NationStates Jolt Archive

This is, to all parties except Yallack and possibly franberry (if you want in, just post), but to everyone else, this is closed. For OOC comments, please post http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10959613#post10959613 <there.. thanks





Northford Herald

NAVAL WASTE

Protests were outside both Redbridge and Richmond this morning, following the order of a Trireme-Class Command Ship.

In a report leaked to the press, it has become apparent that the Commonwealth Navy has been using its budget to pay for so far unconfirmed number of luxury yachts for official use, an expense not covered by the official mandate under which the navy operates.

The Yachts, named Trireme-Class Command Ships by the shipyards which built them (based in Van Luxemburg) are, arguably, one of the most luxurious ships on he market today. Being able to accommodate over 100 guests comfortably, and entertain them with a vast array of facilities, ranging from an onboard pool/Jacuzzi to a “mini-cinema”.

With facilities such as this, it is little wonder as to why the admiralty wants such a craft. The question, left in many taxpayers minds, however, is whether or not the Northfordian Navy * needs * such a ship. Despite it’s appearance, and it’s luxury, it really is debatable on the “war winning” ability of it. It is unarmoured, and relatively unarmed, a target for Submarines, and, of course air strikes.

Another issue, although contentious, is regarding the new roles that the Pickering class corvette is presently fufilling. The corvettes, designed and made in Portland, Sarzonia, are to be the primary escort ships for a new hydrological mission. The mission, the first international task given to the navy, will be primary surveying the ocean bed and gathering data for the first generation of Northfordian made maps and charts. While there has been other maps (international) on the market for many years, the Government has deemed it an important task for the navy, both to see whether the recent purchases are suitable for peacetime operations, and to simply “get some use out of them” before the design becomes obsolete in the Incorporated Sarzonian Navy, a the primary “World Power” that uses the same ships as Northford ( OOC: as they are Sarzonian designs…).

The first of such hydrological missions is to be launched next week. Consisting of the native designed and built NNS (Northfordian Naval Ship) Charlotte Ryan , hydrological survey ship, the Corvette, the NNS Priceless , and the Destroyer NNS Beauty …



Admiral Oaks looked over the article, “Here, Barns, you’re ship makes a mention, look”, he stated, passing the old newspaper over to his college, “it’s a couple of days out of date, but its still a nice read”.

Captain Barnes, of the Priceless, agreed, “Oh yes, that it is. I quote, ‘The Priceless is one of the smallest ships in the Northfordian navy, and there are serious doubts about it’s ability in the upcoming mission’. It’s almost laughable.”

“Damm right, Barnes. If I managed to meet with up Pythogria in our little tin pot ship, then you’ll be able to do this in the new Corvettes”, he paused, “besides, if you don’t do it, you’ll miss out on that cushy little desk job that will be waiting for you after it’s over.”

Barnes laughed. “That thing’s 3 day’s old, Oaks… wow… to think in another three day’s I’ll be in open sea”

“Yeh”

--

3 days later, the Priceless was indeed on its way to open sea. After a lavish launching ceremony, the Priceless was out of Red Bridge and steaming along.

Inside the Northfordian Parliament building, during the Prime Minister’s Questions:


“Tell me, Mr Brooks”, started the reporter, “what’s your view of the recent surge in Northfordian oil shares, and, if you would, tell me your views upon the recent merger between the two largest commodity company’s operating out of our grand country, ‘Off-sea Oil’, and ‘Desert Diamonds Plc’?”

Alan Brooks, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Northford paused a moment before answering. He didn’t have any reason to answer questions such as thing, and could quite easily tell the reporter that he ‘declines to answer’, but, upon reflecting that it would make it seem weak, decided to answer it anyway:

He started, “The view of the Northfordian Government, is simple”, he paused again, “if companies wish to merge with each other, it is really none of our business, so long as the Competition Commission rules that there merging is for the good of the country. If it deems so, they there is little the Government can do to stop it. Remember, that the Government has no control over the Competition Commission. Next Question Please:”

A number of hands rose into the air. The aid who was choosing who to select picked one at random.

“ Minister Brooks. I have a question regarding the recent the Hydrological Mission the Navy is presently engaged in. Should the navy encounter any hostile forces, what is their policy? I think the readers of my paper will be interested, after all, no one wants to start a war because we annoyed someone while looking at the ocean floor”

This caught PM Brook’s ear. Unlike the merging of some oil companies, he needed to stress to people listening that the mission really was low risk.

“For the last time, let me stress, we don’t intend to encounter hostile forces. This is a survey mission. In international waters, as well… but… seeing as you asked, I might as well tell you what I can… after all, a lot of it is classified.” PM Brooks waited for this to sink in, while he looked through his notes for additional information, “Ah,” he proclaimed as he found the correct sheet’s, “here it is. Well, in a nutshell here it is: We won’t fire first, will attempt to resolve all problems peacefully, and will attempt to evade rather than destroy weaker foe that seek out trouble. And, it’s worth noting, for those of you, who think that such a policy will lead us to be sitting ducks in the open ocean, take note: When confronted by an unknown force, it has become standard policy in the navy to active CIWS. This is done to ensure that the ships cannot be taken unawares by missiles from an enemy. A demonstration by the NNS Beauty recently showed this ability perfectly. Now, what’s next?”

“Sir, what do you think of the ‘Pennies for pensioner’s’ fund?”

~~

Meanwhile, back on the NNS Beauty, life was going on rather uneventfully. The flotilla had completed it’s journey for the night, and the crews were busy getting ready for the night. While normally, the ships would be constantly moving, due to some rather interesting rock formations, the Charlotte Ryan requested a short over night stop.

It was a warm morning on the deck of the Charlotte Ryan, with soft morning sun hitting the armour, though such wonderful weather was rather unusual for the climate at this time of the day, it was none-the-less appreciated by the crew.

The captain of the Charlotte Ryan, Captain Peters was surveying the water. He was aged early 30’s, and a fine seaman. Earlier in his career he chose to follow the hydrological route, even though he was prematurely offered a commission on one of the new aircraft carriers that had been planned. In the end, he turned it down, deciding that his life would be better trying to understand nature, rather than trying destroying nature by leading a life of war. Despite this rather gentle attitude to life, he was nevertheless a man who understood how to fight, having gained this premature commission by managing to head off a small contingent of rebel fishermen earlier in his life.

He walked from the deck, and made his way to the bridge, saying a casual “Morning” to anyone he passed. Once he reached the Bridge, he decided he had better catch up with the Commanding officer of the night watch, to see if anything had happened.

“News?” He asked, “anything?”

Leuitenant Jones nodded dismissivly, “Not much”, he replied, “except, we’ve found a continental shelf a couple about 70nm in the distance”

“Right…..”

“I’m not sure if you’re following Sir,” bravely started the Lieutenant, “ Where there’s a continental shelf, there’s usually a continent, and that means land, and other countries.”

“I’m following you. What do you propose? We need to finish off surveying the ocean, not go gallivanting about the world, and looking for trouble. I tell you what, if you give want to, you clear it with our escorts. Once we’ve done what we’ve got to do, I don’t mind taking a little detour, so long as we have enough fuel to get home, and we don’t stand a high risk of getting blown up. Is that clear?” He captain failed to pause throughout the lecture, something which shocked the young suboordinate.

“Sir” Finished the Lieutenant, clear that this was not a popular idea with the captain, “I’ll pass the suggestion on to the Captains of the Beauty and the Priceless, and see what they say.”

The captain seemed satisfied.

“You do that,” he replied, “and leave me to go have my breakfast”.

Imperial Naval Base, Accolon, Yallak
Dining Area

Being very late into the afternoon, the dining hall was begining to fill up. Tucked out of the way, in one of the corner booths, a group of about a four officers sat around politely discussing ship designs.

‘No, that’s still the stupidest idea I’ve heard today, Kelran!’ declared one of the officers, Daroir, loudly drawing the attention of many of the new comers into the hall, while those already in the hall were simply now ignoring the officers and their argument which had been going for quite sometime. ‘Just because those foreign shipyards sell so much junk doesn’t mean they “must have at least some positive attributes“, it just means there are a lot of half-witted and gullible nations out there willing to buy it because they’ve been told it’s a good product.’

‘He makes a good point, Kelran,’ said another Captain named Urian. ‘Either way though it doesn’t matter, there is nothing that can match the quality of our vessels.’

Kelran raised his hand up in front of him in a sign off surrender; having decided arguing his point any longer would not be fruitful. To his left Captain Eraus saw the motioned and turned quickly pushing his hands back down.

‘Ah, don’t listen to them,’ he said, ‘if you let them win they’ll never let you forget it.’ Eraus turned to look at the two men across the table. ‘Besides, they’re just up themselves because they get to command Karak battleships,’ he added, getting ready to leave.

‘This isn’t over Captain, we’ll finish it tomorrow,’ demanded Daroir, trying to put authority into his voice and pull rank on his collegue. Urian showed his support by giving Eraus a playful death stare.

‘No we won’t Captain,' Eraus replied standing up, 'I leave for patrol in the morning.'

Lieutenant Jones was having a rather busy day. It was now lunchtime, and, after pestering Captain Lockheart of the Beauty, and Captain Barnes of the Priceless he had managed to get them to agree to slight detour.

The Priceless, the Corvette, being the smallest of all the ships, was the most apprehensive. Barnes, although an adventurer did not really like the idea of going to a foreign land all that much, especially since he was most likely the easiest target of the three ships. In the end, he only agreed after Jones offered to give him a bottle of “Northfordian Malt”, the most popular drink in the country.

On the NNS Beauty however, the mood was quite different. As the de-facto leader of the taskforce, all aboard were looking forward to a chance to “lead” the fleet, as it were. In the manic activity, everything was cleaned and polished, the weapons were readied, and new courses were set.

After the Charlotte Ryan completed her surveys the course was set towards the (supposed) centre of the continental plate. After a short consensus, it was agreed that the ships should proceed at 15knts, both to aid fuel efficiency, and to ensure the inhabitants of any land ahead would not be worried or threatened. One thing the people on board the ships didn’t want was to face an enemy fleet who thought they were trying to invade…

Imperial Naval Base, Accolon, Yallak
Wharf Six

Eraus hauled open the door to the transport truck, dropping heavily onto the wooden jetty below and then dragging his bag out behind him. As the Captain walked towards the nearby boarding stairs, the vehicle turned and with a roar of its engine, took off back down the wharf.

Reaching the top of the stairs granted a view of the multiple docking wharves of the Accolon base, each one with countless ships secured to it. The sight of an Imperial fleet never ceased to amaze and Eraus found his focus on the view even after stepping off the stairs onto the deck.

‘Captain,’ came a voice from behind, causing Eraus to spin around and face into the ship, ‘Welcome aboard.’

‘Commander Nieth, is she ready to leave?’

‘Yes sir, all supplies are stored, all system operating optimally and we have a full weapons load out.’

‘Then take her out Commander. I’ll meet you on the bridge in ten minutes.’

‘Consider it done,’ replied the officer saluting before marching off into the ships interior.

Even as the captain reached his quarters, he could just hear the dull sound of the ships engines powering up and moments later the entire vessel lurched forward as the propellers kicked in. Very efficient – that’ll make two weeks of patrol a lot easier.

Somewhere off the coast of Yallak

Captain Peters strode out onto the deck of the Charlotte Ryan,’Sweet Air, and new lands’ a juxtaposition of things in life; he mused, stepping over some rope.

“How long to we reach land” he asked a nearby Rating, he already knew the answer, but he wanted to make sure the young man knew too.

“About a half-day, Sir. Everyone knows, Sir… it’s one of the joy’s of Radar” Replied the boy, who looked about 19.

“Yep… that’s right son” said Peters, his eye’s scanning the horizon.

He went inside the ship, and made way to the bridge, to see how things were coming along. Stepping into his private office en-route, he picked up his reading glasses, as something told him he’d need them.

~

He entered the bridge, looking around. Things really were frantic. People were rushing around everywhere, like a beehive. In fact, one table had even been turned into a makeshift Cartography workshop, as possible maps were being drawn up as the ship went along.

Peters yelled out “PEOPLE”, to try to get some silence. One thing he liked about his ship, was that not being a standard navy vessel, the discipline and mood onboard was often more to his liking.

Everything stopped.

“People”, he called out, “The NNS Priceless has detected land on its Radar, furthermore, their Sonar has detected that the water is becoming slowly shallower. You know what that means? WE ARE THERE”

The people in the room, many of who he regarded as friends, cheered. Despite their initial hesitancy, they were really starting to get “into” the Explorer theme.

“I want people to start getting ready to make scans. It should take us three more hours before we’re ready to deploy the SONAR equipment, in the meantime, I want us at full readiness. We have the Beauty and the Priceless nearby if we need any help, but I’ve asked them to give us a wide berth… The power of the SONAR we’ll be using could really wreak havoc with their electronics.

“Are you ready men?” asked Peters, attempting to rouse them…

“Yes!”, came the response

Little did Peter’s know what lie in wait………….

Approaching outer limits of Imperial waters
Twenty five nautical miles from the coast

Captain Eraus closed the bridge door behind him as he entered the room. All was fairly quiet, as to be expected, there was never any activity during patrols. Only four other officers were on the bridge, busily working away at their stations as they monitored the ship and the surrounding waters.

‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,’ said the Captain as his moved across to his seat. The others on the bridge returned greetings and salutes.

‘Nothing to report here, sir,’ said Commander Nieth, leaving his seat and walking across to the Captain.

‘How surprising,’ yawned the Captain in reply. ‘I’ll go check the engine room then, they reported a minor problem earlier. Let me know if anything comes up.’

As Eraus began to stand, a bleeping filled the bridge from one of the consoles. Nieth, tilted his head to listen and then turned back to Eraus smiling. ‘Captain, something’s come up.’

The two men headed quickly over to the radar console. Sure enough, clearly on the edge of the screen were two contacts. Then moments later a third appeared.

‘Well I’ll be,’ declared Eraus, running his eyes over the screen. ‘Range: two hundred kilometers, Position: directly south of us.

‘It in our waters then, sir,’ came the voice of one of the officers.

‘Move to intercept, get all crew to their stations and alert command of the situation,’ said the Captain calmly, addressing those present on the bridge. They immediately set about carrying out his orders.

****************************

The IYS Kapella, an Imperial Kôan-class Destroyer, slid effortlessly through the water, parting it into torrents of foaming white liquid as it headed directly for the radar contacts at maximum speed.

Eraus now stood over his ships tactical display, as it projected a 3D image of the ship itself and its surroundings (OOC: using radar and satellite uplinks: think the battle displays they used in starwars ep II and III), watching, as the distance to the unknown incursion rapidly grew smaller. Within minutes, the contacts appeared on the horizon.

‘Prepare to broadcast, all frequencies,’ demanded the Captain as he finished analyzing the three unknown vessels. From their size and depiction on the tactical display, Eraus could guess the class and armament of the vessels and from that plan his strategy.

‘Sir, we are ready to transmit,’ declared an officer, holding out the ships communicator to the Captain.

Eraus took the device, and spoke into it, sending out a warning to the incoming vessels – the only warning they would receive before becoming tagged as hostile.

Attention unidentified vessels,

You have violated the territorial waters of the Empire of Yallak. Turn your ships around and exit the area immediately. I repeat, you have entered restricted waters, leave immediately.

Bridge of the NNS Priceless, off the coast of Yallak

"Well... lookie here Barnes", started Patel, his communications officer, "It seems the Charlotte Ryan is doing well. She's surveyed about a square mile. According to what I've just recieved, there's some ore under us".

Barnes smiled, slowly walking over to the officers desk. At least this trip wasn't for nothing

"Mind if I have a read? We've got nothing else to do at the moment, have we?", remarked Barnes, picking up a few sheets of papers, "Come-on chaps, get comfortable, I'll read it out to you all."

The 6 other men on the Bridge turned round to the captain, getting ready for him to give them the good news.



Progress Report, NNS Charlotte Ryan, Operation SONSURV



Day one: Dropped anchor....




Barnes was reading the report quietly, in his slow level voice that constantly gave an air of calm when the sereneness of the situation was disturbed by an abrasive noise, pinging away in the background. 'What was that noise', mused Barnes, as he paused, looking around.

"PING...BEEP...PING...BEEP" echoed around the room, it's two notes resonating throughout the room.

Barnes decided that it wasn't a noise to ignore, and thought he better do somthing about it.

"Men, where is that noise coming from? It sounds bloody awful, and it's not something I've heard before."

There was an uneasy silence around the room. The officers didn't move much, they were too busy thinking themselves.

"Anyone?" Asked Captain Barnes.

This time people actually moved, scanning over their monitors. After a short while

"SIR", Yelped Patel, startling several people nearby, "We're getting something, from another ship"

"Let's hear it then Pat. What frequency is it over?" replied the captain, aware that everyone in the room was hanging on ever word of the conversation.

Aufmerksamkeit nicht identifizierte Behälter, Du hast das territoriale Wasser des Reiches von Yallak verletzt. Deine Schiffe herum drehen und den Bereich sofort herausnehmen. Ich wiederhole, du habe betreten eingeschränktes Wasser, verlasse sofort.

It played again.

Aufmerksamkeit nicht identifizierte Behälter, Du hast das territoriale Wasser des Reiches von Yallak verletzt. Deine Schiffe herum drehen und den Bereich sofort herausnehmen. Ich wiederhole, du habe betreten eingeschränktes Wasser, verlasse sofort.

"Now, what does THAT mean?" asked Patel, "....sounds foreign though."

"No shit" came the reply of Kenith Tricker the weapons officer, "doesn't sound like they are inviting us to dinner though. Sir, what are we to do?"

Barnes thought for several seconds. Then several more. He was trying to work out what to do, trying to put together a plan....

"Sir?" asked Kenith, "shall I activate the defence systems? I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but protocol indicates we should assume a defencive posture."

Barnes finally decided to have his say. Usually at times like this, he would listen to the suggestions of his Officers, as being on such a small ship required him to have a good ear, but partly because they weren't volunteering any ideas, and partly because the silence was deafening.

"Listen." He started, "Here's what we're going to do.... Tricker, ready the CIWS and Decoy systems. Patel, tell the Beauty and the Charlotte Ryan whats going on, and ask the Beautyfor orders. Helmsman, set a course for the signal. Make it clear, patel, that we don't mean any harm. Fly a white flag, so whatever, but let's not try to piss these guy's off."

"How fast sir?" asked the young helmsman, hitting buttons on his console.

"10 knots. Also, make lots of noise. I don't want them to think we're trying to sneak up on them.... Ping the Sonar every so often, and project the standard Northfordian Naval Hail over all frequencies. Lets Go!"

-----

Bridge of the NNS Beauty, off the coast of Yallak

"Captain, something has happened. I suggest you read this..."

"STUPID BARNES. Ready all weapons, and prepare the VLS. If we have to fight our way out of this, then need be. Stupid idiot, sailing right over to a bunch of foreign ships..... Send a distress call back to Northford. Now, Rating!"

"Yes Sir."

Bridge of the IYS Kapella

‘They are not complying with our request, are they?’ queried Nieth sarcastically to a nearby Lieutenant.

‘No, commander,’ he replied offhandedly while focusing on operating the equipment before him. The Lieutenant paused for a moment to double-check his work and then turned to the commander. ‘Actually, sir,’ he continued somewhat confusedly, not entirely sure what he was saying could be true, ‘the target vessels have altered course towards us.’

‘We are picking up increased activity from them too, sir,’ added another officer, ‘sonar and some kind of broadcast too, but it doesn’t seem to make any sense.’

‘Then we have no choice,’ interjected Eraus, interrupting the conversation, ‘target the lead vessel and bring all forward guns to bear.’ Although he was a patient man and would have been willing to try and negotiate further with these unknown ships, Captain Eraus was also a devout follower of regulations, and Imperial policy in regards to its waters dictated one, and only one, warning was to be issued after which the violators ship was to be destroyed.

He walked across the room to the large bridge window, giving the unknowns a few more moments to head his commands and turn around as his broadcast was replayed in an effort to prevent hostilities.
Outside, the two giant twin ten-inch gun turrets swiveled heavily into line with the shapes of the enemy ships, which were growing ever closer, while a whirring noise emanated outwards as the barrels simultaneously elevated into firing position.

‘Commence fire, one round only.’

With a thunderous retort, the forward guns catapulted a volley of shells at the enemy. Despite its size, the two hundred and twenty five meter vessel still shuddered under the force of the weapons as it carved a path through the ocean, sea spray from the bow disappearing into the flames and smoke from the gun fire.

Why do they always have to push their luck, mumbled Eraus quietly turning from the window.

Barnes was standing on the bridge when it hit him. Shit.

Ripping though the water near the ship, like a knife through clotted cream, the shell sent a wave of spray, which engulfed the ship, as well as a sending a shockwave that crippled the hull of the craft.

He was composing himself, readying himself for the impending death, when he looked around him.

Spread

The water in which the Priceless sat looked rather like someone had “Hole Punched” it. Littering the serene ocean, small pockmarks scratched away at the surface, forming rising geysers as a the pressure from the explosives forces the water upwards.

“Damage Report!” Commanded Barnes, aware of both the dying urgency of the situation and the need to change his underwear. He was, quite literally, in shit.

The force of the explosion seemed to slow, if not stop the ship. Rising and falling with the gentle waves, the present look of the priceless was almost comically juxtaposed with the environment that it found itself in moments ago.

A young man, who was covered in a thick, black, blood like liquid, approached him.

“Sir,” he called, gaining his attention, “Report from the engines. They’ve ruptured a coolant line. It’s not critical, it just looks messy……. Very messy.”

“Is that it?” Snapped Barnes.

“I don’t know, Sir. I’ve just been sent by the technicians”

“Right. Are you alright?” Asked the Captain. This gesture was not entirely altruistic, as he was fully aware of the need to ‘slow down’ the situation, to give everyone time to take stock.

“Fine, thanks sir. This shit on me sticks to my clothing, and smells like shit, but I’m not too bad. Is anyone injured up here?”

“See for yourself”, he replied, walking away.

Over the next 5 minutes, reports came in to the bridge. It seemed that out of the four shells fired, two of them were close to the ship, literally sandwiching it between two layers of water. The hull, while being spared from major damage, was heavily damaged, with several lesions running along the ship. The engines were both shot, in need of major repair, and the weapons: The small VLS systems, and the gun were both out of order, with the missile compartment flooded, and the barrel of the gun twisted beyond repair.

Just about the only thing working was the CIWS, although, it was pretty much useless as half the electronics controlling it were shot, and without electronics, something like that was pretty much a waste.

Barnes made a split second second decision.

“Call the NNS Beauty. Tell her of out situation. We can’t do anything right now, and those ships have made it apparent they can blow us out of the water. I want us to prepare to abandon ship…. Not actually commence abandonment, but I want provisions to be made.”

“In the mean time, I’d like a launch to be prepared for myself. I’m going to head towards them on my own. I know when I get back, my ass is going to be court martialed… so I might as well go out with a bang.”

“Sir….” Came the replies of many of the men around him.

“Don’t ask, just do. This isn’t a time for arguments. I want my ship ready within the next 5 minutes.”

With that, the crew got to work.

Helmsman, set a course for the signal. Make it clear, patel, that we don't mean any harm. Fly a white flag, so whatever, but let's not try to piss these guy's off."

Despite its hefty size, the Imperial destroyer Kapella slid almost gracefully through the ocean waters as poised, deadly and purposefully as any true ocean predator after its prey. From the bridge, Captain Eraus directed his ship directly towards its wounded victim, emotionlessly surveying the damage to unknown craft, which could now be no more than a kilometer away.

‘Target is dead in the water, Sir,’ one of his staff informed him from their station. ‘I’m detecting no movement or engine activity.

‘And what of the other two vessels?’ he inquired.

‘No course deviation. They have not yet decided to leave.’

‘Very well,’ replied the Captain, ‘target and destroy the seco….is that a white flag they’ve run out.’

Eraus statement turned every head on the bridge simultaneously to the crippled ship. And sure enough, no matter how surprising and unexpected, was a white flag, fluttering mildly among a few wisps of smoke.’

‘It could just be you know, Captain,’ said Commander Nieth in jest, stepping up beside his superior, ‘I didn’t see it if you didn’t though.’

With a silent laugh, Eraus returned to his chair and leant comfortably back into it. ‘No Commander, hold position here. Lets let them make the next move. But keep constant tracking on those other two ships, we need to be able to decimate them at a moments notice.’

I know this is a short post, but I don't want to jump tooo far ahead, as it won't give you a chance to respond.

After 5 very long minutes, the launch was prepared, and it was lowered into the water. Completely consisting of a small dingy, open to the elements and unarmed except for a white flag, it was sailed by Barnes towards the enemy Destroyer.

"Shit", was Barnes' only thought he enguaged the power motor, and headed away from the Priceless

===

On the Bridge of the NNS Beauty

"Well, I'll be dammed......Captain you should see this"

"What is happening Commander?"

"Distress call from the Priceless"

"Let me read it....

....

.... Holy crap. Pass this on directly to the Naval HQ, as well as to the Ministry of Defence. Any idea of how long all of this will take?"

"Nope, Sir. I can give you a window though. Between 15 and 90 minutes"

"Damm. Are there any other ships in the area?"

"Well, there's the Charlotte Ryan, but she's not armed. Nearest Naval assets are probably about 24 hours away, and thats at 40 knots. Assuming we're talking normal ships, and we actually figure in time enough to get them into some kind of fleet, you're probably talking nearer 48 hours. You and I both know the gross shortage of Capital ship assets in Northford, so unless they plan on fielding three dozen destroyers and a score or two of frigates, it's going to take a while"

"Ensign, as captain, I'm more than knowledgeable on current fleet readiness, thank you. Send the messages. I'll be on the bridge readying this ship".

...

"Sir"

"Yes Captain"

"Set a course to the Priceless, and ready weapons"

"Yes Sir."

OOC: Hope you don’t mind that I wrote about how close your dingy was getting to my ship – if it’s a problem I can edit this post.

The bridge crew of the Kapella watched in silent curiosity as the crippled ship lowered the small dingy into the dark water and its single occupant began piloting the craft towards the Imperial Destroyer.

‘Intercept that boat,’ commanded Captain Eraus from the comfort of his high backed chair, ‘I don’t want it to get anywhere near the proximity of this ship – take it out if it gets within one hundred meters.’

Quickly the bridge returned to its standard level of noise as the crew jumped back into action and began relaying orders and monitoring the other foreign vessels in the area. Beyond them, visible through the large viewing window, the destroyers forward two-inch anti-air/fast ship cannons slowly rotated as they followed the small dingy along its course, prepared to fire at anytime should the small vessel prove itself troublesome.

Towards the rear of the warship, a single patrol launch was hurriedly, but efficiently, winched out of its storage position and itself lowered towards the water.

**************

By the time the patrol launch rocketed away from the side of the Kapella, the small dingy had come very close to reaching the destroyer, being mere minutes from breaching the hundred meter limit. With its motor at full revs, filling the air with a watery mist and leaving a magnificent wake behind, the decently armed patrol launch bore straight in on the little boat in an effort to reach the brave, yet insane man, before he received a quick but unpleasant death.

‘Standby Captain,’ yelled the Lieutenant of the patrol into his communicator, trying to make himself heard above the drone of the engines, ‘we are pulling up on him now.’

Just before reaching the dingy, the launch swung wide and circled behind the boat before settling into a slow and continuous loop of the vessel, all guns trained onto the target. On the second pass, the Lieutenant stood up on the upper level of the launch, near the driver and signaled to the lone foreigner to get his attention.

‘Shut down your engine and prepare to be docked with,’ he called out in plain English.

"Shit", thought Barnes, "Shitty, Shit, Shit Shitter", he continued, now verbalising his thoughts, "Fuck, Fuck, Shitty little Fuck. Uh?"

As he neared the ship, dread filled his mind. Bringing his minature binoculars to his eyes, he realised that the Cannons on the deck of the destroyer were slowly locking onto him.

"Fuck" he said, breaking wind. Scanning the hull of the ship, he saw a small launch being lowered into the water. He didn't know what to make of it, so he carried on. Figuring that the ship in front of him could destroy him any time it wanted, and that the open top of the dingy made it readily apparent he was unarmed, he decided to reduce throttle to 70%, to give the launch a chance to approach.

"Seems to be in a hurry", he mused, looking at the rapidly approaching ship. By now, andrenaline had kicked in, and any fear he had, had largely subsided. Slowing down to 60% Throttle, he scanned the patrol boat as in neared him. He figured he might as well give the boat time to communicate with him.

"What the......", muttered Barnes, as the boat started to loop around him, "Wait a minute...."

‘Shut down your engine and prepare to be docked with’ came a voice over a loadspeaker.

With a look of amazement, fear, and overall confusion, Barnes cut the engine, and placed up his hands.

Back on the Priceless, everyone was watching, cluching their bibles and hearts, hoping that their Captain, Peter Barnes, would be able to get them out of this mess.

Lieutenant Keitel leant on the edge railing of the patrol motor launch as it positioned itself alongside the now stationary dinghy. He considered the lone figure before him with mixed feelings. Obviously these foreigners had some guts, but then again they were foolish enough to enter the Empire’s waters in the first place. In any case though, he had decided that this person presented no threat and with a waving motion of his hand ordered the men next to him to lower their weapons (that and the launches heavy machine guns were still ready to fire).

‘You may lower you hands,’ offered Keitel as one of the launches crew dropped a short rope ladder down into the small boat. ‘And then you can explain who you are and what your reasons are for violating the Infinite Empire’s waters!’

Above the ladder, a soldier waited offering his hand as an indication to Barnes that he should climb the ladder and while he did so the Lieutenant again pulled out his communicator and spoke calmly but quietly into it.

‘We have secured the target. Bringing him aboard now.’

[tagged this thread has been.]

Bump

Oh, shit sorry.. not seen this for a loong while, RL issues, et cetra. Will get post back when I get home, approx 5-7 days

Barnes froze, lowering his arms slowly, beads of sweat dripping down his brow. Looking over the facial expression of those it became apparent they were not going to kill him with the immediate future, so he figure that by complying with the orders given to him by these people he could best secure aid for his ship.

"Yes... Sir", he replied quickly to those on the launch, slowly climbing the ladder offered to him.

Empires Waters?

"Gentlemen, I am Captain Barnes, of the NNS Priceless, and am a in a hydrological party that is surveying the waters here, as part of my countries program to expand our knowedge of the world around us. Under what grounds do you attack out ship? I had no knowedge of this being 'Empire' waters."

He looked at those around him, waiting for the reply.

NNS Beauty

..."Captain"

"Yes Communications Officer?"

"We've got a reply back from HQ. We've orders to intercept the Priceless, and attempt to bide time. We're out here on our own, sir. According to HQ, there's no way they can get anything here within a reasonable time frame, save some a few long range bombers that are still in the prototype stage of development.

"Thank you Officer.....

...Helmsman, set a course for the Priceless, 10 Knts. Let's take it slowly, we don't want to alarm anyone."

Once Barnes was onboard the launch, its powerful engines revved into life once again, and the motor boat veered away from the abandoned dinghy, leaving it in a slow spin in its wake. The Lieutenant left the NNS Priceless’ Captain, standing under guard, to further the mans anxiety, while he issued orders to his men in a steady and efficient manner. He could see the sweat building up on his ‘guest’, and decided that letting that nervousness fester would while not only being enjoyable to observe, decrease the mans ability to create false answers to his questions or properly maintain any he did without giving them away.

‘I’ll be asking the questions, thank you Captain,’ said the lieutenant finally. ‘For the past five miles, your ships have been traveling unauthorized within the waters of the Empire of Yallak, and that is more than enough grounds for us to fire upon your ship. If you were unaware of such a fact, then it indeed does appear that your country is in desperate need of knowledge.’ Keitel’s voice carried with it the icy hint of mockery as he spoke that final sentence.

‘Now, what country knows nothing of the Infinite Empire, where are you from?’ the Lieutenant demanded, though without the slightest change from his usual calm and steady tone. ‘And why should we not sink your vessels where they sit for ignoring a direct Imperial edict to leave the area?’

Bump

"I'm from Northford." replied Barnes quickly. "It's a small country located around Charis. And frankly we had no idea that message was from you. We couldn't understand it, so we figured it was most probably just from passing fishermen. And, Lieutenant, for the record, we are quite new to Naval Exploration... this voyage is, thus far, the most comprehensive, and frankly we're as suprised about this as you are.."

After a short pause; "Is there any way we can sort this out? There's a few more of our ships in the vacinity.... could we possibly exacuate and leave you all alone?"

Slowing his breathing, he waited for the response

NNS Beauty

"Shit... They've virtually gutted the Priceless...

"Hang back ensign....ready the weapons and try and lock a target on the VLS, but leave us here: No point in getting closer yet."

"Copy that Captain"

‘Northford?’ repeated Keitel, ‘fair enough.’ The Lieutenant knew practically nothing about the nation or the region, the area being of no particular interest to the Empire, but he maintained a nonchalant expression, not allowing Barnes to realize that fact. ‘You’re a long way from home aren’t you?’

‘But that’s beside the point,’ he continued abruptly, not leaving time for a reply to his previous question. ‘Now, tell me about the other vessels you have in the vicinity and then we can decide just what is going to happen from here?’

After he finished speaking, Keitel wave to the soldier standing nearby on his right and ordered him to go and retrieve the pair of engineers they had on board before turning back to Barnes to listen to his response. As he did, the motorboat continued charging across the ocean back towards the awaiting destroyer, a long frothy white line of wake marking its return journey.