The Vancouver Incident

The Vancouver Incident was a bloody skirmish that took place in Vancouver on 1-9 August 2016 between the United States of America and the Russian Federated States, formerly the United Speakonian Soviet Republic. In light of the collapse of the USSR, the United States demanded all Russian forces abandon the Pieboy Tower and return to Russia. Russian forces in the tower refused to comply, and the resulting days-long standoff and skirmish was the bloodiest conflict between the two superpowers, exceeding even the battles in the War in the Republic of My. The incident marked a dramatic collapse in relations between the two countries, and thus began the Cold War.
==Background==
In July 2016, a dispute erupted between the USSR and Kanto. The USSR accused Kanto of profilerating surveillance technology that exceeded even the capability of Russian intelligence agencies. The USSR threatened to launch a nuclear attack on Kanto to stop the proliferation, but when the United States and the United Kingdom revealed they too had the technology, Premier Asredon Wrathguild conceded he could do nothing to stop the outmanuerving of his own espionage services. Discontent with the state of the world, Premier Wrathguild retaliated specifically against Kanto by expelling all citizens from the USSR and ordering all Russian law enforcement services to summarily execute Kantish citizens on sight. The day after issuing the order, Asredon Wrathguild resigned his premiership and ordered the dissolution of the USSR into a democratic state. In his place, Andrei Yeltzof assumed control of the Russian Federated States.
==Decline of relations==
On his first day in officer, Premier Yeltzof ordered a rapid militarization of Russian forces in Eastern Europe. The United States immediately identified the military action as a credible and imminent threat to its northern European territories. Thunderbirds101 personally spoke to Premier Yeltzof and cautioned against "drastic action," but Yeltzof coldly dismissed American concerns, declaring it was "time for the Americans to understand that Europe does not belong to them."
Realizing that American-Russian relations were diminishing rapidly, Thunderbirds101 opted to distract the Russians by forcing them to pay attention to the North American front.
==The Vancouver Incident==
===Initial demands (August 1)===
On August 1, a battalion-sized force of American military units surrounded the Pieboy Tower in Vancouver, demanding all persons inside the tower abandon their posts and return to Russia. The ranking general in the tower spoke to Premier Yeltzof, the latter of which ordered all Russian to refuse the demands and go so far as to invade the city.
===Russian attack and standoff (August 1-6)===
While awaiting a formal response from the Russians, American forces were caught off guard as Russian infantry and armored vehicles rushed from the tower and quickly overran the American positions. Russian forces attacked the city proper, but were unable to stop American forces from broadcasting an emergency distress signal summoning all nearby American forces to Vancouver. American forces quickly closed in on the city and managed to capture all critical bridges needed to travel in and out of the city.
Russian forces held the city of Vancouver proper, unable to take any other cities in the metro area. Through their intermediary, Premier Yeltzof, Russia demanded that Thunderbirds101 concede to the Vancouver Prosperity Treaty, allowing the Russian Federated States to permanently annex the city and create a city-state, going further than even the pre-invasion treaty between Canada and the USSR. Russia also demanded that any Americans in the city would also become Russian citizens. Finally, the treaty demanded that the Americans concede large quantities of territory in Europe to Russia, along with over half a trillion dollars in compensation "to atone for their sins in Europe and around the world."
The United States did not immediately respond to the demands. Instead, Thunderbirds101 quietly summoned American forces and within days, the Russians were encircled once again. Five days after the demands were made, American forces launched a surprise counterattack on the city.
===American counterattack (August 6-8)===
The Americans initiated a six-front skirmish: one front each in the west and east, and two fronts each from the bridges in the north and south. Using combined sea, air, and land power, the Americans slowly pushed the Russian forces back to the Pieboy Tower. Both factions suffered heavy losses; American forces were most frequently killed by traps laid by the Russians in the days-long standoff, while Russian forces suffered extreme losses from artillery and air attacks. As night fell on August 8, the Americans once again encicled the Pieboy Tower but this time with a force twenty-five times greater than before.
===Second standoff (August 9, 12:00AM-4:00AM)===
By this time, Thunderbirds101 had arrived in the Vancouver metro area, remaining updated on the situation in a command center in north Vancouver. Thunderbirds101 communicated to the Russians in the tower via their intermediary and demanded all Russians stand down immediately or he would "personally demolish the tower." The Russians responded by activating the nuclear launch tube in the Pieboy Tower in a last desperate move to protect Russian influence in North America. Thunderbirds101 countered by summoning his personal warship, the Imperialist. Thunderbirds101 made his most daring threat yet, warning that the Russians would "not even be going home in coffins if they refused to surrender."
===Destruction of Vancouver (August 9, 4:00AM-4:20AM)===
Refusing to surrender, the Russians fired a nuclear weapon from the nuclear launch tube at the Imperialist. However, in their haste, the Russians failed to arm the weapon correctly and the missile was harmlessly intercepted and destroyed. His patience depleted, Thunderbirds101 ordered most American forces to retreat while two battalions stayed behind to remain encircled around the tower. The night sky was suddenly filled a shimmering blue light - actually a blast of ion energy from the Imperialist. The blast impacted the city and instantly destroyed anything with an electronic circuit in the city proper. Next, the sky seemed to turn a blinding green - actually a supercharged shot of plasma from the Imperialist. The plasma impacted the Pieboy Tower with cataclysmic results: the Pieboy Tower was instantly vaporized along with all Russian and American forces nearby. The shockwave devastated the metro area, flattening buildings in all directions for miles from the impact zone. For all intents and purposes, Vancouver was wiped off the map.
==Aftermath==
Relations instantly collapsed between the United States and the Russian Federated States. Countries around the world, including American allies, expressed horror at the fact that the United States was willing to destroy one of their own cities. Russia and the United States expelled rival consular staff and citizens from their respective countries, and a trade embargo was established. With the countries at their worst diplomatic relationship ever, the Cold War began.
Category:Events
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Category:Incidents