Dinos to buy DDS built oilers

The Dinos have ordered 4 Extender-E oiler transports from the DDS in an undisclosed deal (however it is rumoured the Dinos will provide 4 W1A worm drives plus cash) which also includes assistance for the Dinos to be able to start building their own Extender-EDA variant for DTA use from 2114. The ships will be supplied to the DTA allies only, the Dinos will wait for their own built versions.

Of the 4 ships to be built by the DDS 1 will be given to the Aritans, 2 to Sirikwan and 1 to the Voth. Delivery is expected from late 2112.

• The DDS have placed an order with PMS (Proximan Military Systems) for 275 SSM-8J short range attack missiles. A ground attack missile based on the TPM-2 was considered but the SSM-8J was chosen instead as it is a mature design and the DDS have been a user of earlier missiles in the SSM-8 series for a number of years. The missile is a space to ground attack missile that can be fitted with a variety of warheads.

Other Fleet Review (31/01/12)

• The Dinos have completed 2 Dinomark PTs this month and 3 Dinomark XTs. One XT each has been given to the New Arit and Sirikwanese fleets. One XT has been withdrawn from the Dino Army to the Civilian Reserve meaning the net change to the XT fleet is zero.
• The Bolitic are reported to have added a Snarl and 2 Meltinans to their fleet though as reported earlier a Snarl and a Helwin are reported to have been lost in combat.
• The Raegris have added a DF-1 (Isometric) frigate and 2 PC-1 (Pentekonter) patrol boats to their fleet.
• Putri 500 have received a Pentekonter-E.

175/3

In The Yard
Its a battle for survival for The Triad (Ash Death P10)

DDS buy 50 SUL-6 lighters

The DDS have ordered 50 SUL-6 lighters to replace the mixture of small craft allocated to ships in the fleet. These small one-two man craft are used for small transport and maintenance operations, one will be allocated to every warship in the fleet.

The SUL-6 is built by PEC-Matrix Spacecraft and can be folded away out of use to save space in the docking bay. It has a multi-directional thruster, a variety of external robot arms and tools and can operate for up to 6 hours before refuelling. The first 6 are now having final proving trials before entering service.

• The DDS have released their first status update under their new scheme, and the first status has been set to AMBER warning of a possible attack (presumably the Clones on the Eritrans).
• Anti-imperial elements in the Bolitic Confederacy (a most hazardous position to say the least) are reporting a Snarl and a Helwin in the fleet of one of the Barons in Erinthorn's circle has been destroyed in some kind of conflict in the west of the confederacy. It is not known if this is the result of a Bolitic inter-house battle or enemy action. It is rumoured DDS ships have been operating in Bolitic space recently.

DDS unveil 5 level alert scheme

The DDS have unveiled a new alert scheme that has 5 levels, each colour coded. This will allow the alert status and astral-political situation the DDS is in be quickly and easily disseminated. The five levels are:

• RED - imminent danger of conflict or actual conflict, maximum alert & readiness
• ORANGE - highly likely conflict to occur soon, very high alert
• AMBER - distinct possibility of conflict, raised alert
• GREEN - items of concern, need for extra vigilance
• CYAN - no imminent danger detected, normal alert status

The DDS will soon publish a regular alert status which will be updated whenever the situation changes.

DDS ships arrive at Starbot

Two Panther 35As (both with worm drive) have arrived at Starbot to re-enforce Force Starbot and to provide a rapid means of re-enforcing the Eritrans if the HCS do attack. The DDS have not named the two ships. A Medium Combat Ship and an extra oiler are also en route to Starbot though will take a few weeks to get there.

Meanwhile there are signs the Eritrans are beginning to disagree amongst themselves with how to deal with the HCS and their resolve is weakening. Sear N7 is understood to have made investigations as to becoming a "close ally" of the Clones.

Kelsan chased out of Molab space

The Molab have intercepted a Kelsan KS in their home system and chased it out of their space. The worrying thing for Molab is that Kelsans are used to calculate target points for the CSM. At least 2 of the intergalactic missiles are on Austini 55, for test purposes the HCS say but of course could be used in anger. An 8 silo complex for CSM and Gale-III is currently being built on Austini 55 though will not be operational until 2115.

The DDS are reporting they have detected a convoy approaching Woloron 12, thought to have come from Cloneworld. The convoy includes a number of transports and oilers as well as combat ships.

• New Arit and Sirikwan will be receiving the first of a number of Dinomark XTs in the next few days as the Dinos begin to divert XT production from themselves to DTA members. Yeng and the Voth are also expected to get their first XTs by the end of the year. Under current plans the Dinos will rise to and maintain a production rate of 3 per month this year with 1 going to the Dino Army (or SS) and the other 2 to the DTA. Dinomark PT production is remain at 2 per month for the remainder of this year. Dinomark MX production is expected to stay at 1 per quarter.

Wayne King-Meiouf : What are the Clones up to?

Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of Proxima

The Clones seem to have gone into sabre rattling overdrive. They are building up forces in their eastern empire, harassing and threatening the Eritrans, some HCS generals have even talked about attacking the DDS! So what is up?

I think this sudden outbreak of aggression and irrational behaviour is down to two things : restlessness and diverting attention from an economic downturn. We'll take the second first as its easier to explain. The Clone economy has had around 10 years of amazing economic growth but that has now ground to a halt. Unemployment is rising and optimism is falling. The Clone government have always been afraid of unrest, even though there isn't a great history of it in the empire. A psychologist friend of mine who specialises in xeno-psychological analysis told me the Clones are naturally a paranoid and rather insecure people, this may explain the need to placate the masses. In lieu of actual good news plan B for governments has often been nationalism.

But i think the main reason for the recent events is restlessness. The Clones have not been in a major war for a long time, their last serious conflict was against the Xenon and that was very localised and short. There is a genuine fear in HCS circles that the HCS is going soft. They have seen the DDS and Dinos engaged in regular wars over the last few years, helping to keep skills sharp, helping to develop new techniques and new technology and allowing for greater influence in astral-politics. The Clones in contrast have probably stagnated militarily. Technology wise they are now lagging behind the DDS and Dinos badly in some areas. Good as the Cosmos CS, Soulaki SLBK and Shark SKB (and they are good) are they aren't as advanced as the Panther or the Dinomark PT, and more importantly aren't as combat proven.

So the Clones are seeking a war? Well i'm not 100% convinced on that. It may be they see in the Eritrans a tough but winnable conflict but with the Eritrans gaining more DDS technology recently it could easily turn into a humiliation for the Clones. I think the Clones may be content with sabre rattling and brinksmanship, but the problem with that is one spark can easily set off a chain of events far out of control.

175/2

Part-Owned
The Triad go into action (Ash Death P9)

Voth agree DDS upgrade for KT fleet

The Voth Space Navy has finalised an 850 million zark upgrade of its Kalahati Tuul fleet with the Upgrades division of DDS Exports. The upgrades will be made to the 5 ships in service and the 7 ships that are yet to be localised and accepted into service (several of the ships are reported to be ready but lacking crews). The upgrades, which are 90% funded by the DTA, will keep the Kalahati Tuul fleet viable until a planned withdrawal in the early 2120s a Voth Space Navy spokesvoth said.

The upgrade includes improved weapon systems including a new missile launcher which will be Dino-TPM compatible. The communications system will be totally replaced as will the main databus. Passive sensors will be fitted as well as the export version of the 5036-A combat suite. An export version of the Info-Warfare Centre (IWC) will also be fitted, the first time the DDS have sold this. Internal security will be improved with new internal force screens and sensors. Finally the docking bay will be upgraded and remodeled so a Dinomark XT can (just) fit!

A DDS Exports team is currently on Voth to hammer out the technical details, it is likely the upgrades will take place in situ.

DDS invest 3 billion in communication upgrades

Deputy Commander Shiner today signed off a total of 3 billion zarks worth (he was crying obviously) in contracts for communication upgrades to the DDS. Most of the contracts are for the massive Ultranet next-generation communications backbone project that will finally start next year.

The DDS Communications HQ on Proxima 5 will receive a new data multiplex with new nodes at DDG GHQ and on Solaris. A new developmental lab will also be built on Terra to develop new protocols and interfaces. Some of the money comes directly from the UNP as Ultranet will be a joint DDS/UNP system.

As well as Ultranet an upgrade to the Direct Line Laser Communication System (DLLCS) will be rolled out to the fleet during scheduled updates and maintenance. DLLCS-2112 includes improved data security and increased bandwidth. DLLCS is a back-up communication system using lasers which is (virtually) unjammable and very hard to hack into. It was developed by the DDS for combat situations.

Finally inter-base communications at DDS GHQ, Engineering HQ and Communications HQ will be upgraded with a new more secure system based on the data messaging system used on DDS spaceships.

Molab agree to Porquatian patrols, Clones ambivalent

Molab has agreed to the Porquatians patrolling free space between Molabite and Clone territory and to enforcing a "demilitarized zone". However Porquat 640 would have no actual authority to enforce anything as the space they would patrol is unclaimed by any power, this is something the Clones have pointed out.

"If the Porquatians wish to fly up and down empty space thats up to them but they can't stop us, the Eritrans or anyone else from operating there either." Marcus, the CSE-E Deputy Emperor said.

Porquat 640 said they would help protect the Molab border from any unauthorised incursions. They will use the DDS base at Starbot as their support depot. Three Quagan frigates and a Tekran support ship will depart for Starbot within the week. The DDS are likely to also help support the operation with the Extender oiler they keep at Starbot.

175/1

Wheels Within Wheels
The Bolitic ready their ash cannon (Ash Death P8)

Dinos working on "Heavy Combat Ship"

The Dinos have confirmed they are working on a new kind of Dinomark which will be part of their new experimental series. Unlike the already announced nano-warfighter Dinomark XA the Dinomark XF will be a larger warship, perhaps similar in size to DDS heavy combat ships like the Panther.

The XF will be a dedicated warship, the Dinos envisage a small number being built (in Dinomark terms) or around 20-25 which would form the backbone of the combat fleet along with the existing RS. No date has yet been given as to the design lockdown for the XF which at the moment is just a design study and will be years away from service. The Dinos are keen to get DTA involvement (and presumably sharing the cost).

• Porquat 640 have offered to act as an intermediately between the Clones and Eritrans in an effort to defuse tensions. The Porquatians say they are willing to police a demilitarized zone.

Amphibious fleet transfers to Woloron 12

A powerful amphibious fleet consisting of a Tiamon TM carrier and 4 Intruder IN landing ships has arrived on Woloron 12, as yet it is unclear if they bought any troops with them. Strong military force is already present in theatre and said to be on the way but the arrival of these ships means that the HCS are now in the position of being able to launch a sizeable invasion.

The HCS have said the ships have transferred for "operational reasons". The DDS say that as well as these ships the Clones now have over 30 warships in theatre and could launch a large offensive operation within weeks.

Dino View : Interview with Consul Zanus

Legate Dralson, ex-Dino Army and Security Council

Now into the second year of his term as Consul of the Dino Republic (and hence in theory the senior Consul though as the other one is Ronald that will remain theory) Zanus was kind enough to grant me the following interview as he flew back to Dino-Town following a trip to Yavilanda earlier in the week.

Dralson : Consul, has the job of being Consul been as you expected?
Zanus : In a some ways yes but not in others. The complexity of running the Republic was of course apparent to me as i was a Senator before but as Consul there are a whole load of other factors, mostly external, you have to take into account too.

DR : Can you let me know what some of these factors are?
ZA : Well of course i mean our rival powers like the DDS, Clones and Tarbotians. The recent spat between the Clones and DDS over Molab for example has meant we have had to reassess some of our strategic alliances and links. We are commercial allies of the Clones, with our highly successful partnership in terms of military vehicles vital to the development of the DTA's armies, thus of course we have to be mindful of that.

DR : So the DTA would take the Clones side in any conflict?
ZA : No the DTA would remain neutral and we hope we can achieve a peaceful resolution. We have offered to be a neutral venue though unfortunately the Clones rebuffed us.

DR : But if the worst happens and the Clones invade Molab and the DDS become involved what happens then?
ZA : I don't think it will come to that personally but if it did we would break off economic ties with the Clones as we are opposed to acts of imperialism like this. Of course this would effect our AFV development but we do have the plans to everything we have co-developed with the Clones and setting up factories to make tanks and armoured vehicles ourselves could be achieved within a year or so. I hope the Clones will show sense however and not attack Molab.

DR : It is rumoured that Ronald is to visit the DDS soon, are better relations with the DDS being sought?
ZA : Yes Ronald and myself want better relations with the DDS. Ronald is hoping to visit soon and AP will make a return visit later in the year. We are rivals but it will hopefully never get any more than that.

DR : Lets move on from potential friends to potential enemies. Who worries you more : the Bolitic or Tarbot?
ZA : The Tarbotians are a looming threat on the far horizon, of course in practice they are the greatest threat to the DTA but we beat them before they arn't invincible. The Bolitic Confederacy are now very unstable and that is when they are at their most dangerous.

DR : If the Bolitic break up would you seek to make an alliance with Erinthorn's faction?
ZA : We are all Dinos, we all share the same DNA. Away from politics you know that relations between the Dinos and Bolitic are often fine. My wife is half-Bolitic for example and she hasn't tried to kill me for ages [laughs]. We are always keen on new allies, i would hope that all Bolitic can one day put aside differences and look upon us as friends and not dinner. That day will probably be a long way off...

Clones blast DDS for escalation

The Clones have called DDS plans to form an army battlegroup on Starbot and to station worm-drive equipped warships there as an "escalation of aggression" and have warned the DDS to stay out of Clone sovereign affairs. A spokesman on Starbot replied that the Clones were showing hypocrisy. "Starbot is a member of the DDS and hence stationing DDS forces on Starbot is a matter for Starbot and the DDS only. The Clones should stay out of our sovereign affairs."

The Starbotians have said they will add a brigade of troops to the battlegroup as well as artillery and armoured detachments. The Starbotian Army is rather obsolete though, plans to modernise its equipment have been made but ironically would involve buying equipment from the Clones. However as the Starbotians have been Dino allies for centuries (the Starbotians of course giving the Dinos superluminal spaceflight capabilities) then its possible Starbot could buy Dino built equipment.

DDS form Battlegroup Starbot

As indicated by AP on his visit to Molab the DDS is to move some army units to Starbot to form a rapid reaction force known as Battlegroup Starbot. AP, who has now arrived on Starbot, made the announcement with S101 though refused to specify why the force was being formed. Ships from the Amphibious Warfare Squadron will also be assigned to Starbot indicating the force would be intended for deployment elsewhere... elsewhere possibly being Molab if the Clones attack? AP did not say so but he said the force was merely part of the DDS' "rebalancing" of force.

Battlegroup Starbot will consist of initially:

2nd Heavy Brigade (Terra)
11th Light Brigade (Terra)
18th Light Brigade (Terra)

plus 2 Prowler units. The Starbotians will also augment the force (which will begin moving to Starbot next month) too. It is hoped Battlegroup Starbot will be ready for operations by May.

• The DDS have increased their outstanding order of Coril 86B shuttles by 2 (so that there will be an eventual fleet of 20). Deliveries of the 7 outstanding shuttles will resume this year after a gap. These ships are not included in the Ship Building Plan.

Jimmy confirmed as Head of the Senate

When Jimmy stood down as Consul at the end of 2111 in favour of Ronald the question remained as to what Jimmy's new role would be. Usually an ex-Consul takes a Ministerial role and the Dino Senate is reshuffled as the new Consul gives up his previous role. However as the new Consul was Ronald, the Head of the Senate the question was would Ronald give this role up to Jimmy?

The answer was yes but Jimmy insisted his appointment be permanent and not on "extended loan" (i.e. returned to Ronald in two years at the end of his term as Consul). Ronald, to the surprise of some observers, agreed to this. Although Head of the Senate is a largely ceremonial role it was thought Ronald would want to keep it, among the powers the Head has is to instigate a resuffle of ministerial posts (although over the last year the decision has been made by the Senate as a whole and not just Ronald's whim). It is thought Jimmy will formalise the role which will include leading debates in the Senate.

The new Consul Ronald meanwhile has begun his first trip away from Dino-Land, he is to visit the Dino planet Xi and then go on to visit Porquat 640.

AP appears on Molab in show of DDS support

DDS Commander AP has unexpectedly made an appearance on Molab in the strongest show yet of DDS support for the Eritrans. His visit was made in secret and took 10 days (starting from Proxima 7) in SS Cicero, his worm drive equipped Rome 46A flagship. As well as a show of support the trip also was a demonstration as to how fast the DDS could reinforce the Molabites if needs be, especially if the DDS send supplies from Starbot which is just 28 hours away for a worm drive equipped ship. In contrast a HCS fleet departing from Austini 55 would take around 3 days to reach Molab.

AP will hold talks with the Molab government and military, he has been accompanied by the army commander Zeppelin and it is thought a joint ground forces exercise will be discussed for later in the Spring. AP told Molab reporters that 2 worm drive equipped ships would soon be sent to Starbot as well as other "materials".

It is rumoured (though unconfirmed) that SS Cicero bought some "presents" for the Molabites in its hold including the latest sensor filtration modules for its fleet of Isometric-E frigates.

174/7

On The Court
The race is on to get to the ash cannon (Ash Death P7)

Ship Building Plan 2112/3

The Ship Building Plan for 2112/3 has now been finalised. This lists the ships to be built during the financial year 2112/3 which of course starts in April 2112.

• 2 Olympus 23A 
• 3 Indy 35B 
• 3 Solaris 37C 
• 4 Freedom 41B 
• 2 Oceania 63A 
• 1 Tethys Ocean 65A 
• 2 Extender 73A

Fleet News (16/01/12)

• S224 Fuji, an Olympus 23A carrier, and M130 Formidable an MCS have both joined the fleet.
• Panther 35A H108 Snow Leopard has been fitted with worm drive.
• Worm drive calibration has been completed for the Solaris 37C (though none are planned to be fitted yet). An Isometric 41A will be fitted with worm drive later in the year and given improved C3 facilities so it can be used as the reserve flagship should P101F Cicero be unavailable. The ship has yet to be chosen.

Molab approach Utrek for ships

The Molab have made a formal approach to the Utrek for warships and after remote communications a Utrekian party is currently on the way to Molab for face to face talks it is understood. With the war against the Mantae currently in a lull the Utrek have a surplus of ships and have offered Molab 10-12 Molentic Tuuls.

The Utrek say the ships can be in Molabite hands by mid-March and with localisation the ships could be in service by the end of April. As Molab already operates Kalahati Tuuls it is thought they would be able to at least form crews for some of the ships with others being left in reserve.

The problem for Molab though is affording it. It is thought that Molab might forgo its outstanding orders for DDS warships in order to go Utrekian. The DDS are thought to have told the Molab that they might be able to speed up the outstanding orders and also provide updates to the existing fleet.

HCS to move extra troops to CSE-E

Oojok and Benito have agreed the transfer of 6 armoured and 9 infantry brigades from the HCS-W to HCS-E. The units, all category A units (the best in the HCS) and "amphibious ready", will be relocated to Woloron 12 by the "early Spring". Such a force will greatly increase the available rapid reaction units in the area.

A HCS analyst says that this is the biggest escalation yet in the tension between the Clones and the Free Eritran States. "Taken on their own these brigades comprise more combat power than the entire collected Eritran armies, yet they just comprise 30% of what will be available to Benito to deploy should he wants to invade."

The HCS say the units are transferring for training purposes and as part of a rebalancing of the HCS.

Dr Forbidden : Formalising TPM development

Dr Forbidden, head of DDS Research

Over the last 6 months i have tried to reorganise many of the projects ongoing by DDS Research and DDS Engineering, bring things back under control after the (necessary) developmental chaos of the war. One has been the TPM development project.

The TPM project is now run along 3 branches, a current branch for bugfixes and improvements to the current in production model (the B family) - production branch, a branch for the next model (the C) - development branch and the model after that (currently known as the D) - research branch.

This allows us to better organise effort and information sharing by the various teams involved. For example the development branch team recently developed a new data filtration algorithm which we found could be easily included in the production missile's software. Real world experience of the production missile is also fed into both of the other teams.

All branches are underpinned by the Transphasic Unified Platform (TUP) which the TPM has now moved to (and MRM and LRM will also join). This is the core foundation of many of the technologies used by our transphasic projectile weapons, you can imagine TUP as the root of the transphasic tree perhaps? A unified database of transphasic technology and research is now in the process of being finished.

When development of the B family ends then the C family will become the production branch and the B will be hived off to a separate maintenance team for a period. The D will become the development branch and a new branch will be made for research. It is hoped this new formalised way of working can lead to greater efficiency, faster development and enhanced progress.

174/6

Dragged Wide
Who is the second temporal agent? (Ash Death P6)

TPM-2 upgraded to 2BM

The TPM-2 has been upgraded to 2BM standard which is also the first upgrade that has happened simultaneously with the air and ground launched versions of the missile (though both are only in limited service). Thus the TPM-A2BM air-launched and TPM-GB2M have also been released.

The 2BM is likely to be the last upgrade before the 2C family which are due for next year and which will have a new seeker and larger warhead. The 2BM has a number of bugfixes and tweaks to its internal systems. The ground launched version has a new booster and the air launched improvements to the pylon release system.

• The DDS have announced an upgrade to the Solaris 37C fleet. Solaris 2112 Update A will be carried out over the next few weeks and is a fairly modest improvement. Changes include FIDO-VR support with holographic projectors fitted and improvements to the main databus. TPM-VLS support will also be added (but not fitted yet, as with the Panthers in their recent upgrade). IWC and some other systems will also receive minor improvements.
• An A-85 COIN aircraft in DDSAF service has crashed on a training exercise, thought to be due to pilot error. The pilot and gunner were able to escape and the pilot is now being debriefed by the Hoods.

Operation January Sunshine

The DDS have begun their first exercise of the year, as with the pattern established last year it will be a small scale deployment lasting 2-3 weeks. Operation January Sunshine will concentrate on electronic warfare and integrating the Marconi 81A EW fleet into combat operations. It is expected a number of mock attacks will be made against an imaginary foe using the Marconi's EW suite to cover and assist in the attack. A target range has been set up though the DDS are being more secretive about this exercise than usual and no further details have been forthcoming. The mock attacks will be made by 2 Rome 46As with the ground attack module fitted and MRMs launched by 2 MCS.

The following ships are involved:

A301E Marconi (flag)
A302E Morse
H161 Solaris
M104 Tertiary
M121 Freedom
P108 Seneca
P115 Horace
A150 Gasoline

The DDS have also announced a u-turn on their policy of ending Marconi production, a 6th and 7th ships will be built after all though no orders have yet been fully placed. They will likely be in the 2113/4 Ship Building Plan at the earliest.

Clones blast DDS for Molab sales

The DDS have rushed through an emergency order placed by the Molab for 3 QPM capable missile launchers and 100 QPM loads. These items, bought for an undisclosed fee, will be despatched from the DDS "within weeks" and could be ready in Molab service by the end of February.

The Clones have criticised the DDS for "escalating tensions". "We are very disappointed the DDS have chosen to disregard the stability of the galaxy in this way." a spokes clone said at HCS GHQ. DDS Deputy Commander Shiner said in reply "Well we all know the Clones are excellent at keeping a straight face but saying that must have taxed even them!"

Molab have also asked if deliveries of any of their outstanding ship orders can be speeded up though this will probably not be possible.

The Historian : A brief history of the Dinos (3)

The Historian casts his eyes back over the rich history of the DDS Universe.

In 2052CE Ronald rose to power in the Dino Empire replacing the drug-addled Juliawaki (who retired to a country home, before later re-emerging decades later as the head of a vile paedophile gang who seduced young males using abstract art and hard drugs, but thats another story for another time...)

Skirmishes and conflicts

The next few decades were fairly uneventful for the Dinos before the arrival of the Terrasaurs in 2069 who sought to replace Ronald and his ruling party. For the next couple of decades the war between the Dinos and the Terrasaurs rumbled on, though it never was more than a local conflict. As time went on Ronald's grip on power tightened, especially once he reformed the SS and fostered a religious cult at its heart, with himself as the object of veneration (it is said he did this both for control and ego purposes) and the Terrasaur threat diminished (although did not officially end until 2104).

In 2073 the Dinos encountered the ABBOs for the first time and frequent wars against these robot foes then continued until the present day and their final destruction by the Tarbotians in 2111. Like the Terrasaurs however the ABBOs, while a threat, were never able to threaten the safety and integrity of the Dino Empire.

Ronald's greatest test came in 2078 with the arrival of the powerful Acheron occult faction. The Acheron nearly managed to defeat Ronald and overthrow his ruling party but in the end he prevailed but he and some of his colleagues were left totally exhausted by it. Who the Acheron were is still unclear, they were Saurians from an unidentified planet beyond Utrek space, it is rumoured that they could have been yet another lost colony from the first Dino space faring civilisation (see part 1) but this has never been confirmed.

The Dino Death Squad

As the astral-politic situation was fairly quiet (though things were starting to bubble up on Cloneworld with human settlers oppressing the native Clones) Ronald and GBH, his best friend and deputy, took a sabbatical in 2079 leaving Jimmy in charge. While on Proxima 7 Ronald's drunken antics disrupted the Mr Universe contest robbing a Dino competitor of a certain victory. Little did anyone know this would lead to some of the most deadly wars in the galaxy's history...

Of course we all know that competitor was Oojok and a few years later he landed on Cloneworld, found himself the object of veneration by the Clones, and formed an army. When he attacked Ronald seeking revenge Ronald formed his own faction, the Heavy Attack Squad later to be renamed the Dino Death Squad...

We won't go into the history of the DDS here, just mention that Ronald was soon usurped by Windscorpion and he decided it was time that he went home and resumed his day job as Emperor of the Dinos!

The final days of the Dino Empire

Ronald returned just in time (2089) to lead the Dinos to victory over the ABBOs. Although the ABBOs continued a threat this second ABBO war is seen as being the key one. The ABBOs were utterly defeated and never again had a technological edge over the Dinos. While the attention of the galaxy was transfixed on the bitter battle between the DDS and HCS in the Clone Wars the Dinos adopted a policy of isolation but soon Ronald faced his greatest challenge yet.

Up until the 2090s MBH had been a fairly minor player in Dino politics. The son of GBH, the Deputy Emperor, MBH had led a fairly undistinguished career in the army but then in 2095 he attempted to seize power in a coup. His attempt failed but he evaded capture.

With MBH still on the run attention suddenly turned to the Tarbotians who launched a full scale attack on the Remedians. Ronald agreed to join the fight with the DDS and Starbotians and an epic war ensued. The Tarbotians were defeated though Ronald was badly injured in the final battle. He stood down in favour of El Diablo in 2097.

El Diablo might one day make a good leader but this was not his day. He was soon usurped by the power crazed One-Horn who then launched an attack on the DDS. Ronald returned from his retirement to defeat One-Horn and became Emperor for the second time in 2099.

Ronald however did not want to be Emperor again and soon began to look for ways to pass on the crown to someone else. MBH appeared to have killed Ronald in a terrorist attack and seized the crown but when Ronald returned the empire was forced to accept having 2 Emperors (as has happened so many years ago, see part 1). MBH, although co-Emperor, still sought sole power for himself and began to try and get rid of Ronald. MBH was defeated eventually but Ronald was becoming weary. He at first tried to appoint Jimmy as co-Emperor to share the burden but when Jimmy was badly wounded in an assassination attempt Ronald saw that the only way he could avoid being Emperor was by there being no empire.

The Dino Republic

Thus in 2106 Ronald disbanded the Dino Empire and formed the Dino Republic with power held by a Senate led by 2 Consuls who are elected for 2 year long terms. Will this be a long term answer to the problem of who to lead the Dinos? We'll just have to see. If one looks back over the history of the Dinos then long periods of stable and quiet rule have been punctuated by briefer periods of chaos. We don't know yet which of these we are in...

174/5

Meet The Rents
Can the DDS survive the Bolitic attack? (Ash Death P5)

DTA attempt to mediate rebuffed by Clones

The DTA have offered to be a neutral venue for mediation talks between the Clone Star Empire and the Eritran Free States to try and relieve the growing tension in the area. However the Clones have said they aren't interested in talking. The DTA offer, which was made with the agreement of the DDS, was quickly rejected though the DTA say they remain hopeful there can be some dialogue. "Our diplomatic capital Yeng remains ready should the Clones and Eritrans decide to talk." Molab said they would be willing to talk if the Clones stopped their incursions into Molab space.

Molab have meanwhile placed an order for 100 extra QPMs though only 1 of their 3 Isometric-Es can currently fire the missile, an upgrade programme has been accelerated to bring the others up to date by the end of this month.

HCS Fleet News (08/01/12)

• A Soulaki SLBK battlecruiser and a Freighter FYA transport have both joined the fleet.

HCS and Molab warships skirmish

A HCS Molentic Tuul and a Molab Isometric have skirmished near the Molab border in the latest escalation of tensions in the area. The HCS ship crossed the border and was intercepted by the Molab ship which was forced to fire across the MT's bow in a tense stand-off before the HCS ship retreated back into free space.

Later on the HCS ship crossed the border again though retreated when the Molab ship approached. The HCS ship then set course for Austini 55.

The Historian : A brief history of the Dinos (2)

The Historian casts his eyes back over the rich history of the DDS Universe.

Thanks to the Starbotians, who became the first allies of the Dinos, the Dinos were now able to properly travel the stars at faster than light speeds (though early Dinomarks could barely exceed 1-2c). Here I will describe the development of the Dino state through to the rise of Ronald to the throne...

Encounter with the Bolitic

The Dinos built a fleet of space exploration Dinomarks, the first target being to investigate mysterious TV and radio transmissions from a planet a number of light years away. The images on the TV showed the beings of that planet were Dinos too (at the time even less was known of the earlier Dino civilisation, including the fact it had established colonies on other planets).

In 1822CE a Dinomark entered the Castarian atmosphere where it was intercepted by a primitive yet war line air vessel. After the Dinomark landed on Castarian it was quickly confirmed that the creatures on the planet (who called themselves the Bolitic) were Dinos too, though more primitive than the Dinos and very warlike though they appeared welcoming.

However as the Dinos began to learn the Bolitic dialect they also discovered that the Bolitic harboured a deadly secret. They knew of the earlier space voyages and indeed knew they were originally from Dino-Land. However over the centuries a deep seated hatred of the Dinos had become central to Bolitic culture as the Dinos were said to have abandoned the Bolitic to Castarian, a habitable but harsh world. The Dinos barely managed to get off the planet before the Bolitic turned on them, intent on stealing Dino technology.

Although the Dinos did escape it is thought Bolitic scientists and cyberwarriors were able to glean many secrets. Indeed ten years later the Bolitic were able to reach space themselves. Endless conflict has existed between the Dinos and Bolitic ever since, the Bolitic at first at a disadvantage but in 1895 they captured a working hyperspace drive and by the early 1900s were also able to build a star empire as the Dinos were in the process of doing.

The Dino Star Empire

In 1830 Ecto III died and was replaced by his chief lieutenant Juliawaki. The new emperor instigated a much more militaristic feel to the Dino Empire and ordered the establishment of colonies on other worlds. The first colony on Pulsin was established in 1837 and others followed though the Dinos found the planets near to Dino-Land (Pulsin apart) rather poor and so the Dinos have never really established the kind of large star empire such as the Bolitic and later the Clones built.

The first wars between the Dinos and the Bolitic Confederacy (as now existed) also took up a lot of the Dinos time. Until the heavy defeat of the Bolitic in 1940 (in which Tribune Ronald first came to the attention of the Emperor with his heroic leading of a Dinomark squadron against a Bolitic battlecruiser) the Dinos spent several decades in almost endless war.

Contact with Earth

Exploration continued however, in 1910 a Dino ship first entered the Sol system following a navigational error though at the time the Dinos did not decide to make contact with the humans (it is thought the Dinos made a mistake in identifying the prominent life form on Earth, thinking the crocodiles were in charge and not yet evolved enough to bother with). A second expedition to Earth, this time intentional, was made in 1947. No contact was made but it is thought the Dinomarks helped spark the UFO sighting craze.

First contact was to wait, Juliawaki decided that only when the humans were out in space themselves, should the Dinos make contact. Ronald meanwhile had left the army, weary of war, to form a shoe repair business. When this failed in 1991 he returned to the army, once again made a Tribune.

As humanity began its early steps into space, and in the early 2020s developed hypserspace drives of their own, Juliawaki decided it was time to make contact (the humans were by now aware of Dino TV and radio signals, unfortunately the first Dino TV that was seen was a reality TV show involving spraying girls in vests with water so their nipples showed. Showing this footage on Earth sparked world wide panic).

Ronald won a competition to lead the expedition to Earth and in 2051 a fleet of Dinomarks entered the Sol system and established relations with mankind.

Takola becomes Ronald and Emperor

Of course we have referred to Ronald by his later humanised name, up until now he was called Takola but the early automatic translation tool rendered his name as "Ronald" in human language and he, like a number of Dinos, adopted these names for interaction with humans and some later stuck. (Ronald later stated that he never liked his original name mainly because in his wife's native dialect it sounds like the word for a sex toy).

Ronald returned to Dino-Land in triumph but in the months he was away (these are the days when travelling even between near stars took weeks and months) the Emperor Juliwaki had become increasingly irrational. Juliawaki was being fed drugs by the SS Commander Telavason who took advantage of Juliawaki's drug-boosted paranoia to rule the empire. This included making Juliawaki see Ronald as a potential usurper as Telavason feared Ronald's popularity.

When Juliawaki sent the SS to arrest and execute Ronald (now a Legate) the army (who beloved Ronald) revolted and battled the SS on the streets of Dino-Land. Ronald stormed the royal palace and killed Telavason in battle. Juliawaki was forced to stand down, the army proclaimed Ronald their new emperor...

The Historian : A brief history of the Dinos (1)

The Historian casts his eyes back over the rich history of the DDS Universe.

How did the Dino Republic become one of the pre-eminent powers in the galaxy, in this two part article i will briefly describe the interesting history of the modern Dino state. In part 1 i will describe events up until the time the Dinos achieved faster than light space travel...

The Lost Civilisation

The current Dino civilisation is not the first that headed out to the stars though the previous civilisation, which reached its height around 5000 years ago, is now little known even the name has been lost. It is thought their level of technology was similar to that of mankind in the early 21st century and sub-light space ships were sent out to explore and colonise various worlds. Then the Dino homeland was engulfed by some kind of catastrophe, geological analysis and background radiation indicates it was probably a nuclear conflict which almost totally wiped out any traces of the old civilisation.

Cut off from the homeland the fragile space colonies were forced to fend for themselves, and either died off or were reduced to the same kind of savagery as emerged from the irradiated ruins on Dino-Land. It is a possibility whatever conflict destroyed Dino-Land also raged on the interstellar colonies reducing them to a pre-technological state too. Those which survived later became the Bolitic Confederacy, Sirikwan, Yeng and a couple of other Saurian civilisations now scattered across space.

Recovering From Disaster

On Dino-Land the surviving Dinos took centuries to recover from the nuclear onslaught, finally around 230 CE (Terran dates will be used in this article for the convenience of readers) civilisation resumed with the appearance of the Krotawati Empire. This brief flowering of civilisation lasted a few hundred years before falling to barbarian attack but the foundations of a new Dino technological civilisation were laid including an early version of the Dino writing system used today, the Krotawaki have been called the "Dino Greeks" by Dino historians though not a huge amount is known about them to be honest however the writing system was adopted by the barbarian tribes who conquered them.

The true roots to the current Dino state however came around 1020 CE when the Telrinson tribe rose to prominence following decades of inter-tribal warfare and began to unify the scattered tribes of Dino-Land into one cohesive empire. Finally in 1302 "all" of Dino-Land (all inhabited lands by a certain group of Dino species anyway) were united by Ecto who proclaimed himself Emperor of the Dinos, all subsequent Dino Emperors followed on from him.

The New Empire

The early history of the Dino Empire (which was known as simply "The Empire" by the Dinos at the time) was fraught however. Ecto died in battle against primitive tribesmen and his successor Nintoson died a few days into his reign from illness. His son was made Emperor Ecto II however it is thought he suffered from mental instability. Some years into his reign he went missing forcing the Dinos to appoint a cousin Nintoson II as Emperor. Ecto II returned from his self-imposed exile later and the Dinos had 2 Emperors for awhile (which gave precedent to the later dual Emperor system in the latter days of empire) until Ecto II was forced to stand down after he tried to eat his own daughter in the royal court. Ecto II rose an army and tried to seize the crown for himself, in the ensuing battle Ecto II and Nintoson II were both killed. The Dinos appointed Velis, a minister in Nintoson's government, as the new emperor.

A period of stability then followed and a great flowering of technological development took place under the wise reign of Velis the Great. Nintoson III succeeded Velis on his death in 1401, the great man being able to see the flight of an early Dino aeroplane (in reality not much more than a powered blimp) in the final days before his death. Nintoson III was another long lived and stable emperor who ruled for 181 years. In that time the Dinos developed computing and early space flight, Ronald was also born during Nintoson III's reign.

Dark Days

Wen Dobla succeeded Nintoson III in 1582 and here things began to go downhill. After two stable emperors Web Dobla harked back to the earlier brutal days of the empire, after 16 fraught years he was assassinated and replaced by Renesoka who is notable for forming the ISU which later became the SS and the foundation of the modern fascist underpining of the Dino state. 

Dino technological development was halted by decades of internal strife and civil war, Ecto III rose to power in 1710 (Renesoka, despite his vicious reign of conflict died bizarrely in a shower room accident when he slipped on a soap and hit his head on a wash basin, the bar of soap was memorably "tortured to death" by ISU stormtroopers). Ecto III restored the empire to stability during a 120 year reign though much of it was spent repairing the damage of the previous two emperors. In 1802 the Dinos were contacted by the Starbotians who later helped the Dinos develop their first hyperspace drive equipped ship. In 1806 the first Dinomark went faster than light, Ronald (then called Takola and a Decurion in the army) is known to have been considered for the crew of the first flight, his chance for glory came later however...

Clones to privatise arms industry to raise funds for HCS?

The Clone Star Empire has announced a series of economic measures including privatisations of a number of state arms firms including the Clone Aircraft Corporation in order to build a 35 billion zark "modernization fund". It is thought this money is being earmarked for the desperately needed upgrades to key HCS infrastructure such as its core communications network.

Deputy Emperor Sleeze of the CSE-W denied that the empire was in trouble though admitted that the economic boom that has lasted over much of the last decade was over. "Economies are cyclical." he did admit however. It is because of this downturn that the CSE are struggling to find funds for infrastructure upgrades as well as leaving existing budgets untouched. Privatisations and the selling off of around 4 billion zarks worth of unused military and state owned land on Cloneworld (and 1.9 billion zarks worth elsewhere) can bring in the money needed.

174/4

New Rules
The Bolitic close in on the stricken DDS (Ash Death P4)

Dr Forbidden : Where we are with worm drives

Dr Forbidden, head of DDS Research

I thought it would be beneficial to state where we are right now with respect to the (still new) worm drive technology and how we are integrating it into our systems.

First of all some brief introductory notes on how worm drives work. Unlike traditional hyperspace drives which drive a ship faster than the speed of light through the subspace barrier of space-time, worm drives literally generate a tunnel straight through space-time allow near instantaneous transportation between 2 points in space (which are currently about 5 light years apart). The tunnel or worm hole is generated by the worm drive and requires precise geometry and calculations for the ship in transit. This is a very involved process as we have to be exact with the geometry, even being off by a nanometre can cause severe health problems for the crew, and any more can result in the destruction of the crew due to having to precisely navigate through the various radiation layers and levels of space time. Therefore we can't just fit a worm drive to any old ship, it has to be to a ship form that we have calculated geometry for.

(By the way external damage to a ship can cause changes to the geometry needed and preclude a safe worm jump even if the drive is working however when we calculate geometry we build in enough tolerance so minor external damage can still be accommodated.)

So far the following ship types have been cleared for worm drive use:

• Type 35 (both Panther and Indy)
• Type 41 (Isometric and Freedom), Type 43s still require some changes due to differences in the ship dimensions.
• Type 46 (though not with a ground attack module)
• Type 95X research ship

Examples of all these classes have either got or have had work drive fitted at some time. We are aiming to clear the Type 43 MCS, the Type 37 HCS and the Type 15 bomber by the end of 2112. As the Dinos have already calculated the geometry for their own Dinomark XTs we have geometry for the Type 47 already (the Dinos supplied it with the drives they supplied) though have no plans yet to fit drives to them.

At the time of writing there are 12 ships in the fleet fitted with a worm drive, mostly Dino supplied W1As though our production line is now established and we aim to build 9-10 of our own drives this year. They are complicated things to build unfortunately and, as they are Dino technology, there is a lot of learning and engineering integration that we need to do. By 2113 i am confident we can get production well into the "teens" and beyond. This does mean though of course the retrofitting older ships will not take place on a large scale for some years yet though we have enough for new ships coming online this year (though at the moment just Type 35Bs will be getting the drives).

I hope these notes have helped illuminate where the DDS is with respect to worm drives at the moment.

Warspite 16A class named

The forthcoming Type 16 bombers will be known as the Warspite 16A AP announced earlier today at a media briefing. Dragonfly was being touted as the probable name but it is thought AP decided to change the name after advice from the DDS Naming Committee who said it would be better to use names later in the alphabet to avoid potential confusion with the other forthcoming ships the Corkscrew 51As.

The names for the first 6 ships have been announced too though the first ship S121 Warspite will not enter service until 2114. Later in this year the first design views will be unveiled and a specification will be finalised by the end of Q2.

• The Remedians have secured funding (47 million zarks) to perform an upgrade of its fleet of 6 Perimpaz 39A Heavy Combat Ships. The upgrade includes bringing the 2 oldest ships up to the KT2N standard of the other 4 as well as improving data security and communication facilities. The ships will also be all given a minor refurb and refit to keep them going up to their planned replacement by Corkscrew in 2114-5. The updates will be carried out over the next few weeks. 

Benito : "Eritrans should join the Clone Star Empire"

Benito, Emperor of the Eastern half of the Clone Star Empire, has ratcheted up the pressure on the Free Eritran States by saying they should give up independence and join his empire! "The Eritrans should join the Clone Star Empire. They would be very welcome to take their place as valued subjects of the empire."

Molab has angrily responded to the remarks saying that Molab and the other Free Eritran States would fight to the death to defend their sovereignty and independence. Molab has mobilised its army reserves and postponed a planned ship maintenance programme to ensure maximum fleet availability.

Oojok urged to strike DDS?

Hawks in the Clone Star Empire and HCS are thought to have urged Oojok to declare war on the DDS. Their reasoning is thought to be the belief that unless the HCS take the DDS down now, while they have the advantage of CSM, they will be unable to do so later in the decade especially once the DDS closes the missile gap.

Oojok however has said there will be no such action and told the hawks to get out of the Clone War mindset. "The DDS are not our enemy anymore." he is thought to have said. Other senior officials have said that the HCS might not be able to win. One official who wished to remain anonymous said "Perhaps if we used the entire fleet and much of the army we could win, but we would lose so much in doing so it wouldn't be much of a victory."

The sabre rattling against the Eritrans has continued however with a HCS task force beginning a series of exercises on Molab's border next week.

Other Fleet News (02/01/12)

• The Dinos have completed 2 Dinomark PTs and 2 XTs.
• The Bolitic Confederacy are reported to have completed 2 Snarls and 2 Meltinans.
• Porquat 640 has accepted a new Quagan 665 into service. They have also announced that after the last new 665 is completed later in the year work will then begin on upgrading the 5 Quagan 658s to 665 standard.

Wayne King-Meiouf : Things to come in 2112?

Professor Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of Proxima

As the new year starts i thought i would look at a few possible events that may happen in 2112 and judge if they are likely to happen or not?

War between the Clones and Eritran Free States
Likelihood : Moderate

A lot of noise has been caused recently by this, the Clones have been rattling every sabre they can lay their hands on. We could see some kind of military adventure by the Clones but i think it will difficult for Oojok to persuade the Clones to fight a little known and far-off foe who pose no threat. The Clone economy has seen better days and massive HCS and Clone economic changes are pending. Personally i don't see the Clones going to war but wouldn't be surprised if there is some kind of skirmish.

War between the Clones and the DDS
Likelihood : Remote

Some HCS hawks have broken cover over the last couple of days (interestingly not reported in the UNP) that the HCS should strike the DDS now while there is the chance the Clones can win. The best Oojok can do is have these HCS hawks consigned to the looney bin to be honest.

A break-up of the Bolitic Confederacy
Likelihood : Possible

Melson and Erinthorn both want to lead the Bolitic, only one man can. Erinthorn has some forces behind him but nowhere near enough to defeat Melson in battle. Could he split the Bolitic? I personally feel it is going to happen sooner or later, we may have a kind of CSE style double headed eagle... though to get there will probably require masses of bloodshed.

Open Tarbotian aggression against the DDS
Likelihood : Moderate

We all know that the Tarbotians have been behind a number of incidents lately (though of course proving it is currently impossible). Will the Tarbotians break cover and openly act against the DDS in 2112? I think not yet, they like to consolidate a new gain properly before moving onto another and to consolidate the ABBO territory is years away. However there is a new kind of thought behind some recent Tarbotian actions, whether new blood has been bought into the leadership i don't know but things have not been as usual.