HCS seek a "Dino" style future

Captain Clone, in a speech to HCS officers, said that the HCS needed to become more flexible and swifter of foot. He said that the days of massive monolith land forces was over and that the HCS needed to fight in smaller, fluid, information rich units.

He cites the Dino Army which emphases air units and small data-linked land units as the model the HCS should adopt. "The Dinos don't see airpower as just something to call up when the land boys reach an obstacle or set back. Their air units are an integral part of their force, operating in partnership with the land forces throughout the entire battlesphere."

He added that the HCS had cancelled planned updates to it's T-89C MBT fleet to instead spend the money on increased helicopter assets. The iconic AH-26 would finally be replaced by the next decade by the H-AX programme. "We need long-legged flexible air assets that can remain on station for extended periods to support and lead the battlefield operation." New generations of AGMs were also in development.

Unit in focus : SS-D

If the Dino SS have an acceptable face that even is respected by the army then it is the elite SS-D, the anti-terrorist force of the Empire. SS-D, which stands for SS-Defence, was created early in Ronald's reign as the Omega Force, a specialist anti-terrorist force. Over time it was incorporated into the SS and renamed SS-D. However the pre-SS roots of the force remain and many in the SS do not consider them part of their apparatus of brutal oppression. Thats why SS-D are popular in Army bars unlike normal SS men who probably would just get a good kicking.

The SS-D is currently 500 strong and consists of highly trained soldiers invited to join after their skills have caught the eye. The regiment is split into 50 man units, one of which is always stationed within 5 minutes of the Emperor to backup the ESBG.

Motto : Your ass is ours

UV95 : Vile Thrills

UV95 Vile Thrills is the first DDS book of 2006 and includes a few pointers to how the storyline will develop this year. In My Love the Zones hijack a spaceliner and the DDS are called in to hand the Zones their ass. This year we will follow a bunch of new recruits as they attempt to become soldiers in the Dino Army (a sort of DDS universe / reality TV marriage), in Fresh Meat we are introduced to the new recruits.

In I Like Dreaming we see Megara as he travels to Austini 55 for his latest mission and he discovers strange transmissions between HCS GHQ and Benito. Quarz's 101 is the centrepiece of the book, did he come to a sticky and painful end at the Xmas party or what did really happen? Finally in The Bitch the Dinos discover Rectoid temporal experiments and the DDS set out to see whats going on.



UV95 is available from all prisons (in return for snout) and brothels across Proxima 5. The next book UV96 Sex & Ultraviolence is due at the end of february!

CM360 revealed as orbital defense system

Director Of Communications Vodaphone today held a media briefing at GHQ where he revealed the identity of the CM360 project that had been leaked on DDS financial data. He said that it was a new orbital defense system around Proxima 7 to defend GHQ, the main fleet fuelling and depot facilities in orbit and the massive ship building complex P1E.

Seven space stations will be built with varients of the Z cannon and TP missile launchers. These static defense points will allow the DDS to use ships currently assigned to defend Proxima 7 elsewhere. Currently the DDS have to keep at least 3 cruisers and 3 frigates in orbit operational at all times. Vodaphone also said that a smaller scale system for Solaris was also being considered. Construction of CM360 would begin in the summer.

Rectoids caught near to DDS space engaged in time experiments?

A Dino patrol has caught a Rectoid ship engaged in unidentified temporal experiments near to DDS space a lightyear from Oscar. The Dino ship detected large amounts of tachyon emissions and after scanning discovered a Rectoid ship which made a brief engagement before escaping. A DDS task force is to be despatched to the area to investigate under the command of Windscorpion.

Pulsars to be re-engined?

Proxima J-Star has admitted that is has been contracted by the DDS to work on employing hybrid technology in a new version of the Pulsar's engine. The admission follows media speculation. Proxima J-Star are a major DDS partner who have done much of the development work on the Neptune/Meson and future Pluto/Gluon families of engines for the DDS. Up until now they have not been known to have done much work on employing Gluon technology in existing engine design (so-called hybrid technology) however.

It is thought the Pulsar class will receive an upgrade beyond the planned MULE3 by the end of the decade. Jane's DDS Monitor has reported a project called Pulsar 1000 which includes a new engine to push cruise speed beyond 1000c though the DDS have declined to comment so far.