Re: [003,0K] Kotunga

[Bospy]

The remaining parts of the Hakoni ship are literally hundreds of charred pieces, nearly every Hakoni dead from the blast of blue mist that the siege cannon left behind after it blew up. Save for a single escape shuttle, the Hakoni crew is nowhere to be found - some large pieces of dust perhaps floating along with the pieces of the ship.

The one escape shuttle spirals towards the surface of Kotunga, clearly suffering some hull damage by the blast.

[John_Roxton]

Almost as soon as the C.C.T's first trouble had started, a whole new form of it had arrived in the embodiment of the U.S.C fleet. The old C.C.T combatants would enter battle stations once more, as quick as this had happened the admiral would make two calls, one down to Kotunga itself, and another straight to Leonis.

Diplomatic Meeting.

Fortnum would turn to one of the Gestapo officers, nodding in the direction of the door the officer would jog after Donnie to bring him back, seeing as the stun-baton on his hip was already in his hand once he reached the door, it wasn't a request. Fortnum would look back to the room.

"This form of control allows you, as a group, to have control, you will make decisions as such, it is not of my branches concern, as you have entered into the Coalition, your first task is to elect a Lord-Authority who will represent your planet."

The remaining officer would whisper into Fortnums ear, after the two share the hushed conversation, the guard would leave and return a minute later with a personal video communications device, tweaking with it before sliding it to the middle of the table, it projecting a "AWAITING CONNECTION" text in 3D font as it rotated. Fortnum speaking once more.

"But that must wait one moment, the remnants of the United States has entered the system, I will be addressing them, you will serve as witnesses."

Obviously the signal was piggy-backing off the Battleships comm's center, as the U.S.C's Hastings would be hailed.

[Hades]

USS Hastings, SCVN-85
Combat Information Center
Kotunga Low Orbit

"Admiral, we are being hailed from the planet. Looks like CCT encryption."

"Status on the strike teams?"

"Ready to deploy."

The Admiral hesitantly picked up the phone and placed it against the side of her head, while making a hand gesture at the executive officer. He got the message, and picked up his own phone. "Hangar Deck, XO. Launch strike teams one and two, Silver Spar squadron is ordered to escort them to the planet."

Finally, the Admiral was connected to the CCT broadcast center.

"CCT installation, this is Hastings Actual. We are here as part of a rescue mission, do not interfere."

---

USS Hastings, SCVN-85
Port Hangar Deck 2a

"Launch Silver Spar squadron."

The launch catapults kicked in with a mere moment's notice, propelling the twenty two fighters at staggering velocities through the tubes. They were finally left drifting towards the planet, but kicked in their own engines and started a quick re-entry path towards the area that the Hakoni pod had crashed. Two Marine gunships joined them, having launched from the actual landing deck instead of a tube.

In the meantime, the Hastings continued to load and arm its nuclear weapons: the missiles were finally placed into the launch compartments, and the venting sequence begun to remove the air from the tubes. A quick scan would detect that the missiles were not ISBMs or short-range ground strike warheads, but simple ship-to-ship torpedoes.

[John_Roxton]

Fortnum would shake his head, continuing on after the transmission.

"If your men touch down on this Coalition planet they will be detained and put through trial under the jurisdiction of the standing Lord-Authority, the act you're committing is highly illegal in C.C.T law. The survivors of the attacking siege craft are going to be detained under the charges of planetary terrorism and uncalled for aggression.".

[Hades]

USS Hastings, SCVN-85
Combat Information Center
Kotunga Low Orbit

"You can quote me laws and regulations all you want. These people are our allies, and we will evacuate them from the planet's surface. If you try to interfere, we will consider it an act of war."

With a quick fingers-across-the-next gesture, the Admiral put down the phone as the link was cut to the CCT battleship. The alarms in the bridge resumed, since the Admiral no longer needed the silence to converse, and she stared at the executive officer in disappointment. She had hoped it wouldn't get to this point, but it had.

"TSO."

"Ma'am?"

"Order ten megaton nuclear ground-strike missiles into launch tubes seven through twelve."

"Aye." The Tactical Systems Officer lifted his own phone from the console, barking the order into it. "Tactical, CIC. This is a nuclear mission order, load ten megaton ground-strike missiles into tubes seven through twelve."

Another report popped up on his console: the ship was finally at Condition 1SQ. "Admiral, the ship is at condition one-s-q. Ship-to-ship ordinance is loaded and the tubes are depressurised."

"Open launch tube doors. Stand by to commence defensive flak barrage, launch the alert squadrons."

"Acknowledged." Swiftly, the officer tapped on the touch screen and navigated to the missile control panel. There, he slid the digital switches to on: the massive supercarrier's external launch tube doors opened, and the missiles were pushed to a ready position in preparation for a launch.

"Sir, the Midway reports a firing solution with its flak batteries. We can overwhelm their point defense and launch the nukes whenever you give the order."

"Hold fire for now, we will not fire unless fired upon. Commence defensive barrage with all batteries."

---

Kotunga Low Orbit


Out of a sudden, the entire USC battlegroup was engulfed in a barrier of explosions: much like a crude shield, thousands of flak shells were fired at the surrounding space per minute, detonating on set timed and proximity fuses. Nineteen fighter squadrons were also launched from the tubes, and they assumed a defensive formation against the battle group. Sending fighters against the collection of USC ships would be suicide, and any missiles would be intercepted long before they reached the targets. Surely enough, the radiation signatures spiked: the Hastings was loading ground-strike missiles, thus holding the planet hostage.

The fighter squadron and the two gunships continued to descend into the atmosphere, and the gunships commenced their landing sequence. They picked a spot very close to the crash site of the escape pod to land.

[John_Roxton]

Fortnum would shake his head once more, looking across the table and stating simply.

"Imperialists.".

Fortnum would leave the room for a moment, taking the device with him and immediately setting up the comm's for the present Admiral, a call would be sent back to Leonis again, encrypted of course. Two Type 36 fighter-bombers would head planet-side from the C.C.T frigates. Beelining for the crash site it would seem. Now speaking on a publicly broad-casted message anyone with the right device could pick up. Fortnum would address the U.S.C one last time.

"My pleasant offer of detainment is off the table now, American, your soldiers will be killed should they attempt to remove any members of the siege crafts crew, you're risking your own soldiers for already dead aliens.".

The Type 36's would obviously be fulfilling the bomber portion of their dual role capabilities, the munitions loaded under the wings with the engines on full throttle, the craft bodies jostling about as it enters the atmosphere roughly.

"It may also be to your interest that the core elements of the 3rd fleet are inbound to respond to this arrogant threat, that is unless you stand down and allow these terrorists to face their punishment, it is your choice. The bullying of this state with the use of nuclear weapons is the same as signing your own war declaration.".


Fortnum would return, taking his place. And acting as if nothing had changed.

[Hades]

Hastings Cobra 063, Callsign 'Joker'
Silver Spar Squadron
Kotunga Inner Atmosphere

"Joker, Redwing. Got two bandits on our six, approaching at bombing run vector.."

"Copy that Redwing. Joker to CAG, requesting permission to engage."

"Negative Joker, weapons hold has been ordered. Phantom, do you copy?"

"Phantom reads, CAG."

"Commence electronic jamming of CCT bombers, blind the fuckers."

One of the gunships extended an antenna from its dorsal side, and begun to broadcast several electronic warfare and virus packages over widely used communications and sensor channels. Any craft not built with countermeasures against said jamming would find their sensors and communications blocked, and any unshielded computers operating on quantum, sillicon or graphene pathways might find themselves vulnurable to the broadcasted computer virus. The goal: to completely take over enemy electronics.

In the meantime, four fighters disengaged from the formation and commenced an approach towards the CCT bombers. Judging by their flashing tail lights and waggling wings, they were ordering the craft to turn back.

[autist supreme]

Within the war room readings spike, NBC warnings would pop up across the planets surface on the large blue monitor. With that an electronic voice emission would sound throughout the complex.

"Code 5-2-4, Nuclear, Biological, Chemical. Defense Protocol: Mercury."

"Code 5-2-4, Teams Archangel, Zion, Hercules, report to stations."

"Command Protocol: Crystal"

By now the room would visibly change, the seats would sink into the ground and the tables compartments would flip, displaying various monitors and systems, the middle of the tables sheer display hologram would turn into a holographic war map.

Some parts of the floor would descend down into a deeper command chain and various security staff would flood in and out of these compartments.

The room became an almost blur of statistical messages as the leaders as the men around the table, especially Fortnum became more suited to control what would go on in Kotunga from the ground.

Many servers on Kotunga would then start bombarding third party devices with huge batches of spam command in an effort to scramble and confuse a lot of communication.

A microphone was then handed to Obi Sanjaro by a member of security staff.

Kotunga became a huge megaphone, all the air raid sirens that were booming then cut short, followed by Obi saying calmly

"If anyone lands on this planet, its fair game, go get them."

Obi then leans back in his chair.

"They have no idea what they're walking into."

At this point on the surface of Kotunga newly emplaced AAA defenses would be erected near the city of El Manar for personal safety.

Donnie then walked back through the door, beside a roughed up Gestapo bodyguard, however Donnie was not looking too good himself.

He did however come in with many men dressed in similar fashion to him, he walked in and sat down with his men standing behind him. He then said calmly.

"If they land, we're looking at war, we better build missiles and GUASS, fast. I can get us the specs, but we're going to need a lot of corporate investment."

[John_Roxton]

Once the viruses attempted to worm into the system, and then get themselves blocked fully. Except for one that managed to get into the computers holding the ships travel logs. The kinetic and missile systems aboard would activate and swivel to face the U.S.C battle fleet. Primed but not yet firing, though it would take one simple hit of the button.

The Two Type 36's would continue on their course, the weapons control officers of craft marking the U.S.C fighters in the targeting computers. But in a shock move the two fighter-bombers would make a sharp turn towards El Manar, no longer on a bombing run it would seem but still of interest.

The admiral would hail the U.S.C ship once more.

[Hades]

USS Hastings
Combat Information Center

"Admiral, enemy bombers have commenced a retreat towards one of the planet's cities. We are receiving a hail from the CCT."

"Use this opportunity to start gathering the survivors of the crash, have the fighters switch to anti-infantry munitions and cover the retreat. I want our attack squadrons on a defensive formation around this fleet."

The retreat had been a welcome change of pace: with the threat of the bombers gone, the two gunships could land on the surface and start extracting the Hakoni crewmen who had managed to escape. With complete air superiority in the area, any enemy infantry and armor would find itself trapped in an aerial crossfire. It was a perfect situation, and yet, the Admiral couldn't help but think that things would get worse before getting better. A CCT fleet was on its way, and even though it would take at least an hour for them to arrive, was that enough to extract everyone?

Deciding she needed to stall, she picked up the phone to respond to the CCT hail. "Hastings Actual here." she simply stated, watching the sensor screen as the two signatures representing the gunships made their landing.

[Bospy]

KOTUNGA, THE GREAT NORTH


The Rinepi-Lo, the equivalent of the Commander of the Guns of the Hakoni, sought solace from the star that lit the system around him. He knew it to be an evil, destructive star, but he felt the need to please it. The pod violently jolted, at least nineteen soldiers talking among themselves, praying, or covering puncture wounds, another three Hakoni soldiers who had died when entering the atmosphere littered the hallways. The Rinepi-Lo grimly looked out of the broadscreen window to his side, the rows of seat straps holding him. Outside, the windows were streaking plasma.

The escape pod had entered the troposphere nearly five minutes ago, and upon entering orbit, was thrown to the crash course of landing about 88 miles away from the border of Northwest Rica. The cold, unforgiving mountains below became closer and closer.

The Rinepi-Lo swiveled his head towards the communications officer and helmsmen desperately trying to maintain a good glide.

"Do we have comms?!"

"No detection, no help, no hydraulics, nothing!"

"Land us somewhere flat, then!"

The escape pod streaked across the sky of the massive, cold landscape.

[Hades]

Hastings Chetco 909
Rescue Team Alpha

"Alright, we're touching down, escape pod is coming in hot!"

"Prep the firefighting equipment, get the marines to establish a perimeter as soon as we land."

The rather large gunship set down on the area near the predicted crash site of the pod, taking cover behind one of the mountains. Its companion followed, while the fighter squadron started to circle around the area like vultures, searching for their pray. Air-to-surface missiles had been loaded underneath their extended wings, a series of thermite and micro-nuclear warheads designed to destroy ground targets in a large radius.

A platoon of power-armoured Marines departed the gunships, along with a group of rescuers and medical experts in hazmat suits. While the marines worked on establishing a secure perimeter, the rescuers headed for the crash site.

[autist supreme]

"1H5KNAJ5MAJS3BAJSH5ASB4KASI34NBASK5NAS3NASQDC2TG4H5K3M463"

A huge kinetic anti-material sniper rifle smashed the escape pod with an explosive round, it didn't appear to be Kotungan sounding in nature, but its sound did echo, and echo and echo until all that could be heard was a rumbling, the marines, and the escape squad would soon be under a high pressured wall of white death if they didn't act soon.

Small black dots would graze the mountains on all sides, smashing the marines landing and picking off the staff that would exit the crafts. A major problem was that a whiteout was closing in, heat signatures were almost impossible to make and the blizzard was closing in quickly.

Toward the border of Western Rica whole networks of guerrilla defenses were now being set up, the mission was simple, denial.

It was then that a very much so traceable round, from something that represented an advanced flak cannon, smashed the falling escape pod with acidic chemical flak. Any approaching gunships would find these structures would be dotted further and further across the mountains.

It was then that the rolling white snow crashed in upon the gunship that had thought for its safety at the base of a mountain, the pressure of the avalanche smashed against it. This, combined with the blizzard and the hail of sniper fire would make an organised counter attack a very, very difficult task.

[Hades]

Western Rica
Rescue Operation

"WE ARE UNDER FIRE!"

The power armoured Marines were lucky. The lighter rounds were simply disintegrated by their electric-reactive armor systems, and the larger ones bounced off harmlessly. The anti-materiel rounds, however, were taking their toll. One of the marines collapsed against the ground with his power-pack blown to pieces, unable to move under the weight of his own armor. Another found his head blown off by an anti-materiel round that passed the eyeslit's armor. It was a brutal fight, and the USC's marines were outnumbered.

The second gunship managed to take off before the avalanche hit, but its companion failed to boot up its engines in time. The wall of snow and ice covered its entire exterior, blocking any entrances and putting extreme stress on the hull. The structure started to buckle, and its anti-freeze system wasn't working properly: it was trapped.

While the Marines returned fire with their machineguns, it was an unorganised counter attack. Without heat tracking, they could only rely on crude SONAR devices, and so couldn't put a precise aim at the enemy positions. The fighters that were meant to support the ground troops had been caught in a crossfire between flak batteries, and had been forced to a higher altitude to evade the weapons. It was a loosing fight.

But that wouldn't be the case for long.

---

USS Hastings
Combat Information Center

"Tactical, get me a firing solution on those triple A batteries, NOW!"

"The AI is calculating them now, Admiral."

<:: Acquiring orbital bombardment targets. Compensating for current orbital drift. Targets acquired. Calculating necessary yield. Yield calculations complete. ::>

There was a pause. The crew of the Combat Information Center had been watching the onslaught through the helmet-mounted cameras of the marines, and so far, it looked extremely ugly. The fighter squadron leader had ordered his people to withdraw to a higher altitude to protect them from the anti-aircraft fire, and now, the Hastings was about to correct that. The massive batteries that had been assisting with the suppression barrage around the Battle Group ceased fire and turned to face the planet, now loaded with anti-surface ordinance.

"Weapons have fixed target bearing on enemy installations!"

The flak batteries had been targeted expertly, from a combination of visual, LIDAR, RADAR, thermal and x-ray imaging. With the AI's computational resources focused on the task, it had been easy. There was nothing more to do than to order the barrage, and that much was easy.

"Commence firing."

---

Western Rica


The sky above Western Rica turned a dark shade of red, but it was not from any natural phenomena, nor an asteroid shower. The hundreds of artillery shells that had been fired just seconds before from the USS Hastings were in the process of entering the atmosphere, with the friction of the air causing their exteriors to glow the bright orange so often associated with planetary re-entry. The shells were aimed perfectly: the ground-to-air flak stations that were pinning down the fighter squadrons.

Everything turned white as the shells detonated. Air-burst nuclear explosions had a reputation for being efficient, and this operation was no different. Hundreds of nuclear weapons in the fifty ton yield range showered upon any weapons facilities or RADAR positions in Western Rica, sending blast after blast of heat and deadly radiation at their defenders. The thermite and high-explosive shells followed, and then the MIRVs. There was no stopping the ruthless barrage, although it had somehow managed to keep the radiation localized and away from any civilian centers. The USC's troops were completely unharmed, thanks to their distance from the blasts and the radiation-shielded armor they wore.

Before long, the fighter squadrons resumed their attack, releasing bomb after bomb at the indicated guerilla positions. In fact, any remaining RADAR would detect more squadrons inbound: two squadrons of tactical bombers, all armed to the teeth with anti-surface weapons. Half a dozen troop transports were following them, carrying tanks and more Marines.

[autist supreme]

The Northern Edge

The marines SONAR devices would detect something worrying, zooming down the mountains on small jetbikes, and the odd jetpack, were Kotungans, in the shoddiest power armor designed, they however were using the disorientation of the whiteout to get close, very close, they didn't have simple knives but whole cords of ripped re-bar that could cut through most things with ease, and if it didn't, would cause heavy damage.

The speedy pack shot through the marines formation, obviously the marines better power armor would cause them to know that they were in among many hostiles. The melee Kotungan operators would, hand shot rockets from the modified power armor would be shot at point blank range, men in armor would jump across other men in armor, people would be blown apart high pressure flame throwers and the explosive minigun carriers would serve up a lot of pain. The melee was brutal, Kotungans smashing into marines with knives, hammers, some even slammed mines on to the backs of marines and ran away. However morale was replaced by the blunt rage in these men, they were completely separate from the normal Kotungans, the "mountain men" had a reputation of being naturally hardy, men that would loose their legs would attempt to keep fighting before being put out of their misery. However this was not to say their losses were not high, the US Marines did put a severe amount of them down before they managed to close in, and even then things were difficult as bloody slash after bloody slash would torn to fight for the independence of the land

The speed bikes were a huge botch up, leaving themselves completely open to fighter runs after they had driven directly into a few marines.

Western Rica

The few that weren't in hiding were by not wiped out, scorched off the Earth.

The flak batteries, that were no longer attempting to hide themselves, lit up, firing directly at the fighter positions, and some ground units even fired ground missiles at the fighters.

[Hades]

Western Rica
The Northern Edge

The orbital bombardment only intensified as the remaining flak batteries presented themselves. Shell after shell was fired at the exposed positions, detonating closer and closer to the target. It wasn't long before airburst detonations were reduced to a minimum, replaced by the more focused ground-based detonations. The moment a flak battery fired, the Artificial Intelligence aboard the Hastings triangulated its position and send a barrage of cannon fire against it. There was no mercy shown.

The Marines, on the other hand, barely had enough time to prepare themselves for the impending waves of Kotungans. However, unlike the makeshift weapons of their counterparts, they were armed with top-grade firearms. Gauss miniguns, plasma beam weapons, heat-tracking rocket launchers, anti-materiel rifles and even relativistic cannons, everything was thrown at the incoming hordes. The fighters and bombers used their smart networking systems to bombard the enemy advance path, while also keeping clear of their own troops. The SONAR-tracking smartguns the Marines carried continued to let out their signature "ratatat" sound, sending explosive projectiles downrange at staggering rates.

The horde was just too much, however. The Kotungan army managed to get close enough that rocket launchers and snipers were useless, and the Marines resorted to dirtiest weapons for the job. Battle rifles, machineguns, even the occasional shotgun were fired in a desperate attempt to hold the enemy off long enough for the support to arrive. Any Kotungans that got too close were attacked mercilessly with shoulder-mounted gauss cannons and simple plasma blades.

More than half of the Marines were already dead when the first Heavy Chetco landed.

But instead of extracting the Marines, the Chetco released a terrifying machine from its cargo hold. The dreaded M180 Sherman. The vehicle got straight to work, beginning to fire its main cannon at the advancing formation while the automated machinegun turrets made short work of any infantry nearby. The transport took off again, replaced by the next one. Another tank rolled out, followed by another platoon of Marines. Between the orbital bombardment and the reinforcements, the USC was committed to the rescue.

[Bospy]

The Northern Edge


The anti-material round hits a gliding module, causing the escape pod to wildly flutter and screech across the sky.

"Rinepi-Lo! I've lost all control! We're going down!"

"Brace for impact!"

The escape pod careens towards a flat snowbed, at least a mile away from the predicted landing sight. The acidic round pierces the left hull of the pod, sucking three Hakoni soldiers out of the pod before it hits the ground. The escape pod smashes into the ground, splitting into two pieces. The gliding modules and flight system explode on impact, killing the pilot and communications technician on immediately. The status of the crew is unknown, but none exit the two halfs of the pod. If one observed the split, they could see several Hakoni soldiers sprawled about the floor and strapped in. The Rinepi-Lo, one of the most important figures in the Hakoni Fleet, may still be alive.

[autist supreme]

Western Rica
The Northern Edge

The site of the crash is immediately bombarded by improvised mortars from all sides of the mountains. Combined with snipers that only had to re-position themselves, the heavy bullets ripped holes in the hull that were not completely visible, Hakoni corpses that lay strewn out were blasted in half by the snipers that wanted to be sure.

It was then that one of the remaining mountain artillery pieces fired a "Krakatoa" round at the crash site, when it hit, the round threw up snow at least a kilometer into the air, causing electrostatic interference with a huge echo, it causes even the ground to shake, and that the mountains would turn black from the snow that was now crashing down upon the combatants of the bay.

[Hades]

Western Rica
The Northern Edge

"Connect me to the Admiral, now!"

"Yes sir!"

Major Reina Sinasohn was having a bad day to say the least. She was safely sat inside one of the trio of tanks that were now obliterating the formation, and had even projected a shield to protect the advancing United Systems forces from the second avalanche. It wasn't pretty, and it demanded that the tanks move at a slug's pace, but it did the job. The worst part, however, was the images of the onslaught outside. With heat imaging useless, SONAR and visual were the only imaging methods that worked for the tank. The gruesome combat was taking its toll on the tank crew's morale.

The Admiral's voice was heard from the Major's headset, and she couldn't help but feel some relief.

"Hastings Actual here, Major, what's your status?"

"Sir, the pod crashed out of our predicted zone, we just can't push far enough before they get decimated. Requesting immediate support, sir!"

"Copy that, Major. We are sending two more squadrons and a bunch of tanks your way, plus a full battalion's worth of Marines. Keep pushing, if you think you can't reach them in time, then we will start threatening their cities. We are not botching this operation up."

"Understood, Admiral."

"Actual over and out."

There was no time to take a breath after the conversation. There was just too much work to do.

"Keep firing with all we've got, load nuclear shells if needed!"

---

Western Rica
Crash Site

As soon as the artillery positions fired, they opened themselves up to a United Systems counter-attack. The orbital bombardment was brought upon the remaining artillery without mercy, incinerating anyone at the site in a series of nuclear explosions. The fighter squadrons followed suit, taking out the snipers and mortar positions with their thermite and nuclear ordinance. Two more bomber squadrons arrived after that, while the originals moved back towards the supercarrier to rearm.

A dozen dropships landed right in the middle of the crash site, establishing a plasma shield around it. While it would be easy to bring down, thanks to the fact that the USC's shields weren't all that sophisticated, it did more than enough to protect the survivors of the crash from the avalanche. A full battalion of marines and half a dozen tanks were deployed from within, while armoured rescuers scoured the wreck for survivors. The Rinepi-Lo was on the top of their priority list.

[autist supreme]

Deep within the mountains of Kotunga. Two men were point a map and moving apparatus around.

"They rely heavily on their 'Big guns.' if we want to smash the enemy, we must see the whites in his eyes. Unburrow the third plans, we must shirt to operation Homeland, but simply expand it."

In the crash site, huge canisters would be shot into the marines, hulking metal monstrosities, covered in sheet upon sheet of armor, the sheer weight of these would crush and severely dent any armor near the crash site.



On it would be evidence of civilian and military tools used together, a tree cutting spin saw, miniguns, random fire rockets, it bellows acrid black smoke while it stomps inside the shield, the toxic gasses were the least of the soldiers worries, this thing would literally stomp men into the ground, and more were being fired, one lands directly onto the crashed ship.

[Hades]

Western Rica
The Northern Edge

The tanks were lucky. They had advance warning from their sensors, and were able to deploy anti-aircraft lasers and missiles to vaporize the incoming cannisters. But it wasn't enough; one of them crushed the innermost tank in the formation, reducing it to little more than a metal grave for the operators inside. Another struck the wreck, albeit in pieces from the missile. The poison gas was of no concern, everyone was wearing power armor anyway. But it was enough.

---

USS Hastings
Combat Information Center

"We just lost a tank!"

"Alright, that's enough!"

The Admiral's voice was louder than usual. It was harsh and hostile, angry. Furious. The CIC crew paused as they stared at her. None of them had ever seen their commanding officer so enraged, and they certainly hadn't expected the order she gave next.

"Tactical, find me the most habitated cities and get target locks on them with the nukes. If they are willing to play ball, then so am I. Keep our batteries supporting the ground forces for now, but be ready to aim them at the cities.""

The TSO complied, rapidly typing into the keyboard before him. It was easy to find the most densely populated cities, he just had to combine the AI's recommendations from the orbital imaging and the heat signatures. Before long, every major city in the hemisphere had been locked on by the nuclear weapons.

"Target packages are set, Admiral."

"Release launch and detonation safeties on all warheads."

The executive officer was doubtful. What they were about to do was genocide, no matter how much the Admiral and the Department of Defense would try to sugarcoat it. On the other hand, he knew that they had a responsibility to the Marines on that planet, as well as their allies.

"Admiral, are you sure about this?"

"I am. Weps?"

"Launch and detonation safeties on warheads one through forty have been released."

"XO, input your firing code into the computer."

The two officers blindly typed their firing codes into the keyboards in front of them, sharing a glance with their eyes. The Admiral was determined, while the XO was uncertain. And yet, he was outranked.

"Comms, give me planet-wide. I want everyone down there to hear this."

Within a second, a message was broadcast on every available channel, in plain English. Anyone, from the most amateur of radio operators to the most advanced of listening posts would be able to pick it up. The voice was female, and clearly frustrated.

"Attention, people of Kotunga. Troops of the United Systems Confederation have been attacked by your military in their attempt to rescue our allies from the planet. Since your leadership seems so eager to kill my marines, I will just say this. For every one of my marines that is killed from this moment, I will launch a nuclear missile salvo at one of your cities. I have forty such salvos ready, and another hundred and sixty in storage, so ammunition won't be a problem. Stand down immediately."

Radiation readings from the supercarrier visibly spiked. It had released its launch safeties, and moved the warheads to a ready position.

[autist supreme]

Within the war room the men looked at eachother.

"The mountain men are causing quite a stir, nuclear readings on line two."

"Alright, well the original nuclear hazard warning has us prepared, where is Malverdi?"

Fuego then grinned.

"It's gone."

"What do you mean It's gone!?"

"The island...it can be lowered, why do you think the whole thing is a bunker, designed it a long time back ago, why did none of you know this?!"

"Because we've never BEEN to Malverdi."

[John_Roxton]

As soon as the message had gone out the situation had become very severe, the admiral would respond to the childish threat quickly.

"Hastings Actual, you have approximately thirty seconds to get over your temper tantrum and see reason, just because you are losing your marines to the inhabitants of the mountains you have invaded it is no reason to start nuking a planet of innocents, it is not the government fighting you it is solely a group of farmers with guns. I would highly suggest you take this offer Hastings; prepare all your men for evacuation and allow the C.C.T ground forces to take control. If you decline, when the fleet arrives they will fire on sight of your craft. I would make a the choice quickly if I was you, this is the last attempt of diplomacy we will make, seeing as you fail to even attempt a diplomatic resolution with us.".

The Type 45 and Type 44 would move into a location to fire anti-missile systems on any nuclear devices attempting to enter orbit, Type 36's being deployed to do exactly the same. The dual Type 36's that were headed for El Manar would set down at the cities airport, the hub of activity for the Coalition ground forces, due to the large space and easily defensible perimeter. Type 110's would patrol and anti-aircraft systems watch the skies. As soon as the two fighter-bombers land their payload is taken off and switched, napalm being exchanged for regular explosive ordnance. The two craft would be ready to launch once more, waiting on the runway for the confirmation order. Two Type 2's would be loaded with Shocktroopers, waiting on the tarmac as well.

[Hades]

USS Hastings
Combat Information Center

The Admiral and the Executive Officer slid their launch keys into the firing console, turning them clock-wise to authorize the launch. Forty of the sixty red lights turned a deep green, with the text next to them changing from SECURE to READY. The gigantic map of Kotunga was filled with circles centered around major population centers, starting with a deep red colouration and getting closer to green as it extended outside the predicted impact sites. The explosions would be instantly deadly up to five hundred kilometers from Ground Zero, if the launch actually happened.

"All systems at 1SQ, missiles are ready for launch skipper." muttered the Tactical Systems Officer, keeping his attention focused on his console.

"The release of nuclear weapons is now authorized. TSO, initiate first stage burn-"

"Receiving message from the CCT, Admiral!'

While the order was about to be given, the Admiral paused. The entire point was to intimidate the CCT and Kotungans into ceasing their defense, and while the message wasn't exactly satisfying her demands, it did show a changed view on the situation. The CCT had mentioned evacuation, presumably by the USC's own forces.

"Tactical, how long can we hold off the fleet that is coming here?"

"Uh, ma'am, I can't be sure of the size and disposition of the enemy fleet until-"

"Guess."

"Well, according to the latest intel reports, the entire CCT fleet can field four squadrons of fighters. With four of our own squadrons supporting the troops on the surface, we outnumber their fighter fleet nine to one. If we are quick to disable their weapons systems, I think we can take them out of the game without much hassle. We can actually win in an engagement."

"But?"

"But, that tactic involves firing first. If they manage to cripple us in the first shot, we may not have enough time to launch the reserves, reducing our odds to four to one."

"So we can win if we start the war, but if we don't, then the result is uncertain."

"Exactly. We can take three of their ships out of action with the first barrage of our nukes, and the Orion can cripple another. The combined missile batteries of the fleet should be enough to cripple one or two battleships, or more frigates and cruisers."

"Right. Weapons grid to full power, cease defensive barrage. Get me targeting solutions on all current CCT craft."

The wall of explosives ceased to exist around the USC fleet, and the batteries of the ships turned to bear on the CCT fleet. The ammunition was changed from flak to high explosive, while the massive spinal cannon on the dreadnought finished its preparations. With that complete, the Admiral picked up the phone and started broadcasting to the CCT.

"This is Hastings Actual. Tell the people in the mountains to stand down, we get the Hakoni survivors, we leave, and nobody gets hurt. There is a bigger threat out there, the Alarei, and both of our fleets would be crippled by a war. If you want the best for your people, then you will let us do our job. If any of your fighters try to intercept the gunships leaving the planet, I will personally press the button to launch. Hastings out."

---

Western Rica
Crash Site

"El tee, we have another live one here!"

The rescue workers were working full time to put the Hakoni survivors into the gunships, while the marines and tanks kept the perimeter secure. By now, the orbital bombardment had only intensified: any mountain suspected of hiding more hostiles was annihilated from orbit, and the tanks launched thermite missiles to destroy even solitary snipers. The fighters were providing air cover by shooting down any more canisters, going as far as to use air-to-air nuclear weapons to ensure none of them reached the tanks. The regular marines had joined the effort, replaced by the soldiers of the 3rd Hellfire Platoon, 22nd Marine Battalion. With power armor far more advanced than their infantry compatriots, they unleashed volley after volley of minigun and rocket fire.

[John_Roxton]

The C.C.T admiral shook his head, that wasn't acceptable, the Hakoni had caused too much collateral damage that they couldn't get off scott-free. But the U.S.C commander was right about the Alarei.

"Hastings Actual, I expect they will face justice, only under that condition can the Hakoni fall into your hands.".

Back on the ground the Type 36's would take off, their bombing computers loaded for the surrounding area just outside the U.S.C perimeter. They'd screech across the sky from El Manar, following the coast before heading in to the mountain range to make their U.S.C supporting strikes. Though they still had a way to go yet.

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