StarDestroyer.Net BBS

“Colonel Smith” was running a bit on edge, though he was far too experienced to let it show. The Sultan’s security staff had practically required a strip search but their security cordon around the area had been sloppy. His backup team was a block away, but if things went hinky that would mean exactly dick. Time to get to business.

He said to the Sultan,
“Your Excellency I come bearing messages and an offer. First the Shinra Republic would like to talk to you. They are concerned about the war. The sergeant has a secure commlink you can use if you want to talk to them. Other clients of mine have expressed they want stability in your territory as well. So do we. We are prepared to extend an assistance contract to you. We can offer fresh intelligence and some training for your protective detail. We have been able to find out such fascinating things about your enemies. They really should take more care when they use their radios.”

Western Saddamistan
Downstream from New Port Az Zubayr

Two tugs delivered Abdullahi, now Radiation Scow, Self Propelled, No.1 in secret naval code, to the commercial container port at the mouth of the World Arabic River. The caretaker crew of special republican guard commandos, dressed in civilian cloths, was mustered off while a small naval sea crew and replacement shift of commandoes, also in merchant marine fatigues, came aboard. A small truck crane with an extended booom hoisted several small cargo crates onboard, in appeared they were typical wood boxes and steel cases used for food and shipboard supplies.

In actuality they contained a few items of heavy equipment for the commandoes, and demolition charges for the scows hull. The truck crane moved away, and two huge gantry cranes slide into place. They loaded dozens of old worn out 20 foot long shipping containers on to the deck, the real deal, but all of them empty. From the outside Radiation Scow, Self Propelled, No.1 simply appeared to be another small container ship of only about 25,000 tons full load.

She set sail as soon as loading was completed, slowly chugging out into the open ocean under the power of her two diesel engines. Several Grisha-V class ASW corvettes from the local brigade escorted her out to the horizon, as was typical for any departure. They screened against attacks, and also served as lookouts for any errant mines.

At 30 miles the Grishas turned to intercept an incoming iron ore freighter, a mammoth ship of a new type, one now increasingly being built by foreign multination’s company’s edger to import Saddamistani ore with a few trips as possible. With a naval patrol plane coaching its course from a distance, and two Virginia class SSNs sliding through the waves as silent escorts the Radiation Scow headed out into the far open ocean.

Off the Northwest coast of Saddmistan

Oracle-2

"Whoa, what's that?"

The Petty Officer glanced up at the surface search radar display.

"Container ship."

"I can see that, smartass." The Lieutenant said and he knocked his ring on the Oh Jay. "I was referring to the frigates and maritime patrol craft escorting it."

"The frigates are pretty common sir. I know you just showed up to relieve LT Waschowski..."

"And the patrol aircraft?" The Petty Officer sighed.

"Less common, but not unheard of..."

The LT walked forward to the cockpit. "Hey Smoke, let's do an overflight of that cargo ship. Contact Two Oh thirty."

"Roger."

The P-8(The LSRN designation, it actually used the same 767 airframe as so many MESS aircraft of this size type) changed course and came lower. It flew over the cargo aircraft, and Smoke waggled the flaps as it did so.

In the back, an airman staring at the camera feed called for the operations officer over the net. "Sir, can we do another pass?"

"Smoke..."

"I heard 'im" The P-8 turned around and passed over the cargo container vessel again. The LT walked aft.

"What is it?"

The airman ran the feed back to the first pass, it appeared, briefly, that one of the crewmen near a break had been hefting something and pointing it at Oracle-2. On the second pass he was just smoking with another crewmember.

"Did you get a name?"

"Abdullahi"

"Fine." The LT said. "Kick this up to CJTF-4."

UKB Global Tracking Center, Kanagawa Air Station near Sigil
Sgt Davis looked up as the end of cycle pinged on his station. The latest take from the Vulp-Sat's had been processed by the computer. There were sixteen contacts on the stretch of ocean. He threw the take upon the nearest monitor and motioned to WO2 Jarret to come over.

"What do you have Sgt Davis? he said as he stopped next to his station. "A whole not of nothing sir." replied Sgt Davis. "However we do have one new contact and two old one's leaving the harbor just as the pass completed" he added.
"Show me what you have" instructed Sergeant Major Jarret.

The stock image shown a 80 mile stretch of ocean frozen in time, three ships just rounding a jut of land outside the harbor, it was nothing new, they had seen it a half a hundred times since the two MK II Vulp sats had opened this office. What had been tagged Super-5 and Super-9 were know now to be Grisha-V Corvettes. Intel was still trying to get their names but had struck out. Which is why they were now know as Grish V-5 and Grish V-9.

"Write it up, throw it on the board, and hope the next pass in two hours see's something useful." ordered WO2 Jarret.

The ship they were escorting was an new, or at least new to the Tracking Center, it was an old Container freighter. One of Task Force Zoro Destroyers had caught her on Radar months ago but never done a fly-by due to the ship remaining with Saddamstain waters. Due to the concerns between the UKB and Saddamstain at the time, the Destroyer had only quired her IFF andd tagged her as contact SAD-14, the fact she was the Abdullahi be scrippled into the paper log but not the electronic log some hours later.. Not that that information would ever reach the people at GTC anytime soon. The idea was for the GTC to track the movement of every single ship of every single Navy in all the ocean by feeding in contact reports from military and merchant shipping, add in the Orbital element of the Vulp Sat MK II's and the up and coming Royal Radar MK III satellites in 2012 and they might just pull it off. The dozen super-computers in the basement built along the lines of the Cray XD1 provided more than enough process power for what the Center was supposed to do, however it in reality only had two sources of information at the moment, the two Vulpsat MK II's so far launched. Contact logs could be integrated but not instantly as was the designers idea. Paper logs were worse since they could not be near instantly downloaded and transmitted but had to be scanned by hand. Which took two hours for your average log-book.

As it was the contact logs of Task Force Zoro would not arrive in the UKB and be processed for at least another month.

So it remained, as Sgt Davis observed a whole lot of nothing, two well know escort Corvette's, a unknown suspected Merchant contact, and dozen know Merchant contacts in and around the coast. Being that the satellites could not orbit over Saddamstain itself they were forced into ever so sligtly altering orbits and panning their cameras sideways. Because of distortion and desigin limitations it meant the Vulp-sat's could barely see the coast line of Saddamstain let alone the interior of the island.

So that contact like the twenty new ones on average each pass, went utterly unremarked in the UKB.

Canissian Royal Border Guard

"Got a ping from a Lonestar patrol on the general MESS net," the Comms tech said.
"What is it?" the Lieutenant asked. The tech filled him in.

"Nothing unusual about it," the Lieutenant said, "But they may be testing our exclusion zone. I'll run it up the line and if they head our way we'll ready a response. Of course," he said with a smile and a look at his watch, "Really, if they're coming this way, it'll be next shift's problem."

"Urgent Traffic ,sir"

"What is it comms?" The OOD for HIS WHORE Elisha Cuthbert asked even as his voice betrayed the weariness creeping into everyone even having stood down from near war levels to a lower alert.

"We've got traffic coming in from JTF-3, its going thrugh decrypt now."

"How long?"

"Thirty seconds give or take, they sent some mission log data with it."

..
..
..

"They've got a report of suspicious activity around a freighter, going by
Abdullahi"

"Any reason for the report, they've got at least a dozen freighters either running the coastal trade or else trying to lay out more mines."

"Only word we got was that there were enough escorts to make 'em suspicious."

"Ok, log the whole thing and see if the Eagle has a track on the contact. Keep an eye on her but if she's not headed for our neck of the woods then not much we can look out for."

"Aye, sir"

"BARCAP rotation in 30 sir. Delta flight is on deck now."

"Allright, make the deck ready to launch..."

The Sultan nodded. "If things go well, I think me might be able to work out some more cooperation with you people."

Sgt. Baracus swiftly set up the comlink, double checked the security on the signals, and everything was set.

"Greetings, President Rufus."

Minas Morgil, Bear Republic:

"So your from Byzantium, welcome to The Morgil Institute, despite being located in the desert, and being a Military University, you'll find the place full of all the comforts of home."
"Any thing I should watch out for?"
"Well there's 'Drop Bear' the cat, but most people think that the ghost cat is just a story they tell newbies to keep them on thier toes. I mean a cat that can pass through solid matter, IMPOSSIBLE"
"Anything really interesting, when can we see the collider?"
"We keep telling everybody, the Collider is being constructed, we've got a good Seven years left of construction time. However the salt flats surrounding the University is where they test out new GEV, Aircraft, Airships, and car models before they go anywhere else."

as the two professors rounded the corner a small bengal kitten dashed out of an open airvent.

PRAVDA: CLIT faction goes ballistic in the Supreme Council Session Hall

Red lesbians vowed to "wage a war to end all wars" and "destroy and utterly crush militarism". When pointed to a contradiction in goals and means by the Presidium Chairman, the faction started shouting and arguing loudly in the Council, and later left the hall.

- We lament the lack of response from our government.

- Deaths of our citizens, even if they are private travellers, should never go unnoticed!

Later on, during a special interview session, the Secretary General noted that the CLIT faction denounced his decision to withdraw naval forces in compliance with the OMSK Security Council decision, but today denounced militarism.

- This is nothing more than petty opportunism. The factions in our council do create a lot of problems; however, I stand firm in my decision not to ban factionalism.

- Do you think the fallout would be massive?

- Society is currently rather confused about all Saddamistan-Libertia events which have passed, and torn between the will for peace and the suspicion that Saddamistan and Libertia events would anyway lead to war, and it's only a matter of where we would stand on that day, how are we prepared. It's unlikely that this event would lead to a large scandal; and I think the CLIT would come to terms with the situation. I don't want to sound callous, but it was the fault of a civilian not complying with security regulations, which remains the same in all nations.

New World Preservation Front ALERT: Libertopian Nightmare

While Terra Libertia has never been known to be friends of nature, the new situation has proven intolerable. The dollar-worshiping Tonkinites have take utter advantage of the local population and allied themselves with the warlord Alexander. Now the very land is raped and pillaged. In the name of capital, the Mother Earth has huge rents in it, her minerals strip-mined in gouges that ooze red like blood.

We must take action to stop the capitalists from despoiling these precious lands before it is too late and the fate of this world becomes like Old Earth. I've attached a picture of the crimes against nature: we must prepare to ensure that the Tonkinite polluters and oppressors mend their evil ways.

Aboard Radiation Scow, Self Propelled, No.1 heading into the great sea

“Anti landing and counter boarding preparations completed,” reported commando lieutenant Abu Nidal ibn Abdulaziz to the ships acting captain, a highly rated Colonel of the internal security services naval boarder patrol branch, one of several state secuitry services with full military equipment, and his own superior office, special republican guard major Major Hayat Al Raja. Both men turned to give him their attention.

“All accesses to the holds save one hatch have barricaded and trip mined,” said lieutenant Abdulaziz. “As per orders I have not mined the main deck access, propositioned mines will be used in the event the enemy means to board us. All scuttling charges are now installed , we need only connect the fuses wires to the master detonator to scuttle. I have also instructed all personal that when the main klaxon is sounded, for whatever reson, they will report here, and then climb down to the upper deck liferafts to abandon. ”

“Keep the lookouts up,” replied Al Raja. “No more then three hours per shift, I want them awake and alter. No weapons are to be broken out without my authorizion.”
“MY authorization,” bellowed the captain-colonel. “I am captain of this ship for however long it remains afloat. I want those scuttling charges fully wired, disconnect the battery only, and an Igla-S team will be kept at the ready.” This matter is of the highest national importance, failure will shame Saddamistan and our glorious leader, we will not allow any possaiblity of failure.”
“But the wiring, that violates procedures,” interjected Al Raja “we’ve hardly crossed the four hundred fathom line, its far too shallow to risk a sinking.”

“I don’t care, The Great Saddam will be with us.”

Aboard the SRS Ranger operating somewhere off the west coast of Terra Libertia

"Admiral, something odd..."

"What is it Lieutenant?" queried Vice Admiral Unther, commander of JTF-1.

"Well sir, that Saddamistan container ship the LSRN sent that routine about? One of the CAPs thinks they're heading out to the Western Ocean."

"Now why the Hell would they do that?"

"We don't know sir. An Intruder snapped some pictures awhile ago, when it was still in the straits. It looks like an ordinary container ship."

"Well I can't imagine why they'd be sending one of those out in the middle of nowhere. Have our Hawkeye move out to see if they can spot 'em on radar, and detail some Intruders to follow at a distance."

"Aye aye, sir."

NEWS FROM CROSSROADIA!!!
Crossroadian Sponsored Esdeenet Airlines takes to the Skies!


After months of world wide construction, the central hubs for an international Airship Airlines was at last launched today. Held simotaniouslly at the 10 central hubs across the world via Teleconference, the opening was recieved with much fan-fare.

One of the Crossroadian backers spoke to SDNPR Reporter Carla Castleton this morning about the new airlines.

"For the past few months much of the world has been caught up in the growing turmoil in Libertopia. At the same time, those who have been part of this have been trying to make something better, we've been building a network, of not just new airports, but better relations for all nations involved."

The Airlines uses a mix of large and small Zepplin and airships. Most of those in use where manufactured in the Bear Republic while others came from Vulpesa and Crossroadia. One of the main concerns of the airlines has largerly been worked around, the fear of overflights of nations that had not signed onto the Association. For the most part, the main flightpaths for the 10 Main hubs encroach little on other nations airspaces.



Currently, the Airlines has stops in the Capital cities of:
Byzantium
Crossroadia
The Republic of Canissia
The Bear Republic
The Red Technocracy
Shroomani
The Republic of N'Ton
The Republic of Vulpesa
Grand Ducy of Baal
Qudlivun Freestate
However new ports are always being sought after.

((OOC)) If I missed any nation tha tsigned up to the International Airship Association, let me know and i can alter the map.

I'm guessing no direct route to Minas Morgil. So you can't simply fly into Mordor. Though college students and professors, along with my military do it all the time.

yes, we've even renamed the Volcano that blocked the pass "Mt. Doom"

Damn! I can't believe I forgot to make that post

PeZookia would like to join the airline project, of course. Funds will be allocated to upgrade our airports in order to acommodate airships in FY2011.

BBC Atlantis News Station

BBC reports: International Conference on Terra Libertia begins

As the short opening ceremony ended, the international conference called by King Paul I of PeZookia could begin in earnest. In an opening speech, King Paul stated that concrete goals must be stated for the Libertopian stabilization plan. More importantly, all major alliances should delineate their desires and goals, including their desire to support any particular Libertopian country.

"It must be understood: There are nations who would like to see their chosen Libertopian leader to prevail. This is not necessarily a bad thing, although in order to devise a proper stabilization plan, we need to understand each other and work with transparency. An economic stabilization plan is not inherently opposed to other plans, but all concepts will fail unless undertaken with full understanding of what other nations and alliances want to accomplish there. I don't think anybody wants to engage in proxy wars in Libertia, but I'm sure that everybody has their own concept on what to do there. Let's hear them all, discuss and come to a proper agreement before this land, and its people, are forever lost."

King Paul has further commented that he believed it is economic stabilization that Libertia needs most, and infighting between the three local nations should be strongly discouraged.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Atlantis Bureau Of Publication has released the following report before the conference began, the hope it will allow various national leaders to make a more informed decision on Terra Libertia:

Preliminary report on Libertopian stabilization

The II Republic RIS, in co-operation with economic ministries of the FUN, has prepared a study of Libertopian economy and political dynamic, and has prepared a preliminary proposal for stabilization using economic means and aid. This document is classified at this time ; It has been sent to all countries concerned with possible means of stabilizing Libertopia.


Map of Terra Libertia

Table of contents

Section A: Economic situation by warlord areas
A.0: General observations
A.1: Lord Ramsley
A.2: General Alexander
Section B: Law enforcement
B.0: General observations
B.1: Banditry
B.2: Civil Law
B.3: Corruption

Section A: Economic situation by warlord areas

A.0: General observations

It is difficult to estimate macroeconomic indicators in Libertopia due to lack of any data gathering institutions. However, based on observation and reports by humanitarian workers, we estimate that Libertopia is home to between 7 and 10 million people,most of whom live a subsistence lifestyle farming.

Electrical power is practically non-existent. After the collapse of government authority, qualified specialists and engineers either fled the country or died in the subsequent civil war. Power stations and distribution infrastructure was almost completely destroyed by numerous warring factions.

Diesel fuel and generators are available only in the biggest towns and cities.
Most power generation is done by using converted automobiles, and used to support militia operations in one form or another.

Monetary systems don't exist. The Libertopian economy is mostly barter-based, with the most precious items being food, fuel and medical supplies. Taxes are collected "in nature", in the form of food or supplies.

The road system is mostly in a decent state, although most roads require extensive repairs. All major cities are connected by paved roads, and a well-developed local road system exists.

Public education is non-existent. Some reports have surfaced that Red Technocracy volunteers have attempted ot establish a university in territorry of Lord Ramsley, but a shortage of qualified staff is going to be a major problem.


A.1: Lord Ramsley

The coastal areas administered by the "Sons Of The Faith" house close to 40% of Libertopia's population. Due to the extensive coastline and good fishing areas, there is no shortage of food and starvation is relatively rare.

Lord Ramsley operates a large fleet of small fishing cutters, many of them powered by sails due to a shortage of fuel. These ships are forbidden from selling their produce, and it is distributed centrally by the militia. The distribution network is inefficient and proneto corruption, but manages to feed the population when suplemented by small-time farming.

The lack of diesel fuel rules the life in Ramsley's territorries: no power is available to heat homes and light them. The only vehicles are run by the militia, and most labor is done by hand.

Nearly all employment is related in some way to Ramsley's operations. There is a small service industry in the cities, which serves the militia as well.

Lord Ramsley's biggest economic concerns currently are a lack of diesel fuel and electrical power.

A.2: General Alexander

The mountains of Libertopia are minerally-rich, but lacks fertile lands. The Iron General controls the smallest population of all the warlords (no more than 10%), and controls most of Libertopia's remaining mines.

The Iron General's lands are well-developed industrially, relatively speaking. He uses legacy machinery, and controls several oil wells capable of running much of his mechanized equipment. Electrical power is most prevalent in Alexander's territorry: His is the only place where Libertopians can power their homes for a few hours a day, although the coverage is uneven and often broken.

Paradoxally, Alexander is often forced to trade with semi-independent local commanders of Ramsley's militia for food and necessary supplies.He only controls one small sea port, and has tenouous ties with other world nations - mostly the IRT, which has been ruthlessly exploiting the mineral wealth present in his lands. The road network in Alexander's territory is dilapidated and scarce, with many roads having been destroyed in the fighting or mined to protect from incursions by the Sultan or Lord Ramsley. Disease is prevalent, made more severe by malnutrition and atrocious working conditions in the mines.

Most pressing concerns for Alexander, according the best available data, are food shortages, medical care, transportation infrastructure and law enforcement.


A.3: Sultan Ibrahim

Ibrahim controls between 30 and 40% of all Libertopian populace. Hard data is hard to obtain on this warlord: We know he operates a fishing fleet similar to Ramsley's, and has several legacy warships, seized from the government by anarchist "liberators" following the dissolution of government. Currently, the Northern Sultanate is in a state of ideological civil war.

Ibrahim's infrastructure is by far in the worst shape ;

As a result, there are no surviving industries or power plants which can be restored to use. Hospitals and schools were converted to warehouses, administrative buildings or mosques.

However, the Sultan has managed to organize an effective system of supply distribution. Draconian punishment for any corrupt dealings made it possible for food to be distributed quite efficiently, despite shortages.

Health care is a major concern for the Sultan, as practically all doctors with any degree of knowledge fled to areas controlled by Ramsley and Alexander, and health education was non-existent during the period of hardline Islamic rule. As a result, the infant mortality rate is extremely high (reaching as much as 300 deaths per 1000 live births in some areas). Several easily preventable diseases are a major problem in the Sultan's lands, as well as sanitation and water supplies.

The result is that while law enforcement is draconian and effective, the Sultan is facing discontent from his people. This is by far his most pressing concern, along with the typical food problems.

Section B: Law enforcement

B.0: General observations

Contrary to popular belief, Libertopia is not lawless. All three warlords have imposed their own general code of laws, covering all the basic crimes. The main problem is law enforcement.

Generally, there is no difference between police forces and militia units. They perform both military and policing duties, with different success rates.

There is no court system, separation of powers or other similar institutions. Generally speaking, militia officers act like governors of their assigned areas, having the authority to solve disputes and give sentences for crimes. Naturally, this leads to rampant corruption - there have been cases of militia officers executing civilians just to seize their posessions for themselves.

Only Lord Ramsley has set up anything approaching a court system, based along religious lines. The clergy serve as advisors to militia officers, and have considerable authority over them. Because of this, law enforcement in Ramsley's territories is marginally more efficient. General Alexander and the Sultan use draconian punishment and a system of trusted officers to establish their law enforcement system, with mixed results.

B.1: Banditry

Banditry is rampant. Often the only way to make a living is for Libertopians to take food and necessities from others.

The most pressing problem for all three warlords is that militia soldiers often rob civilians or desert to form roving, armed bands of bandits. Even the Iron General does not completely control his militia, and there are several mountain regions were smaller warlords have set up their little one or two village fiefdoms

Banditry is mostly handled by providing security to major strongpoints: roads and wilderness areas are not policed at all, or very sparely. Most militias have no capability to actually destroy rogue elements, especially since many rogue "mini-states" are composed of formed militiamen themselves.

B.2: Civil Law

No civil law system exists. Disputes are settled either with the help of militia officers, clergy or through common agreement. This leads to a wide disparity of legal systems, which sometimes varies from village to village. For example, in General Alexander's capital of New Delhi, it is legal for 18-year olds to marry by declaring intent in front of a local militia officer, while no more than 20 kilometers outside the city, the customary law is that the man must "buy" the bride from her parents, and it is impossible to enter a legally binding marriage without this step.

This disparity of civil laws and regulations makes it difficult to trade and move about Terra Libertia, sometimes to the extreme that a trader is unable to move his goods between two close villages.

B.3: Corruption

Corruption is a fact of life in Libertia, and is often tolerated by all three warlords. Most militia soldiers performing administrative duties are not paid at all. For example, tax collectors are expected to provide for themselves first, then for their superiors, then finally for the higher authorities. The situation is practically the same in all three warlord's territories, with the notable exception of General Alexander, who is the only one to undertake a serious effort to fight corruption. The Sultan maintains an effective police force, with draconian punishment for corrupt food-distribution officials, but other parts of living in the Sultanate are just as corrupt as anywhere else.

Constantinople Times

Byzantium Airlines pitches for the Business traveler, offering fast speedy access to neighboring nations.

Byzantium Airlines has announced that it is expanding its services. The following routes will be serviced twice a day:

Byzantium <-> Crossroadia <-> Shroomia
Byzantium <-> Canissia <-> Red Technocracy
Byzantium <-> Canissia <-> Bear Republic
Byzantium <-> Shroomia <-> Shinra Republic
Byzantium <-> Shroomia <-> Pezookia
Byzantium <-> Shinra Republic <-> Zoria
Byzantium <-> Red Technocracy <-> UKB
Byzantium <-> Bear Republic <-> Wilkonia
Byzantium <-> Lone Star Republic <-> Wilkonia
Byzantium <-> Lone Star Republic <-> Tian Xia

More services will be added when Red Technocracy delivers the remaining Il-96 planes.

Byzantium Airlines is considering flying to Manila, but flying over Saddamistan or close to it, is considered too hazardous. Unless the Great Saddam would give assurances that it won't shoot down commercial airliners, or allow for flights to Saddamistan, Byzantium Airlines will not fly to Manila.

Red Technocracy's Spokesman Air Force Marshall Anna at the Libertia Conference, Atlantis, Congress Hall, 12:41

- I would like to thank my PeZookian colleagues for the explanation of the Libertian situation. We... - the young female looked a little confused, and started digging through the papers at her desk. - Ah, here. The KGB files sometimes seem to behave like their authors do, vanish, - she smiled wryly.

- I have to say our report for the Supreme Council had a few differences, but perhaps we are confused, - Anna continued, - so I'll list our preliminary findings which contradict the FUN report, or add important information.

1. Population disparity.
Our agents on the ground, whose tasks were specific intelligence gathering, estimate a 50-60 million population. It has also been the estimate of Vanaheim's agents which were the first to resume contacts with Libertia after the civil war, which caused a diplomatic breakdown and self-imposed isolation of the island.

2. Court systems
While the Diocese has a semi-operable shot at operating religious courts, especially with the UOC providing draft legalese now, as you correctly observed, and we know little of judicial system in Alexander's territories, the Sultanate used to have Islamic Courts which governed the heavily islamic regions prior to the ascendance of Ibrahim.

As a holy Ummah, he greatly damaged the authority of the Courts during his rise and power centralization. As of now, in civil war, the Courts have ceased operating.

"I was assured by our intelligence people their estimate is correct, but I will grant the Red Technocracy may possess more information sources on the ground. This is an important consideration, and of course must be cleared up."

King Paul shuffled his own papers a bit, paused and continued.

"We know Byzantium's, Canissia's and Shinra's positions on the Libertian issue, but I would like to ask the Red Technocracy what their long-term plans are for the region. It is obvious you wish to support Lord Ramsley ; But to what end goal and purpose?"

Fort Apache, Syndromia:

The first of the Republic's designated Trade fortresses, things were going smoothly in the most stable of the disaster areas. Actually the first two stages were pretty much done at the same time. Air Defense was a secondary priority to getting communications, and fuel/ammo depots set up. The Bear Republic was more interested in fueling and co-ordinating anti piracy air patrols, and getting the latest Templar hover craft out to the fight against the pirates. Still the Republic was doing good, hiring locals to man an airship port and extend it into a first rate airport.

Besides the Republic was preparing some new products for sale to others and some new military innovations.



Minas Morgûl
The desert's jagged terrain speed by under him, a mistake and he would be cut to ribbons. Still the aluminum and plastic gliders were quiet insertations, and the commandos of the black tower began practicing gliding in and siezing positions on a freighter. All just practice.

Atlantis, Conference Hall

Ania shrugged.

- Plans? The Unified Orthodox Church, a non-governmental international organization, is heavily involved in relief and supply of the Diocese, to stabilize it. As for the Red Technocracy's government, we are seeking greater contact with the Diocese and it's government for many reasons. One of them is the possibility of an military action being required in the Northern Sultanate, or an operation against Saddamistan should it successfully take over the Northern lands and initiate further hostilities in this land.

She stopped for a while, to determine the reaction.

- And please don't tell me this "cannot happen". It can, as we all know. A nation in civil war, the Technocracy treats the Sultanate as a sovereign nation-state. In case the jihad factions triumph and it is continued, that would be essentially a formal, and legal, declaration of war against a sovereign OMSK Nation, and thereby on all OMSK Nations, including our land. Another issue is the protection of cultural heritage in Libertia, which has been also a great cause of concern among the UOC after humanitarian assistance.

- So you're creating what, an enclave? Orthodoxy sure works as proxy means of control; the Orthodox lobby works both ways, the Church is helped by the Red government, but it is also under the influence of your military command chain, - inquired one of the attendees.

- Are you accusing me? - she spoke softly. - The Red Technocracy has been marked by a high degree of honesty and openness about our intent; something that other governments often lack. And now, you see, we openly say: yes, we fear war. Yes, we need Ramsley's territory as a possible platzdarm for operations in Libertia, should they be required, because the Technocracy finds itself obliged to protect it's citizens, some of which already travelled for pilgrimage to Ramsley's land, and more are contemplating such a travel.

- I personally met Ramsley, and despite him being an uneasy man, we find his charismatic leadership in the Diocese of vital importance to stability of the Libertian situation - as well as his official recognition by more governments.

- We stress again, that the Sultanate will risk severe consequences in case the official jihad course is continued.

"I am very pleased with the Air Marshall's honesty with regard to Red Technocracy intent in Libertia. As I've said before - most Nova Terra nations have their own vision of Libertia's future, but they are not necessarily incompatible."

King Paul adjusted his glasses.

"However, it also necessary to provide reassurances to other Libertian nations that the world community will not favor any one of them. PeZookia would therefore like to propose the following initial outline for the stabilization plan:

1. All Libertian nations will sign ceasefires with each other and agree to respect the current borders between them.

2. Libertian nations - including the Sultanate - shall be recognized as legitimate nations by the world at large, which has happened already in many cases.

3. A joint inter-alliance headquarters shall be established to co-ordinate stabilization operations in Libertia. It will perform administrative and oversight functions.

4. All military presence in Libertia would be commanded by this joint headquarters, in order to prevent claims of favoritism, and expedite humanitarian operations.

5. The Sultanate shall receive limited military aid to help Sultan Ibrahim re-establish control over the area.

6. All sovereign Libertian nations would be allowed to purchase arms, but agressive operations against their neighbors will mean the less of any and all aid to all three factions.

7. All three areas will receive aid in establishment of effective civil authority

8. Concurrently with point 8, humanitarian aid and infrastructure development will begin."

"The plan is obviously an outline, and is subject to discussion. We propose that all nations adopt the policy of non-intervention, and no major alliance will admit Libertian nations untill they have met the criteria for stabilization."

- We support King Paul's proposals, and we also stress, that we would go even greater lengths - to support forcibly, if necessary, restoring the Sultan to power, or, should he die during the warfare or by assassination, conduct a joint military mission in the Sultanate region and find a solution to the power vacuum.

We find the Sultanate's stability crucial before speaking of a larger solution; the Sultanate's instability, recently exacerbated by actions of Saddamistan, is our prime problem here.

We understand that the Jihad issue mostly concerns the OMSK, but not FUN, since the target was Shepnukistan, our honoured ally. We have reached a conclusion with President Sheppard, that the OMSK as an entity, and Shepnukistan is particular, will only deal with the Sultanate in case the latter rescinds the Jihad. The civil war has made this problem so far unresolved.

"I would like to stress here that the Sultan's Jihad has been primarily aimed at the Lonestar Republic of the MESS, making this an inter-alliance issue."

"Concerning armed intervention in the Sultanate, intelligence reports indicate, that the situation is quite complicated. The rebel faction seems to enjoy popular support, and this must be dealth with before we engage in occupation of a overally hostile nation, especially as - if the Red Technocracy's population estimate is correct - we will be forced to pacify a country housing between 15 and 25 million people."

"We must also adress the question of Saddamistan, which - predictably - did not send a delegation to the conference. It is important the allied nations know of the exact ideas on making sure Saddamistan does not pose a threat to the stabilization effort. What is the OMSK position on the issue, in light the recent tensions?"

Hyper-Velocity Gun Test Site
Time: 0700 Local

“You Grace, the prototype is ready for its first test”

“Excellent, Dr. Howard. You may fire when ready.”

“All right people, let’s get ready. Status check.”

“Fire control is a go.”

“Air Traffic Control is a go.”

“Telemetry is a go.”

“Power is a go.”

“You Grace, all stations report a go, and we have green lights across the board.”

“Fire.”

A large electrical build-up is heard and then there is a blinding flash. Seconds later the shock wave is felt by all in the command bunker.

“What the fuck was that? Dr. Howard Report.”

“You Grace, the gun is completely gone. I don’t know what happened. We will investigate this immediately.”

“Dr., get your findings together and report to me as soon as possible. Also, finish construction on the second prototype. I told you it was a good idea to build more than one.”

“Yes your Grace. I will have the report to you in by the end of the day.”

General’s Palace
Time: 1600 Local

“Your Grace, I have the findings from our investigation.”

“Sit down, Dr. Howard. So what have you got?”

“Sire, it seems we experienced a massive cascade effect from the weapon. It caused a catastrophic failure in the weapon capacitors which caused the explosion. It seems we were a little too ambitious and tried to start out with too much power. Unfortunately the Hyper-Velocity Gun prototype was completely destroyed. The heat build up melted the barrel.”

“Will this happen again?”

“We think we found the problem, your Grace. The power shut off was not set correctly, and when the power reached a critical level, the capacitors did not do a safety shut down. We believe we can fix the problem. The new prototype will be ready for testing in about 2 months.”

“Very well Dr.. I don’t like wasting money on experiments that were obviously not completely thought through. Make sure this does not happen again.”

“Yes your Grace.”

"Concerning armed intervention in the Sultanate, intelligence reports indicate, that the situation is quite complicated. The rebel faction seems to enjoy popular support, and this must be dealth with before we engage in occupation of a overally hostile nation, especially as - if the Red Technocracy's population estimate is correct - we will be forced to pacify a country housing between 15 and 25 million people."

"Indeed," Rufus interjected quickly. "The MESS, as we all know, has assets in place. But so far we have not formed a cohesive plan. We would be very interested in what our fellow nations would have in mind to bring stability to the Sultanate. I agree with the Red Technocracy that instability in the Sultanate would only bring down our attempts to help the other two nations."

He glanced over at Arik and continued. "And while I know not everyone present is the Sultan's biggest fan, the fact is he did rescind the Jihad. Which means we at least know he can be reasoned with. To paraphrase an old saying, better the man you know than the one you don't."

King Paul nodded and added, "We must also adress the question of Saddamistan, which - predictably - did not send a delegation to the conference. It is important the allied nations know of the exact ideas on making sure Saddamistan does not pose a threat to the stabilization effort. What is the OMSK position on the issue, in light the recent tensions?"

"Yes, we would like to finally get an answer on that," Rufus commented, and looked over at the OMSK leaders assembled.