Mind the Mines[Faction]

[Alva Calvarona]

[member="Mason Deschart"]

Once again. . . .once again quite boringly Alva found herself waiting on the arrival of the Imperial Admiral to make his appearance. Once again because they were planning to develop equipment for the Remnant's use and actually for the defense of Crina as well, a definite bonus this time in the young Princess's eyes. It may be the Capital for the Imperials now, but it was still her homeworld and still belonged to the people and Royal Family of Crina. She wanted it safe from invasion, something she wished it could have had before the Civil War and the inevitable conquest by the Imperials to end it.

This wasn't something too serious and brilliant, but it was still an intelligent move. In the end it would depend upon the level of work the Admiral was willing to help her put into the development of the project. That being a defensive perimeter to both severely damage enemy forces attempting to ever approach Crina as well as provide its defenders with ample warning of the incoming threat.

The Imperial analysts and Crinan engineers had been hard at work delving into the technology of gravity well generators, something the Empire had used to great effect on several stations and warships. Alva felt now they had a concept in mind to create a means to use such technology in the Luminita System to ensure Crina's protection.

 

[Mr. OOC]

Mason made his way through the halls to yet another meeting with the Princess. He was beginning to think she had some ulterior motive for meeting with him. Though he'd had liaisons with a Crinan in the past, he wasn't apt to do so again. That one would be the only woman he ever had anything with, and that wasn't about to change anytime soon. He entered the room and paused to look around before his eyes settled on Alva and he regarded her in her uniform. It did fit her well.

"So, this time it's gravity well generators and mines? I'm more interested in this one, so please explain to me what you're thinking."

[member="Alva Calvarona"]

 

[Alva Calvarona]

[member="Mason Deschart"]

If the Admiral ever held such a foolish notion in his mind he better not mention it ever in the young princess's presence. She never had, nor ever would, hold any feeling of attraction towards a man. Especially not an old, unsociable, warmongering, coger such as himself. Alva preferred the company of the fairer sex, and indeed one need only look at how she eagerly brought back such a pretty maid for herself to see where her tastes lay. However, none of that had an effect on the business at hand. Nor did it actually amount to anything outside of what the Crinan woman did in her private time which was no one's business but her own.

What business that was up for debate was the matter of the gravity projector mines she wished to construct for the Imperial Remnant. "A pleasure to see you as well Admiral, as you know Crina has long since remain isolated because of the various asteroid fields that lay in the Luminita System. However, there are a few ways around them though my ancestors were not as fortunate as the Imperials in finding them. At the same time though, those asteroid fields have become much more thoroughly mapped with the aid of Imperial vessels in the process. We've since begun to map safe ways through the fields, constantly updated with beacons placed on the surface of the larger ones. So it is now safe for us to traverse them, but it is not so for anyone else, and we do no intend to allow anyone else the opportunity to do so. So the concept our people have been coming up with Admiral is utilizing proven Imperial Gravity Well technology to create traps in the areas people can use to travel around the asteroids. With the intention of forcing invaders and unwanted guests to challenge the dangerous environment. We've been looking extensively at Existing Imperial Gravity Well tech, rumored Hapan gravity projector mines, and sleeper mines to disperse around the Luminita system to force The Remnant's and Crina's enemies to venture through the asteroid fields and thus reduce their numbers one way or another. Or at the very least to give us fair warning before a hostile force arrived.

 

[Mr. OOC]

Mason had no intentions of doing anything at all with the woman. Crinan's were... backwards at the best of times. Suffice to say, though, he had no interest in entertaining anyone whatsoever. There was much too much work to be done. Time was of critical importance at this stage of their expansion. Work was progressing slowly on Valc VII and was at a near stand still on Kalee. They didn't have time for fun and games, and they likely never would. Their work was too important.

"I trust you're looking more into the gravity mines than you are looking to plant Interdictors in gaps in the asteroid field."

That would be pure folly. Not only did they not have an extensive fleet of the ships capable of manning every gap in the minefield, they couldn't spare the manpower necessary to crew a bunch of ships that only sat around most of the time. Their only neighboring major government had agreed to a non-aggression pact with them.

"What have you determined so far as to the viability of the plan. Cost, logistics. Do we have the necessary materials?"

[member="Alva Calvarona"]

 

[Alva Calvarona]

[member="Mason Deschart"]

The Admiral's concerns were noted and understood, though she felt he was neglecting a crucial piece of technology. Then again, she had been specifically exploring historic records of Imperial devices for a while to develop many projects so if the Admiral was not aware of certain pieces of technology long since forgotten she would hardly blame him. Although he might not be as big of a fan of the discovery to some degree. ​"I have Admiral, but there is a bit of a problem with the gravity mines in themselves. They're rather small, so unless we mass produce them and spread them everywhere their effect size will be small, and at their size they will drain themselves out quickly. Not to mention they would be expensive to develop to be able to be switched off once activated. All of which were issues the Hapans had with them. And making them any bigger nullifies the bonus of making them a less obvious target for enemies."

It was rather annoying when there were limitations even time couldn't reasonably fix. The natural world would always have such, it was thus always interesting when people achieved the best within it, or even broke beyond the threshold. Still, there was some good news to be had for the Admiral as well. "So what I believe Admiral is that we should employ practiced and proven Imperial Gravity Well stations we can have constantly on and also deactivate with codes for our own ships to pass. We can likely make them 50-75% their standard size nowadays, but they would still need to be large enough to maintain their own generator and house systems to allow us control of them for our ease of movement, as well as send a communication alert if it draws an object out of hyperspace. Then I say we deploy sleeper mines around the stations, and also allow the station itself to deploy more if needed, to both protect the projectors as well as eliminate any hostiles who tried to sneak through and were pulled out right on top of the minefield. The plan will be a bit costly, but in the long run it would be less expensive than constantly maintaining a gravity mine variant such as the Hapans used."

 

[Mr. OOC]

Hmm. She'd done her research on the gravity mines. If they were truly this weak, then they would be an expense that was unaffordable in the long term. That proposition immediately jumped out to him as unacceptable. They would have to find some other alternate solution. It seemed that the Princess had thought of this as well. What she proposed made him think back to his younger days as an Imperial when such tactics had been employed on other worlds. It was certainly a distinct possibility.

The cost of this endeavor was sure to be great, but it was a small price to pay for the defense of their capitol from outside invasion. He saw no reason that such an expense would be counted as frivolous by the Emperor and Empress. Those two were often in agreement when it came to protecting their people, though Vedarric cared more about humans than anyone else, which was something Mason found admirable and was why he was so loyal to the man. Kista was the balancing force. Her efforts made them look better.

"The extent of the cost is something that is negligible when it comes to the benefits of the plan. If we can design smaller, more efficient stations, and position them strategically, we should effectively cut off all access to Crina from outside sources. The minefield would delay enemies that were pulled out long enough for our forces to move in. This plan is solid. Is engineering working on a new station design?"

[member="Alva Calvarona"]

 

[Alva Calvarona]

[member="Mason Deschart"]

​"The engineers of CRI along with Imperial specialists on the matter have already been put to the task under our own resources should the matter have not merited official backing. We just wanted to save as much time as possible should we be cleared, no reason to wait. The issue of making the stations smaller isn't a big problem. We can certainly get them to 70% of their original size, seeing as how parts and system set ups have become more efficient since that day and age. The gravity well projector itself is around the same size, but with a smaller modern reactor/generator to power and with systems aligned more effectively the gravity well station should be around the size of a small corvette now. Sleeper mines are common and simple to stock and field as well. It will be a little difficult to make so many, but we can have them ready. The real issue is taking the production, construction, placement, and arrangement into effect. It at best will take two months to organize all the stations and mines around Crinan space."

Not to mention it would likely take a solid month to get a pair of stations and their mine compliments completed anyway. If the mathematics were correct it would take around 6-8 of the gravity well projectors and their defending mines to fill in the gaps between the asteroid systems, and only then for Crina. Rodica and the other planets would take a much larger number, but such a project was something Alva considered would come later. Seeing as how Rodica was currently a less valuable resource for now, and the gas giant and outlying world were not majorly important to Crina's survival itself. Although the Imperials were working on research stations on the other planets, and Rodica was falling back in line. She would have to ask the Admiral as she continued to update him. Didn't want to overload him with information at once.

 

[Mr. OOC]

Mason nodded at what she said, tapping fingers together against his chin.

"If the stations can really be made that small then they'll be harder for foes to detect and more capable of doing their jobs. You are correct that the hardest part of all of this will be deploying the mines and the stations. I'm going to task extra hands to this and make it a top priority. I want this done as swiftly and efficiently as possible. When word starts getting out of our existence I expect trouble to come."

Sitting forward in his chair, he stared intently at the young Princess.

"I want you directly involved with this and I want constant updates, understood? This is your top priority right now. Crina must be well protected."

[member="Alva Calvarona"]

 

[Alva Calvarona]

[member="Mason Deschart"]

The Admiral would never have to worry about her dedication to keep Crina protected, that was never a concern. If possible she wished her world had had access to such technologies long before the Remnant arrived so that they could keep out all outside threats from their planet, but of course they hadn't. Perhaps it was for the best, because the Imperials had indeed defeated the rebel forces, routing them in the final climatic battle, and then hunting down the rest who continued to resist. Peace had been restored to Crina, and at least the Imperials were human. If it had been anyone else who had come to make their stake on the world, Alva likely would be more inclined to continue being upset and show it.

Plus the Imperials were lenient enough to allow them to maintain much of their own infrastructure too, so at the very least that was another thing in favor of the Remnant in control. "I will have the work already prepared begin to be deployed Admiral. We can have one of the gravity well projectors and their supporting mines up within the month, and the second projector and mine compliment will be finished in a week. I can provide you further updates then, especially if we drop production in other areas for the time being."

 

[Mr. OOC]

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing the first of many of them being put into place."

Standing from his chair, he straightened out his uniform and nodded his head in approval. Yes, this was the kind of initiative that he looked for in young officers. While designing ships was important, it was not the key to their future. The key to their future was the safety and security of the people that they held dominion over. Like it or not, while the Empire might use methods that many deemed terrible, or evil, the goals that the Empire had were surely far from such.

"Regular progress reports, please. Much to be done."

With that, he saluted her and then walked out.

[member="Alva Calvarona"]

 

[Alva Calvarona]

[member="Mason Deschart"]

It wouldn't be very long until the Admiral found himself receiving the first of many reports regarding the progress of the deployment of the gravity well projectors and their compliment of sleeper mines. For the moment it was merely an update that the first Gravity Well Projector was being put into positioned as the correspondence was reaching dear Admiral Deschart, and that the second Projector had been finished and it, along with its mine compliment, would be placed into position in one of the other gaps in the asteroid fields surrounding Crina shortly.

In addition the message would alert the Imperial Leader that another pair of Projectors were currently in production and with the Andreea yards putting everything they could into the project, they would be completed in half the time the previous pair had taken to be constructed. Hopefully such news would please the senior military officer, regardless Alva had gotten what she wanted. Crina was becoming safer by the day, and with the Imperials support at some point it would become a true galactic center perhaps. . . . . too bad it wasn't on their own merit.

Nonetheless, focusing on the matter at hand, it certainly wouldn't take as long as had been previously expected with all work being put into the development of the projectors and their defensive mine fields. Likely it would only take seventy percent of the time the young Crinan Princess had estimated.

Very soon no one would be getting to Crina without first risking the asteroid field or being pulled into a minefield.

Or if they gained Crina's permission.

 

[Mr. OOC]

The reports were well timed and thorough. The more he saw them from the Captain the more he became thoroughly impressed with her skill. It was interesting to him that this backwater world could hold such hidden talent despite its lack of advances in naval warfare. What he could clearly see was that this Princess wasn't a mere figurehead bent on ruling with an iron fist and living a life of luxury. Know, this woman had a brain, and a very advanced one at that. This was good for both Crina and the Remnant.

Having thoroughly read over the report from the Princess, he penned a transmission to her in reply. He was much to busy overseeing projects on Kalee and Valc VI at the moment to visit her.

Captain.

This is fine work and I commend you on the accelerated time table for deployment. Please alot a minimum of one test for each stations gravity well generators, but make sure that the mines are turned off during the tests so we don't have any accidents. Keep me apprised.

Grand Admiral Deschart

[member="Alva Calvarona"]

 

[Alva Calvarona]

[member="Mason Deschart"] [member=Caius Flavian"] [member="Maximilian Vinticus"]

Of course she was talented and intelligent. With a civil war plaguing her world and herself positioned second in line for the throne behind an older sister, Alva most certainly had learned to press herself beyond the limits, even when her world had a high standard for its nobility and royalty as it was, just so that she might still have a chance to come around and become Queen. She adapted and pressed forward no matter what the challenge was. Now she had to deal with the Imperial Remnant as a stepping stone instead of the civil war. As the second princess she had every intention of rising to power somehow, the Imperial System was one way to go about it. Plus considering the Imperial's technological advantages, she could exploit them as well to make Crina more secure, an apt example being this new project to further protect Crina from anymore incursion from the outside world.

The message that reached Alva only spurred her onward. The project had full backing, so it had every chance to work out perfectly. She would even do one better for the Admiral's tests, and so she put in a response for just the explosive expert and pilot to help her out. The production of the gravity well projector stations was going well, along with their mine compliments, by the time the second set was installed and tested the third set would be ready for evaluation as well. Alva could likely organize the test herself, but this time she had could be better spent checking to ensure the mapping sensors in the asteroid fields were also running accurately. They mapped out the course of the major asteroids with their sensors tracking the movement, but they would also detect any fighters obviously seeing as they were mechanical craft that wouldn't show up as the usual asteroid rock on the sensors.

It was nice to be able to call on others to help do some of the work. Alva sent the following message to the two in question as she climbed into a shuttle that would approach the asteroid fields to ping the sensor modules and check for any that needed replacement, something that she was going to make sure would happen often to keep equipment always ready.

By Order of Admiral Deschart, you two have been selected to aid in the testing of the new defense grid systems. There are in production several sets of gravity well projector stations with compliments of sleeper mine fields. It is up to you both to test that the gravity wells will pull ships our of hyperspace as intended over the mine fields. Which will be shut off during the testing for your safety. Then it is up to the two of you as well to check out that the mines are properly place and functioning when they go online again. The concept of these grids will be to fill in the gaps between the asteroid fields that block off Crina. While other gaps exist around Rodica's fields and other worlds in the Luminita system, for now we are just plugging up access to Crina as it is the base of operations. You will do this for each set of the grid as the projectors and mines are finished.*

 

[Kara Runo]

"Why do I get these assignments?"
I pondered aloud to my co-pilot Frank or Delta Two as I often called him.
A list of personnel had been drawn up by Caius to be deployed in finishing this endeavor and I some how ended up on it...
I was going to have a few words with him next time I see that nerf herder.
We were in the midst of completing a section of the defense system. Two Venerable Class carriers and the Crinan Carrier Resolute Dreamer were assigned as logistics bases. We had just refueled and had taken off to bring some more material to the gravity well generator slowly under construction in our grid section.
"I dunno Delta One, why do the suns produce light? Why is the sky blue? Why can't I ever met a woman who will cook and clean for me?"
"Delta Two the day you woo a lady is the day I eat my own cover. Now shut the frak up and get me a heading through this area of the asteroid belt."
"Ouch, yes Ma'am..." he whistled and began to punch up a course heading.
"Another dull day in the military life eh Delta One?"
"Right you are there Delta Two"
Several minutes would pass in silence as I wove a path through the asteroid belt. I took my time since I wasn't being chased or fighting my through it. Now that would be fun and entertaining, this was routine stuff. Nothing too fancy.
On board I had a small squad of naval armsmen and the station's new technicians. 'Thank the celestial's I didn't have that billet.' I mused. Our cargo consisted of several important terminals responsible for the computation of the gravity well generators ability to to turn on and project a sudden gravity well.
The next trip would be similar cargo but instead we would be carrying the terminals that handled the detection of hyperspace arrivals.
I was starting to go insane from how tedious this was, for three weeks now I've been doing the same crap over and over again. It was important work, extremely important actually as this would guarantee the safety and security of the Crinan people.
Still though our progress was slow, hell this was fifth generator under construction. I heard on the grapevine that the sixth one was already under construction. The only set back so far was a test run with the first had attracted some of the asteroids and space dust from the belt toward it and caused some minor damage.

[member="Alva Calvarona"]