06-01-2008, 09:59 PM
JAS Ni?hogg command centre, 0640h
Amiral Henrik L?nroth stares closely at the situation monitors, his face bathed in an eerie green glow by the light from the screens suffusing the room. Before him is a topographical map of Seismos' island, with troop formations marked and slowly moving forward.
As he watches, a unit on the centre-west of the line, identified as the 2C company of the 5th regiment, begins surging forward, only to have several distress markers begin flashing as they meet resistance. Amiral L?nroth turns to the man beside him, Bakgeneral Jan Grundvig, commander of the 26th Division. His eyebrow raises in question.
Bakgeneral Grundvig turns to the microphone on the panel, and depressing the button, issues orders for two other companies to move in to support. As soon as confirmations roll in, one of the monitors overhead flickers to life. It's the one receiving all communications going to the CPN Victory River. Seismos' face fills the screen, as he begins taunting President Saxon.
Several of the command staff are having obvious difficulty understanding the rapid-fire English used by Seismos and Saxon. L?nroth grabs an aide, and grumbles, "Get me an English translator, now!"
Suddenly, the need for translation becomes moot as Seismos unveils as nuclear weapon. A major adept in English suddenly stammers, "He said it's a fifty-five megaton thermonuclear device..."
The bridge erupts in chaos. Klaxons begin blaring at loudest volumes, and officers are bellowing into communication systems to the various departments on the ship. L?nroth grabs a loudhailer and begins yelling loud enough to drown out the din. "GET ALL THE AIRCRAFT AWAY FROM THE ISLAND. Order our troops to pull back to extraction points. Signal the Hlidskjalf ballistic missile submarine to begin launch cycle with its bunker-busters. All ships of the Jageran, Pagemaster, and Fervean Navies, begin withdrawing to a safe distance from the island. How long do we have?"
The same major pipes up, but in a quiet voice that only L?nroth can hear, "He set three minutes. That was twenty seconds ago."
Bakgeneral Grundvig grabs L?nroth's arm and says urgently, "Sir, I have reports from the Specialv?pen and the Night Whistlers. Both units are inside Seismos' bunker. They think they can make it to the bomb before it goes off. They'll have to execute Seismos now; there's no hope of taking him alive. The SOR are also refusing to withdraw. They feel Seismos is just bluffing, and this is a ruse to allow him to escape the island. They are going to continue on to his bunker."
L?nroth turns back to the screens. "Let's hope they can do it. After all, they're gambling with their own lives as well." The screens show landing craft pulling away from the island as fast as they can go. Despite this, only about one-third of the Jageran soldiers are away. Indicators also show the Hlidskjalf's missiles are away and on course for the island, to impact 15 seconds before the nuclear detonation. "Order all ships to brace for impact. The likely tsunami from the nuclear blast will be enormous." The amiral settles in to wait for the flash of thermonuclear destruction.
Amiral Henrik L?nroth stares closely at the situation monitors, his face bathed in an eerie green glow by the light from the screens suffusing the room. Before him is a topographical map of Seismos' island, with troop formations marked and slowly moving forward.
As he watches, a unit on the centre-west of the line, identified as the 2C company of the 5th regiment, begins surging forward, only to have several distress markers begin flashing as they meet resistance. Amiral L?nroth turns to the man beside him, Bakgeneral Jan Grundvig, commander of the 26th Division. His eyebrow raises in question.
Bakgeneral Grundvig turns to the microphone on the panel, and depressing the button, issues orders for two other companies to move in to support. As soon as confirmations roll in, one of the monitors overhead flickers to life. It's the one receiving all communications going to the CPN Victory River. Seismos' face fills the screen, as he begins taunting President Saxon.
Several of the command staff are having obvious difficulty understanding the rapid-fire English used by Seismos and Saxon. L?nroth grabs an aide, and grumbles, "Get me an English translator, now!"
Suddenly, the need for translation becomes moot as Seismos unveils as nuclear weapon. A major adept in English suddenly stammers, "He said it's a fifty-five megaton thermonuclear device..."
The bridge erupts in chaos. Klaxons begin blaring at loudest volumes, and officers are bellowing into communication systems to the various departments on the ship. L?nroth grabs a loudhailer and begins yelling loud enough to drown out the din. "GET ALL THE AIRCRAFT AWAY FROM THE ISLAND. Order our troops to pull back to extraction points. Signal the Hlidskjalf ballistic missile submarine to begin launch cycle with its bunker-busters. All ships of the Jageran, Pagemaster, and Fervean Navies, begin withdrawing to a safe distance from the island. How long do we have?"
The same major pipes up, but in a quiet voice that only L?nroth can hear, "He set three minutes. That was twenty seconds ago."
Bakgeneral Grundvig grabs L?nroth's arm and says urgently, "Sir, I have reports from the Specialv?pen and the Night Whistlers. Both units are inside Seismos' bunker. They think they can make it to the bomb before it goes off. They'll have to execute Seismos now; there's no hope of taking him alive. The SOR are also refusing to withdraw. They feel Seismos is just bluffing, and this is a ruse to allow him to escape the island. They are going to continue on to his bunker."
L?nroth turns back to the screens. "Let's hope they can do it. After all, they're gambling with their own lives as well." The screens show landing craft pulling away from the island as fast as they can go. Despite this, only about one-third of the Jageran soldiers are away. Indicators also show the Hlidskjalf's missiles are away and on course for the island, to impact 15 seconds before the nuclear detonation. "Order all ships to brace for impact. The likely tsunami from the nuclear blast will be enormous." The amiral settles in to wait for the flash of thermonuclear destruction.