NationStates Jolt Archive

Aboard the Wastelands class dreadnaught, Willard Broadstreet quietly paced the length of the virtual conference center (VCC). The glowing lights from various displays did not disturb the essential inkiness of the VCC. The conference itself had not begun yet.

He was disappointed, to say the least, that the Santa Barbarans had chosen time recently to mess around with the Crimmond Combine, instead of bringing their ships here, as planned, to Mercury.

But, nonetheless. Here, it would begin.

Broadstreet, a Core Commander of the Joint Interplanetary Legions, paused now before a nondistinct 2-d control surface along the wall opposite the single, closed door. A moment later, and he'd brought up holographic displays of both Earth and Mercury, with tiny hyperlinked specks representing orbital contacts.

Unlike in so many science fiction movies of the past, the holograms did not hum or whirr or chirp, but was as quiet and still as the dead of space. Mercury. Earth. Contacts. It was sterile, scientific, not flashy, and he liked it that way.

As the dreadnaught's central computer's clock rounded the 0900 hour, an ultrasecure communications link was automatically established with the commanders of the CRC:

Rear Admiral Martac, Fleet Admiral Rowe, Fleet Admiral Petrovich, Strategic Core Subcommander Vojska, and the other commanders of the Order national fleets; some of which had already arrived, others which were just arriving or, like the Santa Barbarans, not even left yet.

Where the technology and space permitted it, Broadstreet's image was projected holographically into more or less identical displays in the other vessels. The other commanders were, meanwhile, also translated into holograms, and appeared on the table, staring at him ghost-like.

He nodded curtly at the group. Clasping his hands behind his back and standing tall, he addressed them all, the highest ranked field commanders of Cspalla, Sketch, Tappee and other participant Order nations.

"So. I am Core Commander Broadstreet, JIL commander of the 1st IWBS, functional overseer of this CSF operation. I trust you have all received preliminary data; the purpose of this meeting is for questions, clarifications, and improvements for the sake of accuracy, safety and efficiency."

Admiral Graf Spee was sitting at his desk, surrounded by mounds of papers. Progress reports, situational reports, intelligence analysis, everything. Quietly he shuffled through the pile, not that it mattered, but he always felt a little guilty about working when he wa supposed to be listening. Of course no one actually saw any of this. Even the dmiral of the SDF space fleet would not presume to be so rude to his compatriots. No, none of his actions were actually being broadcasted acorss time and space. Instead, a "placeholder" holo was running. Able to mimic the standard idle movements of the body and duplicate mouth movements and body language whenever the admiral spoke, the "fake" holo allowed Spee to catch up on his work while "tending" important functions. It wasn't as if his presence was absolutely required either, all these stuffy organizers wanted important high ranking attendees when a simple field commander would be more than enough. Spee snorted at the idea, pausing, he casted an eye over to the corner of his desk - no, voice mimic wasn't activated yet.

Finally finding what he was looking for, Admiral Graf Spee leaned back in his chair - yet another plus of rank and holoduplicates, and flipped through the report - Fleet construction project GOETIA. Again Spee snorted and rolled his eyes, why was it that the project namers always had to use some sort of occult naming scheme? Eyeballing the numbers infront of him, he sighed. Yes, fleet construction was running 12% ahead of schedule; yes, the officer's training corps was keeping up; and yes, the technology has been tested, retested and proven fully capable. But.....Spee couldn't help but feel that it wasn't enough. The project has been running for four years already, with nearly a dozen ships produced each year - far below normal Sketchian production standards and capabilties. His hands tied by the oversight committee, Admiral Graf Spee had to limit the amount of drain his project had on the economy - and it was a large one. He was told that "in order to maintain upmost secrecy, there will be a limited amount of materials will be diverted as to prevent any unwanted attention". Like a fleet out of no where wouldn't raise any eyebrows.....

After some more flipping and some more pondering of numbers, statistics and timetables, Admiral Graf Spee satisfied his work ethic for the moment and turned to focus on the matter at hand. Quickly glancing over the data feed he had received not long ago, he grimaced, there was more there than he could just "glance over". Muttering quietly to himself, he set about reading the data. Coming across an interesting anomaly, he rechecked the timestamp on his datasheet, damn.....over 24 hours old. I'm gonna look slow by asking this.....

Excuse me, Core Commander Broadsheet, Spee began. Could you clarify the exact location of where the exercise is to take place? There seems to be some.....ambiguity in my report.

Spee scowled mightily at needing to ask for the information, his holo on the other hand, kept a perfectly neutral face.

Fleet Admiral Alex Rowe, commanding officer of the 1st Battle Squadron of Clairmont Space Navy Home Fleet, glanced at his displays and the image of the Virtual Communications Center on the other side of the flag briefing rooms display screen. The conference should be starting soon.

Altough Rowe held alliance wide military excersises in high regard because of their usefullness in melding the different militaries of those alliances to one smoothly working machine, he would have rather been somewhere else. He would have preferred to be in the Orion Sector alongside Honor Harrington, helping the 3rd Battle Squadron and the Rebellion against Emperor Nemerov. But the First Space Lord and the Protector had cut any complaints short. No further reinforcements would be sent to the Orion Sector, period. And Rowe had left it at that. He was a loyal officer of the CSN and it was not his duty to complain about the Admiralty's and the Goverments policy, but that didnt change his feelings about the matter to the least.

He went thru the sheets of hardcopy on the table again, looking at the planned Operational Parameters as well as the force compositions. It would be an interesting few days indeed. And Rowe couldnt deny the usefullness of this excersise for the Protectorate's purposes either. It would be a chance to apply many of the doctrines ,that hadnt yet been tested, in practice and at the same time test the new hardware in a way that truly marked its effectiveness. Specifically Rowe was anxious to see the new strike fighters and their armaments in action. Judging by the specs, the new Wolfhound and Liberator strike fighter models would prove to be an extremely flexible fighting component, and there were quite a few of both of the new models coming along into this operation.

Rowe spared a look at the small holographic sphere floating mid-air a few inches above the table, bringing the nearby space and detected contacts for everyone in the flag briefing room to see. The HMS Silvana was approaching Mercury at over 46,000 kps, but the speed was decreasing steadily as the ship had passed its turn-over point and needed to slow down in order not to overshoot its designated destination. The gravitic sensors of the Silvana designated several other contacts in formation around the ship. Two massive Superdreadnoughts and a Fleet Carrier. It wasnt the whole Order of Battle of the 1st Battlesquadron for all the other ships of the Battlesquadron had arrived to Mercury sooner because of their higher acceleration capabilities. There was still ample time before the excersise was planned to commence so there was little need to rush things.

Rowe turned his attention to the main display screen at the wall of the flag briefing room as the CSF Operational Commander commenced the conference with his opening statement.

“Yes ma’am” said Admiral Gary Martac to the woman on the other side of the view. He was talking to none other then Fleet Admiral Emily Dodalla, commander of the entire Fleet, and today they where talking about Martac’s upcoming assignment. “Personally I don’t see why we are even taking part in this exercise Admiral” His tone was rather harsh, the truth was that he detested Admiral Dodalla, he had always been jealous of her success. Admiral Dodalla was about 15 year his junior, but had made it through the rank quickly. Martac could feel her icy stare even through the view screen.

“You are taking part in this exercise REAR Admiral” She had place a rather large emphases on the rear to remind Martac that she was his superior, and demand his respect “because seven months ago you commanded a wet navy, now your are in command of space naval force. And despite all the retraining you are your forces are un tested, and these exercise will provide you an opportunity to prove your self”

Martac took a deep breath; he had come to the realization that he had crossed the line with the last comment. “Sorry I meant no disrespect Admiral, I just felt that we would be more needed on the front, that all” Martac had been eager involved in the Orion Sector, he had felt that fight in a major battle would give him the opportunity for advancement However, following the victory at Steel Isle, the rebellion in the Orion Sector had come to stand still.

Dodalla shifted about in her chair for a moment, Martac apology had eased the tension between the two. “Just see that the discussed mission parameter are meet, understand” she watched as Martac gave her a reassuring node. “Very well, that will be all”

Martac gave her a quick salute before cutting the connection. He let out a rather large sigh while thinking about the current situation, he couldn’t stand the idea of playing games while there was a battle to be fought. Knock on the door brought his attention back to the issue at hand. “Come in”

The Thunder Hammers Communication Officer made his way through the door “Sir we’ve just entered the system, and are now in communication range. Core Commander Broadstreet has requested a meeting of all the fleet Commanders Via a holo link”

Martac thought to himself for a moment “when does he want to begin”

“ASAP” quickly answered the COM officer

“Very well, you are dismissed” As the COM officer left the room Martac passed a series of buttons on his desk. With in seconds the lights in the room went dim, then the room itself appeared to change to represent the holographic meeting room. “Rear Admiral Gary Martac of Tappee reporting as ordered”

In the North Sea

The First projection fleet of the Northern Fleet, which had recently left port to begin warm up training exercises now had new orders. From on high they came directly from Vrak Military High Command and addressed personally to Admiral Killamo.

Slowly, the 18 ships of various classes along with sufficient replendishship vessels began to turn towards the new rendevous point. They would link up with several large amphibious ships and perhaps even some additional escort vessels north of the Vrakian Peninsula.

The Admiral wasn't exactly keen on leaving, especially with the recent antoganisms between Dyelli Beybi and Tersanctus. However, if worse came to worst, it was felt that Vrak could best help through its huge land and air forces.

Besides, some training with new friends was always worthwhile.

edit: fixed a typo.

>>Approximately 2.5 LY from the Sol System<<

The Cspallan Special Expeditionary Task Force, lead by the massive command ship Csilkhart, had dropped to sub-light speeds in order to communicate with the other exercise forces. Fleet Admiral Arkay Petrovich, commander of the entire Cspallan Space Force, had been ordered by the Grand Overlord to command Cspalla's forces in the exercise. That was why he was sitting in a holographic conference center, Cspalla's version of the VCC. He had to admit felling rather odd: his job involved sitting at the head of a table, and yet here he was, sitting amongst holographic representations of other senior military officers. Equals, he reminded himself. For now, anyway. He heard Admiral Spee's question, one he wanted to know himself. He also had one of his own., but kept his tongue for know, remembering that most nationalities didn't have meetings as…active as Cspallan ones tended to be. He chuckled softly, remembering when he had been called before the Government Council and a brief shouting match broke out. Bad idea here, Arkay.

Broadstreet nodded at Spee, as if expecting this. His holographic representation nodded too.

"There's a good reason why location isn't clarified in the reports we've all received," he said, a smile playing on his face. "We have to clarify that ourselves here, based on the needs of our various member nations as well as that of the CSF. Command has insisted we make use of both Mercury and Earth, as well as any other planets applicable to simulated warfare. And of course we are beginning in Mercury orbit."

Well, that answers that, at least. We don't know where this thing is going to be. Lovely.

"That would be nice to figure out. I would also like to know how, exactly, this will be run. Low powered weapons and receptors? Perhaps some kind of panel of judges or referees?"

Fleet Admiral Rowe gave his full attention to the Core Commander at the other end of the comlink as he stated that the location hadnt yet been verified.

"Commander Broadstreet, as you are propably aware, the Protectorate made the offer to use Clairmont Island as one of the training sites." Rowe began and prepared his arguments to support his stance in this matter.

"Especially, Clairmont Island would be ideal for an Orbital Drop Assault scenario since we have there the full range of anti-orbital weapons and defence readiness against such attacks, including Anti-Orbit Defence Installations and readiness to defend against the ground forces of the resultant planetfall phase of such an attack." The Admiral explained. Ofcourse, some of the personal pride he held towards the very impressive defensive readiness of his home Island just "might" have some effect on his argumentation but he knew that in a purely objective basis he was still right.

"In any case, just a possibility" He finished.

Finally Admiral Martac made his presence known in the conference, “Are we going to have a bunch of single scenarios, where the outcome of each scenario doesn’t matter to the over all exercise. Or a Campaign type scenario, where the outcome will affect the next scenario.”

As the fleet sailed further away from the Vrakian homeland, Admiral Killamo drummed his fingers on the railing. He looked out over his men as they went to work securing aircraft against the rough sea. The polar route that would take the fleet around the North Germanian coast was quite treacherous during the winter season. He whistled softly at his new ship, aptly named Dozle's Bane and mulled over the various exercises that his men will undertake.

He was going to take the battleship Killamo's Rage as his flagship, since he did lose his brother in that war.

But, let the ghosts sleep. There are others to fight.

edit: made a mistake in my calculations - 16 surface ships visible.

"Admiral Rowe, an excellent offer. We will require just such an island. Since our Vrakian friends do not have offensive space capability they will likely need a stronghold from which to 'defend' against a drop. Unless anyone has objections, that stronghold will be Clairmont Island."

"Admiral Martac," said Broadstreet with another nod. "The scenarios will be singular, although I am sure a creative mind could string them together as a storyline and we may place new teams based on past performance. However, our aim is to test and simulate various aspects of operations, not all of which we would expect to use in a single campaign."

Hmm, he thought. Something was missing. Ah, yes. He caught Petrovich's inquisitve glare. "The method, Admiral Petrovich, will depend on lasers, receptors, and sensors. CSF command cruisers will keep a tally of hits and inform captains if their ships have been destroyed. A similar system will be used for surface combat simulation. Damages will be simulated by system inoperation, all coordinated through computer."

The aircraft carrier Dozle's Bane along with the battleship Eviscerator, one of the few battleships that survived the Dozle war, along with their accompanying cruisers, destroyers, and frigates drew closer to their target area. The 20 amphibious ships along with the necessary replenishment vessels were safely protected by the surface combat ships. And, or course, the 4 attack submarines should help as well.

Killamo himself rested. He opened the page to his current book The History of the Pirates of Jiggady. He reflected to himself. When this is all over, I'll have to go hunting with the nobles of Rillanon. Wonder if they would mind an old sea dog like me hanging around.

Rowe had been pretty certain that the CSF Commander would approve of his suggestion, and he nodded with a slight smile on his face and continued to listen what the man had to say. When the Core Commander explained the technical aspects to the Cspallan Admiral. The system sounded a bit peculiar to him, tough he was from the CSN and used to the combat excersise system they used there.

The problem with the system would be lightspeed. Since lasers would be used as a significant part of the system, battle over several light-second distances ,or at the case of the new Multi-Drive Missiles of the CSN with their light-minute level range, would be very tricky. In the CSN, at combat excersises the computers of ships were all hardwired and programmed to simulate combat. Basically if a ship took a hit, the computers calculated the damage based on the point the weapon had hit as well as its intensity at the point of impact. If a shot for example would at normal combat situation cut the forward LIDAR array from the CIC and the Bridge, the computer would simulate the battle damage by cutting that connection artificially.If the computers determined that a ship took critical damage, the computers would go into lockdown and simulate the ship as "dead". "Cheating" wasnt possible since all ships held an encrypted log for events, a log that could only be altered with command level authority and the battles allways had observers.

At the ground, the problem would most likely be even more troublesome. Rowe didnt even want to consider how the simulated battle would run when the central computers would need to simulate every Pulse Rifle of 15,000 Clairmontian Marines putting out several thousand rounds per minute. And that wasnt even taking into account all the literally hundreds of factors that would need to be calculated at the same time, like simulation of explosions, damage to vechiles, all that.

Rowe cleared his throat and decided to voice his concerns regarding the system, but concentrated on the space part of the technique.
"Commander Broadstreed, if i understand correctly, the combat simulation will be dependant upon lightspeed systems and the usage of central nodes, in this case the Command Cruisers. Since it is more than likely that we will be simulating battle here at several light-second ranges or even light-minute ranges, depending too heavully on lightspeed systems and central nodes would prove as inefficient, especially if the volumes of fire get thick. Have you considered that the ships participating in the excersise could be quite quickly configured to fight a simulated battle where the computers aboard those ships do the work without the need for an external element? A ship suffering critical damage would be immidiately marked as "dead" and simulated as destroyed by the ships computers. The Command Cruisers instead could be used as observers to the battle, keeping a detailed log of the events of the excersise for later study."

The Vrakian projection fleet drew closer to their target area. Here, they would be playing defender against a more technologically advanced foe. The amphibous ships were finalizing checks on their cargo and final strategies were rechecked. The exercise should be helpful since their experience with Dozle showed how lacking the Vrakians were in defending against orbital drops.

Killamo read a communique from High Command. Apparently, the Tersanctus affair was almost over before it began.But, one could never turn their backs on those dogs, thought Killamo. And Tersanctus was not the only one to worry about. The Drakonian Imperium were most likely plotting.

The Crimmond incident would still be monitored, but now the SCC of the ITDO deemed it appropriate to release the 2nd Battle Squadron to Mercury for the beginning of the CSF wargames.

The squadron was experimental, costly, and advanced. Consisting of only 32 warships, including three Mars class battlecruisers, the 15 million tonne mass proved larger than the rest of the entire OOTG combined. For each of the first years of it's existence, the 2nd Battle Squadron etched another 250 billion nondollars out of the ITDO operational budget.

But they say you get what you pay for. Unlike 2nd or 3rd generation OOTG warships, these were designed using the full resources of the CSF, alien technologies and materials. Even the best scientists of the day had difficulty comprehending some of the new areas of physics which had been broken open by the trade committments.

The new warship was massive, still heavily armored in the traditional fashion, and mind-bogglingly fast. How it was possible that an entire vessel could survive the strains of 10, 100 or more G's, let alone the human crews inside, was as much as a mystery to those crews as it would be to - well, as it would be to readers with only 20th century understanding of the physical universe.

But withstand it they did. Gone were the bulky and uncomfortable acceleration couches and suits; gone too was the constant null- or micro-gravitational conditions and the sudden changes of "up" and "down" due to ship maneuvering.

The ships did retain their ancestral orientation. Architecturally more similar to vertically oriented office buildings than horizontally oriented wet-navy ships, the sheer number of decks in the massive warships would be unsurmountable if not for the ubiquitous electromagnetic lifts and the sensible, ergonomic internal layout.

So it was that three battlecruisers, two cruisers, two merchant cruisers (of the older, slower, OMI-95 type), six destroyers, six frigates, six missile frigates and seven corvettes of the experimental squadron, after resupplying and refueling at scattered OMFs in low earth orbit, set a course for the planet Mercury.

A red light on the Admiral’s desk drew his attention. Quickly Martac hit a few buttons, which caused his avatar at the meeting to become automated, he could speak out loud and the avatar would mouth the words but he could now move about freely. Waiting on his consol was a brief message that said, “The rest of the Fleet has arrived, what are your orders?”