[RHW] Operation: Iron Transit

[Alistair Thorne]

RESOLUTION HEAVY WORKS
INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING HUB | NEW LONDON

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SENDER ID:		Alistar Thorne
RECIPIENT ID:		Edward Campbell, Lilibet of Tindall, Elisabeth Miller
LOCATION:		Resolution Heavy Works, New London
ENCRYPTION:		Cambridge-RHW-564
SUBJECT:		Project Iron Transit

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[Alistair Thorne sits in the grand conference room, a glass of whisky in his hand. Present with him are some of the most capable individuals within the Thorne Industrial Group: Mr. Campbell, who has already earned his trust, alongside the more recent additions, Madam Miller and Miss Tindall. Alistair Thorne is not a man of many words. Wasting no time, he begins his address.]

Ladies and gentlemen,

thank you for your attendance today. I am afraid I do not bring particularly good news. Recent reports indicate an ever-increasing number of destroyed supply vessels within our sector. Both of our neighbouring stations appear to be facing similar logistical disruptions. We have reached a point that I am no longer willing to tolerate as an ‘acceptable business risk’.

Resolution Heavy Works was forged to be the iron backbone of the Royal Navy and our beloved Kingdom. Our reactors and weapon modules are destined for the Crown's fleet… not to serve as plunder for pirates and other such scum.

Mr. Campbell here has already petitioned the relevant authorities for an official permit to relocate our station. However, it seems the bureaucratic red tape requires more time than we can afford. Therefore, we shall radically advance our timetable - creating a fait accompli that will leave the Ministers with no other choice but to grant retrospective approval.

Ladies and gentlemen? Allow me to present: Project Iron Transit.

[A video begins playing on the boardroom monitors, displaying a scouted coordinate in the orbit of New London.]

It will be a monstrous undertaking - but we shall relocate our station. Away from our current exposure at the Dublin Gate, directly into the orbit of the very heart of our Kingdom: Planet New London.

To realise this monumental effort, I expect nothing short of utmost efficiency from each of you:

Madam Miller: Your military pedigree and logistical expertise are, as of this moment, our shield. We are a colossal, cumbersome target, and our security detail is regrettably sparse.

Mr. Campbell: I require your diplomatic finesse just as much as your logistical acumen. Perhaps we might secure the cooperation of other organisations loyal to the Crown?

Miss Tindall: I am quite certain a specialist in thermonuclear dynamics such as yourself is capable of devising a method to make this behemoth of a station temporarily manoeuvrable, without the structural integrity collapsing around our ears, am I correct?

Does anyone have a concrete proposal on how we shall initiate the operational phase of this endeavour?

Yours faithfully,
Alistar Thorne
CEO | Thorne Industrial Group

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CONNECTION SECURE /// GLORY TO THE QUEEN
[RHW] SYSTEM TIME: 07/04/836

[Daemon.Fortune]

“Boss, I’d suggest we approach this with as little improvisation and as much experience as possible. For the transport itself, I would try to get in contact with Bowex. If anyone can move something heavy from one place to another reliably, it’s them, at least in my view".

As for relocating the base, I strongly advise against relying solely on our own thrusters or larger propulsion assets. The structural stress would be significant, not to mention the risk of damaging the station or anything along our path. Instead, I propose we tow the station using two heavy barges, controlled, steady, and predictable.

We should only deploy smaller redirection and control thrusters on the station itself, just enough to fine-tune the trajectory. No aggressive maneuvers, only corrections to keep the route stable.

That said, this leads us to the next issue: visibility. Two barges towing a station won’t exactly go unnoticed. With pirate activity on the rise, we risk turning ourselves into a very attractive target.

So in parallel, I’ll make use of diplomatic channels. Perhaps we can arrange temporary non-aggression understandings with certain factions, or at least buy ourselves some indifference. No promises, but it would be reckless not to try.

Additionally, we should consider plotting a route through less populated systems. It may take longer, but time is a smaller price than losing everything in an ambush.

In short:
I’ll handle Bowex and any possible agreements.
We move the base conservatively, barges over brute force.
And we keep a low profile, even if we can’t be invisible.

If we plan this properly, we might only have a narrow window, but it could be enough.”

Campbell leans back slightly, folding his hands as he looks around the room.

“The real question isn’t whether we can pull this off… it’s whether we can do it before anyone realizes what we’re doing.”