NationStates Jolt Archive

OoC: This thread is open to CoDC and Korintar primarily. The basis is that due to recent military misadventures the Korintari Directory, especially the Security Directorate, has come to realize that the navy needs to be both enlarged and up to date in order to win wars. The Space Defense Corps (aka natikodi) and Air Force just do not cut it any more, so the old fleet is being scrapped and replaced with a better, more advanced one. PMT and FT nations may observe or offer bids if they have storefronts, but please message me first!!!

CoDC representatives are meeting with the Supreme Economic Council to renegotiate the harsh trade embargo that Korintar has with Xult and its trading partners in order for the Korintari fleet to (hopefully) be modernized.

IC: The Council hall was filling up quickly with men and women, young and old alike, as the Supreme Economic Council was called to order. In a couple of days the Defense Corporations' representatives would meet with the Council, but in the meantime the Council had consumer good quotas to negotiate amongst the representative industries. This would prove to be a very busy week indeed.

OoC: DC, you can post anytime. NB: Korintopoli is an ocean side port city with a large naval base, fyi.

Korintar was a land of contradictions. On one hand, it had incredibly advanced space technology, centered around the space stations of the natikodi, its elite space force. On the other hand, its surface military - in particular its navy - left much to be desired, being comprised mostly of obsolete ships. These contradictions extended to the country itself, Joao Munitions noticed as his plane flew over Korintar. On one hand, large airships moved on their stately journeys below, flying over superhighways between the metropoli of the country. On the other hand, a good portion of the country appeared to consist of small towns of farmers whose houses apparently hadn't changed much since the 1500s.

Matahir Law, on the other hand, wasn't looking out the window. He was busy reading over his notes. The Korintaris had had problems - to put it lightly - with Xult, in particular with the Nikitin family. They'd need something concrete. A bit of creative thinking was in order...

OOC: Apparently, the most efficient flight path from Singapore to Korintopoli goes over your agricultural heartlands.
Also, feel free to move on to us moving into the conference itself, or take my people around on a little tour if you like.

OOC: Oh, come on! Seriously, TG us first before you do that. Especially because you wouldn't get anything out of trying to pump my people for info - we've literally just arrived, and don't know anything important.

OOC don't post in an semi closed rp then with our "arch enemies" then and maybe we can talk. Also you can avoid the driver if you so wish to, it was just one idea for figuring out what the Korintar are doing and as I ooc said Chazakain has just finished(though technically no treaty has been signed) a war with the Kor and would be very interested in any equipment dealings they might have or peruse.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj31/chazsapphire/Defe.png

To: Korintar

Through a friend of a friend of a friend we have learned that you are seeking to expand your navy. We wish to offer you the chance to buy our products which range from Carriers (http://z13.invisionfree.com/Chazakain_Storefront/index.php?showtopic=4) to Submarines (http://z13.invisionfree.com/Chazakain_Storefront/index.php?showtopic=15) to Minesweeper/hunter (http://z13.invisionfree.com/Chazakain_Storefront/index.php?showtopic=16) and more, we believe we have the things that you need to expand to a true naval power. If you wish to further browse our catalog please visit. www.chazakadefense.com (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=570805.HTM)

OOC: I'd rather you TG'd us first, though. Then we could work out what to do. Better to talk first, then post, rather than post first, then talk. I'll let Korintar decide how to handle it - it's his country, after all, so he can decide how likely it is you managed to infiltrate an agent, keep him around through wartime, and get him into the job of an official government driver - assuming that the conference room isn't in walking distance, for that matter.

OoC: Chaz, look we have most of the terms worked out, if you have any further concerns I have just asked. You may bring up the whole navy thing during the peace negotiations if you so desire. Pretty much, every now and then, when, say theoretically one (or both) side(s) had to use the latrines... there has been some quick texting by Korintar to keep tabs of what was happening in the world. T'blis recieved word of Xult's activities and since our navy was blasted into smithereens during the war, we realized we needed extra sea power to maintain our security. That is why we are having the build up, though we desire peace in the mid-atlantic, we recognize that we need to maintain some sort of navy to make sure that Korintar is safe... I do not want my nation blown to bits. Also CoDC was welcome, along with any nation that was within the late MT+3 and beyond range in terms of the stock of their storefront, provided they message me of course.

"Well, I'd like to start by being honest with you. We have agreed to sell a number of weapons systems, which I have itemized by expected service. In total, one artillery battalion, one infantry battalion, and a 10-boat patrol flotilla, along with five grenade launchers armed with tear gas grenades only have been purchased," Matahir began. "However, this equipment will not begin to be delivered for six months. Further, we can push back the delivery date for all this equipment to 15 months from now, provided that you cover the penalty clauses - a total of $640245090. For appearance's sake, we will grant you an unlimited domestic production license for the PT-1 patrol boat for $500 million, for the R-14 battle rifle for $40.24 million, and for the R-25, R-25S, R-25H, and R-25T rifles for the remaining money."

He then passed around a sheet listing the purchases Xult had made.
Coast Guard: 10 PT-1 patrol boats; 80 Mk.8D torpedoes, 80000 rounds of 12.7x99mm ammo, 160 FIM-92 Stinger missiles.
Air Force: 2 AH-62 attack helicopters
Army: 10 LTV-67 light tanks, 10 ICT-11 APCs, 1 IFT-11C command vehicle, 20 T-11 tanks, 10 GT-11 SPGs, 2 GT-11S supply vehicles, 1 GT-11C artillery command vehicle, 24 H1500 heavy SPGs, 24 H1500A supply vehicles, 12 H1500F radar vehicles, 10 ADT-11 medium AD vehicles, 54 UV-2313U infantry trucks, 6 MV-2313 mortar vehicles, 6 ADV-2313 light AD vehicles, 6 UV-2313AT anti-tank vehicles; 297 R-25 assault rifles, 45 R-25L squad automatic rifles, 288 R-25C carbines, 27 R-25S sharpshooter rifles, 3 ATGM-11 launchers, 24 ATGM-11 missiles, 288 M-68 helical magazines for the R-25Ls, 2520 122mm APFSDS shells, 2520 122mmHEAT shells, 400 155mm Mk.100 guided shells, 1000 155mm HEI shells, 1000 155mm WP shells, 480 SAM-97 SAMs, 525 APFSDS 90mm shells, 525 HEAT 90mm shells, 15000 B-15 ball bullets, 48 304.8mm AP shells, 24 HE 304.8mm shells, 96 RAP 304.8mm shells, 72 304.8mm CM shells, 72 LG 304.8mm shells.
Police: 5 GL-10 grenade launchers, 100 tear gas grenades.

Please notice a few pointers about this - first, there is not nearly enough equipment here to stage a proper offensive war. There are no naval transports, only a small logistics train (and only for the artillery) that would be insufficient for an invasion, no air transports, no fighters, none of the tools needed for a purely offensive war.

"Well sir, we have been told to negotiate the terms of the embargo by the Security Directorate. While it is generally not our policy to negotiate with foreign corporations, we are willing to negotiate. We have authorized a substantial sum of money in the total of L$2,000,000,000,000 or $1,568,627,450,981 for purposes of payment. What will that much money supply us with in regards to our naval fleet," inquired a young stateman dressed in a red suit and tie wearing a green beret.

"And that's where I step in. We figured it would be prudent to design a navy for your needs, rather than merely offer our own existing fleet. That sum should be sufficient; we'll see if more is needed later," Joao said. "Tell me what you intend to use your new fleet for - what sort of operations you expect to undertake with it. Also, tell me what went wrong with your old fleet. Go into detail, please - the more we know about your needs, the more effectively we can design a new navy for those needs."

"Well our airforce was developed before our navy was, which is the reverse of most nations, and once we developed our space force, guess what got screwed! It was okay for coast guard, search and rescue, and antipiracy missions, but we soon found out that our navy was no match for our enemies as our most powerful ships, the chargers, were destroyed in the war. Their name is self explanatory for what those things did to other ships. We did have air superiority to fall back on, but that violated the rules of engagement as our air force is a couple centuries more advanced than those of most industrialized nations. Our navy, on the other hand is 'soviet quality crap', so you can imagine the problems that soon followed. We tried to land our aircraft on the water, needless to say that did not end well, for sure they are sea worthy... as long as they are not hit with anything of significance. Anyhow, we now have an obliterated navy and are trying to rebuild. The funny thing is that our primieval ancestors had the most powerful navy in the world, but that was like 6,000 years ago, literally," answered the young man.

"As for what our intentions are, we want a fleet that can do whatever it is called upon to do, if it is to secure a blockade, chase pirates, engage in a large scale naval battle, whatever. We need a fleet that is capable of doing it all. We intend to be able to deploy our fleet both in the narrow straits that separate us from the Cerymbasic continent and around the world. Especially around the world, to protect our vital interests on the high seas. I hope you understand our intentions then," answered a middle aged lady wearing a plaid skirt with a dagger dangling at her waist.

OoC: sorry for double post, even if I'm the OP

IC: "We just got a text message from Cheri Konstado, our Security Director, requesting that we spend up to the total of this year's Security Directorate on a new navy, if deemed necessary," said an elderly gentleman, "this we accept, whole heartedly. Thus the max we can spend now, and we will approve no more than this, is $5,546,005,740,392, standard."

"Do you strongly need blue-water capability? In other words, do you need a navy that can cross oceans, then fight its wars, or do you need a navy capable of dominating the continent and of denying control of the seas to enemies further abroad? If the former, then you'll need a lot more of that five-point-five trillion.

To be honest, given your lack of a solid naval tradition, I'd recommend you consider a somewhat more limited naval strategy - that of sea denial, rather than sea control. Sea denial focuses on preventing the enemy from making use of the high seas, while sea control involves actively seizing control of the high seas. A sea denial navy will have a strong submarine arm, along with a heavy bent towards missile cruisers. It will rely on your intelligence-gathering advantages (due to your space capabilities) to track enemy fleets, allowing you to move your assets into position to ambush those fleets, and, more importantly, to stay out of their sight if they're too big to assail. To dominate the straits, you'll rely on ultra-quiet patrol submarines, many missile frigates and missile corvettes, and naval aviation of the sort that wouldn't violate your standard rules of engagement - namely, upgraded versions of the old Soviet Tu-22M Backfires, loaded out with anti-ship cruise missiles." Joao said. "I'll go into more detail later, but I wanted to lay out my recommendations first."

Matahir, meanwhile, replied in turn to the young man with the beret. "Our offer is this: we will provide you with naval assistance, blueprints for certain pieces of technology, a promise to delay the completion of orders to Xult until 15 months have passed, and an agreement to not sell any weaponry of a purely offensive nature, which we define as combat aircraft (excepting short-range interceptors), warships (excepting light combatants and submarines that are not powered by nuclear reactors), and long-range cruise missiles. You will, in exchange, pay $640,245,090 to cover our penalty clauses, and will agree to consider our proposals; furthermore, provided that Xult does not undertake an offensive war in the time being, you will permit the arms shipments Xult has purchased to be delivered fifteen months from now. Does this sound reasonable?"

"That does sound fair. Also at this time sea denial might be a good strategy to pursue, but can the fleet be used to impose a blockade, if need be, should Xult declare war on Korintar? Is it possible to rework the designs for the ships so that they can be fusion powered, which is our main fueling method for warships, and have multiple engine/proppeller/rudder type units*, up to about six per ship depending on size, that can rotate a full three hundred sixty degrees so we can move horizontally, as well as diagonally and forwards and backwards?"

OoC: *I cannot remember what those things at the bottom on the back of the ship are called, perhaps you could jog my memory ICly. Thanks.

"You mean azimuth thrusters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azimuth_thruster)? I haven't actually thought much about installing them on warships; give me some time to confer with my staff and I'll get back to you on whether or not they are practical.

A sea denial navy is very good at blockades. It relies heavily on submarines, after all, which are the best weapon for the sort of blockade you'd want. As for fusion power, we would need to talk with your engineers about how to install them. We would work around the figures they give us in designing your new ships," Joao said.

Matahir smiled. "I'm glad that we have reached an agreement on how to deal with Xult," he said. "Things like this are best done in person, you know? It's harder to put trust in email addresses than in a person's face."

"Yeah, T'blis, who you were talking to, is currently in negotiations in Chazakain. How things are done is that we as a council make the economic decisions, while Cheri oversees military and police matters, T'blis oversees diplomacy, Timothy makes sure the welfare checks get to the people that need them, Eztin deals with schools, and Myashtu prepares the budget using our data and decisions," said one of the members the council.

Joao conferred with his staff, then said, "We'll need to know how much power your fusion reactors generate. You may be able to put railguns, and laser-based point-defense systems, into use on your ships if they are sufficiently powerful."

"Our most primitive fusion reactors, to give you an indication, produce 750,000 times the power of the average fission reactor. Our most advanced and most powerful produce on the order of a magnitude of 5 million times the power of the average fission reactor, that is the limits of our technology at this time," answered nuclear engineer Karen Semniokas, "I will be working closely with your staff in the design and construction as I am a nuclear engineer and a skilled welder."

"Ma'am, that is rather impressive. With that sort of power available, you can afford to do a lot. I expect our cooperation shall prove effective," Joao replied, astonished. "With that, maybe we could break for dinner?"

"Sure," said Karen, "is there a motion to take a recess for the day?"

"I move to take a recess for the duration of 24 hrs," responded the young man in the beret.

"Is there a second," she asked.

"Aye," said an older gentleman.

"All in favor cast your discs in the blue caldron, and all opposed cast yours in the red."

Everyone was hungry, and there was not much more to discuss for the day, so everyone cast discs into the blue caldron.

"Well, there you have it, this meeting is adjourned for twenty-four hours, let's eat," exclaimed Karen. With that everyone filed out of the hall to the various restaurants and bistros in Korintopoli!

Meanwhile Karen and her girlfriend accompanied the CoDC delegation. "What do you feel like having for dinner, friends," she inquired.

The delegation had split up - the legal team went off one way, to a restaurant that the seatmate of one of the paralegals had recommended they try, while the engineering team, accompanied by the two Korintaris, hung around outside the building, trying to decide on where to go.

"I'd like to try out the local cuisine," Joao said, after realizing that the group could use some local knowledge, rather than just relying on anonymous online reviews. "What's good here? Where would you recommend we go to eat?"

"Well there is a small diner run by my neighbors," said Karen's girlfriend, "My name is Katulina Upreni, but my friends call me Kat. It is not too far, only three miles from here, actually. Since it is a warm climate though, it may be better to use mass transit than to walk."

They proceeded to walk out into the late afternoon sun, 102 degrees, and blistering humidity that hovered around 100%. "At least it will rain soon," thought Karen, "that will be a relief!"

Kat swiped her transit pass and an automated bus sped over to the mega-skyscraper where the council met.

"So is there anything that you may want to know about life in Korintar," asked Kat, "or about our technical capacities?"

Joao thought, then said, "Well, Kat - can I call you Kat? - uh, how would you describe your country?" The weather was a bit warmer than his normal comfort level, but not by too much. The humidity was disappointingly familiar.

"Yes, you can call me Kat. Well Korintar is a relatively peaceful nation, concerning foreign affairs, although we have become more proactive, involving ourselves in alliances and getting into overseas conflicts. On the home turf there are violent protests at times as well as frequent non-violent protests. By non-violent, I mean there are marches and demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience, and occasional vandalism. The people of this nation are very political, needless to say," responded Kat.

Then a silver topped black vehicle pulled up and a digitized voice said "you may now enter the vehicle." They entered in and got seated on the benches. The voice now asked "where do you wish to go?"
"Glespiulis' Bar," answered Karen.
"Very well, please fasten your seat belts."

So the vehicle rocketed at fifty mph down the street and soon they arrived at the restaurant. It was a quaint little place, an elderly man in a blue was sweeping the doormat when they arrived.
"Khiru! Di isti, sochi Katil? kuisa soja," said the old man.
"Khiru Abu Glespiuli! mi bjona," she responded giving him a big hug, "ixa Joasi. inasta burepir navinik!"
Karen explained to the delegation, "that is Mr. Glespiuli, the "owner" of this restaurant. Kat was just introducing you to him as he speaks no English."
"Agiv! mi viu erkiat. logut viu mi Iklisu," said Mr. Glespiuli, smiling as he opened the door to welcome them inside. "He says you may come in. His son, who speaks English, will be our waiter," explained Karen, "since you said you want a local's perspective, this is about as local as anyone can get!"

*Bump*

"So, what's good here?" Xavier Shipyards asked. Like Joao, his twin, he had been born in East Timor; both had been born, coincidentally enough, on the day they declared independence, back in 1975. They had gotten lucky, leaving before the Indonesian invasion. Their parents had gotten heavily into the Timorese independence movement, but neither twin went that way; both wanted to be engineers.

Meanwhile, Kim Chung, Mitsubishi's representative, was busy texting. She had heard that the company was planning to build new shipyards in Wonsan, which would at least have her working in her native country, if not in Seoul itself. A Korean in Tokyo was still a Korean in Tokyo, Mitsubishi engineer or not.

"Well this part of the country is known for a tropical climate and lush rainforests along major rivers. Fishing is also a major economic activity in these parts. Now this restaurant is known for its, as we say it in Korintar, "eight steeple" seafood/rice stews. Also there are various flatbreads and salads. However, if you want a barbecued shark steak, marianated in eastern spices, covered with mushrooms, peppers, and onions; cinnamon glazed frybread; and a spiked coconut/bananna smoothie, this is definitely the place to get it," answered their waiter who overheard Xavier, "The name's Theonikos Glespiuli, but you can call me Nik. I'll show you to your table. Do you have a preference, as I can tell this is business, Ms. Semniokas?"

"Well, guys, where do you think would be a good place to discuss matters," inquired Karen.

"A nice private table somewhere would do fine," Joao suggested. Shark steak would be nice. A little exotic, of course, which was by no means a problem. He had had shark fin soups quite often, but had yet to eat an actual steak.

"Well, if you follow me to the far back, I can show you to the most quiet spot in the restaurant," answered Nik. "I see you have been testing your culinary inventions again," smirked Kat, noticing the 37 yr old Korintari's protuding girth. "You noticed, eh. Well, beingst that I am a full foot shorter than the average Korintari, those experiments are not hidden that well," laughed Nik. For a short, fat young man, he was sure quick on his feet, the delegation was having trouble keeping up! Finally he showed them their table: it was a round cedar table with 8 chairs in a secluded part of the restaurant. A tapestry showing the entire menu in the three primary languages of Korintar hung on the wall behind Karen. Kat sat next to her, everyone else found their seat accordingly.
"Can I offer you something to drink...and perhaps some appetizers, on the house of course," inquired Nik. "I do know why you are here, sir, said Nik in a soft, intelligent tone. "My dad told me all about it. On behalf, even though I do not think I have the authority to say this, of the Korintari people, thank you very much. Since Defense Corporations is willing to help Korintar rebuild her navy, my dad said to cut the price in half, with any appetizers being free!" With that he smiled, and reach for his pen and notebook to begin writing.

*bump*

Korintopoli International Airport

"So this is Korintar..." States a tall, black haired man climbing out of a PerCraft with Hypersphere Technologies Ltd. marking, "Nice place, but too hot for my tastes"

"Bah, everything's too hot for you, Jack" replies an annoyed young woman from behind the now named Jack, "Birkaine was too hot; Vihenia was too hot; hell, you even said the frigged northern part of Ustio North was too hot!!"

"Irene... Why must you yell in my ear?" complained Jack.

Irene replied "Cause I can! now get moving, we need to get to the Conference. Any idea how?"

"What would I know, you were the one who got the address," Retorted Jack.

"..."

"Please tell you have that address." said Jack flatly

Irene replied "Sorry, but I was too busy preping for the Conference."

Jack sighed "Lets get to a assistance counter, we can call the Conference for directions. I just hope they don't take this the wrong way."

"Heiron, comrades," said an elderly, female airport receptionist, "you seem a bit confused, is there something I can help you with? *to Jack* By the way, if you were to visit Mekrindiv or Atenou, the other two capitals, it would not be as warm. I take it you are on business, right?"

Jack answered the receptionist, "Yes, we're on our way to the Conference on Military Modernization with Supreme Economic Council. Unfortunetly, we've lost the address to where it's being held. Would you be able us?"

"Supreme Economic Council Hall...," she thought for a moment, as she was not used to people asking to be directed towards the council's meeting floor, "It is located on the 235th floor of Tower II in sector B in Quadrant II. I suggest public transportation, you just type in the coordinates and you will be sped there quickly. You will need a guest pass though, so I will need one of you guys to fill out this form. It is nothing much, similar to what one may find on a passport application."

"Thank you, sorry to be any trouble." Said Jack as him & Irene filled out the form.

Once they filled out the form, Jack handed them to the receptionist, "Here you go. Thank you for your help" The receptionist took the form then handed them Guest Passes and bid them fairwell.

The pair then walked to a Maglev Terminal and puched in the coordinates. and off they zoomed to the Conference. After a few minutes, the pair arrived at the building where the Conference was taking place.

"Damn, that building is huge!" Yelled Irene

"Yeah it is... Uh... Let's go inside, people are stareing at us." replied Jack.

"Sure..." answered Irene still awe-struck at the height of the tower.

The Korintari Directory, minus Zakir Sezadu, stood there waiting for the delegations. Cheri stepped forward, "I take it you are the delegation from Hypersphere Technologies. I am Director Cheri Konstado of the Security Directorate. I will give you a brief idea of what has been discussed so far. I have requested that $5.5 trillion USD be allocated to rebuilding our fleet, if need be. The CoDC delegation has recommended that we focus on a sea denial strategy with our fleet and presented us an offer that sounded agreeable. We requested to combine Azimuth Thrusters as well as at least one fusion reactor in each ship. We explained to them that our fusion reactors have the power of 750,000-5,000,000 fission reactors. They were quite impressed by this and mentioned installing point-based laser systems, along with rail guns. Needless to say there is much to talk about. However we will need this fleet rather promptly, as we may need to impose a naval blockade in the immediate to near future."

Jack stepped forward, "First off, on the behalf of Hypersphere Technologies Ltd., I would like to thank you for inviting us here to this conference. My name is Jack Calihan and the lady behind me is Irene von Grunder."

Irene stepped forward "It is a pleasure to meet you. If your nation does decide to go with Hypersphere, I'll be your go-between with the Corporation."

Jack then spoke "You said that you have 5.5 Trillion USD allocated for this. If that is true, then the CoDC delegation is correct, a sea-denial fleet would be your best bet if you wish for a sizeable Navy. But, if done correctly, it is possible for you to have a compramise, focus most of the funds on ships geared for brown water operations but spend the rest on a single Blue-water fleet." Jack stopped to take a breath before continuing, "However, we do not have any vessels currently in production that utalizes Azimuth Thrusters. We do have one vessel, a stealthy battleship, on the drawing board that is to be equipped with Azimuth Thrusters, Rail Cannons, and could possibly use a Fusion Reactor if it'll fit. However, we must question the need to put such a powerful reactor in a ship that'll likely never need even half of it. As for the rapid need for a naval blockade, where would it be located? If it is near a friendly base where it can operate out of, then the Dinsmark-class SSK can enforce a blockade."

"Are you familiar with an organization called SCAR? Short for Socialist Countries for the Advancement of Rebels, I believe," began T'blis Oltavi, "name's T'blis Oltavi, Director of International Affairs, by the way. Well SCAR and Korintari Fascist League have teamed up. The leadership of SCAR is based in the Dominion of Xult. We believe it is located along the northern coast of Eastern Asia. This is the continent of Atlantis, you can imagine our needs from there. Xult has some powerful nations recognizing its government, many larger than Korintar itself! We figured fusion would allow us to operate advanced, complex weapons and communications systems and Azimuth Thrusters would add manuverability to the ships. The Confederates had not previously considered such tech until meeting with the Supreme Economic Council."

Jack responded "We have not heard of this SCAR organization, however we shall keep an eye out for them. If you can, could you provide a map of the region in comparison to Korintar? That'll make deciding what exactly Korintar needs."

Jack paused for a second then starting talking again, "As for the need to use advanced, complex weapons, that's all and good, but if you can't afford to produce it in large numbers, then it does you no good. And while Fusion would indeed power all the weapons & systems, it wouldn't even use 1% of the power your reactors can produce if those are correct figures. I'd suggest you go with a set of regular fission reactors for effenicy."

"Sure, we use a lot of electricity, so the fission reactors are designed to be a little bit more powerful than average," answered T'blis.

OoC: You can get an idea of the layout of the country based upon my factbook...I do not know how to create a map as I do not believe I have the software to do it. Also I will ask Xult if he can make a map/factbook so we know for certain where he is located and how large his country is.

OOC: If you have MSpaint, you can make a map! :p Just look at my maps. :D Also, I wouldn't be able to help you choose what would be better for your needs without a map. There are some things that words can't describe.

IC:

Jack responded "I believe we can work out an agreement. But first, may we take a recess? I wish to contact Hypersphere to give them an update."

"Much appreciated, Nik. I think we'll need another minute to decide what appetizers to get, but I'll start with a glass of your best wine," Joao said. Xavier looked a bit surprised, so Joao mouthed 'expense account.'

"Coffee, please," Xavier said.

"Just coffee? Come on, brother! You can do better than that! Nik, put some beer in his glass," Joao said.

"Hey, you know I don't drink," Xavier replied.

"Come on, we're abroad! It's not like you're gonna see your imam around here..."

"It's the principle."

"Fine. Nik, just make my brother here a boring cup of coffee."

"Fair enough," Nik said, turning to the third member of the party. "And you, ma'am?"

"Just water. I'll need the sleep," Kim said. The flight had been a good 20 hours - all awake, dammit - and jet lag had hit her hard whenever she flew between Seoul and Tokyo. Tonight would not be a fun night...

So Nik poured Joao a glass of the bar's finest Falernian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falernian_wine), the strong, undiluted stuff. "By the way, did I mention that refills are free," said Nik, looking towards Joao.

"And, as for Kat and Karen, I've got you your usual sodas," said Nik, "Le's see here it's twi par' moonshine, 'leven par' cola, an' von par' mint? ratio of flavor mixture to soda is 2:1."

"Good memory, Nik," smiled Karen.

"Thanks," said Nik, "as for you sir, what kind of coffee do you want? Dark, Medium, or Light Roast? Do you wish to have anything in your coffee? We have cream, sugar, honey, cinnamon, brown sugar, and grape jelly to put in the coffee, if you would like."

"I will get your water straight away, madam," responded Nik, running off to fill a glass.

"Here you go," said Nik

OoC: how do I get my map loaded up online? I just finished making it.
IC: "No problem, we got things to attend to ourselves," said Cheri *to T'blis, whispering* "how bad is it?"
"Doesn't look good, Thedzari is a skilled sword and knife fighter. I was in basic training with him, so I should know, but this Sidorov bastard...well let's see what happens," muttered T'blis

OoC: how do I get my map loaded up online? I just finished making it.

OOC Send it to me over MSN if you have it. My ID is DemonLordRazgriz@Gmail.com

OoC: I do not have an MSN account...I know many NSers use it, but I do not.

OoC: I do not have an MSN account...I know many NSers use it, but I do not.

OOC: Send it to me in an Email, same as my MSN ID.

"I'll take my coffee medium, with honey, please," Xavier replied.

"So, you want to know about azimuth thrusters on warships?" Kim asked suddenly, having put away her PDA. "I work with azimuth thrusters a lot; we use them on a lot of small ships, along with some of our larger freighters. They make ships very maneuverable."

"Aren't there damage control issues?" Xavier asked. "After all, you're combining prop and rudder in one pod. One hit takes out both."

"If your rudder's hit on a normal ship, the prop will get a lot of damage anyway," Joao said.

"Yeah. Plus, the pods are smaller than a normal prop and rudder. Still, they're more expensive than a normal prop and rudder, and only worth it when you need the maneuverability," Kim said.

"What's an azimuth thruster, exactly?" Karen asked.

"It's a pump-jet, in a pod, used to steer and propel ships."

"Like a water-jet?"

"Kinda like that, yeah."

"So, what should we have to start?" Joao asked.

"The pitsuon is real good. It is a kind of cheesy breadstick. You get a spicy sausage marinara dip for it. If you are wondering, this family is Italo-Atlantean. So they do make various native foods and often give them a mediterranean twist. Food is orgasmic, wouldn't you say so Kat," inquired Karen

"Most certainly, the food here is great. As a little girl I would swing by here to get various candies from Mrs. Glespiuli. My six parents brought me here often, and I grew up on this food, actually, but the Glespiulis get to import the freshest ingredients from Italy...not likely to be stocked in a Korintari household, needless to say," answered Kat.

"Six," exclaimed Karen, for this was something she did not know about her lover, "I had three mothers, two fathers, eight sisters, and six brothers. That makes sense, though, considering the number of brothers you have."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you are a country girl," smiled Kat, resting her arm across Karen's shoulders.

"I hear ya. Ag Co-op life, especially in the north, where I am originally from, was not the life for me. I was declared an associate once people found out my orientation. However, with my background I could not find work in a small commune. Also, I tend to be a political person, so being denied the vote in local elections on the basis of being a lesbian sucked," said Karen with a sigh, for despite being shunned by many at home, she missed visiting with the family and attending church services.

"Denied a vote for being a lesbian? Odd logic, that," Kim mused. "If you're going to have elected representation, then everyone's vote ought to count."

"What's in a minestrone?" Xavier asked. "I've never had Italian food before."

"So, you've got these fusion reactors that generate ungodly amounts of power. How big are they? Can you really fit them aboard a ship? If so, I'm thinking railguns, in a huge way. A 150-megajoule railgun, if given 30 megawatts of power, could fire one 20-kilogram projectile every five seconds, sending it a good 450 km at...let's see, KE equals mv squared over two... ah. Around 4000 meters a second. I think that beats your ordinary antiship missile, now doesn't it?" Joao said.

"You could scale that up, couldn't you?" Kim asked. "Just a matter of how much power you've got."

"Yeah, but that is local government, completely separate from the actual state apparati. So I could vote in provincial, dominion, and national elections, just not local matters. Actually the system in the commune I grew up in was a direct democracy that was founded by ultra conservative people, so religious law reigned supreme. I actually, in some ways, had more freedom as an associate member. I was not subject to communal ordinances, assured a high degree of privacy, and could enter into private business. Those are things full members are barred from doing," responded Karen, "you see, municipal gov't is run by cooperatives that make decisions. Since this was not a state owned, but church owned cooperative there was a great deal of autonomy from the national government. All communes have associate and full members. Full members are those people, in the state ones, at least, are those people who have resided in the co-op for at least six months and paid their dues regularly, without any criminal activity on their part. Everyone else in a commune is an associate. In fact, there are some people who became associates by choice as they did not want to work in the co-op."

"As for the size of the reactors, they are generally 2.75 tons and are about the size of a passenger cabin room on a cruise ship. For greatest efficiency, we use superconducting cables to transfer the electricity, also it is much safer, as we tried using copper, or was it silver, wires and there was an explosion. I broke my arm, badly, as a result. I had to have surgery to repair the injury, and after 3 months I was good as new working on various projects," thus Karen answered Kim's queries.

"As for the ingredients of minestrone soup," began Kat, "tomatos, hamburger, peas, carrots, celery, green peppers, potatos, mushrooms, and I cannot remember what else off the top of my head."

*Da' BUMP*

"That sounds good. I'll have the minestrone," Xavier said when Nik returned. Kim ordered one as well - "I'm a sucker for a good soup," she said - while Joao ordered the pitsuon. After some discussion, Xavier ordered a pasta dish, Joao a shark steak, and Kim an eight steeple stew.

"I take it you want your usual," asked Nik.
"Yeah, we are hungry tonight" said Karen and Kat in unison.
So he brought out a half order pitsuon, two small bowls of eight steeple stew, and a large shark steak on top of a rice pilaf. Nik, noticing that the glasses were empty, went back to the kitchen immediately to fill them. "There you go," he smiled.

So Karen asked, "when it comes to the railguns you mentioned, I was doing some number crunching, and I am wondering what exactly would happen once one of those objects hit a ship? Would it instantly sink it, or would it be damaged bad enough that it might as well have sunk? Just what kind of things would happen to an enemy navy? Also, do you have any idea about how much this will cost, and how many ships we could possibly get if we go forward with such a plan?"

"Railguns work by firing projectiles at extremely high speeds. They're kinetic weapons; when the projectiles hit, energy gets transferred. In other words, the ship probably explodes and certainly takes major damage. Enemy ships would have to react incredibly fast to deal with incoming projectiles, and with the power figures your reactors have, you could fire them well over the horizon, easily outranging enemy weaponry. Your main concerns would then be reconnaissance and anti-sub warfare. Cost depends on how expensive it would be to navalize your fusion reactors," Joao replied, then began eating.

OOC: Just so you know, the implications of your fusion reactors puts you decidedly into PMT territory. Railguns like the one Joao first laid out (the 150MJ railgun) are a feature of MT+3, and are actually on the drawing board for the US navy. Railguns like the ones your ships could power, which would have far higher ranges and would be more powerful, are very much PMT.
Read this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun#Railguns_as_weapons) for more.

OoC: Good to know, navy was crap before and I wanted to bring my navy up to being on par with my airforce and space force. I fought an MT nation once and was forced to back down once my navy was obliterated. The branches are not equal in Korintar, as noted in my factbook and elsewhere, I have been generally mixed tech, or an emerging MT/PMT power when I Rp. Btw, I intend to accelerate this soon, so we can hear CoDC and Hypersphere Technologies debate before the council and Directory, with it televised with email links for the Senate and People's Assembly to voice their concerns.

IC: "Do not worry about recon, our airforce and Space Defense Corps are more than capable of handling that. Also, it should not be too difficult to navalize them, as we have used them in natikodi missions before and have experimented with putting them into airforce vehicles. I do think it might be good, just in case the reactors shut down or breakdown, to have a secondary source of power and weapons system that can be supported by said power source," said Karen, eating away.

OOC: The Chazakain-Korintar conflict, right?
Fair enough.

"Well, for that you'll want hypersonic missiles - basically stuff like the BrahMos II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrahMos). These go at Mach 5+, using rockets for initial acceleration, then ramjets or scramjets to maintain the high speeds necessary to achieve the performance intended. To power the ship itself, and its sensors, you'll probably want ordinary fission reactors. They're reliable, and keep your ships from needing to refuel," Xavier replied.

OoC: Yes, indeed!

IC: "That was what I was thinking myself. We can build fission reactors so small and cheap that it will not cost an arm and a leg to install them," said Karen, "what do you think, honey?"

"Yeah, my background is not nuclear engineering, but fuel cells. However from the general engineering classes I took, and the naval architecture class I took just for fun, that should work," answered Kat, sneaking a kiss from Karen. So they continued their dinner well into the night chatting away. Nik would stop by and debate politics with Kat concerning Just War Doctrine and command vs participatory planned vs market economics.

There was a quick blurp about a Xultan general in Hierphil on the television with breaking news of a fire fight between Korintari soldiers, assisted by Hierphilian and Wolf Holdian soldiers against KFL members and Xultan forces.

"Oh crap," growled Nik,"not again! Will this ever end!?"

bump