden land grab of "Rhodes".

Gywin came to the desk of what she assumed was reception. Clearing her throat to get the man behind the desk's attention, he looked up from his work and was visible startled. She inwardly sighed, she had that affect on people. Her nearly two meters of height, the heterochromia common among her people, the platinum blonde hair, her too big nose, cleft chin and sharp jaw line made her face stern at the best of times. The combination made her look too masculine by half which clashed with her all too feminine physic, drunk (and not to mention stupid) men had told her that she looked like a man's face photoshopped onto the body of a supermodel. In her younger days such comments were punctuated by her punching said men, and the occasional woman, in the jaw.

The man quickly collected himself, asked her credentials and then told her she was fifteen minutes early and that someone would be out shortly to see her. Gywin thanked the man and turned to find a chair. Glancing back to ask him if there was coffee available she saw his eyes glued to her ass, this too she was used to, and occasionally flattered by, once again she cleared her throat.

"Coffee?" the crimson he turned was enough to make her laugh in spite of herself.

The South Seas

The little fleet cruised on towards the Osatia response. As soon as the jets were out of range the SAR helos were dumped into the ocean, another garbled message was allowed to make it way out of the jammed area saying that the helos had taken off and were heading home. The hope was this report would sow at least a little confusion and to provide deniability for the illegal act of detaining the crew.

In the mean time the ships prepped for combat. Before the day was done they planned to have sunk a corvette and maybe some destroyers as well. Regardless of the bill, Admiral Donnder would have his casus bellum.

Neue Hamburg

Debate of Bill P-89 raged well into the night, taking up much of Alexander Brun's time, time he had meant to spend reading up on all the innumerable reports accumulating on his desk. The Bill would allow free travel between members of the Union and New Prussia. The hope was to encourage cross border shopping and increased integration. It was also whole heartily opposed by half the Brundesrat.

Had the Kanzler been able to get back to his desk, he would have read a report by his intelligence chief, and wife, on movements in the South Seas. Had he read those reports Admiral Donnder would have received an anger phone call and orders to back down before he started a war.

But the Kanzler wasn't and Donnder didn't.

[The Kingdom of Rhamos]

Not a filler post

Amidst the background of rising tensions and political subterfuge, the Osatian military had not been idly standing by.

The movements along the Denni Frontier had caused a stir within the ranks of both the political and military big wigs. After all the seizing of the island had been a move to preempt any possible machinations by the Dave in the south. However, it seemed that this had only further spurned them forward in whatever twisted plans they had concocted.

To this end; think tanks, theorist, analysis, a myriad of other specialist went to work constructing various scenarios in order to gauge the aims of their neighbors military movements.

The resulting conclusions had slowly drawn into a working theory that the Dave was aiming to preempt Osatia now in seizing the orphaned Spanish colony. While this had not initially been on the table this far for Osatia the idea had not slipped by them. Now, the opportunity to preempt the preempt would not be lost on them either.

The ASPRT had already begun mobilizing sufficient forces in the vaccinity of the frontier and was in the best position the counter act any denetherian moves into the colony. Thusly they had been charged with moving a regimental sized task force to the shared boarder of all 3 nations.

Uvongo, less threatened, then either its compatriots did however share a direct boarder with the Spanish colony in question and was directly requested to expedite its mobilization in concert of the operation being assembled by Osatia.

In Osatia itself the general staff had elected to assemble two operational commands to coordinate both the possible defense of Osatia and its client states while the second handled the possible foray into Spanish territory.

Collecting orbats from both the ASPRT and Uvongo, the Osatian planners put together an operational requirement for meeting both optimal and minimal commitments for the operation to achieve its stated objectives within projected timelines. Using this information a more accurate Corps level oporder was prepared based off of opfor and bluefor information collected through various intelligence means. These were rapidly disseminated down to units selected to take part in the operation and would eventually filter all the way down to even the platoon level.

Elements of the ASPRT and Uvongo command were gathered together to jointly plan out the proposed operation in detail. Deconfliction lines were drawn up between the various elements with signals and logistical plans being synchronized.

This flurry of activity was but the tip of the planning and logistical ice burg taking place behind the scenes on the military front. Masked behind the movements of man and machine as they readied to carry out the long arm of the Margraves ambitions on the subcontinent, these subtle efforts would be lost on an outside observer.

[Connori Pilgrims]

Public Media

The Foreign Office had belatedly issued a canned press statement stating that it nominally condemns the aggression against the Cynicadonian frontier colony and urged all parties to "talk things through." It had also announced that it would be sending an observer to the Tambaye Islands in response to the invitation put out by the Osatians.

The "intensity" of the Foreign Office on this matter was not lost on some foreign observers and media pundits, who noted that compared to the massively heavy-handed reaction the United Provinces brought on Denethier for its aggression to the Cynicadonian homeland, the UPC in general seemed almost lethargic in its concern towards Cynicadonia's outer colonies. Some right-wing and left-wing conspiracy bloggers and pundits in fact think that the tepid public reply of the Connori was a sign of tacit approval for Osatia, a rogue state they believed was little better than Denethier.

Other academics and observers were somewhat more approving/considerate, as they believed for once Igetis Javier was showing prudence and "giving peace a chance", compared to what they believed was his "excessive warmongering" during the Oil Wars (which brought the world perilously close to general atomic warfare), the final years of the decades-long Puro Pan Anarchy, the war in Tajikistan (which he famously ended with a tactical nuclear strike against the offending Rummanians/Shayans) and most recently the war against Denethier.

Still others thought that given Connori policy on imperialism and colonies (defined as regions not incorporated into the general government of the home nation or given some measure of democracy and autonomy), lack of concern over the leftovers of Cynicadonian imperialism was perfectly fine and justifiable.

Behind closed doors

The conspiracy nuts were not entirely wrong, but neither were they entirely correct. Igetis Javier did not in any way endorse or approve of Osatia's actions. However, while it would have been perfectly in character for him to end the conflict via another obscenely heavy show of force courtesy of the Connori Armed Forces which could have led to destroying both Denethier and Osatia, following several closed-door informal meetings, he was convinced by the Privy Council that allowing Osatia and Denethier to clash would be a cheaper solution to the dual problems of checking Denetherian "expansionism" as perceived by the United Provinces as well as any "excessive" ambitions Margrave Nicholas held. In one of those privy meetings, he simply gave general instructions to the Foreign Office and the defense establishment to "pursue Connori interest in that sector," with the only real "red line" being any spillovers against the nearby Augustinian territory in Tambaye, which the United Provinces is treaty-bound to defend with extreme - even nuclear - force.

The Preussian actions were also of some interest, although the Igetis initially did not issue any specific directives on whether the United Provinces should consider working with Neue Preussia to contain the crisis. For its part, the Intel'Analyka cautioned against it for now, considering that the strategic forecasters predicted that Neue Preussia's government and military structure was chaotic. Her commitment to the prosecution of a war against either Denethier or Osatia was unclear, as there was some gaps in knowledge - specifically the resolve and abilities of the current Kanzler. However, the I'A did - unknowingly correctly - peg several key Preussian military leaders, among them Admiral Donnder, as war hawks and possible renegades, which may further amplify the crisis.

More shady shit

As promised by Undersecretary Adam ton' Stackerhost, arrangements were facilitated with several professional black-market and after-market dealers to supply the Osatians with additional munitions. Third, fourth, and fifth-party proxies were used, as well as ships and aircraft using non-aligned and innocuous flags on the regular Osatian transportation schedules. This was done within a couple of days, although the actual shipments were not set to arrive until at least two weeks after the meeting between Stackerhost and the Osatian "broker". The munitions were whatever the Osatians wanted that could be used by their forces without massive rework, and included an assortment of weapons from an assortment of sources to confuse any would-be snoopers.

Waters near North Tambaye

Three (3) nuclear-powered attack submarines had set out from the United Provinces at least two weeks ago, one of them being the UPCS Trident [CSSN-163]. After that two weeks they had finally arrived at the general area of the Northern Tambaye seas, whereupon they had slowed to a practically inaudible 5kts. The submarines were to take up stations approximately 200NM apart from each other, the better to prevent either submarine stumbling into each other and causing a friendly incident due to the lack of reliable sub-to-sub communications.

[Raltirian Denethier]

South Seas
Denethrien Nuclear Attack Submarine K-233 Karkharios

The sounds of the Osatian SAR helicopters had ceased after merging with the propulsion noise of the three Neue Preussian naval vessels, presumably as the craft had been permitted to land. Some time passed, and, all the while, Commander Armagh kept Karkharios on course at its steady five-knot pace at 60 meters. Little changed until a new call came from his sonar technicians.

"Conn, sonar, we're getting transients from contact Sierra Three. I think something big just fell into the water, sir."

Armagh's sonar had, of course, picked up the splash of each of the helicopters crashing through the ocean's surface, followed by the churning sounds of air escaping from the interiors of the aircraft as they sank below the waves. The commander, of course, was unaware of the Preussians' plans, and could only wonder what this development meant, but the ejection of two, large vehicles into the ocean was hardly the mark of routine military operations. Indeed, nor was the presence of three warships steaming at high speed toward an area of active military operations.

Armagh's weapons station confirmed that all six tubes were loaded and ready to fire should the Karkharios be threatened by an unexpected aggressor. Of the six, two tubes were loaded with anti-ship cruise missiles, two with heavy torpedoes, and the remaining two with submarine-simulating sonar decoys akin to the American MoSS.

Denethrien Military Forces, Tambayé

Denethrien command was growing even more concerned at the continued build-up of forces on the far side of the Punic border. Aerial reconnaissance suggested the presence of at least one ASPRT armored regiment reinforced with additional elements amounting to at least one additional regiment. Forces located farther beyond the border were uncertain, but Denethrien satellite reconnaissance and signals intelligence was kept working to identify signs of additional movements to the front of a potential conflict.

Even more worryingly was the more recently-developing news of Uvongan forces beginning to deploy to the border with the former Spanish territory of San Pedro y San Pablo. The presence of additional Osatian-aligned forces on this border could only suggest that the Osatians would aim to take this territory by force, at which point Denethrien Tambayé would be threatened on two sides, forcing it to stretch its local assets in defending the borders with the Spanish and the Phoenicians. The Spanish, no doubt, were aware of this threat to their east, and would be attempting to make preparations against it.

In recognition of this, and as an expression of good-will on Denethier's part, the government in Denethier proper made efforts to contact the authorities of San Pedro y San Pablo to offer Denethrien support for Spanish forces should Osatia choose to attack. Spain would, surely, be in need of weaponry and the means to train additional personnel to bolster what forces it might already have available.

[The JVP]

Foal Eagle, Multiple sites around Korea

Foal Eagle, the yearly joint military training between the JVP, and the UPC, along with US forces, who named the exercise.

For two weeks, forces from each nation, train in large maneuvers, covering Land, Sea, and Air as they simulate a Chinese invasion of the Korean Peninsula.

Most of the Naval training takes place in the disputed Yellow sea, as large Naval movements are used as a way at intimidate Chinese naval units sent to watch.

Beach Fronts around the Eastern seaboard. Joint JVP/US Marine naval landings

Marine Units from the JVP 8th Marine Regiment, the US 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and a small detachment of Royal Knights, loaded into their various amphibious assault vehicles, with the Knights following behind in a couple of hovercraft to provided a heavier support option in the form of a couple of K-2's.

The main focus of this exercise is to get Marine units onto the beaches with heavy support to follow, in the event that heavy naval support can not be given. Units will flow in out in waves of up to 10 AAV each, with the Hovercrafts heading back out with their tanks to join the next Wave.

After landfall, all Marine units will push to their respective Towns (Makeshift) and hold key objectives, as the Knights flank left. It will be at this time that Opfor, carrying paint rounds, will begin their attacks on allied forces to keep them from achieving total victory in the Area.

Various sites inland, Eastern half of Korean. JVP and US forces

Various JVP and US army units will do battle with an invading force made up of Opfor units. The Drills will kick off as if the invading forces pushed in unannounced, and Allied forces have been mobilized after the fact to retake lost land or key points. Some units will be preforming defense of military bases under siege from invading forces.

Air units will be tasked with missions, or simulated Air to Air combat meant to test the limits of pilots. With some live fire missions on drone air craft.

The Western Half of Korea will see joint movements by the JVP and UPC forces, with a major focus on Naval ship to ship combat, as this is where the main naval engagements would take place.

Yellow Sea. JVP Naval group 14, Koi Fish

Admiral Son, Noah, took a long pull on his Newport, before flicking it away. He was a Stout man, hard with muscles from his wrestling days when he was young Naval cadet, winning many medals in he days. Now He was an Admiral on his flag ship Carrier the Honey Gram Hope, a Henderson Class Light Carrier.

"Have the Conni's made it into formation yet" Son said, as he ran a hand through his short black hair before placing his cap on it.

"Unknown sir. You know they like to do things. Most likely out there somewhere fucking the Chinese." The Captain laughed at his own joke as he picked up the butt that Admiral son had thrown away. "Sir, if you don't throw these away properly, I'm going to have to call your mother and tell that you smoke." The captain said as he placed the butt into a bin.

Admiral Son whipped around. "I will have you thrown overboard before you tell that woman anything." Son yelled, as he looked around to insure himself that his mother was no where to be seen.

"Anyways. I guess your right. I do need to keep my ship clean." He looked round. "Get a message sent to the Conni's. Tell them will start movements at 0600. Live fire, dummy rounds." The Captain snapped to attention at the orders of the admiral, gave a quick salute and rushed off, leaving Admiral Son alone.

"Tell my mother that I smoke. Shit. not even the High Queen herself could stop that woman from killing me."

[The Kingdom of Rhamos]

Part 1

A Clandestine Office, Inner Machinations of the RICIA

A tired looking, middle-aged office worker nearly fell out of his seat when a small but terrifying light flittered across his computer screen. A light that had only revealed itself on but a scant few times in the past, delivering with it progressively worse news, much to the mans’ increasing dread.

It had become something of an omen to the man, a beacon reminding him of the twisting schemes that played out in the backgrounds of the worlds center stage. A constant reminder that he was getting far too old to deal with these sorts of matters, perhaps soon he would leave this job to, too the younger generation. For now though he would push those thoughts aside, there was after all work to be done and a message to deliver.
Sipping from his coffee, he paused only but for a moment before few key strokes packaged the little message neatly into an encrypted file, zipping it away across the buildings intranet towards a larger but still rather mundane office space.

The arrival of the little message, in this particular office, caused quite the stir amongst its inhabitants, as the men and women began to argue about the meaning of the message and its deeper implications.

“Should we even let the King know?”

“We could squash it now and just let ‘em throw themselves against Nick and see what happens?”

“Do we even know if they are serious?”

“We have already confirmed that there are Nov P ships heading towards Osatia, judging by the activity, the Osties think they are there to start trouble.”

The is a brief pause as the individual obviously in charge of this little meeting they were having mulled over the conversation as well as various bits of intelligence he was provided about other aspects of the situation as well as the operation as a whole.

In those few short minutes though the man appeared to come up with an answer that was immensely satisfying to him.

“We will assume that there more at work here than Nova Prussia attempting to blackmail us with our own wayward Colony. The general nature of this message’s delivery, and the fact that there appears to be some sort of naval bait being thrown at Osatia, implies to me that someone is trying to goad Nova Prussia and Osatia into a conflict for some reason.”The man eyed the reactions of those in the room before continuing.

“There is clearly some sort of far reaching scandal here that has it holds deep within the Prussian military complex. However, we will make no such assumptions as to its members and goals.”

At this he held up his hand making the number one.

“Save for Mrs. Brun and whoever is in charge of this detachment of ships heading into our waters. For now, though assume that she is our only lead into whatever, -this- exactly is.”

“We have clearly been caught on the backfoot in our own game and I don’t like sharing. Find out what exactly is going on in N-P and begin building me a dossier on Mrs. Brun and her friends that I can feed to the Connies for some favors. As for the message, please tell her that I am all ears.”

Royal Office

The King gazed over his clasped fingers at the man in subtle amusement as he described to him the current situation that was beginning to transpire a world away in Aels. The faraway continent of their colonies was always such an interesting tapestry of war and subterfuge, that it never ceased to surprise him with its ever-tumultuous events.

The dossier he had been provided, lightly covered what was transpiring in Nova Prussia and the far-reaching effects it may have for the Royal possessions. Ever the erstwhile frenemies, the Prussians had become something of a fascination to the King during his time abroad in Aels.

“I do believe I have a possible solution to our Northern problem.” The Kings statement had been made midway through the briefing and had caught the other man off guard.

“Yes?...your majest-“ It mattered not that the man had neither finished his briefing nor his sentence for the Kings mind was already alight with the turning wheels of schemes and plotting.

“Some time ago, I married my cousin off to a rising star within the Prussian military as a chance to foster a budding relationship in their upper hierarchy. While I have oft not provided enough cultivation to this tepid bond within my own family I feel that it is time to begin again anew, and renew that which I have invested so much blood into.” With a dismissive wave, he motioned for the man to go forth and carry out his whim.

“Invite this Prussian to Rhamos, I think it is time we properly recognize his spot within the noble tree of our bloodlines.”

Part 2

2nd Floor, Office of Foreign Affairs Administrative Building #4, Colonial Administration District, Roanapur City, Osatia

In an adjoining room to the one Gywin currently occupied, beyond the desk which hosted a man that seemed to personify professional mediocrity, sat two men who were currently going over the last-minute details of the soon to be had meeting with the Prussian.

Of the two, the one sitting behind the desk, a rather unassuming gentleman who held far more exhaustion in his eyes then the rest of his face let on as he was once again subjected to the meddling of shadow people. The second man though clearly held no such negative connotations about their meeting as he merrily puffed away on his cigarette in spite of the multitude of no smoking signs around.

The desk man, a one Mr. Micheal Neer was charged with plying the Prussian about her governments knowledge of the events currently taking place at sea, and it was apparently such that he could not simply ask her these questions without specific instructions in their application. This very fact made him rub his brows in migraine induced habit which caused the smoking man to peer over his aviator sunglasses at him in suddenly silent contemplation, throwing the room into a rather awkward pause.

“What did I do?”

“Am I boring you Mr. Neer.” The man droned out the words almost as if he was trying to make them the embodiment of boring. It appeared to him that he was being mocked by this man, now of all times at that.

“…what no, I---I would never, it’s just that. Well, I don’t know, this doesn’t really seem like something I would normally consider to be in my job description. I mean, I normally just handle tourist and trade, maybe a wayward ship, but never -this-“

The other man drew heavily on the remains of his cigarette before flicking it away into Mr. Neers office waste basket, the implied office fire that crossed Neer’s mind visibly making him cringe. “Relax bud, I don’t expect you to actually accomplish anything here. The important part is that she ask her government, that’s all.”

The odd simplicity of the request only raised more questions for Neer than answers, if that was the case, why didn’t they just ask themselves? The man got up and motioned for Neer to call the Prussian in, leaving him little time to think upon what he had been told.

“Please send in Ms. Utretch.”

Waters near North Tambaye
The message that the helicopters had taken off had been the most chilling thing heard on the net during the duration of the entire operation so far. Its’ implications were lost on but a scant few individuals who were not privy to the entirety of the operation up until that point.

Admiral Donnder had made critical flaw in assuming that the helicopter crew were supposed to fly back to base when in fact their whole part in the operation had revolved around them helping guide the Nova Prussian Ships to a safe port until the Corvette had made contact with them. But the real tipping point had been the convenient break in the jamming which had been just enough to get the whole message through -uninterrupted-. Something was definitely wrong, but the brass involved in the operation were more than hesitant to start an international crisis with Nova Prussia unless they were damn well sure they absolutely had too.

The corvette was order to steam back towards the approaching taskforce and to link up with them before proceeding on towards the Prussian ships. Meanwhile, the strike fighters were order to once again make visual contact with the Prussian ships to figure out what had happened to the SAR helicopters. Of the pair though, this time one would get visual contact, and the other would loiter in the distance in case the situation escalated, communicating the exact nature of the threat was more important than one fighter.

[Gottsburg and Hannland]

New Hamburg, New Prussia

Any dossier of Alena Brun would be thin indeed. Appearing under the previous Kanzler seemingly out of nowhere at the apparent age of 35 she had been his hatchet-man (or woman in this case). After the death and the previous Kanzler and Alexander's election she quickly married the new Kanzler though both claimed to have dated for several years beforehand outside of the public eye.

Her office's operations were secretive even for the intelligence community and there appeared to be very little oversight as often remarked upon my the Opposition.

What Rhamos could gather on short notice was pretty simple:

1. Her name was almost certainly not Alena Brun.
2. She was almost certainly a former assassin; 'legitimized' to lead other assassins for the State.
3. Her loyalties are unknown, but she seems to act in NP's best interest.
4. She was deeply disliked, where she was not out right feared, by most everyone in the government.

Regardless, Alena informed Rhamosian intelligence that about Donnder's sceme and how she would like it very much to fail. Of course, not just fail but blow up spectacularly and quickly. Losing a few ships to overeager officer widely interpreting their orders was one thing; that would require only an apology and the quiet retirement of one Admiral in charge.

On the other hand Alena didn't want Osatia to be independent, it had already proved de-stabilizing and a far away King was better than a local Margrave. So Donnder had to fail but Osatia also had to fall. Achieving both would be hard but it was in the best interests of both nations from her perspective.

Of course if Rhamos should refuse to cooperate, Alena would find another way. And that way would be bloodier by far than the alternative.

2nd Floor, Office of Foreign Affairs Administrative Building #4, Colonial Administration District, Roanapur City, Osatia

Gywin Utretch entered the room to find two men ready to receive her. One had the haggard look of a bureaucrat having a bad day, that would be Neer the closest thing to a counterpart the Osatians had to her. She was sure they had met at some point their weren't all that many diplomats in the city and the ones there were all knew each other. For the life of her though Gywin couldn't remember exactly where or when that happened.

Regardless, the second man she didn't recognize, likely the boss and further likely a spook. There weren't really very many reasons for the Osatian to try and contact her government through these semi-back channels. Her best guess of that the Osatians were looking for an ally and that meant spooks breathing down her neck until she could ship this up the food chain.

"Well gentlemen, how may the government of New Prussia help you today?"

Totemheim, New Prussia

Kyle Wren looked at the summons from a foreign King with a mix of fear and interest. Though technically a peer of Rhamos, nobility wasn't something you bragged about in New Prussia, well at least not foreign nobility. While a republic they had never managed to totally break the power of the old Alt Deutshce nobles, who were of a startlingly similar breed to their Rhamosian counterpart if no where near as powerful. The Wren family was a cadette branch of one such family and Kyle had been planing the Great Game for some time. Above all else it would open doors for him to accept the title... Influence past that of a simple army colonel was tempting

The Army had always been deep egalitarian by design, at one time it had been the only social mobility tool. Unlike the navy that had been co-opted by certain political factions, the army remained totally neutral, its commanders preferring to keep their own conscience about New Prussia's future. For Kyle that was too little, the Army would decide who would have the reins of power and that should be the people. The Rhamosian weren't necessarily democrats to Kyle's knowledge but they could be trusted to follow their own interests.

The south shore of Aels, largely Spanish, was claimed by the Union as rightful Nutk land Kyle saw no reason to press the issue and indeed saw no reason for the Union to exist at all. If the Grasslands wanted to be part of New Prussia they could petition for annexation like the other provinces.

Careful to cause no offense Kyle accepted the King's offer.

The South Seas

At some point they would have to make contact. Ideally the Osatians would have screwed the pooch, naturally at that point why not expect them to just commit mass suicide and save the trouble. The mission was always going to be a close run thing, confusion would be key. The NP ships continued on their way toward "Rhodes" and prepared for battle. Surprise had to be total for them to get out unscathed and the likelihood of that seemed to be rapidly diminishing. The jets were a concern but ultimately not enough of a risk to justify a change in plan.

Before the day was done people would die in the South Seas. It was quickly decided that the corvette was an unavoidable casualty, it would be too small a threat to base claims of Osatia intransigents on but allowing it in among the small fleet was also unadvised. So the corvette would be allowed to close to the naval equivalent of knife range before being sunk as quickly as possible. This meant that the Osatia flotilla would likely have a least the bare minimum warning for the second engagement but that was unavoidable at this point. Still it was necessary to provide as much reasonable doubt as possible for the Osatians. STA missiles went through their last minute checks before getting their target; a local fighter. As soon as the corvette came into range the fighter would be subjected to the amount of overkill usually reserved for nuclear tipped missiles.

[The Kingdom of Rhamos]

Nondescript Management Office, Are we the bad guys, RICIA

The forwardness of Mrs. Brun had come as a surprise to say the least. One which was met with a mix of amusement and shock amongst the remaining individuals in the room; those with out a need to know having since been removed before it arrived.

"Who exactly are they playing here, us or them?"

"Does it matter at this point? Regardless of their intent the Osties are about to toast those ships." The man inhaled deeply in contemplation before exhaling loudly after a long pause. "We should assume the worse and hope for the best."

"The worst being what? The Osties sink the ships and N-P declares on Rhamos as whole?"

"Exactly, how the king wishes to proceed with that is up to him. But we can't exactly control the actions in Osatia directly, at least this one."

The awkward lull in conversation made the other man shift unconsciously in his chair before he spoke up finally. "So what do we do? Promise the ships will sink and that everything will turn out rosey?"

"Essentially, the situation is almost certainly in hand and the dennies will undoubtedly overreact ensuring a conflict. The desired result that Brun wants is already happening."

The message that returned to Mrs. Brun was simple and forward.

Acknowledged let them fight

Naval "Incident", Fighters

The death of the aviator was as sudden as it was eventful. Returning at the same altitude, the fighter had exposed its undercarriage towards the ships in an attempt to use its targeting suite to capture definitive proof of the choppers fate. Of course, if there were actual problems with the ships this would have helped Osatian planners figure out how to heat help them.

Unfortunately, dangling so much rope to the Pruessians had ensured they made a fine noose to hang themselves from. At that altitude and proximity to the ships, the fighter had little time to react and his futile efforts to survive only prolonged the inevitable fireball; correction fireballs, the vessels had launched overkill at the poor man and had achieved the desired affect to great cinematic flair.

His wingman loitering off in the distance had nearly soiled himself as the sudden turn in the situation had got him completely off guard. Jettisoning his external fuel tanks, the fighter inverted and immediately dove for the deck before rolling out and going full afterburner in the direction of the approaching Osatian task force.

Naval Incident, Corvette

The small vessel had been streaming at full speed back towards friendlier waters when a lookout had spotted the retreating fighter. The plane had purposely boomed the ship while doing a twist amid a blossom of countermeasures, maximum noise and light to ensure the message was delivered amid the EW, something was very wrong. With only that amount of information to go off of, the captain ordered the Corvette to change heading to on the was parallel to the NP ships in order to ensure all countermeasures and other options were fully unmasked. They were prepared but for what, they could only assume.

Naval Incident, South Seas, Sea Control Taskforce Leopard Seal

Near the edge of the Preussian electronic interference the fighter could finally use his FreqHop radio with less fear of interception or jamming. He quickly explained the situation along with a flood of profanities and dropped counter measures on the way by to the mainland in case he still hadn't gotten through.

His warning was unneeded though, the fake broadcast the NP ships had sent out earlier had already put the Taskforce on high alert. Osatia was preparing to have its hand forced and allowed the taskforce the freedom to deal with the situation as it saw fit. The fighter was the final nail in the coffin.

The assumption was made that the choppers had been shot down and now a fighter. While the exact cause for this sudden rash of hostility lacked explanation, the taskforce would cease their murderous rampage with extreme prejudice regardless.

Within the bowels of the ships, satellite tracking of the NP ships was plotted along with known speed to figure their predicted course. This information was used to plot waypoints which gave the ships fire control a solution.

Deploying their own EW measures the ships began a hard turn to the south opposite of the Corvette. Arrayed into a combat formation with adequate spacing and coverage, ASW helicopters were deployed to scan below the depths while the flight deck destroyer launched it's own small wing of stvol planes equipped for air to air.

Secure in it's full spectrum coverage the ships launched their retaliation against the interlopers, each ship ripple firing four of its anti-ship missiles and hurling them over the horizon. Equipped with the predicted way points the missiles would use their propulsion to follow the course to where the NP ships where thought to be before their engines would cut out. They would then glide along a search pattern along a wide area till they found their targets and descend to sea skimming height before accelerating in for the kill.