Fwurg

[Mercury]

Slowly but certainly, various ships and fleets were gathering in Sector 13 -5. The Union fleets were not there in full force yet, arriving in 216 once the piracy patrols had been taken over, but individual units and various capital ships had already arrived in the area. Moreover, various member worlds had already sent elite operatives, units and ships to participate in the exercise.

The exercise itself would comprise of two parts, a deep space battle simulations and a system defence and orbital deployment exercise. Inspectors were busy to check to make sure weapons were correctly configured to allow "hits" to be registered without needing to actually fire any weapons, that troops were assigned to the correct teams and that officers knew who they'd be answering to.

((OOC: This topic also functions as a forum event! You can earn by describing participating units and forces from your world. You must submit your entry before the end of Turn 216 (i.e. 26 July).

Special note: though there are "armies" and "fleets" in the rules, it is not required to have these to participate, as all nations are considered to have troops of one type or another, even if not enough to form the galactic sized armies and fleets that are modelled by the rules entities.))

[Senator Odakim V of the Rising Suns of Deominius]

The Rising Suns of Deominius was present with a large Deominian carrier, from which a swarm of smaller ships could be launched. It would participate in the deep space battle simulation and test various swarming tactics.

[Teprogrenaian Consensus]

The Teprogrenaian Consensus joins with a Futui-Class star destroyer for the deep space training and simulation. With its side ship-to-ship cannons it is meant to be a menace at broadside combat while being supported by multiple squadrons of fighters and bombers.

[Praetorian Empire]

The Praetorian Empire has continued to improve their cruisers and star destroyers after the Mandalorian war. As we speak multiple cruisers are taking off from the Praetorian shipyards after recent modifications. The Praetorian Empire claims that they have increased the accuracy of the scanning arrays on the cruisers by 40% due to new developments in scanning technology.





Multiple units of the Praetorian Primary fleet are arriving long before the start of the fleet exercise. They are joined and supported by squads of the Omnipotari Security Forces and assisted by multiple ships of the Exploratores for reconnaissance.

The remainder of the Praetorian Primary fleet is preparing to travel to 11 -6 to handle the piracy patrol in this region.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

The battlegroups from the Veolian Commonwealth arrived in an timely, if somewhat chaotic fashion. It was clear that while all the necessary communications were made by the Veolian embassy as if a single delegation would be sent, the separate houses had their own ideas about when they would send their battlegroups.

The first battlegroup to arrive is the first carrier battlegroup from the First Shebi Fleet. The battlegroup is built around the Ready in Eight Directions, its two cruiser escorts are Persistent Hornet and Thoughtful Gift. The carrier carries eight wings of advanced fighters, each wing is named after a direction: Left Wing, Right Wing, Up Wing, Down Wing, Fore Wing, Back Wing, Ana Wing, Kata Wing. The group is further complemented with a wing of combat repair and salvage vessels called Craftsman Needs no Tools, normally shortened to just 'Craftsman'.

Second to arrive is the Rain of Feathered Death's battlegroup from the Veolian Imperial Fleet. The Rain of Feathered Death is a long-range battlecruiser. Together with it's two sister vessels, the Accuracy Without Distance and There is no Wind, it forms the core of the battlegroup. It normally combines forces with two or more of the imperial fleet's heavy artillery squadrons to zone of volumes of space and provide swarm control. But even without the additional support the battlegroup is capable of operating independently for extended periods of time. Six escort frigates provide medium-range defences and the battlecruisers each carry a full complement of 4 fighter wings and 2 bomber wings.

The last veolian battlegroup to arrive is house Khaw's defensive frigate group. The group is built around the cruisers Fivefold Bulwark, Dipping Swallow and Unhesitating Dedication. Six support frigates complete the group. The three cruisers are built as defensive vessels, what they lack in fire power they make up in defences and shield generation. Strong manoeuvring thrusters allow them to angle themselves into an attack. While fully capable of operating in space, every vessel in this battlegroup is capable of atmospheric operations. The cruiser's extensive shield generators allow projection of shields that extend beyond cruiser's bodies, making them ideal protectors of cities and other planet-side targets capable of withstanding severe orbital bombardment. The frigates can double as massive evacuation vessels, and can reroute all weapons-system power to a grid of tractor beams to airlift objects up to their own weight.

Together with the three battlegroups, the Veolians sent a specialist infantry unit based on experimental insights from the Mandalorian Design Patterns technology. The unit, called the Kreehawk Company, totals 200 soldiers and 20 engineers from the Sun'ya-ji Aerial Infantry sponsored by House Dewa. The group is equipped with heavily armoured exosuits that form a fully closed system. The suit's thrusters are integrated, removing the need for bulky jetpacks but having the drawback of not allowing easy replacement of fuel. Instead, the suits have integrated power storage that needs to be charged at dedicated stations. Several other technological advances are built into the suits, allowing for an independent operational period of 36 hours.

Bringing several new weapon systems with them, the Kreehawk Company seems to be showcasing the next generation of veolian infantry equipment. Interestingly, the suits have been designed for a more generic humanoid build than normal veolian armour, which is designed specifically for veolian physiology. Unfortunately, the Kreehawk Company's equipment is largely experimental. It has already passed all necessary laboratory and field tests, but it has not yet been tested in such realistic scenario's. Rumour has it that house Dewa, as well as other houses, seek to improve the operational range of their infantry. Equipment of this quality level would be a large step in that direction for the commonwealth, if not the Union.


The battlegroups and infantry are accompanied by a small delegation of military commanders, specialists and observers. Notable individuals in the delegation are:

• Imperial Prince Saret Kamurin, the ninth son of the emperor. It is well-known that he strongly dislikes the veolian senator Nehket Aeka. Rumour has it that this is because he was thrown into a pond by her some 330 years ago, apparently in a dispute over the affections of a servant girl. The rumour was strengthened by the fact no members of house Nehket were invited as guests at his first wedding.
  
• Imperial Princess Saret Lirosa, daughter of Saret Ilius and Saret Taihira. She normally shows great interest in other Union cultures, and spoke at length with Shadow of War when he visited the Veolian Commonwealth. She has repeatedly petitioned her father for permission to travel the worlds of the Union, but has not been succesful yet.
  
• Lady Iaat Shigemi, a human, field marshal in the house militia of house Iaat, member of the board of directors of the Djana Military Research Centre. She is an adopted daughter of the previous leader of House Iaat, one of the few non-veolian nobles in the Veolian Commonwealth, and the first non-hemet Field Marshall of the Iaat house militia.
  
• Duchess Shebi Sundara, air commodore of the Shebi Vyuha Legion. Shebi Sundara is a vocal opponent of house Iaat's appointment as custodians of the territories in which the Djana military Research Centre lies. She also advocates forceful conquest as the best way in most conflicts, whether personal, political or military.
  
• Lady Khaw Rohana, elder of house Khaw. She is one of the oldest living hemet veolians, having seen three millennia pass by. There are rumours stating that Khaw Rohana was a member of the Damana death squad during the aftershock wars.
  
• Lector Rananti Yukti, tenured member of the staff of the Crimson Academy. An expert in space battles, Rananti Yukti has trained several well-known commanders of the commonwealth. Among his list of pupils one can find fleet admiral Saman Machal, commander of the veolian imperial fleet, and Shebi Ajava, knight of the Union.

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

The Astrian Colonial Authority arrived slightly delayed, but still was more then timely. The Colonial Navy sent a single battlegroup. Which was likely to be all they could spare as most of their fleets where still undergoing refitting. A contingent from the Marines was also expected.

As expected of a military they arrived at the second they where scheduled to arrive.



Three Arch Devil class cruisers dropped out of hyperspace in sequence. A handful of small corvettes followed soon after. Arch Devil class cruisers were the largest ships in the ACNs arsenal. At a little over 3500 metres in length and with a mass of nearly 250 million metric tonnes each, they where still a formidable force despite their low numbers. Astrian cruisers were rarely seen, likely because their size made them expensive to field. Because Astrian shield technology was weaker then that of most worlds they backed their shields up with special armour. Each cruiser could launch half a dozen fighter squadrons, but with only three fighter per squadron they relied more on point-defence.

The Kiyohime no Kiba was the first to arrive under the command of Lady-Admiral Natsume Kruga, who also had command of the rest of the battlegroup. Unsurprising considering the fact she was also the second in command of the Astrian Colonial Navy First Fleet.

Second to show up was the Tamamo which had just finished its refit before departing the Novalia System.

Last was the Heart of Darkness, commanded by Lord-Rear Admiral Hannes Lamires. He was considered somewhat of a hero in the ACN for he had rammed his ship straight into an enemy vessel to save a heavily damaged ACN destroyer, which managed to get away from the front lines thanks to him.

As expected the Astrian Colonial Marines had sent two full regiments. Both regiments where from the Astrian Colonial Marines First Army. The first regiment was composed of two battalions of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, the ACM Special Forces, and eight battalions of mechanized infantry. The second regiment had one battalion of ODSTs, three battalions of regular Marines and six battalions of heavy artillery. With the ACM First Army not having been battle tested after the reorganisation they were undoubtedly eager to prove their capability.

Additionally to the military a delegation of strategists, officers and observers also accompanied the larger assets, most notably:

• Lady-Fleet Admiral Lythia Nethorius, commander of the Astrian Colonial Military.
• Yukari Natashima, a member of the Masters Board.
• Lord-Colonel Charles Adorna, the second in command of the Partesia Crater Research Base.

[Sundarian Federation]

The Sundarian delegation sent to partake in the Union wide fleet exercises was a modest, yet not unimportant one. Least of all for the crews onboard, as it provides a valuable opportunity to get some first hand experience and further the training of new cadets and officers.

Most of the survey fleet Edge of Darkness, build around the larger survey vessel the Aurora and the Pulsar was present to both actively partake in the exercise and to offer officials and representatives a way to follow and monitor the exercises in great detail thanks to the advances monitoring arrays on board.

Two full squadrons of space capable fighters from the Glasslyn defense Reserves were also present to train new cadets and further training of their officers in the defensive tactics.

Lastly a delegation of strategists, officers and observers also joined, most notably:

• Captain Joyce Andrasto, of the Sundarian Intelligence office
• Flight Commander Atzo "Ace" Cedri, commanding officer of the Glasslyn defense Reserve's arial branch
• Marquis Leandres Lafrioye è Koniova, as representative of the Sundarian cabinet and senate

[Mercury]

((OOC: Somewhat belatedly, I am closing this event. Once a story page has been completed, shall be granted!))

[Veolian Commonwealth]

((OOC: Lo and behold, the 13 -5 Fleet Exercise story page. I have added references to the Senate thread as well. (And an explanation of the name :P)))

[Mercury]

((OOC: I have granted 2 to every participating world and one additional to the Praetorian Empire and the Veolian Commonwealth for making their fleets available. I considered if this should be rewarded or not since not every nation has a fleet, and there is no formal cost (due to subsidies), but decided that this was appropriate since it makes sense that making a fleet available for the greater good garners goodwill and influence.))