Also anyway since it was asked: 13th Fleet's composition:
BB: 16
BC: 24
CA: 36
CL: 48
Total 124 warships, of which 40 are capital ships (BB, BC). CL is faster than CA/BC, which are faster than BB. People have not seen the need to make fast battleships in this verse (which more than a few commanders reeee about). Yes, you read that right, 13th fleet doesn't have DDs, it uses its CLs as screen.
Imperial Navy Fleet strength:
Note that all figures have been rounded down to the nearest hundred, and I cannot into BBcode tables. >.<
I've generated the intel brief on the Egon system as per your orders. The findings, summarised:
Pirate activity in the Egon System is peculiar. Instead of the usual patterns of behaviour when faced with piracy suppression activity, pirate activity in Egon is in waves, as if the pirates are regularly being resupplied and reinforced.
Veritas Security Solutions (henceforth "VSS"), the PMC contracted by Egon for piracy suppression, is operating with an aggressive optempo, with heavy use of ammunition and reports of engagements with pirate ships.
Overall year to date figures show no appreciable decrease in pirate activity vs last year (measured by pirate sightings, merchant shipping seized/threatened, ransoms taken).
VSS is using a hollowed-out asteroid in-system as an arms depot. Shipments to the depot have been increasing in frequency and tonnage over the last several months. More concerningly, VSS is shipping in milspec weapons and has been refitting their ships with milspec ECM suites, as opposed to the civilian-grade weapons and electronics used by most PMCs and armed merchantmen against pirates.
Rafidah Aziz-Sumeragi , a senior member of Great House Sumeragi's cadet line and high-ranking executive of Siam-Astra Intergalactic Consolidated Holdings, has spent the last several weeks on the ground in Egon, in private meetings with the Earl of Egon (the system ruler) and his government and civil service.
Please refer to the attached documentation for further details.
My recommendation is that a fact-finding mission be made to Egon to gain a better understanding of the local picture.
Signed,
Captain Daniel O'Farrel
Fleet Adjutant
13th Fleet
[X] Plan Practical Politick
-[X] Political Etiquette
-[X] Disband 13th Fleet
-[X] Heavy Task Force
- Mandat de l'impératrice des Cieux -
As you make your way to the bridge, you mentally review what should be happening in your absence. You have Ahri reading up and studying on political etiquette (including watching some of the better-researched historical dramas dealing with politics and the Imperial throne), with the understanding that when you get back you're going to quiz her on her knowledge. You've roped in your Lady-in-Waiting, Shoko Kitakami, and Ahri's Private Secretary, Pimmalai Wattanasilp, and together they're going to be looking for tutors to bring Ahri's political education up to scratch. By the time you get back, they should have a list of names ready for you to interview.
You ignore the little voice in the corner of your mind that whispers that you're acting like a Regent right now. Or as Ahri's mother.
Meanwhile, your memo is on its' electronic way to Commander Fleet Operations and the Navy bureaucracy; in the end, despite your personal feelings for your fleet, Fleet Admiral Yonatan Chew's reasoning is sound and compelling. You struggled with what was best for 13th Fleet, but ultimately, your choice was decided for you by six little words drilled into you as a junior officer: "For the Good of the Empire."
It's better for 13th Fleet to stick together, in a coherent force. But it's better for the Navy, for the Empire, to have more loyal ships dispersed as reinforcements, hopefully where they can stiffen the resolve of the local forces, instead of being concentrated in the core. And it's not as if the Imperial Capital is defenseless. As Fleet Admiral Yonatan pointed out, Ame-no-Mihashira watches over Jinko-sei and the worlds of the Capital System. The massive space station serves as a shared base for Imperial Navy's 1st Fleet and the Imperial Royal Guard's Capital Defense Fleet; the two fleets are powerful formations built around their respective flagships, the most powerful warships ever constructed: the Takemikazuchi- class dreadnoughts. Twice the size of a battleship, hull bristling with weapons and thick with armor, a dreadnought holds more firepower than a battleship squadron, all in a single ship. Only five of these mighty ships were ever built; two for the Imperial Navy, three for the Imperial Royal Guard. Two dreadnoughts, one each from the IN and the IRG, guard Jinko-sei at all times. The other three dreadnoughts and their attendant battlegroups remain within Takama-ga-Hara, defending the territorial holdings of the Imperial Family, firmly out of the reach of the Great Houses.
You take your place on the bridge; a crewman announces "Admiral on deck!" "As you were," you reply, and nod approvingly: the bridge crew carries on with their work instead of stopping to bow and scrape; their focus should be on their work, not on you. The captain of your flagship acknowledges you with a quick, respectful nod that you return, and turns back to her station. You strap in to your chair, and bring up your console, looking over your taskforce composition. There'd been a lot of thinking on what size force to bring to Egon. A small task force, say a light cruiser squadron, would have been very discrete and subtle, but there were concerns that it might not have enough firepower to take care of whatever business you found in Egon.
In the end, you went with a heavy task force. Not your entire fleet, you were trying for some subtlety and discretion, but it's still a formidable force in its own right. In addition to your flagship, battleship Yamato, you have a squadron of four battlecruisers, led by Rear Admiral Constance Vickers, flying her flag from battlecruiser Kongou. Two squadrons of heavy cruisers and three squadrons of light cruisers complete your task force, bringing the ad-hoc Task Force Soyeon to a total of twenty five ships. That number of ships departing Jinko-sei is more subtle than the 124 ships of 13th Fleet, but it's still a noticeable formation.
"Admiral," says your captain, drawing your attention. She gestures to the captain's station, smiling invitingly at you. "If you would do the honors, ma'am."
"It's your ship, Captain Lee," you demur. "I'm a just a passenger."
"It's your final cruise as our Fleet Commander, ma'am," she persists. "Please. It would mean a lot to us."
You look around, and realise that everyone on the bridge is looking at you eagerly, supportively, nodding to you, and you smile and blink away hints of mist from your eyes. It doesn't matter what Uncle Johnny said, you can't have been very bad as a commander.
You unbuckle yourself from your seat and move over to the captain's chair; Captain Lee smoothly unbuckles herself and slides out of the chair, coming to attention.
"I relieve you, Captain," you say formally.
"I am relieved, Admiral," she replies. You nod to her and take the captain's chair, your eyes looking over all the oh-so familiar consoles, while she moves to stand behind and to the side.
"Admiral has the deck," you announce. "Orders to the helm. Take us out."
- 女王之天命 –
Your staff prepared three departure plans for your Task Force. Which plan did you choose?
[ ] In Force Departure, In Force Arrival. Depart as one large force and arrive in Egon as a large force from a single vector.
[ ] Staggered Departure, In Force Arrival. Depart as subunits and converge upon arrival in Egon from multiple vectors.
[ ] Staggered Departure, Screening Arrival. Depart as subunits, rendezvous at a rally point, and send the CLs to screen before the task force jumps into Egon.
[ ] None of the above. You drew up your own departure plan to use. (Write In)
Map of the Golden Orchid Empire and its territories (not quite to scale). Takama-ga-Hara is the territorial holdings of the Imperial Family, and holds more systems individually than any single Great Houses' holdings. The Imperial Core or the Core systems are terms used to refer to Takama-ga-Hara and the Great Houses' territory.
Officially, the Inner Rim systems are independant, unaligned with any of the Great Houses and swear their loyalty to the Imperial Throne as Imperial citizens. In practice...
The Outer Rim is divided into five frontiers: Senaphimuk, Beiyang, Volga, Corsica, and Salsu. The main Imperial Navy presences in the Outer Rim are Admiral Alastor von Toth, Despa Sector Fleet, Volga Frontier, and Admiral Masatada Akasha, Tenth Fleet, Salsu Frontier.
Alright guys, take note, if you will reread the update there is now a fourth option:
[ ] None of the above. You drew up your own departure plan to use. (Write In)
The voting moratarium remains in effect, but upon further consideration, I decided this might be a decent opportunity to allow a write in, and see where that leads us. About my only rule is that ship management is going to be at the squadron level; micromanaging individual ships is just way too much effort for Yui and is no bueno and that's not her style anyway.
A division is 2 ships.
A squadron is 4 ships.
Your forces are:
1 BB (Flagship Yamato)
1 BC squadron
2 CA squadron
3 CL squadron
Your write in plan should be written as per the style below:
[X] Plan Fluffy Tails. Hot water shower, nice shampoo, hair dryer, fluffy brushing. (Write In)
Also, to provide everyone with some further food for thought, infodump post on Combat Doctrine and Sensors & ECM.
Combat Doctrine
The prevalence of sophisticated electronic countermeasures (ECM) amongst all parties, even merchant shipping and pirates, means that while long range shots are theoretically possible, it is discouraged as the presence of ECM means that one's target can 1) hide himself from sensors, 2) softkill incoming missiles, and 3) fire active-emitting ECM drones to decoy home-on-jam missiles.
As a general rule, the best way to generate a constant, consistent targeting solution against hostile ECM is to get closer, as the effectiveness of deceptive and defensive ECM decreases as the range between ships gets closer, and radar, lidar, Electro-Optical and Imaging Infrared sensors become more effective the closer you are. By the time a warship is at the range where ECM no longer "cloaks" the opponent, both parties have entered gun range and are trading fire; as a result there is an opinion among many serving naval officers that long-range missiles and BVR combat is more than a little pointless.
Missiles remain a relevant weapon, but warships tend to use missiles as part of a massed missile salvo in close range. More sophisticated milspec missiles can be programmed to act as impromptu mines; lying in space on passive until receiving a launch order or detecting enemy ships. Pirates have, on occasion, used command-detonated missiles as expensive warning shots.
The universality of ECM on all sides means that against peer opponents, both sides will be roughly equally blind and hidden from each other. Combat involves sending screening elements to scout until the main force is found, whereupon the fleet jumps in to engage. The target force will then either give battle, or attempt to get away via tactical jumping (tacjump). This is where DDs come into play; their drives recharge faster so they can chase their foes and data link back to the fleet, giving targeting data so the other ships can try to snipe you with railguns (until their drives cycle and they can tacjump to the enemy and engage in a slugging match).
The exception is during a planetary invasion, during which the opposing force has corvettes and keeps them in the gravity well of a planet. By design, a tacjump into a gravity well is impossible, it will result in the ship bouncing away from the well and drift for a while before it course corrects. For corvettes, this works to their advantage and they are able to make use of the gravity well to prevent opposing elements from closing the distance, while their ECM prevents long range missile and railgun salvoes from connecting.
Sensors and ECM
When fighting peer opponents, enemy ECM is effective enough that you have to get close to get consistent, constant targeting solutions. However, this is when fighting peer opponents.
The mismatch between milspec and civilian-grade equipment is a lot more pronounced. The simplest way to sum up the milspec vs civilian-grade: I see you further before you see me, I hide me better than you hide you.
Top of the line civilian-grade sensors & ECM are equivalent to milspec sensors & ECM roughly 3-4 generations prior. This mismatch becomes even more pronounced because most civilian ships are not running top of the line sensors & ECM, meaning that the average merchantman's first warning of attack is when a warship appears in WVR and opens fire.
Sensor and ECM effectiveness, using peer milspec systems:
At Very Long Range, ECM in deception mode defeats sensors.
At Long Range, sensors can detect that there is something there, but the contact strength is not strong and there is a high probability the system can be tricked into classing the contact as noise.
At Medium Range, sensors can properly detect that there is a contact and track it, and begin to conduct target motion analysis of the contact's kinematic profile. Engagement with railgun is possible but not encouraged. Track quality is not consistent enough for a BVR missile shot.
At Close Range/WVR, sensors can detect the contact and make a class identification based on radar cross-section analysis, and maintain a constant and consistent lock on the target.
As a result, in order to maintain system-wide sensor coverage, serious players will seed their star systems with listening posts.
Furthermore, while it's possible for a ship to hide itself from sensors, it cannot hide its jump signature: it is possible for a sensor node at Long Range to detect jump signature, even if the ECM completely spoofs the sensors.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any work done on the update due to Christmas being the single busiest time of the year for me. So, as a Christmas Present, here's the Weapons and Warships informational overview, from the milspec perspective.
Weapons and Warships overview
Missiles are launched via hull-mounted Vertical Launch Systems, with most manufacturers working off common standards. VLS systems are predominantly cold-launch, using compressed air to kick out missiles from the launch tubes, allowing missiles to coast along in frictionless zero-G before their engines activate. While theoretically missiles can be used for long range attacks, doctrinally they are used for close range alpha strikes, the intention being that a massed salvo of missiles will overwhelm point defenses and confuse the opponent's sensor tracking with a massive volume of contacts. Multiple seeker options exist, ranging from radar, laser beam-riding, heatseeking, infrafred imaging, electro-optical; many of the better milspec missiles will combine multiple seekers.
Torpedoes are essentially bigger, heavier, faster missiles with larger warheads. The stereotypical torpedo is around 5-6 times the mass of a standard missile, with an armored nosecone and hull to absorb point defense fire and to punch into the target's hull. What the torpedo gains in warhead and toughness, it loses in range and burn time. As such, torpedoes are typically employed by lighter combatants as a means to punch above their weight and threaten heavier warships.
Countermissiles, aka Point Defense missiles, are smaller than standard anti ship missiles, and can be launched from common VLS tubes or from dedicated counter missile cluster "blisters", and operate on similar principles as missiles above. They are used for anti missile point defense, as a complementary system to point defense lasers, and are typically dual mode passive RF/IR homing.
Lasers are used for antimissile point defense, and at close range can be used to attempt to mission-kill sensor blisters.
Railguns exist in four classes: quick-firing aka "pom-pom" (FS), light (DD, CL), medium (CA), and heavy (BC, BB). Rate of fire decreases and lethality increases with each tier you go up. Railguns are ubiquitous throughout the Empire, being fairly easy to maintain and operate. All railguns can fire solid slugs, typically steel (civilian grade) or DU (milspec) for armor penetration and aftereffects, though some operators prefer APHE rounds for lighter skinned targets. BB railguns can fire sensor rounds that provide targeting data to missiles or targeting data for their own guns. Doctrinally, railguns are the preferred weapon for long range sniping, but close range gun battles are preferred to maximize accuracy and impact.
Beam Cannons are mounted by CA, BC and BB as alternative weapons to railguns. Beam cannons deliver higher salvo damage when compared to railguns but are range limited. Unlike railguns with their theoretical infinite ballistic range, beams dissipate past their maximum range due to focal distance. The IN intends to eventually move to pure beam cannon armament at some point, but the slow rate of new warship construction and proven nature means railguns remain ubiquitous in the navy; even BBs with beam cannon main battery will mount railgun secondary battery, or vice versa.
As a baseline setup, all warships will carry ECM, railguns, and countermissiles in some configuration or other.
The following is an overview of common warships classes present in the Golden Orchid Empire.
Corvettes (FS): In-system combat craft, being too small to carry an FTL drive. FS carry on the ideals of the Jeune Ecole in the sense of being swarm ships capable of taking down bigger ships by sheer weight of numbers and there being a lot of them to shoot at. The typical FS will generally carry pom-pom railgun. Their small size precludes large missile salvoes, so multiple corvettes must make concerted attacks to maximise missile throw weight. (The Hoou "heavy corvettes" are an exception to the general trend, being essentially DD hulls without the FTL drive.) The IN considers corvettes as area denial warships and as primarily defensive assets, as the lack of FTL drive tethers corvettes to their home systems
Frigates (FF): The smallest FTL-capable combatant. Depending on the class and manufacturer, frigates range in size and weapons fitout from somewhat larger than a corvette to being somewhat smaller than a destroyer. The IN and IRG eschew the use of frigates combat vessels, preferring to instead build destroyers, which are superior in every way except cost (although destroyers are arguably more cost-effective in the long run). The only operators of frigates as combat vessels are the Revenue Service, stingier ducal forces, various PMCs, and pirates. There are frigates in civilian ownership with the appropriate permits filed, but quite frankly, you'd get better bang for your buck with an armed merchantman. (Actually better, given the crazy shit VSS in particular has done.)
Destroyer (DD): The workhorse tin can of the Navy, and the smallest fleet ship used by the IN and IRG. Destroyers are primarily used for scouting, screening and patrol duties. Their smaller size and mass means DDs have the best thrust to mass ratio of a fleet's warships, and their FTL drive recharges faster than heavier ships, allowing them great tactical mobility and the ability to make hit and run harassment attacks. It is not an unusual tactic for DDs to jump after a fleeing force, and transmit back targeting data for the fleet to BVR snipe with railguns.
Light Cruiser (CL): Essentially, a DD writ larger. As a general rule, CLs carry more of the same caliber of weapons as DDS, and use their increased size to also carry more robust datalinking and communication facilities. It's common to see CLs being used as DesRon leaders, or used to replace DDs as screening elements in some fleets; CL FTL drives recharge a little slower than DDs, but still faster than CAs.
Heavy Cruiser (CA): To an extent, a CL writ larger, with a higher tier of weaponry. CAs are considered the IN's baseline for independent operations and ship comparisons: pros or cons of a ship-class are weighed against the CA. They are built to slug it out with lighter combatants, and it is not uncommon to see all-gun CAs in use alongside balanced gun and missile CAs. CAs are maneuverable enough, fast enough, armored enough, and armed enough, making them a jack of all trades capable of taking on most missions.
Battlecruiser (BC): The commerce raider par excellence: it can kill anything that can escape it, and can escape anything that can kill it. BC are somewhat smaller than battleships, and carry BB-tier firepower with CA-tier handling and armor. In fleet actions, BCs support BBs by flanking and fixing enemy forces, allowing the BBs to close in and hammer them. Combined BC/CA groups are a potent force. While less durable than BBs, competently handled BCs have a fighting chance against an equal number of BBs - if the battle does not devolve into a slugging match. The slowdown in naval construction and lack of credible threats means that most battlecruisers in service are on average a century if not older, though all operators have attempted to keep their ships relevant with periodic service life extension programs and extensive system refits.
Battleship (BB): The capship par excellence, BBs are the hardest hitting, toughest ships commonly available in the fleet. They are hoarded zealously by the Great Houses, and even the IN and IRG employ their BBs with an eye to safeguarding them. The slowdown of naval construction and the lack of a peer opponent mean that, as with battlecruisers, most battleships in service are long in the tooth, albeit with periodic refits and SLEP.
Dreadnought (DN): Twice the size of a battleship, hull thick with armor and bristling with weapons, carrying more firepower than an entire BB squadron in a single hull, the dreadnought is the greatest and mightiest warship ever created. The five Takemikazuchi-class dreadnoughts were built for the IRG and IN to utterly dominate any other warship that any of the Great Houses could put to space. Their price tag also utterly dominated any other warship anyone could put to space. DNs are harder, tougher nuts to crack than BBs, but are too valuable to be used without an escort fleet, and require significant logistical support to operate. No dreadnought has ever ventured outside of the Inner Rim.
[X] Staggered Departure, Screening Arrival. Depart as subunits, rendezvous at a rally point, and send the CLs to screen before the task force jumps into Egon.
- Mandat de l'impératrice des Cieux -
As your flagship departs the Capital System, you find yourself subconsciously tensing, waiting for the other shoe to drop, for questions of varying levels of alarm at what you're doing -where are six squadrons of warships going to, what are your intentions, why are you doing such things, Vice Admiral Akasha what are you doing stop now -
Your flagship jumps into hyperspace, and you relax: Daniel's staggered departure plan worked. Once again, you privately thank your lucky stars at your wisdom in choosing him as your Fleet Adjutant; you don't think many other officers, assigned to a fleet whose purpose is to be seen and heard, would have thought of using deception measures for your fleet movements. But he did, and he did his staffwork months ago, so all he had to do was take his plans and scale them as needed to the size of your task force.
So. Phase One of the Egon System Fact-Finding Mission is a go. Task Force Soyeon has successfully departed Jinko-Sei without drawing attention from anybody, including Lady Akagi Sumeragi. Especially Lady Akagi-
"Ohohohoho! What a mighty force, Princess Yui! Pray tell, are you intending to bring some uninhabited system to heel? Truly, the boorishness and waste of the Imperial House knows no bounds! Is this really the extent of stewardship displayed by the Prince of Akasha and his spawn?"
You can't help but shudder in horrified distaste at that mental image, especially when you can see her standing on her bridge wearing a fetching dress that displays her cleavage, flatters her charms, and lets her spread all her fluffy tails-
-while you're following Navy Regulations, and so you're wearing your skinsuit and your tails are vacuum sealed and can't be spread. The ignominy of it all.
You let out a breath, shake your head, and remind yourself that such a terrible scene did not come to pass, thanks to your adjutant. Truly, he's worth his weight in gold.
- 女王之天命 -
The four days you spend in transit to Egon go by in a flash, simply because of how busy you are. Your time is consumed with a detailed review of Daniel's intelligence brief and planning for the approach into the Egon system, along with your actions once you arrive in system and a response to the results of the fact finding. It's with some effort that you manage to squeeze in a working dinner with TF Soyeon's second-in-command.
"Yui, you're cutting things real close, y'know." Rear Admiral Constance Vickers rolls her eyes at you. This level of familiarity would be scandalously improper in public, but some things can be relaxed amongst old friends sharing a private working dinner.
"I've a lot on my plate, Konnie," you say, as you refill her glass. You both take another appreciative sip of the wine she brought; an excellent vintage indeed. "And the Regency Council meeting puts a hard limit on how long I have to spend in Egon."
"Sure, but two days in-system isn't really enough time to get anything done," Konnie points out. "Chances are that you'll head back to the Capital without having achieved much by default. Really not the kind of commitment you needed a heavy task force for."
"Oh?" you ask mildly. "Alright, let's play a bit of Devil's Advocate. Like old times. What would you have gone with?"
"Cruiser task group," says Konnie unhesitatingly. "One heavy cruiser squadron, two light cruiser squadrons, a dozen ships max. Small enough for me to escape notice, but with enough juice to take on pirates and win. Even if they have actual warships, I'd put any one of our cruisers against two of theirs at least, and it's not as if we have dozens of pirate vessels just hanging around looking to pick a fight. We're an IRG RAGTF sans troop transports, they wouldn't fight us for all the gold on Salazar Secundus." She picks up Daniel's intel dossier, waving it at you. "And this? This looks hinky. There's no way any pirate org is this well-equipped. They're cheap bastards. In it for the booty, which they'll take in loot and slaves. Snatch and grab and run, and they build around that."
"Unless they're being sponsored by a third party, or are actually mercs hired for a false flag op," you counter.
"More likely that VSS is slowboating and letting the pirates get away so that they can justify their contract. Say you're the Earl of Egon and you hired me to protect you against pirates. Say I'm crazy motivated, I'm on fire, and I clear all the pirates outta your system in a week tops. Then a week goes by, then another, and another. No pirates in your house for months. You start thinking maybe you don't really need to keep your glorified security guards on retainer to protect you against a threat they've already taken care of…"
"It's a compelling argument," you allow. "If not for Rafidah Aziz-Sumeragi's presence. It does lend credence to the idea of a certain Great House advancing their interests in the region."
"Yes, and what would those be?" asks Konnie. She raises a hand, ticking off points on her fingers. "There's two reasons to perform a land grab for a system equidistant between Sumeragi and Fenghuang space: you either want to use it as a forward staging point for an invasion, or you want to use it as a tripwire against enemy invasion. Militarily, both reasons are irrelevant. Sumeragi can afford tenders if they want to support their fleets, and anyone who would dare fight a Great House has the same capacity. Besides, they've been allied with Fenghuang for the last five centuries - unless something changed while I wasn't looking; like, say, in the last few days or so?"
"If they've broken their alliance, they haven't seen fit to inform me - yet," you affirm with a chuckle. "You're right about Fenghuang, in any case. They've never cared for the throne, though I doubt the Founder - bless Her spirit - quite forgave them their declaring for Sumeragi early in the War."
"And thus did She in all Her divine might smite them both and bring them to heel before Her golden boots and snow-white thigh-highs."
"That too," you say, "and I'll be damned before I think either of them has forgotten." Or forgiven. Far be it from Sumeragi to ever forgive. "Still, the last few Fenghuang Grand Dukes have been distancing themselves from more overt manifestations of Sumeragi's desire from the throne, choosing to focus on enriching themselves instead. I'm reminded of something the current Grand Duke's great-grandfather said: 'It is for the best that we devote our house to the pursuit of wealth, such that we may enjoy pleasurable company, rather than expend our efforts in the vain hope of acquiring an empty prize .' Or something to that effect."
"'Something to that effect?' Forgive me, Your Highness, but please, say that again for these plebeian ears," drawls Konnie airily.
"Fuck bitches, get riches."
Konnie snorts and refills your glasses. "How crude. I like it already."
"Well, there's a reason the newest motto for Shangri-La's sector-wide chain of pleasure palaces is "Heaven is a place on Shangri-La". But with the money they've been rolling in...now, Sumeragi and Hoou are our obvious leaders. Sure. Still, it does seem a bit convenient that a bit of political posturing should totally rule small, hitherto uninvolved Fenghuang out."
"You're saying Sumeragi wants a secure corridor between them, just in case their erstwhile partner isn't telling all in the bedroom."
"Do you think they trust anyone, Konnie?"
"No. But it still seems like a lot of effort for little gain. Not to mention that any conspicuous flare-up between them would attract undue attention to their Great Project." Konnie scrutinises her wine glass. "And we both know what that is."
"Hoou," you reply, taking a sip. "And Hoou's traditionally had little stake outside their own territory, neighbouring systems, and maybe the Salsu Frontier."
"'Maybe'?"
"That's what they told my father."
"Sure. And Eisenwald will stop being the rusty shithole of the galaxy."
"You're from Eisenwald."
"Exactly," says Konnie, rolling her eyes. "So, yeah. Odds of major Sumeragi action? You'd sooner show up at a ball in something that isn't your dress whites. No point land-grabbing out here when there are perfectly good systems in Hoou territory I can use to support a push into their space."
"I thought someone said that you don't need staging systems when you have a fleet of tenders?" you ask dryly, elegantly raising an eyebrow.
"Eh. No such thing as too much logistics," Konnie retorts cheekily.
You snort.
"Point taken." Reaching out, you pat Konnie on the shoulder. "It's always good to pick your brain, you know."
She gives you a dirty look in response.
"Are you kidding? Without me, you'd still be ramming your poor battlecruisers face first into enemy formations."
"And you would have drowned in paperwork long before you made RA."
"Ah, patronage." Your second downs the rest of her glass in one go. "We'll get you for that someday, Yui. The people, too, will rise!"
It must be the alcohol, you think, that you even give Konnie's last statement a second thought. Or maybe it's the job you've been given, its enormous import -to say nothing of the consequences of failure- looming over your every move. You and your little -so it feels to you, certainly- fleet could make or break the future of the Empire. And it all begins here.
But still, what of it?
The Empire did not rise in a morning, nor will one sun's nadir spell its end. If the people must rise, you and those like you must first have failed so utterly as to lose the mandate to lead. If it comes to that, you think traitorously, well - then let fall the Empire!
So decided, you reach one closed fist out.
Konnie doesn't even miss a beat.
- 女王之天命 -
You know what people say about 13th Fleet, how it's just a glorified parade formation, how all your fleet ever does is fly through the Core and posture at the Great Houses. If only they could see your task force now. The 13th Fleet is not just for show.
Given the interstellar distance, staggered departure, and the oblique routes taken to disguise their destination, you'd been prepared to wait a while at the rally point for your task force's components to assemble. Instead, when you arrive, your task force is already assembled and waiting for you, spread out in combat formation, alert and and on guard, smoothly and quickly falling into formation around your flagship. Since you're several hours ahead of schedule, you make a last minute adjustment to your plans, and execute early.
Your three light cruiser squadrons jump into Egon in screening formation, on the very edges of the system, ECM in deception mode, sensors passive, scanning for potential threat. They then do a tactical jump further into the system, within range of Egon's listening posts: first they signal the all clear to your taskforce, and then they drop their ECM and make their presence known. Egon System Traffic Control immediately hails and challenges them, but the Hang Tuah's captain is already playing his role, loudly and publicly proclaiming he's leading an Imperial Navy task group on a Freedom of Navigation exercise, that they don't take their marching orders from Egon STC, that they are on Her Majesty's service and are not to be hindered (and oh, by the way, might they be pointed towards docking berths for a spot of shore leave) -
-and while they're doing all that, the other half of your task force slips into Egon and makes way for your objective.
The asteroid isn't large enough to have a name, only a designation: FC2-PPV-880652. Your ships proceed in combat formation, bearing down on the asteroid while jamming their comms. You're a fox on a mission and you won't be gainsaid. In another deception measure, Konnie's flagship, battlecruiser Kongou, sits at the center of a diamond formation, with her squadron mates flanking her. Battleship Yamato brings up the rear, looking like yet another battlecruiser from a distant first glance.
Unlike some other admirals, or other scions of Great Houses you could name, you have absolutely no problem with sitting back and letting your subordinates take credit and attention, especially when that subordinate is your girl Konnie, your 2IC, your trusted comrade, and also because if the commo transcript leaks, Rear Admiral Constance Vickers is a name that'll draw significantly less attention than Vice Admiral Yui Akasha.
The arms depot's administrator tries to stall her, of course, but Konnie simply verbally plows through her protestations like a battering ram, and pointedly reminds her that she's an Imperial Navy admiral who has a baker's dozen warships watching this asteroid. In short order, shuttles land on FC2-PPV-880652, disgorging boarding teams who fan out to inspect the installation.
Daniel lands with his people and half the IRG intel team in the second wave. Other admirals would have been tempted to follow him and micromanage, but that's not your style. You trust your people to carry out your orders and use their judgement - plus, if you were going to backseat drive his every move, there'd be no point to taking Daniel on as your Equerry. Your instructions to him were simple: "Turn the asteroid upside down, ferret out the truth, and if you need me, call me, but otherwise I trust in your ability to execute my intent."
You're six hours into your neverending mound of electronic paperwork when the bridge notifies you of a secure call, and patches it to your office with your permission. Daniel's face fills the screen, transmitted by a helmet camera. "Admiral."
"Captain. You've found something?"
"Yes ma'am." Daniel backs out of camera view, and gestures, and the cameraman takes a panning look across the warehouse. There's a lot of military grade weaponry there; the arms depot wouldn't look out of place in a Navy garrison. "As we suspected, VSS has been stockpiling weapons. We're still going through the shipping manifests for the full details, but it looks like about 4 months ago they started offloading their civ-grade gear on the locals and brought in a lot of milspec hardware. Anti-ship missiles, countermissiles, DU rounds, the works. They have top-tier milspec ECM suites, Baseline 16."
"We're running Baseline 18, they're only 2 versions behind us," you muse thoughtfully. "And the Fleet standard is Baseline 17…"
"Yes ma'am," says Daniel, stepping back into the camera's view. "They didn't ship in any sensor packages, so either they couldn't get those and are running civvie sensors, or their ships are already equipped with milspec sensors. According to the sign out sheets, they've been drawing ammo like they're on a wartime footing, and it looks like the bulk of their forces are out patrolling aggressively, but the depot administrator refuses to let me see their mission logs to verify weapons usage. She insists that we're not authorised to view their logs, and the only person who can release them to us is her boss."
"Sounds like someone with something to hide."
"I thought so too, ma'am, and that made me wonder if they had permission to bring in all this hardware. So I confronted the depot administrator. She claims that 4th Fleet HQ signed off on that. Well, we've got the digital permits in the computer systems. But the hard copy permits are missing."
"That sounds very convenient for them," you say, frowning. "Computers can be hacked. That's why these sorts of permissions must always be supported with hard copy documentation."
"I made the same point to them. The administrator swears that they have all their paperwork in order, that her clerical staff have just misfiled the paperwork, and things'll be sorted out if we'd just wait and if she can call in the VSS garrison commander to sort things out with us."
"Do you believe her?"
"Given their level of professionalism and record keeping I've seen… I don't think so. They don't look like the sort of fly by night outfit that would lose their paperwork. Is it possible, yes, but is it likely? In my opinion, no, Ma'am. The administrator's ex-Navy, and she runs a tight ship."
"You're sure of that?" you ask, keeping in mind the possibility that Daniel's bias might play a part in his assessment. He's a solid, competent officer, but you're well aware of how he defaults to distrust whenever PMCs enter the picture. The PMC administrator being ex-Navy… well, it's not that surprising: not everybody joins the Navy intending to be a lifer like you or Daddy.
"I'll confirm that once I get back, but yes, I'm sure of it. Her name's Ayako Tomioka."
"Understood. Carry on, Daniel. And good work."
"Thank you, ma'am."
You kill the connection and lean back thoughtfully. Bringing in and using milspec hardware without the appropriate permits… well, they claim they have the appropriate permits, which are now misfiled somewhere. You're well within your rights to seize the contents of that arms depot, but the question is, should you? At first glance, it seems a rather convenient excuse. On the other hand, you've seen just as stupid things happen before, and Daniel admits that the possibility does exist. He obviously doesn't believe them, but his bias could be affecting his judgement. And if it turns out that Tomioka's telling the truth, then you'll have illegally seized VSS's property, and you know that'll get out, and Sumeragi will pounce on that gaffe.
What will you do about VSS's milspec hardware?
[ ] Confiscate VSS's arms. You're not buying their convenient excuse.
[ ] Trust but verify. VSS has 2 days to produce the paperwork, failing which their arms will be seized.
[ ] Leave VSS's arms alone. You've seen stupid things like this happen before.
- 女王之天命 -
Even with your head start, it's still not enough time. You've been in-system for barely more than a day and a half, and you already need to start preparing to head back to Jinko-sei. Still, while your stay has been short, you've learned that:
Daniel has confirmed that VSS has been shippingmilspec weapons in. Until he gets access to VSS's mission logs and can do a complete audit, he can't say for sure where their weapons are going, whether they're being used on actual combat operations, or being sold on the black market. What he can say is that VSS has shipped in more weapons than the arms depot can hold: that's a lot of arms that need to be accounted for.
Ayaka Tomioka was an Imperial Navy logistics officer, who mustered out as a Lieutenant Commander after a 15-year career. No black marks or red flags were found in her Navy file. She is still stonewalling and refuses to release VSS's mission logs to Daniel's intel team without authorisation from her boss, and continues to protest VSS's innocence in this affair.
Despite repeated attempts at contact from FC2-PPV-880652, the local VSS garrison commander, Lee Bashkan, remains incommunicado. Tomioka insists this is unusual and Lee hasn't fled, but the silence is concerning.
While half the IRG intel team is assisting Daniel in auditing the arms depot, the other half have already infiltrated Jesselton City, the Egon system's capital, and are already running intelligence-gathering operations. So far, they've only been able to ascertain the following:
Rafidah Aziz-Sumeragi, Junior Vice-President of Siam Astra Frontier Heavy Industries, and senior cadet branch member of Great House Sumeragi, has spent the last ten weeks in Jesselton, longer than initially thought. She and her staff are operating out of an entire floor of the Renaissance Jesselton Hotel, one of the premier establishments in the city. She has been holding regular meetings with the Earl of Egon and his government at all hours of the day, even into the weekend.
Local RUMINT suggests the Earl of Egon is heavily subsidizing Rafidah Aziz-Sumeragi's stay and rolling out the red carpet for her.
Egon's Minister of Security has been making regular off-book meetings at Ashton's Steakhouse, with Lee Bashkan, VSS garrison commander.
On at least two occasions, the Earl of Egon, Rafidah Aziz-Sumeragi, and Lee Bashkan were all present at the same time in the Istana Negri, the Earl's official residence.
Public opinion believes VSS is defending Egon, which is under siege by pirate hordes. VSS is popular with the locals, and apparently enjoys a cordial working relationship with the miniscule Egon System Defense Force (which consists of several dozen lightly armed customs enforcement cutters and a dozen or so corvettes).
Egon SDF assets are apparently under VSS operational control, which is an unusual situation: the Earl of Egon is VSS' client, but the Earl's forces are effectively acting as VSS's auxiliaries.
You're actually impressed by what they've managed to uncover, though you note the caveat in their report that these details are merely scratching the surface, and lacking in context, and that with more time they can give you a better understanding of what's going on. You appreciate that honesty; context is everything.
Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day. You can't delay your return trip any longer. Before you depart, you have decisions to make.
The obvious option is to return now with all the evidence you've gathered; even if you don't confront Sumeragi right away, you can still lay the groundwork for political maneuvering. On the other hand, context is key, and you don't have enough of it. You could leave Daniel and the intel team behind to continue investigating: a smoking gun would be exponentially more compelling than the circumstantial evidence you have right now. Of course, the downside is you're not sure how long he'd be away from you, and you might have need of him.
What is your intent for Daniel and the IRG intel team?
[ ] Conclude the investigation and return with you.
[ ] Continue the investigation and stay in Egon.
There's also the question of pirate activity in and around Egon. The last 36-odd hours have been quiet, but the girl in the street seems convinced that Egon is under threat. Perhaps it would be a good idea to split Task Force Soyeon, and leave Konnie with a task group in the Egon system for a while to keep an eye on things?
What are your orders for Task Force Soyeon?
[ ] Full pullout. All ships will return to Jinko-sei at once.
[ ] Stay behind force. Konnie's task group will stay and monitor Egon for a few weeks.
Oh wow, you think. Look who's here at nine on the dot.
The front buzzer had foretold their coming, of course, as had the chime of an opened door sans knock or ring their place in your circle of trust. Not lightly did Fleet Admiral Yonatan Chew give out the keys to his private kingdom. But it was the careless double-whump of tails hitting soft leather before your guest's body that gave them away.
"Welcome back, Maggie." you say.
"I'm back," comes the reply. "Still don't want to hear that holo."
"It's relaxing."
And you need relaxing noises in your life right now. Farewell drone-on reports, bad news and the tick-tock, tick-tock of your lifespan melting off from the stress, hello flowing cooking oil, whisked cream and tap, crack, omelette. What do the cool kids call that nowadays?
Eh. Whatever. You can't recall. Nice sounds are nice, and chase away the memory of shitty ones. Good for you, good for me. Oorah, carry on, Fleet Admiral Yonatan Chew - so you do.
"...Johnny."
You glance up past the top of your open kitchen into the living room beyond.
Lo and behold, to the surprise of no one (not that there are people around to be surprised anyway), there lies Amagi Ri-Sumeragi, draped across on your couch, luxurious dark-honey fur panoply of war shifting from side to side. She hooks one long leg into the air, bare but for her definitely-not-Navy-issue black pantyhose, her two long ears tapered just slightly downward as two long lashed royal blue eyes burn through you with her family's patented 'I-do-not-ask-I-demand' look.
And even so, you would have things to say about this, but for the long, plaintive growl that fills the room at that precise moment, somehow managing to drown the blender-whirring sounds coming from your kitchen holodeck.
Somehow, her face doesn't shift an inch.
Bah. Now that wasn't fair. At all. Which demon did these foxes sell their souls to in order to get timing this fortuitous?
You pause the video momentarily.
Also, had you mentioned that she was Sumeragi yet? Sorry, Great House Sumeragi. Not like they ever let anyone forget it, of course. Thank the Founder that ostentation bled out of the gene line if you fell far enough from the main tree. Well, almost: the haori Maggie wore over her navy uniform was still House crimson with black and gold trim. Not the most discrete.
But you'd seen worse from some court peacocks. Way worse.
Back to the delicate task of cutting up enough New Kobe short-rib, sirloin and Black Armand brisket for two, then. And best to check where you had been with that holo. See, ground could be given, but a man couldn't simply surrender the entire battle altogether. Something something, mile and lightyear.
So yes, rewind about thirty seconds back to- ah yes, here.
Beautiful. The sounds of sunflower seeds cracking on a tray as tinkling muzak plays. There could be no better accompaniment to your own work.
"You've listened to the 'Halva Marathon, No Talking' episode of Binging with Babushka a hundred times, Johnny."
Not really. More like seventeen - eighteen if you count this latest time.
She rolls her eyes.
"Ugh. You and your semantics." It doesn't surprise you at this point, but it never fails to make you a bit queasy that they probably get taught to read a thousand words into the least of expressions over on Kagutsuchi. That has to be the only explanation; you can't be that transparent, right? "I mean, this isn't even related to what you're making."
"It's relaxing. And pray tell, Maggie, what am I making?"
The fox doesn't even skip a beat.
"Oh, I don't know. Is it Ramly Burger or Ramly Burger?" Maggie glances at the 'loin, a sly smile forming. "Non-kosher too. You apostate."
In fairness, you probably should've left the apple cider vinegar and ground cinnamon in the cupboard for a while more. Right now all they did was take up space, not to mention give the game away.
"I'm at least two hundred light-years from my nearest blood kin." So saying, you pull the aforementioned section of ex-cow open, cutting out the silver skin; good, good. "God alone is my judge."
"Well, at least this one doesn't have narration."
You can practically hear the shudder in that last word.
"It's called a Slav affect," you insist.
"It's called the sound of Tsuugo dying the death of a thousand mutilated consonants," Maggie scoffs back, having shifted languidly from the couch such that she now has to arch her long, pearl-white neck just to see you. "The 13th Fleet's passing would sound more dignified, even coming from you.
"Hmmm. Wait, it's not being scrapped, is it?" She continues, flicking a hand out as though to banish the idea. "Just reduced. Pun not intended."
You look down at your meat slices, ready to cart off to the fridge for firming. Yeah, no, that was a real bad joke, even coming from someone who-
-hang on just a moment. Where the devil had that one come from? What Sumeragi Sorcery was this? The proposals for that were still sitting in your office holodeck, having come in late this afternoon, waiting for your approval. How in earth had she-
"I got it from you."
"I'm sorry?"
Swinging both legs off the sofa in an arc, Maggie begins to pace around the room in...oh, shit on a cheesecake, you know where this is going.
"Now, I know you're disappointed, ah girl."
Oh, Lord preserve us, she even has the accent down.
"And in your position, I would be too. But we can find a compromise: we'll need most of the larger ships, but you can pick a pared down command to keep...and in other news, I should back your father up a bit. So, are you still keeping every third noble boy in the realm hanging, or have you decided on one to torment for a while?"
Maggie gives you a beatific smile as she finishes her recitation. No, you're not cringing inside as you close the freezer door.
"A wonderful script. If you could ever stick to them...and listen to this: Have you looked at me? No looks, no riches. Hell, even I don't want me, so I totally get why I'm unmarried." The fox-lady sashays over, placing both elbows on your tabletop, her eyes shining expectant. "Ah, what would little Yui think? Her second father, in naught but a loose bathrobe, rehearsing his lines so he doesn't get caught lying to her through his teeth!"
Okay. That was too far. Time to lay the law -and the accoutrements- down on the table.
After you start heating up the oil fryer and frying pan, of course.
"First," you begin, tomato in hand, "stop with the 'little'. You're barely five years her senior. Second, we were in private, and that was my best bathrobe." You put extra emphasis on the word private. That means much, in lieu of what you- well, that's complicated. Complicated bad, simple good, simple with open-ended reading best. "Third, your silks are getting dirty."
"Please. We all get our hands dirty." Never mind, you take that one back. Turnabout sucks ass so serious that even the most effortlessly graceful of brow-arches can't make you feel better about it. "And please. You could never do any of your subordinates dirty. Much less that hatchling Masatada-san dropped on your doorstep for you to forge into a model soldier. You were always going to compromise with Yui, Johnny, early morning speech therapy or not."
"Oh come on," you groan. "Seriously, who told me that mystique comes with the rank?"
"Not I, honored lord." Taking her hands off the table, Maggie glides around the table and past you. Going for the snack cabinet, no doubt. You'd never say this out loud, but hot damn Great House genetics always made you jealous. "And tell me, is this how you bribed the poor, hungry girl after a miserable day at court? With food?"
"We reminisced over MREs."
There is a rummaging sound from behind you.
"Good heavens, and I didn't think things could get worse for Yui."
"Newsflash, Captain, 'Yui' outranks you," you point out.
Something is dunked onto the far end of the table, as if in reply. Whatever. You have accoutrements to slice up, and a good military diet to be on, one that most certainly does not include a reliance on the privilege of your birth to not balloon from the excess of your...excess.
You're three quarters through the onions by the time she says anything else.
"And does the Vice Admiral, the Royal Princess, the former Vicerine-Elect Yui Akasha get to eat at your table, o chef mine?"
"She used to help when her family came over," you retort. Unlike some layabout. You won't mention names of course. Officer and a gentleman and everything. "Now if you want to be helpful, you could help with the-"
The board that enters your field of view is a legitimate miracle. And you're not just talking about the way the Pallas Pipers are perfectly skinned, or sliced to thickness you'd need to put under a microscope to prove they weren't equal. No, it's the dainty hand -you could barely tell that they were a soldier's hands, though they most certainly were- that holds the board, and the golden sticks of starch laid out luxuriantly upon them.
Also, oh shit, had you even heard her cutting? Fucking Sumeragis.
"You know, you don't have to bring your work home," you say, quietly.
That earns you a huff.
"Nonsense, Johnny. You love having me as your 'everything officer'."
"That's not al-"
Maggie leans forward, putting a finger to your lips. You don't miss how her other hand reaches for the holo volume control, but damn if that isn't even the last thing going through your head right now.
...Fucking Sumeragis.
"Now don't be droll. I have naught but many talents, and I shall use them at my pleasure."
Yes she does, you think, and she does.
"Thanks," you say at last.
"You're welcome," she replies, "though I must warn you, my skills in this section of 'everything' are not House-approved."
"I...respectfully disagree with their assessment."
"Wonderful. So do I. I'll get the Worcestershire and the Biryani masala ready."
So saying, the woman who's shared your home for almost a year now removes to your side, a little further than elbow distance away, and continues her work.
The two of you settle in to a comfortable rhythm, in equally comfortable silence. You look Maggie's way from time to time. Progress checks, of course. Not to mention making sure the side effects of whatever she's hopped up on aren't triggering yet.
It's a real shame, you think. You could get used to this. Really.
But you won't - because if things comes down to a head someday; you know, just if…?
You're going to have to make sure you can still shoot first.
