A New Sunrise (Earth II)

[-The United Federation of Nations-]

The Honourable Joseph Adami, Federation Special Envoy to Kurdistan
Office of the Special Envoy, Erbil
The Republic of Kurdistan
Friday 11th October 2019, 1500hrs Local Time

The Federation Special Envoy to Kurdistan, Joseph Adami, smiled warmly as he stood and stepped around his desk to shake the hand of the Kurdish Minister for Foreign Affairs who had just been shown into his office. Adami, a native of the State of Malta, had formed a fast and genuine friendship with the Minister, Hendrên Berkar, during their many meetings over the last several years. As the Federation Special Envoy, one of several such specialised diplomats operating in prospective members around the globe, Adami was responsible for fostering strong relations with the prospective members, and working towards that membership, although determining this would be the choice of the people and, if they choose not to join up with the Federation, his work would ensure strong relations in either case. As it stood, the Kurdish Government was well inclined towards the idea, as the Kurdish people had struggled for decades to build a state of their own, and they knew that there were threats on all sides, and as such joining a larger, multinational body like the Federation, particularly one where the individual sovereignty of the member-states was enshrined in its founding document, was viewed very positivly.

Indeed, much of Adami’s work was in fostering the national conversation amongst the Kurdish people and seeing where it led and, in the best traditions of the Federation, this was done in a very gentle manner, with much of his work ‘on the doorstep’ simply standing by the Federation’s record and letting it speak for itself.

From the Federation’s perspective, the Republic of Kurdistan had a lot to offer as prospective members. The Kurds had a well-deserved reputation for being friendly, welcoming and tolerant, particularly of other ethnic groups in their territory (in stark contrast to how they were often treated when the situation was reversed). Perhaps most importantly, the Kurds were a moderate group in an area, particularly to the south, that was chaotic and a hotbed for religious, ethnic and ideological conflict. The Kurds were in good company in this part of the world, with Bahrain and Qatar both notable moderates and part of the Federation, indeed it had been the successful integration of these two member-states (without losing their own national sovereignty and identity) that was pushing the Kurdish Government closer and closer to openly supporting Federation membership. Indeed, that was what Adami’s meeting with Minister Berkar was largely about; the Kurdish Government was ready to go ahead with a referendum to decide that very question. Before that could take place, however, Adami had to make several things clear to the Minister, to ensure that the Kurds were entering into this process with all the information.

“Minister, it is good to see you again,” Adami said warmly.


“And you, Joseph,” Minister Berkar replied with equal warmth. “You received my government’s memo, I take it.”

“I did, and both I and the President are very pleased with this decision, you know from our long friendship that I have come to love your people and that I believe that you will be valued members of the Federation, should your people decide to go down that route,” Adami nodded. “Before you make any formal announcements, however, I wanted to sit down with you and discuss a few things; none of this will be of too much surprise to you, as I’m sure you’ve been paying attention, but our conscience requires us to be direct.”

“Of course,” Minister Berkar leant back in his chair as an aide brought in iced water for the pair. “I figured as much.”

“Firstly, I know the unspoken dream of your Republic is to bring all Kurds together under one banner, including those resident in Kurdish-majority areas in neighbouring states, and the Federation will support the Republic of Kurdistan in facilitating that peacefully,” Adami began carefully. “However, as per the Articles of the Federation, what we cannot do is launch any offensive action against your neighbours, nor can the Federal government allow you to do so independently, now based on our history I doubt your Government would do so, but we have to be fundamentally clear on things of that nature.”

If Minister Berkar was offended, he did not show it, instead smiling wryly.

“Don’t worry, my friend; although my Government would love to see all Kurds together, once and for all, we have no intention of forcing the matter through armed conflict,” Minister Berkar replied simply, sipping his water. “Truth be told, as much as we would like to see it happen peacefully, we do not have any short-term expectation of anything of the sort, especially with regards to the fascists to the North.”

Adami nodded his understanding.

“That actually allows me to pivot nicely to my second point; although the Federation has positive relations with the New Kingdom, and we doubt there’ll be any trouble from them, our relations with the fascists is as negative as you would expect given our ideals,” Adami said. “Now, the Republic of Kurdistan presents the United Defence Force with a unique problem, as you would be our first member-state that is landlocked; this would require a far larger standing presence of Federal troops than any of the other members, if we are to guarantee your security, is this likely to be an issue?”

Minister Berkar shook his head.

“We understand the difficult strategic position that we are in as a nation, and I discussed the matter with the Minister of Defence just last night, who explained to me that it would be far more difficult for the Federation to reinforce us on short notice in the event of war,” Minister Berkar explained. “If the United Defence Force needs to forward-deploy additional units to the Republic, in addition to those of our current formations that are transferred to Federal control post-joining, then that is a price we are willing to pay for membership… and for security.”

Amadi nodded his own agreement with the Minister’s words; the Kurds had spent decades fighting for their own nation, and many had given their lives in its defence since its founding. It stood to reason that they would appreciate having someone to stand alongside them against any future foes, and would not view the presence of a large number of Federal troops as an occupation. There was an old saying, that ‘Kurds have no friends but the mountains’, but this was something that the Federation was working to change; to be true and faithful friends to these people. Indeed that would be the case regardless of whether they choose to join the Federation; friendship was guaranteed, it was more akin to brotherhood that was offered by the Federation, as many within the Federation saw it as a ‘great family of nations’, before anything else.

“That is comforting to hear,” Adami smiled. “Now then, let’s talk through the joining process now that you’ve taken the first steps.”

Over the next half an hour Adami explained, in detail, the process that would be followed to bring the Republic of Kurdistan into the Federation. The first step would, of course, be to conduct the referendum and for a majority of the Kurdish people to vote in favour of membership, at which point the Kurdish Government would make a formal request to the Federation Council. At that point, the Council would vote to consider the application, which would confer ‘Protectorate-Status’ upon Kurdistan, to make clear that the state would be protected by the Federation in the event of any hostile state thinking it could strike before membership was confirmed. During the consideration period, which could take only a few weeks, to several months, the various Executive Departments would conduct various investigations and bilateral discussions with their Kurdish counterparts in a process known as ‘Member Due Diligence’, to ensure that the prospective members were compatible with the Articles of the Federation, and to determine whether any changes were needed (and whether they would be made by the prospective member). Once this process was complete, a report would be sent to the Federation Council who would vote on whether or not to accept the membership request.

If the request was granted (to date there had not been a denied request), a date would be set for the prospective member to fully join the Federation, which would be formalised by a treaty signing in the prospective member’s capital (the sole exception to this tradition had been the treaty which had formalised Spain, Portugal and Morocco joining the Federation, as they had all joined at the same time as part of the same treaty, which had been signed in the ‘nearby’ Federation member-state of Malta). At this point, they would formally be part of the Federation, and a transition period would begin where the new member was integrated into the Federation, including making necessary adjustments to legal and economic systems, as well as the transformation of the military into the United Defence Force’s command structure.

Based on past examples, and his own personal experience, Adami would be very surprised if the treaty could not be signed within six months, as he rather doubted that the Due Diligence process would take all that long for Kurdistan. Indeed, the largest delay would be in how long it took the Kurds to prepare for the referendum. As the wording of the question, franchise and various other legalities were already pre-determined by the Federation (in order to comply with the Articles of the Federation) there would not need to be a long period of discussion and analysis on this matter. Indeed, in previous discussions, Berkar had indicated to Adami that the Republic could hold a referendum within three months of the decision being made, especially as the national conversation around Federation membership had already been going on for some years.

The most potentially problematic period, as far as a hostile outside power (of which there was at least one in close proximity that might not take kindly to Kurdistan joining the Federation) was concerned, was the first three months, during which time there would be no formal declaration that the Republic of Kurdistan was under the protection of the Federation. Moreover, Federation law prevented the United Defence Force from being actively deployed to a prospective member during the referendum campaign, to avoid any appearance of impropriety. This meant that, in the event of an attack, the Federation would have to operate from their own bases, at least initially, to protect Kurdistan, which was far from ideal from a military perspective. Of course, the hope was that nothing would happen and the entire process would be smooth and painless.

“Well, I think we’ve got a good foundation from which to move forward, my friend, and let me say again how happy I am,” Adami smiled broadly. “I take it you’re going to make the announcement sooner rather than later?”

“The President has got airtime this evening,” Minister Berkar nodded. “We’ll start putting the legislation through the Assembly on Monday.”

“Very good,” Adami nodded. “I’ll need to fly to Phoenix this weekend to report this development to the Council, but I’ll be back on Monday if the Assembly wants to call upon me.”

“I’ll pass the offer along, my friend,” Minister Berkar smiled. “As-salāmu ʿalaykum”

“Wa ‘alaykum al-salaam,” Adami replied with a matching smile.

Adami watched as the Minister was led from the room by one his staff before turning and walking over to the window, looking out over the city. Erbil truly was a beautiful city, a vibrant, bustling city at the centre of the Kurdish nation. Adami could not think of any other posting he could have asked for that would have bested the vista before him, except perhaps his own beautiful Valetta. Erbil, and even the ancient city of Mosul close to the southern border of Kurdistan were in stark contrast to the chaos and uncertainty to the south, ever-present reminders of just how delicate the Republic’s prosperity was. Over the past decade in post, which was not uncommon as Federation Special Envoys were designed to be long-term fixtures in the prospective members, Adami had become very fond of Erbil, and Kurdistan as a whole, having been welcomed warmly wherever he went. In short, he wanted these people to join the Federation, and not just because it was his job to facilitate that, but rather because he believed that Federation membership was in their best interest and that the Federation would be enhanced by their being part of it.

“Kara!” Adami called after a few minutes, summoning his secretary. “Call Major Biggs, I’ll be needing the plane in about an hour.”

[Yugovia]

Wilayah of Syria
Jund Dimashq
Saturday 12th of October 2019, 2200 hrs

Colonel Ekram ibn Mehdi ibn Gaffar al-Dagher read through a series of reports that lay scattered across his desk. He subconsciously ground his teeth at the annoyance of his work-space being in disarray, the old People’s Army of the Arab Socialist Federation had inculcated a sense of organization and attention to detail that chafed at any visible sign of chaos. The situation was rapidly evolving across the Caliphate, the military success of Operation Just Deliverance had brought a measure of peace to the cities of the European Wilayahs and this breathing space had allowed the Army of the Caliphate to rapidly re-arm and retrain.

Significant obstacles remained but the adhesion of the recently converted European military hierarchy and significant influxes of material captured from the routed Army of the Social Confederation was proving to be a blessing for the Caliphate. After the creation of religiously-politically reliable cadres in the Wilayahs of Europe the Arabic, Berber, and Turkic Colonels were able to return significant portions of the once insurgent Army of Jund al-Rashid to the historic heartlands of the Umma. European militaries, sufficiently integrated with the previously marginalized ethnic and religious members of the Umma were being slowly redeployed along the borders of Kurdistan, the Iranian plateau, and the Levant. In their place the increasingly professional Army of the Caliphate (informally still known as Jund al-Rashid) was being tasked with the occupation of Europe.

Ekram flipped through the reports again, making sharp notations in the corner with measured scrapes of his ink pen. He allowed himself very few luxuries but the use of a fine ink fountain pen was one of them. It stemmed in part from his nomme de guerre during the insurgent phase of their Jihad, Shaeir (poet). He was thus named for the eloquent epitaphs he inscribed upon the graves of martyrs who fell fighting Kafir Governments or in the later campaigns, Fascist-Crusaders in Europe. Ekram read through the reports a final time before summarizing his thoughts upon a small notepad and placing it into a bin. In the morning a Niqabi would come and pass the notes over to the office of the Wali, Asif ibn Nihad ibn Saud al-Hadad.

Kurdistan and the pluralism it represented was considered Jahiliyyah by the Political-Religious authorities in the Caliphate but there was no obvious solution to the military question it posed. Continuous warfare was exhausting, to men and to states. Despite the necessity of purifying and uniting the Umma it was not feasible to continuously wage war. The Colonel was cognizant of this and instead advocated in his notes derived from the intelligence wing of the JaR and the conquered information collection network of the Servizio di Sicurezza Statale that the Caliphate of Rum endeavor to foster a revolutionary fifth column within Kurdistan.

The opinions of his colleague Tahul (convert) Antonio Pescatore of the Servizio di Sicurezza Statale mirrored his own, cementing Ekram’s perception that the Kurdish problem was difficult to crack. Aggressive action would jeopardize the precarious position of the Caliphate which had an extremely limited diplomatic profile. The nuclear and biological weapons seized from the Mediterranean Social Confederation were such that an outright invasion of the Caliphate was likely impossible given the risk of nuclear exchange, however, the Colonel was not a faithful adherent to the cult of the atom. He had emerged from extreme poverty to the command a Jund with a rifle in his hand and he believed that he would not be the last. The choice as to the ultimate course of action however would rest with Wali Asif Hadad.

[-The United Federation of Nations-]

The Honourable Joseph Adami, Federal Special Envoy to Kurdistan
Federation Tower, Phoenix
The Commonwealth of the Mojave, United Federation of Nations
Saturday 12th October 2019, 0900hrs Local Time

“Joseph!” Sebastian Barnes, President of the United Federation of Nations, smiled as he approached. “It is good to see you again.”

“You too, Mister President,” Adami replied with a matching smile, shaking his President’s hand.

“You look well, Kurdistan does agree with you,” Barnes commented. “How was your flight?”

“Long,” Adami replied wryly. “Those Gulfstreams are a whole lot better than commercial, but it’s still just a plane.”

It had taken over thirteen hours for Adami to fly from Erbil to Phoenix, aboard a Federal Air Force Gulfstream G500 seconded to the Department of the Exterior, one of which was assigned to each Special Envoy for their professional use. He had left Erbil shortly after four in the afternoon, local time, flying westwards to Phoenix with a stop-over in Madrid before crossing the Atlantic. He had arrived in Phoenix shortly after eight in the evening of the Friday, whilst back in Erbil it was the early hours of Saturday. Given that by this point he had been up for some hours, and had not got much sleep on the plane, he had checked into a hotel in Phoenix and had arranged to meet with the President first thing in the morning, before an appearance before the Federation Council in the afternoon. He had been eternally grateful for the Gulfstream, knowing that he was lucky to not have to fly commercial as the Federal Government wasn’t going to pay for first-class flights and the Gulfstream at least was far superior to the business class he would have flown in, but it was still over half a day cooped up in what amounted to a tin can. When you were used to traveling across such a beautiful, expansive country as Kurdistan, it was a hell of a change to say the least.

“Tell me about it,” Barnes agreed whole-heartedly. “It’s why I love Defence Force One… even the C-32 they gave me as Secretary of the Exterior felt like an palace compared to my Gulfstream when I was a Special Envoy.”

Adami smiled wryly as he settled into own seat; back in the day Sebastian Barnes had been the last Federation Special Envoy to Malta, being instrumental in bringing Adami’s home member-state into the Federation, so he knew exactly what the lifestyle was like, as did Adami’s immediate boss, the Secretary of the Exterior, Reneé Palmer, Given the unique and vital role the Federation Special Envoys played, it was perhaps unsurprising that they tended to go on to have successful careers at the highest levels of the Federation Government. Not that Adami had ambitions of such high office, indeed he had given strong consideration towards retiring once his job in Kurdistan was done, and would only hold off on doing so if requested by Secretary Palmer or by the President, which considering he was a Special Envoy was not outside the realm of possibility. Adami knew that his wife, Sofia, would be eternally grateful if he decided to call it a career, as although he had been static in Kurdistan for some years the life of a diplomat was one of tumult and constant moves.

“You received my report from Kurdistan, I take it, Mister President?” Adami asked once Barnes’ aide had provided coffee to both men.

“I did; and I have to say that it is something that I have been looking forward to; my visit back when I was Secretary only reinforced that opinion, the Kurds are lovely and their tolerance towards their non-Kurdish countrymen is in the best traditions of the Federation,” Barnes smiled again. “I don’t see a problem with your proposed timeline, I agree that we could get the entire process sorted within six months, so 1st May seems like a perfectly reasonable date to aim to sign the treaty on, assuming that the Kurds vote to join anyway.”

“I’m confident they will,” Adami affirmed.

“As am I, and I look forward to your briefing to the Federation Council this afternoon, it’ll be another piece of good news for a change,” Barnes commented. “In the meantime, however, I wanted you in on a briefing I’m about to receive from Defence Force Command, on our options for defending Kurdistan during the transition period.”

“So I can reassure the Kurds,” Adami nodded his understanding. “I bet the UDF can’t wait to be able to station troops.”

“That would be an understatement,” Barnes smiled thinly.

Although the Articles of the Federation did not state so, subsequent legislation passed by the Federation Council had forbidden the United Defence Force from stationing troops or ships (later amended to include aircraft) inside a prospective member-state during the period in which the referendum was being organised and conducted. The reasoning behind the law was solid, the last thing the Federation wanted was even the appearance of inappropriate influence upon the process, however it tied the hands of the UDF when it came to preventing outside interference. During this period the prospective member-state was formally a Protectorate of the Federation, in that its safety, security and sovereignty was guaranteed by the Federation, which meant that the UDF would take military action to prevent any such interference. This, of course, led to challenges for Defence Force Command to consider, although in all previous cases the prospective member-state had enjoyed access to the sea, and the UDF had simply deployed ships from the Federal Navy to a strategic position close-by to keep an eye on things, whilst adhering to the spirit and letter of the law. Kurdistan, being the first prospective member-state to be totally land-locked, represented a significant, unique challenge.

It was only a few minutes later that President Barnes’ aide opened the door and showed in three senior officers of the United Defence Force, two male and one female. The first was Fleet Admiral Jonathan DeSoto, the Commander, Defence Force, who was the professional head of the UDF, the second was General Jennifer Breckenridge, the Chief of Defence Force Operations, who was responsible for exercising operational command over the three combat branches (the Federal Army, Federal Navy and Federal Air Force), whilst the third was General Adam Sloane, the Chief of Defence Force Inteligence, who commanded the service arm (independant from the traditional combat branches) responsible for military intelligence collection and analysis. Collectively, these three officers, and the heads of the three combat branches and the four other service arms, made up Defence Force Command, the only legal source of military orders in the Federation. Indeed, although the President of the Federation could, as the commander-in-chief, issue strategic orders to Defence Force Command he could not, by convention (and law) issue direct orders to Defence Force personnel in the field. These ten officers were supported by the Command Staff, hundreds of officers and enlisted service members who supported them in their duties.

Once the introductions were complete, and classified briefing material was handed to Barnes and Adami, Fleet Admiral DeSoto began the verbal overview of the material he had just provided to the two men.

“Mr President, Mr Special Envoy, defending the Republic of Kurdistan from outside interference, without being able to station forces within its boundaries, is perhaps the most challenging operational requirement the United Defence Force has faced in recent years,” DeSoto began, known as he was for not beating around the bush. “As a land-locked country we cannot leverage the capabilities of the Federal Navy to be able to respond to any issue, and deploying aircraft or troops, whilst possible on short notice, would require overflight of potentially hostile airspace.”

DeSoto paused a moment to let his words sink in to the two men.

“Most combat aircraft based in Bahrain or Qatar are already on the edge of their range just to be able to reach southern Kurdistan, and that is without considering their need to actually maneuverer once they are on-station, limiting their utility until we can base in-country,” DeSoto continued. “Moreover, combat aircraft will take over an hour to get on-station, and transports carrying troops would take at least three, and be vulnerable during that entire time, making rapid reinforcement possible but extremely dangerous, to say the least.”

DeSoto paused again before continuing.

“As such, any attempt by the United Defence Force will require advance warning, necessitating an extensive intelligence gathering operation on neighbouring states for potential indicators of hostility, as well as a robust plan to respond quickly and decisively,” DeSoto finished. “Ideally, we would have the support of the New Kingdom to fly through their airspace, otherwise we’re going to have to risk it and bet that no one will fire on Federation military assets, otherwise we’ll have to rapidly expand to a far wider campaign that simply reinforcing Kurdistan.”

Barnes and Adami were silent for a moment, both had expected difficulties in protecting Kurdistan, at least until the UDF could deploy its forces inside the country, but they had not expected such a bleak outlook from Defence Force Command. Indeed, the issue was less how long the Kurds themselves could hold out, which was likely a decent amount of time, and more about the fundamental difficulty of what the UDF was being asked to accomplish.

“How do you suggest we mitigate some of those difficulties,” Barnes commented evenly after a moment.

“General Breckenridge,” DeSoto said simply.

Breckenridge nodded and stood up herself.

“Firstly, we would look to position Task Force 61 further up the Persian Gulf, as close to the shore as we can without breaking territorial limits, as this would significantly expand the range of combat aircraft and response times, however there is a very real risk that neighbouring states, not involved in any attack on Kurdistan, may view it as provocative, which is an issue in such close quarters,” Breckenridge replied. “We would also recommend moving a squadron or more of B-1B Lancers from the 12th Bomb Wing, in Morocco and Spain, as with careful co-ordination with Kurdish forces they could provide significant amounts of firepower, and have the range and speed to get in and out with a reasonable chance of success, however such a deployment may also be viewed provocatively.”

“So what you’re saying, General, is that any move we make to put additional forces into the Gulf could be perceived as a threat,” Barnes said wryly. “But that without being able to put forces inside Kurdistan we would otherwise struggle to protect them.”

“Essentially, Yes Sir, Mister President,” Breckenridge replied, nearly not thrilled with her options. “Technically speaking, the Lancers could fly from their bases, but that requires flying through guaranteed non-permissive airspace, so is not really an option unless we fancy starting a fight with the Caliphate.”

“It may very well be the Caliphate that we’d be fighting, General,” Adami commented. “The Kurds view them as the most likely threat.”

“Very true, Mister Special Envoy, and that is something we’re got other operational plans for, which would likely include other squadrons from the 12th Bomb Wing, but for the purposes of this planning scenario we’ve assumed an unspecified threat,” General Breckenridge explained. “The point we’re trying to make, Sirs, is that in abstract terms, reinforcing Kurdistan will be a right pain in the ass, if you’ll pardon my language, that briefing pack goes into specific threats, and the operational plans to deal with them, in far more detail, and the implications for Kurdistan, and I assure you the Caliphate is featured prominently.”

“But it can be done,” Barnes asked firmly. “Even if it might be slightly provocative.”

“Yes, Sir,” Breckenridge replied, equally firmly.

“Very well then, let’s get Task Force 61 underway for the northern Persian Gulf; liaise with the Department of the Exterior to see if you can arrange any port visits with the New Kingdom to allay any concerns they, or others, may hold if we deploy ships up that way,” Barnes ordered decisively, his mind made. “In the meantime, move a squadron of bombers to Bahrain or Qatar, whichever you team the most suited to host them, come up with whatever cover story you need; as we may need to consider a permanent bomber presence out there, but let’s make sure we’ve got the best possible chance here, people, we are not hanging the Kurds out to dry because it was difficult.”

“Yes Sir,” DeSoto nodded.

[-The United Federation of Nations-]

Lieutenant Colonel Evelyn J. Williams, UDF
UDF Air Base Al Udeid
Emirate of Qatar, United Federation of Nations
Monday 14th October 2019, 0800hrs Local Time

Lieutenant Colonel Evelyn J. Williams, Commanding Officer of the 312th Bomb Squadron of the United Defence Force, watched with a professional eye as the first pair of B-1B Lancer strategic bombers, of which her command had twelve, began their approach into Al Udeid Air Base. As soon as the orders had been received from Defence Force Command, ordered the 312th to Qatar, Lt. Colonel Williams had flown out to lead an advance party of her Squadron Staff to ensure that all the arrangements were made to her satisfaction; after all, a Bomb Squadron had specialist requirements compared to your typical combat squadron, and the logistical footprint was far bigger. She had quickly formed a good working relationship with the Base Commander, Colonel Stephen E. Freeman, a laid back but effortlessly competent Texan, with whom she was now stood on the flight line watching her aircraft begin to arrive. Williams had enjoyed a relatively speedy rise through the ranks, due in no small part to her ability to get on with anyone and the ease which she co-ordinated her staff, her pilots and indeed herself to get a job done.

She had been moderately surprised when the orders had come down to forward-deploy the 312th Bomb Squadron; clearly Defence Force Command thought there was a very real possibility of a threat to Kurdistan. If that was the case, then the deployment at least made sense, as the twelve B-1B Lancers of her squadron would significantly expand the tactical and strategic operations available to the Eastern Sector Command. Aside from anything else, the Lancers would do wonders to providing a long-range striking capability into Kurdistan that no other combat aircraft based in Bahrain or Qatar could provide. The Federation military position in the Persian Gulf, and the surrounding area, was still precarious to say the least, and only the fact that friendly relations were enjoyed with the New Kingdom of Bactria prevented the entire area being a total strategic nightmare for the United Defence Force. Even once Kurdistan joined the Federation, and UDF forces could be stationed in-country, the situation would best be described as ‘sub-optimal’. Indeed, Lt. Colonel Williams had been advised by the Group Operations Officer, that not only was her squadron’s deployment likely to be long term but that there was a very real possibility of the rest of the 24th Bomb Group would be following.

“Big motherfuckers,” Colonel Freeman commented wryly, dropping the curse word with an easy confidence.

Lt. Colonel Williams smiled wryly; Freeman had been a fighter pilot back in his earlier days, flying the F-15 Eagle that had served as the backbone of the Federal Air Force for several decades, and was still very much present in the Air Guards of the Member-States.

“They are at that, Sir,” Lt. Colonel Williams replied with a grin. “Although I should be glad you didn’t denigrate them to mere ‘targets’.”

“Well,” Freeman chuckled. “I’d imagine they look glorious to the boys on the ground when they put down the pain.”

“Last time I bailed an Infantry unit out of a hole, back during the Great North American War, I didn’t have to buy myself a drink for a month once we got back to base,” Williams answered with a wry shake of her head. “For all the boys on the ground like to be all macho they’re not above showing their appreciation when the Air Force comes and bails them out.”

“Indeed,” Freeman nodded. “And god knows that if all goes to shit out here, you bomber types will be kept busy as hell.”

Williams nodded, her smile fading slightly. The operational brief she had been given by the Group Operations Officer prior to deploying, which she had subsequently gone over with her own Operations Officer, had been daunting to say the least. It would take between forty-eight and seventy-two hours for reinforcements to start reaching the theatre in earnest, depending on how much lead time they had. This meant that the Kurdish Military, supported by what troops the Federation had in the region, would have to hold their own for at least that time, and it had been made very clear that it was up to Lt. Colonel Williams and the 312th Bomb Squadron to help them do that. However, as with most things in life, it would not be that simple. Although the squadron would undoubtedly be used to support troops on the ground, a role which the B-1B Lancer was not exactly designed for, she had also been told that the Eastern Sector Commander, General Gabriella Sloane (herself originally hailing from the Air Force), would likely want to use the 312th proactively to target strategic enemy targets from the outset. Whilst this was far more like the role the Lancer was designed for it would put one hell of a strain on the squadron to say the least.

It had been immediately obvious to Williams that planning, and preparation would be essential if the 312th was going to carry out the duties that were being asked of it; the operational tempo would be high enough without planning operations on the fly. There would always be some of course, unpredictable situations in which an ad hoc approach would be required, but the strategic strikes in particular were unlikely to change and were something that Williams and her staff could prepare for. Indeed, Williams had requested a meeting with the Eastern Sector Operations Officer to get an idea with what the Sector Commander had in mind, so that she could start putting together mission plans to hit particular targets that General Sloane might give them if anything kicked off. It was relatively unusual for a ‘lowly’ Squadron Commander to sit down directly with a Sector Operations Officer, as there were normally interim levels of command, but the 312th was somewhat on its own, as far as operational planning came. Sure there was the 8th Fighter Wing and the 28th Military Airlift Wing, but they had their own concerns and there was very little overlap with either, save for liaising with the Fighters to keep the skies clear. This meant that Lt. Colonel Williams would be in the same Sector planning meetings as the General Officers in command of the Wings, which whilst undoubtedly good for her career if she did well was daunting to say the least.

“What is the mood out here?” Lt. Colonel Williams asked after a time, as they watched the second pair of bombers on approach.

“Amongst the locals?” Colonel Freeman frowned. “Or the UDF?”

“The Defence Force.”

“Everyone’s nervous; the ideology and fundamentalist nature of the Caliphate, and the threat that poses not only to the physical territory of Federation member-states but also to Federation ideals, is worrying a lot of people, both civilians and the UDF troops stationed here,” Freeman shook his head. “The rank and file, from their own perspective, are of the opinion that a conflict with the Caliphate is a case of when, not if, and as much as I hate to say it, the view of the officers, particularly those who actually read their intelligence briefs, are broadly in agreement.”

“That we’re going to be fighting, one way or another, for one reason or another,” Williams nodded her understanding.

“Exactly, if its not over Kurdistan it’ll be over something else; that kind of ideology can’t coexist with ours without wanting to destroy us,” Freeman sighed. “It is truly a shame, for if there is one thing I have discovered out here it is that Islam, at its core, is a religion of peace, especially in the modern age, except when people twist scripture to justify their own ends.”

“Christians did the same, once upon a time,” Williams agreed thoughtfully. “Just look at the Crusades.”

“So much pain and suffering done in the ‘Name of God’, no matter how misguided those radicals might always be,” Freeman shook his head. “I’ve never been gladder that the Articles of the Federation specifically guarantee freedom of religion, and that the Federation has never adopted a national religion; as with everything else our diversity is our greatest strength.”

Williams nodded her agreement; for those who hailed from member-states that had been part of the Federation for a long time the ideals of the Federation were as natural to them as anything else. It was not only something that was taught in Civics lessons in school, but something that was espoused and maintained by the people. It would take some generations for those newer member-states to have the same kind of buy-in, but as they saw the benefits of diversity and peaceful coexistence it would become self-evident. The unique thing about the Federation was that its ideals were not born from any ideology, nor was it something which was ‘brainwashed’ to its citizens, but rather a set of principles that the entire Federation’s structure and very nature was built-upon; it was not a ideal that was rarely achieved, but one that was strived for, every day, by every Federation Citizen. The Officers and Enlisted of the United Defence Force were the best examples of that, putting their lives on the line for the Federation. Williams knew that she would rather give her life for the Federation, than for any god or any ideology, and if the need ever arose then she would do just that.

“You’ll let me know if your people need anything, right?” Colonel Freeman commented after a while of silence. “I’m sure you’ll have your own unique requirements.”

“You’ll be the first to know, Sir,” Williams smiled wryly. “I’m going to go and get my people settled in, do you need me for anything else?”

“Not at the moment, Colonel,” Freeman shook his head, with a matching smile.

“Very well, Sir,” Williams nodded, turning to him and saluting crisply. “By your leave?”

“Carry on,” Freeman replied simply, returning the salute.