Construction and Conversation of a rather Militaristic Nature

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Adelaide Josselyne, Paladin of the Aquitaine Armed Forces watched as the private jet descended from the sky onto the tarmac of Bordeaux International Airport. She had her hands clasped firmly behind her back and wrung them slowly as she waited anxiously for the men inside the plane to disembark. Over the past few weeks since the declaration of Aquitaine's independence the country had been busy, but more so, it was the military that was running around the most. Adelaide had been given command of an army, numbering half a million men, a navy of over thirty ships, and an air force of over eighty planes, but the fact of that matter was that many of the soldiers in the infantry lacked sufficient training for war, Aquitaine had yet to expand its naval power outside of their small outlets in the Bay of Biscay or the Mediterranean Sea, and the air force needed to be expanded as well. In addition to the active military, Adelaide was also in charge of a gargantuan construction of defense structures throughout Aquitaine. There was no doubt in her mind, in Therese's mind, or many of both civilians or military personnel that defense was something deemed important, especially given the fact that Aquitaine was essentially in a cold war of sorts with Burgundy, whilst no contact had been made with the newly independent country of Brittany.

The Paladin would be the first to admit that while she knew how to lead and train soldiers, the actual bureaucracy for constructing defensive structures across the country escaped her and with most of the privately and nationally owned construction companies worried about infrastructure repair Adelaide had to look outside of Aquitaine for assistance. There were of course hundreds upon hundreds of defense corporations that she could turn to, but the fame of Kriegland's BlitzKrieg Armaments was known across the world and it was something the Paladin aimed to take advantage of. Everything was set up for her meeting with the CEO of the company, Kevin Schidner, there were discussions on new tanks, hopefully planes and ships, and finally a large array of defensive structures, both static and mobile defenses that would guarantee Aquitaine's independence for years, decades, and centuries to come.

As Schidner disembarked from the plane, Adelaide along with two of the Knights of Aquitaine immediately approached him. The Paladin bowed and stuck out her hand in greeting. "Mr. Schidner, it is a pleasure, I assure you. Welcome to Aquitaine. You'll be riding with me to my fortress at Pau. We will be able to discuss your business here and hopefully have a toast to its success."

[Sgt Shidner]

As the plane's engines powered down, Kevin shuffled a stack of papers into order and laid them inside a tan folder. He then handed the folder to his assistant who was sitting beside him.

"I believe those papers are in order, Hermann, but if you'd like to look over them, feel free." He said as he snapped up his briefcase.

"I'm sure they're fine." Hermann smiled and put the folder in his own briefcase.

Inside the plane's cabin, the rest of the research team gathered their things and readied for the stop. There were papers everywhere on the cabin's many tables. All the while in the trip to Bordeaux International Airport, they had been busily working on possible design propositions and coordinating with their main facilities back in Kriegland via e-mail and instant messaging. They had completed a few but they were really just waiting for the government of Aquitaine to dictate just what it was they were going to be doing. The plane finally slowed to a halt and the stewardess opened the door and lowered the boarding ramp. Upon this event, the delegation's four Sturmtruppen escorts, stationed in the seats near the front, had exited the plane and lined up outside.

Kevin looked outside and saw the Aquitainean(?)members standing on the tarmac.

"Well, here goes nothing." Kevin smiled at his assistant's remark and exited the plane.

Once his feet hit the bottom of the ramp, he was approached by three individuals; two looked to be soldiers and the third he assumed was Lady Josselyne, the woman he had been speaking to regarding his delegation's visit to Aquitaine.

"The pleasure is mine of course, Lady Josselyne." He smiled as he shook her hand, "It is good to see another place other than my office for a time."

She explained that they would be traveling to the fortress of Pau to further discuss the meeting's visit. As he motioned for the team to proceed, one of the black-clad Sturmtruppen escorts fell forward. Apparently he had tripped over his own foot. His gun slid along the tarmac and lay at Kevin's feet. There was a moment of silence from either shock or suppressed laughter. The guard, Lieutenant Bergmann from his name plate, quickly picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. As if remorseful, he approached Kevin and stood at attention.

"Sorry, sir." He snapped a salute. "It won't happen again, sir."

Kevin just chuckled as he picked up the soldier's rifle and checked its safety before handing it back to the man. He patted him on the shoulder and sent him back to where he had been.

"I'm sorry, Lady Josselyne." He had a slight smile, "Lars can be a bit clumsy but he is a crack shot and a loyal soldier."

Edited April 7, 2010 by Sgt Shidner

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Adelaide smiled at the soldier who had tripped on the ground and patted Kevin on the shoulder. "Not a problem at all, he's just lucky he's not one of mine." She chuckled. "No, I don't want to push out already that I'm that strict, but you would have to ask my own soldiers about something like that. Nevertheless, I don't want to hold us up on the tarmac and we have a decent drive to Pau to begin our talks, so if you and your escorts would follow me, we can depart."

She led the Krieglanders to a series of armored cars and hoped inside herself, along with Kevin as the driver took off down the road out of the airport and the outer rim of Bordeaux into the rolling countryside of Aquitaine. The trip from Bordeaux to Pau was through some of the breathtaking scenery that the small country of southern France had too offer. Here, aside from sweeping vineyards, green and yellow rolling hills, and dense forests, the armored cars continued down the road. They passed small villages of stone houses, many of which looked as they had been around since the Medieval Age or perhaps even older. Old men on the sides of the roads watched as the vehicles passed them, some even sharpening to a weak salute, especially as they neared the Chateau de Pau. Adelaide was well known in the area and people knew when she was arriving.

The castle itself was located at the middle of the city of Pau, a large fortress of white stone, surrounded on all sides by steep hills, tall spires that looked over the city, and for modern reasons, reinforced with steel and machine gun turrets throughout the fortress. Pulling in through the iron gates of the castle, the armored cars were received by the Knights of Aquitaine, Adelaide's special division of Knights, the elite force of the Republic, both men and women dressed in armored regalia. Helping Kevin out of the car herself, Adelaide smiled and waved her hand in presentation. "I'd like to welcome you to my home Mr. Schidner, welcome to the Chateau de Pau. I alerted my servants to begin making a light lunch for the two of us to eat over discussions. If you would follow me."

She led Kevin up through the castle, its designs inside, quite militaristic. Swords and shields hung on the walls of the fortress, tapestries and flags of Aquitaine, old France, and various other military orders that Adelaide had been apart of throughout her life along with a great fire burning in the hearth of the great hall. They passed a command room, a throne room of sorts, which Adelaide joked about that she was never one for appearing in such as state of royal power. "Between you and I Mr. Schidner, I was going to make the throne room here into perhaps a central map room, but I prefer the field for strategy." She finally opened two wooden doors into a larger room, a hall with a large table in the middle and a small fire burning in the far fireplace, whilst the sunlight from the stainglass windows turned the room in to a series of bright rainbows. "Now, before our meal is brought out to us." Adelaide said offering the CEO a seat. "What can Kriegland offer Aquitaine on terms of military building and design?"

[Sgt Shidner]

"Thank you." Kevin nodded his head and took a seat. His assistant took a seat beside him and set a briefcase next to him.

"As for what we at BlitzKrieg Armaments can offer you," he motioned for the briefcase, "I think that we can offer you much."

Hermann handed him the briefcase which Kevin laid down on the table and opened up. From within its confines he withdrew a tan folder.

"On our flight over here, we took the liberty of designing a few weapon systems that we think should prove suitable to some of your needs. What should please you even more is that two of the three I will be showing you have been faxed back to our main offices and our workers back in Kriegland are, as we speak, working on constructing prototypes to our specifications." He smiled as he opened the folder and took out a sheet of paper.

"A new venture for us, we took on the idea of bringing heavy anti-infantry firepower down to the squad level." He lay the paper down in front of Lady Josselyne. "I present the Infantry Weapon-09 Chaingun System."
[img]http://s560.photobucket.com/albums/ss42/Sgt_Shidner/scan0002-2.jpg[/img]
"This is one of the two prototypes we are currently working on. I had them start manufacturing a fully-working prototype of some of the designs so that during our visit here, we might have the opportunity to show you the weapon's capabilities." He then reached into his folder again. "The IW-09 is a combination backpack and gun system. The M142 Chaingun is connected to the backpack ammunition carrier via a steel, inter-link feed chute. The backpack holds 1,500 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. Another vital component of the system is the SAFC Helmet system. The SAFC stand for Situational Awareness Fire Control. It provides the wearer with intricate battlefield awareness as well as a targeting system for the gun."

A second sheet was pulled from the folder and laid down on the table. "This is the AAFV-11 Unmanned Anti-Armor Vehicle."
[img]http://s560.photobucket.com/albums/ss42/Sgt_Shidner/scan0003-2.jpg[/img]
"As it says, it is a completely unmanned vehicle, forgoing the risk of human casualties. It is armed with four MC-107 missile launchers fed from internal, limited ammunition weapon magazines. The AAFV can be operated from a distance of over three miles thanks to its high-intensity antenna that allows clear relaying of commands and cameras bring the operator precise and accurate battlefield pictures. This design also incorporates a new missile system we've been testing, the SHHEAP missile."
He paused to clear his throat before continuing, "It stands for Squash Head High Explosive Armor Piercing. The specifications of the missile are provided for you on the design sheet. At BlitzKrieg Armaments, we are always looking for ways to make the battlefield safer for our troops and through this use of unmanned technology, you can see our dedication to this goal."

He closed up the folder and laid it back in the briefcase, closed it up, and laid it next to his chair.

"Are you pleased with our designs?" Kevin asked as he folded his hands. "The AAFV-11 and IW-09 are in the prototype stage."

Edited April 26, 2010 by Sgt Shidner

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Adelaide smiled and nodded as she went through the designs that Kevin had handed to her. "Well I have to say, firstly, I really appreciate you being able to take the time to make these blueprints for us, unfortunately Aquitainian military science is not cutting edge. But I believe with this, we will have the beginnings of advancement that will not be easily taken advantage of. Therefore, since the letters I received from your government talked about a long running development between our nations and the military build-up. I would like to begin either first construction of these weapons or the necessary gathering of material for their creation. Both Pau and Aquitaine have an abundance of industrial resource for production and with the expansion to the rest of France, Paris, Marseilles, if it were possible, I would like to see the entire French military redone with the designs that you've presented here."

"Now." She crossed her hands. "I also added about the possibility of ground defenses, both static and mobile, as well as air power and naval power. Do you have any such designs for me?"

[Sgt Shidner]

"Well," Kevin replied as he folded his hands. "We did not draw up all that many designs because we usually like to design our concepts around what our customers want. And since we did not really know what it was you wanted exactly, we did not make that many."

"BUT," He reached into his folder again and produced a typed paper. It was bulleted and was obviously not a design. "I did take the personal liberty of writing up a draft for a defensive line for your country."

He handed the paper to Lady Adelaide and then sat back in his chair.

[quote][center][size="7"][b][u]Project Stahlwand[/u][/b][/size][/center]

--[b][size="4"]M[/size][/b]utual [b][size="4"]S[/size][/b]upport [b][size="4"]A[/size][/b]ll-[b][size="4"]T[/size][/b]hreat [b][size="4"]C[/size][/b]ountering (MSATC) Defense Line System

---[u][b]Planned Components[/b][/u]:

 [u]Command Center[/u]
 [b]Main command and communications hub[/b].
 Communications antennas are in drilled chutes leading to surface.
 [b]Relays orders and coordinates to automated defenses through relay stations[/b].
 [b]Located underground [/b](24 feet, 2 foot thick concrete walls, etc.)
 [b]Contains small barracks, motor pool, and self-sustaining systems[/b].
 Barracks: 20 armed troops
 Motor Pool: Room for 2 armored cars and 4 APCs.
 Self-sustaining systems include: air filtration systems, large refrigerator/food storage area, sleeping quarters, water tanks, etc.

 [u]Relay Station[/u]
 [b]Different stations coordinate different weapon systems[/b] (Anti-air, anti-tank, personnel bunkers, etc.)
 Fiber-optic cables are laid in underground, titanium pipes.

 [u]Personnel Bunker[/u]
 [b]Two sizes [/b](Large: 7-8 soldiers, Small: 3-4 soldiers)
 [b]Hardened, steel-reinforced concrete[/b].
 2-4 inches thick and steel-rebar enforced.
 [b]Half buried; only fire ports and roof above ground[/b].

 [u]HEMR Missile Emplacement[/u]
 [b]Concrete and steel base[/b].
 Contains rotation, motor, and electronic systems.
 [b]Dual 4-shot tower-mounted launchers[/b].
 Fires HEMR missiles.
 Fires 1 round/5 seconds.
 [b]Reload from magazine hidden in base [/b](Two 20-round magazines)

 [u]HVAP Gun Emplacement[/u]
 [b]Concrete and steel base[/b].
 Contains rotation, motor, and electronic systems.
 [b]L31 75mm High Velocity Armor Piercing cannon[/b].
 Range: 400 yards
 [b]Auto-loading feed chute from underground ammunition storage [/b](500 rounds)

 [u]ALRF Mortar Emplacement[/u]
 [b]Concrete and steel base[/b].
 Contains rotation, motor, and electronic systems.
 [b]Mk. VII 81mm Mortar[/b]
 Rate of fire is 30 rounds per minute.
 [b]Fed from underground feed chute connected to ammunition storage unit [/b](800 rounds)

 [u]Trench Section[/u]
 [b]Steel rebar-enforced concrete.
 6-7 feet deep, 5 feet wide, 30-70 feet long.
 Covered with heavy steel roof with multiple fire ports (amount depends on length)
 Usually connect personnel bunkers and Command Centers[/b].[/quote]

"I'm truely sorry that concepts are not included with this proposal. Those are being worked on as we speak." Kevin silently hoped that this would not be problem.

"I did look it over with my assistant on the plane and we concluded that it would be possible to manufacture all of the necessary materials for this project." He sat up straight.

"Alternatively, we could provide plans and examples of all necessary equipment for this project to your designers so that they might produce the componants."

"I also have with me a design for our M65A1 "Panther" Medium Assault Tank. He grabbed yet another folder and withdrew a piece of paper from its confines.

[img]http://s560.photobucket.com/albums/ss42/Sgt_Shidner/=scan0002-3.jpg[/img]

"It is a powerful tank by modern standards although we classify it as a medium tank. It is armed standard with a 135mm cannon that can fire both HE and AP rounds. It is also equipped with a pop-up SHHEAP missile system on the right of its turret. This gives it greatly increased anti-armor ability."

He then ran his hand through his hair before continuing. "As for naval and air concepts, I do believe if you looked at our online store front, you might find something suitable to your needs. We have littoral combat ships, battlecruisers, ground-support aircraft, transports, fighters, stealth aircraft, and much more." Kevin paused to clear his throat. "But if you want something designed, i'm sure we could accomodate that. Just give us specifications for the project and we will design it, approve it by you, and then have our factories at home produce a prototype for your approval."

Edited April 26, 2010 by Sgt Shidner