Island Hopping

[Uberstein]

Two Hecla-class Survey Vessels, painted white to advertise their status as non-warships, would be sent out to the Kerguelen Islands and Crozet Islands respectively.

 

On board were several military survey teams, and each ship carried a platoon of soldiers, with no heavy equipment. Of course, each ship had a political officer from the Office of State Intelligence & Security as well.

[Mogar]

Upon the Kerguelen Islands the Imperium forces already stationed there would hail the vessel when it came into RADAR range.

 

"This island is under the authority of the Imperium of Japan, what can we do for you?"

[Uberstein]

Kerguelen

Captain Nkosi was surprised at the radio message, none of his charts said anything about a Japanese presence on the islands. Still, they would need a response. He looked over to his political officer, "Is there something that Internal Affairs didn't tell me about this expedition?"

The officer shrugged, "I heard nothing, though to be honest I don't think anyone back home was paying any attention to these islands."

Nkosi swore, "Well, lets hope foreign affairs can handle it. What the hell Japan is doing all the way out here is beyond me."

 

A message would be sent back:

"This is the RNGNSS Andrew G. Bain, an unarmed survey vessel. This island, according to international sources, is currently unclaimed. Would we be permitted to station ourselves off the coast while our government contacts yours?"

 

Crozet

The expedition to the Crozet islands, on the other hand, met so such force. The ship would dock at the remainder of Port Alfred, and work would begin to set up a permanent naval facility. Teams would be use the helicopter to survey the various islands for both military and scientific needs, such as the potential installation of an OTH radar system.

[Uberstein]

Classified to Appropriate Parties

 

A message would be sent back to the FUSAR government, and the Ministry of Foreign affairs would quickly make a call to the African League, explaining the apparent expansion of the Japanese into the Indian ocean so close to Africa.

 

A second message, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would be sent to the Japanese government, requesting a formal meeting in the capital of Gaborone to discuss the situation.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Uberstein

[Mogar]

The Imperium would of course allow the vessel to be stationed there while both parties contacted their respective governments.

 

:Private:

"It seems yet another nation is expanding itself into the Indian, at least the African nations have more of a justification than the Europeans do. Go to Gaborone and talk with them, I would like to have good relations with Africa and by extension the Middle East, depending on their intentions I'd be fine sharing the island."

 

:Classified Reply:

"Osamu Saito, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will meet with you to discuss the Kerguelen Islands."

 

The next day a Mitsubishi SonicStar would arrive in Gaborone containing Osamu.

[Uberstein]

The Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs would find that they had arrived a bit faster than expected, and would be asked to wait for one day more to allow the bureaucracy to move along. Of course, they would have a 5-star hotel room and reservation at one of Gaborone's finest restaurants provided for them as an apology for the delay.

 

Meanwhile, privately, the other nations of the African League were asked to send a representative to the shortly upcoming meeting, as to allow Africa to negotiate as a single entity. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Lerato Bafokeng, would attend the meeting the following day, which was held in one of the temporary government offices used as the main complex was still under construction.

[Voodoo Nova]

A Novak Destroyer squadron would be ordered to meet up with the FUSAR ships. Novak's Minister of Foreign Affairs would attend the meeting.

[Uberstein]

Crozet ((3/7))

 

Reconstruction of Port Alfred continues, and several "Tank landing ships" loaded with heavy equipment would arrive on the islands with the necessary supplies to build a hardened naval station. Construction of large underground armored fuel tanks, as well as regional radar, would also begin.

 

To avoid confusion, Port Alfred, Crozet, has been renamed Port Crozet.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Uberstein

[Biohazard]

Alexandria would send Sayyid Antarr, head of Foreign Affairs to the meeting. 

[Mogar]

The fleet surrounding the Kerguelen Islands consisted of an Abukuma class destroyer escort, the Chikuma, a Kongō class Cruiser, the Kirishima, an Asagiri frigate, the Amagiri,, and of course a 1 Shōkaku class carrier, the Zuikaku. the Zuikaku was well equipped to receive guests and a message was sent to the RNGNSS Andrew G. Bain, and the destroyer flotilla from Novak for their crews, or at least their captains to join the Admiral of the 2nd fleet, Rikuto Hamasaki for a dinner, as they were considered guests to the Imperium until the diplomats did their thing.

 

as well there was approximately 2,000 Imperium marines located upon the islands assisting in the various construction projects.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Mogar

[Mogar]

The sudden attack upon the vessels several hundred miles away would come as a grave surprise to the fleet, it was almost incomprehensible to get attacked without an attempt to discuss matters, a transmission was sent to the Novakian fleet, as well as the RNGNSS Andrew G. Bain.

 

 

"The Hiei, one of our naval vessels has just been attacked near Heard Island and McDonald Island, by supposedly a Nordic fleet, evidently their attempts to hail the vessels were met with artillery fire. We must go help our brothers, we will leave those constructing upon the island with you. I believe your willingness to discuss things proves we have reason to trust our people in your hands."
 

The Novakian fleet would be given an additional sentence.
 

"We would not mind the assistance if you would like to come with us to defend the Indian Ocean from European intrusion, the Imperium strongly believes in working with Africa to ensure an Indian Ocean free of foreign intrusions."

Edited August 6, 2014 by Mogar

[Voodoo Nova]

The attacks would prompt Novak to send 3 carrier strike groups, 2 expeditionary groups and 2 frigate squadrons to the approximate location of Heard & McDonald, Kerguelen, and the Islands of Amsterdam and Saint-Paul. When they arrive, they would maintain their distance as an expeditionary group, a frigate squadron and a carrier strike group was sent to Amsterdam & Saint-Paul. The second carrier strike group and expeditionary group would meet up with the destroyer squadron at the Kerguelen Island. The third carrier strike group and frigate squadron would maintain their distance at the Battle for Heard & McDonald.

[Yerushalayim]

Per the orders of Queen Akinyi, two carrier groups of the Republic's navy have been assigned to peace keeping operations in the Indian Oceans, and are to rendezvous with Novakian naval forces.

[Uberstein]

Gaborone

 

With a sizable representation of the AL attending, the meeting would begin. The Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs would be shuttled to the building with the standard Internal Security Troop escort. The conference room itself was fairly standard, with a circular table in the middle. Off against one wall was a long table with various refreshments such as tea and coffee, as well as Koeksisters in both the Afrikaner and Cape Malay versions.

 

Minister Bafokeng would greet the Japanese minister with a firm two-handed handshake and a smile, "Welcome to Gaborone. I hope your flight was a pleasant one."

 

 

Crozet ((4/7))

((Obviously this is going by my 1rl day = 12 day timescale. If the current conflict somehow involved Crozet it would have jack !@#$ there.))

 

Construction of the Naval Station continues, with much of the habitation and storage being build underground, to take advantage of the basaltic rock. Power is to be generated in part by wind turbines, to take advantage of the high winds, and as such they would be placed on the southern sides of the islands of the East and Possession. The northern sections of the islands would be left for potential construction of OTH-B radar set-ups, which would if built point north into the Indian Ocean. However, for the time being, the land for this construction would simply be leveled and secured against erosion given the high rainfall.

 

A large football-field sized greenhouse is to be built at the Naval Station, which will be used in an attempt to both give long-term staff a pass-time and regular availability of fresh produce.

 

EDIT: Whoops forgot the actual diplomacy...

Edited August 6, 2014 by Uberstein

[Voodoo Nova]

Once the Novakian ships were in place, the watched the Japanese fleet fight against the Norse fleet. They were also prepared to begin taking the islands, should the need arise.

 

A message would be sent to Japan.

 

To the Japanese:

We will help your fleet be able to return back to Japan, as well as your aircraft and men on the islands, should you signal your intentions to leave this island cluster. We can discuss the islands diplomatically through your representative in Gaborone once the situation has settled.

[Mogar]

OOC: realistically you'd have arrived long after the battle finished.

 

The Novakian fleet would see the Hiei beached with its well deck facing the island, it had been turned into temporary shelter, the Yūgiri and Yanagi would limp back towards the islands from the east to rendezvous with the Zuikaku fleet. a reply would be sent:

 

The aircraft upon the island will need to attempt to be repaired due to the shrapnel and destruction caused by the attacks. I believe it would be in our best interest to stay here alongside you while the diplomats finish their discussions, to ensure the Nords do not decide to return, if a fleet of that size could get this far away from their homeland, there may be more lying in wait.

 

Thousands of miles to the west in the South African conference room after partaking in a few of the delicious Koeksister, most of the represenatives were there and he decided to get the discussions started. Unrolling a map of the Indian Ocean upon the table for all parties to see, he'd begin his opening statements.

 

"We all know why we are here, so I will cut to the chase. After the fall of The Union of the Southern Cross, a friend and ally to the Imperium, the Indian Ocean was left unwatched by anyone who would inform the Imperium of fleet movements in the area. Our military was wary of leaving such a large strategically and economically vital body of water completely blind and so we had sent forces to establish both research and radar installations upon the various islands held by the former Southern Cross to ensure that we would have advanced warning of any potential threats to the Malacca or other Imperium holdings.

 

As recent events have shown, it appears we were correct in doing so, the lack of vision allowed a carrier group from the Nordic Kingdom to come and attempt to take these islands for themselves. Even more shameful, the Nordic Fleet ignored our hailing attempts and the Imperium fleet had maintained a defensive posture, due to the belief it had been a fleet from one of your nations, or perhaps Persia or Druk Yul. While the Imperium is not primarily in the Indian Ocean, we at least have a strategic interest in the region due to almost 70% of our exports heading to the Mediterranean and Europe. In the interest of cooperation, Her Imperial Majesty has suggested we work out some level of joint ownership of these islands, as she has an interest in maintaining a strong relationship between Africa and the Imperium, and through the Imperium, Africa and the Americas.

 

While it appears some other nations have only military interests and expansion through war in mind, We have an interest in maintaining peace and stability globally. If I may speak candidly, I believe Her Imperial Majesty's goal is a noble one, I am more realistic in that we simply cannot create a peaceful and unified world overnight. With this in mind, I hope this recent foreign incursion by the Nords has shown that while the Imperium may not have properly communicated our intentions as well as we should have with Africa, we are not in the region for aggressive reasons, merely defensive.

 

Her Imperial Majesty, and indeed, the entirety of the Imperium has been under near constant threat from outside nations, From our very inception we have had to deal with an unstable fractured China and nuclear terrorism from them, to the violent Russian Empire and the Nords. Even our peaceful neighbors are of concern, I do not think I need to delve into the questionable leadership of some of the SEATO nations. I hold the belief that most of the world in fact is not actively plotting our demise, but there are many in our nation who are far more cynical, I am hopeful that in this room we can take a major step forward for the Imperium towards repairing our national scale xenophobic beliefs."

[Hereno]

[Private]

Sri Lanka would not take part. However, we would be watching things unfold.

Sometimes, it is better to think before you act. Only when we consider each other can we live in harmony.

[Uberstein]

Minister Bafokeng cleared her throat, "You speak of xenophobia and paranoia, but let me be blunt. Japan is a nation with a long history of imperialism. Africa is a continent that has suffered greatly from colonialism and imperialist powers. This continent was raped, plundered, and had its cultures destroyed by foreign incursion. Entire histories were wiped out and erased. You speak of xenophobia, but no threat from the Indian Ocean has struck Japan, with the exception of the completely insane strike by Iceland.

 

So surely you can see why Japan's incursion into the western Indian ocean is...bothersome, given the very real history of foreign invasion Africa has faced, and the imperialist history of Japan. If such expansion can be justified by this national sense of xenophobia, then what is to stop Japanese bases from being established across the world out of paranoia? Irrational fear is hardly a justification for the kinds of adventures that cause conflict. This very act of so-called defense, is as far as we are concerned, an adventurist and provocative action.

 

But I, as well as my government, believe in win-win situations, and find ultimatums distasteful. Our offer is simple; 10 billion Rands for all Indian Ocean islands currently being occupied by your forces, west of Sri Lanka. In other words, the islands of Heard & McDonald, Krugeluen, Amsterdam and Saint-Paul. We would also be open to negotiating a contract in which Japan is supplied radar information on the Indian ocean, though this would of course exclude information which could compromise African League security."

Edited August 8, 2014 by Uberstein

[Mogar]

"The Imperium is not simply Japan, nor have we ever committed or condoned the atrocities of WWII Imperial Japan, in fact our government has an official policy of denouncing anything that is remotely like those actions, which should be fairly easy to see to external forces based upon the more than a dozen official languages of our Pan Asian nation. Asia too has suffered greatly from colonialism and imperialist powers, Africa is not the only to suffer under European expansionism into their region. Recent moves by European nations into the far eastern Indian Ocean, including islands that were once used to attack Singapore and Malaysia,

 

If we ever make a movement into another continent then your theory would be sound, even with the Hawaiian incident we worked with the other nations in the Pacific. We have made friendly overtures to Africa for Indian Ocean corporations but so far they have been not come to much fruition. I do not believe simply waiting would have been a wise choice based upon the Nordic strike, what would have stopped them from doing much worse in the Malacca and simply sinking every civilian vessel that passed through those waters? We stretch across a vast ocean, and this means advance warning of potential hostile nations would give us the ability to actually counteract such behavior. I can tell you now that had we known the movements of the Nordic fleet when they were rounding South Africa, they would have ran into a full carrier group, not a detachment meant simply to aid in the construction of research facilities and radar.

 

As to our Xenophobia, Africa has been able to maintain peaceful relations amongst each other, we were threatened with total destruction because of the acts of an unknown terrorist state, one we suspect to have been from Europe or the Middle East. A traditional terrorist organization would not have access to an SSBN, so whomever it may have been had the backing of a state. Since then multiple other nations have attacked us, provoked us, or attacked our neighbors. In one of these examples, a nation even broke generous peace agreements to attack us further. Can you say you would be so relaxed when it has been proven time and time again that nations do not appear to actually hold peaceful intentions towards your people? To say our fears are not based on rationality is incorrect.

 

The Imperium contains over 450 million people, all of various ethnicity, cultures, and religions. We have been inclusive of any who wish to exist in peace alongside us. The government has a responsibility to protect every single one of those people to ensure that such tragedies as those that the Twin Chinas caused us, or more recently Milan caused for the nations of Europe never happened again in our region. Such protection can only come from advance warning of possible enemy movements towards South and East Asia. There is multiple lines of communication open with the African League, our intentions were not proactive and I believe we have gone out of our way to prove we want to work together with all of those that surround the waterways that are vital to our economy.

 

Your offer is reasonable, but the African League has remained silent towards us for quite some time, what assurance is there that your security does not include allowing others to move against us to further weaken our navy? The Nordic movements should have been detectable by the African League and yet they were allowed to move freely. If you wish to see the Imperium out of the Indian Ocean, is it not logical to remove Europe as well? Asia at least touches the Indian Ocean, Europe does not."

Edited August 8, 2014 by Mogar

[Voodoo Nova]

"If you wish to work with us, then you should respect our sphere of influence. Your nation is primarily a Pacific one that has only recently been moving into the Indian Ocean. Norseland's attack is an anomoly from European nations and it was only after you arrived in the Indian. The situation does not add up and no one has hit the territry of Japan from the Indian Ocean. As for the European nation in the Indian Ocean, he will be dealt with shortly after this situation is handled. Your claim is far closer to our shores and therefore a much bigger concern at this point in time.

 

We are willing to work with Japan on intelligence matters, as you expressed as a similar interest, however we will not allow a Japanese military presence so close to our homeland or in our sphere of influence. Japan would cry foul should any African or Middle Eastern nation claim a series of islands in the Pacific, such as we are today over your islands close to our shore. As for the matter relating to the purchase of the islands, I urge you to accept the proposition. We will aid you in your departure from these islands so that your people and ships are safely returned."

[Centurius]

The Carthaginian representative to the African League had remained silent so far however with the apparent direction of talks it would be time for him to get his say in. As was common for him by now he'd be absolutely blunt. "The reality is Japan has a direct supply line to islands that would serve as the perfect location to build up an invading force. Europe on the contrary has to either travel via the Mediterranean where we can see it all or go around the African continent where there are also choke points detection becomes easy for Africa. This allows us more than enough early warning and makes their situation a more acceptable one. Of course one we are also going to have to talk about later. Japan has only a few options here, either the offer as it is is accepted or Africa asserts its sovereignty via more aggressive means"

[Mogar]

"If you wish to work with us, then you should respect our sphere of influence. Your nation is primarily a Pacific one that has only recently been moving into the Indian Ocean. Norseland's attack is an anomoly from European nations and it was only after you arrived in the Indian. The situation does not add up and no one has hit the territry of Japan from the Indian Ocean. As for the European nation in the Indian Ocean, he will be dealt with shortly after this situation is handled. Your claim is far closer to our shores and therefore a much bigger concern at this point in time.

 

We are willing to work with Japan on intelligence matters, as you expressed as a similar interest, however we will not allow a Japanese military presence so close to our homeland or in our sphere of influence. Japan would cry foul should any African or Middle Eastern nation claim a series of islands in the Pacific, such as we are today over your islands close to our shore. As for the matter relating to the purchase of the islands, I urge you to accept the proposition. We will aid you in your departure from these islands so that your people and ships are safely returned."

"You seem unwilling to work with us to maintain our own sphere of influence, a European nation has placed forced within striking distance of our own primary waterway, and that was the primary reasoning for the Imperium's expansion, not one has hit us yet, resting upon our laurels has led to us being nuked previously, Our claim is merely RADAR installations, there is no airfields besides upon Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul, which, if we had operational would have meant the total destruction of the Nordic fleet, not simply the bloodying. Unless your intentions are to remove the European nations from the Indian Ocean as well, then this appears to be negotiations of how to force us into a weaker position while your allies plan to destroy us. As such we could not agree to simply selling the islands and remove our ability to see those who wish to harm us."

 

The Carthaginian representative to the African League had remained silent so far however with the apparent direction of talks it would be time for him to get his say in. As was common for him by now he'd be absolutely blunt. "The reality is Japan has a direct supply line to islands that would serve as the perfect location to build up an invading force. Europe on the contrary has to either travel via the Mediterranean where we can see it all or go around the African continent where there are also choke points detection becomes easy for Africa. This allows us more than enough early warning and makes their situation a more acceptable one. Of course one we are also going to have to talk about later. Japan has only a few options here, either the offer as it is is accepted or Africa asserts its sovereignty via more aggressive means"

"The reality is that your nations are all allied to European nations in our own sphere of influence which gives them direct and clear supply lines to create their own invading forces within a few hundred kilometers of Sumatra and Singapore, and would allow them free reign to completely destroy 70% of Imperium civilian shipping. You ask us to willingly blind ourselves and simply have faith in nations who have ignored our attempts at diplomatic overtures. We're willing to negotiate but you seem more interested in simply forcing us to submit over acknowledging we have valid justification for our actions and desire to have the ability to see threats before they are in striking distance."

[Yerushalayim]

The Republic's representative spoke up, "With the fall of Sparta, there remains no European presence in the Indian Ocean. The Republic would be loathe to allow another such incursion to occur. We have done nothing to give Japan cause to doubt us, for who could have guessed that Iceland would behave in the fashion that they did?

The Indian Ocean is of vital importance to both Africa and Asia. We must preserve it, and ensure it remains peaceful for all our nations. The Republic will take control of the islands in question, in order to operate a radar base. We will not allow hostile forces entry to the Indian Ocean without resistance and warning.

The alternative," the Colonel shook her head, "is that Japan's fleet is forced from the Indian Ocean. This would leave your nation with no eye in the ocean, and serve only to create a divide between Africa and Asia where none need exist. The Republic is not Japan's enemy, and I entreat you to accept this offer and preserve the peace of the Indian Ocean."

Edited August 14, 2014 by Yerushalayim

[Mogar]

"We are already being forced from the Ocean, unless of course Africa disagrees with the Persian policy concerning the Indian Ocean, if the African community would show that its own nations holding Strategic Waterways would have a similar opinion as we had towards the Persians in regards to the Malaysian Economic Zone, It would further reinforce our belief that Africa actually wishes to work with us. Our previous attempts at working with your nations upon an individual level have proven fruitless, our attempt to negotiate on a broader scale to further prove our conviction towards the African League goes ignored. The recent past has left us cynical of African actions towards the Imperium. We will take the first step in this process to rebuild whatever loss of trust our actions in the Indian Ocean has caused our potential friendship, but I am unsure of what more we can possibly do to prove we are willing and committed to work with those who are interested in cooperation.

 

We will agree to ceding the disputed territories to Federated Union of African Republics and the Great Lakes Republics in the interest of displaying the Imperium's willingness to cooperate with its African neighbors."

Edited August 15, 2014 by Mogar

[Uberstein]

Minister Bafokeng smiled, "I'm glad we could come to an understanding. We'll have the funds wired over to your treasury as soon as all Japanese forces leave the islands in question."
 
A document would quickly be brought up:

 

African League - Imperium of Japan Agreement on the Southern Indian Ocean Islands

 

Article I.

The Japanese government cedes all rights and claims to any island, sea mount, or shallows capable of supporting artificial islands or rigs, within the Indian Ocean west of Sri Lanka. Any territories in this region which Japan, which includes both its government and corporations, has settled are to be vacated as soon as possible and handed over to the African League.

 

Article II.

The Federal Union of Southern African Republics will pay single fee of 10 billion (10,000,000,000) to the Imperium of Japan for the transfer of the islands and the guarantee that the Imperium of Japan will not infringe on the western half of the Indian Ocean again.

 

Article III.

The African League will provide intelligence from an Over-The-Horizon radar facility on the Kerguelen Islands, pointed north into the Indian Ocean, which will be operated by the Great Lakes Republic. To maintain African security, the African League reserves the right to withhold sensitive information including but not limited to the positions of its own naval assets.

 

"I believe these are the terms we agreed upon. Will Japan sign?"