The Blub Colony
19-04-2007, 20:19
Somewhere in the Pacific
A fleet of grey ships pushed forward through the ocean at approximately 30 knots. White plumes of foamy sea water splashed high into the air as bows cut through the sea's choppy surface. Many of the ships are old, showing splotches of rust or worn away paint. Some still carry battle damage, with shell and fragmentation holes in the superstructures, around which are red rust stains.
The Blubs had just sort of disappeared after their abortive war with Hataria. The military fell apart, the people withdrew, many leaving the Blub homeland to find greener pastures elsewhere. Economic collapse left millions dead in the following time.
This was just about all that was left now. A small fleet of less than thirty lonely warships, most of which were falling apart now. Many lacked ammunition for higher tech weaponry such as RAM missiles or torpedos. However, it was a seed. One final attempt to rebuild before the Blubs simply ceased to exist.
The fleet was Taskforce 4. Taskforce 4 approached the desolate Starbuck Island in the mid-south Pacific from the north. A team had gone onshore already and over the course of three weeks, built nearly a hundred structures from plywood and installed the Blub Army's last twenty or so remote cameras at strategic points. Broken down APCs and tanks now littered the island, now simulating defensive positions, and a squadron of stripped out F4 Phantoms occupied a dirt, bulldozed "runway" near the island's center.
The Exercise
While Operation Octopus was infact the last gasp of the old Blub Navy, it was as noted before, a seed. All of the sailors and personel involved had been hand-picked as the "best" the Blubs had left. Among the thirty warships, most were old and damaged. However, there were three "new" frigates among them.
These frigates were so drasticly altered now that even the Blubs were not sure what they had started out as. The superstructures had been extended, made taller and more extensive with the addition of 27mm AAA guns, radio masts, RADAR suites and observation posts and spotlights. The forward 5" gun had been stripped away, replaced now with three boxy MRLS stripped off of normally land-based equipment.
The rear helicopter deck had been converted into a minelaying and depthcharge area, with the addition of a pair of x3 mounted 7" rapid fire main guns. The frigate was built for close range combat and landing support, and was also the last hope of the Blub Nation to present a formidible naval fighting force.
As Taskforce 4 approached the Starbuck Island, one of the modified frigates slipped forward. At a range of about fifteen miles, it began to ripple-fire its missile launchers. Dozens of the missiles lept ahead, trailing smoke before disappearing into the air, landing a minute later on the island with a series of explosions that threw up debris and flame.
Within the rest of Taskforce 4, other ships began to fire, bombarding the island. Small, rusty landing craft pushed past, pushing maximum speed with crews of Blub Marines, all wearing orange life vests, camo and helmets.
A fleet of grey ships pushed forward through the ocean at approximately 30 knots. White plumes of foamy sea water splashed high into the air as bows cut through the sea's choppy surface. Many of the ships are old, showing splotches of rust or worn away paint. Some still carry battle damage, with shell and fragmentation holes in the superstructures, around which are red rust stains.
The Blubs had just sort of disappeared after their abortive war with Hataria. The military fell apart, the people withdrew, many leaving the Blub homeland to find greener pastures elsewhere. Economic collapse left millions dead in the following time.
This was just about all that was left now. A small fleet of less than thirty lonely warships, most of which were falling apart now. Many lacked ammunition for higher tech weaponry such as RAM missiles or torpedos. However, it was a seed. One final attempt to rebuild before the Blubs simply ceased to exist.
The fleet was Taskforce 4. Taskforce 4 approached the desolate Starbuck Island in the mid-south Pacific from the north. A team had gone onshore already and over the course of three weeks, built nearly a hundred structures from plywood and installed the Blub Army's last twenty or so remote cameras at strategic points. Broken down APCs and tanks now littered the island, now simulating defensive positions, and a squadron of stripped out F4 Phantoms occupied a dirt, bulldozed "runway" near the island's center.
The Exercise
While Operation Octopus was infact the last gasp of the old Blub Navy, it was as noted before, a seed. All of the sailors and personel involved had been hand-picked as the "best" the Blubs had left. Among the thirty warships, most were old and damaged. However, there were three "new" frigates among them.
These frigates were so drasticly altered now that even the Blubs were not sure what they had started out as. The superstructures had been extended, made taller and more extensive with the addition of 27mm AAA guns, radio masts, RADAR suites and observation posts and spotlights. The forward 5" gun had been stripped away, replaced now with three boxy MRLS stripped off of normally land-based equipment.
The rear helicopter deck had been converted into a minelaying and depthcharge area, with the addition of a pair of x3 mounted 7" rapid fire main guns. The frigate was built for close range combat and landing support, and was also the last hope of the Blub Nation to present a formidible naval fighting force.
As Taskforce 4 approached the Starbuck Island, one of the modified frigates slipped forward. At a range of about fifteen miles, it began to ripple-fire its missile launchers. Dozens of the missiles lept ahead, trailing smoke before disappearing into the air, landing a minute later on the island with a series of explosions that threw up debris and flame.
Within the rest of Taskforce 4, other ships began to fire, bombarding the island. Small, rusty landing craft pushed past, pushing maximum speed with crews of Blub Marines, all wearing orange life vests, camo and helmets.