SENSE Alliance-Germanic League War
-
Bringing his voice into a roar with his fellow inmates as they shook their small, filthy cell with their voices, they cheered the missiles on as they screamed by drowning out their impromptu outburst with their hypersonically generated racket- but they continued cheering anyway.
“Ho lu si! Ho lu si!” Mr. Siah shouted in all the din, directing that curse with every fiber of his emaciated being at the Reichen guards, which had abandoned their posts and were cowering under whatever shelter they could find, and beyond…
All about FredericksBurg and major cities about Reichland, Xing Shiana missiles penetrated the franticly firing defenses of the nation and started to strike their targets, destroying key industries, military facilities and government buildings. Even financial centers were not spared as the missiles slammed into stock market exchanges, major banks, and government linked company buildings. Power plants were knocked out, railways exploded and runways cratered. It was the start of a campaign on Reichland in total offence, attacking the military, economic, civil, social and psychological aspects of Reichland.
Under the ruins of the attacks, many Reichens lay dead or dying. Many who tried to rescue them died as well as more missiles arrived in subsequent waves and follow-up attacks, killing many of those trying to pick up the pieces in the aftermath, civilian or not alike, impeding damage controlÂ… the damage and casualties in Reichen cities started to mount as their citizens looked on helplessly. The war had come to their doorstep.
ReichlandÂ’s burning. -
Reestablishment
Wong awoke to the morning sun beating hard on his face. He turned to his right to see his men sleeping soundly. The night war was long and arduous, and it was a drag but exchange fire died down at around 0400 hours due to over-fatigue in the part of the soldiers themselves, whether Reichen or mHzen. During the ceasefire, casualties were taken away from the lines and a new inflow of reinforcements replaced the casualties, in the case of the mHzen line.
After much battling and enduring the hardships of combat, the mHzen army managed to gain a mere 500 metres towards Mingug. Having been pushed back at least 3km after the initial ambush, the MLF had another 2 more km to gain to get near Mingug with hope of retaking the town.
The accumulation of lactic acid in his muscles due to over tension gave Wong a hard time in movement, but the thought Reichen soldiers pretty much alive boiled his blood to the point that he forgot all that he felt. His body was literally controlled by a driving force that eliminated all forms of emotions and feelings that he had.
Distant explosions and a crescendo of falling shells that filled the morning air with dust and noise abruptly punctuated the morning, signaling the start of another long day. Wong peeked over his 2 metre long trench that stretched far as the eye can see. MHzen engineers sure did a good job, he thought. The enemy line was pretty much empty, but a contrasted delineation in the scenery invoked Wong’s natural instinct to bring up his rifle and centre the crosshair on it. A clear “ping” was heard and a red puff seen when he depressed the trigger.
But his actions were the caused of another bad mistake. The soil in front of him began to fly into his face as he naturally fell back into his trench. Counter fire from the Reichens, they had seen his position. Great opportunity to change position, he thought. At least he wonÂ’t have to be near another tank.
“Dingo 2! Backup needed!” Wong shouted into his radio in the midst of the gunfire and tank shelling, which by now had saturated the late morning atmosphere.
In a few moments, the crescendo of mid-frequencies started to increase in decibels as a squadron of Kfirs followed by MiGs and A-10 descended on enemy lines, dropping submunitions in a unobserved area which quickly turned into balls of grayish fumes mixed with red contrasts.
Tanks moved in on both sides as Reichen armour pitted its firepower which greatly outweighs mHzen armourÂ’s firepower, but whoÂ’s flexibility and tactical maneuvers lose out to mHzen armour. Stationary mHzen armour stands a high chance of being obliterated by superior Reichen firepower while run-and-hit tactics work well against the larger Reichen tanks.
By now, mHzen armour had pushed off the outer lines Reichen army on both sides and flanked close to the centre of the battle where Wong was stationed. Combat was hot there. Air support came consistently for the mHzen army while any attempt to support Reichen troops from air would result in their planes being greatly outnumbered, but the Reichen AAÂ’s was something not to be treated with contempt. A total of 8 mHzen plane were shot down due to the massive flooding of the airspace.
“Alpha 3 men!! Move out!!” Wong commanded. That was the commanded to push forward and take ground at all cost. The men jumped out of their trenches daringly, taking a few casualties at the same time and getting fragmented by nearby exploding tank shells. But orders were orders and the men didn’t really care about their lives now; since the Motherland is at stake.
The tenacity of the mHzen soldier paid off as the Reichen army retreated back a certain distance, only to take up defensive positions again.
“Siam Ah!! Tua Si Kong Lai LiaO Ah!!” a mHzen soldiers screamed in his incoherent hokkien as he pulled the pin out of a phosphorus grenade and threw it into the enemy lines, sending incendiary onto the surrounding men.
By this time, the battle had dragged into the evening with both sides reaching an impasse and no one compromising their ground. So far the mHzen army had taken another 500metres, which spelled bad news for them. They had to gain at least another 500 more to end the day in reassurance that there was hope for them.
The night proved to be another long one as the mHzen army was pushed back 300metres but gain a miserable 200metres.
0214 hours.
Wong collapsed back into his foxhole in fatigue. He had no more strength to carry on, by this time the gunfire had almost died down with a few distant rounds that could be heard. Shooting birds probably, WongÂ’s brained tried to comprehend that message that was sent by the very same organ that now took a while to decipher it due to the fatigue that was overwhelming him.
His eyelids were taking over as his vision blurred and next was a blank screen of black Â… -
Aftermath
Mingug
Light rain started to fall from the darkened sky on dead men and machines stretched out as far as the eye could see, scattered around like broken toys in the aftermath of a childÂ’s tantrum. Smoking shell craters and twisted metal decorated the bizarre technological graveyard that was once the industrial city-town of Mingug. Black palls of rising smoke from the burning oil industrial buildings reached lazily into the sky as they rose in distance surrealistic, an animated Dali portrait of complete and utter devastation. The city resembled a dead forest in the wake of a flash fire.
Yet in the midst of this devastation, life was already hard at work restoring order to this scene. Dealing out the cards again after the deck had been cleared. Long lines of Reichen prisoners snaked slowly eastward, a procession of different characters, all ravaged by the fierce battle they had somehow survived. Some strode proudly, determined to retain the last shreds of dignity they possessed in defeat. But many more were simply glad to survive, demoralized and brutalized by their experiences. Covered in scoot and filth, the prisoners filed on; knowing that it was just the beginning of their long journey back to a normal life, a life where a day could be lived without death breathing over them.
Watching them carefully were the victors, their weapons at the ready, watchful for the slightest sign of trouble. But it was quite clear the battle had been well and over; they reigned supreme in all the aspects of the battlefield.
In the skies their aircraft, of all makes, manned and unmanned circled overhead like birds of prey, shadowing the technological corpses of their prey which lay quietly on the ground- many of which were coffins of composite and exotic alloys to the remains of their Reichen pilots.
In the sea their massive multinational naval force now sailed supreme, replacing the Reichen invasion fleet that once sat there, supporting their land offensive. Now the wrecks of that collective fleet lay over two kilometers down, housing the final resting places of thousands of their crew. The Reichen survivors of the short, but decisive engagement incarcerated within the ships of their enemies.
And on land both man and machine had ravaged the enemy, and now that the action had been over, they moved on to next phase, processing prisoners, rooting out shreds of remaining resistance of enemy die-hards, and overseeing the reconstruction that the civilians were now carrying out. There was no mistake about it. It had happened.
SENSE had won.
“What’s the problem private?”
Corporal MacFarlane lifted his visor ajar to let some cool air in as he crawled towards the Mhzen trooper beckoning to him. The private lay prone behind the rubble of a fallen wall, his rifle trained on a pockmarked building before him, one of the few that were still relatively intact enough to house occupants.
“Sgt. Lee told me to link up with you guys.” The private whispered. “He wants to know if you guys could do anything about this house. Some die-hards have been holed up in there for hours, refusing to come and even wounding two of our guys.” He threw a glance at the building.
“Why don’t you just blow that thing up?” MacFarlane asked.
“Naw, with the way things are, command doesn’t want any more unnecessary damage to property added to what already has been done to this place.” The private rolled his eyes as he glanced at the ruins around him. “Sgt. Lee thought maybe you guys could use your toys to help them accomplish there aims.”
MacFarlane detected a slight hint of envy in the privateÂ’s words. He couldnÂ’t really blame the Mhzen trooper. While the Mhzens and Singaboleans had bore the brunt of losses while crushing the Reichen army in 440Mhz, the Xing Shianans have had a relatively bloodless campaign while getting a large chunk of the action at the same time, thanks to their technology.
It was technology that made all the difference in these battles. While the Mhzen trooper and the rest of conventional infantry got wet and cold when it rained, confused and shell shocked in battle, and injured or killed when hit by enemy fire, the Xing Shianan soldiers remained relatively safe and warm in the climate controlled Soldier Integrated Protective Equipment suits. The advanced sensors and wireless networking of the SIPE suit that linked every soldier to everything on the elint network also did much to remove the fog of war. With their technology they could protect themselves, remain hidden, and outwit and outgun the enemy.
While conventional infantry ran into battle relying on their sheer wits and animalistic fear to fight and survive, the technology of the Xing Shianans allowed them to go into battle relatively calm and composed, brining calculative malevolence into play in the heat of battle while their opponents remained frantic and unable to strategize clearly. It was a clear advantage.
Xing Shianan technology did not end with SIPE suites. Since the end of the first Prussian/SENSE war, the empire had made massive strides in improving and perfecting the technologies that had served them so well in the first war. Now moving into battle, the technological prowess of the Xing Shianan army was levels beyond the best the most talented of Reichen scientists could invent or reverse-engineer. The worth of such innovations were starting to prove themselves amazingly apparent, as the Xing Shianans engaged and decimated the enemy in the thousands losing only two of their own. -
“Tell your Sarge I’ll see what I can do about it.” MacFarlane snapped the visor of his full-face helmet shut and consulted the wireless network. He selected his squad leader and hailed him on encrypted microburst radio.
“Sgt. Lee wants us to take out some Reichen diehards in this building. How do we proceed?”
“Unmanned.” The squad leader replied. “We’ll get them using Flybot then send in Mavin.”
“Roger.”
The Reichen diehards were about to face for the first time another Xing Shianan battlefield innovation. Battlefield robotics. While the SIPE suits of the troopers offered them complete protection from most of the small arms fire the Reichens could shoot at them, putting humans into the line of fire would always entail risk. Xing Shianan Battlefield robotics had gone a long way since the basic remote controlled scout aircraft of the first Prussian/Sense war to become a diverse array of unmanned units on air, land and sea. And their roles had also evolved somewhat from simple scouting to involve more direct combat roles as well.
MacFarlane snapped open a panel on one of the solid gear carrying containers on his cloned- spidersilk SIPE trousers to reveal two tiny metallic insects encased in foam padding. A red icon lit up on his visors holographic display, indicating the objects were ready for use. MacFarlane selected the icons which represented one of the micro robots, and activated it.
Fluttering its metallic wings quietly, the Flybot lifted itself out of its foam padding and made a beeline towards the scouting zone which MacFaelane had drawn out for it to cover. In this case, it covered the house. The size of a large hornet, the robot buzzed down towards its zone, searching for any signs of life with its miniaturized sensors.
It didnÂ’t take long for it to detect the eight Reichen soldiers within the building who never noticed it buzzing around. The 95 gram robot landed, crawled through a shell hole in the roof straight into the room where the Reichen soldiers had set up an elaborate defense of booby traps and entrenched personnel. They never noticed the Flybot on the ceiling above them, training its miniatures cameras onto them, and relaying the resulting video feed back to the Xing Shianan troopers outside.
Having received word on their preys’ position, the Xing Shianan troopers deployed the RAV-7 Mobile Assault Remote Vehicle INtergrated “Mavin”, a 55 kilogram robot that shared a passing resemblance to the British Mark IV tanks of World War 1. The first indication of trouble the Reichens got was when the robot set off their anti-personnel booby traps, relatively unaffected by the blasts that were intended to harm flesh, not the robots armored hide.
Controlled by remote control, the robot kicked in the door of the house, setting off another grenade that had been wedged in it. Unperturbed, the robot continued relentlessly, climbing the stairs straight towards a surprised Reichen diehard, who emptied his entire clip from his rifle straight into the face of the robot, which replied promptly with wailing blast of focused sound energy from its sonic cannon which knocked the Reichen unconscious and exploded the window behind him. The robot finished the stairs, triggered two more booby traps, and crawled up to the door of the room which held the rest of the Reichen diehards, who were now crouching tensely behind their pieces of improvised cover, their weapons trained at the door. McFarlane and the rest of his squad mates could see all this through the Flybot. He pressed a button.
The Flybot carried 10 grams of a hyper-noxious liquid chemical that was approximately seven hundred times more potent then the strongest military grade CS or vomit gas. As the Flybot self-destructed explosively, the liquid was aerosolized, filling the room with its molecules almost instantaneously, infiltrating the sensitive mucous and eye membranes of the Richen diehards. It was impossible to ignore, the human body would react protectively, eyes swelling shut and mucous and breathing passages narrowing and running full of mucous excretions. For the next fifteen or twenty minutes, they werenÂ’t going to be doing much except writhing on the floor vomiting, trying to breathe and wishing they had never been born. Though defined a non-lethal weapon, there were occasions where its potency had been known to kill.
The Reichen diehards were going through the starting phases of this reaction when Marvin kicked the door in with itÂ’sÂ’ compressed air ram and added to the inhospitable mixture with its own fog and sonic cannonsÂ…
“Good job.” The Mhzen sergeant said to MacFarlane as they stood in the front yard of the house, watching Mhzen troopers remove the diehards from the building on stretchers. The Reichens were an unhappy sight, the effects of their non-lethal incapacitation still working, writhing faintly and covered with their own bodily excretions.
“It’s amazing what a little pepper fog and noise can do to dampen the spirits of these fanatics, isn’t it?” MacFarlane said.
The Sergeant grinned.
But they knew that while the battle had been won here, there were still many more fanatics back in Reichland that were ready to take the place of those they had just captured. MacFarlane hoped that they would also go down as easily and bloodlessly when the inevitable SENSE campaign against Reichland in retaliation for Mingug takes place, but he didnÂ’t count on it. In war luck was a fickle thing, and not to be relied on.
Just two months ago the collapse of 440Mhz looked imminent with the invasion of Reichen troops on its soil. But now, the combined armies of SENSE had rallied and the ones standing victorious in western 440Mhzen had been them. But even as the 250,000 odd Richen prisoners moved eastwards, SENSE knew that the larger battle lay ahead.
They were coming for Reichland. -
To:440Mhz Head of State,Morderchai and Xing Shiana General
From:ReichMarschall Hans Rommel
Subject:Unconditional Surrender in 440Mhz
I'll be very frank.The Emperor has decreed that Reichland relinquish all claims of western 440Mhz.The 500,000 Reichen troops have been sent home.In addition,2 million pounds of gold will be paid in full towards the reconstruction of 440Mhz upon signing of agreement.In return,the Emperor hoped that Reichland can avoid another conflict with SENSE.
Regards,
Hans Rommel -
Negotiations
Rommel looked about him.Everything has changed.A week ago Ritter and him were laughing at the incompetency of the Mhzen army.BUT that was a week ago.Now Ritter was dead,witnesses said the last they saw of Ritter,he was firing his pistol at a Merkava.
A minute ago,he had just sent out a letter of surrender to the SENSE bigshots.His 1 million strong army was gone.Now he was just inside a small farmhouse with ten Reichen soldiers who had volunteered to stay behind with him to wait for the SENSE army to arrive so he could start negotiations.Rommel contemplated shooting himself.But he knew he still had one last mission,to wait for the SENSE army to arrive.
"Herr ReichMarschall,Baruch has arrived with General Rex."
Rommel was staring down at the face of an enemy whom he had come to respect.Though hopelessly outnumbered,Baruch had managed to fight on,eventually winning when the SENSE help arrived.And next was that arrogant prig,as was with any Xing Shianan officer,that despicable Rex.
Rommel spoke first,"Know that this meeting,Baruch,was only possible because of Xing shianan gadget.You could have been the one in this little farm."
Baruch,insulted,pulled out his pistol.
"Come on Baruch,why don't you just squeeze the trigger?Shoot me,i am a disgraced general.I......I.....have lost." -
"Shoot you ah? Sure or not? Okay lor, I shoot, you say wan ah, not I say," the Singabolean CINC, BG Mah Si Lang uholstered his pistol and pointed it at Rommel's temple.
-
Tommy Rex snapped the visor of his SIPE suit shut to keep the potential blood splatter out.
"Now now boys," Said Tommy Rex as he unholstered his taser and pointed it at Rommel. "There's no need for deadily force. This taser not only delievers a pulse 24,000 volts, its darts also contain synthetic Stonustoxins that together will cause him extreme pain and knock him into next week."
He flicked off the safety. -
Rommel looked at Rex,that was not the German way of going down.He will not be the first Reichen ReichMarschall to surrender and be captured.
Rommel stared at the taser and watched as the Xing Shianan rat pulled the trigger.
But it was not him who was hit,It was that Mah Si Lang.Rommel had grabbed the BG's wrist and knocked the pistol out of his hand and had pushed him infront of him when Rex fired the taser.Rommel dived to the ground as Baruch emptied clips at him.
Taking out his own pistol,Rommel pointed it at Mah Si Lang's unconcious head.
"So is the negotiations still going on?"
Alarmed by the gunfire,Reichen and SENSE guards rushed in. -
"Sorry about that chaps, bear with us a little."
Rex said as he depressed the fog button on the taser, depressing a needle into a pressurized capsule containing the same liquid found in the Flybot. In a blinding cloud of vile white fog exploded omidirectionally from the handle of the multipurpose taser, filling the room almost instantly. Affecting everybody without SIPE protection. Within moments, what was a scene that almost exploded into a scene of gunfire and bloodshed was transformed into a mass of writhing bodies on the ground, in the midst of stood the SIPE suited Xing Shianans.
"It's okay chaps, stand down." Rex said. "Call in the corpsmen to deal with all these people." He saw Rommel, despite being treated to a full dose of the fog, vainly crawing for the pistol that had fallen from his grip.
"Oh no you don't" Rex said, as he switched his taser to sonic mode, directing a beam of intense sound energy at the fallen Reichen, knocking him out cold.
"Clean this up." Rex said. -
Profile of the Commanders in the Conflict
Name:General Tommy Rex, General Commander of Xing Shiana Forces Engaged In MHzen Theater Of Operations GCXSFEIMTOF (pronounced “Geeveefemtof”).
Age:Currently unknown
History:A Veteran of the Prussian-SENSE war,Rex is once again on the frontlines protecting liberty,or rather,Xing Shianan interests.Coming late into the SENSE-Reichen war,Rex compensates it by killing loads of Reichens and eventually forcing the surrender of Reichen forces in 440Mhz.Most memorable appearance in the war that will probably be censored from history textbooks would be during the Sense-Reichen peace negotiations where he ,oblivious to all the gunfire and chatting nonchatalantly to himself,released a fog without warning to become the sole man standing in the room.His allied counterparts were all writhing on the ground. -
Profile of the Commanders in the Conflict
Name:ReichMarschall Hans Rommel
Age:30
History:Of Prussian Descent,his ancestors include the likes of Erwin Rommel,the Desert Fox.Entering service into the Reichen Imperial Army at the age of 25,Rommel won the admiration of his colleagues and officers by his quick and calm thinking.Made ReichMarschall when he was 28.His main contribution was the reforming and modernising the otherwise demoralized Reichen Army.Successful in the early stages of the war until outnumbered and outgunned.He was last seen writhing on the ground with several top SENSE generals and carried away as a POW,all the results of an ill-fated attempt to negotiate peace. -
Profile of the Commanders in the Conflict
Name:Supreme Commander Baruch
Age:30-40
History:Baruch almost did not made it in the military scene.His big break came when he narrowly squeezed in as the last batch for Military academy.Showing aptitude and a strategic mind,he impressed his superiors.And at the tender age of 28,became a liutenant-colonel in the Mhzen army.Survived two Germanic invasions only by a thin thread everytime.He is known to be a stiff man.Also affectionately known as Bakky.Last seen shooting at Hans Rommel and writhing on the floor a minute later.Must be alive and well. -
SENSE PRISONERS:
The REICHEN government has surrendered. You will be evacuated by SENSE NATIONS forces as soon as possible.
Until that time your present supplies will be augmeneted by air-drop of XING SHIANAN food, clothing and medicine. The first drop of these items will arrive within one (1) or two (2) hours.
CAUTION: DO NOT OVEREAT OR OVERMEDICATE
INSTRUCTIONS FOR FEEDING 100
To feed 100 people for the first three (3) days, the following blocks (individual bundles) will be assembled:
NOTE: Food and medication certified 100% Halal/Kosher by MAJLIS UGAMA ISLAM SINGABOLAH (MUIS) and RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF 440 MHz.
BLOCK I:
2 Cases, Soup, Canned
1 Case Fruit Juice
1 Case Utensils/Illustrated User Instructions
BLOCK II:
3 Cases, Food, Canned
12 Sacks Rice
2 Cases Fruit
BLOCK III:
3 Case Bread
1 Case Crackers
1 Case Raisins
1 Case Vitamin Tablets
BLOCK IV:
1 Case Nescafe
1 Sack Sugar
1 Case Milk
1 Case Milo
BLOCK V:
1 Case Candy
1 Case Chewing Gum (SINGABOLAH govenrment advises its citizens NOT to consume)
1 Case Cigarettes/Nicotine Patches
1 Case Matches -
Reichland Reply to Singabolah:
We refer to your statement to Prisoners of War of SENSE in Reichland.Reichland has not surrender and will not surrender.What Reichland is Surrendering,if you had read probably,was it's claims to all Reichen held territories in 440Mhz.And as such,we allow red cross deliveries to the camps but Xing Shianan airplanes are advised to report to Reichen air control if it is to drop supplies so that it will not be fired upon and will be escorted by our jets.And regarding the prisoners themselves,the Emperor has stated his wishes for the return of the number of Reichen Prisoners to the number of SENSE prisoners that we will repatriate back to SENSE territory.Emperor Kaiser also wish for the safe return of ReichMarschall Rommel as he was in 440mhz on a diplomatic mission which,unfortunately had gone wrong,and therefore entitled to the basic rights of a diplomat. -
Terms and Conditions For Peace
1) All parties involved are to cease hostilities at approximately 000hrs on 1st August. Any violation of this clause by any party, SENSE or Reichen, will be regarded as illegal. If and when war is to resume, it must be approved by an overwhelming majority of the SENSE War Council.
2) Reichland is to renounce all claims to any SENSE territory, be it in 440 MHz or else where. Singabolah demands the immediate return of the Kuradi Islands to its suzeranty, and the withdrawl of all Reichen forces in the area by the time the ceasefire comes into effect.
3) Prisoner exchanges will take place at the Prussian-Reichen border at the time of the ceasefire. SENSE expects ALL its interned citizens to be returned, and that they be treated in a humane way. Likewise we will return all Reichen POWs in our captivity except for those convicted of war crimes towards the civilains and military of 440 MHz. General Rommel will be returned in a handover ceremony three days following the cessation of hostilites. In the meantime, Reichland is to allow SENSE airdrop of food and supplies to the concentration camps. If our aircraft are shot down, we will resume hostilities immediately.
4) Reichland is to pay reparations to 440 MHz amounting to the sum agreed on earlier. Reparataions to other SENSE members are to be negotiated at a later date.
5) The Great Republics will oversee the ceasefire and ensure that all its clauses are enforced. Should any power attempt to revoke this treaty, the SENSE Counicl will tkae strong steps in condemning its actions. We also propose that peacekeeping troops from the neutral nations of Shingapooru, Vareiya, and The NKVD be sent to keep the warring sides apart.
We strongly urge Reichland and the SENSE Council to consider this proposal. If all parties (Xing Shiana, 440 MHz, Singabolah and Reichland) are in agreement, I suggest that we implement it as soon as possible.
S. Jayapapaya
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Singabolah -
The Eleventh Hour
The missiles fell on them as they did before; without warning.
The missile strikes encompassed all of the major cities in Reichland, involving over 20,000 missiles which represented about 7 percent of the Xing Shianan missile arsenal. Lunched almost simultaneously from sea, air, land and sub platforms, the hypersonic missiles streaked towards their targets, all arriving within an 8 minute window that would be the most hellish missile bombardment in the history of SENSE, with over 41 missiles falling onto Reichen soil per second. 65 percent of the Reichen population would be seriously affected.
The Reichens, both civilian and military, had little warning of the impending attacks, save the last sixty seconds or so when their infrared sensors picked up the approaching swarm of missiles on the scope, the stealth munitions having bypassed their long range radar entirely. Air defenses all over the nation opened up desperately, knocking some of the invaders out of the air, but it was too little, too late.
Over ninthly-eight percent of the missiles completed their mission and found their targets. Delivering their payloads, causing massive chaos and destruction in the completion of their preprogrammed code, causing the Reichens to scream and moan in utter misery as the emotionless robots ended the world as they knew it.
What was special about this strike was the use of non lethal munitions, warheads designed to disable or maim their targets without killing them. The logic behind such a strike was ruthlessly efficient, logical, machine. While a dead person represented an asset removed from the enemy, a maimed, wounded person represented a larger drain as the enemy would have to divert attention and resources towards caring for them, reducing their ability to fight over four times more effectively then hard kill tactics.
The warheads used in the strike were diverse from one another, but they all had one purpose: To inflict as much damage and misery on the enemy as possible without killing them.
Some of the missiles exploded over their preset targets, releasing a dense, vile fog of volatile gas thousands of times more powerful then conventional tear and vomit gas. Spreading their effect over a large area, treating those who were caught in it to the worst of their effects on the human body. Healthy adults affected suffered non permanent but extremely painful injuries to exposed eye and respiratory membranes, taking weeks of hospitalization recover from the effect. Younger children, infants and people with compromised respiratory systems were affected more seriously, showing increased incidence of morbidly and mortality.
Most of the Reichens gagged and chocked as they writhed on the ground, trying their best to breathe only to suck in more of the pepper fog, deeply absorbing the lasting chemical into their mucous membranes where it would affect them for months to come, giving them an ever-present, burning sensation in their noses, lungs and throat during the duration it took for the chemical to degrade. Anti-inflammatory and painkilling medicine would be in short supply in the months to come. The chemical had been engineered to linger in the air for a period of days, preventing unprotected disaster relief personnel from rendering help to the affected cities, adding to their already mounting difficulties. Even after the chemical had subsided, it settled on every available surface in its surroundings, where the next rain or wash would kick up their effects once again. It would be a year before the cities were purged of the vile chemical. -
A few managed to escape the fogging by expertly donning gas masks or staying within their tightly sealed rooms. But their safety soon ended as the microwave warheads arrived. Exploding their charge of high explosive and converting the resulting energy into the microwave spectrum, each microwave warhead was dangerous up to 200 meters in radius, being capable of passing through most building material and affecting their occupants within. Unhardened power lines, electronic items and anything caught by the irradiation was immediately fried.
On the human body, the microwave had been tuned to penetrate skin and heat the underlying tissues to over one hundred degrees in the radius effect within the burst. This added immediately to the agonies of the Reichens already eating the fog, and affected the luckier ones who had escaped the chemical likewise. As their internal layers of tissue were heated to boiling point, they screamed, writhed and tore away at their skin as they watch it turn beet red and blister in front of their eyes. Those who were hiding indoors or underground could not escape as well, for the microwaves penetrated the intervening material quite easily, frying them where they hid. Driven insane with pain, the occupants of the shelters flung open the doors, only to eat the pepper fog. While intensely painful, and requiring lots of treatment and rehabilitation for the next half year, the effects of the microwave was non-permanent.
Now the Reichen cities were nothing more then concentrations of writhing, suffering people. The third type of warhead spared them more pain, exploding and covering their targeted areas with rapidly expanding, Anti Traction Material gel. Covering strategic areas like bridges and road junctions, the gel which was more slippery then Teflon would inhibit, if not render impossible the movement of Riehen traffic and personnel trying to bring in help. Every major hospital, fire department and other facilities which would otherwise be mobilized in disaster relief was covered with the foam like gel.
Not knowing what was going on, the fire chief of a targeted fire department rushed his team to respond the moment the missiles started falling. Just as the fire truck drew out of the station, a missile exploded overhead, covering the area with ATM gel. The 13 ton engine, now lacking traction, slid out of control and tipped onto its side, crushing two firemen who were riding shotgun. The injured fire chief climbed out of the gel covered cab and onto the side of the truck, attempting to access the situation. His first step on the ATM slick chassis betrayed him as his body jackknifed backwards, sailing off the side of the tipped truck to slam his neck into a protruding fire axe scattered in the crash, severing his spinal cord and major arteries. As he died, his wife and daughter lay writhing and screaming, chocking on fog, skin blistered by microwaves back home, three kilometers away.
The Xing Shianan forces watched the mayhem on their monitors and cheered as the list of successful missile strike reports started growing longer, and longer. 19,872 successful hits.
“Oh well,” Tommy Rex said to his cheering and whooping troops. “I figure we boys get in some shots before the deadline for the official cease fire.”
It was 11.50 pm. -
Press Conference
The cameras flashed and clicked in a jumbled chorus as Tommy Rex took to the podium. He stood in front of the nest of media microphones standing straight and looking seriously at the sea of reporters, he cut an awesome sight in full SIPE attire.
“Now, as you are all aware, I am to brief you on Operation Last Minute Homework, a operation that has just concluded with overwhelming success to launch an unprecedented non-lethal missile saturation strike on Reichland.”
He paused; the tension in the air was tangible. Everyone wanted to know more.
“The bombardment was conducted for two main reasons.” Rex said sternly, “One of them is to significantly affect the main populace of Reichland, and to encourage them not to contribute their efforts towards supporting the warmaking ambitions of their current regime. As one can now see, the populace of Reichland should know that warmongering is bad for their health.”
He paused again, and closed his eyes as he concentrated on what to say next. Every reported was silent, focusing their utmost attention on him.
He looked up. “Of course… the most important, and foremost reason for this operation…”
“… Is to let our boys have some fun… After all, command figured that we had overmanufactured cruise missiles in anticipation for an extensive conflict and hence needed some stock clearing of our older models, and to give our boys some chance at real life gaming. Connected to a massive LAN network, our troops had the satisfaction of playing a MMORPG where they could buy missiles and select where to send them in Reichland, gaining experience points based on the damage inflicted with which they can buy bigger toys, isn’t’ that cool?”
“We are also proud to announce that Private Play Lan Gayme is top in our rankings for the game, affecting 345 Reichens with only two missiles. He will receive a special Reichen themed souvenir shortly. I will answer no questions.”
Tommy Rex walked off the stage as the reporters strove to question anybody they though who had the answers they needed. -
Reichen Acceptance
Dear sirs,
The Government and Emperor of Reichland have seen the conditions for peace and have deemed it fair to all nations involved.However we have questions.
1:Reichland have suffered destruction by Xing Shianan hands.Though we do not seek reparation from them and we acknowledge full responsibility towards the rebuilding of 440mhz,this is however,a peace treaty and therefore we will only pay 2 million punds in gold to 440mhz only.
2:Kuradi Islands was unclaimed and undisputed before the conflict.It would be better if we could perhaps share the 12 islands with the 13th island as a buffer zone?
3
risoners of war will continue to be returned as long as ALL prisoners of war are returned to us.We also request that war criminals be sent to the ICJ and tried.Liutenant-Colonel Wong Kah Kee of the 440mhz Army and Brigadier-General Amos of the Mhzen Delta Force,12th LCT will be returned on the day ReichMarschall Rommel is returned.
Andreas Kaiser,
Emperor of Reichland -
Control Room Markus,11.45pm
Unlike to Xing shianan reports and intel,Reichen Air Defence Control was already ready to respond to threats.In the 5 years following the Prussian war,Reichen Defence specialist and scientist have been constantly improving thier radar and early warning system.
Though the missiles came in unexpected and fast,Reichen air defence already knew it 5 minutes before.Programing scripts into thier Titanium Storm air defence and conventional air defence systems.The air defence opened up on the "invaders",when the "smart weapons" used thier countermeasures to avoid being hit,Reichen crews were ready and as a result,The Reichen Air Defence Crew was always battling with time.Using 80 mm exploding shells,the titanium storm system send shells at over a million shells per second,when they were out of ammo,other gun postions fired while they waited for ammunitions.
At the end of it?Only 9879 missiles landed on Reichen soil while Reichen Electronic countermeasures and signals were emitted to let Xing shiana "know" of thier success.Thereby,causing the Xing Shiana to fall short of thier aim. -
11:50am
Kapitan Heinz looked was monitoring the Xing Shianan Albaster sub for 15minutes,it had been releasing missiles and from the library of Bsy-2 computers,they knew it was an albaster.
Normally,Kapitan Heinz's Kilo Class Submarine would have been blown away to the depths.But Kapitan Heinz had been staying at the same spot for 5 hours,all the while running still on it's batteries which resulted in it being undetected.Though the truce was in effect,the sub was in Reichen waters and therefore,considered a threat to Reichen security.
"Sonar,Conn,stand by."
"Conn,Sonar,standing by."
Heinz hesitated moment,
"Match sonar bearings and shoot,tube 1 and 2,Master 131."
"Match sonar bearings and shoot,tube 1 and 2,Master 131.Aye Sir."
The Combat Systems officer reported tubes 1 and 2 fired electrically.
"conn,sonar.Units from tubes 1 and 2 running straight and normal and hot."Reported the Sonar Supervisor.
"Very Well."Heinz Replied.
It wasn't long before the 2 Mk48Adcap E torpedoes acquired thier target and accelerated.It seems that the Xing Shianan sub commander finally saw the torpedoes when it was too late.
"Conn sonar,Master 131 is cavitating and picking up speed.It sounds like they are launching countermeasures."
"Steer the weapons"Commanded Heinz.
As noisemakers and other countermeasures were launched from the Albaster,the mk48s didn't fell for it as there were steered by human hands.
"Conn,Sonar,two explosions bearing 250.We hear reverberations of the sub breaking up and crews drowning."
Heinz ordered to to proceed at 6 knots back to base.
12am
"Kapitan Heinz,You will be promoted to a bigger sub soon"Smiled the commodore.The Kilo was safely back in the pen. -
Fortunately/Unfortunately, the Reichens were several steps behind the Xing Shianans in the area of electronic countermeasures and intelligence gathering. The false signals they put in an attempt to fool them were considered and ignored by the orbiting elint satellites in the nanoseconds it took for the impulse to run the code.
The Reichens however, had been badly fooled by the smart munitions coming in, having been designed to deceive the enemy by appearing to be more or less in number, or being where they were actually not. Causing the air defences to fire mostly at nothing, hitting something only occasionally because there were so many missiles in the air. At over three times the speed of the rounds fired at them from the primitive metal storm defences, the Reichen attempts to defend themselves from the robots were mostly bypassed. Ironically, the very countermeasures that the Reichens had put up to deceive the Xing Shianans ended up deceiving themselves as the missiles own ECM units merged with theirs, making the skies and ineligible electronic mess to the Reichen defenders, while it remained crystal clear to the Xing Shianan electronic eye. A common result of Reichen technology attempting to go head on with Xing Shiana.
The end of it. The lack of damage caused by the non-lethal warheads and electronic counter-counter-deception misled the Riehens into thinking only 9 thousand odd missiles fell. The actual number was slightly over twice that, and with far more devastating and lasting results then they would anticipate, as their citizens struggled on the streets without help, their own disaster relief crews likewise affected.
The elint satellites viewed the unfolding disaster with their supersensitive electronic eyes emotionlessly, sending back photo feeds in thermal, optical and even recently perfected quantum resonance to their masters, the scene, though not as bad as a conventional strike, was horrifying. 40 percent of the Reichen populace lay under the effects of the attack as the satellite considered the squirming masses, occasionally focusing on a single subject deemed interesting by their computer brains.
It was surrealÂ… occasionally the satellite would focus on a figure who unable to take the suffering, throw themselves off buildings or shooting themselvesÂ… The satellites noted that Reichen disaster response was finally starting to move in and reported it back to their makers, who were mildly surprised, but not overly so. The Germanic people were always quick to pick up the pieces, the damage caused was massive, but under what they had originally projected. Such was the nature of military operations, even with massively advanced technology.
In the midst of the chaos, a satellite focused on a tipped fire engine, a sprawled body lying beside it, the neck broken by a fire axeÂ… -
Kenna Sai
“Unholy cow, Neo, Trinity and Morpheous! What on earth happened?!” Cpt. Sabo Singh demanded to know. “How did that Kilo fire on us?”
“Sorrie lah Sir.” Apollo Gee, the weapons master said. “I think we fire cruise missile too loud liao, then they hear us.”
Sabo Singh sighed, it was a mistake that had nearly cost their lives. They had detected the Kilo over several magnitudes of distance before it had even a slightest chance of hearing them. Knowing that the tiny SSK was a little threat, Sabo Singh had allowed his sub to draw near to the Reichen diesel electric to launch their cruise missiles as part of Operation Last Minute Homework, staying what we thought was out of torpedo range.
Apparently the Reichen torpedoes, copies of the American ADCAP torpedos, had a longer range then previously though, and the enemy had actually managed to launch on him. After a harrowing run and kicking out countermeasures, which failed to throw off the torpedo, not surprising, considering it was an ADCAP. Sabo Singh was forced to order the use of the Fantail Array Reaction Torpedo System, the last line of defence.
FARTS consisted of an array of mirco torpedos and sodium capsules which were launched out of an array mounted on the fantail. The sodium reacted violently with the surrounding seawater creating a massive gout of explosive steam between sub and incoming torpedo which utterly scrambled the sonar picture, both active and passive of anything trying to look through it. The micro torpedoes, launched ahead of this blast are unaffected and were designed to home onto the incoming torpedos, destroying them. The resulting blasts of sodium reactions and destroyed ADCAPs shoot the sub, but they got off this time. Sabo Singh ordered a recording of noises associated with destroyed subs to be played to deceive any enemy listening in of their actual operational status.
They were lucky.
“Sir, we still have the Kilo, he’s docking in pen and making lots of noise. Shall we make him pay?”
Sabo Singh considered his options, his own hypercavitating torpedoes could easily reach out several times beyond the range of the Kilo torpedoes. The though of sending several supersonic torpedoes up into the enemy sub pen brought an evil smile to Sabo SinghÂ’s face, the would never know what was coming.
“What’s the time?”
”12:01 sir”
Sabo Singh sighed, the war was over. He would not get any of his shots back lest he wanted to risk a court marshal. But then again, he should be happy to just to survive.
“Sir, I think I know what caused the Kilo to detect us, it wasn’t the missile launch!” Lt. Listen Ting piped up, looking up from her sonar playback display.
“What is it Sonar, conn?”
”It’s that stupid Crewmen Pang Lau Sai again… He was using the toilet as usual, groaning and shouting so loud anybody listening in can hear it… along with all the splashing and squirting noises… then he flush the toilet… that must be when the Kilo confirm it’s us.”
Sabo Singh sighedÂ… it was the third time this month. He picked up the 1MC.
“All hands, rig ship for ultraquiet, lock the toilet. Mr Pang meet me in the ready room, now!”
The Xing Shianan sub dropped to acoustic invisibility. -
After the Diseaster
Emergency Response Team Leader Andrew Kesselring looked at the fire chief who died in the line of duty.The missiles, though many were unsuccessful,still caused some extensive damage to the Reichen cities.
The reason Andrew didn't end up like the Chief was because he was wearing some kind of boots that prevented slipping.Some kinda stupid boot that wasn't given to fire chiefs.Everywhere,the Reichen rescue effort was slowly picking up.
Andrew motioned for two army corpmen to take the fire chief somewhere else.He looked at the sky and wondered if there could be some kind of Xing Shianan satellite looking down at him.He shrugged off the idea and went to direct the rescue and relief efforts of the citizens.
Luckily,some idiot in the government had forseen the need to stockpile medical supplies before the invasion.