Mike Pence Crisis

The Mike Pence Crisis, more formally known as the Polish Crisis or sometimes WW3 was a military escalation between NATO and IA forces mainly in Poland but also the Middle-East. The crisis culminated in the death of US Vice-President, Mike Pence.

The crisis ended with NATO controlling the two major checkpoints between Commonwealth territory and the Second Republic and eventual NATO hegemony over Poland.

Background
Tensions were already rising between NATO and the IA following a border incident a few weeks prior involving a border skirmish at Checkpoint Archer, the most militarised point point of the border. NATO troops shot and killed a guerrilla loyal to the Commonwealth who had been relaying supplies to guerrillas in Second Republic territory. Ukrainian and Commonwealth troops fired back but no casualties were reported. An increased NATO and IA presence happened not long after this skirmish. Tensions rose even higher following the end of the Siege of Warsaw. Images of the capture of the Warsaw City Hall circulated online which caused further resentment amongst Commonwealth ranks. The image of Belgian and American troops standing triumphant at the top of the city hall was a huge propaganda boost for NATO and tensions began to mount. President Trump had made a brief visit, awarding honours to various NATO troops including Raul Rico and others. After President Trump returned to the USA, Vice-President Pence arrived in the Warsaw Pocket to also do a similar type of ceremony, much to the protests of President Trump who feared that Pence may get hurt by a guerrilla uprising. However, Pence was desperate to meet the servicemen out in the field and wished to award medals to a few soldiers. After Pence was done, he boarded his plane and began the journey back home, but the plane's route was changed following a shortage of fuel and a large battle breaking out in the west of Poland between the German air force and the Polish air force. As a result, Pence was to land in Rome before making the single flight to the USA. However, as Pence was flying over southern Poland, his plane was shot down near the city of Stalowa Wola in Commonwealth held territory.

Battle of Checkpoint Archer
Immediately after his plane was shot down, a large battle broke out at Checkpoint Archer. US jets from aircraft carriers in the Baltic Sea launched and began to bombard Ukrainian positions at Checkpoint Archer. After only a few hours of combat, Ukrainian forces reported heavy casualties. American tanks and infantry had spearheaded the front, causing the ill-prepared Ukrainian troops to spread out thinly along the line. The recent harsh winter and weather had caused many Ukrainian tanks to be bogged down and as a result were not prepared for a fast manoeuvre to halt the American advance. Hungarian infantry moved in to stop the US advance and plugged the hole in the IA lines. Commonwealth troops also arrived. Continuous airstrikes and artillery bombardment from the USA had made the new reinforcements widely redundant and the US tanks continued to push forward. At this point, NATO had complete air superiority and the IA and Commonwealth were forced to retreat, suffering heavy casualties.

Larger Crisis
Shortly after the beginning of the Battle of Checkpoint Archer, a Royal Air force jet was shot down by the Commonwealth. US jets sank a Brazilian cargo ship departing from Gdansk killing 59 sailors and a nearby battle left four Ukrainian jets shot down and four dead. Algerian and British planes began bombing Stalowa Wola, targeting factories and military bases leaving around 200 dead. British jets continued to bomb across Poland and also sunk a Ukrainian destroyer in the Black Sea leaving 30 dead. Brazilian sailors aboard the cargo ship that survived were taken hostage by the SWR, Sean Panteres one of them.

NATO ally Iran began bombing IA positions and engaged in a brief air skirmish over Romania itself but neither side sustained any casualties. Greece used the crisis as an opportunity to attack Turkish ports and airfields in an attempt to subdue any future Turkish presence. Iranian jets strafed Turkish bases in Syria followed by the swift capture of a Turkish airfield near Manjib. Iranian jets also continued to bomb Turkish military positions but also bombed civilian targets, with 30 being left dead. Mike Pence had been murdered by the Black Guard, a militia group operating under the Commonwealth. After the announcement of the news, and negotiations already occurring, a formal truce was signed, despite no formal declaration of war ever being made between any of the countries.