The Final Battle: Midnight, November 1st, 1945The graveyards in Forenia are lit with candles and now, the city is lit with gunfire. The Forenian Parliament has become a rebel stronghold, and there are pockets of Arstotzkan rebellion appearing everywhere. Now the rebels move to capture the Capitol Armory, which will allow them to control the city. The Cannalans are joining the rebels in support of the coup, but at the same time, their own president is moving out to sea to avoid an assassination attempt. The engineers stand ready with prototype equipment, to make their mark on history or die trying. This is what everything in the war has built up to. You may now read each other's threads as well, there are links to people's designs in their original location.
The ForeniansZanzetkuken the Great has been building a weapon of vengeance against Cannala. He listened to the sounds of distant battle on the radio, and felt detached. To him, although the Forenian union was preferable, it didn't matter as much who won the civil war as much as it mattered that Cannala would stay out. To that end he would scorch the very Earth, and salt their fields. [5] Working in secret, he had cultivated multiple mutated strains of the original Red Rot, with varieties capable of affecting wheat, barley, rice, and other staple crops. [6] The plan had remained secret this whole time, and he had amassed enough supporters to send three submarines and three planes to Cannala, which were on their way now. Initially he had set out for Cannala under the guise of a "peacekeeping mission" and even had his planes refuelled at a Cannalan airstrip, but with the battle breaking out, the Cannalan border itself might be a problem. The planes had already turned around under threat of missile fire, but Zanzetkuken himself was aboard one of the subs. Continued at Zanzetkuken's Plan.
10ebbor10 has set his sights directly on the Cannalan fleet offshore. He had no trouble finding Forenian seamen eager to join in his project, the Megalodon. [3] A proper successor to the Boot, the Megalodon is a submarine built with Forenia's submarine experience and consultants which he had brought in from Germany, in exchange for a "Forenian Pardon" from the Nuremburg trials- a fake death certificate backed up by a story about a plane crash while traveling to Forenia, and a full set of identifying papers under a new name. Guided torpedoes originally called for had to be substituted for ones that were wire-guided for the first kilometer and a half. Still the submarine was more than twice the size of a Boot, more than twice as fast, could stay underwater for far longer and far deeper (if the calculated results of the design were accurate- it hadn't been tested) and had eight torpedo tubes. This wasn't a groundbreaking sub by German standards, but the Cannalan fleet lacked even basic sonar defenses. 10ebbor10 admired his work for a minute in the dock before the last of the crew got aboard, then followed them in himself. "Seal the hatches!" someone shouted. "Full speed ahead!" "Dive, dive!" "Walrus sighted, fire Tube Eight and steer the torpedo forty-five degrees!" He watched with satisfaction as the crew did his work for him. [3] The torpedo they fired struck a Walrus lander just short of the shore, leaving it beached in shallows where it couldn't deploy Bull tanks. Already off to a good start. And what's more, there was a whole fleet of subs behind him:
Happerry sets off right behind ebbor in his Big Boot. [4] While Happerry's submarine isn't a big advancement over the Boot in general performance, he has a far more advanced sonar system, which is accurate enough that with communication from allies to confirm a ship's identity, he can fire torpedoes at an enemy target from below periscope depth. He lags behind ebbor a little bit on the way out of the harbor, but catches up as ebbor slows down to target a Cannalan ship near the shore: Happerry is going straight for El Presidente's ship.
PirateJoe's UFS-SSN-45 "Zingel" [4] is the largest submarine ever constructed, at 120 meters in length. [1] Unfortunately, it's deprived of its original intended power source, a nuclear reactor, as competing submarine designer Iridium64 [6] got to the last of Forenia's leftover uranium first. It has been refitted with a respectable diesel-electric drive, allowing it to make decent speed. A single main propeller provides thrust and two smaller propellers can be run at independent speeds for maneuvering. It also has a large rudder, rear planes, and fore tower-planes. It's armed with improved Narwhal torpedoes, which have more range, larger warheads, and an experimental acoustic seeking system. He sits initially at periscope-and-snorkel depth. Continued at The
Battle at Sea.
Iridium64 was last out of the harbor with his UFS-SSBN-45 "Wolfpack". It was similar to Piratejoe's but with a few special features: Iridium's version of improved torpedoes were the largest by far, and used wire guidance as well. It also sported waterproof Noose launchers as well, to defend the submarine against air threats, and a mine layer. Most of all, it had a nuclear reactor as its primary power source. It had taken a little extra time to set the reactor up before deploying for battle, but the results were immediately satisfying: the entire submarine hummed with electric power, and the undersea beast glided silently forward on its single propeller. [1] Iridium's joy at seeing his submarine in action was quickly cut short. There was a loud “boom” which echoed through the ship. He picked up the intercom speaker and tried to reach the reactor room, but got no response, and left the bridge to see for himself. A panicked crew member met him half way: "Captain! The cooling system has failed! A pipe is burst and there is coolant in the control room, we cannot remove the fuel!" Iridium replied, "Oh? We'll see just how bad it is!" He wasn't about to give up his reactor without a fight. Its construction had required him to work in secret since Forenia first acquired uranium from Vlanlados.
He put on some heavy rubber waders, thick gloves, a lead apron and a gas mask before moving on to the reactor room. When he opened the door, he was blasted with steam, burning his arms which weren't heavily covered. The heat kept coming, and it was impossible to see inside, so he closed the door again. As much as it stung him, he had to make the decision: He ran back to the bridge and shouted "Surface! Immediately! We have to abandon ship!" The crew obediently flipped the switches which would empty the ballast tanks. [3] He did not come a moment too soon: the power went out moments after he set the sub on a course for the surface, leaving the crew in the dark. Not long thereafter the Wolfpack emerged lifelessly at the surface, its interior beginning to fill with smoke. The crew evacuated to the deck, eagerly looking for a way off the ship. It would not be long before the core would begin to melt down. Continued at
The Battle at Sea.
Urist Mc Dwarf had a head start on the fleet, not in a Submarine, but a Salamander: his Poison Salamander [5] included tear gas canisters, and a flamethrower as the main weapon. So armed, he charged directly at the ship carrying El Presidente, perhaps hoping to catch him in an evacuation. He has deployed from a larger Forenian ship already at sea, placing him somewhat closer than the submarines leaving from the shore. Continued at
The Battle at Sea.
Andres watched the Arstotzkan flag fly over the ministry! Ten long years he had waited to see it in a place of pride again. Not flying humbly from a stolen ship, only to be lowered in fear when another ship draws near, not sitting below the Vlanladosian flag, not sitting below the United Forenian flag, but reigning supreme over all! It was time for one last radio broadcast before setting out:
Forenia shall fall! Arstotzka shall rise once more! We conquered Forenia once and we can do so again! Join me, my fellow countrymen, and place our glorious nation back into ascendance! For peace! For prosperity! For Arstotzka!
Glory to Arstotzka!
With is loyalists behind him and the road to the Armory in front of him, he shouldered his weapon. [6] He was immensely proud of the AS-RG45. Those UF PAROI scum would be jealous. It was a large, heavy, rifle-like weapon, but instead of bullets, it fired 30mm micro-HEAT rockets. The fact that the rockets continued to accelerate after leaving the gun was the only way a mortal man could handle shooting a projectile that of that size and energy. It looked like a weapon built for a giant, its box magazine was bigger than some peoples' guns. It would be enough to make a mockery of what those Forenians had built while they spited Arstotzkan spirit. Now a group of Cannalan raiders had reached the ministry, it was time to lead them to victory, with any loyal Arstotzkans he could find on the way. Then, his radio spoke up with someone else's voice:
“Comrades of Arstotzka!
Aha! More to join the fight!
Today, the enemies, both old and new, are plotting the destruction of our country! I have credible information that there is a Cannalan plot to not only destroy the Continentalist regime, but also kill Arstotzkans, so that there would be no one opposing their oppression!
What? Lies!
We would be exchanging a treacherous regime for another regime! They are using a puppet who has not been in the country for years now, cowardly hiding while the true patriots have suffered at home! This cannot stand! You need to take up arms you have at home and go stop them from killing your fellow Arstotzkan in a trap they set up at Armoury, but most importantly, you need to make the madman Andres stop polluting the rightful Arstotzkan clay with his existence, and I shall lead you towards those goals! Goyrl to Arstotzka! Death to oppressors! Follow me to victory!”
So the rebellion is split then. He recognized that voice: even Kot, one of the greatest old Arstotzkans, had become a continentalist. ...no matter. If they stand in the way... they get the rockets. Not only did Andres' weapon shoot rockets, but the Cannalan APCs had rockets, and biggest of all, some of his men had been given radar target designators for Cannalan cruise missiles. That was a lot of rockets. Continued at
The Battle for the Armory.
Powder Miner AKA Nader Jabal (Sensei recommends you read his original post!) prepared to find Andres, and kill him. He was already clad in his Rabid Tiger Armor Mk II, because he didn't trust anyone well enough to take his armor off except to sleep, in the safety of his own fortified, booby-trapped home. [1] It was cumbersome armor, only somewhat improved from its original 1935 form. He had attached a shotgun to one forearm, and an AS-AR34 with an extended magazine in the other, plus carrying a Horsekiller II on his back (more specifically, an "Al-Fahad Home and Safety Firearms Inc. Horsekiller Mk II Anti-Material/Pirate .60 Rifle"). He had originally planned to create two copies, for his fellow engineers, but the thought struck him- what if THEY betrayed him? No, he had to keep the Rabid Tiger Armor for himself. It was his edge, his advantage, anybody could backstab him and he needed it for himself alone. Before even leaving his home, he heard Kot's radio broadcast: a trap at the armory. Okay, going straight for Andres was foolish. Powder Miner, however, knew how to lay a better trap than anyone.
New plan. He would strike the Arstotzkans from the rear. [1] He couldn't find any of his Forenian Independence Party men nearby- why was that? Oh yeah, they went to some celebration. Powder Miner wouldn't be seen there of course, too many prying eyes, too many guns, maybe even some Cannalans! He would simply have to hope on meeting up with some fellow engineers on the way. Continued at
The Battle for the Armory.
Light Forger drove a sputtering Tiger Truck up the twisting roads outside the city, a huge veiled trailer in tow. Under that veil was his weapon. It was a good weapon. But, he was not going to use it. The truck trundled up to the gates of an airstrip situated well uphill from Forenia's capitol. Nervous guards behind sandbags leveled machine guns at him. "Hey! Buddies! Take it easy there." Gunfire and explosions echoed up into the hills from the city below. "My identification." He showed his papers identifying himself as a national weapons engineer. That could get you into most military compounds without further questions being asked, as well as some of the most exclusive clubs. The guard shouted: "Open the gate!" Light Forger brought his payload up next to a hangar. There were more guards here, and they were more serious. He stepped out of the truck, walked to the door, and flashed his ID. "Not so fast!" said a guard with dark sunglasses. "Tereshkova says she doesn't want to be disturbed." "Especially by you, again," added the other guard, a Moskurger whose Russian was poor. The first continued, "She said NOT to let anyone in unless-" "I have a new plane!" The guards looked at each other. They looked at the veiled trailer. "Fine. But just don't-" Light Forger ran through the door. "Tereshkova! Oh my god, oh my god OHMIGOD I'm SO happy to see you in person again!" "I- uh-" "...and, I'm SO SORRY about last time! I promise it won't happen again!" "Guards! Why'd you let him in here?" "He has a plane, miss." Light Forger saluted over-enthusiastically and led her outside, unhooked the veil from the trailer, and pulled it from the plane with a dramatic flourish. [5] The UFAF-ASF 'Invictus' was glorious to behold. It was a twin-engined fighter built of Titanium and Aluminum, coated in black radar-absorbing paint. Its silhouette is broken up by its sole, dedicated weapon: the "Infernace" gatling cannon, an electrically driving 20mm rotary gun with five barrels, sitting on a radar-controlled mount which rotates by up to 30 degrees. It was the last argument to prove once and for all that missiles will never surpass the capabilities of dogfighting with guns. Tereshkova phased out the sound of Light Forger's voice as he listed off every single feature and how he designed it. Simply soaked in its beauty.. "I'll fly it." "Oh, and I brought some cans of spray paint! There's this whole civil war thing going on and I wanted to choose whatever side YOU choose because you're just the best, so I didn't paint an emblem on it just yet!" Tereshkova thought about admonishing him for his lack of patriotism, but somehow, she couldn't bring herself to do it. "...give me the purple spray paint." She set about hastily painting Forenian emblems on the craft, and prepared for takeoff. As the jet sat on the runway, turbines humming, Light Forger ran up to her just before she got the canopy closed: "Wait! One last thing!" "YEAH?" Tereshkova shouted over the sound of the plane." "Can I have your autograph?" Tereshkova handed him a patch with a United Forenian star-and-swords in front of a pair wings. Written on it was "KATERINA TERESHKOVA - GENERAL - UNITED FORENIAN AIR FORCE". She had a pocket full of them. Light Forger stepped back and watched her take off.
ConscriptFive (Sensei recommends you read his original post!) has spent a while funneling money away by embezzling from prototype projects. He's built himself a ticket out of Forenia: The UFAF-MTA-45 Shepard Airliner, a Reckless Effect fitted with various luxury features. [3] Notably, the bed made from "luxurious Trustfall parachute silk" is stiff, scratchy, and uncomfortable, but the more important part: a crate of gold bars, stashed away in the plane's cargo, is real. It's painted in orange and black stripes, which mark it as a hospital plane, hopefully a better defense mechanism than any guns or flares. His plan was originally to gather some willing women from the civilian shelter and party the whole flight out of Forenia, but instead he found dozens of scared children, and decided at the last minute to have them fly out of the country instead. Staying in Forenia with only an antique Five-Shooter, he hopes for the best.
Kashyyk has equipped himself with his UF-MGL45 "Jackrabbit", a revolver-type grenade launcher which holds six 40mm shells. [2] He didn't have a lot of time to put the finishing touches on before battle, but he hoped the straightforward design would still work well.. He left his house to find his friends, Nader "Powder" Miner and Taricus. Nader was supposed to be here by now, and with a set of armor to share. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumbling: there was an enormous tank rolling down the street, and a man out the top hatch was waving at him.
Tarik 'Taricus' Karim (Sensei recommends you read his original post!) rolled up in front on Kashyyk's house in his UF-MBT-45 Demolisher tank. "Missed me?" he shouted down to Kashyyk. From another hatch emerged Ryoichi Haru Sato, an expatriate Juraki engineer and good friend of his, who slapped the top of the tank and declared with a thick accent, "Look what we built!" [5] The tank was massive; its 120mm cannon was practically an artillery piece and it roared with twin engines necessary to propel its obscenely thick composite armor and ERA plating. Kashyyk climbed aboard. [2] Behind him were a couple trucks, all he could rally on short notice of his old National Forenian Peoples' Party buddies. "Come on, let's go find Powder Miner!" Continued at
The Battle for the Armory.
Olith McHuman, using uranium refinement techniques developed by Forenians working on another project, had perfected what the Forenian radar system was originally meant to be: a true Death Ray, like in the science fiction books! [6] The RDN-45 Actual Death Ray is two masses of uranium in a box with a window, equipped with a lever to push them together and spray atomic particles at anybody standing on the wrong end. Olith himself was somewhat protected by a lead-lined Tiger Armor suit. Not only will it probably Marie-Curie anybody in front of it, it also made the doorknob too hot to touch when he tried it out. Onward, for Arstotzka, and for Science! Olith had already met up with Andres, and joined in the revolutionary party. Continued at
The Battle for the Armory.
Raafat "Evicted Saint" Al-Hayim (Sensei recommends you read the original post!) sat in the pilot seat of a Reckless Effect transport plane. Even as the plane was taking off, he took a moment to write in his notebook. The Great Raafat Al-Hayim didn't become Forenia's most famous author without taking inspiration from everything he did in his life, and this was a pretty exciting experience. Well, sabotaging "Chief Waffles", Forenia's other up-and-coming writer, by suggesting he include "stealth tanks" (what a stupid idea!) in his book about covert warfare also helped Raafat become Forenia's most famous author. But, the notes were good too. Raafat barely pulled the plane above the trees, and he was pretty sure he heard them scraping the undercarriage of the plane as they went by... is what he wrote in his notebook. "Hey Nikita?" "Yah?" "You ever hear of an overloaded plane hitting the trees on takeoff? Or like, scraping the tops?" "No way! We building airstrips on high ground for good reason! Like the one we took off of, was up of a big hill, you could lose altitude after takeoff and still not hitting any trees. This was one of Tereshkova's ideas, we build like that whenever it possible." Nikita looked at the instruments and carefully guided the plane to his desired heading and altitude from the co-pilot seat. A minute or so passed in silence while Raafat continued to write, before Nikita spoke up again in his flawed Arabic. "Now listenings. You can land this?" "Hell no! I can't even drive a stick. Without those hydra-matics I'd be stranded to be honest. You know, my father always said that horses were good enough..." "Listen! If you not flying, you fighting, so stop your pen-writing and get a parachute like everyone else!" Raafat picked up a parachute in his hands and looked at it: his own creation, the Trustfall Mk II. [4] "Right, I'm pretty confident it's good enough to carry basically anything and steer while falling too, but... I'd still rather not use it? Like, just in case?" "Coward! I will tell twenty people to trust life to this parachuting in one moment, and it's not good enough for you?" "Well, you see-" Raafat did not get to complete his sentence, because Nikita opened the escape hatch and threw him out by the collar of his shirt. Raafat hadn't actually had time to strap on his parachute, so he clung to it for dear life. Now in freefall, he watched a bunch of armed, somewhat intoxicated ministers drop out of the Reckless Effect's cargo door while the plane grew further and further away. He had a moment to think, and he thought to himself: "Shit." Continued at
The Battle for the Armory.
NAV had spent his time raising tigers. Nothing to do with a Tiger's Roar or Tiger's Whisper radio, or Tiger Armor or Tiger Trucks or Tiger Tanks- literal fucking orange and black striped members of Panthera Tigris. No, not the Moskurg night club by the same name: actual tigers. [3] They are reasonably well trained, although plans to arm the tigers with Tiger Tiger Armor haven't worked. When any armor is actually attached to them, they usually arch their backs, begin yowling uncontrollably, and walk around backwards bumping into things, becoming increasingly combative as time goes on - sometimes you just have to wait until they collapse of exhaustion before you can remove the armor, and Nav has the scars to prove it. He had, however, successfully trained them to hunt and kill anyone or anything which smells of rum. Perhaps the old tales of tigers naturally knowing who was an enemy of Moskurg were true. [2] He drove the truck into the warzone preparing to release his tigers, but didn't get very close before accidentally driving the vehicle into a crater and getting stuck. Oh well, time to release the tigers. NAV unlocked all the cages and, limping, fled the battlefield. The tigers bounded off in seemingly random directions. Hopefully that works out well.
Kot (Sensei recommends reading his original post!) hadn't built a prototype weapon. No - he had dedicated his time to the NEMO project, and had instead chosen a few weapons from his museum of a home. He rode out now on an ancient motorcycle with rockets attached, wearing a dashing old-style parade uniform and outdated armor, armed only with an AS-SP30 pistol and an AS-RPG28A. Kot, the single most outspoken Arstotzkan Nationalist living in Forenia, was not a part of the rebellion. Nothing could forgive Andres for selling out the rebellion to Cannala. [6] Already his radio broadcast was having an effect:
“Comrades of Arstotzka! Today, the enemies, both old and new, are plotting the destruction of our country! I have credible information that there is a Cannalan plot to not only destroy the Continentalist regime, but also kill Arstotzkans, so that there would be no one opposing their oppression! We would be exchanging a treacherous regime for another regime! They are using a puppet who has not been in the country for years now, cowardly hiding while the true patriots have suffered at home! This cannot stand! You need to take up arms you have at home and go stop them from killing your fellow Arstotzkan in a trap they set up at Armoury, but most importantly, you need to make the madman Andres stop polluting the rightful Arstotzkan clay with his existence, and I shall lead you towards those goals! Goyrl to Arstotzka! Death to oppressors! Follow me to victory!”
People listened. Citizens of Forenia, Citizens of Arstotzka, many of them didn't care what they were: they all agreed Cannalans were the enemy, and they could see Andres and his party fighting alongside them. Kot rode through the city, taking a snaking path towards the sounds of gunfire to hopefully drive past as many of the Arstotzkan rebel groups that were breaking out as possible. The little flags on his hat waved gloriously behind him. He drove past a group of people in red uniforms. "Death to the Cannalans! Death to the traitors!" The next group he drove past cheered him on. "Death to the Cannalans, death to the traitors!" This time it was not Kot speaking but a chorus of men, perhaps a hundred or more. When he stopped to look behind him, he was shocked by just how many people had begun to follow him, taking the direct path to the armory while he had snaked through the city gathering people. The street was crowded, there were some AS-T34's and even a couple Bjorns. It appears the Kot family has quite the knack for gaining support. The fighting was just a few streets down, now. Continued at
The Battle for the Armory.
stabbymcstabstab was putting the finishing touches on his UF-RFT-1945 "Liquidizer" when he heard the sound of bombs falling. His workshop was a safe distance away from the design bureau itself, and from the city proper. Considering the level of danger involved in normal Forenian engineering, it had taken a very insidious idea indeed to warrant being sequestered away: in an old shed, far away from anything else flammable, Stabby poured uranium powder into a fresh batch of napalm. The Liquidizer was a uranium-infused flamethrower, mounted to a set of lead-lined tiger armor to, hopefully, protect its user from ambient radiation. A large compressor whirred as it forced the maximum payload possible into two highly pressurized tanks attached to the back of the armor. Stabby strapped himself in, kicked down the door to the rusty shed which held his equipment, and fired a test burst, which dropped liquid flames almost thirty meters ahead of him. [1] As he closed the valve, the hose from the storage tank leaked and spurted a jet of radioactive napalm up and into the light fixtures. This promptly ignited, and the Liquidizer as well as all the equipment used in its creation ignited as well. This included reserve chemical tanks for mixing napalm. The entire facility went up in a fireball which could be seen for miles around. Later, stabbymcstabstab's death was recorded as being caused by a large Cannalan bomb.
auzewasright has a truly preposterous contraption, the UF-HT-45 'Boomer', an armored hovercraft. [6] The vehicle is powered by two jet engines, one of which serves the sole purpose of keeping the hover skirt inflated (and reversing the hovercraft with an extra outlet) while the other thrusts and maneuvers. It is clad in Light titanium-steel armor, but despite this, and its hover platform, it's as heavy as a medium tank. Much that weight is its armaments: it's armed with three Velociraptor autocannons, one front-facing and one on each side, with about a 100 degrees of rotation each, and then topped off with a turret mounting a pair of Sarukh rocket tubes. It has a wide base and is crowded inside with the various weapon positions and space taken up by the jet ducts. There's even (partial) ERA coverage, and a "targeting computer" which is just a static heads up display with range markings. It's overloaded by any measurement as a hovercraft, presenting a large target and, of course, not capable of traversing rubble. Yet, it moves. Auze moves to join the most concentrated fighting, hoping to pick off an enemy leader. Continued at
The Battle for the Armory.