Faction Brothers of the Southern Outer Rim

[Orask Terrano]

Deep in the stretches of the Southern Outer Rim was the Crossroads Republic and its capital, the moon of Crossroads Prime was a hub of economic shipping traffic and was heavily-patrolled by powerful warships, guarding the heavily-shielded world and its network of skyhooks linked to the heavy-gravity moon. The traffic of massive superfreighters and passenger shuttles moving to and from the thirty-two colonized Crossroads moons made traffic rather dense, and in some places it was dangerous. This danger came from the fact that there were always sectors of space around the Crossroads Republic where its ships were engaged in mock battles of varying sizes, ranging from squadron-sized engagements of starfighters, bombers, or recon craft, to entire fleet elements. These ships Crossroads Republic Fleet were always marked with holographic stripes of red or blue, and firing training rounds of red or blue, not their normal live rounds, which were always yellow. Other ships, civilian ones, were usually following and observing, broadcasting these engagements as live sporting events. In fact, in the Crossroads Republic, Red and Blue Forces were cultural items, with T-Shirts, Hats, and other merchandise worn frequently.

On the moons such as Crossroads Prime these exercises extended into ground battles as well. Large formations of both infantry and armor and supporting air assets of the Crossroads Republic Army were perpetually-engaged in simulated battles, this time including a third force, Green Force, another heavily-marketed subentity. Their position as guerillas whose ranks were mostly filled by students, with off-duty troops and some offworlders filling in the rest of their ranks for either training or for pure sport, despite the fact EVERYTHING the Crossroads Republic Armed Forces did has a militarily-beneficial reason. Even their massive spread of colonies and unique presence of two dozen refugee colonies were present for military reasons. The extent of their importance was summed up in some boring military and governmental documents gathering dust somewhere in the archives of each of their academies and in the official government archives.

This logical outlook was ruthlessly applied to all things by the leadership, particularly by Crossroads Republic Prime Minister Orask Terrano as he sat in the office of his estate outside the capital city of New Hosnia, a city crawling with bureaucrats, military officers in dress uniform, senators, their staffs, lobbyists, and corporate executives who were always looking to get a piece of the massive government budget for new or renewed contracts. Today he was having a meeting, a meeting he hoped would spur the Crossroads Republic to new heights of prestige and power, and help them take their place as leaders of the Southern Outer Rim. He sat waiting, nursing a fine crystal glass of fine bourbon, grown locally on a moon whose name he'd forgotten, for they had oh-so-many of them. In fact he could see one of them now, Crossroads-2 and Crossroads-3, or better known by their local names of Delfino and Pianta, rather uniquely paired and in their period of close orbit with Crossroads Prime around the large greenish-blue gas giant Crossroads.

--- Mya Jesel ---

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

Mya and the other delegates from the Rimward Trade League followed their escort to the council room, many of them still assessing their datapads to refresh themselves on what exactly they needed. Part of the problem was their needs weren't strictly military. They didn't have the money or resources to spend on a military fleet and then their main fleet, and under no conditions did the Charter allow them to use military forces as law enforcement.

Planets could spend all they wanted on their defense fleets with the knowledge that they could be called up in times of war, but for their day to day work, they needed ships that could fulfill multiple roles and easily be adapted to routine duties. They had seen many of the vessels on their approach through the strikingly moon heavy system (one of the few she'd been to that had more moons than Susefvi). The choices and amounts were intense, but also a bit concerning.

The last time they had done something like this had been with the system of Illyria, ruled by a king, rumored to be a Sith, and he had wanted special treatment outside the framework permitted by the charter. But they had resolved that and sealed the deal. Now, seeing this Crossroads, she had that same feeling of trepidation again.

If there was anything she had learned in her tenure over the past few terms as Susefvi President, it was that nothing made people feel entitled to whatever they wanted than military strength. And these people seemed to have their entire society focused around it, and not in the same way as Aresenae, with its ancient warrior culture and rules of honor. No, this was, from what she had seen, a more scientific, calculated form of warfare.

Almost Imperial in its obsession. They would be dangerous to have rocking around the Outer Rim, especially if they felt their military strength entitled them to a position of privilege. She would have to be cautious. Play hardball if she had to. Make no concessions as part of the deal except credits for the contracts. But not too hard-ball.

Always that impossible balance to keep. It was the nature of politics. For a moment, she missed the old days when she was able to settle arguments with her fists and a broken beer bottle on the docks, but she had been young and stupid then, nearly twenty years back.

The door swung open and they filed in, taking their seats at the conference table and setting their datapads on the table. With her were a few more diplomats interested in making deals on behalf of their own planetary defense forces, two consultants from both the Merchant-Marine and the Rescue Service, and some aids to help keep all the details straight and review the fine print.

 

[Orask Terrano]

Orask saw the group enter, and stood up as protocol dictated and came out from behind his carved Wroshyr wood desk, leaving his cup on the coaster on it to protect the highly-varnished wood surface. He'd memorized whatever he could about the woman he was meeting with, and knew enough to treat her like an equal. She represented a key group of potential allies that Crossroads would certainly need in the future if they wished to ward off the advances of more powerful governments.

"Madam President, welcome to Crossroads Prime, it's a pleasure to host this meeting, the first of many I hope," the older man said and held out his hand in greeting, "I hope our gravity isn't too uncomfortable for you?" he said in reference to the 2.8G of Crossroads Prime, the key factor of why their people were as strong and independent as they were.

--- Mya Jesel ---

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

Mya shook the other man's hand before moving to her own seat as the others filed through with their own respects and taking their seats. When it was all done and proper, she took her own seat.

"Thank you, Prime Minister. Your welcome is more than generous. " She considered the question about the gravity." Mya responded. "It reminds me of when I was young and used to scoop gases out of Susefvi. It is not uncomfortable, but thank you for your consideration."

She set a collection of datapads on the table in front of her and arranged them appropriately in the order of what they needed and their highest priorities. .

"You have quite the military built up here," she said. "Those were some skilled maneuvers I saw on my way through the system. I understand you're looking to make deals with the other governments in the Outer Rim?"

 

[Orask Terrano]

Orask took his seat with a smile as some of the camera droids in the room took their pictures of the handshake for the sake of the news media and the government's own Holonet broadcasts later on. Although this summit was not being broadcast. Orask liked to get the measure of the people he was speaking to so that, in the event negotiations didn't go his own way, they weren't broadcast for his political opponents to potentially exploit in the next election. And it wasn't like he could just sick his personal security detail on them. Although if needed they would certainly draw blood to protect the Prime Minister here, where they were standing around the edges of the room clothed in their usual black civilian suits, blaster pistols in chest holsters beneath the fine uniformly black cloth, and their eyes carefully analyzing the room and their guests, listening the comms piece in their right ears. Each was a former Tier-1 Special Forces operator, the best of the best, although here they were far more cleaned up than they were back in their rough-and-tumble special forces days, when thick scuffy beards and visible tattoos were all the rage amongst that select club. But many still retained a clean beard, and a few had tattoos visible on their necks below their collars.

Still, even with the cameras, the security, and the strangers, Orask had a good feeling about this, he knew that the people he was speaking to were sincere, and very much in the market for solid warships, and the sale of warships would certainly create jobs, but more importantly, it created friends, and in these days, the Outer Rim needed to be friendly with itself. So he prepared his carefully-prepared opening remarks to set the stage of this meeting. He had a staff who did this for him, but he took personal interest in negotiations and often wrote these himself, only using his speech writers for grammar checks and fact checks.

"I suppose that is no secret these days Madam President," Orask replied, "Our military strength, while powerful and effective in deterring peer opponents, is not nearly as effective in securing friendships with our fellow Outer Rim governments, especially in these trying times when there are superpowers carving up the galaxy and carving up each other. So, I feel it necessary for the Crossroads Republic to finally step out onto the diplomatic field of the Outer Rim and reach out to our brothers and sisters and provide them whatever help that they might require, whether that's simple trade agreements or something more substantial, such as the, hopefully, large arms deal which we are here to discuss. These agreements may one day lead to alliance, and an alliance can certainly benefit all of us."

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

There it was. The speech. She always worried about those and when they might show up. That usually meant there was an angle being played of some sort, at least politically, compared to what the stated goal might have been. Her own speech was primarily based on what they needed and didn't stray beyond that. But, if Terrano was already looking to lay groundwork for an alliance, she could work with that.

The Outer Rim needed to be united. Not necessarily under a single government, but in vision and goals, as well as a method for achieving these things. Essentially, an Outer Rim coalition or an Outer Planet's alliance. One more structured than the originals of the other two had been, most likely. Something that created a sense of unity and purpose. Those were what brought people together at their best. Also, however, at their worst. This was something that she had seen on multiple occasions.

"Thank you, Prime Minister," she answered. "And recent history has certainly shown the relative rarity of system-level peer to peer conflicts. And even the strongest system fleets have shown themselves to be outmatched by the great powers of the galaxy who can deploy hundreds of capital ships to a battle while still possessing thousands more."

She considered her next words carefully.

"We are glad to form bonds of friendship through commerce, through trade deals, and through aiding our fellow Outer Rim governments with what they need. Only when we act together in pursuit of a shared vision and shared bonds can we forge a stronger, healthier, more just society. And tragically, we live in an age where such visions are only viable with a vigorous defense."

 

[Orask Terrano]

Mya Jesel

"Indeed," Orask said, reading between he lines to see that she was open to possible alliance, the perfect response as far as he was concerned, "As of now you may find the Crossroads Republic all-too capable of mounting such a defense, the fleet elements you saw on your way in are a mere token of our strength, and they are fine examples of our shipbuilding prowess," he smoothly began to move the conversation to the crux of the meeting's purpose, the purchase of warships for the Rimward Trade Union's member states, "I assume you found the ships of our Fleet to your liking?"

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

"We are certainly impressed," Mya agreed, spreading her hands out to include the parties at the table. "We have representatives from Susefvi, Svivren, and Sevarcos with us, as well as representatives from the Merchant-Marine and Rescue Service interested in getting a better understanding of these vessel's capabilities and functions."

She interlaced her fingers as she spoke. "As you are aware, the Rescue Service has a broad multi-role directive for their activities across the entirety of the southern Outer Rim. With that, we've found that purely military vessels are often inadequate for our purposes. However, the system defense fleets are not required to fulfill the same sort of mission parameters. We've found it more efficient in terms of budgetary concerns to keep that split. However, the Service does require some mainline combat ships, and with its engineers and naval architects busy with designing the first line of specially designed ships, the best option is to purchase those."

The series of datapads activated in sync. "While we have some information that was publically available, we wanted to describe our needs and get your assessment of which your vessels best fit those needs."

She shifted through them. "The two main divisions are long-range independent cruising vessels capable of long-term solo operations with modularity and adaptability for a variety of missions and then heavier, frontline combat vessels that can serve as a primarily defensive fleet for planets and installations."

 

[Orask Terrano]

Orask nodded, and gave a hum of thought as he listened and then leaned forward.

"It sounds as though you may end up like two of our ships, the Repulse-Class Attack Battleship," he said and tapped a control on a datapad to his left and up came the holographic image of the boxy 2,000 meter-long warship bristling with weaponry with a relatively-hidden hangar bay on the ventral side and no visible bridge or major exposed systems to target, "and...let's see..." he shuffled through the datapads until he pulled out another one he was looking for, "The Monitor-Class Cruiser," he tapped the control pad again and next to the much larger Repulse came its visually-similar sister ship, "Both are very capable combatants and are very flexible."

Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

Mya and the others considered the data, inspecting the ship specifications and their designs while talking softly between themselves as they compared their assessments. Mya leaned back and listened to what the others saying, pointing out weaknesses and strengths in the different designs, as well if the member system's resources were up to the task of crewing and utilizing these ships.

She remained quiet as the others discussed the technical aspects. While her early years had all been shipboard, none had been on warships. She had been a freight hauler and gas miner. And as she had shifted into politics, she had kept in touch with the regulations and safety requirements for civilian vessels. Others would handle the military side of things.

Eventually, the consensus came back with nods.

Mya returned the nod and returned to Orask. "Those seem fully capable of meeting our needs. Thank you for suggesting them. What other information on them do you think would be pertinent? And what sort of agreement would you require to sell them?"

 

[Orask Terrano]

Orask smiled inwardly, knowing he could pull this sale off with little difficulty so long as the price could be agreed-upon.

“Well, the Crossroads Defense Industries would like to include a training regimen for your prospective crews,” Orask replied, “It wouldn’t be very good for potential sales if our ships were made to look bad due to user error. We’d like to make sure your crews can use them to their fullest potential.”

Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

Mya nodded as he spoke, considering. That was reasonable. Ships were very unique when it came to systems and how to manage, especially when built across different systems and cultures.

“That is certainly reasonable,” Mya agreed. “All ships, and especially warships, are very technical pieces of equipment after all. We can easily arrange to include a sufficient training school for all crews set to be assigned to these.”

 

[Orask Terrano]

“We can do one better,” Orask said with a smile, “Combat training, in battlefield conditions, plus, places at our officers academies for individuals you’ve selected for such training.”

Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Mya nodded as she added notes to the datapad, considering the implications and logistical issues that such a proposal raised. It was certainly useful and would boost the speed that the crews could reach in-action proficiency with real-world equivalent experience. Who would they need for those to begin? Training instructors and officers, definitely. Who though? Well, that was something for a different day and a different office to work out. It would be their best though, with the highest teaching potential.

"That would be very helpful, yes," Mya agreed. "We can certainly arrange for that. It would be very helpful to more efficiently bring the crews and personnel up to speed with new equipment."

Orask Terrano

 

[Orask Terrano]

“We can accelerate the process if you wish, we have several older ships from our reserve fleet being rotated into service. They are all refitted to the main-line standards detailed before you,” Orask explained, detailing a policy of their fleet’s.

It was simple, the Crossroads Republic Fleet had orderer and its shipyards had built enough ships to have reserve hulls available at all times and regularly cycled them into frontline units and cycled the active ships they replaced to reserves for comprehensive refits and overhauls. This meant that there was always a pool of warships ready to be brought forward to make sure maintenance was always done properly or for emergency mobilization, which was a policy Crossroads had mastered thanks to not having any of its ships or citizens out of reach.

“We can offer several of our reserve ships to your people for on-the-job training with some of our crews, and when they are ready we can easily fold them into our Eighth Centennial War Games which begin in a few months,” Orask explained the process he had in mind, “And we can do this for any of our ships, you see our whole fleet is designed to operate together in a cohesive unit able to shore up one another’s weaknesses, and have the slipways to spare so that your orders, for all ships, are completed in a timely manner. And when our own fleet embarks on its modernization program we can leave an option to the contract if you wish to upgrade your order from Block I to Block II variants,” Orask said, purposely leaving that question open-ended, hoping to entice her into asking for more information.

Mya Jesel

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

“Rotating out hulls?” That was a possibility that intrigued her. It was a simple enough idea and solved many of needs easily enough. And while it wasn’t one that she had seen the old Alliance or Coalition do, she made a note to examine the feasibility of it for the Rescue Service and other defense ships. “That seems like an excellent plan as a way of making sure the crews are ready by the time the main ships are prepared, and war games will be of great value.”

She made a few extra notes and considered, considering what he said about how the fleet was designed, and the possibility of the upgrades. “With how you designed the fleet, what is the ideal composition that your engineers had in mind for active deployment? As well as the differences between the two blocks?”

She knew it was a loaded question, a way to expand the possible sale beyond their primary needs, but she took it anyway. Ships were ships, after all.

 

[Orask Terrano]

"Well, I'll start with the first part of the question: Our fleet's primary strategic formations are built around our carriers, the Illustrious-Class, and with our new longer-ranging offensive doctrines we intend to up the ante to build our strategic fleet formations around the Courageous-Class in conjunction with the Illustrious-Class. They are always escorted and supported by a mix of Repulse-Class Battleships, Monitor-Class Cruisers, and Archer-Class Frigates. There's a large number of new ships, Hawkbill-Class Heavy Corvettes, acting as a screening ship and fleet scout. Locally we plan to utilize our Trident-Class Light Corvettes as they come online. Both of the two corvette classes are cheap and easy to build, we have hundreds under construction," Orask informed her, being somewhat vague for security purposes of course, "Tactically, it is our battleships we lean on. They are usually screened by cruisers, and like the Courageous we have a powerful new class of large battleship under construction, the Vanguard-Class, which will anchor a battle line in combat."

He then pulled up the Block-II variant schematics and then took a drink of water, giving himself a moment.

"Now, for the Block-II ships. The Block-II variants are basically much more heavily-armed versions of the previous ships with improved sensors, fire control, and shields, bringing our fleet up to modern specs in that regard. But it is the armament that sets them apart. With the previous Block-I ships they relied heavily on proton cannon-based weaponry, leaving little to no room for them to operate for an extended period away from home without substantial logistics. The new ships use an Umbaran-sourced electromagnetic proton cannon styled main armament, and the Vanguard and Block-II Repulse-Class have a bow-mounted Velmorite Crystal-powered reactor powering a composite beam laser in the bow. All these new weapons allow the ships to be up-gunned with additional flak turrets, newer, faster-firing ones, and three types of missiles. The heavier cannons were specifically-designed to engage with railgun-armed capital ships, providing a stand-off distance for our fleets. I know it's a lot to take in, but it is quite an improvement nonetheless," Orask just chuckled.

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

Mya's fingers were busy jotting down notes on the datapad as Orask spoke, describing how the fleets operated and functioned. Carrier-based with strong battleship support. She ran a quick assessment through the other major fleets she was aware of. Most tended to have something of the same strategy, to one degree or another, although she wasn't sure if Imperial Star Destroyers were considered battleships or carriers. They functioned as both more often than not.

"Carrier-based battle groups and task forces are seemingly a more prevalent form of naval doctrine," Mya agreed, as she tried to gauge how many more ships such a buildup would require. More than she was permitted to negotiate for at this point, certainly. "Though the versatility of corvettes is extremely helpful, and their multitude can make them very cost-efficient."

It took her a few moments of consideration as she listened to the part about the new weapons upgrades. Many of them were systems she was only vaguely familiar with, but she was able to get the gist of the situation. "Those are some highly unusual weapon systems. How effective have they proven to be?"

 

[Orask Terrano]

"They're brand new, they haven't been utilized outside of weapons tests and live-fire exercises, but we've seen our electromagnetic plasma cannons have been every bit as effective as railguns, but we have the added advantage of not worrying about ammunition," Orask explained, "We're able to slug it out with great ease with any warships of our size, in some cases in simulation we've been able to fight with super star destroyers and hold our ground."

 

[Mya Jesel]

Orask Terrano

Mya leaned back as she considered the implications of what that said. Simulations, she was deeply suspicious of, out of habit and practice. Their accuracy depended on the knowledge of the programmers and if there was anything the world had taught her, it was that there was always at least three unknown variables operating on a situation.

However, not needed ammunition dramatically saved on cost over the long run. Risk and reward. The ultimate and fundamental decision of war, commerce, politics, and life itself.

"The cost-effectiveness of not needing to rely on ammunition is very appealing," Mya admitted. "But I am more hesitant to commit to technology that has not yet been proven in the field. Once there's some hard data in real circumstances, we would be happy to look into further purchases of the upgrades, but I am not convinced I can persuade the rest of the Council to approve funds."