NO-OCS-Black.Cloud.II | Natio Octavarium Hel-class Cruiser

[Natio Octavarium]

250m can be found on the character Huginn, as faction rules would not allow the temporarily Hessian IDed Hel to use the NO- tag.

1. Forum name of the owner:
Natio Octavarium

2. What exactly are you requesting?
Freelancer IFF, SRP ID Hel-class Rheinland Pirate Cruiser, with Natio Octavarium ID rules (see proposal in NO- official faction creation request) and pure-tech (ie. generic cruiser weapons) loadout.

3. Exact name, identification and affiliation of the character:
Character Name: NO-OCS-Black.Cloud.II (currently in-game on Hessian ID/IFF with the name Huginn)
ID: Freelancer (official faction request in progress)
IFF: Freelancer

4. Why is this request necessary for the continuation of this character's roleplay?
The Natio has an in-lore population of approximately 30,000 citizens, and one big civilian space station in Tau-44. While Tau-44 is off the beaten path somewhat, and fairly well defended at its main entrance by the Crayter Republic, the Taus are still the border worlds, and danger lurks everywhere. The Natio needs equipment that both sufficiently serves as force projection and force multiplication. With a military population of only 1500, and a shipwright-related civilian population of only 800, they cannot at this point support the maintenance and upkeep needs of a battleship, but they have in the past supported multiple cruisers on these numbers.

The Black Cloud II is a defense-focused interdiction cruiser that serves as the prototype for the Huginn-class operations cruiser (hence the temporary character name). It serves as the first battle-ready, self-contained example of the LIMELIGHT project's cruiser-scale variant, with superior scanner penetration than the first generation Spyglass technology it was developed from at the cost of less powerful electronic warfare capabilities. It also serves as the sole combat-capable warship of the Fourth Octavarium Fleet, after the destruction of most of the capital ships of the First Vagrant Fleet, the objective lack of capital ships of the Second Vagrant Fleet, and the decommissioning and scuttling of the warships of the Third Vagrant Fleet.

5. What short-term and long-term goals are you planing to achieve on this character?
Short term: Legitimization of the Natio, legitimization of the Fourth Octavarium Fleet, and defense of the Natio's assets and civilians in the Tau-44 system. Restoration of an old Natio capital ship to peak operating capacity. Continuation of the VR/NO tradition of EWAR roleplay.

Long term: The Huginn-class operations cruiser is a potential avenue for in-house warship development in the Natio. With experience in the past and in the future with the Huginn and the Hel-class cruiser it was built from, and the stabilization and growth of relations between the Natio and the elements in Rheinland and the Omegas that produce the Hel, it is hoped that the Fourth Octavarium Fleet will be able to construct another Huginn-class cruiser in the future.

6. Provide links to the relevant forum roleplay.

Phase 1: A History Lesson

• February 16-20, 821 A.S. - To: Red Hessian Army | From: Taskmaster Escher, VR/Merak | Re: Going to Hel - Taskmaster Escher opens communications with the Red Hessian Army about the construction of a Hel-class cruiser hull for the Huginn-class operations cruiser project.
  
• February 21-22, 821 A.S. - To: RHA | From: Vagrant Raiders - Delivery reports of the required construction materials for the Hel hull to Vogtland Base in Dresden. The Army reports successful construction of the ship's subframe.
  
• March 17, 821 A.S. - TO: RHA | FROM: Vagrant Raiders Research and Development - The Hel-class hull and core is completed and is ready to be moved to Vagrant Raiders space.
  
• Not entirely in-RP: - Dresden-Kansas convoy - A mini-event involving the movement of the Hel-class cruiser hull in-game from Dresden to Kansas.
  
• March 22, 821 A.S. - Vagrant Raiders Internal Affairs, entries 112 and 113 - A report of successful retrieval of the Hel and her naming.
  

Phase 2: A Debt Owed

• May 7-10, 825 A.S. - To: [RHA] | From: Octavarium Intelligence Commission | Returning to Hel - Taskmaster Escher reveals the re-emergence of Natio to the Hessians with an offer to pay back the owed debt in the form of the Vidar EWAR refit codenamed Muninn.
  
• No specific date - Escher's Files, entry 4 - A short history of the Limelight project and the Limelight-YYZ variant used in the Huginn and Muninn projects.
  
• June 27-July 1, 825 A.S. - To: [RHA] | From: Octavarium Intelligence Commission | For The Hel Of It (Part 1) - The Muninn refits are completed and plans begin for Hessian technicians to assist in bringing the hollowed out shell of the Hel-class cruiser OCS (formerly VCS) Black Cloud II back into active use.
  

Phase 3: A Repair Job

• July 22-August 20, 825 A.S. - To: [RHA] | From: Octavarium Intelligence Commission | For The Hel Of It (Part 2) - After completion of the Muninn refits and testing, the Red Hessian Army sends their technicians up to Tau-44 to help repair the Black Cloud II.
  
• August 14-19, 825 A.S. - To: Amalfi Directorate | From: Natio Octavarium - Faced with the realization that the Black Cloud II's repairs approach completion and the weapon blisters are empty, the Fleet reaches out to the Amalfi Directorate to see if they have any spare pulse cannons and heavy artillery. The Amalfi Directorate responds by sending the weapons over among the myriad freighters running cryo-organisms to Canberra Star City.
  
• August 20, 825 A.S. - Natio Octavarium Internal Affairs, entry 73 - Taskmaster Kane transfers ownership of the weapons and armour for the Black Cloud II to Aquila Defense Systems. Plans are made for the commissioning ceremony. A job well done.
  

7. Provide a cliffnote/summary for the links provided above.

1. Flashback to 821 A.S. The Vagrant Raiders, predecessors of the modern Natio Octavarium, negotiate with the Red Hessian Army to produce a single, unarmed, unarmoured Hel-class interdiction cruiser for the purposes of constructing an experimental EWAR cruiser. In return, Vagrant Raiders Research and Development will refit a Vidar-class cruiser for the Hessians with the same EWAR technology.
   
2. Flash forward to three months ago. Natio Octavarium has arrived in the Taus and is beginning to rebuild. Their assets are thin, and the former cruiser Black Cloud II has been gutted to be a passenger transport. As people are being offloaded, the hull floats in Tau-44, unarmoured and unarmed.
   
3. The Octavarium Intelligence Commission, realizing their need for long-range detection and interdiction technology in Tau-44 and the fleet's need for a light warship for system defense, reaches out to the Red Hessian Army to repay a debt. They send down Aquila Defense Systems' EWAR technicians to convert a Vidar-class destroyer for the Hessians' SOA division into a Muninn-class EWAR cruiser.
   
4. In return, the Red Hessian Army sends a detachment of technicians to repair the Black Cloud II and bring it up to enough operating capacity for Aquila's engineers to complete the project and bring the warship up to fighting fitness. With weapons supplied by the Amalfi Directorate, the Black Cloud II is brought back online and established as a line of defense against those that would threaten the Natio's civilians.
   

8. How long has this character been building its backstory?
Natio Octavarium has been developing roleplay on and off since 2013. Harold Kane (played by Kazinsal), the character leading Natio Octavarium, has been a part of Discovery and of the Vagrant Raiders and their lineage since early 2010. Victor Delacroix/Escher (played by Thexare), the character who is the deputy leader of Natio Octavarium and leader of the Octavarium Intelligence Commission, has also been a part of Discovery and of the Vagrant Raiders lineage since 2010. Natio Octavarium has been an unofficial faction since 2018, and the story of Natio Octavarium was an official faction under the Vagrant Raiders from 2009-2011 and 2013-2014.

The story of the Black Cloud II dates back to 2013, when its existance was first theorized, and 2014, when it was brought to life with the help of the Red Hessian Army and an admittedly rather hasty and spotty SRP, which has since fallen into archives that are not visible to players. We have now decided to bring it back with proper RP backing developed with multiple factions over the course of the last four months. We hope this is enough.

9. If you feel that you would like to provide us with character references, specify whom.
We would like to thank the following people for their involvement in both halves of this SRP:

@Sciamach and the Amalfi Directorate for helping us back into long-form Discovery work like this
@Zayne Carrick for jumping back into some long-dead RP with both feet first
@Wesker and the rest of the RHA for letting us bring this back to life
@The Sovereign for recommending we give bringing an old SRP like this back a shot

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Natio Octavarium
Faction Information and Status - Recruitment
Faction Feedback - Internal Affairs

[Skorak]

Approved.

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