Military story thread

[Finn McCool]

Okay, now that I have so much free time (school got out two weeks ago) I can finish this "huge islamic revolution" story. But again I'd like a "show of hands" to see how many people actually read it. If there's no one I'll discontinue it.

Chapter II: The Fall of Morocco

After seizing control of almost the entire Islamic World in a wave of revolutions, the High Caliphate Council, based in the Caliphate's capital in Mecca, was not content to rest. It wanted to spread Allah's word using the national armies of the nations that had joined it. The first item of business was to eliminate the American and British forces now trapped in Iraq. Second on the Calpihate's agenda was the elimination of Israel and the freeing of Chechnya. Of course, the combined NATO-Russia/China forces also had plans. Chinese and Russia forces were busy invading Central Asia, to cut a path into still-friendly Afghanistan. American forces there were under heavy pressure from Iranian troops, troops from the Central Asia countries, Pakistani troops and the Taliban. The European nations of NATO were bringing troops together in Spain and Portugal at this time, in order to attack North Africa. And, of course, the US troops in Iraq had no intention of being overwhelmed.

This Chapter begins in Spain. The most elite units from across the EU were being assembled in Souther Spain. All of the UKs carriers were in the Atlantic off of Portugal to prepare for the attack on North Africa, as well as two US CBGs, several US Tarawa class landing ships and the Charles DeGaulle. In the Mediterrainien was the Italian carrier Giussepe Garibaldi and the Spanish Principe de Asturias. All of these ships were accompanied by their attendant escorts and battle groups. To prepare for the invasion of the North Africa, codenamed Operation Horde, a smaller assault had to be launched to gain control of the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. That operation, named Operation Razorblade, was conducted by the 4 and 6 Assault Squadrons of the Royal Marines and the SBS. They attained a lodgement on shore which was follwed by the landing of the Spanish Legion (a unit similar to the French Foreign Legion, except it is mostly made up of Spanards and acts as an all purpose elite unit). These units then pushed inland, reinforced by 3 Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines. They then sized Tangiers after a small amount of fighting and quickly pushed back the few units of the Morrocan Army holding the peninsula. SAS units attacked several ASM sites and SAM sites in the area, destroying all but one. The Royal Marines and Spanish troops then withdrew from their most advanced positions, but held Tangiers. The Moroccan Army units in the area then counterattacked in a disorganized manner, and were ripped to shreds by USN Hornets. Morrocan Mirage F1s that attacked were hit by the USN as well as Rafales from the Charles de Gaulle. Only half returned to base. Now that the Strait of Gibraltar was secure, the ships could move freely between the Atlantic and the Medditeranian.

Operation Horde commenced on July 14 2008. All of the carriers NATO had assembled, as well as American heavy bombers, pulverised costal defences. The Royal Marines again led the way ashore, assisted by thousands of French Marines and Portuguese Fuzilieros Navais. Landings took place along the gentle curve in Morroco's coast between Cueta and Mellia, two Spanish enclaves on Morroco's coast. The Marines stormed ashore to minimal resistance, except around Cueta, where 200 Portuguese were killed on the first day. Immedeatly, armoured units of the Bundeswehr, the French Army and the British Army were landing from their bases in Spain as British para regiments landed behind the defences, or what was left of them. In the next days, the EU forces advanced quickly across the costal plain and captured the cities of Tetouan, Al Hoceima and Ajdir. So far the campaign had been very similar to the Iraq War in 2003. As the EU forces prepared to attack the cities of Fez and Mekines, both major, almost all of the Royal Morrocan Army attacked them along the mounatinous highway routes. In 10 days of fighting from mountiantop to mountiantop, the EU forces suffered 8,500 casualties, with 5,000 dead. They also suffered heavy losses in equipment. However, superior air firepower was the ringer. They infliceted 30,000 deaths on the Morrocans. After the Battle of the Fez Approches, the EU commander came under heavy criticism for landing on Morocco's northern coast instead of the much easier Atlantic coast, close to the capital and major cities. The EU forces then moved to attack the city of Boulemane, to secure the highest point in the Atlas mountains, protect the flank of the army, and prepare for an attack into Algeria. The slog through the mountain was hard, as most of the units in the Army, other than the British, were unexperienced with combat. The Morrocans used tanks in closer quarters combat in villages, and attacked using infantry in the mountain passes. Spanish Mangustia attack helicopters were used heavily to clear out mountain tops, as was artilley. Finland sent only one unit to the Expeditionary Force, an artillery battery, as artillery units were also used heavily to pound Moroccan units in makeshit mountain fortresses. One Finnish artillery soldier was well known for listening to Led Zepplin while loading the 155 mm shells into the breech.

With the mountain flank secure, the EU forces now turned to attack the coastal cities of Morocco, Rabat and Casablanca. What was left of the Moroccan Army massed to defend the north-south mountain ridges that the Europeans would have cross. After heavy fighting that lasted 3 weeks, the EU troops broke through to the costal plain and raced to besiege Casablanca and Rabat. The last major battle of the war in Morocco, the Battle of Rabat, was the worst for civillians. The EU forces were tired of the sneaky Moroccans launching flanking attacks from concealed positions. They prefered to use massive firepower to wipe away all resistance. In the urban setting of Rabat, the Moroccan capital, this caused huge civillian casualties. The skills of the EU infantry came into the fore, as they cleared city block after city block and eventually the Royal Palace, now home to the Caliphate's Governor. The Battle of Rabat was the climactic urban struggle that Baghdad was supposed to be in 2003. The city was heavily damaged, and 16,000 Moroccan troops were killed wounded or captured. The EU troops lost 1000 men killed or wounded, not nearly as bad as the Battle of the Fez Approcahes, but still high.

Casablanca was allowed to wither, surrounded and cut off. It surrended after 5 months, its inhabitants starving.

After Morrocco fell, the EU forces regrouped and attacked Algeria. As in Morocco, the enemy fell back at first, and then stood and fought around Algeris. Another landing from the sea near Tunis caused the half hearted resistance that remained to collapse. Tunisia and Algeria fell with a whimper, not a bang. The Europeans paused on the border of Lybia. That offensive would have to wait.

Next chapter, we will find out how the US troops escaped Iraq.

[isthvan]

Hi Finn. Great story, please write next chapter as soon as possible… I really enjoy your stories so keep at good work and don’t stop writing…

[bd popeye]

DPRKPTboat..Dude..excellent story!! You get an "A".

One part though I have to quetion is this..

In mid 2006, North Korean fighters shot down a EP-3 Orion, killing all the crew.

Well if that happend that may give the Bush administration "Carte Blanche" to lay waste to the N. Korean military. And don't think he would not..

[Kampfwagen]

Finn, keep going. I had a WW2 story, but it was nowhere near as good. Just a work for English class, so it was a bit rushed...I might make a story and post it here later though Though I usualy go for a more personal sort of thing.

[Finn McCool]

Alright I got a real good song on...fits this particular story really well. Just a note-I refer to the Muslim units by their country names, for example, the Moroccans. However, they are all under command of the Caliphate, or Caliphate High Command, whatever you wanna call it. However, the national armies still operate as individual armies. Just like the US coalition in Gulf War 1. That is the best example. Also, since the Caliphate is control, they move the forces around, so that is why you see troops from Gulf States fighting in Israel in this fictional universe.

Chapter III: The Escape From Iraq

The American, British, and coalition troops in Iraq were in a desperate situation. Units were trapped in their bases, the Iraqi Army had turned on them, several air bases had been overrun, and the general population had turned to attacking the Americans as well. Iraqi Government officals had timidly joined the revolution or taken refuge with the Americans. The coalition's support base in Kuwait had either been evacuated prior to the revolution there or had been overrun by masses of angry Kuwatis in scenes not seen since the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. 2000 Americans had been killed in Kuwait, either by the Army and Police, angry mobs or the Caliphate's Sharia Courts.

The United States had massed 6 carriers in the Mediterranian. They had destroyed the Turkish Navy in 3 days, and were now conducting operations against targets in Iraq, Syria and around Israel in conjuction with the IAF. The Greek military, assisted by Eastern European militaries, was engaging the Turkish on Cyprus, in the Agean and in Europe. Those countries were preparing a massive offensive to smash the Turks in Europe and take the Bosphorus.

In Iraq, all units recieved an order from CENTCOMs relocated command center, in the besieged Green Zone. Iranian ballistic missles were raining down as they broadcasted the order to all units in Iraq to converge on Baghdad to break out of the country towards Israel. American and coalition forces throughtout the country set out to brave Iraq's highways in makeshift armoured columns or by helicopter. Some units only had to travel a few miles. Others had to cross almost all of Iraq. In all, it was the most confused and bloody retreat in the US Army's history. Some cities in Iraq exploded into battle multiple times in a single day as seperate columns of troops rolled through. American tanks, Humvees and other vehicles had to find fuel wherever they could. Few American units enountered resistance that could effectively stop them. However, Caliphate troops, mostly from the ex-Syrian, Saudi and Iranian Armies, supported by ex-Iraqi Army soldiers, insurgents and just random armed citizens harassed American columns incessantly. Combined with Vehicles running out of fuel, this caused Iraq's highways to be littered with American tanks, IFVs, APCs and trucks. The British had an even worse time. Since they were mostly in Southern Iraq, they had even farther to go. By the time they reached Baghdad, if they reached it all, many coalition soldiers were in stolen civillian cars. Of about 115,000 troops that set out for Baghdad, 2000 were killed or captured (which was essentially the same as being killed.) The American public was horrified. It was obvious that this would be a war of civillizations, of unparalled brutality. One lesson was also obvious. American firepower had made the incredible operation possible. Support from carriers, strategic bombers and the superiority of American armour over anything that could be thrown at them saved the US.

About a week after the last of the coalition troops straggled into Baghdad the push to Israel began. All of the fuel in Baghdad had been loaded onto the giant coalition convoy/striking force. American airplanes would drop fuel and ammunition on the way. Most helicopters had to be abandoned, but a few attack and medical choppers were prepared for perhaps the oddest mission helicopters had ever flown. The plan was also odd. The coalition troops would push out of Iraq, leaving the territory behind them to the enemy, up the Euphrates and hit Syria from the rear, combined with an attack by the IDF and German Army units that had been landed in Israel in order to back up the IDF (the ultimate irony and reconciliation). This, hopefully, would break the Syrians, leaving the IDF and NATO units free to crush the Caliphate troops attacking Israel from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Involved in this were units of the Syrian Army, the entire Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese Armies, units of the Saudi and Turkish Armies and units of the Armies of various Gulf States, as well as their attendant air forces. Clearly the IDF and NATO forces defending Israel were hard pressed. By destroying the Northern threat, they could focus on and crush the Southern forces. Once the Egyptian Army was gone, the main obstacle to the European forces now securing Algeria was gone, and they could drive all the way across North Africa and link up with Israel and secure North Africa. That was the master plan. At the same time, the Russians and Chinese were subjigating the -stan countries and freeing the Americans in Afghanistan. India was skirmishing with Pakistan, but no full offensives had been launched, nor had any nukes.

As the coalition troops advanced up the Euphrates, the met little resistance that could stop them. The Syrians were panicking. They were caught between a ragged but large American/British force coming from Iraq and Israel. They, even with support of other armies, could not afford to send enough troops to stop either. To make things worst, the massive American fleet in the Mediterranian, now supported by two UK carriers, was in full attack mode, as was the IAF. To respond, the Caliphate launched an attack on the American army as it was about halfway along the Euphrates from Baghdad to the Syrian border. The Saudi Army, in full force, attacked out Iraq's Western Desert, and the Syrian Army's best units, supported by troops from Turkey and Iraqi insurgents, attacked head on. Fortuneatly, the US forces knew it was coming for a long time thanks to satillite imagery. The Battle of the Euphrates Valley, as it became known, mostly took place between the cities of Haditha and Hit. It was interpreted as the Biblical Battle of Armageddon by many around the world. Again, American firepower and the sheer tenacity of the coalition troops, who knew that they had no place to retreat to and would die if they lost. The US/UK force met the onslaught, fighting side by side as they had since WWI. The Syrian forces were met by the US 3rd Infantry, 2nd Armoured Division and the First Armoured, or at least as many vehicles as they could fuel and arm considering the cirumstances. Fortuneatly, fuel and ammo drops had been made the day before the forces met, due to the fact that the Americans knew the attack was coming. The Syrians were cut through, but did much better than the Iraqis ever did in Gulf Wars I and II. The Americans lost dozens of tanks and 558 American soldiers were killed, but the Syrian attack was defeated and turned into retreat. Some units fought on out of fervor and the fact that the Americans didn't have the force to overwhelmn them. These were dealt with by B-52s and MOABs. The Saudis were a bigger threat. They cut the American lines in several places,and inflicted heavy casulties on the exhausted coalition troops they were facing. They were faced by the 1st Marine Expeditionary Corps, several British units, the 1st Cavalry, and parts of the 101st Airborne. The Saudis were holding the battle in a state of draw for 24 hours, until units quickly redirected from the Syrian Front crushed them as the USAF hit the Saudis with as much firepower as it could bring to bear, flying from Israel and bases in Europe. After 4 days of fighting, the battle was essentially over. The US had won. It had suffered over 1200 deaths, but had inflicted about 30,000 deaths on its enemy. American losses in equipment were even worse. It was apparent that many soldiers were going to have to walk to Israel. As for the Evangelicals in America, that just made to prophecy fufillment better.

After the Battle of the Euphrates Valley, the path was open to both Israel and Damascus. The IDF and NATO units in Israel attacked as soon as the battle was over. Weakened Syrian and Lebanese defences gave way. Turkish units mostly held their ground. They were surrounded and left to wither on the vine. American troops by now had crossed the Syrian border. Even though few conventional forces still barred their way, Iraqi insurgents, Caliphate paramilitaries and citizens of the cities that the Coalition army passed thorough made multiple daily attacks on every type of target. Suicide bombings happened about two or three times a day, IEDs more often, ambushes about as frequently. Combined with things like mortar fire and random rocket firings, this guerilla warfare killed about 500 American troops on the retreat to Israel. It would have been much worse, but American forces were no longer particularly concerned about civillian casulties, and so used their full firepower.

IDF/NATO forces captured Damascus September 29 2008. The city was mostly destroyed as citizens resisted suicidaly with every weapon the could lay their hands on. The Israelis were not inclined to be merciful, either.

By 4 October 2008 almost all of the Coaliton forces that escaped the Armageddon that was Iraq had reached rest and refitting areas. IDF and NATO forces were now preparing to destroy the Egyptian and Jordanian Armies. It appeared, with Morocco, Algeria, the -stan nations and southern Syria captured and with the Caliphate unable to defeat the very vunerable coalition troops as they fought their way across Iraq, that the war could be over soon. However, the will of Allah and the wind of Jihad still had life in them.


Well there it is. Sorry about spelling.

[Finn McCool]

This story has been postponed until this latest Middle East crisis gets resolved or blows the world up or whatever. I'm afraid that this story might come true.

[Finn McCool]

Startin' it up again!

Chapter IV: Jihad Reaches the Niger

The Caliphate High Council Was highly distressed by their lack of sucess so far in the war. Mecca itself was threatened by the NATO and Israeli forces in Israel. Egypt was cut off from the rest of the Caliphate, and Pakistan was almost cut off as well. They decided that a new round of offensives would be the solution.

Their plan had three parts. They would launch an attack into sub-saharan Africa using units of the Morrocan, Algerian and Lybian Armies that had survived by retreating into the Sahara. These would be supported by troops from Mauritania, Chad and Sudan, all Muslism nations. The ultimate objective of that attack would be to sieze Nigeria's oil fields, cutting off another part of the West's already dwindling oil supply, possibly causing economic collapse in the West. There were no Western troops in the area, as the West's military forces had already been strained so throughly.

Secondly, the Pakistani Army would launch an all out attack on India. The objective would be to capture Rajastan and Punjab and cut off Gujrat. The Caliphate's commanders in the area were authorized to use nuclear weapons.

Lastly, the Caliphate would unleash terrorist cells it had planted across the globe, in Western Europe, Russia, China and the US.

The Western and SCO forces were preparing to end the war. They had no idea that the Caliphate was planning to go on the offensive. The Russian Army was to make an ampihibious landing across the Caspian Sea, from Russia to Iran. The militaries of Eastern and Southern Europe-Romania, Poland and Greece mostly-would assault European Turkey and take Istanbul and then the other side of the Bosphours, securing the strait. The NATO forces massed in Israel would attack at the heart of the Caliphate-through Jordan and into the Saudi desert, aiming for Mecca and the Gulf oil fields. Mecca itself was to be attacked by Muslim troops of the Indoneisian Army. Indoneisa, far more moderate than the countries that fell to the Caliphate, was still the Muslim democracy it had been before the war started. Several units of the Indonesian Army had volunteered to assault Mecca, to reclaim it from men who they thought were violent fanatics that had hijacked their religon. They were being specially trained by US Special Forces troops.
The West's plans would have to be delayed, as the Caliphate attacked first.

After the war, many wondered how the NATO intelligence services failed to notice the disparate Caliphate units in the Sahara joining up into striking forces. It doesn't matter how. They did. On 24 December 2008, Chrsitmas Eve, Caliphate forces moved out of their grouping areas in Eastern Mali and the far southern right angle-shaped area in Algeria. They moved into Niger unopposed. The government of Niger simply disntegrated, and the Caliphate forces passed into Nigeria. Their arrival in Niger days before had brought simmering ethnic tensions into the open, and the Muslim population of Northern Nigeria welcomed them as liberators, forming a paramilitary force that was to aid them later in the campiagn. Now the Caliphate force began to encounter resistance. Units of the Nigerian Army engaged them along the main road at the town of Zaria. Caliphate infantry units and Nigerian Muslim paramilitaries flanked them by marching overland, capturing Moutn Karou and attacking the city of Kaduna. The ill eqipped and prepared Nigerians, drained of much of their strengh by Muslim defections and desertions, collapsed. They stramed back from the front, many deserting and heading home. Still loyal soldiers of the Nigerian Army fell back and prepared to defend the capital which the Caliphate troops would have to go through if they wished to reach the oil fields hundreds of miles south in the Niger delta. By this time the USS George Washington had arrived offshore to support the Nigerian Army. The Caliphate commander understood that speed was of the essence. He had to reach and destroy the Nigerian oil fields before the enemy could assemble enough ships and aircraft and land soldiers to stop him. Thus, he ordered an all out attack on Ajuba, the Nigerian capital, without stopping to refit after the fighting at Kaduna and Zaria. This caused the Nigerian forces, already reeling form defeat, to be overwhelmed by the speed and violence of the Muslim attack. Some units stood and fought in the capital's outskirts but were surrounded when other units around them gave way. American air support was able to do little, as the terrain was not condusive to air power and Nigerian forces gave way quickly. Caliphate engineers and mechanics were the proudest troops that day, as they were the ones who had scrounged enough fuel and spare parts to keep the few but critical armoured vehicles they had moving.

The road to the Niger Delta and it's oil fields now lay open. American diplomats had persuaded Brazil to send troops to Nigeria to defend the delta, but only a few hundred had reached the country. The US decided that the best course of action was to send in CIA paramilitaries to organize the locals into defense, and bomb bridges, roads and enemy troop concentrations. About 70% of the Caliphate commanded forces now in Nigeria were actually Nigerian Muslims. The troops that had originally invaded now only made up the core of the army. After securing Abjuba, the Caliphate forces again advanced rapidly south facing almost no resistance except for air strikes from the George Washington. As they reached the delta area, rivers became frequent, as did ambushes by CIA-organized guerillas. Almost all the bridges were knocked out, so the local paramilitaries and the most elite and experienced Caliphate troops that had originally invaded continued on foot, animal and car, leaving armoured vehicles behind to come up later. The ragged force reached the delta city of Port Harcort on 12 February. It had taken them just 52 days to cross all of Nigeria and crush its military. Port Harcourt was the main base of the thousand Brazillian soldiers that had so far reached Nigeria. The city was surrounded, and the Musliam Nigerian/Caliphate force attacked them. They had very little heavy equipment, but had about 15,000 soldiers of which 5000 were trained and experienced Caliphate troops. American air and missles strikes, now supported by the air forces of neighboring Afircan nations, slowed the Muslims and inflicted casualties, and the Brazillians managed to defend the city although many of their forward positions had been overrun, including the airport, the main way to bring in more men, and some port facilites. The Brazillians counterattacked and recaptured the port, but an attack on the air port failed. American Hornets bombed the Caliphate positons, but in doing so destroyed most of the airport. The Brazillians were trapped in the city, with no way to counterattack until more troops arrived.

Meanwhile, paramilitary troops had been fanning out across Southern Nigeria and destroying oil wells. CIA organized guerilla groups made defending them a top priority, and manged to keep some that were in isolated swamp areas intact, but there was no where for them to pump to. The USN had secured the offshore rigs, and these comprised much of Nigeria's pumping capacity. However, 65% of Nigeria's output had vanished, and Caliphate forces destroyed an oil tanker with a C-802 missle on 22 February, scaring some tanker companies away.

The campaign was a massive, unparalled success for the Caliphate. They cut off one of the West's few remaining sources of oil, plunged Nigeria into a sectarian war and carved out a Caliphate-allied enclave in Nigeria that was a threat to all West Africa. The West would try to recapture the territory for sure, and all Muslim forces in te area began to prepare for that day. But for now, the West was too streched thin, and Brazil too traumatized by the bloody battle of Port Harcourt to hurry to send more troops. Gas prices were at $7.50 a gallon in the US, and the world waited for the offensive that would reopen the Persian Gulf fields.

[DPRKPTboat]

Finn, you should get this published - if it was made into a film, it would be greatest film series of the 21st century since Lord of the Rings. Just one question though. What happened to the Caliphate governors of Syria, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria?

This next story is a spin off of the Tajik war, which if you re-read, you'll see I have edited so this story follows on from it. The Chinese have withdrawn from Tajikstan, which is now stabalised. They have now joined the war in Afghanistan, but their main focus is in the border region of Waziristan, which becomes the most costly war for China since the Korean war.

The Waziristan war

The first Chinese forces arrived in Pakistan on Christmas day, 2009, a month before the fall of Kandahar. They arrived on the invitation of General Musharraf, who allows them to set up bases in Peshwar, Multan and other areas outside and inside the Tribal regions. They secure the towns easily, having gained plenty of experience of urban warfare in Tajikstan, but they have a lot of trouble securing the countryside and the smaller villages, whose fierce tribesmen distrust all foreigners. So the Chinese general overseeing operation "Hunting wolf" (as the deployment in the area is called) does not use the massive "clearing" tactics of the Red Army in Afghanistan, which involve large and vulnerable concentrations of tanks and infantry. Instead, the Waziristan war is more like a game of cat and mouse. Pakistani and Chinese intelligence agents, often locals, try to find information about possible locations of targets. Whenever a lead emerges, then and only then do the Chinese troops leave their bases on search and destroy missions. Often this is done stealthily, with PLA special forces, often ambushing Taliban or Al-Qaeda meetings, often using snipers to pick off certain targets. This turns out to be very effective, and they succeed in killing Mullah Dadullah on the Afghan border this way. Chinese special forces often dress as local civillians for these ambushes, making them deadly. However, they do sometimes emerge openly, usually when launching an offensive on enemy positions with the Pakistani army. All to often though, PLA troops find themselves on the receivng end of an ambush as well as the militants. The border villages are very dangerous places, often booby trapped or containing hidden snipers.
Chinese air suppourt often comes in the form of helicopters, particulary WZ-10s, rooting out Taliban and Al-Qaeda positions, but occasionally, precision strikes are carried out by Q-5s and Su-30s. But aircraft often prove vulnerable ,so the PLA usually keeps them at high altitude, launching its stealthy attacks on the ground. But sometimes, the Taliban establish strongholds in large compunds, which look for all the world like makeshift fortresses, made out of rock and mud, usually hidden in the mountains. The PLAAF is assigned to destroy these using low-level precision strikes, and also by using larger H-6 or Tu-22 bombers to crush these makeshift strongholds or training camps by means of heavy carpet bombing and ASMs (usually KD-63s). This is used to deadly affect, killing scores of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, including some high-level leaders from the Taliban inner circle.
In some cases, Chinese heavy-handedness rears its ugly head. On Febuary 1st, 2010, a Chinese helicopter carrying the third in command of Chinese troops in the Waziristan is shot down, killing all on board. The missile was launched from a small village which Chinese intelligence has spotted targets in. In response, the Chinese send in a search and destroy squad, who go into the village, and round up everybody with guns or other weapons. Soon they round up everyone in the village and shoot them all. Many of the civillians were mown down by machine gun fire after they were lined up in front of a wall. The village is then razed to the ground, as a message to any other villages that harbour terrorists. This damages suppourt for the PLA in the region, although the Chinese commander claims that he did not order the killing of civillians. He has the squad commander court martialled, and it later truns out that the Chinese soldiers had entered the village and seen the villagers dancing and cheering around the helicopter wreckage, and desecrating the bodies of those killed. This had angered them, and prompted them to slaughter everyone in sight. The action severely damages international suppourt for the war.
But that suppourt is revived when Bin Laden and Zawahiri are captured in April 2010, in the most humiliating way possible (see the Tajik war story). But their capture soon turns to make as much difference as that of Saddam Hussein did in Iraq - attacks by militants become fiercer, and Chinese losses increase. They also mount attacks on Chinese bases. The PLA also uncovers tunnels leading between the villages, which they deal with more effectively than the U.S. did in Vietnam. They go down the tunnels, and systematically clear them of militants, but there are also sperate tunnel systems. It is clear the war will go on for many years.
In July 2013, something happens which finally gives the Chinese doubts. The Taliban launch a major offensive against their enemy. A total of 200,000 militants attack Chinese and Pakistani bases in and around Waziristan, and also attack targets in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Chinese are driven out of nearly all their border bases, except for Peshwar, in which Chinese troops wage a desperate yet determined battle. One Taliban commando unit attempts to capture the Chinese embassy in Islamabad, but the ambassasor and his guards manage to lock themselves in his office, just barely holding off the militants. PLA special forces climb in through the window into his study to help him, and break through other windows to fight the militants. The battle for the embassy is the most memorable in the history of PLA special forces - it lasts a whole day as the Chinese fight to regain control of the embassy building room by room.
The battle of Peshwar though, becomes known as the greatest battle of the PLA. Chinese troops are holed up in various builidngs, sometimes occupying only the upper floors. They fight hard to fight off the militants, taking back the city building by building. Telivision footage often shows militant occupied structures being peppered with machine gun fire, and Chinese soldiers throwing hand grenades into windows or through opeings on top of rooves of builings. Hand to hand fighting is common, and Chinese snipers pick off what militants they can. The battle turns round when Chinese tanks rumble into the streets and bring their devestating firepower to bear on the militants. The Taliban offnesive soon becomes a rout, as the population does not rise up and join them like expected. Militant attacks in Pakistan are put down by Musharraf's troops, and PLA troops in Waziristan are boosted by heavy armoured reinforcements direct from China, which sweep west and root out militants. The offensive soon proves to be the Talibans undoing, as they sustain heavy losses, and many of their secret tunnels are uncovered. Musharraf's troops quickly overcome militants who have taken a hold in Pakistan (including a group which tried to storm the Pakistani parliament). American and Afghan troops engage the Taliban from the North, coming up behind them. American firepower quickly crumbles any remaining forces. During the battle, two key leaders, Mullah Omar and Hajir Omar, were captured, and the Taliban are now all but destroyed. But militancy still remains in Waziristan.
The July offensive soon becomes known as "China's Tet offensive". The PLA is concerned that it had been wearing down militants before the offensive, but they had still been able to launch the attacks. Deciding that the war in Waziristan has proved to costly for China, having lasted nearly four years, the new president agrees to withdraw the PLA from the area. They do so, as do Chinese troops in Afghanistan, which is now starting to stabalise after gradual withdrawl of NATO troops. In 2014, all foreign troops have withdrawn from Afghainstan and Pakistan. The Waziristan war has proved a major burden on the Chinese economy, but it will eventually recover, and the American economy is nearly fully recovering from Iraq and Afghanistan. Waziristan is still in the clutches of the Pakistani army, who still comb the region for what is left of Al-Qaeda. But many of the terrorist leaders are now scattered and in hiding, although seperate groups inspired by Al-Qaeda still carry out attacks across the globe. Afghanistan is now fully recovered - since the Taliban had executed mass numbers of civillians during their offensive, they became highly unpoular with the Afghan people, who actually formed abgry mobs which stoned the militants and joined the NATO forces in driving them off. The Afghan national army is now much stronger, and is still poilicing unruly southern regions. But at least now Afghanistan is stabalising, which is more than can be said for Iraq, which has to recieve help from neighbouring Arab staes just to stay together.

[Finn McCool]

Finn, you should get this published - if it was made into a film, it would be greatest film series of the 21st century since Lord of the Rings. Just one question though. What happened to the Caliphate governors of Syria, Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria?

Thanks DPRKPTboat. I'm glad you like it. If it were gonna be made into a film, it would have to be shortened a lot and given some characters though...I'm not up for that now. Anyway, I think that the whole "clash of civilizations" theme this story has is obviously a bit flawed in light of recent events. I would have to say that the Middle East's problems are not so much caused by Western vs Muslim civilization clashing as much as it is by more mudane causes, similar to what has caused large scale conflict throughout history-economic volatility, ethnic hatred and disintegration of the exsisting ethnic order, and the waning of an empire (America's). Oil has gone so high and economies throughout the Middle East have been going up and down wildly since 9/11. In large part due to the invasion of Iraq and American pushes for democratization in the reigon the previously underrepresented Shiites have been coming to the fore in a populist and highly disruptive manner, in most countries in the Middle East. And because the US is tied down in Iraq and challenged by a non cooperative UN and the rising nations of Russia and China its influence is not nearly as strong as it used to be, allowing things to get out of hand. Lastly, you have to throw in the "free radicals" of terrorism and jihadism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and what you get is not a clash of civillizations but a classic reigonal meltdown/power shift.

The other big plot hole is that Shiites and Sunnis, and all the different ethnicities in the Middle East would never be able to join together into one nation. But it's plausible, so I wrote it.

The next chapter will have some war crimes trials, for both sides, so maybe we'll find out about those governors there.

[DPRKPTboat]

Well, keep them coming Finn. While we're waiting for the next chapter, I'll brew another batch myself. This is a story of a daring PLA SOF mission to stop a Chinese 9/11 taking place. The year is 2015, and now that China is an international superpower, it is soon pitted against the scourge of the 21st century...

[U]Last Voyage of the QinghaihuU]

Dawn was approaching in the South China sea. The sun had not yet risen, but the fading stars and the light reddish tinge on the horizon heralded the approach of the new day. Fish darted around in the dark waters, chasing the luminiscent organisms that had risen from the abyss, while whales cruised near the surface, gulping plankton by the ton. Then a sound, travelling faster in the water than in the air, echoed through the sea. A deep, rumbling sound that sent the wildlife into a scatter. A huge iron monster ploughed through the ocean, churning up the water as it went.The bow of the great ship soon brought sleek propises into view, eager to bow ride on this huge vessel.
This was the suppourt freighter, Qinghaihu, one of the largest ships in the PLA Navy, that for months had provided an immense quantity of supplies to China's warships. She was currently heading to a position near the taiwan strait, where she would rensdevouz with a Carrier battle group preparing for a major exercise right in front of the Taiwanese. But first the greta carrier and its escorts would need to be refuelled and replenished. The Qinghaihu was adequate for this job. On her way she would be joined by two Qiandohu-class replenishment ships, which would supplement the supplies she had on board. Since this was peacetime, the hgih command had decided she would not need escorts.
This was something that Captain Yang Jicai had argued all the way to the top. He was concerned that a compliment of destoryers with the freighter would drive off any Taiwanese warships that may attempt to intercept and board the Qinghaihu. But the high command was unsympathetic and ordered her to go alone. But after some debate, it was agreed that three 022 FACs would meet her after leaving
Hong Kong.
"Not good enough" grumbled Captain Yang. "Two destroyers wouldn't have been a major burden."
High up on the bridge, Yang oversaw the voyage completely. He was ot happy being where he was. Before becoming captain of the Qinghaihu, he had commanded China's most prominent flagship, the carrier Mao Tse-Tsung, which had once been an old Russian carrier sitting in the Dry dock of Dalian. The first of the Mao class of Aircraft carriers, she was the pride of the PLAN. But Yang had lost his place as commander during the North Korean crisis of 2011. He had ordred a flight of three Su-33 jets to buzz a North Korean missile freighter that had violated the U.N. placed blockade. But then a Najin class frigate, armed to the hull, moved to protect the freghter. In his frustration that the Koreans were disobeying his demands to stop and be checked, he ordered the fighters to perfrom a strafng run in front of the bow of the missile ship, as a warning shot. In response, the firgate opened up with AA fire, resulting in the shootdown of a Su-33 fighter. Since the strafing run had been done without permission from Beijing, and had started a major diplomatic crisis, Yang was court-martialed, and later sacked from his post.
"And now I'm stuck on this bucket" he thought to himself. His bad relations with the top brass had been one of the reasons for the refusal of his request for tighter escort. T
he ship had now left Hong Kong, and was heading to its first rensdevouz ponit with the pitiful escort it was assigned. It cruised steadily south, its mighty engines pusing it effortlessly through the water.
"Keep her on a steady course" Yang told the Helmsman. "We should be making contact with the 022s soon."
It was then that the ships 1st lieutenant, Jiang Wobei, appeared on the bridge.
"Sir, the radio operator reports a distress signal."
"A distress signal!?"
"Yes sir. A Fillipino trawler. They hailed us just now, they say that they're just off our starbard bow, but they're transmissions are all garbled. from the sound of it, it seems they're on fire, Sir."
"I guess we'll have to awnser them then." At a worst possible time, Yang thought. Looks like the other two ships will have to go it alone.
The ships searchlight was switched on, and sure enough, there was a fair-sized trawler. Yang could see that there was black smoke pouring from her.
"Put me on with her" he ordered. The lieutenant handed him the receiver of the radio in the bridge.
"This is Captain Yang Jicai, PLAN Qinghaihu. We understand you are in distress and will come to your assistance. How do you read me?"
"Tra...er No..bin tok. He..m out of control...re....st...im....ate....assis.."
The radio cut off. Yang was unable what to make of this mysterious transmission from an equally mysterious boat.
"Seems their radio's out." He murmured. "Very well, Lieutenant Jiang, launch the rubber rafts. We'll have them off that thing in no time."
"Sir.."
"Yes, Wobei, what is it?"
"She's heading straight for us!"
"What?! The crazy idiot! The hold's pilled high with ammunition and fuel! That fire will blow us apart if it spreads!"
He turned to the Lieutenant wildly, shaken with shock.
"Tell the men to get out the fire-fighting equipment and get on the starboard deck double time! We've got to put that fucker out before it spreads to the storage tanks! What are you waiting for Jiang, move!"
Within minutes, dozens of sailors brandishing extinguishers and trailing fire hoses, rushed down to the starboard deck. The trawler, puffing black smoke, continued its collision course with the freighter, at a moderate speed. Captain Yang knew that his ship would not be able to turn away in time. The best action was to extinguish the flames before they reached the massive hull and its volatile cargo. Petty officer Deng was on sationwith the fire-fighting team, speaking with lieutenant Jiang on one of the ship's phones. The trawler drew closer.
"She's closing in on us, sir" wanred Deng. Jiang heard his voice through the communication system on the bridge.
"Keep calm, seaman. Remember, as sone as the fire is within hose range, order the hose crews to start spraying. That should extinguish the fire. You've got to do it before she reaches the hull., understood?"
"Yes Sir, understood." Deng anxiously watched the trawler close in. Suddenly, it verred to starboard, drawing up alongside the Qinghaihu. Deng was puzzled. Would a runaway ship do this? But then he realised the flames were getting closer.
"Turn on the pumps!" He yelled. "Quickly!"
Thye could see the blaze now. It was on the bow, raging with orange flames and black smoke. The jets of water flew forth from the hoses, drenching the flames. But it soon became clear that it was an oil fire, so Deng ordered the fire pumps to be sitched to foam. The flames were driven back, the foam now almost swamping the trawler, whose deck was alomost level with that of the larger ship.
"Good Job" cired Deng. "Chang, tkae your men with the C02 extinguishers and mop up the rest of the flames. Then search to see what's going on onboard. Check for survivors as well."
The seamen moored the trawler to the side, then set an emergency ramp connecting the two vessels. The men doused the flames with extinguishers, while others came with stretchers. Deng reported back to the bridge.
"Fire's out, lieutenant. I've sent men over to check for casualties."
"Good job Deng. That was a close one. I'll see that you are commended for this."
The sailors advanced into the cabin of the trawler with their stretchers, while the others snuffed the last of the flames. Then they realised. Instead of a scorched and damaged deck, they found a large metal basin, sunk into the deck, filled with burned tires and other combustibles. Able seaman Chang was the first to see this, and yelled to Petty Officer Deng.
"Its a dud!"
"What!"
"The blaze was deliberate! It looks like.."
Before he could say any more , the sound of gunfire erupted. The Naval seamen on the trawler were mown down in minutes. Deng tore the phone from its casing, and yelled:
"Armed hostiles are coming out fo the trawler, get us out of here! We,re being board..."
The phone went dead. Lieutenant Jiang could not beleive what he had just heard. He looked to the starboard side and saw masked men armed with Assault rifles pouring out of the trawler. He ran to warn Captain Yang. Who also could not believe what he was seeing and hearing. And then they saw the same masked men heading for the bridge.

To be continued...

[Indianfighter]

Gnat Brotherhood takes off, first reunion in city

Sunanda Mehta

Pune, August 31: WHEN some 80 former Gnat pilots get together in Pune on September 22 for a reunion, memories will come alive and unending stories will pour out. Some of them will centre around how Squadron Leader Trevor Greene formulated the tactics that the Gnats adopted in the 1965 war to lure the Pakistani Sabres into battle.

They will also relive the heroic action of Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Sekhon who fought a long and lone battle against four Pakistanis in Srinagar, earning the first and only Param Vir Chakra for the Indian Air Force.

Many other episodes about the life and times of IAF’s Gnat pilots will be recounted and relived at their first ever reunion at the RSI Golf Club.

The hours will be special for Air Vice Marshal Ravi D Limaye (Retd) . ‘‘Not everyone could fly the Gnat because there was no trainer aircraft. One was briefed well and sent on your first flight alone as the Gnat could only take one person,’’ says Limaye who flew them in the Indo-Pak wars.

‘‘After the havoc they wrecked in 1965, they earned the label of Sabre Slayers. In the 1971 war, the Pakistani Air Force had instructed their pilots not to engage in combat with Gnats. We, of course, learnt about this much later,’’ adds Limaye, who also commanded a Gnat squadron.

The reunion, which will have Gnat pilots from all over the country and three from the US, will bring back a rush of memories for Air Chief Marshal H Moolgavkar (Retd).

Though he was not in the Gnat squadron, Moolgavkar was one of the first officers to fly the plane as part of the IAF evaluation team that went to the UK in 1954 and approved the Midge for induction into the Air Force.

When Midge’s inventor WEW Petter developed the Gnat —a better version of the Midge for the IAF, Moolgavkar went back to evaluate the aircraft. A team, that included India’s foremost test pilot, Squadron Leader Suranjan Das, was sent to Folland in the UK for the technical evaluation. ‘‘The Gnat’s strength lay in its power-to-weight ratio,’’ says Moolgavkar.

Air Commodore AD Chibber (retd) , who flew the fighter planes for five years, says he found it one of the most challenging aircraft to fly, while Group Captain AK Datta can recall the innumerable sorties he took at Halwara in Punjab on the fighter plane.

Says Wing Commander S F Soares (Retd) , ‘‘The IAF was the only air force to use the aircraft. For some reason, no other country took to it. Which makes us the only Gnat pilots in the world and that justifies the reunion.’’ He did 26 war sorties in the Gnat.

Soares was also part of the Gnat team that shot down three Pakistani Sabres in the 1971 war. ‘‘It was the high point of my career.’’

Flying high


* Gnat is the smallest and deadliest fighter aircraft, agile, difficult to spot and highly manoeuvrable.

* It has a wing span of 21 feet and is 29 feet long.

* The first aircraft was delivered to India in 1958

* The first Gnat assembled by HAL from a kit, flew in Bangalore in 1959.

* It entered the squadron service in 1960.

* HAL built 195 Gnats and in 1976 came up with an improved Gnat called Ajeet. The Gnat-Ajeet was phased out of the IAF in 1991.

* The Gnat Brotherhood reunion will mark the golden jubilee of the agreement signed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Folland in 1956. Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi is expected for the occasion.

Source:
http://cities.expressindia.com/fulls...?newsid=199245

All the following images are due to the courtesy of Bharat-Rakshak.com. The last 2 images are courtesy of Peter Steinman from "Touching the Skies" :

[DPRKPTboat]

Silent Telephone (Part 2)

After receiving orders direct from President Hu to silence Michael Moore for trying to release his controversial pro-Taiwan and anti-superpower film "Island of Gold" in China, Hong Kong and now Taiwan, MSS head Xu Yongye assembles a crack team of four specially trained MSS agents to assainate the leftist director in operation "Tiger's strike" - the most high-level targeted assasination mission ever taken by Chinese agents.
Each member of this assigned squad signs away their employment in the MSS. They are all oficially registered as unemployed and unheard of - they are not officially recognised by the Chinese government or any other government. They are now labled as "unexistant". The squad is to act independently, only reporting back to home base when the target is eliminated, or by contact with other MSS operatives. Xu authorises the use of explosives to elimiate the target, so a bombmaker is included in the team. Moore is due to make a tour of the Asia-Pacific region, including Taiwan. But his first stop will be Seoul, South Korea, where his film is due to make its premier in the country.
With assistance from North Korean intelligence services, the operatives manage to obtain a safehouse in Seoul, where bombs can be made and guns readied. The safehouse is normally used by the North's agents in the South (This story is unconnected to the Fall of Pyongyang, set two years before).
The North Koreans also help three of the Chinese operatives to infiltrate the South's police force.
The night before Moore's premier, three of the "policemen" seal off a section of the road that Moore's motorcade is due to drive along to the theatre, claiming they are checking it for bombs. In reality, they are planting a bomb themselves. The device is placed in a small drain opening in a gutter, at a set of crossroads. Concealed by the grille covering the opening, the bomb is fitted with a short range radar and other sensors, designed to detect vehicles within its 3-metre range. These are activated when the device is switched on. In order to catch the limo and increase the chance of killing who's inside, the plastic C4 explosive used is very powerful. When a large radar contact is detected (say, from a limousine), a signal is sent to the detonator, and the bomb explodes. All that is needed now is to lie in wait.
It is May 12, 2010. The weather is perfect in Seoul for today's "Island of Gold" premier. Crowds gather to welcome Michael Moore, which mostly consist of his suppourters. Defaced American flags are visible flying on either side of the road as the limo drives steadily along. Some conservatives in the corwd boo the director, but three of the people present today have a much different intention.
Three Chinese agents, dressed as police officers in their patrol car at the side of the road to keep order, watch the motorcade as it heads steadily towards the end of the road. The bomb is then turned on by a pocket remote control. The radar and sensorary systems are activated, and begin seeking out their target. All that Limo has to do is to drive within three metres of the small drain where the road meets the crossroads, and the agent's job is done.
But then something unexpected happens. A large tanker truck, carrying large quantities of petroleum, is driving down a road on the other side of the block. The driver is late for his delivery, and decides to take a shortcut via the nearby crossroads, not knowing that they are blocked off due to the premier. When he spots the police barricades, he brakes hard but to late, and smashes through the barricades and into the range of the bomb radar. The sensors pick up this new target, and send their signal through the device's circuits.
A massive explosion ensues, killing the truck driver instantly and sending the crowd into a panicked stampede. The explosion also reaches the tanker trailer, igniting the petroleum cargo, and causing a second, even larger explosion, turing the end of the road into a firery inferno, which Moore's limo is driving straight into. Seeing this, the Limo driver desperately tries to swerve and advoid the flames, but it is to late. The limousine crashes into the truck cab, and the flames spread onto it. Moore's bodyguard drags him and his driver out of the car, which soon bursts into flames. They are both rushed to the nearest hospital. As well as the truck driver, 3 innocent bystanders and 2 South Korean policemen were killed in the attack. Moore's driver suffered severe injuries, including third degree burns and a head injury, and later dies in hospital. Moore himself suffered a severe back injuury, but besides this and some minor burns and cuts, he is mostly unharmed. This is dissapointing for the squad, but Xu Yongye is furious, not only that Moore escaped alive, but that foreign civillians were killed. He gives strict orders to the team to take more suttle and clean aproaches in future. He does not want "an assaination intended for one man to become a 9/11".
The rest of the world hears, reads and sees the news everywhere in disbelief. They now know from investigations by the authorities that the bomb was some sort of proximity device, and had been placed in the road to intercept Moore's limo, with the intent of killing him. There is outrage across the world that someone had tried to kill such a popular figure, but there is also strong calls to Mr. Moore, even from the U.S. government, to end his tour and come back to the safety of the U.S. Moore stubbournly refuses from his hospital bed, and orders security stepped up. The main question on everyone's minds is "who is trying to kill Michael Moore?" Many suspect the CIA, others suggest DPRK agents may have been involved, in order to try to damage the South's image and economy. Few suspect China, much to the relief of Xu Yongye.
Due to Moore's order to increase security, the hospital is now heavily guarded, so Chinese agents decide to abort a proposed attempt to shoot the target in his bed.
With Moore out of the assasins' reach, Xu expands the target list to individuals involved with smuggling the movie "Island of Gold" and Moore's messages to the Chinese people into the PRC. The minor smugglers are easily apprehended by the PAP and over domestic security forces. But Xu wants those involved with the production of the movie dealt with as well. The producer of Island of Gold, Jim Czarneki, is currently in Hong Kong. He is responsible for the production of the Movie everywhere, including Hong Kong. Xu decides to add him to the target list. So the assasination team proceeds to Hong Kong Island.
It is on the 15th of May, 2010, at 10:30pm, that producer Jim Czarneki is struck down. Exhausted after receiving a flood of questions on the condition of Moore and his attempted assasination, as well as the danger of inciting controversey with China, Czarneki returns to the Hong Kong Langham hotel and retires to his room. To his surprise, he finds a complimentary bottle of champagne on his drinks table. Although he knows the hotel issues one to every room, he did not expect it to arrive until tommorow moring. Yet unsuspicous, and tempted by the bottle, he decides to have an evening drink before bed. He inserts a bottle opener and pulls out the cork.
The ensuing process lasts but seconds. As soon as Czarneki pulls out the cork, it is not just champagne foam that spurts out, but lethal sarin gas, which rushes out of the bottleneck, forming an unseen poison cloud around the holder of the bottle. Czarneki chokes and suffocates with a few seconds. He then falls backwards, his body recked by spasms from the nerve agent and sprawled on the floor, dropping the bottle which shatters into dozens of glass fragments. A mixture of sarin and champagne spills onto the fine carpet, creating an ugly stain. The scene is not revealed until the morning, to the screams of a hotel maid.

To be concluded.....

[Finn McCool]

Chapter 5: The Fall of Mecca

The Western Allies in the Caliphate War knew they had to sieze the oil fields of Arabia as soon as possible. Without them, they and the world risked economic collape. Oil prices were above or around $100 a barrel, depending on the progress of the war. Thus NATO command decided that it would attack from captured parts of Jordan into Saudi Arabia with a three part offensive. One part, led mostly by the Europeans, would attack down the Red Sea coast, through a reigion know as the Hejaz, with the objective of capturing the port cities of Duba, Jeddah, and Yanbu' al Bahr, to facilitate the transportation of oil out of Saudi Arabia. This force, know as Southern Army Group , was also to surround the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, but not attack or fire on them unless necessesary. The other group, Central Army Group, was almost entirely American troops. Its job was to race across the Saudi Desert, bypassing Riyadh and capturing the Persian Gulf Coast and what was Kuwait, with the objectives being King Khalid Military City (a massive military base deep in the desert), the oil fields of Eastern Saudi Arabia and the port city of Ad Dharan with the critical Ras Tafrana oil field. Kuwait City was the secondary objective, to be taken by a swing north after the other targets had been taken. Supporting them would be the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and British Airborne units who were to attack the oil fields themselves several days ahead of the main force to prevent their destruction. A large force was necessesary because of the enormus size of the oil fields.

At the same time, the Eastern Allies, Russia, China and India, were preparing to attack Pakistan and Iran. They could hit both India and with the Russian-Chinese forces in Afghanistan. Also, the Russian Army was planning an amphibious operation in the Caspian Sea, to attack its shore near Tehran.

By this time, March 2009, the Caliphate had succeded in executing several terrorist attacks against targets in the West and in Russia, China and India. A series of restaurants, nightclubs and movie theaters were bombed in France, terrorists succeded in destroying three packed apartment blocks in Xian, China, a suicide bomber detonated himself in a packed line for a football match in Britain, 8 civillian targets in St. Petersburg and the next day 2 in Moscow were hit by suicide bombers on foot and sucide gunmen, and several Hindu temples were hit in India, causing massive loss of life. An oil tanker was blown up by a suicide boat in the Straits of Mallaca, shutting it for weeks as much of its surface was covered with burning oil. Caliphate-trained and funded terrorists even managed to fire several homemade Qassam-like rockets at the White House, one of which actually landed on the sidewalk in front of it. This worldwide wave of terrorism had been seriously effecting the world economy, driving down the amount of money people spent on travel and leisure in almost all countries. However, after the initial attacks in late 2008 to mid-2009, law enforcement managed to wrap up almost all Caliphate cells in the countries where they were operating. Some escaped though, graphically illustrated by an incident in November 2009 when a Caliphate cell that had succeded in going underground shot down a Lufthansa Airbus 3000, killing hundreds. Overall, the Caliphate terrorism offensive was not succesful, as it merely increased worldwide determination to see the Caliphate's destruction, though it did certainly make the war more difficult and painful for all Allied civillian populations.

By this point in the war, the international media was beginning to reveal war crimes committed by the Allied side. Most NATO nations ended up having a war crimes tribunal of some kind for their own soldiers, as the new McCain Administration (the American public was willing to elect a moderate Republican because of the war, even though the stain of Bush and neo-conservatism lingered over the party for years to come) was far less adverse to prosecuting American soldiers than the Bush Administration had been. Israel too had some of its first real war crimes trials, as Israeli troops had been directly responsible for scores of civillian deaths in desperate, bloody the Battle of Damascus. American troops were mostly prosecuted for their actions in the withdrawl from Iraq, during which some had deliberatly killed civillians and wreaked havoc as they left the country. (Many parts of Iraq were by this time in open sectarian war, something that the Caliphate government could not control. Also, the peshmerga of Kurdistan were exercising control of a massive area in Southern Turkey, Western Iran and Northern Iraq, protected by Allied air support. The Caliphate did not have the resources to subdue them.) European nations were not spared either. German, French and British troops were all accused and prosecuted mainly for massacres committed and other crimes inflicted while they were attempting to subdue Hezbollah, which was waging an active guerilla war in Allied occupied Lebanon and Syria. China and Russia howver were by far the worst offenders, with the Russians using some of the same tactics they had used in Chechnya and Afghanistan to put down guerilla resistance in Central Asia. In both countries there were some show trials, but not true investigation and prosecution like in the West. Overall, the tribunals increased the Allied will to fight, as they highlighted the justness of the Allied cause.

In Jordan, American and European troops were preparing for the attack into Saudi Arabia. The operation commenced on 17 April 2009, with American and European tank forces striking out into the desert like in Desert Storm almost twenty years before. Central Army group encountered little resistance, as the Caliphate intended to take on the Americans in Eastern Saudi Arabia at the end of long, cross-desert supply lines. The Amerincans had traveled about 150 miles in two days, encountering almost no resistance. However, the Caliphate had sent small teams of men, some with camels, some with 4x4 vehicles, into the desert to slow the American advance. They were armed with ATGMs and night vision, and they were deadly effective. Hiding in wadis and behind Jebels, and using the sheer distance and heat mirage of the desert as cover, they fired ATGMs into the advancing American tanks from the flanks, picking them off. Many of these groups were killed soon after by MBT fire or attack helicopters. Many escaped into the desert to attack again. They also hit American fuel trucks and supply units coming up behind the tanks APCs and IFVs. At times they also approached stationary American positions and hit them with mortars, and although these attacks were not effective they put even more fear into the American GIs. Regardless of the desert raiders, the US armour continued to advance toward the oil fields. On 23 April Operation Silver Cloud was launched. Dozens of transport planes flew out of airfields in Jordan with thousands of paratroopers in their bellies. Hours later, in the depth of night, they jumped into the oil fields. In places they discovered enemy troops planting explosives on the wells, and in some places the wells were already blown, but they managed to secure 85% of wells intact. By dawn, defensive perimeters had been established and the second wave of paratoopers was landing from helicopters. The Ghwar Field, the worlds largest, was the center of one defensive area, with others protecting other fields and critical areas of pipeline, etc. Defending the oil fields was made difficult by the presence of large numbers of Caliphate troops, many in fortified positions, within the fields themselves. The Caliphate troops were usually surrounded because US and British soldiers had dropped in on all sides, but in many places they outnumbered the forces surrouding them. Around midday on 24 April, the Caliphate troops in the area counterattacked with a column of troops moving out of the cities of Khobar and Dammam and out of the areas of the oil fields they occupied. The Allied paratroopers had few vehicles but used Apaches (which had flown in with them) TOWs, Spikes and Strykers with mounted guns to good effect. In many places the fighting resembled WWI, with infantry, both Allied and Caliphate, advancing across wide open spaces of desert. Despite heavy air support, the paratroopers fell back in some places but held the line in most, and the counterattack petered out in the desert. Soon the American tanks were to arrive and take the all imporant oil fields for good if the Caliphate could not stop them.

I'll edit in the rest later. Still not done yet

[DPRKPTboat]

Silent Telephone (part 3)

One of the first news agencies to report Czarneki's death is the BBC world service. The Radio announcement is heard with disbelief by the rest of the world:

"Last night film producer Jim Czarneki, who produced Michael Moore's contorversial doocumentary Island of Gold, was pronounced dead in what has been called one of the most bizarre murders since the death of Georgi Markov in 1978. Czarneki was found dead in his hotel room at the Langham hotel in Hong Kong, after presumably opening a bottle that contained toxic sarin gas. The gas had been placed in the bottle at high pressure, and released by a tiny widget system. Czarneki unknowingly opened the bottle, releasing the poisonus gas, killing him instantly. The report comes 3 days after the attempted assasination of Michael Moore using a powerful roadside bomb in Seoul, South Korea. It is believed that the same people are responsible, but who they are remains unknown. Chinese authorities have refused to comment on the murder, but the FBI is currently conducting an investigation."

The FBI examine the remains of the Killer Champagne bottle, and find that it was made using great expertise. The glass bottle had contained ordinary champagne, but Sarin gas had been pumped into it at high pressure, presumably using a powerful air pump. The bottle had been kept air tight to stop the gas being dilluted. The tiny widget that had pushed the gas out was placed at the bottom the bottle, concealed by the ice bucket that the bottle had been placed in when the victim had entered the room. Since a bottle of champagne was given to every room in the hotel, whoever delivered the sarin bottle must have got jobs at the hotel, so they could reach the victim easily. An ingenious yet horrifying method of assasination.
Due to the James Bond style method, and the evident level of expertise used, many investigators suspect a government agency being involved. Many in the public point the finger at the CIA, but a good deal also suspect China's MSS, due to the fact the murder happened in a Chinese territory. Both Washington and Bejing deny any involvement with the Czarneki assasination.
Behind the scenes, Xu Yongye is pleased. He congragulates the Tiger's strike team, and shows further pleasure that they took his advice by using more suttle methods of assasination. He recommends they use a similar method for Moore, but next time insure that no evidence is left behind for investigators. Hu Jintao is also pleased, and hopes Czarneki will serve as an example to Moore and any others who seek to breach China's domestic security and interfere in her affairs.
But to Hu's dissapointment, Moore leaves hospital two days later, and makes a defiant speech at a press conference in Tokyo, in which he sends condolences to Czarneki's family and responds to his attempted assasination:

"I think its pretty clear that a lot of conservatives don't like me. I never imagined someone would try to kill me. It looks like they got Jim, but even if they get me, my film is out already, and the message has been received. If soemone thinks they can stop it by killing me, they're wrong. I think I have a good idea who's behind this, and three things are obvious. One, they're American. Two, they rpobably live in the White house, and three, they're probably White."

But due to Moore's one-sided view of the world, he fails suspect that his tormentors don't live in the white house, and are neither American nor white (no racism intended).
He continues his tour of the Asia-Pacific region undeterred, making his final stop in Taiwan, where he will be greated by corwds and a brass band, before attendng a rally. The MSS squad proceed to the Island, and propose to infiltrate the band, and kill the target using a blowpipe hidden in a trumpet, that would fire a tiny but lethal ricin dart into the victim as he would pass the band on the red carpet. The pain and firing of the weapon would be almost unoticable.
On the day of the visit, 19th May 2010, Moore is walking down the red carpet, signing autographs. The Brass band plays on the other side, and the trumpet player assassin readies his weapon. He takes aim at the target and presses one of the valve keys that fires the blowpipe. But the dart misses its target, due to a slight breeze, and instead hits one of Moore's bodyguards, Larry Fergurson, in the neck. Due to the fact the blowpipe could only fire one dart, the mission is aborted, and the agent/trumpet player makes a quick getaway in a car waiting just outside the barriers at the event - just after the band finishes playing. Fortunately, the attempted murder goes mostly unoticed for now. Fergurson only felt a slight sting in his neck. But later that evening he develops a high fever and fins a swollen mark on his neck. He dies two days later, suffering from what looked like high fever. But the local authorities are suspicous. A post-mortem of his body discovers a tiny dart, which had been designed to dissolve in the body. The dart is cone shaped, with two holes drilled through the sides that were filled with ricin toxin. The holes had been drilled using a powerful laser beam. As with the champagne bottle, high expertise was used. At frist it is unclear where the dart came from, but eyewitness accounts, and later TV footage, show one of the trumpeters in the brass band turning his trumpet in the direction of where Michael Moore was singing autographs in the crowd, then blowing unusually hard on the instrument. Footage shows something very small flying out of it, suppourting the theory that the dart was fired from the trumpet. It is very clear that Moore is still under threat, and his pursuers are becoming more inventive in ways to kill him.
Taking a hint from this, and knowing that he is still being hunted, Moore cuts his tour short and flies back to the United states. He now keeps a low profile, rarely emerging in the open, travelling in secret.
Xu Yongye now has a hard time completing the operation. He promised President Hu he would dispose of Moore by the end of May. Now it seems he will dissapoint the President, and he knows that will mean the end of his position as MSS head. But then he gets another chance. He gets a tip from a anonymous source that Moore will attend a rally in Hollywood, L.A. He sends the Tiger's strike team to Los Angeles, and orders them to track down the target, and to find out where he is staying so they can pick him off.
Then the same anonymous individual sends them another tip that Moore is staying at the Beverely hills hotel. So they decide to get some extra help.
At precisely 9:30 pm, on the 30th May 2010, a receptionist at Beverely Hills Hotel receives a strange telephone call. The dialouge goes like this:

Receptionist: Hello, Beverely Hills Hotel how can we help you?

Caller: Hello, this is Cheng Xia, Taipei Times. Is Michael Moore there?

Receptionist: Yes, he's here, Room 72. Why do you need him? How did you know he was staying here?

Caller: We requested an interview with him on the 21st, but due to certain circumstances he cancelled the interview. We heard from various sources he was staying here, so now we request an interview in Hollywood. Can I speak to him now?

Receptionist: He asked not to be distrubed. He might not do an interview over the phone right now.

Caller: So we are aware. But I simply want to quickly ask him if we can arrange an interview at a later date. Is that possible?

Receptionist: Hold on Mr. Cheng, I'll check.

(she calls the room)

Receptionist: He says yes, so I'll put you through now.

Caller: Thank you.

(Line transfers to the room)

Michael Moore: Hello?

Caller: Michael Moore?

Michael Moore: Yes, you asked about an interview?

Although Moore does not know it at the time, these are his last words. Before he can say any more, Cyanide gas rushes out of the talking end of the phone. There is the sound of violent choking on the phone, then the crash of a body falling, and the clang of the phone as it lands back on the bedside table. The gas has done its work. Then phosphorus explosive placed inside the base of the telephone detonates, igniting the air inside the room and incinerating everything inside, including any evidence that the telepone could have provided. Both Moore and the telephone are silenced forever.
The blast is heard and seen throughout Beverely hills. Firefighters quckly arrive at the hotel, putting out the blaze in Room 72. But as the news of what happened travels around the world, everyone knows that Moore is dead - the killers have won. But still no one knows who they are, and since no-one heard the phone conversation between Moore and the mysterious caller, everyone believed that he was killed by the bomb in his telephone. How the telephone was placed in his room without anyone knowing is also a mystery. The only tip as to who the killers might be is from the receptionist, who says that the caller had spoken with a thick Chinese accent.
But then more witnesses come forward. Many claim to have seen a black Jaguar saloon parked at the car park at the hotel, with three men inside. They seemed to be waiting for something, as they had been there for an unusually long time. But when the explosion occured, the car manouvered out of the car park and drove off swiftly. This was confirmed by CCTV footage of the car park, which showed the car and its sudden departure at the moment of the explosion. Another witness described a man in a phone booth across the road from the hotel, in view of the men in the black Jaguar. The man was described as wearing a grey bussiness suit, with a black club tie. He was a man in his fifties, with dark, short combed hair, thick spectacles and oriental features. At one point he heavily stamped his foot twice in the booth, a visible signal to the men in the car (it was later believed that the first stamp was a signal telling them that it was definetly Moore on the phone, and that they could release the gas, the second stamp a signal that the gas had done its work and that they could detonate the bomb). When the explosion occured, he ran out of the booth, and to the next block, where other witnesses claim they saw the car quickly stop, and the man bundling into the back seat of the car, which quickly drove off. Another witness also described the man, and that he made a call when the light in the window of he room next door to Moore's room went out. This was believed to be a signal that Moore was in the room.
Some of the witnesses provided the liscene-plate number of the black car seen at the hotel. The FBI, working with the LAPD, traced the number, and found out it was a hired car. They managed to find the residence of those who had hired the car, but by the time they do, they find it empty and abandoned. The killers had escaped.
Unknown to all in Los Angeles, the killers were safely back in China, where they were congragulated personally by Hu Jintao and Xu Yongye, who is relieved to still have his job, since he just manged to fufill the promise he made to Hu. The radio station in Taiwan that Moore broadcast his messages on has stopped broadcasting to the mainland, due to numerous death threats and letterbombs from unknown sources.
Armed with the evidence provided by eyewitnesses, analysts now suspect Chinese agents killed both Moore and Czarneki, although many still suspect the CIA. Both organisations deny responsibility, but then suspicions are confirmed one year later.
Conservative Radio Host Glenn Beck, who was a vocal critic of Moore and even threatened to kill him in May 2005, admitted to the FBI investigators in January 2011 that he had been involved in the Moore assasination. He had been recruited by four men who identified themselves as Chinese agents. It began when he received a phone call on the 27th May 2010 telling him they had a job which was "right up your alley". Intruiged, he had been ordered to meet them at Sunset Boulevard, where the same Black Jaguar saloon seen on the night of Moore's death picked him up and took him to the same appartment raided by police after the assasination. He did not know where it was, as he was blindfolded during the journey. Once he arrived, he was offered compensation for the $95,000 that he lost when Moore filed a lawsuit against him Febuary 2008. After that lawsuit, Beck had sworn revenge. The MSS offered him both the money and revenge. So Beck immediately agreed to assist them. Since Chinese agents masquerading as hotel staff were likely to be caught, the agents wanted to use Beck to plant the telephone in Moore's room. As a member of showbiz and a regular visitor to the hotel, he would not arouse suspicion. He told the FBI that the telephone had been made to the exact model used in the Deluxe suites of Beverly hills hotel, the room type that Moore was staying in. The talking/receiving section of the telephone contained a small cannister of Zyklon B cyanide gas, that would be sprayed out of the talking end of the telephone when Moore was speaking on it. When the phone was picked up, it sent a signal to the men in the car, in the form of a green light flashing on the remote control used to release the gas and detonate the bomb. Once the gas was released, a phosphorus explosive device placed inside the telephone base was detonated to destroy the evidence. The MSS agents had told him that the telephone, the blowpipe trumpet and the sarin champagne bottle were all made by the technical staff of the MSS fourth (technology) bureau.
Beck's job was to check into the room next door to room 72, and then enter Moore's room while he was out at his rally by means of a hotel master key provided to him by the Chinese. He unplugged the normal phone in the room, took it away and replaced it with what he called "the phone of death". Beck's second task was to keep a watch on the room, and when Moore returned to it, he turned off his light and vacated his own room next door. This was a signal to the Chinese agents waiting outside that the target was in his room, allowing to make the call to the hotel. Beck then checked out and left quickly, giving the agents the all-clear to eliminate the target. This was confirmed by CCTV footage in the car park of the Radio-host getting into his car and leaving a few minutes before the bomb explosion. This had not been noticed prevously. After Moore had been killed, they called on him in his residence, and gave him the $95,000 dollars in payment. But he said that he was very frightened by their appearence, especially when they threatened him if he broke his silence abut the assasination, saying "the same will happen to you if you talk". He said he was terrified every time he saw them. The FBI place him under arrest, but also make sure he is well protected from a reprisal killing. When asked how the Chinese knew where Moore was, Beck awnsered that they had received a tip, but that neither he nor the agents knew where it had come from.
As a result, Glenn Beck was given a life sentence for treason, as he had helped foreign agents kill an American citizen, as well as for conspiracy to murder and involvement in murder. The Moore assasination soured relations between China and the U.S.A, and the U.S. government returned to its original stance on Taiwan, a very tough stance under president Hillary Clinton.
As to who informed the MSS of the whereabouts of Michael Moore, the awnser from the authorities was that they still did not know. But if anyone wanted to know, they only had to ask the Bush family....

The End

[IronsightSniper]

To be quite honest, not sure where this goes, so move/baleet accordingly. I just wrote it one bored day too by the way, and do fix any historical inaccuracies!

The Hour of the Bear

December 12th, 2014, 0800 hours Zulu. A Russian Carrier Battle Group has been detected by British Early Warning Airborne radars flying over the North Sea. This is not a Training exercise. The British with their main Maritime interdiction forces stationed in the Falklands over a recent conflict with the Argentinians and the French, with their Charles de Gaulle carrier conducting interdiction missions over Myanmar, were incapacitated to advise over this event. With the common inability to do anything, the EU suggestively asks for support from the U.S.N. A Nimitz classed Carrier Battle Group, Carrier Strike Group 2, is sent to intercept the Russian Carrier Battle Group.

Carrier Strike Group 2 is your regular U.S.N. Carrier Battle Group. At her helm is their lead ship, the CVN-77 George H.W. Bush. A big fellow, 100,000 tonnes, 6,000 men and women, 3 Phalanx CIWS, 2 RIM-116 launchers, 2 ESSM (Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles) launchers, 2 Squadrons of F/A-18E/F Superhornets and 2 Squadrons of F/A-18 Hornets. At her side are 2 Ticonderoga class Cruisers, each fitted with BGM-109 Tomahawks in all 122 cells of her VLS, the CG-72, CG-61. Holding the rear are 2 Arleigh Burke class Destroyers, DDG-103, DDG-94, each armed with 32 SM-2 and 64 ESSM missiles. With the addition of 8 Harpoon missiles per Ticonderoga class and 2 Phalanx CIWS per each Ticonderoga class, the total number of Guns that this CSG (Carrier Strike Group) can bring to bare are 7 Phalanx CIWSs and the total number of Missiles are 42 RIM-116s, 16 Harpoons, 244 Tomahawks, 64 SM-2s, and 128 ESSMs.

December 15th, 2014, 0400 hours Zulu. First radar contact via E-2 Hawkeyes has been made with the Russian Carrier Battle Group. Their size is as follows: 1 Kuznetsov class Aircraft carrying Heavy Missile Cruiser (presumably the Admiral Kuznetsov), 1 Kirov class Battlecruiser (presumably the Pyotr Velikiy), 1 Slava class Cruiser (presumably the Moskva), 1 Udaloy II class Destroyer (presumably the Admiral Chabanenko), and 1 Steregushcy class Corvette (presumably the Steregushchiy). This is a very formidable force. The Admiral Kuznetsov itself can hold it's own against a USN CSG, weighing over 50,000 tonnes, with 1 Squadron of Su-33s and a dozen Early Warning helicopters, along with 8 AK-630 CIWSs, 8 Kashtan CIWS (each Kashtan has 2 six-barreled 30 mm autocannons and 8 missiles ready to fire with 32 stored below), 192 3K95 Kinzhal stored in VLS, and 12 P-700 Granits stored in VLS. The Pyotr Velikiy itself has 20 P-700 Granits, 96 S-300FMs, 192 3K95 Kinzhal, 44 OSA-MA, and 6 Kashtans. The Moskva has 16 P-500 Bazalts, 64 S-300PMUs, 48 OSA-MA, and 6 Kashtans. The Admiral Chabaneko has 8 Moskits (Sunburns), 64 3K95 Kinzhals, and 2 Kashtans. Finally, the Steregushchiy has 2 Kashtans and 6 3M-54 Klubs. This is a very powerful force.

December 15th, 2014, 0420 hours, Zulu. Radio contact has not been established. The Russians have gone dark. This can only mean one thing but our CO won't say it. 200 km out, the attack starts. 32 P-700 Granits, 16 P-500 Bazalts, 8 Moskits, 6 Klubs. P-700s are dangerous motherfuckers. 600 km range, 750 kg HE warhead, Mach 1.5 sea skimmer. P-500s are dangerous too, 500 km range, 1,000 kg HE warhead, Mach 1.5 sea skimmer. Moskits and Klubs are the most dangerous though. Moskits, 200 km range, 300 kg HE warhead, Mach 2.2 sea skimmer, Klubs, 300 km range, 200 kg HE warhead, Mach 3 sea skimmer. Luckily for us, the P-500/P-700 operated in Swarm mode, which meant one in the swarms would have to climb to 7,000 meters and give targeting info to the others, those were easy to catch, but when we took one down, another took it's place. Before you know it, P-500/700s were on our doorstep, less than 50 km out, that's when our CO ordered us to fire all of our Tomahawks and scramble every Squadron.

We only had 100 seconds before those P-500/700s hit, and in that time, a salvo of about 60 Tomahawks 16 Harpoons, along with 2 Squadrons of Superhornets were scrambled. At 0430 hours, we got nicked. Although we took out over half of the P-500/700s, 1 P-700 smashed the DDG-103 and 2 P-700s smashed the DDG-94, both were sunk within the hour. The Ticonderogas had it better, 1 P-700 hit each one, CG-61 got a nick on their Engine room, they were stuck. CG-72 took a Granit midship, knocked out all Fire control systems. That's not the worst though, 2 Bazalts and 1 Granit blew 10 meter wide holes into the hull of the George H.W. Bush. Almost wrecked our Aviation facilities, which would of blew a bigger hole in our hull.

Lucky us. Because only 8 Moskits and 6 Klubs were shot at us, our ESSMs weren't entirely overwhelmed. I think we shot down about 7 Moskits, 2 were near misses by a ESSM (but it's Frag warhead blew the Moskit to the sea), and the other 5 were whacked by RIM-116s, was expected, that big of a missile moving Mach 2.2 that low in altitude generates a lot of heat, good for our IR guided missiles. One Moskit did get through though, and it payed for all the losses that we inflicted on it's Moskit friends. It hit dead-center on CG-72's VLS. That 300 kg warhead moving at Mach 2.2 went through all that Kevlar armor and completely eradicated all the Tomahawks left in CG-72, blew that Tico in two. Klubs were a different story though. Our ESSMs couldn't go that low (3 meters above sea level), and only our RIMs could do anything. They were running low on missiles though, so we could only spare 1 RIM-116 per Klub. They weren't as easy to hit as Moskits, they were smaller, had RAM, had a reduced thermal signature, oh and, was faster too. We ended up only destroying 1 Klub, and we had to use 2 RIM-116s for that. 3 Klubs was all it took to sink CG-61, 2 hits Port bow, and 1 hit Midship. The two other Klubs hit the Rec center on the George H.W. Bush, luckily we were all at our Battlestations at that time so casualties were few. The other Klub, heh, maybe it was God, maybe it was luck, but a big wave of water hit that Klub, and turned it into a torpedo. Missed us by 10 meters.

Ivan got what was coming to him. Those 2 Squadrons of Superhornets were each loaded with 1 Harpoon and 4 AIM-120Ds. They were flying low, trying to avoid Radar detection, but Su-33s armed with 4 R-77Ms were already scrambled and detected the Superhornets before they could descend to their cruising altitude. The Superhornets were hoping not to be detected, but they were. The Su-33 pilots descended 9,000 meters above the Superhornets, and each Su-33 pilot shot 2 R-77Ms at each one of us. We quickly gained some altitude and reduced our flight speed to perform high-g maneuvers all while degrading the radars on those R-77Ms with our ECW platforms. That didn't work too well though, Superhornet is not a highly maneuverable plane and only the experienced pilots with advanced knowledge of combat maneuvers escaped the R-77's grasps, which ended up being only 6 Superhornets.

By that time we were already in Harpoon range so we let off our Harpoons, which also gave us a better Thrust to Weight ratio and thus maneuverability. Our AIM-120Ds were just like their R-77Ms, LOAL (Lock On After Launch), Ramjet engine, 80 km+ range, etc. What remained of our Strike Group, launched all of our AIM-120Ds, 2 per Sukhoi. AIM-120Ds aren't like R-77Ms in one section, and that's maneuverability. Some estimates put the R-77M's maneuverability at 90 Gs. Those estimates put the AIM-120Ds at 30 Gs. We had good missile but they weren't great, Sukhoi being a very maneuverable fighter had easier time dodging, but those weren't very experienced pilots, barely got 100 hours of flight on their back, about 9 Bogies were hit, leaving only 3 Sukhois to fight us. One more thing we had, we were taught how to Dogfight, they weren't. Those 3 Sukhois climbed altitude and afterburned back to home. We did the same, we wouldn't have caught them anyways.

Ivan has their hand full now. We launched 60 Tomahawks, each with a 450 kg warhead, and had 22 Harpoons on the way, each with a 200 kg warhead. They were slow though, subsonic too, traveled at Mach 0.8, or 270 meters per second. The Tomahawks were very easy for the Russians to track, because they cruised at about 100 meters, which meant a 57 km radar horizon, at 270 meters per second, that gave the Russian Carrier Battle Group 210 seconds to defend against it. Luck be it to the Russians, they can launch a 3K95 Kinzhal every 3 seconds, they have 5 ships that can do that, so they can shoot 5 Kinzhals every 3 seconds, and even better for them, 3K95 Kinzhals were meant to kill Tomahawks! In less than 12 seconds, all Tomahawks have been removed. But we still had a trick up our sleeves, those Harpoons were sea skimmers, 10 meter cruise altitude, Russians didn't see it until they were 30 km out. They still had over a 100 seconds to react to them though. And react they did, they had a total of 14 AK-630s, which is what our Phalanx is a copy of, and a total of 18 Kashtans, which was like combining 2 Phalanxes with a SEA-RAM.

We shoulda knew better, even a saturation attack with 22 Harpoons and 60 Tomahawks won't cut it if they were slow as dirt. The Russians managed to take down all but 3 Harpoons, and those were the ones we shot from the Superhornets, must have caught Ivan reloading or something, the time delay got them off guard. Those Harpoons locked onto the biggest target out there at the time, the Kuznetsov. 2 Harpoons literally hit the same spot, and even with their small warhead and horrible combat history, made the same hole as that P-500 Bazalt made in the Nimitz. The other Harpoon got beat by Chaff, again.

Our CO was a pussy. He saw what the Russians did, sank the entire Battle Group and left us, the George H.W. Bush, with a three 30 foot gashes. He wanted to retreat, go back to Norfolk and get reinforcements. But we know the Russians were out of ammunition, and that they had to go home. They did start going home too, maybe that was their mission, destroy us, Carrier Strike Group 2, and go back to Moscow to a couple bottles of Vodka and lots of happy hookers. We the crew didn't want that, and we were angry. Angry that they killed our brother men, angry that they toyed with us like this, we defied orders, commandeered the ship (although pretty much the entire crew save the CO didn't want revenge), and ordered a Kamikaze attack with what's left of our Superhornet and Hornet squadrons. They were to replace their weapons officer with a Navy Seal, who would eject and board one of their ships, probably the Kuznetsov, and kill their Captain.

It was a daring plan, and it required the blood of our Fighter men. We had 1 Squadron of Hornets (the other Squadron were destroyed in the attack) and 6 Superhornets left. That means 18 planes, each carrying 6.5 to 8 tonnes of weapons and not to mention the fuel. That means at least 120 tonnes of explosives, crashing down on the Kuznetsov. Not to mention our kinetic energy, the planes were diving at Mach 1.5, weighing 23 tonnes each, lots of power there. And so we were off, cruising at 10,000 meters, we know the Russians saw us and would shoot at us, but we took that risk. 10 km from Kuznetsov, we started our dive, and then they knew what we were going to do. S-300s started firing, then Kinzhals, then Kashtans. We made no evasive maneuvers, we just kept on diving. My Wingman was the first to be hit, he got hit by a S-300FM from the Pyotr Velikiy, telephone sized SAM, blew him out of the sky, no chance to even eject. The Hornets were hit too, and they were hit hard. I'd say that I lived because Superhornets had a reduced RCS, but that didn't save everyone else. All 12 Hornets were hit by either Kinzhals or Kashtans. The ones hit by Kinzhals had a chance to bail, so were the ones that were hit by Kashtans. I think only 1 other Superhornets besides my Wingman's were hit also by S-300s. We were only 3 km out now, and this was when we were to eject, we Navy Seals.

It was a rough eject, but it was good. My Pilot, Jonathan Vikolev, wanted to serve with us to stop what horrors the Communists inflicted on him from happening to anyone else. Once I ejected, god damnit, 3 Kashtans turned their total of 6 guns, each with 6 barrels at him, and at 5,000 rounds per minute, started turning his Superhornet into Swiss cheese. The same fate was met with everyone else's Superhornets. It was either S-300s, Kinzhals, Kashtans, doesn't matter, we were desperate and this attack was idiotic at best. We did achieve two objectives, a Squad of Navy Seals has been delivered to raid the Kuznetsov, and Vikolev's Superhornet, did it's job, it crashed right on the Kuznetsov's ski ramp, turning her into a mission kill.

Their Air crew was shocked to see us. All those Green shirts, Purple Shirts, Yellow Shirts, dropped their assignments and made a run for the Control tower. It was like a turkey shoot, when our ACRs ran out of ammunition, we just switched over to our Beretta. Didn't even have to double tap, one shot, brain stem, dead man. Our Demolition Expert, Mack Lee, set up some C4s on their VLS systems, what Kinzhals they had left we were going to blow. We quickly advanced towards their Control tower, massacring everyone we saw, and soon enough, we made it to their Bridge. By that time, their Naval Spetsnaz were on our tail, so we shut the doors and locked them tight. We were surrounded too, just us, 4 SEALs, the Bridge crew, and Spetsnaz all around us. It just happened to me, we weren't going make this some cliche interrogation like in Hollywood. We started shooting all Bridge crew in their abdomens, or their knees, or their shoulders. The Commander wasn't even phased at all. He looked at me in the eyes, and said something in Russian, "Исполните заказ пятьдесят девять." Jimmy DeFallio, who was our Linguist, immediately knew what this meant, and he screamed, "Everyone, down!"

There was only a flash, then there was fire, and then, pain. I think those Spetsnaz had breached the doors with RPG-28s, which as I recall, can shoot through 1 meter of steel. Then a couple of them, shot a few GM-94 grenades at us, thermobaric grenades. Mack, Jimmy, and Enrique, who was our Support gunner, all got whacked by one of those grenades. I saw Jimmy's lungs hanging from his mouth, Mack's face wasn't recognizable, and Enrique, was, Enrique, except you can tell that he was dead. I was the only one left alive, as I had ducked behind a rather large table. The Commander got up, flicked a few pieces of dirt off his shirt, drank a shot of vodka and said, "Try harder."

Soon, they discovered where we planted our C4s, dismantled them, and discarded them. Their Commander took me to Deck, and told me to point out where the George H.W. Bush was, and surprising me, it was within our Visual horizon. He told me to look closer, so I did, and what I saw was that they actually didn't use up all of their Munitions in their initial barrage, they still had Kh-41s that could be shot from their 3 Su-33, and they did. They also used what S-300FMs they had for a Surface attack role, which they did. First thing they did we destroy whatever Aviation facilities the George H.W. Bush had left, then blew off the Air Control tower. To make matters worst, they also sent several boats full of Spetsnaz to attack the George H.W. Bush. Minutes later, to my disdain, the Spetsnaz came onboard, gave me a shot of Whiskey (and I can tell from the taste, it was my CO's whiskey), and told me to laugh.

I asked why, and he said, "Look at your ship!"

To which I said, "Where?"

And he replies with, "Exactly!"

And then, all I could see was light.