Stormhold was a linch pin of UP industry and part of that was it's orbital shipbuilding slips. Rotating shifts worked around the clock to complete civilan and military ships for the various interest of the UP. Other heavy wieghts included Winterfree massive slips and shipyards, Blueridges slips mostly meant for civilan work but able to turn out crusiers and escorts, New St Paul's shipyards the relativity newest production point and of course the shipyards of Lastport herself.
Until half a year ago the United Protectrates had had no contact with the galaxy at large, being completly unaware of even Terra's location. Since that change the economy had grown greatly. The federal governments constant efforts at opening new markets was slowly but surely blooming. Asgard devoured UP mined metal, wheat and mining equipment. Accord Powers bought subterran mining equipment and labor. Household Drones were shipped by the thousand around the galaxy. It was a time of low unemployment and high varity of goods.
However it was also a time of tension. Not since the cival wars ended over 3 generations ago had the average citizen felt so at risk. Ousters expanding everywhere, vampires hiding in the night, machines burning worlds and now Cyborgs attempting to pervert the truth right in their own backyard. War seemed inevitable. And so, everyone worked to ensure that victory was just has inevitable.
15 Mark class
7 John class
7 Luke class
4 David class
2 Aaron class
1 Moshie class
STGOD 4 Game Thread
Moderator: Thanas
-
SirNitram
- Rest in Peace, Black Mage
- Posts: 28367
- Joined: 2002-07-03 04:48pm
- Location: Somewhere between nowhere and everywhere
It would, had it not been for one small fact, have been one of the best HUMINT dispersals around. No two of the agents looked alive. Some were old, some were young, some men, some women, some heavily tattoo'd, some darkened by centuries under the sun. To Valhalla, Orania, Varathrax, all across the Stuart Corporation, Nashtar, Orodan, and Pinnacle, Sirius, Veitha, and more, all the major worlds of the Powers were receiving immigrants from various places. And, as was said, it would have gone perfectly, none noticing a thing wrong.. Were it not for the fact that even a simple metal detector pointed out the implants, ranging from a simple spinal link, to concealed weaponry, to sophisticated detection equipment, buried under the skin. The various counterintelligence communities set out, to watch these Etern spies and feed them incorrect data.
OOC: Yes, I declared other people's actions, but I figure it's roughly accurate; if they're obvious, you might as well keep an eye out, both for their use against their masters, and for the potential REAL spies that are harder to notice. Objections, well, PM me.
OOC: Yes, I declared other people's actions, but I figure it's roughly accurate; if they're obvious, you might as well keep an eye out, both for their use against their masters, and for the potential REAL spies that are harder to notice. Objections, well, PM me.
Manic Progressive: A liberal who violently swings from anger at politicos to despondency over them.
Out Of Context theatre: Ron Paul has repeatedly said he's not a racist. - Destructinator XIII on why Ron Paul isn't racist.
Shadowy Overlord - BMs/Black Mage Monkey - BOTM/Jetfire - Cybertron's Finest/General Miscreant/ASVS/Supermoderator Emeritus
Debator Classification: Trollhunter
Out Of Context theatre: Ron Paul has repeatedly said he's not a racist. - Destructinator XIII on why Ron Paul isn't racist.
Shadowy Overlord - BMs/Black Mage Monkey - BOTM/Jetfire - Cybertron's Finest/General Miscreant/ASVS/Supermoderator Emeritus
Debator Classification: Trollhunter
-
Thirdfain
- The Player of Games
- Posts: 6924
- Joined: 2003-02-13 09:24pm
- Location: Never underestimate the staggering drawing power of the Garden State.
United Systems News
Broadcast in Over Twenty Star Nations!
=A Subsidiary of the Basque Industrial Conglomorate=
Special Expose: Military Incompotence on Tortuga
"Today, the United Systems News Channel presents a special report on the situation brewing on the independent world of New Tortuga. With me tonight is military analyst Ernst Belevue, of the Floater Cluster of Shiva, in the Krytos Star Empire. Ernst?"
"Thank you, Jenivere. Welcome to this USN Special Expose. To begin, we'll look at the opening moves of the Tortugan campaign. What you hear tonight may surpise you, regardless of your nationality, political alignment, or species."
"The opening moves of the Tortugan campaign, in space, were textbook- with one crucial problem. In these projected records, you will see the initial movements of the invasion fleet. The attacking warships completely fail to deploy interdictors. Information on the mindset of the commanders of the Draconic fleet is slim, but it is believed they simply thought the pirates would stay and fight on the Draconis' terms, rather than using the raiding tactics they had preferred in the past. How the Draconic commanders made this mistake is the first major indicator of the callous incompotence and disregard the leaders of the Draconis task force displayed."
"The damage caused was significant- even now, Tortugan fleet units are spread out, able to strike against shipping with impunity. The tactical and strategic implications are obvious."
"Next, we focus on the initial invasion of the planet itself. Tortuga is a heavily industrialised world, with large arcology-based cities and expansive orbital and ground-based industries. They possessed, and still possess, large quantities of WMDs. The Tortugan army is modern, well equipped, and relatively loyal. Additionally, Tortuga was blessed with an exceptional commander. Master of Soldiers Allan Westrey is his name, and even now, he commands a spirited defense of the independent world. USN's information on MoS Westrey is limited, but what we do know is well corroborated by his actions on the ground. "
"MoS Westrey examined in detail the battle of Camaro, one of the most unique invasion actions since the historic Battle of Akalabeth a century ago. The battle of Camaro featured a force with orbital superiority, the Ousters, and a force without that luxury, the Krynori Jaffa. It seems that Westrey learned the lessons taught during the abortive 3:00 Offensive, in which a squadron of Krynori battle transports landed a relief force, in a single large staging area miles outside of the Ouster landing site in the Camaroan capital. Without theater shields or heavy air support, the counteroffensive was cut off when a small force of Ouster air cavalry called down orbital WMD strikes."
"Westrey, despite never approaching within a hundred light-years of Camaro, learned the lessons of that historic battle well. The Draconis commander did no such thing. The opening landing was focused on a single location. Rather than spreading out and hitting multiple targets, and using his numbers and orbital superiority to gain strategic mobility, the Draconis leader elected to land all his troops in a single, congested region. Meanwhile the defenders operated from protected positions, under the cover of ECM systems unhindered by Draconic orbital fire."
"He made the same mistakes as those made on Camaro. The inital, single landing site was hit with heavy artillery fire, followed by WMD strikes from unknown Tortugan sources. The first three waves of Draconis soldiers took almost 90% casualties. This early in the war on Tortuga, detailed numbers are unattainable. Never the less, low end estimates assure us that losses for the Draconis in the first hours of the battle number in the millions."
"The Draconis failed ot properly prepare their target landing area with orbital EMP fire. They concentrated in a single easily struck landing site. They paid the price- not in credits, or in honor- though they lost both- but in the lives of their young men and women, thown away by their careless and foolish commanders. We here at USN feel for the Draconis who have had their friends, family, and loved ones killed by poor command decisions. We hope that those who had their lives thrown away by poor leadership are mourned."
"The Invasion of Tortuga- a comedy of errors. A comedy which cost the lives of millions of innocents. A comedy we at USN hope never to be repeated."
"Good night."
Broadcast in Over Twenty Star Nations!
=A Subsidiary of the Basque Industrial Conglomorate=
Special Expose: Military Incompotence on Tortuga
"Today, the United Systems News Channel presents a special report on the situation brewing on the independent world of New Tortuga. With me tonight is military analyst Ernst Belevue, of the Floater Cluster of Shiva, in the Krytos Star Empire. Ernst?"
"Thank you, Jenivere. Welcome to this USN Special Expose. To begin, we'll look at the opening moves of the Tortugan campaign. What you hear tonight may surpise you, regardless of your nationality, political alignment, or species."
"The opening moves of the Tortugan campaign, in space, were textbook- with one crucial problem. In these projected records, you will see the initial movements of the invasion fleet. The attacking warships completely fail to deploy interdictors. Information on the mindset of the commanders of the Draconic fleet is slim, but it is believed they simply thought the pirates would stay and fight on the Draconis' terms, rather than using the raiding tactics they had preferred in the past. How the Draconic commanders made this mistake is the first major indicator of the callous incompotence and disregard the leaders of the Draconis task force displayed."
"The damage caused was significant- even now, Tortugan fleet units are spread out, able to strike against shipping with impunity. The tactical and strategic implications are obvious."
"Next, we focus on the initial invasion of the planet itself. Tortuga is a heavily industrialised world, with large arcology-based cities and expansive orbital and ground-based industries. They possessed, and still possess, large quantities of WMDs. The Tortugan army is modern, well equipped, and relatively loyal. Additionally, Tortuga was blessed with an exceptional commander. Master of Soldiers Allan Westrey is his name, and even now, he commands a spirited defense of the independent world. USN's information on MoS Westrey is limited, but what we do know is well corroborated by his actions on the ground. "
"MoS Westrey examined in detail the battle of Camaro, one of the most unique invasion actions since the historic Battle of Akalabeth a century ago. The battle of Camaro featured a force with orbital superiority, the Ousters, and a force without that luxury, the Krynori Jaffa. It seems that Westrey learned the lessons taught during the abortive 3:00 Offensive, in which a squadron of Krynori battle transports landed a relief force, in a single large staging area miles outside of the Ouster landing site in the Camaroan capital. Without theater shields or heavy air support, the counteroffensive was cut off when a small force of Ouster air cavalry called down orbital WMD strikes."
"Westrey, despite never approaching within a hundred light-years of Camaro, learned the lessons of that historic battle well. The Draconis commander did no such thing. The opening landing was focused on a single location. Rather than spreading out and hitting multiple targets, and using his numbers and orbital superiority to gain strategic mobility, the Draconis leader elected to land all his troops in a single, congested region. Meanwhile the defenders operated from protected positions, under the cover of ECM systems unhindered by Draconic orbital fire."
"He made the same mistakes as those made on Camaro. The inital, single landing site was hit with heavy artillery fire, followed by WMD strikes from unknown Tortugan sources. The first three waves of Draconis soldiers took almost 90% casualties. This early in the war on Tortuga, detailed numbers are unattainable. Never the less, low end estimates assure us that losses for the Draconis in the first hours of the battle number in the millions."
"The Draconis failed ot properly prepare their target landing area with orbital EMP fire. They concentrated in a single easily struck landing site. They paid the price- not in credits, or in honor- though they lost both- but in the lives of their young men and women, thown away by their careless and foolish commanders. We here at USN feel for the Draconis who have had their friends, family, and loved ones killed by poor command decisions. We hope that those who had their lives thrown away by poor leadership are mourned."
"The Invasion of Tortuga- a comedy of errors. A comedy which cost the lives of millions of innocents. A comedy we at USN hope never to be repeated."
"Good night."
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )
-
Spyder
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 4465
- Joined: 2002-09-03 03:23am
- Location: Wellington, New Zealand
- Contact:
"The proliferation of your species is" Kain paused. "an estimable ultimate goal. I have two questions. What within the power of the Minmatar would help you achieve your objectives? My second question is what, within the realm of possibility, would you prefer the Minmatar avoid doing? I am here to seek a better understanding with the Hajr. We may be of use to each other and then we may not. All I require is the exploration of possibility."Thirdfain wrote:
Felis cocked her head quizzically, and then smiled in a faintly bemused fashion.
"Our mututal future goals? I fail to understand, Boundman. The Hajr is the harbinger of the Diaspora. The Diaspora is our one goal, our only goal, the true calling of all species, of all forms of life. Our future goals are the Diaspora, no more and no less. So, I say and conclude, what do your means? What do you seek of the Hajr?"
Kain's speech was clear and precise, although to some extent souless and cold. Yet somenow not totally unemotional. There was no fear but defenately intent.
Five Weeks Ago
Jardan
Karl Doenitz was lost in thought as he was raking the leaves in his backyard. He had been the chief of Jardanian Naval internal operations and logistics till the end of the first regime. At that time the entire military had been purged by the changing factions in control of the Navy, and everyone had suffered. Karl had been one of the old line, the prevalent faction throughout the powerful military, the ones who fought for the nation and ignored the Xenophobic politics around them. Of course when things had turned bad, thanks in no small part due to the politicians and their military appointees, the politicians had turned on the competent commanders, and that’s when Doenitz had been given the boot. His friends who had remained, and there were not many of them, had reported horrible things about the morale and administration that had remained, and then Monacora had taken over and almost everyone that was left had been given the boot. Monacora had fascinated Karl when he was young, they had always fascinated him, and he’d often contemplated how the galaxy would have been different if they had an actual Navy.
His contemplation was cut short when the sound of crunched gravel reached his ears. And though the thought of visitors was not an especially pleasant one right now he had to be civil. Walking to the side of his large house, where he could look at any newcomers without being seen, he peered around the edge. In the drive way a man, wearing a pitch black, was stepping out of a small black car, the motor of which was still running. A Jehovah’s Witness, plague of every planet ever colonized, probably, though it could be anyone of a number of possible groups. As the man turned from the car and began an almost familiar stride towards its front door Doenitz put the rake up against the back of the house, and snuck in through its back door. Ignoring the sound of the doorbell ringing he walked to his lounge, picked up a bottle of water, and sat down in his favorite chair, looking at the rough image showing the man in the little video camera he had set up to watch the front door. Raising the bottle in a mock salute to the screen he popped the cap off and started drinking as the bell rang, and then stopped eyes wide open and stared at the screen. Placing the water bottle back on the table he ran to the door and flung it open to reveal a tall man standing behind the door in a black uniform.
“Admiral Doenitz?”
“Er… yes…”
“Can I come in please?”
Doenitz stepped back and gave the universal gesture with his hand to, and stepped back inside himself.
“I am Lieutenant Admiral Erich Raeder of the Monacoran Navy, I assume you know what’s happened since you left?”
“Yes, you are merging our Navies aren’t you? Fired a lot of people I knew when I still served there.”
“You object?”
“No… they all deserved it, what brings you to my part of town?”
“I’ll be blunt. We’re having problems running the Jardanian Navy, I’m here to offer you a commission as a Vice Admiral with the Monacoran Navy with retroactive pay, you would be reporting directly to me, and would be helping us with the organizational difficulties that we are facing. You’d have the ability to hire anyone you wanted, as long as they were checked out by our…”
“Enough, thank you. I’m in, when would I first report to the Admiralty?”
“Right now actually, I’m going to take you back and brief on what you need to know on the way, then we start working like madmen, though it should be easier with two of us, and whatever men you decide to bring back working with us.”
“Good… most excellent, would you mind if I went upstairs for a minute, my uniform is up there, I should probably change out of these before I go anywhere.”
“Knew I forgot something, I’ll be right back.”
When Raeder was out of sight, Doenitz let loose what was perhaps the world’s biggest grin, and a small whoop of ecstasy and relief. His dream job was back, he ran quickly to pick up his water bottle and keys. When he got back to the ante-room in front of the door the other Admiral was just getting back himself, and he was carrying a coat hanger, and a longer uniform behind him over his shoulder.
With a flourish he presented the uniform to the Jardanian.
“We tried to replace all your medals and ribbons, those that we have an equivalent for we gave you the equivalent, those we don’t, we just gave you the old Jardanian version.”
Doenitz looked over the uniform, then ripped the plastic off of it, and began to gently trace over it.
“What’s the big golden star on the right?”
“The Admiral’s sun burst, every Admiral has one. Old traditional decoration, also for every fleet or task force you’ve commanded you get one of the gold sun-rays replaced with a silver one.”
“Ah, also, two star? I thought you said vice?”
“Yes.. about that, we don’t have two rear admiral ranks. We go rear, vice, lieutenant, full admiral. However you’ll find this position pays more, and we also have a lot less admirals, which gives you more…”
Doenitz smilled and waved away Raeder’s explanation.
“Let me get this on, then could we get going?”
“By all means.”
A minute later they were sitting in the back seat of Raeder’s car as it pulled out of the driveway, and headed back into the city. Doenitz noted with mild interest the two black cars that pulled in front and behind the car. He was about to mention them when Raeder looked up from a data pad.
“Tell me, do you think Marines are necessary for Jardanian warships?”
“Definitely.”
“Good, see, you’re setting policy already.”
“What sort of question was that?”
“We have the Jardanian Marines, the Prince wants to merge them in with one of the existing branches, but the Marines will have nothing to do with them because they’re a bunch of ground-pounders and these guys aren’t, the Army isn’t stepping forward to do anything but they both throw fits at the idea of the Astral Navy having any control over a force that could conceivably be used planet-side. What’s probably going to happen is we’ll split them fifty-fifty with the marines, and use our part as what would be ‘traditional’ marines in any other navy.
“Tell me, what do you know about the Monacoran Navy, I mean our command structure and history?”
“Uh, you’ve had the short end of the stick funding-wise for centuries compared to the Army, we’ve had inferior equipment for centuries, your officer corps is not the greatest, though reforms have been going through recently headed up by your commanding-Admiral, also now that you have Jardanian crews to use you’ve been retiring your worst men, and replacing them with Jardanians. That’s about all I know.”
Raeder thought for a minute, before nodding.
“Close enough, I’ll get to the crews thing in a minute. You should probably know about the other Admirals first. There’s me, you know me, you’ll learn more about me as time goes on. There’s the Priest. He’s not actually a priest, he used to be a priest though, that’s how he got the name. He’s the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, he’s a brilliant man. He’s also an alien, which we’re afraid might cause some tension with Jardanian crews later. He picked up the pieces of the Navy after we had the ‘Asgard reformations.’ What happened there is that the Prince before this one brought in a group of retired Asgard Admirals, and tried to have them fix what was wrong with us. Didn’t work, and in short left us a hell of a lot worse off then we were before. What the priest did was work from the bottom up, he made the academy a lot better than it was, he fired all of the useless people that got promoted just because they’d been around along time, and he promoted people who showed potential ahead of their times, like me, Santiago, and Ksawery. And he focused on where we could be good, like our snub fighter training, we started stealing former members of the Army-Air Corps, and putting them in our fighter corps and training bases, he also worked out a deal with the Army to lend us some designers to design new fighters and bombers, and poof, we got a whole lot better. He’s the whole reason why we’re even semi-respectable.
“Next there’s Admiral Santiago, being an Admiral in the Astral Navy is in his blood, his grand parents are all former Admirals, and his great-grandparents are all involved with navies somehow. He’s a tremendous combat Admiral, and he has this Charisma that would make people in his fleet follow him to the death, even if it meant going only in escape pods. But he’s also impulsive, emotional, and slightly unbalanced, he’ll never hurt someone unintentionally, but he also goes into fits of rage at people who are his closest friends. We were in the same class in the academy, we’ve been friends for a while too. He’s in charge of the Eighth fleet, what remains of the Jardanian fleet, minus a carrier and a few corvettes and destroyers.
“After him is Admiral Nomura, he’s in command of the ninth fleet, that’s half of the former Rh’lloran fleet, we got them too, they all left the galaxy, and the fleet just went with us. Nomura is from Britain, and has the accent, but he’s of Japanese decent and is a strong believer in Samurai honor, really really strong believer. He’s honor bound, carries teku drums with him everywhere, but is otherwise a perfectly normal guy.
“Uh… Admiral Ksawery is a guy you probably need to know too, he’s the guy in charge of the other half of the Rh’lloran fleet, really smart, but never talks. Ever. Except in battle. You’re lucky to get two words out of him outside of it though. Brilliant tactician though, only guy we have whose even close to Santiago.
“Finally, there’s Smirnoff, he’s alright, not too smart but pretty good all around, what cinches him in this spot is that he’s the only other strategist we have besides me and the priest, and he’s pretty decent there too. What’s odd is that priesty picked Ksawery over Smirnoff to head the new Tenth fleet, so he’s commanding first fleet instead. First fleet is our best Monacoran ship fleet, second fleet is second best, third fleet ditto, and so on.”
“Interesting, what was it that you mentioned about having problems with the crews before though?”
“Ah… that’s part of the reason why we need more administrators. When we first got the Jardanian fleet the answer was simple, we move our best sailors up to the Jardanian fleet, keep the best Jardanian sailors there, fire the Admirals and rehire those we could trust later, and then start firing our worst sailors and replacing them with Jardanians. Then we got the Rh’lloran fleet, that made it worse, especially for us here who are in charge of the re-org, because now we’re trying to spread the best sailors from the Jardanians and Monacorans three ways, and we have reasons to keep the best of them from going to these ships, and… well it’s just pure hell, so that’s why we’re rehiring you and others to help us run the show.”
“Wait… you don’t want to assign all your best men to these fleets, why?”
“Er… yes…”
Raeder seemed to look around, and then he spoke in a lower tone.
“About ten years ago I was put in charge of our ship building branch. Now we had, and still have somewhat, the unique problem that we could not ever possibly catch up with other nations numerically or, then, quality wise. So I pulled aside our best ship designers and worked out a conceptual idea for a new ship. Here, you remember the idea behind the ‘Longsword’ deep strike cruiser and it’s failing?”
‘‘Er… yeah, that was Admiral Khillan’s baby though. The idea was that you’d outfit a bunch of Cap-Ships with cloaking devices, send them deep into enemy space, and start ambushing enemy cap-ships with numerical superiority. It screwed up because the cloak didn’t work against enemy military ships, and because we couldn’t find them in the test runs against us. Also because of the cloak they were too weak to actually take other ships on one-on-one in a straight up fight. So we scrubbed the program with only five built I think. Right?”
“Bingo. So what we did was took both problems and turned them on their heads with the conceptual design. Instead of slapping a cloak on a ship, we planned a ship around the cloak. We figured with powerful sensors, a cloak, and a week weapon we wouldn’t be detected by anyone because the cloak wouldn’t have to cover as much as it usually does. Secondly we planned to deploy these to the Hyperspace shipping lanes, instead of against enemy cap-ships, we might not win in a straight up fight, but we can try to at least cripple economies. And with something like ninety percent of shipping going through Hyper-space we’d have no lack of ships to kill.
“Now, as you can imagine, when we got the Jardanian ship-building capabilities we jumped at the chance, and set to work turning this into a real life ship. We tested out the idea by gutting some corvettes, ripping them apart, installing massive cloaking devices, a warp engine and hyper-drive jump point opener, a weapon capable of ripping apart a freighter’s engine section, some of those really advanced sensors that you had planned to put into your AWACS destroyers, and we shrunk the actual propulsion unit down to a miniscule size. It worked very well, we could detect ships, even military ships, long before they could even come into sensor range of the cloak-ships. Then the cloak ships could get as close as safety reasons would allow to the ships, even military ones, and not be detected. The only real problem we had, and we planned for this ahead of time, was that the cloak couldn’t be run at the same time as any other systems without draining all the power. So we installed batteries that have to be charged when the ship is not cloaked, and then let the cloak be run for something like 48 hours straight.”
Looking out the window ahead Raeder could see the tall Jardanian Admiralty building rising up. Unlike anything he was used to in the military back home this was built up, and rather ornately too, not down. And he was still getting used to it.
“Here, I’ll explain the rest to you inside, after I swear you in.”
Jardan
Karl Doenitz was lost in thought as he was raking the leaves in his backyard. He had been the chief of Jardanian Naval internal operations and logistics till the end of the first regime. At that time the entire military had been purged by the changing factions in control of the Navy, and everyone had suffered. Karl had been one of the old line, the prevalent faction throughout the powerful military, the ones who fought for the nation and ignored the Xenophobic politics around them. Of course when things had turned bad, thanks in no small part due to the politicians and their military appointees, the politicians had turned on the competent commanders, and that’s when Doenitz had been given the boot. His friends who had remained, and there were not many of them, had reported horrible things about the morale and administration that had remained, and then Monacora had taken over and almost everyone that was left had been given the boot. Monacora had fascinated Karl when he was young, they had always fascinated him, and he’d often contemplated how the galaxy would have been different if they had an actual Navy.
His contemplation was cut short when the sound of crunched gravel reached his ears. And though the thought of visitors was not an especially pleasant one right now he had to be civil. Walking to the side of his large house, where he could look at any newcomers without being seen, he peered around the edge. In the drive way a man, wearing a pitch black, was stepping out of a small black car, the motor of which was still running. A Jehovah’s Witness, plague of every planet ever colonized, probably, though it could be anyone of a number of possible groups. As the man turned from the car and began an almost familiar stride towards its front door Doenitz put the rake up against the back of the house, and snuck in through its back door. Ignoring the sound of the doorbell ringing he walked to his lounge, picked up a bottle of water, and sat down in his favorite chair, looking at the rough image showing the man in the little video camera he had set up to watch the front door. Raising the bottle in a mock salute to the screen he popped the cap off and started drinking as the bell rang, and then stopped eyes wide open and stared at the screen. Placing the water bottle back on the table he ran to the door and flung it open to reveal a tall man standing behind the door in a black uniform.
“Admiral Doenitz?”
“Er… yes…”
“Can I come in please?”
Doenitz stepped back and gave the universal gesture with his hand to, and stepped back inside himself.
“I am Lieutenant Admiral Erich Raeder of the Monacoran Navy, I assume you know what’s happened since you left?”
“Yes, you are merging our Navies aren’t you? Fired a lot of people I knew when I still served there.”
“You object?”
“No… they all deserved it, what brings you to my part of town?”
“I’ll be blunt. We’re having problems running the Jardanian Navy, I’m here to offer you a commission as a Vice Admiral with the Monacoran Navy with retroactive pay, you would be reporting directly to me, and would be helping us with the organizational difficulties that we are facing. You’d have the ability to hire anyone you wanted, as long as they were checked out by our…”
“Enough, thank you. I’m in, when would I first report to the Admiralty?”
“Right now actually, I’m going to take you back and brief on what you need to know on the way, then we start working like madmen, though it should be easier with two of us, and whatever men you decide to bring back working with us.”
“Good… most excellent, would you mind if I went upstairs for a minute, my uniform is up there, I should probably change out of these before I go anywhere.”
“Knew I forgot something, I’ll be right back.”
When Raeder was out of sight, Doenitz let loose what was perhaps the world’s biggest grin, and a small whoop of ecstasy and relief. His dream job was back, he ran quickly to pick up his water bottle and keys. When he got back to the ante-room in front of the door the other Admiral was just getting back himself, and he was carrying a coat hanger, and a longer uniform behind him over his shoulder.
With a flourish he presented the uniform to the Jardanian.
“We tried to replace all your medals and ribbons, those that we have an equivalent for we gave you the equivalent, those we don’t, we just gave you the old Jardanian version.”
Doenitz looked over the uniform, then ripped the plastic off of it, and began to gently trace over it.
“What’s the big golden star on the right?”
“The Admiral’s sun burst, every Admiral has one. Old traditional decoration, also for every fleet or task force you’ve commanded you get one of the gold sun-rays replaced with a silver one.”
“Ah, also, two star? I thought you said vice?”
“Yes.. about that, we don’t have two rear admiral ranks. We go rear, vice, lieutenant, full admiral. However you’ll find this position pays more, and we also have a lot less admirals, which gives you more…”
Doenitz smilled and waved away Raeder’s explanation.
“Let me get this on, then could we get going?”
“By all means.”
A minute later they were sitting in the back seat of Raeder’s car as it pulled out of the driveway, and headed back into the city. Doenitz noted with mild interest the two black cars that pulled in front and behind the car. He was about to mention them when Raeder looked up from a data pad.
“Tell me, do you think Marines are necessary for Jardanian warships?”
“Definitely.”
“Good, see, you’re setting policy already.”
“What sort of question was that?”
“We have the Jardanian Marines, the Prince wants to merge them in with one of the existing branches, but the Marines will have nothing to do with them because they’re a bunch of ground-pounders and these guys aren’t, the Army isn’t stepping forward to do anything but they both throw fits at the idea of the Astral Navy having any control over a force that could conceivably be used planet-side. What’s probably going to happen is we’ll split them fifty-fifty with the marines, and use our part as what would be ‘traditional’ marines in any other navy.
“Tell me, what do you know about the Monacoran Navy, I mean our command structure and history?”
“Uh, you’ve had the short end of the stick funding-wise for centuries compared to the Army, we’ve had inferior equipment for centuries, your officer corps is not the greatest, though reforms have been going through recently headed up by your commanding-Admiral, also now that you have Jardanian crews to use you’ve been retiring your worst men, and replacing them with Jardanians. That’s about all I know.”
Raeder thought for a minute, before nodding.
“Close enough, I’ll get to the crews thing in a minute. You should probably know about the other Admirals first. There’s me, you know me, you’ll learn more about me as time goes on. There’s the Priest. He’s not actually a priest, he used to be a priest though, that’s how he got the name. He’s the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, he’s a brilliant man. He’s also an alien, which we’re afraid might cause some tension with Jardanian crews later. He picked up the pieces of the Navy after we had the ‘Asgard reformations.’ What happened there is that the Prince before this one brought in a group of retired Asgard Admirals, and tried to have them fix what was wrong with us. Didn’t work, and in short left us a hell of a lot worse off then we were before. What the priest did was work from the bottom up, he made the academy a lot better than it was, he fired all of the useless people that got promoted just because they’d been around along time, and he promoted people who showed potential ahead of their times, like me, Santiago, and Ksawery. And he focused on where we could be good, like our snub fighter training, we started stealing former members of the Army-Air Corps, and putting them in our fighter corps and training bases, he also worked out a deal with the Army to lend us some designers to design new fighters and bombers, and poof, we got a whole lot better. He’s the whole reason why we’re even semi-respectable.
“Next there’s Admiral Santiago, being an Admiral in the Astral Navy is in his blood, his grand parents are all former Admirals, and his great-grandparents are all involved with navies somehow. He’s a tremendous combat Admiral, and he has this Charisma that would make people in his fleet follow him to the death, even if it meant going only in escape pods. But he’s also impulsive, emotional, and slightly unbalanced, he’ll never hurt someone unintentionally, but he also goes into fits of rage at people who are his closest friends. We were in the same class in the academy, we’ve been friends for a while too. He’s in charge of the Eighth fleet, what remains of the Jardanian fleet, minus a carrier and a few corvettes and destroyers.
“After him is Admiral Nomura, he’s in command of the ninth fleet, that’s half of the former Rh’lloran fleet, we got them too, they all left the galaxy, and the fleet just went with us. Nomura is from Britain, and has the accent, but he’s of Japanese decent and is a strong believer in Samurai honor, really really strong believer. He’s honor bound, carries teku drums with him everywhere, but is otherwise a perfectly normal guy.
“Uh… Admiral Ksawery is a guy you probably need to know too, he’s the guy in charge of the other half of the Rh’lloran fleet, really smart, but never talks. Ever. Except in battle. You’re lucky to get two words out of him outside of it though. Brilliant tactician though, only guy we have whose even close to Santiago.
“Finally, there’s Smirnoff, he’s alright, not too smart but pretty good all around, what cinches him in this spot is that he’s the only other strategist we have besides me and the priest, and he’s pretty decent there too. What’s odd is that priesty picked Ksawery over Smirnoff to head the new Tenth fleet, so he’s commanding first fleet instead. First fleet is our best Monacoran ship fleet, second fleet is second best, third fleet ditto, and so on.”
“Interesting, what was it that you mentioned about having problems with the crews before though?”
“Ah… that’s part of the reason why we need more administrators. When we first got the Jardanian fleet the answer was simple, we move our best sailors up to the Jardanian fleet, keep the best Jardanian sailors there, fire the Admirals and rehire those we could trust later, and then start firing our worst sailors and replacing them with Jardanians. Then we got the Rh’lloran fleet, that made it worse, especially for us here who are in charge of the re-org, because now we’re trying to spread the best sailors from the Jardanians and Monacorans three ways, and we have reasons to keep the best of them from going to these ships, and… well it’s just pure hell, so that’s why we’re rehiring you and others to help us run the show.”
“Wait… you don’t want to assign all your best men to these fleets, why?”
“Er… yes…”
Raeder seemed to look around, and then he spoke in a lower tone.
“About ten years ago I was put in charge of our ship building branch. Now we had, and still have somewhat, the unique problem that we could not ever possibly catch up with other nations numerically or, then, quality wise. So I pulled aside our best ship designers and worked out a conceptual idea for a new ship. Here, you remember the idea behind the ‘Longsword’ deep strike cruiser and it’s failing?”
‘‘Er… yeah, that was Admiral Khillan’s baby though. The idea was that you’d outfit a bunch of Cap-Ships with cloaking devices, send them deep into enemy space, and start ambushing enemy cap-ships with numerical superiority. It screwed up because the cloak didn’t work against enemy military ships, and because we couldn’t find them in the test runs against us. Also because of the cloak they were too weak to actually take other ships on one-on-one in a straight up fight. So we scrubbed the program with only five built I think. Right?”
“Bingo. So what we did was took both problems and turned them on their heads with the conceptual design. Instead of slapping a cloak on a ship, we planned a ship around the cloak. We figured with powerful sensors, a cloak, and a week weapon we wouldn’t be detected by anyone because the cloak wouldn’t have to cover as much as it usually does. Secondly we planned to deploy these to the Hyperspace shipping lanes, instead of against enemy cap-ships, we might not win in a straight up fight, but we can try to at least cripple economies. And with something like ninety percent of shipping going through Hyper-space we’d have no lack of ships to kill.
“Now, as you can imagine, when we got the Jardanian ship-building capabilities we jumped at the chance, and set to work turning this into a real life ship. We tested out the idea by gutting some corvettes, ripping them apart, installing massive cloaking devices, a warp engine and hyper-drive jump point opener, a weapon capable of ripping apart a freighter’s engine section, some of those really advanced sensors that you had planned to put into your AWACS destroyers, and we shrunk the actual propulsion unit down to a miniscule size. It worked very well, we could detect ships, even military ships, long before they could even come into sensor range of the cloak-ships. Then the cloak ships could get as close as safety reasons would allow to the ships, even military ones, and not be detected. The only real problem we had, and we planned for this ahead of time, was that the cloak couldn’t be run at the same time as any other systems without draining all the power. So we installed batteries that have to be charged when the ship is not cloaked, and then let the cloak be run for something like 48 hours straight.”
Looking out the window ahead Raeder could see the tall Jardanian Admiralty building rising up. Unlike anything he was used to in the military back home this was built up, and rather ornately too, not down. And he was still getting used to it.
“Here, I’ll explain the rest to you inside, after I swear you in.”
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
-
Dahak
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 7292
- Joined: 2002-10-29 12:08pm
- Location: Admiralty House, Landing, Manticore
- Contact:
Gladsheim Prime, Orbital One
Two of the stations AIs observed the fugitives. It was their current favourite passtime. The offworlder section of it was a tad bit overcrowded and some people wanted out of it, to their cities. But to no avail. No offworlder was to leave this station to the planet below under any circumstance. And the offworlder section had been cleared of any sensitive equipment as it had been set up years ago.
<<Look, Kyle,>> Kryat, the more playful AI cried out. <<Now they're trying the secondary air shaft out. Remember the other ones that tried?>>
<<Yes,>> he answered. <<They are till in sensory deprivation. But all shafts have now been closed with fields and security hatches. How the last ones could have gotten through...>>
<<Well, I let them. I was looking for fun,>> he said with a digital smile on his face.
<<Oh Heavans. Will you ever learn...>>
<<Then was fun. This is serious business. So I won't do such fun things. But these,>> he highlighted the spies, <<must be the most blatant and obvious spies in existance. I mean they'd have to glow or something to be more obvisous....>>
<<Yeah,>> he nodded. <<But the intelligence consensus and the intelligence service figures they are just cover for some 'real' spies.>>
<<What do we do with them?>>
<<Nothing. We could kill them, of course. But it would only cause some irritations. They can't go out, they can't access anything from within there, be it obvious or real spies. They can spy on those other fugitives, but apart from that...>>
<<But if we have to exterminate them, let me know. I ache for some playful things to do...>>
Two of the stations AIs observed the fugitives. It was their current favourite passtime. The offworlder section of it was a tad bit overcrowded and some people wanted out of it, to their cities. But to no avail. No offworlder was to leave this station to the planet below under any circumstance. And the offworlder section had been cleared of any sensitive equipment as it had been set up years ago.
<<Look, Kyle,>> Kryat, the more playful AI cried out. <<Now they're trying the secondary air shaft out. Remember the other ones that tried?>>
<<Yes,>> he answered. <<They are till in sensory deprivation. But all shafts have now been closed with fields and security hatches. How the last ones could have gotten through...>>
<<Well, I let them. I was looking for fun,>> he said with a digital smile on his face.
<<Oh Heavans. Will you ever learn...>>
<<Then was fun. This is serious business. So I won't do such fun things. But these,>> he highlighted the spies, <<must be the most blatant and obvious spies in existance. I mean they'd have to glow or something to be more obvisous....>>
<<Yeah,>> he nodded. <<But the intelligence consensus and the intelligence service figures they are just cover for some 'real' spies.>>
<<What do we do with them?>>
<<Nothing. We could kill them, of course. But it would only cause some irritations. They can't go out, they can't access anything from within there, be it obvious or real spies. They can spy on those other fugitives, but apart from that...>>
<<But if we have to exterminate them, let me know. I ache for some playful things to do...>>
Great Dolphin Conspiracy - Chatter box
"Implications: we have been intercepted deliberately by a means unknown, for a purpose unknown, and transferred to a place unknown by a form of intelligence unknown. Apart from the unknown, everything is obvious." ZORAC
GALE Force Euro Wimp
Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.
-
Spyder
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 4465
- Joined: 2002-09-03 03:23am
- Location: Wellington, New Zealand
- Contact:
A PDA plonks down on Spyder's desk.
"The information you requested." Said Ed.
The Chancellor looked over the document. "That's some pretty good work Ed. Were there any complications?"
"No." Ed responded.
"Well then." Spyder pressed a few buttons on the PDA, altering the layout and content of what was showing on the screen. "You might find this assignment a little more fun."
Spyder handed the PDA back to Ed who quickly skimmed through it.
"Consider it done."
"The information you requested." Said Ed.
The Chancellor looked over the document. "That's some pretty good work Ed. Were there any complications?"
"No." Ed responded.
"Well then." Spyder pressed a few buttons on the PDA, altering the layout and content of what was showing on the screen. "You might find this assignment a little more fun."
Spyder handed the PDA back to Ed who quickly skimmed through it.
"Consider it done."
-
speaker-to-trolls
- Jedi Master
- Posts: 1182
- Joined: 2003-11-18 05:46pm
- Location: All Hail Britannia!
Itsilaar
Itsil
Itsil system
Supreme minister Red-eye stood in front of the recording device, his tongue curved up around his face and licked up a tiny bead of sweat. "We are ready to begin the recording, minister". Red-eye nodded to the camera crew, silently they counted down from three and started the machine. The ministers eyes immediately found the scrolling, glowing heiroglyphs moving on the autocue beside the camera.
"My fellow Confederates. Our nation has always stood for unity and co-operation between its citizens, and now we will need these qualities more than ever we did before. We have recently been made aware of other powers in this galaxy of ours, though they have not yet been hostile toward us this state of affairs cannot last for long. We have a friend in a nation called the United Protectorates, but they themselves have enemies, and these enemies of theirs will in time see us as enemies. We cannot rely on the help of other nations, however, if we are divided amongst ourselves. For centuries the human citizens of the confederacy have lived as second-class citizens to the Jekin majority, this stops here. This may cause confusion, even anger amongst some of you, but I assure you that it is for the greater good of the Confederacy. And after all, what makes a human less deserving than a Jekin?, it is known that they are just as potent as us mentally, they have built nations of size and power comparable to our own, after all. From now on, all human citizens of the confederacy will have equal rights regarding employment and an equal standard of living, proportionate to their physical requirements. This will mean some major changes in almost all aspects of our nation, It may seem difficult, but it is for the greater good, and we shall emerge stronger for it".
The camera cut out. Minister Green-Face approached him. Red-Eye disliked Green-Face, he had serious doubts about her inteligence, he suspected it was quite high. "You have taken a substantial risk by doing this, you know. I doubt it will gain you any friends in the cabinet. And the people will not like it either". The second sentence seemed like an afterthought. "Perhaps, but it was my descision to make, the people can handle the facts, I am certain". Green-Face smiled, though a human observer wouldn't have been able to tell, "I am sure. Though it interests me that you left one particular fact out, you didn't mention that the human nations were capitalist, did you?".
"I think one shock was enough for today, stars know how the humans manage to make that system work, but I don't want anybody trying to force it on us. The greater good of the confederacy may require some facts to be kept secret". Green-Faces smile did the equivelant of broadening (the equivelant because a jekin smile is largely to do with the position of the ears) "Quite, supreme minister".
Within minutes the message was broadcast, not just throughout the confederacy, but outwards into the galaxy at large.
Itsil
Itsil system
Supreme minister Red-eye stood in front of the recording device, his tongue curved up around his face and licked up a tiny bead of sweat. "We are ready to begin the recording, minister". Red-eye nodded to the camera crew, silently they counted down from three and started the machine. The ministers eyes immediately found the scrolling, glowing heiroglyphs moving on the autocue beside the camera.
"My fellow Confederates. Our nation has always stood for unity and co-operation between its citizens, and now we will need these qualities more than ever we did before. We have recently been made aware of other powers in this galaxy of ours, though they have not yet been hostile toward us this state of affairs cannot last for long. We have a friend in a nation called the United Protectorates, but they themselves have enemies, and these enemies of theirs will in time see us as enemies. We cannot rely on the help of other nations, however, if we are divided amongst ourselves. For centuries the human citizens of the confederacy have lived as second-class citizens to the Jekin majority, this stops here. This may cause confusion, even anger amongst some of you, but I assure you that it is for the greater good of the Confederacy. And after all, what makes a human less deserving than a Jekin?, it is known that they are just as potent as us mentally, they have built nations of size and power comparable to our own, after all. From now on, all human citizens of the confederacy will have equal rights regarding employment and an equal standard of living, proportionate to their physical requirements. This will mean some major changes in almost all aspects of our nation, It may seem difficult, but it is for the greater good, and we shall emerge stronger for it".
The camera cut out. Minister Green-Face approached him. Red-Eye disliked Green-Face, he had serious doubts about her inteligence, he suspected it was quite high. "You have taken a substantial risk by doing this, you know. I doubt it will gain you any friends in the cabinet. And the people will not like it either". The second sentence seemed like an afterthought. "Perhaps, but it was my descision to make, the people can handle the facts, I am certain". Green-Face smiled, though a human observer wouldn't have been able to tell, "I am sure. Though it interests me that you left one particular fact out, you didn't mention that the human nations were capitalist, did you?".
"I think one shock was enough for today, stars know how the humans manage to make that system work, but I don't want anybody trying to force it on us. The greater good of the confederacy may require some facts to be kept secret". Green-Faces smile did the equivelant of broadening (the equivelant because a jekin smile is largely to do with the position of the ears) "Quite, supreme minister".
Within minutes the message was broadcast, not just throughout the confederacy, but outwards into the galaxy at large.
Last edited by speaker-to-trolls on 2004-08-16 06:15pm, edited 2 times in total.
Post Number 1066 achieved Sun Feb 22, 2009 3:19 pm(board time, 8:19GMT)
Batman: What do these guys want anyway?
Superman: Take over the world... Or rob banks, I'm not sure.
Batman: What do these guys want anyway?
Superman: Take over the world... Or rob banks, I'm not sure.
-
Thirdfain
- The Player of Games
- Posts: 6924
- Joined: 2003-02-13 09:24pm
- Location: Never underestimate the staggering drawing power of the Garden State.
"Of use. The Hajr is friends with those who will fight for the Diaspora. It is enemies with those who will stand against the Diaspora. It cares not at all for those who do not concern us. Your people do not concern us. DO you wish to pledge your nation to us? In a handful of generations, your people could become Unbound, and join the Diaspora. your warships could fight for the Hajr. Besides that, there is little you can do to help us.""The proliferation of your species is" Kain paused. "an estimable ultimate goal. I have two questions. What within the power of the Minmatar would help you achieve your objectives? My second question is what, within the realm of possibility, would you prefer the Minmatar avoid doing? I am here to seek a better understanding with the Hajr. We may be of use to each other and then we may not. All I require is the exploration of possibility."
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )
-
InnocentBystander
- The Russian Circus
- Posts: 3466
- Joined: 2004-04-10 06:05am
- Location: Just across the mighty Hudson
BaelThirdfain wrote:United Systems News
Broadcast in Over Twenty Star Nations!
=A Subsidiary of the Basque Industrial Conglomorate=
Special Expose: Military Incompotence on Tortuga
"Today, the United Systems News Channel presents a special report on the situation brewing on the independent world of New Tortuga. With me tonight is military analyst Ernst Belevue, of the Floater Cluster of Shiva, in the Krytos Star Empire. Ernst?"
"Thank you, Jenivere. Welcome to this USN Special Expose. To begin, we'll look at the opening moves of the Tortugan campaign. What you hear tonight may surpise you, regardless of your nationality, political alignment, or species."
"The opening moves of the Tortugan campaign, in space, were textbook- with one crucial problem. In these projected records, you will see the initial movements of the invasion fleet. The attacking warships completely fail to deploy interdictors. Information on the mindset of the commanders of the Draconic fleet is slim, but it is believed they simply thought the pirates would stay and fight on the Draconis' terms, rather than using the raiding tactics they had preferred in the past. How the Draconic commanders made this mistake is the first major indicator of the callous incompotence and disregard the leaders of the Draconis task force displayed."
"The damage caused was significant- even now, Tortugan fleet units are spread out, able to strike against shipping with impunity. The tactical and strategic implications are obvious."
"Next, we focus on the initial invasion of the planet itself. Tortuga is a heavily industrialised world, with large arcology-based cities and expansive orbital and ground-based industries. They possessed, and still possess, large quantities of WMDs. The Tortugan army is modern, well equipped, and relatively loyal. Additionally, Tortuga was blessed with an exceptional commander. Master of Soldiers Allan Westrey is his name, and even now, he commands a spirited defense of the independent world. USN's information on MoS Westrey is limited, but what we do know is well corroborated by his actions on the ground. "
"MoS Westrey examined in detail the battle of Camaro, one of the most unique invasion actions since the historic Battle of Akalabeth a century ago. The battle of Camaro featured a force with orbital superiority, the Ousters, and a force without that luxury, the Krynori Jaffa. It seems that Westrey learned the lessons taught during the abortive 3:00 Offensive, in which a squadron of Krynori battle transports landed a relief force, in a single large staging area miles outside of the Ouster landing site in the Camaroan capital. Without theater shields or heavy air support, the counteroffensive was cut off when a small force of Ouster air cavalry called down orbital WMD strikes."
"Westrey, despite never approaching within a hundred light-years of Camaro, learned the lessons of that historic battle well. The Draconis commander did no such thing. The opening landing was focused on a single location. Rather than spreading out and hitting multiple targets, and using his numbers and orbital superiority to gain strategic mobility, the Draconis leader elected to land all his troops in a single, congested region. Meanwhile the defenders operated from protected positions, under the cover of ECM systems unhindered by Draconic orbital fire."
"He made the same mistakes as those made on Camaro. The inital, single landing site was hit with heavy artillery fire, followed by WMD strikes from unknown Tortugan sources. The first three waves of Draconis soldiers took almost 90% casualties. This early in the war on Tortuga, detailed numbers are unattainable. Never the less, low end estimates assure us that losses for the Draconis in the first hours of the battle number in the millions."
"The Draconis failed ot properly prepare their target landing area with orbital EMP fire. They concentrated in a single easily struck landing site. They paid the price- not in credits, or in honor- though they lost both- but in the lives of their young men and women, thown away by their careless and foolish commanders. We here at USN feel for the Draconis who have had their friends, family, and loved ones killed by poor command decisions. We hope that those who had their lives thrown away by poor leadership are mourned."
"The Invasion of Tortuga- a comedy of errors. A comedy which cost the lives of millions of innocents. A comedy we at USN hope never to be repeated."
"Good night."
Capital Archology
He turned off the news broadcaster, millions, quite a number! Most people might be shocked or even horrified at this, but for Regis Tabbith, this could become a business opportunity. He pondered the news for a few moments, it was a huge loss for any society, and certainly there would be some sort of resulting labor crisis, or at least a major shift in wages. Either way, he saw an opportunity to create profit, real, serious profit. Finally it hit him, he'd need to present his idea in front of the Board of Directors to get the funding, but he knew how to sell himself, you didn't become a senion VP of a mega corporation without knowing a thing or two about salesmanship.
InFinidum Enterprises – Board of Directors
"Are you certain of this?" one of the board members asked. "The funding would be considerable, twice your yearly budget!”
"Consider it an investment, chairman. I'm sure you can see the potential return.” Regis proceeded to point out the major points of his arguments, making particular emphasis on the profit margin and cost effectiveness of his plan.
“I’ve seen the star charts, Tabbith” another board member spoke up, “The distance is just too great, shipping costs will be unthinkable. That’s not including accidents, and other “unavoidable” losses.”
“The shipping costs,” Tabbith pointed out, “are negligible when compared to the potential profit. I won’t lie, it is a somewhat risky endeavour, but risks must be taken in order to achieve greatness. We could sit here, and watch as our competitors expand to newer, better markets and surpass us, or it could be InFinidum at the forefront of the new frontier!”
Chairman Algozan sat in his opulent chair and mused. Money, power, industry, it was his job to see that InFinidum gained all of these things. Now here was an idea; it could work, or it could push his corporation to the bottom of the Mega Corporations list, though this was likely to happen within the next few years anyway. "Such decisions cannot be made on an empty stomach, I will inform you of my decision after lunch." he concluded the meeting and promptly left. Two hours later he met Regis Tabbith in the lobby of InFinidum HQ, "You have your funding, Mister Tabbith, but I want you to oversee this personally." he approached Tabbith, "And if this goes awry, I suggest you find a permanent residence with those lizards." The chairman’s gaze was harsh and cold, the worst part was, of course, that he wasn’t kidding.
By the end of the day InFinidum had secured three office sites on Varathrax, including one in the capital city, along with a sizeable warehouse. The first transports would leave Baeloaren space in a few days to fill the new offices, the “cargo” to be kept in the warehouse would be shipped later.
-
Alyrium Denryle
- Minister of Sin
- Posts: 22224
- Joined: 2002-07-11 08:34pm
- Location: The Deep Desert
- Contact:
Draconis Official Response
You need to get your facts straight. The first wave comrised of roughtly 250 thousand men, and suffered 75% casualties, the second suffered 90% combined landing, and setting up of beach heads, the third suffered far less as they arrived after we anihilated Tortugan artillery and weapons of mass destruction. More amusing is that the entire invasion including reserves consisted of less than 3 million men.
THeir military hardware is EMP hardened anyway. It wouldnt of worked regardless.
We didnt expect them to fight kind sirs, our objective was to ake their base of operations. Then widdle down their numbers after they couldt resupply."The opening moves of the Tortugan campaign, in space, were textbook- with one crucial problem. In these projected records, you will see the initial movements of the invasion fleet. The attacking warships completely fail to deploy interdictors. Information on the mindset of the commanders of the Draconic fleet is slim, but it is believed they simply thought the pirates would stay and fight on the Draconis' terms, rather than using the raiding tactics they had preferred in the past. How the Draconic commanders made this mistake is the first major indicator of the callous incompotence and disregard the leaders of the Draconis task force displayed."
Yes, he is extremely competant. But also shows no regard for the luves of his own slavees.. er I mean civilians. He placed his heavy artillery which bombarded our trops, in the middle of his population centers. Banking more or less correctly that we would not nuke a city filled with innocent people. what they were not counting on however was the Draconis Navy using camera guided bombs, and focused energy wepons lannched from fighters."Next, we focus on the initial invasion of the planet itself. Tortuga is a heavily industrialised world, with large arcology-based cities and expansive orbital and ground-based industries. They possessed, and still possess, large quantities of WMDs. The Tortugan army is modern, well equipped, and relatively loyal. Additionally, Tortuga was blessed with an exceptional commander. Master of Soldiers Allan Westrey is his name, and even now, he commands a spirited defense of the independent world. USN's information on MoS Westrey is limited, but what we do know is well corroborated by his actions on the ground. "
If we didnt care about the lives of civilians we would have done the same. However, we are not murderous monsters. You dont liberate a planet by bombing the civilians into the stone age. Sorry, it isnt moral.
"MoS Westrey examined in detail the battle of Camaro, one of the most unique invasion actions since the historic Battle of Akalabeth a century ago. The battle of Camaro featured a force with orbital superiority, the Ousters, and a force without that luxury, the Krynori Jaffa. It seems that Westrey learned the lessons taught during the abortive 3:00 Offensive, in which a squadron of Krynori battle transports landed a relief force, in a single large staging area miles outside of the Ouster landing site in the Camaroan capital. Without theater shields or heavy air support, the counteroffensive was cut off when a small force of Ouster air cavalry called down orbital WMD strikes."
That is a patent lie, we had landing sights roughly 15 kilometers outside most major cities. Thank you for misrepresnting the battle. The reason the EcM generators were unhindered for the first 2 hours of the battle, was because they were hidden inside major population centers. We had to find other methods to take them out."Westrey, despite never approaching within a hundred light-years of Camaro, learned the lessons of that historic battle well. The Draconis commander did no such thing. The opening landing was focused on a single location. Rather than spreading out and hitting multiple targets, and using his numbers and orbital superiority to gain strategic mobility, the Draconis leader elected to land all his troops in a single, congested region. Meanwhile the defenders operated from protected positions, under the cover of ECM systems unhindered by Draconic orbital fire."
"He made the same mistakes as those made on Camaro. The inital, single landing site was hit with heavy artillery fire, followed by WMD strikes from unknown Tortugan sources. The first three waves of Draconis soldiers took almost 90% casualties. This early in the war on Tortuga, detailed numbers are unattainable. Never the less, low end estimates assure us that losses for the Draconis in the first hours of the battle number in the millions."
You need to get your facts straight. The first wave comrised of roughtly 250 thousand men, and suffered 75% casualties, the second suffered 90% combined landing, and setting up of beach heads, the third suffered far less as they arrived after we anihilated Tortugan artillery and weapons of mass destruction. More amusing is that the entire invasion including reserves consisted of less than 3 million men.
Orbital EMP fire would have doomed the civilian population to exist without basic necessities until every single wire in every city was replaced."The Draconis failed ot properly prepare their target landing area with orbital EMP fire. They concentrated in a single easily struck landing site. They paid the price- not in credits, or in honor- though they lost both- but in the lives of their young men and women, thown away by their careless and foolish commanders. We here at USN feel for the Draconis who have had their friends, family, and loved ones killed by poor command decisions. We hope that those who had their lives thrown away by poor leadership are mourned."
THeir military hardware is EMP hardened anyway. It wouldnt of worked regardless.
Last edited by Alyrium Denryle on 2004-08-16 05:22pm, edited 1 time in total.
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Factio republicanum delenda est
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Factio republicanum delenda est
-
Spyder
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 4465
- Joined: 2002-09-03 03:23am
- Location: Wellington, New Zealand
- Contact:
"Then if I may I would like to remain here and maintain an embassy. It would be useful to maintain an open line of communication should there be any," Kain paused, "complications between our people."Thirdfain wrote:
"Of use. The Hajr is friends with those who will fight for the Diaspora. It is enemies with those who will stand against the Diaspora. It cares not at all for those who do not concern us. Your people do not concern us. DO you wish to pledge your nation to us? In a handful of generations, your people could become Unbound, and join the Diaspora. your warships could fight for the Hajr. Besides that, there is little you can do to help us."
-
Thirdfain
- The Player of Games
- Posts: 6924
- Joined: 2003-02-13 09:24pm
- Location: Never underestimate the staggering drawing power of the Garden State.
"If you so desire, we will set aside an office on the grav-wheel for you. Does that conclude your business?""Then if I may I would like to remain here and maintain an embassy. It would be useful to maintain an open line of communication should there be any," Kain paused, "complications between our people."
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )
-
Spyder
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 4465
- Joined: 2002-09-03 03:23am
- Location: Wellington, New Zealand
- Contact:
Senator Machelli Returns to Capital
"I have returned now to face my crimes against the people of Minmatar. I submit myself to your judgement."
The image cut back to the anchor woman. "The Senator has been remanded in custody by Matar authorities. He has however been allowed to speak at tonight's senate hearing to explain his actions. We will have more news at eleven."
Meanwhile...
Lastport, United Protectorates.
The transport touched down on the tarmac and a single individual exited the craft wearing a black business suit and carrying a briefcase. He stood about 5'10", had neatly cut black hair and an odd creepy smile.
"My name is Alex Dekhrynova. Greetings from Minmatar."
"I have returned now to face my crimes against the people of Minmatar. I submit myself to your judgement."
The image cut back to the anchor woman. "The Senator has been remanded in custody by Matar authorities. He has however been allowed to speak at tonight's senate hearing to explain his actions. We will have more news at eleven."
Meanwhile...
Lastport, United Protectorates.
The transport touched down on the tarmac and a single individual exited the craft wearing a black business suit and carrying a briefcase. He stood about 5'10", had neatly cut black hair and an odd creepy smile.
"My name is Alex Dekhrynova. Greetings from Minmatar."
-
frigidmagi
- Sith Devotee
- Posts: 2962
- Joined: 2004-04-14 07:05pm
- Location: A Nice Dry Place
From: Lord Protector's OfficeSpeaker to Trolls wrote: Supreme minister Red-eye stood in front of the recording device, his tongue curved up around his face and licked up a tiny bead of sweat. "We are ready to begin the recording, minister". Red-eye nodded to the camera crew, silently they counted down from three and started the machine. The ministers eyes immediately found the scrolling, glowing heiroglyphs moving on the autocue beside the camera.
"My fellow Confederates. Our nation has always stood for unity and co-operation between its citizens, and now we will need these qualities more than ever we did before. We have recently been made aware of other powers in this galaxy of ours, though they have not yet been hostile toward us this state of affairs cannot last for long. We have a friend in a nation called the United Protectorates, but they themselves have enemies, and these enemies of theirs will in time see us as enemies. We cannot rely on the help of other nations, however, if we are divided amongst ourselves. For centuries the human citizens of the confederacy have lived as second-class citizens to the Jekin majority, this stops here. This may cause confusion, even anger amongst some of you, but I assure you that it is for the greater good of the Confederacy. And after all, what makes a human less deserving than a Jekin?, it is known that they are just as potent as us mentally, they have built nations of size and power comparable to our own, after all. From now on, all human citizens of the confederacy will have equal rights regarding employment and an equal standard of living, proportionate to their physical requirements. This will mean some major changes in almost all aspects of our nation, It may seem difficult, but it is for the greater good, and we shall emerge stronger for it".
To: Galaxy at Large
I and the UP people applaund the couragerous steps taken by the Confedration in this matter. It takes great courage and strength to take such a forward step in addressing inequality within one's own soceity. The United Protectrates supports such courage and stands ready to aide the Itsil people in their journey to a better tomorrow for all their citizens, regardless of specis.
We also stand ready to protect them from those who would derail or otherwise interefere with their journey.
Master of Soldiers Westrey was scanning the battle-front with high powered monocs, next to him Marshall Estren was also in the prone position scanning the front lines, and more specifically one part of it, above and behind them the steady rumble of their ever firing Artillery boomed on.
"Ten seconds, sir."
Westrey put down the monocs, and covered his eyes. Then, from the direction of the front a low roar could be heard. Putting the Monocs back up he scanned the lines again.
"Perfect, no damage done. Right, the colonels know what to do, get out of here."
Standing up Estren and Westrey stood awkwardly, and then slapped arms, and then hugged. They'd been together a long time, yet it could almost be over. Westrey then began running. The plan was quite simple, despite the fact that they were causing unusually heavy casulties to the drakes they would never hold out in straight up combat. So after causing exceedingly heavy damage the plan was to fall back to defensive positions around the cities, done. Detonate nuclear explosives behind enemy lines soon after to disrupt supplies and communication and to disorient the enemy as to the plans of the defenders, just completed. And then fall back again, only this time making it look like a full-blown retreat into the city. If the drakes, or whoever was going to attack, followed they would stumble right into a now activated mine-field in front of them. If they didn't follow the retreat right away they'd let the defenders set up in the cities, put up road-blocks, rig more buildings to blow, sleep, eat, and otherwise prepare, the mines would still go boom too, which was also very good. The Air Cover and helicopters would also split up, some would go to pre-selected hangars in nearby mountain-ranges, which would allow them to be used later, and would also turn into hellish battles if drakes tried to capture them. Others would head into the city where they would serve as support, or as ambush points for the Drakes to hit when they came to disable their air-strips. The only thing that would be lost in the plan would be the artillery. They had some guns hidden around, but not enough. But the artillery they had set up would keep on pounding the Drakes untill the very end, and even then they'd fight to hold on to the guns for as long as possible. All in all they'd make them pay for every last inch of Tortugan soil they took, and if they tried to take to much. Then they'd pay the terrible terrible price.
As he headed down he remembered an old Krytosian academy (he'd trained there, as well as in Monacora, Asgard, NAU, and even Nashtar) military maxim: There is no such thing as an inevitable defeat, it just means your victory has to be more spectacular.
"Ten seconds, sir."
Westrey put down the monocs, and covered his eyes. Then, from the direction of the front a low roar could be heard. Putting the Monocs back up he scanned the lines again.
"Perfect, no damage done. Right, the colonels know what to do, get out of here."
Standing up Estren and Westrey stood awkwardly, and then slapped arms, and then hugged. They'd been together a long time, yet it could almost be over. Westrey then began running. The plan was quite simple, despite the fact that they were causing unusually heavy casulties to the drakes they would never hold out in straight up combat. So after causing exceedingly heavy damage the plan was to fall back to defensive positions around the cities, done. Detonate nuclear explosives behind enemy lines soon after to disrupt supplies and communication and to disorient the enemy as to the plans of the defenders, just completed. And then fall back again, only this time making it look like a full-blown retreat into the city. If the drakes, or whoever was going to attack, followed they would stumble right into a now activated mine-field in front of them. If they didn't follow the retreat right away they'd let the defenders set up in the cities, put up road-blocks, rig more buildings to blow, sleep, eat, and otherwise prepare, the mines would still go boom too, which was also very good. The Air Cover and helicopters would also split up, some would go to pre-selected hangars in nearby mountain-ranges, which would allow them to be used later, and would also turn into hellish battles if drakes tried to capture them. Others would head into the city where they would serve as support, or as ambush points for the Drakes to hit when they came to disable their air-strips. The only thing that would be lost in the plan would be the artillery. They had some guns hidden around, but not enough. But the artillery they had set up would keep on pounding the Drakes untill the very end, and even then they'd fight to hold on to the guns for as long as possible. All in all they'd make them pay for every last inch of Tortugan soil they took, and if they tried to take to much. Then they'd pay the terrible terrible price.
As he headed down he remembered an old Krytosian academy (he'd trained there, as well as in Monacora, Asgard, NAU, and even Nashtar) military maxim: There is no such thing as an inevitable defeat, it just means your victory has to be more spectacular.
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
-
Spyder
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 4465
- Joined: 2002-09-03 03:23am
- Location: Wellington, New Zealand
- Contact:
Trouble on Matar...
"What the hell is going on!" The senator shouted at the guardsmen who were currently in the process of exchanging fire with local military forces.
"Your revolution has failed sir! The military is against us, so is the police! There's rioting in the streets!" They duck as a barrage from across the hall sent some of the structure crashing to the ground.
"Revolution!?" The senator shouted. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You hit your head sir? You, along with Senator Machelli and Cragoff along with a few others ordered a coup attempt. You told us that the public and the armed forces were on our side, that we could oust Spyder from his control of the Police. Don't you remember sir? Victory for the people of Minmatar and all that?"
"Impossible! I ordered no such thing!" The senator shouted over the hail of gunfire.
"Sir, you were standing right there! I saw you give the order!"
Before the senator could respond a grenade landed between them, settling the argument.
Meanwhile, in another part of town.
"Holy shit, there's rioting going on out there!" A worker at the Federated Freeholds News Service shouted.
"Prepare to broadcast!" The editor ordered. "The Chancellor is to blame for this and we need to expose him now!"
The editor's plans came to an abrupt hault as a large explosion ripped through the building, sending it crashing to the ground.
"General alert." Came the announcement. "Rioters are armed with heavy explosives, use extreme caution."
Ed disposed of the detonator and slipped away quietly into the night.
"You idiots!" One of the senators back at the government compex exclaimed. "This is all the Chancellor's doing! You're playing into his hands! We never ordered a coup! Why would we do such a thing?"
"Oh hell no." The militia man answered. "You're not weaseling your way out of this one. I watched you give the order. You started this, you finish it."
At which point the senator called out to the encroaching military forces. "Over here! There's been a misunderstanding! The militia aren't following my orders!"
"Oh hell no!" One of the guardsmen said in disbelief.
"You're a traitor and a fucking coward! GREASE 'EM!"
The senator found himself struck by gunfire from all directions before collapsing in a heap. His blood slowly spread across the ground.
Later...
"All Military, assist local police forces in bringing these riots to an end. Use non-leathal force. The perpatraitors behind these riots have all either been captured or killed."
"All units, the militia are standing down. I repeat, they are standing down."
Later still...
Trouble in Matar Capital: Failed Coup Attempt, Riots Ensue
"This just in. Full scale riots have errupted in the capital city of Matar following a failed coup attempt from a number of senators suspected of corruption. It is believed that government militia loyal to the senators attempted to take the capital by force only to face resistance from both the military and the general public. More on this story as it develops."
...
Riots Quelled Thanks to Swift Emergence Response
"The riots that broke out less then an hour ago have been quelled thanks to the quick response of the police, emergency crews and the military. Damage to the capital is estimated to be in the billions, among the destruction is the Federated Freeholds News Service, believed to have fallen victim to a rocket attack from within the rioting populace. Suspects have been detained for questioning. FFNS stock has plumeted 94% prompting a takeover bid from the HNN."
...
Senators Arrested in Relation to Coup Attempt
"A number of senators that were not killed in the initial onset of the riots have now been arrested for corruption and high treason. We now bring to live to the Chancellor's address."
"Effective immediately I am issuing an executive order disolving the senate. Members of an interim commitie have been apointed to the legislative branch pending new elections for the senate. Citizens of Minmatar, out of the ashes of this terrible incident will we finally have a government that truely represents the wishes of all Minmatar. All funds that have been siezed will be reintroduced into the national budget for the good of our nation. At long last we will have justice."
...
Corporate Insurgant Report. Final entry.
"The Minmatar operation is a complete disaster. For reasons unknown our pocket senators disobeyed orders and issued a coup attempt believing that Spyder only had control of the police and not the military. Spyder is now in total control of the Minmatar military, the police, the government and even the press. My reccomendation is that we abort."
"What the hell is going on!" The senator shouted at the guardsmen who were currently in the process of exchanging fire with local military forces.
"Your revolution has failed sir! The military is against us, so is the police! There's rioting in the streets!" They duck as a barrage from across the hall sent some of the structure crashing to the ground.
"Revolution!?" The senator shouted. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You hit your head sir? You, along with Senator Machelli and Cragoff along with a few others ordered a coup attempt. You told us that the public and the armed forces were on our side, that we could oust Spyder from his control of the Police. Don't you remember sir? Victory for the people of Minmatar and all that?"
"Impossible! I ordered no such thing!" The senator shouted over the hail of gunfire.
"Sir, you were standing right there! I saw you give the order!"
Before the senator could respond a grenade landed between them, settling the argument.
Meanwhile, in another part of town.
"Holy shit, there's rioting going on out there!" A worker at the Federated Freeholds News Service shouted.
"Prepare to broadcast!" The editor ordered. "The Chancellor is to blame for this and we need to expose him now!"
The editor's plans came to an abrupt hault as a large explosion ripped through the building, sending it crashing to the ground.
"General alert." Came the announcement. "Rioters are armed with heavy explosives, use extreme caution."
Ed disposed of the detonator and slipped away quietly into the night.
"You idiots!" One of the senators back at the government compex exclaimed. "This is all the Chancellor's doing! You're playing into his hands! We never ordered a coup! Why would we do such a thing?"
"Oh hell no." The militia man answered. "You're not weaseling your way out of this one. I watched you give the order. You started this, you finish it."
At which point the senator called out to the encroaching military forces. "Over here! There's been a misunderstanding! The militia aren't following my orders!"
"Oh hell no!" One of the guardsmen said in disbelief.
"You're a traitor and a fucking coward! GREASE 'EM!"
The senator found himself struck by gunfire from all directions before collapsing in a heap. His blood slowly spread across the ground.
Later...
"All Military, assist local police forces in bringing these riots to an end. Use non-leathal force. The perpatraitors behind these riots have all either been captured or killed."
"All units, the militia are standing down. I repeat, they are standing down."
Later still...
Trouble in Matar Capital: Failed Coup Attempt, Riots Ensue
"This just in. Full scale riots have errupted in the capital city of Matar following a failed coup attempt from a number of senators suspected of corruption. It is believed that government militia loyal to the senators attempted to take the capital by force only to face resistance from both the military and the general public. More on this story as it develops."
...
Riots Quelled Thanks to Swift Emergence Response
"The riots that broke out less then an hour ago have been quelled thanks to the quick response of the police, emergency crews and the military. Damage to the capital is estimated to be in the billions, among the destruction is the Federated Freeholds News Service, believed to have fallen victim to a rocket attack from within the rioting populace. Suspects have been detained for questioning. FFNS stock has plumeted 94% prompting a takeover bid from the HNN."
...
Senators Arrested in Relation to Coup Attempt
"A number of senators that were not killed in the initial onset of the riots have now been arrested for corruption and high treason. We now bring to live to the Chancellor's address."
"Effective immediately I am issuing an executive order disolving the senate. Members of an interim commitie have been apointed to the legislative branch pending new elections for the senate. Citizens of Minmatar, out of the ashes of this terrible incident will we finally have a government that truely represents the wishes of all Minmatar. All funds that have been siezed will be reintroduced into the national budget for the good of our nation. At long last we will have justice."
...
Corporate Insurgant Report. Final entry.
"The Minmatar operation is a complete disaster. For reasons unknown our pocket senators disobeyed orders and issued a coup attempt believing that Spyder only had control of the police and not the military. Spyder is now in total control of the Minmatar military, the police, the government and even the press. My reccomendation is that we abort."
-
Thirdfain
- The Player of Games
- Posts: 6924
- Joined: 2003-02-13 09:24pm
- Location: Never underestimate the staggering drawing power of the Garden State.
Aleksander's chamber door opened. A single Ouster pulled himself through, and made a brief bow.
"Lord Aleksander, the Lady bids me to inform you that transport has been arranged, and you will be leaving within the hour."
Before the Dhampir could respond, he handed the assassin a sheet of paper. It was a picture of Minister Spyder. A broad red "x" was dawn over the man's visage.
"Our remaining assets will be enough to get you planetside. The methods are unimportant- all that is necessary is his demise."
.....
On New Michigan, Jarid looked in dismay at the terse message from his superiors. It was only a series of four codewords, buried in the mass of transmissions that the industrialised NAU's airways were packed with.
Jarid's eyes swept over the room. His subordinates were beaten, depressed. The sting operation had been incredible in scope and power.
Only Hyrina was unaffected, but she wasn't affected by anything.
He sighed.
"It seems that this has passed into your jurisdiction, Hyrina. Key members of the Minister's organization. We are bringing in specialists for the man himself, but I assure you, you will be busy for the next week."
She stretched, lean muscles moving with a killer's practiced grace. If anything would make her happy, it would be an order such as this.
"Five men and women. Hit HNN first. Make it clean."
"Lord Aleksander, the Lady bids me to inform you that transport has been arranged, and you will be leaving within the hour."
Before the Dhampir could respond, he handed the assassin a sheet of paper. It was a picture of Minister Spyder. A broad red "x" was dawn over the man's visage.
"Our remaining assets will be enough to get you planetside. The methods are unimportant- all that is necessary is his demise."
.....
On New Michigan, Jarid looked in dismay at the terse message from his superiors. It was only a series of four codewords, buried in the mass of transmissions that the industrialised NAU's airways were packed with.
Jarid's eyes swept over the room. His subordinates were beaten, depressed. The sting operation had been incredible in scope and power.
Only Hyrina was unaffected, but she wasn't affected by anything.
He sighed.
"It seems that this has passed into your jurisdiction, Hyrina. Key members of the Minister's organization. We are bringing in specialists for the man himself, but I assure you, you will be busy for the next week."
She stretched, lean muscles moving with a killer's practiced grace. If anything would make her happy, it would be an order such as this.
"Five men and women. Hit HNN first. Make it clean."
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )
Military Complex, Far Point
The group had just finished working out troop deployments for when the NAU and Monacora began the merger process, as the NAU had requested of them in the after-math of the Rape of Terra and as their Congress was now pressing for to happen sooner and sooner with the troubles in the galaxy. When the Draconis reply was piped through on the news networks. The Prince thought about how just one small thing and the group's tired, intense concentration goes out the window. Then again the fact that he was keeled over in laughter didn't help.
"..DIdn't Expect them...to fight? MY ASS! HAHA!"
The Prince finally shook off the hilarity of the entire thing.
"Right boys, hoo boy that was funny, this gives us the perfect segway. The tics want us to map out a hypothetical landing on Tortuga, they want it mapped out three ways, A. We're going in there to support the Tortugans, B. Were going in there to reiforce those poor stunned Drakes, and C. We're going in there to protect things vital to the planet and inter-nation balance, and not going to fight either side, though we'll kick both their asses if we have too. Before you ask, just make up stuff for that last one. Right, dismissed! I'll be with you shortly in the sim rooms, Fedayn, stay here a minute."
After the conference room cleared out Fedayn nodded as the Prince gave him a packet of papers.
"Fedayn, the tics want you to buy this, all of it is medical supplies, food supplies, luxury comforts, the works. It's heading to the Tortugans, but we don't want any inklings that we did it, I assume you and your corportations can cover that, right?"
"Yes sir. No weapons though?"
"We may be giving them some weapons, we may not, that's the Tic's decision, in any case there's another paper on there of weapons we'd give to them if we were to give them weapons and ammo, back door of course, hypothetically. We've got the stuff already, you're job then would be to get it to the transports without us being involved, and hiding it. You got that?"
"Think so sir."
"Good, let's go plan this out then."
Edit: Fixed a couple minor typos.
The group had just finished working out troop deployments for when the NAU and Monacora began the merger process, as the NAU had requested of them in the after-math of the Rape of Terra and as their Congress was now pressing for to happen sooner and sooner with the troubles in the galaxy. When the Draconis reply was piped through on the news networks. The Prince thought about how just one small thing and the group's tired, intense concentration goes out the window. Then again the fact that he was keeled over in laughter didn't help.
"..DIdn't Expect them...to fight? MY ASS! HAHA!"
The Prince finally shook off the hilarity of the entire thing.
"Right boys, hoo boy that was funny, this gives us the perfect segway. The tics want us to map out a hypothetical landing on Tortuga, they want it mapped out three ways, A. We're going in there to support the Tortugans, B. Were going in there to reiforce those poor stunned Drakes, and C. We're going in there to protect things vital to the planet and inter-nation balance, and not going to fight either side, though we'll kick both their asses if we have too. Before you ask, just make up stuff for that last one. Right, dismissed! I'll be with you shortly in the sim rooms, Fedayn, stay here a minute."
After the conference room cleared out Fedayn nodded as the Prince gave him a packet of papers.
"Fedayn, the tics want you to buy this, all of it is medical supplies, food supplies, luxury comforts, the works. It's heading to the Tortugans, but we don't want any inklings that we did it, I assume you and your corportations can cover that, right?"
"Yes sir. No weapons though?"
"We may be giving them some weapons, we may not, that's the Tic's decision, in any case there's another paper on there of weapons we'd give to them if we were to give them weapons and ammo, back door of course, hypothetically. We've got the stuff already, you're job then would be to get it to the transports without us being involved, and hiding it. You got that?"
"Think so sir."
"Good, let's go plan this out then."
Edit: Fixed a couple minor typos.
Last edited by Straha on 2004-08-17 12:10pm, edited 1 time in total.
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
-
Spyder
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 4465
- Joined: 2002-09-03 03:23am
- Location: Wellington, New Zealand
- Contact:
The consoles and internal lighting of the dreadnaught glowed as power started to filter into their circuits.
All systems check.
Life support..................................[ OK ]
Engines........................................[ OK ]
Weapon systems.........................[ OK ]
Defensive systems.......................[ OK ]
Communications...........................[ OK ]
Navigation....................................[ OK ]
As the crew entered the bridge the Captain glanced at his chair. "I'm home."
Ship by ship, the Minmatar fleet was about to awaken.
All systems check.
Life support..................................[ OK ]
Engines........................................[ OK ]
Weapon systems.........................[ OK ]
Defensive systems.......................[ OK ]
Communications...........................[ OK ]
Navigation....................................[ OK ]
As the crew entered the bridge the Captain glanced at his chair. "I'm home."
Ship by ship, the Minmatar fleet was about to awaken.
-
Pablo Sanchez
- Commissar
- Posts: 6998
- Joined: 2002-07-03 05:41pm
- Location: The Wasteland
Matar
The planet of Matar was not far from the Hajr holdings on Jormungandr and Hudson, so there was some interchange between the nations. It had been largely clandestine and one way thanks to the corruption and decay that had been endemic before the ascension of the current leadership, but there had been other transfers. The Minmatar produced a lager considered superior to most available to those under the Hajr--and though alcohol was not popularly consumed by the workaholic White Floaters, there were still people living on Jormungandr and Hudson who were less disciplined.
In theory, hence the Helsinki Beverage Corporation. Freighters from Jormungandr picked up crates of alcohol and took them back for distribution. In practice, the HBC was just one of many fronts and facades that Hajr agents hid behind. And, for the first time, non-Hajr agents.
The transit had been short but uncomfortable for Alexander. He was used to more opulent surroundings in his diplomatic cutter, but he had also personally experienced space travel in more primitive ages. He was glad for every bit of advancement that had occurred since then. The members of the personal retinue whom he had brought with him were all dhampir. The less of a signature left on this act the better.
The freighter went to ground, and as it loaded its cargo it simultaneously unloaded a dozen men, very stealthily. Within hours they were hidden in the seedy spaceport section of the city, a clan of drug dealers quietly murdered and their headquarters seized. If anyone paused to notice the passing of those reprobates, it was only to move into their unoccupied territory. The government was cracking down, and expansion was essential to survival. The death of your rivals was a blessing.
Alexander had been provided by the Blackeyes with a list of officials amenable to persuasion. Some of them would have been eliminated by the crackdown or the failure of the coup, others would be trying to stay underneath the radar. But some would be desperate for money to escape the reach of the Spyder. The nucleus of a plan began to take shape in Alexander's mind.
The planet of Matar was not far from the Hajr holdings on Jormungandr and Hudson, so there was some interchange between the nations. It had been largely clandestine and one way thanks to the corruption and decay that had been endemic before the ascension of the current leadership, but there had been other transfers. The Minmatar produced a lager considered superior to most available to those under the Hajr--and though alcohol was not popularly consumed by the workaholic White Floaters, there were still people living on Jormungandr and Hudson who were less disciplined.
In theory, hence the Helsinki Beverage Corporation. Freighters from Jormungandr picked up crates of alcohol and took them back for distribution. In practice, the HBC was just one of many fronts and facades that Hajr agents hid behind. And, for the first time, non-Hajr agents.
The transit had been short but uncomfortable for Alexander. He was used to more opulent surroundings in his diplomatic cutter, but he had also personally experienced space travel in more primitive ages. He was glad for every bit of advancement that had occurred since then. The members of the personal retinue whom he had brought with him were all dhampir. The less of a signature left on this act the better.
The freighter went to ground, and as it loaded its cargo it simultaneously unloaded a dozen men, very stealthily. Within hours they were hidden in the seedy spaceport section of the city, a clan of drug dealers quietly murdered and their headquarters seized. If anyone paused to notice the passing of those reprobates, it was only to move into their unoccupied territory. The government was cracking down, and expansion was essential to survival. The death of your rivals was a blessing.
Alexander had been provided by the Blackeyes with a list of officials amenable to persuasion. Some of them would have been eliminated by the crackdown or the failure of the coup, others would be trying to stay underneath the radar. But some would be desperate for money to escape the reach of the Spyder. The nucleus of a plan began to take shape in Alexander's mind.
"I am gravely disappointed. Again you have made me unleash my dogs of war."
--The Lord Humungus
-
Alyrium Denryle
- Minister of Sin
- Posts: 22224
- Joined: 2002-07-11 08:34pm
- Location: The Deep Desert
- Contact:
The air lit up, or rather, didnt, the clouds merely disolved. The Drakes were playing hardball now, and the artillery was opening fire, thus revealing its position. A single well aimed capitalship strike would be able to take out each emplacement. Light laser shots lanced out from the heavens, burning away the cloud cover and heating the atmosphere in their wake. The artillery didnt last long under this barrage. Some civilian casualties were inevitable, but the majority of them had evacuated the cities. And the fleets targeting, backed up by the ground based sensor web and satellite nework was spot on, like a precision surgical cut.
The massive sensor net that had been set up alerted the Draconis to the presence of a mine field. Modern mines were smart, but not that smart. And the draconis had a trick up their sleeve. They sent forth robot drones. These drones were designed to withstand multiple mine explosions. They would scan the ground beneath them, and when one was detected, a pneumatic ram would pound the ground in that location with the approximate force of a body impacting the soil, thus detonating the mines and was also heated to the body temperature of a draconis soldier. With this shield up, the draconis were free to traverse the minefield relativly unharmed. Atleast until they ran out of drones. The minefield was much denser than what they were designed for. However, that is what burning the landscape was for. The soldiers took cover and called down an orbital strike.
The nukes were a slightly different story, they caused few casualties as they were detonated well behind troop formations and the majority of them were intercepted by fighters while in mid-flight and the troops had NBC protection. And all equpment was EMP hardened, it had little effect directly. However, it did disrupt supply lines, at least temporarily. And the shockwaves did knock people over and cause the detonation of any remaining mines. However, while the troops had NBC protection, the population didnt. And throughout at least this section of the planet, the prevailing winds carried the fallout toward the city center... And the EMP this close to the city caused everything on this side of downtown to be without power.
The army advanced The city proper becoming closer with every step
The massive sensor net that had been set up alerted the Draconis to the presence of a mine field. Modern mines were smart, but not that smart. And the draconis had a trick up their sleeve. They sent forth robot drones. These drones were designed to withstand multiple mine explosions. They would scan the ground beneath them, and when one was detected, a pneumatic ram would pound the ground in that location with the approximate force of a body impacting the soil, thus detonating the mines and was also heated to the body temperature of a draconis soldier. With this shield up, the draconis were free to traverse the minefield relativly unharmed. Atleast until they ran out of drones. The minefield was much denser than what they were designed for. However, that is what burning the landscape was for. The soldiers took cover and called down an orbital strike.
The nukes were a slightly different story, they caused few casualties as they were detonated well behind troop formations and the majority of them were intercepted by fighters while in mid-flight and the troops had NBC protection. And all equpment was EMP hardened, it had little effect directly. However, it did disrupt supply lines, at least temporarily. And the shockwaves did knock people over and cause the detonation of any remaining mines. However, while the troops had NBC protection, the population didnt. And throughout at least this section of the planet, the prevailing winds carried the fallout toward the city center... And the EMP this close to the city caused everything on this side of downtown to be without power.
The army advanced The city proper becoming closer with every step
Last edited by Alyrium Denryle on 2004-08-17 02:17pm, edited 2 times in total.
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Factio republicanum delenda est
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Factio republicanum delenda est
-
Alyrium Denryle
- Minister of Sin
- Posts: 22224
- Joined: 2002-07-11 08:34pm
- Location: The Deep Desert
- Contact:
The courtroom was set aside, clear of other lawyere and other cases. Only the defense, prosecution and Judge Greist.
The courtroom itself looked much like the english system, the only difference being chairs were replaced with bird-style perches. A stool was brought n for the defendant of course.
"You Talys are being charged with espionage, and conspiracy to commit espionage. How do you plead?"
<I assume not guilty>
"what does the state recommend for bail?"
"He is a non-citizen, charged with espionage, most definently a flight risk, we request he be remanded without bail"
<I will let you respond for your attourney>
The courtroom itself looked much like the english system, the only difference being chairs were replaced with bird-style perches. A stool was brought n for the defendant of course.
"You Talys are being charged with espionage, and conspiracy to commit espionage. How do you plead?"
<I assume not guilty>
"what does the state recommend for bail?"
"He is a non-citizen, charged with espionage, most definently a flight risk, we request he be remanded without bail"
<I will let you respond for your attourney>
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Factio republicanum delenda est
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Factio republicanum delenda est
-
Thirdfain
- The Player of Games
- Posts: 6924
- Joined: 2003-02-13 09:24pm
- Location: Never underestimate the staggering drawing power of the Garden State.
HNN Corporate Mansion
Matar
Minmatar Freehold
HNN CEO Mikal Robertson was a close friend of Spyder's. His efforts at undermining the old FFNS had been masterful, and it was thanks to his leadership, and Spyder's massive intelligence operation, which had allowed HNN to supplant FFNS in such a short time. A slightly rotund, jolly man, Robertson was enjoying his success inside his fortified compound just outside of the capital.
The party was in full swing. In grand old Earth style, the guests were all Robertson's friends, members of a wealthy new media elite which sat at Spyder's side, enjoying his patronage and providing him with a major power base. These men and women, perhaps more even than the warship commanders which headed his battle fleets, would be the center of his power.
The air was full of the faint sound of music, the tinkle of champagne glasses, and the occaisonal gale of laughter as some businesswoman laughed at a joke. Robertson sat in state on a comfortable couch, chatting aimiably with two dot-commers while his wife entertained a small circle of young reporters.
Standing behind the couch, unobtrusive but still, unmistakably there, were two tall, broad figures. Clad in business suits, they both wore strange expressionless faces. Spyder's fondness for cybernetic guards was well known, and these two were a formidable pair of opponents. The compound was swathed in sensor systems and security alarms- not the new-model gear from the Draconis Republic, but still servicable. Robertson's comfort was in part due to these countermeasures provided by the Minister.
His wife stood, running a hand through her luxurious (and probably false, but who could tell these days?) tresses. She smiled at her contented husband, a rising star in Spyder's new order.
"Dear, could I get you another drink?"
That was when the window exploded.
Accounts differed wildly as to what exactly happened then. The action had been so fast, human eyes had trouble tracking it- and the only two pairs of non-human eyes in the ballroom were quite beyond salvage.
The figure vaulted over Robertson, and smashed the first of the two cybernetic guardians in the face, in a move which would have driven a normal human's nosebone into their brain. Before the cyborg could straighten from the blow, the figure had slammed a long blade through the base of it's neck, into it's control CPU. Pirouetting, it knocked the SMG from the other guard's hands and grabbed the weapon out of the air, firing a short burst into it's armored skull. The rounds went through the second guard's eye socket and riccocheted around the inside of his head, turning his modified brain into a soup of demolished components and grey slime.
Robertson's wife screamed as the figure casually emptied the rest of the clip into Robertson's body, turning his chest into a mess of gore. Leaning down, it slit his throat and then turned, fluidly, and hurled it's knife into Mrs. Robertson's back as she turned to run for help.
In a slick move, the figure retrieved it's knife and tossed the empty firearm to the ground, turned, and leapt through the window, disappearing once more into the night.
The party's guest stared in shocked disbelief. Some moaned in pain, nursing wounds from the cyborg's wild burst of fire and the assassin's explosive entrance through the beautiful antique glass windows. The message was clear and simple- Spyder can't protect you. Perhaps your choice of loyalty is premature?
Many of the guests went home that night considering their positions.
-edit fixed some spelling
Matar
Minmatar Freehold
HNN CEO Mikal Robertson was a close friend of Spyder's. His efforts at undermining the old FFNS had been masterful, and it was thanks to his leadership, and Spyder's massive intelligence operation, which had allowed HNN to supplant FFNS in such a short time. A slightly rotund, jolly man, Robertson was enjoying his success inside his fortified compound just outside of the capital.
The party was in full swing. In grand old Earth style, the guests were all Robertson's friends, members of a wealthy new media elite which sat at Spyder's side, enjoying his patronage and providing him with a major power base. These men and women, perhaps more even than the warship commanders which headed his battle fleets, would be the center of his power.
The air was full of the faint sound of music, the tinkle of champagne glasses, and the occaisonal gale of laughter as some businesswoman laughed at a joke. Robertson sat in state on a comfortable couch, chatting aimiably with two dot-commers while his wife entertained a small circle of young reporters.
Standing behind the couch, unobtrusive but still, unmistakably there, were two tall, broad figures. Clad in business suits, they both wore strange expressionless faces. Spyder's fondness for cybernetic guards was well known, and these two were a formidable pair of opponents. The compound was swathed in sensor systems and security alarms- not the new-model gear from the Draconis Republic, but still servicable. Robertson's comfort was in part due to these countermeasures provided by the Minister.
His wife stood, running a hand through her luxurious (and probably false, but who could tell these days?) tresses. She smiled at her contented husband, a rising star in Spyder's new order.
"Dear, could I get you another drink?"
That was when the window exploded.
Accounts differed wildly as to what exactly happened then. The action had been so fast, human eyes had trouble tracking it- and the only two pairs of non-human eyes in the ballroom were quite beyond salvage.
The figure vaulted over Robertson, and smashed the first of the two cybernetic guardians in the face, in a move which would have driven a normal human's nosebone into their brain. Before the cyborg could straighten from the blow, the figure had slammed a long blade through the base of it's neck, into it's control CPU. Pirouetting, it knocked the SMG from the other guard's hands and grabbed the weapon out of the air, firing a short burst into it's armored skull. The rounds went through the second guard's eye socket and riccocheted around the inside of his head, turning his modified brain into a soup of demolished components and grey slime.
Robertson's wife screamed as the figure casually emptied the rest of the clip into Robertson's body, turning his chest into a mess of gore. Leaning down, it slit his throat and then turned, fluidly, and hurled it's knife into Mrs. Robertson's back as she turned to run for help.
In a slick move, the figure retrieved it's knife and tossed the empty firearm to the ground, turned, and leapt through the window, disappearing once more into the night.
The party's guest stared in shocked disbelief. Some moaned in pain, nursing wounds from the cyborg's wild burst of fire and the assassin's explosive entrance through the beautiful antique glass windows. The message was clear and simple- Spyder can't protect you. Perhaps your choice of loyalty is premature?
Many of the guests went home that night considering their positions.
-edit fixed some spelling
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - )