Author Topic: A Black Deal  (Read 3424 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
A Black Deal
« on: July 26, 2019, 09:16:32 PM »
Rebecca Cameron wasn't entirely happy about this arrangement. She'd arrived in Lodja a few days ago as a tourist, just intent on enjoying a few weeks on the beaches soaking up some sun, doing some surfing and kayaking. She'd meet her contact Albanus Ares in a beachfront bar, the Bakkermayan businessman having arrived that evening. He'd handed over some co-ordinates to Rebecca who the following morning meet up with her partner in crime Sarah Duggan. The pair had rented a couple of kayaks and paddled down the coast to a cove given on the list of co-ordinates. There it had taken them a few minutes to find the exact spot and there in the crystal blue waters sat a couple of weighted down waterproof bags. Sarah swung herself out her boat and into the water unweighting the bags, they floated to the top and Sarah dragged them to shore while Rebecca kept look out. Sarah checked the contents, a couple of assault rifles that were standard Lodjain issue, a couple of RPG's and a host of other small arms, probably enough to arm 30 or so people. "Lets get them strapped up." Sarah donned a snorkel and proceeded to position the bags on the straps they'd put around the kayaks. It upset the balance of the boats at first but by adjusting their seats they soon rectified the situation.

It was a good 10km of paddling, five hours or so and by the time they reached the tiny island their arms were getting tired. They bobbed around at the point where the GPS said they should be and then noticed a green laser pointer casting onto their kayaks. The signal they'd expected. Sarah and Rebecca set off towars the laser pointers operator on the shoreline ready to make the exchange.

Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2019, 05:06:15 PM »
Doclo Ooqkaiqraa was rather unique for a Water Nomad, he had a job working in one of the fish markets in Walesby and lived on a house boat moored on one of the city of Rockley's rivers. It meant that every evening when the evil spirits stalked the land he would be back on the water. At times he cowered in the boats bed hearing sounds outside wondering whether he was too close to the river bank and that the spirits could stretch out their shadowy tenticles and grab him into the darkness never to be seen again. It was a situation he didn't like but the fact he had lost part of his foot in an accident and as a result had struggled with a life on the sea. Once his people had begun their struggle for sovereignty and a right to defend their way of life Doclo had jumped at the chance to be of help to his people and after several trips out in borrowed boats he'd made contact with one of the various tribes.

Doclo had made most of the arrangements with Albanus Ares that was slowly trickling weapons into the Water Nomad community, naturally it helped that a benefactor with a hefty bank account was bank rolling the operation as it had surprised Doclo just how expensive these weapons were. He sat now on a beach waiting, his tiny little sailing boat bobbing away in the bay. He'd passed by a Bakkermayan Frigate and merely exchanged waves with those on deck leaving them none the wiser of his true intention. He spotted a pair of kayaks round the headland and picked up the device that Ares had given him soon he saw the boats change direction and head towards him as he felt for the comforting bulge of the handgun tucked down the back of his shorts. He wanted the deal done quickly, that way he could set up the cache and be gone long before sunset so the darkness couldn't claim him.

He waited for the boats to be in the shallows before moving and in bare feet waded to help drag the boats onto the beach. "You are Masters of the Sword?" he asked in his heavily accented English. "I am Doclo. You have package for me?"

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2019, 09:09:15 PM »
As Doclo flashed the pointer at them the two Bene Gesserit women paddled in an arc allowing the waves to bring them into were their contact was waiting for them. Rebecca went first allowing Sarah to cover her if need be, she had a harpoon gun strapped to the side of the kayak and while she hoped it wouldn't be neccessary a hangun tucked into the bouyance aid.

"Aye, we're Masters of the Sword" Rebecca said her eyes looking everywhere but squarley at Doclo, it was Sarah who was keeping her eyes on him. "We've several packages actually but it depends what you've got lined up for us." The deal had been pretty simple, the Sword Masters would act as the delivery driver for a few arms shipments between The Water Nomad rebels and Albanus, in return Albanus would throw a few toys the way of the Truthsayers. It also helped that the Water Nomads were about to do them a favour. "Before you get a single bullet I want to know what your planning on doing about this."She handed over a note with a ship name on it was a small pleasure ship belonging to Vadik Pasternak's sister. They'd found out from one of the stewards onboard that the Vice-President of Kaitaine's beloved sister had been off enjoying a cruise near Hygelac and would be passing back through the Alucard region in the coming days. "If it doesn't go down, then this is the last delivery we make." She grabbed one of the waterproof bags they'd strapped to the kayak, "This in order?" she took a rifle out of the bag and checked its action dry firing it. "You happy?" satisfied it was unloaded she handed it over to their new acquientence.

Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2019, 08:31:22 PM »
Doclo watched the easier way these two women handled the weapons, it was much more practticed than his own check, it took him several attempts to check it and he was sure he could feel the Bene Gesserit women's mocking eyes on him. He finally finished checking everything and wrapped it in several sheets that he'd brought with him. He was pleased that everything had gone so smoothly and waited for the pair to be out of the bay before heading back to the treeline around 50m off the beach. There he had pre-dug a hole, lined it with several plastic sheets and now put the wrapped in sheets weapons in. He placed another plastic sheet over, hooking it under the weapons so as to hold it in place and then began to carefully bury the weapons. His job done he would now leave the island before sunset and in a day or two his comrades would come and collect the weapons before undertaking the Swordmasters task.



Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2019, 03:30:59 PM »
Two Weeks Later

Poun Ciuntrum had three ships with him, not ships as such but they'd do for this purpose. They sat in a bay that was fairly regularly visited by tourists, it was a beautiful place, grey rocks flanked a white sandy beach where just ten meters away from where the waves broke a line of palm trees spread across the whole horse-shoe. The three boats were dispersed with their fishing nets dangling in the water, not an uncommon sight if you traversed the islands on a regular basis. Now all that was left to do was wait and hope that the information they'd been given wasn't wrong.

It appeared just after midday a small touring yacht coming in close to the bay, clearly planning on taking in a spot of lunch just as the information had suggested. The Water Nomads waved happily at the yacht and spotted several figures on deck taking photos of them, nothing unusual for tourists before waving back. Poun waited for the boat to be in the centre of the bay, it was here the plan could go one of two ways, if the target remained on the boat or as most tourists would do they'd head ashore and enjoy the beach. They waited hoping to see signs of which of the two would happen here. After five minutes a small motorised launch was dropped into the water and headed towards the beach. The team on shore gave the signal though releasing a flock of birds that they'd kept caged. The shocked animals darting into the sky showed that the target was in fact among those. It was four figures, one in a kind of naval uniform, the others a young man dressed in shorts and a unbuttoned shirt, and two girls, one in a bikini and sarong and the other a swimsuit. They waited until all four were on the beach and seemed like they were preparing a kind of picnic as the uniformed man produced a wicker basket from the launch. With a shrill blast on an animal call three times the plan swung into action.

Poun, who was on one of the boats gunned its engine and darted towards the yacht. His other two boats meanwhile headed towards the bay. The attention of those on the beach captured by the sudden sound of engines they never saw the group of six Water Nomads creep out of the tree line. A single gun shot dropped the man in uniform making the three tourists scream. Onboard the yacht they now only noticed the boats approaching at speed and a RPG streaking towards the rear section of the ship. The explosion caused the boat to begin sinking as the Nomads approached and boarded the front machine gunning anyone who seemed to be a threat. Six people were onboard, four in uniform of some sort and two other women. They grabbed them and dragged them back onto deck throwing them into the water. There the boats picked them up before heading to shore.The three visitors to the island where already under gunpoint guard and now being hooded were unceremoniously launched into the boats which shot out of the bay.

It was several hours later that in a cave in another island that the group stopped, a floating platform being the groups HQ. "Let the Bene Gesserit know we have their person." Poun informed his second in command Linar. The Cave was set up rather well, since they'd recieved some support from the Swordmasters their technology had been improved, not well enough to run a war but at least well enough to begin their campaign for control of the key islands.

It took an hour for the Swordmasters to contact them and a further two for them to appear and collect the captives. They handed over an envelope full of cash, not much but enough to buy a few more RPG's or rifles and then headed off. They would now wait for the panic to set in before making their own news announcement.

Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2019, 12:35:28 PM »
The The Keyblade was a Bakkermayan patrol ship, it was routinely placed on duty in the Alucard heading between the different small islands and keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity, Water Nomad related or not. Today a garbelled call had come in over the radio which had just suddenly stopped, they'd got half a set of co-ordinates and they'd made out the word "Bay" but that was about it. The ships commander grabbed some charts and looked along the line of the first co-ordinates, there were two bays that sat on it, one was about an 400km journey North, far beyond what they'd be able to reasonably respond to and so he got onto HQ and requested some kind of overflight by a patrol aircraft, the other one meanwhile was only about 150km away and while it would take the boat several hours at full speed to get there he could launch the ships helicopter. He summouned three Marines and dispatched them as a security detail for the operation, it gave them two spare seats, three at a push in case it was some kind of evacuation operation. The helicopter lifted off and sped towards the bay which was assigned to them.

Even from a distance they could tell something was happening, a thick film of black oil was dispersed on the surface and some being washed up on shore. "Command we've what looks like a oil spill of some sort."

"Roger that we'll let HQ know. Any signs of people." The helicopter was now close enough to see the wreckage of a boat and make out its name, this too was relayed back to HQ. The Helicopter was ordered to drop the Marines and let them check out the shoreline while it conducted a search of the sea surrounding the wreck. It had been about thirty minutes and the Marines had found an empty shell casing and then a body. Things were looking like they'd gone south here pretty quick. They recalled the helicopter a slid the body onboard.

"We better get back to the ship" the Marine Sergeant said as he gave the shoreline one last check over. With nothing else to find they lifted off and headed back towards the Keyblade, en route they spotted a trio of small boats, Water Nomads, however they seemed a little unusual. The door gunner picked up the long range camera they kept on board for drug smuggling operations, the ships just seemed too close together.

"Sergeant" the door gunner, a naval aviation loadmaster motioned for the Marine to come up. "Have a look, see if you can spot anything odd." He handed the camera over and slid out of his seat allowing the Sergeant to look at the boats some 10km or so away from the helicopter. Looking through the camera lense it made it look like it was just a meter away and he looked carefully.

"We've some rifles, and a white woman on deck." the Sergeant said out load before keying his microphone to speak to the pilot. "Any chance we can intercept them?" He asked.

"Negative, we've hit our fuel limit five minutes ago." the Pilot informed him, instead they took a few pictures, marked the heading and called it in.

By the time the regions other assets had reached the region there was no sign of the boats, with a network of islands and a huge sea area to cover it was like searching for a needle in a haystack but at least they seemingly had evidence of the Water Nomads branching out into kidnapping. When the ID of the boat headed up the chain of command it was discovered that the boat was flagged in Kaitaine and a search of the ships register revealed a worrying surname on the ownership documents, Pasternak, the Soviets Vice President. Someone in the diplomatic service was about to earn their money that day.

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2019, 02:01:11 PM »
"STOP! STOP!" The voice whailed behind her and although she immediately heard the pitiful begging she slammed the door twice more on the teenage boy half in and half out of it. "STOP!" finally Masha stopped and brushed her blonde hair away from her face before composing herself, wiping away a bead of sweat and turning round to the woman tied to a chair.

"Sorry Megan" With her heel Masha booted the door into the prone spluttering youngster as she looked the crying mother square in the eye, "Didn't hear you. Would you care to repeat who you said the leader of this little cell you belong to is?" She walked over to stand behind the captured Truthsayer insurgent. They'd captured her two days in Secundas, some kind of sleeper agent, a husband, a teenage son and a older daughter who they'd been unable to find, no doubt know flat on her back somewhere as a Bene Gesserit whore.

"I'm the leader" Megan lowered her chin onto her chest she couldn't bare to see her 14 year old son beaten anymore and knew giving up a name was the only way out of this, for him at least. She was certain she would be killed, probably publically executed but perhaps she could save her son. There was a burst of energy as Masha rushed back to the door and began slamming it again and again. "I'M THE LEADER! STOP!" Megan whailed again.

Masha stopped and with seeming effortless strength hoisted the boy off the floor, his face a bloody mess his breathing laboured from probably cracked ribs, he was in serious need of medical help. "You hear that Yarni, Mummy here is a Truthsayer Sleeper Cell leader. The woman that couldn't keep herself from our eyes and ears for over a year is the leader of a Sleeper Cell. You believe that Yarni?" Masha was holding him by the scruff of his T-Shirt collar and placed her other hand on the top of his head and used it like a puppetmaster would to make Yarni shake his head. She tossed the boy to the floor. "Get the bucket" she barked at a man in uniform who had been watching from the corner of the families living room. He disappeared. "You are not the leader. We know that" Masha had seen through Megan's lies. "Now we have to clean your boy up." The bucket full of water had appeared and Masha put it down straight in front of Megan, she pulled a chair up and placed it so the bucket was between it and Megan. She next grabbed Yarni and dunked his head into the bucket before sitting down and using Yarni's back as a foot rest keeping his head underwater. She watched Megan struggled against her ropes.

"Please he's only a child." she pleaded

"Oh I know" Masha grinned as she looked down to see the boy beginning to struggle as he would be fighting to resurface but her feet kept him under. "But he's also a Bene Gesserit rat, and you get rid of rats by drowning them."

"Please I'll tell you." Megan pleaded tears running down her cheeks. Masha waited a couple of heartbeats more before lifting her feet, Yarni gasped and fell onto his side snuffling tears of his own. "It's Svetlana Massey" Megan gave up a name and saw Masha wave a hand to her associate. There was silence. "I'm telling you the truth, I swear to Shai Halud" In a flash Masha wason her feet and a leather boot encassed foot slammed into Yarni's ribs.

"I don't care that you're swearing on a bloody imaginary worm." She grabbed Yarni's hair so he could see his mother and for a moment the pair looked at each other.

"Ma'am, Massey was executed a week ago." the voice from the corner informed Masha who looked displeased. "Poor Yarni, you're mother cares more for a whore than her own son." She placed the boys hand on the floor and stamped on it the sound of bone breaking making both Mother and son cry for mercy. Masha simply placed the hand and stamped again before dunking his head in the bucket and returning to the chair and placing her feet back on Yarni's head. Megan begged saying she hadn't had any instructions for the group in two weeks, she was amazed they'd known otherwise when the uniformed man read out some of the coded message, how could they have known. It was then she noticed Masha sat seeming to twiddle her thumbs as Yarni began to strain for air. It was hard to make out through eyes clouded by tears but then she was sure, a message being repeated in Doubletalk.

"TELL ME OR HE DIES" It said over and over.

"You bitch" Megan sighed, "You trained as a Bene Gesserit?"

"No." Masha shook her head, a door opened and a young girl walked in, aged about 17. She came and stood next to Masha, "My daughter did though."Masha stood and allowed Yarni to breath

"Hello Megan." the girl smiled sweetly, "I hope I taught Mother how to do that right."

"No....Grace." Megan recognised the girl, it was Grace McKenzie, a sweet girl who'd been orphaned at the age of 10 and brought into the Bene Gesserit community. They'd cared for her, trained her and she was on track to becoming a Truthsayer operative in the capital Arrakeen where she was going to join the Police force. Megan had spent countless nights looking after the girl.

"Silly Megan" Grace took out a tissue and wiped away the tears on Truthsayers face. " Who is seriously going to believe in a giant worm and a grated up piece of its skin having magical powers." Megan spat at Grace but Masha just back-handed her. "Mother, we don't need her to confirm things. I know the name, I just got my orders to head to Arrakeen." She handed her mother a piece of paper.

A mobile phone rang and Masha stopped for a moment. "Hello........Yes My President............you want me to handle it in person?.......Very well sir. I shall be on a flight within the hour." She hung up the phone. "Deal with the Mother." Masha nodded to Grace who reached into her waist band and produced a fine white knife, a Crystknife carried by all Bene Gesserit. Meanwhile Masha leaned down and placed a heavy arm around his neck from behind, she got the bend of her arm under his chin and began to squeeze cutting off the blood to his brain. Megan cried out for mercy once more as Grace went behind her former fake mentor and with one swift slice of the knife slit Megan's throat the jet of blood going over Masha and Yarni. "Silly girl" Masha seemed annoyed but didn't loosen her grip until the boy, like his mother went limp. "Tidy up." Masha instructed the uniformed man who simply stood to attention and saluted.

"Yes Lt-Col" he said as he began speaking into the radio.

Masha crossed to Grace and cuffed her around the back of the head rather gently. "You think I want covering in whores blood?" she scolded her. "I've been asked personally by the President to go to Bakkermaya and deal with these Water Nomads. Now I'll have to change. Stupid girl. You make sure to do a better job in Arrakeen than just now." Sweetly the blood stained Masha kissed Grace on the top of the head. "Well done." the Mother would have hugged her but didn't want to get blood on her daughters favourite T-Shirt. "I will see you in a few days."

Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2019, 09:39:06 PM »
John Bernard had flown to Walesby from the capital of Edwinstowe. They didn't know much about what was happening regarding the kidnapping, it was down now to trying to find the missing girl, it was more than likely that the Water Nomads were involved in some manner but the Soviet's were convinced that it was the Bene Gesserit. John wasn't so sure after all it was hell of a long way from any of their safe havens. John was convinced it was the Water Nomads, they were getting more and more aggressive in the last few weeks and the level of sophistication of the weapons was also increasing. His Marine officer had told him what they'd seen and John had spent enough time in the military to know a Water Nomad boat when he saw one, in his day however they'd merely been people passing through rather than demanding to own part of his homeland.

John waited patiently for the representative from Kaitaine they were expecting. He didn't know much other than the fact that it was some member of their intelligence community but beyond that knew nothing. His instructions were simple, keep them informed about what was going on and see what information they could give them.

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2019, 09:02:12 PM »
Masha arrived in short order, it helped to be able to say the President was directly ordering you to do something. The Air Force troop transport jet had been made avaliable for her and the Air Force NCO's in the flight crew had been amazed when a blood soaked woman had turned up, collected a bag dropped off for her by a young suited gentleman. She'd done her best to wash up in the aircraft's sink before changing and unceremoniously dumping her blood soaked attire in a bin. "See that they are disposed of" she ordered a Sergeant as she settled in for the rest of the flight.

When they arrived she checked that she had everything else she needed in her bag that had been dropped off and marked up as a diplomatic bag. It had inside her pistol, several single use mobile phones and a laptop. Once the contents had been checked she headed out to meet the host. "Mr.Bernard" Masha said rather stiffly as she shook his hand. "I am President McPherson's representative, my name is Lt-Col Stepanovs" she was already looking around getting familiar with her surrondings. "I'd appreciate an up to the second briefing on what is happening and then you will need to help me find a way to these islands of yours." She instructed rather than asked. "First however I would like to deliver this to my nations embassy." she help up the bag as though to support her point. "Now if we may get underway as the fate of the Vice-President's sister is very important to us."

Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #9 on: August 08, 2019, 10:39:37 PM »
John Bernard had not expected a woman of this stature to appear. She had a physically intimidating appearance and John was only a slight man. "Well Lt-Col I can only apologise for the circumstances of your visit." He began as he lead her towards the waiting vehicle. "We can have the car stop by your consulate here if that is what you wish. I was then planning on taking you to the Coastguard HQ, its where we are stationing the search operations, one of the biggest secure areas on the island." He explained. The car wound it way out from the airfield and along palm tree flanked roads. Soon they were passing by fields of sugar cane and crested a peak, the crystal blue ocean visible beneath them as they meandered down the hillside. The city or Rockley sat nestled next to the sea, its streets a winding maze a throwback to the time it had been a fortress city standing as a bulwark against any naval invasion. 

The car headed to one of the corners near the old city wall where several nations had consulates. They allowed Masha the time to head inside and do whatever it was they needed to do, meanwhile John headed over to the news stand that sat opposite. An old man of Paracambian descent sat minding the stall. "Hello Mr.Bernard" the man went from a rather laid back demenour to one of busyness, straightening his newspapers, moving a stained cup of coffee of the stall counter.

"Good morning sir." John said as he scanned the stall. "Can I please get a packet of sherbet lemons and a bottle of iced tea please." He waited while the old man gathered the sweets from an old fashioned glass jar weighing them out into a white paper bag before retrieving the bottle from the fridge. "Thank you" John opened his wallet and handed over a few coins to pay for the goods. He exchanged some chit chat with the old man until Masha reappeared. He joined her in the car and soon they were on the way to the Coastguard HQ that was serving as an incident centre for the kidnapping. He offered the KGB officer a sweet on the way before putting the packet in his briefcase.

Inside the base the Coastguard were about their daily routine, sending out patrols, processing various pieces of paperwork and manning various RADAR and sensor stations. They made their way up into a tower which gave an overview of the bay, the comings and goings into the port. There in the tower was Brigadier Dominic Atkins of the Horseman of Jekar and Admiral Cochrane, John made the various introductions as they got seated around a long wooden table.

It was Cochrane that took over the briefing. "What we know is that some time just over 24 hours ago the yacht that was carrying Mila Pasternak and three of her friends was attacked by an as of yet unconfirmed group. By evidence gathered at the scene it is apparent the group were equipped with a combination of assault weapons and a Rocket Propellled Grenade of some sort. There were six bodies discovered, all the uniformed crew members of the pleasure yacht. I believe Lt-Col Stepanovs that they were members of the Kaitaine Navy." He handed her a folder with the images taken in the morturary. "Sadly the ship was on fire when discovered and most documents we found on-board unreadable. Perhaps you can help us with identities." Cochrane asked hopefully. "It is highly suspected that those carrying out the attack are part of a group called the Water Nomads, a Ducal Marine helicopter saw a pair of Nomad boats and thought they spotted individuals onboard who were not Nomads." He again handed over a folder with the photos taken at extreme range by the helicopter loadmaster. "Sadly the helicopter could not engage because of a lack of fuel and by the time other assets had reached the region the boats had disappeared. We're currently running imagery analysis on the images, seeing if we can get a good view of the Caucasians on-board these Nomad ships. So far we've had no-one claim the kidnapping. Unless of course the Lt-Col here has heard otherwise?" The Admiral asked, perhaps if the Nomads knew they'd a high profile Soviet they'd contact them and not Bakkermaya.

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2019, 09:42:30 PM »
Masha took notes throughout the briefing. "As of yet the perpatrators have not contacted us." Masha explained. "We will have some of our naval assets in the region soon helping conduct the search in international water." She wasn't entirely sure that was the truth however as it was highly likely they'd head to wherever they needed to go short of causing an international incident. "Rest assured once we know anything we shall inform you." Again she wasn't sure that was entirely honest.



Poun Ciuntrum knew the islands as well as anyone on Mundus. They had been his home for all 40 years of his life infact if he thought really hard he believed that he'd spent maybe less than a week on dry land. Once they'd captured the Kaitainites they took them to the Caves, they were great places to store things and occasionally ceremonies took place in them. These particular ones ran through the length of the small island and it was possible with the use of torches to navigate underground from one entrance to another the complete opposite side of the island. It was here the four hostages were being held. Each of them had been placed in a small wooden kayak moored in the centre of a underground lake. A group of nomads hunched on their boats close by playing dice games as they kept watch over them.

The scouts at the main entrance had seen boats pass but most Bakkermayans wouldn't even know that the cave system existed. They saw planes flying to and fro but again they couldn't see through tens of feet of rock. The four hadn't been mistreated but they had no idea what was going to happen to them but each of them were mentally scarred by the sight of the uniformed staff being killed.

It was on the third day of the captivity that the ships searching seemed to become less frequent, no doub searhcing wider and wider afield. The aircraft buzzing seemed to be transitory rather than circling and as such it was possible the search area was being extended. That was when they came, two women not like the Water Nomads, one with blonde hair and the other with hair dark as night scrapped back tight to her head. She made her way onto the boat that was guarding the four kayak bound hostages. "We'll take her.....and...." the woman looked around at the other three, "and her." she pointed to one of the others and their kayaks were untied and the rope handed to the woman. She dragged them towards the back of the boat and there a tiny little speedboat was waiting. It looked barely big enough for two people and yet first Mila Pasternak and then her friend Valeria were dragged out their kayaks, hands were tied and then pushed into the left and right locker that would normally have carried equipment. It was cramped and each of them had to sit with their knees up to their chins. The darkness was terrifying as they could feel the boat begin its journey. It bounced them against the sides and their heads bounced off the padded lids of the locker. It felt like much longer than the thirty minutes it had taken and then daylight flooded in hurting their eyes. They were unceremoniusly hauled out of the locker and they saw a large luxury yacht not too different than the one they'd been on when this nightmare ordeal began. It had a Paracambian flag flying at the rear and six women on deck. They helped pull the women on deck before dragging them off to seperate bedrooms. The crew were all Truthsayers or men known to be loyal to the faith, they'd been smart and had the boat floating around the Alucard for nearly two weeks now, they'd even got to know some of the Marines from Bakkermaya who'd been conducting searches they'd seen them so often. Now with the search pattern expanding it would be easier to get away and as such the course was set for the next stopping point. The wastelands of Nya Aland.

The remaining two were kept by the Water Nomads. They were moved to a new island, a new cave system and from there a phone call was made to Doclo liviing on the mainland. He wrote out the message and headed towards the letter box at the shopping centre down the road.

The next morning the letter landed on the desk of the local police.

Quote

To the authorities

The Free Peoples of the Alucard Ocean (FPAO) have arrested two trespassers into our lands and waters. As such they have been found guilty of the crime of trespass and illegally entering our nation. These people are of Kaitaine nationality. They have been sentenced to five years imprisonment or may pay a fine of $4,500,000 each. Once this payment is recieved their sentence will be commuted by the court.

You have 7 days to make payment or the court reserves the right to withdraw this humane offer.

The Court of the FPAO


Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2019, 08:19:26 PM »

The government of Bakkermaya have received what is in effect a ransom demand for two Kaitainite citizens. We have as of yet been unable to confirm the identities of the two individuals. They are being held by a group calling themselves the Free Peoples of the Alucard Ocean (FPAO) who claim they have given the pair a trial for "treason". Bakkermaya do not recognise the FPAO as anything other than a terrorist organisation and will not in anyway co-operate with them. We urge them to release their captives immediately.

Signed

Grand Duke Hugo Lascelles.




Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2019, 08:53:34 PM »
The destroyer Ugarov had reached the tip of the Alucard islands just as the sun began to bleed its light above the horizon. The other three ships the Kaitaine Navy had sent were spread across the horizon just barely visible to each other with the naked eye. It was Admiral Gregor who had the first call out. "Sir, we've what we believe is a Water Nomad vessel some 10km off the starboard bow." A young officer informed him with a snappy salute.

"Excellent" the Admiral said. "Please go and inform Mr. Maxwell." The young officer snapped another salute before heading off down two floors and knocking on a cabin door.

"Mr.Maxwell, the Admiral told me to tell you we have a Water Nomad contact." the officer spoke through the door which opened just a crack.

"Thank you.....erm....Shokovich isn't it?" The officer nodded, "Please inform the Admiral I shall be there momentarily." and with that the door shut again as Shokovich retraced his steps back up to see the Admiral and pass on the news. Just two minutes later a man wearing a black blazer with pale blue shirt, still tying his red and blue angular striped tie, appeared on the bridge. "Good morning Admiral." He greeted the ships commander as he folded his collar back down and checked for the length of the tie. " May I confirm we are in international waters?"

"We are...." The Admiral inspected the charts, "by my reckoning just about 10km outside the Bakkermayan EEZ. We're planning on cutting through to this point." He pointed to a point almost equidistant between Lodja and Bakkermayan islands. "We believe that will put us in a position to support the others who will spread themselves North to South through the island chain, we'll be the pivot so to speak." Maxwell nodded as the plan was put out.

"Very good, please have your Special Ops group fish those Nomads out before they get out of international water." Maxwell headed over to the wall mounted hot water dispenser, wiped a mug with a napkin and proceeded to make himself a coffee all the time the Admiral was ensuring that Maxwell's orders were being carried out. By the time the suited gentleman had added milk, two sugars and given it a stir he could see the black clad commandos zooming off in a RHIB. "Impressive response time." Maxwell mused as he watched them intercept the Water Nomads.

Ten minutes later the ramshackle wooden boat with an ancient motor was tied alongside the Destoyer and its two families of inhabitants were sat on the deck their hands on their heads. Maxwell had the interpreter they'd brought with them roused from their slumber and briefed the Nomads. It was simple, they were shown several images of those that had been kidnapped and then shown images of a new shiny wooden sailing boat, a trade was being offered information for a new boat. The Water Nomads babbled away to the interpreter as Maxwell stood on watching the hive of activity that happened on a Destroyers deck. "They say they had no idea about any kidnapping and have never heard of this FPAO. They told me their tribes had kind of split into a few different factions, some frienldy to others, some believing the others have sold out. "

"Civil War stuff?" Maxwell asked causing a flurry of words from the interpretor and the Nomads.

"No." The interpretor responded, "Just mistrust and a few arguements when groups bump into each other but nothing close to that."

"Shame" Maxwell could have used that to his advantage. Just then a yell came from one of the Commando's who was searching the boat and quickly a box on a pulley had the item up on deck where the Commando Major handed it to Maxwell who in turn having inspected it handed it to the interpreter. There was a silence as the man read it before asking the people from the boat about it. "I thought they were not a literate people?" 

"Its becoming more common for them to know some words." The interpretor was scanning down the sheet, "Its a list of different islands. The heading says the Dominion of the Ocean. Its another of the factions. These islands are the ones they are claiming."

"Admiral" Maxwell yelled. "Find these people somewhere to stay onboard. We're going to the nearest of these islands. I'd like to meet someone from this Dominion." He smiled helping one of the Water Nomad children to his feet and reached into his jacket pocket removing a chocolate bar. "Take good care of them" he added as he handed the child the bar and ruffled their hair. "Lets see if we can't sew some dissent."  It took them around six hours of sailing to reach the first of the islands on the list and then it was just a matter of finding who was in charge of this Dominion. Maxwell had the interpreter man the ships radio and turned the tannoy system on broadcasting to see if they could locate them.

Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2019, 07:42:23 PM »
Close to the island of Walesby the Bakkermayan Missile Boat Coinspinner was making its routine patrols. Ever since the crisis with the Water Nomads had begun that included making routine sweeps of the islands checking for activity there in the small hidden bays and coves. Everyday since they'd been doing it they'd found signs of water nomad actvity, sometimes it was parts of old fishing net floating around, occasionally bits and pieces of woodworking where they had repaired boats, and on some occasions they even had found plastic bottles discarded that had residue of cyanide in, a substance used to subdue tropical fish for the pet trade market. As they turned into the cove on this tiny island there was a water nomad ship. That alone wasn't an issue as long as it was doing nothing illegal. Usually the water nomads waited for the Navy to approach them however on this occasion it began coming straight towards the ship. The crew watched it buzz past the starboard side and then there was a yell. "I think they've got someone onboard."

From his position on the bridge the ships captain trained his binoculars onto the ship which was making a turn out the bay. There at the back of the boat seemed to be some kind of struggle and the girl didn't look like a Water Nomad. "Bring us about to pursue them." The captain called to his helmsman as he cursed the fact that such a small vessel as this didn't have a detachment of Marines onboard. The missile ship had the speed advantage and was soon chasing down the Water Nomads, thats when the first hiss of a passing bullet filled the air. "Small arms to the rail." The Captain called on the intercom as six of his sailors appeared on the bow armed with assault rifles. "Watch for the hostage" he cautioned them as they prepared to return fire. The boat took a swift turn to shore and headed into the shallows where the long almost flat bottomed nomad boat could go and the Coinspinner couldn't follow. Soon the boat was hitting the beach and six men jumped from it, one dragging a white woman along with them. "ENGAGE" the Captain yelled, an order that saw three Nomads fall to the sand including the one dragging the girl. One of the others contemplated turning round and grabbing her himself but the little impacts of bullets around him made him change his mind and instead he ran off into the tree line.

It took just thirty minutes for a group of Marine Commando's to arrive from a nearby vessel and begin searching for the other gunmen as the Water Nomads ship was towed away from the coast. The bodies had been zipped up in bodybags and returned to land on the helicopter that had brought the Marines in. The girl however was still onboard the Coinspinner where they were giving her a medical once over. She had a black eye and what appeared to be a broken nose, probably signs of a struggle, added to that her wrists and ankles were chaffed with the rope they'd been bound by leaving deep red wounds where they'd been rubbing. They had hoped it was Mila Pasternak, she was refusing to talk and just sat rocking backwards and forwards on the bench they'd sat her on. The Captain compared the images they had and clearly it wasn't her, between sobs they did manage to take a picture of her and forward this on to high command who no doubt would be informing the giant Masha who was the Kaitainite contact they had.

Offline Libby

  • Order Of The Pen
  • Global Superpower
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,062
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Lodja/Kaitaine
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2019, 11:02:41 PM »
Masha scanned the picture that she'd been sent. She recognised the image of the girl from the folder she'd been given, sadly it was not Vadik Pasternak's sister but at least they now had a lead. Masha comendered a helicopter and flew out to meet the rescued Kaitainites. She spent a good hour debriefing them but the information she got wasn't particularly useful. They hadn't heard names, couldn't describe where they'd been other than saying, "some jungle islands" and beyond that there was nothing of note. They had said they'd been split up and that was the only time they'd seen non-Water Nomads, that at least was something to go on.

Masha made arrangements with the Bakkermayans to sort out getting the two home and then acquired another lift in a helicopter. This time she was heading out into the Alucard to meet with the  destroyer Ugarov and the Naval liason she had spoken to via text messages. As she landed she spotted a suit wearing man amid the deck crew, "this must be him" she said to herself as she headed towards him. "Mr.Maxwell" she shook his hand.

"The famous Lt-Col Masha Stepanov" Maxwell said warmly, "I've heard many good things about your work. I hope this is the first of many collaborations." He escorted her into the Captains office, he knew better by now to simply give it up when Maxwell walked in. "I have discovered that the Water Nomads are effectively splitting into different factions. We have made arrangements to meet with a group calling themselves the Dominion of the Ocean, they appear to be rivals to those who kindapped the VP's sister. I believe if they can lead us to the FPAO we might be able to do them a little favour or two."

"Good idea" Masha nodded. "The good news is we have two other hostages back but sadly they knew nothing, except a non-Water Nomad picked up Mila and the other girl. I believe we may have some Bene Gesserit involvement as I can't think of any others who would target such a person."

The pair sat chatting strategy for another hour or so until the Captain informed them they'd reached the island. The pair returned to deck and gathered together a group of Commando's before getting the family they'd found earlier and heading to shore. They edged around the coast as the father pointed and gestured, as they rounded a bay a pair of large sailing boats sat in the centre. Waving a white flag they approached and allowed the family to board the ship, words were exchanged and a man who seemed to be the man in charge smiled and gave small nods of welcome to Masha and Maxwell.

"Tell him we are looking for these girls who some Nomads kidnapped." Masha told the interpretor who duly did as he was instructed. "Tell him if he has any information that will help us find them we will help his Dominion of the Sea." she waited patiently as the man took the images and looked before shrugging and handing them back.

"He says he hasn't seen them but that it is rare to see white people with the Nomads so they would have stuck out. He did say though a week ago he saw on one island two white women leaving and that is was often used by the FPAO group." the translator spoke without looking at Masha or Maxwell focusing on what was being said.

"We want to go there. If they take us they can have 20 of these." Masha tapped one of the rifles a Commando was holding.

The cheif, or was they assumed was the chief just nodded and smiled.

Offline RobertAgira

  • Order Of The Pen
  • World Power
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
    • View Profile
  • Your Nation: Agira Latina
Re: A Black Deal
« Reply #15 on: October 17, 2019, 08:09:36 AM »
WILL BE CONCLUDED THROUGH NEWS POSTS AS WE'VE BOTH BEEN AWOL