Clone Navy strikes at pirate bases

The Clone Navy has launched a number of attacks against pirate bases on Cloneworld in an operation called "Fall Rain". In one attack 2 K19B strike bombers launched 2 missiles against a fuelling point at Calanas Atoll though later reports indicate the point had already been abandoned.

Later 4 K85NTKs launched from the aircraft carrier CNS Clone Empire attacked a pirate base in the Golika Island chain. A small boat is reported to have been sunk at dock and 2 buildings set on fire. Clone Marines followed up the attack by landing but they had found the pirates had already fled.

In the third attack the frigate CNS Ailier launched an SS-N-8 missile at a suspected pirate base on the Yeltenee Islands, no reports are yet in as to the damage caused to the base. The CN say that these are just the first attacks in what is likely to be a sustained campaign.

• The DDS' September Sunrise exercise has ended after final mock combats against Remedian ships. The exercise was most notable for the inclusion of SS Corkscrew as part of its trials. The ship has now returned to Solaris for final assessment and modification and could be fully commissioned by the DDS as early as next month.

Operation September Sunrise 2113

The latest exercise in the calendar starts next week, September Sunrise is a strategic weapons exercise and will involve interdiction and attack exercises on a test range in the Mila system in Remedian space.

Although not commissioned as a DDS ship yet SS Corkscrew will take part in the exercise as part of its extended test, and also to provide some training opportunities for DDS and Remedian crew.

S101 Quasar (flagship)
S102 Photon
H126 Intrepid
H130 Invicta
M115 Permian
M162 North Sea
A161 Alkane
TP211309 Corkscrew

Winter Candle 2112 / Exercise schedule for 2113

The final exercise of the year began yesterday, like last year Winter Candle involves special forces. This year the Dino SS-D have joined the DDS Prowlers for a series of simulated incidents including hostage recovery, covert surveillance and anti-terrorism operations. One exercise that has been missed this year is Ground Shock which has taken place in November in previous years but the DDS say this will now occur next month and will start the 2113 programme.

As for Winter Candle the ships taking part are :

A301E Marconi (flag)
H122 Illustrious
H169 Sanger Alpha
M125 Forward
A155 Pentane

A full schedule for 2113 has been published and will be as follows :

• January - Ground Shock 2113 (ground attack / amphibious)
• February - February Flourish 2113 (EW / ECM / cyber warfare)
• March - March Hare 2113 (combat)
• April - Atomic Fist 2113 (nuclear attack)
• May - May Mission 2113 (new internal defence exercise, full details TBA)
• June - June Fade 2113 (minesweeping)
• July - July Wave 2113 (amphibious)
• August - August Flourish 2113 (combat)
• September - September Sunrise 2113 (strategic attack / interdiction)
• October - Civilian Partnership 2113 (humanitarian / disaster relief)
• November - Northern Project 2113 (joint exercise with Raegris)
• December - Winter Candle 2113 (special forces)

Operation September Sunrise 2112

The latest exercise, the 2112 edition of September Sunrise, will begin later this week. Like last year it will be a strategic attack exercise and will involve simulated attacks and penetration runs by 3 Quasar 15A bombers. The exercises will take place near Liberation and Saeou. Two Starbotian ships will also join the exercise towards the end. The DDS ships that will take part are below. Director of Space Operations Caratore has decided to take command of the exercise himself and had rejoined his flagship.

M103 Jurassic (flagship)
S101 Quasar
S104 Positron
S105 Graviton
H102 Jaguar
H121 Independence
M125 Forward
A149 Refinery

Defacto : September Sunrise

Lieutenant Commander Ames Defacto is the Second Officer of SS Charm Quark, Quasar 15A bomber.

Greetings everyone. As you may know our ship SS Charm Quark (or CQ as we call her) is part of the September Sunrise exercise. Our ship is one of three Quasar bombers which took part in a simulated attack earlier. Although the three ships physically acted like they were on an attack run the released weapons and subsequent nuclear explosions were luckily only computer simulations. We performed our roles perfectly though and i'm proud of my team. I'm confident that if we were called upon to use our weapons for real we would be as successful.

Two Remedian ships acted as the "enemy" during our attack run. Its interesting to go up against these old Kalahati Tuuls as they are unlike anything else in the fleet these days. They arn't bad ships, they have a graceful yet slightly menacing air. Three years ago i was lucky enough to spent 2 months on an exchange programme on a Remedian ship. Those ships might be old and fairly obsolete in many ways but the Remedians work them hard and professionally. They certainly pull their weight!

Our exercise was delayed because we were on standby in case a DDS EW attack on the Bolitic ran into trouble. This involved us holding station near the border for around a week. Not the most interesting of times to be honest but i'm glad the attack went through ok and we were not needed.

One thing we did manage to do while we were waiting was apply the new large pennant numbers to the hull. Under the new scheme CQ is now S107 in the fleet and as per directives from GHQ the pennant numbers have been applied very visibly to the exterior of the hull!

Dinos announce W2C worm drive

The Dinos have announced a new version of their worm drive, the W2C which is the third version of the second generation w-drive to enter service. It includes a new recharging array and improved software management which allows for a cut in time between recharges (and thus worm jumps). The key new feature however will be the much greater mass rating which will allow it to be fitted to larger ships such as the Dinomark RS.

The new equivalent speed of W2C has yet to have been determined but it should help the Dinos beat the 5000c barrier (currently W2B drives are rated at producing an equivalent speed of 4950c).

Testing is due to begin with an unmanned ship next month with manned testing later in the year and an entry into service planned for next Spring.

• The first simulated attack by Quasar 15A bombers has been carried out during the September Sunrise exercise on "targets" on a Remedian asteroid. The exercise was delayed for over a week because the ships were placed on standby as backup for the ships involved in the electronic attack on the Bolitic. September Sunrise will now run into early October.

Defacto : Introduction to CQ

Lieutenant Commander Ames Defacto is the Second Officer of SS Charm Quark, Quasar 15A bomber.

The DDS have decided it would be useful to have a regular column written by a serving officer with the DDS, view from the coal face at it were. A number of DDS officers volunteered to provide this column and i am happy to have been chosen to bring a taste of life aboard one of the most powerful warships in the galaxy, and also to gain myself 100 points for Yellow House!

I am the Second Officer of SS Charm Quark, this means i am third in command and i am in command of Beta Shift. I am also lead officer in the Strategic Attack System which is at the core of the Quasar bomber's raison d'être. Charm Quark or CQ as we refer to her is one of the bombers in the DDS fleet and in a war would be tasked mainly with penetrating enemy defences and attacking enemy planets and orbital facilities with MRMs and other attack missiles.

That isn't CQ's only mission though, as a very powerful warship we are also ready to perform other fleet duties. Indeed we have just served some time in the Rapid Reaction Force which is a small number of ships kept on the highest alert ready to be despatched to trouble spots at very short notice. In fact we had to spend much of the time on R2H status, Ready 2 Hours. We had to be ready to depart orbital dock within 2 hours in other words. Being at such a heightened alert status for an extended period of time is very stressful let me tell you!

CQ has left the RRF though to take part in the September Sunrise exercise along with 2 of our sister ships. The Quasar fleet are, at present, the only bombers available to the DDS (although other ships can fill in with a more limited capability set) and thus we are worked hard. Three Quasars are always assigned to the 1st Attack Squadron which is the ready strike force ready to be sent out if needed at any time. CQ is likely to be assigned to the attack squadron later in the year but until then we have other duties including this exercise.

CQ is currently at Solaris Dock taking on final stores before it heads off to join the rest of the deployment on Wednesday. Over the coming weeks and months i will be giving an insight into CQ's missions, and life aboard this great warship. I hope you will appreciate it.

Operation September Sunrise

The latest exercise under the new monthly schedule is September Sunrise which will begin on Wednesday and run for much of the rest of the month. The exercise will involve a simulated attack run by Quasar 15A bombers along with other simulated combat exercises. The ships involved are:

C121 Quasar (flag)
C125 Positron
C129 Charm Quark
D118 Royal Tiger
F102 Silurian
F174 Foresight
A163 Ethylene

HCS to reorganise special forces

The famous Red Lizard special forces are to be reorganised ahead of an expected transfer of their personnel from the army and to a new HCS Strategic Forces arm. Under the plans all Red Lizard units will be collected into a number of Action Area Groups (AAGs). One AAG will be Cloneworld with others spread throughout the empire.

The special purpose units such as the Space Red Lizard and the elite of the elite Emperor Bodyguard will be collected into a central AAG based at HCS GHQ. Its thought the HCS Navy will also be setting up Marine Red Lizard (there is already a navalised Red Lizard unit but its mostly aimed at riverine operations) units which will, in due course, also join HCS Strategic Forces.

• Operation August Flourish has ended after a final exercise with Starbotian forces. Most ships in the deployment are now returning to Solaris. The next exercise will be September Sunrise though no details have as yet been released.