Operation Iron Harvest Planet Volgograd , Kremlin Dome Office of the Vice-Premier
Newly appointed Vice-Premier Meier had been in his Office most of the day. One of the "Perks" of his new position within the Coalition was the paperwork. He didn't mind doing the Paperwork, as long as he had a good Coffee or a nice Coalition Vodka close. Just finishing up another stack of Requisition and Repair Orders he looked up from his desk at the clock on the wall. It was shortly before 1. 1 o'clock was the time he had a scheduled meeting with the new Chairman of Volgograd Industrial to talk about plans and options for the future of the Nation. He put aside the stack of Paperwork into an organizing bin next to the table as the Intercom rang, it was his Secretary.
"Vice Premier Meier, the Chairman of VI is here", a soft female voice said from the Speaker. Meier nodded contently and spoke, "Thank you Anna, Send him in.". Meier put on a new pot of Coffee and took a seat in his chair, pulling out a couple of files , some of them designated "Top Priority".
The lights in the room flickered a bit as the "Windows" opened up to allow the artificial sunlight into the room. They were under the Kremlin Dome, in the High Security Corridor of the Offices of Premier and Vice-Premier. The light was warm and brightened the room significantly. Meier waited as the Coffee Machine gave off a small sound, signaling that the Coffee was ready.
The Kremlin Dome, the seat of government for the Sirius Coalition's Socialist Republic, Rykov never got tired of visiting this place, the Volgograd Industrial offices were based in a different Dome, the St.Petersburg Dome. He had been called here by the Vice-Premier to discuss the agenda as it were and how the State's corporation would help pave the road to victory here at home. As he was escorted down to one of the many sub-levels of the building he brushed off his grey suit, trying to make himself presentable to the hand of the Premier herself.
The two Marines escorting him stopped after several minutes of walking and took up positions on either side of the door, a plaque on it read 'Vice-Premier Meier', as he grasped the handle and walked inside he made note of the front office, a smooth wood desk made from wood procured from the forests of JiangXi gleamed in the light, the desk was placed beside another door leading into Meier's private office, the secretary, Anna if he recalled correctly, took notice of his presence quickly and pressed the intercom on her desk that linked directly to Meier's own intercom. "Vice Premier Meier, the Chairman of VI is here." she softly spoke, waiting a moment for the reply and ushering Rykov inside.
Rykov gave a gratified nod and continued fowards into Meier's office, shutting the door behind him as he gave a nod to Meier with a small smile he clasped his hands behind his back patiently.
Vice Premier Erik Meier Planet Volgograd , Kremlin Dome Office of the Vice-Premier
Meier let a slight smile show as Rykov entered the room. He stood up to greet his Visitor, shaking his hand. "You presume correctly Chairman, please sit. Would you like a Coffee?". Meier was pouring himself a cup already as the Chairman got situated, 3 Folders laid out in front of Rykov, turned towards him, two more behind that reading "Top Secret". Meier got situated in his chair, there was still a coffee mug standing next to the machine if Rykov wanted one.
"Now I'm sure you ask why exactly i call you down here. Valid Question. I want to talk to you, the chairman of our Glorious National Firm and leading scientists in the Coalition for the assistance we will need in these projects.". The Vice Premier leaned back into the back of his chair, taking a nice sip of his coffee, waiting for Rykov.
Rykov found himself shaking the hand of the Vice-Premier who replied "You presume correctly Chairman, please sit. Would you like a Coffee?"
Shaking his head negative at the offer he simply sat down while Meier laid out three folders for him and took his own seat, Rykov waited patiently for Meier to make his opening statement before he would indulge his curiosity and read through the files.
""Now I'm sure you ask why exactly i call you down here. Valid Question. I want to talk to you, the chairman of our Glorious National Firm and leading scientists in the Coalition for the assistance we will need in these projects."
Rykov opened the first folder, his eyebrow raised slightly as he poured through the file with a practiced eye before setting it down, he would take care of these files one at a time, afterall he was a firm believer that in order to tackle the issues of a nation, one must be willing to pace themselves and deal with their issues with efficiency.
"Ambitious...Volgograd Industrial has always thought about cleaning up the Debris Field and recycling the materials, however with the former Premier we could never gain support for it due to it being seen as a 'national monument'. From what I can tell, cleaning up the debris field would take time, but the primary problem isn't the scrap metal left in there, that we can collect and melt down to be used once again with relative ease, what I'm more concerned about is micro-reactors still containing fuel and toxic waste from expended missile munitions..." he commented, folding his hands on the desk and resting his chin ontop of them in thought. "it can be done, however it would be dangerous work, I would compare it to a explosive expert defusing a highly reactive bomb, it would require careful work to prevent any detonation and spreading the waste further from it's source, if the Revolutionary Army can spare specialists to aid in disarming munitions and potentially critical reactors it would make our work much safer and the waste could be used to create a small amount of MOX if there's sufficient amounts of it left." he stated. Waiting now for Meier to give his own opinion on the matter.
Vice Premier Erik Meier Planet Volgograd , Kremlin Dome Office of the Vice-Premier
Nodding as he listened to the Chairman, Meier was interested in the man's opinion on the work. It would be a big undertaking to clear the debris field, but they could use every asset and resource they can find in this long war.
"The Micro-Reactors will surely be a problem, although the 275th Explosives Division of the Coalition Marines can surely handle the job. They are experts at their field. If you can recycle the Scrap and left overs of the Fighters, my men will disarm the Micro-Reactors in the remaining wrecks.".
Meier leaned back a bit , taking another sip of coffee, he let show a light grin.
"That would bring us to folder two. The Surveying of Planet Odessa for resources. I want Volgograd Industrial to finish fitting a STORM-Class gunship with sensor arrays, alongside the Sensors our R&D Division has already installed. This is one of the easier tasks of what i have to do for you, you would agree?".
Meier had already flipped open the next folder with the specifics for the 2nd Project before even getting a response from the Chairman, he was relaxed and watched the man.
"The Micro-Reactors will surely be a problem, although the 275th Explosives Division of the Coalition Marines can surely handle the job. They are experts at their field. If you can recycle the Scrap and left overs of the Fighters, my men will disarm the Micro-Reactors in the remaining wrecks."
As Rykov listened to Meier's reply on the issue of the Micro-Reactors and munitions he nodded in agreement as Meier took a drink of coffee and started on the next folder, Rykov opened it up and listened as he read through the file.
"That would bring us to folder two. The Surveying of Planet Odessa for resources. I want Volgograd Industrial to finish fitting a STORM-Class gunship with sensor arrays, alongside the Sensors our R&D Division has already installed. This is one of the easier tasks of what i have to do for you, you would agree?"
Rykov started running through calculations in his head on how long it would take to outfit a STORM with the necessary equipment for a planetary survey before giving an affirmative nod.
"Well it will take us acouple weeks to install the hardware onto a Storm Chassis, we'll have to lighten the load and divert power by removing it's weaponry and diverting the power towards the sensor array in order to power the SKYREACH Survey Sensors, add two more days for the technicians to iron out the software bugs that'll crop up and we'll be fine, however this can only be done at Mykolaiv so Sevastopol will not be sufficient to do this, we'll clear Drydock II's upper berth for this work, After that is done a team of experts can be sent to conduct a survey of Odessa, the work isn't difficult, it is merely time-consuming so we are in agreement that this is an easier task than the previous one.,,Less hazardous to our health as well." was his reply as he closed his folder and eyed the last one.
"By the way you gave me the easy folder and still have one non-classified left I presume that you intended for it to be a soft blow to prepare me for the next one." he guessed before looking at the Vice-Premier in the eye. "What is the next issue on the agenda?"
Vice Premier Erik Meier Planet Volgograd , Kremlin Dome Office of the Vice-Premier
Meier chuckled as he nodded in agreement to the Mans offer. "I am sure that your men will do an excellent job. Since this is just a survery mission, the weaponry on the ship will not be necessary. I'll have a Storm Chassis made ready in Drydock II, that wont be a problem. Which then , as you so cleverly devised to our last , bigger project.".
Meier tapped his chin shortly before setting down his mug on the side of the table and sliding the last non-classified folder over to the man. " Using the Scrap Collected from the Debris Field. We plan to build docking rings and a Mooring Fixture for Volgograd. It would make the Planetary approach much easier ans safer for our men. The question is if you can do it or not."
Meier leaned back into his chair, he laid his feet upon the table, looking at Rykov, waiting for his answer to this Project.
As Meier brought out the last folder that wasn't classified Rykov merely raised an eyebrow for a brief moment before he listened to what the other man had to say about this one.
"Using the Scrap Collected from the Debris Field. We plan to build docking rings and a Mooring Fixture for Volgograd. It would make the Planetary approach much easier ans safer for our men. The question is if you can do it or not."
Well...The Vice-Premier didn't do things by halves it seemed, a Docking Ring was quite the undertaking for the Coalition's Engineering Corps and Volgograd Industrial to perform. Rykov gave a shallow nod but it seemed alittle strained as if he was about to comment on something painful.
"We can do it, however the field will simply not be enough, a Docking Ring is notoriously difficult for anyone to build without the expertise, but we CAN do it...We will however need some specialized materials and components, such as that used in the construction of our own stations, to simulate the Elevator Software, perhaps we could cannibalize the Docking Protocals used onboard one of our station's computers but it would need serious debugging by our Computer Programmers, not to mention we would have to write whole-new safety protocols so that there arn't any accidents such as the Orbital Elevator failing mid-transference to the surface..." he mused, running a hand through his short brown hair as he tried to figure out the logistics of such an operation, the Coalition had always relied upon STORM Gunboats and specialized transports to go to-and-from the surface...An Orbital Docking Ring would negate the need for specialized craft and allow an ease of transfer of materials to and from Volgograd...
"There is another issue, due to a lack of experience in such an operation, it would likely take months if not acouple years for a Docking Ring to have even basic functionality, your looking at a long-term project Vice-Premier." he warned while resting in his chair.
Vice Premier Erik Meier Planet Volgograd , Kremlin Dome Office of the Vice-Premier
"We can do it, however the field will simply not be enough, a Docking Ring is notoriously difficult for anyone to build without the expertise, but we CAN do it...We will however need some specialized materials and components, such as that used in the construction of our own stations, to simulate the Elevator Software, perhaps we could cannibalize the Docking Protocals used onboard one of our station's computers but it would need serious debugging by our Computer Programmers, not to mention we would have to write whole-new safety protocols so that there arn't any accidents such as the Orbital Elevator failing mid-transference to the surface...There is another issue, due to a lack of experience in such an operation, it would likely take months if not acouple years for a Docking Ring to have even basic functionality, your looking at a long-term project Vice-Premier.".
Meier chuckled a bit, speaking of the Station, he slid the first Top Secret Folder to the man. The Dismantle of Zhukovsky.
"There is your Orbital Elevator Key , and more materials needed. Now i'll ask you again. Can you get it done in a relatively quick time? I dont like wasting resources on a Project of I dont know how long. We've got plans, and we need to realize them."
Meier leaned back in his chair, he was comfortable, and it looked like the mans warning did not concern him one bit.
As Meier chuckled at the mention of Zhukovsky Rykov raised an eyebrow, a folder was slid over to him from across the table as Meier shortly replied "There is your Orbital Elevator Key , and more materials needed. Now i'll ask you again. Can you get it done in a relatively quick time? I dont like wasting resources on a Project of I dont know how long. We've got plans, and we need to realize them."
As he read through the folder he ran a hand through his hair in thought, trying to do the calculations in his head and hoping that the number he could crunch would be suitable for the Vice-Premier.
As he finished he frowned with an slightly unsure nod.
"It's...Possible to get it done in five to six months, however the shifts would be extremely long and I will have no idea how reliable the Docking Ring will be once we bring it online and start running it through it's paces, I'll need most of my crews to pull double shifts and put a hold on holidays until it is ready...But that's the best I can give you, Ageria could likely build it in less time however that's not an option...What would be helpful is if we can study the Docking Ring the Colonial Republic is in possession of in Coronado at Yuma...It would help give us an idea on developing our own..." he replied cautiously...
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