Operation Northern Sword

Operation Northern Sword was a RANGECOM mission to support Reiko Eleythos and other FedState staff in convincing the perennially-neutral Kingdom Anthegalia to join the war as an ally of the ARC. If a full alliance could not be obtained then any martial support possible would be gathered.

After a war council reviewing the current state of USC MARCS-ship positions and the political difficulties of the Senate's call for a white coalition for an Artheniapolis Defense Force, Secretary Reiko Eleythos gathered the following units for inclusion in Operation Northern Sword:

• RANGECOM Actual (Conell John "C.J." "Paladin" Bishop)
• Eagle Squad
• Klayr "Nocturne" Kyris
• Kraken Squad
• Lynnis "Lion" Utherson
• Seraph Squad

At the insistence of Tyr Eleythos, Reiko would also be bringing her newborn son Uthyr so that she could seek asylum if the ARC were to fall before her return.

The ranger Serenity was initially scheduled to stay behind to help with MARCS-ship intel analysis, but was contacted by Lucius Titus of the USC. The communication was purely personal in nature but the contact led to suspicion around Serenity to the point that she felt time away from RANGECOM warranted. She would journey as a field member of Seraph Squad instead of her usual combat controller role.

Since the onset of the civil war, Anthegalia has closed all lines of communication with the outside world, including the usual networks used for diplomatic communication. After the formation of the UFPF, Reiko started sending regular messages explaining the federation's position and asking for a re-establishment of diplomatic ties. During Lucius Titus's MARCS-ship speech she finally got a reply - a simple binary message that indicated Lat/Long coordinates to Adavel. Adavel is a small island south east of the main island of Anthia, and by most sea routes the nearest island to Agathos. For centuries it was home to the only port of entry for foreign ships, and also allowed small Umerick and Agathonian colonies throughout the years. It's home to around 15 thousand people and acted as a customs port before full isolation policies went into effect.

The goal of the operation was to invoke Article 2 of the Free Peoples Alliance charter that Anthegalia signed in AE 214. This is the unified defense article that should bring Anthegalia into war against the USC. While the treaty was signed with the old, defunct, Republic of Agathos, Reiko planned to argue that the spirit of the treaty should be kept, as various defense treaties between the Angthegals and Arthenians go back centuries. There were also unsolved mysteries surrounding references to an Anthegalian secret project “Kalasfird” in old republic documents, but the main objective was to achieve martial support not technological.

Ostensibly bringing along the rangers along for security, they were in reality to limit the damage should Reiko fail. They were to beg, borrow, or otherwise obtain anything of value from the Anthegals, even it was just securing an expeditionary force from an EB'G marquis, or a vital piece of intelligence.

Launching from the middle of a freezing rainstorm with a tilt-thrust aircraft with cloak paneling, mission forces reached the island of Adavel without setback. Upon arriving, however, they found no tower signals to use for communication, or any other network signals at that. A heavy mist surrounded the main island of Anthia which would usually be in sight from Adavel. The pilot recommended a ranger scouting party to the island while the rest of the team waited for an all-clear signal.

Seraph squad volunteered to act as scouts, and after a combat touch-and-go-landing secured the runway to find it intentionally damaged, but otherwise abandoned. All non-public areas were locked and power was out across the island. Signs indicated it had been several months or years since the island was abandoned, and in the fields outside of the main town there were ruined farmsteads indicating this was not the first time abandonment had occurred.

After giving the all clear the rest of the expedition disembarked, and they set off for the coordinates. At the appointed spot they found themselves on one side of the town plaza, at the foot of a large monorail station that had a line running into the mist toward Anthia. The group found the station was the only building with working power, and that an unmanned monorail car was waiting to receive them. After boarding the monorail it departed automatically. After some time the car cleared the mists and rolled into the station in Anglestad, the City of Angels.