DTA orders 10 Pentekonter Protectors for Voth and New Arit

A joint-order for ten Pentekonter Protectors has been made by the DTA, five ships each will equip the Voth and New Arit fleets. The Voth Space Navy already has three on order, the extra five ships will be the same 281V standard. Delivery of all ships will be by 2124 though none as yet have been delivered. An NS source said that the first 281V was in final construction and would be delivered before the end of the year.

New Arit's Pentekonters will be to a similar standard. New Arit are a former Pentekonter operator but these new ships will cover for the Aritan's ageing fleet of Kalahati Tuuls which are reaching the end of their lives. The Aritans have eleven Kalahati Tuuls and are planning to refit the best six for operation into the mid-2130s, the rest will be replaced by the Pentekonters by 2125.

Ronald says the war must be taken to the Terrasaurs

Censor Ronald has said he is growing frustrated by the lack of progress in the war with the Terrasaurs. He has addressed the Dino Senate and said the Dinos were too passive. "We have held the line but we cannot continue letting the Terrasaurs assume the initiative. We need to take the fight to them, push them out of the sector. Win this war!"

Emperor MBH agreed and said it was imperative to remove the Terrasaur bridgehead on Apasarra. He said the Bolitic were bringing in more ground forces. 

The Dinos have reactivated twenty Dinomark XTs from it's civilian reserve. These older ships will take on second-line duties to allow newer and more advanced XTs to go to the front-line.

Terrasaurs launch attack on Voth

The Terrasaurs have launched a major attack on DTA forces protecting Voth. Sixteen warships stormed the planet's defences and managed to badly damage the main orbital facility over the planet. It later had to be abandoned and destroyed. The Terrasaur attack was repelled by a combined Dino and Voth force.

Six Dino ships (said to be a Dinomark AM, two LMs and three XTs) and two Voth Kalahati Tuuls were destroyed in the battle. Four Terrasaur warships, including a battlecruiser, were destroyed in return. This was a win for the Terrasaurs however as the loss of the Voth orbital HQ will hinder operations for some time. A Dinomark RS has been despatched from Dino-Land to act as a temporary orbital command post.

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CDF rocked by mass arrests of "heretical" officers

The Religious Police have arrested over two hundred officers across the various arms of the Clone Defence Forces. The officers, mostly general level, were accused of being "Anti-Terin and Oojok" and have fallen foul of the new blasphemy laws. A Clone source said most officers could be executed.

Ayatollah Clone XE praised the arrests. "The Anti-Oojok is a cancer at our core. We must remove it otherwise the Clone Star Empire is in peril. We will not rest until all infidels have been punished."

Sirikwan delay withdrawal of Nerval transports

Following an inspection of the seven strong fleet, the Sirikwanese have announced that their ex-HCS Nerval transports will remain in service until 2124 due to the war situation. They had been expected to begin a phase out at the end of this year but now all will be withdrawn together as they reach the end of their fatigue lives.

Sirikwan has also inspected it's fleet of Helwin cruisers which were also due to be withdrawn in the mid-2120s. All six have been cleared to operate until 2128 at the latest though one or two may need to be withdrawn a couple of years before that.

Terrasaurs attempt to get reinforcements to Apasarra

A Terrasaur operation to send reinforcements to their beleaguered bridgehead on Apasarra has been largely foiled. The Terrasaurs launched an attack on Dino, Voth and Bolitic forces over the planet but this was a diversion. Six supply ships also attempted to land supplies. One ship managed to land supplies and evacuate some injured Terrasaurs but the other ships were attacked by a joint Bolitic-Dino force. Two Terrasaur supply ships were destroyed.

In the diversion operation a Dinomark XT was destroyed though the crew were able to evacuate. No other ships were lost on either side though a number of ships were damaged.

Clone Star Empire enacts new harsh blasphemy law

A harsh new blasphemy law has joined the statute book in the Clone Star Empire with tough penalties for criticising the Church of Oojok, it's clerics and of course Emperor Terin and Oojok. Indeed criticising the Emperor and his father could be punished with death.

Blasphemy laws were removed from the statute book during the brief period when Oojok was deposed and the empire became secular under the joint rule of Captain Clone, The Friar and Benito Clone (who are now all dead). However, Ayatollah Clone XE has been pushing hard for their return. Oojok was against it but Terin is said to be very keen on the harshest laws possible.

Stinkyson blocks review of SS-CINT

The Minister of the Intelligence Services Stinkyson has blocked a move by Liberal Party members of the Dino Senate to start a review of the activities and doctrine of the secretive SS-CINT espionage and counter-intelligence service (of which Stinkyson is also the public head). Senator Jimmy said that SS-CINT is "lawless" and needs to be constrained. 

Stinkyson, with support from the Emperor, countered that SS-CINT needed to work autonomously due to the nature of the threat it is designed to counter. Jimmy declined forcing a vote in the Senate though has said his scrutiny of SS-CINT will continue.

Sirikwan ship destroyed by Terrasaurs

A Sirikwan warship has been attacked and destroyed by the Terrasaurs on a patrol on the edge of Sirikwan space. The Shark SKH-E patrol ship was ambushed after responding to a distress call, it is thought the distress call was faked to lure the Sirikwanese in.

Sirikwan has announced that no single-ship patrols will be carried out once the current missions are completed. 

Dinos get convoy to Voth

The Dinos have managed to get a convoy through to Voth, mostly unscathed. The ten ship convoy was attacked twice by Terrasaurs en route though managed to avoid any ship losses, it is thought in the second attack the Terrasaur ship suffered a weapons malfunction. Three of the convoy escorts suffered damage though only one Dino is reported to have been killed.

A division of Dino Army troops, an SS regiment and a supply of weapons and spares were delivered to the Dino forces on Voth.

Jimmy criticises ethics of Bolitic alliance

Liberal Party leader Senator Jimmy has criticised the ethics of going into an alliance with the Bolitic Confederacy and employing them in the fight against the Terrasaurs on Apasarra. Tens of thousands of slave soldiers, drawn from native species on Bolitic owned worlds, have been slaughtered already in the savage battles that are taking place on the planet.

Jimmy said it was completely unethical for the Dinos to take advantage of mass bloodshed of zombified slave soldiers, some species even bred purely to fight. 

Emperor MBH said that it was better than Dinos dying and asked Jimmy if he would like to command a legion that was wiped out again (during the civil war against Telavason which saw Ronald first rise to power Jimmy commanded the 6th Legion which was nearly wiped out by the SS). MBH revealed that thousands more soldiers will arrive on the planet soon. The Terrasaur advance has been halted and the aim now was to eliminate their bridgehead.

Dinos want Bolitic secrets in return for TPMs

The Bolitic Emperor Melson has asked the Dinos to share TPM technology with it. Today Censor Ronald said that the Dinos would share the technology in return for the Bolitic's most precious military secret: it's knowledge of natural wormholes.

The Bolitic have an unparalleled and secret knowledge of natural wormholes in the space in and around their territory and make use of it to overcome shortcomings in their propulsion technology. It is thought that all Bolitic warships carry the wormhole map locked in a fractal crystal which is DNA locked to the captain of the ship and if accessed by someone else locks and is erased. This is how the Bolitic have managed to keep their map secret.

Ronald said having knowledge of the map would be very useful for the Dino fight against the Terrasaurs. The Bolitic have not replied yet.

Solax orders arrest of SS officers

SS-Commander Solax has ordered the arrest of nearly twenty middle and upper ranked SS officers which he blames for the debacle that resulted in the loss of an entire SS regiment to the Terrasaurs. The identity of the officers has surprised some, as it includes an SS-Tribune in charge of biscuit procurement!

Solax's personal guard, the extreme Black Dragon Martyrs Brigade, carried out the arrests and is now conducting "robust interrogations". Some reports indicate an SS-Legate has already been executed.

One analyst says that Solax is taking advantage of the situation to purge SS leadership who are not members of the fanatical cult dedicated to Ronald. Solax, who is also the High Priest of the cult, is said to only want fellow fanatical members in the SS leadership.

Operation Atomic Fist 2121

The latest edition of NS' strategic attack exercise has begun and will be based near Liberation. The exercise will include a number of practice attacks by NS bombers and will culminate in a nuclear attack on an asteroid in deep space. The ships involved are:

21-104 Grenadier (flagship)

15-101 Quasar (bomber leadship)

15-105 Graviton

15-107 Charm Quark (2 Raegris Quasars are also taking part)

36-102 Midas

35-311 Killer

51-105 Conqueror

51-115 Charger

41-108 Holocene

43-111 Flores Sea

71-106 Condor

116-101 Emerald

76-101 Zephyr

161-104 Inquest

Dino SS regiment lost in latest Terrasaur attack

The Terrasaurs have made another sub-space attack on Dino ships, destroying two Dinomark MXs and three Dinomark XTs in one of the worst attacks for the Dinos so far. The ships were from the SS 12th Infantry Regiment and were travelling to Voth to reinforce the troops guarding Dino facilities on the planet. The SS has reported all 3,412 men of the regiment have been killed.

It is thought the SS, who do not answer to the Dino Army chain of command in space issues, had decided to go ahead with the convoy against Army advice. SS Commander Solax has banned any future convoys until the Terrasaur sub-space threat is neutralised.

NS developing new engine for Coril fleet

NS' large fleet of Coril based ships, including the Okra 86L light patrol ships, are powered by the CFM WSN-865J engine. A reliable but ageing engine which is ending production, NS will need to use their stockpile of engines for future Coril/Okra ships which join the fleet and for export from next year.

NS is developing a replacement engine using e-Core technology. The engine project is known as the "Mini Proton" and this could begin bench testing later this year with field tests next year. The new engine will be up to 40% more fuel efficient than the existing engine and have reduced IR emissions.

Windy released by SS

NS is reporting that President Windscorpion and his ship SS Infinity were released by the Dino SS with apologies after "administrative oversight with regards to visa and immigration procecures". Windy has ordered his ship return to NS GHQ.

The NS alert status was reduced to CYAN. Although NS are not commenting on the incident it is rumoured that a special forces operation went wrong. Windy is understood to be furious.

Fleet News 02/07/21

36-113 Montrose is the latest Mulberry 36A cruiser to join the fleet. Also joining the fleet is 51-117 Columbia, the latest Corkscrew 51A destroyer.

Columbia includes some weapon and equipment modifications to test technology which will be used in the follow-on Repulse 51B class.