One sunday afternoon, it happened. When a young teenager was accidentally murdered by an extremist group, the public finally had enough of the actions of these factions and violently led an uprising against them under the banner of Grayson. The protesters and supporters of Grayson completely outnumbered the broken remnants of these extremist factions almost 50 to 1, and either forced them out of the city or that they would be forced out in a bodybag. The uprising lasted less than an hour and three entire groups were completely absorbed or destroyed into Grayson's militia. Grayson was seen as a hero amongst the eyes of the people, a king who could finally bring peace. Once Baghdad was taken, other uprisings occurred across Iraq by the common people. At this point, Grayson was now known across the Western World as a major figure in the region. Some considered him as a hero, others as an enemy. Whatever people thought about him, it would all change soon enough.
The day after hearing the news of the apparent hero in the Middle East, the Drake left port in Hong Kong only to be pursued by a Chinese destroyer. Alice tried heeding the words of the old man who appeared days ago and tried to evade it all through out the Indian Ocean. After hours twists and turns, she grew tired of the chase and turned her ship to give the pursers a blast of the ship-mounted 127-mm cannon. One shot was all that was needed to blow a hole in the side the Chinese ships. The shot itself wasn't damning, but the water seemed to have a mind of it's on as it quickly jumped into the hole and dragged the ship down to it's depths. The Drake sailed off again for the Persian Sea, leaving the Chinese sailors who abandoned ship in time at the mercy of the ocean.
The next day Grayson did wonders to Iraq, finally ushering a period of peace after decades upon decades of violence. Not long after Baghdad was taken, Grayson met with other officers across Iraq and with one swift and flawless blow of strategy, retook the entire country with the help of the common people and sympathisers in other countries. By the end of the night, Grayson was now the leader of Iraq with heavy influence in Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Grayson knew that a war against the western world would be inevitable, so the 'King' sought to meet the leaders of every neighbouring nation for a unique opportunity. Total Unification. Unfortunately, Israel might take this opportunity to stop this meeting at all costs due to it's relations to the west, so an assassination attempt was likely against Grayson. Fortunately for the infamous "Chess Master", he'd already thought of this idea years in advance.
Before entering the Gulf, Alice decided to end the charade with the US Navy. The flags were taken down from the mast, the all the hatches were sealed, and some of the more useless equipment and supplies we're pushed out onto the deck, along the a life preserve with the ship's name and number. As everything was ready, she sent out an SOS to the nearest fleet assembling near India before switching off the radar and detection equipment. After a sufficient enough time, the Drake slowly sank away below the sea and left the items on deck to mark where they went down. An hour and several hundred miles later, the ship resurfaced near the coast of Iraq, it's appearance taking on the more ghastly form of a ghost ship.
The 'King' and the various leaders of the Middle Eastern countries met in Mosul. All of the leaders arrived in a heavily protected room with tons of bodyguards surrounding every exit route. However, the King of Jordan also arrived at the meeting as well. Grayson had the idea of total unification of the Middle-East with the creation off one enormous super-state that not only sought to end all feuds and western influence in the region, but also ensure that it survived the war. It was the first process of world unification, and if Grayson believed he could unify this area of the world, he could do it anywhere. Unfortunately, not everybody agreed on this idea. Some fighting did occur between each leader, all of whom that Grayson soon broke up and helped explain the idea of a single state in the Middle-East. While three out of six countries agreed with this idea, it wasn't until the Prime minister of Israel threatened to declare war against Iraq that things turned dangerous. Not only that, but but Israel also desperately sought European assistance after hearing about Graysons accomplishment in restoring peace to Iraq. They were terrified of him, and with good reason. The meeting room fell into silence until Grayson accepted the declaration of war, where his "Allies" also pledged their support. Serious unification could come afterwards, Grayson now had a war to fight.
Feeling it was high time for meeting with the other transcendent, the Drake fired off a shot on the Iraq shore. She made sure it wouldn't effect anything but dirt when it landed. What troops were near-by the impact quickly went over to investigate, seeing the distraught not too far away. Hoping they understood signaling, flags were raised and the powerful on-deck light was flashed, trying to communicate intentions of conference with "The King".
The circus freaks wobbled in the black van that had come from the airport. The Zirkus Der Zeltsamenn had come to the middle east, the black and white material on the back of a large semi-truck. The tall man sat silently and still, his dark green eyes staring at nothing. The Siamese twins, Ella and Bella, glanced worriedly at Adrian, then glance towards Tonya and Seamus, the morbidly obese bearded lady and the ginger-haired little person. Colomity and Blue-nose simply sat as Adrian did, the two clowns simply sitting as the giant did as well. Edward Thompson drove the van, the Ring-Master driving through the night. In nearly twenty-four hours, the troop would be preforming in Mosul. It was Adrian who had told the troop to do so, and they knew that it was best to abide to his wishes. They were not too far from their destination, now, and Adrian was planning something.....
Edward received messages from an officer of his nearby the coast of Iraq, receiving a video message from the ships captain. The ship looked like it sunk but was perfectly normal on the water, something that creeped out some of the troops on patrol when they found it. Two soldiers turned on a large HD TV set in the room with Grayson and the other leaders of the neighbouring countries nearby on a desk. "I'm Edward Grayson, King of Iraq. How can I help you?"
As Alice saw the other leaders in the room, she rolled her eyes before speaking. "I was hoping this would be more private but this will work. I believe we may have... 'aligned' goals. I'm here to pledge my ship and crew to your cause for the time being."
Grayson appeared pleased with the offer but shook his head. "As much as I'd love to have your assistance, Israel just declared war against Iraq. These gentlemen behind me have just pledged an alliance with me to end this war. I'm afraid that a single battleship might not do that much to Israel, intelligence suggests that they've recently been fortifying themselves as a total fortress-state."
"Ah, yes. Your... unification of the Middle East." Alive said with a calm but obviously annoyed tone. Clearing her throat, she continued on. "I don't think you quite understand what the destroyer is capable of. You see, Israel is fortifying themselves and I hate to diminish your impromptu coalition but they will not be able to breach their defenses in time before they're reenforced by other NATO nations. Even with their fire support, it's still not much with the Israeli Iron Dome System. "This ship caries a full complement of the American Tomahawk and Patriot missiles. The Iron Dome System is still calibrated to intercept the old soviet SCUD missiles used by your beneficiaries but, they're not ready to intercept American missiles. I can provide the fire support needed to take out vital assets of their Iron Dome system and have Israel turn against the NATO nations with them being bombed by their weaponry. It can either cause them to throw down differences and side with you or have them be annihilated by the other nations and you." She watched as some Grayson's alliance leaders turn to each other, whispering annoyance or agreement with her words. "Alas, I could just sail out and let you be. The choice is yours."
Grayson remained quiet for a moment before turning around at the other leaders, watching their faces of approval, before finally looking back at Alice. "We would love your assistance"
"Good." Alice's tone taking to a somewhat cheerier form, if there was any possible for her. "We'll be in the Mediterranean within the next 36 hours. We can cripple their defense system and have still have several missiles left over for any more required support. I do hope the first outcomes occurs though. It would be bad if your alliance was only known for violent invasions." She switched off the video communicator as the ship's engines churned to life and sped out of the Gulf towards the Suez.
Once the video cut out, Grayson turned to his fellow leaders in the room and nodded at them. "Alright, we know what to do. While the reset of the world are in bitter war, we shall emerge from this darkness. Prepare defensive and offensive capabilities, we are going to war"
The boat managed to sneak through the canal with the same submarine trick before reappearing in the Mediterranean. It repositioned far enough outside of Israel's radar range before waiting for Grayson to make his move. It had only been a full 30 hours since she left the Iraq coast so she still had some time to kill.
Grayson was outside of the West Bank, having left many hours ago to participate in this battle personally. He seen the West Bank barrier, separating Palestine and Israel. A victory today would have been monumental, and he had almost the entire Middle-East supporting him. Of course, Grayson's forces lacked weaponry and skill. But it didn't matter, that gap was now almost non-existent since he came to power. He looked at the wall, surrounded by dozens of heavily armed bodyguards before looking at the wall. Kitaru expected a victory. If so, Grayson would finally ascend to something greater.
As the time came Alice walked down the C&C center, making sure all the coordinates were in the right place for the missiles. Piggybacking off the NATO spy satellites, Alice pinpointed all the Iron Dome locations. "Fire." she said as everything was clear for launch. The missiles broke through their coverings before screeching up towards the skies then to their targets... Moment later, an Israeli radar spotted the appearance of a ship and several missiles. It confirmed everything was American and the Israeli defenders began to cheer. Reenforced! And so fast! But it was a ruse, and too late for them to notice. By the time the saw something was wrong, the missiles we're to dead on to be stopped. Most the Iron Dome staff manning the emplacement fled seconds before impact, looking back as their main line of defense was not smoking smithereens. Several other missiles veered off, hitting and crippling the first line of Israeli defenders. Alice watch as the events unfolded from a satellite over head. The Drake, quickly sunk back into the sea.
The darkness was intense inside the trailer that had just been set up. Adrian looked at various monitors he had connected to cameras all over Israel, as if he were looking for something... or someone. He dug into the pocket of his long, dark coat, and retrieved a small, black flip-phone. He took a USB cord, and after connecting it to a laptop, typed a few things into the said laptop. The phone buzzed as the tall man waited for the man nicknamed the "Chessmaster" to pick up. Soon, his plan would begin, and the dominoes would fall.....
Almost instant news coverage was occurring about the crisis occurring in Israel, and it scared the hell out of almost all it's allies as they seen news footage of the Iron Dome system in ruins alongside their first line if defences. Just before Israel made a counter-attack however, Grayson made his move. While the IDF sought revenge after suspicions that Palestinians could be involved, Several explosions occurred along the West Bank barrier that gave the Palestinians an 'opening' to storm straight through the wall and begin their final war. Grayson denied involvement, using the Americans as a scapegoat while Alice created a false flag incident. While he didn't particularly lead anything in terms of military, he knew that brute force alone wasn't enough to win a battle. He was playing America exactly how he wanted. While Palestine received some help throughout the Arab world in terms of some supply drops here and there, they all denied involvement. Seeing how the world had already gone to hell, with China and America already violently at war with each other, the blonde haired man wanted to see the shock waves this would cause in Europe. Edward had won this battle a long time ago, and nobody even realised it yet. One of Edwards guards, a Palestinian man dressed as a civilian, handed over a cell phone from an unknown caller. Holding it to his ear, began waited until the person on the other end introduced themselves.
The dark voice emanated from the phone, cold, calm, and piercing like a steel blade from a freezer. "Mr. Grayson. I've been watching you. WE'VE been watching you. Let's get straight to the point: I want to ply a game, Mr. Grayson. I've done my homework on you, know everything about you, what you've done, where you've been, who you are. I'm also quite aware of everything surrounding you, all the things that's happening, from our visitor from elsewhere, to the truth about the explosions along the West Bank Barrier. Now it's time for me to get involved. I have plans Mr. Grayson. But first, I think we should meet. There is going to be a sideshow among the outskirts of Mosul. I want you to be there. Don't worry. Not too many people ever come. Look for the black and white tent. Auf Wiederzhein..." After the sing-song farewell came the click and the long buzz. Adrian's piercing green eyes looked at Grayson's face from a nearby security camera that the tall man hacked into...
