Blademasters
15-06-2006, 20:30
(OOC: These wargames are primarily an exercise between the Blademasterian armed forces and the Aegean military. If you are interested in deploying some forces to participate, or simply wish to have some civilian vessel wander through the wargames, or something of the like, please send me a telegram before doing so.)
Admiral Ramirez stood on the command bridge of his ship. The ship was by no means his to command, he was commanding the entire Blademasterian 2nd task force at the moment, but the ship did have his name emblazoned across the prow in 3-meter-high red letters… this made it his ship. The Katana class armoured battleship was a manifestation of his military’s might, and the fact that he had had one named after him, before he died, or even retired, was an impressive feat. Ramirez was known as the Blademasterian military’s best military commander, and he had been given a chance to prove it. With roughly a fourth of the entire Blademasterian armed forces under his command, in cooperation with the Aegean military, he was playing attacker against the rest of the Blademasterian military, whose job it was to defend.
They were, by no means actually loading real shells, and firing real guided missiles, but they were firing blanks, and using a complex computer simulation that used most of the Blademasterian military’s computing power, calculating where missiles went, how much damage they did, and whether the imaginary shells, slugs, and other projectiles actually hit their targets, and how much damage they did. It was, in essence, a highly advanced wargame, called Operation Red Storm.
Ramirez mused on this fact as his task force steamed out to sea at a comfortable 15 knots, out to meet the Aegean military. His 872-meter flagship would obviously be a primary target to the defenders, as he could almost shell them from anywhere in the engagement zone, and it was just big. The BWS Ramirez’s guns, elevated slightly, looked to be giving the sky a salute; the 28-inch main guns looked menacing, even from the admiral’s vantage point on the command bridge, a good 30 meters above the deck.
Ramirez’s task force was composed of many ships; from the massive Katana class Armoured Battleship, to smaller Battleships, two of which were currently steaming to either side of the Ramirez, the BWS Archon, and the BWS Claymore. The admiral was not permitted to use one of the mighty Naginta class War Carriers, because just one of them could have performed most of the duties of his whole task force, and because the first one was in dry dock for repairs, while the second one, the BWS Eriks J. Knight, namesake of their emperor, was undergoing sea trials. The admiral’s naval forces did consist of several smaller carriers, each of which had her small fleet of escorts, tenders, and submarines. Ramirez could see the periscope of one of the BWS Blademaster’s escorting submarines piercing the water, to his port. He had a small flotilla of landing ships crammed with soldiers, tanks, engineers, and helicopters as well. These were keeping to the rear of the task force, with a few frigate and destroyer escorts patrolling their wake. The admiral’s air force assets were deployed from Hochweil AFB, a remote base on an island near the staging zone. He had a good spread of air force assets, perhaps a little light on in flight refueling aircraft, but that did not bother him, not yet.
Meanwhile, the ships of the first, third, and fourth task forces were gearing up. They were in port, loading fuel, blanks for the main guns, and other equipment. Nearly every ship that wasn’t in the harbor was either with the second task force, or waiting outside of the harbor, for its turn. The exception was the armoured battleship, BWS Katana. She was sailing around the southern coast of the Blademasterian mainland, her six screws driving the huge warship through heavy seas. The waves would roll off of her bow, the larger ones perhaps shifting the boat up and down a degree or two. The Katana class was so big that they simply plowed through the waves, not bobbed on top of them like smaller vessels. The BWS Katana was being shifted to the western side of the continent for the wargame, as the Ramirez had previously covered that area. Katana was driving through a heavy storm, and even though she was not likely to have waves crashing over her deck, not a crewman was on deck, and the hangar bay was secure. The watch crew was looking through the bridge windows, but trying to see something through the reinforced glass while rain ran down it in sheets, the wipers doing little to clear the windows up was akin to looking through a brick wall, and besides, they had sensors. Captain Jackson, the commander of Katana was standing by the helmsman, keeping an eye on their course as well as the nearby radar display. The ship was traveling unescorted, very unusual for a ship of Katana’s size, but there was little to no chance of an attack this close to Blademasterian waters. As the sun set on the BWS Katana, the storm began to let up, eliciting a sigh of relief from the next watch crew, who was not looking forward to standing outside in the weather for a few hours.
Admiral Ramirez stood on the command bridge of his ship. The ship was by no means his to command, he was commanding the entire Blademasterian 2nd task force at the moment, but the ship did have his name emblazoned across the prow in 3-meter-high red letters… this made it his ship. The Katana class armoured battleship was a manifestation of his military’s might, and the fact that he had had one named after him, before he died, or even retired, was an impressive feat. Ramirez was known as the Blademasterian military’s best military commander, and he had been given a chance to prove it. With roughly a fourth of the entire Blademasterian armed forces under his command, in cooperation with the Aegean military, he was playing attacker against the rest of the Blademasterian military, whose job it was to defend.
They were, by no means actually loading real shells, and firing real guided missiles, but they were firing blanks, and using a complex computer simulation that used most of the Blademasterian military’s computing power, calculating where missiles went, how much damage they did, and whether the imaginary shells, slugs, and other projectiles actually hit their targets, and how much damage they did. It was, in essence, a highly advanced wargame, called Operation Red Storm.
Ramirez mused on this fact as his task force steamed out to sea at a comfortable 15 knots, out to meet the Aegean military. His 872-meter flagship would obviously be a primary target to the defenders, as he could almost shell them from anywhere in the engagement zone, and it was just big. The BWS Ramirez’s guns, elevated slightly, looked to be giving the sky a salute; the 28-inch main guns looked menacing, even from the admiral’s vantage point on the command bridge, a good 30 meters above the deck.
Ramirez’s task force was composed of many ships; from the massive Katana class Armoured Battleship, to smaller Battleships, two of which were currently steaming to either side of the Ramirez, the BWS Archon, and the BWS Claymore. The admiral was not permitted to use one of the mighty Naginta class War Carriers, because just one of them could have performed most of the duties of his whole task force, and because the first one was in dry dock for repairs, while the second one, the BWS Eriks J. Knight, namesake of their emperor, was undergoing sea trials. The admiral’s naval forces did consist of several smaller carriers, each of which had her small fleet of escorts, tenders, and submarines. Ramirez could see the periscope of one of the BWS Blademaster’s escorting submarines piercing the water, to his port. He had a small flotilla of landing ships crammed with soldiers, tanks, engineers, and helicopters as well. These were keeping to the rear of the task force, with a few frigate and destroyer escorts patrolling their wake. The admiral’s air force assets were deployed from Hochweil AFB, a remote base on an island near the staging zone. He had a good spread of air force assets, perhaps a little light on in flight refueling aircraft, but that did not bother him, not yet.
Meanwhile, the ships of the first, third, and fourth task forces were gearing up. They were in port, loading fuel, blanks for the main guns, and other equipment. Nearly every ship that wasn’t in the harbor was either with the second task force, or waiting outside of the harbor, for its turn. The exception was the armoured battleship, BWS Katana. She was sailing around the southern coast of the Blademasterian mainland, her six screws driving the huge warship through heavy seas. The waves would roll off of her bow, the larger ones perhaps shifting the boat up and down a degree or two. The Katana class was so big that they simply plowed through the waves, not bobbed on top of them like smaller vessels. The BWS Katana was being shifted to the western side of the continent for the wargame, as the Ramirez had previously covered that area. Katana was driving through a heavy storm, and even though she was not likely to have waves crashing over her deck, not a crewman was on deck, and the hangar bay was secure. The watch crew was looking through the bridge windows, but trying to see something through the reinforced glass while rain ran down it in sheets, the wipers doing little to clear the windows up was akin to looking through a brick wall, and besides, they had sensors. Captain Jackson, the commander of Katana was standing by the helmsman, keeping an eye on their course as well as the nearby radar display. The ship was traveling unescorted, very unusual for a ship of Katana’s size, but there was little to no chance of an attack this close to Blademasterian waters. As the sun set on the BWS Katana, the storm began to let up, eliciting a sigh of relief from the next watch crew, who was not looking forward to standing outside in the weather for a few hours.