The Black Fleet

[Arioch]

Backstory

726 A.G.S (810 A.S.) -

During the conflict between the crown and the Council forces, a man by the name of Olivier De Clisson came under suspicion and criticism for failing to prevent the destruction of Bourgon-Jallieu station against the Council forces, and so he defected to the Council side. In the summer of 726, while he was attempting to get from Champagne to supply the Council ships in the fight against the Royal Navy, Olivier was arrested and taken to planet Paris for trial. Fifteen of his peers found him guilty of treason and on 2 August 726, he was executed by being encased in a transport and fired upon by the Gallic Navel Forces, on the orders of the King. Pieces of Olivier's ship was then sent to Versailles Residence and displayed outside the station. The wife of Oliver, a young woman by the name of Jeanne de Clisson, enraged and bewildered over her husband's execution, swore revenge on the King, and all those associated with the death of her husband. She sold off the remnants of the Clisson lands, and sold her bodily services to noblemen, to raise money, whereupon she purchased a wrecked "Valor" class Battleship. The ship that Clisson purchased was painted all black on her command, and small sections painted red. She then used the remaining money to outfit the battleship to her liking, making it similar in appearance to the Council "Redemption" class Battleship. This marked the beginning of what is now to be called 'The Black Fleet'.

After gathering resources and making allies with those who share a similar goal of ending the Royal's lives, Jeanne expanded The Black Fleet to be a force to be reckoned with and feared. Men and women with scores to settle, whether from Bretonia, Kusari, even some members of the Council, joined Jeanne in her desire to hunt down the Royalists, and force all those dealing with Gallia to rethink their actions. Those who did not have scores to settle were those sick of the life of rules and corrupt leaders. Those who would rather achieve a better life through unconventional means... usually by the pirating of others. Her only official orders to the captains of the Fleet when they captured a vessel was this: Live or let die those aboard. But nobles, Aristocrats, and Royals were to be sparred and brought to the Lionness. At which point Jeanne would, by her own hands, "deal" with them, which resulted in eventual decapitation by her sword. This served as both personal satisfaction, and a message to be sent to all who crossed her path that she is not one to be trifled with.

Goal

The Black Fleet shall hunt down and destroy the ships of the crown of Gallia, as well as all those aiding directly the Crown. But the Black Fleet will always leave one or two of the Crown's or it's allies' ships alive, so that the message would get back to the King that the Black Fleet, and their flagship, the “Lioness of Brittany” have struck. When not engaged in battle with the Royals, the traders of Gallia and the upper systems of Sirius will fall prey to the hunts of the Black Fleet

The Fleet

{x}Lionness.of.Brittany - "Redemption" class - Flagship of the Black Fleet
{x}Thorn.of.LeManche - "Obstinate" class - Cruiser outfitted for recon and smaller craft warfare
{x}Dagger.of.Calais - "Obstinate" class - Cruiser outfitted for advanced warfare with Naval vessels

The Black fleet shall consist of no more than 3 capital-class ships. The main force of the Black Fleet consists of "Asco" class Gunboats. Various snubs are used for personnel within the Fleet, but they are not required. Adjacent to the force of Asco's, they will often be accompanied by "L'Ane" class transports. How else will the Fleet claim booty from the vessels they pirate?

ID/IFF: Only the capital ships will carry Council ID (For now). These serve as the flagships of those who have risen to their station, and have swept aside petty pirating for the primary task of actively hunting the Royalist and their allies. Many who serve aboard are former Council members who wished for a more direct approach to dealing with the Gaul threat. As such, the 3 warships are seen often in engagements with the GRN or in large engagements.

The bulk of the fleet fly under Brigand ID and IFF. These ships and their captains are the ones who get their hands dirty and the ones who see the most action. These are ones who make their living preying on those who import or export supplies belonging to the Royals... and at times supplies meant for another purpose. When not stopping those confirmed to assist the crown, a "donation" is asked to continue the fight. Bad luck follow those who don't.

The Black Fleet ZOI will range from all of Gallia, the Tau's, Kusari, and the upper portion of Bretonia.

Recruitment

If you are interested in joining/helping form The Black Fleet, please go here.

Misc.

Further information or questions can be posted here or PM'd to me.

Au Revoir

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[Echo 7-7]

Some issues with your faction's history:

If Olivier defected to the Council, why did he remain in Royalist territory? He should have known it was suicide.

Secondly, it doesn't really make sense for the Council to sell a Battleship. The Council doesn't really have the manufacturing capacity to make capital ships for the purpose of resale; most of their efforts go towards maintaining what ships they already have (many of which are supposed to outdated relative to GRN ships). Therefore, it'd make a lot more sense if your group was either clearly a subdivision of the Council, or the Maquis.

Factions using more than one NPC-faction ID are heavily frowned upon; however, it is not entirely against the rules. Bear in mind that in certain situations, if you have a group of ships with mixed IDs, some ships will not be able to behave the same as others, which will lead to complications. To elaborate, a Maquis ID'd ship can engage civilian targets; a Council ship usuall cannot. Having Council ID'd and Maquis ID'd ships under the same tag does not let you pick and choose how you want to behave; it is strongly recommended that you pick a faction ID as your primary ID and stick to it. Note that any faction applying for Official Status cannot use more than one NPC-faction ID.


Edit:
http://discoverygc.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=1746

^ Faction Creation Rules, particularly for factions applying for Official Status. Not strictly necessary for Unofficial factions, but still a good guideline to use. Note that some of the wording is a little bit outdated.


Edit 2: Bear in mind these are just suggestions. You can still be all-Council ID'd, but still have a very vengeful attitude to the way you fight.

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There was a sig here, once.

[Arioch]

If Olivier defected to the Council, why did he remain in Royalist territory? He should have known it was suicide.

Edited to reflect a more sound history.

Secondly, it doesn't really make sense for the Council to sell a Battleship. The Council doesn't really have the manufacturing capacity to make capital ships for the purpose of resale; most of their efforts go towards maintaining what ships they already have (many of which are supposed to outdated relative to GRN ships). Therefore, it'd make a lot more sense if your group was either clearly a subdivision of the Council, or the Maquis.

Good point. Will ponder this some more and figure out a more suitable reason in this RP lore (Borrowing HEAVILY from the RL Jeanne De Clisson)

Factions using more than one NPC-faction ID are heavily frowned upon; however, it is not entirely against the rules. Bear in mind that in certain situations, if you have a group of ships with mixed IDs, some ships will not be able to behave the same as others, which will lead to complications. To elaborate, a Maquis ID'd ship can engage civilian targets; a Council ship usuall cannot. Having Council ID'd and Maquis ID'd ships under the same tag does not let you pick and choose how you want to behave; it is strongly recommended that you pick a faction ID as your primary ID and stick to it. Note that any faction applying for Official Status cannot use more than one NPC-faction ID.

This was a toss up for me, as I thought being strictly Council would be good enough. But from the lore I am basing this off of, it seems that a mix might be good as the bigger ships only prey on GRN/GRP targets and such, while the fighters pirate Royal Gallic traders/those allied with Gallia. But you make a good point. I'll edit it to be purely Council then (To allow use of the 3 caps, and make RP more strict than just pirating whoever)

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[Starsunder]

Well, from the looks of things, you would be better off with the Gallic Brigands ID as your main ID, and have your Capital Ships using the Council ID. Be nice and don't pirate people on your Caps. Save them for killing GRP/GRN.

Also, the Maquis ID doesn't allow for gunboats.

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[Arioch]

Well, from the looks of things, you would be better off with the Gallic Brigands ID as your main ID, and have your Capital Ships using the Council ID. Be nice and don't pirate people on your Caps. Save them for killing GRP/GRN.

Also, the Maquis ID doesn't allow for gunboats.

Yeah, I may go that route. The deviation I had from the RL lore, was that based on the Council ID, while we can't pirate, we can demand fines/destroy those allied with those at war with the Council. At least that was my understanding from this bulletin from the Council ID:

Can demand contraband, levy fines, and destroy ships if they refuse to comply with contraband demands, refuse to cooperate or are affiliated with groups at war with the Council.
Can hunt pirates and terrorists within space controlled by the GRN or Council, the Taus and Rousillion.

So from that, and my interpretation/RP of the Black Fleet, we won't pirate per say, but more actively halt the trading of goods/request those trading in Gallia to drop cargo/destroy those affiliated with GRN/GRP. That way we keep with one ID and it will allow for more in depth RP instead of "Halt, give me money or I Keel you!" The RP I'd like/have done already is "Halt. Where are you going/coming from? I see you delivering goods from Planet Paris. I'm afraid I cannot allow the export of goods from the Crown. Drop your cargo and leave, otherwise you will be fired upon"

Unless I am completely missing something and am wrong in my interpretation.

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[Echo 7-7]

...
Unless I am completely missing something and am wrong in my interpretation.

This seems fine, but you may want to check what the Council considers contraband. Bear in mind that Gallic Corporations are not at war / war targets for Council ships, as they are trying to get favour with the civilian population by presenting a nicer alternative than the totalitarian Royalist regime.

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There was a sig here, once.

[Thyrzul]

In the summer of 726, while he was attempting to get from Champagne to the Roussillon system

Well, the only issue with this is that in 726 AGS there was no Roussillon. The system is in the Sirius sector, with which The Council has made no contact until 732-733 AGS.

On an other note, hunting down royalists out of revenge does not seem for me to clash with Council RP, of course as long as you stay mostly nice with the civilians.

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[Arioch]

Added more to the faction info.

More to come shortly as a result of extensive RP soon to come.

See you out there.

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