TORRINGTON, CASTILLIA
A sit-down at Dino's Pizzeria
"Yeah I know what you mean. It's just this... This disgraziato... He's not grateful for what we did."
Four men sat down in the backroom of Dino's Pizzeria in the Amannitte district of Torrington, the largest city in the Castillian Federation. The one who had just spoke was a frail older man, with a prominent nose that propped up thick tortoiseshell eyeglasses. His grey hair was slicked back still, and he wore a purple suede zip-up collared shirt, a gold chain visible underneath. Two of the other men were not as old, but still of old age, while the third was a young handsome gentleman with slicked back hair, sporting a tropical shirt and a pair of white shorts and expensive loafers, puffing on a large Mokan cigar. The first man was Don Vincent Galatore, the boss of one of the Five Families of Torrington, the most powerful Amannitte crime families in Castillia. Seated next to him was Sal Marcello, acting boss of the Gigante crime family, across from him was Tommy Riddle, the General President of the United Teamsters Association, one of the most powerful labor unions in the country, and the young man was Bernie Giordano, a caporegime in Galatore's family.
"I know what you mean Vinny, but we can't just whack the guy," Sal responded to Vinny.
"I don't mean to whack the guy. But I want to whack the guy," Vinny said as he leaned back in his seat. Behind him were soldiers of both the Galatore and Gigante families, who had established an alliance in the wake of the ongoing gang war that was plaguing Torrington after Don Antonio Gigante was assassinated by Giancarlo associates at his wedding earlier in the summer. The gang war was a large point of contention between the families of La Cerchio Interno, the labor unions especially including the Teamsters, and the Federal government, particularly President of the Federation John Faring, who owed a particularly large debt to the families, one that would put Faring in the pocket of the families for a long time to come.
"Look, I'll talk to his old man, smooth things over. The old man will put Johnny in his place, have remember who the fuck got him where he is," Sal assured an irate Vinny. Don Vincent was one of the more easily-angered mob bosses among the crime families, which many attributed to his short stature. Don Vincent was particularly angry now with Faring's criticisms of organized crime in the wake of the uptick in violence as a result of the gang war. Faring's popularity was suffering in Torrington as many were upset with his lack of intervention in the war, which unbeknownst to them, he was unable to intervene as the bosses essentially owned Faring.
"Don't worry Vinny, we got Frankie in as A.G. now, it'll all go over smooth, we'll be sleeping like babes with Frankie leading the Justice Secretariat, that'll get Johnny's prick brother off our backs, especially YOU Tommy," Sal said as he looked over to the labor organizer, "and soon we'll stop hitting the mattresses with the Giancarlos and the Mokans." Sal was of course referring to the new Federal Attorney General Francis Salerno, who was recently appointed to the position after Faring fired John McKeithen, the former A.G., and at the request of the families, installed Salerno. Francis "Frankie" Salerno was a longtime labor attorney for the Trade Unions Organization, the umbrella union for collective bargaining in Castillia, which still operated under the concept of One Big Union.
Don Vincent looked to Sal as his words did not assure the old man. "You had better hope, because we've got a lot on the line here, Sal. If not, well we'll do what we gotta do when we get there."
"Boss relax, Sal's got it covered," said Bernie, taking the cigar from his lips and letting out a puff. "Johnny boy is ours, we ain't got to worry about nothin'." Bernie was the brains behind the families' newest business venture. When the Marshites and their allies balkanized Ralkovia, the slaver trade in Greater Dienstad fell apart. It was Bernie who had a map in his office and had spent a little time doing jobs overseas when he had heard that there was a significant slave market in the tiny landlocked country of Barjaanistan. With the state-sponsored slaver ships gone, the entire trade had to go underground, but that was no problem for the families who were used to the sort of thing. They had the means and the resources to pull this thing off.
"Yeah, cool off Vinny," piped in Tommy. "I've got plenty of the locals on board with this. And with Johnny boy in on this and Frankie running the J, we'll be smooth sailing on this. We just gotta calm down the kid brother."
"And what are we gonna do about the kid?" retorted Don Vincent.
"Like I said, I've got a sit-down with their old man. Everything is good Vinny, I promise," Sal again assured Don Vincent. "Trust me Vinny, it's all good."
Four men sat down in the backroom of Dino's Pizzeria in the Amannitte district of Torrington, the largest city in the Castillian Federation. The one who had just spoke was a frail older man, with a prominent nose that propped up thick tortoiseshell eyeglasses. His grey hair was slicked back still, and he wore a purple suede zip-up collared shirt, a gold chain visible underneath. Two of the other men were not as old, but still of old age, while the third was a young handsome gentleman with slicked back hair, sporting a tropical shirt and a pair of white shorts and expensive loafers, puffing on a large Mokan cigar. The first man was Don Vincent Galatore, the boss of one of the Five Families of Torrington, the most powerful Amannitte crime families in Castillia. Seated next to him was Sal Marcello, acting boss of the Gigante crime family, across from him was Tommy Riddle, the General President of the United Teamsters Association, one of the most powerful labor unions in the country, and the young man was Bernie Giordano, a caporegime in Galatore's family.
"I know what you mean Vinny, but we can't just whack the guy," Sal responded to Vinny.
"I don't mean to whack the guy. But I want to whack the guy," Vinny said as he leaned back in his seat. Behind him were soldiers of both the Galatore and Gigante families, who had established an alliance in the wake of the ongoing gang war that was plaguing Torrington after Don Antonio Gigante was assassinated by Giancarlo associates at his wedding earlier in the summer. The gang war was a large point of contention between the families of La Cerchio Interno, the labor unions especially including the Teamsters, and the Federal government, particularly President of the Federation John Faring, who owed a particularly large debt to the families, one that would put Faring in the pocket of the families for a long time to come.
"Look, I'll talk to his old man, smooth things over. The old man will put Johnny in his place, have remember who the fuck got him where he is," Sal assured an irate Vinny. Don Vincent was one of the more easily-angered mob bosses among the crime families, which many attributed to his short stature. Don Vincent was particularly angry now with Faring's criticisms of organized crime in the wake of the uptick in violence as a result of the gang war. Faring's popularity was suffering in Torrington as many were upset with his lack of intervention in the war, which unbeknownst to them, he was unable to intervene as the bosses essentially owned Faring.
"Don't worry Vinny, we got Frankie in as A.G. now, it'll all go over smooth, we'll be sleeping like babes with Frankie leading the Justice Secretariat, that'll get Johnny's prick brother off our backs, especially YOU Tommy," Sal said as he looked over to the labor organizer, "and soon we'll stop hitting the mattresses with the Giancarlos and the Mokans." Sal was of course referring to the new Federal Attorney General Francis Salerno, who was recently appointed to the position after Faring fired John McKeithen, the former A.G., and at the request of the families, installed Salerno. Francis "Frankie" Salerno was a longtime labor attorney for the Trade Unions Organization, the umbrella union for collective bargaining in Castillia, which still operated under the concept of One Big Union.
Don Vincent looked to Sal as his words did not assure the old man. "You had better hope, because we've got a lot on the line here, Sal. If not, well we'll do what we gotta do when we get there."
"Boss relax, Sal's got it covered," said Bernie, taking the cigar from his lips and letting out a puff. "Johnny boy is ours, we ain't got to worry about nothin'." Bernie was the brains behind the families' newest business venture. When the Marshites and their allies balkanized Ralkovia, the slaver trade in Greater Dienstad fell apart. It was Bernie who had a map in his office and had spent a little time doing jobs overseas when he had heard that there was a significant slave market in the tiny landlocked country of Barjaanistan. With the state-sponsored slaver ships gone, the entire trade had to go underground, but that was no problem for the families who were used to the sort of thing. They had the means and the resources to pull this thing off.
"Yeah, cool off Vinny," piped in Tommy. "I've got plenty of the locals on board with this. And with Johnny boy in on this and Frankie running the J, we'll be smooth sailing on this. We just gotta calm down the kid brother."
"And what are we gonna do about the kid?" retorted Don Vincent.
"Like I said, I've got a sit-down with their old man. Everything is good Vinny, I promise," Sal again assured Don Vincent. "Trust me Vinny, it's all good."
____
CASTILLIAN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, BARJAANISTAN
Troubles for a supposed-to-be secret operation
The desert wind blew blissfully as the sun beat down on the loose sand and rocky outcroppings that made up southern Barjaanistan. A land removed from the the march of time, its denizens live a world away from the higher standards of their Castillian guests, and then some. The Fayzabad Power Plant was the only thing that broke up the monotony of sand and rocks for miles, a large mostly concrete building, decaying due to years of neglect. It was now under renovations, as it had a newfound purpose. Within the past year, Castillian nuclear experts had in secret been assisting the Barjaani government with developing a nuclear power program. With the nuclear experts came structural and civil engineers, architects, and miners, all who had to direct Barjaani labor to carry out the enormous tasks and responsibilities of developing such a project with the limitations that were imposed due to Potthani aggression on the other side of the border. Every morning, the sun would creep up from over the rocky plateaus of the Parwani Depression, ultimately revealing azure-blue skies over time, as the Barjaanis continued to bore a tunnel deep into a rocky plateau less than five-hundred yards from the power plant, at the direction of the Castillians.
As of now, the Fayzabad tunnel reached nearly two kilometers into the rock face and setting the depth of the tunnel one-hundred meters below the opening of the tunnel, and work had already began on the second phase, establishing the reactors deep underneath the ground, first to keep the project secret, and second to protect it from any enemy bombardment in case the project did get found out. The Castillians had graciously sold the Barjaanis the licensing for the Kernkraft-400 molten-salt reactors, standard use in many Castillian nuclear plants in the Federation, but all production, including sourcing materials, had to be done in Barjaanistan. The Grand Empire of Potthan would never allow the Castillians to bring in the necessary materials for building reactors. The Kernkraft-400 reactors were not the newest in Castillian nuclear innovation, but it was clear that Barjaanistan first did not possess the means to build fission fragment reactors, nor should an aspiring state start out with what experts still did not fully comprehend.
The Fayzabad project was the unofficially the biggest foreign assistance project of the Castillian Federation at the moment. While a hyperloop connecting two major Barjaani cities was also in the final planning stages, there was concerns among the Federation's interested parties on whether it could be kept a secret, and once the Torrington Times put out a Sunday issue with the headlines about the Castillian assistance program, it was clear the cover was blown not only for the hyperloop, but for Fayzabad as well. That Torrington Times article was exactly what Jimmy Snow, the director of Castillian operations in the country clutched in his hand as he berated his staff, who were assembled in the spacious office in the city of Madinat Al'Ahlam, well over six-hundred kilometers from Fayzabad.
"You dumb motherfuckers!" Snow screamed at the seven other men from behind his desk. "Now I got every Secretariat up my ass, from State to Energy, and even the fucking Federal Intelligence Service!" Snow was a shorter but thin man, slightly older, with slicked back black hair and sunken eyes. He wore a dark grey suit with a blue tie, similarly dressed to the others in the office.
"The fucking FIS!" Jimmy yelled again. "You all know we're supposed to be here in secret! And then you geniuses send..." Jimmy stopped and put his head down on the desk. "And then you send top secret information to each other over fucking e-mail?"
The seven other gentlemen stood submissively, for they knew what they had done was a major violation of the operational security for the project, and would likely cost them their jobs. "You're fucking giving it to them!" Jimmy said as he continued his tirade. "Fucking dipshit Mikey and the ARC are out to get me, and they have the fucking Senate in their pocket! You're fucking going to kill me!"
A slick black telephone sat on Jimmy's desk, and it began to ring, interrupting his chewing-of-asses. The caller ID read a number that Jimmy knew was from Castillia from the calling code, +49. He motioned for the men to leave his office, which they gladly did, as he picked up the phone and answered. "This is Snow."
"Jimmy, it's John," the voice on the other end replied. "Things are not good Jimmy, things are not good." John was none other than John Faring, President of the Castillian Federation. A man elected into office by what many considered nefarious methods, the people who got Faring elected no longer did not want him in office because of John's younger brother, Mikey, who was a Senator and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and also a member of the Senate Energy Committee. Mikey was obsessive over the Amannitte crime families who wielded a lot of influence within Castillian politics, and wanted to break down their influence, while it was them who were mostly responsible for getting John into the President's office. The whole reason Snow was even in Barjaanistan was because the families wanted to get into the Barjaani slave trade. While the show of goodwill by helping develop infrastructure was a great cover, the true modus operandi for Castillian in Barjaanistan came down to money. Not money for the people, but money for the crime families, and in turn John would get to keep playing president.
"I know things are not good, these guys here are killing me," Jimmy replied. Jimmy had known John since childhood, and was a well known labor attorney who often acted as counsel for the Teamsters. The crime families maintained significant control over the labor unions, and that was something Mikey Faring wanted to end.
"I'm trying to talk Mikey out of holding hearings, but you know what that's like," John told him. "Lots of people outside the Federation are pissed. Now the Golden Throne is moving into Potthan. This whole thing is going bust."
"I know John, I know. It is what it is."
"I know it is what it is Jimmy," John frantically said back. "I don't know what we're gonna have to do, but the FIS is suggesting military action." The Federal Intelligence Service wielded even more influence in political and diplomatic decisions than the crime families. Black operations such as the Fayzabad project were mostly under the direction of the FIS, and the service fielded many agents in Barjaanistan acting with various different entities, to include the Potthani Brotherhood and even in some echelons of the Potthani government.
"Well, war with who? Potthan?" Jimmy inquisitively asked.
"No, they've got another idea."
As of now, the Fayzabad tunnel reached nearly two kilometers into the rock face and setting the depth of the tunnel one-hundred meters below the opening of the tunnel, and work had already began on the second phase, establishing the reactors deep underneath the ground, first to keep the project secret, and second to protect it from any enemy bombardment in case the project did get found out. The Castillians had graciously sold the Barjaanis the licensing for the Kernkraft-400 molten-salt reactors, standard use in many Castillian nuclear plants in the Federation, but all production, including sourcing materials, had to be done in Barjaanistan. The Grand Empire of Potthan would never allow the Castillians to bring in the necessary materials for building reactors. The Kernkraft-400 reactors were not the newest in Castillian nuclear innovation, but it was clear that Barjaanistan first did not possess the means to build fission fragment reactors, nor should an aspiring state start out with what experts still did not fully comprehend.
The Fayzabad project was the unofficially the biggest foreign assistance project of the Castillian Federation at the moment. While a hyperloop connecting two major Barjaani cities was also in the final planning stages, there was concerns among the Federation's interested parties on whether it could be kept a secret, and once the Torrington Times put out a Sunday issue with the headlines about the Castillian assistance program, it was clear the cover was blown not only for the hyperloop, but for Fayzabad as well. That Torrington Times article was exactly what Jimmy Snow, the director of Castillian operations in the country clutched in his hand as he berated his staff, who were assembled in the spacious office in the city of Madinat Al'Ahlam, well over six-hundred kilometers from Fayzabad.
"You dumb motherfuckers!" Snow screamed at the seven other men from behind his desk. "Now I got every Secretariat up my ass, from State to Energy, and even the fucking Federal Intelligence Service!" Snow was a shorter but thin man, slightly older, with slicked back black hair and sunken eyes. He wore a dark grey suit with a blue tie, similarly dressed to the others in the office.
"The fucking FIS!" Jimmy yelled again. "You all know we're supposed to be here in secret! And then you geniuses send..." Jimmy stopped and put his head down on the desk. "And then you send top secret information to each other over fucking e-mail?"
The seven other gentlemen stood submissively, for they knew what they had done was a major violation of the operational security for the project, and would likely cost them their jobs. "You're fucking giving it to them!" Jimmy said as he continued his tirade. "Fucking dipshit Mikey and the ARC are out to get me, and they have the fucking Senate in their pocket! You're fucking going to kill me!"
A slick black telephone sat on Jimmy's desk, and it began to ring, interrupting his chewing-of-asses. The caller ID read a number that Jimmy knew was from Castillia from the calling code, +49. He motioned for the men to leave his office, which they gladly did, as he picked up the phone and answered. "This is Snow."
"Jimmy, it's John," the voice on the other end replied. "Things are not good Jimmy, things are not good." John was none other than John Faring, President of the Castillian Federation. A man elected into office by what many considered nefarious methods, the people who got Faring elected no longer did not want him in office because of John's younger brother, Mikey, who was a Senator and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and also a member of the Senate Energy Committee. Mikey was obsessive over the Amannitte crime families who wielded a lot of influence within Castillian politics, and wanted to break down their influence, while it was them who were mostly responsible for getting John into the President's office. The whole reason Snow was even in Barjaanistan was because the families wanted to get into the Barjaani slave trade. While the show of goodwill by helping develop infrastructure was a great cover, the true modus operandi for Castillian in Barjaanistan came down to money. Not money for the people, but money for the crime families, and in turn John would get to keep playing president.
"I know things are not good, these guys here are killing me," Jimmy replied. Jimmy had known John since childhood, and was a well known labor attorney who often acted as counsel for the Teamsters. The crime families maintained significant control over the labor unions, and that was something Mikey Faring wanted to end.
"I'm trying to talk Mikey out of holding hearings, but you know what that's like," John told him. "Lots of people outside the Federation are pissed. Now the Golden Throne is moving into Potthan. This whole thing is going bust."
"I know John, I know. It is what it is."
"I know it is what it is Jimmy," John frantically said back. "I don't know what we're gonna have to do, but the FIS is suggesting military action." The Federal Intelligence Service wielded even more influence in political and diplomatic decisions than the crime families. Black operations such as the Fayzabad project were mostly under the direction of the FIS, and the service fielded many agents in Barjaanistan acting with various different entities, to include the Potthani Brotherhood and even in some echelons of the Potthani government.
"Well, war with who? Potthan?" Jimmy inquisitively asked.
"No, they've got another idea."
____
HEADQUARTERS, FEDERAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, PRESLAFF, CASTILLIA
FIS Director Allan Fontaine and the General Staff present a plan to POTCF Faring
"President Faring, this operation is foolproof. All it needs is your signature and we will immediately materialize and mobilize all of the necessary components into action."
One of the few things Dr. Allan Fontaine, director of the Federal Intelligence Service did not know for sure was that President Faring was owned by La Cerchio Interno, but he had his suspicions. Working on getting solid evidence of that was one of his many plans to assume more power, but Director of the FIS was already a pretty cushy and powerful position as it was. For now, Allan was content, and in the meantime, would be willing to oblige Faring's requests for the Federation to involve itself with the dealings of what many in the FIS thought Barjaanistan to be, a small backwater backwards wasteland. Because he obliged Faring with this, the FIS gets more funding from the Senate, and that means a bigger salary for Allan. For many in power in Castillia, everything ultimately adds up to money, and money is the root sum of all matters.
The General Staff were instrumental in developing this plan for Fontaine. It would be the largest naval maneuver by Castillia in the west, much less in Greater Dienstad at all, in several years. The plan consisted of a broad, concerted campaign to if not deny access to the Southern Potthani River to the Golden Throne, at least be a headache to their operations in the area. While naval intelligence and what media was released by the Golden Throne indicated that the Dikk River was the main focus of Macabean operations, it was likely that they would extend their operations to the Shartourn Sea as well. The Castillian focus would also shift militarily away from Barjaanistan, as it the plan would also consist of a full-scale occupation of the bordering region of Asadabad, a mostly tribal and ungoverned area south of Barjaanistan. While historically attempts by the Barjaanis to integrate Asadabad had failed both due to Asadian resistance and Potthani intervention in the matter, a Castillian occupation of the region would create a vital supply line between Barjaanistan and the rest of the world, something the Potthanis had been opposed to for hundreds of years. With the plan, within a few weeks over one-hundred ships and submarines and over 150,000 troops would be operating in the Shartourn Sea region, primarily in Asadabad. Further mobilization would happen as needed in response to Macabean posturing after Asadabad was taken.
"My concerns with this, gentlemen, is what will be the Macabean response to our invasion of Asadabad?" John asked Fontaine and the General Staff, putting emphasis on the word invasion.
"Sir, we expect any Macabean military posturing against us to be use of mercenaries from Tarn," said Gen. Allen Allgood, the Chief of Staff of the Castillian Army. Allgood was a veteran of the Imperial Army during the Castillian Empire era, an officer during the short-lived Army of the Republic, then finally making brigadier during the national socialist regime, and now the highest officer in the Grand Army of the Castillian Federation, or informally the Castillian Army. Allgood was very popular with the enlisted, and under his leadership the term "All is Good" was common to define the morale of the army after his leadership.
"That means essentially that we can engage in unrestricted warfare against the mercenaries with no consequence Sir," said Allan.
John shifted in his seat, pondering the plan. It seemed all good on paper but there was still a lot of unknowns. With the end of the Gothic Wars, the Golden Throne had lots of troops returning from Gholgoth, and it intended to park a lot of ships in the west, especially around Potthan. It was a risky gamble, but honestly he had no choice. He knew that the families wanted into Barjaanistan and into the slave markets there after the fall of the Ralkovian Empire, and he didn't have much choice. Things were going to escalate, one way or another.
With that, Faring signed off on Operation Gaussian, effectively escalating combat operations of the Castillian Federation in the west by ten-fold.
One of the few things Dr. Allan Fontaine, director of the Federal Intelligence Service did not know for sure was that President Faring was owned by La Cerchio Interno, but he had his suspicions. Working on getting solid evidence of that was one of his many plans to assume more power, but Director of the FIS was already a pretty cushy and powerful position as it was. For now, Allan was content, and in the meantime, would be willing to oblige Faring's requests for the Federation to involve itself with the dealings of what many in the FIS thought Barjaanistan to be, a small backwater backwards wasteland. Because he obliged Faring with this, the FIS gets more funding from the Senate, and that means a bigger salary for Allan. For many in power in Castillia, everything ultimately adds up to money, and money is the root sum of all matters.
The General Staff were instrumental in developing this plan for Fontaine. It would be the largest naval maneuver by Castillia in the west, much less in Greater Dienstad at all, in several years. The plan consisted of a broad, concerted campaign to if not deny access to the Southern Potthani River to the Golden Throne, at least be a headache to their operations in the area. While naval intelligence and what media was released by the Golden Throne indicated that the Dikk River was the main focus of Macabean operations, it was likely that they would extend their operations to the Shartourn Sea as well. The Castillian focus would also shift militarily away from Barjaanistan, as it the plan would also consist of a full-scale occupation of the bordering region of Asadabad, a mostly tribal and ungoverned area south of Barjaanistan. While historically attempts by the Barjaanis to integrate Asadabad had failed both due to Asadian resistance and Potthani intervention in the matter, a Castillian occupation of the region would create a vital supply line between Barjaanistan and the rest of the world, something the Potthanis had been opposed to for hundreds of years. With the plan, within a few weeks over one-hundred ships and submarines and over 150,000 troops would be operating in the Shartourn Sea region, primarily in Asadabad. Further mobilization would happen as needed in response to Macabean posturing after Asadabad was taken.
"My concerns with this, gentlemen, is what will be the Macabean response to our invasion of Asadabad?" John asked Fontaine and the General Staff, putting emphasis on the word invasion.
"Sir, we expect any Macabean military posturing against us to be use of mercenaries from Tarn," said Gen. Allen Allgood, the Chief of Staff of the Castillian Army. Allgood was a veteran of the Imperial Army during the Castillian Empire era, an officer during the short-lived Army of the Republic, then finally making brigadier during the national socialist regime, and now the highest officer in the Grand Army of the Castillian Federation, or informally the Castillian Army. Allgood was very popular with the enlisted, and under his leadership the term "All is Good" was common to define the morale of the army after his leadership.
"That means essentially that we can engage in unrestricted warfare against the mercenaries with no consequence Sir," said Allan.
John shifted in his seat, pondering the plan. It seemed all good on paper but there was still a lot of unknowns. With the end of the Gothic Wars, the Golden Throne had lots of troops returning from Gholgoth, and it intended to park a lot of ships in the west, especially around Potthan. It was a risky gamble, but honestly he had no choice. He knew that the families wanted into Barjaanistan and into the slave markets there after the fall of the Ralkovian Empire, and he didn't have much choice. Things were going to escalate, one way or another.
With that, Faring signed off on Operation Gaussian, effectively escalating combat operations of the Castillian Federation in the west by ten-fold.
____
CALLAWAY NAVAL YARD, PORT BLANC, CASTILLIA
The gears of war begin to turn once again
It was a dark, rainy night, but it was nice and warm in the busy bridge of the CNS Dauntless, the one of two Dreadfire-class ships that Castillia possessed. The ship had participated in conflict in the west nearly four years ago against the Ralkovians, and once again it was poised to return to the area as part of Operation Gaussian. The ship sat docked at Callaway as cranes loaded hundreds of missiles onto the ship, and sailors prepared the ship for the upcoming journey and the impending conflict against a tribal militia force, but what would likely be a tough fight against the better equipped Potthanis and likely Macabean mercenaries.
Spirits were high for many, the young were excited for conflict. It was the dawn of a new Castillian foreign policy, and it the invasion of Asadabad would be incredibly swift and easy. The Army Maritime Forces attached to the newly assembled Castillian Expeditionary Force were poised to take the southern half of the country within days, while Barjaani troops from the north would be assisted by the 23rd Chasseurs Aplins Mountain Infantry Brigade in capturing the mountainous regions in northern Asadabad, crossing the border into the country from Barjaanistan at the same time the Maritime Forces make landings and assaults on the coastal towns on the Southern Potthani River.
Callaway also hosted adjacent to it Les Jean-Louis Air Base, which consisted of a 20-kilometer runway to make use of the Lyran Arms-produced Dragonhawk, the roar of which could be heard now as the nuclear ramjets of the aircraft screamed for miles, purely a symbolic gesture as it represented the war drums of the Castillian nation beating again, to what those in the military believed to be an operation to reassert the dominance of the Federation over its fellow Dienstadi states.
Spirits were high for many, the young were excited for conflict. It was the dawn of a new Castillian foreign policy, and it the invasion of Asadabad would be incredibly swift and easy. The Army Maritime Forces attached to the newly assembled Castillian Expeditionary Force were poised to take the southern half of the country within days, while Barjaani troops from the north would be assisted by the 23rd Chasseurs Aplins Mountain Infantry Brigade in capturing the mountainous regions in northern Asadabad, crossing the border into the country from Barjaanistan at the same time the Maritime Forces make landings and assaults on the coastal towns on the Southern Potthani River.
Callaway also hosted adjacent to it Les Jean-Louis Air Base, which consisted of a 20-kilometer runway to make use of the Lyran Arms-produced Dragonhawk, the roar of which could be heard now as the nuclear ramjets of the aircraft screamed for miles, purely a symbolic gesture as it represented the war drums of the Castillian nation beating again, to what those in the military believed to be an operation to reassert the dominance of the Federation over its fellow Dienstadi states.
