March 13, 009 SDE:
Greyman settled down at the table with the Drifter Admiral taking her seat across the table. For a moment there was silence as the two parties settled into place. Admiral Laikan took a breath, “I must admit that I am impressed with the rate your engineers have been able to assemble new ships.”
“If you are worried about quality, we test each hull before certifying her as spaceworthy, or rather stormworthy, in this case. They should meet your requirements.”
“That is nice to hear. Then my engineers will likely have an easy time making sure they are up to spec. Will they be like the first hulls? I heard...”
“Those were rush orders, to meet the deadline before the raiders could arrive, we removed everything extraneous since anything not required for the battle could be installed after. Our methods may not care much about the complexity of a given design, but they are very affected by the amount of material required to complete a hull.”
“Well you might understand my concern then. These ships need to actually travel to the battlefield, so actually having fully furnished crew quarters and basic amenities would be required.”
Greyman chuckled. “Point taken and I’ve been assured those things are in place.”
“Excellent, but there are other things to discuss as well. I mentioned items not communicated over comms earlier.” She shifted to a more serious stance. “We are gearing up for a series of campaigns to retake lost territories, starting with The Lodge. As such we would like to use Anchorage as a staging ground for the upcoming offensive.”
Greyman blinked, “A staging ground you say? Any idea of how long? I’d also need an idea of how many ships we might be hosting, along with material requirements and personnel.”
The admiral merely presented a pad, “This battlegroup, and perhaps two more before the battle. They’ll be enroute already and expected to arrive by the end of the month, along with additional supplies and personnel. We’d also like to invite you to participate in the offensive with whatever ships you have available.”
“As of this moment that would be the Enterprise and her escorts. The rest of our assets are attached to patrols or in reserve for the defense of Anchorage. I’m not sure we’d have much to add to the offensive, but our patrols have been taking Raider supply transports.”
“I’d heard as much, and I’ve seen the footage of the Enterprise in battle. She’s an impressive ship. Her size alone is something to be proud of, but those phased beam arrays of yours pack an impressive punch. Escorts aside, her presence alone could tip the scales in our favor.”
“Despite appearances, the Enterprise isn’t a battleship; she’s well armored and the beam arrays, as you have noted, are pretty strong. But in a battle formation, she was always meant to hang back in the rear. Supporting the main fleet with her long range torpedo batteries. While covering the fleet carriers with her beam arrays and providing cover against hostile fighter swarms with her missile batteries. Unfortunately she’s never had the luxury of being a rear line combatant like she was designed to be, and in the years since we left port we have actually made a few upgrades to her hull. Beam array enhancements being one of those upgrades.”
“Can’t say I blame you. I’ve done much the same with my own flagship.” She sighed, “Sometimes I question designers. You should have seen my CIC when I first got it. I’ll give them credit, they’d fit some fine equipment in there. However that’s the only credit they get, the layout of the damn place was so atrocious my officers were constantly tripping over each other just to get things done. First thing I did was have my engineers rip the whole compartment out and put it back together in a fashion that actually works. Not the only adjustment I made, some sections I found needed extra protection, so I’ve had additional plating installed to shore up those areas. I don’t imagine that will be as much of an issue for your ships. For all I know, they’ll basically heal from a penetrating hit.”
“Sadly not, our mastery of nanotechnology hasn’t advanced enough for that.”
“Oh? Is there something I’m missing?”
“Nanites may excel at building things, but they are quite bad at moving through a vacuum, a problem only exacerbated by the fierce nature of space combat. They work best in fluids and we’ve found more than a few uses for them. As for self-healing ships? Well our ships can and do repair microfissures and microbreaches all the time. Anything more significant will require the attention of a damage control party. If you want any more detail than that, you’d have to ask the Captain. He’d know more about how those automated systems work than I do. I’m afraid my knowledge of those systems is only surface level.”
“But you are his right hand?”
“We all have our specialities, engineering isn’t one of mine. If he needs an advisor in that field he has people like Richards and Smith. My area of expertise has largely to do with military operations, although recently I’ve learned a fair bit more than I would have liked about keeping the civilians happy. For a warship, the Enterprise feels more like a flying city every day.”
She chuckled, “I understand that. Now back to the main subject at hand, you mentioned the Enterprise was intended as a rearline combatant? That’s a strange role for a battleship. You make her sound like a missile cruiser.”
“Well that’s because officially, she isn’t a battleship. The Enterprise is officially a Heavy Fleet Support Cruiser and carries all the equipment required for the role both in and out of combat. In combat, ships of the type are intended to fight from the rear, serving as protected flagships for naval officers. Equipped with a wide array of tactical and strategic sensors for this role, and as mentioned they also serve to protect the fleet carriers. The Enterprise herself was built with a flagship role in mind, but there are also her out of combat duties. Some of which just don’t apply here in the storm. Those systems aside, she still retains the industrial facilities and cargo capacity of her role. Even if we have replaced a fair number of cargo bays with living quarters, markets, and other amenities.”
“A fleet support cruiser? Hmm not the first time I’ve seen one, although the Enterprise is considerably larger and better armed than the ones I’ve seen used by other races. Then again, I guess that’s what makes her ‘heavy.’”
Greyman shifted. “Right, well, let’s discuss your plan of battle.”
She nodded, produced and unrolled a large sheet of paper with a series of diagrams scrawled on it. “I’ve made a few assumptions based on what limited intel we have. The loss of the Maiden and Yurifa eliminated the only battleships the Raiders themselves had in this area but there is one more hostile battleship in this sector, The Blooming Flower. She’s a Folian vessel, I don’t suppose you know anything about them?”
Greyman studied the paper, “This is some fine paper. We don’t get to work with stuff like this often.”
She blinked, “It’s just paper.”
“I guess that means the Drifters have a thriving paper industry.”
“You don’t? I’d imagine it...”
“Production isn’t as simple as just making an object, one has to consider materials as well. Paper is typically made from fibrous plants, which is all well and good. If you have the agricultural capacity to sustain it. We technically have the capacity, but we dedicate most of our annual crop space to food production. Paper is something we only produce in limited quantities upon demand.”
“I’ll make a note of that, a certain someone suggested I should look into what kind of goods we could trade with you.”
Greyman commented, “Kurtz would best be able to help you. Off the top of my head, I’d suggest looking into consumer goods.”
“Right, back to the main topic. The Folians are a plantoid species, nominally humanoid from the waist up. Being plants they aren’t affected by the storm the way we are, the radiation still kills them but they are better able to withstand it. More interesting are their ships, they use a semi-organic hull material that...
“Semi-organic? You mean a biomechanical hull? We know a few things about bioships.”
“You do? How!? You clearly don’t...”
“One of the races we made contact with while exploring the galaxy was the Wovnar. A very friendly people who make use of biological ships. Not only do we have scans of their ships, but we received an extensive database through trade that includes information on such vessels.”
“Now that is interesting, but their ships aren’t true bioships. They are mechanical vessels that make use of partially organic components. However, we have noted that their hulls can and do heal from battle damage with a fair degree of rapidity. Giving them combat endurance a cut above most ships in the storm.”
“Armament?”
She pulled another piece of paper out, “They are armed mainly with high-yield cannons mounted along their longitudinal axis in armored batteries. Each weapon fires a phase-coherent pulse of charged plasma composed primarily of anti-protons. Each cannon has an estimated yield of...
Greyman listened carefully and made notes as she went over the armament, exact locations of weapon emplacements, yields and the like. The antimatter plasma cannons, the torpedo launchers, countermeasures and the like. The ship in question being fitted with powerful cannons and a hull capable of self-healing was, from the sound of it, best suited for a slugging match. Which was why her current plan entailed wearing them down in a long range torpedo duel. The Folion vessel was armed only with medium range guided plasma torpedoes. The Enterprise could easily destroy the ship from range with long range photon barrages, in theory. Greyman however had noticed a weakness in the design, her reliance on bio-technology.
“Would you let us deal with the Folian vessel? If it’s there, our ships will be better suited for removing her from the equation.”
“I don’t mind, but if you don’t mind. Could I ask about how your ships are better suited?”
“Let’s just say we have a natural advantage against the Folian ship.”
She blinked, “Hmm right, I guess you did say you were designed to use long range torpedoes. Sure, we could have the Enterprise engage them in the torpedo duel.”
Following that agreement, they shifted to discussing the other elements of the battle to come. There were a number of goals, chief among them was regaining control of the Lodge. Bombardment, while an option, was something the Admiral didn’t want to resort to. So once orbital control was established a ground invasion was going to be required. Thankfully they didn’t ask for troops, so Greyman wasn’t going to offer any. He had no doubt their troops would be superior, but he wasn’t going to risk them in a ground battle if he didn’t have to. Losses weren’t easy to replace afterall. The space battle would be where his focus was on. The Raiders may be weakened but they still had teeth and a cornered animal was known to fight most ferociously.