The POLAR STAR Offensive

[Shatner]

[b]Operation HARBINGER[/b]

The room was quiet and dim, the only light source being the modest fire beneath the marble and oaken mantle. General Ryvern puffed on a stout cigar, facing two officers at attention in dress uniform. One was a Colonel, the other a Captain. The General eyed the two and finally spoke:

"Speak freely, Colonel Wolstenholm, what have they told you?"

Wolstenholm slightly relaxed, although his nature as a military man meant his relaxed state was still perfect posture, "Next to nothing, general. All that I know is that I will be the commanding officer of Operation HARBINGER and that it will take place on foreign soil."

"Correct, as far as they have told you," Ryvern stood at this point, "Operation HARBINGER is a contingency plan in case all else fails. Before I go any further, I need both of you to answer a question: Are you members of the Nationalist Party?"

The General looked weathered. He gazed directly at the two men, awaiting their response.

"Yes sir, we are."

"Good," Ryvern sighed, "Good. Now to brief you."

Ryvern beckoned to two more leather arm chairs across from his, which his subordinate officers took for themselves as he reseated himself. Ryvern looked into one of the dark corners and waved. Out of the blackness came a Special Operations soldier with no identifiable rank in full combat attire including baklava and helmet. He handed the Colonel and Captain each identical files of Operation HARBINGER.

Ryvern cleared his throat and began, "Operation HARBINGER will set up a fall back point for the Nationalist government should upcoming events take a turn for the worst, as well as serve as the communications and command hub of our two other operations, Operation VANGUARD and Operation SOVEREIGNTY. You will be taking up residence in an old, abandoned, presumably Tahoan military base outside of Kenai, Alaska, on the Kenai peninsula south of Anchorage.

The purpose: safeguard the continuity of the Nationalist Party. If Operations VANGUARD and SOVEREIGNTY fail, Labrador will be torn apart from the inside and outside at the same time, and we need a contingency. That's where you boys come in. Should they fail, the Prime Minister and Governor-General will be evacuated to your base in Kenai, where the government will plan its next moves in secret exile.

As I also mentioned, you will be running the other operations from your base. What we will be doing is routing to Kenai all communications and orders through a proxy command center here in Labrador. If everything goes FUBAR, we cut transmission to Kenai and Operation HARBINGER will enter Phase II, in which the government will be transported to your location. There will be no evidence that the base is Labrador's and there will be no evidence of its connection to us here. The base will be codenamed WHITE FOREST. Officially you will be known as ALCOM, Alaska Command and your call sign will be ALPHA WHISKEY. Any questions?"

Wolstenholm spoke up, "Yes General. What is the cause for these operations and why us?"

The General rose and turned towards the fireplace contemplating his answer. "Tomorrow, economic hell breaks loose. The domestic markets are going to crash, a fate we brought upon ourselves with our overly-rapid expansion and carelessness in financial sectors. Just as well, the French Separatists and radical Disparuan Loyalists have formed an armed coalition, and our intel believes they will strike soon, sooner once they are made aware of our economic plight. We are going to see a loss of popularity and an angry populace. The other operations are aimed at neutralizing the armed threat and winning back the populace."

"And why have you been chosen?" Ryvern turned back to face his two officers, "Colonel Wolstenholm, you have been chosen for your strategic skill, as well as your leadership qualities. If both the Governor-General and Prime Minister are killed or captured, there are provisions in Operation HARBINGER that will establish you as the new head of state. Captain Rockhirst, you have been chosen for your experience in dealing with black ops before, as well as your counter-terrorism effort. However, you have both been issued passports and identification for the Alaskan Territory as citizens of the old Tahoe regime. As far as international databases go, you were both born in Sitka under Tahoan rule and have never even been to Labrador. If you are captured, no one will be able to trace you back, all of your information has been deleted, and we will deny everything. Good luck, gentlemen, your C-130 leaves in an hour."

[Shatner]

[b]Operation HARBINGER 19:30:32 [WHITE FOREST][/b]

Wolstenholm's C-130 had landed in Anchorage several hours ago, and he and his Captain had then gained passage to Kenai and White Forest by boat. The water was choppy which made for slow going, but the pair eventually made it to Kenai where they were picked up in an unmarked jeep.

Neither their chauffeur nor they themselves wore anything that would give them away as military men from any nation. They wore bundles of clothing to stay warm and carried only modest luggage. Just to be safe however, both carried pistols beneath their heavy coats. The jeep took a winding path out of the small settlement and into the wild, where they reached their base of operations.

In like kind, White Forest was also masked as the operating center for Northern Petrol, a fledgling new oil company in the Alaska territory. Wolstenholm stepped out of the jeep and looked around. They had parked within the compound's fencing and most of the buildings were devoid of color or pattern, with simple numberings to distinguish them. Not to say that they were identical. In fact the shapes were all distinct. No one there seemed to be in military attire, but it was safe to assume that they were all armed.

Wolstenholm stepped up to the fence to look out to the landscape. The flight in had been very scenic. The Hudson Bay, the islands of Blue Heaven, the mountains of the Yukon and Alaska Protectorates, and this view was no less magnificent. The tall pines stretched up from the hills into a gray sky with the sea visible down below. A man of the North would consider this a beautiful place, had he not so much on his mind, like the fact that he could never go home.

[Shatner]

[b]Operation SOVEREIGNTY 23:00:00 [Labrador City][/b]

//ALPHA WHISKEY: "Operation SOVEREIGNTY is a go. I repeat, Operation SOVEREIGNTY is a go.

The order had come down from White Forest and routed through the capital of Goose Bay at precisely 2300 hours to troops in Labrador City, the hotbed of Coalition of Sovereignty activity, the Coalition being the united armed militants of the French Sovereignty Force and Disparuan Loyalist Offensive.

Sergeant Miller was in charge of one of the Special Forces teams that would be participating in Phase one of the operation. His team was all prepped and ready to go. They all wore matching combat gear: Grey helmets with ski masks beneath, black garments under black armor plating. They carried G3's as those were all that were available for Labradoran soldiers.

He looked to his troops, "The Operation is a go. Proceed now. Dredge, take point."

Miller's team, known as Rhino Team, was one of the ground attack groups. After their initial attack on the Coalition base, helicopter-lifted troops would approach, as well as paratroops, all Special Forces.

The team had been waiting outside of the city and were moving on a warehouse not far from there, allegedly where the Coalition had stockpiled weapons. Their objective was to take the warehouse while other teams hit priority personnel targets at other sites. It was cold and it was dark. The team moved silently toward their objective. After a short while, the lights came into view and Miller halted his team to brief them one last time.

"Alright, recall the layout of the warehouse. We've practiced this, you all know what to do. Check your corners and check your targets. Act fast and we are all going home safe. Ready? Move!"

Rhino Team fanned out and began to run towards the warehouse, being careful to stay low. The team sniper, Corporal Veats, lagged behind and took aim at the 'dock worker standing watch outside. His silenced rifle made no discernable sound as the howling wind masked the noise of the shot. The bullet streaked down the field and found its mark, striking the guard center-chest. Miller waved his team up and they began to cut through the fence. Just as they were about through, two more guards came around, this time brandishing SMG's and a German Shepard.

Miller radioed to Veats, "Neutralize the handler, I'll take care of his friend. On my mark...3...2...1...Mark."

Again, silent bullets cut down all the targets, leaving the team to finish breaching the fence and moving into assault positions.

Miller opened the comm to the whole squad. At each breach point, a team member was waiting with a shotgun to the door handle.

"Breach and clear!"

Almost in absolute sync, the handles were blown off the doors and the soldiers kicked them in. A wild firefight ensued, and the militants were no match for the superior training, organization, and surprise of the Rhino Team. Soldiers popped from target to target, utilizing short burst while the militants opened fire with full automatic. Cardboard boxes were shreaded and shipping manifests flew through the air like confetti until suddenly the firing stopped and the only sound was the ringing of the last few casings falling to the floor.

[Shatner]

[b]Command Center BETA 11:13:06 6/25[/b]

Command Center BETA was the base through which all communications and information were routed through from Labrador to White Forest and back. General Ryvern was in command of the base, which sat in the far, cold North of Labrador.

The first confrontation of Operation Sovereignty was a success, however it had provoked the Coalition to come out of hiding. Just as Ryvern had planned. "Are you still blocking all news transmissions containing information of the Coalition to White Forest?"

A Special Forces Lieutenant continued monitoring his communications terminal, "Yes, General. We are screening all information from Labrador and anything containing any of the keywords in the dossier is being blocked. Operation PERSEUS is going exactly as planned."

"Good. Compose a message asking for logistics support. Feed them one of the pre-composed data sheets and await their reply. Send them validation back and the next day, give them a victory report."

"Yes sir," the Lieutenant replied as he began typing.

OOC: Also, I don't mind OOC and in case you haven't noticed, posts in my News Thread correspond and link with this RP.

Edited June 25, 2010 by Shatner

[Subtleknifewielder]

OOC: Oh, in that case, keep up the interesting story. I must say it makes for a very good read.

[Ryan Milley]

OOC:Where is White Forest?

[Shatner]

OOC: Kenai, just south of Anchorage, like I said.

[Shatner]

[b]Operation VANGUARD 21:30:42 6/25[/b]

//ALPHA WHISKEY: Begin Operation VANGUARD. Keyword: TITAN. Verification Code: Alpha-Tango-Charlie-Delta-One-One-Four-Seven.

With that, the orders were relayed to two operatives who had been in deep cover within Disparu for over a month. Their entire identity had been forged and all records of them had been manufactured and slipped into Disparuean databases in the clerical nightmare that had been Labrador's seccession. The two men had gotten jobs in the Disparuean State Department as low ranking officials, but were part of the intelligence wing and therefore had very limited access, yet access still, to various secrets and were privy to the location of their goal: a bank of ICBM silos.

It would be only days before their day off, at which point they took their opportunity to strike.

It was a long drive out into the wilderness, but the operatives, utilizing the names Jacque Bordeaux and Pierre Montierre, had made their way into the wilderness of Disparu to the hidden silo bank. Pretending to be on duty, the pair went through security as if it were a routine. In fact, they had visited before on two occasions, to solidify their credibility. No one asked questions because no one suspected anything from run of the mill intelligence officers. TThey simply made a bee-line for the launch room, which they had already gained access to. Just as they reached the door, Bordeaux drew his hidden sidearm: a silenced 1911. He put two shots into the guard. One in the throat and one in the forehead. He died before he hit the floor and Montierre retrieved his access key.

Montierre slid the card through the receiver and the heavy steel door, which had prevented the sounds of the gunshots from warning the operators inside, slid open. Before anyone within processed the dead body on the floor, both Labradorans aimed their weapons and fired. It was only seconds before the room was empty save for the assassins.

"Do you have the codes?" Montierre inquired.

"Right here," replied Bordeaux. He went to typing and all of the sudden, the lights all turned red and the steel door slid shut and locked behind the operatives.

"No turning back now," mused Montierre as he punched in coordinates. After several minutes, the countdown began. 30...29...28...

The sound of a welding torch was barely audible over the security alarms that the men had activated.

"Give up your weapons and you will be taken into custody!" shouted one of the base personnel.

22...21...20...

Each slowly reloaded their weapons.

Sparks began to fly from the door and an orange line slowly grew upwards, melting through the thick metal of the door.

"See it through, Wilcox." The man pretending to be Bordeaux put his weapon to his temple and fired, falling to the floor.

15...14...13...

"I am the Vanguard of Labrador's sovereignty. Never again shall She fear, never again will She cower. I am the Vanguard of Nationalism. Never again shall the immoral defile Her, never again shall the liberals desecrate Her beauty. She will be pristine before the eyes of the world, and when the liberals of this world fall into the abyss they have been preparing for themselves, She shall remain, a testament to our solidarity." Wilcox, a.k.a. Montierre declared. He had proclaimed his message over the bases intercom and everyone in the outpost heard it. Two sides of the hole being cut by the welder were finished, and the third was almost done.

4...3...2...

Just as Wilcox pulled the trigger on himself and his head flew back, 5 ICBM's rocketted up and out of their silos, their destination and disarming functions masked by the error message //Catastophic Failure. Backup Systems Offline. Working...

The door was kicked open, the aftermath only serving to shock the Disparuean personnel

[b]Operation PERSEUS 11:55:24 6/27[/b]

//INTERCEPTING...

...

...

//REROUTING...

...

...

//BLOCKED; INTERCEPTION COMPLETE; REROUTING COMPLETE

From: Governor-General Wellington
To: Colonel Wolstenholm


Why was I not informed of your Operation? A team will be sent to extract you from your base in Alaska as soon as humanly possible and you will have to answer before a military tribunal. The chain of events you have set of are grotesque. You are a traitor to your country and will suffer dearly for it.

Regards to the damned,
Governor-General Wellington

///End

"Was it intercepted in time?" Ryvern asked his comm officer.

"Yes sir, White Forest is still in the dark."

"Good. Once those missiles strike, we will move into Phase II. After impact, send in Viper squad to tie off the loose end in Alaska. With [i]impunity[/i]."

"Aye sir, of course."

"Oh, and send a message to Francois Renault, the leader of the Coalition. Our agreement will be honored."

"Yes sir."

Edited June 26, 2010 by Shatner

[Shatner]

OOC: Hope that works, Pikachurin. Also, i their attempt to lock down the base, the two spies locked themselves out of security control by triggering a security threat to lock the door. Meaning there is video evidence once it is extracted from the databases.

[Shatner]

[B]Operation PERSEUS 20:52:07 6/29[/b]

"Still no word from Viper Squad, General. "

"Damn it! One simple thing, eliminate two people utilizing superior firepower."

"What should our next move be sir?"

"If you want something done right...*sigh* Ready a C-130 immediately. I want my [i]personal[/i] team ready to go ASAP. I'll deal with this myself."

[Shatner]

[b]Operation PERSEUS/Operation HARBINGER 5:35:21 6/30[/b]

The military jeeps of Ryvern's crack-team pulled up to the outskirts of the base.

"Alright, you all know your instructions. Post up and fire when the timing is right," Ryvern ordered as he got back into his jeep which pulled up the road.

The vehicle was cleared through the gates of White Forest and pulled into the main square of the compound. Ryvern stepped out to find Colonel Wolstenholm already waiting for him, in full military attire.

"Wolstenholm! Thank God you're ok!" Ryvern said, lying through his teeth as he extended his hand to Wolstenholm. The Colonel smiled and returned the gesture. "I had heard that White Forest was attacked, did you find out who sent the assassins?"

"Well, they were wearing Disparuean uniforms, which I found strange..."

"Yes, well, all can be explained-" replied Ryvern.

Wolstenholm interrupted him, "...because around 4 hours ago our tech guys removed several sophisticated blocks on our communications gear. I must say, some of the transmissions I was not privy to were quite incriminating. Including the knowledge that a certain superior of mine launched high-payload missiles on government targets." Wolstenholm tilted his head as he said this and looked straight at Ryvern with eyebrows raised.

Ryvern let out a rough breath equivalent to an angry sigh. He pretended to clasp his hands behind his back as he reached for his sidearm. There were several tapping sounds in the forest outside of the base, but neither officer noticed.

"Soldier, you need to get back in line."

"I serve Labrador. And you murdered her government," before Ryvern had a chance to act, Wolstenholm drew a pistol and immediately fired, striking Ryvern in the right shoulder. The general knelt to the ground from the pain, waiting, but no one returned fire. Wolstenholm kicked the general's pistol away as he walked behind him. "I wouldn't count on your friends saving you, we already took care of them. Just then, Captain Rockhirst walked through the gate in camoflague, toting a silenced designated marksman rifle. He gave the thumbs up to Wolstenholm.

The Colonel grabbed Ryvern by his short hair and pulled his head back, "You were in bed with the Coalition the whole time. What did you promise Renault? Independence? Power? It doesn't matter. You're dead, [i]Acting[/i] Governor-General." Wolstenholm mocked Ryvern with the last bit.

"You can't win, no one will ever believe you. I became the people's hero overnight, I WON, and you can't even go back to Labrador. Your records are gone and my men would have you executed the second you stepped over the border-AH!" Ryvern winced in pain as Wolstenholm dug the barrel of his M9 into the general's exit wound.

"You have only succeeded in destroying our nation. Labrador will tear itself apart."

"You kill me, and Labrador launches a [i]real[/i] offensive over here!"

"Don't worry. I already have a solution to that." Wolstenholm fired his pistol into the back of Ryvern's head to put a period on his sentence. It was at that point Rockhirst approached him.

"So what now sir?"

"Do you remember that idea I had, Captain?"

"The one about Alaska?"

"Yes, Captain. We are going through with it."

"Sir, is that logical?"

"Labrador would never risk assault on a cohesive nation, not in their current state. With nowhere to exact revenge, the nation will implode and peacekeepers will move in to heal them. Its the only way I see us and Labrador both getting out alive."

"Aye sir. *sigh* This may be the most complex stunt I've ever seen to avert a war."

"Let's hope it works, Captain. Time is of the essence."

[Shatner]

[b]Log of Colonel Wolstenholm: 22:00:01 7/3[/b]

"This will be the final entry for Colonel Harrison Wolstenholm, Commander of White Forest.

We are the last of the non-radicals left after the collapse of Labrador. We are the only ones left who saw reason, and because of it, we remain independent. Before we were completely disconnected from Labrador, we were able to siphon of a considerable amount of funds. We have begun speaking with local politicians within the protectorate and will be funding elections here, dividing the funds delegated to the first free election equally between each of the competing parties.

One thing has been decided, a new republic will form, the Alaska Republic. I am holding no sway in the elections, I will not be running, and I will have no hand in them other than funding the logistics. Myself and Captain Rockhirst will be moving our families here, and both of our families will be retiring to Sitka.

I was next in the line of succession. That's why Ryvern wanted me dead. That, and so he could pin any findings on me. But in my initial trust of him and my former nation, I lost any way to return to my home and so must strive to make this new place the best that I can.

Colonel Wolstenholm signing off.

[Pikachurin]

[quote name='Shatner' date='26 June 2010 - 12:55 AM' timestamp='1277528113' post='2350712']
OOC: Hope that works, Pikachurin. Also, i their attempt to lock down the base, the two spies locked themselves out of security control by triggering a security threat to lock the door. Meaning there is video evidence once it is extracted from the databases.
[/quote]
OoC: Okay...
IC:

Officers from the Judicial Police and the Disparuean Forces immediately rushed to the base following the Labradorean spies' infiltration. The base and surrounding areas were placed under lockdown to prevent unauthorized personnel (ranging from innocuous reporters to dangerous spies) from entering the area, while its remaining staff was taken away to a nearby police station for further questioning. All remains found were secretly loaded into a freezer truck designed to take bodies from crime scenes (after all, there was no point in calling an ambulance since everyone was pretty much dead) and were sent to the nearest hospital for their autopsies. Detectives and the like examined the bloody launch room and collected evidence, while police officers scoured the entire base, just in case there were still rogue personnel hanging around.

Two hours later, most of the initial investigation was completed, and there was enough information gathered that would enable the Judicial Police to point fingers at anyone suspected to be involved. Auguste Berthiaume, the Director of the Judicial Police, barged into the launch room to talk about the investigation's results.

"Now, can someone tell me what the hell happened tonight?" enquired Berthiaume rather pugnaciously.

"Um, sir, it seems that two rogue personnel suddenly," replied an aide, "And, um, attacked the launch room's operators and armed the base's missiles, and, um..."

"And...?"

"...launched them towards the northeast, sir. We think they were aimed for Labrador, sir."

Berthiaume sighed. "And tell me, who exactly are these 'rogue personnel' you speak of? How exactly did they do this?"

A nearby aide spoke up. "Federal and provincial records indicate that they're 'Jacque Bordeaux' and 'Pierre Montierre', sir. They've been working in Almia's Ministry of Security for around a month, and were probably privy to some sensitive information." The aide shuffled the documents he was holding. "We have a feeling that they're records were faked, sir. See here, sir. Both of their files don't have the shiny maple leaf/fleur-de-lis security thing on their documents, they don't have biometric data on them, and a bunch of other missing security features, sir."

"Your point?"

"Well, we have reason to believe they were sleeper agents from another country, sir. We think we know where they came from, though they could've just faked the evidence we got. Jean, show the Director the video footage of the intrusion."

Another aide, presumably Jean, scurried towards the two and handed the aide a portable DVD player. The screen was paused at a few moments after the attack. The aide turned the player towards the Director and pressed the play button.

[i]"Do you have the codes? Right here. No turning back now."[/i]

"Those are the two," said the aide, motioning towards two men facing the console. "They're currently in the morgue, and the video footage also proves our hypothesis. The autopsy data corresponds with the video, that's why."

[i]" [welding sounds] Give up your weapons and you will be taken into custody!...See it through, Wilcox." [gunshots][/i]

"Here's the important part."

[i]"I am the Vanguard of Labrador's sovereignty. Never again shall She fear, never again will She cower. I am the Vanguard of Nationalism. Never again shall the immoral defile Her, never again shall the liberals desecrate Her beauty. She will be pristine before the eyes of the world, and when the liberals of this world fall into the abyss they have been preparing for themselves, She shall remain, a testament to our solidarity." [gunshots] [beeping sounds] [scraping sounds][/i]

"So...they're from Labrador?"

"Possibly, sir."

"Well at least we now have scapegoats for this."

"Sorry, sir?"

"Never mind, just secure the area and follow standard protocols. Cleanup, resecure the base, blah blah blah..."