Post by Baradun on Jul 2, 2005 22:36:16 GMT -5
(Baradun only, for now. A helpful saboteur would be nice, though, if any felt this was a danger to their national interests)
As word of the fate of Ciata's capital spreads across the country citizens pay solemn respect for the dead while politicians and bureaucrats attempt to find either a personal advantage in, or a productive way to deal with the crisis.
Scans of the area from an un-crewed reconnaissance drone have found no survivors so rescue is an impossibility but there are still many civilians who were not in the area that have to be assisted, either in being supplied with aid or evacuated to the monastery which is being heavily fortified at this very moment.
There is, however, the perceived need to boost Baradun's military capability and since the mountains to the west form a nearly impregnable barrier all eyes go to the sea and the skies.
General Edward Brock's Dropship, The Irate Fox, 9:14
******************************************
Edward Brock sits at the head of the briefing table, alternately chewing and running his tongue over his bottom lip and rubbing a week-old growth of facial hair; Gordon at the the other end looking grim and haggard, with a compliment of civilian scientists and military technicians from the available dropships filling out the remaining twenty seats.
Brock looks up and leans back, sighing.
"Gentlefurs, and men...and woman, we have a problem, and one who's solution is rather against what we've tried to do over the past ten years.
"As you're all aware we've been trying to cut down as much of our military as possible, investing in higher-tech and faster-response units that can do the job of entire divisions with only a squad's worth of...er...furpower."
He leans forward again and rests his jaw on his fists.
"Unfortunately recent events have proved that while we may be difficult to attack at best our allies are proving to be having quite a difficult time controlling their own countries. Four have fallen into anarchy before we even made ourselves known and another is on the verge of complete collapse at the hands of vicious rebel forces that have used NUCLEAR weapons.
"The biggest threat to this nation is not from other countries as we find their recognized governments, but from those who seek to destroy those governments by force."
He leans back and goes back to chewing on his lip for a second before stopping and looking at everyone at the table in turn.
"Now; each one of you has a specialty. I want to know what you feel can be done to both preserve our efforts at minimizing our armed forces and keeping our allies as safe as possible, especially the defense of Ciata. Keep in mind that we're already calling every dropship that's on leave or maneuvers back except the ones which will be cycled to garrison duty in the mountains so we will have lots of metal to throw around."
He sits back and waits for one of them to speak, when a young technician, a female ferret, looks up and begins to speak in a clear and soft tone.
"Given the current materials limits I can only tell you what's not possible.
"Our mechs cannot be built to carry more weight without them sinking into even solid ground, no less mud and mires. Adding a second crew member to heavier mechs with access to a turret and radar and comms systems has only proven to be a hindrance in combat trials and the number of weapons that can be fitted to a dropship is at it's feasible limit from a power-standpoint and the weapons do just enough damage in clusters to make them as useful as they are now. True a single railgun can destroy an armoured vehicle, but hitting one at full-tilt from a moving dropship takes a lot of skill and we need to keep them in automatic mode."
She shrugs and sits back.
"There's a general consensus that a battleship or cruiser of some kind be developed, I believe that would be a wise option considering our current technology is at its limit, even though it would nearly double the number of personnel needed."
Edward nods and looks at the rest of the furs.
"Is this actually what most of you would like?"
They all nod in assent.
"Prime Minister, I would need your authorization to begin this project."
Gordon closes his eyes and breaths deeply before opening them again, the sky blue orbs glinting in the LED lighting, and nods.
"Permission granted. You may begin design and construction immediately. Start hiring design teams and get your specs together gentlefurs. I want preliminary requirements in a week's time.
"General Edward, this is an unusual project so I must demand secrecy. I know it's a rare step but I'd rather not have the public find out about this. As for our allies it's a "You didn't ask us that." policy. if they've gotten wind of it there's not much we can do to hide it, but at this stage it would be alarming I think. Make sure they keep it under THEIR fur, though.
"As for the monastery, I hope those ABM Systems are underway. We still don't have confirmation on the method of delivery yet, do we?"
The entire rooms just shakes their head sadly and Gordon huffs.
"Very well, let's hope Raging Chicken can get there before anything else happens. Apparently the Ciatans have figured out how to build a fission suppressor so we should be safe for the time-being but I'd still like to have interceptors there. It's a pitty they didn't know of the technique a week earlier, several million of them might still be alive."
He sighs and shakes his head.
"Meeting adjourned, everyone back to your stations. We, here, are safe; keep what you've heard here under your fur, or hair for you General."
The members stand up slowly and walk out with the quiet click of claws and padding of paws and the subtle shuffle of the bare-footed general.
As word of the fate of Ciata's capital spreads across the country citizens pay solemn respect for the dead while politicians and bureaucrats attempt to find either a personal advantage in, or a productive way to deal with the crisis.
Scans of the area from an un-crewed reconnaissance drone have found no survivors so rescue is an impossibility but there are still many civilians who were not in the area that have to be assisted, either in being supplied with aid or evacuated to the monastery which is being heavily fortified at this very moment.
There is, however, the perceived need to boost Baradun's military capability and since the mountains to the west form a nearly impregnable barrier all eyes go to the sea and the skies.
General Edward Brock's Dropship, The Irate Fox, 9:14
******************************************
Edward Brock sits at the head of the briefing table, alternately chewing and running his tongue over his bottom lip and rubbing a week-old growth of facial hair; Gordon at the the other end looking grim and haggard, with a compliment of civilian scientists and military technicians from the available dropships filling out the remaining twenty seats.
Brock looks up and leans back, sighing.
"Gentlefurs, and men...and woman, we have a problem, and one who's solution is rather against what we've tried to do over the past ten years.
"As you're all aware we've been trying to cut down as much of our military as possible, investing in higher-tech and faster-response units that can do the job of entire divisions with only a squad's worth of...er...furpower."
He leans forward again and rests his jaw on his fists.
"Unfortunately recent events have proved that while we may be difficult to attack at best our allies are proving to be having quite a difficult time controlling their own countries. Four have fallen into anarchy before we even made ourselves known and another is on the verge of complete collapse at the hands of vicious rebel forces that have used NUCLEAR weapons.
"The biggest threat to this nation is not from other countries as we find their recognized governments, but from those who seek to destroy those governments by force."
He leans back and goes back to chewing on his lip for a second before stopping and looking at everyone at the table in turn.
"Now; each one of you has a specialty. I want to know what you feel can be done to both preserve our efforts at minimizing our armed forces and keeping our allies as safe as possible, especially the defense of Ciata. Keep in mind that we're already calling every dropship that's on leave or maneuvers back except the ones which will be cycled to garrison duty in the mountains so we will have lots of metal to throw around."
He sits back and waits for one of them to speak, when a young technician, a female ferret, looks up and begins to speak in a clear and soft tone.
"Given the current materials limits I can only tell you what's not possible.
"Our mechs cannot be built to carry more weight without them sinking into even solid ground, no less mud and mires. Adding a second crew member to heavier mechs with access to a turret and radar and comms systems has only proven to be a hindrance in combat trials and the number of weapons that can be fitted to a dropship is at it's feasible limit from a power-standpoint and the weapons do just enough damage in clusters to make them as useful as they are now. True a single railgun can destroy an armoured vehicle, but hitting one at full-tilt from a moving dropship takes a lot of skill and we need to keep them in automatic mode."
She shrugs and sits back.
"There's a general consensus that a battleship or cruiser of some kind be developed, I believe that would be a wise option considering our current technology is at its limit, even though it would nearly double the number of personnel needed."
Edward nods and looks at the rest of the furs.
"Is this actually what most of you would like?"
They all nod in assent.
"Prime Minister, I would need your authorization to begin this project."
Gordon closes his eyes and breaths deeply before opening them again, the sky blue orbs glinting in the LED lighting, and nods.
"Permission granted. You may begin design and construction immediately. Start hiring design teams and get your specs together gentlefurs. I want preliminary requirements in a week's time.
"General Edward, this is an unusual project so I must demand secrecy. I know it's a rare step but I'd rather not have the public find out about this. As for our allies it's a "You didn't ask us that." policy. if they've gotten wind of it there's not much we can do to hide it, but at this stage it would be alarming I think. Make sure they keep it under THEIR fur, though.
"As for the monastery, I hope those ABM Systems are underway. We still don't have confirmation on the method of delivery yet, do we?"
The entire rooms just shakes their head sadly and Gordon huffs.
"Very well, let's hope Raging Chicken can get there before anything else happens. Apparently the Ciatans have figured out how to build a fission suppressor so we should be safe for the time-being but I'd still like to have interceptors there. It's a pitty they didn't know of the technique a week earlier, several million of them might still be alive."
He sighs and shakes his head.
"Meeting adjourned, everyone back to your stations. We, here, are safe; keep what you've heard here under your fur, or hair for you General."
The members stand up slowly and walk out with the quiet click of claws and padding of paws and the subtle shuffle of the bare-footed general.