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| Black Gold; Northern Exploration | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 16 2012, 12:50 AM (1,322 Views) | |
| Aghaba | Aug 16 2012, 12:50 AM Post #1 |
Sergeant
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Expedition Leader Sa'id stepped outside of the trailer with his tea in hand. The 120 degree desert heat hit him hard after being holed up in the air conditioned housing unit managing calls for 5 consecutive hours. He surveyed his what was visible of his project. Construction of the oil pumps had just begun, and the workforce was slaving away on schedule. The last of the employee's structures and necessities had been set up only yesterday. Trans-Aghaban Energy was awarded the federal bid to explore the northern desert only two months ago. At the helm of the project was Shadi Sa'id, the man in charge of the company's non-corporate operations for the past 7 years. There was no doubt in anyone's mind about the chances of finding oil in this Hellish wasteland. The legitimacy of the contract being awarded to Trans-Aghaban, was however called into question. Trans-Aghaban Energy supplied approximately 12% of Aghaba's total power, and had only begun to dabble in oil extraction and refinement in the past 2 years. It was a wonder that TAE had managed to sustain itself... Their substantially more successful rival, Gazcom was unwilling to even make a buyout offer as it would mean taking on the logistic migraine that would follow. Ahmed Rogozin, CEO, must have sold his soul and emptied his pockets to some MP in Al-Abad, Sa'id thought. It was the only way this could have been made possible. The army was due to arrive in the evening. An entire battalion of men with guns was deemed necessary to protect this venture by Al-Abad. Sa'id would never understand how politicians think, he thought to himself. He could have called the usual private security guys the company has relied on for their other operations, but for some reason the army had to become involved in this one. Well, they were in fact outside of Aghaba, Sa'id supposed, but this was a no-man's-land. He took a sip of his tea. "Politics..." he muttered to himself, and turned to go back into the comfort of his air conditioned trailer. Before he could enter, one of the foremen started calling for him. Something with one of the cranes... |
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| Alberto | Aug 26 2012, 04:52 AM Post #2 |
Resident Italian
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The Aghabans were not alone in the inhospitable deserts of the no man's land. Another company had obtained a contract to exploit another oil deposit, at 30 km from where Trans-Aghaban Energy had finally settled. This foreign, obscure company was Marsoil and came from a little known country in Central Europe, the same country that few weeks before had managed to occupy a small harbour in Anatolia. It was clear that Marsoil intended to become an important player in the region, extracting directly what it needed in the producing countries and using Sinop as an oil terminal. Since Marsoil had never ventured outside of Europe before, the Aghaban one was a very arduous and risky mission. This mission's aim was not only to extract natural gaz, but also to acquire informations about the regions and the difficulties that those who worked for a foreign company may face in this land. Around eighty Marslavans, divided in engineers, managers and security, had accepted to come. The other workers were recruited later in Aghaba, so that those who were to exploit the Rumaila field numbered two-hundreds people. The head of the exploitation was Rudolf Hozak, a Moravian engineer who had gladly accepted this opportunity to escape the hardships of a boring job in Prague. All other members of the mission were either recent graduates seeking to boost their careers, older workers who had fled to this corner of Asia to escape from their debts or former soldiers who didn't want to remain unemployed after the end of the war. To this diverse workforce one had then to add the Aghabans, with their different culture and work methods. Until then the construction of the facilities had proceded well: the Aghabans worked very well and the fact that they spoke Russian often helped to communicate. Hozak thought, quite proudly, that he and his men were ahead of schedule and that the extraction would start very soon. Nonetheless he felt that something was not right: he had learnt that recently the army had been dispatched in the area and this was something that he couldn't explain. Private security was more than sufficient to protect the facilities from the local tribes, he thought, so what was the threat that the army had been sent to counter ? |
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| Aghaba | Aug 28 2012, 02:40 PM Post #3 |
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Sergeant
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"Yes. I will not fail. Yes. Thank you sir. Goodbye." Colonel Adel Ibn-Malluk closed his cellular phone. He had just spoken with his father, Lieutenant General Tarek Ibn-Malluk, one of the most respected men in the Aghaban Ground Forces. Familial ties and connections were critical to success in Aghaba's sprawling bureaucracy, and this was no exception. Tarek Ibn-Malluk had been instrumental in the annexation of the old Hallistarian territory to the east years ago. At 41 years old, the Colonel had not seen much action aside from putting down various dissident uprisings in the south of the country. Colonel Ibn-Malluk, while graduating from the military academy at the top of his class, had quite a reputation to fill, and he knew this assignment was handed to him by his father as a way of allowing his son to prove himself in the field. Roughly 600 men had been deployed to the desert north of the Aghaban border, all under the Colonel's command. He had been tasked with protecting a new oil venture in the region being undertaken by Trans-Aghaban Energy and a European firm called Marsoil. His priority was TAE, although he was under orders to provide assistance to the Marslavans if/when necessary. The men had set up base and a few perimeter outposts, allowing the construction of the oil field to continue unhindered so far. Colonel Ibn-Malluk was due to take command of an air-assault company consisting of a number of gunships in the next few days as well, in time for an as of yet unannounced military operation. The local tribes in the area were expected to harass the two extraction missions almost immediately, but beyond a few scouts on horseback spotted earlier in the day, they had not yet been an issue. Colonel Ibn-Malluk requested to meet with Shadi Sa'id, the head of the Aghaban expedition that evening. As the expedition leader entered the the Colonel's office, Ibn-Malluk was unimpressed by Sa'id's stature, and wondered how this man was competent enough to run this entire industrial endeavor. Standing at 5'8", potbellied, with a thick moustache, bad combover and a pair of spectacles, Sa'id did not seem like an individual suited for this type of work. "Hello Mr. Sa'id. Please have a seat. I would like to start immediately," the Colonel began. Sa'id nodded obediently, unable to find the time to return the greeting. "You are no doubt confused as to why you were ordered to refrain from employing your usual group of mercenaries." "Well, yes Colonel. I believe that such measures would have been more than adequate for defending against any aggression by some stone-aged bedouins..." Sa'id replied in a surprisingly courageous tone. "Yes, Mr. Sa'id, if it were simply bedouins in this land, it would have been adequate. What your bosses did not inform you of however, is that you are not dealing with just musket armed tribesmen on asses." "Is this so?" questioned Sa'id. "65 kilometers north of here is an old fortress, unused by anyone as far as we knew for centuries. Not even the bedouins." An intelligence officer took this time to hand Colonel Ibn-Malluk satellite images of the location, which he then handed to Sa'id. "After we began unmanned reconnaissance flights in this area, we discovered that was not the case." Sa'id glossed over the images, puzzled at what he was looking at. "The terrorist organization Disciples of the Cross has been in hiding at this location for years now. Alexei Azzam, their leader and a name you should recall, is also believed to be among them. The tribes here have been aware of this, and have been working closely with the Disciples since their arrival. This operation of yours is in dangerous proximity to a highly dangerous terrorist cell, Mr. Sa'id, and we are here to eliminate that threat." Shadi Sa'id began to ask the Colonel a myriad of questions, most of which went unanswered, but through it all, one thought continually occupied his head. "Politics..." |
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| Aghaba | Aug 31 2012, 11:18 PM Post #4 |
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Sergeant
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The following day, the worker camp was abuzz with the rumor that the oil field was to be a target for so-called terrorists. Someone in Shadi Sa'id's entourage had let slip the information passed onto him by the Colonel, who while under no illusion that information would remain confidential among civilians, had expected Sa'id to do his part in keeping his men silent. The Colonel was aware of the outbreak of the news, and cursed himself for being foolish enough to inform that swine Sa'id. Colonel Ibn-Malluk now hoped that none of the workers had any sympathy for Alexei Azzam's cause and word of the operation would not leave the oil field between now and their strike. He did not expect to have to execute any more of his countrymen out here on this assignment. The KA-60 was spinning and ready for the Colonel and his advisors. It was headed just 30km west, to the Marsoil operation. Since Sa'id had already allowed the news to flow freely through his camp, Colonel Ibn-Malluk , agitated, thought that he may as well inform the Marslavans now... A man by the name of Rudolf Hozak was the individual in charge, and the Colonel took this time to fine tune his Russian. He hoped that Mr.Hozak was more of a man than Shadi Sa'id... Edited by Aghaba, Sep 1 2012, 04:19 PM.
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| Alberto | Sep 17 2012, 01:12 AM Post #5 |
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Resident Italian
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Hozak looked for a while at the sands spanning in front of him. The shadowless hell in front of him seemed to have no start and no end, to be hostile to any form of life. Yet he and his men would have to somehow domesticate this hell, regardless the costs. Hozak hadn't liked the voices which had been spreading among the Aghaban workers that his company employed: those voices said that the desert had its inhabitants, who had their own ways and wouldn't let any external power interfere. For this reason they refused to venture inside the desert or to work too far of their bases: they feared that their activity would anger the desert's inhabitants. Hozak and the other Marslavans tried to reassure them, saying that out there the environment didn't allow any one to survive without external supplies, but the Aghabans seemed to think that they knew better. The head of the camp was confused and worried: the work continued steadily and the first extractions had finally started, but the situation may get out of hand and the local employees may refuse to work. Besides, thought Hozak, what if the desert really had its own wrathful inhabitants ? He dismissed this thought as the visit of a Aghaban officer was announced by one of his assistants. |
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| Aghaba | Sep 18 2012, 11:49 PM Post #6 |
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Sergeant
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Sand blew in all directions as the Colonel's helicopter landed within the Marsoil compound. Ibn-Malluk stepped from the aircraft with two other officers and a fireteam for security. They were greeted and led to Mr. Hozak's office by one of his aides, who apologized and explained that Rudolf Hozak was in a corporate call at the moment. The Colonel had to admit that he was impressed by the Marslavan's set-up. For a nation of people not at all accustomed to such an environment, they had managed to construct quite an advanced operation in the middle of this arid wasteland. Sa'id could learn a thing or two, he thought... Ibn-Malluk was distrustful of any man who offered his services for currency over country, and Aghaban organizations were only just beginning to make the transition from "mercenaries" to "contractors," with a long way to go in his eyes. However, the Marslavans on guard here had an air of professionalism about them. In the span of a few minutes, the Colonel was almost smitten by these foreigners. Hozak's aide knocked twice on his boss's door. Colonel Ibn-Malluk cleared his throat. The intelligence officers shuffled through the satellite images in their folders. The fireteam positioned themselves around the office. The workers carried about their daily work routine. The sun beat down on everyone with that desert intensity. Nobody beat an eyelash before the first round hit. A 120mm mortar round - no small ordinance - then another, and another. Targetting was indiscriminate. The security teams around the compound barked orders to the workers to find cover, while hiding under their own fortifications. The Aghaban soldiers pushed Hozak's assistant inside the office and rushed in themselves. They found Hozak under his desk. |
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| Alberto | Sep 19 2012, 11:12 AM Post #7 |
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Resident Italian
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The mortar attack had come as a surprise for everybody. A 120 mm mortar was indeed some serious business and the Marslavans had not thought necessary to bring any heavy weapon. All the workers were brought inside a refuge set up in case of emergency, while the security team, Hozak and the Aghaban soldiers would try to sort out this situation. Those employed at the security had all fought in at least one of Marslava's recent war and knew what to do in those situations, they had managed to see from which direction came the mortar fire and guessed that those doing the shooting were beyond the dunes surrounding the exploitation, in those sands that the Marslavans had deemed to be not inhabited by anyone. It became clear that, alone, the employees of Marsoil would not be able to respond to such an attack and that the Marslavans would have to rely this time on Aghaba's security forces. Hozak, who was still not proud of his reaction to the mortar fire, got the colonel and his men in the exploitation's refuge and there they heard Jan Nemec, the head of security, reporting on what was the situation. In short, the base would not be able to resist very longtime to an organized assault carried out by a well trained force. Nemec also added that his men had their weapons and would repel a first assault, but that, eventually, they would have either to rely on the Aghaban military or ask reinforcements from Marsoil's direction. Once he heard this Hozak asked the Colonel Ibn-Malluk which was his take on the situation, if he would ask for reinforcements or had any other idea to come out of this situation. In the meantime all could hear another round falling and the swearings of the employees. |
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| Aghaba | Sep 19 2012, 01:57 PM Post #8 |
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Sergeant
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Colonel Ibn-Malluk put his hand on Hozak's shoulder and apologized to him. Shaking his head he quickly explained that this was the reason he had made the trip, and would bring him up to speed later. Taking the radio handed to him by one of the officers, Ibn-Malluk released a flurry of curses and demanded immediate gunship support. Unsure of whether this was an intimidation tactic or the precursor to an assault, the Colonel hesitated before deciding against a request for ground troops. Ibn-Malluk requested that the Marsoil security and his fireteam continue to watch the perimeter, and pass on their estimated coordinates of the mortar locations. It was 15 minutes before the shells stopped falling. The inhabitants of the shelter were bewildered that these desert dwelling rebels had enough ammunition to continue for so long... No one was killed, and the damage inflicted upon the industrial equipment and housing structures was somewhat minimal. The aggressors either had no intended targets, or had no idea what they were doing. The HINDs had caught the rebels as they were fleeing on camelback and old pickups, making quick work of them on the open sands. After the ordeal, the Colonel and Hozak managed to formally introduce themselves and discuss the matters at hand. Ibn-Malluk explained that his forces would be available to defend the Marsoil operation if he so desired, and were on stand-by in the event of any further attacks. He also addressed the Marsoil employees, divulging information previously meant to be need-to-know, as the troops back at their TAE encampment prepared for an early assault. |
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| Alberto | Sep 22 2012, 08:35 AM Post #9 |
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Resident Italian
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The attack had indeed been a great surprise and Hozak was left to think about what the presence of an enemy in the desert meant for he and his men. This was to say the least a big hindrance to their work as the rebels who had attacked them sat exactly on the most important oil fields of the region. Those fields were now out of reach and venturing out of the exploitation to make some measurement had of course become very dangerous. Moreover the work would now resume in an atmosphere of stress which could degenerate into fear at any time. However, thought, Hozak nobody was injuried, the damages had been minimal and the group would have been able to carry its task under the protection of the Aghaban military. Work would start again and the team would work steadily. This relative optimism was ruined one week later by a message sent from Sinop, the see of Marsoli's Asian headquarters: Marsoil informed Hozak that his was not the only group in Aghaba, that unknown even to the local authorities another group tasked with prospection had been sent deeper in the no man's land and had disappeared. Then Marsoil had received a signal coming from a position at 20 km from Hozak's exploitation and thought that this signal came from the group's survivors. Hozak was tasked with going to that point and seing if he could recuperate those people or, at least, gather some informations that could tell what happened to them. In no way he was authorised to divulge this information to the Aghabans. Hozak was furious and didn't like this situation: he didn't like that Marsoil had sent another team without warning him or even the Aghabans and wondered what they were doing there. He decided that he would leave immediately with ten heavily armed men and check what had happened in that location. Sinop, 22nd September Lord Pavel Kysilka was the governor of Marsoil, the state oil company and biggest Marslavan corporation after Skoda. He knew that the stakes of the corporation's expansion into the Middle East were high as Marslava's government expected huge returns from it, in terms of resources, but also in terms of political influence in the Middle East. Marsoil's plans in the Middle East were indeed ambitious: the government had just accepted to finance the project of a pipeline transporting oil from the Aghaban oil field to Sinop (from where it could be transported more easily to Marslava through the Black Sea's harbours). The project was still in the phase of being studied, but if completed it would create the world's greatest and most important pipeline and be a source of huge profits for Marsoil. And now, thought Kysilka, this was in danger: firstly the head of the Aghaban exploitation, Hozak, had reported mortar attacks from a mysterious enemy and then the Singer expedition had disappeared in the desert. Those two events were very worrying and meant that precautions had to be taken. For this Kysilka had been authorised by his government to ask the assistance of a particular kind of consultant. A mid aged man, with a tired face and a very ordinary expression, was waiting for him when he entered his office. Lord Kysilka's aide presented him:"Pavel Zivkovic, sir". Before he had been the General Zivkovic, commander of the Dominion's IXth Army who had led the Dominion's offensive on the Baltic and the destruction of the old Republic of Mircania. He was a military genius, but he had fought in the wrong side, was unemployed since longtime and was now desperately poor. "Mr Zivkovic" said Kysilka "I have been authorised by the Grand Duke to give you the rank of major in the Marslavan Army, to become permanent if you are successful in completing this mission. One of our expeditions has disappeared in the desert and more incidents may occur around our fields, your task is to find the disappeared mission and eliminate those who are responsible for it." He added "You will be responsible for recruiting the required men, who will all receive a rank in the Marslavan Army, to become permanent if they come back. Equipment and wages will be paid by us. You have two weeks to be ready". Zikvovic could have asked what Singer was doing in those deserts, but, at the relief of Lord Kysilka, he didn't. |
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| Aghaba | Sep 24 2012, 09:04 PM Post #10 |
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Sergeant
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In proper formation, and with eyes on the fortress, the 20mm cannons of the gunships belonging to the 7th Air Assault Division rained hell upon the perimeter defenses of the hostile stronghold. The ancient stones exploded into thousands of deadly bits of shrapnel that were projected every which way. The fire from the dual-fed cannons did not cease until all IR blips on the external wall went cold. Having satisfied their objective, the Mi-24s began to return to their staging ground. One of the pilots, Warrant Officer Pavel Ansari, cursed and released IR flares as the lock-on warning continuously beeped. A portable SAM, fired from the bed of an advancing pickup veered off course of it's target, making contact with the tail of the gunship to the left of Ansari, who watched as the helicopter spiraled down into the dunes... By this time, Lieutenant Tariq Khafeifi, pilot of the third gunship, and his gunner, Warrant Officer Batlouni had turned and engaged the technical. The Lieutenant ordered Ansari to follow him to unload his rocket pods into the primary structures of the fortress. This was not part of their orders, it was ill-thought out payback. With the fortress aflame, and both gunships having taken small arms fire during their passover, they flew back to the TAE camp to rearm, where the ground force had already departed to clean up whatever was left. It was unclear if the crew of the downed HIND was alive, as they lost radio contact after it took the hit, but a contingent of ground forces would have to divert and investigate the crash. Colonel Ibn-Malluk seethed with fury at the news of the loss, demanding that his troops not succumb to such disgraceful failure at the hands of a band of desert-dwelling swine. |
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| Aghaba | Sep 25 2012, 10:43 PM Post #11 |
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Sergeant
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The helicopter crew was found alive, the gunner with a broken leg and a fractured wrist, and the pilot without a scrape. The attacking ground forces, a company of soldiers, arrived via their MI-17 transports and met minimal resistance on their approach to the crumbling fortress. No more than twelve fighters remained within the ancient stronghold, none of which went down without a fight. At the end of hostilities, one Aghaban serviceman died in a firefight, and six were wounded. The remains of 56 DOC guerrillas were laid out in the courtyard, along with a sizable stockpile of small arms, manpads, and mortars and explosives, all likely obtained through the black market. In the dungeon of the stronghold, along with militia's foodstuffs, were also found around two-dozen shackled corpses. They were nude, and looked to have been dead for at least a month. There were signs of torture on each body. Nobody, including command, knew anything of the origins of the corpses, and they were assumed to be tribesmen from the area - perhaps those who refused to collaborate with the militia. Another puzzling element to the aftermath of the assault was the absence of the DOC leader, Alexei Azzam. Each man had been shown his picture, and knew exactly what he'd look like but he was not among the dead. The intelligence was supposed to be solid. 100%. It could only be concluded that Aghaba's third most wanted man had somehow escaped... The successful dismantling of the DOC, and security of valuable resource extraction operations did not satisfy Colonel Ibn-Malluk. He embarked on this mission, hoping to gain fame, and the reputation as the man who coordinated the single attack which destroyed one of Aghaba's most notorious terror organizations and it's leader, while simultaneously assuring a safe and prosperous expansion for the nation. Instead, he thought, he would be mocked, and questioned as to why he lost a gunship to a band of savages, and was unable to confirm Azzam's demise. Setting aside his pride, Colonel Ibn-Malluk informed his superiors in Al-Abad of the outcome of the operation. He was ordered to remain with Trans-Aghaban Energy for the time being, until legislation for legal expansion into the desert passed through parliament and a larger military force could relieve him. He would receive a medal for valiant service to the nation. Colonel Adel Ibn-Malluk unholstered his SIG P226 and fired 12 rounds into the wall of his office. Edited by Aghaba, Sep 25 2012, 10:44 PM.
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| Alberto | Sep 26 2012, 04:19 AM Post #12 |
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Resident Italian
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As Hozak and few of his men proceded on their jeeps toward the designated point, they heard the detonations of the battle between the Aghaban army and the bandits. The fight seemed to be quick since the shots continued only for few minutes before stopping. After fifteen minutes the Marslavan vehicles reached the point in which the Singer expedition had last given signs of life: it was a small pool of water surrounded by little vegetation. Singer and his men had left a small encampment which was searched by Hozak, who could find the expedition's diary and maps. Hozak was ordering his men to leave, when he saw many men emerging from the surrounding dunes, Hozak could only take cover as the first shots were detonated. The Marslavans returned the fire with their weapons, forcing the bandits to fall back and re-organize. In that time Hozak and Jan had few minutes to analyze the situation: they saw tht the enemy was more heavily armed than them, but, from how those men shot, not yet entirely used to the weapons they had. They also knew that, unless they did something, they would be surrounded and pinned down in an unfavourable position. Finally Jan and Hozak decided that the former would lead an assault against the bandits, while the other men would start the jeeps and pick the others up if they managed to break the encirclement. It was a very dangerous plan, but nobody wanted to end like the members of the Singer expedition. Probably the bandits were surprised when, shouting "hurra !" like they used to when fighting in Europe, the Marslavans came on the offensive. Jan and his men were better shooters than the bandits and rapidly gained ground, giving Hozak the time to start their jeeps... But quickly the bandits were receiving reinforcements, the Marslavans were repelled and their situation became more dangerous. Their attempt had failed and the enemy's lines had not been pierced. Soon the bandits used their superior numbers to launch an assault and soon they were so close that now they used their daggers instead of their guns (they probably feared to be shooting each other). The situation was truly desperate: with their ammunitions finished the Marslavans could repel the assault only (literally) by throwing the bandits out of the encampment. Hozak and Jan knew that there was nothing to do and they flew a white flag, hoping that they would be spared. One of the bandits advanced towards them and invited them to surrender their weapons: he promessed that the Marslavans would not be hurt and Hozak thought that probably this was because the bandits intended to put a ransom, earning some badly needed financial resources. Hozak and his men were tied and blindfolded, then they were put on the back of camels; the traject lasted hours and was not very comfortable. At a certain point Hozak could remark that the temperature had dropped and that the sun's rays didn't persecute him anymore: he deduced from all of this that he and his men were under the ground, in some kind of network of tunnels. 30/09, the Desert Around thirty miles away in the desert, Zivkovic and his men had settled their encampment. Under his command Zivkovic had around well equipped and experience fighters who posed as bedouins and spoke the local language. In that way they could easily pose as a local group and could operate with more discretion. A man came back running quickly (or, better the dromedary on which he sat was doing the running) and informed Zivkovic that a column had been spotted close to their position. Quickly Zivkovic brought his men close to the enemy, on an obliged passage point and there they waited. When the column came up, he was surprised: this was no ordinary supply line, it was an entire battalion on jeeps, humvees and other vehicles. All this, although this was still no European army, looked way more professional than the bandits that Zivkovic's men had ambushed until then. Before attacking, Zivkovic ensured that all his men were deployed so that the column would endure fire from every direction and would not have the time to organize. Then he gave order to open fire and the fire invested the men who were below, it came from many directions and didn't give them any respite. Those who could fled on their vehicles (they hoped to reorganize once in security), those who couldn't escape fought back valiantly but was to be defeated - non one surrendered. Zivkovic had so captured some vehicles and many weapons, but he was worried: ths was not the only one of those motorized columns and the fact that they were going northwards meant that a counter-attack was soon going to start against the Aghabans. |
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| Aghaba | Oct 3 2012, 12:16 PM Post #13 |
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Sergeant
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Alexei Azzam wiped the sweat from his forehead and clutched his rifle with a death-grip. He had escaped the Fortress before the Aghaban attack, only to just narrowly escape the deadly ambush that had just taken place. He had no idea if it was an Aghaban special forces trap, or someone else entirely, but that didn't matter, his and only two other vehicles made their escape. The three DOC 4x4s sped towards their only hope of surviving this onslaught of violence, the bedouin's vast maze of tunnels within the mountains on the edge of the desert. Meanwhile, having lost radio contact with their leader's convoy, the decoy column stopped in midst of the cold desert. They worried their leader had been killed during the escape, that they had failed to catch the attention of the military force. Azzam's trusted number two, Nabil Alkaev, commanding the decoy convoy, knew they had only one purpose now. Their leader was dead, and their comrades at the fortress had been slain. Their only option now was to attack the oil camp and its military protectors. A glorious martyrdom for the last remaining soldiers of the DOC, thought Alkaev. They would use the night to approach unseen and then strike. |
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| Alberto | Oct 13 2012, 05:55 PM Post #14 |
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Resident Italian
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Alexei Azzam had been building in the last years a little kindgom in the middle of the desert, with a network of fortresses and tunnels around which gravitated tribes of beduins held in submission by superior weapons. This kingdom, despite recent defeats, was far from being over as it mobilized all its resources to face the onslaught of the Aghabian armies and other oil drillers. Hozak could feel the wrath of this kingdom when, after having been dragged under the ground, he woke up in a small cellar crammed of other hostages. Hozak deduced from this that hostage taking was a thriving business for Azzam's dominion, but was he to be sold or to be executed in order to set an example ? Hozak looked around and he found no answer to this question, in the meantime he could hear the steps of the guards and the shouting of those prisoners who were being "interrogated". Zivkovic's bedouins, as the Marslavan irregulars were called in Sinop, had been tracking three vehicles that had escaped their ambush since many days. At a certain point Zivkovic's men reached a large oasis close to which there was a campment of nomads. Just beyond the traces of the trucks stopped and the Marslavans thought that they had lost every trace of those they were pursuing. They went back and stormed the campment, overwhelmed the few bedouins there and decided to wait and look out for any suspect movement. They searched the nearby dunes without success until a partol came back asserting that they had found the entrance of a tunnel from which they had seen coming out various convoiys of pickups and trucks. Zivkovic and his officers decided that they would take place next to that entrance and penetrate those tunnels whenever the occasion would arise. Marsoil's oil field had in the meantime continued to produce oil, which was transported in Aghaba and shipped to Sinop (the project of a pipeline was only that - a project). However the atmosphere was one of fear as the head of security and the head engineer had both disappeared in the desert. After few days the voice circulated that some columns had bee spotted at few miles from the oil fields and that a major offensive was being prepared against the "foreigners". That's when the Aghaban workers were given a "holiday" and allowed to leave to the safety of their homes. A request for assistance was sent to the nearest Aghaban military base while the more battle-hardened Marslavans in the meantime armed themselves as they could and waited for the imminent attack. |
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| Semitistan | Oct 14 2012, 07:14 PM Post #15 |
Sergeant
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OOC: Is this taking place in no man's land south of Semitistan (no. 6 on the ME map)? |
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| Telosan | Oct 15 2012, 08:24 AM Post #16 |
The Foremost Intellectual Badass
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OOC: I believe this is happening in and around Sinop, number 25 on the map. Great story so far guys; there's not usually much in the Middle East to see but you've got some interesting plotlines going. :) |
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| Aghaba | Oct 15 2012, 10:14 AM Post #17 |
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Sergeant
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OOC: Semitistan, yes, in the no-man's-land between our nations. Thanks Telosan ^^ |
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| Semitistan | Oct 15 2012, 03:46 PM Post #18 |
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Sergeant
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Edited by Semitistan, Oct 15 2012, 03:55 PM.
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| Alberto | Oct 25 2012, 07:17 PM Post #19 |
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Resident Italian
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Hozak was dragged by the guards to another room, where he joined other prisoners in chain. In front of him was happening a very pictoresque scene: the men in chains were paraded in front of a public of old sheiks, who then rose and negotiated with a rebel officer. The negotiations were very noisy, with the voices of the sheiks covered only after many minutes by the authoritative words of the rebel leader, who would accept the offer or decline it. Any kind of human being was being sold, from every age, ethny and gender... evidently Azzam had found it convenient to enter the slavery business. Right at that moment Jan, Hozak's head of security, was being paraded as two sheiks lazily made their offers. Azzam's officer settled the question in favour of one of them and Jan was dragged out of the room. Finally Hozak's turn came and he stood for a while ignored by everyone: he didn't look particularly healthy or strong like Jan did and his skills as engineer were unlikely to be considered in such an environment. An old man, the same who had bought Jan, finally got up and offered a sum that seemed to be completely disproportionate compared to what Hozak seemed to be worth of. As no one made any offer, the rebel officer decided to give him the prisoner. Hozak, a bit offended, was dragged away. He didn't know what were the purposes of his master. They had waited for few days for any sign of enemy presence, or any sign that they were in the point of access of Azzam's underground kingdom, but had finally been forced to withdraw. Zivkovic's men where for the first time in difficulty as they found that more than three thousands warriors had been dispatched to fight few hundrends Marslavans. The enemy didn't come on horseback or on old pickups, but rather on fighting vehicles. Those vehicles were old, but nonetheless too powerful for the men of Zivkovic, who were surely among the best, but weren't equipped to counter them. The Marslavans, while firing at the incoming units, rapidly gathered their supplies and withdrew to the closest oasis. They had noticed that the enemy was getting military hardware and was quickly improving the quality of its units, but where did those weapons come from ? Maybe, thought Zivkovic, a more aggressive tactic had to be used. |
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| Alberto | Nov 1 2012, 06:39 PM Post #20 |
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Resident Italian
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Sinop, 01/11 In a short time Sinop had been changed: from a sleepy harbor of fishers, it had become an important oil city, with the headquarters of Marsoil, its refineries, a new port. Lord Kysilka, who from Sinop headed Marsoil's operations in the Middle East, decided that the moment to expand had come. A pipeline stretching from Aghaba to Sinop would connect Marslava to the oil resources that it needs and consolidate Marsoil as one of the biggest oil companies of the globe. Once the decision was made and the plans approved, works were started simoultaneously in various points with the assistance of the governments of the CMESS and Semitistan. Besides this the leadership of Marsoil had to cure another important aspect, the one of security and geopolitics. The region, full of warlords and guerrillas, was indeed very dangerous for such a project and relying on local allies like the Aghabans or the CMESS was not enough anymore. Marsoil would have to field a modern force of its own, something with a bigger punch than the bedouins under Zivkovic. To this end the government in Prague sent a mixed brigade to Sinop, a very valuable force, but surely not enough, Zivkovic too would be reinforced with heavier weapons and more men in order to finish off Alexei Azzam. All this was being considered by Lord Kysilka, while he consulted the file about a powerful enemy: Eretz Sion. The Desert, close to Semitistan The man who had bought Hozak and Jan looked old, but still strong and determinate. He was accompanied by an escort of armed men and had gathered a group of slaves who didn't look as being locals. The group marched for two days in the desert until they reached a small hamlet, made up by a group of tents and few houses in an oasis. There the purchased men could rest for a while before being rounded up by their escort in the presence of the old man, and a translator. The old man talked calmly and slowly, marking very well his words, whereas his translator talked nervously and rashly. What came out of the talk was that he was only an intermediary between Azzam and another more powerful and important client which had a plan for them. The "slaves" were all experienced technicians with knowledge on oil and gaz extraction, a knowledge which was going to be used by their new masters. If they behaved well they were going to live decently and eventually would be set free once their mission had been accomplished. But if they didn't behave as recommended their death would be gruesome.... |
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| Semitistan | Nov 5 2012, 05:24 AM Post #21 |
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Sergeant
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Ziyad Bakri, the defence minister, sat in a room lined with all sorts of military advisers and generals. The last meeting that took place like this was in the Arab Jewish civil war here, so it was little surprised that they looked concerned. Mr. Bakri who sat at the head of the table cleared his throat and began speaking, while the images changed on the projector opposite featuring surveillance pictures. "Ladies and gentlemen. As you are well aware, we have recently taken care of a contingent of Eretz-Zion in the Syrian Wilds to the North of our Nation, and at present we are dealing with the Arab Independence Movement and their recent attack. However, the S.S.4 has reported certain activity in the desert South of Semitistan. We are helping to build a pipeline that goes from the Semitistani-Aghaban desert up to Sinop, a harbour that belongs to Marslava located by the Black Sea. However, we believe that there is a group which is fighting against their interests...and Eretz-Zion maybe involved too. Very recently, the Aghaban military has assaulted an old fortress that is believed to house these outlaws, and it was a more or less successful attack." Drone surveillance pictures of the fortress came up. They were old, but they still served their purpose. "But the man at the head of this has not yet been caught...his name is Azzam." A picture of him appeared on the wall. "We don't know much about this man, except that he controls a sizeable force of outlaws, and that he is heavily involved in the business of slavery" The picture changed again to a bedouin hamlet taken from a hidden camera. "Several S.S.4 operatives disguised as the local bedouins confirmed that Azzam doesn't just sell household slaves, but scientists and people prominent in their fields. Several men from Marslava, who work for the oil company Marsoil have been captured and most likely sold by now. Where Eretz-Zion fits into all of this, we do not yet know, but as I have discussed with some of you previously, it is very likely. So here is what will happen. We will offer our hand of help to the Marslavans and ask to share intelligence with the Aghaban military. Lieutenant Helou, we would like you to start an operation in gathering intelligence from the local bedouins. Everything and anything suspicious they have seen, but keep it low profile. General Chaim, carry on surveillance operations in the area and keep the Southern border under strict surveillance and control. Make it clear than nothing enters or leaves without your express knowledge. And Hassassian..." Everyone turned to look at the man in the corner. The defence minister didn't use his title because he himself was S.S.4. "Get your men training and ready. Hostage situations, urban warfare, open desert warfare...everything and anything. Got it?" "Yes sir" he simply nodded. "Dismissed" And they all got up and left in a tense silence...
[/quote] Edited by Semitistan, Nov 5 2012, 05:30 AM.
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| Semitistan | Nov 5 2012, 05:30 AM Post #22 |
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Sergeant
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| Alberto | Nov 6 2012, 09:31 AM Post #23 |
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Resident Italian
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Aghaban Desert, 06/11 The assault over Marsoil's installations was finally launched at the 6th of Novermber started and the rising sun started to shed its light on the dunes. Azzam's men came in great numbers, hoping to storm the Marslavan exploitation. However the Marslavans had been waiting for them and had managed to receive heavier weapons from their superiors in Sinop: they had put mined in the dunes and had mounted two heavy machineguns to protect the exploitation. The confrontation was very violent: despite the explosions of the mines, the rebels managed to bridge the space separating them from the exploitation but couldn't advance any further in the buildings themselves as the machineguns manned by the Marslavan security fired with precision. The rebels launched many attacks and attacked the buildings from every direction. Soon the Marslavan defenses were strained by the attacks which never seemed to end and were carried by men who didn't fear the fire. The day passed and the night came, with the rebels launching grenades and shooting in the air to keep the Marslavans awake. They evidently had a lot of ammunitions - and a lot of time too. Prague, Ministry of Foreign Affairs When the Marslavan government received the note by the government of Semitistan irritiation prevailed in Prague. The irritation was not toward the government of Semitistan which had offered to help, but rather toward the corporate heads of Marsoil who had failed to use their great means to protect their employees. With a major war raging in Europe, the Middle East had become less important. The Marslavan government had - of course - already stepped in by sending those regiments to the Middle East, but knowing that other governments knew of the involvement of Marslava was not... nice. This was what thought Milan Ebert, a vice-minister of foreign affairs, when he read the note sent by the government of Semitistan. The official reply that Ebert prepared to send, and would send after the approval from the Grand Duke, read like this:" The government of the Grand Duchy of Marslava is glad to see that the Republic of Semitistan offers its help to solve the issue of warlordism in the Middle East. We suggest that our troops collaborate in one unique offensive to destroy Azzam's rebels and that the two Marslavan regiments be allowed to use Semitistan as a temporary base for their future operations in the desert". The conflict over Aghaba's oil resources had got so much out of hand that it threatened to turn into a regional war. |
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| Aghaba | Nov 6 2012, 04:03 PM Post #24 |
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Sergeant
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The insurgents conducted their assault on the Aghaban installation within moments of the initial attack on Marsoil. As the Aghaban military area of operations did not extend beyond what part of the region was planned for annexation by leaders in Al-Abad, and major threats within that area had been eliminated, Colonel Adel Ibn-Malluk and the bulk of his security forces had been withdrawn from the Trans-Aghaban Energy facilities which were now operating at full capacity. Two companies of solders, around 140 men remained, at least until the annexation was finalized. Defensive positions and fortifications had been beefed up or added before the withdrawal of Ibn-Malluk and the air support. News of an attack planned by the last remnants of Azzam's insurgents had come from Marslavan intelligence. The Marslavans, who were now operating further north according to reports, seemed to have become more involved in Middle Eastern affairs than they would have liked. In response to the Semitistani telegram, Aghaban Foreign Minister Ziad Shirazi and Defense Minister Artyom Hussein held a conference call with the Semitistani ministers of defense and intelligence. They explained the Aghaban stance and plans for their involvement in the desert, and offered full cooperation with Semitistan regarding security in the lawless region between their two nations. They refuted the necessity for any present assistance on the matter, however, preferring not to escalate the matter or see their ally dragged into it. Intel on Azzam and the inhabitants of the region would be shared by the Aghaban Intelligence Agency with their Semitistani counterparts. If the threat to either nation from the forces of these badlands were to become more pronounced, bilateral military options were a possibility. With the prior intelligence from the Marslavans, the Aghaban troops were dug in and fully ready for the attack on the TAE oil facilities. Lacking any hard-hitting offensive capability, and advancing in unarmored technicals or on foot, the insurgents were cut down as they came. It was comparable to a carnival game as the insurgents attempted to make their way across the golden sands. OOC: Sorry for such a delayed response. Incredibly busy lately. Edited by Aghaba, Nov 6 2012, 04:08 PM.
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| Semitistan | Nov 7 2012, 06:41 AM Post #25 |
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Sergeant
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President Mordechai knew that he will have to play this carefully. As the conflict escalated in the desert to the South, the Marslavans have gladly accepted their help. However, the Aghaban Government did not wish to pull Semitistan into a full on conflict. The Ministry of Defence had decided that they will focus military operations on helping the Marslavans and focusing on the Northernmost part to try to stay out of the way of the Aghaban military. But their intelligence operations were to carry on and they will be sharing it with both Marslava and Aghaba. South, just by the border, the large military outpost codenamed Ifrit was cleared up for the two regiments that were to come from Marslava and use it as their base of operations. Intelligence operatives have reported an ongoing attack at Marsoil, the Marslavan installation in the desert. As soon as it was confirmed, two SS4 (Special forces) squads headed by Faris Hassassian were dispatched in their chinooks carrying two more MGs, an anti-tank weapon and assault rifles to add to the firepower. They flew through the night and in haste and landed only reasonably close to the installation. They couldn't risk damage to the helicopters, so the two squads made the rest of their way on foot while the pilots radioed the Marsoil installation, informing them of the arrival of SS4. |
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