NationStates Jolt Archive

A large crowd had gathered today for the groundbreaking ceremonies. It had been two years since the Belistand Insurrection had been put down, and the construction of the new naval base, Naval Base Vulcan. And what a base it was to be. The fjords and cliffs of Belistand Island afforded a tremendous opportunity for the Rosdivan Navy. Though the entrances would, quite obviously, be at sea level, the hangars to be built inside them would house, not aircraft, but ships, giant ships. Dozens of destroyers and cruisers, even half a dozen large fleet carriers were to have berths in the new base. Below sea level, entrances for tens of submarines, who would be able to leave port in absolute secrecy. Even that was not the limit to the grandiose designs of this base. An entire underground shipyard, protected by a thousand meters of solid rock overhead and equipped with shock absorbing springs to protect from nuclear blasts, was to be built into the base. Fleet carriers would not only berth here in complete secrecy, they would be built here.

Needless to say, this was quite a large and expensive undertaking, one that would certainly be cost-prohibitive were it to be done using conventional methods. Which is why the ground breaking for the tunnels, and much of the excavation, would be conducted with Navy nuclear devices. Over the heads of the crowd, loudspeakers blared the countdown.

“Three….two….one!”

The ground rumbled, and a few people cried out, as nearly a hundred 500 ton warheads, obsolete with the retirement of the naval SAM they had belonged to, detonated across the cliffy rocks, showering the nearby sea with rocky debris. Many more such detonations, along with conventional boring, would be required before the base would be fully online, in about six years time. Overhead, a flight of F-80 Thundercat fighters streaked across the sky, laying smoke in a festive pattern. Defense Minister Michael O’Neill smiled at the muttering of some of the Belistand populace. During the insurrection, their naval cousin, the F2O Seacat, had massacred the Belistand excuse for an air force.

Of course, there was a deeper purpose to this than simply providing a new, and completely secure, base for the Navy. The thousands of jobs, and billions of dollars, that this would pour into the Belistand economy would help reunite them with the rest of Rosdivan, making the thought of rebellion recede from their mind. Of course, should they try to rebel again, they’d be facing the Army’s mechanized infantry division guarding the base as well as the hundreds of naval combat aircraft that would at the base. It was an elaborate, and multibillion dollar, example of the carrot and stick policy.

Getting up from his chair, Defense Minister O’Neill walked over to the foreign dignitaries, to get their reaction, and what they thought of the still-ongoing ceremonies.

OOC: I HIGHLY do not recommend using nuclear weapons as excavation explosives. Since ALL nuclear weapons(regardless of size and type) have some sort of radioactivity, you would be required to decontaminate the entire base! And decontamination is FAR more expensive then the use of conventional explosives.

OOC: I HIGHLY do not recommend using nuclear weapons as excavation explosives. Since ALL nuclear weapons(regardless of size and type) have some sort of radioactivity, you would be required to decontaminate the entire base! And decontamination is FAR more expensive then the use of conventional explosives.

I'm well-aware of the radiation. Hence the use of very small blasts (500 tons), which means that little stuff is radioactive, doesn't get far, and doesn't hold too much radiation. Except for the groundbreaking blasts, all of the other blasts will create debris that would have to be carted off anyhow were it done with conventional explosives and boring. We don't plan on decontaminating the debris anyhow, just dumping it where it won't do any harm to anyone. No reason to waste money like that.

The Reverand Father Joseph Marco shook his head at the nuclear weapons, but appauled anyway. The King was impressed with him, and with the Cardinal's permission, went to this groundbreaking. His cassock waved slgihtly near his ankles, because of the wind. He sat through the ceremonies, and then the diocesan priest introduced himself to the Rosidivans,
"I am Father Joseph Marco, of Cherry Ridge."

((ooc: Is this MT))

"Ah, how are you Father? I am Defence Minister Michael O'Neill, in charge of the Commonwealth's military and one of those who helped ram this whole enterprise through Parliament" said O'Neill, making a sweeping gesture with this hand to encompass the newly beginning base. "We hope that this base will ensure peace for Rosdivan's people for generations to come. Tell me, what is your opinion of all this?"

As if to emphasize his point about peace, and the stick portion of the policy to the Belistandians, a pair of HR2G transport rotodynes began a demonstration assault of the parade ground with an airborne company.

((ooc: Is this MT))

Yup.

((hmm, what would you say to giving one of my Generals a tour of what you plan to do here?))

((hmm, what would you say to giving one of my Generals a tour of what you plan to do here?))

Can't quite give a full on tour, due to the slight matter of it being under construction and security reasons, but I can have someone explain what's going into the construction of the base.

ooc: That's what I meant.

IC:

The plane taxied on to the runway, the black and Green of the Morgian flag prominent on both sides of the civilian carrier. Coming to a halt at the terminal the doors were flung open, Grey clad Morgian secret police stepped out. Clicking their heels as Lutenit Tarmanov stepped down from the plane, the sound of gravel crunched under the military boots as the Morgian looked around, waiting for the arrival of the Rosdivans.

"Impressive." Replied Marco, "Except the nukes. I believe they are immoral devices, however, impressive nonetheless. I am certain," he said, glancing around, "That this base will scare the rebels into submission though. How hard was it to get parliament to approve?"

A pair of Humvees carrying a one-starred flag pulled up to the disembarking Morgian party. Out of it hopped a man in his late 30s, with a pair of soldiers at a discrete business behind him. Striding up to the Morgians, he introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Commodore Andrew Wilkens. I apologize for my tardiness, we were expecting you inside the terminal, not outside of it. I presume you are Lutenit Tarmanov? If you'll come with me, we can go on a tour of the base, or at least what we plan to put here, or go meet with Defense Minister O'Neill."

OOC: Anyone else who wants to join in, you can simply assume you're already there and with the foreign dignateries.

"Impressive." Replied Marco, "Except the nukes. I believe they are immoral devices, however, impressive nonetheless. I am certain," he said, glancing around, "That this base will scare the rebels into submission though. How hard was it to get parliament to approve?"

"Oh, Parliament was easy enough to convince," O'Neill responded with a dismissive flick of the wrist. "All we had to do is make a chart showing the projected cost of the base, the cost of putting down the insurrection, and how it would create lots of little jobs that they could take credit for. A blind man could see them drooling. Such a delicious irony using their political greed for something good for a change, wouldn't you say?"

"Hello Commodore, I am Lutenit Tarmanov." The Morgian began to make his way to the humvees.

"I must apologize for the inconvenience, my security detail informs me that I am to valuable to lose." The Lutenit smiled and glanced back the soldiers following at a close distance.

"I'd like to thank you for this visit Mr.Wilkens, the Kreigmiest is very interested in what you're doing here... Our own fjords would be excellent for such an undertaking."

ooc: Its lieutenant

ic:
"I would say that is ironic. We don't have a parliament, so most of our politicians are either in the military- and when they get too loud are removed, and the other ones try to make the church go there way,on the parish level and the archdiocescan level. They rarely succeed."

"Hello Commodore, I am Lutenit Tarmanov." The Morgian began to make his way to the humvees.

"I must apologize for the inconvenience, my security detail informs me that I am to valuable to lose." The Lutenit smiled and glanced back the soldiers following at a close distance.

"I'd like to thank you for this visit Mr.Wilkens, the Kreigmiest is very interested in what you're doing here... Our own fjords would be excellent for such an undertaking."

"We are certainly grateful to have you here," replied Commodore Wilkins. As they stepped into the Humvees, guarded by each others soldiers, he began describing the plans for the base. "Where we are right now will eventually become a naval air station, for the airwings of the carriers docked here. That will mean that upwards of 600 aircraft will be stationed here, and available in case of emergency. In addition, the Air Force is planning on putting a few interceptor squadrons here, for some additional defense..." and Commodore Wilkens kept going on, describing how they expected to use hardened and underground hangars for the aircraft as the two Humvees drove towards the cliffs and fjords.


"I would say that is ironic. We don't have a parliament, so most of our politicians are either in the military- and when they get too loud are removed, and the other ones try to make the church go there way,on the parish level and the archdiocescan level. They rarely succeed."

"Perhaps that is an advantage to our system then, as it helps keep the politicians out of the military and Church. Just to let you in on a little secret, our Parliament is actually fairly impotent. What the Lord Protector wants done, the Lord Protector gets done."

"I guess that is an advantage. The chruch politicans always lose, but they think they win. Morons." He smiled and said, "In our nation, the King gets what he wants too. Unless the Cardinal-Archbishop convinces him otherwise. They are kindof close. The Cardinal provided him with a lot of advice when he was younger." He sighed, changing the subject, "How did you decide to enter into your career?"

ooc: no, it's lutenit...Morgiland has different ranks

General Kerosvocki, commander of the 7th Army, stood with the rest of the foreign dignataries as the ceremonies continued. He had hardly flinched when the atomic warheads detonated. He himself had witnessed 5 kiliton nuclear artillery shells be detonated in the air on the southeastern edge of Red Tides Western Wastelands.

Out of all the generals in the Red Tide Military, Kerosvocki had the best memory... which is exactly why he was here. His escorts, a ten man team of Intellegince-Consortium Agents, stood with him. Kerosvocki briefly wondered what a tungsten rod would do to this naval base.

'Probably to far down to be destroyed via a conventional bunker buster bomb. Although an accurate and powerful enough nuke set for a ground burst would do the trick.' He thought.

"I guess that is an advantage. The chruch politicans always lose, but they think they win. Morons." He smiled and said, "In our nation, the King gets what he wants too. Unless the Cardinal-Archbishop convinces him otherwise. They are kindof close. The Cardinal provided him with a lot of advice when he was younger." He sighed, changing the subject, "How did you decide to enter into your career?"

"Well, I became defense minister after the Lord Protector asked me to. Like I said, what the Lord Protector wants, he gets" O'Neill said with a laugh. Scratching the back of his head, he continued. "Before that I was a lieutenant general with the Army. As for that, I couldn't think of any other career. Serving in Rosdivan's military is a strong tradition in my family, every generation has served since the unification two hundred years ago. What about you Father, what attracted you to the priesthood, besides the obvious calling?"

"And I am honored to be here, this new technology is promising. The Emperor has expressed great interest in Rosdivan and your military.

We would have to wait several years to begin construction. The economy has taken...well, a bit of a fall in the past couple years. But we should be on our way to recovery."

Shaking his head in discomfort the Lutenit continued.

" If things go well today we may ask for assistance in construction. The emperor would like to house the home fleet in the base...Can you insure that bombs won't be able to reach?"

"When I was young- maybe seventh or eighth grade, we had to do a job report. Priest stood out, and from then on, I knew I was called. I looked into different orders, and narrowed it down to diocesan. I guess I felt the call since I was little."

"Unfortunately, Murphy's Law prevents me from making such a guarantee," smiled Commodore Wilkens. "But I think that, barring some obscenely large bunker buster, or a nuclear bomb, that the naval base should be immune to conventional attack. All of that rock provides some handy armor, and, for reasons I'm not permitted to get into, a missile really won't do well trying to go into the entrances for the ships. As for assisting the construction of your own base like this, I'm quite sure that we would be more than happy to help, though the particulars would obviously need to go through the Foreign Ministry rather than myself."

"When I was young- maybe seventh or eighth grade, we had to do a job report. Priest stood out, and from then on, I knew I was called. I looked into different orders, and narrowed it down to diocesan and Redemptorist. I went with Redemptorist so I would not be in the same place my whole life, and because I liked their spirituality. I also admired the missionaries. The Redemptorists loan me out to the archdiocese on occasion, and to the government sometimes. Interesting thing right now is I am on loan to the archdiocese- they need a little extra help, and then they loaned me to the King for this trip." He smirked, and looked around. "How long do you think construction will be?"

"Construction shouldn't take too long. One of the problems with Belistand is that it has usually been quite poor, which means that there's a large supply of ready labor for this project. Hopefully this will remedy that problem. Using the old nuclear warheads for blasting when appropriate also greatly speeds things up. We expect the base to go online, and begin receiving ships in about six years time, though construction will likely be a somewhat permanent fixture of the base, as we expand it and add defenses and the like."

"How big is this base going to be?" questioned the Priest further.

"Large enough for a goodly portion of the fleet, plus the carriers' airwings, an an Army mechanized infantry division, and a few Air Force interceptor squadrons. Half a dozen fleet carriers can berth here, and there'll be an underground shipyard. That shipyard is going to take awhile longer to build though."

"Pretty big then. Will it be the biggest in Rosdivan history?"

"The largest in our history by an order of magnitude. Of course, rather than cutting back at other bases, we'll be filling it up with new ships. Don't want to make the fleet more vulnerable after all."