NationStates Jolt Archive

From the burning, radioactive wastes of the fall of collectivism...

spawned like glorious children from the molten heat of the great Smith's hammer...

from beyond the Star Warrior's belt...

from the might and fire of countless factories, in countless lands, worlds apart, united in a single cause...

from the red-buried sleeping warriors...

from the cold depths of interplanetary space...

A vast fleet was clearly in production... but for what purpose? To serve whom?

Like clockwork the machinery of war began to rumble... and in the cold, precise Order of space, a great wave began to form.

#tag#

Good start!

Alpha Base 1
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit

"At ease. Yes, what is it, Subcommander?"

"Sir! New MCPPs and a direct order."

"Give it here."

"CSFBD handed this one down yesterday."

"Hmm...priority?"

"Definitely."

"Funny. How far along?"

"Scored an eighteen on the DEPSG. Clairmont's got a few of them already, and the High Imperator wants a few too."

"A hundred of these."

"Don't worry. Hephaestus will be churning them out for us too. Contact Agency'll be ordering about fifty of them direct. But the rest we have to do ourselves."

"What's the status on the extra workers?"

"Unknown."

"Guess we better start, then?"

"You bet, sir."

"Very well, plug the MCPP into the threaders, get as many construction modules operational as possible. And tell those idiots next door to turn down that noise they call music. We've got a job to do now."

[code:1:4241f4909c]
To: High Imperator, CSF Strategic Command
Re: Timetables
Encryption: Max
Authorization: Your Eyes Only

CSF Fleet Status: Current Period

2 Atmos class Fleet Destroyers
4 OMI-34 Effector class Gunships
1 OMI-100 Sun Tower class Gunship
20 Silent Eagle class Light Transports

CSF Fleet Status: 1st Wave, 4th Quarter (Projected)

100 Sword of Damocles class Frigates
3 Atmos-class Fleet Destroyer
4 OMI-34 Effector class Gunships
3 Cruentus class Missile Dreadnaughts
1 Praegrandis class EJP war Cruiser
1 Dromas class War Cruiser
1 Audax class Command Cruiser
500 Spearmaiden Tactical Assault Craft
280 Silent Eagle class Light Transports
1000 Gecko class Transports
3 OMI-100 Sun Tower Gunships
[/code:1:4241f4909c]

OOC: I don't suppose this is related in any way to the Seraphim Order, is it?

OOC: A bit, yes. :D

Alpha Base 1
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit

"Yes, sir, that's what I'm saying. No, sir. That is correct, sir."

The Commander of GEO Alpha Base 1 spoke with tones of exasperation, showing the sheer impossibilities he had been handed down, while trying to avoid whining and bootlicking.

"Well, when can we expect-- yes, sir. No, of course not, sir."

It was hellish in the control room. Wet, hot. Atmospheric controls had gone haywire after 32 malfunctions in the morning struck. 32 was exceptionally minor, but still occupied the stations full personnel, and how warm it was in the control room was not a major priority for their work.

"Very well, sir. Over and out."

The Commander was a tall man, with silvering hair and a rigid back, reinforced, like much of his body, with metal to compensate for his long life in space and weakening bone structures. It was a stopgap, though, and like many augments he didn't expect to live long anyway. No personal ambition on his behalf.

Just an urge for less tropical weather, and some more workers... like, thousands more... he thought.

The VCM lit up, brightly blinking to get his attention. When it had, it stopped-- the monitoring device was quite intelligent enough to know when it had accomplished it's goal. And it was working today, miraculously.

The Commander floated over, using the mobility aids to loop around in a "sitting" position relative to the VCM, with great ease. He had spent his life in the space navy, and even now that they had the technology to create artificial gravity, many of the "old timers" such as himself preferred weightless environments. In many cases, it was required.

The pull of gravity would probably break half the bones in his body.

Stupid old man... augments last forever, indeed...

He read the message, already logged in.

It was from Hephaestus, who had probably just gotten the CSF construction timetables and been informed, politely, that their help would be required. This meant the High Imperator was also about to send Alpha Base 1 it's full contingent of workers. Finally.

The Commander smiled. Maybe there would be use for one more old man after all.

Protectorate Shipyard Hephaestus

"These figures are solid?" Admiral Hughes questioned his second in command as he went thru the hardcopy.

"Yes Sir, checked them twice." Captain Marcus Trent answered.

"Hmm, whats the current timetable for the building slips?" The Admiral asked while taking a look at his desk computer and the estimated building times for the list he held.

"Slips 18 and 21 need one more month to finish the Assault Carriers, the SD's wont be finishing in six more months. The rest of the slips look good. The Warlords from slips 3 thru 11 are going to their trials of acceptance in two to three weeks. The five tin cans and three Star Knights should be ready in another six weeks. All in all sir, we'll get most of the slips cleared in bit over a month."

"Good. Allright we'll put lips 1 thru 6 building the Sword of Damocles-class frigates, slips 11 and 12 could handle the Atmos-class and Dromas-class ships. We'll also need the small-craft assembly facilities three and seven ready to build those Spearmaidens." The Admiral stated while simultaneously consulting his desk computer for the statistics and figures regarding the timetable for this a bit of a sudden construction project.

"Yes sir, i'll take care of if."

[code:1:dc68072b67]TO: High Imperator, CSF Strategic Command
Re: NOTICE
Encryption: Max
Authorization: Your Eyes Only

The Atmos class vessel design has been upgraded and modernized. However, due to inefficiencies in module architecture, operational costs are still higher than the CSFSBCG-1 specifications allow for, still scoring a 16 on the DEPSG. As a result, the Fourth Wave total shall include only the two currently existing Atmos class vessels and the one currently in production, expected complete later this week.

We feel that while decommissioning the design is unneccessary in this case, the construction of more Atmos class vessels is undesirable to meet Order requirements. As a result, we are taking Atmos off the construction lists for all but one slip of one Alpha Base, probably Hephaestus.

Hephaestus's commander will be informed of these changes, pending your approval.[/code:1:dc68072b67]
[code:1:dc68072b67]
CSF Bureau of Design
Design Evaluation Preliminary Scoring Guide (DEPSG)

Technical/Engineering Feasibility

1 - Design concept unlikely to succeed, due to current understanding of basic laws of nature
2 - Multiple new breakthroughs required to make concept work
3 - Only a few major technical challenges or breakthroughs remain
4 - No major breakthroughs required; multiple engineering issues remain
5 - Only minor technical issues remain to be resolved

Technical Maturity

1 - Nothing has been demonstrated to support this design concept
2 - Multiple major components remain to be demonstrated or developed
3 - A few major components remain to be demonstrated or developed.
4 - Major components exist but multiple, minor components remain undeveloped
5 - Components exist; a complete system may have been demonstrated

Operational Enhancement

1 - Limited enhancement; space military requirement adequately met by existing systems
2 - Minimal improvement in space military capability
3 - Some significant improvement, permitting increased flexibility or responsiveness
4 - Substantial new capability or greatly enhancing existing capability
5 - Revolutionary capability, giving decisive edge to Order forces

Operational Cost

1 - Extremely expensive, requiring substantial delay or canceling of other systems
2 - Very expensive, requiring entirely new support system and multiple platforms
3 - Expensive, requiring a few platforms and using existing support system
4 - Inexpensive, using a single platform with multiple capabilities
5 - Relatively inexpensive, readily adaptable to existing support and systems
[/code:1:dc68072b67]

Seraphim your back?

OOC: I don't think I'm who you are referring to.

Alpha Base 1
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit

DPF-800's were almost carelessly put into place within the battlesteel frame, which itself was held tentatively by the jaws of twenty ConsModules, over the blue-white backdrop of Terra below.

"Charlie, dammit," Grim Jenson, the foreman petty officer said exasperatedly, "you're not locking the number four bolts into the strakes properly. Christ, we're going to have to do these four all over again."

"Sorry, sorry sir," an apologetic voice replied thinly.

"Sorry my ass!" Grim berated, as he floated feeling helpless in his suit, watching his beloved ship being put together wrong. "Look, let the computer handle the locking mechanism. It'll take longer, except that we won't have to DO THEM TWICE."

"I'm sorry, sir, honest. I haven't slept in three days..."

"That's what the stims are for. I hope you're not out already."

A moment's silence, interrupted only by the hissing sound of an injection over the radio. "Not yet, sir," the laborer replied with a lower voice.

"Well, get going. We've got about three hours before that solar flare and I don't want the engine block naked."

More silence, and then the labor coordinator began removing the improperly installed components, one at a time. Everything had a place, and everything in it's place. That was the Way. Grim knew this, from years of experience.

This section would take longer. But now the laborer would be sure to let the computer do the thinking for him, and that would, in the end, be more efficient.

The thick battlesteel plate came to its place gracefully as the large hands that grabbed it brought it to its place. The thick plate settled in place and instantly as a result, the right arm of the massive HCS suit lighted up in bright pure light as the chem-catalyst welding gear in the arm began to weld the plate into place.

Senior Chief Hector Raus observed the seam he was welding with the professional care of a dock worker who had been in the job for the better part of a decade. He quickly finished welding the seams and glanced further down the surface of the hull of the Battlecruiser under the feet of his suit. There were dozens of suits like his in view all over the surface, 253 suits total were currently working on this particular ship. Without the HCS suits, the number would have been atleast three to four times higher but with the mechanic muscles of the suits and their attached chem-catalyst gear, one could do the job of three to five workers without a HCS suit.

The pace at which Hephaestus was churning out all kinds of warships these days was stunning to say the least. And that did even take into account what levels of materials the manufacturing plants adjoined to Hephaestus and the eight small-craft production plants were throwing out.

All in all, the yard was more than easilly the largest concentration of industrial might in the entire Protectorate. Not even the massive factory sectors over at Diess City were throwing out quite this much sheer hardware and materials.

Hector shoved those thoughts aside and glanced at the chrono in the upper right corner of his HUD. His teams workshift was pretty much over, time for some good time on Dempsey's over a pint of Barwhon ale, and perhaps this evening he could get some damn progress with his little "project" with Chief Tanya Higgins.

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

Admiral Hughes was a tired man. True, he had known what he was accepting when he took the offer for being the CO of the Hephaestus but sometimes the sheer workload was daunting. Twenty four hours per day didnt seem to be enough anymore.

He punched up the next message in his queue and let his eyes quickly stroll thru the lines of information.

So-far, they were keeping perfectly on schedule with the incoming initiation date on the Construction Order from the JIL. And that was good, he wanted to get that job done as quickly as possible so that he could get back to assembling the Home Fleet.

He closed that message and punched up the next one, and his eyes widened in supprise as he read thru the first paragrap. He had known that BuShips was going to dome some schedule changes but he'd had no idea they would be THIS large. He would have to re-work 50% of his entire construction schedule for the final quarter of the year because of this. But he wasnt dissatisfied at all. He had allways been a bit baffled at the a bit stupid construction schedule BuShips had first brought up. But now that schedule was changed, and to a direction that Admiral Hughes liked a lot.

The remaining ships of the first construction wave were to be purchased directly and the second wave began to form...

The Joint Interplanetary Legion began to cohese into One from the many nations of the Order. New systems were tested by daring crews in cylindrical coffins, re-tested, and became accepted as the ship class changed from prototype to archetype, the mother of so many more to come.

Already hundreds of thousands of space men of all kinds of nationalities were seeing themselves as different, apart from their home countries agendas, but in the same way that angels are apart from those they protect... unified in purpose, will, and a growing faith of the awesome powers which created so much... in the bright whiteness of the massive warships, and the stellar heat of the reaction drives or thrusters...

...a precision clockwork.

Underground...

"Report."

The cold voice of the High Imperator broke loudly through through the damp, still underground air, strained and yet gutteral over the lo-quality speakers of the financial officer's com room.

The addressee smoothly took out a 3 by 3 PDA, one carefully designed for this very purpose. He ran his left hand through thick blonde-tipped hair.

"High Imperator, we have completed the third Cruentus for phase one, and the Dromas class, (which you'll recall is the battle ready form of the EJP Praegrandis war cruiser), and we have also completed the first Audax Commmand Cruiser, and out of our current total of one hundred Sword of Damocles frigates, our new shipyards have produced fifty seven, with the rest being purchased from Clairmont through the Contact Agency. With the other ships we have... the thousand Geckos, the three Atmos class destroyers, eight gunships from OMI, five-hundred odd Spearmaidens, this makes Phase One complete, earlier than expected, and at ten percent of our projected budget, assuming, begging your pardon sir, that the new additions to the Order and their required comps come in."

That said, the man lifted a tall, cylindrical glass from a low table and took a polite but hefty gulp.

"Very well, very well... earlier than expected, by how much?"

Well, it wasn't really earlier than the financial officer had expected. However, to play it safe he'd given a timeframe which would have made it earlier by 167 days, which sounded impressive enough to leaders like the High Imperator.

The truth was, given the industrial potential mixed with the pseudogovernmental bureacracy of the interacting segments of the CSF, he had expected them to be completed three weeks earlier. Luckily, he knew when to be honest... and when not to.

One had to, in this business.

"One hundred sixty-seven days, High Imperator. Plus change."

A moment of crackling silence ensued.

The financial officer restrained from asking if the conversation was over or what.

Finally, the voice responded. "That is very interesting, Mister Warden."

Coldness. Another drink of water was needed to quench this dryness.

"...because I have spoken to others both in your own field and, of course, the Alpha Base commanders, on this matter, and they have concurred-- not all of them, naturally, it appears that those who voted you into this office did not concur-- that the ships should have been completed over twenty days ago.

"Now how would you explain this, Mister Warden?"

Warden, the financial officer, stuttered, "I don't-- it may be that my expectations were a bit pessimistic, sir..."

Crackle, crackle. Someone ought to get that speaker fixed, it sounds like radio or something.

Then: "It may be so indeed, Mister Warden, however you are smarter than to be so blind as that. Not however, very wise in your estimation of my ability to see. For when I am lied to-- as you have-- no matter how innocent the intention, or however minor the lie may seem to you, as a leader I must act on your words-- your soft, pretty lies meant merely to butter my bread, instead of inform as you are commanded to-- and those actions have consequences. For example, do you know that the precision clockwork of the shipbuilding process would have tripped to a halt if we had truly finished five months ahead of schedule? That it would have, ironically, been a delay rather than an apparent benefit? Had I taken your words at face value, Mister Warden, critical months of time and billions of credits would be wasted."

That was enough. This was almost begining to sound like he would be accused of treason soon! He broke down early, audbily sobbing. "High Imperator, p-please, forgive me, I have exagerrated no truth, I m-merely acted based on my own, faulty sources of information..."

"Those sources, like you, lied for what they perceived as a good reason-- in their case, accepting your bribe, just as they had when they elected you. Or did you think we didn't know?"

Ice.

"Unfortunately, though your talents are great, we cannot afford your incompetence in this organisation, and so you will be fired. But because you have knowingly defied the authority of the Seraphim, for your own corrupt personal gains, is a far greater crime. A crime for which you have already doomed eight members of the CSF financial committee to death, and for which, you must pay with your own life as well."

The ex-financial officer dropped his portfolio, spilling the papers onto the metallic floor. He looked around him for an escape, knowing it was futile here, miles and miles below the surface of Mars. He was caged, and could not survive out of it.

"No!" he cried. "I didn't bribe them, they bribed me! This is all a conspiracy!"

No reply came from the speaker that he could hear, because at that moment gas began to pour in through the vents. The man collapsed into a quick, spasmic death; he could do no more than feel fleeting moments of blind panic before the end.

The crackling of the speakers ceased. And so did a secondary level financial officer.

One level above, a qualified and eager accountant was promoted, and without a hitch the precision clockwork continued.

Executor Cullen enjoyed the Mars.

He took her out slowly, realizing the sensitivity the crew and the shipyard observers would have to the fact that it was her first run, knowing she'd appear grand and mysterious, seemingly simple in form, yet awe-inspiringly beautiful with a full, vibrant white hull. It had taken months to construct the vessel, which was by far the largest this alpha base had yet produced.

Mars was the first of her kind, but it would not be the last. But no other Executor would feel exactly as he did, engaging the dense plasma focus drives to nudge her slowly away from the station. (Slow, in this case, meaning a mere 10 g of acceleration, beginning from what was already several klicks per second of Earth Orbital velocity.)

"Fuel flow rates optimal, thrust at 99.4," said the Commander.

"Right-o," he replied casually. A ship this size never quite ran itself, but contrary to the popular conception, the 'captain' had a rather limited function, no greater or less of importance to that of the ship than any other of the 10,048 crew. And at any rate, as an Executor, he was more of an overseer anyway, concerned with the command of his entire Battle Squadron. The Commander was only being polite in informing him of what Engineering had told him.

But that battle squadron had yet to be fully assigned. For now his orders were to make full use of Mars lack of need for propellant and, as Chief Executor Johl had put it, 'save our spot.'

Heavily laden, the vessel bristled with weapons and munitions. 31 Spearmaiden tactical assault crafts were safely stowed in a depressurized internal hangar, protected for the moment by 1.3 meters of 'materials,' the advanced sandwich of various metals which covered the entire vessel from top to bottom. 38 weapons modules were mounted unevenly (except the laser defense grid, which included 250 individual weapons covering every angle of attack) on the front, the smoothly curving cylindrical sides, and the rear.

The most prominent of the modules; the IFFCs and the PTs, were 'vulnerable' in the sense that they could not be withdrawn behind the ship's main armor. But the PTs themselves, of course, were more heavily armored than most entire vessels out there.

The other weapons dealt death in a variety of ways, and there was more than enough space in the 856 meter long warship to carry its full compliment of over thirty thousand missiles, and more than enough power and equipment to deliver death to any conceivable target.

All of this, and of course his recent promotion to Executor, might have given him an ego trip, made him somewhat mad with the power. Were he a lesser man he might now be acting like the tyrant, lording over his new toy and its masses of loyal servicemen. But he had not spent 17 years in a national military and 3 in this one just to become petty and pointless.

It was the order of it all that he appreciated, and more than that the knowledge that the world; the universe would change, at the hands of the CSF, for the higher values and goals of the Order.

He'd seen the plans for Phase Three, after all, and though he wasn't an industrialist he knew full well that the constituent nations of the Order had the resources-- and the will-- to pull it off. Together they would do what no other nation or alliance could do, and with luck it would happen during his lifetime. It was already beginning.

Mars, glowing bright with the dynamic paint of its massive hull, screaming EM radiation from millions of undampened and unmuted electronics, 3 million plus tons of fight, began to ascend toward an escape velocity, still burning secondary engines and streaking superhot plasma across the night sky hundred of kilometers below.

A white ship in LEO, burning white hydrogen, would appear as a comet to those on Earth watching it. An omen, a harbringer, a sign of things to come.

Executor Cullen enjoyed the analogy, he decided.

[code:1:62c9cad03a]
From: HIGH IMPERATOR, CSF Strategic Command
To: All CSF Alpha Base Executors
Re: OP-QUICKSIL332
Encryption: Max
Authorization: Need to Know

Phase One is complete. All available JIL vessels are to relocate to MERCURY. Propellant, food and munition prepositioning Geckos are already en route. As per operational requirements, all forces are under the command of Executor Cullens for the relocation and until the first Alhambra base ship arrives.

If more vessels to escort the relocation effort are deemed required by Executor Cullens, they will also be placed under CSF command for the duration, and should first come from Sketch, Santa Barbara and Clairmont nationals. These CRC ships will have their original unit commanders, who as per the Charter will be under the tactical control of the JIL in a combat situation.

You are now authorized to inform your Base's assigned national that the CSF will be utilizing Mercury space for construction, observation, prospection. This information is to be kept as confidential as possible; I don't have to iterate that no one wants the press to know too much.
[/code:1:62c9cad03a]

tag. :P

[Tag for... ah... "intel" purposes.]

[code:1:876aac5c76]
To: High Imperator, CSF Strategic Command
Re: Timetables
Encryption: Max
Authorization: Your Eyes Only

CSF Fleet Status: Current Period

100 Sword of Damocles class Frigates
3 Atmos-class Fleet Destroyer
4 OMI-34 Effector class Gunships
4 OMI-100 Sun Tower Gunships
3 Cruentus class Missile Dreadnaughts
1 Praegrandis class EJP war Cruiser
1 Dromas class War Cruiser
1 Audax class Command Cruiser
1 Mars class Battlecruiser
500 Spearmaiden Tactical Assault Craft
286 Silent Eagle class Light Transports
1000 Gecko class Transports

% of Annual Operational Budget: 12
Crew: 128608
Tonnage: 990208512

CSF Fleet Status: 2nd Wave, 3rd Quarter (Projected)

3 Cruentus class Missile Dreadnaughts
1 Praegrandis class EJP War Cruiser
1 Dromas class War Cruiser
1 Mars class Battlecruiser
4 Audax class Command Cruisers
5 Ensis class Cruisers
3 Atmos class Fleet Destroyers
15 Informis class Destroyers
112 Sword of Damocles class Frigates
42 Sicarius class Missile Frigates
56 Vexare class Corvettes
4 OMI-100 Sun Tower class Gunships
4 OMI-34 Effector class Gunships
1000 Gecko class Transports
600 Silent Eagle class Transports
750 Spearmaiden Tactical Strike Craft

% of Projected Annual Operational Budget: 17
Estimated Crew: 151041
Estimated Tonnage: 1010964963
[/code:1:876aac5c76]

CSFBD Think Tank, Alpha Base X

"Could it be done?"

"Of course it could. I just got off the horn with Alcova, and they assure us the module would be easily portable by even the smaller warships."

"That's without taking into account power issues."

"Yes. We have to decide on that question sooner or later."

"Very well. The 50 GW VHEL would likely replace the older single VHEL units?"

"On the older ships, yes."

"So we have a power problem already. We have to increase the available power somehow."

"Addition."

"Yes. Obviously we can't remove vital systems."

"We'll have to remove some systems, if only to make room. Has Alcova said anything on the exact size?"

"No, but you can be sure it's small enough to not require spinal mounting, and larger than the single VHELs."

"Another problem, then, since we'll have to alter the internal-external structure to accomodate this."

"The increased power won't be a problem. Our ships have been designed for modular upgrades, particularly in engineering. But on others where space is an issue, we may have to mount it outside of the main armor shell."

"Could we give it armor of it's own in that case?"

"We could. But convincing anybody that the increased cost is worth it, is another matter, and one I don't feel inclined to bring before the High Imperator."

"Then we should consider whether the increased power of this weapon is worth it. How does performance model with a single 50 GW laser versus 50 1-GW lasers?"

"You like that argument a lot, don't you?"

"Can't say it doesn't merit consideration."

"Consider that we simply don't have space aboard any of our warships to mount that many weapons modules. Therefore, performance is secondary to engineering issues. We would have to effectively redesign the entire WepSys for 50 of the smaller ones."

"OK. So, the 50 GW will replace. How about replacing other modules? The twin or triple VHEL turrets and such."

"Yes, we can do that, and I'd like to restrict that to replacing like with like. Too many issues to deal with putting this where a PBW used to go."

"Yes, of course. Let's pull up the power routing models and start with there. We'll need more mains, and that probably precludes the addition of more auxilliaries. So the 50 GW will be combat ineffective on auxilliary power."

"Any idea which ship to start with?"

"You know which one I prefer."

"Mars. Of course. Very well, let's get to work."

Mercury Orbit

...was a hotbed of activity. The Mars fleet had left earlier to harass Sagesquagmire, but other warships kept a close watch as the Colonization began. The sensor and recon drones were still deployed, but now they had full-time correspondants in the form of three dozen orbital satellites, each powered by solar radiation and a fast fission breeder reactor.

The sats mapped the entire surface below, creating Mercury Surface Positioning System (MSPS) within a week. Others got to work relaying communication messages from the surface to the warships, or from the surface back to an Alpha Base at Earth or Luna, or from the surface to other points of the surface. Others stood sentinel, observing, watching the goings-on of that part of the universe near the inner planet.

Gecko class transports moved the heavier equipment to the surface. They worked during the night, so that the diggers could be set up without having to worry about the lethal solar radiation.

Once in place, the diggers began doing what they were designed to do. Powered by hydrogen, they quickly displaced the hard Mercurial crust with immense battlesteel blades and shovels and began what was to be a vast network of tunnels and underground caves.

Bach

The digger equipment suffered an unreroutable error, and the site was abandoned for the time being. The robotic drones continued to try, but when day came the surface temperature rise was too great, and they ceased to function.

Chekov

The diggers succeeded in carving out a hole for the first SDW (surface defense weapon), a GFE model anti-gravship coilgun. It was heavily modified, the 'barrel' kept supercool by a specialized, costly and heavy coating. It's performance, like that of the others, would be slightly changed because of this, but because of this the targeting and trajectory computers took the extra mass into account.

Borealls Planita

Here, several landings were made, and by the end of the day six SDW emplacements were set up, as well as a habitation module for the crews. The diggers continued in the day, protected from direct sunlight, and began carving out a place for the first of many fusion reactors and more hab modules. Like the SDWs, the habitation modules would not be operational until the fusion reactors were installed, and as with the other sites no human crews were put into place yet. All was done through telecommunicative miracle.

And so it continued, day in and day out, for so many locations on the pocketed, broiling-freezing surface of Mercury, named after obscure dead mathematicians and artists and composers.

Renoir, Tolstoy, Beethoven, Michaelangelo, Vivaldi, Schubert...

Mercury Orbit

"General Officer Staggs. Still going on?"

"You betcha. You know who got the job, right."

"Some guy I don't know."

"Brycoff. That kid's got a temper. He'll be shooting first, if I know him."

"Surprised it's taking so long."

"Yeah."

Drinking tea in orbit used to be a near impossibility. You had to hold a toothpaste-like tube to your mouth, clamp it shut and hope you didn't spray, and then have the odd sensation of liquid moving down your throat by muscle power alone, sliding along lazily.

Now, G.O Staggs, the young navigation officer of the Hwang Lee, a Sword of Damocles class frigate, cradled a thin but sturdy plastic cup brimming with hot tea, dipping the bag in and watching the particles darken the liquid.

BLIP

"What was that?"

He let out a sigh for having to discuss work. "That'll be a big fat Cruentis coming within a million clicks, on schedule."

"Lot of ships out there today."

"Six hundred thirty four. Including the transports. Not including the small buggers."

"Damn," the reply came, and a whistle. Then: "So... you gonna drink that tea?"

"Get your own tea, Watch Officer."

Chekov

Within a few days, half a dozen SDWs had been emplaced, but were still unpowered. The diggers now began to carve tunnels, after analyzing the subsurface for structure, stability, ease (in terms of hydrogen and resources used), and so forth. Some of the tunnels were becoming caves.

More Gecko transports came by night, offloading all-environment engineering vehicles, pre-fabricated modular structures, and raw materials containers.

The officer in charge of the base-to-be, Commander Ernst, reported back to the Audax class Command Cruiser in equatorial orbit that all was going according to schedule. He, meanwhile, piloted a long-range-equipped TAC a few clicks above the surface, skating silently on a solo patrol, relaying information from the surface drones below-- and fascinatingly watched the stark, preternaturally small planet of Mercury.



OOC: Hard to put it IC, so I'll just say it: we're putting a LOT of these landings. We're avoiding the Caloris Basin and prety much the surrounding mountains too, but otherwise plunking them down everywhere. Dozens to hundreds.

[OOC- Too lazy to nick over...

You'll probably notice a couple curious rovers from tCB watching the landings near the basin. They're little silvery things that reflect light like you wouldn't believe. Looking at one in the normal visual spectrum would be kinda like looking right at the sun, as they reflect pretty much all the sun's light.

However, they won't do anything except watch, and run away if attacked.]