Infinitos Mundos

Lt. Andrews sits tense in his stuffy and hot cockpit as the B-7 Cavalier Constellation pierces through the sky at more than 3 times the speed of Sound. As atmosphere vaporizes against the hull of the aircraft it creates a red glow from heat along the nose section, a scene that would be described as beautiful in a different context. More concerned with the incoming confederate aircraft than the scenery at 70,000 feet, Lt Andrews asks the escort flight leader for an update. Seconds later comes a radio reply from one of the 8 escorting EF/A-14 Crow's, this one named Good Vibrations and flown by Lt. Col. Kent. "Tally 7 bandits, 097 for 77, Angles 70" Lt. Andrews sighed, with the current path being flown by both parties, it was clear the Mig-31's had committed to the only possible intercept course that could be flown in these conditions, with the bandits lining up directly nose on nose, current 77 nautical miles apart. While 77 nautical miles is within the hypothetical max range of the AAM-2 Longbow missiles carried inside the EF/A-14, it was still beyond the max hypothetical range of the Confederate aircraft weapons. Despite this advantage, ROE's for this mission limited Andrews and his flight to only firing once the enemy has first engaged in hostilities, which nullified, in part, the tactical options of the air wing, range advantage after all was core to the fighting docterine of the Aerospace force. The silence was broken by a new voice, a short radio message from the Radar Intercept Officer in the rear seat ofGood Vibrations.

"Captured 8, 101 for 55, angles 71". It was times like these Andrews was reminded of the limitations of his aircraft, despite the B-7 being the most expensive combat aircraft ever built, and being exceptionally capable in its mission, it was a bomber, not a fighter, and in the next few minutes, his role would be that of glorified bait. A thought that was confirmed by sudden ding of his aircrafts Radar Warning receiver, informing him that he was being painted by an air search radar to his due east between 90 and 110 degrees, almost certainly the air search radar installed on board the Mig-31's roughly 55 nautical miles off his nose, and closing within a few nautical miles of the maximum range on their heavy duty "bomber killers" carried under their wings. In a few seconds that beeping turns into a constant high pitch buzzing alarm, telling Andrews that a fire control radar was now pointing it's radar and emitting at his Bomber. Andrews clenched as he prepared to engage in an evasive turn and burn manuver, waiting only for a que form his escorts intercept officer, listening to the static on the radio and the buzzing RWR system as if his life depended on it.

"Heater, Heater, Heater, Tally 8 Heaters inbound." Comes over the radio from the RIO onboard Good Vibrations . Andrews immediately turns his six engined supersonic bomber upside down and opens the afterburner to its second stage, with the other B-7 following tightly on his right wing, both aircraft deploy 72 flares and 48 charges of Chaff, as the aircraft turns at a rate of 11 DG/sec it exerts 6.5 g's of force on the aircraft, leading the edge of Andrews vision to tunnel as he listens over the radio to maintain situational awareness, the radio now is a flury of information. Andrews listens as each of the Eight pilots flying the 8 escorting Crow's call "Fox-3, single" before those aircraft deploy their own countermeasures, the radar intercept officer on the lead fighter once again calls out incoming "Spike, Spike, Tally 16" informing the group that in addition to the 4 incoming R-40 super heavy air to air missiles, are an additional 8 long range R-33's.

The R-33's are more lethal and dangerous, being more able to hit a maneuvering target, however, those semi active guided missiles are fired at the EF-14's, and thus the immediate concern for Andrews and his fellow B-7 wingman is to survive the long range heat seaking R-40's. By turning around and reducing altitude the 3 remaining missiles in pursuit (as 1 had gone after flares), now must pass through denser air to chase the target, Given the speed of the B-7's and the speed of the missiles in chase, an intercept course will now be hundreds of miles, far in excess of the capabilities for the missile to achieve, as a result, none do, with the last missile splashing into the ocean before the B-7's start to climb back to altitude and turn north. The EF/14's have a very different challange the semi active missiles approaching them reach terminal speeds quickly and are not easily confused by flares or chaff, while electronic counter measures confuse a few, the Migs guiding those missiles launch a second pair that home on jam, in this fight, the EF/A-14's will need to outlive the Migs pursuing them, while the Mig-31's have to point their nose at a target to shoot a semi active missile and guide it, the AAM-1 Active Radar missiles fired by the Crows have no such limitation, meaning that as the mig-31's continue to guide their R-33's towards the Crows they are chasing, they are also flying towards incoming missiles, while the Crows themselves are flying away from the missiles pursuing them, furthermore, the R-33 only can chase a target as long as its receiving guidance guidance from the launch aircraft, which means if the Migs are nocked out, their missiles fall harmlessly into the ocean.

With the AAM-1 and R-33 possessing nearly the same average speed of Mach 4, and the EF/A-14's running away at Mach 3.2, and the Mig-31's pursuing at Mach 2.5, the closing speed of the AAM-1 is Mach 5.7 towards the Migs, and only Mach 1 towards the EF/A-14's. Approximately 38 seconds after the first missile was fired by the first Mig-31, the first 2 kiloton thermonuclear warhead, carried by a AAM-1 Longbow, detonates. 7 more follow over the next 3 seconds. All eight mig-31's are destroyed in the shock waves. Lt Andrews turns around to see the white balls of plasma nearly 40 miles behind his aircraft where the Mig-31's had previously been. The 8 R-33's which had been in the air, now without guidance from their launching aircraft, fly straight paths untill their engines run out of fuel and they fall into the ocean. In the engagement the escorting flight of EF/A-14's suffered a single loss from an aircraft that had been hit by an R-40, this missile had passed through a cloud of flares deployed by the bomber flight, when it started looking for new IR signatures, it detected at low altitude an EF/A-14 that was already slow from turning around to run from incoming Migs, and had acquired and hit the vulnerable aircraft. The pilot and RIO where killed upon impact.

The group of 9 aircraft, now 2 B-7's and and 7 EF-14's turn towards Miami and return to altitude and speed. Four F/A-18 Raiders also head towards Miami, but at an altitude of 30 meters and airspeed of Mach 1.5, these aircraft will approach from the South as a seperate flight, at these low altitudes, radar cannot see them beyond the horizon due to the curvature of the earth, they are only visible in visual range or by airborne radar looking down over the horizon.

Following the Japanese Marines boarding and seizing the Confederate merchant ships, national news media quickly picks up the story about the abysmal treatment that the laborers aboard these vessels suffered, with graphic images showing the scarring and mutilation they suffered being aired on primetime news television. Special care is made to tend to the psychological damage as best as possible Almost like clockwork, editorial pieces begin coming out in Japanese, Korean, and Philippine newspapers, radio shows, and magazines outright calling for a Japanese intervention in the Caribbean, requested or not.

The captains and non-slave crew aboard the seized merchant ships are all arrested and, due to a technicality under the Japanese Constitution, are subject to Japanese Military Law. Each of the vessels have their crews tried under a different court martial. The crew of the vessels are sentenced quickly, with their sentence being a prison term equal to the combined age of the slaves aboard their vessel plus fifty years for the following crimes:
1. Aiding and abetting human trafficking
2. Involuntary servitude
3. Forced labor
4. Aggravated Assault.

The trials for captains and officers aboard these merchant vessels take considerably longer, as the courts martial bring forward the potential sentence of capital punishment. Due to this, technicalities within the Japanese Constitution require a civilian oversight committee to monitor the trial.

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The Japanese Navy and Marines are ordered to full readiness by His Imperial Majesty Akihito, and vessels already at sea are ordered to begin forming into their wartime surface action groups. Prime Minister Ohira reaches out to the Californian embassy in Tokyo, seeking permission to base Japanese aircraft out of Californian airbases in Arizona.

The Japanese Army and Air Force begin a partial mobilization, and are ordered to make their equipment ready for transport by air and sea.

Similar sanctions and embargos are levied against the nations of South Africa and Rhodesia once news of volunteer forces heading to the Confederacy reaches Tokyo.

The Führer, unnerved by the continued escalation of the Caribbean theater begins moving all forces to wartime readiness. All previous service members up to the age of 35 are getting knocks at their doors to be sent to refresher boot. Those who are able to go to combat are folded into the military.

**Another +150,000 troops are going through redeployment by the end of the day.**

**The Argentinisches Reich will start to round up all Confederate, South African, and Rhodesian nationals on the grounds of "Planned unrest and Terrorist Plots". The Navy and Coast Guard will also start seizing Confederate merchant ships. Freeing any slaves and taking any Officers as Political Prisoners.**

** The Argentinisches Reich joins in the growing list of nations in the embargoing of the Confederacy and their allies.**

After a long transit the Pacific Fleet, comprised First Naval Squadron, supported by the First and Second Destroyer Divisions, and the Seventh Cruise Force, enter the Caribbean theater. Approximately 90 nmi south of Puerto Rico the group dispersed into two task forces, both heading into the Gulf of Mexico, Task force Western heads to the West section of the gulf and Task Force Strong heads North towards a position 120 nmi southwest of Florida.

A high ranking South African Christian by the name of Desmond Tutu would smuggle a letter to Carthage from a prisoner in South Africa named Nelson Mandela. This letter would comment on the state of affairs in South Africa, reminding the Carthaginians of the plight of the blacks, and that if anger is held against the Confederates, then it must also be held against the South Africans, or the democracies of the world are little more than hypocrites. Mandela's letter would also contain a statement calling for self-governance of the blacks in the Confederation, stating that if the other nations just conquer the land in order to 'free' the blacks, then they are no better than the Confederates, and would be just enslaving them under a different name. It would also include a comment from Tutu, stating that he supports an economic boycott of South Africa, and stating that just because South Africa is in Africa, does not mean that their plight is any less important than those of the blacks in the Confederation. The letter finishes by encouraging an increase in public awareness, and sanctions against the South African government. The Carthaginians are asked to share the letter publicly.

Carthage would publish the letter, condemning the Apartheid Government of South Africa. Carthage would already have enacted sanctions on South Africa, Rhodesia, and the Confederacy decades ago due to their deplorable racial hierarchy system. However, Carthage would reiterate their commitment to these sanctions and call on any nations which have not already done so, to enact them.

The Atomic Alliance would issue a travel ban against the Confederate States of America, any Confederate Citizens attempting to enter the Alliance would be turned around and those within would be instructed to board the next available flight to return home. Meanwhile, the Atomic Foreign Ministry will contact the Confederate Government to organize flights to bring Atomics home.

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Meanwhile, seeing an escalation of engagements surrounding the Confederate region, the Atomic Triad will begin to ready 2 SI-12's for the operation to gather more intelligence on the Confederates, they will be equipped with a Signals and Electronics Bay along with a High Power Camera to take photos of Confederate Installations. The SI-12s will be departing from Shilo



The Alliance will contact the @Confédération de l'Ohio to request permission to operate through their airspace toward the Confederacy

None of the pilots in the MiG's would have a chance to do much, due to their speeds, and are quickly destroyed by the explosions. One would try to send a warning, but would be too late. All the Confederate high command would know is that they failed and were destroyed. Aware of the 9 aircraft heading for Miami, the government makes the decision to pull out their aircraft and troops before it is too late, and the 24 planes located there (mostly MiG-31's) would take to the sky, whilst the troops (~15,000) are loaded onto transport planes and sent towards the Nahuatl boarder regions near the Mississippi.

Meanwhile, the ships stationed at Miami, 24 Suffren-class frigate's, 1 Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier, and 12 Type 205 submarine's take to sea to intercept the newly arrived Californian fleets. Another 24 Suffren-class frigates and 12 Hamburg-class destroyer's take to sea from New Orleans to further reinforce the Confederate navy in the region. There are 24 more Suffren-class frigates and 32 Hamburg-class destroyers still stationed at New Orleans. Patrolling the Gulf of Mexico are 32 more Type 205 submarines. The remainder of the Confederate navy (24 Suffren, 12 Hamburg, and 24 Type 205) are stationed in the harbour at Baltimore.

Broadcast live from Miami, 112 slaves would be executed for "conspiring with the Californian military". The Californians are warned in a coded message that there will be more executions if they do not withdraw immediately.

If anyone was watching, there would be a noticeable movement of slaves towards natural military targets (such as silos, military bases, and runways). No comments would be made about this, and no citizens nor the media would leak it to the outside world.

The planes from South Africa and Rhodesia begin to arrive, mostly landing in the cities of Charlotte and Atlanta. From there the troops would be sent (50/50) north towards the border with Ohio and west towards the border with the Nahuatl. The arrival of the troops would be broadcast across the Confederacy as a form of propaganda. The mobilized Confederate troops begin moving to the Nahuatl and Ohioan borders.

Another 12 MiG-31's would be launched to patrol the northern border with Ohio. For the Ohioan planes continuing south along the Atlantic, as soon as they exit Ohioan airspace, they would be fired upon be a second group of 6 MiG-31's, who would take the same precautions as those attacking the Californian planes.

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In Japan, some of the crew members would protest, stating that they object to slavery but just can't do anything about it, but most would silently accept their fate. Others would plead for more lenient cases, or ask to be sent to work camps instead. The captains and officers would defiantly hold firm that what they had been doing was not wrong, all the way until they are sentenced.

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South Africa and Rhodesia would be shocked by the embargos by the Japanese and Argentinians, but would mostly shrug and weather the embargos as they had been doing for years. Though there would be talks in both governments about a potential easing of their policies, in order to better respond to changing worldwide attitudes. Following these talks, the 1977 proposal to brings coloureds into the government, and to remove restrictions against them, is approved and written into the constitution. [IRL this happened in 1982/3]

Both nations would reiterate their neutrality in the conflict.

The South African fleet of volunteers would currently be somewhere north of the People's Republic of Guyana, a bit over halfway to the Confederates.

Following the publication of Tutu and Mandela's letter, the South African government would clamp down on Mandela's freedoms in prison, and make attempts to arrest Tutu, but can not fully arrest him due to his popularity amongst black Christians in the country. They would, however, take away his passport, and place him under 24/7 surveillance, preventing him from sending any further messages out of the country.

The South African and Rhodesian governments would strongly protest the arrest of their citizens in Argentina, demanding that the political community intervene.

Weary of similar arrest being made elsewhere, the South African and Rhodesian governments strongly urge all citizens in states involved in the crisis to return home.

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All Atomic citizens who were arrested would be put on one-way flights back to Toronto.

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Well aware of the seizures of their vessels by this point, all Confederate ships around the world in potentially hostile waters would be instructed to leave those waters, and then to eliminate any unwanted assets, before returning to safe waters. These mass killings would undoubtably be found out, and shared with the world.

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The Nahuatl government continues the mobilization of their military, and upon seeing the troop buildup along their border, offer to allow up to 50,000 Californian troops to be stationed along their border with the Confederates, if needed.

As soon as Ohioan planes are painted by the MIGs radars, the escorting Epicure EW aircraft would flip on its jamming equipment in order to attempt an escape. Turning back for the border, and reporting their situation as best as able, they accelerate to their best speed of Mach 2.2 and get the hell outta dodge. With this sudden escalation, and the obvious build up of forces on the border, the Confederation begins a general mobilization of the armed forces, federalizing the national guard, and putting Ohions missile defense systems on the highest alert.

Japanese news is dominated for nearly 48 straight hours by the ongoing trials of the captains and crews of the merchant vessels that had been seized. During one particularly heated moment in a Japanese Military Court as one of the crew members is pleading to be sent to a work camp instead of prison, Ittō kaisa (Captain) Ryoko Azuma, the officer presiding over the court martial, says "I understand that you are likely unfamiliar with concepts such as the rule of law or the dignity of the individual, but there are no work camps for us to send you to. Much like the pleas of the people you have kept in bondage and servitude aboard your vessels and within your morally bankrupt nation, your pleas fall on deaf ears. You claim to stand against the practice of slavery, yet there you stood... profiting from the forced labor of people with shock collars on their necks and broken, battered souls. It is my distinct and quite pleasurable honor to introduce you to the modern world. This board of the Japanese Navy hereby sentences you to fifty years, plus sixty five years as the combined age of the servants aboard your vessel. Unlike your archaic and soon-to-be defunct state, you shall be treated humanely, and given all due rights and privileges afforded to inmates under Japanese Constitutional Law."

The sentencing for the captains is similarly covered in the media, with all twelve of them tried in the same court marital by a board headed personally by Admiral Ryō Sakai, Chief of the Maritime Staff. Images of the Admiral's quite visible disgust with the Confederate merchant captains cover the front page of nearly every newspaper in Japan, and his final words to them during the sentencing quickly become a national sensation. His words to them are spoken in near-perfect English, and covered by nearly every major television news network in Japan. "Never before have I been so disgusted by a collection of individuals in my very long career. You have the gall to stand before this board, and the very world, look into the eyes of every soul in Japan and beyond, and feel not a bit of remorse for your actions. I suppose the phrase I learned from our Californian counterparts during my time abroad rings quite true today... the greatest monsters in our world walk on two legs. I believe I speak for all good-natured people in the free world when I say that I desperately wish your punishments could be as drawn out, demeaning, and painful as the ones you have inflicted on your slaves. Instead... you 'gentlemen' have the distinct honor of being the first individuals in nearly forty years to be sentenced to death by firing squad of the Japanese Marines. Get these degenerates out of my sight."

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Upon receiving orders from His Imperial Majesty Akihito, a task force of the Japanese Navy departs from Japanese waters and begins setting sail for North America. The combined fleet is made up of Dai-Ichi Kidō Kantai in its entirety, three full surface action groups and the full submarine flotilla of Chūbu Taiheiyō Hōmen Kantai, and two surface action groups of Hokubatsu Kantai. 75 combat aircraft and a significant chunk of the Japanese tanker fleet also depart from the Home Islands, heading for the territory of California following back-channel agreements between the two nations to allow Japan to base aircraft out of airbases in Arizona. These aircraft include 12x F-15AJ Eagles, 12x F-16AJ "Viper Zeros", 20x F-14J Tomcats, 6x B-52Js, 10x EA-6B Prowlers, 2x Boeing E-3 Sentrys, 10x A-10J Thunderbolt IIs, 3x B-7 Kamikazes, and 2x Tupolev TU-22s. The combined task force is headed for a combination of friendly ports along the mainland Californian coastline, with Dai-Ichi Kidō Kantai making way for the Panama Canal. All vessels in active deployment are ordered to intercept any confederate merchant vessels they discover along their path across the Pacific. The constant air coverage of the fleet's combat air patrol of AV-8 Harriers, P-3 Orions, and SH-60 helicopters would ease this task considerably. Upon contact, any Confederate merchant vessel would be visually identified by aircraft first, then directly contacted by an officer of the fleet. Upon learning of the mass killings being performed by the Confederate merchant fleet thanks to constant updates from their command back on the home islands, any vessels that happen to be encountered in the Pacific would be hunted down and boarded by helicopter-borne Marines with extreme prejudice.

After ordering the deployment of the fleet, His Imperial Majesty Akihito issues a formal ultimatum to the Confederacy to immediately cease all hostilities with Japanese allies in North America. Failure to meet these demands will require Japan to enter the conflict on the side of California.

The two SI-12s departing from Shilo will lift to the sky and quickly ascend to their operational altitude, pushing the throttle to reach Mach 3+. Once the SI-12s reach this operational speed they will make a quick journey over Ohioan territory before entering the Confederate Airspace, the Weapon Systems Operator in the back seat will turn on the Surveillance and Electronics equipment to begin gathering data on the confederacy launch sites and radar installations.



[Signal Intelligence will be searching for RADAR Installations capable of tracking aircraft incoming from the north]
[Survaillence will be capturing photos of these installations along with any nuclear facilities in the northern sector (Silos/Capable Airfields/Visible Launchers)]

A wall of Argentinisches ships have started stopping any South African and Rhodesian ships that head their way.

The Titan Class (Battlecruiser) Flagship
ARN Typhon

2x Mamut Class Destroyers
The ARN Mimas & Porphyrion

That are shadowed by 2x Wolfsverwandte U-boats

The Admiral on the ARN Typhon would attempt to hail the vessels. Upon which she would await a response...

If they do answer and act in a cooperative manner they would be treated with respect and requests an inspection of their cargo. Upon which time a group of 30 Centauro Aquatique Corps Commandos would board the vessel. If there is any military hardware and/or volunteers and they stay cooperative. The equipment would be confiscated and the troops would be told to turn around and head home.

If they refuse the inspection or turn downright hostile they will be treated as such and a warning to turn back will be given. (If not shot at already.) If engaged with heavier weapons that could harm the sailors or ships. The vessels will be sunk, and survivors will become POWs.

The flight of aircraft approaches 200 miles east of Miami airport, from which the Mig-31's which has attacked the group and killed Californian air crew earlier had taken off.

The bay doors on the lead aircraft open and a single AMS-II Trident-Thunderbolt Aero-Ballistic Missile falls out of the bay. As the missile clears the aircraft it's rocket motor ignites, and propells it on a high altitude loft to speeds above Mach 6 and altitudes in excess of 20 miles. After traveling over a hundred miles the missile noses back towards the earth and descends on a ballistic arc towards the runway. The missile accelerates to a terminal velocity of Mach 12 before detonating 250 meters above the runway. The variable yield thermonuclear warhead detonates with a 8 kiloton blast in an airburst, the choice in yield chosen to be sufficient to nullify the runway and destroy stored aircraft at the facility while containing the blast to only the airbase and without harm to urban population centers nearby.

15 minutes later in a public press flash the Department of state confirms that aircraft of the Republic of California engaged and destroyed confederate aircraft who attacked them in international airspace, that a Californian aircraft and it's crew where destroyed in the action, and as a responce the airfield from which the aircraft where based was destroyed. The State department re-iterates that as of now no state of war exists, and described the situation as a "skirmish between forces of the Republic and Confederacy".

President Kennedy will address the nation and the world in a public speach within the hour.

In both a show of goodwill and the prowess of the might of the Soviet Military's elite, the USSR would like to reach out to President Kennedy and the Republic of California for permission to deploy a small number of elite VDV forces and helicopters to California to assist in raid operations on key Confederate sites, operating in tandem with the Californian military.

The Soviet Request is immediately met with enthusiasm form the Kennedy administration, who has been looking forward to future shifts in longstanding Californian policy in regards to the Soviet Union under his new administration. The Soviets are directed to send any forces involved to Moffet Federal Airbase in the Bay Area, Alta California, where they will be briefed in person on their specific tasking and work in coordination with California Republican Army Raiders on a special assignment.

An advance force of two platoons of Japan's elite: the Japanese Army Rangers are deployed in relative secrecy to California ahead of the forces that are currently in-transit via the pacific.

Dai-Ichi Kidō Kantai passes through the Panama Canal and begins making way for the Gulf of Mexico. As they begin passing towards the Gulf, a constant net of ASW helicopters orbit the fleet to scan for any submarines that are shadowing or ahead of the Japanese fleet.