UNS Singapore, Conference Room
"Alright, everyone please settle down!" Commander Ford clapped his hands together bring the meeting into order. "Quick summary for those not in the loop, we got possible goblin pirates that will commerce raids within our sphere of influence."
"Now this might not be much of an issue before," Blake spoke up, "But now we are looking to be trading partners with the Isles, therefore we need to combat piracy now to prevent it becoming an issue in the future."
"Now the thing is that we only have a single salvaged ship that's being converted into an armored cruiser or ironclad," Blake continued, "A single warship with mostly new and experimental tech with no support vessels and backup."
"Our fast attack craft concept will not be able to be implemented in time to defend against pirates and raiders," Blake added, "So the core of the fighting will be placed on the single ironclad we have now till we can produce more ships."
"Sir, how about we built some maritime patrol bombers?" Airforce Commander Tommy raised a question. "It can do coastal patrols and reconnaissance too. And if in the future if needed, it can also perform in anti submarine warfare."
"Sounds interesting," Blake replied, "Draw up a proposal for it. Good to have more cards in our hands even if we couldn't produce any of this equipment now."
"What else is happening now?" Blake asked around the table.
"Autumn planting will begin next week, mostly tubers and mushrooms types of crops which can survive over winter and be ready to harvest when spring comes," Princess Sherene gave her report. "The strawberries provided by you hoomans are also doing surprisingly well in the markets and also easy to grow over autumn and winter."
"This year it will be different than usual," Sherene smiled charmingly, "It will be a busy winter!"
"Why is that?" Blake asked.
"Well, previously, the farms could not provide any food during the cold months and most people stay indoors to conserve heat," Sherene explained, "Most people shut themselves in during winter, but with central heating, warm clothes, plenty of food and jobs in the factories and stores, people will be more inclined to work during winter!"
"I see, that is a good sign," Blake replied, "I guess."
"Well, a city that doesn't sleep is a thriving city," Ford said. "Now, since we have food production sorted out, I will the military side to report their progress."
Major Frank nodded and said, "Sir, currently we are preparing for the 3rd batch of Marine recruits to be processed and training will begin soon. But I think this will be the last batch of recruits we can recruit without putting a drain into our manpower resources."
"As of now, our current manning is at 842 combat operation Marines, with another 357 non combat support staff," Frank read out the numbers, "This upcoming batch of recruits will be roughly around 450 men, bringing the total military personnel at around 1,650."
"Our total population is holding at around 10k with the addition of 117 goblins and 268 slaves that joined us," Frank continued, "The Marines take up 1.6k of the total population and that is not counting, the Police, Air Force and the formation of the Navy."
"If we add the rest of the armed forces in, at least 40 % of our total population is allocated to the armed forces," Frank said, "Leaving us what? Less than 6,000 civilians, to support our industry and most of them are females?"
"We have less than 400 children of ages below 16," Dr. Sharon spoke up, "And our current birth rate is low, bloody low in fact."
"We need to introduce measures to increase our population for the next 15 years," Dr. Sharon said, "Or we will be reduced to an aging population in the future will no young adults to support our growing infrastructure in the future."
"Even if we mass recruit other races like orcs and goblins into our ranks, we still require people to make babies if we want to sustain the nation in the future," Dr. Sharon warned. "I will advise we implement measures to encourage people to start making babies soon."
"Got it," Blake nodded, "Major Frank, this will be the last batch of recruits, for the time being, only recruit later on to recover combat loses."
"And as for the population growth and babies," Blake looked at Sherene and Dr. Sharon, "Can both of you work out with Public Health services and City Hall to come out with incentives to entice people to start having families early?"
"Offer them government subsidies, housing, grants, education aid, medical, and what others you can think of without impacting our current industrial needs and workforce," Blake threw out some ideas to the both of them. "Set up a committee to oversee all these?"
"Ok," Sherene replied and nodded to Dr. Sharon.
"Now, baring all that," Blake continued on, "I want Chief Matt to led the project on fully restoring the ship to combat ready status."
"We do not know when the goblins pirates will act nor where will they hit," Blake said, "Commander Ford?"
"Ahem," Ford turned on the display screen which showed a coastal map of the region with icons of varies colors dotting the surface. "This is roughly the range we calculated a typical goblin raiding ship has." He highlights an orange circle around a skull, which had a text, "Goblin City".
"Now, these yellow dots are surface contacts, our radar has picked up over the past couple of days," Ford indicated another group of yellow dots scattered all over the area. "We believe that these are merchant convoys or ships. But it might also be pirates or other things that we do not know of."
"According to our investigations, the goblin sea has only two seasons that are suitable to sail and that is mid-spring to mid-summer and early autumn to end autumn," Ford explained, "Any other times, the sea is rough and covered with ship-killing storms."
"Now, the majority of these yellow contacts do not hug along the coast while the nearest ships still keep roughly a 100 kilometers distance from land," Ford continued, "Therefore we rarely spot any of them unless our recon flights spot them or the radar reports them."
"We estimate that our friends will be conveying the trade agreements to us within the next two weeks," Ford traced a line south along the coast to an icon that said "Far Habour".
"Therefore, to prevent any loss of deliveries, we need to ensure our ship is up and running within two weeks," Ford finished.
Chief Matt frowned, "Within two weeks to ensure everything is running and also completing ship trials? It will take a miracle to do that, Sir!"
"Chief," Ford nodded, "Yes, provided if you handle it only with your department."
"Yea, but who else has the expertise to work on ships here?" Chief Matt raised an eyebrow.
"We have some... people with skills with regards to that," Blake spoke up, "Goblins."
"What? You want to put goblins to work on the ship?" Chief Matt half rose from his chair, "This is obscene!"
"Chief," Commander Tommy injected, "They do quite well so far in my Air Force!"
"Still, we don't know what murderous schemes they might have in their minds!" Chief Matt growled, "We can't fully trust those things!"
"Chief, will I agree with your points," Ford stepped up and said, "But we do believe that with their help, they can vastly cut down the time needed to retrofit the ship since most of them have some sort of technical skills and are into machines."
"And if they proved themselves well," Blake added, "We can integrate them into ship construction work, which will help boost the industry."
"But Sir!" Chief Matt frowned, "I understand that we are lacking skilled work labor, but to use them to construct a warship which under the Military Code is classified as Top Secret and not to mention the same warship will be used against their own kind. Why would they be willing to help?"
"With the chances of sabotage so high, it will take double the time for us to conduct sea and combat trials as we have to double check and ensure everything that the goblins touched is clean!" Chief Matt continued to argue his points.
"I see," Blake frowned, "How about if we limit them to work in modular components?"
"Modular components?" Chief Matt repeated, "You want to install components in modularly?"
"Wouldn't it be faster to repair damages and losses?" Blake asked. "Plus if everything is modular, the ship is easier to upgrade in the future."
"But most of the ship has being nailed or welded down," Chief Matt replied, "Only parts that can be modular will be the superstructures, engines, and weapon systems."
"Than we do that for now," Blake said, "Let the goblins work on non combat systems and have a quality control team to inspect their work."
"Aye," Chief Matt nodded, "I guess we can do that."
"As for the Chief of Naval Operations," Blake grinned, "I am putting Commander Ford in charge."
"Huh?" Ford looked surprised, "You want me to be Chief of Naval Ops?"
"Yup," Blake continued smiling, "You do just fine, all the naval projects are now under your scrutiny."
"I..." Ford looked around the room, where everyone smiled and clapped. "Thank you, Sir! I will not fail you!"
"Good, then Project Ironclad is in your hands, CNO!" Blake smiled.
-----
Northern Forest
Blue Thunder's tummy rumbled as he laid with his nose sniffing before the cook wagon. "I'm hungry," He whined at the cook.
"Please wait!" The poor cook was terrified by the sword sized teeth filled mouth whining next to him. "It will be done soon!"
Blue Thunder sighed and settled down for a long wait, smelling the aroma of roasting potatoes waffling out from the huge specialized tumbler oven that looked like a twentieth century cement mixer.
"What- doing- you?" Rastraz spoke in poor English as she landed next to Blue Thunder who shot up in surprise.
"Ah?" Blue Thunder blinded his eyes rapidly in panic while keeping a safe distance from her, "I... am hungry..."
"Hun-gee?" Rastraz looked at Blue Thunder who shyly rubbed his tummy to mimic hunger. "Oh..."
She turned her head to look at the strange rotating drum where the even more terrified cook sweated under the waved of heat emitting off from her body. "What's that?" She pointed.
"Erm... nothing!" Blue Thunder turned his head away, "Nothing!"
Rastraz frowned and leaned closer to Blue Thunder who tried to edge away from her, "Noth-ing?" She noticed his teeth looked pretty clean and he doesn't have the overwhelming stench of rot coming from his mouth. "Hmmmm..."
"Erm... the potatoes are done!" The cook cried out and stopped the magic heat runes and used a long pryer and unscrewed out the bottom hatch, where a large wide barrel was placed.
Steaming potatoes rolled out from the tumbler and into the barrel, filling it up. Blue Thunder eyes went gooey as he stared at those creamy looking potatoes, a strand of saliva starting to dip from his opened jaws.
The cook and his assistant soon divided the hot potatoes into another barrel and started to mix in sour cream, yellow butter, and bits of fried lard. "Alright, it's done!"
"YAY!" Blue Thunder carefully picked up the hot barrel of potatoes and blew at it, cool it down before he started to feast on the baked potatoes, "Ooooo... will be nicer if it was fried and with cheese sauce!"
Rastraz blinked her golden eyes at Blue Thunder who happily chomped down the strange offerings the meat bags gave him, wondering what is it that made him so happy about. She gracefully stretched her neck over to the barrel offered by the meat bags who quickly made way for her and gave it a sniff.
It doesn't smell too bad. She looked at the presentation of the food which she assumed is something to eat and frowned, finding it lacking in colors and looks. Lumpy bits of cream colored things and bits of fats and oil are mixed in together.
She looked at Blue Thunder who was clutching the barrel with his arms and licking the insides happily and wondered if it really tastes that good. Blue Thunder noticed her hesitating and asked, "You don't want to eat it?" His eyes glowed with expectations.
Rastraz frowned again and carefully picked up the barrel, and closed her eyes before taking a bite of the unappealing food.
"OOO!"
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Goblin Coast, Far Harbor, Dry Dock 1
"One two, one two~" A couple of goblins bearing a piece of steel armor plating as large as them over their heads, marched off down the workshop to hand it off to the next station. Their short stubby feet matching in time with their chanting, "One two, one two~"
The shriek of a power tool screamed out amidst sounds of high pitched giggles and laughter made Commander Ford and Chief Matt glad they wore protective ear mufflers when they came into the assembly workshop for inspection.
"Looks like everything is going according to schedule," Commander Ford yelled over the sounds of heavy machinery, laughter and what suspiciously sounded like heavy metal music in the background. "All is well with Project Ironclad?"
"Yes," Chief Matt replied as he led Ford into a side office, the door shutting off the majority of the workshop noise. "In just three short days, since we allowed the goblins to work in the assembly yard, they actually proved to be much adept with working in the workshop."
"Seems like they are a natural in this field?" Ford asked as he watched the ongoings at the dry dock assembly floor from the 2nd-floor window of the office. "Any incidents?"
"A few minor injuries and lost fingers at the start with the goblins, but we knocked some sense into them and so far they are doing well," Chief Matt replied, joining Ford at the window. Teams of elves, humans, and goblins were welding and bolting plates of steel armor onto the decks and outer hull of the converted ship.
"We sealed the lowermost decks, turning them into watertight compartments," Chief Matt pointed out, "The belt armor starts from just above the waterline, at 5" thick and covers to the gunwale. The top deck armor is covered with 2" steel plates. Not to mention the existing wooden hulls and decks that were already in place."
"The interior ribs and structure of the ship will be braced and strengthened to allow the ship to withstand the recoils of the new 3" guns we will be putting in," Chief Matt gestured to a wireframe drawing on the table. "The original plan was to put two 3" guns only, but we decided to add in an additional in the mid structure, giving us a three gun broadside."
"Will the guns be in an armored turret or open air?" Ford asked as he leaned over the plans. "Can we have more .50 caliber guns too?"
"The 3" guns will just have a simple 2" thick gunshield," Chief Matt replied, "We only have so much time to work on the ship. As for the additional .50 caliber guns, sure, we can bolt in more mounts for them if you need more."
Ford nodded, "Okay, I guess we can only upgrade the guns when winter comes."
"So who's gonna be the captain of the Floatin' Wreck?" Chief Matt grinned.
"Floatin' Wreck?" Ford laughed, "Me."
"You?" Chief Matt raised an eyebrow, "You are the Chief of Naval Ops..."
"Well, well, I am the Chief of Naval Ops of a single ship," Ford grinned, "Besides, who else other than the Captain has any experience commanding a ship?"
"True," Chief Matt nodded, "Well if she's yours, you better look through all the specs and memorize everything bolt and nut onboard her then!" Chief Matt started to rummage through some documents on the table and handed over a thick stack of notes and papers.
"Start reading up on the new power plants and the magic heat exchange system that is installed, also I think you better start picking your crew soon," Chief Matt advised, "And check with Petty Officer Letts on where is your new office gonna be, I think you gonna need it pretty soon!"
"Damn, this is a lot of studies!" Ford frowned as he leafed through the stacks of manuals. "And most of these are just handwritten notes!"
"Well, everything is just jury-rigged and held together by grit, spit and a whole lot of duct tape," Chief Matt laughed, "Seriously, I won't recommend firing a full broadside till we have fully tested and trialed the system."
"That bad?" Ford winced, "I thought you braced the whole structure?"
"Yeah," Chief Matt nodded, "We did, but these ships are not like built like our 18th century black powder ships on Earth. The strain by the ballistas firing onboard the Floatin' Wreck is the most 1 is to 10 of what the 3" guns will be on the ship's structure."
"The steel bracing will help of course, but just try not to fire all three guns at the same time," Chief Matt cautioned again, "It might shake loose the structure and you might end up breaking the ship into two."
"Damn, that is quite a scary thought," Ford sighed, "How are the engines?"
"Here," Chief Matt flipped through the stack of manuals and pointed out one of them. "Double acting triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine. It makes use of the magic heat exchange system to boil water and is linked to the series of double-acting cylinders of progressively increasing diameter. These cylinders are designed to divide the work into three or four equal portions, one for each expansion stage."
"We decided against using the aero engines to power the ship as the triple expansion engines can have a smaller temperature range and reduced cylinder condensation. Also, the pressure difference is less in each cylinder so there is less steam leakage at the piston and valves. The turning moment is more uniform, so balancing is easier and a smaller flywheel may be used. Only the small high pressure cylinder needs to be built to withstand the highest pressure, which reduces the overall weight. Similarly, components are subject to less strain, so they can be lighter. The reciprocating parts of the engine are lighter, reducing the engine vibrations. The steam engine could be started at any point in the cycle, and in the event of mechanical failure the engine could be reset to act very simply, and thus keep running."
"All these advantages outweigh the use of the current aero engines we have," Chief Matt explained. "And the magic exchange system will draw the heat produced by the boilers and engine to generate steam. And it is all fueled by mana stones, which we can easily farm from the Dungeon and we do not need massive fuel bunkers to store the mana stones."
"Nice," Ford nodded as he flipped through the freshly printed manual with handwritten notes scribbled in here and there. "Single screw propulsion?"
"Yes, for now," Chief Matt nodded, "It's still new tech for us, so far the Experimental Group down the harbor had run some tests on it and it more or less work."
"More or less?" Ford placed the stack of papers down, "What if it breaks during high stress maneuvers?
"That's what the sea trials will be all about!" Chief Matt frowned, "Look, we have only so much time, manpower and expertise to research, build and implement without some goblins or Empire forces breathing down our necks."
"Chill Chief," Ford raised both his hands up, "I am not criticizing you, I am worried that if shit breaks down during combat, people die."
"Damn," Chief Matt rubbed his face, "Sorry, you are right, there are just so many projects to complete and everyone is expecting them to work 100% without any issues."
"Look, me and my team, we are not miracle workers," Chief Matt frankly spoke out, "Most of us are burn out from the stress and workload but none of the boys are complaining."
"I'm proud of them," He continued, "I know every one of them misses home and some loved ones on Earth, but they know they are stuck here forever and everything in this planet is trying to kill and eat them."
"But we can only do so much," Matt nodded towards the assembly floor and said, "Even working with former enemies that want to eat them is breaking their nerves. I don't know how long anyone can hold on to their sanity for much longer."
"Chief, I know the stress everyone has here," Ford sighed and watched the ongoing work over the ship. "Look, try your best to keep you boys happy?"
"I do," Matt replied, "I keep them busy as much as possible so that they won't have any idle time to think about other things. But this just can't go on much longer."
"I see what I can do," Ford promised. "Once Project Ironclad is completed, why not have the men off? We do have that R and R resort down by the coast."
"Yea, I get them to go for a break," Matt nodded, "Damn, I need one too."
"Yea, I will put you guys down for a week's vacation once we finish this," Ford grinned, "I know where the Captain keeps his liquor stash."
"Ha! I don't mind getting drunk for a week!"
----
Somewhere in Goblin Sea
Burning globes of fire hissed and splattered when they impacted the churning sea, throwing up clouds of steam and smoke. The lead merchant ship bobbed up and down in the waves as the ship's mage force more wind against the sails, desperately trying to increase the ship's speed.
The large merchant ship's sole escort nimbly dodged a heavy broadside of ballista bolts and flaming catapult loads from the small fleet of goblin raiders and swung in against the wind, coming alongside one of the goblin raiders and the ship shook as the four heavy ballista onboard fired.
The 12 kilograms wood and steel ballista bolts were flung out at a velocity of over 45 meters per second and traveled the short distance of 200 meters over the waves before depositing all their load onboard the unlucky goblin raiding gallery.
Screams and shriek echoed across the waves as the bolts dealt their deadly damage to the occupants onboard and the goblin ship suddenly tilted away from the chase and the other goblin raiders rapidly swerved to avoid ramming into the dead ship.
"Again!" The Captain of the Sea Stinger roared, "A gold royal to each man who hits their target!"
"YAAAAAAAAH!" The crew of Sea Stinger cheered as they put their backs into reloading the ballistas, readying them to fire another bolt at the persisting goblin pirates.
"Captain!" One of the lookouts on the crow nest yelled, "The Wave Dancer is making a run for it! Three raiders on her tail!"
"Curses!" The Captain roared, "Bring her about, we need to keep those pirates off the Wave Dancer!"
"Ayee~!" The crew quickly started putting on sails while the helmsman spinning the steering wheel, turning the ship back to the wind. The agile ship leaped as it completed its turn and leaped forward when the wind filled its sails.
"Send a bolt to those cursed creatures!" The Captain roared again, "Give them something to remember we are still here!"
The ship suddenly lurched and a bright semi transparent light ball covering the ship flared, and sparks of energy exploded over the sky. "Lucky spell!" The ship's mage cried out, "The shield still holds strong! No worries!"
"Damn," Captain Nemu of the Sea Stinger cursed, "Fire your ballistas as they bear! Two gold royals for any gunner who hits the goblin ships!"
The gunner crew encouraged by the increased promise of rewards worked harder at reloading the weapons and the chief gunners carefully sighted their weapons before releasing the bolt, cursing as they missed.
Just as the Sea Stinger slowly caught up to the three goblin pirates that were harassing the Wave Dancer, "Destroy those pirates! If our employer sinks, so goes our pay!" Captain Nemu yelled.
A screech screamed over the Sea Stinger, followed by a ripping tear of a canvas. Almost immediately the ship slowly, as a lucky bolt ripped the sails a large gaping hole. "Cut that sail down!" Captain Nemu roared. "Curses! We are losing the chase!"
The remaining two goblins raiders chasing after the Sea Stinger eagerly pounced forward as the Sea Stinger's speed dropped, their top decks filling up with giggling goblins hungry for blood.
"Prepare for repeal boarders!"
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