Elethar war

[Mr. President]

Netflash!

In the wake of Dakmoristan's announcement, the government of Karakas announced it had foiled what appeared to be a serious terrorist plot.

Security guards at the Argoth arcology compound outside Ithaca in southern Karakas observed two suspicious individuals approaching the compound's water treatment section. When challenged by the guards, they produced weapons and opened fire. The guards responded in kind, killing one intruder and critically wounding the other.

Each of the men was carrying several shaving cream cans that had been modified to hold hazardous chemicals. The cans were full of the poison ricin. If not for the quick actions of the guards, hundreds could have died.

Argoth's head of security praised his men for their decisive action, and said that they would receive recognition. The incident has triggered a massive security crackdown in Karakas, with hundreds reportedly detained or deported. Several men were arrested by the Militia in Pendelhaven and are being held incommunicado.

No group has claimed responsibility for the foiled attack, although government sources said that elements allied with Elethar are suspected.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Under the order of Vice-Admiral Pak, battlegroup Clayton intercepted the fleeing Eletharan vessels. Three were sunk in a brief engagement, and the other two surrendered.

On the surviving destroyer Nooslandian marines discovered a treasure trove consisting of golden bricks, golden and silver coins, and precious stones such as emeralds and diamonds. These ships will be searched further when they return to one of the Nooslandian naval bases.

Salvage missions are being planned to search and/or raise the sunken vessels for valuable items.

These will be returned to the new legitimate government of Elethar.

[Urban Ranger]

Nooslandian Intelligence - Signal Intelligence Unit, with the help of Nooslandian Institute of Computing and Cybernetics Research, broke an encrypted transmission that was intercepted two weeks ago.

Initial analysis shows that the document describes a new terrorist weapon being researched by Elethar, and it is based on the principle of resonance.

[Whaleboy]

Following the destruction of the escaping elethan fleet by Noosland, the appropriately named MSS Judas has sent a disturbing transmission.

It states that the captain and a few bridge crew were trapped in the command centre of their vessel, as Elethan agents, no doubt incensed by the news of their nations defeat, slaughtered the Marijuanian crew, and seized control of the vessel. The final words stated that they were cutting through the bulkheads, and that they didnt have time to destroy the main computer and the transponder codes. That is particularly disturbing, as the computer and transponder database contains full information on all military craft, including subs, ships and especially aircraft, that Marijuania is aware of. It means that this heavy cruiser is very strong against possible air attacks, and sea attacks.

We insist that no-one engage the Judas, with this information at their disposal, the advanced weaponry systems and the targetting controls, any air strike would suffer heavy losses and sea attacks are useless, as the ship is out of range of all but the MSS Hood, whose engines are being frantically repaired. This is the only class of ship currently capable of downing the Judas. That vessel is currently steaming towards the Hood, where is will be attacked by the superior artillery as soon as it enters range. The Hood crew are attempting to modify the transponder signiture of its attached fighters, so as to order an air attack. The Hoods sister ship, the MSS Liberty is steaming towards this position. We cannot allow any enemy to gain and retain control over one of our most effective warships.

The Marley shuttle in orbit has photographed action on the aft-deck of the Judas. We request information from Noosland about the resonance weapon, it is possible that they are contructing it on the Judas, as a naval delivery platform, in addition to the existing weapons.

[GeneralTacticus]

Oh, great... just what we needed. How long-ranged are the Judas' AA Missiles? Would it be possible to send airstrikes overheard too high up to be targetted, alternatively, could we try to jam their radars and make their targetting systems useless?

[Jack_www]

We have several attack subs in the area that are super queit and possible can sneak up on the Judas. The only way they could dectect the subs is if they go to active sonar. Lets hope the agents on board are too stupid to use it.

[Urban Ranger]

Noosland suggests a raid to be conducted by the Wave Raiders, Special Forces specialised in conducting operations on the high seas.

A number of our attack subs began to converge on the position of MSS Judas, while our satellites has a constant fix of it.

Battlegroup Clayton can easily destroy the cruiser with concentrated missile and gun attack, but the question is whether this is desirable.

[Whaleboy]

"Would it be possible to send airstrikes overheard too high up to be targetted"

Unlikely, after such a high altitude, you are still at risk from the larger guided rockets, although the Judas only carries 6, they can fragment. Also at that high altitude, the ships ECM will make targetting, especially for guided bombs a tricky business.

Having said that, missile satellite attacks and possibly very high altitude fighters might be effective, thinking more of the Hastings class, but the transponder codes in the latter case are vulnerable, and the ECM would cause the same problem for satellites as high-altitude aircraft.

"could we try to jam their radars and make their targetting systems useless?"

All large Marijuanian ships are equipped with a powerful radar, the only thing powerful enough to jam it would be another ship, pretty close in, which is not really a tactical option. Also the vessel does not solely rely on radar, it has scanners for many parts of the EM band. The only vessel capable of effectively defeating it with pure power and the correct frequencies are larger Marijuanian ships. Fortunately, the Hood is preparing to engage.

"We have several attack subs in the area that are super queit and possible can sneak up on the Judas"

That could work, but only if they torpedoes are also quiet so as to prevent the Judas knowing where to fire into the water. The subs would be another risky endeavor, the ship uses active sonar by default, such a big ship is a hard target to miss, so whats the point of trying to be stealthy normally? The ship was not configured for stealth at the time of capture, so they would not change it even if they knew how.

"A number of our attack subs began to converge on the position of MSS Judas"

We suggest they fall back to the protection of the Marijuanian task force heading their way (comprising the MSS Liberty, a smaller battleship and two heavy cruisers). Marijuanias recent incidents with gunboats forced us to install numerous short-range systems. Also the vessels will be vulnerable to rockets and of course 14 and 8 inch shells from the Judas.

While we cannot guarantee the failure of these missions, these are all attacks that large Marijuanian vessels are designed to repel, and the combination of good sensors, computers and strong weapons works very well in testing, our navy was set up with the aim of countering the threats of air and undersea, which had otherwise killed off the heavy warship.

"Battlegroup Clayton can easily destroy the cruiser with concentrated missile and gun attack, but the question is whether this is desirable"

We like to think that Marijuanian design is a little stronger than that but of course you are correct. We would like to retain the ship first, and put the terrorists up for trial, and rescue any hostages they have.

As such, the Hood's shells have been loaded with an opiate-based tranquiliser, the Judas was not carrying chemical/biological suits at the time so the Elethans are vulnerable.

The Judas and its sister ships are expensive heavy cruisers that carry some of our most advanced tech, we would prefer to retain them if we can, while our armed forces are not as large as we would like. If the Hood's attempts fail, then we will permit other nations and our own to destroy the Judas.

The Hood remains the nearest ship, the engines have been partially repaired, it can maneovre for combat. It is also the heaviest armed ship in the vicinity, it will enter weapons range within 7 hours.

More news will develop as we get it.

In other news, the administration of the secondary island of Elethar has been linked to the provisional government on the primary island, while Marijuanian troops are assisting in the rebuilding of areas that need it. We are flooding in all the troops we can afford to maintain law and order, and to serve the functions of the government until that is fully enabled. We report education, policing, healthcare and transportation to be operating reasonably well in these areas.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by elijah
That could work, but only if they torpedoes are also quiet so as to prevent the Judas knowing where to fire into the water. The subs would be another risky endeavor, the ship uses active sonar by default, such a big ship is a hard target to miss, so whats the point of trying to be stealthy normally? The ship was not configured for stealth at the time of capture, so they would not change it even if they knew how.

[OCC]
Cruisers are generally not designed for ASW, so they don't have any sonars to speak of. However, your deisgn might be different.
[/OCC]

[Urban Ranger]

My question is, do the Elethan agents know how to operate the ship? So far, it has remained in position.

[Sheep]

With the involvement of long time rival Alecrast, all nations of the Treaty of Mt.Gravatt have pl;aced their strategic forces in the region on high alert, and the cobined navies of the Treaty have started manouvers in case the king of Alecrast entertains any ideas of landing once more in Sheepsta.

[Urban Ranger]

Operation Sea Mist a total success

At 04:57 local time, a Wave Riders group boarded the hijacked cruiser MSS Judas under the cover of a light fog. Coordinated with an Alpha Dagger Team that had been inserted previously to rescue the bridge crew, the Special Forces members took the Elethan agents by surprise. The opposition was quickly overwhelmed in under 30 minutes, with a few trying to get away in small crafts.

As of this moment the MSS Judas is secured by Nooslandian marines, ready to be handed over to the proper authorities. We are also searching for the light crafts with ASW fixed wing planes and helicopters.

[Whaleboy]

The Marijuanian government did not give its permission, nor was it sought, for this action. While we do not want to make an issue out of it, and are glad for the relatively peaceful conclusion, the ship was Marijuanian, had not as yet attacked anyone else, and under the protection of the Marijuanian navy. The best tactical option at the time was the MSS Hood. We specified that we would only give permission for any other action if the MSS Hood failed. It did not have a chance to to engage, and was most likely to succeed, given the higher risk of the other options.

The Noosland action was performed without the help of Marijuanian navy or intelligence, who know more about this vessel, nor with the conjunction of the Marijuanian navy, who have naval superiority in the area.

This high-risk, cavalier exercise could easily have backfired, and as such, we will not condone it. However, it did bring the issue to a conclusion, with the safe return of the surviving crew. Therefore, we will not condemn Nooslands actions either. The ship itself is currently being crewed by men from the MSS Hood, following the release of the vessel to Marijuania.

[Urban Ranger]

Legally, that was an anti-piracy operation which requires no authorization given that the MSS Judas was in international waters. We deferred to the Marijuanian government in a gesture of goodwill, however, such a powerful vessel could cause a lot of damage before it is finally taken out. As such, swift and decisive action is required to see to it that will not happen.

It is indeed fortunate that the MSS Judas did not attempt to attack or engage Battlegroup Clayton, for Central Command authorised the use of all necessary force for self-protection.

[Whaleboy]

Self protection was justified, however not called for as the ship was not attacking anyone else. The Elethan agents on board were disguised as crew, thus registered as crew under intenational law, so the incident was nothing but a mutiny or insurrection, not piracy, as the ship had broken no law on the high seas.

Also, our satellite records show that the vessel was 2km within Stanleystan (Marijuanian) waters.

Such a powerful vessel can cause damage anyway, no matter which crew. Does one take out a vessel simply because it is powerful? In which case, one would take out our entire navy.

The vessel was in our waters, was Marijuanian registry, was a Marijuanian naval registry, was under the influence of local Marijuanian naval superiority, had not attacked anyone else, and the best tactical option at the time lay with the MSS Hood. Legally, it was not a piracy operation, and next time, we would like permission to be sought and obtained before such an incident happens again, particularly since we require all vessels, military or not, to ask permission before entering Marijuanian waters.

Our satellite images shows that the vessel was in fact heading away from Battlegroup Clayton, towards the MSS Hood and the MSS Liberty, futher in Marijuanian waters, probably to surrender as it must have known it was tactically ourmatched. This makes the Noosland actions less justifiable. However, we shall let it pass, seeing as how no harm was actually done. We must insist that such an endeavor is not undertaken again, without the express permission of that government involved.