Vertinas Naval Base

[Cool101jr]

From the Desk of the Lord High Admiral of the Navy

To The Achkaerinese Naval Command,

After much deliberation with Supreme Commandant Wesley, we have come up with the Idea of building a Revanan Naval Base in your nation to help better build cooperation and to help reorganize our navy. In order to make this deal more agreeable, we are prepared to set aside tracks of our own land to allow the construction of an Achkaerinese Naval Base in Revana. I look forward to your response so that we may be able to met together to go over the finer details of this plan, if you find it to your liking.

V/r,
George Marxson
Lord High Admiral of the Revanan Navy

[Achkaerin]

To Lord High Admiral Marxson

Having considered the proposal, I find it worth further discussion. Do communicate this to my son in law the Supreme Commandant. At present the Achkaerinese Navy is preparing to engage in training exercises in the Great Northern Ocean, this will include various drills designed to test the effectiveness and efficiency of the Navy and test out measures to combat present and emerging challenges, given what you wish to discuss I'd suggest Revana send some people along for the exercises to discuss this with me. I'm sure that Exodus Daro won't mind holding down the fort in Revana during such discussions as that simply presents the best opportunity to have the relevant people in the right place at the right time with experienced personnel on hand to offer opinions.



Emperor Peter Azurewind

[Cool101jr]

From the Desk of the Lord High Admiral of the Navy

To Emperor Peter Azurewind,

I am honored to have you respond to this personally. The Supreme Commandant has decided to set aside some time to come up to Achkaerin to discuss this proposal with you personally, and is bringing along Lord minister of War Kaleb Thompson along with Vice Commandant Evelyn Wesley, and myself. They will be flying to the HMS Goliath carrier fleet that is currently in the Illumic on tour and is being diverted to Achkaerinese waters. The Supreme Commandant is looking forward to seeing his Achkaerin family again.

V/r,
George Marxson
Lord High Admiral of the Revanan Navy

[Achkaerin]

There was nothing quite like the Great Northern Ocean for a naval exercise, it was beautiful, the perfect canvas against which to train themselves and test things out. The good thing about such a vast expanse of water was that it was possible to do these exercises without being provocative towards anyone because there was no one nearby in terms of geographic territory. This latest set of exercises featured Achkaerinese allies such as Vaguzia and Balticum. Each exercise like this had some agenda's to it, this one was to try out new equipment and new strategies and tactics. The lead ship in the exercise from an Achkaerinese point of view was the carrier INS Djana Azurewind.

On the bridge of the Djana Azurewind stood the Achkaerinese Emperor Peter Azurewind remembering his days as the captain of the frigate Valiant, he was joined aboard by other members of his family which was something to be expected but he'd also invited along his old friend Celine Tyler.
"You miss it?" Celine asked
"Sometimes." Peter said "Though I miss teaching at the academy more than being on the front lines."
"I bet you do." Celine said "So what's this actually about?"
"Isaac wants to talk about Revana's navy." Peter said "They need the whole nine yards."
"Reality check, re-organisation and retraining." Celine said
"Pretty much." Peter said

At this point the commanding officer of the Djana Azurewind Commodore Britney Davis walked over to them from the front of the bridge
"Your Majesty we have a Revanan naval group approaching." she said
"Serenity's the welcoming committee so that'll be fine." Peter said "We'll be in the briefing room."
"I'll let you know when the testing program is ready." Britney said

Peter and Celine headed off towards the briefing room.
"So we're showing Revana some of our new stuff?" Celine asked
"We're showing them a few things." Peter said "Have you got that stuff memorized?" he was referring to the briefing packet on the current state of the Revanan navy.
"Yes." Celine said

Out on the flight deck Serenity stood with her older daughter Lisa, though Lisa was not Isaac's daughter she was from before Serenity and Isaac had married each other, truth be told Isaac had only found out about her recently. Serenity shielded her daughter as the Revanan helicopter came in. She waited for the rotors to stop spinning before smiling as the Revanan's left the helicopter.
"Go on." Serenity said, Lisa smiled and ran over to the Revanan's.

[Cool101jr]

As soon as the helicopter touched down on the carrier, Issac jumped out of it and ran to Lisa, picking her up into a hug. Though she wasn't his biological daughter, in the short time they had known each other, Issac had formed an extremely close bond with Lisa and loved her. He carrying her with him over to Serenity, hugging her as well and giving her a kiss.

"It's been far too long, darling." He said as he embraced her.

Behind them, Kaleb Thompson and Evelyn Wesley climbed out of the helicopter, followed closely by George Marxson.

"It's good to see them together again." Evelyn said to Kaleb as he looked around the carrier, admiring the design.

"The shapes are interesting, much different compared to our ancient ships. Might need to send some ideas to Aperture when we get home. Oh... and yeah, it is." He responded as the joined with Serenity, Lisa, and Issac.

[Achkaerin]

It had been a while, Isaac had been busy in Revana and Serenity had had her own things to handle, the Andean Genocide trial being the obvious one. Add in the whole business of Achkaerin leaving the CTO and things couldn't get much more complicated. Still there was no way that Serenity was going to pass up this opportunity. She hugged Evelyn and Kaleb and shook the Admiral's hand.

"Well how about next time we try not to have international storms to sort out?" she asked with half a smile at Isaac trying to make herself heard over the sound of the carrier's jets firing up their engines for the start of the exercises "If you'll follow us, my Dad's waiting for you and he's got a ton of experts on standby."

Serenity led the Revanan's through the carrier to the briefing room where sat at one of the ships 'smart tables' sat Peter and Celine

"Great to see you again." Peter said shaking his son in law's hand before greeting Evelyn, Kaleb and lastly the Admiral "May I introduce my good friend Celine Tyler who I've asked to join us for this meeting. She served as my First Officer in my navy days and should provide excellent advice, though I suspect she's got ulterior motives such as inquiring about the new young man in her daughter's life."

"Very funny." Celine said "So shall we get started?"

[Cool101jr]

Issac shook Peter's hand like a son seeing his father for the first time in awhile. With his father gone, Peter was the closest thing to a father he had now, so the respect in the handshake was more then just two leaders of separate nations to Issac.

"It's good to see you again as well, sir." Issac responded to Peter before turning to Celine. "Celine Tyler? You must be Yuki Tyler's mother, so he must be talking about Jordan. I do know that they seem to be close since their work together. After these discussions, I'll be happy to tell you more about him."

Issac chuckled as he shook Celine's hand and nodded. "Yes let's get started."

[Achkaerin]

Peter and Celine took their seats, across the table the Revanan's did likewise, Celine took a deep breath.

"Having reviewed Revana's naval strength, it appears to be probably the most impractical navy I've ever come across. When you escaped Haven of Sovereignty you did so on a flotilla of ships these being the thirty vessels presently listed as Revana's Navy and many others, most of these other vessels have been through one thing or another been scrapped or destroyed I believe the Achkaerinese and Dijeli Navies accounted for a decent number of them during the battle of Haven Gap in the War of the Enlightenment. Simply put your present naval strength is thirty ships that's about what we'd expect for a nation at Revana's stage of development but this navy is leaking money like a sieve, you have three carriers in this fleet of thirty vessels, by comparison the Achkaerinese navy has one hundred and eighteen vessels total with four carriers. These things are expensive to not only build but to maintain it, made even worse by the age of most of your fleet. So your first priority should be to determine the future shape of your navy. We do this by determining what the focus of your navy should be.

Second we need to look at the training of your naval officers, what they're taught, what they're trained to do, what their playbook is. Each ship type and class will have their own strengths and weaknesses so its important that each officer understands this. Overall the point though is that you've got a navy that's economically going to run your nation into the ground and you need to do something about it."

[Cool101jr]

George didn't know whether to feel insulted or embarrassed when he listened to her describe his Navy, but he didn't say anything, looking over to see Issac nod at him. Issac however felt nothing but appreciation, especially since he knew the Navy was draining their money and he needed to find a solution. He looked down at the briefing about his Navy and thought about a course for it, finally looking up at Celine.

"I appreciate your forwardness, and it's good to know that you can point out the exact reason why it's costing us so much. As for a focus, I personally would love for our Navy to focus on being a carrier fleet, since that was the main focus of Haven of Sovereignty's fleet and it was effective, but seeing as we don't have much of an Air Force either what about a more Hunter/Killer type fleet, focusing on Destroyers, Cruisers, and frigates, and to bring down costs, we could take 2 of the carriers and mothball them, using them as museums, since they are too important to our history to destroy." Issac said, pointing to the other carriers in the fleet, leaving the Goliath as the only active carrier left. George was stunned at this, he didn't like the idea of getting rid of two of his best ships, however he didn't say anything once again, because this was the reason they were here, too fix the Navy and make it better.

"As for the officers, I can get you a briefing on their training fairly quickly, probably by this afternoon." Kaleb said looking at Celine. "Just so you know, most of our officers were also officers in the Haven of Sovereignty fleet and received actual training, not the more rushed training of the Rebellion, so they know what they're doing and they know how their ships work. Most of them are assigned to the same ship they were assigned to when they served in the HoS Navy."

[Cool101jr]

(Little Bump)

[Achkaerin]

"You'll see what she means about training and playbooks soon." Peter said with half a smile "After all this is an ideal opportunity for the Achkaerinese Navy to show you just what is possible."

"Thirty vessels in a Navy is a solid self defence force." Celine said "You simply lack the numbers for anything other than that at this time. Decommissioning ships that are surplus to requirements saves you money that you can use to purchase new vessels so in the short to mid term let's set a goal of you tendering for one maybe two new classes of surface vessels, this should give you the flexibility to help out in international efforts without overly compromising your national defence. In the long term as your nation's economy grows you'll have a bigger budget to work with and gradually you'll be able to increase your fleet size to suit a stronger presence. But remember it's not quantity of vessels that matter but quality and how it's used, consider that Rokkenjima lauded as "Queen of the Seas" by an old friend in the now dearly departed former King of Seaforth and has a large fleet compared to Achkaerin but lacks the track record of the Achkaerinese navy, especially in recent times."

"In terms of the base you voiced in your original letter it's a suggestion that I'll return to later after we've put Kaleb over there in dreamland." Peter said  with a chuckle "I've also arranged for you to have some time to talk with some of our Naval Captains so you can get a serving officer's perspective on your situation. But first things first would you like to see the Achkaerinese Navy in action?" Peter asked

[Cool101jr]

Issac looked down at the report about his navy, giving it another once over to check something, then he looked up at Celine.

"In terms of classes, as you have seen, we have no frigates in our navy, so that's definitely one class I would like to add. Along with a new class of cruiser." He said, turning to Peter. "I was thinking that perhaps we could ask the people who design Achkaerin's ships to coordinate with the Aperture Laboratories to help us design these 2 classes, as Aperture isn't very well versed in Naval aspects yet."

He took a sip of his water and looked at Kaleb, smiling.

"Also, I couldn't wait to hear you say those words. Of course we would love to see the Navy in action." Issac said.

[Achkaerin]

Peter got the door and led them up to the bridge of the Djana Azurewind, once there they were met by a hive of activity.
"Commodore Davis status report if you please." Peter said
"We're just about ready for the Wolf Pack drills." Britney said
"Would you like to brief our guests?" Peter said

"Certainly Your Majesty." Britney said she turned to the Revanan's "We hold these exercises on a regular basis to train our armed forces. These exercises consist of routine drills, the testing and development of new tactics and strategies and the testing of new equipment. This specific set of exercises are mostly routine but we are testing new equipment later on. We are about to start the Wolf Pack drills, if you've ever watched the police chase down, box and stop a fleeing vehicle on land, this is that principle applied to ships on the sea." she indicated the circular 'smart table' "Integrated computer displays you can see the exercise area and the relative positions of our naval vessels. The fugitive vessel for today is being played by the RVNS Meridian a Vafleon naval vessel, this tests the ability of our commanding officers to think on their feet as their prey is not drawn from their own ranks. Our wolves for this first run are three surface vessels the INS Sharingan, the INS Avalon and the INS Ninetales as well as the submarine INS Erin Ayanami."

"She's done this on purpose." Peter muttered to Celine, Britney had picked ships commanded by officers Peter had trained personally.
"Of course she has." Celine muttered back.
"The objective of the drill is to trap and stop the fleeing vessel." Britney said "The Meridian as you can see has something of a head start but this should not prove a problem." she was indicating on the table.
"All ships in position." a Lt reported
"Patch their communications through I think our guests will want to hear this." Britney said

It began with routine movements the wolves closing in on the Meridian, the three surface vessels split into two groups the Sharingan and Avalon swung up close to the Meridian with the Ninetales on a different course. The Sharingan and the Avalon then started trying to herd the Meridian down towards the Ninetales which was cutting distance down by coming in on a different angle.
"Too soon." Britney said from where she watched
"I don't think so." Peter said "Just watch." The next thing they knew the Sharingan had fallen back and surfacing up ahead in the 'lane' that had been created was the Erin Ayanami
"That's a catch." Britney said "Stop the clock."
"They just sliced another five minutes off their own record." the ships XO said, Peter glanced sideways at a now grinning Celine
"Bring them in Britney." Peter said
"Yes Your Majesty." Britney said.
"What's next?" Peter asked
"The schedule says a few more of those and then we're moving to our Dragonfly and Resonance tests." Celine said

"Ok we'll be back for those." Peter said looking at Isaac "I think this would be a good opportunity to talk to some of our Captain's and ask them some questions that could help you in terms of your own Navy. It always helps to have the opinions of those who have to work with whatever decisions their superior's make."

[Cool101jr]

OOC:(Sorry for such a short post, out of town until wednesday for work and don't have a computer)
Issac, Kaleb, and George all watched the event closely, studying how the Achkaerinese ships moved. At the end Issac looked up to Peter.
 
"If they really want to cut time of their record, just stick one of our ships in there." Issac said with a chuckle, then he stepped to the side and motioned. "After you."

[Cool101jr]

(Bump)

[Achkaerin]

Peter led the way, taking the Revanan's down to the officer's wardroom where there were two men waiting for them
"May I introduce Fleet Captain Mark Sullivan commanding officer of the INS Angel and Captain Andre Rantonia the commanding officer of the INS Defiant" Peter said "Gentlemen may I introduce Supreme Commandant Isaac Wesley, his sister Vice Commandant Evelyn Wesley, Minister of War Kaleb Thompson and Lord High Admiral George Marxson."
"Sir." Mark said
"Sir." Andre said
"I assume the other three are taking their time?" Peter asked
"They were just on exercise Your Majesty." Mark said

At that point Celine glanced over her shoulder as three other captains entered, first up her daughter Yuki Tyler the skipper of the INS Sharingan, next Georgina Astin the captain of the INS Ninetales, lastly there was Floria Silvana the captain of the INS Avalon. All three of them wore an angel ring which was like an insignia of their class at the naval academy, they'd been taught by Peter.

"This is Floria Silvana, Georgina Astin and Yuki Tyler." Peter said "This is Supreme Commandant Isaac Wesley, his sister Vice Commandant Evelyn Wesley, Minister of War Kaleb Thompson and Lord High Admiral George Marxson. They'd like to ask you some questions about what they're thinking of doing with Revana's Navy since you have experience of having to live with such decisions." he looked at Isaac "Ask away."

[Cool101jr]

(Sorry I haven't posted, I'm completely stuck on what to do, I've drawn a blank. I'll get on it soon lol. Sorry once again)

[Cool101jr]

Once everyone had finished the introductions, Issac looked at each of them before beginning to speak.

"Before I begin, I'd like to say Minister Raine says hello." Issac said to Yuki with a chuckle. "Now you all know why you're here My navy is weak, and just finished getting utterly demolished vocally, and I'd like to keep it just vocally. I need your help finalizing the plans for Revana's new navy, and to have you put in your expert 2 cents. The current plan I have is that we focus on making our fleet more of a Hunter/Killer type fleet, focusing on Destroyers, Cruisers, and frigates, Introducing a class of frigates into it as well as a new modernized Cruiser class, and perhaps a class focused on Anti-air. I feel this would utilize the strengths of Revana's Admirals and Captains, and help make up for the fact that we don't have an Air Force yet."