Operation: POLE DANCE
Operation: POLE DANCE was a joint forces military operation which occurred on 12 October 2025 in support of MicroCon 2027.
The primary mission was to transport 28 metal flagpoles and their plastic bases across the Canadian-American border without paying customs duties or shipping costs. It was a joint operation conducted by forces from the Aerican Empire, Slabovia, and Westarctica. After Grand Duke Travis successfully crossed the border at Niagara Falls without being molested by U.S. border patrol, the mission was deemed completed.
A total of 13 people participated in the operation.
Background
When it was Westarctica's turn to host the MicroCon event in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2022, Grand Duke Travis was unable to find a company willing to rent him enough indoor flagpoles for the traditional display of flags for each country attending MicroCon 2022. As this display was expected and required, it was considered an essential part of the decor for the event. His Royal Highness made the difficult decision to purchase as many flagpoles as he could find (28 in total) on Amazon.com at a cost of $1,300 USD. After MicroCon 2022 was completed, these flagpoles were donated to the MicroCon organization to ensure each subsequent event could enjoy the display of flags without bearing the burden of additional costs.
The flagpoles were packed into four boxes and shipped via UPS to Queen Carolyn of Ladonia in October 2022 so they could be used for her display of flags in MicroCon 2023.
Operation: POLE VAULT
After MicroCon 2023 was concluded, the flagpoles were shipped via relay from Chicago to Hamilton, Ontario. From there, they were carried to Montreal, Quebec to be used in MicroCon 2025.
This multi-stage effort was christened Operation: POLE VAULT. Its primary objectives required Queen Carolyn to transport the boxes of flagpoles across the American-Canadian border and drop them off with a team from Slabovia in Hamilton, Ontario. Then, the mighty Slabovian Navey facilitated their transport to a team from the Aerican Empire, who were ultimately responsible for shuttling them to Montreal, Quebec.
Planning the operation
Planning of Operation: POLE DANCE was primarily conducted via a group chat on Facebook Messenger. While the administrators of Westarctica, Slabovia, and the Aerican Empire worked together to coordinate their efforts, the planning was overseen by Sultan Randy of Slowjamastan.
Once the particulars of travel and transport were agreed upon, the mission was scheduled to take place in Niagara Falls, Ontario on 12 October 2025.
Transfer of poles
The first stage of the operation required the flagpoles and their bases to be transferred from the vehicle of Emperor Eric to the car of Grand Duke Travis. Unfortunately, the Grand Duke's car was located in valet parking at the Sheraton Hotel, while Emperor Eric had parked in a garage two buildings away from the hotel.
The distance involved necessitated a working party to physically carry the boxes through a parking garage, through a casino lobby, through the Hard Rock Cafe, down a non-functioning escalator, and through a busy valet parking garage where they were temporarily staged while waiting for the valet to retrieve the Grand Ducal motor carriage. During this phase of the operation, members of the Slabovian Navey provided security support, ensuring that the elevator was held and that none of the team were accosted by curious civilians.
Somewhat complicating matters, the four boxes were not of equal size or weight. While three boxes were cube-shaped and reasonably light, one box was a long rectangle and extremely heavy. Eager to be the hero of the operation and wanting to showcase his Herculean strength, Grand Duke Travis volunteered to carry the heaviest, most-awkward of the boxes over the long distance from one garage to the other, risking great personal injury to himself in the process.
Post-transfer celebrations
After the flagpoles had been successfully loaded into the Grand Duke's car, it was time for the team's reward. They celebrated by enjoying 18-holes of miniature golf at the nearby Dinosaur Adventure Golf. In the interest of fostering diplomatic friendship, no scores were recorded during the golf outing.
As the sun began to set, the group made arrangements to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe where they discussed potential pitfalls surrounding the border crossing, which would commence the following day.
Border crossing
Undoubtedly, the most dangerous phase of Operation: POLE DANCE was getting the flagpoles across the Canadian-American border. To help facilitate this task, Grand Duke Travis purchased a large plush black bear and placed it on his front seat inside a tote bag bearing the words "Niagara Falls."
When he arrived at the border checkpoint, the agent (providentially named "Mack") began to question His Royal Highness about the nature of his visit and why his car was full of giant boxes containing telescoping metal poles. The Grand Duke explained that his friends had borrowed the flagpoles for an event and he was picking them up to take them back home.
As the border agent started probing his story, His Royal Highness motioned to the large blush bear and remarked, "I did buy a couple of gifts for my boyfriend as well." Upon hearing this, the border agent's concerns were satisfied and she returned his passport and waved him into the United States.
With the border crossing successfully behind him, Grand Duke Travis reported to the team that the mission was accomplished.