NationStates Jolt Archive

Cotlandstad

"Are the plans set into motion?" the man asked, looking over at the other man in the dark room.

"Yes. The first launch will take place tommorrow, followed by one every week untill it is complete."

The other man was sweating, dispite the cold weather outside. Cotlandstad wasn't exactly the warmest place on Earth, being situated in Russia where the rivers Volga and Kama join together. The first man looked out the window down on the busy evening market.

"Good. We'll meet again soon then. Take care," he said before he walked away. The other man was left in the room, and cursed the Emperor for going through with this plan. Then he turned and left. He had a plane to catch if he was going to be at his work as the Flight Director at the control center in Plesetsk AFB, the principal area where the Cots sent up their spacecraft.


The next day, Plesetsk Air Force Base

The control center in Plesetsk was busy and alive with activity. Today was a historic day. The first ever Cottish space station was be constructed within a year, and the first module, the command center, would be sent up now inside the space shuttle Discovery. Another shuttle would be launched later that day, carrying the second module, which was the living quarters. Another two launches was scheduled for next week, carrying two more modules and some undisclosed cargo.

The man stood in the control of the space center, giving directions to everyone.

"Give me a go/no go for launch sequence."

All stations checked in that they were ready for launch, and the go-ahead was given. T- 10 seconds...

"9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

On zero, the Discoverys boosters lit up and lifted the beautiful space vehicle from the launch pad, engulfed in flames and smoke. Ten seconds later, it had cleared the tower and was heading for the vaccum of space. The first step towards a permanent Cottish colony in space had started.

Cotlandstad, Office of the Emperor

Emperor Thomas sat in his office as usual, working with the endless stream of paperwork that came with running one of the largest Empires in the world. While the Cottish nation wasn't the most populated nation in the world, it did have many advantages. The oil supply was covered, as were most needs for resources. The introduction of hydrogen-propelled cars was getting along fine. Not because of the environmental concerns. The latest forcasts showed that Cotland had just about 20 years worth of oil left. Steps were being taken to increase that number of years, such as reducing oil export drastically, as well as building up strategic reserves. Another way of increasing the influence of Cotland was being undertaken too. The introduction of a space-based weapons system, concealed inside the new space station that was being constructed. Naturally there were more weapons than the station alone, but it was to serve as a command and communications center for the space forces. Long-term plans called for armed space vehicles and such, based on the technology gathered from downed UFOs. Still, those plans were more then a decade away from being realized. 'Right now,' the Emperor thought, 'We must focus on the weapons satellites.' He looked down on the document on his laptop.

"Sony" series
BALLISTIC MISSILE SATELLITE

Length: 12 meters

Width: 3 meters

Height: 6 meters

Weight: 20 metric tons

Armament: 10 W90 nuclear warheads (yeald: 500 MT)

Altitude: Geo- 500 kilometers

Price per unit: $800 Million

Units projected in service: 24

This project was turning out to be one of the best weapons systems Cotland would be able to use to project its influence with, as well as keeping a nice and virtually untouchable deterrent. With this in mind, the Emperor closed the document and pulled up the travel plans for the trip to Layarteb.