NationStates Jolt Archive

Shogun Himura Kenshin stood on the main bridge of a ship, surveying his capitol of in the distance, gleaming in the afternoon sun. Around him, technicians added last minute touches to highly sensitive and sophisticated instruments that would be used in war. From where he stood near the captain's seat, he had a 180* panoramic view of the sparkling waters. Not a dock or pier was in sight, the ship itself was too large to be built in a harbor. He turned to his assistant, "Get the leaders of our ally nations on the line. I think they'd all be very thrilled to see the launching an maiden voyage of this remarkable new ship."
"Yes, very well Your Excellency." he said, bowing and walking off to the communications center. As he stood there, the ship's captain, Rear Admiral Jeremiah Rosuko strode over to him.
"How does the ship look, Shogun-sama?"
"Very well done," the Shogun replied. "You've been given command of quite a ship. Do you think you can handle it?"
"I've handled large ships in the past, I think I can handle this beast, Sir." he answered.
"This'll be your first surface assignment won't it? Will you be able to handle the change from a 3 dimensional to a two dimensional battlefield?" the Shogun inquired.
"Sir, there'll be absolutely zero problems."
"Good." Kenshin went back to staring out the wind screens at the dazzlingly beautiful day. The forecast didn't call for any clouds all week. How fortunate and convinent, he thought.

OOC: Tag.

Message to the SHogun
I would be honored to attend this christening.
-King John I
King of Cherry Ridge
King of the Prussian Kingdom of Burgundy

TO: Shogun Himura Kenshin
FROM: Queen Mariah I of Jeruselem

It is not customary for female monarchs from Jeruselem to attend the christening of military vessels although I am the probably the first female monarch of the Holy Lands since the Queens of Babylon.

I am sending General Shabat, Minister for Defense and Military Advisor as a more appropiate delegate as I have no real interest in large ships and am also a very bad sea traveller. He really likes things which blow other things up.

God bless
Keeper of the Holy Lands

...

Queen: Hey General, you like ships?
Shabat: The bigger the better, of course. Why?
Queen: Shogun Himura Kenshin is christening a new ship, a big one.
Shabat: Sounds great, but who's going?
Queen: You, as Minister of Defense
Shabat: Fantastic, it's about time I got to go somewhere.
Queen: Settled then
Shabat: When do I go.
Queen: Very soon, very soon
Shabat: I hope I get to test some weapons systems
Queen: I don't about that
Shabat: Oh yes, can we buy a superdreadnought soon?
Queen: No, those things are horribly expensive
Shabat: We need one!
Queen: No, none of our ports can handle one
Shabat: We'll build one then
Queen: More cost?
Shabat: Ummm, maybe not then, but how about a bigger battleship
Queen: I'll think about it

OOC: You said this was two years after the Czar returns from the Honeymoon, right? If so, I might bring Katherine along. I need confirmation to ask the RL Formal Dances Rper, though -- technically, we share the character. :)

OOC: If you think that's best..go ahead. For the sake of progress, I'll also assume that everyone's flights are en route. If you don't like it, tell me and I'll edit this. Sorry it's a bit lengthy, but it's the first time anyone's seen my nation like this, so I've got to be descriptive. Hope ya'll don't mind.
==============================
Approaching Honimishu airspace...

The escort pilots were anxious about their assignment. All that had been mentioned was that the targets were high profile. Finally, at about one in the afternoon, the contacts were confirmed. As the planes came in, the escorts pulled up alongside.

Konichiwa and welcome to Pschycotic Pschycos! We're having
technical difficulties with the landing strip at the castle right now, so we'll
have to divert you to the main airport. It's only another 20 minutes south at
our present speed. Please follow the coordinates and waypoints being transferred
to you now.

As the flight broke through a single odd cloud, the sight layed out before them was amazing. The capitol city of Honimishu was immense. Slightly south was the main downtown, over 100 miles long, 20 wide, and whose smallest building was 125 stories. The rest, 500 miles worth to either side, was metallic and shining, looking very much like a far off city named Couresant. (Star Wars, for descriptive purposes). Flying among the building were odd shapes, not distinguishable at the distance.

True to the pilots' words, 20 minutes saw their planes to the main international airport. The terminal herself was a mile long, broken in the middle by a leg forming a "T" shape. Their designated gates were at one extreme end, but it would be all right, it was planned for their enjoyment. Waiting at the gate was a personal representitive of the Shogun.
"Welcome to Honimishu. I trust your flight was good." her voice held heavy Japanese accents. She continued talking as they walked. "I know a half mile sounds like a terrible distance, so we've developed ways around this." By now, they had taken an escelator up to a second level, where a silent maglev tram was boarding. This tram wisked them off toward the center. Off to their side was a glass wall to view the planes. The people below were dressed in odd assortments of business and pleasure. Once back on the ground floor, they continued, straight toward the glass wall. Only here, there was a tunnel under the tarmac. The tunnel was built with shimmering lights in it to calm people, as flying can be quite hectic. They emerged on the other side, and circled around to the back. The representitive spoke up again, "Unfortunatly, to reach the Shogun, you must use the Metro. I hope you will not mind." Rounding the corner, they were faced with not a subway station, but a tilt-rotor heliport. "All mass-transit is done in the air, with modified versions of V-22 Osperrys."

After ten minutes, their Osperry, which was obviously not part of the regular route, turned out over the Inland Sea. Off in the distance was a small island. The pilot chuckled to himself at what he knew the passengers were thinking. Is that an island? No, it's too small to be an island... the faint sound of klaxons floated up as they approached. That's a SHIP! Indeed it was. The ship was immense. It featured three carrier decks held together by two large Zimmermann-Class battleships. As the Osperry decended toward the center deck, the figure of the Shogun came into focus. Despite the rotorwash, he stood with his hands folded behind his back. As the plane landed, he welcomed everyone,
"Welcome aboard the brand new ICS Island!" He was fairly beaming. "I trust you all had a pleasant flight?"

As he spoke, the noise of grinding gears came to their ears, and two rails rose up of the deck just astern of the landing zone. "I hope you don't mind, but we're still testing the linear arrestor system," Kenshin shouted. As he spoke, an ARIES air to air mobile suit approaced the carrier deck at blinding speeds, was captured by something between the rails, and was brought to an abrupt halt feet from them. "Good thing it works! It runs off of electromagnets, and if they had failed, we'd have all been going overboard!" He smiled broadly, "so, anyone up for a tour or refreshments?"

OOC: Tag. For those of you who only know me as Annastrianna d Maril -- This is Anna/Kaymiril. I'm in as Kaymiril -- it is my rp nation...I'll be sending Kaymiril VII (it's just Anna...with a new position/title.) Unfortunately, I'm studying for the SAT, so I won't be truly in until Saturday afternoon.

OOC:We'll fly you aboard when you're ready!

On board the Plane that is carrying Czar and Czarina Andropov, Katherine was sitting next to her husband smiling.

"Don't worry Alexei. Nothing is going to happen on this trip. We are as safe as we've ever been. You have nothing to worry about." she told him. She turned away to look at their one year old daughter who was having fun with some toys in the middle of the plane. She put her head on Alexei's shoulder and smiled at their daughter.

=======================================================================

Back in the Capitol in Formal Dances, President Wilson received the messege and sent one back that he'll be attending. He knows that this is a tough time and a time when he should be campaigning but he trusts his staff to make the right decisions. Besides that, the elections are still months off and the debate schedule hasn't started yet.

He boarded the plane with his wife and took off for Pschycotic Pschycos.

OOC: I'll come in now, but don't expect much of me tomorrow, or anything Fri. (btwn running a stand for the debate team at the Gittlen Powderpuff Football Game and everything, I'm booked this Fri.)

*****************************************************************
Queen Kaymiril VII had decided to come with her required two escorts. Thanks to the information that their Snake Eater allies had shared with them, they were now capable of space travel, and it was in one of the prototypes that the Queen had come.

The Queen herself took up the headset as they neared P.P. space.

This is the Kaymirilian Ship Ultrinnan requesting entrance to the country.

(presuming she gets it)
She followed the P.P. escorts in to the airport.

On board was General Shabat, Minister for Defense and two Navy officers. The Queen herself had already signalled her total disinterest in military vessels so he was going. The Jewish General was adjusting some medals while the other two officers were working on arrangements on the ground. One of the two Navy officers was actually an intelligence officer linked to the Inquisition while the other was basically a clerical officer.

The General looked around "Nice ship Shogun! I wish her highness the Queen has the same passion for big military vessels like we do. I'm still trying to get her to buy our nation a Superdreadnought, but she thinks they are white elephants if you get what I mean. Our Admiral wanted to come, but he's got a few problems with pirates at the moment. Our navy is kind of busy.".

The two Navy officers looked around saying nothing as the General was the man for talking. Shabat introduced his officers "This is Lieutenant Ariel Sharon and Lieutenant Joseph Chiron. They are from our Navy."

OOC: Kaymiril, that's fine. I'll have finals to study for all day any way. And just for simplicity, and the fact that I'm lazy, you're all already on board.
==========================================
Shogun Kenshin smiled pleasantly at everyone. "Yes, welcome all. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Himura Kenshin." This was directed more toward the delegates from Jeruselem. "For those of you who are actually interested, I'll run down the ship a little for you." He first indicated a man behinds him. "This is Rear Admiral Jeremiah Rosuko. He is a very decorated man and has proven himself capable to be named captain of the Island." He gestured at the superstructures on either side of the central deck. "The ship is made of a central deck fused with two ARKHANGEL battlecarriers. The idea actually came about when our fine Admiral Yamamoto saw the two being built side-by-side and wondered what it would look like if they were joined." He took a quick pause, and continued, "the ship's systems are the most sophisticated, and she has amazing combat potential. To move this hunk of metal, it takes roughly seven nuclear reactors........and eighteen propellers. Oh! But I do ramble. I can imagine that you are all hungry after your flights. We'll get some food."

With that, he turned and led them into superstructure of the hull designated Ship 1, the command centers. the mess hall looked like a cross between WWII Japanese, and modern day American carriers. The uniforms of the sailors all resembled WWII era Japan, and the pilots were all still wearing their helmets. It was loud and noisy, but the moment Kenshin entered, everyone stopped, stood up, and bowed low to them. Kenshin returned the bow and spoke to them, "what the hell are you all doing!? Go back to what you were doing, don't mind US!" The crew laughed, and returned to their conversations. There was a reserved table for them all, and he led them there. Sitting before them was a rare sight on carriers, actual menues. "So, take your pick from the menue and tell me...how is everyone?"

"I'm pretty good, Kenshin. This is a beautiful ship." said John

"That's great to hear. Yes, nothing was spared in building this ship. We go to every extreme except to say that it is unsinkable. I think we all know what happened last time." He chuckled a bit. "At its thickest, the steel is 25" thick. We wanted more, but it'd be too heavy." (OOC: Not to mention godmoddish)

Pschycotic Pschycos Airspace

Imperial Eagle One

Alexei smiled as Katherine rested her head on his shoulder, and placed his arm around her, kissing her on her forehead. When their daughter looked at them, she wandered over, and Alexei outstreched his harms.

"Come here, my little zaichik!" Alexei said, smiling, and Lauren, their daughter, jumped up in his arms and kissed him.

"Are we there yet, Daddy?" she asked, innocently. Alexei chuckled and looked out the window, seeing the island. So THIS is what Kenshin told me his crazy engineers dreamed up!

"Yes, we are." Lauren suddenly became happier.

"Yay!" She leaned over and hugged her mom, and stuck to her. A Praetorian came in to the chamber.

"Sir, we have landed on the Island." Alexei nodded.

"Thank you."

(((((**SKIP!**)))))

"The food selection here is excellent!" Alexei remarked, after looking over the menu. "So, Kenshin," he said, turning to his longtime friend. "Which engineer thought this up, and why did you let him get high?"

"Kenshin, this is incredible. An engineering feet." Kathy stated as well as she stood next to her husband holding their charming daughter. "This rivals everything I can think of. You're to be commended on this."

"Thank you Ma'am. Alexi, Admiral Yamamoto thought it up. As for the desginer...well, it's amazing what you can find in a village idiot. When the Navy went through Magma City, he was the only engineer who didn't hide." Kenshin started laughing hard, "you should see the patterns of his burns. Come to think of it, he spent his entire career trying to find something to float on the lava rivers. I gotta put limits on the sake." He scanned the menu, "yes, it is all good. Don't go for the sushi, though. Carrier sushi does not sit well."

"How is your daughter doing? I do hope you're all settling in to a new life happily?"

The Jeruselem delegates looked at the Sushi and decided it was not for them. General Shabat said to the Shogun "I'm sure your forefathers will be pleased with this new addition to the Navy. You have a proud Naval tradition, while we in Jeruselem tend to be landlubbers at heart. If we had one of these, they would no pirates left alive to hassle our seafarers but wehave never been known for our navies."

He looked at Alexei and Katherine's daughter and she reminded him of his many kids at home.

Kenshin turned to the general, "I imagined they would be. When the first shogun reigned, Kamikaze, the navy only had ancient Iowa-Classes. Come to think of it, we still use a few. They're ancient, not obsolete, mind you. The firepower, though, would indeed end any piracy. The only problem is, the Island is incredibly slow. Smaller ships could do circles around it."

"Thank you Ma'am. Alexi, Admiral Yamamoto thought it up. As for the desginer...well, it's amazing what you can find in a village idiot. When the Navy went through Magma City, he was the only engineer who didn't hide." Kenshin started laughing hard, "you should see the patterns of his burns. Come to think of it, he spent his entire career trying to find something to float on the lava rivers. I gotta put limits on the sake." He scanned the menu, "yes, it is all good. Don't go for the sushi, though. Carrier sushi does not sit well."

"How is your daughter doing? I do hope you're all settling in to a new life happily?"

"I'll try and not go for the sushi then though I do love it." Kathy said with a chuckle. And your welcome for the commended comment. As for our daughter, she is doing well. She's getting big though." she said as she repositions Lauren. "Lauren this is Kenshin." she said to her daughter who was clutching a stuff teddy. Lauren just turned away from him. Kathy chuckled. "She's shy."

Kenshin turned to the general, "I imagined they would be. When the first shogun reigned, Kamikaze, the navy only had ancient Iowa-Classes. Come to think of it, we still use a few. They're ancient, not obsolete, mind you. The firepower, though, would indeed end any piracy. The only problem is, the Island is incredibly slow. Smaller ships could do circles around it."
"Yes...the design does seem to dictate a slow speed...but I'm certain that the Island's weapons range is sufficient to counter that in combat?"

Kaymiril's head turned, and she smiled at the little girl.

OOC: Pic of Kay VII ...any objections to me calling her Anna? I'm used to it, and she doesn't seem like a Kay.

http://groups.msn.com/CaveOfSpiders/drowandothercreatures.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=327

Give her sea-blue eyes, and you've got it. Oh, and today she's wearing a shimmery blue dress with the Maril crest on the front (a stylized spider). It would be murder for a human woman to wear.

"Oh, that's quite all right. My daughter was like that too when she was that age. Just watch out, the moment she hits her teenage years, she's gone," Kenshin laughed. "How is she with animals, does she like pets at all?"

To Anna, he added, "yes, it's slow. We tried to minimalize that by making it tri-marine. However, you're right in guessing that the weapons range is long."

Kenshin turned to the general, "I imagined they would be. When the first shogun reigned, Kamikaze, the navy only had ancient Iowa-Classes. Come to think of it, we still use a few. They're ancient, not obsolete, mind you. The firepower, though, would indeed end any piracy. The only problem is, the Island is incredibly slow. Smaller ships could do circles around it."

"Due to our rather small navy, we tend to use faster moving hydrofoils to tackle pirates. A ship like this would be perfect for an assault on their bases, but we do have carriers and battleships have done the job in the past. Harrier jets with anti-ship missiles aren't a friend of pirates either." the General replied.

Alexei chuckled at the pirate discussion. "Derscon has no problems with pirates. Our Coast Guard is pretty good, and I think they're all afraid of our ATLANTIS program." The Czar wondered who leaked the existance of ATLANTIS. Thankfully, the actual operational concepts were still tightly held, but the leaker, he heard, was currently residing "at the Czar's Pleasure" in a small cell at Lefortovo Prison. It's too bad. Even my own ALLIES don't know what ATLANTIS is. Ah, well. If they ask, I'll tell -- some of it. Alexei turned as the doors to the place opened up, and a few military officers entered and walked over.

"Ah! Hello. Shogun Kenshin, everybody, I brought these officers over to look over the ship -- they were interested. Folks, this is the Imperial Admiral Marko Herkjyavich, commander in chief of the Dersconi Imperial Navy." The 53 year old CINCNAV nodded a greeting to everyone. "This is Fleet Admiral Mikhail Zimmerov, the commander of R-13:1." He saluted crisply, as he was only 40. "And this is Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, commander of the First Corps of the Dersconi Imperial Army." Arthur -- who was at a ripe age of 62 -- nodded politely, and then glanced at Shogun Kenshin, broadcasting a message of I would like to speak with you in private, later, sir.

"You don't mind of they join us, do you?"

Alexei chuckled at the pirate discussion. "Derscon has no problems with pirates. Our Coast Guard is pretty good, and I think they're all afraid of our ATLANTIS program." The Czar wondered who leaked the existance of ATLANTIS. Thankfully, the actual operational concepts were still tightly held, but the leaker, he heard, was currently residing "at the Czar's Pleasure" in a small cell at Lefortovo Prison. It's too bad. Even my own ALLIES don't know what ATLANTIS is. Ah, well. If they ask, I'll tell -- some of it. Alexei turned as the doors to the place opened up, and a few military officers entered and walked over.

"Ah! Hello. Shogun Kenshin, everybody, I brought these officers over to look over the ship -- they were interested. Folks, this is the Imperial Admiral Marko Herkjyavich, commander in chief of the Dersconi Imperial Navy." The 53 year old CINCNAV nodded a greeting to everyone. "This is Fleet Admiral Mikhail Zimmerov, the commander of R-13:1." He saluted crisply, as he was only 40. "And this is Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, commander of the First Corps of the Dersconi Imperial Army." Arthur -- who was at a ripe age of 62 -- nodded politely, and then glanced at Shogun Kenshin, broadcasting a message of I would like to speak with you in private, later, sir.

"You don't mind of they join us, do you?"

General Shabat asked "Say, either they the same people in Prince John's band who played during your wedding?"

"Ha, not at all. I opened this occasion to everyone of our allies. They are certainly welcome aboard here." Kenshin said. Truth of the matter was, he never got many visitors anyway. He also got the message, and made a point to leave some free time open later. Admiral Yamamoto greeted Admiral Zimmerov with a bow that was more friendly than formal. "As to the matter at hand, we don't really appreciate the smaller vessels. We go for those that may not be the fastest, but that can deal out large amounts of damage, and take it back ten-fold. Large formations trapping pirates is what we do best." Kenshin said, returning to the quick pirate topic. "That's actually the job of the Coast Guard, not the navy. Our CG has several battleships. They don't just stop the drug trafficers, they see themselves as the nation's last line of defense."

The Admiral Zimmerov returned the bow with a smile and sat down beside Yamamoto. Wellesley turned to General Shabat. "No, none of us were. You may be confusing Admiral Zimmerov with Aurther Zimmermann." Admiral Herkjyavich nodded at the Shogns comment.

"The Navy is meant for brute force and big ships that make things go boom, I agree. However, the Coast Guard keeps the small and fast ships for a quick strike. After all, you don't go after three armed soldiers with a tank, as you don't go after a rowboat with a battleship." He took a sip of water and continued.

"Thankfully, though, the Coast Guard is not usually busy. We have no real crime, and the rare ones that decide to commit a crime in the water usually end up at the bottom of the sea, either from being shot at from above, at the surface, and sometimes from below."

"Heh, heh, well of course you don't go after a rowboat with a battleship, but there are a lot of circumstances of pirates raising ships we'd scuttled. For drug trafficing, etc...we use smaller cutters."

"Heh, heh, well of course you don't go after a rowboat with a battleship, but there are a lot of circumstances of pirates raising ships we'd scuttled. For drug trafficing, etc...we use smaller cutters."

Zimmerov had a sly smile on his face. "Well, sometimes you can go after a rowboat with a battleship...." his voice trailed off and he chuckled, remembering that day. "Anyways, yeah, the cutters work nicely against certian ships, but like Admiral Marko stated, we don't have much crime, so the Coasties are mostly left to go about giving directions and shuttling people back and forth."

"Yes, you're right." Turning back to Alexi, "did I by any chance mention who would be present for the christening?"

"Yes, you're right." Turning back to Alexi, "did I by any chance mention who would be present for the christening?"

Alexei shook his head. "No, you did not."

Kathy looked at her husband. "Hun, I think we better get to our room. Lauren is getting tired and if she isn't put down soon, she's going to get fussy." She said. "You know what happens when she's up for a very long time."

A silver wrist band that Anna had been wearing shifted shape into a raven, then hopped to the edge of the table, looking down on the child. It gave a friendly cheeble.

A -- "Glider, ulu uns'aa...nin."

OOC: Don't worry...he's better behaved nowadays.

Kathy looked at her husband. "Hun, I think we better get to our room. Lauren is getting tired and if she isn't put down soon, she's going to get fussy." She said. "You know what happens when she's up for a very long time."

The General smiled at Katherine "You'll get used to that. I've got 5 children as well as 20 grandchildren excluding children of other relatives. It's chaos when you put them in one house, namely the biggest one - mine"

"Yes, I do believe that it is fairly late," Kenshin said. Indeed, the rest of the crew had already left. Several officers appeared. "These fine men will show you to your quarters. I do hope that you'll find them in order."

Addressing the Dersconi delegates, "Alexi, I guess you'll find out tommorrow morning, 0700 sharp!" Kenshin turned to Field Marshal Wellesley when everyone else left, "field marshal, you look like you want to talk to me about something. What can I help you with?"

Arthur nodded. "Please, call me Arthur." Anyone who knew Wellesley knows that one does not address the Field Marshal, Duke, and Knight by his first name unless he respects and trusts you.

"And yes, Kenshin-san, I do." He took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"I have been placed in charge of multiple developments in the Dersconi military, all of which are Codeword material." Codeword, of course, is above Top Secret. The Field Marshal saw he caught the Shogun's attention. "I have been instructed to ask if the nation of Pschycotic Pschycos would be willing to aid the PPCD in Project: Masse and Project: GOTBAT." Sir Arthur was deliberatley vauge, as to test Kenshin, to see if he actually wants do help, judging him by how he responds.
===================================
Alexei was in their room, looking over some political crap from Derscon, while Katherine was putting Lauren to bed.

"God damn this crap, I never can get away from my job." Katherine walked in and leaned over him, and Alexei tossed the papers in the wastebasket and swept her off her feet, kissing her as he (quite literally) held her.

"Ill be going too. Night everyone" said Antonette as he went to his chambers.

"All right, Arthur, we would all risk our lives to help Derscon. No matter what the risks or cost." Kenshin replied. "It doesn't matter what it is, we'll help."

The General and his two Naval officers saluted everyone and retired to their quarters.

Alexei was in their room, looking over some political crap from Derscon, while Katherine was putting Lauren to bed.

"God damn this crap, I never can get away from my job." Katherine walked in and leaned over him, and Alexei tossed the papers in the wastebasket and swept her off her feet, kissing her as he (quite literally) held her.

As she was being held, she kissed him. "I know the feeling sweetheart." She said. "When I left the office, work followed me too. Don't worry my love. Everything is going to be fine. You and I both know this to be true." She kissed him again.

"All right, Arthur, we would all risk our lives to help Derscon. No matter what the risks or cost." Kenshin replied. "It doesn't matter what it is, we'll help."

Arthur nodded, and sat down, giving the impression that it was going to take awhile.

"THat is good to hear, as you well know we would do the same for you.

"Now, to start off, we will begin with Project: Masse. Do you know what Information Warfare is?"

As she was being held, she kissed him. "I know the feeling sweetheart." She said. "When I left the office, work followed me too. Don't worry my love. Everything is going to be fine. You and I both know this to be true." She kissed him again.

Alexei held the kiss, and wandered over to their bed, where he set Katherine down, and jumped over her onto his side of the bed, making Katherine fly up in the air a little. He rolled over on top of her, wrapped her arms around her, and rolled onto his back, as to not have his body crush her. He craned his neck up and kissed her, and, still holding the kiss, knocked Katherine's arms out from under her, having her fall and lay directly on Alexei, who squeezed her.

Alexei held the kiss, and wandered over to their bed, where he set Katherine down, and jumped over her onto his side of the bed, making Katherine fly up in the air a little. He rolled over on top of her, wrapped her arms around her, and rolled onto his back, as to not have his body crush her. He craned his neck up and kissed her, and, still holding the kiss, knocked Katherine's arms out from under her, having her fall and lay directly on Alexei, who squeezed her.

Kathy giggled as she layed atop her husband. "Alexei, the baby could wake up you know." she said smiling.

Arthur nodded, and sat down, giving the impression that it was going to take awhile.

"THat is good to hear, as you well know we would do the same for you.

"Now, to start off, we will begin with Project: Masse. Do you know what Information Warfare is?"

Kenshin sat down with him. "I belive I have a vague idea. Is it where you use false information to panic, or otherwise spread distrust within a people, or cause an oppossing army to screw up in a favorable way? Kind of like propaganda and lying roled into one." The answer was no, but he wasn't really going to reveal that.

General Shabat said goodnight to the Naval officers and retired to his room.
He sat down and began writing a new proposal for a Naval flagship after getting ideas from the tour.

Kathy giggled as she layed atop her husband. "Alexei, the baby could wake up you know." she said smiling.

Alexei shook his head. "Our little Zaichik will be fine!" He said. He rolled over as to place him on top, kissed her, and rolled back over again, mostly to not crush his wife. He then repeated the process, but rolled the other way, as to not end up on the edge of the bed. Looking up into her eyes, he smirked, and shot up his torso, wrapped his arms around her, and when she did the same, came back down again. Alexei took his free hand and "walked" up her spine, getting a shiver and a giggle. She tried to do the same, but her hands were trapped in between the bed and Alexei's shoulder blades. Alexei's right hand fell in place on Katherine's back, as did his left hand, and walked slowly downwards, walking drunkedly down Katherine's ribs, getting laughter and a few jerks from her, as she was extremely ticklish, and Alexei thought it would be fun to exploit that.

"Hey!" was all she managed to get out through her laughter when Alexei started tickling both her sides and her ribs. Worrying his wife's laughter would wake Lauren, though, he stopped after about five minutes, and Katherine managed to get her hands free, and gave him a nasty but playful glare.

"That was mean!" She took a pillow and whacked Alexei in the chest with it, giggling. Alexei recoiled from the blow of the pillow, mostly in surprise. The pillow exploded, sending a cloud of feathers everywhere. Alexei grabbed at her ankles and tried to pull her closer to whack her with a pillow, but only managed to pull her socks off, which he then threw back at her. They both picked up another pillow. Alexei stared her down, trying to be serious, but failing miserably.

"This means war." Alexei swung his pillow at her, nicking her arm, and she at him, missing entirely. Suddenly, Katherine charged at her husband, but Alexei was ready for it. He ducked under the pillow and went into a football lineman's tackle position, but instead of tackling her, he simply picked her up and put her over his shoulder. Her feet were in front of him, not really kicking anywhere, thankfully, and Katherine lost her pillow in the charge, her hair dangling downward, along with her arms.

"So," Alexei started. "Do you surrender?" Katherine picked up one of the feathers and prodded Alexei in his ribs with the one side. "Never!" was her playful response, as she kept prodding Alexei's ribs with the stiff end of the feather.

Alexei picked up two feathers -- one for each hand -- and went in to subdue her. The one in his right hand was used to prod her lightly in the ribs, and the other feather was used to tickle Katherine's feet, which got what amounted to a playful shreak a sudden jerking movement, and uncontrollable laughter. Alexei finally put Katherine down on the bed, with Alexei on top this time.

"I believe I won that round," Alexei said, smirking, and kissing Kathernine for quite awhile. He used the newly found silence to see if he heard Lauren in the next room over, and -- thankfully -- he didn't. That's good, no point in waking her for her to be grumpy.
======================
Field Marshal Wellesley shook his head at Shogun Kenshin. "Good guess, but no. Information Warfare is slightly misleading, I will admit. It is sometimes called electronic warfare. Basically, what it is is simply attacking points of significance electronically. It can be used to cause blackouts, disable warship missiles and radar, take down planes, and guide missiles away from your ship."

Kathy walked over with Alexei to look in on their baby girl together. She smiled warmly at her daughter who was clutching her stuffed animal still.

"I love you Alexei" she whispered.

She then moved back to the bed an fell in it.

Kathy walked over with Alexei to look in on their baby girl together. She smiled warmly at her daughter who was clutching her stuffed animal still.

"I love you Alexei" she whispered.

She then moved back to the bed an fell in it.

Alexei leaned down to kiss Lauren on her forehead and walked out with Katherne. "I love you too, honey," he whispered back, and kissed her on her neck. He then fell into the bed beside her, wrapped his arms around Katherine, and fell off to sleep.

Field Marshal Wellesley shook his head at Shogun Kenshin. "Good guess, but no. Information Warfare is slightly misleading, I will admit. It is sometimes called electronic warfare. Basically, what it is is simply attacking points of significance electronically. It can be used to cause blackouts, disable warship missiles and radar, take down planes, and guide missiles away from your ship."

"Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Information that isn't really information. Here, we just call that 'Royally F&#%ing the Enemy's Piece of S&$% Comps.'" Kenshin said. "But other than that, what is this all about?" (OOC: And quickly, this thread is practically boring people to death!)
===============================================
ON THE BRIDGE...

"Admiral Yamamoto, preparations are complete. The ship is ready for her maiden voyage." an officer reported.

"Good job. Get some rest."

"Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Information that isn't really information. Here, we just call that 'Royally F&#%ing the Enemy's Piece of S&$% Comps.'" Kenshin said. "But other than that, what is this all about?"

Wellesley smirked. "I would like you to aid us in the development of electronic warfare and Project: GOTBAT. GOTBAT stands for God on The BATtlefield. It is to allow soldiers to have an uptodate realtime map of the terrain, placement of enemy and friendly troops, as well as a few other....advancements....our military is dreaming up. Are you willing to help?"

"Sure! Our MS systems already have that in place. I'm sure our scientists could shrink the technology down to a managable size. Tell us what you need." Kenshin said. "But it's late. Maybe we should continue this conversation later. I'll show you to your quarters, and then I'm hitting the sack." And that's what happened.

Anna had retired to her room some time before, And she was sitting on her bed, using Glider to catch up on the work that had to be done. Her mind kept drifting.

I need to speak with Mith about when would be a good time to plan to have children...but I know I don't want to wait long...the sooner I can get rid of that fa'la zatoast the better.

"Glider, time, both Kaymirilian and local."

[Time: 23:09 Kaymirilian, 20:00 PP Local.]

The Queen nods. "I thought so. Let's stop for the night."

0659:30 Hours, ICS [I[Island's[/I] Bridge...

Shogun Kenshin paced the bridge, watching the seconds tick by, not bothering to hold back his laughing. He spoke to one of the system's officers, "lieutenant, turn the PA system up to full, and prepare Revele."
"Yes, Shogun-sama." He reached foward, turning the PA system to full. Kenshin placed ear plugs in his ears, and looked at his watch;

0659:55...0659:56...0659:57...0659:58...0659:59...0700

At 0700, Revele blared on the loud speakers, and the dim red lights on the ship were replaced instantly with bright white ones. From his cocoon of silence, Kenshin saw the windows of the bridge rattling. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Oh my Gosh, I gotta do this kinda stuff more often!! he thought. When the music stopped, he picked up the microphone, "all hands, and guests, fall out to Carrier Deck Two for the ship's christening. The faster you do this, the faster the flag can be raised...and the faster you can get to breakfast."

The sun was dawning bright as he stepped on to the bright metal decking. Most of the crew was already assembled, taking up most of the aft to middle sectios of the deck. The officers, and high military officials and engineers lined either side up to the beginning of the foward section. At the bow, a band was tunning up, and a little closer than that, an odd man, apparently a priest from the look of his clothing, was standing at a podium. Standing there, next to this man on either side, were Admiral Yamamoto and Kenshin. At the head of one of the officer's line was the ship's new captain. Standing there, Kenshin decided he'd wait a few for the guests, who would probably still be recovering from the shock. Apparently, so was the crew.

Anna had awoken an hour beforehand (only needing four hours of sleep), and dressed. As the wakeup call played, she cast a silencing spell, blocking out 90% of the sound, then went out on deck to join everyone else, after despelling her anti-sound barricade.

The Czar, who was used to waking at six because of his job of running a nation, was already up and dressed in his formal attire, as he was on a ship before. The trumpet blast came at the expected time, and he figured he'd let Katherine handle Lauren. He turned to his chief guardsmen.

"Take care of the women. I'm going topside."

"Yessir." Alexei walked out of the room accompanied by only two of his Praetorian -- the Jedi, of course -- and was greeted by Wellesley, Rekjyavich, and Zimmerov.

"Good morning, Your Highness. Let us go to the flag-raising, shall we?" Wellesley remarked. Alexei noticed all of the military commanders were in Royal Dress Uniform, which was only worn for promotions, pictures, and major things directly involving the Czar. After all, the real gold got tarnished when exposed, the cape sometimes got dirty, and the plumes in the hats sometimes got dirty. The Czar was in his formal wear, which was actually the second highest attire in fancyness. The highest was royal attire, but that was worn only at coronations/inagurations, promotions of Marshals/Admirals, and other fancy things that would require more than a cape, white attire, sash, gold galore, and a few medals. For Formal wear, he brought the strongest of the elemental swords -- the Gaia blade. Unfortunately, when around the other elemental swords, the Darksword, and the Sword of Saint Michael, as well as the Dragon Sword, it acted up.

And it was. Wellesley was the holder of the Jupiter Blade, so they were getting hot, but it was no big deal. If it was the Mars Blade -- which wasn't yet found -- it would cause pandaemonium. The Mercury Blade was currently resting at the top of Shogun Kamikaze's tomb.

They all made it up in time, and formed the line beside Kenshin.

OOC: First note: Gold doesn't tarnish. Bronze does, as does copper and silver, but gold is unique in that it doesn't.
Second: I thought we'd taken care of all that sort of elemental sword nonsense back in January, and what a pain it was.
*I'm v. sorry about OOC clutter...bear with me, I've had my last final today and my brain just entered temp shutdown mode. It'll reset over tonight.*

King John Antonette, former Marine officer, woke up, and washed up. He quickly put on his Marine Corp dress uniform, except with a crown as his chevrons. he liked to experiment with uniforms, so he put on his 1800's dres uniform. (http://www.quartermastershop.com/CW%20US%20Officer/images/0401_USMC_OFF_DRS_CT.jpg)

As he walked upstairs, he attached his sword, and fell in where he was supposed to go.

The wind became a little breezy as they stood on the deck. Shogun Himura Kenshin, his armour rattling and rustling in the breeze, stepped up to the podium and began speaking in his naitive Japanese;

Crew...ATTENTION!!! Colour Guard....FOWARD!!! Drum Corps...sound off!!

From open spaces by each of the superstructures' hangar doors, the color guard marched foward, met in the middle, and marched to Kenshin under the stacatto of the drums. The drums stopped suddenly as they met the Shogun. Each one of them bowed low, and then snapped up in a salute simutaneously. The shogun presented each designated flag bearer with a brand new flag.

Colour Guard....ADVANCE COLOURS!!

Maintaining perfect order and harmony, they marched back to the superstructures, mounted the metal steps, all the way up to the base of the flag poles attached to the radio beacons. Even at that distance and height, the Shogun's voice was heared perfectly.

Colour Guard....RIASE COLOURS!!! Band...SOUND OFF!! Crew...SALUTE!!!

As the Pschycotic Pschycos National Anthem, sounding vaugly like the Imperial March, played, the flags rose at exactly the same rate, reaching the top as the last gong and cymbal was struck. They unfurled in the stiff breeze, and flapped open and straight, catching the rising sun in their pattern. Very suddenly, the air around them began to vibrate. Flying in formation, wingtip-to-wingtip, three B-52's roared over the carrier, not more than 200 feet up. As they approached, their bomb bays openned, and red, yellow, and green smoke poured out. Afther they had passed the carrier, each veered off in their respective directions, the middle one continuing to fly straight. Mechanical geares clancked, and as everyone watched, all 36 cannons fired off one deafining blast, the reverberations bouncing off into the dawn.

Colour Guard....DISMISSED!!!

The Guard returned to their places on the deck. Kenshin stepped down for a moment of silence, letting what had happened, the beginning of a new naval era, fully sink into everyones' minds.

Anna winced slightly as the cannons went off, her Drow ears particularly sensitive to sound. She'd enjoyed the Guard exhibition, and understood why the cannons had been fired. It just hurt.

John Antonette looked over to the Shogun, and nodded in obvious awe at the massive ship.

The Jeruselem delegates, all military officers were already awake when the wakeup call occured. They were used to waking up early as military service demanded.

<time lapse>

They watched exhibition in silence and didn't look too excited as it was normal for navies to show off with lots of ceremony, noise and high explosive.

OOC: Kaymiril, shut your hole. ;) Either way, lots of solid gold digging into your shoulders becomes a nuisance, and plus, there's no point in wearing it all the time.

And no, we really didn't take care of them. That was just kinda random toys that happened....well, you know the plot. There's lots more to it than you think. *tinfoil hat*
-----------------------------
Alexei simply stared. He was impressed, but not quite in awe, do to the sheer impractibility of the island, but, what the hell, engineers get bored sometimes.

Kenshin, after pausing, stepped back up to the podium. He continued in Japanese, as that's what the crew spoke. There were translators, of course.

And now, may I present to you, Pastor Chris Luther, decsendent of Martin Luther, for the ship's christening.

In the background, the band began to play Styx's Come Sail Away as Pastor Luther stepped up to his place. He too spoke Japanese.

It is with great honor that I am here today to christen this ship, so that it may allow this nation to remain guardians to Christ. By the power invested by me, by the Lord our God, I pronounce this ship, the Imperial Court's Ship: ISLAND

At this, the crew roared their approval, sailors caps being tossed in the air. The thudding of rotors marked the approach of an Osperry. Above the bow, a V-22 has hovering, a giant keg of beer swinging from beneath. As the band broke into its chorous, the keg was released and it smashed into the deck at the bow. It didn't break open. Instead, it rolled of the front amid the silent, and horrified stares. Shogun Kenshin calmely off to the side and dissapeared into the ship. Everyone else rushed foward to see it floating there in the water, slowly drifting away...

General Shabat was horrified as the keg failed to smash. His intelligence officer nearby looked at him "You know what that means." and the General shook his head in disbelief.

In Jeruselem, the navy used specially designed champagne bottles for these occasions - ones with very thin glass.

"This ship is doomed" was all John Antonette could get out of his mouth.

Katherine rolled over to find her husband gone. At that moment, the trumpet sounded and Lauren started to cry. Kathy got up and held her close to calm her down and after awhile she did.

Kathy got her dressed and changed herself and proceeded to where the ceremony was being held. Her aide was beside her rattling off what needed to be done today, in other words nothing.

Kathy made her way to her husband and stood beside her. She stood there next to her husband, whom she greeted with a kiss, and tried to follow the ceremony.

Anna looked over at one of the guards she'd come with, but he just shook his head. This was a foreign custom...one she would send for information on later for the exact significance. But from the reactions of the humans...it was very bad indeed.

Kathy's face remained passive but on the inside wasn't to thrilled. Still holding Lauren, she whispered to her husband, "I give the ship 1 month to stay afloat after that incident."

Alexei, who understood Japanese, listened intently, and when the speech stopped and the V-22 came, he bent down to kiss his approaching wife. When the keg did not smash, at first he was fearful, and the admirals beside him became sick to the stomach. When Alexei peered off to Kenshin disappearing off the side, he smiled to himself and walked over to the edge of the ISLAND, where he saw a rowboat. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Kenshin in it, rowing towards the boat and to the keg.

"Ha! The keg wasn't even supposed to hit the ship!" Alexei commented aloud to no one in particular. "That was a major fluke, letting the keg hit the ship at all."

Indeed Kenshin had reappeared in a rowboat. Despite how formal the proceedings had been thus far, no one could help laughing at the specticale. Everytime he reached for the keg, a wave carried it off. For a full ten minutes, he chased it around in front of the ISLAND. When he finally caught it, he had to row back to the bow again. Finally, he hefted it above his head, and broke it against the bow, which he had fortunatly had howned to an edge by a swordsman who bore the name Muramase. When the keg was empty (no, he didn't drink it), he rowed over to a giant chain and hopped on. Instantly, the chain ascended, and with a splintering, the anchor smashed through the rowboat. To the further dismay of the onlookers, a shark had been squashed beneath the goliath anchor. Seeing this, Kenshin waisted no time, "Damn environmentalists won't like this one bit....Who's up for sushi!?" The sailors' reactions were optomistic, they rairly got shark, but the guests...."Or..." he said, "We can just start this cruise!!"

Glider chattered something in Anna's ear before she shut his beak.

"Yes...you're right. Now calm down. And if I recall correctly, you still have that golfball stored somewhere around the Valshanth."

The General was confused after the events with Kenshin, either the Japanese had different naval customs or this was another of his PR stunts, either way it was eventful. His last naval launch was when the Queen, not a known fan of the sea, smashed the bottle without touching it. She wasn't one for hard work like Kenshin.