Some more, because I can. Muhahahah!
Stuck in the Middle
"Force G has three carriers, two escort and one strike. So the FAA contingent should be..." Captain Baxter also believed that questioning was a valuable tool to get to know new pilots. The difference was that Baxter just left gaps and waited to see who spoke up first.
"Nine squadrons?" One nervous pilot asked.
"Ten squadrons." A female officer at the back spoke up more confidently.
"Correct Lieutenant Caine." Baxter liked to show he knew someone's name before they'd told it to him. "Five squadrons for the striker carrier, two squadrons each for the escort carriers and one squadron in reserve. However, while we have the craft, we're short of pilots. Thus the operational strength is only four squadrons. Two fighter, one fighter-strike and one strike."
The pilot who had spoken up first interrupted. "No bomber squadron sir? Isn't that against normal operating procedure?"
Baxter stopped walking and turned to face the unfortunate pilot. "No Jenkins there is no bomber squadron. The largest pirate capital ships are converted bulk freighters. We felt that deploying multi tetraton yield weapons on such targets would be overkill." The group could almost see the sarcasm dripping from Baxter's voice. He continued. "If, however, your weeks of experience say we're wrong we will, of course, re-consider this decision."
Jenkins, who had been trying to will himself out of existence, replied in a barely audible voice "Understood sir."
Baxter merely nodded and walked off, carrying on his briefing as he went. "In contrast the airforce contingent is oversized, especially in light of the threat level and their mission. There was only one logical course of action." He left a gap, waiting to see who would fill it. He didn't have to wait long.
"Integrate the FAA and airforce contingents. But isn't that discouraged by the General Staff?" It was Lieutenant Caine again.
"Right on both counts Caine. Indeed operational integration is discouraged, if the two services start operating together on the same jobs it will make it harder to argue for the continued institutional separation. But circumstances and politics forced our hand. The Admiralty won't reinforce us to full operational level and the number of escort mission keeps on increasing." Given half a chance Baxter would slip into a full lecture. But, he reminded himself, now isn't the time or the place. "So airforce fighters operate along side us on escort missions. Its not ideal, but it's the only way to get the job done."
The group reached the FAAs section of the base and broke up as pilots met their new squadron leaders.
****
Commodore Langford's briefing was markedly different from her colleagues. For starters her audience wasn't entirely fresh from training school junior officers, although they were a few present. The bulk of the group was experienced officers transferring in for posting on Force G's capital ships. As such there was no lecturing or answering of basic question. Instead a review of the mission and strength of Force G.
"As the Admiral said our mission here is to protect convoys from pirate raids and guard the warp points into the system." Langford paused to punch up a map, which was projected onto the back of the room. "As you can see the Calder system is a nexus of four warp points. In this system we have our main dock, re-supply depot and this base. The security of this system is our main priority, even at the expense of convoy protection."
Across the room heads nodded. Convoys could be diverted or delayed. Reclaiming a lost system from the enemy was far harder.
"Of the four warp points two are key. One leads back towards the heart of our space, while the other leads to the border with Toran space. As the border system is littered with recon satellites sides we will get plenty of warning, certainly more than enough for 5th Fleet to get out here." Langford continued.
This revelation was greeted with more than a few sighs of relief. Force G was too small to stop an invasion force and while the Republic had a trade treaty with the Torans you never knew what might happen. The memory of the Jraenar snap declaration of war still lingered.
"Of the other two points one leads to the Rochce system and the other to the Deneb nebula. Before you ask, yes, that is the Deneb nebula and, no, we don't patrol there." The Deneb nebula was a famous ship graveyard, very few of the ships that went in ever came out. "The Roche system on the other hand is home to a large number of mining operations. As such it's the source of almost all the convoys that pass through our area of operation." With the mission and situation covered, if only in general terms, Langford moved on to the strength of the force.
"On the capital ship side we can field three carriers, five cruisers of various sizes and seven destroyer class ships. We also have twenty gunboat hulls, but only a dozen are actually operational. In addition the Fleet Air Arm and airforce can scrape together just under eight squadrons of fairly obsolete fighters and bombers. But to be fair to them their equipment is no more out of date than our ships."
A nervous chuckle went around the room. 'Cruisers of various sizes' probably meant 'Mostly light cruisers with an ancient heavy just for show.' and exactly how old were the ships out here?
Langford took in the expressions on their faces, the rest of the briefing could wait. It was time for some quick facts of life and then wrap this up. Once onboard a ship and involved in the routine their worries would soon dissipate. Hopefully. "Whilst all this may sound bad remember, our only enemies out here are pirates. Their equipment is far older and in worse condition. Yes life would be easier with brand spanking new ships, fresh from the shipyard, but we don't have them. What we do have is adequate equipment and a job to do. So report to your ships and get to it. Dismissed!"