2014 STGOD Story Thread I

[The Romulan Republic]

To The Shinra Republic:

Thank you for your invitation to Fleet Week and your interest in military exercises.

We welcome the visit from Vice President Shinra. President Chang wishes to meet Vice President Shinra. In addition, his highness King Gregory the 1st. has expressed an interest in meeting Vice President Shinra.

We will also send a delegation to Fleet Week, which will consist of Deputy President Carlos Freeman, Deputy Minister of the Navy Felicia Anderson, and our ambassador to Shinra, Victor North, as well as the crew of the aircraft transporting them and four members of the Guard for their protection. We have also assigned the destroyer HMS Monarch to participate.

Sincerely,
Minister of Foreign Affairs Evalyn Clark.
Minister of the Armed Forces Alexander Lock.

[Steve]

University of Oakland
Georgetown, Oakland


The state of Oakland was the southern-most original state of the Union, settled by Britonians at the end of the 17th Century. Catholic dissidents from the anti-Catholic Church on Britonia had come to make a new life for themselves, calling their ciy Saint Francis in honor of he tpatron saint fo their founding expedition. It had a warmer climate than states north while still having a mild enough winter and summer.

The city of Georgetown, named for the King of Britonia at the time it was founded, was on the eastern shore of the Bay, a position that alowed it to be a major port for goods coming into the city. It had industry and commerce and, perhaps most importantly of all, the University of Oakland and its College of the Sciences, one of the most prestigious science schools around.

It was all too much for Caterina Delgado of Colorado. She was literally hopping as she moved across campus, beginning her first day of freshman orientation. While she had on a normal green skirt, her green-and-blue shirt had the image of a man in a lab coat running with a bubbling beaker, complete with the caption "Make way for SCIENCE!"

The top science college in he country. It was a dream come true. There were so many scientific disciplines she could pick from that it was almos paralyzing.

Today wasn't a normalday for the campus though. Nearby Berekeley, a Liberal Arts University, had a band of students over as well. Not for anything official, but because they were holding a rally. "The incident in Champa is the proof we have been waiting for!" one student on a loudspeaker proclaimed. "We know now that nuclear power is not safe! We know the horrible danger it presents. But despite this the capitalist powers of the world continue to build these dangerous power sources, and why? For money! For profit! And we have to start saying no!"

Caterina made a face. Just another non-science dimwit. They had been coming out of the wordworks since the Champan reactor problem had started up. It was all so silly o her. Not just silly bu stupid and, even worse, anti-science.

Undeterred by them, Caterina went on to orientation, determined to make her mark in the sciences.

[Siege]

Six Angle Maritime | Shell Sound
North Ward, San Dorado

Offer to the Office of the Admiralty, Kingdom of Hawai’i

Lady Grey multi-mission cruiser, a trimaran design with a wide beam above the waterline that supports a larger flight deck. Stealth characteristics reduce Lady Grey's radar signature significantly, and the trimaran hull exhibits low hydrodynamic drag for operations in Hawai'i's littoral zones.

Projected weight is 28,700 tons with a length of 780 ft and a beam of 200 ft. The design's crew compliment is 285. The Lady Grey design features an integrated electric power system. The ship outputs large amounts of reactor power to a common electrical bus, allowing allocation of that energy as determined by tactical requirements. All hydraulic, pneumatic, or other actuation devices or systems including the drive on the Lady Grey are driven from this integrated power system.

Electric power is generated by a pair of Acheron Energy Maitreya 310 MW thorium pebble bed reactors. This is a variant of the Maharal naval reactor used aboard Nightfall's titanium-hulled Requiem deep stealth submarines. It can bring the ship up to a projected sustained a speed of 30 knots. The design uses an electronics mast separate from the deckhouse that is compatible with most prevalent naval sensor systems. We advise a Pentex ThirdEye integrated battle management system.

Lady Grey can be fitted with either one or two guns on the fore deck. These can be either 127mm or 155 mm Helix Industries gun systems. The two-gun variant has 120 launch cells in 30 VLS modules; the one-gun variant instead carries 40 extra launch cells. She has hangar capacity for six H-60 helicopters, four H-47 helicopters, or indeed two Vixen fighters. Additional self-defence capabilities are provided by two Helix Linebreaker advanced autonomous point-defence rocket systems, complemented by a pair of Helix Skyraider auto-guns.



Stonefire Citadel | Stonefire Key
North Ward, San Dorado

Missive to the Office of His Majesty King Alexander the Second

Your Highness,

Our corporation prides its hard-earned reputation as manufacturer of some of the world's most formidable defensive and offensive weapons systems. We would be delighted to take you up on your invitation to demonstrate our weapons systems and show to your highness that this reputation is most well-deserved indeed. Together we can ensure a safer world for your nation.

Roman Shevchenko
Helix Industries

[Beowulf]

From Dalian Naval Shipyard

"Jufeng" Zhuli jian(Capital ship) proposal to replace Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani

The Jufeng proposal is based upon a modified large escort hull currently in service in the Tianguo Haijun. Prospective manning is for approximately the same, in the range of 380 personnel. The main armament of the ship fits into 4 modular sockets at A,B,X and Y positions. Each socket can fit 64 VLS cells or 2 vertical guns. The vertical guns are 5.2 cun (155mm) caliber. Prospectively, expect A and Y sockets to be filled with missiles, and B and X sockets to be guns. Future upgrade potential is for railgun or laser weaponry fit into the same socket. Secondary armament is a pair of RAM launchers (1 ahead of the bridge, 1 over the hangar), and a pair of 1.3 cun (40mm) chain guns on each beam. Chain guns are fit for use of 3P ammunition, and are centrally controlled, with local backup. Radar fit is for AEGIS, with APAMGUs located over the bridge and over the hangar.

Aviation facilities is a helipad large enough to land a Z-7 or Z-9 aircraft, along with a hangar large enough to fit two of those aircraft. Said helipad is forward of the X socket. Boat facilities are behind doors inside the hangar.

Power is through LWNP derived Brayton-cycle nuclear propulsion. Reactor access is through the hangar deck. For refuelling, the hangar deck will be cut to access a shaft leading to the reactor space, the reactors moved in-line with the shaft, and raised to hangar deck level, and removed through the hangar doors. Each of the two reactors drives an electric generator. Said generators power 2 electric motors leading to 2 shafts. Designed maximum and cruise speed is 30kt. With a reactor casualty, 20kts can be expected.

Four LWNP reactors can be accommodated, for increased commonality with existing submarine reactors in use by Hawai'i, but with certain trade-offs in design details. Gas turbine power can be utilized instead of nuclear, but with more significant trade-offs. A 36 foot hull plug option would add an additional socket, giving the option of 6 guns and 128 cells or 4 guns and 192 cells.

[Steve]

Navy Department
Federal District


Admiral Maran, Cascadia's CNO, looked over the report about the Hawaiian replacement for the old 12" armed large cruiser from the Great War and saw the expression on Admiral Shabari's face. Shabari was from a West Patagonian immigrant family, hence his Farsin surname, but other than that he sounded like any other Cascadian raised on Elizabeth Island. As CINCSURCOM Shabari was responsible for the surface combatant fleet, not counting the carrier air groups. "They're looking to spend lots of cash, it looks like. Will the shipbuilders be biting?"

"I can tell you now that O'Reilly & Collette are going to," Shabari noted. "I think we can make something of this, though."

"Oh?"

"The Dauntless would fit these requirements, unless the Hawai'ians don't want nuclear power."

Maran leveled a look at him. "We gave up on Dauntless when Congress made it clear that it'd be either that design or the enlarged amphibious fleet."

"Yes, but if the Hawai'ians sign on it would defray costs from the design."

"I doubt Congress will bite. Not unless we give up the amphibs" Maran took in a breath. "Or if some damn fool starts a naval arms race. Still... go ahead and pay attention to it."

"And sounding out the Hawai'ians?"

"I'll talk to the President."



Summary:

One of Cascadia's leading shipyards puts in a proposal to the UK of Hawai'i, a 26kton BCGN that would fit all desired design specifications with room for other capabilities left over.

The Cascadian Navy sees it as a opportunity to get the BCGN for its fleet, considering Rheinland's Arsenal Ship and other capital-scale non-carrier surface combatants. But odds are unlikely unless the country is persuaded to expand the budget.

[Steve]

Congress Hall
Portland, Federal District
28 January 2014


The Congress of the United States of Cascadia were at their seats when Alex entered and went to the podium, ready to begin the yearly State of the Union address.

He began with statements in support of Champa and Orion and their situations regarding both tthe nuclear reactor meltdown and the terrorist bombing. With the latter, he did not shy from bringing up the Orion monarch's public executions of the confessed terrorists. "If we have been critical of King Alexander's actions, it has not been out of malice but out of concern for another nation's well-being. And however one feels about this, we should keep in mind that three thousand innocent people were murdered on the third of January. It would be injustice to lose sight of their grieving families and loved ones over the actions of their leader. I call upon the nations of our Union to continue our habit of charity in this matter."

Briefly the President touched on other foreign policy issues. He announced interest in the Rheinland proposal for a permanent international congress for diplomacy. He reiterated his invitations to the leaders of belligerents in the Great War to attend the V-A celebrations, including Secretary-General Khorsandi (this resulted in muttering from the Stalwarts and some of the Liberals and Conservatives).

"People have expressed concern over the upcoming election in New Britonia. Our only concern should be that we do not try to unduly influence the democratic processes of that country. Its people should be permitted to choose the government they feel is in their best interest without it being beholden to the wishes of a foreign government. Otherwise they are nothing more than a colony and they are not truly free."

And on the final note...

"I have heard concerns over the tense negotiations between Fuso and Komradistan concerning the capture of one of their vessels by the Fuso Navy. It is my hope that the two governments come to a peaceful accord over the situation."

With this done he spoke of domestic policies relating to economic recovery over the last three years and proposed legislation in the upcoming year. When he was done the Congress rose from their seats and applauded, as was custom.

For his part, Alex sighed with relief as soon as he was alone with his Secret Service detachment. He wasn't sure how well the speech would go over and he was glad it was done.

[Siege]

Thunder Key | Angel Archipelago
1500 km north of San Dorado

The rocket rose into the blue sky on a pillar of smoke and flame. The sound of it was an all-consuming roar, deafeningly loud, so much so that on a good day you could hear it as a faint rumble all the way in Apellia. But it dropped off quickly as the rocket rose higher, growing into a tiny speck of fire dwarfed by the tropical sun. Soon the sound was gone entirely. The obelisk of smoke began to mushroom away. On the air-conditioned observation deck the VIPs took off their hearing protection.

"Impressive. Very impressive," Aries LaMarck began. The Gemini Group CEO massaged his neck. "But still, Saint, we can't help but feel-"

"-that you're ripping us off," Gemini Group chairman Altair finished. He looked every part the identical twin brother, down to the haircut. The only way to reliably tell the two apart was through the color of their suits, respectively dark blue and subdued red.

Charlie Saint smiled behind the rim of her six hundred dollar sunglasses. "That is the price you pay."

"For what?"

"For being rich, alive and unregulated at the same time." One of her flunkies uncorked a bottle of champagne and began pouring it into a trio of crystal glasses. "Gentlemen, that satellite you just launched will make it practically impossible for President Penton to move his motorcade from Jefferson Avenue to Presidential House without it showing up on one of your feeds. You say you're building this capability for your Pyxis News agency..."

"Indeed," Aries nodded sunnily.

"... but I'm not a complete idiot," Saint finished. "I've been at the top of the business for ten years, I am well aware how useful orbital reconnaissance is. Or how much people will pay for it. That satellite news game you're playing is cute and perhaps a nice source of additional income, but I know you contract with OGRE, with Star Chamber, hell with anyone that has the cash. And they aren't paying you for," she air-quoted, "'shocking aerial pictures of the Champan reactor fire!'"

Altair thoughtfully sipped his champagne. "What is your point?"

"You know as well as I that there's not a snowball's chance in hell any other player in my field would let you, an unsupervised corporation from San Dorado, launch cameras like these. That's why you come to me. I don't ask the questions you don't want to answer. I'll launch your satellites no questions asked, and you can rest easy in the knowledge that foreign agencies won't have a clue as to what exactly you have up there. But don't think I don't know what you're doing, and don't think I won't charge you extra for doing a job no-one else will." She downed her champagne in a single gulp. "Now, shall we take pictures? The assembly building makes a great backdrop."

[Eternal_Freedom]

Orion Space Forces Orbital Tracking Centre, Mt. Erebus Complex,
January 28th, 2014

All was quiet in the tracking centre. Well, there was no major activity going on, but there was the usual talking, humming computers, clacking of keyboards and people walking to and fro. The Orbital Tracking Centre was just one of the amphitheater-sized command and control centres within the Mount Erebus Complex. Whilst others oversaw the Navy and the Air Force, this one answered to the Orion Space Forces and was responsible for tracking everything in near-Tellus space, man-made or otherwise. The mountain’s powerful radars let them see across nearly a third of the globe; for the rest, the small network of satellites in orbit provided all the information.

The current watch officer was Colonel Sumner. He was reading through some reports when his well-trained ears detected a subtle shift in conversation. Something new was happening it seemed. One of the controllers called to him.

“Colonel? Our satellites are showing a rocket launching from Thunder Key, in the Angel Archipelago. It’s on an orbital insertion track. Probably a satellite launch sir.”

That got Sumner’s attention. “Thunder Key? Isn’t that owned by one of the San Doradan companies?”

“As far as we know, yes sir” the controller looked back at his screen “first stage shut down and separation, second stage ignition…now.”

“Keep tracking it. Once we know the orbital parameters, write it up for OSA, see if they know anything about this.”

------

Before anyone starts complaining about OOC knowledge again, please note I established in both my history and my OrBat that I have satellites in orbit to keep an eye on stuff like this.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Daitoryo Kantei (President's Official Residence)
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Fuso
10 January 2014

It hadn't even been a year since President Souji Seta was inaugurated to his first term in office, and he was already facing a number of crises, one after the other. Possible Komradistani involvement with Nipponese ultranationalist groups, the Champan reactor fire, Reichskanzler Fischer's speech, the Orion terrorist attacks and the subsequent public execution... Having to deal with all of these nuisances was definitely going to cause his hair to turn gray (well, even more gray than it already was) in short order on account of all the stress. He may have been the youngest president of modern Fuso, but he sure didn't look like it.

"So, where do we stand with regards to the Champan reactor fire?" President Seta asked.

"The RFS Kaga battle group is on station off Champa as ordered, and the Air Force is assisting the Cascadians in their efforts to airlift supplies over the Pacific," Secretary of Defense Chie Satonaka said.

"Good to hear. Do we have a response to Reichskanzler Fischer's speech?"

"We'll gladly commit to his international space station project, but I personally have doubts as to whether his proposed international body of dialogue will actually accomplish anything," Secretary of State Yukiko Amagi said. "We'll wait and see with regards to that."

"And the Orion incident?"

"Condolences for the deceased, condemnation of the execution. Already done, Mr. President," Secretary of State Amagi replied.

"Which brings us to the elephant in the room: Komradistan offering sanctuary to Nipponese fugitives. Where are we standing with that ship we seized?"

"I suppose we owe thanks to the Shinra Republic for tipping us off to that one last fugitive hiding out in Eulica," Secretary of Homeland Security Naoto Shirogane said. "Of course he's refusing to talk to us, but quite frankly, he doesn't need to. The documents we found on him tell us everything we need to know. He should have done a better job trying to destroy them."

"Yes, but what exactly do those documents tell us, Madam Secretary?" Vice President Rise Kujikawa interjected.

"For one thing, it turns out that the fortune that the Odaka family had absconded with when they fled Nippon was much larger than anyone had previously estimated. Matsusuke had intended to offer a very generous sum from his coffers to the Komradistanis as payment for offering him sanctuary, with the understanding that the money be used to support Komradistan's global revolutionary efforts... which include supporting Nipponese liberation movements both here and in Rheinland. We've suspected Komradistani involvement with these movements for quite some time already, but this is the first confirmation we've actually received. I've already passed this information on to the Rhenish, though it remains to be seen if they'll actually do anything with it."

"My office has been on the receiving end of numerous complaints from the Komradistani embassy concerning the fact that we've interned one of their ships," Secretary of State Amagi said. "Are we going to do something about that?"

"The crew is already in the process of being repatriated, but..." Secretary of Homeland Security Shirogane began, only to trail off abruptly.

"Is there something you're trying to hide from the rest of the Cabinet, Madam Secretary?" Vice President Kujikawa said.

"The Komradi Worker's Star was outfitted as an auxiliary spy ship," Secretary of Homeland Security Shirogane finally said after a moment of silence. "A detailed inspection of the ship after our forces impounded it revealed, among other things, the presence of SIGINT and ELINT equipment, as well as information on fleet movements and electronic communications by various navies operating in the Pacific, including our own. The crew was able to destroy some of the sensitive material on board prior to the ship's capture, but most of it is still useable. In any case, the ship will be returned to Komradistan before the end of the month."

"Splendid," President Seta said. "I assume we're still on for the V-A Day celebrations in Cascadia, so let's get to work, ladies. Gotta shut up those damn commies."

[Siege]

Ladyhawke International | Lowe Island
West Ward, San Dorado

As one of the busiest airports in the world Ladyhawke International was always popular with aircraft spotters, but this particular early February morning the spotters high up on the observation deck were in for a treat.

Six Remora cargo lifters, awkward and lumbering like oversized pigeons in blue-white SANDEX livery, simultaneously emerged from their hangar and performed an elephant walk to the number nine runway. At the same time the seemingly chaotic dance of helicopters, business jets, airliners and cargo planes through San Dorado's overcrowded airspace shifted at the direction of Ladyhawke Central Tower, opening a hole in the sky.

Almost instantly the first plane lurched onto the runway, turbofan engines shrieking at maximum thrust. The second Remora followed before the first had even cleared the strip, then a third and a fourth, one after the other barrelling down the runway at minimal 20 second intervals. The cargo jets pulled into the sky as sharply as their loading permitted, setting a westward course and climbing to 30,000 feet. The gap in the sky closed behind them as regular air traffic resumed.

Excited aircraft spotters huddled around their laptops and decoders, and rapidly worked out that the SANDEX aircraft were bound for the Kingdom of Orion. It took them only slightly longer to figure out that all six were chartered by Helix Industries. They had been loaded full of cutting-edge hardware the night before, hardware for the most part designed for the purpose of blowing things up at a distance.

King Alexander had asked for a demonstration, and when Helix Industries held a demonstration it didn't take half measures. Lyman Mortimer himself had come down off his cloud of money to say that this ought to be made into a spectacle the King wouldn't soon forget, so that was exactly what the corporation was going to do.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Royal Palace, Paradise City,
January 30th, 2014

Admiral McKenna had been summoned to the residence at short notice. Clearly the King had an idea in his head that he wanted to discuss. As it was after 9 pm he followed the King’s standing orders and poured himself a glass of scotch before entering the private audience chamber.

“Your good health, Sire.”

Alexander smiled and replied in kind, before both took long sips of the fine liquor.

“So, James, we have the designs for the new Guardians finalised?”

This caused some mental gear-shifting for the Admiral, this was very much not what he had expected to discuss this evening.

“Yes Sire, construction is due to begin on the first two later this year.”

“I’ve been thinking, we should solicit designs from other nations. As my son said a few weeks back when we extended that invitation to Helix Industries, we don’t have a monopoly on smart engineers.”

“Very true Sire. But soliciting designs…surely the nations and corporations who respond would expect to build the hips in their yards?”

“Indeed they would. Which would free up two large slipways to accelerate the carrier building, even expand it. We have Lucifer and Archangel building, and Reaper is planned, we could start building her this year, rather than waiting a few years.”

“Increasing our capital ship force would mean building new cruisers and destroyers Sire, can we really afford to expand the fleet?”

“We can. If we delay retiring the Adamant destroyers as the new Dauntless’s come on line we can ease things considerably. The old destroyers aren’t ineffective, we just wanted a fleet of the best. I think that we are going to need more hulls in the coming years, and I think we should begin now.”

“As you will Sire. I will have the Admiralty issue an RFP, using the Guardian design as a baseline. If we don’t get any interesting responses by June, we can use our design and build as planned.”

“That sounds reasonable. Off you go Admiral, I’m awaiting the Queen for an evening chess game.”
---------
Results:
Royal Orion Navy issues an RFP for a new battleship design, to meet the following criteria:
• 70,000 tonne maximum displacement
• Max beam to be 120 feet, max length to be 1000 feet
• Nuclear propulsion
• Main battery of no less than 6 12” guns and no more than 12 18” guns
• Missile battery of at least 96 VLS launch cells for Aster-15/30 missiles
• Additional missile launchers for at least 48 cruise missiles
• Secondary battery of at least 10 6” guns
• Heavy point-defence
• No aviation facilities required
• Provision for AEGIS-type radar compatible with RON’s existing systems (on the Type 45’s)

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Rewritten by Siege, with much credits.

People's Museum of Ethnography | Mikhailovsky Ulitsa 917
Yezhovo-Cherkessk, UOCSR

The vault was quiet now that the inspectors were gone. The only sign city militsiya had been present was the white tape that had sealed the strong room. Sacha Dragunov stood in the middle of the cavernous space and let her senses drink in the details of the scene. A dusty floor of irregular flagstone, possibly medieval, certainly Daedalean. A barrel vault ceiling of ancient red brick and crumbling mortar, cracked and crudely reinforced with heavy riveted iron beams to prevent the room from collapsing in on itself, most likely added during or shortly after the civil war. Fluorescent tubes on the ceiling cast stark white light on rows of glass display cases filled with gilded relics, fragile scrolls and antique pottery. Old-fashioned camera’s were bolted to the walls. The door behind her was a heavy reinforced steel thing that looked like it belonged in a prison instead of a museum.

Silent minutes passed. Then Dragunov nodded slowly and turned to the man standing beside her. “Major Fomin,” she began formally. “What do you make of this?”

Kir Fomin was a short olive-skinned man with a dark beard and lean northern features that to many in the UOCSR would look suspiciously Kagarian, and consequently made it difficult to attain significant rank in its armed forces. The red major’s stripes and sword-and-eagle spetsnaz badge on his green uniform however suggested that for Fomin this had been less of a problem. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back and looked at the single empty case against the back wall, a perfect circular hole cut in its protective glass. “Comrade-commissar, it looks to me like you managed to miss the fun part.”

Long experience had taught Dragunov to ignore his jibe. The first time she'd run into Fomin's peculiar sense of humor she'd been a wet behind the ears lieutenant riding a transport into Tatarsky Pass and General Kitbuqa’s fighters had been shooting rockets at them. The next time she'd been with State Security and up to her neck in Sankaran security forces. Fomin and his team had arrived at the very last moment to save her from a sticky end. Since then they’d saved each other’s lives a dozen times or more and Dragunov firmly believed Fomin’s irreverent and frequently insubordinate humor was one of the few things keeping her at least somewhat rational and fair-minded.

Dragunov pointed a gloved hand at the empty display case. “Come on, major, tell me what you make of this.”

“As you wish, comrade commissar.” Fomin sounded a little sore. He was a military man first and foremost, not an investigator. She was the precise opposite and Fomin knew she was light years ahead of him in interpreting the scene. Even so he creased his brow in thought. “According to the militsiya there were no fingerprints on the case, or footprints on the ground. Nothing on cameras. No hairs or DNA left behind. We are two levels underground but security swears they noticed nothing out of the ordinary last night.”

“Does that strike you as odd?” inquired Dragunov.

“The security?” Fomin shrugged derisively. “They are museum guards, not soldiers. If you gave me a team I could smuggle an elephant down here and they would be none the wiser until the beast trampled them. The lack of physical evidence proves the thief was a professional, slipping past a handful of sleeping guards must have been the easiest part.”

“Agreed. Continue.”

“I am impressed he got through the door. The vault was electronically locked, yes?”

“With a revolving 256-bit encryption key.” Dragunov favoured him with a smile like he was her darling student. “The vault was sealed nearly ten years ago on orders of the Organisation for Doctrinal Compliance. No-one is supposed to have been in here since.” She idly gestured toward the display cases and the antiquities in them. “The objects here were deemed… problematic, for political or sometimes religious reasons. So they were buried here to be forgotten. None of them are listed in the museum inventory.”

“And yet they were not forgotten” Fomin countered. “The thieves knew what they wanted, knew where it was stored, and knew how to get at it.” He scratched his beard and gave her a piercing look. “Inside job?”

“Let’s find out.”

The office of the director of looked like an extension of the People’s Museum itself. Red velvet curtains framed windows that offered a breathtaking view over Yezhovo-Cherkessk’s central square and the old imperial summer palace opposite the museum. Oil paintings and groaning bookcases lined the walls. Soft illumination was cast from the acid etched lion's head globes of a late 19th century electric chandelier.
The marble bust of a long-gone emperor stood in an alcove. To Dragunov it looked suspiciously ostentatious and aspirational. The director himself was a large and rotund man, whose face was currently red and swollen. “I beg your pardon?” he haughtily demanded.

“I asked you a simple question, comrade. Are you inept, or are you corrupt?”

“I- you- This is insufferable! I have curated this museum for eleven years! I am personal friends with the bishop and several members of the All-Duma!” Director Dybenko foamed with barely repressed fury. “You cannot simply walk into my office and question my loyalty like this!”

“I am an inquisitorial commissar first class of the Organization for Doctrine Compliance, comrade director,” Dragunov narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips. “I most certainly can question your loyalty like this, and in fact I do. So I suggest you pick your next words very carefully, because much as you may dislike my questions I can assure you that if I find your answers wanting you will like the consequences even less.”

The director flinched a little. “I simply must protest!”

“Noted and rejected,” Dragunov gave him her best intimidating glare. “Answer the question, comrade: are you inept or simply corrupt? Because those are the only two explanations for how someone could walk into your museum and remove property under ward of the ODC.” She jabbed a gloved finger at him. “Perhaps you do not understand how serious a matter this is? Perhaps a few years in a work camp will set your priorities straight?”

“What?” Dybenko’s face started to go white. His shoulders sagged a little as confidence fled him. “No- surely there has been a mistake? I cannot be held responsible for this!”

“So far you’re not doing a great job convincing me of this,” Dragunov replied sharply. She drew one of the oaken chairs at his desk back and demonstratively sat down. “I am lenient by nature, comrade director, but I am also a very busy woman and the comrade-major,” she pointed a thumb over her shoulder to where Kir Fomin had taken up position besides the door, “is far less forgiving than I. I am this close to just having him drag you off to the Gulag and calling it a day.”

“No, no, no,” by now the director’s face had gone completely ashen. He shook a little as he sat down. “I- uh, I assure you that won’t be necessary. What is it that you wanted to know again?”

“The camera’s in the vault did not record anything.”

Dybenko shook his head. “They haven’t worked in years. Two years ago, there was a power surge during a thunderstorm. Our electrical systems were put in place before the civil war- everything shorted out. We had to replace several camera’s, the vault camera stopped working too. I told your organization this at the time! But our technicians were not to enter the room!”

“And the camera’s in the rest of the museum?”

“They are all in working order I assure you!” the director wiped beads of sweat off his forehead. “The militsiya confiscated the tapes, I don’t have them anymore- but I’m sure they can get them to you!”

Sacha Dragunov rubbed her chin as she processed this information. “You say the electrical systems shorted out?”

The director nodded furiously. “Two years ago yes, in December I think it was- a big electrical storm swept in from the north. Like I said, I informed your organization that security was compromised. I have a copy of the notification here somewhere! But I never heard back!”

“I’m sure you do. I will need a copy.” She frowned and gave him a piercing look. “The vault was sealed electronically. Were the locks on the door not affected by this power surge?”

“I-,” Dybenko frowned. “Well, I’m not sure. I suppose they must have been. I am an old-fashioned man, I’m not very familiar with computers and electronics. I simply told our chief technician to restore the systems and that’s what she did. It was a very hectic time, as I’m sure you can understand. Many of the artefacts in the museum need to be kept at precise temperatures and with the electric systems scrambled it was a race to preserve them as best we could. The vault… Was not my first priority.”

Dragunov leaned forward in her chair. “Your chief technician, would she have had access to the vault code?”

Dybenko nodded. “Olyena has access to all security systems in the museum. As do I, as does Timofev, our head of security. We were all vetted by the Ministry of State Security. Timofev and Olyena have been valued members of our staff for years and I would trust both of them with my life. But…” His voice trailed off and he creased his brow.

“Yes?”

“Olyena called in sick last Friday. I didn’t think anything of it before but… I haven’t seen or heard from her.”

“I’m going to need her address. Right now.” Dragunov looked over her shoulder at Fomin. “Take a team. You know what to do.”

[Beowulf]

From Jiangnan Naval Shipyard

Through deck cruiser proposal to replace Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani

The through deck cruiser proposal is based upon an improved large escort hull currently in service in the Tianguo Haijun. It is based around aviation assets, with the superstructure offset to starboard. A pair of elevators, 1 forward, 1 aft, service the below deck hangar. Aft elevator is a deck edge elevator, while the forward elevator is centerline. Immediately forward of the superstructure is a pair of 5.2 cun (155mm) caliber vertical guns. Forward of that, is a 32 cell VLS installation. Aft of the superstructure, a 64 cell VLS installation is featured. On the aft port quarter, a RAM launcher is fitted, with another RAM launcher fitted in front of the superstructure, just aft of the vertical guns.

Power is through LWNP derived Brayton-cycle nuclear propulsion. Reactor access is through the hangar deck. For refuelling, the hangar deck will be cut to access a shaft leading to the reactor space, the reactors moved in-line with the shaft, and raised to hangar deck level, and removed through the hangar doors. Each of the two reactors drives an electric generator. Said generators power 2 electric motors leading to 2 shafts. Designed maximum and cruise speed is 30kt. With a reactor casualty, 20kts can be expected.

Five spots for helicopter operations are available, with a clear deck from stem to stern along the port side. Hangar is 44000 sq ft (550 ft long, 80 feet wide), well exceeding target aviation capacity. For an increase in cost, the deck can be rated for non-emergency use of STOVL fighters. Prospective concept of operations is the use of AEW assets launched from the cruiser for targetting of ship's weaponry. As such, it will be fitted with HAM/SS, not AEGIS. Ship is 815 feet long, and 125 feet wide, with a 24 foot draft.

Issues: Through deck cruiser is 110feet in WL beam, exceeding desired WL beam. However, it remains less than Pearl Harbor dry dock width, allowing servicing at local navy yard. Reduced situational awareness while AEW aircraft are not airborne.

----

Jiangnan Naval Shipyard
Shanghai
Tianguo

In most places, this might have been a smoke filled room. However, that would have screwed with the projector. So the meeting room was a smoke-free location. Far down on the agenda for today was foreign unaligned naval projects.

"Orion is looking for a new battleship class."

"Yeah, but RUMINT has it they've already got a design. They just want to be sure no one else has a better idea."

"You mean like a carrier of the same displacement?"

"That's slightly uncalled for."

"Hey, battleships are useless."

"True. And we don't have anything that could work. I mean, they specify a minimum gun caliber of 12 inches. The navy hasn't asked for anything that large since the Forgotten War."

"Didn't someone have a crazy idea for a 1 chi vertical gun? Semi-straightforward scale up of our 5.2 cun guns, but it has to handle like 8 times the recoil? I don't think they got closer than a slide deck in design though."

"Congrats, you get to spend 8 hours doodling up something reasonable."

"Me and my big mouth..."

--

Orion battleship proposal from Jiangnan Naval Shipyard.

Main battery is eight 1 chi (12 inch) vertical guns. These guns fire guided gliding projectiles. Secondary battery is ten 5.2 cun (155mm) vertical guns. Each gun has a rotating cover to protect it from incoming fire. Missile battery is 16 rotary type launchers of 10 cells each. Each cell is rotated to firing position, then jacked outward to meet the launcher exit, at approximately 15 degrees from vertical. This ensures that missile failures do not end up on deck. This design minimizes pentrations of the armored deck. A similar design can be seen in the Umerian's Guard-the-North class. This totals 160 cells, which can be filled with either SAMs or cruise missiles. Point defense weaponry is a total of six short range missile launchers, located on either end of the superstructure, and between the superstructure, and four 1.9cun(57mm) chain guns firing anti-missile rounds, located on top of the deckhhouses. Phased array radar is split between two deck houses. Provision for a single helicopter pad at the stern, but no refueling gear or hangar space provided. Nuclear propulsion is accomodated, with two naval pressurized water reactors amidships of 100 kshp each, powering 4 shafts. To accomdate refueling, a large space amidships is required, necessitating the seperate deckhouses. Dimensions are 920 feet long, 120 feet beam, 35 feet draft, with a total tonnage of 70,000 tons.

[Thanas]

The Chancellor's speech (cont'd)

Rhenania (nova)
Middle Rheinland
05.01.2014

Unlike the previous day, Keiko noticed that the atmosphere in the chamber was tense, the same kind of tense one might experience on a calm evening just before the thunderstorm hits. Something was afoot. The delegates of the Ostrheinländische Partei especially looked more excited than usual and were applauding enthusiastically when the Reichskanzler stepped forward.

To her surprise, she noticed the Emperor was also in attendance. A child of 12, Alexander XVI was surrounded by a gaggle of governesses, of whom one especially stood out. Amongst them, the Gräfin d'Enghien was the most outstanding one. Her influence on the child emperor had been unparalleled and many - including Fischer - blamed her for having the emperor turn more and more to Green politics. For the moment however, the two sides held an uneasy truce, one that would most likely be shattered in four years, when the child would come of age and demand a larger role in Rhenan politics. At that point, the old fight between throne and chancellery would be renewed.

While musing over this and other events, Keiko once more tuned the vast majority of the speech out. She only paid attention again when the military section had started.

"...every age has its symbols and there is no greater symbol of Rheinland than the Battleships Delphin and Elizabeth. The Delphin especially has served for a longer period of time as the flagship of Rheinland than any other ship. When she destroyed the Nipponese Battleship Yamato, she proved to be the Queen of the Sea. It is to her and her compatriots that we owe our freedom and success.

Yet as with all things, time takes its toll. The honourable service is not in question. I myself sailed on her as a young man and bear a special fondness for the Delphin. However, it is time to realize that the age of the big gun is over. Therefore, I have ordered the Navy to decommisison the Superbattleships IRNS Delphin and Elizabeth at the end of the marriage to the sea this year."

At this, the chamber erupted into wild shouting, with the conservatives being the loudest at voicing their displeasure. To Keiko's surprise, the delegates from Fischer's hometown of Großbremen did not join them, even though their shipyards had built the Delphin and Elizabeth. In fact, their main docks were even named after the two.

Fischer waited for several minutes for the fracass to turn down, then nodded to the Schwarzgardist standing next to him. The soldier took his halbard and whacked the speaker's bodium with the flat of the blade three times. The sound echoed through the chamber and caused the delegates to regain their composure - no small feat, though considerably made easier by the fact that anybody who dared to speak now would be insulting the black guard.

"I understand your outrage, fellow members of this chamber. I too was aghast at the possibility of decommissioning such a huge piece of our history. Rest assured we will never forget the noble deeds of these ships which smashed Britonian hubris and Nipponese strength. I am proud to announce that the city of Großbremen has agreed to expand the Rhenan Naval museum to host these two ships so that coming generations can continue to visit the mighty ships and can continue to be inspired by the mighty battleships and the deeds of the legends which steered them into battle."

So that is why Großbremen was not that disturbed, Keiko thought. Considering the love of most of Rheinland for the ships, Großbremen had just snatched one of the premier tourist destinations and would now be able to advertise their shipbuilding qualities. She wondered if they had already printed some "From glorious past to a great future - Großbremen engineering" posters.

"At the same time, we recognize that these ships did not fulfill their deeds alone. There are currently close to a thousand ships in our reserve fleet. Nearly all of them have not been maintained for decades, their current state being deplorable and what was once great is now slowly rusting away. I say to you that the battleshipRheinland does not deserve such a fate. That the battlecruiser Athena does not deserve such a fate. That the aircraft carrier Johannes the Great does not deserve such a fate. That the brave little ship, the destroyer Hecht does not deserve such a fate. That the highest scoring U-boat in history, the U-53, , which sunk 193 enemy ships, does not deserve such a fate."

With each mention of the ship, the chancellor's voice rose in volume, until he stopped listing ships due to the applause of the delegates drowning him out. This time, Fischer let applause ring out and allowed himself a brief period of rest, drinking some water before continuing.

"Therefore I have ordered the Navy to carry out a complete inspection of the ships. The Navy will then put up the ships for adoption. In case of no state, city, trust or community deciding to fund an adequate museum and nobody else submitting a financial plan which ensures the maintenance of the ships, the Government will pay for the care of the ships deemed most historically valuable. The other ships will be used as targets, artificial reefs or scrapped. It pains me to do this, but we just cannot keep polluting the Rhein Inland sea. Fisheries and marine mammals are at stake if we let those ships rust and pollute the sea any further."

"We will furthermore keep those ships that still have any value as reserve ships, transfer them to the Likedeelers or sell them to a foreign nation. The thought of Rheinland ships being crewed by foreigners should not cause revulsion or shock. Instead it should be thought of as the ships performing another mission for Rheinland, one that will help increase our standing and means. I call that the noblest of all purposes of a warship."

Some applause, though probably not as much as the Chancellor had hoped for. If Fischer was disappointed, he masked it with another gulp of water.

"Speaking of last missions, one glorious tasks besides the marriage ot the Sea remains. The Delphin and Elizabeth will carry myself and my Government to Orion. May the weapons of our past help us bult a peaceful, prosperous future."

Keiko thought this was a good idea. Orion loved battleships, so they should appreciate the visit of the two largest ones ever built. If nothing else, their massive guns shooting the Rhenan salute reserved for the Emperor or Chancellor (a barricade of 21 all-gun broadsides) would be a huge spectacle.

"A future however must be well-guarded. Like any nations, all our preparations must be well-tempered and always stand up to reexamination. In the past, our defence strategy consisted of three pillars:
- a large reserve force, to be mobilized in the case of war
- a relatively small army, designed to hold off the enemy until the reserves are mobilized
- a large Navy to keep the sealane to Ostrheinland open"

Keiko nodded. This was all common knowledge.

"Our Navy is well suited to the task. In strenght and numbers, there are few nations who could challenge us and even less that could conceivably win. Due to us sacrificing invasion capabilities, we should always be ready to have a quantitative edge over nations that do not make the same choice. Without invasion capabilities, no nation can threaten Ostrheinland and if they invest in the latter, we shall have an edge in pure naval forces. Our lack of invasion capabilities shall also speak as the greatest lack of evidence for our continued pursuit of peace."

Applause, though Keiko wondered how many of them applauding were following Fischer because they believed his words.

"However, the Air Force has sufffered serious setbacks. The main culprit were the large cost overruns of the Habicht program, which forced us to buy the Typhoon. Now that the Habicht has succesfully been introduced in our service, this governemnt has decided to have it become the main combat aircraft, as it has been designed. The advantages of the Habicht are clear - its interoperability as both carrier and land strike aircraft give our air forces a flexibility previously unheard of."

Though this had been previously known, hearing that the Typhoon would not be chosen over the Habicht had to be a heavy blow for the JHD consortium. It looked like RFW would get the last laugh after all.

"However, the speed at which modern fleets travel has caused this Government to reevaluate the strategy with regards to Ostrheinland. Previously, we had stationed around 60.000 of our 200.000 troops in Ostrheinland. This number shall go down to 40.000."

The conservatives started to protest but this petered out as they noticed that the Ostrheinländische Partei remained seated. For whatever reason, they did not seem concerned by this.

"Of the 40.000, only 20.000 shall be combat troops. The other 20.000 will have a different aim. Starting February, equipment for a further 60.000 troops shall be taken from our reserve depots and ferried to Ostrheinland, where it shall be maintained and guarded by the 20.000 troops. In the case of a threat of war in the east, our strategic airlift will transport up to 40.000 men and women to Ostrheinland to man those weapons, whereas in the threat of war in the west the 40.000 men of Ostrheinland shall be transported to the west to be equipped with weaponry there. Their place would be taken by reservists in the case of war in the west. In the case of war in the east, they shall mobilize as planned - or take the place of the 40.000 troops in case the strategic airlift fails. Additional troops and equipment shall be carried over by convoys, as it had always been the plan under the previous administrations. This achieves two things - for one, it allows us a contingency plan in case the Navy and Air Force are unable to secure the sealane. Furthermore, it allows us greater flexibility with regards to our troop deployments without antagonizing our neighbours in the east by having a large standing army at their borders."

This time, the chamber applauded, the conservatives begrudgingly, the Osthreinländische Partei enthusiastically.

"However, there is one thing that is more important than weapons and guns. That is the loyalty of the people themselves. The people of Osthreinland have made tremendous progress over the years. Their society has had over sixty years of changes and challenges. The people of Ostrheinland have responded to each of those challenges in the proper manner. Their progress needs to be applauded and to be rewarded."

Keiko knew what would come next and suddenly found her palms sweating. Like herself, the leader of the Osthreinische Partei was waiting with bated breath for the next words.

"This Government, after consultations with the emperor, has decided that Ostrheinland society has taken more than the required steps to wash aways the shameful act of the past. Therefore, I propose a new law that would remove the titles of Former Nippon from the blood titles. In the future, the titles of Nippon shall stand side by side with the Old Rhenish, Rhenish and Francian titles of nobility and shall have their proper places in the order of precedence, judged not by their names, but by their age and rank. I thank the Emperor for his support in this matter."

Of course the Emperor had agreed. More titles for him meant more leverage to be used in the coming struggle for power, especially as most of the titles were his to give away. The senate meanwhile was taken aback - or at least the conservatives and BNP, who had not known about this development.

"This Government is of the opinion that the war debt levied on the former Nipponese territories should be considered paid in full. The remaining war debt will be -transferred to the Government as a whole.

This Government is of the opinion that Nipponese war cemeteries and war graves, including sunken ships, shall be placed under the same protection as Rhenan war graves. No matter the cause they died for, we shall make an effort to treat the human remains with the dignities afforded to all people.

This Government is of the opinion that Nippon's history and traditions shall be counted of equal importance to the history and traditions of Rhenania Antiqua, Rhenania and Francia. For a nation and a people are not defined by their darkest, but by their highest of moments. From now on, those histories shall be given as much time as the histories of Rhenania and Francia in our schools.

This Government is of the opinion that the people of Ostrheinland as a society have made a dramatic effor to reform and change. The evidence for that can be found right on the streets of Rheinland - thousands of people coming from Osthreinland each year to make their fortunes in Rheinland proper. Already, Osthreinländer are overrepresented in our armed forces. Großadmiral Kaneda, the chief of the Großer Generalstab, hails from Ostrheinland. And in case we do not trust our eyes, we shall trust the huge amount of studies that have shown that the values in Nipponese society have shifted to become in some cases more rhenan than Rheinland itself.

Therefore, this Government is determined to give Ostrheinland a true voice in Rheinland. And by this we do not mean politically - as evidenced by our esteemed colleagues, they have achieved that long ago. No, we mean economically, as the GDP per capita of Ostrheinland is merely that of a third of Rheinland proper. Our goal is that eventually, there will not be a difference between the East and the Center of Rheinland. This Government will do everything it can to achieve that goal and has prepared a host of measures to encourage investment in Ostrheinland. Let the next Rhein valley boom be in Ostrheinland.

We also realize that there are some in Ostrheinland who feel that they had no choice in becoming members of this great nation. There is truth to that, for what choice was offered in 1952 when butchers from the sky rained down fire and starvation beckoned? We shall give them that choice.

In the year 2015, the population of Ostrheinland shall have the option to vote in a special referendum on the question of continued membership in the Empire of Rheinland. In case of a majority chosing to remain in the Empire, we shall allow the minority to leave peacefully or to remain. In the unlikely case of a two-thirds majority being in favor of an exit, we shall expect the same."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, honoured members of Ostrheinland. It is time to mend whatever divides remain, to walk into a bright future together."

The chamber now sat in shock. Some of the members of the Ostrheinländische Partei were openly weeping. Keiko - who had undergone much the same reaction when she first read the proposals - was thinking more about the international implications. Undoubtedly not a lot of nations would applaud Rheinland for this move considering the history of the Name Nippon. And the referendum would cause consternation among the Rhenish who might wonder what they (or their fathers and grandfathers) had fought for if Nippon were to even allowed to have the possibility of becoming independent. On the other hand, there was a good chance the referendum would result in the result Fischer expected. The Nipponese nationalists were small in number compared to Britonia. But if they lost, how radical would they become? The Nipponese Party had only gotten 2% in the recent elections, how much more would their numbers swell now?

"This Government furthermore calls on all international partners and other nations to not interfere in the referendum in any way. This is to be an internal Rheinland matter. We recognize the reservations and concerns of nations that sufffered the wrath of Nippon in the past. We ourselves were one of them. However, Rheinland fully abides by the peace treaties which surrendered any claims to contested territory. Rheinland therefore will not lay claim to any of the former Nipponese territories and will ensure that a potential independent Ostrheinland does neither."

This was a pipe-dream, Keiko thought. After all, an event this massive would concern the neighbours of Rheinland greatly. She wondered what Fuso thought of all of this, or Cascadia, or New Britonia. What if a new, resurgent Nipponese Empire would arise out of an independent Ostrheinland? One that would claim all the territories lost to Fuso? Or dispute the right of Cascadia and the Kingdom of Hawai'i to the pacific islands? In the event of Ostrheinland becoming a free nation again, how long would it be allowed to exist?

"This Government is of the opinion that a similar situation to the one in Osthreinland exists to the one in Westrheinland. This government is committed to raising the economic level of Westrheinland to that of the center. Parallel to the Aufbau Ost focused on Osthreinland, there will be an Aufbau West.

We shall abolish the Britonian war debt and accord Britonian war dead the same level of protection as Rhenish war dead. Britonian history shall be taught alongside Rhenan history. We are committed to achieving equality of Central Rheinland with the periphery in every way.

Sadly, we have not found a reliable political partner to work with us on this issue of a specific date for a referendum. However, this Government is determined to allow a referendum on the sovereignty of Westrheinland after the referendum in Ostrheinland has been concluded."

This was the weak point of the entire speech. Fischer had not been able to find a majority among the parties to agree on allowing a referendum in Westrheinland, a problem excarbated by the fact that no moderate Westrheinland party had emerged. And for better or worse, former Britonia remained a thorn in the eye of many a rhenish politician, one which might blind them to see the opportunity. Fischer knew however that no matter the outcome of the referendum in Ostrheinland, the calls for allowing and denying a referendum in Westrheinland would grow louder and louder. And the titles were still to be counted among the blood titles, for the Imperial entourage had shrewdly refused to discuss that part of the matter.

"Honoured Senators, I call for your assent in this matter."

Several members of the Senate rose to answer and to reply to the Chancellor while - as tradition dictated - the parties making up the Government stayed silent. The Conservatives opposed the plan for the referendum, citing that the peace treaty of 1952 had already settled the matter for good and that allowing a referendum would only embolden the rabble-rousers in Westhreinland. The leader of the Ostrheinländische Partei, an old women named Miwako Atsu (and also the sister of the Rheinland ambassador to Cascadia), replied in an elegant speech during which her voice cracked several times that she viewed this referendum as the natural result of a long process that had started when Ostrheinland citizens were allowed to vote in 1958.

The Britonian National Party was last and attacked the Chancellor for not allowing an immediate referendum in Britonia. To which the Chancellor answered (this time to the cheers of the consevatives) that he was committed to allowing a free vote, but not to allow the chaos that would arise out of a referendum in which the BNP was to be the partner of the Government. This caused the face of the leading member of the BNP to get redder than the red stripe on the pants of the Schwarze Garde, to sit down and then - under his breath - to call the Chancellor a "two-faced bureaucrat cat-fucker" and the Osthreinländer "fucking slant-eyed traitors". Sadly, the architecture of the building amplified his words and only the president of the senate calling for order prevented a general riot, though the added defiant comment of "I hope the mud-eaters fry every single one of your dolphins for breakfast" caused shouts of "Shame" to echo through the chamber.

After the commotion died off the assent was given by an overwhelming majority, though the conservatives voted no - as was expected.

Their mood however changed from sullen to intrigued when a large painting was rolled in. Everybody knew what the painting was - showing Rhenania antiqua before the bombers of Britonia had ruined it.


"Honoured Members of the Senate, we stand today in Rhenania nova. It has been good to us and has given us a home for over 70 years now. During these years Rhenania nova has become one of the most prosperous cities on earth."
Applause, especially from the delegates from Middle Rheinland.
"For over 2000 years however, there was not just one city. There was the City, a city so large and powerful that it was not even necessary to use the name, just to say City. A city so beautiful that when the first barbarian kings were made to submit, they asked why Rhenania needed their wooden huts when they already had a city of marble. A city so renowned that even when the Empire fell, the inviolability of the city remained as one of the principles of the warring kingdoms. A city where visiting nobles all over the world were moved to tears by her beauty. A city where one could walk into any of the libraries and request to read documents that were millennia old. A city whose destruction by the barbarian Britonians fueled the rage everyone of us still feels whenever the word bomber is used. A city which in her destruction sealed the fate of those that had destroyed her, for the nerve agents and bombs decimated the river dolphins to the point that those remaining would have otherwise saved the lives of every war criminal made to walk the river. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time to return to that city. It is time to rebuild the South, to rebuild Rhenania"

This time the applaus was roaring as senators of all factions signalled their assent by stomping their feet. The applause went on for several minutes, though Keiko nodded that some of the financial conservatives were making faces.

"This is not idle speculation. Even in 1960, his mind ravaged by feverish dreams, Reichskanzler Meier had already thought of returning to Rhenania. To this point, he appointed a commisison by archeologists, architects, military ordnance experts and historians. And now, after 40 years of planning by these heroes, I can confirm that we have a plan in place. This Government is committed to restoring Rhenania to how it looked in the golden ages of our Empire, before Britonian butchers and barbarians destroyed it. We will do so by using the same material and building techniques that allowed our ancestors to erect buildings that stood for millennia."

Now the financial conservatives - and likeminded Liberals and Centrists - started to look especially worried.
"We recognize that restoring Rhenania will take time. Dozens, maybe even hundred of years. But it is essential to close the wound that exists in our nation, to restore our national soul, just as restoring the south is vital to our economy. We will proceed in several stages.

First, we shall thoroughly dispose of unexploded ordnance and dispatch contaminated soil. This will coincide with archeological digs and explorative efforts, which will be ongoing through all three stages.
Second, we shall allow those areas where no ruins of historical value exist to be opened up for development. There will be special rules in place to ensure the architectural landscape of all southern cities will not be marred by skyscrapers or other modern architecture.
Third, as soon as archeologists have finished with one ruin, we shall move quickly but thoroughly to restore it to its former glory. All restaurations will be done by Government experts in Rhenania antiqua, but may be turned over to third parties in other cities.

Ladies and Gentleman, citizens of Rheinland. I know that this project will be costly and take time. To lessen both requirements, we call upon all nations of Tellus to allow their artists, mosaic makers and painters to come to Rhenania and be trained in the ancient methods to allow more people to work. Without a doubt, this will be the most expensive and long-lasting urban development project of our time. There will be a special recruitment program for this development project in Ostrheinland to stimulate both the east-rhenan and South Rheinland economy. What better way to create national unity than to have the descendents of attackers and defenders repair what was lost?

However, we estimate that a building program of this magnitude cannot be accomplished by military resources alone. We estimate that a program of this magnitude will create several million new jobs in construction alone, nevermind the economic effects of resettling our ancient country. We are well aware of the massiveness of this undertaking, but believe that over several decades, we will be able to accomplish the Aufbau Ost, Aufbau West and Aufbau Süd.

Senators, in this, as in all things, I ask for your assent."

This time, the applause drowned out the protesting voices of the BNP as every other faction applauded and voiced their assent. The acclamations lasted for over half an hour.


Results:
several domestic proposals:
1. Regarding Ostrheinland:
- referendum to be held in 2015 on independence of former Nippon. If two-thirds majority declares for exit, Rheinland will release Ostrheinland as a sovereign nation.
- Aufbau Ost: Massive program dedicated to improving the economic situation in Ostrheinland. Paralleling RL German reconstruction, it will be a massive infrastructure and economic program dedicated to bringing Ostrheinland to the level of Rheinland proper. This will last several decades. Any profits from this will not be used for the military budget as it would otherwise violate the limits set at the start of the game. Rather they will be used to pay back the Government for the investment.
- Rheinland will afford Nipponese war dead and history the same status as Rheinland proper, Nipponese titles are no longer counted among the blood titles. Nipponese history to be regarded as an important part of Rheinland history.

2. Regarding Westrheinland:
- Aufbau West - same thing as in Ostrheinland. Owing to a (marginally) better starting postiion and a lower number (only half) of people investment would probably take about as long as the RL Aufbau Ost (20-30 years) if it were the only such program. But as it is not, it will probably take longer. No money from here will be turned to the military budget as it would otherwise violate the limit set at the start of the game.
- Rheinland will afford Britonian war dead and history the same status as Rheinland proper. Britonian history to be regarded as an important part of Rheinland history, but the titles are still counted among the blood titles.
- a referendum will happen according to Fischer "sometime" after the referendum of Ostrheinland.

3. Regarding Südrheinland
- Aufbau Süd - probably in some aspects (general economy) the easiest of the three program, however disproportionately high cost compared to the east and west. Most of the extra cost due to the momentous undertaking of restoring Rhenania antiqua. Due to the high need for archeological digs etc. and some specifications which I will reveal later I suspect that it will take several decades to restore Rhenania antiqua. Most of the buildings are still there in ruins but the labor - of which most has to be done by hand - will take several decades. I would assume that some buildings can be restored in a decade, others probably would take several decades.
- Specific conditions for the development of the South, as outlined in the storypost. Likewise, no money from here will be turned to the military budget as it would otherwise violate the limit set at the start of the game.

(I am not sure how investment would lead to some sort of China or Wirtschaftswunder effect yet, I will have to do more research. But like I said, I will not go above the limit I set myself for the military budget. For the purpose of budget discussion, Rheinland's upper limit will stay the same as at the start of the game as any gains from the Aufbauprogramm are shoveled straight back into the program).

[Eternal_Freedom]

Notice to Mariners and Aviators
January 25th, 2014

It is hereby announced that on the 31st of January the annual Liberation Day celebrations will take place, the naval component of which will occur in the Concordia Sea. This will include simulated naval engagements and air attacks and will also include live-fire anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile launches. Mariners and aviators are advised to avoid the Salvation Straits on that day in order to avoid any potential risk of damage. The Kingdom of Orion and the Republic of Underwood thanks mariners and aviators for their cooperation in this matter.

Results/Notes:

-Warnign issued to sailors and pilots about Orion and Underwood's little knees-up for the Liberation Day. The Concordia Sea is our agreed name for the waters between Orion and the Mainland, since we figured it looked to big to be called a Strait.

[Simon_Jester]

February 7, 2014

To: Admiralty of the Kingdom of Hawai'i
From: Offices of the Bureau of Construction, Umerian Naval Staff Headquarters

No doubt your service has received many proposed replacement hulls for the honored and venerable Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani. Most will, we imagine, be for hulls of comparable or greater size than the noble warhorse. On analysis, our humble bureau may be able to resolve your needs with a far simpler and more economical way.

As you are no doubt aware, the people and state of Umeria are engaged in a most industrious program of construction of our new Perpetual-Spring-class missile destroyers. These ships of 9300 tons measure approximately 587 feet in length, 70 feet in breadth, and 21 feet in draft*, and are capable of speeds in excess of thirty knots on paired gas turbines. The ship's power train is, in accordance with our custom, geared. However, consultation with the Bureau of Design has found suitable blueprints for altering one or more Perpetual-Springs to use turbine-electric propulsion in keeping with your wishes. In the matter of crew, the Perpetual-Spring can be operated by no more than four hundred sailors, being light and lean-manned. A pair of Dolphin light helicopters can fly off the vessel's aviation space, hopefully meeting your needs in the matter of aviation

As regards the matter of armament, the soul and center of the Perpetual-Spring's purpose is its integrated Shield-of-Heavenly-Wisdom air defense system, configured to detect and engage targets throughout the airspace surrounding its battlegroup, including high-speed jets, cruise missiles, and light ballistic missiles. Armament tied to the Shield-of-Heavenly-Wisdom consists of eighty vertical launch cells astern and sixteen forward, customarily loaded with anti-air missiles, though both light antiship and cruise missile alternatives are available. These cells are broadly in keeping with the nature of the foreign "Mark Forty-One," but it may be your reasonable wish to refit in order to preserve logistics commonality.

In addition the Perpetual-Spring carries forward its main antiship armament, an array of eight angled launch cells forward designed for the noble Scrub-Brush medium ship-killer missile. In addition a further array of sixteen vertical cells for the Vicious-Hawk light ship-killer missile.

As regards gun armament, the vessels are armed with a lone fully automatic 10.7 cm naval rifle capable of a sustained eighty rounds per minute, and a three-module Perturbed-Hornets-Nest CIWS system consisting of two thirty-millimeter Gatlings at bow and stern, and a rocket pod amidships.

Should it be your wish to exchange the gun and CIWS modules for those more in keeping with the traditions of your fleet, it will be our pleasure to accommodate, though we ourselves were unable to find a clearly superior naval gun of comparable weight during acquisitions trials fifteen years past.

The Perpetual-Springs also mount a standard fleet Shark-D antisubmarinerocketpod in sixteen cells forward, for defense against submersible threats, along with two triple tubes for the Mark Eight defensive torpedoes, compatible with the standard 1.02-foot tubes of best international practice, rightly-guided by hull and towed sonar arrays. Magazine carriage permits 32 reloads.

Moreover, these vessels are already in extensive serial production. We are prepared to offer up one such vessel to you for a modest 1.25 billion dollars**. Indeed, for the price of one of the heavier vessels you must surely have been offered, you could buy multiple such ships, whose combined strength might outweigh all but the most formidable of surface combatants now on the seas.

Respectfully,

Build-the-Fleet*** Archer

Personal Postscript:

Some within the Bureau of Construction proposed a modified and repeat version of the illustrious Guard-the-North atomic rocket cruisers.

It was gently pointed out to them that fine and most preciously formidable as the Guard-the-Norths may be, they are too long, too wide, too deep, too heavy, and are too heavily crewed, and possess far too many high pressure steam systems in their atomic reactors to satisfy your design requirements.

These underlings have been gently reproved,**** for it is written in the Little Blue Book, "Measure twice, cut once." We pray that no other foreigners have, in their ignorance, tendered such inappropriate and time-wasting offers.

---

Footnotes are out-of-character:

*Knowing Umerians, this was probably done on a slide rule and may be off by a little.
**Here assuming that there is some country, probably Cascadia, which issues a unit of currency widely traded enough to be a dollar-equivalent. Otherwise just translate into Hawaiian money.
***Yes, that is his real name. Umerian naval families are weeeeird sometimes.
****Knowing Umerians, taken into the parking lot and beaten into insensibility

[Thanas]

Rheinland
03.02.2014
Confluentia
Rheinland Schiffbau

Rheinland Schiffbau was the smaller of the two companies competing for contracts by the Navy and Merchant marine of Rheinland. Nevertheless, they were fiercely proud of their efforts - and luck smiled at them, for they were the only ones with a larger cruiser design that had been tested. In fact, Vulkanwerft did not even try to make an offer due to that fact.

After getting clearance from the foreign ministry, the following offer was sent towards the kingdom of Hawai'i:

To: Office of the Admiralty, Naval Base Pearl Harbour, O’ahu, Kingdom of Hawai’i

Your Excellencies,

Rheinland Schiffbau is offering its condolences on the breakdown of the mighty Battleship Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani. We are honored to offer you the following design, in the hopes that it might serve you as well as the Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani did.

Background:
The Derfflinger-class was built to provide Rheinland with a long-range guided missile cruiser that was able to operate both alone and to act as a command&control ship as needed. As such, the focus is on stealth, fire-power and world-class information retrieval/usage.
Visual approximation. The Rheinland Navy currently has two (OOC: Depending on how my orbat ends up this might change) active Derfflinger-class battlecruisers (commissioned in 2006 & 2010). As a third ship is currently building at Rheinland Schiffbau, it might be possible to either purchase an existing ship or the ship close to finishing. Sources state the Rheinland Navy would be favorable to any such scenario.

Hull
The dimensions of the class are 853 (length) * 98.5 (beam) * 28 (draught).
36k tons standard displacement, full load of 42kt tons.
The hull is designed for a natural speed of 34.02 knots.

Powerplant/Speed
The Ship is powered by two Nuclear Reactors delivering power to two electric generators, each powering 2 shafts for a total of 4, thus providing the maximum number of redundancy possible without sacrificing efficiency.
Maximum speed guaranteed is 33 knots, sustained cruise speed is 30 knots. It is theoretically possible to push the speed up to the 34.02 limit, but it is not advised to do so except in extreme circumstances.

Complement
The ship is designed to be operated by a complement of 464 men/women, however for damage control and redundancy reasons they rarely leave Rheinland with less than 550 crew embarked.
In case of a Derfflinger class being an Admiral's flagship, the normal complement is increased to 624 to allow for the Admiral's staff and additional crew manning the CIC. The ship has accommodations for 732 men maximum (including aviation).

Armament
- 1 155mm/62 cal turret. This turret has a stealth shape to avoid detection. If preferred, the turret can be switched for a 57mm turret to reduce costs.
- 4*4 long-range anti-ship missile launchers. Rheinland Schiffbau is happy to offer the long range version of the wave-skimming Rheinland "Backbreaker" missile, delivering a payload of 800kg up to a range of 600 miles (payload size can be lessened in exchange for longer range/speed, max design speed is Mach 3). Two launchers are situated behind the gun turret, another two near the helipad/hangar. When not in use, launchers are retracted for maximum stealth.
- 432 launch cells in 108 VLS modules (4 cells per module) arranged in 12 sockets, with each socket holding 3*3 rows of modules.
Capable of delivering all types of missiles from Tomahawks (max 1 per cell) to AA missiles (max 4 ESSM per cell). Of course it is replace multiple cells or modules with single large missile launchers, theoretically increasing the large shipkiller quantity up to 24*4 backbreaker missiles. Theoretically an increase of up to 528 cells is possible but not advisable due to safety reasons and the vast increase in cost.
- 4 533mm torpedo tubes capable of firing torpedoes or ASW missiles
- 4 RAM and 4 CIWS systems for point defence.
- passive protection includes Armor scaled up against harpoon and 1000lb bomb hits. Might work against/mitigate the damage of tomahawk and other larger missiles, though nobody really wants to find out to what extent.

The helipad is located at the stern and features an elevator to carry the craft to the enclosed stern hangar, in order to avoid radar signatures on deck. Hangar space can carry 2 standard-size Multi-function Helis and 2 medium-sized UAVs. In an alternate hangar configuration, helicoptors or UAV may be exchanged. Maximum configuration is 3 Helicopter or 6 UAVs. It is possible to land up to two VSTOL - aircraft if no other helis or UAvs are carried - unless one is willing to accept compromising radar signatures on deck.


Communication/sensor suite
The Derfflinger-class is theoretically able to carry every system in existence. However, as Hawai'an systems are classified, we cannot guarantee 100% compability. Rheinland Schiffbau is willing to cooperate fully with the Royal Navy during the construction of the ship and make modifications if needed. Rheinland Schiffbau is furthermore willing to deliver the ship with the standard export version of the sensor/radar networks used by the Rheinland Navy.

As a dedicated command ship, the Derfflinger-class is capable as functioning as a flagship for a whole theatre of war. During spring manoeuvres 2005, the entire Rheinland Navy was successfully commanded from the RNS Derfflinger. Rheinland Schiffbau is especially proud of the crypto suite installed.

Future modifications
Approximately 1000 tons is left unused for future modifications and upgrades.

Rheinland Schiffbau is also offering an enlarged version with an added 46-70 feet in length. This design was chosen by the Rheinland Navy as a replacement for the aging Orca-class cruisers. The added space can be left unused or to add another gun system, a larger hangar, additional VLS cells or anti-ship missile launchers. In case of the larger hangar space configuration, it should now allow for comfortable storage of up to two VSTOL aircraft in addition to UAVs. With maximum length added, the displacement is increased to 40kt standard and 46kt full load.


Price:
The Derfflinger class battlecruiser is costing approximately 6 billions per unit. However, should Hawai'i chose not to purchase Rheinland's sensor&communication suite, the price would drop to approximately 4-5 billion per unit. The bare-bone price for the hull, reactor and rudimentary systems is 2.5-3 billions per unit. In the last option, all weapons, sensors, communications, creature comforts etc. are left out to save cost.

Your excellencies, we remain your humble and obdt. servants,
Rheinland Schiffbau board of directors

******************
OOC:
Negatives of the offer:
- at 36kt standard the ship is 1kt tons too large (long version over 5 kt). Given the dimensions it should be well within Hawai'is dock capabilities though (long version exceeds waterling length by far and probably is not an option for the Kingdom of Hawai'i).
- it probably is the one with the highest crew costs out of all the proposals
- very pricey, but then again we expect it to have a good chance of prevailing against any opponent and to last a long time. That costs a lot.
- maybe too much putting all the eggs in one basket, considering one could get at least three (probably four or five) typical destroyers for the price.
- not as good in hangar space as some of the other proposals
- system compability?

Positives:
- established ship class in production with Rheinland, meaning there is no cost for the design and single unit price is relatively low as the series production has started. If it were the first in a new class it would probably cost close to 8 billion.
- very powerful, very stealthy, good flagship.
- very durable, hard to sink, proven hull design
- excellent command facilities
- it looks sexy (don't scowl at me, de gustibus non est disputandum).
- To alleviate the concerns about the cost, Rheinland shipping will be offering several versions of the ship, from the bare-bones "press here to weigh anchor and hope not to hit anything on the way out" to "here is your fully optimized ship, have fun" version. Maybe Hawai'i can reuse some systems from the Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani to lower the cost.


/OOC
***************************

To: Office of the Admiralty, Naval Base Pearl Harbour, O’ahu, Kingdom of Hawai’i

Your Excellencies,

The Rhenan Navy was saddened to hear about the Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani. With our own battleships slated for decommissioning, I fear we have seen the last of the big-gun battleships. In commiseration, the Rhenanian Navy would like to offer the modified RNS Buckelwal for sale or loan to the Royal Hawai'an Navy. We do not have a use for it anymore, though given the size of the ship it might make an ideal command ship for you. The Navy of Rheinland would be willing to modify it to suit your needs.

I remain,
your humble & obdt servant,
Großadmiral Kaneda.

(OOC: Just like it says)
***************************
But Rheinland Shiffbau was not the only shipyard interested in chasing money. The far larger and more successful Vulkanwerft AG at the free City of Großbremen offered an alternative.

To: Office of the Admiralty, Naval Base Pearl Harbour, O’ahu, Kingdom of Hawai’i

Your Excellencies,

Our entire workforce at Vulkanwerft AG is saddened to hear about the fate of the Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani. We would first like to offer our assistance in restoring that great ship, even if any such works will only prepare her for a museum berth.

No doubt you have heard from our colleagues at Rheinland Schiffbau. I am sure they have offered you a very large - and undoubtedly very capable - ship. However, we feel that with our designs, you will find life quite easier - and cheaper. For there is no better allrounder in Rheinland than our Universal Surface Combatant designed, which not only won the 2010 prize for best designed ship at the Rheinland Marinegala, but also has been accepted into service by the Rheinland Navy as their main surface warship of the future, having begun to replace the Tümmler class. Though the class has not been named, we believe it will be called the Schwertfisch (swordfish) or Hai (shark) class.

The Hai - class universal surface combattant (USL) measures 620*70*26 feet (length/beam/draft) and displaces 16.301t standard and up to 20.000t fully loaded. As an evolution of the Tümmler class, it is Rheinland's first nuclear-powered surface warship under 20.000t standard displacement. 2 nuclear reactors amidships provide enough power for two shafts, a top speed of 33 knots and a cruising speed of 30 knots.

A two-island structure not only allows for easier reactor access, but also provides critical redundancy in systems. The ship is designed to withstand punishment and has been armoured against hits of 1000lb bombs or Harpoon-sized warheads, whereas a state-of-the-art damage control system provides quick protection against explosion, flame or water.

Not only can this ship handle punishment, it can dish out punishment too. It is armed with the standard 155mm/60 cal Rheinland naval gun (in a stealth copula) ideal for shore bombardments or to scare other ships into stopping. (And yes, it works fine in an old-fashioned gunnery duel too).

The ship is armed with 4*4 rotating launchers carrying the famous Rheinländer Backbreaker missile, delivering payloads at speads of up to Mach 3. Of course, the launchers can also be configured to handle every other missile in Rheinland's arsenal as well as most missiles used by other nations (we would also be willing to install Hawai'an weapons systems). In a non-standard configuration, one might choose to forego 4*4 launchers in favor of 8*2 launchers for added redundancy, though this necessitates sacrificing space elsewhere.

The ship is well armed with an additional 256 VLS cells in 64 modules, with 16 modules each grouped together in one socket. These launchers can handle almost all missiles in Rheinland's arsenal with the exception of large anti-ship missiles (though it is possible to replace multiple modules with large missile launchers). In addition, the ship carries 4 533mm torpedo tubes used for torpedoes and/or ASW rockets. The Hai class features close - combat defence, most notably 2 RAM and 3 CIWS weapon systems.

The Hai class is equipped with 2 helicopters (or one medium-sized VSTOL aircraft) in an enclosed hangar and can also launch two UAVs. It's sensor suite is second to none in the Rheinland arsenal and features both the latest AEGIS incarnation as well as the best ASW suite we ever designed - or so the Rheinland Navy tells us. But not only does this ship snoop well - it disappears just as well. The Hai class is equipped with the latest in Rheinland naval active and passive stealth technology.

The Hai class is also available in two long - hull versions. One displaces 20.000, the other up to 26.000 tons. Though the Hai class itself features plenty of space for additional upgrades, a customer cannot go wrong with either of those two versions.

The price of the Hai class varies considerably to configuration. The standard Rheinland configuration costs 2.5 billion. A bare-bones version with just the reactor and basic systems costs 1 billion, should Hawai'i chose to re-use the systems from the Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani. An all-shipkiller version would cost 3.2 billion. We do not recommend modifying the ship to be a heavily-armed heli carrier, but even such a massive design change is possible.

Like the Derfflinger class, the Hai-class excels at ambushing enemy ships, something which we think you might be interested in. It's size allows it to work as a fleet command ship, with enough extra space to accommodate even the most generous of staffs.

The general crew of a Hai-class is 468 sailors, standard aviation configuration of 2 helicopters included. The crew complement includes extra personnel for damage control and in the case of casualties.

Sincerely and with the deepest sympathies for your loss,
The board of directors
Vulkanwerft AG
Free city of Großbremen

"Wir bauen die Kriegsmarine"

*************************
Results: Three offers made to the Kingdom of Hawai'i:
1. The navy offers to sell the only LPD Rheinland has left to Hawai'i (with or without upgrades and additional weaponry if wanted). The ship however has already served twenty years in the fleet.
2. Vulkanwerft offers the ship Rheinland will use to replace the aging destroyer and frigate classes with (though definitely not on a 1:1 hull basis). 2.5 billion to 3.2 billions depending on configuration and longer/smaller hulls used. As you can see, Rheinland Navy will probably shrink in the future, sacrificing quantity for quality. Basic ship package is a 16-20kt all-around combatant, with focus on anti-ship capabilities.
3. Rheinland Schiffbau offers the Derfflinger class battlecruiser, which Rheinland might or might not buy more of in the future.
4. The Derfflinger class is the best ship killer Rheinland has to offer, though the Hai provides more all-round and overall bang for the buck. The Derfflinger might be better in battle management, but costs a lot more. Great ship killier, great cost. As it should be, having been designed in response to UOCSR missile cruisers.
5. So far, Rheinland is the only one to offer using parts of the weapon system of the to-be-decommissioned Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani, if Hawai'i chooses to keep the costs down or doesn't trust Rheinland weaponry. Thus, Rheinland believes that despite the high initial cost of the ships, they will be competitive.

Offers to Orion coming soon, at the latest tomorrow, at which point I'll also address the other things in IC.

[RogueIce]

Shinra Republic Proposal to the Office of the Admiralty, Kingdom of Hawai'i

In regards to your recently released RFP, the Shinra Republic offers the following alternatives:

1) CG [OOC: CGBL] design as is currently in service with the SRN. [Specs follow]
2) Additional order of Flight III DDG design, as is currently in service with the Royal Hawai’ian Navy. [Specs follow]

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Daitoryo Kantei
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Fuso
10 January 2014

"Good to hear. Do we have a response to Reichskanzler Fischer's speech?"

"We'll gladly commit to his international space station project, but I personally have doubts as to whether his proposed international body of dialogue will actually accomplish anything," Secretary of State Yukiko Amagi said. "We'll wait and see with regards to that."

"Actually, on second thought, before we adjourn this meeting, there is one more thing we need to discuss," Secretary of State Amagi said. "It also concerns the Reichskanzler's speech and the Ostrheinland problem, specifically Reichskanzler Fischer's call for an Ostrheinland independence referendum in 2016."

"About damn time, if you ask me," Secretary of Homeland Security Shirogane remarked. "However, I have reason to be concerned regarding the various Nipponese liberation movements. They will try to influence the outcome of the referendum towards independence by any and all means necessary, up to and including violence. At the very least, we should continue to investigate whatever other links Komradistan may have with the Nipponese ultranationalists."

"Leaving all that aside, does Ostrheinland as a whole even want to be independent in the first place?" Secretary of Defense Satonaka interjected. "Any way you cut it, the Nipponese have been the greatest beneficiaries of Rheinland's munificence since the end of the Great War. Yes, we still have those damned Nipponese ultranationalists running around, but do the common people of Ostrheinland really want to give up the prosperity and security they have known under Rhenish rule?"

"There's also our own 'Oyashima Irredenta' movement to consider," Vice President Kujikawa said. "They'll certainly be making noise in Congress over the coming weeks, especially now that they have a new reason to resume their calls to annex Nippon. While they certainly have no love for Rheinland, they certainly won't accept a fully independent Nippon either."

"2016 is still a long ways away," President Seta finally chimed in. "I trust that Homeland Security will do its part to keep the Nipponese ultranationalists down. I for one am interested in what our neighbors in the Pacific have to think about this. At the very least, we should hear what Cascadia and Hawai'i have to say first before we proceed with any course of action. The Oyashima Irredenta movement may actually be something worth looking into on our part, but I doubt Rheinland will look too kindly upon it. Again, 2016 is a long way off. We should have more than enough time to plot our course carefully with regards to the Ostrheinland question."

[Steve]

Portland Gazette


Economic growth to continue into 2016, experts say

SEATTLE, OLYMPIA - Analysts from the firm of Winthorpe, Duke, and Red Crow have issued a report analying the current situation with the Cascadian economy, stating their belief that economic growth will continue despite the sluggishness of the last five years. "The recession of the late aughts is behind us," the report states. "Economic indicators are improving in several industries." The causes cited include the continued growth of the Fuso and New Britonian economies, new regulation on banks to prevent bad loans, and wage increases across tthe board in the 2010-2012 time frame.

Liberal Party spokesman Michael Reilly was quick to assert that the recovery was due to the policies of President Brandon Willis, who lost his re-election bid to Whig Alexander Penton in the 2012 election. "President Willis' intelligent approach to the needs of our economy restored business confidence and made this return to prosperity possible. It is with this in mind that we are preparing for the 2014 elections, to ensure that the current Administration does not undo his hard work."

Other sources were more skeptical over the report's projection. Yvette Dawkins, Associate Dean of the Salish University School fo Economics, stated, "The report's findings are overly optimistic, forgetting that even minor geopolitical events can have undue effect upon world trade and the globalizing economy." Citing Champas' nuclear disaster as an even with ramifications for the entire Pacific Rim economy, Dawkins said that careful study would be necessary before deciding whether the economy was fully recovering.


Protestors gather at Rheinland Embassy over Nipponese independence

PORTLAND FEDERAL DISTRICT - Protestors gathered outside the Rheinland Embassy despite the winter drizzle to protest Rheinland's plan to offer Nippon independence. "The Nipponese behavior in Fuso was beyond brutal and Rheinland has never acknowledged the full extent of their crimes," protestor Hitomi Lewis said, standing in the picket line with the rest of her college class.

The announcement by Chancellor Fischer of plans to grant an independence plebiscite in 2016 were greeted with warmth by the Presidential Office, however. Presidential spokesman Paul Crowfeather spoke to correspondents in the Green house. "The President is very supportive of the idea," he said. "He believes a reformed and demcoratic Nippon would play a welcome role in the Pacific system. As for the issue of the war, the President remains committed to his platform of moving on."


Shipbuilder proposes new warship for Hawai'ian fleet

MARE ISLAND, OAKLAND - Defense contractor O'Reilly & Collette Inc. has proposed the construction of a nuclear-powered missile battlecruiser to the Kingdom of Hawai'i as a bid into the contract to replace Hawai'i's aging flagship. The Great War veteran Chiefess-Apostle Kapi’olani, formerly USS Sentinel, had a recent accident that disabled one of the ship's engines, forcing it back to harbor for extensive repairs.

Sources say that the bid utilizes the canceled nuclear-powered battlecruiser that the Navy studied in the 90s and 00s, modified to meet Hawai'ian design requirements. "We are confident that our bid will be successful," the company press release announced.

"Shareholders and employees shouldn't get their hopes up," warned Howard Thompson of the Pacific Defense Institute. "Hawai'i is getting contract offers from all sides, including other nations they routinely purchase equipment from."

[Siege]

Argatala Prison | Teliamura Bahadur Rd. 662
Khamani Nagar West, Shan Assam

Samantha Savage slid into cover behind the wall of the laundry building in the north yard of the prison. She gave Aurora a questioning look. “Some-” she began, but her voice was cut off as a missile blew a hole in the central complex right where the warden’s office had been. Savage flinched a little as debris pattered down on the roof of the building and all around them. “Some rescue this is.”

Aurora Drax pressed her back against the reinforced concrete wall, professionally ignored the staccato hammering of automatic gunfire raking the yard and checked the rounds in her magazine. Three, with one more in the chamber. Not a lot at the best of times, but especially now there was a full Reaper platoon roaming the complex. “We knew our window of opportunity was small. They still got here faster than we thought they would.” Drax let the stocky carbine rest in her lap, drew a pack of cigarettes out of her tattered business suit and held it out. “Smoke?”

“Those things will-” Savage snorted and waved them away. “Oh, you know the rest.”

“Suit yourself,” Drax drew out a cigarette with her teeth and looked at the woman she’d come all this way to rescue as she lit it. Drax wondered what was so goddamn important about her that she’d be at the center of this much attention. “Look at the bright side,” the mercenary said and blew out a cloud of smoke. “If we weren’t here you’d be dead already.”

“Skullboys don’t look like they’re taking prisoners,” Savage readily agreed. “You sure it’s me they want? And that they want me dead instead of, y’know, alive?”

That concept didn’t seem to bother Savage much. Drax’ opinion of her went up another notch. “As far as we can tell nobody else in here is worth much. And in my experience Reaper teams aren’t hired to rescue fluffy bunnies or escort grandma across the road,” she answered. “They get hired to make sure their target is really, truly, quite positively dead.” Drax gave Savage a speculative look. “One wonders what you did to warrant that kind of attention.”

“And one is free to wonder,” Savage wryly deflected. “Meanwhile what I am wondering is if you don’t have a gun to spare. At the rate this is going it won’t be long before there’s no security left, and then it won’t take these pricks long to find us. No offence to present highly capable company, but a weapon would make me feel a whole hell of a lot better right now.”

Drax put the remains of the cigarette out on the concrete yard floor. “No more guns, sorry. We couldn’t exactly roll into prison with our usual arsenal."

"We?" Savage perked up at that. "So there's more than just you here?"

“Yes. Well, no. Not right now.” The mercenary took a look at the watch strapped around her wrist, then risked a glance around the corner. Most fighting seemed to have stopped, but irregular bursts of gunfire could be heard inside the primary cell complex. It sounded like the Reapers were going cell to cell and doing justice to their name. “Look, it doesn't really matter. Either we make it out before they find us, or we’re dead as the dodos. Right now, I give us fifty-fifty on living through the next thirty minutes.”

***

Two hours earlier

Argatala was a third-world tumble of two and three story slum houses that sprawled down the hills to the north bank of the Blue Assam. That name was a lie, Drax thought. Far from blue, the river was a slow moving brown sludge courtesy of all the upstream settlements that let their runoff spill freely into the water. Argatala was one of the larger cities in one of Shan Assam’s poorest provinces, which meant it was even worse a tropical shithole than was typical for this part of the world. Its harbor stunk of rotting fish and judging by the way the Howler was bucking and shaking its roads were little more than a collection of potholes. Considering that was the state of affairs in what passed for the free parts of the country Drax had been loathe to think much on what its prisons were like.

They were big, it turned out when she drew the ATV up to what she assumed passed for a parking lot near the front entrance. They were also dirty. The front of Argatala Prison was a solid wall of yellow bricks topped with barbed wire and concrete guard towers. The front entrance was a steel gate, and everything looked dusty and dilapidated. Drax felt like she needed a shower the moment her boots touched the ground. She picked the attache case off the back seat of the ATV and gave the man beside her a sideways glance. “Here we go.”

Alistair Courcy flashed her a cocky smile. “Let me do the talking and we’ll be out of here in no time.” He wore a black business suit just like her own. He’d died his hair brown for the occasion, and was wearing expensive sunglasses. Drax had to admit he looked good. He looked damned good. He exuded precisely that mix of confidence, authority and impatience that put people on their toes and made them want to make him somebody else’s problem as fast as possible. Courcy had a gift for theatrics, for understanding the way his audience thought, and for worming his way into that thinking to make people do what he wanted. He could have been a phenomenal actor, or a great psychotherapist. As it was, he was neither of those things. “Come on then,” he continued, his voice suddenly much louder and irritable, “we haven’t got all day!”

“Yes sir,” she wryly replied as she followed him in his short march up to the guard house. Several guards in shabby khaki uniforms and armed with old but well-maintained rifles had emerged, and Courcy walked right up to the one with the sergeant’s stripes on his epaulettes. “You there,” he motioned to the sergeant, his voice full of brash arrogance. “Open the gate. I need to speak to your commander.”

The sergeant frowned, clearly taken aback. “And who might you be?” he replied, already defensively.

Courcy produced a tri-fold wallet marked with a logo depicting a silver twin helix morphing into dual stylized snake heads with fangs exposed. The combination of the ancient caduceus and a DNA strand would be instantly recognized almost anywhere in the world, but would be especially so in a nation where the corporation associated with it operated sixty-seven percent of advanced medical clinics. “Garrick Amon. I’m with SinGen. I have urgent business to discuss with your commander.”

The sergeant seemed like he was about to object, but Courcy immediately interrupted him. “Sergeant. I’m in a certain amount of trouble today. I’ve come a long way and the only thing I've got going for me is that I’ve recently had my shots. That means it’s almost certain you are in more trouble than I am, even though you may not feel the rash yet. I work in Epidemiology. Do you know what that means?” He didn’t wait for a response. “It means disease. Plagues. Cholera, Ebola, other such nasties. The sooner you come to the conclusion I'm telling you the truth the better off we're all gonna be. Why don't you get your watch commander.”

The sergeant paled a little and his hand flinched to his walkie-talkie. At that point Drax lost track of the conversation because the tiny receiver in her left ear came alive with the voice of Anthemum Dubal. The Dukes’ electronics expert sounded agitated. “Boss, I know you can’t respond right now, but you have to know- my girl back home came through on who’s hired the Black Bishop. It’s not good, boss. It’s Paragon Security. Ritzy says last night Par-Sec flew one of their special spooky outfits onto the carrier from their facility near the Mandate. Shit, boss, I think you’re about to have a Reaper team drop on your pause. Get out of there. Like, get out of there right now.” The feed cut out the same instant the sergeant began agitatedly beckoning his underlings to open the side-door into the prison.

The next fifteen minutes were a whirlwind of opening steel security doors, walks down hallways lined by overpopulated cells and offices full of people with increasingly large numbers of stars on their uniforms as the human chameleon Alistair Courcy bluffed, threatened and coerced his way up the prison food chain. Drax tried to ignore the itching feeling in her palms, or the prickling sensation in the back of her skull every time she turned her back to a door, or the sweat that was starting to trickle down her back. She resisted the urge to look at her watch every few seconds, but she had the distinct impression they were running out of time.

When they finally did, Courcy was speaking to the commander of Argatala Prison in his spartan office overlooking the central prison yard. Courcy’s story had shifted subtly with every new person he had to explain his presence to, selling each the idea that their underlings had given the wrong impression of what the foreigners were here to accomplish. Each of them had poked and prodded at his identity, even looked him up online, but when Alistair Courcy devised a cover he made sure it was air-tight. Right now he was passing himself off as a SinGen manager trying to get his wrongly imprisoned star researcher out of prison. “You misunderstand me, commander. I’m not asking you to do anything. I’m telling you to release her into my custody, because if you don’t my company will buy this place and tear it down to build hamburger stands. I was hoping not to make a fuss because frankly it's embarassing to our corporation and I assumed you would be reasonable, but if I must I can call the regional governor so you can explain to him why you are wasting my time?”

The prison commander looked frustrated and clearly wasn’t used to being talked to in this manner. “Mister Amon,” he began and wiped beads of sweat off his forehead. “I assure you that won’t be necessary. These papers are, uh, very convincing,” he looked at the paperwork Courcy had put together. The centerpiece was what for all the world looked like an official SinGen contract with Savage’s photo on it specifying immunity from local law enforcement. “It’s just that this is most unusual. I was told this woman was being held for very different reasons. There must have been a mistake somewhere-”

From her position in the prison commander’s office Drax had a great view of the top of the guard tower at the back of the prison yard suddenly exploding in a burst of fire. The detonation was so violent it blew out the commander’s office’s windows, throwing its occupants to the floor and showering them with fragments of wire glass. Drax lifted herself off the floor and grabbed Courcy’s shoulder. “They’re here. Get out.”

The spy looked at her, dismay on his face and consternation in his eyes. “What about you?”

“I’ll try and find our woman. This just stopped being your job, there’s no point in the both of us sticking around. Get out, take the Howler and wait at the rendezvous.”

A muffled, low and loud rumble echoed through the yard. The prison wall near the destroyed tower suddenly bent inward like someone was rolling a bowling ball over a bed sheet, then simply disintegrated into a collapsing chaos of stone and dust that rained down stones and debris on the yard, injuring or killing inmates left and right. Shadowy figures emerged from the dust that swirled through the gaping hole in the outer wall. They wore black body armor over desert camouflage and carried assault rifles. Their faces were obscured by black helmets, reflective goggles and skull balaclavas. They immediately opened indiscriminate fire on the inmates. Screams of confusion turned to screams of fear and pain. Drax cursed and dragged the prison commander down to the floor. “The woman. Where is the woman.”

“B block, cell 13.” He gasped in disbelief. “What in the name of all that’s holy is going on?”

“You’re being killed, is what’s going on,” Drax came up on a low crouch. “Good luck with that.”

Rows of overcrowded cells flashed by as Aurora hurried down its dingy ill-lit corridors. The air was full of chaos. Alarms blared through the prison. Somewhere up ahead in the distance she could hear the sound of gunfire as the Reapers engaged prison security. That wouldn’t last long, she estimated. Inmates banged on their steel doors and clamored loudly for information about what was going on. Drax ignored them. They were all dead men walking anyway. She’d taken a carbine from a guard who’d gladly parted with his weapon after she’d swung her briefcase hard into his solar plexus. B block felt like it was light years away. But as luck would have it she made it there before the Reapers did.

Cell 13 was a somber room with bare stone walls. One tiny window was set high in the wall, too small for even the scrawniest human to crawl through even if it hadn’t been closed off with metal bars. There was a bucket in a corner and three battered and rusting bunk beds was clearly not enough for the number of men and women locked inside. They were scared people in drab clothes. Locked in a cage like human vermin. They all looked the same to Drax. They all looked like sheep. All except one.

Savage was tall and athletic, with high cheekbones, sun-bleached shoulder-length blonde hair and hard, steady eyes. She wore a white men's dress shirt, well-worn black fatigue pants and hunting boots. She that weird sort of agelessness about her that meant she could be anywhere between thirty and sixty years old. She lay on the cleanest-looking bunk like she owned it and gave Drax an inquisitive look through the bars. “You wouldn’t happen to be here to get me out, would you?”

“As it turns out,” Drax said. “I would. You about ready to go?”

“If you have the keys.”

“I have the next best thing.” She put down the briefcase, retrieved a plastic explosive charge from its false bottom and attached it to the cell door. It blew the lock off with a dull thump and the cell door swung open. “Bad guys with big guns probably heard that noise. I suggest we take our leave.”

***

The gunfire had stopped. Drax wondered if that meant there was nobody left alive inside the prison, or that the Reapers had decided to stop executing people. Maybe they had run out of ammunition. That would be convenient. The crunch-crunch-crunch of heavy tactical boots drew closer. Drax motioned to Savage to stay down. She quietly came up into a crouch, waited another moment, then sprang around the corner and brought the carbine up in one smooth motion.

The Reaper wasn’t more than three meters away, a bulky mass of armor with a grinning skull for a face. She could smell cordite and death on him. Five rounds or no, there was no way she could miss him at this range. He recoiled a little in surprise and began to bring up his own rifle, but her barrel was already pointed straight at his chest-

Click. Clickclick. Click. The gun refused to fire. Drax looked at the carbine with a look of disgust. She could tell the Reaper was grinning even through that stupid balaclava. “Well, well, well.” His voice was low and muffled underneath his balaclava. “There you are. We figured someone was helping this chick out. I gotta say, you’re pretty good. Got any last words before I shoot you two?”

“Yeah. Sure.” Something crackled in her earpiece. Drax dropped the gun, smiled and held up her hands in two V-signs. “Four.”

The Reaper frowned. Then his head exploded.

Suddenly the air was full of whipping helicopter blades. The Stormsprite darted over the compound in a half-circle, a stream of brass cascading to the ground as its whining twin miniguns sent a storm of lead into the courtyard, forcing the Reapers diving for cover. Then it whipped into a fast half-arc and abruptly descended to the ground. Morris Les Six kept the scout helicopter hover centimeters above the ground and its guns spinning. Phani Angeimiro was strapped into the external hot seat left of the pilot and motioned at Drax and Savage. “Hey boss, how’s it hanging,” Strands of brown hair whipped around the edges of her helmet. She held an impressive-looking rifle with a free floating barrel and a big optical sight on it pressed to her shoulder. “Hop on.”

Savage looked from the rifle to the headless Reaper and whistled as she hurriedly fell into one of the internal seats. “You did that from a helicopter?”

“I know, right?” The Dukes’ sniper winked. “Sometimes I astonish even myself!” She sent three quick shots at the shadow of a Reaper behind a second floor window. “All aboard Morris, let’s not be here anymore!”

The helicopter lurched upward with a whine of engines. Scattered small arms fire followed them as Les Six dove quickly up and over what remained of the prison wall and roared away at high speed only meters above the treetops. As they whirled over the Blue Assam on their way back to Argatala and the Southern Valkyrie Drax poked Savage with her elbow, a broad grin on her face. “Some rescue, right?” she shouted over the din of the engines.

Savage nodded slowly as she sagged a little in her seat. Her expression was hard to read. “Well done, well done indeed captain… Much obliged. Kovacs sent you? I figured as much. You know, if you keep this up, I might just have to find a use for you people...”

[Thanas]

Rheinland
Großbremen
Vulkanwerft AG

After a bit of a debate, Rheinland Schiffbau offered a modified version of the Derfflinger - class to Orion.

To: Royal Orion Navy, Orion

Your Excellencies,

Rheinland Schiffbau is proud to offer what it considers the pinnacle of capital ship combat, the Derfflinger-class battlecruiser.

While your missive requires that a battleship should be supposed to withstand its own weapons, we can state with certainty that armouring a ship to withstand the massive anti-ship missiles launched by the Derfflinger would be counter productive, for the amount of armour needed would make such a ship too expensive and too ineffective for the tonnage - providing that the armor is actually able to withstand a direct shaped-charge hit. We are sceptical about the chances of armour when confronted with a 1600lb warhead hitting at speeds of up to mach 3. Through all simulations and testing, we found that stealth and defence systems are a better guarantee than putting your trust into armour.

That being said, the Derfflinger-class battlecruiser is actually pound by pound the heaviest-armoured ship built by Rheinland since the 1950s. Her armour is designed to resist 1000lb bombs and harpoon warheads. While it might not prevent damage by heavier calibers, it will surely lessen the effects of them.

We feel comfortable that the standard armament suffices against any foe. However, in accordance to your specific wishes we have made the following changes:

Standard Armament:
- 1 155mm/62 cal turret. This turret has a stealth shape to avoid detection. If preferred, the turret can be switched for a 57mm turret to reduce costs.
- 4*4 long-range antiship missile launchers. Wave-skimming Rheinland Backbreaker missile, delivering a payload of 800kg up to 600 miles. Two launchers are situated behind the gun turret, another two near the helipad/hangar. When not in use, launchers are retracted for maximum stealth.
- 432 launch cells in 108 VLS modules (4 cells per module) arranged in 12 sockets, with each socket holding 3*3 rows of modules.
Capable of delivering all types of missiles from Tomahawks (max 1 per cell) to AA missiles (max 4 ESSM per cell).
- 4 533mm torpedo tubes capable of firing torpedoes or ASW missiles
- 4 RAM and 4 CIWS systems for point defence.
- passive protection includes Armor scaled up against harpoon and 1000lb bomb hits. Might work against tomahawk and other larger missiles though nobody wants to find out.
Cost: 6 billion

To accommodate every single one of your proposals we have had to made the following changes to the design:

Proposal 1: Reconfigured battlecruiser armament, directly confirming to the wishes of Orion:
- 4*4 long-range antiship missile launchers - no change.
- 1 6" 155mm/62 cal single turret near the bow. - no change
- Main gun battery: 6 12" guns on vertical mounts below deck, covered by the deck to maximize stealth (Hatches will be opened before firing). Guns can be rotated and elevated to allow shells to hit targets in case of guidance failure and to lessen stress on guidance systems. . Guns fire gliding or rocket-assisted projectiles as well as subcaliber rounds for greater range. Heavily armored magazine carrying up to 200 shells (12" main caliber as well as 8" subcaliber) per gun replaces sockets 3&4. - Replaces sockets 1&2
- 2 6" 155mm/62 cal dual turret, stealth shape (alternatively using less space as simple retractable turrets but this might have reliability issues). Each dual turret replacing one socket of VLS modules. Location: Directly after superstructure, replacing VLS sockets 5&6.
- 72 VLS cells for Tomahawk cruise missiles (socket 7&11 same as before) - can be mixed in configuration with sockets 8&12
- 72 VLS cells for up to 288 AA missiles (socket 8&12, remaining as before) - can be mixed in configuration with socket 7&12
- 2 6" 155mm/62 cal dual turrets, replacing sockets 9&10
- 4 533mm torpedo tubes capable of firing torpedoes or ASW missiles
- 2 RAM and 4 CIWS systems for point defence.
- passive protection remaining the same.
[Other capabilities the same as above]
Price: 7.5 Billion + 2 billion development costs for lead ship

Your excellencies, though we could certainly build such a ship, it would be in our opinion a massive design failure. In essence, one would sacrifice 75% of the missile capability in exchange for a secondary battery that is of dubious value at best. Any air target would be easier engaged with AA missiles - especially as engaging it with a secondary battery would mean risking the ship as it would be inside the air targets weapons envelope. Any ground target would already be capable of being engaged with the bow gun, which after all is capable of rapid firing. It is hard to see any ground target surviving against direct 155mm hits - and if it is capable of doing so, engaging it with 9 or ten 155mm turrets won't make a difference. We do not see the value in a main gun battery either. It means sacrificing at least 132 VLS cells which in max land-attack configuration would mean 132 tomahawks. Those weapons could be fired with a margin of safety against land targets. Bringing the ship into gun range of land however would mean exposing it to anti-ship missile batteries. As many nations field land-based anti ship missiles who at the very least are somewhat comparable to our backbreaker missile, we feel this to be a foolish risk. Rheinland - facing the same problems for their large battleships - developed a rocket-aided munition against this threat, which did increase the range dramatically. However, the ship is to weak to handle the recoil of the 20" and 18" guns this munition was developed for and could only handle 12" guns (unless the guns are stored in an old turret/barbette system, but this would wreck any stealth signature). We are capable of developing 12" subcaliber munition with the same range, but then we run into the efficiency problem. For the 8" subcaliber munition would carry only a comparable punch to a standard heavy artillery shell of 200mm and much less than that of a Tomahawk missile. Thus, we feel that a main gun caliber would be a massive failure on a safety, tactical and value basis.

Proposal 2: If it has to be 70kt tons
A max proposal for the Battlecruiser. Going up to 70.000 tons brings us up to:
- 1 155mm/62 cal turret. This turret has a stealth shape to avoid detection. If preferred, the turret can be switched for a 57mm turret to reduce costs.
- 8*8 long-range antiship missile launchers.
- 648 launch cells in 162 VLS modules (4 cells per module) arranged in 18 sockets, with each socket holding 3*3 rows of modules.
- 8 533mm torpedo tubes capable of firing torpedoes or ASW missiles
- 12 RAM and 12 CIWS systems for point defence.
- passive protection includes Armor scaled up against harpoon and 1000lb bomb hits, but not enough to withstand the large anti-ship missiles.
Price: 12 billion + 2 billion development cost for the initial ship.

It is the opinion of Rheinland Schiffbau that this proposal would definitely be putting too many eggs into one basket. The massive size might negate the stealth advantages and emissions are certainly bound to be higher. Certainly this would be a very hard ship to sink, but the massive cost would mean essentially sacrificing one carrier for a battlecruiser. This has proven to be a bad calculation for the Nipponese Navy in the past.

Seeking a compromise, Rheinland Schiffbau proposes:
Proposal #4 - if it has to be guns....
- 1 6" 155mm/62 cal turret near the bow. This turret has a stealth shape to avoid detection. Replaces standard single turret. #
- 4*4 long-range antiship missile launchers.
- Main gun battery: 6 12" guns on vertical mounts below deck, covered by the deck to maximize stealth (Hatches will be opened before firing). Guns can be rotated and elevated to allow shells to hit targets in case of guidance failure. Replaces sockets 1&2. Heavily armored magazine replaces sockets 3&4 .
- 4 533mm torpedo tubes capable of firing torpedoes or ASW missiles
- 2 RAM and 4 CIWS systems for point defence.
- 8 VLS sockets for a total of 256 cells.
- passive protection includes Armor scaled up against harpoon and 1000lb bomb hits, but not enough to withstand the large anti-ship missiles.
Cost: 7 billion + 1 billion development cost for lead ship

In our opinion this design retains most of the missile armament, while abandoning the nonsensical secondary battery. In short, in this design one would be sacrificing 25% of the missile armament for the dubious advantage of the main gun battery.

However, we feel our basic Derfflinger-class battlecruiser will provide the best bang for the buck, so to speak, and actually will be the hardest to find and to sink of all the designs.

Your excellencies, we remain your humble and obdt. servants,
Rheinland Schiffbau board of directors

Rheinland
Großbremen
Vulkanwerft AG

While Rheinland Shiffbau was having trouble making sense of the design requirements of the Orions, Vulkanwerft simply dusted up a copy of the last battleship proposal they made as a design study.

To: Royal Orion Navy, Orion

Your Excellencies,

we are delighted at the opportunity to offer you our design for a 70kt nuclear-powered battleship.

Dimensions:
Displacement:
59.374 t light; 62.850 t standard; 67.120 t normal; 70.537 t full load

Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep)
(1.041,10 ft / 1.000,00 ft) x 120,00 ft x (29,53 / 30,76 ft)
(317,33 m / 304,80 m) x 36,58 m x (9,00 / 9,38 m)

Armament:
6 - 18,00" / 457 mm 50,0 cal guns - 3.500,00lbs / 1.587,57kg shells, 120 per gun
Breech loading guns in turret on barbette mounts, 1950 Model
2 x Triple mounts on centreline, forward evenly spread
1 raised mount - superfiring

Armour:
- Gun armour: Face (max) Other gunhouse (avg) Barbette/hoist (max)
Main: 26,0" / 660 mm 12,0" / 305 mm 18,0" / 457 mm

- Armoured deck - single deck: 8,00" / 203 mm For and Aft decks
Forecastle: 8,00" / 203 mm Quarter deck: 8,00" / 203 mm
- Conning towers: Forward 20,00" / 508 mm, Aft 0,00" / 0 mm

Machinery:
Nuclear power, range unlimited
Maximum speed: 33 knots, cruising speed 30 knots

Complement:
2.079 - 2.704

Comments:
Hull space for machinery, storage, compartmentation is excellent
Room for accommodation and workspaces is excellent
Ship has slow, easy roll, a good, steady gun platform
Excellent seaboat, comfortable, can fire her guns in the heaviest weather

Builder comments:

You are searching for a big gun? Look no further. This design features six of the same 18"/50 cal guns installed on the IRNS Dolphin, those mighty guns firing superheavy shells that sunk the mighty Yamato. For a small increase in price we can switch them for four of the 20" guns installed on the INRS Elizabeth, but your RFP did preclude such a design. The 18" guns fire a fast variety of guided and unguided munitions, including rocket-assisted and subcaliber shells. This has managed to increase the range of the main guns to medium missile range. They are the pinnacle in battleship gun evolution.

As this design has been in use by the Rheinland Navy for several decades, it is tested and proven. Due to the decision by Rheinland to decommission its batlteship fleet in the next year, you would be able to take advantage of becoming Vulkanwerft's main customer of 18" ammunition. This obviously would greatly decrease cost and you might be able to buy munitions in bulk from Rheinland war storage.

The guns are stored in stealth turrets heavily armored with steel armor with several layers of composite armor plate on top, up to a total of 26". 18" of the same protection is used to armor the barbettes and magazines. We feel comfortable in stating very few, if any, missiles can penetrate this much armor.

In addition to the main guns, the ship also carries a total of 288 VLS cells for missiles, as well as over 16 CIWS and RAM modules. 6 torpedoes can fire anything from standard to ASW torpedoes and missiles. The helipad and enclosed hangar feature storage space for two VSTOL fighters or up to six helicopters. The ship also carries all the sensor suites anybody could ever want and is capable of large-scale battle management.

But you are not interested in that. You are interested in knowing how well this ship will stand up to missile hits. To limit the loss of one compartment, we are proposing that compartments such as the hangar could be considered expendable. The only things worth protecting are machinery, weapons, sensors and control centers.

The ship is double-hulled. There is a three-feet space between the inner and outer hull. The outer hull is armored against missiles up to and including harpoon strikes and 1000lb bombs. The inner hull provides the same protection and is also backed by a further 6 inches of composite armor. The space between the two hulls is unused and can be filled with flame- or explosive-resisting materiel. We feel comfortable that any warhead capable of penetrating the outer hull would detonate against the inner hull and mainly vent its destructive power into the space between the two, which is especially designed to be used in that way, directing explosive energies away from the main hull. (If your design had allowed for a beam of up to 140 or 150 feet we could have made the ship completely impervious to missile fire striking the sides by introducing a third hull.) In the unlikely event that a missile will penetrate, the main danger is fire. To prevent it from spreading, any department is easily sealed from any of the two damage control centers (situated as far away from each other as possible) and be flooded with chemicals designed to put out fires. Rheinland uses the same damage control system and has never lost a ship to fire since its introduction.

We therefore feel that a threat to the ship being hit on the side is negligible. The main danger then are the bombs and rockets designed to penetrate from above. The main deck is - like the Derfflingers - protected against Harpoon hits and 1000lb bombs. However, there are stronger weapons on the market which might penetrate this armor. To prevent this, Vulkanwerft is proposing an additional 8" composite-armored deck. This deck would be running at the same level as the magazines for the main guns, then below the superstructure, hug the VLS cells and then bend down to wind below the hangar - it being protected by the main deck already and in any case it could be considered expendable. However, the VLS cells will be additionally armored as they are the weakpoint in the entire design and putting them inside the 8" composite deck would be otherwise compromising the strength of it.

We feel reasonable comfortable in stating that with such protection, the ship would be able to survive most missile hits. As the CIC and DC centers as well as machinery and steering are located well inside this armored box, we feel the ship - even if she would be mission-killed - would be able to survive well enough to reach port.

A few notes - the large armored deck means reactor replacement and refueling is nearly impossible unless one wants to take off the armored deck. This however would cost so much that building a new ship would be as expensive as refueling. Thus, this ship is already designed from the start to have four instead of two reactors, meaning that when one reactor nears the end of his life its production can be replaced by starting one of the others. To this end we have developed a special start-procedure and technique This costs a lot of space however. It would therefore be more economical and practical to have the ship run on traditional oil- or gas-powered turbines. Though Rheinland turbines do not achieve the same performance as nuclear propulsion, they are highly effective.

This ship in short would be near unsinkable and it can be yours for the mere price of 24 billion a piece plus 8 billion in development costs for the lead ship.

Your obdt. servants,
Vulkanwerft board of directors
Free City of Großbremen

**************
Results:
- Basically, I struggle with the sense of guns in the age of missile warfare. However, I feel the last proposal by Rheinland shipping actually makes some sense. It takes the Derfflinger and replaces the first four VLS sockets with the main guns and magazines. The guns actually make sense if the ship is supposed to be a land bombardement ship as a complimentary armament if the ship is always well protected against missile fire from land. In a sea-combat context, they are stupid though and the customer would be better served by going for a real Derfflinger.
- Vulkanwerft actually proposes a 70kt battleship which uses loads of composite armor and several hulls plus lots of armor and other highly expensive techniques to make the ship nearly immune to damage. Oh, and it is stealthy too. Even better, it only costs 32 billion.
The price would be lessened to 12 billion if one foregoes the use of composite armor and replaces it with standard Rheinland T-grade Steel armor plate, though this would obviously increase the vulnerability to shaped warhead charges which would obviously defeat the purpose of the design.

[Thanas]

Rheinländische Tageszeitung

Luftmiliz to be abolished
In a move widely expected in the defence circles, the defence ministry announced that the Luftmiliz, the main reservist force of the Luftwaffe, will be abolished. A spokesperson for the ministry had this to say:

"The original concept of the Luftmiliz was to have a ready pool of experienced pilots to be mobilized in a crisis. However, on the modern battlefield survivability of the old planes the Luftmiliz is flying is close to zero and their combat potential is the same. Meanwhile, the Luftmiliz is a drag on the finances of the real Luftwaffe, as the bureaucracy for the quick mobilization has to be paid. Furthermore, maintenance has to be at least sporadically done to ensure the planes keep flying. Therefore, it has been decided to abolish the Luftmiliz.

Any planes will be put into deep storage and/or serve as spare parts. Though it is conceivable that in a conflict that lasts over a year some or all of the old planes will be mobilized, we do not think they will make much of an impact either way. The mobilization schedule for Luftwaffe reservists will be changed to account for this. Though there are cost savings, we expect them to be eaten up by the cost of developing future weapon systems and the new maintenance cycles for the current 5th gen fighter jets."

Asides from Rheinland, only Cascadia has a similar instiution in their National Air Guard.

Rescue efforts in Champa continue
Die Rheinländische Tageszeitung has obtained an exclusive interview with Oberst Sergio Torregrossa, commander of the 116th Engineer Bataillon currently deployed in Champa. In this, he talks about the challenges while helping the Champans recover from a tragedy of their own making. For more, see pg. 6

Results:
- Luftmiliz to be abolished. Planes put up for sale to foreign powers (if anybody is interested in old or semi-old planes like the first generation of A-10 and F-16 equivalents), scrapped or put into deep storage.

[Steve]

Portland Federal District
15 February 2014

Presidents didn't get weekends.

"You know," Alex began, fitting his cufflinks onto his tux, "I would have thought the most powerful man in the country could set his own schedule."

"You do," Rachel reminded him, walking up and looking astounding even in the conservative green and white evening dress she was in. She fixed his tie with time-worn patience. "And I would have thought that after years in the service, in the courts, and in politics, you would have learned how to use neckties."

"A good thing I married a woman smarter than me," Alex answered with a sly grin.

"Flattery will get you... somewhere." Rachel's eyes twinkled.

When they were finished Alex took the time to check on the children. Thomas was out of his playpen and playing on the floor with a toy firetruck. Sophia, who was theoretically watching her little brother, seemed more intent on her book. Alex tried to look at the cover, but Sophia saw him and lowered the book, giving him an irritable look. "Yes Dad?"

"Just curious," he answered.

"It's a history of post-war Nippon," she answered. "Fitting given who you're going to celebrate."

Oh. It was that tone of voice. Sophia had something of an idealist-activist streak in her, all things be told.

"It's politics, Sophie."

"He was still a monster," Sophia retorted. "He bragged about it. You should have told them no!"

Alex sighed. As much as he wished he could stay home, the fact was he had made commitments to attend the Mark Sheppard Birthday Gala.

"I'd rather be home," he admitted. "But part of any job, especially his one, is that sometimes you give up what you want or believe for what you need."

Sophia shrugged dismissively and went back to her book.

"Ready?", Rachel called out from the bedroom, making her own final preparations for the evening. As she emerged from the bedroom, makeup work completed, Rachel checked the time. "The motorcade is due to start in about ten minutes, we'd better get going."

"Alright." He leaned over and gave Sophia a smooch on he forehead. He had to bend over and pick his son up to do the same with little Thomas. "Be good, little guy. Your sister's patience is running low."

"Alex..."

"Coming, dear."



The motorcade took them into the Rose Quarter and the old Waltman-Rogers, one of the oldest high society hotels in the capital. Other guests were already streaming in when they arrived at the side door, where Secret Service and Federal District Police waited to escort the First Couple in.

Once they were inside there was some cheering and applause. They were brought up to the big table, beside wihich a large portrait of General Sheppard was set up. Alex scanned the crowd, mostly made up of blue and cyan uniforms from Air Force and Air Guard officers. Some black Navy uniforms and green Army ones could be seen, as well as the formal suits of many politicians and private individuals. Naturally, here were some highly annoying individuals amongst them.

And then he noticed a head of gray hair. "Oh no," he breathed as his eyes settled on one of the ambassadorial guests.

Dr. Atsu. The Nipponese-born Rhenish ambassador to Cascadia.

This was most certainly going to be interesting.

[Simon_Jester]

Umerian Antarctic Territorial Claim
Somewhere Near 70° S, 93° E.
February 3, 2014

The crew had flown all this way in by skiplane, trekked at least fifteen kilometers in big-wheeled snowtrucks with a suspension that really needed work, bundled up in more layers than Farm-no-More Palmtree wanted to think about given that he was still freezing his tailbone off. All to set up, in the middle of nowhere, a giant bullseye. What was, essentially, a Mylar tent. A big tent. Hundreds of meters long. Strung on a backing framework made of heavy-duty PVC pipe, weighted down with rocks.

Not that many rocks, come to think of it. He frowned. "If the wind kicks up hard enough this is all for nothing; that's a big sail area."

"So climb up and cut some more holes in the foil."

"...Go to hell."

"Probably warm this time of year."

Palmtree groaned, he'd walked right into that one. Industriousness could be such a wise guy sometimes. Then Palmtree's friend chuckled, dusting snow from his heavy gloves.

"I figure the engineers put in enough holes, anyway. We get paid even if this thing gets blown away. Do they?"

"I guess. But seriously, they sent us all this way to build something so they could fire a missile at it?"

"Maybe more than one. And at the others." His friend nodded to the west.

"I hope they have us stand back."

"Waaay back."