Battle of Long Island

[Generalissimo]

Pravus Ingruo’s war of conquest swept across the United States of America, and the battered America’s defenses were beginning to falter, but from the darkness some conspired to meddle in Pravus Ingruo’s plans.

Generalissimo, once Generalissimo of Procinctia, a man believed to be dead, had a plan to fight Pravus Ingruo. A plan prerecorded prior to Generalissimo’s [i]death[/i]. A plan broadcasted to the world, a plea to action. An extraordinary number answered the call, to risk death, at the whim of a digital ghost. Generalissimo’s shadow designated both this action and associated forces Operation Hari Seldon.

Commodore Issorartuyok’s outcast faction of the Procinctian Remnant Armed Forces were the first to pledge support to Operation Hari Seldon. Khris van Donop’s Order of St. Adelaide of Aquitaine, Knights of the Blue Rose, soon joined Commodore Issorartuyok in arms. From their secret headquarters Commodore Issorartuyok, Lady Kris van Donop, Major Nerio Reséndez, Commander Jihara, Jessica (alias Captain Silas Sedanka), and Advisor Rusa MacNell worked a week carefully piecing together a workable plan to fight against the overwhelming might of Pravus Ingruo.

October 15, 2010
Operation Hari Seldon targeted Long Island, fortress of Pravus Ingruo, the heart of the empire’s war machine
Hours before dawn would mark the battle
This was the turning point in the Pravus-USA War
A brawl known thereafter as Battle of Long Island
By dawn Pravus Ingruo’s raising hero would emerge
By dusk the fight would be decided

[Generalissimo]

All Operation Hari Seldon units deployed (regardless of faction) to Long Island are by way of simultaneous amphibious underwater transport with Scuba Gear under the cover of night.

Forces participating Operation Hari Seldon are entitled to operate or pursue objectives independently.The main force of Operation Hari Seldon arriving at Long Island congregates to overrun primary Pravus Ingruo military positions.
One thousand Procinctian regulars and volunteers, led by Commodore Issorartuyok, participate in the main offensive.

All participating armor units and assigned coalition reserves cover operation Hari Seldon’s flank, Procinctian forces otherwise unallotted in this group, hold a rear guard from the Bronx on the mainland.

Latecomers of and Australia and Blue Water were given rendezvous coordinates, in time to send commando units, either could participate – but the operation wouldn’t wait on them.

[b]Battle of Long Island took place October 15, 2010 - participation is limited explicitly to those involved with either Operation Hari Seldon Pravus Ingruo’s invasion of the United States on October 15, 2010.[/b]

Edited October 26, 2010 by Generalissimo

[Generalissimo]

Several Procinctian squads operated outside the standard Operation Hari Seldon parameters. All of these squads are not aware of other squads nor the deployments of the main force.

Four ten man squads of Procinctian volunteers was tasked with infiltrating DiFara's Pizzeria, Lombardi's Pizzeria, Ray's Pizza, and Totonno's to secure the best pizza recipes on the Eastern Seaboard. If physical recipes could not be secured pizzeria owners or specialists would be extracted for future interrogation. A prerecorded from Generalissimo message demanded that Pravus Ingruo’s emerging empire not have a stranglehold on the world’s best pizza.

Three ten man squads of Procinctian volunteers was tasked with infiltrating the New York Stock Exchange and stealing financial material pertaining to Pravus Ingruo. This would theoretically impact Pravus Ingruo’s economy internationally while simultaneously fund Operation Hari Seldon with Pravus Ingruo's money.

One ten man squad of Procinctian volunteers was tasked with assaulting the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations and destroying financial material pertaining to Pravus Ingruo. This would theoretically impact Pravus Ingruo’s economy internationally, thus hinder the Pravus Ingruo war effort.

One ten man squad of Procinctian volunteers was tasked with infiltrating Sony BMG Music Entertainment and stealing Sony’s entire music database. A prerecorded from Generalissimo message demanded that Pravus Ingruo’s emerging empire not have a stranglehold on the world's music recording industry.

Eight ten man squads of Procinctian volunteers were tasked with destroying Six bridges on the east river, the bridge over Hudson River, and the bridge over New York Bay. This would theoretically limit available Pravus Ingruo renforcements.

Three five man squads of Procinctian regulars were tasked with stealing Hokusai's [i]The Great Wave off Kanagawa[/i], [i]Washington Crossing the Delaware[/i] by Emanuel Leutze, and [i]Ferdinand I of Germany’s[/i] armor from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Generalissimo message demanded that Pravus Ingruo’s emerging empire not have a stranglehold on these cultural treasures.

A single unit of one hundred Procinctian volunteers was to overtake and hold Times Square. This was absolutely a suicide mission meant to divert Pravus Ingruo forces to Times Square.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Generalissimo

[iKrolm]

Sergeant-Major Nerio Reséndez's twenty men broke surface fifty meters southeast of East River Park, simultaneous with the Procinctian squads' surfacing. The night sky and stars were blotted out by clouds and the light of the city glittered off the water. Ditching DPVs first, then tanks and BCDs and finally weights and drysuits sunk to the bottom together as they reached the shore, the men exited the park in small groups.

They wore a mix of mid-formal clothes; all dark colors and many with light body armor underneath. Each one carried a briefcase, protected in a waterproof bag through the dive, containing a mix of small arms, money communication devices and explosives. There mission was to provide external fire support for the NYSC teams, then disappear into the city to observe and report the impact of the initial assault.

Outside of the park, seven taxis were hailed and seven groups of three, several in foreign accents but excellent english, requested to be driven to Trinity Church.

[Michael McBride]

(OOC: I’m trying a new format for my posts. Since this is a story-driven battle, rather than a battle-driven story, and the outcome is already decided, I am writing it from a first person perspective looking back on it. Background information as the person speaking will be given in regular text, while actual combat will be in italics and will shift back to third person views. I hope it isn’t too confusing, we’ll see how it works.)

It was what the Empire thought could never happen. Still soaked in the joy and jubilation of their victory over the United States and the reunification of their territory, an assault on Manhattan, on York City, was the last thing on civilian and military minds. And yet in the pre-dawn hours of October 15th, that is exactly what happened. The next 24 hours would be a story of heroism, tragedy, and awaken a new era in the Empire of security among the common man.

[b]**PRE-DAWN**[/b]

[b]Commandant David K. Atkinson, Imperial Air Force, 1st Interceptor Wing[/b]

It would be ironic to tell you that the first people who noticed the invasion were civilians, wouldn’t it? But it’s the truth. The military had no idea what was happening. Even with the largest concentration of military forces during peacetime less than three hundred feet away on Long Island, we had no idea. I’m not sure how they did it, honestly. They slipped around two blockades, missed all civilian traffic and came up right in York Harbor… right on our back door.

It was the Trinity Church Twenty that we noticed first. That’s what the press called them anyways. They all hailed taxis coming out of East River Park. The drivers thought it was odd, since the only ones coming from the east would be military members, and these guys definitely weren’t Imperial military. That should have been our warning that something was wrong. But we missed it. The cabbies reported the oddity to police using an ask and answer code they had developed long ago. A few cop cars tailed the cabs to Trinity Church, a few more were waiting for them there, but they weren’t prepared for what happened next. I mean, they couldn’t have been.

That’s when the police board started lighting up like a Christmas tree. Reports of robberies, men with guns, military rifles, breaking into DiFara's Pizzeria, Lombardi's Pizzeria, Ray's Pizza, and Totonno's. We still didn’t get it, what was going on. More police dispatched, that was it.

And then the real trouble started. Police started reporting men with military rifles attacking the Manhattan side of the bridges, attempting to break through onto the bridges themselves. The tiny police forces at the Manhattan ends of the bridges were in trouble in every way: out-manned, out-gunned (at least in terms of number, their actual rifles were better than their Procintian counterparts), and most important, surprised. Frantic calls for help went out immediately and that was when the military was first notified. Being that it was pre-dawn, though, the military commanders on Long Island told the police to dispatch SWAT teams and take care of their “pesky gang problem”.

Then the night guards at the NYSE reported gunmen attempting to break into the building. Then the NASDAQ reported the same. SONY BMG reported a break-in, as did the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Seemingly random attacks, with one very common vein: all armed men, all seemingly hell-bent on a mission. This was no gang hit-and-run attack. This was no hodge-podge insurgency. These men were militarily trained, and moved with the same discipline.

But that wasn’t even the worst of it.

The police started getting reports of approximately one hundred armed combatants moving towards Times Square. Times Square, for $%&@’s sake! It was at that point the Chief of Police for YPD went over the heads of the Long Island commanders and called straight to Syracuse. It was probably the smartest move anyone made that day. It’s probably why they’re still around to talk about it.

[i]”Gibbons!” The voice of his sergeant woke Private Jimmy T. Gibbons from his restful doze. Sure, he was technically on duty, but this was Long Island, probably the safest place in the Empire. What could go wrong on a mid-October morning? “On your feet, Private, we’ve got a helo to catch.” Frowning, the Private got to his feet and laced up his boots. Grabbing his helmet, gear, and rifle, he trotted out after his Sergeant to find two other soldiers waiting for them by the helo. It wasn’t surprising, the numbers. This was about half of their post getting onto the helo right now.

As the bird took off, Gibbons turned to his Sergeant. “What’s going on, Sarge?”

“City’s gone crazy, it seems Gibbons. YPD is reporting roaming groups of men with military rifles around the city. We’re heading to the NYSE building… we’ve got reports of about thirty trying to break in right now.”

“And they’re sending four of us?”

“They’re rousing the rest of the 5th, Private, but right now we’re all they’ve got. Our orders are to protect the financial data in the NYSE at all costs, clear?” The Sergeant was the recipient of nods from the other three soldiers. The helicopter sped over the city, hovering above the NYSE building where they could see the group trying to break into the building. As the four troops disembarked, the Sergeant motioned for the sniper of the group to take up a position at the front of the building to fire down on the current group and prevent any others from coming in as well. He, Gibbons, and the other soldier made their way to the elevators through roof access and down to the lobby, setting up positions to relieve the same size security force that was there.

At the bridges that were being attacked, the small police forces fought back as well as they could, taking cover behind concrete barricades. As it was they were outnumbered, but they were decently supplied and had better weapons than the attacking forces, which they hoped would be enough to hold out until help arrived.

Two police cruisers followed the cabs over to Trinity Church, where two more were already waiting. As the cabs stopped, the four officers got out to approach the men who had been riding in the cabs.

Officers were dispatched to the pizzerias, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and SONY BMG where security forces at the latter two were trying to hold off the invaders. SONY’s security guards however were only armed with non-lethal weapons and were quickly getting pushed back into the building.

The YPD dispatched SWAT teams to deal with the intruders heading towards Times Square. They found themselves outnumbered though and continued retreating back towards the iconic crossroads. They desperately called for military help but the closest was a half hour away at least.[/i]

[Lord Zephyr]

"Suicide missions, its what we were trained for, except with us its more suicide for the enemy."

It was an old saying in the experimental squadrons created by a few of the veterans of the several harsh battles they've been though. Jihara had it on his mind as he moved his squad towards time square. He allocated two hundred fifty of his general combat troops to taking and holding this spot long enough for the rest of the Hari Seldon forces to do what they were going to do and get out of there. Fifty of his snipers were now moving in squads with general combat specialists to take buildings and rooftops. They were to remain there until the battle was over or they were dead.

Jihara could see lights flashing now, and the traffic was packed in. People gave them stares as the men in combat gear ran down the streets. Some panicked and many abandoned there cars. A siren could be heard heading down Broadway. A police car responding to one of the many reports of break ins and combat emerging on the NYPD police network. Jihara activated his radio, "I hear a siren, anyone got eyes?"

"Roger, should we take it out?"

"Quickly and try not to hit the pedestrians."

Two gunshots could be heard over the noise of cars and people. Almost silence, and then absolute panic. People started running in all directions. Jihara motioned for his squad to move up and they jogged into times square. He could see at least five other squadrons setting up for a long haul. Walking to the center of times square he clicked his com on again. "This is Jihara to all Times Square squadrons, clear the civilians out. I don't feel like having a blood bath here. Once your here set up firing lanes along 46-49th street 7th and broadway. Clear the cars out and create a dead zone at least a hundred yards out. Cover is fine, just make sure you left surprises for anyone who wants to utilize them." Surprises was the general code word for traps. "I also want ten fire teams patrolling the area around the dead zone. To all snipers teams in the area. Happy killing."

Jihara's speaker came to life as the voice of a sniper came over it, "Commander, there are several squads of SWAT teams heading your direction. Permission to kill?"

"Soften them up, but don't waste your ammo, I want sniper support when the real fight gets here."

"Roger that, two kill per bullet minimum."

He heard a boom over his headset before it cut off. It was somewhat satisfying.

The other two hundred troops were allocated to securing key bridges, subway system, and tunnels. They were to allow civilians out, but to let no one in.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Lord Zephyr

[Generalissimo]

Some historians call it [b]The Great Pizza Raid[/b] - opinions on the subject differ drastically
[quote name='Pravus Ingruo' timestamp='1288210811' post='2494407']That’s when the police board started lighting up like a Christmas tree. Reports of robberies, men with guns, military rifles, breaking into DiFara's Pizzeria, Lombardi's Pizzeria, Ray's Pizza, and Totonno's. We still didn’t get it, what was going on. More police dispatched, that was it. [/quote] Before dawn Long Island’s pizzeria’s had not logistical, tactical, or strategic value. Generalissimo’s desire to steal the secrets of baking the best pizza in New York from Pravus Ingruo didn’t make sense to any of Operation Hari Seldon’s operators, but Commodore Issorartuyok insisted Procintia’s deceased founder’s instruction be carried to the letter.

Exactly four minutes before the main forces and eighteen minutes after other raiders, clad in unmarked wetsuits, all teams on pizza missions were ashore. Operations targeting Lombardi's Pizzeria, Pay’s Pizza, and Totonno’s were carried out with clockwork precision and the objectives were carried out as planned. Police or military resistance from Pravus Ingruo was encountered leaving the various pizza establishments, but not enough to prevent anyone from leaving the island with minimal casualties. Only the company at Ray’s had any complications; where the legendary pizzia maker Ray the Third (who noticed his eatery being ransacked) was blindfolded, kidnapped, and extracted from the island by Procintian volunteers.

Sergeant Foley’s team was with infiltrating DiFara's Pizzeria, like the other Procintian forward units Sergeant Foley’s squad came ashore in darkness to recover secrets of the world’s best pizza from an iron grasp of a forbidding empire, but unlike those other units everything in Sergeant Foley’s group would be done by a single private named Ramirez. . .
In the dead of night at the east shore Sergeant Foley barked his first order of the night
[i]Ramirez take point on shor!e[/i]
Ramirez silently rolled his eyes and took point on the riverside, it was going to be one of [i]those[/i] nights
[i]Ramirez bring in our weapons!
Ramirez hide the dive tanks!
Ramirez reconnoiter DiFara's!
Ramirez make an entrance!
Ramirez find DiFara's recipe!
Ramirez find the pizza oven!
Ramirez take the pictures!
Ramirez secure some dough!
Ramirez cover our withdrawal![/i]
Ramirez, however, didn’t get to cover a withdrawal as the flashing lights highlighted the restaurant of police cars coming down on their position, someone in the neighborhood noticed the half-dozed wetsuit-clad commandos blowing down a door of a restaurant in the middle of their block. Sergeant Foley, a tactical genius unparalleled in modern warfare, smiled as he issued another directive. . .
[i]Ramirez take out those squad cars![/i]
Ramirez couldn’t muster a sigh as his AR-15 was aimed and peppered a squad car with armor piercing bullets.


[b]Out of Character[/b] I’m taking liberties assuming that there is actually a Ray behind Ray’s in the world of CNRP, while in reality there is no such person (sorry for spoiling that illusion for everyone in CNRP, but there was never an actual Ray)

[Generalissimo]

[quote name='Pravus Ingruo' timestamp='1288210811' post='2494407']It was what the Empire thought could never happen. Still soaked in the joy and jubilation of their victory over the United States and the reunification of their territory, an assault on Manhattan, on York City, was the last thing on civilian and military minds. And yet in the pre-dawn hours of October 15th, that is exactly what happened. The next 24 hours would be a story of heroism, tragedy, and awaken a new era in the Empire of security among the common man[/quote]On October 15th the battle between across the United States of America was still fiercely raging, but the outcome was clear to anyone with eyes (or who wasn’t blinded by USA uninformed propaganda). Pravus Ingruo and allies weren’t winning - they had already won – even the opposition knew it. Joy and jubilation was understandable even justified on the eve of inevitable victory and reunification – but that elation was premature.
New York City was so far removed from the New England frontlines that the very idea of a battle on Long Island would seem absurd.

Edited October 29, 2010 by Generalissimo

[iKrolm]

The cops present at Trinity Church first alerted Segeant-Major Nerio Reséndez that something was wrong. Sure, there'd been a car following them for the last few blocks but this was a major city; police were to be expected. Two patrol cars, lined up across the street from the point Nerio and two of his men exited their taxi joined by the third that'd been following Nerio's taxi, even with their lights off, was noteworthy. Nerio's two men gripped their briefcases tightly, scanning the area as they worked their way slowly towards the front of Trinity Church.

Another three of Nerio's men had already arrived and stood in the shadows of a tree on the church grounds. There were a number of officers visible too, watching closely from across the street but they did not approach, yet. Two more taxis pulled up and another cop car joined the line across the street as Nerio and company made their way off Broadway and onto the church grounds.

Nerio's men, knelt one by one as taxis continued to arrive, out of sight behind other members of the team to open their briefcases and withdraw and ready the weapons they'd brought. Not Procintian weapons but modern carbines and light arms plus a few compact rifles, the best an NGO could buy on short notice. Weapons loaded and rounds chambered, the men stood with their firearms concealed as best they could under their jackets.

When the officers finally began to move, crossing the street simultaneous with the arrival of the final taxi, Nerio led his men to a door on the side of the church and, with a tiny, pre-prepped thermite charge, melted the lock. The heavy wooden door swung open slowly and silently, the soft glow of night-time security-lighting inside dissolving under the glare of street lights from outside.

"Inside, you know what to do," Nerio gestured them into the church, then beckoned the men from the last taxi to hurry as the police drew closer. On adrenaline now and ignoring anything the police might've said, Nerio shoved the door closed again and jammed the door with an unidentifiable piece of ironwork old buildings conveniently incorporate into their architecture.

The interior of the church was impressive even in the dim light, as would be expected of a two hundred-plus-year-old building. Rows of pews under an extravagantly high, arching ceiling and massive stained glass windows illuminated faintly by the lights of the city. Unperturbed by the architecture and any sounds originating from outside the building, the majority of Nerio's men set about rearranging the furniture in the appearance of fortifications. The makeshift cover would not be used of course, it was merely to slow down anyone attempting to breach the church perimeter and to draw fire while Nerio's men, concealed in less obvious positions, picked off anyone who entered.

There were no non-stained glass windows present in the church and security camera control was quickly cut by Nerio's technician; churches were not designed with high security in mind. Finally four men, three with rifles, climbed the church tower taking care to stay away from windows where they could be seen from the outside. Their objective was to provide surveillance and cover fire during the NYSC team's get away.