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Old June 19th, 2002, 06:57 AM

sachmo sachmo is offline
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Default Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society

Shifting Gears

2404.7

RSS Artemis fired her main engines as soon as she cleared the traffic pattern around Remorhaz. Captain R.J. Brennan looked out of over the bridge of his brand new ship. She was quite a step up from the System Patrol Ship RSS Hawk, but Admiral Urian had every confidence that he would be able to do the job and be a credit to the Remorhaz People’s Navy. Everything had happened so fast, it was hard to take it all in, but now here he was, commanding the newest Nemesis Class C in the Navy.
He brought up his orders again on the command console. Aretmis was to proceed at best speed to Glory, resupply there and then take up position in the Wurtuy system.
Like everyone else in the service, he had heard about the Battle of the Rocks. One Norakian frigate had damaged three Remorhaz frigates before being destroyed. Brennan frowned. If he had been in command, they would have defeated the Norakian without incident. The entire situation proved just how hollow the accomplishments of Captain Gina Jager were. It was pure luck that she had been given command of RSS Eagle. That should have been his billet.
Captain R.J. Brennan firmly believed that Gina Jager was one of those lucky few that had just enough charm and grace to advance in the ranks without actual merit. Sure she had been the first to travel thru a wormhole, and the first to make contact with another race, but that was just a case of being in the right place at the right time. No, The Rocks had shown what Jager was made of. It was fortunate for her, and the Navy, that she didn’t get both ships destroyed. Brennan didn’t necessarily dislike Jager; actually he thought her quite nice and pleasing to look at. In peacetime, officers like her were always around. In war, they had no place. She would get people killed. Brennan was determined that he, nor his crew, would be one of them.
Brennan looked back out over his bridge and smiled. Her loss would be his gain. The recognition that he felt he had missed out on would soon be his.

Chairman Sachmo looked across the large table at Admiral Urian.
“Admiral, exactly what is our status in Wurtuy?”
The Admiral answered without hesitation. “Sir, we have two system patrol craft and one frigate holding the jump points. They are position behind a band of DSV-II defense satellites. In a month, we should be able to continue offensive operations against the Norak.”
“That is good. I believe that it would be better to hold what we have gained then to push a bad situation. What did we learn from The Battle of the Rocks, Admiral?”
Again, Urian answered without pause. “Chairman, I believe that the mistakes that our ships made during the battle had more to do with the close quarters created by the asteroid fields then with any fault in our officer’s training. Normally, in an engagement between missile ships, the tactic is to move into firing range, launch, and then head away from the enemy missiles, which by this time headed toward you. Our officers were affected by a number of factors while trying to complete the maneuvers required, which resulted in both frigates taking hits early in the engagement. Also, I believe that the Norakian captain had some definite combat experience, and the action reports seem to indicate that he was very comfortable in the asteroid field. We now know more of what to expect in the way of tactics from the Norakians, and also what their weapons are capable of. We should do much better next time.”
The Chairman believed every word of it. He had come to almost the same conclusion himself. He was also happy that the fleet had finally destroyed the offending Norakian. If he had escaped, the damage would have been much worse then just to the ships; it might have damaged the confidence of the crews of those ships. With the lack of any real experience that ran thru the ranks of the RPN, confidence was the one thing they could fall back on.
“I do believe we will, Admiral. We will do better next time. Is there anything that would could do to make the Navy’s job easier?”
The Admiral looked to his aide, who handed him a single sheet of paper.
“Chairman, our ship designs seem to be well suited to fight against the Norak. The System Patrol Craft could use a refitting with the latest DUCs, but I would rather channel the resources toward building more Nemesis C Class Frigates. Also, if we could ask that the Research Guild make a priority to research the capability to build larger craft. I feel that a few more larger craft could really help turn the tide.”
The Admiral went on with his list. The Chairman agreed with everything he could. Obviously, everyone was aware of the mineral situation. The colonies in the Tudran System should be up and running soon, which was good news.
The Chairman wrapped up the meeting after five hours of discussion.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I understand how you are feeling. This war has made all of us weary. Unfortunately, we are fighting for survival. Our offers of peace have been met with outright hostility. I hope and pray that by some miracle this war will end soon, but my heart tells me that we will probably have to see this war thru until the bitter end. We are not a violent people. Genocide is not in our nature. We don’t relish the thought of destroying innocents, wiping out cultures. By the same token, we shall not let the same happen to us. If the Norakians and the Rage will not talk reason with us, then we will fight. Make no mistake; we will wipe them from the pages of history if we must, but the Remorhaz Society will prevail. Thank you, that will be all.”

Over on Glory, Hyperion had limped into the Space Yard for repairs. Immediately, a swarm of workers began the repairs. Captain Reed left a skeleton crew on the ship, and released the men for some well-deserved R&R on Glory. Captain Reed rented a modest room at a hotel right outside of the Space Yard, sat down on the bed, and was asleep before he was able to disrobe. He slept for fifteen hours.

2404.8

Spitfire is the first Remorhaz colony in the Tudran System. The colonists immediately began constructing the all-important Space Port, to facilitate the exchange of resources with the rest of the Society.
In the Wurtuy System, the Norakians jumped a fleet of three Alagoinhas Frigates into the system. Their projected course put them on a direct course for the Wurtuy-Nekron Wormhole. There to meet them were Eagle, the freshly repaired Hyperion, and 5 DSV-II defense satellites. Furious was dispatched to cover the Wurtuy-Tudran Wormhole, in case the Norakian fleet decided to head in that direction. Back on
Glory, Intimidator pulled into the Space Yard for repairs. Captain Lu and his crew watch proudly as ½ of a kill star was painted on the ship by the bridge window. It wasn’t a pretty fight, hell, he had been bushwhacked, but they had slagged that Norakian frigate in the end. He and his crew tried to make themselves useful to the Space Yard staff, so they could get Intimidator repaired and back to the wormhole. They wanted another shot at the Norakians, and it was shaping up to be the biggest fight of the war…so far.
Admiral Urian decided to dispatch RSS Hawk to assist Eagle and Hyperion cover the wormhole. They had to hold the Wurtuy System, or Tudran could be cut off.

On Glory, construction began on the first ship to be built outside of the Remorhaz system, the RSS Glory. She would be ready for duty in two months.

2404.9
The second planet in the Tudran System was colonized. The colony was named Hera and it would begin life as a resupply depot for the fleet, and eventually be used as an all-purpose colony. Hera didn’t have any abundance of a particular resource, and so would not be specialized.
In the Wurtuy System, the Neckron fleet again fooled the planning staff, as they changed course for the Xillantha system. Seeing an opportunity, Admiral Urian created a fleet to harass the system. The fleet consisted of Intimidator and Artemis. The fleet was to concentrate on doing maximum damage but with the main goal being the preservation of assets, so basically the Captains were under orders not to get killed!
TR-MP (multi-purpose transport) RSS Loxias and RSS Eagle set out across the Wurtuy system to place defense satellites outside of the Wurtuy wormhole that lead to the Norakian home system, which had yet to be explored. This operation was launched to try and interdict Norakian shipping trying to enter the Wurtuy System. It should at least provide those Norakian captains a nasty surprise when they finished the jump!

To be continued...
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