The Pirate War

[Cantr]

Seth looked at the maps of the two Pirate Isles on the computer screen.  A red dot had been placed on every position that might hold a secret bunker or pirate hideout.  Half of both islands was covered in red.  Clearing this place out could take months.  There was only one major city on both islands, the unofficial capitol of Dellan, a large, sprawling city which contained nearly five million people, more than half of which lived in slums.  The rest of the island was populated sparsely by small towns and villages.
This was Seth's first command, and he had no intention of botching it up while fighting, of all things, pirates and mafia thugs.  He had the enemy horribly outmatched and intended to use sheer shock and awe to rip them to shreds.  He was certain that if he could kill all the Pirate Lords in spectacular manner, obliterating their hideouts with air strikes and leveling their plantations with artillery, that their underlings would cease all criminal activity for fear of being caught in the purge.
Air bases in the province of Drel would launch the air strikes while the naval bases in the same province would launch Cantr's small fleet of K130 corvettes which would be more than enough to neutralize the pirate "fleet". The enemy fleet consisted mostly of civilian vessels with, on occasion, guns grafted onto them, according to intel.  After neutralizing the fleets, several San Antonio class transports would deposit marines on the shores while C-2 aircraft modified for paratrooper drops landed commandos in strategic areas near the beaches and small ports which would be the targets of the amphibious assault.  These assaults would be carried out one or two at a time, occurring as the fleets arrived at their target areas, slowly encircling the first target island, the southern island where Dellan was located.
After the troops landed and secured their landing points, further reinforcements would be sent and the troops would begin making their way, with as much stealth as possible, to the city of Dellan, where several of the Pirate Lords lived in mansions of varying degrees of decadence.  After securing the capitol, they would use it as a base of operations while slowly investigating each and every red dot on the map.
Meanwhile, by the time Drellan had fallen, a similar amphibious invasion of the second island would have been carried out, using a similar plan, but using instead of one impregnable headquarters, multiple hidden bases located throughout the island to hunt down the Pirate Lords.

While Seth fully expected there to be some flaw in his strategy, he didn't think the Pirate Lords would be intelligent or well-equipped enough to exploit them.

[Pachamama]

The house sat on a cliff about 12 meters above the ocean shore.
It was old, mostly made out of rocks held together more by their own weight than anything else.
The wooden roof had sagged in at places that were covered with camouflaged cloth from a military tent.
It had one door made of planks and a window towards the land that was nailed shut.
On the opposite side of the door was another window looking out to the sea.
There stood a wooden table and on it a heavy machine gun.
Behind the weapon on a creaky chair sat a man with a wild beard and filthy hair.
Carit cursed
„Why do I have to take guard duty“ he mumbled to himself.
„Those bastards going out for some good loot and I have to sit here and watch the damn ocean.“
He grabbed the field bottle from the table and took a deep sip.
„Ahhr, damn fine stuff“ he said taking another one.
The alcohol ran down his throat warming him up from the inside.
Those Cantrian assholes had been fighting this civil war for what, 2 or 3 decades now?
Occupied with killing themselfes they never had found the time to come out here.
A few times some fishermen together with local militia had tried and failed.
„Why do I have to be on guard“ he said again this time louder.
He took a big gulp, put the bottle back on the table and leaned into the chair.
Loyan beer. Another of the advantages of being a pirate.

[Union]

(click to show/hide)

ooc: Plum wine??? No body drinks wine in Loyan . WE'RE A NATION OF GOOD BEER!

[Pachamama]

(click to show/hide)

I stand corrected

Kanji was not pleased, not at all.
He sat in the corner of the cafe far to the rear.
It was not his usual place. Normally he would sit in one of the shadier bars and wait for his contacts to approach him.
He had been fencing stolen goods for the pirate lords for many years.
The poor boy who could not afford shoes had become a rich man.
And now everything had gone to hell in a hand basket.
His imperial asshole Daichi had done what everyone had thought unthinkable. He had ended the civil war that had lasted almost a decade.
He had united Cantr under his flag and the damn country was happy. Peace at last.
Kanji had barely seen a school in his life. Most things he had learned on the streets and from his mother.
His father was usually too drunk to think straight. Something about the war and his elder brother.
Mother usually cried when father mentioned him.
Kanji had never met his older brother, only seen him on photographs wearing some sort of uniform.
But he was not a dumb men. He could see were this was leading too.
„Game over“ he thought.
He had read the Emperors speech in the papers and he had liquidated all his assets. He already was on his way out. If luck was with him he would be on his way to Loyan by morning.
„Damn it all. It was a good time but what the fuck.“ He raised his glass. „Farewell to good times“ he said and emptied the drink.

[Cantr]

The attack had begun.  In three quiet port towns a fleet of five corvettes each had appeared at 0400 hours and unleashed a hail of cannon fire upon all vessels docked in the harbor, no matter how civilian they appeared.  The cannon fire sounded like thunder, it struck like lightning.  The vessels were ripped to shreds within minutes.  Then the corvettes turned their attention to the shores, annihilating everything that might hold a machine-gun nest, while commandos, hardened veterans of the Cantr Wars, air-dropped behind the towns, several hundred men to each town, and began a lightning strike from behind, seeking to seize the town before the pirates knew what hit them.

The initial attack was underway.  Fighter-bombers were already en route.  If street-to-street fighting broke out, these fighters, along with the corvettes, would deliver the support strikes necessary to level enemy positions and overawe any and all resistance.  If all went according to plan, all three towns would be captured within minutes, at which point the fleets would move on while the first wave of C-2s headed back to base to restock and the second wave took their place for the next coastal targets.

Seth watched from the bridge of one of the corvettes, and could see the first squad of commandos emerging from the wilderness.  By this time tomorrow, he thought to himself, All of this islands ports will be mine.  And by nightfall tomorrow, so will Drella.

[Bara]

OOC: Mind if i join?

[Pachamama]

I don't mind. But lets wait what Cantr has to say.

Carit woke to a short thundering sound.
He opened his eyes slowly and cursed his heavy head. He had emptied his beer filled canteen and fallen asleep.
„Damn tropical thunderstorms“ he thought. Looking out he saw that the sky was clear. The rumbling continued and as he slowly came to his senses he recognized the sound.
It was to sharp and short for thunder.
„Gunfire“ he yelled and jumped behind his machine-gun.
Someone was attacking but from where, where.
He looked out at the black sea.
From the corner of his eye he saw orange flashes.
He leaned out of the window and looked down to the small harbor village. The bay was filled with burning ships and some of the sheds were aflame. From somewhere out at the ink black darkness he could see flashes and streaks of light and fire.
„Tracer rounds and that sounds like big ones“
„Damn this is big, too big for you Carit my old man“ he yelled and ran towards the door nearly falling over the chair.


Laek had fallen asleep on the mattress.
His group called themselves the „Bloody Sharks“ A bunch of kids with an attitude and a boat with guns.
They had been hassling fishermen and small coastal villages.
Also had cooperated with some of the other gangs in plundering a tanker out on the sea.
A small fuel carrier that had come back from Loyan filled with, of all things fuel oil.
They had split the loot and made a fortune in one go. Even with the deduction of the tribute to their Boss Captain Drags it was enough to  buy a speed boat. Maybe something bigger.
He could ask Captain Drags for a drug run. And maybe work his way up. A bigger boat, a bigger route. Drugs to Loyan and Terrangar and other places.
But first they had to party like real pirates.
Alcohol, good grass and a bunch of lint balls and girls.
He had ordered them from one of the brothels.
He slept and dreamed.
He would not wake up from his dream in this lifetime.
The three 76 mm rounds struck at 0403 and ripped the old wooden storage shed apart.

[Bara]

OOC: Well, if i could, i want to be a pirate.

[Union]

To the Government of Cantr

We are receiving reports of Cantrian criminals harassing Loyanese commercial shipping and committing felony in the region. Our coast guards have also seized several tons of illicit drugs headed for our shores and State Police has apprehended several Cantr citizens attempting to purchase arms without license approval. Such lawlessness is unacceptable to us and we deem it as a threat to our State's security. If you cannot maintain order and law within your jurisdiction, the PRL will be force to take drastic actions to resolve this matter.

For the time being, we are closing our borders to Cantr and your private citizens are now blacklisted under Customs. Any Cantrian vessel entering our waters without authorization from your government will be deny entry. We are taking these precautions to maintain our security and safety. If you require any assistance from us in dealing with rampant criminal elements in your country, we will be happy to help.

Good Day

Foriegn Ministry of Loyan

       

[Cantr]

Loyan,
We have already taken action to deal with the pirates, and we expect the problem to be resolved before the end of the year.  In the meantime, anything you can do to starve the pirates income can only help.  Although we appreciate the offer for assistance against the pirates, we find that as a united nation we are more than capable of taking care of our own crime problems.
His Imperial Highness,
Daichi, Emeror of Cantr

[Bara]

OOC: may i please join the pirate war as a pirate?

[Union]

In our mutual interest to contain these criminals, DI will wire you traffic logs from OHT Station A and our patrol units.

------------------------------------------------------------
"Drop any weapons and put your hands up!"

Cries and curses spill from the deck of the trawler. Dirty men snared and barked at him. 

"I said put your hands up right now!!!"

Marine private Hensen squeezes off a few rounds into the water, just missing the trawler's side. The 30mm rounds hit the surface hard and water shot up twenty feet into the air. The effect was enough to quiet the rowdy crew on the suspicious ship. Hensen's captain step out from behind a shield and yells through his loudspeaker.

"Attention unknown vessel, you have trespass Loyanese waters! We are apprehending you for suspicion of criminal intention and smuggling. Prepare to be boarded! Anyone without their hands shown...will be shot!"

Hensen kept his cannon train on the grumbling men in front. All of them didn't seem like proper civilians, most definitely troublemakers from Cantr.

"We're boarding you! Keep you hands visible!" yells out a marine commander. A walk plank drops down into the small boat, and the marine squad carefully waltz on board, sub machine guns cocked and ready. Those back on deck the C.L.S Iron Guard kept a careful eye on the trawler's crew, ready to shoot at the first sign of trouble.

The marines quickly takes down the crewmen and cuffs them. A second marine squad come aboard and enter the hatch below deck. A flash grenade and much yelling afterwards, the squad comes out with three more suspects.

"Captain, we got weapons and cargo below deck!"
"What sorts?"
"Assault rifles and fake Odoria purses, imitation face creams, knockoff gold jewelry..."

The smugglers are pull on board and searched. After seething through lice and odd trinkets, nothing was found to pinpoint their citizenship or origin. Hensen finds himself questioning one of the suspects.

"Where you from?"
"Suck my dick bitch!"
"Where the fuck are you from?"
"Your mom's a whore, fuck face!"

Hensen punches the man hard in the cheek, knocking him off his chair. The man groans and rolls on the floor in pain.

"ANSWER ME!!!" Hensen picks up the man and throws him back into the chair. He delivers two more punches to the gut.

After that, the man passed out and Hensen was relieve from interrogation duty. Aggravated, he heads to the ship's lounge for cup of tea. His friend, Ship Hand Yojen was there.

"Heard you beat a suspect unconscious..."
"Fucker wasn't talking!" Hensen angrily replies. He grabs a paper cup out from a wall dispenser and fills it with hot black tea from an auto kettle.
"Heaven, calm down man," Yojen responds. "So, how's your sister doing?"

Hensen turns to Yojen with a irritated expression. "You stay away from my sister, or I'll bust you up like that suspect..."
"Hey, I meant nothing, just asking..."

Yojen quickly scoots out of the lounge, lest Hensen carries out his threat.
 


   

[Cantr]

OOC: Barakarin, you can join as a Pirate Lord, if you want.  If I were you, I'd take one of the Pirate Lords who control the northern island, as the southern island will likely be half-conquered before it knows what hit it.

IC: Kuandu stepped carefully behind a tree, his last cover before entering the town.  Twenty feet of empty space stretched out between him and the cover of the first hut.  And, of course, Kuandu had picked the short straw and had to make the dash through open ground.  He sprinted from his position and made a mad dash for the cover of the hut.  He leapt the last five feet and smashed into the side of the hut.  It wasn't a terribly well constructed building, and he almost smashed through the hut.  The wall barely held.  And no one had shot a single bullet at him on his way over.  He motioned to his comrades to follow him, and they crossed the open ground quickly.
Xien, the commander of the squad, motioned for them to follow and walked cautiously down the street.  Their orders were to open fire on anyone carrying a gun.  Given the level of power the Pirate Lords exerted over the local population, the odds that someone who opposed them would be alive were ludicrously slim, the odds that they were alive and in possession of a gun in the middle of this town even slimmer.  Suddenly a burst of machine gun fire erupted from a nearby hut and Xien dropped to the ground, his squad a split-second behind him.  The eight of them raised their AK-47s and filled the machine gunner with lead before he could kill any of them, but now more pirates were shooting at them from where they were trapped in their homes.  The Cantrian paratroopers dove for cover.  One of their number was killed.  The Cantrians returned fire.  The firefight barely lasted ten minutes.  After about five minutes, one of the pirates panicked and made a break for another street, perhaps hoping to go around the Cantrians and make it to the jungle.  The Cantrians waited until he had made it about halfway down the street before opening fire on him. By waiting, they'd gauranteed that half the pirates they'd been shooting at followed his lead, exposing themselves to their murderous hail of lead.
Another squad of paratroopers appeared at the opposite ends of the street.  "Kuandu, check the area." Xien ordered.  Kuandu nodded and got on top of one of the huts cautiously, looking for enemies.  Because the village was built on a gentle slope which eventually bled into the sea, Kuandu could see almost the entire village.  The marines had landed already, and the corvettes were now pounding the middle of the village between the paratroopers and the marines.  The villagers fled the targeted areas straight into the waiting paratrooper squads, who either apprehended or slaughtered them depending on whether or not they were stupid enough to start shooting.  Kuandu noticed that nearly half of them were armed with some kind of gun or other, though most of them wisely abandoned them and surrendered to the Cantrian soldiers.  In spite of the well-armed village, the pirates' coastal defenses were practically non-existent.  They didn't appear to even have RPGs, their boats were largely unmanned when the Cantrians attacked...it was as if their only strategy for defense was to hope they were never targeted by an enemy capable of fielding an actual navy.
Kuandu came down from his perch and informed the squad that the village had already been effectively seized.  The corvette bombardment had ceased.  Xien reported in his squads status; one man down and the area totally secured.  Kuandu had left the military base afraid that after surviving the last two years of the Cantr Wars he would suddenly be killed in this police action, but judging by the fight these pirates had put up it wouldn't be anything like the horror stories of fighting the Paladins in Adrian he'd heard.  This might turn out to be easy...
Kuandu walked down the street, looking at the structures involved in the firefight.  Most were wooden, and not built up to any kind of code, and thus they were on the verge of collapse after surviving the firefight.  Those that did survive the firefight.  Kuandu noticed that one of the dead pirates' upper body was sticking out of the rubble of one of the collapsed structures and staring lifelessly out with a face that displayed nothing but total fear.  The kid couldn't be older than seventeen, but his lifeless hand clutched a sub-machine gun. 

[Pachamama]

From the memories of a pirate.
For many years, yes even decades the pirates of the twin islands had been the scourge of the seas around Cantr.
After the first few years of the civil war the gouvernment in Drella had cut itself off from the mainland.
They wanted nothing to do with the fighting.
After some more years when it became obvious that the wars on the mainland would rage on with seemingly no end a lot of people left the mainland.
To escape from the fighting they headed out in small boats to the only place they could make it. The independent islands.
Soon they swamped the area and made the population of Drella swell to several millions.
Too feed the starving masses the citys Gouvernour had no choice but to revert to piracy to steal food and prevent a civil war in his own yard.
Crime was kept in check by, well actually thugs that were given the chance to either rot in prison or join the force.
Over time the pirates started not only to steal food but also other things like fuel, spare parts, money  you name it.

HOOH kid whats up. Am I boring you. This a true story so ye better listen.

Well were was I, a yes. Another beer please.

Well one thing came to another and the pirates felt that they could get away with everything.
Damn right they were. The Gouvernour and his family as well as his aids had become rich and fat with the loot. They had control of all the gangs and groups and such.
It was the fat years, the good years.
But then after 11 years of civil war came peace.
And that was when the damn thing fell apart.

[Cantr]

OOC: The Cantr Wars only lasted eleven years.