Tyrant of Apolyton arises

[Frankychan]

[OOC: Good stuff. Looks like from the official map I'm on the the other side. If Rasputin )

Frankychanland Capital: Ali'i City

General Frankychan watched the international news and spat in disgust.

"How can they spout those lies?! Their joint naval exercises are meant to intimidate us!"

The General flipped the station to GNN News and watched with intent. His jaw dropped as GNN News said that Guardinia would not return refugee's back to their homeland.

"How dare they! Well, if they say that they'll only ship them back if they are going to cause harm...then so be it!"

Statement to the nations of Apolyton

Nations of Apolyton. Frankychanland regrets to inform you that the current refugee's fleeing from our homeland have been found to be anarchistic individuals bent on destabilizing foreign nations in the hopes that they will themselves reform themselves into Frankychanland-like nations. These individuals have been found guilty of foreign espionage and attempts to damage the fine reputation of Frankychanland.

We request that any and all refugee's be returned IMMEDIATELY.

FCL submarines will begin patrolling the waters around our nation to intercept seacraft from escaping justice. We ask that any foreign ships stay out of FCL waters and notify the government if captured dissidents are to be returned to Frankychanland.

[GeneralTacticus]

Official Statement to the government of Frankychanland

Your request for the immediate return of all refugees has been officially denied. As long as they are on Centralian soil, they have the right to apply for asylum, and unless they either violate our laws or have committed recognised, verifiable crimes in their country of origin, they have the right to stay. If you have proof that individual refugees are guilty of espionage against the Frankychanland government, then show it to us; if we are satisfied, we will hand them over.

Note, too, that if your security services attempt to retrieve Frankychanlandian refugees by force, or in any other way violate the sovereignty of the Republic, there will be drastic repercussions.

- Leopold von Mordenhein, President
- Ricardo Micola, Minister for International Affairs
- Alexander Rosenburg, Minister for Defence

[Guardian]

[OOC: Not accepting private messages, you say? That's kind of weird... anyway, I did get one from Flinx about the NationStates Roll Call, so I think it was probably some sort of glitch... If you're still having problems, you could try sending me an e-mail instead.

Anyway, I'm kind of busy today, so I probably won't be posting more until some time tomorrow. Have a nice weekend! ]


International waters, somewhere in between Guardinia and Frankychanland

Guardinian naval forces where on the move, approaching Frankychanland waters. They had orders to stay in international waters at all times.

Rules Of Engagement: They could fire only if friendly units - or a third party - were being threatened by hostile fire.

The key here was the phrase "third party" - which actually covered the refugees...

[ceroomaster]

Aboard 3rd Fleet Command Vessel, INS Fable

Commodore Ross scanned the horizon, the Guardinian fleet was steaming ahead, the fleets' formation had become slightly skewed because of this.
Standing orders were to stay in formation until they reached destination.
Under no circumstances was any Cerooan vessel to approach any civilian vessel on the high seas, and other military forces were to be avoided, engagement only allowed should a Cerooan or allied ship be attacked.

Ross ordered the fleet to keep pace with Guardinians, and then contacted Admiral Evans, to see what the rush was...

[Mr. President]

CSK-NV Alang Laweh
12 miles north of Adailton

It was almost four years since digital teletext had replaced the telegraph for Karakasian naval communications. It was still slow, though, even in the Capitalist States' home waters near their major commercial port. Rumor had it that the Kyralians had a jamming system which hindered transmissions, but Naval Intelligence refused to confirm or deny that.

The message currently coming through concerned refugees. The government, it said, had received a bulk request to return Frankychanland refugees to their nation of origin.

An officer handed Captain Martinez the printout. Scanning it, he saw nothing to change his standing orders. Karakas already refused to take refugees, and the navy was its first line of defence, intercepting any vessels entering its waters without authorization. Sometimes with deadly force.

Martinez put the message aside. He didn't expect refugees in Deepwater Black anyway: between Karakas' destroyers and missiles, and Kyralia's aging but lethal artillery and gunboats, only the brave or stupid would blunder their way in.

[Guardian]

[OOC: Oh dear... I see some potential for serious trouble here... Anyway, the actual location of Frankychanland has not yet been clarified to my satisfaction. However, I have stated that Guardinian naval forces are approaching the borders of FCL waters. If FCL is indeed our neighbour, then the Guardinian Fleet is in their own home waters, and it's only natural that they'd be in the area. If, on the other hand, we end up playing with FCL being on the other side of the ocean (the island with the numbers 73 and 74 on the map), then I am assuming some Guardinian ships just happened to be conducting "routine exercises" not too far from there and they are now being sent in closer to FCL waters, officially to monitor the situation and assist any refugees they find...]


On board the GNS Indiscriminate Justice

"My apologies, Commodore Ross. I assumed you were receiving the same orders I was. Effective immediately, and for as long as we stay together, I will share all my orders with you unless specifially ordered not to." Admiral Evans paused for a moment, then proceeded to share his first orders; "At the moment, my orders are to proceed at best speed to map reference Alpha Echo Two Seven and await further orders."


[OOC: The big question nobody's answered yet is: Where in the world is this joint fleet going? We have said that it's going somewhere and we have said that it's not currently heading for FCL waters...

However, note that although Guardinia has publicly stated that this joint fleet is not heading for FCL waters, no such statements have been made regarding other Guardinian naval forces...]

[Guardian]

Official announcement by the Guardinian Department of Foreign Affairs

All Guardinian citizens, including all diplomats and other embassy staff, have now been evacuated from Frankychanland and returned to Guardinia. We regret that our embassy in Frankychanland Capital Ali'i City had to be closed at such a time, as we believe diplomatic contact between governments to be especially important during times of crisis. To that end, we have chosen not to expel FCL diplomatic personnel from Guardinia at this time.

Guardinian naval forces currently approaching the borders of FCL national waters are there mainly to observe and report, but they will assist and protect anyone in need of assistance or protection. Our naval forces have orders to remain in international waters at all times.

At this point, we advice all nations that any attack on civillian shipping or allied naval forces will be treated as an attack on Guardinia's own navy, and our forces will respond accordingly. Also, be adviced that any unarmed vessels escaping FCL national waters will be considered civillian shipping, and as such, will be under the protection of the Guardinian Navy as soon as they reach international waters.

On the matter of refugees, Guardinia will protect any and all individuals that reach our custody until further notice, and we will not return anyone unless they can be proven guilty of such crimes as the FCL authorities have indicated. We would need to see proof of this on an individual basis, not just a general accusation, which is all that has been presented to us thus far.

We respect the people of Frankychanland's right to choose their own form of government and will not interfere in their internal matters at this point. However, we maintain our basic point that no government has the right to violate the basic human rights of its' citizens, and we will continue to monitor the situation in Frankychanland.

Meanwhile, we wow to keep international sea lanes open and secure safe passage for any innocent vessel.



Destroyer GNS Excalibur, in international waters off the east coast of Frankychanland

The newest orders left little doubt in anyone's mind: They were to push right up to the edge of FCL national waters and take up positions just half a mile outside. This was an interesting turn of events for the Excalibur and the ASW-group she was part of. (ASW=Anti-Submarine Warfare.) If there were FCL subs in the area, this group was going to find them. -And then they would have something else to worry about for a while...

[Rasputin]

President Roger Ramjet is very concrned with the latest developmnts in Apolyton and has ordered a full mobilisation of the Army navy and airforce..

He has sent communications to al lhis neighbours stating that any movement of forgieng navys into Auldonina waterrs will be seen as an aggresive act.

He has also stated that the new government of Frankychan will recieve his full support and offers of military aid have been made.

[Guardian]

GNN Headline News

Guardinian authorities stated today that Guardinia shares the concern voiced by others, but denounced full scale mobilisation as an "unnecessary escalation" of the current crisis. All Guardinian forces are to remain on peace time alert for the time being.

[Frankychan]

***FCL News***

"Good evening loyal citizens of Frankychanland. We have an important announcement from our great leader, General Frankychan."

-----General Frankychan's image appears onscreen behind a podium-----

*Cough*

"Citizens of Frankychanland. I come to you today to inform you of the progress that my leadership has brought to this nation.

Under my leadership, crime rates have dropped to near-record lows. Our Economy is recovering. We are...in a word...prospering.

Unfortunately, some of the other nations in Apolyton refuse to acknowledge the progress we are making in our nation. "They" say we are a barbaric people...oppressing other citizens. Some nations, like Guardinia and Ceroo have even started conducting wargames to try and intimidate us! The nation of Centralis refuses to return your family member home, despite our pleads to the international community to return them! The nation of Karakas, while not in a cooperative manner, fortunately is not directly threatening us like the nations of Guardinia and Ceroo.

*Lifts right hand*

However, I do have good news. The benevolent nation of Auldonina has shown its wisdom and openness by supporting our nation in these troubling times. I am therefore authorizing all citizens to welcome any Auldoninan citizens who visit this great nation of ours! They will be treated as guests of honor in our country."

***End Transmission***

[Guardian]

Wellington Air Force Base, 10 miles east of Port Blacksand, on the Central Guardinian West Coast

News of the Auldoninan mobilisation and offers of military aid to Frankychanland did not sit well with Guardinian authorities. Although nobody said so in public, this was considered a threat to Guardinia and steps were being taken to counter it. Even now, maritime surveillance was being stepped up.

At Wellington AFB, all available long range maritime surveillance aircraft were being prepared for action.


Destroyer GNS Excalibur, off the east coast of Frankychanland

"Sir! Radar reports a new surface contact, bearing 2-8-7."
Someone's here already, eh? Captain Allistair French examined the situation map on the main screen. The new contact was shown as an unidentified surface object. The dull colour of the marker indicated that he did not yet have a "full fix" on the contact's position. A dull red line marked the boundaries of the area within which the computer believed the unidentified vessel to be. As he watched, the contact turned brighter and the outlined area of uncertainty shrunk a bit, but then suddenly grew again. Then the contact faded and disappeared completely. "Surface contact lost, sir." The captain frowned. A couple of minutes passed. Then the mysterious unidentified surface contact reappeared. It faded in and out three more times during the next 15 minutes.

The captain turned to his XO. "Have our helos go check him out." "Aye, aye, sir."

Minutes later, two Guardinian helicopters were heading off towards the last reported position of the mystery contact...

[GeneralTacticus]

SRC Argus, Centralis survelliance vesel off the eastern coast of Frankychanland

"Captain Hyram, I think we've been spotted. The Excalibur just released two helicopters heading in our general direction, and they're scanning like mad."

Hyram swore.

"Very well, Ensign. Begin evasive action. Our instructions are to let no-one know of our presence, and I mean to follow them. Shut down all active scanning, black the ship out, and ready the jammers and chaff launchers. Meanwhile, Helm, I want you to set us a course away from our last heading and away from those Guardinian helos."

A chorus of "Aye aye, sir" filled the bridge, before he turned to his communications officer.

"Now, get me a satellite uplink to Fort Ajax. I want to know what to do next."

[Squeblish Nef?]

The Assimilation Corporation is doing nothing, because it's GONE!
Hee hee hee hee hee hee!
GONE! GOOONEEEY! YIPEEEEE!

[Guardian]

GNS Excalibur

"Anything yet?"
"No sir. Whatever's out there just went quiet. And I do mean quiet. Like, they're doing a pretty good impression of being a plain old harmless water molecule."

French considered that for a moment.
Any ship or sub that could stay that quiet was potentially a damned big threat to his ship, the rest of the group, and any civillian shipping in the area...

"Keep searching!", he snapped.
"Aye, sir!"

[GeneralTacticus]

SRC Argus

"They're still looking, Captain, but they seem to have lost us."

"Good. Hopefully, we'll be able to slip out of the area without them noticing. Comms, do we have that uplink yet?"

"Trying, sir... ah, here we go. We have our uplink. I'd advise that you be quick though, or they may pick it up."

"Thank you, Comms. Mr. President, this is Captain hyram of the SRC Argus. We currently have two Guardinian helicopters inbound looking for us, though they seem to have lost our signal. We are currently attempting to leave the area, but what shall we do if we're discovered?"

There was some muffled conversation at the other end of the line before the President spoke.

"If you're discovered, there's no way you can pretend to be anything other than you are; the sheer quantity of sensors on your ship will give you away. Instead, refer them to us; we can explain matters to the Guardinian government, and they may be grateful for some assistance. If possible, however, you are to remain undetected. And under no circumstances are you to allow the Frankychanland government to suspect you're there."

"Understood, Mr. President. Argus out."