This Week's Action Planning

I will let you adlib... you actually sound cool when you're doing it.

My position on the Turkmen is that we get the clarity you suggested on all tribes being part of the deal... not one specific. If any Turkmen attackes Minervan troops then they are all out of the deal. But yeah, I forget what book I was reading where the police forces were all kinda from another region... it kept the corruption out of the local police force... I would strive for something like that... Also... the anti-rads and other medicines... lets make them patches... patches that happen to have GPS transmitters and microphones on them... and then lets setup an AI to monitor it for subversive discussions/movements etc...

With the russians, I say if they don't at least pause, we rain a s***load of fire on them, and then use that as propaganda for the other groups... At the very least we force them to completely scatter, stop all base building and such, and go into little 5 man guerrilla squads. At the end of the day in the story we do have to kinda get under seige... so they have to get at least into the yellow/red... at least some of the factions... but we can make it so that by the time they do they are so scattered that we can't efficiently bombard/shell them. I think the Russians are super enjoying this, and they should, we kinda thought this up for them. That said, they are also drastically underestimating what some of our stealth copters, and high flying fixed wings can do. I think they have some RPG's... maybe a few anti air... but our s*** is crazy stealthed and also drones basically... So yeah... I say we can waste them... and over the course of wasting them and a few other factions they will get some lucky shots etc, and we'll lose most of our fixed wings and choppers by the time they get close... but by the time they get close they should all be pretty wasted...

It's probably a little bit of both And yeah, you guys can decide to task some Hawks and etc for reconnasaince. Just tell me

Since this is all technically a simulation/wargame, it only has to effect the comic as much as I want it too

Well, part of it will depend on how the wargame plays out. In comic, there will be a siege, and Tenzin will help bust it. Here, it may turn out differently.

RE the Russian plot for embassy/diplomacy. I'm ok with that, but not at Minerva HQ. They can just meet with an official delegation in one the border towns. That would be my counter offer at least.

I got a couple of questions about the Russian force disposition, the location and strength of the assets we have near the border, and where the Russian's major cities are. If we could task some ISR out to check that, I'm pretty sure we could launch a surprise aerial attack and batter them hard enough to turn our focus to everyone else. They're planning something, and they won't expect an unprovoked assault from us, especially me, because we've pushed the peace process so hard. That's my vote, anyways. We pushed on them diplomatically, and they blinked, so let's hit them while their eyes are closed. Hit them as hard as we can now, using overwhelming force, and keep up some pressure while we push for their surrender.

I didn't figure I'd be able to get away with that in the long term, seeing as how any major movement of men or materials is going to entice the others to start jumping at us. It's more a "get the first punch to make sure you're not the one suckerpunched" kinda deal.

In that case, then;

"You've all seen the intelligence summaries from my division. You've seen the diplomatic feelers we've put out. You know my suggestion. War. Bloodshed. Death. The worst fear, and the dearest wish, of any soldier who stands for a cause greater than himself. We fear, because innocents will die. We fear, for the brothers we will consign to the grave. We fear, because we know that our lives become forfeit.

But we wish for war, a just war, too. We wish, because it allows us to right wrongs. We wish, because it lets us off the leash, lets us protect those who cannot protect themselves. We wish, because some people understand nothing but force, and that is the only language we speak.

There's no argument over the choice between peace and war; but we do no always have that choice. Is life so dear, and peace so sweet, that they are worth the price of chains and slavery? Are we willing to step aside, stand by, and let our enemy burn everything we have worked so hard to create to the ground? Is that we stand for? Have we become so complacent in our ivory towers that we stand unwilling to do what we know in our hearts is right and necessary simply because we're afraid of dirtying our hands?! Is this the Minervan ideal? You will find none- none!- who have fought harder than I for peace, because I understand firsthand the horrors of war.

But I say to you, with every ounce of honesty and urgency in my soul- peace with the Russians are impossible. We can see the storm building, just beyond our fair shores... we can meet that storm now, far from our home, push the storm into their home, their lands, their shores, or wait for it to land on ours. To me, the answer is clear."

Ahmed Singh, 
Address to the Minervan Government