Orders will lock in 72 hours.
Nooo! I have a story to finish first! Time to double-time RP.
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"I'm certain you will do our city proud." An older man wearing a blue uniform with gold trim reassured as he shock the hand of a 20-something brunette in white with a sword by her side.
She nodded as he released her hand. "It is my honor, Admiral." The brunette replied earnestly.
"No, really. It's my pleasure getting rid of a cursed ship." The older man smiled humorlessly.
"Cursed ship, sir?" The woman questioned.
"Oh, HAV-667 isn't cursed. It's just been delayed three times, suffered eight industrial accidents, a Megaspider was found nesting in its framework." The admiral shuddered. "And to top it off, the beginning of its construction was the remains of HAV-666."
"The ship that vanished forty years ago? What does that have to do with it?" Brunette demanded.
"Oh, everything! Turns out HAV-666 went down in the jungle not three kilometers outside of Haven at the time. The crew drew lots to eat each other instead of starving to death, as they believed they were much further away." The older man explained cheerfully. "I don't want any of my real captains flying that cursed husk, so you get it."
"So the crew stupided itself to death and therefore the ship is cursed?" The female uttered coldly. "Regardless, it's my ship and it has a name."
"Not really. Best of luck." The older man turned and walked away, laughing like a maniac.
Brunette spat on the ground after him, then approached the moored ship, decked in white banners with a wooden platform next to the nose. Standing on the platform was the Vice President of Haven, wearing a blue suit, yellow and orange plaid pants, and plka-dotted red and purple tie.
Popular opinion is that he's colorblind.
She climbed the ladder leading to the platform.
The Vice President cleared his throat, and then spoke into a microphone "In the name of our illustrious city of Haven, I hereby present Captain Ursula with our most recent addition to our self-defense force, the HAS Gargarensis." He handed Captain Ursula a bottle of wine. "Captain, if you will?"
Captain Ursula began to swing the bottle at vessel's nose, but the airship suddenly darted forward, smashing through the wooden platform and sending the Vice President and Ursula flying.
The VP landed first, with Ursula falling to his right and the bottle falling to his left. He groaned, but got up.
A door on the Gargarensis opened and a greasy man wearing a naval mechanic's uniform leaned out "Sorry about that! Running checks on the engines, and they got out of control!"
Ursula got up, dusting herself off. "Great." She muttered.
"I'm taking this back." The VP stated as he grabbed the bottle, opened it, and took a swig.
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An old trawler sailed through a calm sea, nets full of fish being brought on board. "I don't know why the Tayloristanis fear the sea of Madagascar." A man with a black beard that smelled of fish and salt proclaimed. "This is the best fishing ground we've ever encountered!"
A young man shouted back "And with all those zeppelins overhead, we can be sure they'll see a flare if we need help!"
"Billiam! What have I told ye about saying that?" The bearded man demanded. "Tis bad luck to worry about trouble afore it come to ye."
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The Gargarensis cruised at 500 meters as it made its way to the coast.
"Alright, that was a rocky start, but I'm sure we can make command proud." A female voice proclaimed on the PA. "They trust us with our mission: To patrol the sea of Madagascar and shadow the navies of foreign powers as they move through it. I want everyone at their best. Captain out."
Ursula put down the microphone. Around her were the various officers in the Gargarensis' CIC. "Navigation, report." She stated briskly.
"Navigation, aye. Engines at 93%, all control surfaces performing at regulation." Specialist Johnson reported confidently.
"93%?" Captain Ursula questioned.
"Starboard #4 began sputtering, so it was turned over to Engineering." Specialist Johnson replied with a bit of a tremor.
"Hull, report." Ursula continued.
"Hull, aye. No breaches. All gas cylinders check out 100%." Specialist Williams answered.
"Communications, report." The Captain requested.
"Communications, aye. Primary long-range antenna snapped. Short-range transmitters fully operational. Wide-band radar checks out. Short-band radar doesn't." Specialist Chekoy explained.
"Why hasn't the short-band radar or long-range antenna been given to Engineering?" Ursula questioned calmly.
"It is not my responsibility to order Engineering." Specialist Chekoy replied.
"But it is your responsibility to make sure your division is operational, Specialist." Captain Ursula answered. She turned her head "Engineering, see what you can do with the long-range radio antenna and short-band radar. While you're at it, report."
"Engineering, aye." Specialist Firand began. "Almost half our spare engines are missing parts. A third of our parachutes don't check out. We have no spare control wires, radio antennas, radar parts. Our emergency reserve of flotation gas is at 10%. Our secondary charge batteries are missing - if we have an effective wind speed below 14kph across our turbines, we lose power. All lightning rods check out. All miscellaneous subsystems check out, and we have spare parts for those. Permission to speak freely?"
"Granted." Ursula replied.
"It's like we've been set up to fail, and the reports from the other divisions will confirm it." Specialist Firand stated.
"Concern noted. Armory, report." Captain Ursula requested calmly.
"Armory, aye. All personal weapons check out. The weapons of our carried craft are not suited for a naval patrol. Carried craft ammunition bins full. An anomalous piece of equipment was found in our storage bins - waiting on report from the bomb team." Specialist Grink reported.
"Specifics about lack of suitability for our mission, Specialist Grink?" The Captain questioned.
"Ma'am, we have 23mm miniguns and 57mm rocket pods with high explosive warheads. That's all we have. Any ship larger than a frigate, and our craft can't sink it. Any jet with missiles, and our craft likely won't hit it. A seaborne carrier would take us apart without trying." Specialist Grink explained with a hint of fear.
"Flight Deck, report." Ursula requested with trepidation.
"Flight Deck, aye. I don't have good news for you, Ma'am. We've got a Hawk, two Chippewas, three Topachulas, a Leopard, and a Quapaw." Specialist Cruise answered.
"Topachulas? Aren't those defensive helicopters?" Captain Ursula exploded. "And what happened to the second Leopard?"
"Aye, Ma'am. Heavily armored, slow moving, really built for street-by-street city combat." Specialist Cruise answered with disgust. "Never issued. They gave us a Topachula in its place."
"Countermeasures, report." Ursula continued as she forcibly kept her hands clasped behind her back.
"Countermeasures, aye." Specialist Hogarth began cheerfully. "All systems 100%. AAMs, tracking computers, radar decoys, and point-defense all check out and we have spares."
"At least there's that." Captain Ursula acknowledged. "Bombardment, report."
"Bombardment, aye. Main turrets check out for all the good that'll do against a ship. ASM launcher gave me 34% so I turned Engineering loose on it. Depth charges at 100%. Air-to-submarine missiles are fully functional, but the sonar buoys don't. Air-to-surface missiles don't check out, we're working on them. Main turret high explosive & flak ammunitions don't check out, faulty fuses preventing them from exploding." Specialist Trancy answered dejectedly.
"Can you fix the main turret ammunition?" Captain Ursula questioned.
"No. It'd take specialized equipment unless you want to blow yourself up." Specialist Trancy clarified.
"It is my impression that we are flying half a ship?" Ursula asked the room at large.
A single "Aye." echoed throughout the CIC.
"Then half a ship is more than enough." The captain encouraged. "Let's go."
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