Rise of the Remorhaz Society

[sachmo]

Immortalizing Heroes

2413.1

The people of the Remorhaz Society loved their heroes. When the dedication ceremony of the newest Rochester Class light cruiser was transmitted around the society from the shipyards of Vengeance in the Fezzran system, it became one of the most watched programs in history. Ordinarily, a new ship dedication would not be a major event, but this ship was special. It was named for the hero of the Rage war, the architect of the Battle of Rage, and the embodiment of the sacrifice of the men and women of the Remorhaz armed forces. The ship was christened RSS Shiro Sakazawa.

The ship�s captain, Captain Steve �Duke� Williams, was the Last to come aboard after the Governor and the assorted officials wrapped up the dedication ceremony. Duke Williams marveled at his luck as he walked through Sakazawa�scorridors.. First, he was given command of the newest and highest-profile ship in the fleet. On top of that, he was promoted to Captain six months before he should have even been considered for promotion. He knew that Fleet Admiral Hitcher, a firm supporter and good friend of Duke�s made all of this possible. He and Hitcher had become friends when Duke succeeded him as commander of the frigate RSS Hyperion. They fought side by side in a number of the battles of the Rage War. With Hitcher now in command of the First Task force of Ukra-Tal Fleet, he was in a position from which he was able to reward his friend for his loyalty, and what a reward this was!
Duke marveled at how big this ship was compared to the cramped quarters of Hyperion. The hallway was big enough to allow an eight-foot loader to travel up and down its length. In fact, there was ample space everywhere. Everything on this ship seemed to have its own place, and avoided feeling cluttered. On his old ship, equipment was often jammed into whatever space was available.
�This will definitely take some getting used to,� Duke muttered to himself as he stopped before the lift that would take him up to the bridge. Two security crewmen scanned his badge and when they were satisfied with whom he was, they saluted him.
�Welcome aboard, sir,� they said in unison.
Duke saluted them back. �Thank you,� he said.
As he stepped into the lift, a thought occurred to him. He stopped and addressed one of the sailors. �Crewman, what is your usual duty on board?� he asked.
The crewman stared at him blankly. �Beg your pardon, sir?�
�What is your normal job on board? What do you do every day?�
The crewman looked bewildered.
�Sir, I�m a security specialist. This is what I do.�
Duke nodded. �Thank you, crewman. Carry on.� He stepped into the elevator. As the door closed, he whistled. Damn, I feel like a yokel, he thought.
Dedicated security crewmen? This was defiantly going to take some getting used to.

Minutes later, RSS Shiro Sakazawa silently slipped from her berth and maneuvered away from the space yard. Once they made it to open space, Duke Williams ordered the ship to increase to maximum speed and plotted a course for Highrock, were he would join the fleet of his old friend Thom Hitcher.

2413.2

In Lenoltris, a new colony was established on the planet of Lenoltris IX. The planet was named Guardian, and would be purely an outpost planet. A basic civilian infrastructure was set up, but the planet would serve as a fortress between the Ukra-Tal and the rest of the society.

�Sir, Odysseus has arrived,� the Lieutenant said.
Rear Admiral Hitcher breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It looked as if they would be able to get RSS Odysseus upgraded and back into action before the Ukra-Tal fleet was able to make it to Correlia.
�Thank you,� he said.
He turned back to the holographic system display floating in the center of his command center. A fleet of nineteen Ukra-Tal cruisers and light carriers was headed for Correlia. At their speed, the predicted arrival was in less than two weeks. It would be close, but Hitcher was confident that the shipyard crews could get the newly arrived light cruiser into shape before the fight.
His own forces backed up by the ever increasing defenses of the planet should be enough to stop whatever enemy ships made it through the minefield, but in the meantime, lone Ukra-Tal ships were passing through Iolo uncontested. He couldn�t afford to send any ships out to intercept them for fear of an attack on the planet. It was a good strategic move by the Ukra-Tal. Hitcher knew something that the slugs didn�t know, though. Remorhaz was quickly closing the technology gap, and would soon be able to come out from behind their defenses and meet the enemy in open space, then take the war into enemy territory. All he had to do was stay alive until then. Watching the mighty Ukra-Tal armada bear down on Correlia, he knew there were no guarantees.

In the Ultrinox system, RSS Eos took up position in the minefield outside of the Osshod wormhole. The ship prepared to make it�s mine laying run but noticed that one of the mines in the existing field had been detonated at some point in the past three month. Something had tried to come into Remorhaz space through that wormhole. The captain of Eos immediately reported his finding back to Remorhaz. Romulan Fleet would have to keep a closer eye on this system.

RSS St. Margaret, an Eos class minelayer, was launched from the Glory shipyards at the beginning of the month. It was to join Task Force 1 of the Ukra-Tal fleet. During Operation Reconquest, it would mine all of the approaches to Yukra that the Ukra-Tal might use to send reinforcements into the battle. Speed would be of the essence, so St. Margaret�s crew was made up of the most experienced mine crewmen in the fleet.
Glory began work on another minesweeper.

2413.3

The Ukra-Tal did not press the attack on Correlia. Hitcher surmised that once their ships had completed transit of Iolo and made it to the wormhole to Wanduk, their job was finished, and so the nineteen-ship Ukra-Tal fleet withdrew back into Yukra. We�re going to have to recon the Yukra system one of these days soon, he thought as he watched the enemy enter the wormhole. How to do that without tipping them off was another question.

Four new capital ships joined the navy at the start of the month.
RSS Conquerant was a Glory F Class destroyer, completed at the Glory space yards. The new Glories had the latest targeting computers and electronic countermeasures suites, as well as a phased-polaron beam to complement their double missile magazines. She was assigned to Romulan Fleet.
RSS Arrow, a Javelin B Class light cruiser was launched from Rage. Armed with five missile magazines, she would be vital during planetary assaults as well as ship to ship combat. Her electronic suite was upgraded to the latest models, including the new multiplex tracking system, allowing the ship to target multiple enemy craft with her ample missile loads. This ship was attached to Task Force One of Ukra-Tal fleet.
RSS Bill Elliot was the newest Ganymede G Class light cruiser launched from Fort Justice. This ship was named for the head of the Remorhaz News Service who had recently passed away. Under his guidance, the people of the Remorhaz Society were able to get accurate, timely and honest news from the frontline of the war, and from all corners of the rapidly growing society. A tireless worker, he was respected by all who knew him. To his friends, he was known as Mumbles. In honor of his achievements, this ship was named for him. He was the first civilian to have a ship of the line named after him. The Ganymede G was had a main armament of three heavy phased polaron cannon as well as updated battle electronics. This ship was also assigned to Task Force One of the Ukra-Tal fleet.
RSS Perrysburg was a new Rochester D class light cruiser launched from Sutran. This class was almost identical to the Ganymede class, only with a different hull design. This ship was also tagged for Task Force One of the Ukra-Tal fleet.

In Lenoltris, a single Ukra-Tal Hedmora sat silently near the Yukra wormhole, watching the activity on Highrock.