Of Giants and Resolves

[Allanea]

Official Message from the Free Kingdom Ministry of War

Several hours ago, aircraft associated with the United Socialist States of Adradkia, without declaration of war or any other announcements, attacked bomber aircraft operating in support of our Wachterland coalition partners in Qaidi. Eleven men and women have been killed, and five have been picked up on the ground by either Allanean or allied forces, of whom three are in good shape, and two were injured during their landing.

It is not clear why the Adradkians chose to unleash violence against the Free Kingdom at this point. It is possible that the issue is an ideological one, or a geopolitical one. It might be religion, or racism, or simple madness. We do not know, because Adradkia has never made the announcement.

For this reason, we are now in a state of war with the United Socialist States of Adradkia. Our demands are similar to those we made against those who attacked our Soviet partners:


1. Fold up your forces from the Mediterranean immediately. Leave, and no longer participate in the conflict on any side.

2. Issue an official apology to the Allanean people and the members of the coalition.

3. Issue a reparation of 10 billion dollars to the Free Kingdom, and an equal number to be split among the Coalition parties, and an additional life pension of $50,000 a year to each Allanean soldier injured in the original attack, or their next of kin if dead.

If you do not have the money, we are willing to accept reparations in territorial Form. Either way is fine.

Please be aware our carrier battlegroup is currently preparing to leave harbor.

OOC: The OOC thread can be accessed here.

[Rupudska]

(OOC: Allanea, the OOC link just goes to this thread :V)

[Allanea]

OOC: No longer!

[Adradkia]

Иностранный офис; Отдел анти-капитализма и народного освобождения|-|Foreign office; Department of Anti-Capitalism and People's Liberation

Объединенные Социалистические Государства Адрадка
The United Socialist States of Adradkia

---

ЗАЯВЛЕНИЕ О КРИЗИСЕ QAIDI|-|STATEMENT ON QAIDI CRISIS

Май Адрадка продолжают помогать людям в мире. Для Адрадкии здорово. Для Адрадка борется за людей. Правило Адрадка!
May Adradkia continue to help the people of the world. For Adradkia is great. For Adradkia fights for the people. Rule Adradkia! May the Indivisible Workers of Adradkia Unite!

---

КАТЕГОРИЯ: Видеоконференция|-|CATEGORY: Video Conference
ПЕРЕВОД: английский|-|TRANSLATION: English

Błažej Kowalczyk; the narrator

NARRATOR: Good morning citizens and peoples of Adradkia. The statement from Foreign Minister Isaiah Vagin will commence in a minute- later - And, the Foreign Minister and other important members of the government and the Adradkian Worker's Party have arrived. The Foreign Minister will begin his speech. Rule Adradkia!

FM VAGIN: Thank you, narrator. I have received information from Allanea that they are going to try to invade our great country of Adradkia because we defended Communist militias in Qaidi, our allies. This is unacceptable! Allanea is fighting against the People's Revolution for Rights in Qaidi, and that is unacceptable to us.- Isaiah clears his throat -We, the government of Adradkia, a government built by the people, may I say, will not tolerate Allanean slavery.

The homeland and lands of Allanea are ruled by a monarchy, where the people and the workers are oppressed. If Allanea tries to invade our land and enslave our people, they will have another thing coming. They will see as Adradkian forces liberate the oppressed peoples of Allanea.

As for the 'demands' they put out, I will go and comment on them one-by-one.- Isaiah picks up a paper

'1. Fold up your forces from the Mediterranean immediately. Leave, and no longer participate in the conflict on any side.'

This is unacceptable as one of the reasons we are doing this is to aid our comrades in Qaidi. So, no, we reject this demand. For it is against the rights of the people. We will stay in this war until the people and workers of Qaidi establish a state.- drinks from a cup of water - Allanea claims to be fighting for Qaidi rights, yet, they themselves have killed police, military and civilian personnel who are against them.

'2. Issue an official apology to the Allanean people and the members of the coalition.'

Maybe you should issue an official apology to your own people considering how you enslave them with your monarchist-ultra-capitalist values.
We will not issue an apology. And, why should we apologise to Coalition members who we have done nothing against? We are not on the government's Islamic Protection Alliance or on the Coalition's side. We are making a new side. With cooperation from The United Proletariat Republics of Vellakrovia, we are forming the Communist Union side. The Vellakrovians themselves have agreed to form an alliance with us to create the Communist Union side. Otherwise known as the People's or Worker's Coalition. And I quote-

I would like to announce that Vellakrovia and Adradkia will be forming the Communist Union side in opposition to both the Coalition and the Islamic Protection Alliance. We will work to fight for the people and workers in Qaidi...

- Yes, the Vellakrovian President said that in an announcement today morning.

Not only that, the Vellakrovian Council of the Proletariat has openly voted for the act of making the Communist Union

'3. Issue a reparation of 10 billion dollars to the Free Kingdom, and an equal number to be split among the Coalition parties, and an additional life pension of $50,000 a year to each Allanean soldier injured in the original attack, or they're next of kin if dead.'

No, those soldiers attacked the people. Also, if Qaidi asked you to pay reparations, would you pay?

Foreign Minister, Isaiah Vagin (centre) with the Home Secretary, Lauri Muukkonen (left), the People's Secretary, Carl Woronoff (far-left), the Head of the 'Объединенное разведывательное агентство рабочих' or 'United Workers Intelligence Agency', known as the UWIA,
Taneli Kunnas (right), and the Head of the People's Military, Bogumil Stanković (far-right)

Now, would anyone have any questions?

PRESS: Will this escalate into war? Will we win it?

FM VAGIN: If it does, we will win. And the Allaneans know it. That's why they want to divide us.

PRESS: Is Adradkia prepared to deal with this?

FM VAGIN: Yes.

NARRATOR: looks at watch - Unfortunetly, that's all the time we have. Good bye to the people and may you have a splendid day.

OOC: The name for the government's side was provided by Qaidi. And Vellakrovia has allowed me to put a bit of his post, (the quote from President Valya) in my post. This post will also go onto the Islam or Freedom thread.

[Allanea]

Official Message from the Free Kingdom Ministry of War

Very well. This is the sort of foolishness you are in for. We have offered peace. We have offered negotiations. We have given you a chance to make a counteroffer. You, meanwhile, insist on war. Let it be recorded that we have not started this war – the government of Adradkia has. Let it be recorded also that we have offered the Adradkian government an offer of peace, and instead of making peace with us, the government has threatened to invade our homeland, and destroy our way of life. This will not occur, of course.

The tradition of global governments in such circumstances is to exchange acerbic diplomatic messages, insulting each other as the war fleets draw nearer and nearer, until at last war begins, and cruise missiles replace speech as the language for communication. We will not do this. There is no point in speaking with those who have resorted solely to violence as their means of communication.

This is the language you chose. This is the language we will now speak.

*

The Allaneans, of course, had no intent to invade Adradkia proper, or impose monarchism, or impose anything else. The battlegroup had no landing ships with it, and no cargo ships with it. Nor was it even headed for the country. It was, instead, head for a point 1,000 miles North of Adradkia. As it steamed forward, the carrier maintained radio silence. The escorts had only their radar on, as well as electronic warfare systems, preventing an enemy from getting a lock on the carrier, or even locating it precisely unless they were foolish enough to get close. Radio silence was observed as much as possible, with only the most crucial messages sent.

It remained to be seen what plans the Adradkians had up their sleeve.

[Goram]

An officer, of the Royal Navy, tapped the toe of his boot anxiously against the ground. The leather was polished to a high, shiny, finish and his double-breasted jacket was immaculately presented. Against the black material of that jacket, his gold rank rinks - denoting him as a full Commander - stood out brazenly. A man of his rank could reasonably expect command of a small surface vessel, or perhaps a fighter squadron onboard an aircraft carrier. But that wasn't his job. Once command at sea had seemed the likely course of his career, but during his training, he had been streamed off into naval intelligence. Now, he performed a job that - on occasion - was every bit as stressful as the jobs being performed by his old classmates, who liked to look down upon the predominately land bound naval intelligence people.

"Commander? They're ready for you."

The officer straightened his uniform jacket out one last time and marched through the door, into a room filled with flag officers and assorted cabinet-level politicians. He took his place at the head of the room, behind a lectern and cleared his throat.

"Approximately four hours ago"

He began to brief

"A bomber, belonging to the Free Kingdom of Allenea, was shot down by the United Socialist States of Adradkia. According to a statement just given by the Free Kingdom's Ministry of War, a number of Allenean personnel were killed in the incident.

It is our opinion this is the first act of a shooting war begun by the USSA. As yet, we have no solid intelligence what their motive is, only that they're posturing for a fight. It is, however, our considered opinion that this might be a geopolitical move or potentially one made out of ideological differences. Regardless, Allenea is not taking this lying down. A full carrier battle group is preparing itself for sea."

"How bad are we talking about here, Commander?"

A man in an olive drab uniform, ornately decorated with gold braid, spoke now

"Difficult to say, General. But we're working with our colleagues in the Air Force and they have agreed to vector an ocean reconnaissance satellite over USSA airspace. Ought to give us a good look at what they've got in home waters and what's working up to go to sea."


More questions came, but these were not all directed towards the Commander. The meeting concluded quickly, and officers made discreet phone calls ordering contingency plans to be drawn up to protect national interests in the area and to give aid to the Free Kingdom.

[hr]

Later that afternoon, the Prime Minister made a speech those Members of the Government and of the Opposition that were present in the Lower House of the Parliament Buildings. It was hastily written - the speechwriting staff not having had time to perfect it at such short notice - but it sufficed. In it, the Prime Minister spoke extensively over the situation that was unfolding so quickly. He warned of the potential outcome, and the bloodshed that could so easily come about over the incident. He called strenuously on Allenean and USSA's ruling bodies and urged them to come to a suitable diplomatic solution. Later that evening, however, political analysts dissected the speech. Live on television being streamed or broadcast to an international audience, they pointed out that some of the language Prime Minister used hinted of tacit support for the Free Kingdom. They turned his words this way and that, growing more and more convinced of the Government's implied position and what's more; for once the analysts who were so often mistaken, had for once hit the nail right on the head. What the analysists could not, and for a time would not know, was that orders were already being flashed to the fleet.

[hr]

Somewhere, slightly below the waves of the ocean, the City Class submarine Fulchester cruised slowly at 14 knots. The only betrayal of her presence above the slight chop of the ocean, was the foot or so of communications array that even now was sinking back into the abyss. It had only been up for, perhaps, 12 seconds at most. But that was long enough for her to receive the low frequency message packet, flashed from Fleet Submarine Command.

The message was summarily decoded and handed to Fulchester's senior officer - a middle-aged Captain, who had served aboard submarines for almost his entire career. The message was a simple one. Proceed towards the Med immediately. Conduct reconnaissance against any USSA vessels in the area. Cleared to engage if fired upon or if hostilities appear imminent.

The Captain crumpled the thin strip of telex paper in his hand and threw it into the wire bin, just by his seat in the conning tower.

"Helmsman, steer 030. Make your depth 300 feet and give me revolutions for 20 knots."

"030, 300 feet, it is Skipper."

In the dark, murky waters, the control surfaces of the great submarine subtly shifted to take her down to her new course and depth. Just like that, more than a billion Sterlings of nuclear powered attack boat disappeared as if she was never even there.

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

The Imperial and Royal Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Of the Kingdoms and Lands in Reichsrath Represented, the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown of Saint Wenceslaus

---

To: The Government of the United Socialist States of Adradkia
From: The Imperial and Royal Ministry for Foreign Affairs
CC: The International Community
Encryption Level: Unencrypted

---

Ladies and gentlemen

The Imperial and Royal Minister for Foreign Affairs presents her compliments to the Government of the United Socialist States of Adradkia and has the honour to refer to Your declarations concerning the undeclared acts of war committed by Your forces in the Mediterranean Sea against the Free Kingdom of Allanea.
The Monarchy condemns in the harshest of terms Your avowed intention to forego any attempts at mediating an already terrible situation, one that You could have easily resolved by acceding to the reasonable demands of the Free Kingdom of Allanea. Following your unrepentant crime against peace, instead of now resolving this in an intelligent manner that did not involve further needless bloodshed, You have elected to wage full and open war against the Free Kingdom, people will now die because of Your folly.
The Imperial and Royal Monarchy declares Your illegitimate and bellicose state a Regnum barbarorum, and it is our fullest intention to bring Your criminal regime, by whatever means necessary to its knees in light of Your intransigence.
Thusly, it is our unfortunate duty to inform Your government that as of now, a state of war exists between the Kingdoms and Lands in Reichsrath Represented, the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown of Saint Wenceslaus, and the Government of the United Socialist States of Adradkia (Appendix 1).

In the name of
Ihre Kaiserliche und Königlich Apostolische Majestät, Maria Melanie I.; Von Gottes Gnaden, heiliger römischer Kaiserin, zu allen Zeiten Mehrer des Reiches, Kaiserin von Österreich, Apostolicher Königin von Ungarn, Königin von Böhmen; Königin von Lombardei und Venedig; von Dalmatien, Kroatien, Slawonien, Galizien, Lodomerien und Illyrien; Königin von Jerusalem; Erzherzogin von Österreich; Großherzogin von Toskana und Krakau; Herzogin von Lothringen, von Salzburg, Steyer, Kärnten, Krain und der Bukowina; Großfürstin von Siebenbürgen, Markgräfin von Mähren; Herzogin von Ober- und Niederschlesien, von Modena, Parma, Piacenza und Guastalla, von Auschwitz und Zator, von Teschen, Friaul, Ragusa und Zara; Gefürsteter Gräfin von Habsburg und Tirol, von Kyburg, Görz und Gradisca; Fürstin von Trient und Brixen; Markgräfin von Ober- und Niederlausitz und in Istrien; Gräfin von Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg; Freiin von Triest, von Cattaro und auf der Windischen Mark; Großwojwodin der Wojwodschaft Serbien.

I have the honour to remain
The Imperial and Royal Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Privy House-, Court-, and State-Chancellor for Foreign Affairs
Her Serene Highness Alexandra Ignatia Prinzessin von Hardegg

An act to declare and authorize a state of war between the Kingdoms and Lands in Reichsrath Represented, the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown of Saint Wenceslaus and the Christian Republic of Luziyca, Reichsrathsakte No. 2017-101-22

We the Kingdoms and Lands in Reichsrath Represented, the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown of Saint Wencelaus

DECLARES THE FOLLOWING
THAT the United Socialist States of Adradkia, with no prior warning or communication engaged and destroyed military aircraft of the Free Kingdom of Allanea on the 28th of September, 2017.
THAT following this dastardly assault the United Socialist States of Adradkia made not even an attempt to resolve this matter in a manner satisfactorily to the parts involved.
THAT this crime against peace is an affront to all of the human race, and to leave it unpunished would be an act of spineless disgrace of the highest order.
THEREFORE pursuant to our declaration of mutual defence with the Free Kingdom of Allanea and our solemn declarations above
We the delegates of the Reichsrath of the Kingdoms and Lands so Represented, the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown of Saint Wencelaus issues a
JOINT RESOLUTION declaring that a state of war exists between the Government of the United Socialist States of Adradkia and the Imperial and Royal Government and the people of the Holy Roman Empire and making provisions to prosecute the same.
WHEREAS the United Socialist States of Adradkia has violated the trust of the People of the Holy Roman Empire in committing open war crimes against them, recalcitrantly threatened their livelihood and refused openly to accept and pursue peaceful measures in resolving the Mediterranean Crisis of 2017 that it has caused.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Lords and House of Representatives of the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Reichsrath, the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown of Saint Wencelaus in Reichsrath assembled,
THAT the state of war between the Holy Roman Empire and the Government of the United Socialist States of Adradkia is hereby formally declared;
and the Empress is hereby authorised and directed to employ the entire naval, air and military forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the resources of its Government to carry on war against the Government of the United Socialist States of Adradkia and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Reichsrath of the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Reichsrath, the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown of Saint Wencelaus.

SO UNDERSIGNED
Im Namen von Ihre Kaiserliche und Königlich Apostolische Majestät,
Maria Melanie I.;
Von Gottes Gnaden; heiliger römischer Kaiserin, zu allen Zeiten Mehrer des Reiches; Kaiserin von Österreich, Apostolicher Königin von Ungarn, Königin von Böhmen; Königin von Lombardei und Venedig, von Dalmatien, Kroatien, Slawonien, Galizien, Lodomerien und Illyrien; Königin von Jerusalem; Erzherzogin von Österreich; Großherzogin von Toskana und Krakau; Herzogin von Lothringen, von Salzburg, Steyer, Kärnten, Krain und der Bukowina; Großfürstin von Siebenbürgen, Markgräfin von Mähren; Herzogin von Ober- und Niederschlesien, von Modena, Parma, Piacenza und Guastalla, von Auschwitz und Zator, von Teschen, Friaul, Ragusa und Zara; Gefürsteter Gräfin von Habsburg und Tirol, von Kyburg, Görz und Gradisca; Fürstin von Trient und Brixen; Markgräfin von Ober- und Niederlausitz und in Istrien; Gräfin von Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg; Freiin von Triest, von Cattaro und auf der Windischen Mark; Großwojwodin der Wojwodschaft Serbien; Souverän des Orden vom Goldenen Vlies

By
The Speaker of the House of Lords of the Reichsrath
Karl Theodor Rüdiger Fürst von Starhemberg

The Speaker of the Abgeordnetenhaus of the Reichsrath
Gideon Theodor Sreta Ritter von Radosavljević von Posavina

The Imperial and Royal Minister-President
Christian Karl Josef Ritter von Wolschneigg

The Imperial and Royal Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Privy House-, Court- and State- Chancellor for Foreign Affairs
Alexandra Ignatia Prinzessin von Hardegg

The Minister besides the Queen of Hungary
István Karl Graf Jablánczy de Szentgyörgy

State-Chancellor of Foreign Affairs for Bohemia
Alexandra Gräfin Chotek von Chotkowa und Wognin

The President of the Hofkriegsrath
Feldmarschall Michael Peter Karl Graf Ott von Batorkéz

The Vice President of the Hofkriegsrath
Generaloberst Gabriella Freiin von Banfield

[Adradkia]

With the Austrians having declared war on Adradkia, the Adradkians mobilised the people's militia. They quickly sent an e-mail to the Allaneans.

---

TO: The Government of Allanea
FROM: The Government of Adradki
SUBJECT: Restarting Diplomatic Negotiations

---

Dear sir, not madam!

We would like to restart diplomatic negotiations on war as we in Adradkia prefer peace.

[Allanea]

Official Message from the Free Kingdom Ministry of War

While our warships will remain in the area, we are ready to reach for a compromise. What is your proposal?

[Allanea]

Official Message from the Free Kingdom Ministry of War

People of Adradkia!

We see that despite our overtures for peace, and despite your claims that you wish to stop the fighting, combat betweenyou and our coalition partners continues in the Qaidi theater. We will make it simple for you. If this was a mistake, and you truly desire to cease the violence, you have twenty-four hours to come out with a public order for all your troops to leave the area, to cease fire, and to commence withdrawal of ships and planes. If you refuse to do so, bombardment of all Adradkian military targets will begin from the air. Should you agree, we can negotiate the conditions of a more permanent peace between our nations.

[Adradkia]

Government of Allanea,

We will order military forces to pull out but we will send men as peacekeeping.

[Allanea]

Official Message from the Free Kingdom Ministry of War

People of Adradkia!

We require the removal of all forces, whether 'peacekeeping' or otherwise, as a requirement for our negotiations to commence.

We are ready to compromise on the majority of our other demands.

[Adradkia]

Government of Allanea!

We will withdraw our forces from land. But, we will stay at sea. Within International Waters. In accordance, you must promise to not send troops into Qaidi.

[Allanea]

Official Message from the Free Kingdom Ministry of War

People of Adradkia!

You are in no position to make demands. Our military action against you will proceed until you agree to our demands.

*

From the Allanean fleet, twenty cruise missiles were launched. The fleet was still about a thousand miles away from Adradkia - far out of range of any anti-ship missiles, and its own patrol planes were circling it. Not was it in range to launch anti-ship missiles at any Adradkian ships - but what it could do was to fire 20 long-range missiles at the buildings of Adradkia's Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of War.

The Allanean ships now entered radio silence, making themselves even harder to detect. A single encrypted message was sent to the other nations' fleets participating in the fight. If it is a battle they want - it's a battle they'll get.

[Goram]

The jet black attack boat surged silently through the water. She was of a modern design; her hull and superstructure were sleek and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. But more than that, they were quiet - by far the quietest submarines ever built for the Royal Navy. She was covered in nearly 45,000 acoustic tiles. Instead of a traditional propeller, she had a pump jet. These qualities (and many others) combined to give the boat (when rigged for ultra-quiet running) an acoustic signature similar to that of a baby humpback. In short, UKG Fulchester was a master of stealth. She moved at 15 knots, slowly drawing closer to her quarry. In order to hunt, she was equipped with powerful sonar suite. The "Trafalgar" suite, as it was known for its inventor, grouped the major sonar systems into one easily usable system and linked them to the Navy's highly secret UMBRELLA network - although this was usually avoided as uplink to UMBRELLA required the submarine to come to shallower depth than any tactically astute sub driver fancied.

Even now, the Trafalgar Suite was going about its work. It was built around a tremendously capable Mk. 56 Passive/Active bow sonar, along with a Mk.11 towed array of hydrophones. These two systems fed information continuously into the hulking fire control computer that comprised the very heart of the Trafalgar Suite. This was a system capable of tracking nearly 300 different sonar signatures, whilst automatically identifying and prioritising the top 50 for prosecution. It was even capable of recommending the ideal weapon to prosecute that target and, once the weapon was deployed, it was capable of controlling said weapon autonomously - just as long as torpedo command wires remained intact or the boat was close enough to the surface to maintain contact with an anti-ship missile. The systems onboard did this every day, day in and day out with a processing power that the manufacturer boasted was akin to more than 65,000 household PCs. Today was no different.

On the conn's tactical display, green dots represented multiple surface contacts at an estimated range of approximately 40,000 yards. This would be considered fairly long range, but sonar conditions could not have been better. It was relatively calm day and ambient noise was close to minimal. But of course, whilst that meant Fulchester could hear everything, it also meant that any electronic ears out there could hear her too. And it was for that reason that the boat was secured for ultra quiet. There was an Adradkian task force out there and given the current tensions, they wouldn't react well to an unknown submarine slowly closing in on them.

---

Elsewhere

King James VII barely moved in the gentle swells she was encountering that morning. For a ship of her sheer size and one designed for stability, it would take a serious sea state to make her pitch or roll to any sizable degree. She charged along at a cruising speed of 19 knots. She could easily move faster than this, but, just now there was no real point. All it would do is increase wear and tear on her innards, and so cruising power would be maintained. But despite her pace, she was a hive of activity. Throughout the day, her air wing had been arriving in dribs and drabs.

King James VII was the centrepiece of a multiship task force, dispatched towards the USSA. A monstrous aircraft carrier of some 75,000 tons - she was the battle group's flagship, under the command of one Vice Admiral Sir Lionel Morton Best. The supercarrier was the beating heart of any battle group. She provided the majority of their ability to project power inland, but more than that her Combat Information Centre acted as a focal point for the other vessels. This was the core concept at the heart of the UMBRELLA system.

UMBRELLA was a state of the art command and weapons control system, built around the phenomenally powerful Mk. 80/81 radar sets and the even more potent sets carried aloft by E-6s launched from the carrier's flight deck. UMBRELLA acted as a data link between the various parts of the battlegroup, linking air defence destroyers to general purpose frigates to the mighty carriers. Even E-6 early warning aircraft and fleet submarines could link in if they so desired to do so. Once a ship was linked into the control network, it's weapon systems could be slaved to the centre of the control network - usually a carrier or an E-6. With the data sharing technology, the centrepiece of the battlegroup could then freely engage incoming targets, up to a standard distance of 120nmi, with any of the weaponry carried by any of correctly equipped vessels that had been connected to the system network. At current, the carrier KV7 and three Swiftsure class frigates and four destroyers of the Audacious made up the network.

The Audacious class was a miracle of naval engineering - the cutting edge of what the Goramites could achieve. It was the first ship purpose built to take advantage of UMBRELLA and they enhanced the capabilities of that system massively. It carried the Mk. 81 air search radar system with a range of 220 miles. With an Audacious in the UMBRELLA network, it's anti-aircraft potential increased hugely. But yet, it was perhaps not the UMBRELLA network that benefited most from having an Audacious present. It was perhaps the destroyer that benefited from being linked in. The ships carried the Type 33 - a telegraph pole sized missile with a range of 300 miles, far in excess of the ship's own air search systems. But linked in, as the four destroyers were, with an E-6 and it's 400-mile radar range, the Type 33 was a long range killer. The Audacious destroyers, each one of them, generated a 300-mile defensive bubble around themselves. The four destroyers steamed in a square around KV7, and a pair of fleet replenishment vessels. They formed a 3D shield around the carriers, made up of layers of missiles, guns and jamming systems.

Further out, perhaps 20 miles from the main formation, the three Swiftsure frigates sailed in a triangular formation. One on the left of the group, one on the right and one ahead. They formed an anti-submarine picket, tailing towed sonar arrays nearly two kilometres long behind them. They carried their own torpedoes for ASW work, but their most potent weapon was the Sparrowhawk helicopters that hid away in their aft hangers. The frigate would find a submarine contact, the helicopter would drop sonobuoys on it. A positive identification would be made and a torpedo would be dropped on it.

Furthest out, more than 70 miles away, a line of three City class hunter killers roamed. Nuclear powered fleet submarines; quick, well armed and virtually impossible to detect. They screened the fleet, cruising a search pattern at barely 10 knots. They were quiet, and they were listening.

---

A crowd gathered outside parliament, cut almost evenly in half by a thin line of police in yellow high visibility jackets topped with black stab-proof vests. On the one side, a throng of nationalist pro-war protestors. On the other, a larger group of primarily young people holding signs and chanting slogans against Goramite intervention in the brewing conflict. Both sides had gathered here today because, behind the sealed doors, the Lower House was voting. The question put to them was a simple one, boiling down to a question of whether or not military aid should be given to the Allaneans against the USSA. The government and opposition, however, were officially for intervention and all suggested the vote would be little more than a formality. Yet the protestors outside did not let this dampen their spirits. All day it went on, and minor scuffles broke out between the two opposing sides. It was ironic, given the nature of their protest, that the first casualty of the war was caused by a pro-peace demonstrator who broke the jaw of one of his opposite numbers.

At approximately 1500 local time, with the vote counted, the Prime Minister appeared at his dispatch box to address the House and, by extension, the nation. What was seen as needless Adradkian aggression could not be allowed to go unchecked and as such, Goramite naval assets would be dispatched to aid the Allaneans in their fight. Officially, Royal Navy warships were going into action. Unofficially, they were already more than half way there...

[Adradkia]

Government of Adradkia,

You can stick your military action up your Ass.



It was a normal afternoon. It would be no different from other days. That's what they thought. Suddenly, a missile was seen. The Prime Minister's Office was quickly evacuated. The missile was immediately fired upon. A S-300V fired its SAMs. The people just looked as the SAM took off.

[Allanea]

[query]Aboard the FKS Inflexible

“Admiral, we believe that our missiles have been shot down here, here, and here. Satellites have spotted the trails of enemy missiles around this area.”

“I understand.” – the Admiral pondered. “I do not want to break radio silence. Can you open a tightbeam communication?”

“Sure thing.”

At the top of the carrier’s island, a small turret-like device with a pair of colorful lenses rotated, and soon found its target – a similar device aboard another Allanean craft, about twenty kilometers away. The lenses flashed, until the other device’s sensors saw them too, and soon the devices were aligned with inhuman precision. The device then shone – a laser beam, not one powerful enough to do harm, but bright enough to be seen by the device it was aimed at. Due to its nature, of course, the laser could not be intercepted by anything not in path of the beam.
It broadcast several megabites worth of information, and then the communications ceased.

Three hours later, as before, missiles were launched – now a much larger number, in a successor of several minutes. Once again they operated in a stealth mode, the missiles themselves not broadcasting anything at all. Each of them carried over a hundred submunitions, designed to damage vehicles, set fires, and kill infantry. All of them were aimed towards the locations where the enemy S-300 laucnhes were spotted. Meanwhile, the Allanean ships moved rapidly, pulling temporarily back from the positions where the launch occurred, to avoid being targeted in the same way. By the time it would take even a supersonic missile cross the thousand miles between them and their targets, they’d be thirty kilometers away from the original launch point[/align]

[Goram]

At an altitude of almost four hundred nautical miles, a tubular satellite with stubby "wings" hurtled through the infinite nothingness of space. It was one of an array of highly secret observation satellites, codenamed "FREYA", operated by the Goramite Royal Air Force, and this was the last of 11 scheduled passes that FREYA satellites had made of the USSA since the crisis began. They were small, stealthy objects - very fast moving and hard to spot. They were the ultimate reconnaissance tool and had made high flying spy aeroplanes practically obsolete overnight.

From its tremendous altitude, the satellite's inescapable electronic eyes looked down, relentlessly. Armed with cameras that operated across the visual spectrum and well into infrared, there was little these machines could not spot. They were capable of, if the operators so desired, taking a picture so detailed that the make of an individual car could easily be ascertained. However, to do that came as the price of ignoring everything else and thus this fearsome capability was rarely put to use. Instead, its electronic eyes burned downwards over wide areas and its infrared equipment ensured that even camouflaged or even buried objects did not stay hidden for long. The images, all in digital form, were transmitted groundwards in exceptionally fast microbursts of data. Their compacted size and speed made them difficult to detect and, as an additional form of protection, they were strongly encoded.

From the Royal Air Force satellite command and control station responsible for this satellite, the data moved quickly. Decrypted and unpacked from it's condensed form, the images were sent directly to Naval Intelligence. Here, the finishing touches were being put onto a highly classified plan known as "OPERATION: QUICKSTEP". The purpose of the multiple satellites passes over USSA airspace was to find and identify likely targets for the Navy's warships to splatter with an abundance of cruise missiles. They had looked for surface to air missile sites (of the fixed kind, not mobile TELs which cruise missiles would find hard to hit), command and control stations and above all - airfields. These would be the keys to securing air superiority over the USSA in the coming days, for, if the enemy's air defence and C4I networks could be cut down quickly then they would be (it was hoped) powerless to stop the multitude of Allied air strikes that were surely coming.

---

Several hours later

It was night now, but the entirety of the KV7 battlegroup was alive with activity. All over the makeshift fleet, QUICKSTEP targetting information was coming in and being disseminated to the appropriate vessel. Other than the aircraft carrier and the fleet replenishment vessel, every ship (including the fleet submarines) possessed a vertical launch system and at least a portion of all of them contained cruise missiles.

These weapons looked, for all the world, like 20 foot long cigars. They were approximately 20 inches wide, with stubby tail fins at the base. Once launched, a pair of equally stubby wings would deploy from the body and the weapon would fly away at sub-sonic speeds. They would hug the ground, guided by a combination of three guidance systems. GPS would be preferable, but it was feared the enemy might have the capability to jam the satellite signals. As such, the weapons were designed to be able to navigate equally well using inertial guidance and terrain contour matching programs. These weapons were terrifyingly accurate - they were easily capable of placing their warhead within 10 metres of the aiming point.

In the CICs of each warship, keys turned and firing sequences initiated. The crews had practiced this time and time again, but never like this. This was a legitimate war shot, the first that any of them had fired. The dark of the night was punctuated by points of light rising into the night sky, trailed by pencil-thin lines of grey smoke. More than 200 of them disappeared into the darkness, aimed at decapitating Adrakian air defence.

[Adradkia]

"We can use our new technology, sir," a man said to the Nigel Heik, the leader of the ACP. "Fine, but, I pray no one will find out," -

Outside, flares were launched from the bases and the base went dark. A jammer was on-ed to stop the missiles. The best of the Adradkian hackers tried their hardest to hack the missiles to change their direction. A message was sent to the Allaneans.

TO: Allanea
FROM: Nigel Heik

---

We agree with most of your conditions. We will withdraw all troops from Qaidi. Any troop who doesn't retreat will be classified as a rogue. All other conditions will be negotiated on later. Please stop firing.

[Allanea]

Official Reply from the Free Kingdom of Allanea:

We are now ceasing our bombardment.

We have decided on a compromise position:

1. A single-time payment of $2 million for each of the fallen Allanean airmen (total $24 million), and $1 million for each of the injured troops ($3 million total).

2. The cession of the island on which the Ruins of District I reside, to the Free Kingdom of Allanea.

[Adradkia]

Reply from the Adradkian Government

We are willing to give the Ruins of District 2. It is unpopulated. For reparations, we will give 26 million USD if Allanea promises to give 1 million payment to the family of every fallen and injured citizen (27 million) and 2 million to every injured and killed soldier (4 million).

[Allanea]

Official Allanean Reply:

Obviously, we will not do this, since you were the ones who attacked us.

We would like to receive the full information of why District II is unpopulated before we reach the full agreement.

[Adradkia]

Official Adradkian Reply:

District II is unpopulated because of bombings. The same is with District I, but the people still stay there.

[Allanea]

Official Adradkian Reply:

District II is unpopulated because of bombings. The same is with District I, but the people still stay there.

Official Message from the Free Kingdom:

We're willing to offer the people a small remuneration if they leave to some more comfortable area. Failing this we'll accept District II.

[Adradkia]

Official Adradkian Reply:

District II is unpopulated because of bombings. The same is with District I, but the people still stay there.

Official Message from the Free Kingdom:

We're willing to offer the people a small remuneration if they leave to some more comfortable area. Failing this we'll accept District II.

Official Adradkian Reply:

They will not accept this. We hope you will take district II instead.