NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Quick intro to get the RP up and established. You have to register before you can RP. It is fully open to all members of Nation-States but please use the OOC Thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=594521) to register.

http://www.forsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/Role-Playing/Fleet%20Week%202009/01.jpg

The twenty-second annual Fleet Week at Layarteb City event was about to kick off with thousands of dignitaries from all over the world present, dozens of naval vessels from the Empire's Imperial Layartebian Navy and Imperial Layartebian Defense Forces and all over the world lined up on the dozens of piers around Manhattan Island, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey. Ships too big to enter the harbor would be anchored a few miles off the coast of Staten Island and ferries would shuttle people to and from the mammoth vessels. Ships in excess of 200,000 long tons in displacement and/or 57.41 feet in draft would be sent to this area once they arrived. With Layartebian waters extending out to twenty-four nautical miles from the shore, there would be plenty of room and plenty of time for internationally flagged vessels to move to this position.

Fleet Week didn't just promise a galla of naval vessels to oogle. It promised a lot more! There was an annual air show, conducted by the Imperial Layartebian Air Force, Defense Forces, and Navy and international participants always joined in the aerobatics and static displays. Exhibits showcasing naval history, space exploration, civilian contributions, and so on and so fourth were available. Single women would find the deluge of sailors in their pearly, white uniforms and Marines in their dress blues a major turn on and single men would have no chance of competing. Blood drives would net thousands of pints of blood each day and parades would allow local organizations a chance to show their colors. Demonstrations showing off military might and tactics were always conducted and technology debuts brought magazine writers, journalists, spies, and enthuiasts from all corners of the world.

Lieutenant Keefer pushed her baseball cap back on her head and tried not to say ooh and aah like a schoolgirl as she looked at the huge buildings that seemed to loom up on every side. Every vessel in sight, even the channel markers, dwarfed the little Angelfish.

She picked up the microphone. "Control Room, Bridge."

"Control Room, aye."

"Mr. Savery, we're definitely a little fish in a big pond up here. I'd like you to double the deck watch, please, until we're tied up to something solid. I don't want to scratch my shiny new boat."

"Aye, Captain."

She could hear the reinforcements coming up the ladder already.

'Shiny' was a bit of a joke. She was aware that she, her boat and her unshaven crew must have looked positively scruffy next to the freshly-painted gray leviathans and their freshly-painted white sailors that surrounded her. It was a long patrol just to get to this part of the world, so the gawkers would have to be satisfied with their beat-up hull and faded blue coveralls.

'New' was a bit of a joke too, since the boat was almost as old as she was and only her position was new. In a bizarre variation on the traditional equator-crossing, she had been dumped unceremoniously out of a C-130 and fished out of the water like a bedraggled puppy to join her new command. No room for pomp and circumstance on the far side of the world.

"And Mr. Savery, make sure Mr. Peters is on radar, please." She could almost feel the radar waves on the back of her head.

"Already done, Captain."

"Excellent. Now let's look for a parking space."

Sutfen Naval Detachment

Thousands of ships were at this event. ships ranging from the tiny Angelfish to multi-billion ton Superdreadnoughts. However none would be as easy to spot than the Sutfen Navy's ships.

The very sight of the group would make a Historical Enthusiast squeal in pure glee, and make an environmentalist weep. Their first sight was passive pillars of black coalsmoke on the horizon.

The ships had been dolled up beautifully, their old rusting and bashed up paint jobs had been completely scraped off and they'd be repainted in their entirety. Painted in their original British paint scheme, they were brilliant white and grey. The brass was shined to a tear-jerking sheen that caught the light beautifully, old glass windowpanes which were as old as the ship were beautifully warped and rippled from age as the Sutfen crew members manned the rails. On the flying bridge officers lined those rails.

The Lion Class Battlecruiser led the way, the SNS Drake's funnels billowing coal smoke and cinders, Her many old cannon were elevated towards the sky. She wasn't as big and technologically fancy, but her sharp and hard lines marked of naval days long past. Banners, pennants, and Signal flags all snapped gaily from her masts and wires. The deep Steam whistles, all three of them a different tone, gave a deep and beautifully toned and harmonious Organ-like warble as the ship came into port.

Next ship into port was the old four funnel Flush-deck destroyer, the SNS Frankie, came in next. she spewed coal smoke and cinders just a much as her Battlecruiser sister. In fact it seemed like they were jockeying for place on the "Number 1 cause for Ozone Depletion" standings. Her whistled were higher pitched and of a Higher octave than the SNS Drake's but they sounded beautiful in harmony with Drake's.

Third came the "Tiny" SNS River Croc. Classed in World War Two as a "Corvette" she was heavier and had a deeper draft than the SNS Frankie. She cruised in, her engines were newer and more "Cleaner" than the other two ships so she didn't spew anywhere near the same amount of Coal smoke. But such things were relative, as she still had a black cloud trailing her.


The Port had been told that the SNS Superb would be coming in 15 minutes after the main column of ships to make sure she was clear of any cinders. Being a sailing ship she was rather threatened by fires with the pitch and sails. When it was deemed safe she came into the mouth of the Harbor under full sail, Her crew was mostly manning the rails except for the sail crews up in the tops. She was listing beautifully in the wind as she sailed into port, her brand new sails bright white against her Black and Gold painted hull. Her brass was shined as well, her wood newly painted again. Ropes and rigging had been replaced. The Gold-leaf on her name across her after under the Captain's windows was freshly painted. As she sailed into port the people watching her magestic entrance could watch in awe as the crew in the tops began quickly and efficiently pulling up sail and bringing her about under reefed sails. She was masterfully handled and as it seemed... The only sailing ship in port. All powder had already been relinquished to the Layarteb Government and Navy, so her crew had run out her 18 Carronades and her 2 Long guns in all their glory. Marines were dressed in modified Napoleonic Wars uniforms (As they were canines, it wound be uncomfortable for them to wear straight Human uniforms) which were a rich, deep blue and white. They had relinquished power as well and stood at attention with old Flintlock rifles. Of which, none of them even had flints (As those were locked up below) to work the locks.

As she sailed majestically into port she reefed her sailed and slid silently through the waters.

It took roughly 45 minutes to get her into a slip. Sher was immediately opened to civilians to come on board and watch her crew work to make sure the ship was prepped for port.

Bridge Of The USPS Glory.

Captain Angela Bartlet loved her new ship, after being moved to the newest flag ship in the USPS Navy she’d been spending the time getting to know the ship. The layout was a bit different from the old Nimitz class carriers, and the crew was new..ish. All of them had been on carriers before but there was no captain in the navy like her, and they were getting used to that.

She had ridden them pretty hard during the first few weeks, she had to because the captain that sailed out the vessel was lax, and that wouldn’t do for the tip of the USoP Naval spear. There was a point during seaworthy testing that she was sure they were going to say something to the XO about her sanity, but she had to know what the ship was capable of, moreover she had to know what her crew was capable of. It turns out both were just as capable.

Shakedowns had gone well and the ship had seen some limited action, nothing to write home about but the air wing had acted flawlessly and her bridge staff was cool and collected, all signs the captain was surround with the best. So she had notified NORPAC command that she wanted to find a port nearby and give a bit of a gift to her crew.

Bartlet sat in the Captains seat, eyeing the navigation and radar stations. The operators of both were good but let things slip, soon they would slip off the bridge.

Communications had just received a message and she was pretty sure she knew what it said. She was positive when she watched him get up and nearly run over to her.

“Mam…sorry, “ he composed himself a bit “Captain message from NORPAC. “

Bartlet stiffed a smile as she took the paper from the operators hand… he hesitated. “Back to your post Petty Officer Cherkin.”

“Aye Mam… sorry Captain” He said spinning on one heel and moving back to his station.

Bartlet read the Message

To: Angela Bartlet Captain First Class – USPS Glory.
Re: MISSION CHANGE ORDER

Your request for specialized shore leave for your crew has been approved. Please proceed to Layarteb City Harbor to participate in Fleet Week activities there.


Angela folded the order and slid it into her shirt pocket. She keyed in the code for a full ship message and after the alert tones sounded, she spoke.

“Attention all personnel… we have received a MCO, which... despite my repeated efforts to dissuade them, informs me that we have been ordered to Layarteb City for a week of R&R. Now personally I feel as though a week longer of shakedowns might turns some of you into proper sailors but I guess Commander Fitz-Wallace disagrees.

Now we are the flagship of the USoP and we will be opening our decks to visitors, so I expect to see all personnel working to make this ship shine in ways it’s never shined before. That is all”

Angela shot a look to the communications officer who returned it with a small smile and nod. She became aware that some of the other bridge staff were smiling, and pointing at the flight deck. She got up and crossed the bridge.

The flight deck personnel were dancing and carrying on, one in particular the head of the weapons systems teams was doing a particularly disturbing sliding step. Angela reached down and grabbed the pa mic. “Lieutenant Harris…if your going to writhe around like idiot at lease have the decency to ensure your pants fit.” Harris stopped dancing at once, and saluted in the direction of the bridge, then continued his dance, slightly more subdued this time.

Angela crossed the bridge aware of the short snorts of laughter around her. She let it go for a minute then finally said “Ok ok… fine… at ease”. The bridge burst in to laughter and she joined in. After a few minutes she turned to Navigation “Set course for Layarteb City Harbor, cruise speed.

With that the carrier started a gentle turn and changed course for fleet week.


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OOC: Sorry for the double post but I'm a tad bit behind.

IC:

The Glory made good time entering the Harbor. Bartlet was sure that the engine room might had been holding back speed on her during the trials.

She slowed to what Angela had un-officially taken to calling parade speed and slipped in to line. Angela was intentionally quiet. She was letting the ship breath a bit. Her crew had been in tight with several different vessels before but a parade was a different case.

“Maintain speed. We’ve been assigned slip number 5.” Angela said, her voice quiet and measured.

The bridge was silent, the crew new better than to talk during docking, especially one around this many other ships. Bartlet liked it that way, she didn't want the formalities to get the way of the sailing.

“All stop.” Angela said, and an almost imperceptible shifting was felt as the engines cut off and the ship started to drift. “Steady now. The ship glid into the berth. “Reverse, and deploy the front and rear shorelines.”

The reverse thrusters began to spin, and the shipped slowed almost to a stop.

“M…Captain, front and rear moorings have been fastened. “

“Port side.”

The portside thrusters fired and the ship started to slide sideways till it gently tapped the dock.

“All stop” Bartlet said, “Tighten she shorelines."

The carrier was now tightly snug in her berth and after short time Platoons Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Foxtrot were all talking about what they would be doing ashore, Echo, being the platoon with the most gigs during shakedown, had first watch, and were the ships ambassadors for tours for 24 hours.

The Captain was out watching the activities on the filght deck when her communications officer approached her. “Coming ashore Captain?”

“No I think I’m going to take the opportunity to check on somethings, I’ll join you all in the city tomorrow. “

“Yes Captain. “ he said then he turned away. Before going down the stairs he turned and said “Thanks Captain.”

“Your welcome” She said, and then returned her gaze to the flight deck, as she stood on her ship, under the clenched fist insignia of the USoP.

Leni Keefer strolled casually up the narrow gangplank - which was quite literally a plank - and stood on the pier with her hands in the pockets of her coveralls. She supposed that she didn't look much like a submarine captain, with no insignia and only her name stenciled above her right breast pocket.

The Angelfish was equally unobtrusive behind her, the only notable feature being the gigantic Fatatatutian battle flag... er, diplomatic flag... draped over her tower. That was standard practice when surfaced, to make the drab little boat stand out.

Leni made up her mind to visit the tall sailing ship later on if it was quiet - and so far it seemed like it would be. Next time, we'll have to bring a sign, she said to herself.

They could be forgiven for being unprepared for the exhibition. They had only received the order hours ago. If they hadn't already been on station outside the harbour, they wouldn't have gotten there so soon.

She heard footsteps on the gangplank behind her. "Mr. Savery," she said.

The First Officer was a little taller than she was and about as dapper as one can be in coveralls. "Captain, the cook is asking permission to go ashore for fresh food supplies and so forth."

Leni hesitated. "Does he have his passport?"

Savery nodded.

"I guess it'll be okay then. We don't want to leave anybody behind over some bureaucratic hangup." By 'anybody', she meant mostly the cook. Fatatatutian armed forces were among the best-fed in the world and despite the limitations of cooking in a two-by-two galley under sixty meters of ocean, she intended to keep it that way on her boat. The captain could be replaced by the First Officer or the Navigator or the Diving Officer or even the First Engineer but the cook could only be replaced by the assistant cook - and then there would be no assistant. Not enough redundancy for her comfort but who was she to argue with naval policy?

"Have him take a torpedoman with him to tote that barge and lift that bale," she said. The cooks were too valuable to risk together. Torpedomen would, hopefully, be less valuable on this mission.

He nodded.

She noticed that he didn't even say 'aye' when the crew weren't around. "Make sure the deck party wear their life-jackets," she said. Most Fatatatutians couldn't swim and most also didn't have sense enough to be afraid of the water. The assumption that somebody would fish them out if they fell in wasn't quite enough precaution for her boat. Fleet Week was not the ideal venue for their Keystone Kops routine. "And make sure the life-rings are handy too", she added, "in case we lose any visitors over the side."

ONS Wilhelm Von Seelow, Nearing Layarteb City Harbor

Grand Admiral Jacob Toland stood on the deck of the Von Seelow as it made it's way to the Layarteb City Harbor. Behind him several F-21's were being wheeled out on the deck and prepped for display. This was the first international voyage of a new Von Seelow Class Supercarrier and Toland couldn't think of a better showcase for the carrier.

As he looked out he saw the ONS Bonefish, surfaced and making headway toward the harbor as well. It too was on it's first major voyage outside of Oseaton waters. The Oseaton Federal Navy had been pouring money into the domestic ship building businesses in Oseato attempting to find domestic designs for Oseaton ships. The Von Seelow and Bonefish were just two examples of the new ships being turned out from Oseaton shipyards. Thus it was determined that Fleet Week would be a wonderful opportunity to showcase the latest and greatest in Oseaton ship building.

The ONS Bonefish headed into the port ahead of the Von Seelow. It would be able to enter the port and dock by itself, however the Von Seelow would need the help of a tug in order to dock safely. While a message was sent out to the port authorities, the carrier began to slow and anchored just outside the harbor while it waited.

To: Relevant Authorities
From: ONS Wilhelm Von Seelow
Sub: Need Assistance in docking

This is the ONS Wilhelm Von Seelow of the Oseaton Federal Navy, we are here to participate in fleet week, however we need the assistance of a tug in order to dock safely in the port. We would appreciate any support you could provide.

<<A majestic sight we must be, comrades! Now more than ever!>> the voice of captain Krakev interrupted the Birkanian Anthem, that was being blared from the loudspeakers of the largest ship of the Birkanian formation.

The Birkanian missile dreadnought, the Omen, arrived with the objective of being the most majestic vessel to attend to the conference – and on a wider scale, the most glorious vessel the seas had seen. All its missile silos were extended and uncovered, leaving the tips of the ICBMs visible. Huge flags waved from the top of the masts, and the golden details such as the enormous golden Birkanian seal grafted on the prow and the sides had gotten recently polished, along with the large statue on top of the bridge, and the ship’s reflectors were pointing at the patriotic symbols in the hull. Captain Krakev reveled at this. The ship hadn’t been this clean since its launching, and the Birkanians were determined to keep it that way. One would not have noticed the smaller battleships surrounding the massive vessel. Just the fact that the Omen was at least four times as large as anything that had entered the fair so far made the sailors burn with patriotic pride.

<<This is the battleship Molniya. We are ready to begin docking procedures, I think we’ll take the show from now on>> the captain of the battleship said proudly. As imposing as the Omen was, it was also too big to fit in the harbor, so the Molniya would be the ship to enter the bay. The captain of the Omen was furious, although he couldn’t do much about it <<Do not worry, comrade Krakev. We will take some pictures for you, ha-ha>> the captain of the Molniya added. Curiously, the large battleship was still bigger than anything attending to the fair, including the imposing supercarriers of other nations. The Molniya entered the bay, its flags raised high, and its guns aiming high into the air. Except for the guns of turret nº 3, which still pointed menacingly at the gunnery bridge.

“Whoa” was all the ace pilot Tatiana Radlanova could say as the skyscrapers cast shadows onto the ships. This city wasn’t much larger than the Birkanian metropolis she had been born in, but what impressed her was the fact that the highest buildings weren’t smokestacks or powerplants, and the air was clean. While the air of New York is far from clean, it was dreamy compared to the thick smog of Ferrograd or Vskov. “Look at all the tall buildings. Our patriotism almost looks small compared to them. Almost.” She commented to another pilot as they both leaned against the railing of the Battle of Dinsmark.

“I agree, comrade Radlanova.” The other pilot said, smoking a cigarette “Quite tall structures. And quite a glamorous-looking city if I’m allowed to say. Reminds me of Vihenia, except far larger.”

A flotilla of small support ships followed the Omen closely, along with a few escort vessels that would leave once the ships had arrived to the shore. One of them was a little and derelict Victor-class submarine carrying some supplies for the larger vessels, which included the tons of souvenirs that would be sold in the fair, just because specialized transports were busy at the moment. The captain, recently demoted from being in charge of one of the Birkanian Navy’s majestic submersible cruisers, was now annoyingly sitting in the bridge, completely cluttered with all sorts of random objects rolling around.
“You gotta be kidding me!” The captain shouted to the first officer after reading a report. Or rather, a simple pamphlet of the fair. “The Angelfish again!?” She continued shouting. Because of crashing against said Fattatutian submarine, she had been demoted.

Tug boats and an experienced harbor master made sure that each and every ship was moored up properly to the many piers along Manhattan's western side, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey. Layarteb City was designated as a federal city under the Empire. It spanned three thousand, three hundred, and fifty-three square miles, including land and water and was populated by just shy of nineteen million people making it very densely populated and now, with the influx of tourists and foreign dignitaries, it would swell significantly with hotels for a hundred miles turning on their "no vacancy" signs.

The parade of ships on May 21 was magnificent. The 7th Carrier Strike Group of the Imperial Layartebian Navy's 1st Fleet, ported in the Azores had been the group tasked to join the Fleet Week festivities for the Imperial Layartebian Navy and they joined elements of the 1st Maritime Patrol Group and 1st Coast Guard Group. The Imperial Layartebian Military had twenty-six ships attending Fleet Week and they were joined by plenty of aircraft from the Imperial Layartebian Air Force. The parade of ships sailed underneath the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the largest suspension bridge in North America, passing through the Narrows, as it was colloquially called. The Narrows was a tidal strait between Staten Island and Brooklyn, formed over six thousand years ago at the end of the previous ice age. As they passed through the Narrows sailors adorned the sides of each ship with their white, dress uniforms on, preparing their customary salute, which would come just six miles after passing underneath the bridge. As the ships sailed northward, towards the Hudson River, they passed Bayonne to the west, where some of the internationally flagged ships would be placed. Further north, the ships would pass between both Liberty and Ellis Island on their port side and Governor's Island on their starboard. Sailors adorning the port side of the vessel were required to come to full salute when they passed Liberty Island and its gorgeous Statue of Liberty, which had been given to the Republic of Layarteb in the 1800s as a present from the Fourth Reich of North Germania. Sailors adorning the starboard side were required to come to a full salute when they passed Governor's Island, home to the Empire. Ellis Island was to the west after Liberty Island and then the ship parade entered the Hudson River. They sailed north, over the Holland Tunnel, over the Lincoln Tunnel, and then into port along the West Side Highway. As customary, the Imperial Layartebian Military got the best spots while international ships were lined up north and south of them all the way to the Upper West Side and Cliffside Park.

While the parade of ships traveled northward, through the Narrows, Lower New York Harbor, and into the Hudson River, flags waved and Layartebians cheered. They lined both sides of Layarteb City's waters waving flags and snapping photos. They cheered as the mammoth ships steamed through at just ten knots. They were spaced out to avoid creating too much of a wake but they were massive and even at five knots, they would be churning the harbor up, which was packed with more onlookers in boats and plenty of security. RHIBs transited up and down the harbor with specialized personnel of the Layarteb City Police Department and Ministry of the Interior. Anyone trying to do anything except look, photograph, smile, and cheer were bound to disappear for good.

The opening ceremonies had already been conducted by the Mayor of Layarteb City who smiled as she gave her speech to a crowd of one hundred and eighty-five thousand in Central Park. The parade of ships began at 13:00 when the first ship passed underneath the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The 7th Carrier Battle Group began the procession underneath the bridge with the Unforgiven class cruiser leading the way. The Voodoo class missile submarine, still classified and unknown to the world remained in port. The Overburdened class battleship, which had made its debut the year earlier was stationed off the coast of Staten Island because it was too big and too heavy to enter the harbor. That knocked the twenty-six vessel group down to just twenty-four vessels entering the harbor, including its flagship, the Ynoga class light carrier. The procession wasn't only ships though. The Ynoga class light carrier carried four Anasazi attack helicopters, eighteen F-35F Lightning II multirole fighters, two Sea Hawk helicopters, two Knight Hawk helicopters, and four Fire Scout drones. Most of the helicopters remained on board along with four Lightning IIs, which would all be tied down for static display on the carrier. However, the fourteen other Lightning IIs would join the procession. All fourteen of them had taken off from the carrier before it entered the harbor and they formed up over southern Layarteb City, flying with the ships. Eight of them joined into two, tight formations of four aircraft each. One group buzzed the Verrazano bridge at two thousand feet, passing over the bridge at three hundred miles per hour. The other four passed underneath the bridge, a mile behind the higher group moving at just two hundred and twenty miles per hour. The remaining six aircraft flew over Long Island while the other eight flew over Manhattan, the Bronx, New Jersey, and Staten Island, eventually landing with the other six at Layarteb City Air Force Base, where they would join in the air show with two of the Anasazi helicopters, one of the Fire Scout drones, and other aircraft.

Sailing alongside one another, the FSS Boudicca's Revenge and her predecessor FSS Frigga's Bane were steaming towards the Layatreb harbor. Both ships were the pinnacle of their class, though each had been launched nearly forty years apart from one another. The first domestically produced aircraft carrier of the Commonwealth fleet. It was remarkable for it's ski-jump bow, and after a long service, would soon be decommissioned. Its replacement sailed alongside it, the imposing and venerable Boudicca's Revenge. At more than 1100 feet, it was the second-largest ship in the fleet. Onboard the carrier, new F-43C Sleipnir's were being prepared for launch. They were part of the CMDF's Blue Thunder demonstration team, and were lined up to participate in the air show. Four were lined up, ready to be launched simultaneously, all thanks to the ships wide deck and new EMALS catapult. The final two fighters were brought up on deck, waiting for their own launch as their wingmen were fired off the deck, the shrill sound of the engines cutting through the air.

As the ships entered harbor, their massive horns blew greeting to those already assembled. Being to large to berth herself, the Boudicca left her older escort to take the lead, the crew of the Frigga's Bane manning the rails as she pulled in to dock.

"Looks like a fine gathering," Admiral Vassily Polenin said aboard the Frigga. As commander of the 5th Fleet, of which both ships were members of, he was given the honor of representing the older ship, which would be put on public display. The vid-screen in front of him was of Admiral Yuri Padorin, Chief of Naval Operations.

"It does," Padorin nodded. "The Premier will be arriving on a COD later today. The NSA will be with him...and you still have the E-5 to unveil, correct?"

"Yes, it's made air operations nearly impossible," Polenin chuckled. "We'll have it on display aboard deck," he explained.

"Well, have fun with the tourists," Padorin chuckled, "Padorin out." With that, the screen went black.

Polenin sighed, he hated having to use his dress-whites.

The 17th Vamperial Armada was on a routine trip from the Lynion Islands up to the Vamperial Colony of Lynx when it altered course and headed in the direction of Layarteb City in Layarteb. It was typical for the heavy escort due to the larger Wolf Packs hunting down small elements of the Pirate Alliance that was scattered across the globe. They were in International Waters when they started to run alongside Layarteb Waters and International Waters. It was then that 12 Naval Warships departed from the Armada and headed towards Layarth City.

The 12 Naval Warships formed the 101st Vamperial Naval Squadron. It would be the first time for any Lynion warships be put on display in a foreign land let alone a military display. However, their Grand Headmaster thought it would be a change of thought from the usual war that spread across the globe. This was agreed with Lord Admiral Kennedy Hartsword and Captain Harkens.

101st Vamperial Naval Squadron was made up of:

Royal Vamperial Ships (RVS)

1 Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier

RVS Wolverine

4 ANZAC Class Frigates

RVS Jazz
RVS Terminator
RVS Jolt
RVS Soundwave

4 Kidd Class Destroyers

RVS Ripper
RVS Horror
RVS Nightmare
RVS Darwin

3 Los Angeles Class Submarines

RVS Phoenix
RVS Destroyer
RVS Grim Reaper

Onboard the Wolverine, Lord Admiral Kennedy was preparing a telegram when he noticed the youngest of the pilots arrive on the bridge informing him that all prepartions were completed. There were several areas closed to the public but organisied private viewing could be arrange which included inspector's and the like. For Kennedy, it was another day at the 'office'.

TO: Layarteb Government Officals
FROM: 101st Vamperial Naval Squadron, Lord Admiral Kennedy Hartsword
RE: Fleet Week 2009

Hail Government Officals of Layarteb. We have started to make entry into your waters and we are requesting information on where to dock. We are part of the Fleet Week 2009 display and last minute prepartions are being made.

“This is PNS Peregrine to PNS Majestic, do you read me?”

“Go ahead Peregrine.”

“We will be docking in Layarteb City within the next half an hour. I expect to see all men on deck, smartly dressed as appropriate for this exercise. Would you be so kind as to relay that message to the entire group?”

“Certainly, Admiral. Got to make a good show to them, of course.”

“Of course. Over and out, Majestic.”


Admiral Amherst knew that today’s mission was very important. Attending this conference were some of the most despised men in Parilisa, serving as ambassadors for The Wolf Hold, a nation with whom war now seemed inevitable. The ships Amherst had chosen to bring with him on this diplomatic adventure were not the largest in the Parilisan Navy because they were needed in case of emergency attack back home; but they were some of the most well disciplined and aesthetically pleasing vessels of the fleet, especially cleaned to make a good impression on the onlookers. The PNS Peregrine had received a special interior renovation especially for this event and the Officer’s Lounge was now a spectacular affair, with comfortable couches and wonderful decorating.

The Admiral was accompanied on this enterprise by two fellow members of the Emergency Defence Council; General Ludenfretz and Air Marshall Guttmann. Together they bore a great deal of responsibility for the Parilisan Armed Forces, and all three of the men were tired from the long hours of preparation and planning which followed the threat of hostilities.

“Are you ready, gentlemen?” said Amherst, entering the Officer’s Lounge with a smile.

“As ready as we can be, given certain circumstances.” mumbled Ludenfretz. He was a man of famous talent for strategy in Parilisa, and the medals gleamed on his chest to proclaim this.

“Your pilots are prepared for the displays, I presume, Air Marshall?” Amherst, said, taking a seat on one of the fine sofas.

“Of course. We’ve got a show to put in today, my friends; a show for this city, a show for our country, but most of all a show to The Wolf Hold.”

***

“This is PNS Peregrine, lead ship of the Parilisan group for Fleet Week festivities. We are ready to enter the port and request permission to do so. We require information regarding our accommodation.”

Signalman Leon 'King Kong' Peters swaggered down the pier, smiling at the women and sizing up the men. He chose his spot and then brought the loud-hailer up to his mouth.

"LAY-deez and gentlemen, CHILL-dren of all ages, everyone within the sound of my voice...."

Several people in front of him literally jumped and many more winced.

"The people of Fatatatutti invite you to a luau! That's right, a genuine Fatatatutian luau, on board the submarine Angelfish, right at the end of the pier. You can't miss her. She's the one with the bright red flag.

"Now, maybe we don't have a roast pig. It's pretty hard to roast a pig on a submarine. But we do have smoked sausages, barbecued right on the deck... the pier turned out to be too flammable. And maybe we don't have any poi but we do have coconut pudding - and if you've never had real poi... well, coconut pudding isn't even close, but it's still pretty good. And our cook has whipped up some other Fatatatutian dishes that are guaranteed to titilate your taste buds and inflate your waistline.

"It's all you can eat and it's all free. Nobody goes home until all the food is gone.

"We'll be having a hula contest later on. I don't know if you have any local public nudity laws but if there are any law-enforcement officers in the crowd, you might want to take this opportunity to look the other way.

"And I heard a rumour about some fireworks too, so law enforcement, nudge nudge, wink wink, you know what I mean.

"Come one, come all! Get 'em while they're hot!"

-------------

Back on board the Angelfish, Peters' sales pitch was almost drowned out by the strains of the Fatatatutian War Chant blaring over the loudspeakers. To modern ears, it didn't seem as fearsome as it must have to their ancestors.

Leni Keefer was wearing a paper dollar-store lei and turning fat sausages roasting on a hibachi improvized from an oil drum. She had enough food for her 47-person crew for a month - it would feed thousands for one night. In any other navy, such a stunt would get her a court-martial. In Fatatatutti, it might get her a medal.

<<This is the battleship Molniya, we are inside the bay>> the captain of the mighty battleship said <<Requesting additional directions, and some tugs to help us out there. It’s a tight spot>>
The battleship squadron was crammed in a very narrow formation to avoid obstructing too much. After all, there were many other ships in the area, and the last thing they wanted was to collide or cause a jam.
<<Itokawa here.>> The captain of the AA battleship said, in an uncharacteristic Japanese tone. <<All hands are prepared. Make our great nation proud>>

The sailors and marines of the ships formed around the deck clad in their blue ceremonial uniforms and the ships started to launch fireworks and lighted up large reflectors that aimed at the sky, as if battleships that size didn’t attract enough attention already. The captains looked at this with wonder. For once, nobody screwed up by falling off the deck. Krakev had solemnly swore that if this happened again, the ships would not stop for the unfortunate sailor.

===================

“PERISCOPE” said the captain of the old Victor-class sub

“Why the periscope?” The first officer intervened. He too, had been demoted from the submersible cruiser K-121, and was now serving in the derelict K-69, a submarine that was more dangerous to its own sailors than to whatever might end up in the crosshairs of its torpedo tubes “We’re surfaced. And the hatch is open. Just go take a look”

“I said periscope!” She shouted. A few minutes later, the K-69 was slowly navigating towards the docks with its periscope deployed. “There they are… there they are… steady… steady, they won’t know what hit them… EMPTY THE TUBES!”

“Do we even care? It was an accident. If anything, HQ is to blame. We weren’t even warned about fattatutian subs there. And we have no torpedoes, by the way.” The first officer rolled his eyes.

While the crew of the battleships was in a pristine condition, selected from the most disciplined sailors of the Navy, the crew of the K-69 looked like a hobo convention, aggravated by the fact the entire submarine was stuffed with supplies for the event. The sonar operator had spilled beer over the monitors and was now sleeping in a hammock on the bridge right in front of the captain, the handles of the periscope were taped on, the lightning had been short-circuited, so all they got where the dark red auxiliary lights, there was no paint to speak of, the hull was rusty and there were leaks all over. The submarine advanced towards the dock, and so did other resupply ships. After three failed attempts, the ratty K-69 finally managed to dock itself.

The captain stomped towards the docked Angelfish. Her hair was messy, she looked like she hadn’t been able to sleep for several days, her shoes and the lower part of her coat were wet. She was followed by the first officer, two sailors and a small group of pigs that had been brought by one of the two helmsmen. They entered the small Luau, looking for the captain of the Angelfish, although the other officers scattered to enjoy the luau.

The Sutfen were actually tied up at a dock nearby the Fatatatuttiians. Upon hearing of their pigless plight, an officer manning one of the wings of the "Flying Bridge" (Check picture, it's one of the parts of the bridge that sticks out from the side of the bridge, it had a dual '50 on it. xD) of the SNS River Croc, looked to his buddy. "He, look it those guys on that sub there. They don't seem to be very much more combat effective then us 'ere. Just as small and "little fish" like us. I figure, we're in the same boat 'eh?"

His buddy shrugged, "Can't hurt t' help 'em out."

The officer looked back and called down to the Sub. "Ahoy there! Fatatatutti Sailors! We hear of your plight of no pig, Thus.... We shall assist you! The Sutfen Navy Ship "River Croc" senders her regards with a Landing Craft and a pair of pigs complete with the gear to roast 'em on spits! Seeing as yer aboard a Sub n' all, You can use the Landing Craft as a place to cook 'em too! Free o' Charge! 'Cept the Cap'n, He wants a plate o' your food to sample!"

Across the ship, the Sutfen sailors who heard this cheered and jeered the captain who'd been playfully just "Volunteered" by his crew. They were in port and on leave, on such a small ship the crew was tight knit and the Captain allowed such things like this once in awhile. So he threw up his hands and called down, "Bring on your worst! And your Best! I shall be forced to 'Suffer' through eating good food!"

His voice was dripping with sarcasm as he said "Suffer". The whole crew present aboard the River Croc took to laughing at their Captain's expense, not that he minded this time.

---

Elsewhere, the Battlecruiser Drake had finally dropped her Gangplank allowing civilians to come aboard and explore. Deep below her decks the steam engines were still running, The whole crew was aboard "Play acting" basic ship's duties and their own duties. Everywhere from simulated Air Defense, using empty Magazines and Imaginary bullets... The crews stood in position holding their gear, helmeted and ready as intercom speakers linked the recordings of the weapons played sound effects as the crew members did their "Jobs" at guns and such. Below decks Crewmembers were doing everything from washing decks to shining Brass.

Corpsmen aboard the Drake were showing civilians how early 1940s medical things were done. No blood or gore, just doing explanatory "Show and tells" to visitors. Even deeper in the Hull was the Engine room where Visitors were given earplugs or earmuffs and shown aboard the massive boiler and engine room. They had gone into the transmission upon getting into their slip and tying up and had gone in themselves to lock the transmission in neutral. Why? Because they were doing life steam demonstrations. Visitors who came into the engine room had a chance to shovel coal alongside burly stokers, to watch and learn as engineers did their business, listening to the Telegraph, which was working just as the Bridge did their "Show and tells" of combat maneuvers,and doing everything just like they were in those same combat maneuvers putting up steam and working the engines.

The Drake, at least aboard the drake, acted just as if it was currently in combat in the 1910s and 1920s. As if she herself was at the battle of Jutland. This allowed visitors to get an in-depth feeling of what it would be like to be a Sutfen sailor, or what it would be like if they were a sailor aboard any battle cruiser in the first world war. Not only could they see it live-action, but in some ways they could actually do some of the jobs being taught by a Sutfen crew member.

-----

The same thing was happening aboard the SNS Fankie, however they were also doing"Combined" practice with crew members from the SNS Superb in showing off wrestling matches, bare fisted boxing matches, sports from Sutufinai. They, too, were cooking Sutfen cuisine. Most of it was meats, but then... This is a nation of Canids, meat eaters.

-----

The SNS Superb had everything from active reenactors doing everything from dry-fire exercises with their flintlocks to dry-fire broadsides with their working cannon. In the tops Sutfen scurried about doing various things to show off important seamanship skills for sailing a old sailing ship. On the deck Sutfen showed off knot-tying and engaged in competitions for and with the Visitors who wanted to participate. These competitions ranges from, knot tying to moving cannonballs back and fourth and seeing how fast you could do it, you could even work a bilge pump and water pump below decks should you so want too. Carving classes were going on on deck and on the peir where Sutfen were showing off their carving skills or teaching the basics of wood carving to visitors. In addition to this basic Sun and Star Navigation classes were going on using things like Sextants and Octants not to mention basic compass navigation. Other non-interactive things happening were Sutfen holy-stoning the deck and other ship-based duties of sailors.

-----

The Sutfen were also operating a Steam Touring service using their Steam Launches off their own ships. These were live steam launches and were taking Visitors aboard to ride with them with Layarteb Fleet-Week officials who could point out and explain each ship the launch was passing, at the very least the class, nation, and name of the ship... Where applicable.

OOC: FYI tugs need not be asked for nor should help to the piers be asked, that's all basically provided. When you arrive in our waters at 24nm off shore you are contacted by harbor control and they get all of the requirements ahead of time so that there isn't any waiting. It's all like a ballet, quite coordinated but no tutu's or pink, pointy slippers. Also feel free to RP people going through your tours and stuff, even if they're Layartebian, enjoy it.

Police officers, both uniformed and plain clothes, from the Layarteb City Police Department were the biggest contingent of law enforcement at Fleet Week. With over ninety thousand officers, it was the largest police department in the world but it also had thousands of square miles to cover and millions of people under their jurisdiction. Twenty thousand of them were tasked specifically for Fleet Week and that included normal patrol officers and detectives with vice, homicide, and counter-terrorism. The Empire was no police state but its laws were strict in comparison to most countries of the world and since the Empire was an authoritarian republic, law and order were among its highest tenants. Strict anti-drug laws were among the most controversial and countries around the world had protested against the Empire numerous times due to its laws, which turned the simple act of smoking marijuana into a serious misdemeanor. Trafficking was considering one of the most serious offenses outside of murder, rape, treason, and horrific crimes against children, all of which carried the death penalty. Despite the crowds and despite the strict security offered to the event, police officers always found Fleet Week stressful. The sheer volume of people that came meant that they were working twice as hard and at the end of it, they always had enough arrests and citations to fill any quota, real or imagined. Fleet Week was advertised as a clean event for everyone in the world and the Empire prided itself on the safety it could provide to young and old. The only way to obtain a Layartebian visa, especially for Fleet Week, was to meet with officers at a Layartebian embassy abroad. After reviews and interviews, if candidates were deemed worthy of a visa, they would have it and the rest was up to them. However, for Fleet Week, because the number of visas was quite high, officers in the embassies were also double worked. Some applications were unfortunately ignored while others went through slightly less scrutiny. To each applicant who succeeded came both a visa and a small guide to the Empire, including laws. Anyone coming into the country was required to sign a waiver that they read the book and, if they denied, they were refused entry. If they signed without reading it was their own fault and customs reiterated that at the gate of each airport terminal and port. Attending naval vessels received the same guide and a special edition that covered military personnel. It was rather customary and included were a number of points that were designed to keep foreign sailors happy, out of jail, and made sure they enjoyed the festivities. If narcotics were legal, they weren't allowed to be removed from the ship. The Empire would not be searching any vessels for drugs unless there was reasonable suspicion that the vessel was actually trafficking to the Empire. In the twenty-two year history of the Empire that had only happened once and caused a two-week long diplomatic crisis that threatened war. Luckily, it was resolved.

Near the Fatatatuttian submarine, a pair of patrol officers surveyed the crowds with a smile. They chatted idly as they walked along the piers in their uniforms, handcuffs hanging from their belts, radios on their hips. They carried mace and a collapsible baton as well as their standard issue sidearm, an M120A4 Equinox in .40SW. Some carried a backup sidearm as well, usually a subcompact M120D4 Equinox, also in .40SW. Every officer in the LCPD carried an Equinox and .40SW was the standard caliber for the LCPD and most police departments across the Empire. Agents of the Ministry of the Interior and Domestic Justice Agency also carried the Equinox but they most often carried the .40DDI variant, a more powerful cartridge than the .40SW, which was only available in the full and compact variants, not the subcompact. The two patrol officers heard the announcement and knew that it was their duty just to mention what was expected. They weren't there to bust chops or see anyone put in handcuffs or written a citation but the laws had been transmitted and they knew it. They approached the announcer, Signalman Leon "King Kong" Peters and smiled, "Excuse me, we need a word." Quickly they explained how the Empire had laws against public nudity and that included this particular event. They were pleased with the idea of a luau and fireworks were allowed as long as they were fired away from the pier, towards the water, and by a trained individual from an area where people could not be hurt by misfiring rockets. Otherwise, there was nothing else to say and they would be back later to enjoy the luau. They wouldn't be allowed to really partake in the festivities but they could justify standing there during it and at least enjoy the atmosphere of it, especially when the Sutufinai's arrived with a pig to roast.

Senior Captain John Billings stood on the bridge of the USS America. This was the first Fleet Week both he and all 3 Ships in his small Fleet had been to. As they entered the 24nmi Layartebian Waters Zone, they reported that the America would require some tugs to assist it to the docks but that the 2 Destroyers would not.


As the fleet neared the harbor, the Crews were already readying the ships and aircraft to start accepting Visitors.

<<Molniya here, docking procedures complete>> The first officer of the battleship said.
<<Captain Yermilov of the Krasnaya Birkaina here. We’re docked>>
<<Itokawa here, we have arrived at the end of our path!>> The captain of the AA battleship said. The rest didn’t know if his accent was just acting.

The massive battleship Molniya finally managed to dock where indicated, taking the room normally occupied by two ships. Finally, it was opened for the public; the speakers ceased to broadcast anthems and patriotic Birkanian songs to transmit the voice of the Birkanian coordinator, who invited people to come in, and witness a few examples of the Birkanian Navy’s many types of battleships.

Needless to say, the Molniya was the center of the exposition, and a small exposition was held on its flight deck, showcasing the infantry weapons and a few helicopters used by the Birkanian Army, along with a few vehicles and a single fighter craft. The flight deck of the battleship-carrier hybrid was now packed with people and guides and food stands were opened in the hangars, along with a few shows and even weapons expositions for potential buyers. While a relaxing change for the sailors, it was an overburdening task for the highest officers, who stressfully looked down onto the crowd from the observation mast, since both the main bridge, the control tower and the gunnery bridge were full of curious civilians. For the time being, they weren’t authorized to leave the ship, and they anxiously waited for the permission.

It was worthy of mentioning all ships were completely devoid of any narcotic, since the Birkanians strongly opposed their use, to the point of bombing a country that legally exported narcotics.

“Well, we aren’t leaving anytime soon” The first officer of the battleship said.
“Eh, we’re taking shore leave sooner or later” The main radar operator said “I’ve heard there’s a Luau in a sub”
“A Luau in a submarine?” The captain laughed “I’d like to see that. Interesting, though. I’ve never been in a luau”

Lieutenant Keefer stood at the bottom of the gangplank, holding out a hand to anybody who seemed a little unsteady. "Careful. Watch your step. We don't want to get wet, do we?" She smiled at an older lady. The half-dozen who were already on board stood uncertainly in the middle of the casing, looking down at the murky water on both sides of the boat, only a meter or so below them.

"Okay," Leni stepped toward the main hatch. "If we're all ready... this is the submarine Angelfish, out of Fatatatutti, one of the Fish class. There's also the Lionfish, Sunfish and so on. We're about seventy meters long and seven meters wide - the wide part is below the waterline. It's a lot narrower up here, as you can see.

"We're standing on the casing. That's kind of like the attic of the submarine. It's where we store all the stuff that we only need when we're on the surface, stuff that doesn't need air like we do, stuff like the gangplank and the anchor and the little rubber boat.

"Everything behind us - we call that the 'stern' or 'aft' - is the propulsion section." She pointed at the tailfin that rose a couple of meters out of the water. "Everything up to the front of the tower is the control section. And everything in front of that - we call it the 'bow' or 'forward' - is the weapons system.

"Now, we're going to be going up and down a lot of ladders. I'm sorry, we don't have any escalators. So just take your time. Everything is perfectly safe if you're careful. I'm going to ask you not to touch anything while you're below. There are valves that will sink the boat and other nasty things like that, so....

"There will be some demonstrations, so if one of the crewmen asks you to take the helm or the diving planes or something like that, that's okay. But please don't touch anything without an invitation.

"Now, this is the main hatch. This is like our front door. Be careful going down the ladder. Try not to fall on anything pointy."

-------------

"Okay, this is the engine room and behind me is the motor room. We have two diesels that produce about four thousand horsepower each and one electric motor - behind me - that produces about five thousand kilowatts of power. When we're under water, the diesels can't get any air, so we have to use the electric motor. But if we're fairly close to the surface, we can use the snorkel to get air. We call it that because it sounds like your uncle snoring.

"When the diesels are running, we use them to charge the batteries and we use the batteries to run the electric motor when we're under water. It's pretty loud in here when the diesels are running. You wouldn't be able to hear me talk. Later on in the week, we might have to start up the diesels for a bit to charge the batteries but we probably won't do that when we have visitors aboard.

"That scary-looking man over there is Mr. Miller, our Second Engineer. Please don't get his engines dirty. Feel free to ask him any questions that you might have. He doesn't bite. At least, he's never bitten me - but then I'm his boss."

-------------

"This is the mess room. No, we don't call it that because it's messy. Well, it is, but 'mess' is the Navy word for food. This is our dining room. It's also like a living-room for the crew when they're off watch - that means off duty. They can come in here to read or play cards or build ships in bottles. It's pretty easy to build submarines in bottles because they're long and thin.

"In some navies, they have separate mess rooms for the officers and crew, but we only have one. Everybody in Fatatatutti is equal. We all have our own jobs to do but nobody gets any special privileges.

"I should mention... the waterline is about a meter above your heads right now." She waited for the startled looks to dissipate. "We don't have any windows, so there's really no perception of depth. Surfaced, like now, or a hundred meters down, looks pretty much the same from the inside of a submarine.

"Now, over here we have the most important room in the boat, the galley. That's our kitchen, in case you didn't know. It's not very big, is it? Your broom closet at home is probably bigger. The cook just about has to stand outside and reach in.

"If you'll follow me along here.... These are the fridges. We have a crew of forty-seven, so that's almost a hundred and fifty meals a day - I think some of the guys eat more than three meals a day, too. And we carry enough food for at least two months, so that's what? almost ten thousand meals. We're down to about a month right now, and we don't expect to have much left after the luau, so we'll have to go shopping again. Anyway, that's why we have the big fridges."

"The food in a submarine is pretty good. If you stay for the luau, be sure to try the perogies. You can tell everybody you saw the fridges they were frozen in.

"If you'll stand back a little.... maybe you noticed how all of these deck plates can be pulled up. That's to give access to the batteries." She reached down and pulled up on a recessed ring. "Just stand back a little further, please. That's it.... There. Looks a bit like a car battery, doesn't it? How many of you have ever seen a car battery?

"Anyway, the batteries can store about nine thousand ampere-hours of electricity. That's enough for us to stay submerged almost indefinitely, if we snorkel for half-an-hour or so a day. In an emergency, we can stay down without snorkeling but it gets pretty unpleasant. We need electricity for heating, cooling, ventilation, cooking....

"Smell that? That's battery acid. If you see some of the engineers with little holes in their coveralls and burns on their hands, that's from battery acid.

"We don't allow any smoking anywhere on the boat, but you for sure don't want to smoke anywhere near the batteries. When they're charging, they give off hydrogen sometimes and one spark...." She lowered the deck plate carefully into position.

"Now, if you'll follow me along here.... This is my cabin. It isn't really a cabin, it's more like a wide spot in the corridor, but it has a curtain." She held up the curtain so they could all stick their heads in the 'doorway'. "I think the previous captain had shares in Home Depot or something. He made a lot of alterations here that aren't standard on other Fish-class boats. By the way, we always call a submarine a 'boat', never a 'ship'. Up there is where I sleep." She pointed at the bunk above the desk. "You don't want to fall out of bed around here. I'd have to wear a seatbelt if it was rough - but even when it's rough on the surface, it's pretty calm under water.

"Next, up the ladder, please, to the torpedo room."

-------------

"Okay, everybody have a seat." Leni waited as the stragglers came up the ladder and sat down. "Some of the crewmen like to sleep in here because it's usually pretty cool. You sleep when you can in a submarine, so sometimes you have to find a quiet, out-of-the-way place.

"Everybody comfortable? Good.... You're sitting on about three hundred kilos of high explosive."

Eyes widened and a couple of people stood up.

Leni smiled. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Don't worry. It's perfectly safe. The torpedoes aren't armed unless we're going into battle - and that probably won't be necessary here in the harbour.

"Those are the torpedo tubes up forward there, those big round doors. When we go into battle, we have to open the door and pull out the torpedo that's in there a little ways, so we can get at the access plate. Then we arm the torpedo. But even then, it won't go off until it gets close to something big made of metal, like a ship.

"Then we shove it back into the tube and close the door. When it's time to fire, you can push the button there," she pointed vaguely, "or in the Control Room or on the Bridge, and a puff of compressed air pushes the torpedo out the other end of the tube. Then a little switch turns on the torpedo's own motor and it goes off by itself toward the target. It's guided by a wire, kind of like a video game."

-------------

As Leni followed the last of the tour through the watertight door into the control room, she noticed the First Officer trying to catch her eye. "If you'll just step over this way... this is Mr. Montgomery, our Quartermaster. He's going to show you how to drive the boat."

She backed away as they gathered around the helm and Savery approached. "Mr. Savery," she said in a low voice.

"Captain, Peters had a bit of a run-in with the local authorities."

She nodded and smiled at one of the ladies in the tour who glanced across at her. "He isn't in jail, is he?"

"No. They just gave him a warning about public nudity."

Leni's forehead wrinkled. "Oh, you mean the hula show." In another life, Peters might have been a snake-oil salesman. Who better to introduce the carnival that was Fatatatutti to the rest of the world? But he did tend to exaggerate, to tell people what they wanted to hear. "I don't think there's anything to worry about. We only have eight women in the boat and none of them is likely to put on an exhibition for her crewmates. The teasing alone would make the rest of the patrol unbearable. As for the tourists, we can't be expected to control what they do. I suppose Peters is emceeing the show?"

Savery nodded.

"Have a word with him. Just make sure he doesn't, uh... suggest anything risque."

Savery nodded again. "Apparently, he's been promising fireworks too."

Leni raised an eyebrow. If brought from home, fireworks would have been considered mildly contraband-ish - but nothing that she couldn't have turned a blind eye to, of course. "If we're having fireworks, fine. Just, for God's sake, let's try not to destroy anything important. We're surrounded by half the navies in the world with enough firepower to grind us to quarks. Let's try to finish the weekend alive."

"Alive it is, Captain."

Leni glanced sideways at Savery, smiling wryly. Humour wasn't exactly his forte, but once in a while he did show a trace of humanity. "How come you're not doing any tours? You know more about the boat than anybody."

"I'm on the schedule later on."

"Good. I wouldn't mind tagging along myself. I might learn something."

Savery nodded almost imperceptibly.

Leni smiled and turned back to her tour with her tour-guide voice. "Okay, if we've all had a turn at the helm.... I'm afraid it isn't very dramatic when we're standing still.

"The other two wheels that you see are for the diving planes, one set at the bow and one at the stern. We fly through the water just like an airplane. Bow planes go down, bow goes down. Bow planes go up, bow goes up." She gestured with her hands to show the action of the planes. "Stern planes go down, stern goes down. Stern planes go up, stern goes up.

"In practise, the bow planesman controls the depth, say sixty meters. He watches the depth guage, there, and tries to stay wherever the Diving Officer tells him. And the stern planesman tries to keep the boat level.

"We also have what we call trim tanks to help keep the boat level. We can pump water from the bow to the stern or the stern to the bow so that the weight is evenly distributed.

"If we fire a torpedo, for example, that's a lot of weight lost from the bow. So we pump some water up forward to make it balance out again. Even when people move around, it can effect the trim. If the whole crew was to have a convention in the torpedo room, that would throw the whole boat off balance and it would be pretty hard for the planesmen to do their job.

"Okay, up here, can you see all these valves? Those are the ones I was telling you about earlier. If you open one of those valves, it opens a vent at the top of a ballast tank so the air can get out and water can come in the bottom. That's all we're floating on right now, really, just bubbles of air in the ballast tanks. I don't think one ballast tank would be a big problem - mind you, I'm not going to try it to find out. But if all of them, or most of them were flooded, we wouldn't have enough air to keep us afloat and we'd sink to the bottom of the harbour. And remember that all the hatches are open, so the whole boat would fill with water and we'd all drown. That's why I asked you not to touch anything.

"In real life, we'd close all the hatches first. See these lights? We call this the 'Christmas Tree' because of all the red and green lights. A red light means there's a hatch or a vent open. A green light means it's closed. So when we dive, somebody has to close every hatch and every vent until all of these lights are green. Then it's safe to vent the ballast tanks and dive.

"When we want to surface, we close the ballast tank vents and blow in a new bubble of air and we float to the surface. We have air compressors that keep tanks of air full so we can breathe when we're under water and so we can surface again.

"Now, for some fun," she smiled. "This is the attack pericope." She slapped the steel column. "It's pretty small, so our enemies can't see it when we're attacking them. But the search periscope is a lot bigger, so we get a better view, like with a bigger TV." She slapped the other column. "Stand back, please. Up periscope."

The periscope slid up out of its well to the surprise and delight of the tour.

"Take it down ten centimeters, Mr. Cooley. Some of us aren't that tall." The periscope slid down obediently and Leni folded down the handles. "I'm sure you've all seen this in the movies. Just hold onto the handles to swing it around and look through here. One at a time, please.

"That's right.... If you look toward the stern of the boat, you can see the attack periscope that I just mentioned. And you can see the snorkel that we talked about earlier and you can see the radar antenna. You'll get a better look at those when we go up to the bridge....

"Once everybody has had a look, I'll show you how to take pictures through the periscope. The adapter can handle most of your cameras."

-------------

"Back here, in the corner, we have our radar and sonar stations. I'm afraid I can't show you much there. It's so noisy in the harbour that our sonar isn't good for much, so the sonar is shut down and the techies are doing some maintenance work, changing tubes or whatnot. So there's a lot of little parts lying around and we don't want anybody stepping on them.

"So, if you're ready for a little climb, let's go up to the bridge for some fresh air."

-------------

Leni stood on the bridge with one elbow on the coaming, waiting for the last members of the tour to arrive, some of them huffing and puffing. There were a couple of midshipmen at the bottom of the ladders to catch anybody who fell and save them any injury or embarassment.

"I'm sorry it's a little crowded up here. We usually only have four or five of us up here at a time.

"Is everybody here? Good. I thought you weren't going to join us, ma'am. I'm glad you did.

"Behind us, you can see the snorkel and the periscopes and the radar. They stand up a lot higher when we're submerged but of course I can't show you that. As you can see, the view is pretty good from up here. I guess we're about three stories above the water. We can steer the boat from up here if we have to. We always do when we're going in and out of harbours. You want to be able to see the other drivers.

"Now... excuse me.... If you don't like load noises, you might want to cover your ears.... Let's pretend we're on the surface, out in the middle of the ocean. There are four lookouts, searching all four directions with their binoculars. One of them sees something, a plane or smoke from a ship, and he immediately yells, "Alarm!". As soon as I hear that, I do this." She slammed the red alarm button with her palm and a bell began clanging louded below. Footsteps could be heard rushing to and fro and the main hatch slammed shut.

Leni reached for the microphone and flipped the intercom switch to Control Room. "Mr. Savery, belay alarm."

The alarm bell stopped.

Leni flipped the switch to All Stations. "All hands," she said. "All hands, stand down from drill. Repeat, stand down from drill. That is all."

She noticed that a lot of people on the pier were staring at the Angelfish with mouths open and horrified looks on their faces. She flipped the switch to Loudspeakers. "It's just a drill, folks. All in fun. Go on about your business." She waved cheerily.

She turned back to the tour, smiling. "In real life, when that alarm goes off, you'd each have a second or so to get down that ladder. You don't climb, you just kinda slide. The last man would close the hatch and we'd be under water by now." In real life, of course, the Diving Officer would have enough sense not to submerge while tied up at the dock.

"Well, that little bit of drama concludes our tour. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Our midshipmen will be pleased to show you back to the main hatch. Come back for another tour if you haven't seen enough and by all means, come for the luau. We'll be here until the end of the week, unless we get arrested for disturbing the peace."

The 101st Vamperial Squadron sailed into the harbour and docked at their designated position. The 3 Los Angeles Class Submarines surfaced gently as the Wolverine was making last minute preparations for the display while Kennedy was talking with the officers. They weren't expecting anything serious but they always expected the worse. The Armouries, War Room and parts of the Engine Room were sealed off from the public. Night Hawk (semi-automatic) pistols were handed out to Hunters.

Kennedy and Harkens walked towards a pair of Hunters in front of the armoury in the main hanger. It was filled with various ammo for the aircraft's onboard the carrier. Kennedy pulled out his ID card which had some holographic technology built into it. One of the Hunters pulled out a small device and pressed it against Kennedy's ID Card.

"Subject: Lord Admiral Kennedy Hartwords," started the voice emotionless. "Permitted to enter Hanger Armoury A,"

"It works," smiled Harkens as Kennedy watched the door open before him.

"Remember, Press personal aren't permitted anywhere in the 'Authorised Personal Only' sections," ordered Kennedy.

"Lord Hartword," started a voice over the PA System as the door closed. "The fleet is fully docked and awaiting further orders,"

Meanwhile...

On the flight deck, the last of the Dingo's were loaded with empty clips as AA personal made their last minute check's. Matthew King watched the aircraft come to a stand still as the cockpits were opened and ladders were put against them. The engines were turned offline and power shut down to avoid any accidential take offs.

"So how do you think this will go?" asked Edward to Matt as the pair turned to watch the gangplank set down onto the dock.

"Just smoothly," smiled Matt as he put the saftey catch on his pistol. "Besides, we got orders to make sure nothing goes wrong," he added as they glanced about at the docks that were filled with people watching the various warships from their squadron begin to take civilians onboard to take them on a tour.

"It could be worse," whispered a voice behind them as Edward and Matt jumped by the sudden surprise of a Shadow Assassin standing with them.

"Bloody hell," muttered Matt as he was in slight shock. "Shouldn't you be with Lord Hartword?"

"There's two guys with him so I've being instructed to keep an eye out for trouble makers," he replied. "Name's Zhou Tai by the way,"

Captain Zhou Tai was in his traditional black uniform with a mouth guard over his mouth to keep him warm and muffle his voice. He had a silenced semi-automatice pistol in his hoister and a scimitar on the other side of his belt. Unlike the others, his scimitar was regulary used in combat and he wasn't scared to use it. The trio watch the steady stream of civilians start to come and have a look at the carrier as several tour guides were talking amongest themselves about the carrier. Tai was the highest ranking personal on the flight deck and it was his job to make sure any officals were taken to where they were meant to go without delay.

"Just think of it as a week of R&R," smiled Tai as Matt and Edward went to inspect the AA weapons to make sure all clips were empty.

Savery came up beside Lieutenant Keefer and whispered in her ear, "There's a woman looking for you, claims to be the captain of a Birkanian submarine, said something about being in a collision with the Angelfish."

"What? The Angelfish has never been in a collision." Although she had only been aboard for a few months, she had read the logs all the way back to when the Angel was iron ore. "Probably got us mixed up with another boat. You hear about any collisions?"

"Not in the Altlantic Flotilla." Most of Fatatatutti's submarines were in the Pacific, of course.

"Aim her in my direction. I'll see if I can straighten her out."

Savery nodded and walked away.

-------------

A young girl in dark blue coveralls and a baseball cap walked up to the gangplank of the River Croc. She hesitated, looking up at all the activity on board. She had never seen a Sutfen up close before and she wondered briefly if it was permissible to pet them.

She cleared her throat. "Midshipman James," she said to the guard in her girlish voice, "from the Angelfish. My captain sent me to thank you for the pigs and to apologize for not thanking you sooner. We've been busy with the tourists and everything and our communications got... a little confused. Anyway, I'm supposed to invite you all over for the luau."

The captain, surrounded by more porks, the helmsman and the first officer introduced herself as Captain Sub-third-lieutenant-fourth-class Vera Dombrovsky Purushottama Grebenshikov Mikhalkov Brik The Third.... of the Glorious Birkanian Navy's submarine logistics 31st taskforce of the fueler-slash-transport and ressuply squadron of the 2nd fleet.

She said all that without taking a breath.

"...And I am pretty sure YOU are responsible for my demotion to this shameful submarine!" She shouted. She always shouted. "And to think I could be sitting in the leathery seat of the captain's nest of the K-121. But I'm stuck with these animals!" She said, pointing at the sailors rather than the pigs.

Meanwhile, the captain and some of the officers of the Molniya had been authorized to take a short shore leave, and the captain chose to ride a BTR-94 amphibious tank. He had never been a man of luxury, and instead preferred to use the same vehicles and accomodations as the rest of his sailors.

Grand Admiral Toland was still on the deck of the Von Seelow when it docked and prepared to open up to the public for tours. Most of the ship would be open to the public, excluding the reactor room and the ship's arsenals. The Mess Hall was open and serving sandwiches and "bug juice" to anyone that was in need of some light refreshments. The hangar deck and the flight deck held the 12 F-21's that were accompanying the Von Seelow on her journey, and would stay there strapped down until it was time for the air show. Several tours had already begun and there was a bustle of activity in the carrier, though it was less crowded than what it would be if the entire crew of the Von Seelow had been present for the journey. The Grand Admiral smiled as he say a small child smile with glee as he was placed in the cockpit of one of the F-21's by an Oseaton pilot. The Admiral himself had been placed in the cockpit of an Oseaton fighter when he was a small child during the annual independence celebrations in Port Roanoke, a major port in Oseato. He remembered how much fun it had been to be placed at the helm of one of the most powerful aircraft in the world, though the F-21 was a far cry more advanced and more powerful than the old A-4 Skyhawks the Oseaton Federal Navy had had back in his day.

After taking in the scene Toland turned the head guard attached to his security detail, "Well, Shall we enjoy this lovely display of naval might?" said Toland smiling. The guard merely gave a nod in return. It was quite the sight to behold, Toland dressed in his Naval dress whites and the men of the guard detail dressed in their Army dress blacks. Admiral Toland first headed toward where the tours were starting from, catching sight of Mike Judge, the Captain of the Von Seelow himself preparing to give a guided tour of the vast carrier. "Going to show off your baby there, Mike?" Toland joked as he walked closer.

Judge beamed as he heard Toland. "Why, yes sir, I am. Going to go play tourist, Admiral?"

"Yes, I was thinking of heading over toward the Wolf Holdian ships that are going to be here and meeting their delegation. Field Marshall Novacek gave quite the description of them and I intend to get a first hand impression myself. Might see the other sights while I'm out. I hear those battleships of Birkaine that gave Becker such a pounding are going to be here, would like to get a tour of those behemoths." repiled Toland. He was curious to see the Birkanian ship types that had caused quite a bit of damage to the Oseaton 6th Fleet during their run in off the coast of Cukarica. He was doubly curious to meet his Wolf Holdian allies for the first time, he thought this the perfect time. With a quick parting nod to Captain Judge, Toland and his security detail made their way down the gangplank to the pier and began to head toward the Birkanian ships.

----

Captain Judge could only smile as Toland's party made their way through the crowds and towards the other ships. He then turned his attention to the 15 or so people that comprised the tour that he would lead. Other officers and sailors were preparing to take their own tour groups as well, so Judge quickly got the attention of his group and introduced himself. "Hey there folks, my name is Mike Judge of the Oseaton Federal Navy, I'm the captain of the ONS Wilhelm Von Seelow, the first ship in her class, and the namesake of the class. I'd like to go over a few ground rules before we kick this tour off. First off, please don't touch anything without express permission, there are quite a number of systems on this boat that are very delicate. Second, please don't wander from the group, this carrier is rather large and it is easy to get lost. If you do get separated from the group for some reason, please just ask a sailor to direct you to Captain Judge's group, and he'll find out where the group is for you. Third, please refrain from taking pictures unless you are expressly given permission to take them. There are a number of systems on the ship that we'd like to keep relatively under wraps. Last, as just a general announcement, we'll be stopping at the mess hall for some refreshments, please enjoy them. That's it for the rules, now if you'll please follow me..." With that he began to walk towards the island of the ship.

Once inside the island the captain took his group to the bridge. "He's where we control and steer the ship, as well as keep track of air operations. This is one of two nerve centers on the ship, the other being the CIC, the Combat Information Center, which you will be seeing later. As you can see this spot commands a nice view of the flight deck and of the area surrounding the ship." He let several of the members of the tour group move to get a better look at the windows as he moved back toward the center of the bridge. "Over here we have our radar plot which allows us to keep track of all the ships and aircraft in the area. The ship itself is not necessarily powerful enough to keep track of the entire fleet, but can receive a direct link from one of the attending cruisers to get the data we need to command the fleet. They have a lot more powerful and specialized radars than we do. Also over here we have the captains chair. Very comfortable, let me tell you." smiled Judge. "You can try it out if you wish. Once everyone is ready to go we'll continue our tour around the ship..."

After the bridge Judge took the group below decks to the residential wing of the carrier. Showing them how the men and women of the Von Seelow lived. "Down here we have the bunks for all of the sailors and pilots on this ship. I'll show you my quarters, and a few other areas." He quickly opened the hatch to his personal quarters, showing them a rather large room with a bed, a desk, and private bathroom. "This is the 2nd best bunk on the ship, the top is the Admiral's quarters. A bit larger, has a couch in it and some more accommodations."

He then showed the tour group the smaller berths for the pilots and regular sailors under his command. "As you can see the conditions are pretty spartan in the regular areas, though we have a barbershop, a dental office, and medical ward on board. You have two to four bunks in a room with matching lockers for Officers, quite a bit more for the regular enlisted. For the officers there are higher number of more private bathrooms and spaces than for the enlisted. However we all eat in the same large mess hall." He said as he lead them into the large area that served as both mess hall and entertainment hall.

"The cooks are generally active for most of the day, cooking for the different shifts that work. However during the down times you can generally find some cold cuts, juice, and coffee. We have some cold cuts out, I believe, so please help yourself." Judge motioned to the trays of different sandwiches that were out on the serving line. "This area also doubles as an entertainment hall. We show some films in here during down time, and we've got some other TVs hooked up for the men to watch. Allows them to catch up with news and sports back home, watch their favorite shows, and just generally relax. I'll let you folks enjoy some food and beverages for a bit and then we'll continue on with the tour...."

Judge gathered his group after a 10 minute break and then began to lead the group toward the more combat related areas of the carrier, beginning with the ready rooms of the squadrons stationed on the carrier. "Here is where all mission briefings are given. Pilots gather here to receive the information they need in order to carrier out missions and strikes given to them. As you can see it also holds the flight gear for the pilots as well as a few couches to keep the pilots comfortable while they gear up and wait for a strike to get approval. It's also doubles as a place to show films and relax when the squadrons are standing down. Think of it as a clubhouse for the specific squadron assigned here. They make it their own in some ways. This is where pilots and their buddies hang out. I'm also told they act as casinos some nights." Judge said with a playful smile. "Though, that is against regulations and I wouldn't want to condone that in any way." Judge winked.

"Now if you follow me through here you'll find a hallway leading out onto the flight deck and a stairwell heading toward the hangar, since you've seen the flight deck already." Judge said as he made his way down the stairs. " You'll notice that the hangars are quite large, though they seem quite a bit bigger since they're missing the standard compliment of aircraft we can handle on this ship. The hangar is actually divided up into 3 sections that are closed off from each other during active combat operations. This allows use to minimize the effects of any explosions or missiles strikes that may effect the carrier. By closing them off from each other, it prevents the entire compliment of the ship to be gutted and minimizes the size of the blast if ordinance goes off inside here. However, to talk about the aerial contingent kept on board the ship, I'm going to hand you folks off to the CAG, Commander of the Air Group on board the Von Seelow. You're show now, CAG." Judge said as he waved over Maria O'Brien, the CAG.

"Hello everyone, my name is Maria O'Brien, I'm the CAG of "The Baron" as we call the Von Seelow. I'm in charge of all air operations on board and command all of the squadrons on this ship. We fly a mixed compliment of F-21's (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11253554&postcount=407), USF-2000's (http://z3.invisionfree.com/NPScatalog/index.php?showtopic=20&st=0&#last), EA-6B's, and a handful of S-3 ASW aircraft and some helicopters. We can handle and store 88 planes and 4 helicopters. Right now we have only 12 F-21's on board so we're riding light. We use four steam catapults to launch the aircraft from the ship and into the air, and use standard arresting gear to haul the planes safely back aboard after they've completed their missions. Our arsenal and repair facilities are located at the end of the hangar, though they currently are off limits. They house our spare parts and ammunition for the planes. As for the F-21's...." Maria said as she lead the group over to one of the planes in the hangar.

"This plane is the work horse of Oseaton Federal Naval Aviation. It has a multi-vectored engine, improved stealth technology, and the ability to supercruise and reach Mach 2. It looks like a F-35, but it's quite a bit more powerful than one. We typically carry 4 squadrons of these birds on the carrier. They typically handle multi-role functions and are the main interceptor aircraft that the carrier employs. It has 8 external hard points, 3 under each wing and 1 on each wing tip. It also has 3 internal weapons bays, capable of handling any number of different ordnance types. Feel free to take pictures now, you are allowed in the cockpit, but please don't touch any of the instruments in there." O'Brien concluded. Captain Judge soon walked over and waited while everyone in the group was given the opportunity to sit in the cockpit before he gathered them together again and led them to the final stop on the tour, the CIC.

"This is the second nerve center that I mentioned earlier. Most of the comms gear on the carrier is located here. It's also the home to the main radar plot and command table. Generally the commander of the fleet or carrier group operates from this room. It's always kept air conditioned at 68 degrees to keep down heat from the different computers in the room. The command table is quite a sight to behold, it acts as a map and computer at the same time. We place a digitalized map of the region we are operating in on the table and then place the relevant material on it. You generally see a plot with the disposition of the fleet and enemy fleet on it. It can also show digitalized documents, photographs, videos, and other intelligence pieces. It gives the commander all the details of what is going on in the theatre. I can also be used to keep track of land units, in the case that the commander of the fleet is also the commander of a joint operation. The information can also be shared across the fleet and all other ships are equipped with the same table.

"Well that concludes our tour, Ensign Harper will escort you all back to the deck were you can take more pictures or leave the ship if you wish. I do wish to invite you all back later tonight. We will be converting the mess hall into a theatre and will be showing a number of movies in the different sections. We hope you'll join us for that." With that Judge allowed the ensign to take charge of the group as he headed back to his cabin to rest and catch up on some of the work he had been avoiding by giving the tour. He shook his head as he remembered how easily the admiral had been able to leave his work behind. Rank did have it's privileges.

The captain, surrounded by more porks, the helmsman and the first officer introduced herself as Captain Sub-third-lieutenant-fourth-class Vera Dombrovsky Purushottama Grebenshikov Mikhalkov Brik The Third.... of the Glorious Birkanian Navy's submarine logistics 31st taskforce of the fueler-slash-transport and ressuply squadron of the 2nd fleet.

She said all that without taking a breath.

"Hello, Vera. May I call you Vera? I'm Lieutenant Helena Keefer. You can call me Leni. I'm captain of the Angelfish.

"I'm sure you're mistaken about the collision. I can assure you that this boat has never been in an accident of any kind. Our acoustic tiles may look a bit beat up, but that's mostly from dropping stuff overboard.

"Fatatatutti only has a handful of submarines in the Atlantic but we have dozens in the Pacific. You're probably thinking of one of them.

"If you like, I can put in a call to Fleet Headquarters in Fatatatutti and ask them about any of our submarines that have been in collisions. I'm sure we can clear all this up pretty quick." She beckoned to the First Officer.

"Mr. Savery. Would you please send a message to FHQ for the captain here? Ask them about any of our boats that have been involved in collisions recently."

Savery nodded.

"And... send them this too." Leni handed him the memory stick with the pictures of the aircraft carrier that she had taken that afternoon. There was no hard intelligence there, but every little bit helps to build up the big picture.

"There you go, Vera. I'm sure we'll have this whole mess cleared up in no time. It'll probably take a day or two to hear back from Headquarters, what with the weekend and all. I'll give you a yell as soon as I hear anything.

"In the meantime, have something to eat, enjoy the music.... Do you hula?"

The first day of Fleet Week was a day for the books. The Layartebian and international ships docked all over Manhattan, New Jersey, Brooklyn, and State Island. The Mayor of Layarteb City gave a speech in Central Park to a huge crowd and the welcoming ceremony for all of the foreign dignitaries was a hit. Conducted on board the Ynoga class light aircraft carrier, all foreign dignitaries and the Minister of Foreign Affairs were in attendance. Normally, the Emperor would have been there to personally welcome them but he was engaged in other matters on Governor's Island. He made a brief appearance at the Waldorf-Astoria that night for the Celebration Ball but was largely elusive. Pressing matters in the Empire had stolen his attention. The Celebration Ball in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldrof-Astoria was attended by six hundred people, filling the hotel's Grand Ballroom at one of its higher floors to the brim. The Waldorf-Astoria was the grandest hotel in the Empire and one of the oldest. Forty-seven floors high, it stood just six hundred and twenty-five feet in the air, surrounded by a sea of sky scrappers that looked down at the hotel from over a thousand feet. The hotel was booked solid thanks to Fleet Week; although, most of the people staying there were dignitaries, who could afford to stay in the lavish, luxurious hotel, rated the highest in the Empire.

When Friday morning dawned, the exhibits and displays opened again at 09:00 hours and they would be open through 19:00 hours, when the sun would begin to shed its light on other parts of the world. The air show also began on Friday, starting at 11:00 hours and going to 18:00 hours, doing the same on Saturday as well. The second day of Fleet Week was always the biggest. The ceremonies and events on the first day were more introductory than anything else. On the second day, the festivities really began. The most important of these was the Officer's & Family Luncheon at 12:00 hours. Two hundred officers below the rank of brigadier general or rear admiral were invited along with their wives and children or, if they had neither another member of the family, to have lunch with the Emperor aboard a large barge that floated around Manhattan. No officer was ever invited twice and each year there were veteran officers and young officers who distinguished themselves highly whether in battle or not. They had to be officers of high character and in good standing with the Imperial Layartebian Military, not renegades or derelicts who managed to stay in position. That luncheon went for two hours, after which the barge during into a press platform where the Emperor gave a ceremonial speech to the entire nation. The barge would dock shortly after and the Emperor would be given a private tour of the Ra class corvette and the Huascar class corvette, before they were debuted to the public. Later that evening, he would attend the Veterans Dinner and dine with veterans of the Imperial Layartebian Military and even the Republic of Layarteb's Military, both disabled and not, decorated and undecorated. Eight hundred veterans were invited each year and like the officers, they were only invited once. A ball was held later that evening at the Tower of Luna at 21:00 hours where the Emperor would attend briefly as well, before returning to his duties on Governor's Island.

The Emperor stood comfortably in his office at 11:30 hours, watching the harbor from one of his windows when his secretary buzzed the intercom. "Sir, they're ready for you."

"Thank you," he yelled out the door as he straightened his tie and departed the office, meeting his security personnel from Force Falcon Team Two outside of the office. From there, they traveled down and out of the Fortress of Comhghall, the largest and oldest castle in the Empire and some suggested the world; although, that was up to contestation. He was escorted across the grounds and to a small motor boat docked not far from where the castle's grounds ended. The boat would take him and the eight men of Team Two to the barge, where he would have his lunch, meet and greet, and give his speech.

"See? They weren't even the ones we crashed into. I've always told you to rationalize" the first officer said "Just.. count to ten the next time we see a Fattatutian submarine or..."

"Do not intervene, Mr. Stetsko" She ordered, the officer rolled his eyes and sighed "Well, please excuse us, Mss. Lenin" she said with her usual dignified tone, without noticing her mistake "It's just that our sonar operator gave us false cues. But we did crash aganist a Fattatutian submarine, and I'm determined to know which one it was. With all the -fish designations it's hard to know"

"What? I didn't say a thing, the sonar isn't even working!" The operator intervened behind her
"Yeah, it was you the one who saw it over the periscope" The navigator also said

"I SAID 'DO NOT INTERVENE!'" she shouted like a drill sarge at them, and the officers of the K-69 cowered in fear behind the torpedo officer, who was too drunk to notice what was happening. "Once again, excuse us. The submarine is still lacking in the area of discipline. As for dancing? I'm interested. We also have a few extra pigs if you're interested. I doubt a single one will last for much. And yes, I dance."

"Once again, excuse us. The submarine is still lacking in the area of discipline. As for dancing? I'm interested. We also have a few extra pigs if you're interested. I doubt a single one will last for much. And yes, I dance."

"By all means, enjoy the party," Leni laughed. "It's mostly spilled over onto the pier and that Sutfen landing craft - and somebody seems to have spilled over into the harbour. I hope he can swim.

"Be sure to try the perogies. They're frozen but they're just like mother used to make. And the lasagna....

"Now, if you'll excuse me, duty calls. Two tours have collided in the mess and we're trying to separate the Girl Scouts from the Young Republicans."

The Angelfish was festooned with garlands of artificial flowers and lit by tiki-torches. It looked more like a demented casino than a naval vessel. Peters had apparently been letting the tourists listen to whales - in the harbour, no less - though the headphones were actually connected to a CD player, not the sonar, which was still in pieces. Oh well, what was wrong with a little fraud to complete the Fatatatutti experience?

OOC: That's cool. Didn't realise it so I've deleted my post.

Among the international ships docked in Layarteb City Harbor were two Kazakov Class Battlecruisers and six Ustinov Class Cruisers of the Imperial Osean Navy. They were already accepting tourists onto their ships. All the Osean sailors agreed that it would be a good day.

But Vice Admiral Vladimir Kolchak wanted to do more that guide tourists around his ship. There were many ships from so many different countries here and Vladimir decided he wanted a look at them. So after notifying the crew of his ship, HIMS Gneisenau , he left with Captain Heinz Thomsen and a few other officers, to look at the other ships and chat with their crews. They would go to the Parilisan ships first, then the Oseaton ships. After that....well, they would decide that later.

OOC: Emperor's speech to come later today or tomorrow.

The Emperor had entertained a crowd of officers and their families quite well on the floating barge. His security stood out of the way, ensuring that they always had him in view and that no one was getting out of hand. Officers were always expected to be gentlemen, regardless of the situation. There was alcohol involved and inter-service rivalry existed so it was essential that the gentlemanly behavior all officers took an oath to carry out was carried out there. Thus far and every other year there had never been any major incidents although, on more than one occasion a fight almost broke out but they were all stopped before they got out of hand, once by the Emperor himself who stepped in between a marine and a defense forces soldier. He looked at both of them and laughed, "I was army special forces so if you want to pick a fight with anyone it'll be me and both of you won't last a few seconds," they laughed and got back to the party, shaking hands and apologizing.

Now the time came for the Emperor's yearly Fleet Week address to the nation. He had made twenty-one already, using this venue to announce the realization of the Empire several years prior. However, this time it wouldn't be a speech about realization but a call to arms for the Layartebian people. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Empire," he began, like he had each and every day since the first speech he had given. He addressed them as ladies and gentlemen because of a small philosophy he brought with him. He told his press officer just after his speech why, "Because if I address them as ladies and gentlemen they will aspire to be them. If I say citizens of the Empire, it is what they already are and there is nothing to achieve or aspire to become." Whether or not it worked but he always viewed the people of the Empire as people rather than subjects, something unusual for any autocrat.

"Please allow me to begin by welcoming each and everyone to the twenty-second annual Fleet Week in Layarteb City. I am delighted to see so many new faces, including those from around the world. It is a beautiful sight to see not just Layartebian ships docked in Layarteb City but those from around the world. Let me also thank the men of our armed forces who have sacrificed greatly for the Empire. To those who stand today and to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the Empire, this grateful nation thanks you all.

"In recent times, the Empire has entered a transition phase. Since realization, we have been faced with more than our share of troubles. We have faced external threat from nations such as the Russian Federation and the Nerotikans but we have stood strong in the face of this adversity. We have stood firm and true to our values, our mission, and our truths and we have not been deterred, swayed, or pushed in any direction.

"However, external threat isn't always the only threat that we face. Recently, a new enemy has arisen to oppose the Empire and that enemy is from within our borders. This is an enemy that sneaks amongst ourselves smiling to our faces and frowning to our backs. This is an enemy that hides during the day but surfaces only at night, an enemy that fights not one on one like a gentleman but rather only in packs. This enemy has no courage, only cowardice and does not have the moral decency or the rectitude of character to stand upright amongst the citizens of this Empire. They may be citizens themselves but they are not worthy of the benefits, privileges, and honors that come with being a citizen of the Empire. They are not Layartebians like you or I, they are wolves in sheep's clothing, preying on us as if we were foolish.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Empire, we are not foolish! We will not stand idly by and watch our Empire crumble around us because of cowards. We will not be caught off guard and we will respond in due kind with due force and achieve results that distinguish us from our enemies. They will not succeed, only fail. The Empire is not a weak, frail individual standing in a room, we are the eight hundred pound gorilla and our enemies will find out the hard way.

"I make a call to all of the Empire's citizens, young and old to stand up against this cowardice. Stand up against those who threaten your safety! Your security! Your freedom! Your right to life! I personally call to each and every Layartebian citizen who is disgusted by terrorism, piracy, kidnapping, and so on and so fourth to stand united as a single Empire against an enemy that we greatly outnumber. Our enemies are blinded by whatever cause they seek but we are not blind. Our cause is the cause of more than one billion people worldwide across each and every corner of our great Empire.

"Ladies and gentlemen, We are the Empire! We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We have the right to safety, security, law, and order. We the people of this great Empire stand strong, firm, and determined. Our enemies, foreign and domestic, will not usurp our rights nor our sanctity. Ladies and gentlemen of the Empire, they call us monsters but if we are a monster, we are one that lives to fight for our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives, our parents and grandparents. We will not be silenced by terrorism and we will not go quietly into the night! Thank you!" Cheers from the barge turned into a standing ovation and the Emperor had delivered his speech. He had practiced some elements of it one the way to the barge and during his lunch but he had been the one to write and deliver the speech. There were no flash cards or teleprompters and he never averted his gaze from the cameras and the people on the barge. He never looked down at his podium to check notes, which was the usual for him.

As the Emperor completed his address to the nation, the air show could be heard in the background. A pair of ILAF F-57A Wraith advanced fighters zoomed past at just under Mach 1, preparing for a series of maneuvers over the airfield. Barely 5,000 feet in the air, the two aircraft were big enough to stand out in the clear, blue sky. Not far from the barge was the Ra class patrol corvette. The newest, domestic design by the Layarteb Defense Corporation's Maritime Division had already been in service for months before it was ever debuted to the public. The vessel was beyond the concept of high-tech but it wasn't unaffordable either. Forty-five minutes after the barge docked back on the west side of Manhattan Island, the public was given its very first view of the newest naval ship built by the LDC and, to make things better, it was available for export too.

The Ra class patrol corvette sat two hundred and five feet in length and had a beam of thirty-one and a half feet. At maximum weight, it displaced six hundred and twenty-five tons, drafting just ten feet below the waves. The Ra was designed for fighting both on the open seas and in the littoral areas and it could do both equally well. Thanks to a semi-planing monohull, the Ra class had a maximum speed of forty-two knots; although, sustained speeds of thirty-five knots were advisable. Under ten knots, it was considered tactically silent to sonar systems. The vessel was powered by four Vericor TF60 gas turbine engines with a power output of five megawatts each under continuous power and up to five and a half megawatts each under emergency, boost power. The four turbine engines powered three waterjets, which allowed for superior shallow-water performance but the vessel was equipped with two rudders for high-speed agility. Running at a speed of twenty knots, the Ra could go as far as twenty-two hundred nautical miles without refueling but the vessel could only carry twenty-one days worth of supplies for its four officers, twenty-four sailors, and eight deployable soldiers. The regular crew of twenty-eight was easily supplanted by up to eight marines or special forces soldiers who could use two rigid hull inflatable boats to deploy away from the corvette and make raids against shipping and coastal bases, as well as for deep insertion, adding another role to the corvette.

For armament, the Ra was certainly a well-armed beast. The domestic versions used a fifty-seven millimeter, ninety caliber ETC cannon as a main gun, fed by one hundred and twenty rounds. An additional two hundred and forty were stowed below deck. The export version replaced with weapon with the Bofors Mark 3 gun, a fifty-seven millimeter, seventy caliber main gun. For small arms, the Ra class carried a pair of M31A1 15.5MM Heavy Machine Guns on the domestic version and a pair of M50A1 12.7MM Heavy Machine Guns on the export version. The M31s were given a total of nine hundred and eighty rounds, one hundred and forty of which were immediately available. The M50s carried up to a thousand rounds with two hundred and fifty immediately available. There was more to the Ra though. Behind its main gun, the Ra carried a small profile, vertical launching system, developed specifically for it by the Layartebian Defense Corporation. Designated as the Mark 48 Mod 5, the VLS system had a total of six cells arranged in a two by three pattern. Each cell was thirty inches in diameter and ten feet in depth and were armed with short-range, surface-to-air missiles, the RIM-204 Escape on the domestic and the IRIS-T SL on the export. Each cell could hold up to five of these missiles. In the stern of the vessel there were two Mark 141 Mod 1 quad-launchers for RGM-84 Harpoon or similar missiles and a single, Mark 32 Mod 1 Surface Vessel Triple Torpedo launcher. Armed with three Mark 50 Barracuda or Mark 54 Mako lightweight, 324mm torpedoes, the Mark 32 allowed the Ra to take out submerged contacts. For self-defense, the Ra was equipped with a single Mark 43 Mod 1 RAM Launcher, armed with twenty-one RAM missiles and there were storage racks onboard for a pair of Stinger MANPAD launchers and up to twenty missiles. Heavily armed for a lightweight corvette, the Ra was determined to be a bad ass and its main assignment would be to the Caribbean where it could use its powerful sensors to search for enemy shipping in the "backyard" of the Empire.

Its main sensor system is the AN/SPY-4J AODSSS on the domestic models but export versions were given a modified AN/SPY-3 system, which was originally introduced for the ill-fated DDG-1000 project. An AESA radar system, the AN/SPY-3 available for export was a downgraded version capable of over-the-horizon targeting on both "X" and "S" band frequencies. It was also equipped with a bow mounted sonar system and a small, towed array system. Its self-defense suite consisted of a variety of jamming devices to counter infrared and radar guided missiles as well as dispensers for chaff and flares, like any other ship.

The Ra class patrol corvette was a stunning system available for export for only $360 million per hull and Fleet Week promised to make it a popular vessel. The LDC hoped to get contracts for abroad.

http://www.forsakenoutlaw.com/Graphics/Nation-States/LDC/ra.jpg


Full Detail Write Up (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=4968)

Onboard the aircraft carrier, a Blackhawk MK2 with the Vamperial Order Ensigma had landed and was quite a show for the tourists. The sudden landing made the Hunter's usher the tourists to cover as five personal climbed out before the Blackhawk lifted off. Admiral Kennedy was in a rage as no clearance was given and several Hunters were heading over to find out who it was. No sooner had they come closer...

"Headmaster King," said Kennedy in a shocked voice.

Lee King was the Grand Admiral in the Vamperial Order. He was also the main personal who looked at Naval Hardware to be used in the Vamperial Navy. Among him were two Imperial Guardians and two Shadow Assassin's who were actting as his escort party. However, from time to time, he did made the visit to see his younger brother Matthew King. Lee had decided to use the time to see his younger brother and inspect naval hardware that was said to be looking for contracters.

"Sorry for the arrival but it's how things get done," smiled Lee as he was dressed like a Shadow Assassin since he served five years with them. "Anyhow, I'm here to have a look around for a change and see my younger brother," he smiled.

"That's understandable and I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry admiral," interuppted Lee. "You were doing your job and I'm happy that I employed capable staff," he smiled as Kennedy loosened up a little while Matthew King and Zhou Tai came over and Captain Harkens.

"Hello," smiled Matt as he shaked hands with Lee.

"Good to see you again bro," replied Lee. "Right, Captain Harkens, I understand you served on cruisers before, care to come along and inspect a corvette?" he offered. "What about you Matt?"

"It'll be an honour sir," replied Harkens.

"I'm up for something different," he said with a grin.

"Let's go then," smiled Lee.

Some people had asked Lee how close he was to his younger brother Matt at times. On all occasions, he had replied that Matt would be his younger brother and friend. There was no sense of favouritism but it was rare to see the pair together since Lee served in the navy and Matt served in the air force. However, captains and officers in the navy considered it an honour to talk to him let alone inspect a warship. Lee was usually tied up with admirals but like every good officer he always made time for the other ranks and the sailors.

There was also the sense of failure that stalked Lee. In 2015, he had failed to arrive in a war torn country to help evacuated Lynion refugees. He arrived too late and the consequences were too great for him. His family (including Matthew) were visiting the nation and in the crossfire, Lee's parents, twin sister, older brother and youngest brother were murdered. Matt had managed to escape with the help of a Lynion Assassin that happened to be in the nation at the same time. That's why Lee always made sure he visited Matt whenever he could.

Shortly after wandering through the dockyards, Lee and his party of eight officers and escort's came across the dockyard where the coverttes were docked. At first it looked like another advance warship. First impression's mattered to Lee but it looked like it could be used as convoy escort duties and partol duties in the colonies or at home.

"What do you think?" Lee asked Harkens.

"Depending on what it can do..." he started. "It'll could be worth while,"

"Give ya a weeks pay somebody will come by and play tour guide," whispered Elliot into Zhou Tai's ear.

"Make that a packet of smokes," whispered back Zhou Tai in a deep and commanding voice.

"Done," whispered Elliot as he watched the three people in front of him inspect the covette from the docks.


OOC: Layarteb, you can intercept them if you wish.

Leni Keefer sat in a corner of the dimly-lit mess room, frowning at the figures on the cook's clipboard. She could hear the emperor's speech coming over the intercom in muted tones. That blowhard wouldn't get many votes in Fatatatutti, she smiled to herself.

She glanced up and smiled half-heartedly at some children who were passing through on a tour. A little girl, maybe seven, waved at her and she waved back.

The Second Engineer was giving hour-long tours that spent fifty-five minutes in the engine room, so she wasn't surprised to see them ushered through here so fast. They'd be able to build a diesel in their kitchens by the time he was through with them, even if they didn't learn anything else about a submarine.

As soon as the last child disappeared, the doorway was filled by Chief Petty Officer Kono, the boatswain. He was so big that sometimes Leni was sure they must have built the boat around him. Yet he was remarkably agile in scampering through the smallish doorways and hatches. "Mr. Savery said you wanted to see me, Captain?"

"Sit down." She pushed the clipboard toward him.

He glanced at it dutifully but numbers were not his area of expertise, so he looked at her to explain.

"Long story short, the cupboard is bare." Leni tapped the clipboard for emphasis. "In the interest of public relations, we've given away every last scrap of food on the boat. We'll starve before we can get back to the tender."

Kono looked at her blankly. This was the point where somebody else might have made a sarcastic comment, but nothing came to his mind.

Leni smiled as if she could see his thought processes. "That's the bad news. The good news is that we're in the middle of a big, modern city with every kind of food that money can buy.... The other bad news is that we don't have any money to buy it."

"What can I do, Captain?"

She knew that he would give the shirt off his back for any of his crewmates, but that wouldn't feed them for long. "What I would like you to do is to ask the members of the crew for their credit cards.

"This is strictly voluntary. Don't pressure anybody. And tell them that they will be reimbursed, eventually, after I've been hung from the highest yardarm." She saw right away that he didn't get the joke. "They can think of it as a loan. I have the First National Bakery of Fatatatutti but only a five thousand coco or dollar limit, my choice." She dropped her credit card on the table, again for dramatic effect.

"I understand," he nodded. "I'll talk to the crew."

"Thanks, Kono." She patted his hand. She realized that he was the only member of the crew that she didn't call 'mister' or 'miz' but she couldn't think why.

He got up and disappeared the way he had come.

Kono was 'the diplomat' even though he didn't have a particular way with words. He could ask you for a kidney and you'd be answering 'yes' before the question was finished.

She flipped the page again to look at the cook's shopping list.

"Gentlemen, good afternoon." A sailor from the Ra class corvette said as he greeted nine Lynion officers who were the first public officials to come across the Ra. The line had been long already and they were at the head of it, ready to take their personal tour of the vessel, ahead of everyone else. The sailor was the executive officer on board that particular vessel and he was joined by a program advisor from the Layartebian Defense Corporation, the manufacturer of the Ra class. "I trust the wait hasn't been too long. Let me start by introducing myself and this gentleman to my right. I am Lieutenant Commander Nathan Estevez and this is Mr. Devin Harding with the Layartebian Defense Corporation. I will be providing the tour for our vessel and Mr. Harding will be on hand to answer any questions regards to public interest. The vessel you are about to walk through is a fully functional, commissioned vessel and, as such, not everything about it can be told. Most areas of the vessel are available for this tour, including the bridge and the CIC. You will note that all sensitive equipment is currently covered and removal of these covers could constitute criminal act.

"Let me begin by explaining the basic specifications before we board. The Ra class is a corvette designed to operate in the littoral regions but is fully functional in deep water environments. She is two hundred and five feet or sixty-two and a half meters long overall. Her beam is thirty one and a half feet or nine point six meters wide and she drafts ten feet or three meters. It displaces just six hundred and twenty-five long tons with a block coefficient of zero point three-three-nine. She is crewed by thirty-four men in total, including four officers but there are additional berths for up to eight soldiers, who can be deployed from the vessel through the use of up to two rigid-hull, inflatable boats or independently with SCUBA gear. Traditionally, these eight men would be marines or a specialized boat crew tasked with maritime security. As the Ra class is in service with the Imperial Layartebian Defense Forces, part of the mission of the Ra is to inspect suspected vessels before they reach our ports or take control of a hijacked naval vessel. Other missions include anti-piracy and simple, maritime defense.

"Shall we board?" The officers followed, leaving Mr. Harding on the dock to greet the next group of individuals taking a tour on the vessel. LCDR. Estevez first took them on a walkabout around the exterior hull of the vessel. "As you can see, the exterior of the vessel is quite roomy, despite being crammed with weaponry. We'll start at the stern. On the stern you will notice a pair of quadruple missile launchers, which contain the RGM-205 Advanced Multi-Environment Strike Missile or AMESM to us. These are fully compatible will all weapons in the Harpoon-class and are primarily used against sea borne, surface targets but can be employed against land targets as well. One missile launcher points port and the other starboard allowing for simultaneous operation, allowing the Ra to engage multiple threats at once. You'll notice that this space here is empty," he said at the very back of the stern. "Original plans were to install a Phalanx unit but that was canceled in favor of an open area for RHIB deployment and recovery. You will notice also that there is a twenty-one cell Rolling Airframe module above the superstructure in front of me." He pointed and the officers looked, making their mental notes. They would occasionally ask questions and LCDR. Estevez was on hand to answer any of them. "Lastly back here are a pair of heavy machine guns for point defense. In the Empire, these are the M31A1, which is a fifteen point five millimeter weapon. Export variants are fifty caliber." They walked around to the front of the vessel, where the main gun was. "Now here at the bow of the vessel are the primary weapons. You'll notice that the main weapon is a stealth-mounted gun. In the case of the domestic model, we use a fifty-seven millimeter, ninety-caliber ETC weapon. Export models use the Bofors Mark 3, which is conventional and only seventy calibers in length. The main gun can fire up to two hundred and forty round per minute as far away as twenty-five kilometers or thirteen and a half nautical miles. Extended range ammunition allows for over sixteen nautical miles or thirty kilometers. The export model would be capable of firing at up to two hundred and twenty rounds per minute and up to seventeen kilometers or nine nautical miles. A seventy-six millimeter weapon such as the Otobreda can be carried as well. Normally, a fifty-seven millimeter mount allows for one hundred and twenty rounds ready and two hundred and forty rounds stowed. A seventy-six millimeter mount, with a rate of fire of one hundred and twenty rounds per minute will carry just eighty-five rounds ready and eighty-five rounds stowed but will provide equal range to our ETC weapon.

"Behind the main gun is a specialized vertical launching system. Unfortunately, because of the small size of the Ra, we could not carry a normal sized anti-aircraft VLS system so we opted for a reduced size one. Classified as the Mark 48 Mod 5, the launcher is equipped with six cells, each one thirty inches or seventy-six millimeters wide and one hundred and twenty inches or three meters deep. The total system is six cells and is relatively compact. Because of its small size, it can only carry short-range missiles. In our case, the RIM-204C Escape missile, a SAM modification of our AIM-204B Escape dogfight missile. We can carry up to thirty of these missiles, five per cell. The export equivalent would be the IRIS-T SL variant, a potent missile capable of downing aircraft as well as missiles.

"In the arms locker on board there is provision for up to two Stinger units with up to twenty missiles, assault rifles, and RPG-style weapons. We use the M101 CLAW, which is a sort of next-generation LAW-style weapon. As you can see also, above the superstructure, we have our main array of antennae and sensors. Now it is interesting to note that all surfaces of this vessel are designed with the idea for a small radar cross-section. Radar absorbent materials and paint is used on all exposed areas of the ship. You'll notice that the windows are tinted, which provides for reduced glare and for stealth characteristics. Shall we head inside?" Having seen enough of the obvious, everyone was eager to get below and see the guts of the vessel. From the exterior, she was gorgeous but on the interior lay the real test.

They entered the port side hatch and were instantly inside a very cozy environment, for such a small vessel. "The entire inside of the vessel is climate controlled and overpressurized for NBC protection. Filters and scrubbers allow for fresh, uncontaminated air at all times. The interior of the vessel is much like your homes in that the interior is broken into zones with different temperature settings. All lighting is designed for low energy output and varies in intensity. Standard, red-bulbs are present as well for night operations. We'll start in the engine room and work our way forward, saving the bridge and the CIC for last." As they walked towards the engine room, they walked through normal corridors, passing berthing locations, the galley, and a small recreation room. At last in the engine room, LCDR. Estevez pointed out the engines. "The Ra is powered by two gas turbines in the COGAG principle. Each turbine has a continuous output of five megawatts and can boost up to five and a half megawatts if needed but for limited duration. Each engine is lightweight and compact, as you see and powers three waterjets on the exterior of the vessel. There are no propellers, allowing for very shallow water operations. The waterjets are highly responsive and allow for extreme agility at low speeds. Rudders are available for high speed agility as well. In any scenario the Ra is a race car, in a way. With a maximum speed of forty-one point six knots in a sea state of three or less, very little can outrun her and she'll sustain over thirty-five knots in just about any other scenario. At twenty knots, she'll cruise for twenty-two hundred nautical miles before needing to refuel but, despite this range, we're limited to just three weeks on supplies. Underway replenishment can obviously extend this. Let's go to the recreational room and the berthing quarters.

"The recreational room is small. It was important to the navy that there be a room for R&R and this one is what we got. It is equipped with enough space for comfortable seating such as a couch but it also doubles as our workout room. You've certainly noticed that we have a few foldable treadmills aboard as well as a punching bag or two. Fitness is important to us and I'm sure to your navy as well so it is imperative that our sailors maintain at their peak physical shape, even while underway. Our medical bay is high-tech as well with enough space to treat any injury we receive on board. In the case of a catastrophic accident, we would require additional support facilities but as many as four critically injured individuals can be treated at any given time. Our radio room is currently off-limits but it is spacious enough to allow for two radio operators and applicable equipment. Let's make our way to the bridge now.

"The bridge is state-of-the-art. Entirely digital. As you can see, we have controls much like that of a submarine with an elevated chair for the captain. Helm controls provide instant feedback and multi-functional displays, which are currently off, provide data anywhere from fuel supply and weather conditions to the locations of satellites overhead, classified of course. Our CIC is below and while most of it is covered, let us proceed.

"Down in our CIC we have a small array of display panels, which are all covered. Here we can operate all of the weaponry of the ship as well as our sensors, which include a radar and an active and passive sonar. We also have a towed array. While we are currently not equipped with a torpedo launcher, there are plans to upgrade the vessel with a single, two-round system along our port side with two, three hundred and twenty-four millimeter torpedoes. The system would be completely automated and require no human operation. Everything is controlled from this, little room. As you can see, we are below the superstructure, which provides for extra safety in the event of a naval engagement.

"So there you have it, the Ra class corvette. Designed for littoral combat operations mostly, she can provide long-range escort provided there is replenishment available. Are there any further questions?"

"(What do you think the chances of being struck by enemy battleship would be)?" Lee asked Harkens in Lynionion.

"(Considering pirates man them...about 5 to one maybe,)" Harkens replied as Matt seemed to be happy about it.

Lee seemed to be impressed but he could always find the odd question now and then about the warships. Especially when it came to encountering pirates that were common in the Pacific Jin Ocean. For Lee no small detail was too small and unnoticable. If there was something wrong with it, it could be taken off the list until there were improvements.

"I'm Lee King and I'm the contractor to the Vamperial Navy and I have a few questions I would like to ask," he started. "Has any of these corvettes seen any kind of action? If so what type. Second, if you were to put this on a run against an enemy destoryer, would it have enough firepower to do damage of any kind? Third, what are the chances that the covette computer system may be hacked from the outside?" he asked.

Onboard of the Hr.Ms van Gaalen, Noordeinde (http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss250/krijk/NoordeindeNavyHelicopterClass.jpg?t=1244207860) Navy

Finnaly, around 10.45 AM the Hr.Ms van Gaalen (http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss250/krijk/NoordeindeNavyHelicopterClass.jpg?t=1244207860), a Helicopter Carrier of the Noordeinde Navy, sailed into the port where the Fleetweek 2009 was being held.

Admiral Bistro stood next to Captain Rabb on the bridge, and the both of them decided to contact the Layarteb Port Authority, because they were entering the port.

"This is Admiral Bistro of the Noordeinde Navy onboard of the Hr.Ms van Gaalen (http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss250/krijk/NoordeindeNavyHelicopterClass.jpg?t=1244207860), we request permission to dock somewhere in your port to take part of the Fleetweek 2009 festivities."

A couple of minutes later 5 of the 15 Westland Lynx (http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/8/0/f801e9c6-1896-4fde-90c0-f7ecf6ccee44.Large.jpg) which are onboard of the Helicopter Carrier, took off the ship for a "Fly Over" in formation above the festivities as a sign of the fact that the Noordeinde Delegation had arrived.

OOC: Yeah just assume you're in there already.

"Action you say? Why yes. The baptism of fire for the Ra has already occurred against pirates in the Caribbean and not much different from the movie. We'd be the 'Interceptor' of course. One month after commissioning, the first Ra vessel was called to an area south of Cuba after pirates failed to raid a transiting oil tanker. Upon arrival, the Ra gave chase to two pirate motorboats. One was destroyed at six thousand yards and the other at forty-two hundred yards. Both motorboats, as best as we can figure out, were not heavily armed or armored. Additionally, since then, the Ra has attacked a pirate base in Venezuela, using both its main gun and its deployable soldiers.

"Now against a destroyer that is tricky. A destroyer normally has a gun more than double the caliber of ours and a far better weapons suite. They carry multiple weapons including torpedoes and long-range anti-ship missiles. One on one, in gun range, we would stand a decent chance because of our targeting systems. We could target the actual bridge of the destroyer and engage it at full speed but we'd be well within their gun range before we ever fired our first shots. We're not really going to go one-on-one with a destroyer though, the odds are not in our favor and they have plenty of missiles that can engage our eight AMESMs, leaving us without the best offensive weapon we could have. In a scenario like that, we would try to 'scoot and shoot,' using our speed to get into engagement range fast enough that they will be still targeting us and then our speed to evade their guns. Missiles you simply can't outrun but our stealthy characteristics allow us a better chance at longer range.

"As far as hacking, well I've never been asked that question before and that is a variable question. If your vessel is not connected to any sort of defense grid network there's no chance it can ever be hacked. If it is, then if your defense grid can be hacked, your vessel can be hacked. If you are concerned with jamming, the Ra class's sensor suite is highly resistant to electronic jamming but we're a small vessel. A system capable of jamming a destroyer could jam us but it would have to be multiple megawatts in power." LCDR. Estevez answer with confidence.

Onboard of the Hr.Ms van Gaalen, Noordeinde (http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss250/krijk/NoordeindeNavyHelicopterClass.jpg?t=1244207860) Navy

Afther the "Fly Over" the 5 Westland Lynx (http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/8/0/f801e9c6-1896-4fde-90c0-f7ecf6ccee44.Large.jpg) Helicopters landed onboard of the Hr.Ms van Gaalen (http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/ss250/krijk/NoordeindeNavyHelicopterClass.jpg?t=1244303410), and immidiatley after "touch down" the helicopters were transfered to the hangar in the deck below.

A couple of minutes later another Westland Lynx (http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/8/0/f801e9c6-1896-4fde-90c0-f7ecf6ccee44.Large.jpg) was brought to the flightdeck, this Westland Lynx (http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/8/0/f801e9c6-1896-4fde-90c0-f7ecf6ccee44.Large.jpg) received it's final preperations before becomming airborn.

10 Minutes later the Westland Lynx (http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/8/0/f801e9c6-1896-4fde-90c0-f7ecf6ccee44.Large.jpg) took-off the flightdeck to give a demonstration flight of a "Search & Rescue Operation" (http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OJHnQoTGWP8/Ru1sjkH3-lI/AAAAAAAAAnY/vB_RnKPD7_s/IMG_4890_rs.jpg) above the water.

The public on the shore was quite enthousiastic about this demonstration, people were applauding afther the Helicopter Crew picked-up the men in the stress.

OOC: I'm sorry for the delay of my arrival. I accidently closed the tab I was working in and have to rewrite the entire thing from memory as best I can.

The Kiev-class Anti-submarine Carrier Strikefast covered the final stage of its journey to the pier with the assistance of Layartebian tugboats. Every member of the sixteen-hundred man crew who could be spared from the working of the great ship stood at the siderail in Full Dress Uniform. Several ship lengths behind the carrier, the Sovremenny-class Guided Missile Destroyer Invaluable positioned itself for its own final entry.

Commodore Samuel Radicear, commanding officer of Amphibious Strike Group One, stood inside the compartment known as the Admiral's bridge. He thought of the rate at which the Strikefast's eight boilers would go through her supply of fuel oil and the rendevous with a fleet oiler during the return voyage it would require. To his left Field Marshal Randolph Murk, Count of Eastval and Defense Minister of the Grand Duchy of Radictistan, emitted an annoyed cough.

"Where the devil's Norcust?" the minister demanded. The Count of Norcust, Steward of the Royal Treasury and second son of the Grand Duke, was nowhere to be seen.

"His Lordship is still in his quarters, my Lord," Radicear answered. "Senior Lieutenant Schreiner is bringing him up as we speak." The Field Marshal nodded.

"If you'll excuse me, my Lord," Radicear said after a brief pause in the conversation. "I must make arrangments with the port authority." With is superior's consent, the flag officer left the bridge and made his way down to the waterfront.

OOC: Just to let everyone know, I'm going out of town tomorrow and I probably won't be able to acess a computer for a couple of days. If the RP picks up before then, I'll just have to catch up. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I thought I still had two more days.

Leni Keefer picked up the microphone. "Mr. Savery to the bridge, please. Mr. Savery to the bridge."

She stood with her elbows on the coaming and looked up at the buildings that towered over the little Angelfish and the foreign ships that seemed almost as big. There was something surreal about the whole scene. She was used to the cramped confines of the submarine and the open loneliness of the ocean and the simple comforts of Fatatatutti. Layarteb might as well have been another planet.

A tugboat chugged past and she waved casually at a crewman who was coiling a rope on the deck. He waved back with a little-boat-to-little-boat friendliness that big-navy folks in their floating cities could never understand.

She not only knew every member of her crew by their first name, she knew their families and their allergies and how they took their coffee. On a big ship, a crew member was a number, a cog in the wheel. On the Angel, he or she was a member of the family.

There were footsteps on the ladder and the First Officer stood behind her. "Captain?"

"Ready to go home, Mr. Savery?"

"Captain?"

She turned and smiled at him. "I'm thinking... if we stay much longer, we're likely to get all hospitable again and give away all of our shiny new groceries. Then it's more credit and more luau and more credit and more luau.... Frankly, I don't think we can afford Fatatatutian hospitality in a place as big as this. What say we up sticks and head back for the tender?"

"You're the captain, Captain."

She nodded. "We've done our bit. I think more Layartebians, or whatever they're called, have seen this boat than Fatatatutians ever will. I'll make our apologies to our hosts if you'll make us ready for sea."

"Aye, Captain."

-------------

Leni worded the email more diplomatically than came naturally to a plain-spoken Fatatatutian:

To: the Government and people of Layarteb
From: Lt. Helena Keefer, submarine Angelfish, Fatatatutti

On behalf of the crew of the Angelfish and the people of Fatatatutti, I would like to thank the Government and people of Layarteb for this opportunity to participate in Fleet Week. We have greatly enjoyed the festivities and we have learned a lot. We hope that somebody has learned something from us too, and enjoyed our presence.

Although it is distinctly un-Fatatatutian to leave before the party is over, we are forced by logistic considerations to say goodbye. We hope that our departure will not cause any inconvenience.

We would be proud to take part in similar festivities in the future and we invite everybody to visit us in Fatatatutti.

Thank you for a memorable event.

She read it again and corrected a typo or two. Then she clicked 'Send'.

With the success of the Ra class debut, the Layartebians hoped that they could go 2 - 0 when the Huascar class was debuted. Designed along with the Republic of Western South America, who had laid the original specifications and the design, the Layartebian Defense Corporation created a light, patrol corvette with a reasonably high top speed, medium endurance, and the capabilities to perform a number of roles. Despite being lighter than the Ra, it carried a larger main gun but less weapons otherwise. Neither was more capable than the other but they both offered what the Empire needed. In a time when littoral defense became crucial and the state of affairs in the Caribbean Sea was growing more and more unstable, fast-attack, patrol corvettes with both offensive and defensive capabilities became absolutely important to the success of the Imperial Layartebian Military.

The four Huascar flights that the LDC developed were tailored for very different roles. The first flight was an all-purpose, attack corvette that fulfilled some of the role that the Ra fulfilled. The second flight was an attack missile boat, tailored for engaging light and medium sized ships. The third flight was tasked with anti-submarine warfare and the fourth flight was a heavy missile boat, equipped with long-range, hard-hitting cruise missiles for taking out capital ships. All four were powered by a pair of Vericor TF60 gas turbine engines. Instead of a COGAG power system like the Ra, the Huascar used a CODAG setup that combined both gas turbines with a pair of MTU 16V M70 diesel engines. Combined, the four engines had a power output of fifteen megawatts. Additionally, all four flights shared the same beam and roughly the same draft, thirty-two feet and ten feet respectively. They were powered by a pair of waterjets, a variation of those used on the Ra and, like the Ra, they used a pair of rudders for high speed maneuvering. The main differences between the four flights were their weapons, displacements, and lengths. The first flight was just two hundred and eighteen feet long, the second simply five feet longer, and the third and fourth were two hundred and forty-two feet long. Displacing four hundred tons, the first flight, being the smallest, was also the lightest. The second flight was just two hundred and twenty-five tons heavier. The third flight, because of the added ASW equipment displaced four hundred and sixty-five tons and the fourth flight displaced twenty tons less.

Like the Ra, they were built on a semi-planning monohull that allowed the first two flights to move at up to thirty-seven knots and the third and fourth flights moved slightly faster at thirty-nine knots. Because they were powered by a CODAG setup, their cruise speed was twenty knots and their tactical silent speed was eight knots. At twelve knots, they could go as far as three thousand nautical miles. Aside from the third flight, they also all shared the same electronics suite with a sonar added onto the third flight to allow for anti-submarine warfare. The similarities generally stopped there.

Because the first flight was an all-purpose vessel, it was equipped with a pair of rigid-hull, inflatable boats, to deploy special forces or marines against a threat. The second flight opted to get rid of the deck area for boat purposes and replace them with four launchers for AMESM missiles. The third and fourth flights, adding the extra length added a longer area to the rear of the vessel. For the third flight, it allowed the addition of a UAV deck and on the fourth flight, it was for a pair of MABLs for heavy, anti-ship missiles. All four flights were armed with an M249 Advanced Gun System, a seventy-six millimeter, eighty caliber ETC main gun equipped with eighty rounds, an M304A3 Impulse Revolver Cannon that fired twenty-seven millimeter shells as fast as seventeen hundred rounds per minute. They were also all armed with a pair of M31A1 Heavy Machine Guns for close-in defense. For self-defense, they were also equipped with a Mark 43 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher and a pair of Wizard launchers with as many as twenty missiles. On the third flight, the rear area also afforded a pair of triple-tube, torpedo launchers. Crewed by four officers and eighteen enlisted sailors, the Huascar was a small vessel for a big task.

"I've got no more questions to ask and I'll tell you now, I'm impress with the work you've put into the warship," smiled Lee as he was rather impressed with the amount of effort put into the warship design. "I'm sure the contract will be promising but one last question before I forget. Can it go out into open seas or does it need to stay close to the coast?" he asked as that was one thing he forgot to ask.

LCDR. Estevez was quick to respond, the question easy enough. "Open seas are our favorite place to go. The Ra can go from rivers to open ocean with little effort. We're in a river right now and we could go all the way to the Saint Lawrence if we wanted. On our way here we made a few sprints in the Atlantic just to see what she could really do, thanks to calm seas. Our regular patrol area mostly consists of the Caribbean Sea though but those waters aren't shallow."

The Second Engineer, the 'Diesel Magician' as he was sometimes called by the crew, seldom set foot outside the engine room. He often ate in there and there were rumours that he slept in there too. Even the First Engineer defered to him on matters diesel.

So it was no surprise when the First Engineer came to the captain's cabin himself to report that the Angelfish was ready for sea. "There's a few odds and ends missing," he said. In Fatatatutti, you could leave your wallet open on the bar when you went to the bathroom and be sure it would still be there when you got back. In Layarteb, apparently they had a more free-wheeling approach to property ownership and acquisition. "Nothing we need to float, though," he added.

"Good." Leni hadn't moved from her bunk and she didn't plan to change that now. "Would you ask the First Officer to contact the Harbour Authority and ask them when it would be convenient for us to leave? We don't want to be bumping into any paying customers on the way out."

"Aye, Captain."

Layarteb City Harbor Control was stationed eighty-five floors above the ground in southern Manhattan, in the northern tower of the World Trade Center. From there, one could see the entire harbor approach into Layarteb City and even far upriver on the west side. Of course, there were always bionoculars to be had and when the Fatatatuttians reported their intentions to depart, a watchman quickly moved to the window and picked up a pair of binoculars. He locked the submarine and saw its position and then did a quick sweep over the area. "Their clear for route four." He yelled back to the Harbor Master, who was an old man, unable to walk too far for too long. He had piloted a number of ships in his day into and out of Layarteb City's harbor and knew almost every aspect of it. He reported back the exit pathway, which was led by buoys placed throughout the harbor. They would take the fourth lane and be out of the harbor in no time. Maritime regulations required that they maintain less than eight knots due to wake restrictions. They would also have to remain surfaced.

"Looks like the Commodore's gone to hobnob with the locals," Captain Ernest Spurwander commented as he paid the shore a brief glance.

"I suppose it's his prerogative," Captian Lev Konielski answered as he inspected the tail-mounted control surfaces of their Ka-52 attack helicopter. Known affectionately by its crews as the ‘Alligator’ despite its official nomenclature, the Ka-52 was a complex machine. If any of a multitude of parts were not to function correctly in sequence, disaster would strike.

“Do you think he’ll get a knighthood for this?” Spurwander asked, beginning his own inspection of the nose section.

His Weapon Systems Officer snorted. “In this Navy, flag officers get knighted for tying their own shoes.” Laughter emanated from the inside of the two-man cockpit.

Below decks and near the gangways which would provide a means of entry for the public, sailors as well as soldiers of the security detachment prepared the ship for the influx of visitors both official and petty. The following days were of great importance to the Grand Duchy. What kind of image it would present to the world would be formed by the presentation and conduct of the ship and its associated personnel.

Leni Keefer stood on the bridge of the Angelfish, watching the lights of Layarteb city recede into the distance. The last of the sunset silhouetted the land.

It had been a pleasant enough 'week' in Layarteb - Leni smiled to herself at the idea that Layarteb seemed to be on Fatatatutti time, where a week was a month and a month was two. The city air was debatably no fresher than submarine air but it was undoubtedly different. Now they would enjoy submarine air and sea air and possibly the air of a port or two until...

She was amused at how eager she was to share her news with the crew, like a schoolgirl with a choice tidbit of gossip about a cute boy. She had received orders from the Flotilla Commander just as they were leaving the harbour, when they were too busy avoiding collisions to be distracted by good news - the Angel was going home.

She took one last look at the city, then stepped toward the hatch, touched the shoulder of the lone lookout and said, "Button her up at your convenience, son." As she climbed casually down the ladder, she heard his feet on the rungs above her and she heard the hatch slam and lock.

In the control room, she asked, "Position, Mr. Savery?"

"Just crossing into international waters, right now."

"Sonar report?"

"No significant contacts within a thousand meters," the sonar operator reported.

Leni turned to the Diving Officer. "Stand by to dive."

"Standing by, Captain."

Leni picked up the intercom microphone. "All hands, all hands, make ready for diving." She turned to the Diving Officer again. "Dive."

"Diving, aye. Flood five, four, three, two...." The aftmost tank was left until last, to provide for a steeper diving angle. It wasn't strictly necessary in a routine dive but it was standard practice anyway. "Flood one."

"Sixty meters," Leni said.

"Sixty meters, aye."

"If anybody needs me, I'll be in the mess...."

An alarm went off, a loud buzzer and a red flashing light.

"What's that alarm?" Leni asked.

"Main hatch is leaking. We had a green light...."

Leni still had the microphone in her hand. "Engineering, check the main hatch and report to the control room." She turned to the Diving Officer. "Level."

"Level, aye."

The First Engineer appeared almost immediately, almost as if he had anticipated the alarm. "Captain, it's a minor leak, a few liters an hour at most. I think some tourist must have buggered up the seal, got gum on it or something."

"I thought you checked all that."

"My apologies, Captain."

"Never mind. Are we safe to dive?"

"Safe enough as we are. I wouldn't want to go too deep until I get a chance to check it."

"Leveling at twenty meters," the Diving Officer reported, as if on cue.

"Well, put a bucket under it for now," Leni told the engineer. "Let me know if it gets any worse."

"Aye, Captain."

Leni frowned, suddenly annoyed by the noise. "Belay that alarm." She turned to the Diving Officer. "Go to periscope depth."

"Periscope depth, aye."

"Mr. Savery, double watch on radar. I'd just as soon stay under until we get out of the traffic."

"Aye, Captain."

Leni stared into space with the classic look of the captain who doesn't know what to do but can't risk losing the crew's confidence. The good news would have to wait.

(OOC: Yes, this is a teaser for a new thread, coming soon on the new forum.)

OOC: Okay, time to resurrect this RP.

Captain-Lieutenant Hans Radicburg kept his pace even as he trod toward the bow of the Strikefast. Behind him, a pair of noncommissioned officers from 21 Light Battalion shepherded a crowd of tourists from the city, although the naval officer suspected from their accents that a few were Radictistani expatriates.

The taxes are probably lower here, he thought sourly. They’re lower just about everywhere.

He turned on his heels as he approached a Ka-27 ‘Helix’ helicopter sitting near the forward edge of the flight deck. He took a half dozen final steps backward then stopped. “Welcome to His Royal Highness’ Ship Strikefast[i]. I am Captain-Lieutenant Radicburg, operations officer of Naval Aviation Squadron One. Before I talk about the bird behind me,” he gestured to the helicopter behind him. “I need to tell you a little bit about the Strikefast. She is a Kiev-class carrier built by United Earthling Military Systems. Currently, she is flagship of Amphibious Strike Group One.”

Radicburg hated this duty, but His Holiness Captain, Third Rank Küster had ordered him to perform this task so he swallowed his pride. The naval pilot put his hand on the antisubmarine helicopter.

“Our mission is to protect amphibious convoys from enemy submarines. In addition to the ship’s own anti-submarine weapons, the Ka-27 helicopter you see behind me can carry a variety of useful ordinance.” He gestured to several small piles of expendable munitions which were laid out on the flight deck. “Here we have some sonar buoys which are used to detect submarines at long range from the home carrier by both active as well as passive means. To the right is an APR-2 torpedo which can be dropped from the helicopter. It has an acoustic homing system and is normally tipped with a one hundred kilogram warhead. This is an inert training round in case anyone is getting a little nervous,” he added with a sly grin. This assignment wasn’t all bad.

Radicburg pointed to the bow of the ship. “In addition to the anti-submarine capability provided by our helicopters, the [i]Strikefast has a battery of eight P-500 surface-to-surface missiles which provides her with an anti-surface capability.” He turned back toward the flight deck and began walking. “If you will follow me over to the starboard size of the ship, we can see an example of the amphibious assault capability of the Royal Radictistan Navy.”

His tour group passed another led by Captain-Lieutenant Edward Gelbsten, a fellow pilot from NAS-1 by the ship’s superstructure. The two officers shared a quick glance thick with meaning. Public relations dealing with foreigners was new to both of them. Once Radicburg and his party reached a spot directly behind the superstructure, he began to introduce them to the Ka-29 assault helicopter.

“This aircraft can carry sixteen fully-equipped soldiers. With the ten onboard this ship, 2 Naval Brigade can rapidly transport three rifle platoons in order to augment an amphibious landing. Later today, we hope to have a demonstration. Now before we head downstairs, are there any questions?”

One woman asked about rather belatedly about the bow-mounted missile battery. A man near the back posed a question regarding the refueling of helicopters. Radicburg answered both the questions to the best of his ability, then led his party into the superstructure of the ship.

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Howard Radicti, Count of Norcust had the entire wardroom to himself. Considering the quantity of paper before him, the senior officers had been more than happy to oblige him. He shuffled a stack of papers to find the document he wanted. It was a report from a group of officers and warrant officers which had toured a Layarteban Ra-class corvette. As Steward of the Royal Treasury, it was Norcust’s duty to review potential import items. The aforementioned vessel would be well-suited for service with either the Home Fleet or the Royal Maritime Police. The provisions for inserting combat swimmers would be useful for police work or special operations if need be. Senior Lieutenant Rötmann pointed out in his section of the report that the Ra-class would be incompatible with most existing Radictistani weapon systems, making the procurement of ordinance more expensive if the class were to be adopted into service. Norcust dismissed the complaint. His Royal Highness’ Armed Forces were small compared to the nation they served and subsequently there were always funds to spare as of yet. Besides, the incompatibility concerns were exaggerated. Shells for the main gun could easily be manufactured at home and the surface-to-air VLS system could be adopted for the 9M311-1M missiles used by the Army.

With these recriminations passed Norcust pulled himself up out of his seat and removed a small piece of lint from his suit. After that brief action, he turned sideways to right in order to view the wardroom’s liquor cabinet. The Count gingerly approached the store, opened it, and pulled out a bottle of Hyarpian vodka. He poured himself a small glass and drank heartily from it. That small orgy of satisfaction over, he put the implements back into the cabinet and closed it securely. The wardroom wouldn’t miss it. Captain, Second Rank Mezny was probably working to restock the cache at that very moment. Norcust returned to his paperwork for another half-hour before deciding to head toward the deck.