"Greko-Turkish war" or just "Sardine in the can" May 3rd 2006 Morning 10:00 am.

The Greek Prime minister Panos Kamanlis is standing over his desk at the Maximou m ansion (Ministerial Building in the center of Athens-Greece, near the Parliament ) reading the latest reports about the Turkish military provocations over the Ae gean Sea. Just across the room his military advisor George Alkistos along with t he minister of defence Spilos Pilotopoulos and some military officers are waitin g quietly. PM: So what do you make of it Alkistos? Alkistos: Well sir, it is obvious that the Turks are willing to go forward this time with the Oil research in and around our territorial waters in Lemnos (Lemno s is a Greek island in northern Aegean). PM: Do we have any idea has of how far are they willing to go? Pilotopoulos: Our latest communication interceptions as well as some other sources in Turkey indicate that they will try to advance their aggression to levels sim ilar or even greater than the Imia crisis in 1996. PM: But what can they possibly hope to achieve at this point in time? Alkistos: A crisis with Greece at this point in time serves more to them than an y prospect of peaceful co-existence or European Union membership. Their internal social and economical troubles as well as the tension in the Iraqi border with the Kurds has put them on a panic road I m afraid. Air Force officer: Sir, may I interrupt you for a second? PM: Yes, tell me. Air Force officer: We really need you to sign and approve the security measures and readiness initiation of our military. We need to implement the rules of acti on for this one, as they were defined in last months session of the National Sec urity Council, and we need to do it now! PM: Yes, you are right. Give me the papers, I will sign them now. 11:30 am General Abdul Oktsalian of the Turkish General Staff is walking down the narrow concrete corridor of Defence Ministry s Nuclear Bomb Shelter. He has just finished briefing several high-ranking officers about operation Sardine . His thoughts are concentrated to the overall logistics and unknown parameters of the plan, his pl an. If successful Turkey would gain one more small piece of the Aegean Sea control a nd may be force Athens to a total resolution about the Aegean disputes of the la st 40 years. But most of all it will quite down the internal problems of the las t months which threaten the very existence of the Turkish state. It all depends on the Greek politicians chickening out again. They did in the past they will no w. And besides their military officers are completely controllable by politician s so their initiative will be limited. 12:00 Northern Aegean The Turkish research vessel Inonou finally arrived at its destination. The waters were international but the buffer was disputed between Greece and Turkey for ove r 40 years about oil drilling rights. The crew immediately starts preparations f or a series of seismic tests. As they do so a Greek Patrol Boat appears west of their position at 6nm. The captain contacts the Turkish navy Headquarters in a short cut-off way of mes sage The Sardine is in the can . 12:30 Northern Aegean The captain of the Greek PB Armatolos has his ship on alert for the past several h ours, ever since he received orders to monitor the movements of Inonou . His comman

ds were very specific: Monitor and report, in no way intervene unless instructed to my headquarters. Right now he starts to wonder how will this cat and mouse g ame end. 16:00 Aksaz naval station Turkey Inside the communications room of the naval base the Turkish officer in charge i s waiting in anxiety. Outside almost thirty ships from frigates to patrol craft have been preparing fo r departure. Suddently the phone rings. He picks it up. A voice on the other end say s The Sardi ne is in the can, go shopping . He hangs up and runs to the intercom of the base. He yells, Go shopping. I repeat , Go shopping. This is not a drill. Go shopping . The naval station is now on a frenzy of all kinds of activity. All ships are beg inning to depart from their parking spaces and one after the other start to exit the port. 16:45 Rhodes Island Greek Naval Observation Post -Sir! -What is it sailor? -I think you should see something on radar, sir! -Ok, I am coming in a minute sailor. -I think you should come now sir! The commanding officer goes over the radar screen. What he sees makes him stair and wonder for a while. -How many sailor? -At least twenty sir, but there might be more coming out later, and I can t tell a nything about possible submarines exiting as well -Do they have an exercise or something we don t now about? -No sir, I checked before calling you. -****! Call headquarters at Salamis now!!! Also alert the Gunship near Kasos Isl and to change course and try to monitor their movements and someone please find where the hell is our ESM controller. I want all we can get by our equipment tra nsmitted to fleet HQ asap. Suddenly everything goes black. -What happened? -Sir we lost power all over the post, we have no power to run equipment and rada r or communicate outside the Island. I think we have been sabotaged! The commanding officer runs outside to a near tavern by the beach. He rushes ins ide and asks the tavern owner if they have power, he says to him no. Then he che cks his mobile. Thank god for mobile telephony it has signal and so he immediatel y starts dialling the number of the Fleet HQ. 17:00 Eskisehir 1st Air Command HQ The base is already sealed off. The personnel are already on alert. Four F16 s ful ly armed are on 2 minute alert on the edge of the runway. The rest of the planes are getting ready 17:20 Salamis Naval Station (Greek Navy Fleet HQ) An adjutant is running like hell down the corridors of the Fleet HQ building. He storms inside the office of the Fleet Commander without even knocking the doo r. Fleet Commander Nik Dim astonished by this behaviour is ready to explode. - Sorry sir, but it is dead urgent!!! - What is it adjutant? - Sir, we just received a call from the commanding officer of our Naval post in Rhodes, with some very disturbing information about movements of the Turkish fle et over the southeastern Aegean! - A call? What do you mean a call? - A phone call sir, he called us from his mobile. - What? Why the hell didn t he use the military communication channels of the post

? - It appears that the power generation in Rhodes is down due to unknown reasons, possible sabotage sir! - Sabotage, for god boy be more specific, what did he say? - Almost the entire Turkish fleet stationed in Aksaz is out of port deploying in the Aegean or is getting underway. They managed to detect around twenty units o f all types just before their equipment went down. But they cannot estimate curr ent positions and destination. The admiral stood for a second without saying anything, his mind went to the mee ting he had a few weeks ago at the General Staff HQ in Athens. Back then they we re suspecting something will happen just by looking at the reports of the Turkis h provocations, but now it was actually happening, but what exactly? - Sound General quarters! Get my staff in the OC on the double, I want all ships in port to get underway and ready to receive orders. All leaves are recalled. W e are going into combat readiness immediately. 17:40 OC Greek Fleet HQ Salamis. Admiral: Good Evening mr Pilotopoulos (Defence minister), I guess the rest of th e military leadership is with you at the General HQ Operations Center? Def.Min: Yes Admiral Nik Dim, just brief us on the current situation. Admiral: I have ordered one of our Gunships near Rhodes to proceed asap to the e stimated position of the Turkish fleet and give us some more information about i ts order of battle. Also a Super Puma of the Air force is underway right now to try and give us a closer live time look of things. We have a couple of Frigates south of Siros and five other patrol units around the Dodecanese, which are all merging to the area. I will have five more frigates and several guided missile fast attack boats unde rway in about one hour and it will take them at least six hours to deploy in ope rationally acceptable distance, but by that time the Turks will have the entire Dodecanese surrounded. Def.Min: What are your estimates Admiral, how should we proceed? Admiral: First things first sir. We establish a clear view of the tactical moves they make, and then we position to start taking the targeting advantage just in case. As you understand I only refer to the navy sir. The other branches should co-ordinate as we have planned since it appears to be a mainly naval crisis dev eloping. Def.Min: Let me pass you over to the Chief of Tactical Air Command at Larissa AF B to brief you Admiral. Air Force Chief: We have initiated alert readiness in all our bases radars and a ir defence installations. We are getting into full combat readiness within the n ext 20-30 minutes. Our ESM data and communication intercepts suggests a huge mob ilization of the Turkish Air Force, but nothing is flying, at least up to the ra nge of our radars, I mean not even the regular daily violations of FIR and airsp ace! At this time my conclusions are that an aerial surprise attack is out of th e question, it will just fail! However we remain vigilant! I already gave order to launch our AWACS in order to get a better picture of the sky and sea. Def.Min: Thank you very much gentlemen, I now want to hear your report General P ankal. Gen.Pankal (Army Commander): Well sir our units in the islands are undermanned a nd over stretched due to the continuous limitations of army service, but they ha ve been alerted and started evacuating their camps a few minutes ago in order to deploy to their combat positions, but it will take at least three hours till th ey are 100% ready. In Evros the same but at least there the percentages are close to 100% and the g round is in our favour. Def.Min: What is happening in Turkey General? General: Their ground units appear to have a defensive posture, but as you know this can be deceiving. We have some reports of Artillery and MLRS batteries posi tioning, and several battalions of Special Forces moving around the Asia Minor c

oastline, but that is all. All major units are in their camps. Let me add though that the same was happening in the Imia back in 1996. -Thank you General and the rest of you gentlemen, we will be in contact later on , I now have to brief the Prime Minister, don t forget we have that other thing in Lemnos going on as well and I hope that they are not connected somehow. 18:00 Turkish Military HQ Ankara In a dark projection room a senior military officer briefs the Turkish military leadership using slides, photos and satellite feeds from Israel as well as UAV s v ideo. - The Sardine is under way for more than six hours now and everything is going as planned. We are combat ready in every aspect and we can counter any Greek respon se to the unfolding of our objectives and actions. As far as we know they have a cted just like we expected, and we can now set in motion the diplomatic part of our plans. By the time they discover the real destination of our fleet it will b e too late. We are now in the position to begin transferring aircraft from the F ar East to our west bases in order to increase the numbers of aircraft in our fa vour. 20:00 South-eastern Aegean sea Inside the Greek Gunship everything is silent, no lights, no sounds! -Captain! -Yes sailor! -Still nothing sir, their ships are nowhere around Rhodes or Kos. -ESM controller sir, I pick up some signals very faint North of our position aro und 12nm in distance, they look like Link-16 incoming, but encrypted. -This can only suggest a frigate size vessel, but what is it doing so north. Sen ding a fleet of 30 ships deep inside Central Aegean is practically suicide! -What is it they want there sir? -Tactically and strategically nothing Unless they want to go even north to Oh ****! Get me Fleet HQ now!!! 21:00 Maximou Pilotopoulos: It is now confirmed sir the Turkish fleet is heading towards the w ider area around Lemnos. We also have reports of another fleet exiting the strai ts as well. As of now we have over twenty ships underway, but they are all under the central Aegean moving north and will take some hours to catch up with the Turks in the open Northern Aegean. However now we can monitor their moves by AWACS and naval helicopters, as well as our naval posts in Skiros, and Chios. PrimeMinister: Do we have any idea about what they intend to do? Pilotopoulos: No sir, but they might have something to do with their research ve ssel out of Lemnos the Inonou . PM: What is the status over there anyway? Pilotopoulos: Well sir the reports from our PB Armatolos indicate it just waits co nducting seismic tests as it is supposed to. PM: Well emphasize to the captain of the PB that I don t want another Imia like fias co. I just had a call from Pr. Bush asking me what is going on with our mobiliza tion, as if he doesn t now anything about the opposite side mobilization. He reall y got to me about that other thing, you know the with the other guy I really thing that this should be handled by the military this time. Contact th e Chief of staff and tell him that in all matters of military for the duration o f this crisis he can act according to the national rules of engagement. New rule people, politics for the politicians, diplomacy for the diplomats and military for the Generals! Pilotopoulos: But sir PM: Just do it. 21:30 Turkish Defence Ministry General Abdul Oktsalian is sitting in his office going over the latest reports f rom the field as well as the reports for the unfolding of his plan and things to

come. In general his calculations were correct and the Greek side has acted as he pred icted. The political intervention phase of the plan though (the first phase actually, a nd one of the most importance) had failed a few months ago. The failed assassina tion attempt of the Greek Prime Minister in February, meant that the political s ituation in Greece would be stable for the duration of this crisis. It doesn t mat ter anyway, he thought. Since they act according to their usual patterns and sin ce they didn t found who was behind the car bomb, that s ok. The plan was simple in principle. First we get the Greeks all up and down with multiple violations of their airspa ce all over the Aegean (that seemed to work quite well in the past) and while we are at it we map their defences and responses and do a bit of a recce to severa l potential targets. Secondly with the oil research vessels in the Aegean, we cr eate the scene for our diplomatic and political game, in order to pre-empt any i nternational reaction. The next steps would then be initiated and will be the ones defining the outcome of this crisis. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. -Yes! -General sir, the Prime Minister Heartdogin is on the Outcom secure line, sir. -Ok, I will pick it up. General: PM Heartdogin, to what do I owe this late call? PM: I just wanted to ask how everything is going General! General: Everything is going according to plan PM. Is there a reason you ask? PM: I just had a call from the Greek PM Kamanlis. He asked me what do we think w e are doing in the Aegean. I told him I don t know what is he talking about, that we are just conducting oil research in areas we both agreed to, and he was furio us, unlike anything we had in mind. I really worry! General: Just keep your end of the bargain PM and let us worry about the rest. PM hanged up the phone. General Abdul was sceptic, always the politicians mess u p in Turkey and the military has to clean up for them. Besides it is the Militar y that runs the foreign policy and keeps the country in one piece after all. It was now 22:05 and he thought it was time to get a nap for a couple of hours b efore the things start to heat up. 23:00 Somewhere South-east of Lemnos territorial waters Inside the PB-Armatolos tensions are running high. They have been monitoring the deployment of Turkish naval forces coming out of the straits, and still had to keep an eye for the Inonou . Being the only Greek ship in the area was a bitch. -Captain! -Go ahead sailor. -Our sensors picked up activity near the Turkish research vessel, sir. -What sort of activity? -We have now confirmed the positioning of four frigates and two corvettes along with several smaller units in screening formation around the Inonou . It appears that the Inonou is also getting ready to depart from its current positi on. -Report to HQ at once! 23:30 Fleet HQ Salamis Naval Station Admiral Dim is inside his OC receiving reports about the Aegean situation. -Do we have the list of Turkish units in the Aegean yet? -Yes, sir. -So give it to me. -Our Friends and Allies sir, have developed the following order of battle: 2 MEKO200TN and 2 O.H.PERRY frigates escorted by 2 corvettes and four missile bo ats. No word on Submarines though. 4 MEKO200TN and 4 O.H.PERRY frigates escorted by 3 corvettes and 6 missile boats , are currently taking battle positions trying to cut our fleet from entering th

e North Aegean. Also no word on Submarines locations. They have also place several other lighter units in hiding locations all over th eir coastlines. -What about our positioning? -We currently have only one PB the Armatolos in the Lemnos area. We do have two mi ssile boats at Sporades islands just west from there, but they are in hiding sta tus and you said not to compromise that and leave them as a reserve. Our fleet is deploying along the line separating the Central Aegean sea trying t o break the Turkish order of battle. In terms of numbers we have 2 MEKO200HN and 6 STANDARD frigates, escorted by 6 missile boats and two Gunships. We also have 1 MEKO200HN and 2 STANDARD frigates, escorted by 4 missile boats and 2 Gunships moving to take position in the Southern Aegean just in case. Four of our Type-209 Submarines are heading north, but way back the rest of the fleet! -Any feed at all about their submarines? -Actually we do have a report from GNSA (Greek NSA) operators in Aksaz, which in dicates six out of eight Type-209 SS s are in docks. The other two though, we don t know. -Judging by the speed of the Turkish deployment in the Aegean it seems whatever their objectives are they plan to achieve or initiate them within the next 24 ho ur s, so those SS s have to either be way behind the rest of their fleet, or positio ned in advanced in the last few day s, and since they can t maintain underwater oper ations for more than 20 hour s I believe the next few hours will be the hot ones! -What are your orders Admiral? -Inform National HQ and the Prime Minister, that we should be on high alert for extreme level confrontation with Turkish military within the next 24 hours. Also alert our fleet for the recent development and dispatch the nearest frigate to assist our Gunship between Kos and Rhodes in ASW operations. I want those sub s fo und! First thing in the morning I want the P3B s on the air again. -Anything else sir? -That s all for now, keep up the good work! 24:00 Over North Aegean Sea. The ERJ145-Erieye has been patrolling for the last six hours, trying to detect t he Turkish Air Force movements. So far only a couple of C-130 s have landed at Ban dirma AFB coming from the east. -Major Georgiou, you should see this sir! -Is it what I think it is? -Yes sir, at least 20 maybe 30 low flying aircraft, probably F16 s coming in from the eastern part of Turkey. We haven t picked up any KC135 s orbiting over western T urkey, so they must be coming from the east. -Link this to the HQ back in Larissa, also to the other units through Link-11 & 16. 00:10 May 4th 2006 Greek Defence Ministry Situation room Greek Prime minister Kamanlis along his military advisor Alkistos, are entering the situation room serving as an OC for the entire Greek Military. From here he can issue orders to all units of Greece all around the globe and also receive up to date and live information of what is going on. As he enters he is welcomed b y the minister of defence and the chiefs of the armed forces. A short briefing t akes place and several guidelines are passed over the table to the Chain of Comm and. 00:30 Inside the OC at the Naval HQ Salamis NS Admiral Dim has just received the revised National Rules of Engagement issued by the General HQ. -Listen up people, this is what I want you to do! Start transmitting the following to all our ships out there. -Sir, if I may take some of your time? -What is it Thanos, you know better than to sir me, you re my second in command go

ahead speak your mind! -Ok then Nik, what about Papanikolis SS? -What about it? -You know exactly what I mean. You send her out for tests a week ahead of schedu le, just after you alone brief it s Captain and crew, one by one, and then taking them away till departure. Then she sails without anyone knowing its destination and mission and you don t even bother just to inform me, your second in command? -So? -What is going own Nik. Tell me. -You don t need to know at this point Thanos, you just don t need to know. -Well who does? Does anyone, or not? -Me, the PM and the Defence minister are all we need to know about it for the mo ment! -So you re not going to tell me? Where is that sub Nik? Given the situation I need to know! -I am sorry I can help you on this one, really sorry! 00:35 Greek Defence Ministry Situation room -PM can I have a moment? -Yes Alkistos. -Alone sir? -Ok, walk with me. -Are we sure about this? I mean this guy, how are we sure he is real? -The car bomb was real Alkistos, and I would be dead if it wasn t for him. Besides there are other things as well. -What things? -I spoke with him a few hours ago, and that is why I issued the new revised nati onal rules of engagement! We will know in the next hour or so if he is real, thi s one will really be his ultimate proof that he is for real! -I hope so sir, for all of us, I hope so! -What s that on the TV monitor over there, someone open up the volume!!! This just-in to our CNN headquarters in Atlanta. It appears that there is some ki nd of military tension building up in the Aegean Sea, and it has started escalat ing a few hours ago. We now go live to our reporter Attalah Ibrahim from CNN-Tur k in Istanbul Good morning Monika, from the moody and rainy Istanbul. As our sources in Ankara inform us Greece has initiated an enormous military mobilization the last hours and it all seems to indicate that it is related to the recent research trip of a Turkish vessel in the Aegean. As sources on the Turkish Defence ministry are te lling us, Greeks have started mobilizing in a way that can only be described as a pre-text to military action. Naturally the Turkish military is put on alert as they try to finger out what the intentions of the Greeks are. As soon as we hav e any more news will give them to you Monika. Attalah Ibrahim for CNN-Turk Istan bul . PM: This totally changes the whole game people, just follow orders and stick to what we said before. I better get ready to receive some hone-calls that will sta rt coming from the EU states and the US. Oh boy, and that Papadadeou (Greek oppo sition leader) will start his rhetoric s again. Thanks god it s only 00:40, at least I have until they wake up to prepare for them. Alkistos: Is that what you were expecting? PM: No not that! 00:45 Turkish Armed Forces HQ Operations Center -General Abdul Oktsalian, I wasn t expecting you so soon, did you have some rest? -Yes major Battan, I did! But I had to come since we have a piece of the puzzle missing? -You mean the Greek Papanikolis SS. -That one is a big piece missing right now. It is the best Submarine the Greeks

have, actually the best conventional sub in the world for that matter and becaus e it can stay underwater more than 14 day s and we don't know it's whereabouts for a week it is giving me a big headaque! 00:50 Southern Aegean somewhere Between Amorgos and Dodecanese Islands. Mpoumpoulina a STANDARD class Greek frigate is conducting ASW sweeps for the last hour or so. -Con sonar, I have a contact, bearing 035, shallow moving slow, looks like a Typ e209 trying to ventilate sir, distance 7nm! -Launch ASW Hilo, I repeat launch hilo! Order Maxitis Gunship to intercept to the location as they are close enough. 01:00 AB212ASW Helicopter flying over last known submarine position -We ve got them sir, they are inside Amorgos territorial waters and submerged! -Ask the Frigate what to do. -Done sir. -They want us to keep monitoring it till the Maxitis arrives. 01:15 Maxitis Gunship Captain: Ok this is how we proceed. We don t want to attack them but we also don t w ant them to shadow our fleet from behind, especially within our territory. Remem ber the chain of command does not wish any direct attack unless they initiate it first. Reports indicate that they were trying to ventilate which means they wer e under for a long time and now are low on battery. So we will try to force them to the surface and then escort them in international waters were they must rema in on surface as the International Law depict. Weapons Officer: What do you suggest Captain? -First we make a fast and noisy pass over them. Then we fire two depth charges 5 0m to the front and left of them, we then turn around pass over them again and f ire two more 50m to the rear and right of them. Co-ordination with the AB212ASW is crucial. We just want them to get the message and surface their sub. However have the Hil o informed to be on alert of firing its Mk46 if the sub becomes hostile. Move it people !!! 01:20 1st Tactical Air Command HQ Eskisehir AFB The Commanding officer (CO) of the 1st TAC has been briefing the Chiefs of staff (COS) for the last ten minutes about the deployment of additional F16 s from east ern bases to west. CO: So with the end of the transitions we now have almost 90% of our F16 s concent rated in the western AFB s. We are currently preparing the new arrivals for defens ive missions, since all other aircraft are already equipped and stand-by to perf orm attack missions. COS: How long to you expect it will take for all aircraft to be in 100% readines s? CO: Till 2:00 we will be 100% ready. COS: What about the HARPY s what is their status? CO: They are in position sir, once launched the Greeks will have a hand full. 01:30 Turkish Armed Forces HQ Operations Center In a dark room lighted only by a huge projection screen, General Abdul Oktsalian underlines the specifics of his plan for the future. -We are now in the position to Open the Sardine can whenever the chance that we wa it emerges. However I should point out that we will have to proceed even if the Greeks don t take the bite we give them. In detail it will go like this: In a matter of minutes our research vessel will start trying to enter the Lemnos territorial waters in order to perform geological survey for oil. At least that is the official line. As it does so it will be screened by our naval units in o rder to avoid the interception of any Greek unit in the area. The purpose of the entire action is to provoke the Greeks into assaulting our vessel. The minute t

hey do, the Captain of the Inonou will set his ship on fire and after the crew aba ndons it we will sink it and claim the Greek action is responsible. This will be the pre-text under which we will then launch without warning a limited. I repea t limited, air campaign over the North Aegean with objective the destruction of all the primary Radar systems of Greece in the area and especially those control ling the PATRIOT missile launchers. This will be done by massive use of HARPY AR -UAV s and the cover of numerous F16 s supporting the fleet, after the radars are ou t. An MLRS ATACMS missile will take out the bunkers of the land based Exocet s in Lemnos. In order to avoid heavy resistance from the Greek F16 s and Mirage-2000, w e will also demonstrate extreme violations of their airspace to the south in ord er to lure most of their fighters away from the area of interest. This will also act as a lure for them regarding our overall intensions Another significant mission will be the attack against the Soudha AFB on Krete, which houses their best fighters the F16+. As planned a week ago a squadron of 1 0 F4P2000 s is transiting as we speak south of Krete and already refuelled in inte rnational airspace outside of Greek radar range. They are thought to transit to Libya for an international air-show, but in fact they are armed with 2 heavy sta ndoff missiles each. With those missiles they will attack Soudha. At the same time our naval units will attack all major Greek naval units with SS M s, and by the element of surprise will devastate them within minutes. Distances between ships correspond to them not being able to react sufficiently. The overall time frame for this action is an hour and our estimates indicate los es up to 20% for our naval forces and up to 80% for the Greek navy. Loses for th e Air force are not so predictable but by the surprise massive use of AMRAAM s aga inst anything flying west of our aircraft. By the lack of information the Greek pilots will have about civilian flights in the area. And the difference in numbe rs we believe a 70-80% loses for them and a 10-15% for us. We may take a civilia n airliner or two down though, but that is ok since, in the havoc that will be c reated, none will be able to put the finger directly on us. The first aircraft a s well as the UAV s will start launching at 02:00, so please stay alert. Then we sit back and wait the international community to intervene and push the whole Aegean dispute to the negotiating table. With us having the overall milita ry advantage. And the Greeks trying to save whatever they can. That s all. I expect from all of you the best! 01:30 PB- Armatolos The Captain reads again the message sent a while ago from HQ. Just five minutes ago he spoke with his commanding officer back in Salamis. Admiral Nik Dim was very specific. Under no circumstances we are to allow the re search vessel to enter our territorial waters. Also under no circumstances we ar e to attack by use of our weapons the Inonou or any other Turkish unit, unless we are attacked first. The situation was very bad from his point of view. Alone out-numbered and out-gu nned, practically surrounded by enemies he had to be another Leonidas for Greece, and limiting his engagement rules wasn t helping. -Captain the Turks are on the move heading 340 towards Lemnos. The naval units h ave practically shielded the Inonou . The Captain stood for a second, different thoughts were flying in his mind, coun try, nation, family, friends, all sort of rumble. He took a deep breath and said . -Helm, set course to ram the steer of the Inonou . We will stop them the hard way. Get ready for some high speed manoeuvring because I don t think they will let us p ass through them that easily. 01:30 Gunship "Maxitis" The Greek Gunship starts making his first high speed pass over the Turkish sub. Weapons control officer has his finger on the release button for the depth charg es. 01:35

The scene is set of an all out war between Greece and Turkey! 01:50 Greek Gunship Maxitis After carefully conducting both passes and successfully delivering the depth cha rges the Gunship slows down and comes around for another pass over the submerged and battered Turkish Submarine. -Captain, come and have a look, something is happening! -Radio message sir, the Hilo reports the Sub is getting ready to surface. -Confirm sailor I see her coming out now. The Turkish submarine surfaces and raises its antennas mast. The Turkish captain Giuzul Giortu knows exactly what to do. He is after all one of the most experienced captains of the Turkish navy. After signaling back to hi s HQ, he then signals the Greek Gunship. -Radio message from the sub Captain, it s the Turkish Captain and wants to talk to you sir. -This is the Captain of the Hellenic Navy Gunship Maxitis George Stamos, with who do I have the owner of speaking? -Captain Giuzul Giortu, Turkish navy. Captain Stamos you play a very dangerous g ame out here don t you realize that? -Well, I wasn t the one starting it! -Fair enough, let s not waste any more time arguing about who is right and who is wrong. We both know I was inside your waters submerged and in violation of inter national sailing regulations, so let us just follow procedure, if that is ok wit h you. -No problem what so ever, but you will remain on surface and head towards your n aval station in Aksaz, or the minute I sence you are about to submerge I will fi re upon your vessel. Is that understood? -Yes Captain, if I had different intentions or for that matter different orders I wouldn t even surface on the first place. I hope we meet again under more friend ly circumstances Captain Stamos. Giuzul, out! The Turkish submarine started to turn and finally headed towards Aksaz. -Helm, stay with them, maintain a distance of 1/2nm and have the 76mm pointed di rectly on them. Inform the fleet and disengage the AB212ASW, we don t need it any longer, they have one more sub to hunt. 01:50 Greek PB- Armatolos For the last minutes the PB tries to slip through the screening of the Turkish s hips in order to come closer to Inonou . Unfortunately they are very good! -Ok, let s try sailing parallel to that frigate on the left and when they try to c ut us we speed up and pass just ahead of them and if we are lucky this will get us almost over the Inonou . -But sir this is suicide, if we even manage to pass in front of the Frigate with out her ramming us then our speed will be such that we may not be able to contro llably ram the Inonou . -Last resort sailor, we just have to do it, this ship has to stop here, don t even ask why, HQ order s. The plan is executed to the letter, when the Frigate to the left of Inonou tries t o turn left to cut PB s way then it increases speed and manages to slip in front o f the Frigate and into the screening. -Sir, look! -Jesus, the Inonou turn with the frigate we are heading over it. -Reversing engines, sir. -Too late, embrace for impact! The PB rams the Turkish vessel in the steering section so heavily that it almost cut it completely. Both ships now lay dead in the water as the Inonou is partiall y turned over the side and Armatolos is stuck unable to move. The Greek Captain pu t his hand over his face. He has some minor injuries from broken glass, but he i s ok. He looks around him. -Everybody ok? Damage control, report! -Sir, look!!! The next thing that happens is totally unexpected. A following O.H.PERRY class f

rigate unable to slow down (or unwilling) rams the PB in the middle. It practica lly cuts it into two pieces and drags the front piece under it and between her a nd the Inonou . Damage to the Frigate itself is great, but posses no threat. Howeve r the Inonou starts taking more water and the Captain orders an evacuation. 02:00 Greek Fleet HQ Salamis NS Admiral Dim receives the confirmation of events near Lemnos. The PB- Armatolos is a total loss and there are no survivors from the crew of 35 men. -What is our status over the central Aegean? -Maintaining standard orders of battle with the Turks Admiral. -Good! 02:00 Greek Air Force HQ Larissa AFB The commanding officer of the Greek Air Force is receiving the message he has be en expecting for the last hour. -Sir, all our F16+ s from Soudha AFB are now airborne and heading towards the Ioni an Sea, as planned. -What about the rest of our aircraft? -As planned maintaining standard combat readiness sir. Suddenly a senior officer runs up to him and yells. -Sir, multiple launches of UAV s from the Turkish coastline, they must be HARPY s. -So now it begins Order all radar to proceed to ECM and active defence measures a t once. Initiate the National Air Defence plan! 02:00 Balikesir AFB Turkey Pair after pair the F16 s take off fully armed! The same happens in every Air Base in western Turkey. 02:05 Onboard a Turkish MEKO200TN in central Aegean -Captain we are now ready to issue targeting solutions for the SSM s. Shall we His words are suddenly interrupted by another officer. -Sir, multiple contacts coming fast and low from the northwest, positively ident ified as missiles. The CIWS of the frigate rattle trying to intercept and destroy the incoming miss iles, one, then another, are splashed, a third loses the target due to counterme asures, but a fourth is making its way hitting the front of the ship pushing as far as the decks below the Harpoon launchers, and it explodes. The ship is compl etely devastated and in seconds starts sinking. Two more missiles pass away and continue to the next target. This time a PERRY frigate is the lucky one. Having the CIWS located on top of the Helicopter deck way behind the antenna musts and off target range and sight it is a sitting duck. Both missiles hit it in the fro nt and it is rendered practically dead in the water. The rest of the fleet tries to compensate with manoeuvres, which actually help a void four more missiles, but breaks the targeting of Greek Naval Units. First reports indicate the missiles were Exocet, fired from low flying Mirage-20 00 aircraft, so the fleet remains alert (there are 30 more from those missiles a vailable). One MEKO manages to lock on a Greek STANDARD, which made the mistake to open her radars, and immediately launches a salvo of four Harpoons. Within minutes the Greek Frigate detects the threat and her single CIWS manages to splash two of them, another misses, but the third hit s her in the middle. The resulting explosion and fire leave the Frigate crippled and on fire with the cre w trying to keep her afloat. 02:10 Central Aegean The Turkish vessels try to detect the rest of the Greek fleet, which appears to be hiding across the numerous small islands between Evia-Cyclades-Ikaria. The Tu rkish fleet position is grim since they are in open sea. Suddenly a new attack this time from the southwest, as eight Mirage-2000 come in to missile range. One PERRY actually manages to fire two Standard missiles, but

not before all eight Mirage s launch their load of 2 SSM s each. One mirage in broug ht down, but the rest evade the missiles and turn home, except from one with the mission of detecting and relaying the position of the Turkish fleet. Faced with 16 missiles the Turkish commander is overwhelmed. The CIWS fire in frenzy while the frigates and corvettes try to manoeuvre their way out. But all in vain. One MEKO manages to fire all her Harpoon on a lucky shot to the south in a wide sea rch pattern before three missiles totally annihilate it. Another MEKO gets one i n the Helicopter deck setting on fire the fuel and causing an explosion that dam ages the helm. Another MEKO gets one in the right side, luckily it doesn t explode , but the fire threatens the missile launchers with the Harpoons. The eight rand omly launched Harpoons lurk to the south seeking a target. Two of them hit the p reviously damaged STANDARD and send her to the bottom. Two more lock on a Greek MEKO and one of them manages to hit her below the bridge, causing a lot of damag e. It s Captain fires four Harpoons to the heading of the incoming enemy Harpoons, just before impact. The missiles reach the location of the Turkish fleet and ta ke off guard two corvettes trying to help the damaged ships. Both are hit, one e xplodes immediately and the other is on fire. Now the Turkish fleet commander is left with two choices. Either throw into batt le his remaining force, or try to evade behind Chios and into Ismir Naval Statio n. His options are becoming clear when he is informed about the presence of Greek M issile boats on the north-west of it s position. He has lost the initiative and he should safeguard the rest of his force for another day. Still wondering how this happened he reluctantly order s a retreat. Meanwhile 02:10 Soudha Air force Base Krete The radar operator was a bit tired. He was watching the monitor screen for eight hours now and he was a bit nervous that he wasn t replaced at 02:00 as it was sup posed to. Suddenly several contacts appear on his radar screen. He could not believe his e yes! He tries to reach the phone so he can call his supervising officer. -Sir, multiple contacts from the south pattern indicates standoff missiles, reco mmend sounding quarters! The officer immediately presses the alert button. Within minutes all air defence artillery is manned and ready. The forward Air defence observation post gives the order to commence firing. First the Crotale system starts firing missiles but it has only eight and the mi ssiles are twenty. 4 missiles are brought down by the S300 near Herakleion city, and 2 more by the Crotale itself, the RH202 guns have no chance at all. 14 miss iles hit several key installations of the Base including the most important one, the runway! Few seconds later the base is in ruins and the runway unusable for at least a few hours. Also four F16 s stationed from the mainland for readiness du ty were destroyed. If the F16+ s were there they would have suffered many losses a nd would have been out of the game for a long time. But it is not over yet. A sq uadron of twenty Turkish F16 s flying low from the east and using Lantirn systems storm the AFB at Soudha bringing total havoc to anything that wasn t destroyed yet . They were the surprise of General s Abdul Oktsalian planning, just in case anyth ing went wrong with the Phantoms. He was the only one who knew about them. However the Turkish planes weren t so lucky themselves. Two were brought down as t hey were leaving by S300 missiles and one more by two F16 s taking off from Kastel i a forward base in Krete. 02:10 Somewhere in the coastline of Turkey The MLRS launchers have been armed with 2 ATACMS each. Now they were launching against Lemnos AFB and several other key installations o n the island. 02:15 Lemnos Land-based Anti-ship missile unit

All that they heard was a swift sirristic sound and then all hell broke lose. In a minute explosions from munitions delivered by ATACMS ripped through the bunke rs where the Exocet launchers were hiding. The same happened all around the Lemn os AFB where four F16 s on alert were destroyed on the runway. 02:15 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center General Abdul Oktsalian was receiving the bad news from the Aegean Sea. It appea red that somehow the Greeks new in advance for his plan and they managed to take the initiative and achieve a surprise attack, but it could also as well be a lu cky guess. He could not comprehend how this was possible. The Greeks have a NSA which is a joke, and a military intelligence of a retarded person. Their politic ians were pathetic the least, and he thought that he played the diplomatic press ure game quite well the last few weeks. So it must have been an inside jod. At l east the biggest threat the 60 F16+ were out of the game. Everything would conti nue as planned. The F16 s already in the air could easily help the remaining fleet neutralize the Greek fleet. It would have to take some more time that s all. And if the Greek Air Force decides to face off the Turkish, well numbers and quality was his ace under the sleeve! 02:15 Mpoumpoulina Frigate Southwest of Amorgos The Greek Frigate has been conducting ASW operations in the South Aegean for a c ouple of hours and it was only 15 minutes ago that the Captain received a messag e he never believed the Fleet HQ would transmit. It was ordering him to open a c eiled envelope from the Special Orders & Rules of Engagement safe, in his cabin. A fter authenticating the orders he opened the envelope. Inside was a brief descri ption of things to come. Not just anything, but exactly what would happen all ov er Aegean and what he had to do after 02:00. His orders is to proceed as planned to whatever orders he had received till 02:00, but after that he would act as i f Greece was in war with Turkey. This meant that if he detected the second Turki sh sub he would have to sink it without even a warning. -Captain, message from HQ, its urgent! -Give me that. He read the message and stood for a while! -Open the intercom sailor! Now hear this. For the past ten minutes we have been in battle readiness alert. This is why. A few minutes ago our fleet engaged the Turks in the Central Aegean ! We are now in a de facto state of war with Turkey. God be with us all! 02:15 Maxitis Gunship near Kos The Captain of the Greek Gunship was just reading the latest dispatch from Fleet HQ. -****, God dammed, all hands battle stations now! Why the hell didn t you give me that five minutes ago sailor? -You were in the loot Captain -Sir, the sub is getting ready to submerge! -Target it at once! -What sir? -God Dammed Son of the bitch, we are at war for the last 15 minutes moron. -Targeting the 76mm, ready sir. -They are submerging Captain! -Fire at will, now!!! The 76mm gun started shelling the Turkish Sub and within seconds it totally dest royed the top of its hull. Flames were coming out of the hull as the submarine w as already diving and the waters kept purring inside. -It s over sir, we sunk them. -Inform HQ. Keep your eyes open. 02:20 AB215ASW conducting ASW near Mpoumpoulina Frigate -Sir, I am detecting a faint contact just right of our Frigate. -Contact them and inform them.

02:25 Lemnos Land-based Anti-ship missile unit A Greek Navy senior officer covered in dust and blood runs around the burning bu nkers trying to get as many survivors as he can. -Is everyone here? -Yes sir. -Damage report. -Total devastation sir, we lost all our equipment and we have 75% casualties in personnel. -Any launcher made it out safe? -None! -Not true sir! -Who was that, speak up! -Sailor John Papadakis sir, I am a driver for one of the launchers. I had it tak en to the washing deck to remove the mud from the tires. It is damaged but 3 out of four missiles can be used. After a few minutes of inspection the senior officer decided to use the launcher and fire the three missiles against the fleet located around the damaged Inonou . 02:25 Mpoumpoulina Frigate -Con sonar, we have positive id of enemy submarine 1/2nm to our right sir. -Helm, come around and get us in a better position heading 135. -Con sonar, torpedo in the water, torpedo in the water bearing 090. -All ahead full begin evasive manoeuvres now!!! The frigate started to gain up speed, but it was too late. The Torpedo hits it i n the middle, practically cutting the Frigate in half, seconds later a second on e finished the job. Mpoumpoulina was sinking fast! 02:30 AB21ASW near the sinking Mpoumpoulina -Jesus, where is the bustard, find him! -Calculating solution sir. I got him. Waiting for launch order sir. -Launch weapon. The Mk46 fell into the sea and started seeking for pray. It was only a minute ti me before it locked on the Turkish submarine and blasted it to the bottom. -Contact Hydra frigate, let them inform HQ and organize a rescue if possible, also tell them to prepare to accept us, as we are running low on fuel. 02:30 Southeast of Lemnos Given the situation the Turkish fleet was preparing to move south in order to as sist the other fleet over the Central Aegean. The ships were getting underway wh en three Exocet missiles suddenly appeared from the northwest. It was a complete surprise. However they managed to splash the two with CIWS, but the third ripped through t he hull of a PERRY frigate. Luckily it ripped in and out of the other side witho ut exploding, but is started a fire at the living quarters. 02:30 Northern Aegean Within minutes practically every one of the 24 HARPY s launched was over its desig nated target, then the controllers gave the order to the UAV s to attack almost in stantly all 6 Warning radars in the Northern Aegean as well as the Patriot radar s in Skiros were destroyed and the Greek Air Force would now have to depend only to the AWACS, which had to pull back over the main land body in order to keep a way from the incoming Turkish F16 s. The F16 s were now entering the game. 02:35 Greek Defence Ministry Operations Center. Prime Minister Kamanlis has asked the Defence, Chiefs of staff, GNSA director, a nd his military advisor to meet him in his office at the OC. The IT specialist o f the OC has set up a secure link between the OC and the rest of the Commands HQ s (Air Force, Navy, Army). PM: Now that we are all here, I want to introduce to the rest of you several asp ects of this crisis that you are unaware up to this moment. The minute we speak

the Turkish Air Force is sending at least forty F16 s over the northern Aegean, in order to provide air cover for their fleet. Am I right Chief of Tactical Air Co mmand (CTAC)? CTAC: Well, yes sir, but how do you know that, we just picked them on AWACS ours elves. And besides how can you possibly know their intentions? PM: Bare with me for a minute. I am ordering you not to engage those aircraft wh at so ever! CTAC: But sir, that s PM: The Turks will send an additional force of 80 F16 s against Larissa AFB and N. Aghialos AFB within the nest minutes as well. They seem to be under the impressi on that our entire force of F16+ is out of the game, so naturally they are vigil ant since they feel that they have numbers and quality to their side. CTAC: If I may add sir, let them come. All 60 F16+ will engage them over Thessal y and with the element of surprise and the rest of the older F16 s we will totally annihilate them. PM: Exactly what I don t want you to do! There is something going on that may lead to the withdrawal of their forces within the next twenty minutes. CTAC: Very well sir, what ever you think is best? So what am I supposed to do wi th the 60 F16+? PM: Have them orbiting over Larissa till further notice, but keep them combat re ady. Admiral Dim are you with us? Admiral: Yes sir I am. PM: Admiral what is the situation in the Aegean as we speak. Admiral: It seems we have them on the run, sir. We inflicted them heavy damage, but they have hurt us too. Since they had more numbers anyway, I guess we are so me how in a draw. Although, if I may add, we have the tactical control of all th e Aegean, they still occupy the Northeastern part of it with many surface units and unknown number of subs. That by itself makes any assumption for the final ou tcome of the naval battle. Their Air Forces however don t constitute a real threat for our fleet! PM: As it becomes more clear by the minute, the Turks will try to take an even b igger advantage of their Air Forces in order to complete their objectives before daybreak. What I want is for our naval forces to in fact stand down from all offensive ope rations and maintain the status already at hand. What is the status on the Papani kolis issue Admiral? Admiral: It s in position sir. If things don t turn the way we hope, it will make th e difference. As for the naval forces standing down, I think current situation i s permitting this sort of irregularity. PM: Very well then. I want the secure line with the Turkish Prime minister activ e for the rest of the night. Inform our Land Forces not to take any initiatives against the Turkish forces. And people, keep up the good work! 02:40 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center General Abdul Oktsalian is sitting in his office reading the casualty reports co ming from the field. A senior officer knocks on his door. -Enter. -General a phone call for you at the purple line. -A call for me? Here? Now? -They asked you by name General! -By name? Who knows my name, let alone where I am? Pass me the line quick! Hello? -General Oktsalian? -Yes. -General Abdul Oktsalian? -Yes dammed, you the hell are you? -I am calling you from the NATO HQ in Naples General, I am special agent Anderso n of the CIA! -What do you want? -I have some interesting information for you General. President Bush has asked u

s to relay some data to your screens over the OC. That is if you don t mind. At that point the General started to worry. He didn t for long. The door opened an d the senior officer rushed inside. -General you have to see this! CIA Agent: General are you there? -What, ehhh, yes! CIA Agent: I think you should see it. I will be in touch if I am need too! The General hanged up the phone and rushed into the OC. -What am I seeing here major? -Sir, it is a tactical situation screen from the Naples HQ. It shows all the air craft flying over the Aegean and over Greece and Partially Turkey. -Who is feeding them? -The Greeks sir? -The Greeks? And what are all these aircraft orbiting Larissa it can t be all thei r Air Force -It s the entire force of their F16+ s General, it appears we didn t destroy even one of them. -What? That s impossible! We level their base only a few minutes ago. It can t be tr ue? -I am afraid it is sir, we have an operator on duty inside a NATO AWACS over the Adriatic Sea and he confirms. NATO actually asked him to contact us. -And the other screen, the smaller on the right? -Naval situation sir. It only shows our ships and submarines in northern Aegean. -But they don t have a ship in northern Aegean, how can they possibly know our cur rent order of battle Now I get it! Papanikolis SS is somewhere around there. But wh at is the reason for this? -Sir the Admiral of the Greek Navy Nik Dim wishes to speak to you over the secure line. NATO commander in Naples insists you do so. -Ok set it up in my office, I will get it from there. General Abdul Oktsalian picks up the phone at his office. -Hello Admiral Dim, how can I help you? -General Oktsalian, I am authorized by my superiors to negotiate a disengagement of our forces and a return to the previous status quo. -I am sorry, I seem to having some hearing problems, you can t be serious? -Actually General I am dead serious. If you don t order all Air and Naval forces o f your country to stand down the consequences will be grave. -Are you threatening me? -No General, I am warning you! -You must be joking -General bare with me for a minute. We know you were behind the assassination at tempt against mr Kamanlis back in February. We know you planned this for over a year. And we know where the 80 F16 s you have flying towards Aegean are heading. W e also knew you would try to take out our F16+ s and that is why we transferred th em away from Soudha. Shall I continue? -This is pointless! If you want to discuss terms of surrender that s fine with me, but the rest I don t care -General, you may think you have taken out our Radar in Skiros but in fact you d estroyed a decoy, we can in fact shoot down at least 10 out of your forty F16 s cu rrently protecting you fleet in a blink. We also have the ability to attack with SSM s almost the entire fleet of the northern Aegean since we now your order of b attle. We can totally devastate any number of aircraft you may still choose to s end against Larissa and N.Aghialos. You know that your F16 s are no match for the F16+ with JHMCS and Iris-T. We have the ability to take down the air cover of yo ur fleet and we still have many unused Aircraft launched Exocets. As for the fle et near Lemnos if they don t turn around and head for Golcuk before 03:00 we will sink the two best units of it. For which by the way we already have target solut ions a couple of hours now. We are giving you a chance here General, God only kn ows how much I would rather let you make the biggest mistake of the century. -Yes, I see But, how the hell did you know? -General it is now 02:45, please issue the order to stand down your forces. NATO

will confirm that we have done the same a few minutes ago. Later on my Prime Mi nister will call yours and explain everything. General Oktsalian, stood still for a minute. It was difficult for him to underst and what went wrong. One thing was certain though, if he pushed his plan the bes t possible outcome would be the complete destruction of both the Greek and the T urkish Air Forces, as well the almost certain decapitation of the Turkish navy. And he didn t even want to think the worse case scenario. He rushes outside his office and calls the commanding officer of the OC -Issue orders to all our units to stand down immediately! -But sir, we are in the middle of an aerial assault! -Recall all aircraft to their bases. Even those protecting the fleet. All of the m. -Yes sir. -Order our fleet to head towards Golcul and Ismir Naval Stations. They have to b e on course before 03:00. And open a link to NATO HQ informing them for a step b y step de-escalation of this crisis! -As you order sir! -I will be in my office. He sits in his office couch. He was really tired. A feeling of anxiety starts to overwhelm his mind. Suddenly the General realizes that even so, one of his prim ary objectives has been accomplished. After an incident like that it was almost certain that the international community, especially the US, would intervene tow ards a complete and final resolution of the Aegean dispute. And till that time m ore pathetic Greek politicians will be on the controls of the Greek foreign poli cy. As for the casualties and mistakes of the military operations? Well it depen ds on how you present them to your public. And the Turkish public was easily man ipulated when it comes to Greece and the Aegean. Luck seemed to smile at him aga in. May be this actually is the best outcome possible. He closed his eyes and fe ll asleep, boy he was tired! 02:55 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center a lot of noise and yelling is coming out of the OC communications area. General Abdul Oktsalian has just fallen asleep on his office couch, but now he w akes up in a haze. What is going on? he wonders, as he exits his office and walks towards the communication room. The whole OC is in panic, everybody seems starri ng at him, and a weird silence replaces the yelling that woke him up. As he appr oaches the communication room he listens to the people inside. -Are you sure, about this? -Hell I am sure, I can read, you know! -Who is in charge? -He is, what did you expected? There is nothing we can do about it! -I am sorry sir, I can't accept that! -Then you will face the consequences along with everyone else that doesn t! -What will you do? Their talk was interrupted by the General entering the room. -What is going on Major? -General, sir -I said, what is going on? What is this mess I am witnessing? -Sir you shouldn t be here! -What, I am the commanding officer you moron, what are you thinking? -Sir, Prime Minister Heartdogin has order your replacement by General Berin Yold uz. -The Prime Minister ordered my replacement? That s a good one! Since when the poli tician run the military in this country? This is unbelievable, someone else on t he Military Command is behind this, General Berin himself! -Either way sir, you are no longer in command, so please leave the OC! General Oktsalian reluctantly leaves the room and heads for the exit of the OC. He is just a few steps away from the exit when suddenly the door opens and sever al armed MP s storm the OC. They push him back on the wall. Behind them a familiar shape enters the OC. -General Berin!!!

-General Oktsalian. How are today? -What is the meaning of this? -Now, listen up gentlemen! The OC is now secured and I am taking over command fr om General Oktsalian, by order of the Defence High Council and the Chiefs of sta ff. -MP Sergeant! -Yes sir. -Escort General Oktsalian to his I mean my office! -The rest of you back to your posts. We have postponed this war for too long, no w it is time to resume it. 03:00 Greek Defence Ministry Operations Center Prime Minister is preparing to leave the OC and head back home. He has a long da y in front of him, and just trying to cope with the events of the day seemed har d enough. The expected casualty figures were estimated to be enormous for both sides, but an all out war seemed to have been avoided. His military advisor is sitting next to him preparing the first official statement about this crisis. He presses the button of the intercom and calls for the Minister of Defence. -Yes Prime Minister how can I be of service? -Give the latest situation report before I leave. -All our forces have received the stand down orders and complied. It appears the Turks are doing the same. We have started landing our F16+ at Larissa and some are sent over to N.Aghialos. They are more than an hour airborne and have to lan d. -What about the Land units that were attacked? -Soudha AFB is devastated and the emergency crews are trying to control some fir es, but it helps that the Naval Station is near and can assist as well. Lemnos A FB sustained many damages in infrastructure, but most of them light and they cop e with it as we speak. -Rescue efforts for the naval units that have been hit? Underway sir. We will al low the Turkish rescue elements to complete their efforts as well. -Early warning system, radars? -Lemnos will be up in the next hour, Lesbos and Chios are working on it as we sp eak. Samothrace a total lose. Skiros 100% ready, as well as the PATRIOT s over the re. We are lucky to have the Erieye AWACS, they are worth their money. At that point a senior Air Force is entering the office. -Sir, we need you in the OC. -What is it? -Something is going on over the Aegean sir, please hurry! 03:05 Greek Defence Ministry Operations Center Everyone is looking at the giant blue screen at the wall of the OC. What are we looking at? , the PM asked. The commanding officer of the OC started analysing the situation. -The 80 Turkish F16 s that were bound for Larissa and Aghialos, turned around appr oximately 2nm outside Thessaly and were heading back to Turkey till 03:00. At that point they made another turn just above Sporades Islands and are now hea ding towards Skiros Island and Tanagra AFB. They are flying low so we can only d etect them by our AWACS. Their pattern indicates they are going to attack! PM: God! What s wrong with this people? Ok, no time to waste, it seems the game is n t over yet! Issue alerts in all levels of our military. Get ready to defend all possible targets! -I ve already done it PM. 03:10 Greek Salamis MEKO200HN offshore Evia The crew of the Greek Frigate is trying to control the flames threatening the Br idge and the war room. The Captain has already received the new orders and sitre p from the Fleet HQ, while he is being treated for some minor injuries. -First officer, do we have targeting solutions for the Turkish fleet? -Yes sir, but we can only fire two of the remaining Harpoons. The explosion knoc

ked off the left launchers. -What is the situation with the fire? -We control it but it will take a while to put it out completely. -Try to get the ship behind a small island of something. I know we can t move fast but we have to protect ourselves before we are attacked again. And begin launch sequence for the Harpoons. 03:10 PATRIOT Command Post Skiros Island -Sir multiple contacts west of our position heading to Evia! -Initiate tracking and targeting procedures. Prepare launchers! 03:10 Skiros AFB The four Mirage-2000 on alert were already rolling on the runway, trying to take off in time! 03:15 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center General Berin Yolduz has finished issuing the new orders to the Armed Forces all over the Aegean and Asia Minor. He was now entering his office. There, was Gene ral Oktsalian waiting. -General Berin, what is the meaning of this? -Relax General Oktsalian. You will live longer. -I demand an explanation! What s is going on? -Well, it seems you have taken many wrong decisions Abdul. And in a very short t ime I m afraid. Decisions that, quite frankly, are unacceptable. -Who are you to judge me Berin, the whole plan was mine. You actually disapprove d it! -Well, that s a total different subject. This is now. What were you thinking eatin g the bate of the Greeks so easily? You know better than to trust them or NATO f or that matter. And CIA? We don t do our business this way Abdul. Haven t you seen t he news lately? -What s that supposed to mean? As I see it, we ve got what we wanted. A bit more exp ensive than we estimated, but we have them in the position we wanted them. -To maintain the same balance of power, isn t an acceptable option. If we can redu ce them militarily to a simple annoyance, then that is our main objective. I hav e already taken the necessary steps towards that! -What do you mean? -Just follow me to the briefing room were I will address the rest of the officer s! General Oktsalian followed General Yolduz to the briefing room. His worse fears some how were circling his mind. 03:20 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center Briefing Room General Yolduz takes the stand to the side of the big projection room. -Gentlemen, this is the current situation over North Aegean. As you know events have escalated in the last hours to a point of armed conflict. At the moment at least 80 of our best F16 s fully armed, are executing attacks against the Greek Ai rbase in Tanagra, were the Mirage s with the Exocets are based, and at the Forward Operating AFB in Skiros. We are attacking the PATRIOT batteries located in Skir os as well. Until we check and confirm that the reports about the F16+s of the G reeks are actually accurate, this course of action is the most recommended and s afe. Our main purpose for this action is to significantly reduce the ability of the Greeks to launch a counter-attack either against our Bases in Asia Minor or against our Fleet. Thanks to the Mission Modules we borrowed from the Israelis we managed to successfully download the new mission parameters to our aircraft whil e they were airborne over the Aegean. Our naval forces will merge north west of Chios and try to lure their navy in open sea so we can use our Missile boats and submarines in a concentrated and devastating manner. But also to provide better air cover since our CAP s are running low on fuel and our KC135 s are for the momen t unavailable. Rescue missions will be recalled. Simple rules gentlemen if you c an't follow the rest then you fight were you are. Hopefully our battered naval u nits will lure the Greeks out. I have instructed our MLRS units south of Ismir t

o stand on alert to launch ATACMS against Greek Naval units. Not so much to sink them, since that s highly unlikely, but it will damage their electronics equipmen t and armament, and may force them to withdraw. I also ordered our submarines in Aksaz to depart and seek cover in the South Aegean sea, and our remaing naval u nits over there to head to Mersina Naval Station in the East. I really doubt we will come to the point of using them to our advantage, since the distance and ta ctical situation is forbidding. You have all received the folders containing the details for the reminder of the crisis. Keep doing your job and everything will end up fine. Dismissed. The following events take place between 03:10 and 03:45 03:11 Skiros AFB The four Greek Mirage s on alert have managed to take off in time and now are gain ing altitude heading towards the incoming F16 s. Just as they are about to pass ov er the hill at the end of the runway a wave of F16 s appears storming towards the airfield. The M-2000 s struggle to break left and right to avoid collision! One of them hits an F16 near the cockpit and loses a big part of its wing. The pilot ejects in t ime while his aircraft and the F16 are going down burning. The other three M-200 0 s turn around and try to lock on the attacking F16 s. One of them doesn t make it as it is blown away by a missile fired from the covering pair of F16 s. The other tw o manage to get a lock on two F16 s, which become history within seconds. But the fight is unequal and soon both are brought down by the rest of the F16 s. The air defence Skyguard system takes its blood back by downing one F16 as it turned to make another pass, and just before another F16 manages to destroy it using a mav erick. The attacking force completely devastates the airfield and the runway in minutes. Now they head back home. The PATRIOT battery starts launching it s missiles at the force of 50 F16 s moving t owards Tanagra AFB. It manages to launch four missiles, when suddenly a number o f 10 F16 s coming low from the north starts taking the launchers one by one. In a minute everything is on fire. Launchers, Radar and control station are completel y destroyed. The four Patriots keep flying towards their targets in the Southwes t. Two manage to destroy a pair of F16 s. Another misses. The fourth explodes dama ging two more F16 s and forces them to abort. The rest continue their mission to a ttack Tanagra AFB. The final act of the assault on Skiros has been over for a fe w minutes. Now the entire remaining force of 26 F16 s is gaining altitude in order to save fuel. As they do four of them are blown away without warning! Twenty F1 6+ from Greece inland have managed to reach them in time to fire their AMRAAM s. 1 0 missiles were fired but only 4 reach their targets blowing them sky high. The remaining F16 s struggle to run away since they don t have enough fuel to dogfight. However two of them turn around and fire their four AMRAAM s blindly and without a lock. Dead wrong! Two more incoming AMRAAM s take them out in a blink of an eye. The squadron leader informs the CAP leader of the 40 F16 s covering the fleet, and requests back up. Immediately all 40 F16 s, fully armed for aerial battle, are he ading west towards the incoming 20 F16+ s of the Greeks. Meanwhile, the first four Mirage s have managed to take off from the Tanagra AFB a nd take positions to intercept the incoming Turkish Attack package. Four more we re already rolling on the runway. The whole base was in frenzy. 10 Mirage s were a rmed with Exocets and were trying to get out of the way and re-arm, while half t he force was re-arming after the successful raids against the Turkish fleet. The Improved-HAWK air defence battery near Tanagra has just picked up the first incoming aircraft over Evia. The commanding officer didn t hesitate, he pushed a b utton sending six missiles to the air. The leading pair of F16 s immediately detec ts the launch and fires four HARM s. The HARM s have a perfect lock on the battery s R adar. The next seconds are crucial. The radar is annihilated and as a result fou

r missiles miss their targets, but two of them make the kill. The rest of the pl anes fire 12 AMRAAM s towards the four incoming M-2000 s. At that distance they don t have a chance. All four are history within a minute. Now all the F16 s are over th e Evia mountains, heading to Tanagra AFB and start to split for the final approa ch. Suddenly four M-2000's make their appearance from behind. They were hiding u sing the mountain s of Evia for cover. In seconds they get a lock and 3 F16 s are do wned, while the fourth manages to evade. Immediately all the aircraft of the cov ering force are thrown against them. While the rest start bombing Tanagra AFB wi th everything they got! After five minutes the Tanagra AFB is in ruins. Most of its infrastructure and t he runway have been destroyed. On the ground more than twenty Mirage s are either burning or severely damaged, including those carrying the last remaining Exocet missiles. On the air the Turks lost four aircraft from the dogfights and two fro m the Skyguard system defending the base. From a total of 50 aircraft initially now only 35 F16 s are returning home. Strangely the PATRIOT s defending Athens and t he rest of the Attica region haven t fired or even trucked the attack force. The G reek Tactical Air Command decided not to put them into harms way just yet. As they pass over the Evian mountains heading northeast, the Turkish pilots rece ive orders to avoid the Sporades islands region. There, a fierce dogfight battle is still underway between 20 Greek F16+ s and 40 Turkish F16 s. The Turkish aircraf t are no much for the newer and technologically advanced Greek fighters. The JHM CS system on the pilot s helmet and the recently acquired Iris-T missiles are talk ing their toll on the Turks. The minute the force from Tanagra clears out of Evia, the remaining F16 s disengag e and retreat towards their bases. The Greeks are unable to pursue them. Both si des are low on fuel. The Greeks lost 10 aircraft dogfighting over the Aegean whi le the Turks lost 22. It is now 03:45 and the first round seems to be over 03:55 (+2:00GMT) White House USA, Washington DC Pr. Bush is in the Oval office along his Defense secretary his military advisors and several high-ranking military officers. They just gave him the latest repor t of events in the Aegean. President: Well gentlemen, what is your opinion? Who should we move? The defense secretary started to talk. -Well sir, the Greeks have a hand full right now. Currently they seem to be in a very bad situation, but they managed to give the Turks a bloody nose. This is o ur first opportunity to take active initiative. Since both sides will have to ta ke a break for an hour or so to re-am and regroup, I don t think any major combat will take place before 05:00 local time. And let us not forget that anything sor t of a Ground Attack after that, is highly unlikely, since daybreak is near. -Do you suggest that the Turkish side may actually attack from the ground? -Not likely! Their forces are still on defense posture, and any aggressive move will require at least a couple of hours to become feasible, however we do have s ome reports of land units getting underway in the area s covered by the 1st Army i n Eastern Thrake. That s opposite the Greek Forces in Evros, were the balance is 4 -1 in favor of the Turks. -I would now like to hear your opinion about the government stability issue in T urkey! From the back of the room the assistant director of the CIA approaches the presi dents desk. -Well sir, an hour ago an Armored Division of the Turkish Army 15th Corps/1stArm y, that is the elite reserve of the 1stArmy, has taken position in and around An kara. At the same time two full strength Special Forces Battalions started secur ing several military HQ facilities and government buildings within Ankara, inclu ding the Ministry of Defense. Other Special Forces companies in a combined manne r secured all major Air Force bases in West Turkey, as well as the Naval Station s in Golguk, Ismir, and Aksaz. The Bulk of 15th Corps units and support elements are mobilizing for the last hour in and around Ankara City and Eskisehir AFB. I

t looks like a military attempt to seize government control, but as of now no mo ve has been taken against the political leadership. Latest info suggest General Berin Yolduz, the commander of the 15th, has taken over the control of the milit ary and arrested the Chiefs of staff along with General Oktsalian. His purpose o r agenda is currently unknown, but he is a hardliner in the Turkish establishmen t. -What about the other guy, you know, the one talking to the Greeks. The one the Greek prime minister takes for granted as if he was one of his generals? -We had him in custody for over two hours now, questioning him and trying to fig ure what his role really is. But he kept coming around the same crazy stories ov er and over. We have nothing on him so we had to set him free a few minutes ago. He does have some very interesting friends in our political establishment you k now! -Any suggestion regarding our possible intervention over this crisis? The Defense secretary steps in. -Sir, at this point we ve done what we could. Now we should let them fight it out. Let s see who wins the day and then we can play the good Samaritan and help them clean their mess. I would also suggest dispatching the Karl Vinson CVN, currently patrolling South of Krete, just in case. -Make it so! 04:05 Greek Defence Ministry Operations Center The Greek PM is in his office. Tired and puzzled he is trying to comprehend the events of the last few hours. The casualties figures are overwhelming. By now al l Greece knows what is going on. The air raid sirens in Athens have sounded for the first time in 60 years and the public was unaware of the reason. Soon he wou ld have to address the nation. At that point his military advisor enters the roo m. -What is it Alkistos? -Prime Minister, pick up the red phone, line-2, it s president Putin of Russia. -Pr Putin? -Yes sir, pick it up. -Hello? -Yes mr president, fine, how are you? -I know! We are doing the best -If I knew then -I hope we don t come to that point mr president! -I will order a link established as soon as I hung up the phone. -You too! The Prime minister hangs up the phone and looks at Alkistos. -What was that all about sir? -It appears that our missing friend is more than we expected when we first met h im a few months ago. -Did we had any news from him since he went missing three hours ago? -No Alkistos, but that s not the point right now. -And what is sir? -President Putin informed me that if our military isn t able to contain Turkey s agg ression, then the Russian military will step in in-force. He made it clear that a victorious campaign of Turkey against Greece, is totally unacceptable for Russ ia since it will mean the de facto rule of Turkey to the entire Aegean Sea. For them the only acceptable result is either the de-escalation or this crisis or th e defeat of the Turks. -Sir, have you been able to contact the Turkish Prime minister? -No. The secure lines are dead for over an hour now.

04:10 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center General Yolduz has just received the first reports for the last air raids. Resul ts were 90-100% success, but loses were high. It didn t matter. Taking out the Mir age s has given the Fleet a breathing space for the first time. -Sir. -Yes Major? -A report just-in from Konya AFB. It was transmitted a while ago, but was mishan dled till now -Go on Major. -It seems that our forces returning from South of Krete had a serious miss hap s ir. -Meaning? -Well, they were attacked by eight Greek F16 s returning from Pafos AFB in Cyprus with the support of a Greek AWACS. These units were part of the EU s RDF in Cyprus and were apparently recalled and returning to Greece. As they were flying 150km south of Turkey they detected our returning 10 F4P2000 and our KC135 with 2 F16 escorts and took them by surprise. We lost the KC135, one F16 and seven Phantom s. Reports indicate the Greeks lost four F16 s. -That happens in war Major. Continue with your duties. I want you to notify me a s soon as our fleets merge and enter in combat order. 04:20 Greek Defence Ministry Operations Center Alkistos is running into the PM s office. -Sir. -What is it? -Pick up the phone sir, line-5, it s him! -Who? -Him sir! Kamanlis is rushing to the phone. He picks it up! -Hello? -Mr Smith! Boy, am I glad to hear from you again. Were are you right now? -Our embassy in Washington is good enough I guess! -Yes, but before that Have you been brought up to date? -... -Were have you been the last few hours? -Yes, I did receive a call from pr. Putin!!! -I see -Are you sure about that? -I mean This is a big maybe -I will confirm what you re saying and if so I will take the necessary action. -I will immediately set up a direct link from our embassy to this OC. -No mr Smith Thank you!!! PM hang up them phone. Stands up and looks around him in a haze. Alkistos: Well sir? What did he say? PM: Emergency meeting in my office right now! Call the rest of them now! We don t have time! Alkistos: But why sir? PM: NOW DAMMED!!! NOW!!!

04:20 Somewhere southeast of Lemnos The Greek SS "Papanikolis" has been patrolling the area for the last few days. A nd the last few hours events confirmed the briefing it s Captain had prior to depa rture from Admiral Nik Dim. -Captain the Turkish fleet around Inonou seems to be heading southeast towards Les bos. -Weapons officer, report!!! 04:25 Greek Defense Ministry Operations Center The Minister of Defense along with the Chiefs of staff and Prime Minister Kamanl is are entering the conference room. With them, by secure line hook up, are also the three Tactical Commanders of the Armed Forces Branches (Army, Navy, Air For ce). The Prime minister starts talking as soon as the COM connection is verified. -I have gathered you here because of some new information coming to my attention , information that demands an immediate action by our side. The purpose of this meeting is to define what our action will be. The most important aspect for this action is time. We must have results before 05:30 this morning otherwise, quite frankly, we will be in deep ****. The Commander of the Tactical Air Command from Larissa AFB HQ interrupts him. -Excuse me Prime minister, but I must protest!!! -What for? -For the past several hours, you have been keeping us all, except Admiral Nik Di m and one or two others, in the dark about your so-called source and his involve ment in this mess. As a result I have lost many good men, half my airfields are in ruins, and quite frankly sir I don t know what the hell you are doing. I demand an explanation. -I am sorry Commander, at this point you, and that goes for the rest, don t need t o know. -Well I am sorry too Prime Minister, but if you are going to send more of my men to death, I demand to know what information you have. -Fair enough Commander. I will inform you right now, but only as far as the spec ific action taken. We have the information that the Turkish Army will begin bomb arding our land forces in Evros in preparation of an invasion later this day. Do n t ask me how, but we know they will attack in force with almost all their Air Fo rce and MLRS, in an attempt to break through our forces and create a corridor, w hich will lead them directly to Komotini. You all, and especially you General Pa nkal (Army Commander) know the importance of a military success like that. -Yes sir, I do. It will practically cut off all the combat units of the 4th Corp s in Evros. And with the new organization from last year There will be no prepared line of defense for the 2nd Corps, which by the way is light in Armor, all the way back to Thessalonica. A total military disaster! -According to our information, the Turks will begin attacking trying to implemen t this at 05:30am and will probably achieve a major breakthrough by 08:00am. At that point having a ratio of 4-1 in favour they will probably begin advancing to wards Komotini, which, in this case, will be enveloped around 10:00am. From that point on, Xanthi were the 4th Corps HQ is located, and Thessalonica will only b e a few hours away and everything will be doomed. -I don t know were you are getting your information sir, but I don t think it will b e so easy to break the frontline, especially since we are battle ready for some time now. And advancing so deep in our territory requires more than a break in o ur lines. They will have to keep pushing combat units and support elements conti nuously, not to mention the logistics nightmare. However the 4th Corps UAV s, do c onfirm the positioning of MLRS and the deployment of their forces in an offensiv e posture. That s why I have ordered our MLRS and the rest of the Artillery units in Evros to prepare for counter-shelling. -General Pankal. If our MLRS were, let s say destroyed or rendered un-operable, wo uld that affect our defensive positions in any way? -Well sir, in that case we would really be in a difficult situation. The MLRS ar e the means of equalizing the 4-1 ratio advantage of the Turks, as well as neutr alizing their logistics support network.

But i think they are adequately protected by the PATRIOT's in Kavala. -So what you say, is that they main factor of the Turks actually trying somethin g like this with their 1st Army in East Thrake, is the follow on forces and logi stics support? -Yes. -Then that s our mission gentlemen. To take out those two capabilities. I want to hear your suggestion, and I want them now. Every body looks each other for some seconds without talking. The Chief of Air f orce was the first to speak. -But sir, that s practically impossible. Given the circumstances, anything we do w ill only temporarily disrupt their logistics network. The Prime minister was skeptic. The rest stood silent. Suddenly Admiral Dim spok e. -What about destroying the bridges over the straits and Istanbul. PM: Is it possible Air Commander? -Well, it is in theory sir. We do have the SCALP-EG cruise missiles we got from the French with a range of 250Km s and GPS guidance, but the pilots haven t had the time to train using them yet. Let us also not forget that only the Mirage s can ca rry them, two each, and the Tanagra AFB has been devastated. I will have to chec k on their status before I can give you a definite answer. Either way we will ne ed at least 30 to positively destroy all bridges. That means we will need at lea st 15 aircraft for the mission. But even so, we will have to deal with the Turki sh Air Forces operating from Bandirma AFB who will be protecting the area. -Can we take Bandirma AFB out, Commander? -We do have 20 F4E-APU standing by in Andravida AFB armed with BLU109 Paveway-3 bombs and Mavericks. Also we have 40 A7E s standing by armed with AFDS and Paveway s in Araxos AFB. I can have them in air within 10 minutes and will be over Bandir ma AFB at approximately 05:00am. They are however, no match for the Turkish F16 s, but I will also provide them sufficient air cover from N.Aghialos AFB with a fo rce of 30 F16 s we have been keeping as a reserve. I would normally use F16+'s but they are all currently unavailable for at least an hour refuelling and rearming . -Do you guarantee the complete destruction of the specific base with this attack force? -I can guarantee that they will be out for a couple of hours, enough for our oth er mission to proceed safely sir. That is if the other mission will actually tak e place. -Then do so immediately. I have faith in you Commander! Admiral Dim, what is goi ng on with the Navy? -We are currently positioning in order to move north and secure the Evia and Spo rades regions of the Aegean. We don t want to get ambushed in the open sea. The Tu rks still have many Missile boats and they all carry Harpoons with 120Km range, while all ours, with the exception of two units, only carry 40Km and 70Km Exocet s. Still no info about subs in the Northern Aegean. -Well it s time we go over the rest of our overall strategy for the day ahead. The meeting continues covering several other important aspects of the operations . 04:35 (+2:00GMT) White House USA, Washington DC Pr. Bush is examining the situation reports coming from the pentagon. His staff and advisors all around the oval office are exchanging views and opini ons about the Aegean crisis. The Oval office door opens and a military liaison e nters carrying a folder. -Mr President sir. -Yes Major. -We have some disturbing information about the Russians. -What is it? -These are satellite photos taken a few minutes ago. They show Russian Tactical nuclear missiles getting out of their bunkers and into position. They have not y et started fuelling them though. Also we have confirmed reports that the Russian

Naval Forces in the Black Sea are getting underway, their military Southern Com mand is on operational alert and their strategic Air Forces have been mobilized. There are also reports of numerous Su27 fighters transiting south. -That s all? -Actually sir, they even intercepted and harassed one of our P3 s monitoring their Naval Base in Ukraine. The pilot reported being locked on by a pair of Mig29 in order to drive him away. -I thing its about time we move our little company to the Pentagon situation roo m! Major, advice all our forces to be on alert for transition orders to DEFCON 3. The following events take place between 04:20 and 04:45 04:25 Greek SS Papanikolis The Greek Captain Drosakis was known among NATO submarine commanders as one of t he most experienced in the world. Captain Drosakis was now examining the battle plan for the next few minutes. His mission was clear from the beginning. To sink as many Turkish ships as possible in order to limit the Turkish naval options in the Northern Aegean. -Weapons control, are we ready? -Yes sir, both Sub-Harpoons are ready. Solutions for the Torpedoes calculated! -Con sonar. Contact bearing 083. Positively identified as Type 209 submarine sir . -Estimated distance? -Approximately 15nm sir. -Helm course 135, hide us behind the sinking "Inonou". Likely the noise of the c ollapsing bulk will get us through the launch undetected. -Into position sir. -Get us into launch depth first officer. -Launch depth captain! -Fire both missiles on my mark! Fire!!! 04:30 Turkish MEKO200TN southeast of Lemnos -Con sonar bearing 315, torpedo in the water, no , missile launch! -Radar operator missiles incoming Captain: Evasive actions, launch counter measures!!! The MEKO managed to make a turn in order to align her CIWS, but the distance was too short. The two missiles hit her in the bridge and in the rear quarters tota lly devastating it. Seconds later she was burning and sinking. 04:30 Maxitis Gunship North of Kos The Greek Gunship was trying to evade between the small Greek islands of the Dod ecanese. It was trying to locate the positions of the Turkish Missile boats alon g the southern coastline. While taking a turn around Kos suddenly a Turkish Miss ile boat appears just 5nm to the southeast. Both ships detect one another at the same time. Their 76mm guns almost simultaneously begin to fire. Maxitis gets one in the sturn causing a minor fire. The Turkish ship speeds up, makes a fast turn and fires a single Harpoon while trying to evade. Maxitis keeps firing and two sh ells strike the launch bay of the Turkish vessel damaging the launchers. A minor alignment of the 76mm gun, and Maxitis manages to strike the communications array and the living quarters. The Harpoon makes a hard turn over some islets and come s around heading towards the Greek Gunship. Three second later, it blows it out of the water. The Turkish missile boat, winner of this dual, battered, but still floating, heads for the small harbour of Bodrum. 04:35 Greek Naval Outpost Northern Chios The radar operator has been replaced and went out for a cigar. He was monitoring the movements of the Turkish fleet for hours now. His eyes were tired and playi ng tricks on him. He takes a moment and looks at the clear sky above. Well what y ou know , he thinks, A shooting star . He stairs for a second and realizes that is no t the case. He tries to clear his eyes, looks better and sees two small lights h eading his way fast. One second later two huge explosions annihilate the Naval p

ost. A few kilometres to the east two more explosions break the silence. Across the Aegean to the North, two more Naval posts share the same fate! 04:35 Over the Turkish coastline east of Lesbos The four F4P200 were heading home after successfully launching eight popeyes and destroying four Greek Naval posts in Chios and Lesbos. Now the fleet would be a ble to operate without the Greeks ability to detect their order of battle. 04:35 South of Ikaria The Turkish Captain Yildiz was not going to sit on his *** while the Greeks play ed God around the Aegean. Defying his orders decided to head his Missile boat, t he Tsimpouklou , west towards the Greek fleet. Taking advantage of Fournoi and Patm os islands, has managed to approach the Greek Fleet location undetected. At this point it seemed more and more like a suicide mission. But he remembered an old Greek saying, Who dares, wins . His plan was simple, he opened the radar, immediate ly as he acquired the first target bearing closed the radar, then fired 6 of his 8 Harpoons towards that bearing. As soon as the last missile is launched he mak es a hard turn 180 degrees and runs like hell. The last thing he does is to brea k radio silence and inform the HQ about the location of the Greek fleet. 04:36 Greek STANDARD Frigate Navarinon The ESM operator picked up a small radar burst from the east, but only for a sec ond. Suddenly the radar detects six incoming low altitude contacts. The CIWS respond automatically splashing one missile. Unfortunately that is not good enough. Two Harpoons strike in the middle section of Navarinon . The explosions are huge and th e frigate is cut in two parts both sinking in seconds. Three more missiles pass over her and acquire two more units. A MEKO200HN the Psara and a Super Vita class missile boat are the next victims. The MEKO manages to splash one missile and ev ades the other, just in time to avoid being hit directly, but the missile hits t he antennas must, explodes and damages the electronics arrays of the frigate. Th e last missile is splashed by the RAM system of the Super Vita. 04:40 Tsimpouklou missile boat The Captain is exited. He had his first combat experience and the rush was incre dible. He stairs at the sea shinning by the moon light when in seconds he is engulfed i n flames and melting metal parts flying all around. The bridge is totally destro yed. Seconds later the living quarters and the main structure are blown away. Th e missile boat is now a floating furnace. An explosion finishes the job and slow ly sends it to the bottom. Four miles north the pilot of an AH64A Apache helicop ter watches the missile boat from his TADS equipment. -Boy, those Hellfires lived up to their name. -Squad leader. Let s return to our patrol pattern. There must be more of them out here. The pair of Apache s turned slowly and continued patrolling the islets. 04:40 Papanikolis SS -Captain the Turkish submarine has changed coarse and it seems to prepare for an attack. -Don t worry sailor, I doubt they can lock on us just yet. We have plenty of time to take that Perry burning near the Inonou . A few miles south of the sinking Inonou a PERRY hit by a land based Exocet was sti ll trying to put the fire out, while the one that rammed Armatolos PB, was moving slowly to the southeast. The rest of the fleet was speeding up to merge with the remaining forces of the Central Aegean fleet. -Torpedo room fire 1 and 3. -Firing one sir. Firing three sir. The two torpedoes within a minute strike the battered PERRY in the middle, pract ically cutting her in half and sink her. The second PERRY Immediately launches h

er ASW SH60. Captain Drosakis, has already given commands to submerge deeper and begin evasiv e actions. By the time the Turkish SH60 is airborne the Greek Submarine is safel y out of the way. 04:40 Psara MEKO200HN Frigate (1st Surface Group Central) For the past minutes Psara , along with two Gunships and a Super Vita class missile boat, are trying to get in position to defend against any new threats. Since th eir current location is compromised they should be ready for more attacks. Sudde nly a series of rockets, launched by MLRS in Turkey, fly over the force and seve ral hundreds of dispensed munitions devastate the surrounding area. All ships ar e taking numerous hits damaging their systems. Antennas, Guns, Missile launchers , as well as the outer surface of the ships are getting a fierce pounding. Secon ds later one of the Gunships was burning. The rest of the ships are rendered pra ctically useless for naval combat. The Commander of the force (Captain of the ME KO) is badly injured, so his first officer takes command. His orders? Head back to Salamis. There is no reason for them to be here anymore. 04:45 Aksaz Naval Station Turkey The naval forces inside the port are getting ready to depart. The remaining six submarines are trying to get underway as soon as possible. The commanding officer of a Greek amphibious commandos team is getting ready beh ind some bushes in the above hills. With him are the radioman and a machine gunn er. His team of nine members is already in position. Two teams with laser guidan ce equipment and a sniper team just in case. The two teams are lasing two of the Submarines in the port. Within a minute two A7E s equipped with LANA s and a pair o f Paveway s pop up behind the mountains of Rhodes. Only a few seconds later they a re in position and they drop the 4 Paveway s. At the same time a HAWK battery near Aksaz fires 2 missiles against the A7 s. The A7 s break left and right and try to g et low and behind Rhodes mountains in order to break the lock. The four Paveway s are heading towards Aksaz. The first hits a submarine in the bridge from one sid e to the other and explodes on the dockyard near it completely destroying it alo ng with the submarine, but also sending large concrete pieces of fragments in al l directions. A second submarine docked near is severely damaged by the falling debris. A second Paveway hits another submarine and blows it sky high. The remai ning two Paveways miss and hit two buildings within the Aksaz Naval Station. The two A7 s use chaffs and flares to avoid the incoming missiles, but within seconds both of them are shot down. Meanwhile... 04:50 Greek Defense Ministry Operations Center Everyone is in the situation room of the OC monitoring the events as the informa tions keep coming. PM: How are we going on the Bridges of Arta mission? OC Officer: We have just received the status report from Tanagra AFB. Al their e fforts are concentrated in opening the main runway. They have 17 available Mirag e s including the twin sitters. The 15 most efficient will begin arming with SCALP -EG s any minute now. -How are we doing with the SCALP s in term of numbers? -We managed to retrieve 37 missile boxes from the burning Banker. 33 of them pro tected the missiles inside, thus we have the number needed for the mission. -Estimated time of take off? -Best guess around 05:00am and 05:10m. It will take the first aircraft about 10 minutes to reach launch ranges, however the last 6 aircraft, those targeting the Bridges in Istanbul will have to move even closer. -And the force attacking Bandirma AFB? -All aircraft are airborne and heading to the rendezvous points. The 30 F16 s cons tituting the protection force are already above the North Aegean and getting rea dy to engage the Turkish interceptors. Also some side missions are under way aga

inst their Radars in Imvros, Canakkale, and Aydin. PM: I want the latest on the Turkish fleet. Contact Admiral Dim. I want his pers pective. Admiral Dim using the secure line between the OC and the Flee HQ in Salamis begi ns talking. -Prime minister I have just been informed that all our four Observation posts, i n Northern Chios and Southern Lesbos, have been destroyed. We are now completely blind over that sector Navy-wise. We had several loses the last hour or so, but the most important was the withdrawal of our East Flank forces from the Central Aegean. -Why was there a withdrawal? Who gave an order like that? -The entire force was neutralized by MLRS, Prime Minister. Remaining in the area would only submit them to danger. All units are operational ineffective at this point. The Turks are withdrawing as well, heading to that blind sector. They ha ve even abandoned their damaged units that couldn t follow. I would not suggest an attack however, because it could be an attempt to lure our units in the open. -What about Papanikolis ? -It seems that Captain Drosakis has already started getting into this war. The T urks are going to have a hand full. He will manage to successfully contain any a ttempt of reinforcements coming out of the straits. 04:50 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center General Berin Yolduz was busy talking to the Commander of the 1st Army, by secur e line phone. General Oktsalian had withdrawn a few steps back near an empty spa ce of wall. That moment a soldier from the Communication room passed near him an d whispered to his ear. Sir, try to make it to the radio, we need you . He carefull y moved towards the Communication room, trying not to be noticed by the armed MP s . When he entered he was welcomed by the Commander of the OC, Major Battan, who in a hurry closed the door. -General, we have a problem. -What kind of problem? And why all this secrecy all of the sudden? -General Yolduz doesn t have the authority to be in command! -What do you mean? He said the Defense council and the Government appointed him. -No sir that is not the case. We have been listening over the radio frequencies and it appears that Yolduz has taken control by himself using the 15th Corps uni ts and several Special Forces units. General Oktsalian looked outside the small window of the door. He examined the w eapons carried by the MP s. Those weren t the ones used by regular MP s. In fact the o nly units using such equipment were the Commando units. One of these units, the 2nd Commando Brigade was attached to 15th Corps a few months ago. -Are you sure about what you re saying Major? -Sir, I confirmed that with a unit outside Ankara. The 15th has the Capital prac tically surrounded and controls the whole city. It seems like -Don t even say it. At that point the door was smashed by two MP s. General Yolduz was behind them. -Well, what do we have here? -General Yolduz! I demand an explanation. -General Oktsalian, you know better than I do how thing work in the Turkish mili tary. If the politician can do what s right! The military takes over. So, why is i t such a shock for you to see the same applying to the military chain of command as well? -You can t get away with this! The rest of the military will react. -Actually I don t think so. They will make me a hero after this war is over. And I don t believe that anyone will try anything while we are at war. It is just not t he way we Turkish officers act. May be if we were Greeks, we would already be ki lling each other. But I don t see that in our case! Escort General Oktsalian outsi de. And you Major Battan.. You d better stop sniffing around and start doing your job. 04:55 Bandirma AFB.

Eight F16 s are rolling down the two runways taking off to intercept the first con tacts coming from the Aegean. Eight more are on their way from Balikesir AFB. Th ey will soon join the four F16 s currently patrolling the sky over North West Turk ey! 04:55 Imvros Radar -Sir I have relayed last positions and getting ready to guide incoming intercept ors -Good job, keep an eye for low altitude contacts as well. 04:55 8miles North of Imvros A pair or AH64 s is sneaking at low altitude. At 7miles they pop up and start lock ing on the Imvros Radar. Within a minute four Hellfires from each AH64 are on th eir way to the Radar. A few miles to the south and east, two more Apaches are do ing the same against the Radar in Aydin. 05:00 4miles off the coast of Turkey The first pair of Greek F16 s was flying low near the Imvros Island coastline. As they started to gain altitude they were immediately picked up by the last remain ing Radar in the area over the Canakkale mountains. A soon as they got a clear f ix on the radar, they launched two HARM missiles each. Then immediately turned l eft to try and flank any incoming interceptors. Within minutes a total of 20 Tur kish F16 s was on the air. Eight more when getting ready to take off from Bandirma AFB, but it would take a while. The Greek covering force of 20 F16 s under the gu idance of the Erieye AWACS, clearly had the advantage. Eight more Greek F16 s were a bit to the south in order to meet the incoming F4E-APU s and A7E s. 05:01 Imvros Radar Site The eight Hellfires ripped through the command post and main antenna buildings. Both were destroyed instantly. At the Aydin Radar site the results were the same . Two minutes later the crew of the Radar over Canakkale were also part of histo ry. There was now an open air corridor all the way to Bandirma AFB. 05:05 Over Northern Asia Minor The Greek and Turkish F16 s have engaged in a fierce dogfight. Aircraft were flyin g so near that the pilots could see each other. The Greeks had the advantage of AWACS support, but the Turks were no rookies. At a ratio of 1-1 the aerial comba t seemed to balance. Finally one by one the F16 s of both sides started to withdra w since they were getting low on fuel. The aerial battle ended in a draw with Gr eece losing seven aircraft and Turkey loosing 10. But the fact wasn t about the lo ses. Now there was no Turkish aircraft airborne in order to oppose the incoming attack force. 05:05 Tanagra AFB The emergency and support crews had just finished repairing the main runway. Now the 15 Mirage-2000 s armed with two cruise missiles each where lining in order to take off. 05:05 PERRY Frigate southeast of Lemnos The Captain tries to sail as fast as he can. Ramming the Greek Patrol Boat earli er seamed like a good idea, but now he was last and alone in the middle of hosti le waters and with a Greek submarine lurking to sink him. The radar picks a large number of aircraft flying low over the Aegean. As much a s he would like not to get any attention to his ships presence, the Turkish Capt ain decides to engage them. The frigate fires four Standard missiles one after t he other. While trying to load a fifth, the launcher jams. The four missiles app roach the Greek Aircraft from behind. Total surprise causes four A7E s to be destr oyed. They didn t know what hit them. 05:15 Bandirma AFB

The sirens have been screaming for ten minutes now. On the ground support crews were trying to prepare several aircraft for immediate take off, or get them into the shelters. Half the force was armed with bombs intended for the close air su pport of the forces attacking Evros later on. The Rapier Anti-air missile system were activated along with the 35mm guns and the near by Hawk battery was beginn ing to track the incoming enemy. At 15Km out the Greek aircraft launched their A FDS and made a short turn left and right splitting into two groups. Some the F4E -APU s were equipped with LITENING-2 systems so the gained altitude along with the covering force in order to acquire and lase targets for the Paveways carried by the rest of the force. The Hawk battery locked on the incoming A7E s and fired si x missiles. Suddenly two F16 s coming low from the north approached the radar of t he Hawk battery and bombed it with Mk84 s. The radar antenna was damaged and the b attery seized to function. By now the AFDS units were over Bandirma AFB and star ted delivering their munitions. Four F16 s, practically at the last moment, were a ble to take off before the explosion of the munitions on the ground devastated a nything out of cover. The overwhelming quantity of the AFDS used had totally neu tralized the runways and all lightly armored infrastructure of the base. More th an 26 aircraft and helicopters were also destroyed or heavily damaged. It was a dreadful sight. But it wasn t over. Ten F4E-APU s started to drop their two BLU109 P aveway-3 bombs each to the heavily fortified buildings of the base. Bunkers, amm o depots and fuel tanks were utterly destroyed. One Rapier system locked in a Ph antom and fired two missiles just before an A7E drops four Mk84 s directly on it. Within seconds the Phantom was blown away. One more Phantom was taken out by one Hawk missile. One F16 and two A7E s were also shot down by the remaining Hawk mis siles. The F16 s of the remaining covering force, seven in total engaged the four Turkish F16 s and managed to destroy all of them with only two loses from their si de. Now the rest of the A7E s were storming the base taking out the remaining hard and soft targets. The 35mm guns from the surrounding area were literally lighti ng the sky above the base. Trace fire everywhere. Many A7E s were sporadically hit , but only five were actually shot down. By 05:25 the raid was over. Bandirma AF B was almost completely destroyed. The surviving Greek aircraft were now heading home. The following events take place between 05:00am and 05:20am 05:00 Papanikolis SS Captain Drosakis has been evading the Turkish SH60 search patterns for the last twenty minutes and it seemed he has finally managed to clear from it. At the sam e time trying to take a favourable position in order to attack the Turkish subma rine in the area. -Con sonar-bearing 092. It s the Turkish sub Captain. -What is it doing? -It is moving at 5knots Wait It is opening its torpedo doors! -Helm get ready to speed up and initiate the Aplha evasion pattern. -Con sonar. Torpedo in the water bearing 090. -Full speed ahead turn around to course 180.Go to depth 120m. -Con sonar. Torpedo is active and incoming now at bearing 000. -Prepare both countermeasures. Turn on heading 090. Launch countermeasures half way through the turn. The speaker was pounding the control room with the active sonar sounds of the in coming torpedo. -Con sonar its still on us Captain. -Helm left turn change course to 000. Depth 100m. Fire counter measures. -Con sonar still on us sir. -Fire Torpedoes 2 and 4 on the last bearing of the Turkish submarine. Change cou rse 90 degrees to that bearing as soon as the torpedoes are out. -Firing two sir. Firing four sir. -Now turn. -Con sonar its getting awful close Captain. -Break right. Launch countermeasures. Depth 60m. Embrace for impact.

The Greek sub turn hard and upwards. The torpedo took the bate and started to fo llow the countermeasures and then the DM21 torpedoes. Within minutes an explosio n shook Papanikolis . Then another and finally a third one. All three Torpedoes hit the Turkish submarine. -Con sonar. I can hear the bulk of the Type209 collapsing sir. -Helm make revolutions for seven knots. Course135. Lets get away before the SH60 catches up with us. Besides we have some Turkish frigates to sink. -Yes sir. -Weapons room, we have some free time so load up two more Harpoons and four DM21 s . 05:15 East of Chios Near Psara A pair of Apaches is patrolling trying to locate the Turkish fleet moving north. They detect a pair of Missile boats trying to approach the straits between Psara and Chios islands. The pair of missile boats starts to fire at them the instanc e they detect them. But at 6 miles the low flying Apaches are a hard target. The y start evasive manoeuvres and begin targeting the boats. The first fires four H ellfires and the second manages to fire two before a 76mm gun shell blows it int o the sea. The first Apache keeps targeting the leading boat. In a minute or two four missiles hit the boat in the front of the bridge. The explosions completel y destroy the bridge setting it on fire. The other two missiles miss the second boat due to the smoke making the targeting difficult. The Apache takes advantage of the smoke screen and evades behind the Psara island hills. 05:20 50Km west of Canakkale The first nine Mirage-2000 s have reached their ady to attack the Bridges in the straits. Eight ssiles and break to return back to Tanagra AFB. e area just in case there is a problem with the stanbul. designated launch area and were re of them launch their SCALP-EG mi The last one keeps patrolling th other six aircraft heading for I

05:20 East Thrake MLRS Battalion command All twelve launchers available were dispersed, loaded and waiting the launch com mand. In less than a minute they could deliver 144 rockets each carrying 644 mun itions. Their targets were the command posts and main staging areas of all four Greek Armored Divisions of the 4th Corps, which were equipped with the Leopard-2 MBT and the Marder AFV. A Few kilometres nearer to the front twenty self propelled artillery batteries w ere also getting ready. Even closer to the border the MBT s and AFV s of five Armore d and three Mechanized Brigades, were getting warmed up. 05:20 Eskisehir AFB 40 F4E-P2000 are getting ready to take off in order to attack the Greek land uni ts in Evros. Assisting them with SEAD and CAP is the mission of 20 F16 at Balikesir AFB that are getting ready as well. 05:20 (+2:00GMT) Pentagon Building USA, Washington DC President Bush and his staff have just settled inside the situation room. A mili tary liaison is passing several folders over the desk. The big screens at the to p of the opposite wall are showing the status of all US military units around th e globe. The one on the middle of the wall is zooming to the Aegean region were current situation is presented. Pr. Bush: Do we have pr. Putin on the Red Line ? -Yes we do mr. President. -Good pass the line to my desk. -Ready sir. Pr. Bush picks up the handset. On the other end Pr. Putin is waiting. -Good morning Pr. Putin. How are you today? -Let s cut the small talk George, I don t have time. -Ok Vladimir. Lets get right to business. We are aware of some quite disturbing

movements made by your military over at the Black Sea. Can you explain this to m e please? -I would guess that the actions you talk about were by themselves clear enough. -Let me rephrase, if I may. Are you preparing for an attack against Turkey? -What we do regarding the security and safety of Russia is none of your business my friend. It was about time someone steps up to the challenge and put an end t o the mess the US has the entire planet on since 9/11. -What exactly do you mean by that Pr. Putin. -The events in the Aegean aren t a shock to us Pr. Bush. Your international policy for the last few years has made it possible for countries allied to the US to s tart behaving more and more like the rogue states you always claim to constitute the so-called Axis of Evil . The last year s events in Kyrzikistan and Syria, as wel l as the ongoing campaign in Sudan and Somalia are small examples. -I don t see the relevance all this has with our current situation. -Turkey s military aggression in the Aegean is the last drop. The support for Chec hnya rebels, the intervention in Georgia s affairs, the recent skirmishes along th e Iranian border, and the denial of passage for Russian Tankers in the Bosporus, are only a fraction of Turkeys hostile policy towards Russia. Let not mention t he rest of its behaviour towards other friend and allies of Russia. -But Pr. Putin -Don t but me mr. Bush! Your administration was always in support of Turkeys actio ns. Directly or indirectly you were always behind them. -So you really intend on attacking Turkey? -Let me be as clear as I can Pr. Bush. If Greece or the US doesn t manage to conta in the military aggression of Turkey, then we will intervene in force and clean up your mess. -An attack against Turkey will be an attack on NATO. Do you realize that this co uld lead to an all out war between NATO and Russia? -As I see it, a NATO country has already been attacked. However is up to you to contain Turkey and not let this happen. -You are really willing to risk a war with NATO over this? -A Turkish domination of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Sea as a result of a military submission of Greece, will be a clear and present danger for Russian interests in the region. We will do what we have to. You can do what you have t o. -Can you at least give us some time to try to end this crisis by our means? -All I can say Pr. Bush is that you have until 07:00 local Aegean time to stand down the Turkish military machine. After that, or if Turkey invades Greece in Ev ros, all scenarios are open. Pr. Bush hanged up. He looked at his staff for a moment. He addressed the chiefs of stuff and the CIA director. -I want suggestions and proposals in resolving this Aegean crisis on my desk no later than 05:45. We have to find a way to end the hostilities and de-escalate t he situation before 07:00. That s our deadline given by the Russians. After that, we may have a world war on our hands. Order all our forces in DEFCON-3. Also inf orm NATO HQ in Brussels. Let them know we may soon be fighting the Russians. Then he addressed the NSA director Thomas Nuller. -Tom, I want you to make sure that this Smith guy doesn t give any more information to the Greeks. As much as I don t want a military confrontation with Russia, I don t want to see Turkey defeated either. -Sir, that will be difficult. He is currently inside the Greek Embassy. -Do what you have to. I don t want the Greeks ending up as the winners of this cri sis. 05:25 (+2:00GMT) Kremlin Military Operations Room RUSSIA, Moscow Pr. Putin having just completed his conversation with Pr. Bush is now examining the plans of his military commanders. -General Vlotchief, please go over the initial plans of our intervention in Turk ey. -Yes President. At 07:00 our strategic bombers will be in position over the Blac

k Sea in order to launch their cruise missiles if ordered to do so. A total of f ifty Tupolevs. They constitute a force of four squadrons armed with the latest v ersion of our Ksh535 missile. Their targets are the Command HQ s of the Turkish 1s t and 2nd Tactical Air Commands, the Central HHQ below the Defense Ministry in A nkara, and the stationary Command & Communication posts of their entire 1st Army . Five squadrons of Mig29 and Su27 fighter planes will provide cover from anythi ng the Turks or anyone else sends against them. -The Turkish ability to respond to the cruise missiles? -Zero. -The overall results from these attacks? -Their military will be crippled. Their units will lose their communication capa bility and command issuing, so in fact their entire army will be decapitated. As a result any and all military operations under way will just have to stop. Or a t least suffer in a way, which will make their military objectives impossible to achieve. The fact is that they will be 100% contained, militarily speaking. -But how can we be sure of the results? -Our Ksh535 missiles intended for the heavily armed or underground bunkers of th e Turkish High Commands are of the N version, which means they are nuclear enhanced . Once on their objective a small underground explosion will totally destroy the target. The use of eight missiles per target guarantees the results. -Wouldn t the Americans detect the use of nuclear weapons? -No way mr President. At least not without a thorough investigation of the ruins . The explosions will be more than 50m underground and the yield will be small, but just enough to do the job. The probability of them actually detecting anythi ng similar to a nuclear explosion is less than 2%. -I can say that I am impressed General. Who would though that we could ever achi eve so advanced and quick strategic response capabilities. -Well mr. President, we ve come a long way the last few years. 05:30 Canakkale, over the straits. The first Greek cruise missiles were already passing the mountains and were lini ng up towards the first bridges. The GPS guidance capability guaranteed the dest ruction of their targets. 05:30 The first aircraft were taking off one after the other from the Eskisehir and Balikesir Air Force Bases. Their mission was to create the conditions under which the attacking land forces in Evros would break through the Greek Defenses. 05:30 East Thrake MLRS Battalion command The twelve launchers started to send their rockets over Evros. Within a minute a ll launchers were empty and repositioning to new launch areas in order to re-arm . At the same time all Turkish artillery units started softening the Greek Defense s across the Evros river. 05:30 Turkish Armored Battalion Near Evros river delta. The Battalion Commander had already been given the signal to proceed with the re positioning of his 58 M1A2 s to their designated assault area 10Km s from the Evros river. His unit was the spearhead of the entire force of five Brigades tasked to break the Greek Lines west of Alexandroupolis. 05:30 Imia islets Dodecanese Islands Two assault rafts are heading full speed towards the East Imia islet. They carry two nine-member Commando teams. Their mission to capture the islets. They are n ot alone. Across South-Eastern Aegean several more teams are doing the same thin g against numerous Greek islets. As they approach trying to find a suitable rock y spot to land, they slow down. At that point the first assault raft s engine is b lown away by a fifty calibre single shot fired from a sniper using a Barret rifl e, sending the entire team into the water. Next a FN-Minini machine gun team tak es out the nine soldiers trying to swim to the islet. The second assault raft sp

eeds up trying to land while the Commandos try to strafe the Islet with their we apons. They manage to land and run for cover in the rocky terrain. Two grenades take out four of the team members within seconds. Three more are killed by anoth er machine gun. In the exchange of fire that follows all the Turks are killed. S econds later everything is silent. A Greek soldier approaches the bodies and che cks them one by one. He then raises his hand. -All clear Sergeant. They are all dead! -Ok then, keep your eyes open. They may try that again. Radioman notify Brigade HQ in Kos. Across the rest of the South-Eastern Aegean islets results are they s ame. All attempts by the Turks ended up in failure. 05:30 Megisti Town Kasteloriso Islands The silence of the early morning hours is broken by the explosions of 155mm roun ds devastating the small port town of Megisti. Within second eighteen rounds tur n the small town into flaming ruins. At the same time several assault rafts are entering the small port and two platoons of Turkish Commandos storm the town. Fr om the left and right of the port itself, two more platoons storm the beach. The Turkish invading force instantly starts taking Machine gun fire from the above hills surrounding the town. 05:31 Lemnos Island Two Apache Helicopters patrol the area south of Moudros bay in Lemnos. They imme diately spot a Turkish SH60 ASW helicopter 8 miles out. A minute later a hellfir e missile destroys it. The two Apaches turn left and continue their patrol. 05:31 Mountains North of Alexandroupolis The TPQ37 Artillery Radar has already begun picking up the incoming rockets. The Commander immediately transmits the data over the Greek MLRS units and the P zh2000 Batteries. The radioman also contacts the 4th Army HQ. 05:35 Canakkale Straits The bridges were shaking and collapsing one after the other while the Greek crui se missiles were striking their foundations completely devastating them. Within a few minutes all missiles had finished their job. 05:35 Megisti Town Kasteloriso Islands The Turkish commanding officer, Major Palka, was one of the first to step foot o n the island. The fires from the buildings weren t helping his men secure the area . Most of his troops were pinned down from the intensive firing coming from the hills above the town. The Greek Defenders seemed willing to keep the island what ever the cost. He grabbed the radio and requested a fire mission from the Turkis h artillery support unit. As he did a couple of Cobra Attack Helicopters was pas sing over him strafing the hills with 30mm gunfire and 76mm rockets. Reinforceme nts were on the way by air and sea as well. 05:35 Over the Canakkale Peninsula The last six Mirage-2000 armed with cruise missiles were just passing over the C anakkale Peninsula and were dropping to sea level trying to line up towards the Istanbul Bridges. 05:40 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center General Yolduz was furious! Everything seemed to go as planned half an hour ago, but now he was getting reports of the exact opposite. Bandirma AFB was practica lly destroyed, and there was some strange rumour that the bridges over the Darda nelles have been bombed. As he was waiting the reports from the field he was goi ng over the backup plans for the next few hours. -General Yolduz? -Yes Major Battan? -We have confirmation sir. All Bridges in the Dardanelles were destroyed by crui se missiles. -Aaarghhh! ******* Greeks!

-Your orders General? -First things first. Give me the overall report on our operations. -The Bombardments in Evros are well under way in preparation for the main land o ffensive. Our first wave of attack aircraft is on the way to Evros. The second w ave will be launching within the next hour or so. Our operations over the Aegean islets are reportedly a total failure, but the primary target Island operation is well under way. Soon we will be landing a Marine battalion in Inoussai Island near Chios as well. -Ok then we continue as planned. We will have to re-direct our supply lines thou gh. Issue the relevant orders for all logistics, follow on and support forces he ading to the Dardanelles, to change routes and use the Istanbul bridges instead. Advice the air defenses over Bosporus straits to be alert. -Sir having all our reinforcements over the Istanbul bridges will cause a major traffic jam. Can we afford it? -We will just have to delay our advance a couple of hours or so, but the overall results will be the same. At that point General Oktsalian steps in the way. -Are you satisfied? Do you know what the lose of those bridges will mean for the economy of the country? -Acceptable loses if we end up occupying all of North-Eastern Greece. -You are mad! -MP sergeant, escort General Oktsalian to my office and don t let him out. Major Battan approaches General Yolduz. -Sir, what about Pr. Bush? He is trying to contact you for the last ten minutes. -I don t have time for nonsense right now Major. He most probably will try to work me around a seize fire, which I don t intend to agree with anyway, so why bother. Keep telling him that I am unavailable at the moment and that I will call him b ack. 05:40 Greek Defense Ministry Operations Center The Prime Minister Kamanlis was getting information about the latest development s. General Pankal had taken the briefing stand and was giving the status report to the rest of the OC personnel. -We have been officially asked by the USA to allow one of their J-STARS aircraft currently over the Adriatic to enter our air space and begin monitoring the sit uation on the ground. Since the specific aircraft is on a NATO mission we have n o reason to refuse. However due to the circumstances we will providing them with a four F16+ aircraft for escort duty right along their own four F15 s. While we w ait for the first cruise missile reports lets go over the currently developing s ituations over the Aegean. First reports indicate that an attempt by the Turks to invade and occupy numerou s islets in the Aegean has ended in defeat. Thankfully for as, the Commander of the ASDEN (Military High Command of the Aegean Islands) was prudent enough to po st additional personnel to all islets despite orders not to weaken the main Isla nds, thus making their protection more efficient. We have a situation developing in Kasteloriso. Our forces there are putting a go od fight, but they are isolated, outnumbered, and outgunned. We expect the Turks to have total control of Megisti in the next hour or so. Our forces in Evros are being heavily bombarded as we speak. Naturally we counter bombard them with everything we have. An invasion will most probably take place within the next hours as we expected. We are already moving units to compensate their movements. Additional units from the 2nd Corps have been moving East for the last hour in order to begin setting up a second line of defence in Nestos river behind the 4th Corps. The Greek Prime Minister addressed the General. -General I want a swift answer to the invasion of Kasteloriso. This is something we simply cannot accept. -Well sir we can t retake those specific islands or assist the forces there. That s why the Turks invaded there first. However we can counter-attack successfully el

sewhere. It will be a small, but adequate answer in kind. -Be more specific General. -We can launch a ground attack on Evros. In the only place we have the advantage . The only part of Turkey west of Evros river. Just across the city of Andrianou polis. -Then make it so General. The sooner the better. -We can attack within ten minutes after I issue the order sir. At that point a lieutenant interrupted the General. -Excuse me General Pankal. We have received confirmation by our recce RF4E over Canakkale. All bridges there are destroyed. 05:45 Over Bosporus The six Mirage-2000 aircraft are now at the launch location. One after the other start firing their load of cruise missiles. With a swift turn to the right one after the other they head home. The fifth Mirage is getting ready to launch when a fireball engulfs it. The sixth breaks right and fires chaff and flares. The p ilot turns his head left but the only thing he sees is a missile exploding just behind his aircraft sending shrapnel all over. His aircraft is completely shredd ed and starts loosing altitude fast. He tries to control it, but he is badly inj ured. Blood covers his face and he can t see. Suddenly the aircraft explodes. A fe w miles to the west one more Mirage is shot down by a Hawk missile. The rest fly low just above sea level and head home. 05:45 (+2:00 GMT) Greek Embassy USA, Washington DC F.Altis a translator for the embassy is walking towards the kitchen in the North wing of the building. He carries a small black briefcase. Everyone else is gath ered downstairs waiting for information from Greece. The Ambassador is in his of fice with Mr. Smith, a military liaison, and several security agents. Altis is p lacing the briefcase near a gas pipe. He then runs away, down the stairs, and ou tside the building near the garden. Two minutes later an explosion devastates th e North wing of the Embassy. Flames start to spread all over the old structure. The fire alarm starts while every one is evacuating the building. A few minutes later four fire engines stop in front and several firemen start fighting the fla mes. Several emergency vehicles arrive at the scene. Police officers try to move the Embassy personnel away from the area and across the street. Suddenly a blac k mini van runs across the street. Stops in front of the Greek Ambassador and mr . Smith. The door opens and three men dressed in black storm the two Greek secur ity agents knocking them unconscious with stun guns. Two more men come out of th e van and grab mr. Smith. In seconds he is pulled into the van and the other thr ee men jump in as well. The van speeds up and turns around the corner. Everythin g is over in less then a minute. The following events take place between 05:50 and 06:00 05:50 Kastanies Evros The Greek Colonel K.Andriopoulos was an experienced Tank commander. It was just his luck that two weeks ago he was transferred to this second line unit equipped with M48A5MOLF MBTs. They said from HQ that they needed his experience in manag ement so they took him away from his command at a first line Leopard-2HEL unit a nd posted him here. Now, in the middle of the Turkish bombardments, he had to at tack the only land border area with Turkey and do so in the next few minutes. A very short notice indeed. He started giving directions from the radio of his Tan k to all his units and the Battalion slowly started to roll outside their assaul t positions. 05:50 Ismir Bay The four small LCTs were sailing close to the coastline trying to avoid detectio n by the Greek outposts in Chios and Inoussai islands. On the deck of each, seve ral jeeps and other support vehicles, heavy equipment and weaponry as well as nu merous ammunition boxes. Their destination, the eastern beaches of the Inoussai island. They were just making the final turn before heading straight ahead for t

he island. 05:50 Eastern Beach Inoussai Island The entire beach was devastated by 155mm artillery shells. Smoke was covering mo st of the beach while a Turkish Marine Company was landing the beach. Over them a pair of AH1W Cobra attack helicopters was engaged in close air support. Not a minute after the marines landed, the beach was rained by 4.2in mortars and 7.62m m machinegun fire. The commanding officer set up a command post and redirected f ire over the hills, while a 81mm mortar team was getting ready. The two Cobras s tarted moving inland in order to take out the Greek mortars. From the sea across the Ismir bay eight Super Puma Transport helicopters were flying low bringing t wo more companies into the game. Soon with all the heavy equipment on the beach, they would have a full battalion force capable of taking over the island. At a mountain in Chios the Greek Commander of the ADTE (Brigade command of the I sland) was monitoring the events in Inoussai from his HQ observation post. There was nothing he could do at that moment except notify his superiors. Before doin g so he ordered Chios artillery units to begin fire support to the Inoussai Guar d. 05:50 Megisti Town Kasteloriso Islands A series of re-directions of artillery fire were enough for Major Palka to final ly secure the small port town. Over the hills smoke coming from the numerous fir es and explosion craters was creating a scene out of hell. He was receiving the casualty figures from his staff sergeant. 35 dead, 22 wounded. His men were alre ady heading up hill to clear any remaining resistance. There was still job to be done since the rest of the island wasn t secured and the Greeks were bound to att empt a counter attack. However the reinforcements would make sure that the outco me will be in their favour. In the small port two LCTs are approaching the docks . Both carry support vehicles and heavy equipment. From the mainland eight Black hawk helicopters are also bringing more troops. As the LCTs make their final app roach a missile fired from a camouflaged AT4 ATGM strikes the second LCT bringin g havoc. The explosion triggers a fire, which rages at the back of the LCT were the ammo boxes are packed. The crew of the LCT jumps out and into the sea when t he LCT explodes. A hovering Cobra detects the AT4 position and in seconds fires a salvo of 76mm rockets annihilating it. Things weren t safe just yet! 05:50 North Aegean Just South of Alexandroupolis Four Turkish F16 flying at sea level were approaching the Ismaros Mountain Radar site. One of them makes a high altitude pop-up and detects the Radar s signature. The rest fire one HARM missile each. At the same time a PATRIOT battery near Ks anthi fires a missile against the first F16. As it tries to avoid the missile th e rest continue flying low to the west towards the PATRIOT Radar. Seconds later the Radar in Ismaros is heavily damaged and out of work. The F16 is trying to ma noeuvre at high altitude in order for the rest of his squadron to approach undet ected the PATRIOT radar. Being the bate was a bitch. The pilot fires chaff and f lares and tries to make a hard left. Then a hard right. A huge explosion totally destroys his aircraft. PATRIOTs don t full around. The other three F16 manage to close in on the PATRIOT Radar near Kavala. They fi re a HARM each and keep closing in for an Mk84 raid on the command post of the b attery. Suddenly two Greek F16+, dispatched from the Greek AWACS escort, attack from behind and in seconds destroy two of the Turkish aircraft. A minute later t he third F16 is history too. The PATRIOT battery commander manages to turn off t he Radar just seconds before the HARM missiles arrive at his location. Two missi les miss and hit the ground, the third smashes a small part of the antenna causi ng minor damage and also hits the ground. The radar is safe but until repaired i t will be unavailable. 05:55 Greek Coastline West of Alexandroupolis Thanks to the successful SEAD mission six F16 aircraft were feet dry over the Gree k side of Evros. Armed with the latest MAVERICK missile their mission was to des

troy as many Greek MLRS as possible. The job seemed quite easy at this point. Al l Greek MLRS were firing and the trace smoke made them visible from miles. They were like sitting ducks. The F16s split in three groups and start making their r uns. The first pair flies low and manages to avoid the incoming air defense arti llery fire lighting the sky. Finally close enough both launch their missiles aga inst an MLRS battery near Komotini taking out four launchers and damaging anothe r. Then turned east. The second pair moved even North and engaged another MLRS b attery taking out all six launchers. While turning to head east one of them was destroyed by a stinger missile launched from an ASRAD system. The third pair headed towards Ksanthi, but as they flew over a small hill a TORM1 battery engaged them with SA15 SAMs and in a minute both aircrafts were downe d. Overall the Greeks lost almost half of their MLRS. 05:55 Somewhere over the South regions of East Thrake The leader of the first squadron of Turkish F4EP2000 was already passing the las t hills before the Evros river. Once they would clear the mountains the entire G reek defensive lines would be at their feet. 06:00 Kastanies Evros The Greek artillery was pounding the Turkish positions west of Evros river. The artillery units were also creating a smoke screen to cover the advance of the Gr eek forces. Seconds after the shelling stopped, two M48A5MOLF Tank companies wer e rolling FAST towards the Turkish lines firing as they moved. Behind them follo wed a mechanized company with M113 APCs. From the left and right flanks two more Greek forces of one Tank and one Mechanized company each were also attacking. T he Turkish defenders started firing with everything they had. In a minute the wh ole area was a fierce battlefield with 105mm rounds taking out bunkers and a ATG Ms flying towards the Tanks. Mortar shelling and small arms fire made the whole scene terrifying. Colonel Andriopoulos was on his Tank turret giving directions to the rest of the force. At that moment a TOW2 ATGM missile passed just above h is head and hit the following M48. The Tank was savagely turned into a moving fu rnace. A second later an explosion from the ammo destroyed it sending the turret a few meters away. The Greeks had several of their Tanks and APCs hit, but the momentum of the offensive was just too strong for the Turks to overcome. Five mi nutes later the Greek forces had overturned the first line of defense and were m oving towards the first hills before the river. From behind the hills the first Turkish counter attack by a company of M48A5T2 and AIFV AFVs was already visible . The real battle was just beginning. 06:00 Evros river East of Alexandroupolis The forty F4EP2000 armed with a mix of Cluster and Freefall bombs as well as nap alm and paveways were beginning to storm their targets. Four squadrons each orie nted against a specific Greek Brigade were paving the way for the land forces. H igh above them, ten F16 were providing air cover. Multiple air defense artillery was illuminating the morning sky, while several ASRAD systems tried to lock on the incoming aircraft. At the same time the Bases of Eskisehir and Balikesir wer e preparing the second wave of seventy fully armed F16 s for take off. 06:05 Greek Defense Ministry Operations Center The satellite photos from the French spy satellite HELIOS-2 were arriving in the OC. The photos confirmed the worst fears of the Greek General Staff. One bridge in Istanbul was still intact. The lose of the last two Mirages made the differe nce. Current intelligence suggested that the Turkish High Command wasn t intimidat ed by the destruction of their bridges in Dardanelles and were committed to cont inue the military campaign. The situation in the Aegean wasn t good either. Kastel oriso was practically lost and the Turks were well underway in capturing the Ino ussai. The latest reports from Evros suggested a ground offensive was a matter o f minutes, while the Greek offensive in Kastanies was at a stalemate. The news o f the fire in the Greek Embassy and the kidnapping of mr Smith made the Greek Pr ime Minister even more skeptic by the minutes. -General Pankal. Are you telling me there is no way to retake any of the lost is

lands? -Well sir, I can have a Marine Battalion force anywhere in the Aegean within fiv e hours, by using the four Zubr hovercrafts of the Navy, but -But what General? -Honestly sir, these hovercrafts are not to be used against heavily defended bea ches and especially not in an environment so hostile such as the Inoussai and Ka steloriso have been the last hour or so. Let us not forget that Chios is practic ally surrounded by the Turkish fleet and Kasteloriso is way beyond any naval pro tection at this moment. So any thought of sending the Zubrs is out of the questi on. And I think Admiral Dim will agree with me on that. - What about the Air Mobile brigade? -Sending a Battalion of the Airmobile brigade isn't an option either. The UH1 he licopters are flying coffins in a war situation, especially against well prepare d defensive positions, and even if i was to use all of them, they couldn't possi bly carry even half the Battalion in question. As for the Chinnoks, even if they weren't used elsewhere, using them in a mission like that would be militarily a nd tactically unacceptable. 06:10 Pentagon USA, Washington DC Pr. Bush is watching the latest information from the Aegean Sea. On the screens of the situation room the data from the J-SATARS aircraft start to appear. -Director Null. What s the story on mr. Smith? -We neutralized him effectively mr. President. -General Amistad what is the latest information from Russia? -They have more than a hundred aircraft on the air as we speak heading towards T urkey. Half of them are Strategic Bombers. -If we have to, can we stop them? -At the specific location, course heading and time-frame, I am afraid no sir. -Any good news from our sources in Turkey? -We have established contact with one of our most trusted men in the Turkish mil itary. He is a personal friend of our NATO commander who personally contacted hi m trough NATO channels. -Who is he General? -Colonel Mehmet Ali Geran. He is the commanding officer of the Elite Special For ces of the Turkish General Staff. His unit is completely independent from any ot her Turkish High Command. They even have their own little air force with attack and transport helicopters. His Battalion-sized detachment is the best-trained an d equipped unit in Turkey. And they are based just outside Ankara. -And how did we manage to contact them? -As I said, they are the best equipped. They even have satellite communications equipment. -What can we expect from him? I mean he only has a Battalion, right? -We explained him the situation. He is fully aware of the consequences a Russian military intervention would have. We also gave him a full report of the current military situation between Greece and Turkey. He wasn t so pleased when he heard about the Dardanelles bridges. However he is also aware of the realities in Turk ish military conduct and capability, so he was kind of reluctant to our proposal s. -What kind of proposals? -We suggested him the idea of taking over the Turkish Defense Ministry and seizi ng control of the Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center. Once that is done he w ould be able to issue commands towards de-escalation of the crisis. -A military coup d etat against a military coup d etat? Isn t that a bit over the edge of probable success? -Actually no, mr. President. The positioning of the 15th Corps units in and arou nd the Capital is suitable for protecting Ankara from any ground-oriented attemp t against General Yolduz, but the air assault is still an option. And the distan ce between the Defense Ministry and the rest of General Yolduz s units is such tha t allows a time frame for the unit of Colonel Geran to complete his assault. Onc e in control of the OC, and with General Yolduz arrested, Colonel Geran will be

the new strong man in Turkey. That is if he chooses not to surrender command bac k to General Oktsalian. In any case after General Yolduz is out of the game, we can start de-escalating the crisis. -You have discussed all this with this Colonel Geran? -Yes, and we finally got him to agree. -How soon can he assault the Defense Ministry? -He is getting underway with the specifics of the assault as we speak. -An how soon can we expect results? -Hopefully everything will be over by 06:45 local time. -This is awfully close to our Russian deadline. Can t we push things a bit? -Sorry sir that is the best we can do in such a sort notice. 06:10 Somewhere over the North Aegean The last Mirage-2000 carrying the SCALP-EG cruise missiles has just finished ref ueling on air from an A7E using a Buddy-Buddy refuel system. Lieutenant Petrakis had only 80 hours in the type, less than any other pilot of his squadron so he was left as a reserve in case something went wrong. And guess what? It did. Appa rently the last two Mirages were shot down before launching their missiles, so h e had to go in and finish the job. Having only two missiles meant that he would have to go even further inside Turkish airspace in order to strike both foundati ons of the bridge with one missile each. The Air Force headquarters would provid e him with only four F16+ for escort, since the rest of the aircraft were curren tly preparing to assist the land forces in Evros. 06:15 Kastanies Evros The Greek artillery has shifted its fire at the eastern coast of Evros river. Th e Tanks of Colonel Andriopoulos have just completed their primary objectives and were now consolidating their positions trying to create a defensive line along the river. Behind them the mechanized infantry with their APCs were clearing up any pockets of resistance left. The Greeks had many casualties, but the Turks ha d even more. Only a few minutes ago the outcome was still uncertain. The Turkish AIFV AFVs had taken a toll to the lightly armoured and armed M113 APCs of the G reeks. Colonel Andriopoulos was looking at the hills below and behind his Tank. The entire area was covered with burning Tanks, AFV's and APCs. He couldn t help t hinking what would the results have been if the Turks had one company of M1A1 ta nks in this area. It seemed that today it was his lucky day. For the far east he could hear the incoming Turkish artillery. 06:15 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center General Yolduz was receiving the good news about the capture of Inoussai and Kas teloriso, a small smile has appeared on his face, but not for long. He was now i nformed about the Greek success in North Evros. Apparently the only thing stoppi ng them from entering the Turkish city of Andrianoupolis was the Evros river. -What? How could this happen? Are they advancing? -No sir. They seem to consolidate their positions defensively. -Can someone explain to me how this could possibly happen? -Well General We do have all our M1A2s send south for the offensive. The Greeks j ust took a lucky shot. -So what is the latest from South Evros. The ground offensive should have starte d 15 minutes ago. -The Greek MLRS were giving us a hard time positioning for the attack, but as of five minutes ago our forces are rolling. The entire area of attack has been dev astated by our aircraft and MLRS. Punching through should be an easy job. -Now that s what I want to hear! -We do have another matter brought to our attention though. -Which is? -Colonel Geran requests permission to move his unit over the Aydin region. -For what purpose? -He feels that he should be ready to take action against any Greek attempt to li berate Inoussai, or capture Tenedos or Imvros. -What are the possibilities of Greeks trying that?

-It would practically be a suicide decision for the Greeks as far as the Inoussa i and Imvros are concerned, but they do have the Zubrs, thus the capability to u ndertake such an action. -Then inform Colonel Geran he can proceed to the Aydin region. 06:15 Over Lemnos airspace The Greek Erieye AWACS was now over Lemnos. At this area any attack by Turkish a ircraft would only have one possible outcome. The F16+ that escorted it for the last hours were low on fuel so they returned to their base. For a few minutes th ey would be unprotected until the new escorts arrive, but there was no other way . If the package intended to strike the last Istanbul bridge was to reach the la unch area safe they would have to be their eyes deep inside Turkey. 06:15 Over the rear area of the Greeks in Evros The four AH1W Cobras were feet dry for some time and were now splitting in two pai rs trying to find suitable ambush positions for attacking Greek reinforcements. The first pair headed east towards the mountains near the Evros river. As they w ere flying into a small ridge a pair of Greek AH64A started to fire against them . The first Cobra turned right behind some trees. The second try to make a 180 d egree turn and try to take out one of the Apaches. The minute it turned a strafi ng fire from the 23mm gun of the first Apache took off the left wing and just mi ssed the crew cabin. The Cobra immediately fired the right sidewinder and in sec onds the Apache was gone. The second Apache pilot didn t hesitate, he fired severa l 76mm rockets totally destroying the Cobra. Then turned to hunt the second Turk ish helicopter. When it started to turn around the trees several 30mm round ripp ed the hull and the cabin damaging several systems and badly injuring the pilot. The weapons controller immediately returned fire with the 23mm gun and managed to take down the second Cobra just before its helicopter crash-landed. The other pair of Cobras was flying low towards the frontline when is suddenly came upon a Greek Armoured column of Leopar-2HEL MBTs and Marder-1A3 AFVs. The two helicop ters split and stormed the column from left and right using TOW2 missiles and 76 mm rockets. In a minute seven Leopards and four Marders went up in flames. The r emaining MBTs and AFVs started manoeuvring trying to get protection in the surro unding ground elevations, but the Cobras were already heading away looking for a nother target. 06:20 Pentagon USA, Washington DC President Bush has just communicated with Colonel Geran via satellite phone. He personally guaranteed that in the post war peace negotiations between Greece and Turkey the US would backup the Turkish claims for an overall solution to the Ae gean dispute. It sounded as blackmail, but at that point the unit of Colonel Ger an was the only thing he could count on for a clean solution to this mess. -Mr. President. -Yes General Amistad? -The J-STARS confirms that the Turkish Land Forces are attacking in Evros. -Dear god! What options do we have left? -None. Now the only thing we can do is hope the Russians don t intervene before 07 :00 local time so that we have enough time to try and resolve this. -And if we don t? What then? -The Russian will take out the Turkish military and then we can only retaliate a gainst them. It all depends to the size and level their actions will take. Curen tly our best option the Karl Vinsen CBG (Carrier Battle Group) is still very far away for any immediate response. NATO forces are also many hours behind any pos sible military action against the Russians, even if they were actually willing t o counter attack. -And why is that? -Some of our European Allies see this as a total screw up by the Turks, and quit e frankly they are not willing to go to war against Russia over this. -Talk about old Europe

06:20 (+2:00GMT) Kremlin Military Operations Room RUSSIA, Moscow Pr. Putin is standing near a monitor screen watching the most recent feed coming from the latest model of Russian Spy Satellite orbiting the earth over the Aege an. -So the Turks finally decided to attack. -Mr. President this doesn t change anything to our plans. -Our attack force is ok? -They are on schedule. -I want to be able to abort the launch of the Ksh535 missiles up to the last min ute. -Guaranteed sir. -General Vlotchief. What is the response of the Americans so far? -There has been no contact of the US leadership with the Turkish military as far as we know. However there has been quite an activity of communication channels with their NATO Allies. One of our Trawlers in the Mediterranean Sea reports the ir CVN is heading north towards the Aegean. They also put their entire military in DEFCON-3. -And our response to their actions? -We implemented the security procedures and increased our level of alert as well . -General, give the order to several SS20 missiles from a silo complex we know th e US monitors to start deploying. We should send them a clear message to stay ou t of our bussiness. 06:20 Evros river The Turkish land forces were rolling fast towards the river. In front of them se veral combat bridges were trying to get into position to deploy. Other units wer e going to use the Highway bridges as well. Approximately 5Km from the border th e Greek side opened fire. A few minutes later the entire frontline was on fire. All sort of weapon systems from the Greek side where taking a toll on the Turks. The M1A2 battalions of the spearhead were practically invincible. The Turks los t almost half of their combat bridges, but manage to deploy the rest and in minu tes they were crossing over the river. At that point the Greeks started to use t heir Russian made KORNET ATGMs mounted on HUMVEES. This was probably the best AT weapon in the world and now it was taking revenge for the events in the Greek i slands. The first salvo takes out four M1A2s, and the next four more. Within min utes the first battalion of M1A2 is practically annihilated, but the momentum of the attack is not broken. The casualties of the first Turkish brigade entering the Greek soil were enormous, but behind it four more brigades start to make the ir entry into the battle. A series of low passes by eight AH1Ws clears the way for a moment, but not for l ong. Now the Greeks throw into the fight the first two Leopard-2HEL Brigades. Eq uipped with a better 120mm howitzer the Leopards start to engage the Turkish M1A 2 from close range. 06:20 Somewhere near Ankara The first helicopters of Colonel s Geran Special Forces unit were getting airborne . Inside one of the Super Puma helicopters, he was going over the plan to captur e the Turkish Defense Ministry. He had fate to his men. Some were reluctant, but understood what had to be done. So far the OC believed the cover story for the air transit of his unit. Now he didn t have to worry about the air defenses of the 15th Corps. Once they were over the capital, no one could stop them. 06:20 Over the Canakkale straits Lieutenant Petrakis was leading the formation of four F16+ with his Mirage-2000. At that moment the Greek AWACS informs them about large formations of Turkish a ircraft returning from the Evros area. The remaining 30 F4EP2000 with an escort of 10 F16 were returning to their bases after succesfully attacking the Greek de fense lines. As soon as the AWACS transferred the data to the Greek fighters two F16+ turned left in order to engage the Turks and lure them away from the rest

of the force just in case. Both pilots engaged the F4EP2000 first since they wer e easy targets and the F16 escorting them would definitely run to protect them. After taking two Phantoms out the two F16+ were engaged by five of the Turkish F 16s. Minutes and two Turkish F16 downed later the two F16+ are taking their plac e in history too. 06:20 Southern Evros Region - West of Alexandroupolis The Turkish forces have advanced for about 10Km before the Greek Armored Brigade s manage to contain the offensive. Both sides suffered tremendous loses and the battle seemed to enter a stalemate. More follow on forces were crossing the rive r, but the area was too crowded with military units and destroyed equipment for them to take the advantage. Several Apaches had made their appearance worsening the situation for the Turks. The frontline now spread beyond 20Kms in length. At that point the second wave of Turkish air support stormed the Greek Armored bri gades. More than thirty F16 aircraft in three different squadrons and all armed with cl uster and Mk bombs started to deliver on the Greek Tanks and AFVs. A few kilomet ers west two more squadrons of 10 F16 each were attacking the Greek reinforcemen ts. The raid gave the Turkish land forces the momentum needed to push forward. T he Commander of the Greek 23rd Armored Brigade Colonel N.Spiridonakos orders his unit to proceed to delay force tactics. Then he immediately calls the 4th Corps HQ. - Blue 32 to BlueHut 22 . We can no longer contain the enemy advance we are enveloping back towards Alexandroupoli. We desperately need air support. 06:25 Greek Defense Ministry Operations Center Prime Minister Kamanlis is being informed that the American president wishes to talk to him. He goes to the communications room where the secure conference syst em of NATO is located. -Mr. President. I am afraid you are a bit late calling to resolve this crisis. -Prime Minister, I now we had several major differences the last few months, but now is a time of action and not argument. -What exactly do you mean? -We have underway a small operation, which if successful will end the hostilitie s and lead to mutual withdrawal of military forces and step-by-step de-escalatio n. -I hear you. -We need you to open a direct line between our Pentagon situation room your Oper ations Center, and your 4th Corps HQ. -For what purpose? -The minute our operation is successful, we will have to issue immediate seize f ire orders to both Greek and Turkish military units. We are confident that the N aval and Air Force units of both countries will respond to the orders given by t heir Central commands, but the Ground units have to receive orders directly from the local commanders, which can t guarantee the compliance of all units in time, and can lead to unwanted situations. -I understand. -So, your answer. -We will do so mr. President. You will have what you request within the next ten minutes. -Thank you Prime Minister. -Thank you, President Bush. 06:30 Outskirts of Ankara The entire force of four Cobras, eight Blackhawks and four Super Pumas of Colone l s Geran unit were only a few minutes away from the Turkish Defense Ministry buil ding complex. At that point all helicopters dropped to rooftop level and split i n order to proceed with the assault. 06:30 Larissa AFB The first close air support wave of 20 F16+ was getting ready to take off. In N.

Aghialos AFB 20 more F16+ were getting ready to take off as well. Already 20 old er type F16s were on their way to Evros to intercept the Turkish aircraft. 06:30 Onboard a Tupolev Strategic Bomber. -Commander. Half hour to launch co-ordinates. Should we execute launch sequence procedures? -Prepare the missiles, execute standard checklist, test warheads responses. Veri fy communication with Central Strategic Command. -10 minutes to low altitude drop, sir. -Were on earth are the escorts? -Seven o clock on your left Commander. Just arrived! 06:30 50Km South-West of Istanbul Over Bosporus Lieutenant Petrakis has arrived to the launch waypoint and lined up his Mirage. He took a deep breath and pressed the stick fire button. His aircraft jumped up a bit while both SCALP-EG cruise missiles cleared the wings. Seconds later the r ocket boosters fired and the two cruise missiles where on their way. Lieutenant Petrakis turned slowly to the left and headed towards the Lemnos AFB. Behind him the remaining two F16+ followed him. 06:30 (+2:00GMT) Kremlin Military Operations Room RUSSIA, Moscow A low ranking officer informs Pr. Putin that the American president is on the re d line. Pr. Putin picks up the phone. -Hello mr. President. -Pr. Putin, I really have to get to the point. -Then get to them point George. -Vladimir, within the next half hour we will be taking over the control of the T urkish Armed Forces, don t ask how, and we will be issuing orders towards seize fi re and de-escalation. -And what do you want from me? -I want some more time. Give me at least half an hour to make sure that the orde rs are relayed and understood. We must do this right if we are to avoid a major war between us. -You have your deadline George. I can t do anything more than what I already did. I let Turkey invade Greece without speeding our intervention. Any more delays wi ll only bring my country to a disadvantageous position towards NATO, should ther e is a conflict between us. -Then at least give us the ability to directly connect our Operation Centers in order to pass information in real time and verify the stand down of Turkish forc es as it takes place. I assume that you can call of your bombers in real time al so? -Yes we can. Your suggestion is logical enough and I will give orders to impleme nt it immediately. -And you will recall your bombers if a seize fire is in place? -First we will abort the launch of our missiles, then if all works fine we will recall the bombers. However I must also add that in any future negotiations betw een Greece and Turkey, Russia will be there as well. We will not accept any de f acto results rewarding Turkey for this conflict. -Understood Vladimir. -Goodbye George. The following events take place between 06:30 and 06:40 06:35 Alexandroupolis Evros, Greece In a swift blitzkrieg the Turkish Brigades taking advantage of the complete lack of air support from the Greek side have managed to advance all the way to the o utskirts of Alexandroupoli. The Greek Forward Brigades covering the borders in t hat area had already been almost completely destroyed or routed, but gave the Tu rks a bitter lesson of Greek fighting abilities. Colonel Spiridonakos was reposi tioning the remains of his 23rd Armored Brigade around the first houses and buil

ding complexes of the city. With the loses his unit suffered he could only make a desperate final stand. The Turkish Attacking forces having lost more than 65% of their spearhead units, were now consolidating their positions for the final p ush to capture the city of Alexandroupoli, while fresh reinforcements were tryin g to flank the city and continue advancing west. However the Greek units to the North threatened the Turkish right flank as well. The situation was getting wors t by the fact that already the destruction of the Dardanelles bridges was making the logistics and support efforts suffer. Additional fighting units and support elements due to arrive around 06:30 and fill the gaps behind the advancing unit s were unavailable since they were forced to change course and try to cross from the Istanbul Bridges. The momentum of the assault as a result suffered also, bu t the commanding officer of the Turkish 1st ARMY would never give up that easily . By his initiative the Turkish MLRS units concentrated all their fire around th e city, and at the same time the reserves of the 1st ARMY were ordered to procee d to the battle in order to compensate for the follow on forces that have been d elayed. The Greeks however had their own agenda too. The remaining three Armored Brigades under cover of MLRS as well, even though suffering from the air raids, were rolling towards the Turkish advancing units. In minutes they met head on i n the plains northwest of Alexandroupoli and the biggest tank battle of modern E uropean history begun. More than 170 LEOPARD-2 followed by 150+ MARDER-1 were fa cing off more than 150 M1A2 and 170 upgraded M60 followed by 200+ AIFV. Behind b oth spearheads other lighter units of Tanks and Personnel Carriers were also eng aging in battle. The northern Greek Brigades were also sending their reserves in to battle, flanking the Turkish forces. Near Turkish Defense Ministry 06:35 Rooftop of a Building The head sniper team of Colonel Geran s unit was taking position to cover the fron t gates of the Ministry. Equipped with a 0.50 sniper rifle the leader of the tea m could take out anything up to 2Km distance. Around the Ministry five other sni per teams were getting ready. When settled he started monitoring the situation a nd reporting back to Colonel Geran. The Front gates and Main Guard post were gua rded by half a platoon of MP s and two Akrep armored vehicles equipped with 12.7mm machine guns. Along the sides and 50m away were the first guard posts with one guard each. At the corners were two more posts and the same was all around up to the rear gates were a small squad was manning the post supported by an Akrep ve hicle as well. Inside the perimeter several patrols were visible and two guards were standing near the Helicopter pad located at the southwest corner of the Bui lding complex. Just a few meters from the front lobby entrance, was a small exte rnal bunker housing the communication and electronics backup control room were a ll the transmissions could be routed in case of a complete system failure in the Operations Center. On the roof of the Ministry only a hand full of soldiers man ned two 35mm Air Defense Guns. Based on the information from the sniper teams, Colonel Geran was making the las t minute changes of his plan. 06:35 Over Evros The 20 Greek F16 fighters were already engaging the 20 F16s of the Turkish cover force in a fierce dogfight. In both sides pilots were tired and the numbers wer e even so the outcome was uncertain. Meanwhile the attacking F16s of the Turks w ere rushing to escape and return to their bases. Having already lost twelve of t heir co-patriots by air defense fire and being low on fuel the squadron leaders decided not to wait and see who wins the dogfights. A few miles to the Southwest 40 F16+s were heading to attack the Turkish ground units. 06:35 Over Canakkale straits Lieutenant Petrakis was flying his Mirage-2000 low and fast deep down the strait s along with his two F16+ escorts. Suddenly his cockpit warning lights went on. A radar was tracking him. Seconds later the incoming missile light went on. All three aircraft split trying to detect the incoming missile or missiles visually. Petrakis turn his head left and saw two traces coming their way. The one F16+ t

urned hard right and down firing chaff and flares while the other followed to th e left doing the same. Petrakis turned and looped to the left. One missile exploded near the one F16+ c ompletely destroying it. The other locked on the Mirage-2000 and kept going. Pet rakis was trying to evade, but with no luck. At the final seconds he broke right and fired the chaff and flare while looping again. The missile exploded sending shrapnel everywhere. One wing of the Mirage was damaged. Several systems went o ff, but the aircraft was still flying. Both remaining aircraft immediately fell low just above sea level and continued their way home. 06:35 Greek SS Papanikolis Captain Drosakis had ordered the helm to maintain position and enter a patrol pa ttern just west of Lesbos. He was ordered by the Fleet Command to stand by for n ew orders, maintain current position, monitor enemy movements, and not take any action against the Turkish fleet unless he was attacked first. Having at least t hree surface vessels of the Turks in his sights and ready for the bottom of the Aegean was making him furious, but orders are orders. 06:35 Greek Defense Ministry Operations Center General Pankal approaches Prime Minister Kamanlis. -If I may have a minute Prime Minister? -Yes General. -I need your authorization to initiate operational plans for possible counter-at tacks in Inoussai and Kasteloriso islands. -But General, didn t we just agreed to prepare towards de-escalation? -Yes, but I want to have some options available in case the Turkish leadership o r the local commanders refuse to withdraw from those areas currently occupied. -I suppose you are right. You may do so. General Pankal immediately run to the control panel of his desk. He picked up a phone and gave the order: Initiate Ifigeneia en Avlidi . 06:40 Istanbul Turkey A large column of Heavy-duty trucks loaded with Main Battle Tanks and Armoured P ersonnel Carriers along with several other support vehicles was crossing the las t standing bridge in Bosporus. The traffic jam was so heavy that the small compa ny of MP s guiding the arriving units across were overwhelmed adding to the proble m. Several anti-air artillery pieces were deployed on each side of the bridge an d four stinger teams were on alert a few meters away also. The crossing units we re blocked in and around the building complexes of the Istanbul city itself maki ng an already bad situation worse. Suddenly the air defense guns started to fire over the river. The two last Greek cruise missiles were on their way with a ven geance. The guns were firing in vain though. It was impossible for them to hit t heir targets at that distance and speed. The first missile strikes the east foun dation of the Bridge heavily damaging it and causing a truck to overturn and sev eral other passing vehicles to collide. The second missile misses the west found ation, but strikes the wire post above. The explosion totally devastates the pos t and the vehicles under it and causes large pieces of debris to land over the p assing trucks. Seconds later the bridge is heavily damaged, but standing. On the east end it was curving in a big angle and on the west side it was hanging loos e on one wire post. The crews and troops already on the bridge were running like crazy to get off it since it looked as if it will collapse at any moment. Cross ing it would be impossible for some time. 06:40 Alexandroupolis outskirts The battle between Greek and Turkish ground forces was tremendously fierce as th e best units of both sides were engaging with no intension of withdrawing. Colon el Spridinakos had just engaged the left flank of the advancing enemy units and was gaining some advantages by occupying several buildings with portable ATGM s. Luckily for him and his unit the Turks seem to care more about enveloping the ci ty, rather than capturing it, so he was engaging the lighter part of their force s.

At that point the Greek close air support was beggining as the F16+ made their a ppearance over the battlefield. Forty aircraft in five squadrons began almost im mediately to rain cluster bombs, napalms and mavericks over the Turkish units. T hey were now suffering some of there own medicine. The momentum of the attack ap peared to be broken, and the artillery support didn t seem to make a difference. A t the same time a Greek battalion of airborne troops had made a breakthrough beh ind the lines of the Turkish left flank and into the Evros Delta area, threateni ng to cut off the main highway from Turkey. The local commander of the Turkish f orces had no reinforces to dispatch since all were thrown in battle elsewhere. T he choice he made was the only choice he had. He ordered all units to consolidat e their positions and start preparing for stabilization operations in order to p repare a solid defense line. 06:40 Turkish Defense Ministry Ankara The MP s guarding the main gate where tired and nervous. Then was the time that th e two men manning the 12.7mm guns on the Akrep armored vehicles collapsed. At th e same time on the rooftop of the Ministry 0.50 caliber armor-penetrating muniti ons fired from the distance neutralized the two anti-air guns. All around the Mi nistry guard posts the heavy equipment was swiftly taken out by sniper fire. The guards at the main gate started to take cover. Suddenly two AH1W Cobras poppedup from behind a neighboring apartment building and launched a TOW2 missile and several 76mm rockets each. In seconds the Akreps and the Guard post were destroy ed. At the same time another AH1W was taking out the rear gate guards as well, a nd a fourth was destroying the anti-air guns. A stinger team near the parking of the Ministry fired a stinger missile, but the Cobras managed to avoid it and in second had taken out the stinger team. At that point and while the Cobras were taking patrol positions around the Ministry, four Blackhawks from four different directions made their way in. Three of them starting deploying their commando s quads by FAST rope at the front corners and main gate, while the third approache d the rooftop and delivered its squad there. All four squads started to secure t heir positions and taking out several isolated guards and patrols. A minute late r four more Blackhawks secured the Helicopter pad and the rear corners and gate. No the whole Ministry of Defense was surrounded by Colonel Gerans men. Immediat ely they started to storm the building from the lobby and rooftop and engage the Mp's inside. 06:45 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center Turkish Defense Ministry General Yolduz was receiving the latest reports form the field, when a soldier e nters the OC running and shouting. -General Yolduz, we are under attack!!! -What do you mean soldiers? -The Ministry is under attack. The have already taken the perimeter and they are trying to enter the building from the lobby and rooftop. -Who the f is doing that? Oh, I see Colonel Geran Man all the internal safety position of the building. Lock the armoured door of the OC. Mp s take defensive positions around the door. Contact 15th Corps HQ and o rder all available units to reinforce us and engage the intruders outside. Traitors!!! Traitors!!! General Oktsalian was hearing the loud voice of Yolduz and figured that somethin g serious was going own. He carefully moved towards the desk of the office he wa s held. Without the MP guard noticing, he picked up a pen and hid it under his s leeve. 06:45 Turkish Defense Ministry The four Super Pumas of Colonel Gerans unit were one by one unloading more troop s into the perimeter of the Ministry. The last helicopter was carrying the satel lite communications equipment as well as several electronics teams in order to e stablish a temporary OC outside the Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center. -Colonel, we are ready to storm the basements and the OC. The rest of the buildi ng is now almost secured from roof to lobby.

-Casualties? -Five dead, three wounded, one critical. -Set up the Temporary OC over at the communications bunker immediately. We need to cut off the OC communications and start issuing new commands to our units fro m our own. We don t have much time! The first electronics team was on its way towards the communication bunker when it suddenly blows up. At the same time another stinger team from hiding fires a missile at the Super Puma unloading the satellite equipment at the Helicopter pa d and destroys it. The commandos of Colonel Geran immediately open fire and kill the two members of the stinger team. Near the flaming wreckage of the Super Puma several commandos help the wounded a nd try to salvage anything they can. -What do we do now Colonel? All our equipment is lost. -We have no other choice than take over the OC and issue the orders from there. Prepare the men. We will go in force and hope for the best. The following events take place between 06:45 and 06:55 06:45 Over Evros The dog fighting between Greeks and Turks is finally over. Both suffered 50% los es, but the Turks had to withdraw since they were already low on fuel. The Greek squadron leader chooses not to pursuit them and maintains the air cover of the area. 06:45 Evros river Delta The Greek airborne battalion of the 71st Brigade was a battalion in name only. T he Greeks managed to mass two helicopter battalions of 35 UH1 each and could at best only transport a couple of companies. The HQ had given priority to several elements of the airborne unit so the heavy equipment was mainly ATGMs and Heavy machine guns. The two companies were now taking positions in the muddy terrain. A few kilometres to the north the traffic over the main highway to Alexandroupol is was visible. Once fully deployed the Greek airborne troops could start attack ing the highway. 06:45 Alexandroupolis outskirts The fighting northeast of the city is well underway with the Greeks trying to re pel the attacking forces and the Turkish trying to create a defensive line. Colonel Spiridonakos was receiving medical treatment for some minor wounds. A fe w feet away his Tank had been damaged just a minute ago and was now on fire. His second in command was trying to communicate with the remaining dispersed elemen ts of the 23rd Armoured Brigade and several other elements from routed units in order to merge them with the brigade. It appeared that the forces attacking the city were withdrawing in order to attack the Greek Airborne unit at Evros Delta. The 23rd would now take the chance and try to counter attack using all availabl e scattered elements plus two more mechanized battalions entering the city area from the west. 06:50 Turkish Defense Ministry In the dark corridors or the basement bellow the Turkish Defense Ministry the fi ghting was well underway. Two squads of General Yolduz men were giving the comma ndos of Colonel Geran a hard time. Booby-traps with explosives and grenades thrown added to the intense gunfire. Inside the OC General Yolduz was getting ready himself. He was trying to order s everal units of the 15th Corps towards the Ministry, but all were too far away t o get there in time. Outside the building itself the commandos were taking defensive positions around the perimeter and neighbouring buildings. One kilometre away a small column of four Akreps followed by a mechanized platoo n and a M60 Tank were moving fast towards the Ministry. Two hovering Cobras detect them and instantly attack using TOW2 and 30mm guns. T he Tank and an AIFV are blown away, while the rest stuck up behind them. Two of

the forward Akreps open fire with 12.7mm guns, but no chance. They are soon take n out by the Cobras as well. The rest of the force backs up and starts to withdr aw. Back in the Ministry. -Colonel Geran. -Yes sergeant. -We reached the OC armored door sir. It is locked from the inside. We prepare ex plosive charges to destroy it and storm the OC. -Order your men to exercise extreme caution once inside. We have to protect as m uch of the equipment inside as possible. We only need the communications room in tact, but the rest is also important. 06:50 Somewhere over the Black Sea Screened by three squadrons of Su27 and two squadrons of Mig29 the five squadron s of Tupolev Strategic Bombers were getting ready to launch their missiles. The commander of the force had already given the final pre-launch clearance and now all bombers were opening their weapon bays and begun arming the warheads. At that moment the bombers received an Emergency Message from High Command. Maintain course and speed. Do not launch missiles automatically. Launch order wil l be given directly from the Higher Level Commander #1 06:55 1st Tactical Air Command - Eskisehir AFB The Turkish Air Commander has been monitoring the situation all over the Aegean from his OC screens. He didn t like the way things were going and most of all he d idn t like the way General Yolduz took over the military High Command. The base wa s getting ready to accept the returning aircraft from Evros when the NADGE radar s picked several dozens of aircraft incoming from the Black Sea. The entire base was on alert. Unfortunately he only had around ten aircraft available and close enough for interception. At that point a low-ranking officer presented him a li eutenant of Colonel Gerans unit. -What is this all about lieutenant? -I have a very urgent message for you from Colonel Geran sir. -And the message is? -We need your base satellite equipment sir. -What for?-Colonel Geran is taking over the Ministry of Defense as we speak. He will need a satellite link to our Military Headquarters around Turkey and the Americans as soon as he settles in the OC. -Is that all lieutenant? -One more thing sir. -What? -Colonel Geran personally asks you not to take any action against any aircraft i ncoming from the Black Sea. -What? How the hell he knows about that? We just picked them on radar! -It s the Russians sir. They will attack if we don t stand down our forces. -Contact Colonel Geran and inform him he will have what he wants lieutenant! 06:55 Turkish Defense Ministry Deep underground inside the basements of the Ministry the men of Colonel Geran w ere getting ready to blow the OC door. A controlled explosion rocked the entire basement and dropped the door side ways to the ground. The commandos pushed thro ugh, but they were welcomed with massive gunfire from the MP s inside. Two command os were dead instantly and other three were wounded. A grenade explosion wounded two more. The Commandos were now pinned outside the OC and started throwing smo ke grenades. Meanwhile inside the OC. General Oktsalian stormed the MP guarding him and stabbed him with the pen hidde n under his sleeve. Then he picked up the MP s rifle and slowly exited the office. He moved around the room without being noticed, while all the others were busy fighting off the intruders. Behind a desk Major Battan was hiding.

-Psst, Major -General Oktsalian, what is going on? -It appears that someone on our military is trying to regain control of the OC. We have to assist them. -But how? -As soon as they capture the OC we must be ready to issue new orders for our uni ts to stand down. Now take this rifle and go back to the Communications room. Ne utralize the guard and secure the room. And don't let anyone damage the equipmen t. -And you sir? -I will have to take care some personal business over here. Now move Major! -Yes sir! 06:55 Turkish Armed Forces Operation Center The Commandos storm the OC in force in an attempt to overwhelm the defenders. Flash and smoke grenades are thrown inside and then the troops enter under cover of assault shields and gunfire. For some seconds the exchange of fire is so int ense that the OC looks like a regular battle zone. The commandos manage to enter and take cover behind the desks and consoles of the OC. Both sides suffer casua lties and equipment is getting damaged or destroyed as well. The OC operators an d personnel run for cover as many of them are being killed by the exchange of fi re. The MP s try to defend their positions while the Commandos respond throwing mo re men inside the OC. General Yolduz at the back of the OC fires his 9mm against the Commandos as well . Suddenly General Oktsalian jumps all over him and they start to wrestle. An MP tries to throw a grenade against the commandos, but he gets killed the min ute he raised his hand. While he falls on the ground the grenade slips from his hand and rolls near the feet of the two Generals wrestling. A powerful explosion devastates the area as General Yolduz and Okstalian flesh a re shredded in pieces. 08:50 Turkish Defense Ministry General Oktsalian jumps in panic from his couch in his fourth floor office of th e Ministry. He puts his hands on his head and clears the sweat of his face. He gets up and walks towards his desk. He checks the calendar. April 4th 2005. H e stayed up all night preparing the presentation for the General Staff. A huge f older is placed on his desk. Outside the TOP SECRET sign dominates. He opens the f irst page. Operation Sardine . His plan on how Turkey will finally achieve all its goals in the Aegean region. He presses the intercom button. -Sergeant, coffee black no sugar. -Yes General. It was all a nightmare. He stairs outside the window to the city bellow shinning in the morning sun. He picks up the folder and heads towards the document shredder. He starts taking th e pages of the folder one by one and feeding them to the shredder. This was one decision he would not live to regret. Suddenly the sergeant rushes into the office. -Sir switch on the TV, on CNN. -General Oktsalian picks the remote and puts on CNN This just in. We are now getting live pictures from the area where the car-bomb a ssassination attempt in Athens against the Prime Minister of Greece Panos Kamanl is took place. Last minute information suggests that the Prime Minister itself h as survived the blast General Yolduz switched off the TV. At that moment the office door opens. Two MP s enter the office. Behind them follows General Yolduz.

-General Oktsalian, how nice to see you today. I assume you heard the news! He approaches General Oktsalian and takes the folder from his hands. -I will be holding this from now on General Oktsalian THE END