Battleship Macduff

Battleship Macduff

File:Bw10 03 base.png

Owner

Bretonia Armed Forces

Location

E-3, Cambridge

CLASS: Dunkirk

CREW: CLASSIFIED

ARMAMENT: CLASSIFIED

Launched only a year before the outbreak of hostilities with Kusari, the Macduff served, for much of its service, as a key element of Planet Harris' defense, being the sole battleship to remain in the system after the Naval Forces of Kusari entered Leeds.

Due to Gallia's rapid advance after the arrival of their fleets, the Macduff was recalled to Newcastle, where it helped secure the system against Molly raiders and the advance of the invading Royal Navy. Having little effect on that front, it was moved to the New London system, where it remained for much of the war, fighting the Gallic battleships until the very last battle.

Following the conclusion of the Second Gallic War, the vessel received repairs in Omega-3 and set off to Tau-31 once more. It remained in orbit of Planet Harris until 832 AS, when it was recalled for mothballing at Portsmouth Shipyard.

Bribes & Missions Offered

Bribes

Deep Space Engineering Orbital Spa & Cruise Planetform, Inc. Bounty Hunters Guild Bretonia Police Border World Exports Bretonia Mining & Manufacturing

Missions

Bretonia Armed Forces

Commodities

Imports

Commodity Price Xeno Relics 234$

Exports

Commodity Price Deployable Mining Container 50,000$

Ships sold

Ship	Class	Price

News

[834 AS] Kusari technicians begin work

PORTSMOUTH SHIPYARD -- 834 -- Following secret negotiations between the Ministry of Defence and Kusari state officials, specialist Kusari technicians have been granted access to the Battleships Essex and Somerset during refits at Portsmouth Shipyard. The defense picket around Portsmouth has been doubled while the works proceed; the classified technology being installed has been described by senior fleet officers as ""critical to the upcoming Dublin campaign"". Thames Outpost has been temporarily requisitioned as a patrol-base to defend New London and enforce the Dublin blockade.

[833 AS] Queen greets troops during military tour

PORTSMOUTH -- 833 -- Queen Carina has conducted a tour of the First Cruiser Flotilla, marking the launch of the Agincourt class destroyer. Developed by BMM shipwrights using the hard-won lessons of the Gallic War, the Agincourt has been described as a potent blend of traditional Bretonian engineering pedigree and modern innovation. Phasing out the aging Crecy class destroyer, the Agincourt’s enhanced fire control systems and hardy armor will allow it to excel in the roles championed by its forebearer. The Queen also celebrated the pivotal role played by the Cruiser Flotillas in saving Bretonia from Gallic tyranny, bestowing them with the ceremonial “Royal” title of Household troops. The First Royal Cruiser Flotilla is expected to be fully outfitted by year’s end.

[831 AS/747 AGS] Gate Corps Clash Over 'Blackout'!

ABBEVILLE -- 831 AS/747 AGS -- EFL's 'Resilience Taskforce' today reported its findings on The Blackout, claiming to have gathered forensic evidence that proved the cause as Ageira negligence. A spokesperson claimed that the destruction of the Dublin jump gate by Molly separatists had created a hyperspace feedback loop that was propagated and amplified through the Ageira gate network. Ageira disputed this finding in their own press release, calling EFL 'fantasists' and countering that their own scientists had narrowed the cause to a rare 'hypernova' stellar event that originated outside the Sirius sector. Both corporations claim that network-wide hardware safeguards have been implemented that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Independent researchers have sharply criticized the corporate announcements, accusing both of self-interested misdirection. Professor Sophia Nagel from Heisenberg Research Station called EFL's accusation 'incoherent' and the hypernova explanation 'nonsense' that did not explain the characteristics of the 'Blackout Pulse'. Despite multiple different Pulse recordings being widely disseminated across the neural net, public efforts have so far failed to triangulate its source.

[831 AS] Bretonia Withdraws From Dublin System

WATERLOO -- 831 AS -- Markets are down across Sirius as the sector grapples with the twin shocks of The Blackout and Bretonia's withdrawal from the Dublin system. Molly separatists appear to have exploited a worker revolt on Graves Station to take control of and later destroy the base. Of even greater concern is the attack that crippled the New London jump gate, forcing the Battleship Essex to retreat. EFL have accused the gate destruction and faulty Ageira infrastructure of causing The Blackout, which the Liberty corporation denies. The Mollys have since declared their ownership of Dublin, while Bretonia has imposed a strict blockade, jeopardizing the sector's Gold supply. Gold exports previously made up a significant element of Bretonian state revenue, helping to fund post-war recovery efforts. While the reconstruction of LD-14 in the Leeds system offers some relief, Interspace Commerce has already downgraded Bretonia's sovereign credit rating, citing increased volatility and risk for lenders. Bretonia has confirmed that action to retake the system will be launched shortly, providing assurances to partners in the other Houses.

[831 AS/747 AGS] 'Blackout' Causes Jump Network Fail

MANHATTAN -- 831 AS/747 AGS -- Two days ago Jump Gates failed simultaneously across Sirius, freezing commerce and neural net access across the sector. When the network resumed 31 hours later, restored communications broke the news of Bretonia's loss of the Dublin system. This twin shock has plunged the market into chaos, prompting fears of sector-wide economic recessions. Interspace estimates indicate that the stoppage alone caused billions of credits in losses. Gallia immediately accused Liberty of culpability for the outage, claiming the destruction of Dublin's jump gate instigated a cascading failure in faulty Ageira infrastructure. Ageira has sharply refuted the allegation, claiming such a systemic effect would be physically impossible. Independent researchers in Cologne and the Edge Worlds have also announced that a hyperspace pulse of unprecedented strength was detected moments before The Blackout, with data about 'The Pulse' being widely shared across the neural net in recent days. House authorities have remained tight lipped, refusing to comment on their own observatories' data.

[829 AS] Tau In Transition

Freeport 6 -- 829 AS -- Bretonia and Kusari have been quiet in recent weeks as the Tau cluster continues adjustments, partly by design, into a new reality. Kusari has abandoned Tau-53 completely as trade with Gallia is frozen indefinitely, a nearly depleted hydrocarbon deposit seemingly not worth the investment in itself. Misaki Station has seen its manufacturing facilities detached and towed to a new location as Samura attempts to recoup some of its investment in Tau-53. Meanwhile, both Gallia and Bretonia have readjusted their Tau focus to Tau-23 as Orkney descends into chaos. Existing gate infrastructure in Tau-31 and Languedoc have been redirected to Tau-23, and a collective deja vu is felt among Tau denizens and observers from all Houses as the resources of Tau-23 are eyed by competing mining interests. Trade between the houses however, as in Kusari, is completely off the menu. Independent trade factions have also been warned against attempting to cross the divide.

[828 AS] Tau Turbulence

FREEPORT 6 -- 828 AS -- After decades of constant warfare and shifts in dominance - the balance of power within the Tau sector has once again been reset. With the most recent conclusion of a brief yet bitter invasion by Kusari into Gallic space, the Taus have seen a rapid destabilization along the shattered Gallic defenses and Kusari borders. Coupled with a Bretonia still reeling from economic desolation by the Gallic invasion only a few years prior, the Taus have become something of a no-man's-land between the depleted militaries of the Gallic, Kusari, and Bretonian empires. In the aftermath of the decisive end of the Kusari-Gallic war, the once dominant Gallia pulled almost all its strength back to Gallia to repel the Kusari invasion, leaving in their wake a sector more independent than ever. At present, no house stands to conclusively fill the vacuum of power in the Taus, clouding the future to secure exploitation of its rich natural resources in ambiguity. Following the withdrawal of Kusari from Tau-23 after the final confrontation in Languedoc, the lanes within the system seem to have been subject to sabotage, and Gallia has released a public statement that Orkney would instead be favored over Tau-23 for the route to Tau-31, likely owing to Orkney being the last major Tau system that Gallia holds bases in. Niobium futures have ballooned in response to plummeting consumer confidence in stable Niobium extraction, resulting in vicious multinational corporate and paramilitary competition over Tau resource exploitation. The Taus are now a lawless battleground of conflicting corporate interests, small scale military skirmishes, and pirate incursions, all scrambling for a piece of Niobium. Given the thorough depletion of military might and expansionist ambitions in the surrounding devastated houses, chances are low that the Taus will find themselves tamed by a lawful house in the foreseeable future.

Rumors

Bretonia Armed Forces

Welcome to the Macduff, the one that keeps on fighting. Aye, we've been pushed back trice now, but we're still in one piece and fighting the good fight. There's no shame in defeat if the spirit remains unbroken, I say. Holding the line and all isn't all that bad, but there has to come a time where we take the fight to our enemy. We'll not win this if we keep huddling in the systems we've got left. I hope the admirals have a trick up their sleeve, 'cause we need one. We've been assigned to the defense of Carlisle itself. I'm not surprised, we've got some experience defending a planet from harassment. Harris was held by us until we were ordered to fall back - seems fleet intelligence got wind of something that would have rolled right over us. Good thing they did, it rolled over the Kusari forces not long afterward. The morale around here is amazing. You'd be right to expect some disappointment after a strategic withdrawal like the one we had to make from Harris, but the pilots I talk to just can't wait to get back into action. "Tea in the Taus tonight!" is what they all say now. I almost feel sorry for the Gallic pilots who have to face our boys. Almost. We may be in Newcastle now, but that won't last. This battleship is destined to be on the front lines, there's no doubt about that. The admiralty can't make us withdraw and then leave us in the rear forever. They've got to know that nobody in the fleet wants payback more than the crew of the MacDuff. We're still patching up some holes on the engineering deck. Asteroid collision damage. Can't really talk about it, just something that happened on the way here. It's only the outer hull though, Bretonian ships are engineered for this kind of damage. Macduff is fully operational. We'll need a lot of replacement Hull Panels to make these repairs, but Bowex will bring those in. It's been a crazy couple of years on the MacDuff. The stories I heard from our pilots about the battles with the KNF forces were alternately hair raising and depressing. There's no finer group of pilots in the fleet, if you ask me. Just breaking through to the MacDuff through the Kusari lines in Tau-31 was enough to prove a pilot's mettle. There aren't that many commands that can deploy entire squadrons of veterans, but MacDuff can. The initial months of the war have been rough on us. Those damned Gallics knew how we fight, knew our capabilities - we didn't know theirs, and had to learn them at a very bloody price. But now that we know how they fight and what their limitations are, we can beat them, I'm sure. Their fighters are small and agile, but lack endurance. Their capital craft are very large and sluggish, much like the Kusari battleships. Exactly what the Challenger was designed for. Compared to Kusari, these Gallic chaps aren't too skillful. They're a lot more numerous though. We'll have to figure out a way to wittle down the numbers a little. If we can do that, we can beat them, I'm sure.

Bounty Hunters Guild

I'm half expecting BMM to be posting very high bounties on Mollys in the system in the near future. Why? Well, if the Armed Forces are going to clean up Belfast, BMM will want them as weak as possible, so that the station can be retaken without heavy damage to it. And they'll not want Mollys harassing any reconstruction efforts, I think. The Gaians don't bother with Belfast or Scarborough. Their efforts in the system were focused around Carlisle. Were, yes, since the Armed Forces use that planet's orbit as a staging area now. Any idiot Gaian that approaches it is asking to be spaced. They do hit the lanes leading from the Jump Gate to the planet, so if there's a bounty posted, that's where I go to find them. The Outcasts? As long as they don't bother me, I don't bother them. Only the IMG has some low value bounties against them, not really worth my time. I'm really hoping the Guild will allow us to hit Gallic raiders soon. I reckon the market for that will be booming. Heh. Booming. Get it?

Border World Exports

Officially, MacDuff and Yamaguchi used the jump gate from Tau-31 to enter Leeds, then proceeded here to Newcastle before the Gallic forces overran the Gates. Unofficially, well, we're not supposed to talk about it. But let's just say the Gate was a bit too crowded for us to sneak through at the time. It doesn't especially matter to Bowex where MacDuff is, so long as we get paid to supply it. So far, we've been stockpiling supplies here like never before. Something big is up. Everyone knows it, but noone knows anything about it. Or so they say. The Armed Forces gave no warning of their withdrawal from Harris. We just happened to arrive early enough on our supply run that we weren't left behind when Gallic forces showed up. You'd think the admiralty would be more interested in preventing the supplies they paid for from being delivered right into enemy hands, but they have a different set of priorities, it seems.

NOTE: Page generated on the 07/06/2024 at 15:55:46 UTC