SDNWorld Redux: Story Thread the First.

[Zor]

Unstoppable-class Destroyer HMS-Relentless, Zorian Waters

Commodore Suki Nagijima of His Majesty's Zorian Navy watched the Sonar screen reviling the Submarine approached the Motherland's Coastline. She was leading a group composed of her destroyer, a the Frigate Arisaka and a pair of Bull Shark attack Subs as they moved in on the vessel. Airborne Recon had confirmed it to be the Terrorist Vessel Steve Shroomwin. Zoria was not a warmongering nation, but an armed submarine invading her waters without authorization, especially not one manned by Terrorists.

"Hail Them"

"Aye Captain", she pulled down her headpiece's mike into place.

"Attention Steven Shroomwin, this is Captain Nagijima of His Majesty's Zorian Ship Relentless. You have violated Zorian waters without authorization with an armed warship, this is an act that shall not be Tolerated. We have you outnumbered and out gunned, stand down and surrender your ship and persons to Zoria or we will use whatever force unnecessary to neutralize the threat you pose to the Kingdom. You have One minute to Respond..." The message was not delivered with malice, anger or disgust, simply stated in the proper cold, rational tone of an Zorian Military Officer. It got the message across.

[Raj Ahten]

In Cascadia, at the San Magdalena Peace Conference


The Conference Room at San Magdalena

The peace talks between Indhopal, Coilerburg, Omango and Sabika had stalled for a time due to disagreements in the Junta controlling Coilerburg. A number of generals were pushing for a very hard line and they were ousted by the moderates which were willing to try Indhopal's approach. There were rumors that bribes distributed by Indhopal's ISIA had something to due with that.

Coilerburg's position was it wanted Omango and Sabika to greatly reduce the size of their armed forces with their armies capped out at brigade of infantry each and no jet aircraft. These limits were somewhat negotiable. They had also agreed to a ceremony where the evils of Iler's regime would be condemned and tribute would be paid to his victims inside Coilerburg and abroad.

Omango and Sabika were in a very weak position and they knew it. In Omango, the government had lost all popular support and most people in that nation felt the war had been basically a "wag the dog" exercise to distract the populace from a collapsing domestic economy. The people on the streets were for Indhopal's peace plan, even if many in government bristled at defeat from Coilerburg and its allies.


A checkpoint on the border of Sabika being manned by members of Indhopal's First Division.

In Sabika the outlook for a lasting peace was dimmer. A wave of nationalism had over taken the country and many people felt that they would have won against Coilerburg if Indhopal hadn't jumped in. They were bristling at the arms reduction plans, though the Iler condemnation ceremony appeased popular opinion somewhat.

(With Coiler having pulled out, I guess it’s up to me to flesh out the peace situation somewhat. Now that all the positions are known, I guess it is up to Steve, or Marina, what the final peace resolution looks like. Note that Omango and Sabika are basically at the mercy of the FTO, so there will be peace. Whether it is a lasting one depends on whether or not Sabika and Omango can stomach the cost.)

[phongn]

Major Defense Competition Under Way

HUE - Competition and evaluation for next-generation aircraft are now under way in the IRT. The Lightweight Fighter contract is believed to a close race between the indigenous GA-80 design and a navalized Gripen offered by Svalbardia. It is also widely rumored that a major replacement contract to replace Phantom and Hornet fighters is undergoing final negotiations with the Boeing Company of Cascadia ...

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Melchett McMeistervater tried to sober himself up. Unlike the San Doradoans and the Langleys (particularly that pretty girl with the digicam), these Byzantium bits could be pretty prickly - so Melchett had to steel himself and alter his composure to that which was appropriate in dealing with the situation at hand.

"Exarch Decius, old friend!" Melchett greeted as he met with Byzantium's big boy. "How are you? All is well, I suppose?"

"Good Morning Melchett, I trust the cake you gave to President Hank wasn't too laced with alcohol?" smiled Decius. "Now on to business. Since you are here, and the Emperor is .. somewhat dispensed with the MESS-Shepistan war, along with other important matters, the Emperor has me to do his bidding.

To start off, one thing the Emperor has noticed, is that you haven't... a definite defence policy. Byzantium has been gearing up to fight off possible threats, yet... Shroomania has indulged in defence cuts over the last few years. As much as we understand.. the Shroomanian inclination for hedonism, surely you would like to aid your neighbours against potential threats?

Further, we are also concerned with Shroompeace. Here's the location of the submarine bay they used to store that damn submarine of theirs. Go and do something at once!"

[Karmic Knight]

PCIA Communique to: the Vinish Republic and Indhopal

The C.S.R. informs the Vinish Republic and Indhopal that their friendly attitude during the recent events allows us to consider several options regarding Frequesque security.

First, Vinish observers will be allowed to C.S.R. military installations, especially to certain emplacements on the Vinish border that may spark sensitive issues between our nations.

Second, Vinish and Inhopal military is offered a participation in a joint military exercise "West Coast Stability - 2009".

Third, the limitation of strategic weapons in A.F.S.R. can be discussed at separate tri-partite talks between our sovereign nations.

Fourth, an economic co-operation package and abilities to invest into new AFSR projects are offered to the respective nations.

Vinish Diplomatic QuickReply©

The Vineyards would be quite relieved at the offer of observations to be made about military instillations, though we would like to make it clear we will be forwarding the information gathered to the FTO.

The Vineyards thank the CSR for the opportunity in a Joint Military Exercise, but our forces are spread too thin performing the duties assigned to them that we would not be able to spare forces for the exercise.

While it is preferable for no strategic weapons to be placed on the continent, the Vineyards understand the threat posed by Westchester – Colony of Tian Xia, an agreement to limit the amount of strategic weapons is the best hope for peace in this case.

The Vineyards would like more information about this cooperation package, what projects would it entail?

[OOC: Karmic, why squabble over networks and broadcasting rights when we can work together and televise crap together? There's plenty of airwaves for San Dorado, Shroomania, and the Vineyards to share! Hell, the Langleys will be filling our boobtubes with animus for the kids too! OTAKU! DESU DESU! WATASHIWA!]

(OOC: The Empire of Communications, MUWHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA)

-Vintendo Signs Up For Multinational Network Cooperative
The Vii users across the world are either rejoicing or weeping with the news, Macmillan Megacorporation and Vintendo have reached an agreement, forming the Degenerate GrapeVine (OOC: Unless this name is very stupid.) which will link gamers from all over the world together via stratellites and land lines. This cooperation comes after the announcement and trailer for Haliod.


-Opinion Polls Suggest the Federal Kingdom is on its way.

-Combat Ready ATV Squadron Launched by Eutopia

-Ground Breaking of New City in Kingdom of Earles

[Steve]

Action

The RCAF has formally activated the 2nd Fighter Squadron, which has been assigned to Shusen Air Force Base outside of Shanxi in Jieshi. In a slight Air Force reorganization, the 7th Fighter Squadron has been detached from 1st Fighter Wing to join 2nd Fighter Squadron in the re-activated 1st Tactical Wing.

[Beowulf]

Ares Blog

The Tian Xia Ministry of War released new development and production contracts today. Most of them seem to be related to the Fucklands War, and the dismal showing of the TXAF in that war. Notable among the new contracts is for TACMS-P, a previously cancelled variant of the ATACMS missile that was designed to destroy hardened bunkers, such as the Bomarc launchers that gave the MESS such trouble.

Other contracts include more JASSM missiles. Included are additional JASSM-ER missiles. The majority of stocks of both were depleted. A development contract was issued for an anti-ship variant of the JASSM, presumably in order to reduce the number that must be fired against a prepared enemy. This is likely a result of the number of missiles expended in the Death Ride of the PRSFN. This will likely relegate the Harpoon missile to being solely a surface and submarine launched missile. A fourth contract on JASSM is to allow it to be ground launched, however, naval vessels still won't be able to launch them without special launch tubes, similar to how Harpoons are mounted on the KG-20 class. They are simply too large to fit into a Mk41 VLS cell.

Another developmental contract was issued by the Department of the Navy for the HyFly hypersonic demonstrator. The navy has also issued an urgent contract for Diamondback missiles, in both anti-ship and land attack models. This is probably an indicator that all Tomahawk missiles have been expended, excluding those armed with special warheads.

The Air Force has issued contracts for more airframes. F-12Ds showcased their superiority in the war with a 50 to 0 kill ratio, even though there was only 8 of them operational. The TXAF issued a contract for an additional wing's worth of aircraft. F-15Fs made a poor showing, and the TXAF apparently knows this, since no more of them have been ordered. The F-14F proposal has been ordered to replace the F-14Es lost in the war.

The army continues it's modernization plan, despite it's poor showing in the war.

[MKSheppard]

Somewhere in Shepistan

As part of the lull in fighting, officers from the Shepistani General Staff fanned out all across Shepistan, accompanied by 'Civilian Consultants' from Japanistan to inspect the state of Shepistani Forces.

At the 12th Missile Interceptor Squadron, they found a site covered in craters, but still capable of combat duties.

"So, how badly were you hit, General?" asked the Japanistani consultant, General (Ret) Tanaka.

"It looks a lot worse than it does," replied B.Gen Al-Ullah; commander of the 12th MIS.

"As you well know, each Missile Interceptor Squadron is divided into two detachments, each containing sixty missiles, for a total of 120. Each missile is launched from it's own hardened shelter."

"Originally, the shelters had one foot-thick reinforced concrete walls, and the roof mechanisms had 0.36" of armor plate. Around the 1980s, we began the BOMARC Upgrade program, which added two inches of wrought iron around each shelter and then backfilled earth around each shelter for several feet of additional protection. The roof mechanisms were upgraded with a spaced layer of a half inch of aluminum armor; and the space in between the old roof armor plate and the new plate was filled with sand."

"As you can see, these measures worked well enough in defeating the threat of shaped charge bomblets scattered by various methods, although we did lose a few missiles to fires started inside the shelters by the bomblets."

"What about precision munitions?" asked Tanaka.

"That's a lot harder, sad to say. Most of our losses have come from precision munitions striking the roofs of the shelters; which are just not enough to stop even a 250 pound bomb from penetrating. However, the shelters do prevent the loss of one shelter from causing a sympathetic chain reaction amongst the missiles, limiting losses."

"JSOWs?" prodded Tanaka.

"We were able to decoy a significant quantity of them by using IR decoys and various camouflage measures; because they rely on precision terminal guidance through an imaging seeker; and if you change the shape of the shelter on the wavelengths that the seeker sees through; the weapon gets confused; but they're still deadly."

"Sounds like you're sorely in need of a new defensive system," remarked Tanaka with utter dry wit as he walked past empty shelters and destroyed ones.

"You have no idea. We started this war with 500 missiles extra over what was already on the launchers, due to various missiles being in the factory for remanufacturing, or being used as target drones; et cetera; but ran through those fast. We probably only have about 300 left by this point in our entire country."

"Sounds like a good opportunity for Mitsubombi's new Brilliant Blossom system, replied Tanaka; sensing an opportunity. "We of course can offer you extremely favorable terms of financing and construction through the Bulwark against Imperialism program."

"I'll have to pass it up to my higher ups, General."

Results
Shepistan signing on to recieve Brilliant Blossom system from Japanistan post-war through the Bulwark against Aggression Program.

Your typical Brilliant Blossom Hardened Squadron consists of the following systems spread out over 50 square miles:

4 x Automatic Cannon Caliber Point Defense Systems (Think Land based CIWS).
4 x ABM Silos (4 missiles; 1,250 mile range)
40 x Ultra Heavy SAM Silos (40 missiles, 600 mile range; 1 BOMARC sized weapon in each silo)
4 x Heavy SAM Silos (160 missiles, 120~ mile range; 40 S-300 sized weapons in each silo)
15 x SA-22 Pantsir-S1s roaming around (180 missiles; 15 mile range; 12 missiles per launcher)
80 x Hardened Drive-In/Drive-Out Shelters for local mobile Air Defense Units

Total Construction Cost Per Silo: $6.7 million
Total Construction Cost for Complex: $500 million.
Total Construction Cost for Drive-In/Drive-Out Shelters: $500 million

Weapons Acquistion Costs:
$200 million for Heavy ABMs
$200 million for Ultra Heavy SAMs
$480 million for Heavy SAMs
$225 million for Light SAMs

Total Squadron Costs: $2.1 billion

Notes: The Complex utilizes the new Brilliant Blossom Heavy Silo; which are built with 16 foot thick reinforced concrete walls and high hardness armor plate bands. Each silo is sized to provide 110% sway room in height and 125% sway room in diameter for a 40 foot long, 12 ft diameter missile; resulting in them being able to fit 44 foot, 15 ft diameter missiles with no refitting.

The Heavy Silos defeat any and all 2,000 pound class warheads. Only a 4,000 pound and above class munition can reliably destroy a Heavy Silo.

Each of the 80 Drive-In/Drive-Out is hardened to resist multiple strikes by 500 pound laser guided bombs, and degrade gracefully against 1,000 pound class bombs (e.g. the Shelter will be wrecked and structurally unsound, but the unit being protected inside will be largely undamaged). Blast walls are standard features, to prevent destruction of the shelter via precision guided munitions aimed towards the entrance.

Additionally, each shelter contains a retractable data cable which enables the unit inside to be connected directly to the Brilliant Blossom Network, making them capable of receiving target tracking information via the network; rolling outside, and firing their missile(s) against the targets, handing missile guidance over to other sites, then rolling back in, without radiating any emissions at all.

[MKSheppard]

Japanistani Port of Hiroshima, New Sumatra

Hiroshima was the new name for the port city of Shiloh; which had been settled by Christian Crusaders long ago; but was now under Japanistani administration as part of the New Sumatra Special Security Zone.

Sitting inside a completely enclosed drydock in the Special Security Zone of the port was the SSAN Barb, one of the four Gato SSANs that Shepistan had built over the years.

Right now, she was being reloaded with weapons after having racked up an impressive 1.5 million tons of merchant shipping on her first war patrol, sinking twenty ships of varying sizes along the major shipping routes once the word had come down from Annapolis to cease offensive operations against the increasingly large concentrations of naval might that the MESS was putting together.

Against a single carrier battlegroup, a SSAN had a very high chance of getting in, and sinking it's targets, and then escaping. Against two or more, the chances decreased dramatically.

So, they had been turned against merchant shipping. Even the biggest supertanker in the world was no match for a 40 inch torpedo under the keel. In one notable case, they'd picked up the machinery noises of a large supertanker at 90 nautical miles, and then tracked it to 10 nautical miles; and launched two 40 inch torpedoes at it. That had given them an impressive 260,000 GRT to their total, once the identity of the ship had been broadcast wide across the shipping networks.

The Shroom Viking, largest super tanker in the world, was no more.

Japanistani port of Nagasaki, Imperial Homeland

Unlike her counterparts, the RSS Flasher hadn't racked up any impressive kill scores. The Flasher was the second SSAN that Shepistan had built, and as such, she was much smaller, and only mounted 26" torpedo tubes, unlike her later sisters.

Below the surface of the water; Lionel "Shroomster" Crabb, top frogman in the Old Dominion Navy swam with measured kicks; no trace of his path appearing on the water's surface due to his rebreather.

Strapped to his buoyancy vest was a 175 pound shaped charge limpet mine. His mission? To plant it on the SSAN and end the threat of at least that boat.

Minutes later, he placed the limpet mine on the lower hull of the Flasher and activicated it's timer. Unfortunately, Crabb was advancing in age, and had forgotten to correct his buoyancy vest for the weight he'd removed. So it was as he kicked away from the Flasher, he bobbed dangerously close to the surface. Close enough to be seen by the Shepistani and Japanistani guards patrolling the pier.

Anti-Swimmer grenades were thrown into the water immediately, and within seconds, Crabb's broken and battered body floated to the surface.

Several minutes later, as the Shepistani and Japanistani frogmen were jumping into the water to inspect the hull of the Flasher, the limpet mine went off; it's shaped charge easily piercing the outer hull, boring through the several feet of water which separated the outer hull from the various pressure hulls inside, and burned a 2 inch diameter hole in the port engine pressure hull; filling boat with hundreds of gallons of seawater in seconds.

Slowly, the Flasher began to settle by the stern into the mud of the port...

Results
Commerce War beginning with SSANs
One Dead OD Frogman
One SSAN disabled and out of the war.

[DarthShady]

Shady News

PeZookian Observers arrive in the USSR

A group of PeZookian observers lead by Mr. Jozef Muszynski arrived in the USSR today, the observers will be given a tour of the newly re-joined territories of the USSR so that they could see the situation in the region. These observers are great critics of the shadow reunion and it is the hope of Premier Shady that their visit will help alleviate their fears and prove to them that the USSR is not the Shadow Empire of old, but a friend of PeZookia and it's people.

Premier Shady expected to visit PeZookia and appear in a television interview

Rumours are abound that Premier Shady plans to visit PeZookia and hold an interview on their national television. The supposed purpose of the visit and the interview is to assure the PeZookian public that the shadows are their friends and allies, and to explain the current situation to the PeZookian people and assure them that they have nothing to fear from their SNC allies.

New Border Agreement to be signed

A new Border Agreement will be signed between PeZookia and the USSR, the agreement will cede certain USSR territory in the Sjenska region to PeZookia, thereby expanding PeZookian borders.

[[OOC: I'm busy as hell and I don't have time to write up the big posts, so this will have to do for now.]]

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Serenity Sentinel

Heated Debate on MESS Policy

The Legislative Hall passed the bill of transferring all of this year's MESS Special budgets, besides the THALES and Byzantium Joint Research funds, to the Immediate Recover and Relief fund earlier today. During the afternoon session, the Leg Hall entered a heating debate on whether the Kingdom should leave the MESS. Various voices came from both Greens and Blues, and it was difficult to determine what policies each party had, likely because the war has caused Legs in both parties to develop new opinions.

"Old King Wentian signed for the Kingdom to join the MESS during the 2nd World War, this policy has not been re-examined for years because there hasn't been a real test to challenge it. The real test, this war, has come, and the policy has failed." Said Kensuke Sasaki, of the Green Party.

"That's stupid, we have received numerous benefits from the MESS such as technology and business. The long term shows that being in the MESS is the right decision." Said Tiongmo Lin, who was also of the Green Party.

Pan-Pacifica supporters, such as Legislative Arthur Jensen, of the Blues, also attempted to fan in PP sentiment, "The alliance with the MESS is and has been impractical. Why not ally with our nearest friends?"

The debate ended with no results. It is likely MESS policies and possibly Pan-Pacifica movements will be the main topic of debate this whole Session.

=========

Serenity SCOOPER!
-The TRUTH shall set you free

Pan-Pacifica: A Comeback?

With the OD/Shep war raging on, the Pan-Pacs seem to be getting their second chance to be active.

20 years ago, Wuhan University graduate Buqun Yue, came up with the idea of allying Serenity with Zoria, Cascadia, Alaska, various Frequesue nations and possibly some Velarian nations to form an alliance based on Pacifica, as opposed to being a MESS member. This idea was deemed impractical and self restricting. However, the Pan-Pacifica movement attracted many followers.

In 1987, we of the SCOOPER! revealed scandalous photos of Yue crossdressing as a hot woman and being the mistress of pro-MESS Blue Party member Peter Steele. This caused serious impact to the Pan-Pacifica Movement as well as the Blue Party. As a result the Pan-Pacifica Movement disintegrated, leaving only a small group of people supporting the cause, led by P.Z. Lin, Yue's then girlfriend to the public.

While the group was small by then, under Lin's efforts it has slowly grown throughout the years with determined followers. They now boast 2000 core members with about 30 thousand followers. The group has 10~20 publications per year with in-depth analysis on MESS as well as Pacifica-related issues.

Critics of the movement have been pointing out that the problems with the MESS would be the same in any alliance.

"The war shows that this is not true. Every alliance has their own characteristics, we need to determine the ones which work for the Kingdom." says Lin.

She is also very confident that the war boosts the sentiment and the outcries will be heard in the Royal Palace. "We have strong supporters with the people, we have strong supporters in the Leg Hall. We will persuade the King."

[Shroom Man 777]

At the Frequesquan Neutrality Conference

"Good Morning Melchett, I trust the cake you gave to President Hank wasn't too laced with alcohol?" smiled Decius. "Now on to business. Since you are here, and the Emperor is .. somewhat dispensed with the MESS-Shepistan war, along with other important matters, the Emperor has me to do his bidding.

To start off, one thing the Emperor has noticed, is that you haven't... a definite defence policy. Byzantium has been gearing up to fight off possible threats, yet... Shroomania has indulged in defence cuts over the last few years. As much as we understand.. the Shroomanian inclination for hedonism, surely you would like to aid your neighbours against potential threats?

"Of course. The Sovereignty of Shroomania, its Mushroom Military and Parliament, have ratified the Continental Defense Plan. Also, we have made an about face in terms of defense spending. The budget has been upped to 3.7% of the total national GDP of Shroomania - bringing it to a startling 92 billion dollars.

"We are carrying out incremental upgrades of many of our systems, particularly in radar and command, control and communications systems, in concordance with the PeZookian-headed Continental Defense Plan - so that we may better coordinate with our allies in the SNC, and Canissia as well. We are also purchasing more fighters and more bombers, and are in fact working with PeZookia in producing more cruise missiles - many of which will be going to our submarine forces.

"I've heard from some of my friends in the Mushroom Military," Melchett said slyly. "That Shroomania, and PeZookia, intends to use this submarine force as a kind of deterrent when certain new revolutionary advances in 'strategic systems' have been made. Of course, my friend, I am no expert military analyst - but rest assured that Shroomania has not been taking recent world affairs lightly, and we are in fact making sure that we are prepared to face any new situations with our pants on.

"We will aid our neighbors against potential threats, and we would expect the same in return from our friends and allies as well - especially considering who is just a skip across the pond from us."

The answer was satisfying to the Byzantine head honcho. For a politico, Melchett McMeistervater certainly knew his stuff since prior to his political career, he was in fact a member of the Mushroom Military - before they decided to turn the Army and Mushroom Marine Corps into a bunch of eunuchs in fatigues.

Melchett reminisced about his days in the military:



Before snapping out of it and returning back to business.

Further, we are also concerned with Shroompeace. Here's the location of the submarine bay they used to store that damn submarine of theirs. Go and do something at once!"

"My friend, Shroomanian Intelligence has known about Shroompeace's activities for quite some time. We have tried to apprehend them, but that has only forced them to take up residence elsewhere. That submarine bay has been vacant and unoccupied for years.

"We've been monitoring Shroompeace, however, and from their communications we have ascertained that that damned submarine of theirs is in fact heading for Royal Kingdom of Zoria as we speak.

"Now, there's nothing Shroomanian authorities can do about that," Melchett watched the Exarch's reaction closely. "But that is why the SHAFT, has been coordinating with Zorian authorities in the apprehension of these people."

"And how has that been coming along, so far?" the Exarch, who had not expected this, inquired.

"Well, we'll see if the outcome will be satisfactory for us," Melchett answered. "Now, I hope that I have answered your questions satisfactorily, Exarch Decius, for I too have some questions that I must ask you."

"Indeed?" the Exarch raised an eyebrow. "As they say in Shroomania, 'shoot' - but not literally."

"Would it be acceptable to the members of the Slavic National Confederation, or at least Byzantium, if the Sovereignty of Shroomania was granted 'observer status' in the SNC?

"Shroomania is ethnically Germanglo-Saxon, not Slavic, but we believe that the SNC is quite a considerable force in the Old Continent and its members include our allies, PeZookia and Byzantium, as well as the CSR - who we are actively courting - and the USSR, which has been rife of surprising developments lately.

"You yourself sir have spoken of Old Continental neighbors aiding each other against potential threats, and we in Shroomania believe that increased cooperation, coordination and integration with our neighbors - many of whom are in the SNC - is imperative to this goal of mutual defense."



Somewhere in the Central Sea

The sinking of the Shroom Viking, the largest supertanker in the world, galvanized the Shroomanian Navy. Though war had not been declared against Shepistan, the fact that hostile submarines were sinking merchant ships was enough to convince the Navy to scour the Shroomanian seas for any unidentified submarine - and to destroy it.


The wrench fell and landed on the steel flooring hard. The ensuing sound of metal on metal, that audible clang, could be heard even through the depths of the ocean. Oh, and for such a relatively small noise, it sure was loud. Almost as loud as the sound of Centurion Vassilev being chastised by his Captain for his severe fuck up.

So far, the IBNS Excelsior's infiltration mission into Shroomanian waters had been going well. The wrench-dropping threatened to compromise that, however.



"Navigator, did anyone hear us?" the ship's captain asked tentatively.

"I fear so, captain," the navigator, who was hunched over the sonar sensor console, replied with consternation. "In any case, I can hear something else as well."



"What is it?"

"I hear splashes."


After this debacle, the IBNS Excelsior carried on - and soon found itself amidst a Shroomanian Navy live-fire military exercise. They were undetected, but with so many Shroomanian ships play-acting actual military operations with actual military weapons, it was certainly unnerving.

The military estimates of the Sovereignty of Shroomania's Mushroom Military were inaccurate. When just months ago, the MM could've been seen as lax and soft and out of shape, the same could not be said for the Mushroom Military of today. The state of world affairs, with half a dozen wars going on at the same time in no less than three continents, had convincingly kicked the Mushroom Military off its arse and forced them to gear up.

While the seamen and Centurions of the Excelsior would not find the Steve Shroomwin or the Shroompeace people they sought, they would be the first ones to witness first hand the Mushroom Military getting its ass in shape.

Watching the Mushroom Military getting its ass in shape was certainly not an enjoyable experience (on part of the depth charges and all).



Meanwhile...
Off the shore of Zoria

It was an ignoble end to the Steve Shroomwin and Peter Shroomcocks' war on whores - with Zorian tugboats pulling Shroomcocks' mighty vessel to port.



It was long, hard, and full of seamen.

"Fuck this bullshit!" Shroomcocks spat.



Results:
Shroomania will help its neighbors.
Shroomania wants to be an observer in the SNC, so it can watch you guys do your whatevers.
Those Byzantium dudes just had the ride of their lives and have the living Jesus scared out of them.
Those Shroompeace dudes are now in Zorian custody.

[Shroom Man 777]

LIVE on ShroomStratTV
The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
PREMIER PEN PALS


Shroomantha Smith, General Secretary Stanislav's newest pen pal.

This summer, ten-year old Shroomanta Smith, Shroomania's "Youngest Ambassador" will be visiting the Crimson Star Republic with her parents and will spend two weeks as General Secretary Stanislav's guests.

During her visit, she will spend time in the 'Artek' international children's camp.

Shroomanta Smith's letters with the General Secretary of the CSR has caused a media circus, with Shroomanta being interviewed by many Shroomanian media personalities - such as Jon Shroomwart and Ron Burgundy. The media attention has led to nightly reports by major Shroomanian networks.

At age five, Shroomanta Smith also sent a letter to King Paul of PeZookia, expressing her admiration to the monarch.

[Karmic Knight]

Message to The Sovereignty of Shroomania:

Following the Conference in Cascadia, King Brandon would like to head over to the Old Continent, starting with Shroomainia. If this is a problem, please tell us, so we can make other arrangements, such as a return flight to the Vineyards.

-VEIL & The Foreign Ministry

[PeZook]

FASTA bulletin

MAPPER-1 satellite launch succesful

Launched from Jerusalem Space Center, the MAPPER-1 satellite is designed to map out large areas of Earth's surface at an unprecedented resolution.

The first of a series of MAPPER satellites, the MAPPER-1 is a completely new design based on the work of several Canissian and IRT contractors. It carries significant amounts of on-board fuel to alter its orbit, and the data it collects will be released for free to the world's scientific community, bolstering fields like meteorological research, resource prospecting and climate modelling.

(OOC: I know, it was supposed to go up in April, but RL concerns stopped me from writing it out )

Mercury 2 flight rescheduled again

Mercury 2, a third test flight of the Mercury capsule, and first with a live payload aboard, has been rescheduled once again due to "weather concerns". Reportedly, extreme temperature differences typical to desert autumn, make FASTA technicians worried about possible damage to the rocket, which has to spend at least 24 hours on its launch pad.

Mercury 2 series of test flights will consist of five launches of the Mercury capsule, the last two of which will carry live chimpanzees to orbit, in order to test the capsule's life support systems.

(OOC: Sorry, no cute chimp piccies, I'm in a hurry )

[Shroom Man 777]

Message to The Sovereignty of Shroomania:

Following the Conference in Cascadia, King Brandon would like to head over to the Old Continent, starting with Shroomainia. If this is a problem, please tell us, so we can make other arrangements, such as a return flight to the Vineyards.

-VEIL & The Foreign Ministry

Reply to the Kingdom of the Vineyards

The Sovereignty of Shroomania graciously accepts King Brandon's visit to Shroomania and our government will cooperate fully with the VEIL and the Vinish Foreign Ministry in readying all of the King's accommodations - security, staffing, catering, etc. - for his impending visit.

- SHAFT

[Coiler]

The moment he heard of Shepistan's unrestricted submarine warfare, Admiral Teri was on the phone with what seemed like every senior naval officer in the FTO, saying what amounted to "We need escorted convoys and we need them now."

He readied Coilerburg's own navy for escort duty, informing every destroyer captain of the needed but thankless job they would have to perform.


Coilerburg destroyers preparing for convoy duties

[Siege]

This... Is Station One, San Dorado’s News Source Supreme

Frequesuan navies step up operations in the Svalbardian Ocean

FTO destroyers sortie from Fenraven Naval Base

In response to calls by Coilerburg and San Dorado to protect commercial ships bound for Frequesue the FTO’s Joint Naval and Air Command today decided to step up its pace of operations in the Svalbardian Ocean east of the continent. Several destroyers have sortied from the FTO’s chief naval base at Fenraven in Inhopal. Their job will be to guarantee safe passage of merchant vessels bound for Frequesuan waters.

Naval activity in the seas around the continent has increased significantly since the outbreak of Shepistani submarine warfare against merchant vessels: the better part of the San Dorado Navy has left its home port of La Palma, and reports received from Coilerburg seem to indicate that that nation's navy has also steamed for open sea. The health of the economies of both Coilerburg and San Dorado depend largely on foreign trade, so both nations have a vested interest in ensuring the safety of commercial shipping.

“We wish to reiterate, and have made clear to all parties involved, that the FTO’s official position on the war has not changed”, said Commodore Selena Duvalier, spokesperson for the alliance. “We maintain strict neutrality, and will solely escort ships to and from the continent. We will not escort ships bound for Shepistan, the Old Dominion, or any other nation involved in the conflict.”

Duvalier confirmed that if need be the alliance would even provide escorts to vessels sailing under the flag of the CSR’s merchant marine. “Although we’re fairly sure the CSR can take care of its own shipping. We certainly haven’t received any requests yet.”

The relation between the FTO and the CSR presence on the continent remain a touchy subject after the recent dust-up between the San Doradan and Crimson delegations to the Neutrality Conference in Cascadia.

Some critics have voiced opposition to the increase in FTO activity in the Svalbardian Ocean. "Let's say they actually manage to track down a Shepistani sub, which I'm not at all sure they can do in the first place", Dirk Hoggins, a famous Indhopali pacifist was quoted as saying. "Are you telling me they're going to open fire? Of course not, they can't risk it. They worst they'll do is throw bad language at the Sheppos! This is a farce and a waste of the taxpayers money!"

When confronted with Hoggins' scenario Commodore Duvalier refused to comment directly. "Our task is to keep those merchant ships safe, not to go hunting for Shepistani killer subs. That is simply not our job, we're not going to do that."

In related news, Blues Brothers Shipping today confirmed that at least one of its vessels, the SS Roger Daltrey was sunk last week. The Daltrey, a 7,000 TEU container ship, was bound for the Old Dominion when it was sank some five hundred miles off the northern coast of the Impact Archipelago, presumably by Shepistani torpedo fire. Two smaller Blues Brothers freighters were boarded and seized by MESS warships on suspicion of arms trafficking with Shepistan.

Blues Brothers and the Board of Directors have declined to comment on the losses.

[Coyote]

CANISSIAN STAR-TELEGRAPH

"Casual King Arik" --Does he Take his Job Seriously Enough? --Editorial

Undated File Photo of King Arik

SEASIDE PALACE, CANISSIA-- King Arik Coyotus-I is by no means the youngest Monarch of the royal line to assume the throne, but as one philosopher once noted, years ago, there is a distinct difference between growing up, and growing old.

King Arik Coyotus-I assumed the throne just over two years ago, and at that time the Canissian realm was in a period of peace and stability. Military expenditures were low, and the small but highly professional --and lavishly equipped-- Royal Forces were sufficient to maintain peace in the lands.

However, over the last two years, a number of events have happened that call into question the wisdom of the King's policies. True, some of the current world situation is guided by the hand of Providience, when within the last two years the world has seen a rare, near-global changing of the guard as various Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Royalty around the globe all happened to assume power within rapid succession of one another. Only three times in recorded history has there been a near-total change of world leadership as deaths, abdications, elections and revolutions of various types ushered in whole new generations of leaders.

King Arik is one of those New Guard leaders, and so far, his once-promising leadership seems to be no more inspiring than past Kings who looked good on paper but made poor overall performances.

This paper, the Star-Telegraph, has long been a bastion of support for the Royalist Party, and indeed --in the interests of full disclosure-- started its publication history as a pro-Royalist leaflet in the early part of the previous century. That means that this paper has long ties to the Royalist cause and the Royal Family, and as such we have a vested interest in seeing to it that any reigning Monarch lives up to the high standards set by luminaries such as Good King Reynard, who decreed the creation of the public school system for all citizens, or Queen Stella Ibernya, who took a chance in invested in the then-untried technology of the steam engine and ordered rail lines be used to link the west coast.

But so far, King Arik has been more reminiscent of King Wilven, the Monarch who made the disasterous attempt to annex the ancient tribal lands of Vulpesia and use it as a jumping-off point to invade northern PeZookia to unite the oblast state. Or perhaps the actions of Prince Lann, the only Monarch to be stripped of his crown and throne posthumously when his daughter ushered him out of office and into internal exile with the blessings of the National Assembly. Prince Lann's intent to invade and subjugate Shroomania needlessly caused high tensions with our neighbor island, and caused chilled relations with them for nearly a generation.

King Arik's decision to join in a war of convenience with Shepistan --and risk drawing in nearby Japanistan-- over what essentially boils down to a border war with Shepistan and the Old Dominion seems to follow in the footsteps of these over-ambitious and wrong-headed Monarchs of the past. King Arik's initial promise to increase science and technology with laser defense programs and spacecraft, as well as robotics, has been sidelined and endangered by pointless military ventures against Shepistan.

The editorial staff, and myself, the Chief Editor of this esteemed and storied newspaper, call on King Arik to quit wasting Royal pride on foolish overseas adventures and forget about Shepistan. Concentrate on the things that make Canissia truly strong, such our science, education, and industry. Stand and take seriously the needs of the people, your loyal subjects, and end the war.

Respectfully,
--Sammell Silverman
Editor in Chief

[phongn]

TIACAD

"We believe that first-stage rockets can continue to benefit from our world-leading expertise in solid fuel rocket designs. Our design decisions have so-far shown their validity in Tier One, with timely, relatively inexpensive launch. However, for the future and especially 464L, we will need to develop sophisticated liquid-fueled upper stages.

"In this we are trailing FASTA. Frankly, we have no idea how they were able to produce a liquid-fueled rocket of that complexity in this time period and not a single intelligence source indicated the Communists had anything that sophisticated. We have a catch-up game, though we will attempt to recover as much international data as we can. Numerous private and academic-sector designs have been proposed and we will test them in parallel, launching small-stage versions for verification.

"The Board has offered us significant funding if we show progress. Eventually we may become the Space Force if all goes well ... "

[MKSheppard]

IRT Ministry of Science

The IRT's deputy assistant Minister of Science stared at the Shepistanis before him. They'd come offering a leveraged buyout of the Shepistani manned spaceflight program, including all data on the manned suborbital tests that had been done in cooperation with the Japanistanis; as well as all work done on the tentative aerospaceplane by Shepistani Engineers.

"How much?"

"Depends."

Results
Due to economic situation from the war; Shepistan is shedding unnecessary projects; Low scale space research will continue on a much lower basis in Universities and Think Tanks, but not as a major part of the Shepistani Military's R&D budget.

[phongn]

Air Defense for a New Generation

" Today's aerial threats are greater than ever. New systems are rapidly being deployed by unstable nations, hegemonic alliances and more. Present-generation systems widely used are no match for the advance weapons now fielded across the world.

" General Statics-Dynamics is therefore pleased to announce the Objective Interim Air-Defense Family (OIADF) of vehicles. For the first time, the proven Patriot and SLAMRAAM systems can now be operated fully on the move, backed up by an advanced 40mm SHORAD system to tackle anyone units down low ... "

[Coiler]

The attitudes of Coilerburg's destroyer captains were not particularly conductive to their mission of escorting merchant ships. In longstanding tradition in the Coilerburg Navy, a large, powerful warship was seen not as a fighting ship who's crew would do their duty irrespective of risk, but rather as a prestige symbol that was to be kept as safe and shiny as possible.

Some had even privately said to each other that if a Shepistani submarine attacked a ship they were escorting, they would run off and leave it to its fate, with the excuse that "A destroyer is a lot harder to replace than a cargo ship".

Results
Coilerburg mission of escorting cargo ships hindered by poor attitudes of naval commanders.

[Master_Baerne]

Baernish Ministry of War
Deployment Orders - 3rd Cruiser Squadron, 1st Carrier Group, All Submarine Forces
FROM: Her Excellency Countess Truman, Minister for War
TO: All 3RD CRURON + 1ST CARGRU COs

Sirs and Madams,

You are hereby ordered to depart Fortress Baerne and Forgeville ports and to assist FTO naval assets in the protection of allied and, if possible, neutral commerce from the depredations of Shepistan's SSAN force.

COs should feel free to disregard the prescense of Coilerburg assets in the planning of their patrol routes, as BIS operatives report a low standard of readiness amongst their navy.

All of His Grace's Submarines are ordered to do the same, with the added provision that they are allowed to sink any submarine that refuses to identify itself on reasonable suspicion of terrorist activity.

Baerne Invictus,
Countess Truman

[MKSheppard]

Shepistan announces 'Zone of Death' around Old Dominion

Due to the actions of the imperialist warmongering MESS in seeking to spread and widen the current Shepistan/Old Dominion skirmish into a wider multi-regional conflict, via transporting several divisions worth of men across the ocean to participate in the Old Dominion's naked landgrab against Shepistan; today the Shepistani Department of Defense announced today that a 'Zone of Death' had been declared for the waters around the Old Dominion, extending out to 1,000 nautical miles.

Orders have been issued to Shepistani commanders to only target shipping moving towards the Old Dominion, but due to the vagaries of tracking a ship with passive sonar, and due to the need to ensure the safety of Shepistani military personnel, no attempt will be made at identification beyond a cursory blade count and machinery count.

It is hoped that the world's shipping companies realize that it is in their best interests to not support this ruthless imperialistic landgrab by the MESS against Shepistan by carrying MESS cargo in their hulls.

EDIT: Additionally; neutral shipping not bound for the continent can register with the Shepistani navy their intended course and speed to prevent attack.