Vernii
21-04-2004, 04:41
For a few moments, the ticking of the antique clock mounted on the wall of the conference room was the only noise.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
A mahogany conference table sat in the center of the nicely decorated room, around it were several Admirals of the People's Navy, Naval Affairs Commissioners, bureaucrats from the Navy's support structure, Fleet Admiral Harris, and Secretary of War Ronald Bergren.
Admiral Koenig sat there, returning Bergren's gaze unflinchingly. They sat there, staring at each other for several more seconds before Bergren finally spoke, "Let me get this straight, you are proposing that we should sell half of our Wall?" One of the assembled Admirals shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Koenig sighed slightly, "Yes, Mr. Secretary, that is exactly what I am proposing. Our existing battleships pose an unnessecary burden on funding and maintainence, using resources that would be better spent on our dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts."
"But the battleships were built so we wouldn't have to overburden our dreadnoughts with useless garrison and light combat roles!" Bergren exclaimed.
"Yes! The dreadnoughts were meant for fleet combat, but we haven't been using them for that. With the exception of two squadrons out of eight, all of them are in orbit right now over our world. That's billions upon billions of solaris simply floating up there. And yes, I agree with the mission roles the battleships were designed for, but we made the mistake of using them for the brunt of fleet combat during our war with Valinon and Taka, and that's why we lost Yalta, because we were afraid to risk our proper ships of the Wall. Hell, the only reason we built the Triumphants and Ferdinands in the first place was because we lacked sufficient orbital industrial capacity to build up a proper fleet of dreadnoughts. But now we do have that capacity, but we still continue to fill our fleet with ships we have no real use for."
Bergren looked around the table, seeing many of the assembled people nodding in agreement, and realized he was outnumbered. "What's your opinion Tom?"
A gray haired man wearing a nicely tailord business suit looked up. "Oh, uh, give me a moment Ron..." He pulled a datapad out of his pocket and studied it for a moment. "We have 126,000 crewmen on our 42 battleships. If we could free up that manpower, we could crew 25 dreadnoughts..." Koenig took advantage of the pause, "That would increase our Wall by a half again."
"Alright! We'll do it. We'll decommission and sell most of the Triumphants, but not the A's, they are still extremely effective missile platforms. Harris, I haven't heard a word out of you yet."
The Fleet Admiral looked up, "Hm? Oh, sorry. I was just contemplating what I could do with 72 dreadnoughts. Although, the Treasury is going to scream like it's being mugged, and that won't be too inaccurate." He grinned evilly.
One of the other Admirals piped up. "We could all stop by their with some baseball bats if they need a little extra convincing!" The table burst into laughter. "Alright, what was next on the agenda, oh yeah, distributing the Lion class dropships among our transports..."
The clock chimed loudly, but no one noticed.
OOC: For sell are: 24 Triumphant class battleships. (http://s6.invisionfree.com/International_Mall/index.php?showtopic=55)
Each one masses 18 million tons, and mounts 31 missile tubes per broadside, along with ten 300cm lasers and ten 350cm grasers. Each costs the normal price as in the storefront, but delivery will be immediate, no waiting period. If you buy six or more, you get a 10% discount.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
A mahogany conference table sat in the center of the nicely decorated room, around it were several Admirals of the People's Navy, Naval Affairs Commissioners, bureaucrats from the Navy's support structure, Fleet Admiral Harris, and Secretary of War Ronald Bergren.
Admiral Koenig sat there, returning Bergren's gaze unflinchingly. They sat there, staring at each other for several more seconds before Bergren finally spoke, "Let me get this straight, you are proposing that we should sell half of our Wall?" One of the assembled Admirals shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Koenig sighed slightly, "Yes, Mr. Secretary, that is exactly what I am proposing. Our existing battleships pose an unnessecary burden on funding and maintainence, using resources that would be better spent on our dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts."
"But the battleships were built so we wouldn't have to overburden our dreadnoughts with useless garrison and light combat roles!" Bergren exclaimed.
"Yes! The dreadnoughts were meant for fleet combat, but we haven't been using them for that. With the exception of two squadrons out of eight, all of them are in orbit right now over our world. That's billions upon billions of solaris simply floating up there. And yes, I agree with the mission roles the battleships were designed for, but we made the mistake of using them for the brunt of fleet combat during our war with Valinon and Taka, and that's why we lost Yalta, because we were afraid to risk our proper ships of the Wall. Hell, the only reason we built the Triumphants and Ferdinands in the first place was because we lacked sufficient orbital industrial capacity to build up a proper fleet of dreadnoughts. But now we do have that capacity, but we still continue to fill our fleet with ships we have no real use for."
Bergren looked around the table, seeing many of the assembled people nodding in agreement, and realized he was outnumbered. "What's your opinion Tom?"
A gray haired man wearing a nicely tailord business suit looked up. "Oh, uh, give me a moment Ron..." He pulled a datapad out of his pocket and studied it for a moment. "We have 126,000 crewmen on our 42 battleships. If we could free up that manpower, we could crew 25 dreadnoughts..." Koenig took advantage of the pause, "That would increase our Wall by a half again."
"Alright! We'll do it. We'll decommission and sell most of the Triumphants, but not the A's, they are still extremely effective missile platforms. Harris, I haven't heard a word out of you yet."
The Fleet Admiral looked up, "Hm? Oh, sorry. I was just contemplating what I could do with 72 dreadnoughts. Although, the Treasury is going to scream like it's being mugged, and that won't be too inaccurate." He grinned evilly.
One of the other Admirals piped up. "We could all stop by their with some baseball bats if they need a little extra convincing!" The table burst into laughter. "Alright, what was next on the agenda, oh yeah, distributing the Lion class dropships among our transports..."
The clock chimed loudly, but no one noticed.
OOC: For sell are: 24 Triumphant class battleships. (http://s6.invisionfree.com/International_Mall/index.php?showtopic=55)
Each one masses 18 million tons, and mounts 31 missile tubes per broadside, along with ten 300cm lasers and ten 350cm grasers. Each costs the normal price as in the storefront, but delivery will be immediate, no waiting period. If you buy six or more, you get a 10% discount.