Oh, Bright Dawn of May, No More. [SFRY -> RM]

[KyferLegs]

The phone rang in Podgorica, exactly when the clock struck 12 am. The man who answered the phone, the Vice President, sleepy and annoyed at the sudden disturbance was filled with now sudden fear and worry. It was Nikola- Nikola Mihajlo.



Nikola was calm when he spoke into the phone, too calm with the understanding that this was new for the world, that the scourge had picked up a phone. He almost wanted to laugh when he heard the fear in The Montenegro Vice President’s voice.



He spoke calmly, but with a heavy accent to the man, from the earlier response he first gave. “Is this the Vice President of The Republic of Montenegro, its President Nikola Mihajlo.”



The Vice President spoke as best he could to him in a firm voice, his questions on why he was calling, at this very hour?



Nikola spoke again, tired and inpatient, as he grew upset about the sudden questions, the VP had a job and so did he. “Give me a line to your President, At the soonest request possible. It is of great urgency.”



The Vice President agreed as he yelled over to someone in the background, the phone transferred and was put on hold briefly, the conversation was about to begin.

[EpicToaster1]

The operators would work to change the phone line, however giving enough time for some of the office staff to call the president and make sure he’s awake. The entire executive cabinet would be awoken, just in case.

The phone would eventually tick off hold as a voice spoke up on the other end of the line. The voice would sound tired and a bit ticked off, the voice deep and rough.
“This is President Đukanović, with whom am I speaking with?”
Faintly through the mic, they could hear the sound of the President taking a sip of water as he woke himself up.

[KyferLegs]

From the other line a tapping could be heard, such as a pen. Nikola sighed, he was inpatient at the time it took for a phone call, however. He had to be for now. He then spoke with his tone describing seriousness in only one word. "President Đukanović, its Nikola- Nikola Mihajlo of the SFR Yugoslavia. I think we both know there won't be need of friendly introductions." Nikola was straight to the point as he let the man wake up a bit more as the tapping continued.

[EpicToaster1]

Milo sighed. "Ah, Nikola..." He'd pull the phone away from his mouth to yawn before continuing. "What's the purpose of calling me so early? Another demand to join the union?" He'd roll out of bed, the faint patter of his feet along the hardwood floors of his house faintly being picked up by the phone as he walks to his office.

[KyferLegs]

The tapping stopped, instead a slight shuffle could be heard as the microphone got closer to Nikola’s face, the slight sound of the phone brushing against his chin. He grew serious, almost hostile as he spoke into the microphone. “Mr, Đukanović, I’m deeply sorry for waking you up, however, this is on a time-basis. Your nation..” Nikola spoke with an almost sarcastic appeal, but for the sake of politics he remained calm. “..has now been long free from the jurisdiction of Yugoslavia, this you know, yes?” Nikola tapped his foot as he grew upset at the calmness of Đukanović, all talking stopped for a short second as the line hummed while Nikola thought. “The way our nation's stand is blocking each other's ambitions. You impede my vision of the Balkans, and I remain the boogeyman at your door.” Nikola cleared his throat as he then spoke once more, "I've given the chance for you to rejoin the federation to many times, and soon diplomacy will be off the table between us Mr. Đukanović." Nikola waited for the response to appear, at this point he didn’t care what it was, he spoke vaguely and abruptly after all, why not answer a few questions for Đukanović.

[EpicToaster1]

"Mr. Mihajlo, I have already told you. The population has voted on the issue and do not wish to join the federation. Montenegro has no ties to your state. And you have larger issues to worry about than us."
There would be a pause as he sits at his desk, the microphone unable to pick up the slight hum of his computer as he turns it on.
"You're looking to bring people who have no desire into your already uneasy state. Our people don't want to be restricted like yours."
He'd type in his password as the screen booted up, immediately navigating to his email out of routine.
"We're not free of Yugoslavia's jurisdiction, Mr. Mihajlo. Yugoslavia has no claim to Montenegro. Yugoslavia has no say over Montenegro."

[KyferLegs]

Nikola sighed, clearly wanting to invoke fear into Đukanović but failing, as he grew a bit furious at the remarks of the man. Nikola nearly slammed a hand down but instead simply tapped more lightly to his side then spoke. “In that case I’m giving you 24 hours to decide now, I expect a phone call to this exact line tomorrow, it will be open. Which, you will give me your choice of response as President of Montenegro.” Nikola leaned back in his chair, the corded cable following him and stretching out, the chair squeaked as Nikola sighed deeply. “Mr. Đukanović, this is also for your government to take time and choose, so spare antics and give it some thought.” Nikola shuffled again and the tapping stopped and he again grew serious “Maybe your people will now speak for you, that I do not know of. Only time will tell. However, if your response is either not given or a no, from that point on we will be at war.” Nikola went silent as almost in anger he went to hang up the line, however, he stayed to hear what Đukanović now had to say.

[voxapocrypha]

- OOC: Responding for moff.

The other end of the line goes silent, before a moment later the phone is hung up from Montenegro's end, the phone call over. Milo in short order would sift through his emails and toss any that he saw as spam or otherwise inconsequential in the trash or simply left them there, while he would pick the important ones and read and respond to them otherwise. The rest of the executive cabinet of Montenegro having soon been woken up, he and they would be gathering that morning, as soon as was possible, to discuss the issue and their options.

[KyferLegs]

Nikola sits, he holds the phone to his mouth waiting for a response only to hear it click, he puts the phone down and begins to type in another number, he runs his finger along a yellow sheet and finds the number he is looking forward and calls. "Stefanović." Nikola says as the phone answers. He speaks calmly as he speaks to the air force Commander. "Ready the Air Force. Do phase 2 early and send pamphlets over Montenegro, the cities are your choice." He hangs up marking a small notepad he had to his right, a list of everyone he had to call today.

He shuffles forward with a creak of the chair then again the phone rings again a few minutes later. Nikola answers it as another General from a unknown garrison gives conformation he is ready and his forces are also. Nikola sighs as he congratulates the general and the phone hangs. He looks around but already assuming the answer Montenegro was going to give. "No," most likely, this was a long time coming and both nations knew it . He looks left to see a map plastered against the small office he sat in. The map was bleached and old of the towns and roads of Montenegro, and in the corner read "Plan: Black Mountain."

---

A few hours pass now, over 3 select major Montenegrin cities, individual cargo plans a spotted over the horizon via radar. Their tails marked with the Yugoslavian flags, with their fuselages light grey. Radar picks up only 1 per city, and acknowledges they are only transports, now they are left with the choice to either shoot the aircraft down or let them fly.

[voxapocrypha]

Montenegro's air force had detected them first, rather than the nation's army of which operated most of the relatively old radar stations along the border and near their major military installations. Scrambling several units of aircraft, they had deployed a total of about 8 aircraft from the nearest airbases with orders to perform an intercept and see the aircraft out of their airspace. They were being assisted not by their own air force however, but by what looked to be a Federation AWACS aircraft, marked with the Federation's Pine Tree and eight-pointed star symbol.

The aircraft would pursue the cargo planes as they approached the cities, getting in behind two while another would be going in from the front, broadcasting threats to break off and exit their airspace before they'd be shot down, though Montenegro's air force is reluctant to fire the first official shot and to escalate the conflict further on their end. As well, the pilots are not hardened veterans nor are they particularly skilled in their relatively old hand-me-down Federation aircraft that at best, the tail end of 4th gen. There was time to do what they came for, as indecision was holding them at bay and staying their hand, as well as distance and nerves, but that was not bound to last long.

Further away Federation aircraft are taking off from their airbase, though they are vectoring to protect their own AWACS rather than get directly involved in the unfolding events.

[KyferLegs]

The retrofitted An-124 Cargo Planes continued to fly their set courses. The 1st An-124 had the numbers C-13 written on its tail bellow the Yugoslavian flag, the 2nd had C-04 and the 3rd had C-05. The aircraft attempted to stay radio silent only for the 2nd 124 marked with C-04 to yell at an Montenegrin pilot who got extremely close to its left wing. They were obviously Yugoslavian everything said it but nothing showed they were combat operative. Expect for the military coloring of course. As the 3rd aircraft marked with C-05 was now soon was approaching to its target, from its current bearing coming from the North it would reach its barring to Podgorica in 20 minutes. The other 2 closer to the border now only had about 10 minutes to their targets of Šavnik and Foča.

Suddenly the 2nd C-04 veered towards the jet that got close to its left wing, it turned sharply then steadied slowly as it banked, luckily without incident. Now the early-warning systems in the Montenegrin air-force re-read its current barring and now it was heading to Bijelo Polje. However, it remained aggressive in its flight patterns as the aircraft continued to fly.

[voxapocrypha]

The Montenegroan aircraft would move to avoid the cargo plane and stay at a distance, taking positions behind it or to its sides at a fair distance, with the aircraft hurling the threat of being shot down at them if they did not turn back before they were five minutes out from their target points. The Montenegroan air force, having already been put onto a higher state of alert, began to mobilize a few more aircraft, and as well local government officials began to be filled in on the situation, with as well the Federation officials present in the embassy and at the lone actual military installation owned by them listening in and watching intently. One of the groups would become bolder, and rather closely buzz the aircraft, a bit closer than they had likely intended as well as one had visibly overcorrected and needed to try and then rejoin their wingman, radio chatter between them and their command being rather sour for the dangerous and reckless act.

The question of destroying the aircraft circulated between the present general staff at their military command.
There was not yet an official state of war, but even so the aircraft were set to violate the borders of Montenegro with likely less than peaceful intentions.

A Federation fighter broke off of its formation as it escorted the AWACS towards the nation's coast, the singular F/A-14 burning towards the nearest of the aircraft as it approached Bijelo Polje, the aircraft buzzing the Yugoslav cargo jet at a close but not extremely near range, likely taking a visual for their own air force command. Then it had banked and turned off, returning to its own formation in all likelihood as it sped away at cruising speed.

[KyferLegs]

The 1st An-124 with the numbers of C-13 now was 6 minutes out to Foča, it kept high altitude, and flew in a straight line, ahead of it and down didn't lie any really important targets, besides a few neighborhood and apartment complexes. Yugoslavia was known for its brutality but coming out to the world it was debated they would commit a war crime.

The 2nd An-124 already aggressively flying and 'Showing-off' back by rocking left and right or swaying its large fuselage against the Montenegrin jets. However, it only did this if provoked only settling down as fighters began to trail farther away from its barring. It was now 6 minutes out to Bijelo Polje as it flew against rural farmland, again it had a similar course as the 1st An-124, being aimed to residential areas of the town.

The 3rd An-124 was now 10 minutes out to the capitol, its baring in-city still being calculated, the airforce however made a more scary calculation as it was to go above the capitol grounds itself but not before veering above residential buildings also. As the 1st An-124 cruised 5 minutes now out from the city of Foča it broke radio silence as a accented Serbian force radioed to the trailing jets. "Cargo bay opening, do not fire." The warning was appreciated but not helpful to the crisis. In its opening back a red light could be barely seen as the trailing jets viewed small amounts of secondary crew preparing boxes and cargo pallets that had trays stacked onto it. The crew quickly tied or cut ropes in the fuselage as the cargo plane was getting close to the edge of the town.

[EpicToaster1]

The An-124 heading towards the Capital would be radioed by ground forces. "DIVERT YOUR COURSE IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE SHOT DOWN!" At the same time as the warning was issued, air raid sirens in Podgorica began to blare through the streets. Citizens flocked into buildings or down into the metro system, the entire city grinding to a halt as the citizens held their breath for whatever may be coming towards them. The lead fighter would pull in close as the fighters behind alerted that the cargo bay doors were opening, their eyes able to meet those of the pilots. "Declare your cargo immediately or we will shoot you down!"

Bijelo Polje's citizens would be alerted by their own air raid sirens to take cover, many doing so but some just not caring as being near the border had the constant beat of sirens going off that they weren't all that concerned.

Foča, being a smaller town, didn't have the luxury of air raid sirens. The people went about their business, blissfully unaware of the incoming aircraft until it would get closer into view, the surrounding fighters giving the people their only chance of realizing that this wasn't their own cargo plane.

[KyferLegs]

The 1st An-124 now 5 minutes to city square and well in the town limits of Foča, its large fuselage cargo doors began to slide open fully, the crew no longer visible, small little objects, first thought to be random parts of the plane due to their similar color of the fuselage. Fortunately as more fell out it was reasoned to be paper or cardboard. Crates began to slide out from the center of the plane to the back slowly through attached rails with the light in the plane turning yellow.



The 2nd An-124 only a few seconds behind the 1st An-124 followed the same series of events. However, the only expectation was a pallet flew out the back and dropped an entire office worth of paper. Papers slowly glistened down over the city of Bijelo Polje. Its wing tilted as it corrected its path as it aimed over a ‘restricted zone,’ a military base at the opposite end of the city.



The 3rd was now 8 minute out from the Capital of Podgorica, its large doors opening a bit earlier compared to the other two cargo planes. The same phenomena was caught as the crew made sure cargo was ready and cut lines and reattached new ones, the light was red as the plane continued its course and showed no signs of veering off course.



All planes were already on their last warnings at this point, and remained nearly radio silent except for small explanations or messages of what their aircraft was going to do. Including, the incident with the 2nd aircraft yelling at a jet through comms. As the a minute passed by and the 1st An-124 cargo reached the edge of its fuselage doors. A sudden call came in from an officer on the border explaining how there was possible movements of Yugoslavian soldiers near Priboj, however outside the borders. There were reported to be leaving trains as they prepared formation from overhead recon, either from the federation or another scrambled Montenegrin aircraft.