The Escalation Game (closed, attn Cornellian Empire)

[Arthurista]

Modified large fishing trawler Lightbringer
Northern Grey Sea
International Waters just south of Rietemimark
03/05/2016

Professor Mark Evans, lecturer at University College Loweport, was bored. For nearly two hours he’d been staring at the screen of his laptop, scrolling through the numbers in front of him but paying scant attention. For two weeks, he’d been cooped up in a 70s-era tub, which is damp, never quiet, and the air in the cabin is perpetually pervaded with a faint whiff of diesel. It is, however, also large, able to house all the necessary equipment and about as comfortable as he could have hoped for. Being able to procure the services of such a suitable vessel to conduct his research on within the tight budget of his faculty was quite a score.

Naturally, the marine biologist and his team of two graduate research assistants, who were there to study the migratory habits of Cetacea, would normally never been able to snag a berth on such a suitable ship. He had to share, and he couldn’t have picked stranger company to be at sea with.

Completely unable to concentrate on the data his pair of graduate servitors had collated, he closed his laptop down, went to the pantry to make two cups of tea, and went to the aft of the ship to visit his erstwhile shipmates. They were, he decided, all in all a very odd bunch. Unlike him, they were not academics, but a research team backed by a private corporation – Hydronav Limited. They were purportedly an oceanographic research company – i.e. they mapped the sea floor and researched the properties of the sea water, presumably to sell the data on to private clients who need it. They carried advanced equipment with them on this trip. For example, he did not know for certain the exact performance parameters of the active/passive towed sonar array the Hydronav people modified ship with, but he would not be surprised if it rivals in spec those used by the Commonwealth Navy.

Yet, for all this hideously expensive gear, Hydronav seems to have a very scant web profile. Nor does their balance sheet, freely available on the Companies House’s website, seem to indicate financial resources far beyond that of your average medium-sized company. The strangest of all were their staff on board. The team consisted of two men and one woman – nondescript, gruff, and not given to socialising. His team probably hadn’t spoken more than a dozen words with them over their past two weeks at sea.

Their leader, though, was even odder still. Dr Julia Vernon, a slight redhead in her early thirties, was talkative and relatively social, yet she does it in a very peculiar way. After chatting with her a few times, Mark noticed that all of the questions which he’d set out to ask her remained unanswered, although he’d not notice it until quite a bit later. Yet, every time, she’d know more about him, his background, and what his current research is about.

Also, she holds the naval reserve rank of Lieutenant Commander. This is not uncommon in itself among such nautical technical professionals, but it’s something that caught his attention.

Julia was in the ship’s galley-slash-rec room, as was her usual habit in the early evening, and not in the aft section of the ship, which was virtually locked away and reserved for her team. “Commercial secrets are at stake,” she had previously said. “Competitors would just love to snoop on our data, or even our procedures. Nothing personal, you understand. I’m sure you feel quite protective about your research. You don’t want the Kingston University team publishing before you do, do you?”

“Good evening, Julia, how is the sea bed?”

“Good evening yourself, Mark. How are the Killer Whales? In fact, our equipment picked up a lot of biologicals earlier. Didn’t you say they start their annual migration sometime around now?”

Evans suddenly seemed a lot more invigorated when offered a chance to talk about his favourite topic. Dropping into the mental mode usually reserved for lecturing undergraduates, he began to talk animatedly about the movement habits of Orcas, the mysteries he initially wanted to dispel forgotten.

And that, Julia thought, is as it should be.

Hydronav Limited exists as a company, naturally, and on paper she is an employee of that entity. And, true enough, they were there to openly conduct what seems to be completely innocent hydrographic and oceanographic research out in the international waters.

In reality, of course, as usual things are rarely so simple. Rietumimark has always figured heavily in the security calculus of His Highness’s Government, being a rogue regime located just across the Grey Sea. In more recent times, the increasing presence of Akai naval units at Rietumimark had rung alarm bells up and down the Admiralty.

Preparations must be made for the ultimate scenario – unrestricted naval warfare across the Grey Sea. Were it to happen, Arthuristan submarines would operate in the northern part of the sea, while Arthuristan surface assets would have to hunt and defeat enemy submarines in the same patch of water. Accordingly, every inch of the sea bed’s topography, as well as the quality of the sea water – salinity, temperature, the depths of the various layers and so forth must be measured, and updated periodically, using the most sophisticated equipment available. This includes not only the hydrography and oceanography of the international waters in the Grey Sea, but also extending into the continental shelf of Rietumimark itself. After all, rigorous prosecution of submarine operations right up against that nation’s coast, or right on the doorstep of a major naval base, in the opening hours or days of a war may prove to be decisive. This is essentially what Julia’s team had been doing over the past two weeks – mapping the properties of the sea bed and the water from just across the maritime boundary in international waters.

And, if anyone takes a close look, so what? There’s nothing in treaty or customary international law which says that snooping on the oceanography of sovereign territorial waters is prohibited.

At least, so hopes Julia, Lieutenant Commander in Commonwealth Navy Intelligence. Akai and Rietumimark have never been sticklers for the rule of law, but one has to be optimistic sometimes…

[The IASM]

Da yuan beibu gangkou
Southern Rietumish Coastline facing the Grey Sea
The Ozolinist Republic of Rietumimark
Belisaria

ZHANG

---

The life of an Akai bureaucracy was one which was deeply unamusing and all the more unpleasant when combined with the geopolitical quagmire that was Rietumimark. One of the consequences of his perfection’s visit to the country, one which went extraordinarily well which is to be expected for Ditu, was the construction of an array of military installations in Rietumimark for the benefit of Akai. In reality, ever since the Tempesta War the Akai had been searching for some way of basing their assets and in particular their ships in the far north of the Tempesta. It provided them with a reach which they saw as ultimately very desirable as well as enabling the creation of the grand future once envisioned by the Shouditu many millennia ago.

However, for every wish of the Ditu, he was trapped in the physical form and was unable to wield his godly will to correct things. Instead, he relied upon the variety of servants who cared for every action he performed. Every child knew that his or her fate was to eternally reincarnate less they prove themselves to be enlightened and great servants of the Ditu. Should they fail in this task, the ten thousand hells awaited them and an eternity of otherwise meaningless and pointless existence.

Zhang Zhuansun was one of the millions of peasant bureaucrats who served and lived their lives in the vast and ever complex Department of State affairs under the thumb of its master the Senior Grand Secretary Heng Ryuunguo. He was, in particular, serving for the minor ministry of diplomacy with barbarian societies in this instance which were the most prominent minor ministry and a part of the Ministry of Rites. Zhang was one of the many eunuchs whose lack of sexuality and dedication to his studies enabled him to ascend quickly. However, instead of some comfortable and prestigious stations in Xuanjing, he ended up overlooking the Akai naval base being built all the way in Rietumimark.

Planning took a substantial amount of time, scouting out the right location for the base taking the most time. However, it was the reliance on Akai trade to bring in the right equipment and dealing with the language gap which caused problems. Aside from that construction had been going well, with the shape of the complex slowly emerging as the weeks went by. The eunuch envied the airbase and the army base projects considerably, given how relatively easier their jobs were in comparison to his. Zhang oversaw it all from his office, for every day he had to manage the various aspects of the project. There were a few Akai forces stationed nearby in spare docks and ports well hidden from the prying eyes of satellites by either being underground or masked into existing groups and areas. Zhang even had a company of marines ‘guarding’ him and a corvette which was brought over to help. In reality, he was slowly morphing into a civil magistrate for the base, authorising whatever happened to come his way.

The eunuch bureaucrat was a stout and bold man now, clearly suffering the ravages of his age yet he still looked bizarrely boyish. He wore the elaborate grey robes of the department with the badge of an Egret indicating that he is a guan of the fifth rank. And on top of those, he wore the thick cloaks to endure the cold weather, draped around his form and hiding the robes and barely the thick boots he wore. He sat in his office at this desk, distantly watching the affairs go by inside his little prefab.

Ring-ring-qing. The phone started singing its little song, much to the annoyance of zhang who awoke from his daydream. He picked up the functional looking device, roughly the size of one of the infamous bricks from the decades past although considerably lighter and thinner. “Guan of the fifth rank, Zhang Xiaozhang Zhuansun at your service. Who may this be?”

“This is Commandant Xiang Xikiang Zuolin of Geluxu Cell 5. There has been a bogey vessel detected, an extensively modified large fishing trawler. According to the drones that we dispatched it is currently loitering on the boundary, we detected it’s radar using the HPS XDH-22’s passive detection systems. It has been using at least an active towed radar array to scout out the area. The OS has ordered VBSS under anti-piracy measures, using the HPS JZB-18. Relay this message to Commandant Tianzhou Tiango Li. Zuolin out.”

Zhang paused a second as he rested his head on the phone, pondering what was just ordered. Akai had been very much concerned about the precarious situation in Rietumimark and very much did not want another incident disturbing its plans. Yet it also wanted a to keep as much information about the bases as secret as humanly possible. “Well shit… I only thought my week was going to be boring.”

---

The bridge
HPS JZB-18
Northern Grey Sea
International Waters just south of Rietumimark

TIANZHOU

---

The HPS JZB was a simple vessel, one built during the grand rearmament period after the Guizitong incident of 1984. Jieke had planned for the OS to become the leading branch of the Orders of National Defence once again with gradual reductions in the size of the Orders of the Earth to compensate. It was a vicious vessel, it was equipped with eight Nenda-12, 24x Buk missiles, 2x Kashtan CIWS and 2x triple torpedo tubes which can fire anti-submarine missiles and one Ka-29TB which would be leading the boarding tonight. It was coming from the port of the bogey and would be flanking it. And providing the location of the vessel would be a Yak-44 AWACs which would be keeping track of the enemy. They were approaching at night at a rate of 12 knots at an 89-degree angle to the vessel.

“This is Tianzhou, how is the boarding party?” the commandant inquired of his men over the ship's’ intercommunications system. He planned for the whole affair to go off without a hitch and hoped this would be the case. His one concern was the Commandant assigned with him. The vast majority of his records seemed almost fake, with very little actually of actual substance there. Then there was his equipment, always far superior to anything comparable fielded by anything short of the Tezhentuan. This is on top of his monstrous size and figure combined with the strange amount of knowledge he possessed, this only furthered the commandant’s suspicions.

“This is Commandant Ziang Zizi Kuolin are your service, the men are rallied and ready, awaiting your command for boarding, over” a calm refined voice replied, scrambled somewhat by the system. The boarding party of 12 in question carried a mixture of Ash-12.7 bullprop rifles for CQB and variants of the GR-95s for more general combat.

“Be prepared for rapid deployment soon, out,” This guy really does give me the creeps the shipmaster thought to himself as he then gave his next orders. “Status of-of the bogey vessel?”

“We currently believe it is a vessel affiliated with Poseidon Trawlers Ltd from the looks of it. We believe the vessel is a civilian proxy being used by them for the purpose of plausible deniability. We do it all the time when we do not want our direct involvement to be revealed. As mentioned it is currently stationary and within 10 km of us. I imagine the boarding party should have little difficulty in achieving their objective,” one of the lesser warfare officers replied.

“Commandant Ziang, you have permission to board,” Tianzhou ordered as he hoped this operation would go well. He heard and then later saw the aged design that was the helicopter that was transporting these men as it flown towards the trawler. He then sent a message to the trawler reading:

Code: Select all

HALT!
YOUR VESSEL IS OPERATING IN PIRATE INFESTED WATERS.
PREPARE TO BE BOARDED AND SEARCHED. RESISTANCE  IS FUTILE.


Hopefully that keeps us ambiguous enough the commandant thought to himself as he listened in on the radios to check on the progress of his men. “Embarking now,” he heard and then a sequence of squad names as they embarked on board. “Securing the deck,” is what came afterwards. “Port and starboard secured, bow secured. Preparing the enter the interior.” What would have happened next probably would have been an awful sight for those on board, men dressed in black marine gear raiding every facet of their ship and detaining all onboard as quickly as they could, shooting anyone trying to resist non-lethally. The Geluxu does love its interrogations.

[Arthurista]

Modified large trawler MV Lightbringer,
International waters, northern Grey Sea
03/05/2016
04:00 hours local time

“Did you hear that?” Professor Mark Evans asked. The radio in the rec room had picked up the signal from the Akai ship. “What was that? Who are they? Pirates? There’re pirates in these waters?”

“It’s more complicated than that.” By contrast with Evans’ slightly panic-tinged bewilderment, Dr Julie Vernon seemed to be the very incarnation of equanimity, assessing the situation in a calm, collected manner. “Look, if these guys are a real anti-piracy patrol from a legit coast guard or a navy, they’d identify themselves. They didn’t, so the whole thing is a sham. Black ops, I’m guessing.”

“Black ops? I study whales, you look at the sea bed and such. Who’d want to trouble themselves with us?”

“We’re about to find out shortly. Skipper,” she pressed the intercom to the bridge, “please identify us. No harm in doing so. Might as well dot all the ‘i’s while we’re going along with this charade.”

Michael Philips, the trawler of the captain, complied immediately. “Unknown vessel, unknown vessel, this is the trawler MV Lightbringer, currently being chartered as a scientific survey vessel. Please identify yourselves, over.”

Before he’d even finished, Julie was already pressing another button on the intercom. “Dave, get on the towed array – I assume it’s still listening? Can you ID the interloper?”

‘Dave’, not his real name, and not really a mere sonar technician, got on his earphone in the Hydronav-occupied aft part of the ship and, in less than 30 seconds, came back with a firm answer.

“Judging by screw, machinery and flow noise, this is a frigate, Project 11356.”

“Akai, interesting;” Julie muttered, before turning to the intercom again. “Dave, send the appropriate signal to the Hydronav head office, would you?”

“Should we flush the hard drives?”

“Negative. As I said from the beginning, we haven’t done anything remotely illegal. Let them see what we’re doing, for all I care. Head office has all our data anyway. We update them real time.”

“As for you, professor, just keep calm and keep quiet. This will blow over before you know it.”

“You aren’t really just the head of a corporate science team, are you?”

“Believe me, professor, you have no idea. Right now, the less you know, the better…”

Head Office, Hydronav Ltd
Docklands, Loweport
03/05/2016
03:00 hours local

The Labour Party of Arthurista, currently forming His Highness’s Government, is the very essence of a modern democratic socialist party. That is, it’s program is a pragmatic and shamelessly centrist witch’s brew of ideas and theories from the left, right and centre, in fact all stripes of civilised political opinion aside, of course, from actual socialism. A casual foreign observer might expect voters to desert such a Frankenstein’s creation en masse, except for the fact that the nominally centre right loyal opposition, the National Liberal Party, isn’t really all that different once you dig deep enough. This is, after all, the reality of modern, post-ideological, one might even say post-political democracy. The nation is not so much ruled as managed and, for the upper-middle classes, as long as their salaries keep increasing, the trains run on time, property values in the capital and Home Counties continue their inexorable rise, fundamental rights and liberties are rigorously preserved and they can sleep soundly and securely at night, ideological struggles just seem so crass and pointless.

Hydronav Limited is in fact the embodiment of one of the Labour government’s latest ideas – that of a ‘public-private partnership’, though very few would know it as such. It was, of course, a front for the Commonwealth Navy fleet intelligence, though anyone examining it using open source sources of information would find balance sheets, accounts, headquarters, tax information, even the names of the board members and the ownership structure. In short, it was a bona fides company carrying on oceanographic and hydrographic research. Of course, it has access to some very high end, customised equipment not seen elsewhere in the private sector. The more suspicious observer might say they are inexplicably advanced given the company’s size, and the amount such a company can spend in R&D. This gives Hydronav a bit of a competitive edge, and private clients from around the world come to them for mapping projects, or to buy their data, which they charge a premium for.

Of course, the primary goal of Hydronav is not to its bottom line, but the defence of the realm; but if the navy can do so without spending the taxpayer’s money by turning a major intelligence-gathering arm into a largely self-funding apparatus, why not?

It was 3am in Loweport, and only a single member of staff was in the operations room which, theoretically, is manned 24 hours a day, but in reality only a skeleton crew would be present after office hours. After all, hardly anything interesting ever happens on a day to day basis. At the beginning of his graveyard shift, he’d prepared to settle in for a night of tea, short cakes and marathon MMO on the gaming laptop he brought into the office.

A message coming onto the screen, however, caught his attention at once.

“Survey behind schedule. Biological interference. Southern Frigate Birds migrating north much earlier than usual. Please acknowledge. Julie.”

He immediately sat bolt upright and dialled the head of his department, then snugly in bed. She, in turn, hurried to call the right people. Within an hour, a small corridor on the third floor of the Admiralty building would be bustling with people much earlier than usual. The cabinet would be awoken soon afterwards. By 6am, the Akai ambassador would be summoned to the Foreign Office in a hurry to be politely but firmly interrogated about the incident.

After all, something interesting is finally going on. The game is afoot.

[The IASM]

Foreign Office of Arthurista
Docklands, Loweport
Arthurista
Belisaria

AIGUO

---

The Dituate’s ambassador to Arthurista was an unfortunate man, Colonel Aiguo Liu possessed the tremendous fortune of having to serve as the Ditu’s Emissary to the Commonwealth of Arthurista. Alas most ambassadorial jobs in the Dituate were considered almost degrading of status, let alone for a military man like Aiguo. He had spent many years of his life fighting against the enemies of Akai and yet thanks to injuries that left him hideously deformed and partially paralyzed, he was given the insult of serving abroad. He still recalled feeling the round which exploded right behind him, hearing the blast which shredded his dear comrade in arms and let innumerable pieces of shrapnel dive deep into his back and flesh. He was awake for the entire time, feeling the pain and damage slowly inflicted as he began to lose control over his arms and face. He awoke every night feeling this pain, it served as a reminder of his purpose and it left him with the misfortune of a face near permanently smiling and spasms in the arms and legs. He relied upon a secretary and a small squad of servants and eunuchs to service his needs. Alas for him this was another way of fighting the war, he refused to become a mild bureaucrat in the Department of State Affair’s regime. He ran his station military, refusing to indulge in the petty pleasures of the eunuchs and women who usually ran the other seats.

Akai maintained a bizarre system with its embassies, one it never especially sought to reform to be like other nations. While their embassies functioned very similarly to others, they nominally required “tribute” and the like in the form of small but venerable gifts to the Ditu at the ascent of every and each one. Then there was the fact that in each embassy there were two staff members of equal rank to ambassadors elsewhere - the Court Emissary and the State Emissary the former occupying and directly dealing with the heads of state and government and the latter serving as a more conventional ambassador. Aiguo was the latter, with his dear friend Secretary Di Zhu serving as the Court Emissary.

Akai always found a particular loathing for nations like Arthurista, for a variety of reasons. It’s involvement with the commonwealth had been long, given the many centuries the Lazins had ruled the Kingdom of Elbannin and their involvement in Belisarian geopolitics. Yet it was more the fact that their government was so hideously disgusting on an ideological level which is what concerned the Akai. Their politicians seemed hollow, without any purpose other than the pursuit of power. Their rhetoric was meaningless drivel designed to appeal to the niceties of man. Neoliberalism embodied everything the more ideologically inclined members of the Dituate loathed and despised. The utter lack of any purpose beyond economic growth, the abandonment of history, the degradation of honour… complaints often levied at the reign of Jieke in private by heretics.

Regardless these thoughts floated in his mind as he entered the room for which the official he was meeting was contained, his toothless smile as frozen as ever as he entered. “Colonel Aiguo Liu, State Emissary. My presence was requested?”

“Ah, Colonel, come in. Come in. May I offer you coffee? Perhaps tea? We have Akai green tea here. Contrary to popular opinion, we don’t put milk in every brew.” The Honourable Thomas Forest, MP for Greenwich East and Foreign Secretary, seemed genial enough. He had, of course, been thoroughly briefed by both his Undersecretary, a diplomat of many years’ experience serving abroad, as well as the Ministry of Defence as to what exactly was required on this occasion. He took a module in Akai studies during his international relations degree, and while not a professional diplomat like his Undersecretary he liberally employed the disarming charm which helped him to crawl his way up the party machine to his present position.

Behind the smile, naturally, lurked a dagger, razor sharp and poised to disembowel his enemies.

“Tea, coffee weakens the mind, makes you reliant upon it, I do hope there is some Chrysanthemum tea,” the crippled warrior replied, his voice deformed as his body. He spoke in Latin for sake of ease. He instead of asking to take a seat, simply moved and took one most directly facing Thomas Forest. “Anyways, I do believe you wanted to discuss our anti-piracy operations in the Grey Sea did you not? I do hope these efforts have been conducive to security in the region.”

“Indeed. You see, the maritime bureau has registered some concerns. Around 0330 hours this morning, a scientific research vessel belonging to an Arthuristan company went missing at these coordinates.” He slid a sheet of paper across the desk. “Their SATNAV transponders have been unresponsive. The company’s head office relayed this information to the maritime bureau and they to us. The Akai navy and, I’m sure, your gallant allies the Rietumish have put in considerable efforts at improving security in the northern Grey Sea; needful work, which is greatly appreciated by His Highness’s Government. Nevertheless, colonel, given that you have forces in the area, would you happen to have any information you could share?”

The ex-colonel picked up the piece of paper with his spare hand, his eyes glancing over and reading the details. “That must be an unfortunate state of affairs, indeed our own presence is a minimal one and therefore we cannot monitor every stretch of sea at all times. What was the purpose of this vessel? What operations was it conducting? What was it doing so close to Rietumish waters? Surely that is a foolish thing to do without protection from pirates or the Rietumish? Both are huge dangers, not places for scientists to be without an escort of some kind.” He took a sip of his tea, his arm shaking as he lifted it up.

“I am much obliged, Colonel, for your frankness. From what we understand, the ship was hired by two parties. One was a University College Loweport marine biology team, conducting research on the seasonal migration of whales. The other is a team from Hydronav Limited, who had been engaged by certain private clients to conduct hydrographic and oceanographic research in the area.”

“As for escorts, well, it has always been a volatile area, as you know, colonel. They believed that armaments or armed escorts might send the wrong...message, to certain parties. Certainly, they have some contingency measures in place. I understand that there is a considerable ransom fund from Hydronav sitting in an escrow account, intended for just this sort of occasion.”

“So, Colonel, am I correct in understanding that there wasn’t an Akai naval vessel near those coordinates at the time?”

“We do maintain a small presence in the area, predominantly to ensure the security of trade and to combat Dewedish terrorists, Eesti and Rietumish pirates, etc,” the colonel explained in frank terms. “Only one and with fairly limited support may I add so it could have slipped under its radar. I imagine the Rietumish may have also been rather protective of whatever they may have been building surely? I imagine there would be considerable consequences for the ship's crew were they privy to such information, a tragic fate for people like those.”

Satisfied that he had probably done his best to draw the colonel in, Forest went for the killer blow. “Indeed. Piracy on the high seas is a common scourge. Pirates are, rightly, hostis sur generis in international law - enemies of all mankind. Those who participate in it receive the highest opprobrium for the right reasons.”

“It’s just that we have this other concern, colonel. You see, Hydronav informs us that, shortly before all communications were cut, they received a rather odd message. It seems that the towed sonar system registered sound signatures resembling those of a Project 11356 Haimogui-class frigate. That is a very modern frigate model, near state of the art. One of the pride and joy of the Order of the Seas, is it not?”

“That would have to be quite the impressive towed radar array given how that frigate on its usual patrols is well… seemingly quite far away from Arthurista usually, heading westwards rather than eastwards for its anti piracy ops.” He with his hand pointed at a location west of Rietumimark and and then said. “This is where it should be. I do know the Rietumish do operate rather quiet submarines which could conceivably could surprise a vessel. It seems we are however a candidate for your investigation here are we not?”

“Well, as an experienced military officer such as yourself must know, colonel, one cannot exclude any possibility when conducting an investigation. But I am sure this is probably just one big misunderstanding.” Forest sipped his own cup of tea lazily before continuing. “By the way, since we have no concrete evidence at this stage that there was any matter directly related to the defence of the realm, we can see no reason why we cannot disclose all information currently available to the press who, as you undoubtedly know, are awaiting further developments with baited breath. One of the many curses of an open society, alas, freedom of information cannot be easily denied. I hope you are comfortable with us doing so? Our disclosure may include a summary of the conversation we just had.”

“Indeed, it is understandable. Let’s keep this quiet for now, I quite sure someone of your stature would be more than capable of making the right arrangements. For now the Akai government must ask for this to remain a secret as much as possible, the intricacies of this could be quite important in ensuring the safety of various peoples around the Grey Sea, especially if our own vessels were known to be more visibly present. Freedom of information does contain vaguely defined loopholes for that reason does it not,” the man snarked with an almost contemptuous attitude. “It would be a testament to your incompetence were it to leak may I add, and of your government. What happens here shall remain secret, and furthermore anything to the contrary shall be met with great displeasure by the Ditu,” the colonel took another sip of tea before spilling a bit when his hand jerked. “Oh bother,” he exclaimed as he felt the singe of the heat rear across his skin. “We will release a statement indicating our assistance to you shall be as full as is feasible. If it would help stur down your press. Present it as some big bloody cooperation thing to find the missing vessel full of innocent scientists. To that end I will keep you in the loop. This being said can I take these papers? I imagine my bosses in Da Migong would be interested in compiling evidence.” This does confirm the interrogations information interestingly enough.

“Thank you very much, Colonel, for your cooperation, and thank you for coming down here to see me at such short notice. I am much obliged. His Highness’s Government will take all you said under due and careful advisement.”

You poor, blinkered, uncomprehending soul thought Forrest, as he smiled his election-winning smile and shook the colonel’s hand. You think press freedoms are a weakness. Well, maybe, in a totalitarian state. In a society in which information flows like wildfire, he who knows how to work the free press wields unimaginable power. Let’s see what comes of this when we put the flaming torch to the powder keg’s fuse and light it up big time?

The fool does not realise that I have a dagger at his throat. In a free system there are plenty of those who can undermine you, when you have control information becomes a very potent weapon of war. We do not tolerate falsehoods which deviate yet you do. A potent plausible fiction can be all that is needed to spark distrust and distaste. We do not tolerate this weapon in Akai being in the hands of others. Why let your enemies wield a weapon so potent as ideas? You obliterate them from the very memory of the mind and you assume true control, true power over the very fabric of consciousness. Alas, he is a barbarian, unfit to truly understand us. Hell not even all the generals realise Molxue and Jieke’s genius. “My pleasure, Right Honorable Gentleman. Let His Perfection illuminate the way forwards for us both. Wantiai Hulang!”

[Belfras]

R.N.V Christakos (DDG-57),
Warrior-class guided-missile destroyer,
Grey Sea.

The salt in the air of the Grey Sea was as it were in the Delphic, albeit with that slightly chillier feeling. In all directions one could only see more water, more unobstructed horizons that gave the feeling of sheer isolation to those whom gazed upon it. For Captain Alexandros Panikkos, it was an old friend. A companion of his in his almost twenty-seven year career within the Republic Navy, a source of comfort and the feeling of freedom he often waxed poetic about when supplied the necessary alcoholic beverage. As he sat on the bridge in the CO's chair scanning the horizon, cup of coffee in hand, he couldn't help but think back to the days of the Empire, when they could but point their ships in one direction and hope for the best. The screen nearest to him, giving him a copy of the chart plot telling him exactly where he was gave that thought process and what was in front of him stark comparison. A comparison he was making as his stroked at the ginger goatee he had been sporting for some time. With his long, tired face he had to admit he looked much like his father had when he was his age.

He was thankful that the sea had chosen to bestow mercy on his ship, the Christakos. Despite her sturdiness and trustworthiness as a ship of the line, Alexandros definitely preferred the smooth 'ice skating' over the waves they were doing to the metaphorical butcher-like smashing through the columns of water he had been told to expect from the meteorological office a few days ago. The coffee in his hand barely moved, which was also true for the contents of his stomach. Despite almost three decades spent serving his country at sea, he never got used to the churn of the rough waves and was nicknamed 'Captain Barf' when they had been trapped in a hurricane two years ago. It probably didn't help that he had just transferred to the Christakos from a frigate, but he likes to think he's done enough since then to get people to forget that incident.

His internal monologue of thoughts was interrupted when his executive officer, Commander Tobias Rikkiter, entered the bridge with his own cup of coffee. Tobias could stand to lose some weight, but he could still outrun most of the crew and his greying visage was always one to instil confidence in the ratings. "XO Rikkiter." Alexandros piped up. "How's the knee?"

"It's getting better." Tobias responded, slapping the knee in question before taking his seat. The CO's chair was on the front right of the bridge, with the XO's on the opposite end. despite the distance, a casual conversational volume as all that was needed, especially when the crew were quietly going about their job. "Don't think I'll risk playing volley ball next time we berth at a sunny shore, though." Alexandros could only laugh, really. That small, remote island they had come across toward the end of their last patrol cried for some attention, so anchoring just off-shore and getting the crew some R&R on it. He can still see Tobias on the ground, trying to shrug off a twisted knee whilst the ship's doctor looked ready to strike a superior officer. The dry chuckle from Alexandros petered out quickly as he just raised his own cup, "At least you won, Commander. Seven-five against Engineering teams isn't something to sniff at."

"Don't suppose it is." Came Tobias' response as he leaned over to listen to the Officer Of The Watch giving him a run-down on what's been going on. Despite the quiet on the bridge, it always had noise. The faint noises of the sea out the window, the buzzing of the electrical instruments and the faint, same-level conversations as people went about their job. The phone next to Alexandros began ringing, interrupting that serenity for a moment. Soon as it was off the hook his ear was pressed against it. "Bridge." he answered.

"Bridge, CommO." Lieutenant Commander Agneta Canteros, the ship's resident Communications Officer. Anything going away from the ship electronically that wasn't a radar had to be approved by her first, making her the unofficial god of the crew-members hoping for emails from home or a steady enough signal to watch the sport. He recalled unofficially bribing the blonde with spiced rum to get the bandwidth to watch his cricket team play in the final last week. They lost, the tossers, but still. "We just intercepted a mayday issued by an Arthuristan-flagged trawler, it's roughly one-seven-five miles at zero-three-two degrees." Well, that's made for an interesting twist of the day.

"I'll be right there, out." He ended the call, placing the handset down and nodding to Tobias who had been listening in as well. A nearby Petty Officer took Alexandros' cup as he left his chair, heading down into the depths of the ship, past the reinforced armour and into the very heart of the ship. The way down was always faster when it had a purpose, as the stairs could take it out of someone quickly if they weren't careful. The blonde hair of Agneta caught his eye immediately as he made his way to her workspace, causing her to stand up as his presence was called out by a nearby officer. "What did the message say?" He asked when he was close enough to make conversation.

"Strangely, not much." Agneta began, bringing up the Trawlers position, a faded 'last known' icon that made Alexandros worry for a moment. "The ship stated 'mayday', but the rest was encrypted." At that point those ginger eyebrows shot upward. "Encrpyted?" he parroted. "And it's a trawler?" Agenta's nodding just made him more confused. "Alright, let's go check it out. Send a message to FleetCom letting them know we're responding to that call." At this point he had been joined by Tobias, who met him as they both walked to the large plot in the middle of the CIC. "What do we have in the area?" Alexandros grunted, keeping his voice low as he peered over the map with Tobias. "Am I wrong to think that this is Chaser?" He paused for a moment, tapping his finger on a 'estimated' track marked as allied. Tobias grunted an affirmative; "Should be. She's making three sweeps of the area before heading out into the Tempesta if her orders are the same as they were when we last had contact." Alexandros nodded as he listened to Tobias, taking a moment to worry his bottom lip. "Right, nothing else for it." Alexandros' hand found a handset again, picking it up and placing it to his ear.

"CCS, Captain. Bring us to full power." He waited for the order to be confirmed before hitting a switch, getting the bridge instead. "Bridge, Captain. Make our course zero-three-one degree and bring us to ahead full." When the handset went down finally, he grabbed the small microphone that was hooked into the ship-wide tannoy. He hit the 1MC and began talking, his voice echoed throughout the ship. "Good morning, Christakos, this is the captain. We're responding to a mayday issued by an Arthuristan-flagged trawler. The message isn't clear on the problem, but they've dropped from our scopes at this time. Given our area, we're presuming the worst. Bring our MARDET to stand-by and stand ready, we're trained for this. Captain out."

“When we’re close enough, get a Huginn up to get eyes on and try to raise ‘em on comms. CommO, please let our Arthuristan friends know that we’re responding, please. In the mean-time, can we get the flight master up here, we may need to outfit Bird two for gunship duties. TAO, remain passive for now. We’ll go active at fifty miles for Huginn operations and to get a fix on the Trawler.”

Code: Select all

FROM: REPNAVDES 57 TO: COMMONWEALTH NAVAL HEADQUARTERS LOWEPORT -- MAYDAY RECEIVED FROM ARTHURISTAN-FLAGGED TRAWLER -  PROCEEDING TO COORDINATES TO RENDER AID - WILL UPDATE STATUS OF SHIP WHEN ON SCENE - END MESSAGE

[Arthurista]

BREAKING NEWS: ARTHURISTAN-FLAGGED TRAWLER DROPS OUT OF CONTACT IN NORTHERN GREY SEA
Unconfirmed leaks posted online indicate Akai involvement

03/05/2016
Last updated: 08:00
An Arthuristan scientific research vessel is reported to be ‘missing’ in the Grey Sea. The MV Lightbringer, a modified fishing trawler built in 1978, was chartered by a University College Loweport marine biology team and by Hydronav Limited, a company specialising in Oceanographic and Hydrographic studies.

According to the Maritime Bureau, all contact with the trawler was lost at around 0400 hours this morning. The vessel’s SATNAV beacon appears to be inoperative. All attempts to raise the Lightbringer using satellite telephone and radio have been unsuccessful.

At around 05:00, an individual purporting to be a Hydronav employee posted what appears to be an e-mail from the company’s operations department to its COO on the popular social news site ‘Aggregate’. It discloses that, prior to ceasing all communications, the company received an emergency distress call from its team on the trawler, and that it had identified an Akai naval vessel, specifically a Project 11356 Haimogui-class frigate, in close proximity. This employee also states that the Ministry of Defence had become involved,, and that the latter believes that Akai’s responsibility for the trawler’s disappearance is a ‘virtual certainty’.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to confirm or deny the veracity of the supposed leak. “We do not comment on internet rumours,” said a MoD spokesperson earlier this morning. “We are working closely with all parties, including Hydronav, to find out what is going on. We will issue a full release once we have a definitive picture of the situation.

Admiralty building,
Loweport
03/05/2016
10:00 hours

“Ah, commander, welcome to the Admiralty.” Admiral Sir John Boyce, First Sea Lord and professional head of the Commonwealth Navy, almost had to shout to make himself heard amid the bustle of the third floor corridor. Tens of naval officers thronged the space, Styrofoam cups, paper and tablets in hand, conferring with each other and comparing notes. A number of them looked more than slightly dishevelled – many had been called in at the crack of dawn when the crisis broke.
Commander Phillippos Antrekke, however, was not one of them. He looked fresh and impeccably dressed as always as he slipped into the admiral’s office, welcome for some respite from the noise and chaos outside.

“I am, of course, incredibly grateful for your navy’s attempt to investigate its distress call. Alas, the situation is … a lot more delicate than many might imagine at this stage.”

“I think you’ve surmised by now why I’ve requested to meet you here, face to face, in this guaranteed bug-free, wi-fi disconnected room? Some things, Commander, are better said behind closed doors.”

As he spoke, the Admiral slid a thick file containing the full details of Hydrnonav Limited, including its connections with Arthuristan naval intelligence, across the desk.

“I trust its contents would prove equal to your government’s curiosity.”

[New Edom]

NENS Blasco
Coast of Nekulturnya

The hangar was cave-dim, oven-hot, crammed solid with noise and the heavy stink of kerosene. The two officers stopped just inside. One stood six feet in his dress whites; the other was shorter and much broader in the hips and areas of the chest. One was male, the other f female. For a few seconds, they looked up at the aircraft. Then the woman tugged open her collar. She blew out, then raised her voice above the clattering howl of a grinder. “Chief. Chief!”

“Ah, lieutenant, welcome to Engineeria!” aid a round faced sweaty Chief machinist’s mate, popping his slick warm looking face out of the engine. “Here in our cave of wonders!”

“If I wanted jokes I would invoke Litotes the Clown, Zuph,” she snapped. “Will this infernal machine be ready to go? You may not be aware, Chief, but there is an extra-regional deployment being ordered up by the admiral.”

“The orders of the great Admiral Davenant are heard and obeyed, Your honour!” exclaimed Chief Machinist’s mate Zuph. “And the wicked shall fear the might of our hydrophones and quake at the noise of our sonar buoys. Alas, you gentlemen in your flight suits always make it harder for a poor mechanic and his mates to keep her flying.”

The Sea Lynx in question crouched ike a great metal insect, painted with low visibility pale paint in the cavern that was her lair aboard the NENS Blasco, a Casso class frigate used almost entirely for Anti-Submarine Warfare patrols around the SOSUS line. However it had been moved up to Nekulturnya to help prepare the way for the expeditionary force that was painstakingly moving to that frigid nation. Everything on the ship felt like it was always being repaired, and it was worse up north. Far from the glory of naval life as told in the recruiting films, it seemed like life consisted of repair, maintenance and supply evolutions.

The two pilots glanced at one another. Zuph was a clown, but he wa a good mechanic.

“Don’t play with yourself too much down there, and don’t fuck the machine,” warned the woman.

“What an awful thing to imply, Your Honour, I am shocked…” he descended mumbling, back in.

"Hey!" the woman cried.

"Yes Your Honour?" his head popped up like a jack in the box again.

"Is it possible for you to have our bird ready by the time we are underway?" she said insistently.

"Your Honour! Everything is possible in Engineeria!"

They rolled their eyes and left.

“This rust heap is like living in an Elwe village,” grumbled the young man following the lead pilot’s plump rear end along the flight deck and towards a companionway leading up towards officer’s country.

The ship was full of sailors trying to get the ship cleared for getting underway. Until very recently she had been used as a training ship, and as a result she had an old captain, Commander Simeon Ephod, who had stumped his way aboard after spending the last three months largely ashore.

“He used to be a good skipper, a great one, during the First Civil War, and he did win the Navy Cross during the Jedorian War—“ she said.

“As a junior lieutenant on a minehunter! God help us now. How long may a man live on his glory?” the younger man said, leaning on a rail and looking out at the harbour.

They had stood in the wardroom with other officers of the ship litening to their old—he was nearly sixty—captain explaining the mission, wheezing occasionally with some condition he had.

“We are……to join...Admiral Davenant's fleet...on an operation which will be far from our usual haunts..providing anti-submarine warfare and intelligence support...in case of hostility from Estoni and Rietumimark. You will have information in your dossiers. We are once again deployed against anti Christian...ah...Red Communists...ah...so we must…” he gave a long pause. The officers tried to politely listen but the two pilots were shifting uncomfortably. “Ah…ah…be vigilant…as the fish..hawk…is vigilant.”

“Is he going to die on us?” murmured the woman pilot to the male one. It was almost funny but neither felt inclined to laugh save as gallows humour.

"At least the Shiebel and her crew are in good working order," sniffed thewoman.

"Yes the Schiebel," he said irritably. "Don't mention that soulless little monster and her human drones to me. Anyway, we should be concerned about reading the intel files on the Dewedens..." These two young officers were Jacob Alkonah and Martha Ezar, both lieutenants who had experience by now in the 3rd Civil War, in Arcologia and in Peregrino, varied enough experience that they were able enough to be coolheaded in spite of difficulties. They came into the wardroom where other officers of the ship's divisions were spread out in chairs facing a screen, a projector sitting on a table between the rows. A scent of mint tea and damp uniforms filled hte room. The officers opened their dossier folders as ne of the intelligence officers from the admiral's staff stepped forward and began to guide them through the available intelligence.