Sunday, March 29, 2009

HMS Wellington

15 March ….

The HMS Wellington landed Thursday and it is immense! I cannot imagine any Hun vessel that could stand up to her. With her arrival, the RTS Santa Fe squadron departed for the Aether and Earth. The HMS Wellington brought a pleasant surprise for me, as they were carrying our additional draft of Republic Marine Engineers. We received a squad of road builders lead by Corporal Samuel Redfeather, a Caddo Texican from San Jacinto Province. He is from a long line of military scouts and is the first Marine in his family. He has a way with animals like Sergeant Garcia, and also is great at elevations with the naked eye. I was very happy to see him and I remember his smiling face while I was an instructor at the Basic Engineers Course near Nacogdoches. He seems to always smile but is very straightforward and to the point. He will be assigned to Sergeant Garcia, and will be working on clearing the Aetherpad and eventually improving our dirt roads as well as building proper new roads.

The news of the Hun has been tales of plunder and strict rule. There is also a rumor of the German troops killing all of the men who did not swear allegiance to the Kaiser in Neu Munchen on Mars. I wonder if they plan on an aggressive stance on Venus as well? I have looked at the rudimentary maps we have, and try to estimate the travel paths of the Hun if they chose to invade this continent. They would have to come by air, as I cannot imagine trying to sail the oceans on this planet. Our experiences fishing on the reef are scary enough to believe the tales of sea monsters that lurk beneath the surface.

With the arrival of the Wellington we have had a large number of visitors in the camp. Three ships from the HMS Wellington battle group landed here as there was no room at Camp Trafalgar for them - the Welly is that big!. We have a frigate and two gunships on our pad. All are quite new, not more than three years of age. The frigate’s hull is 25% liftwood, I had to see for myself as I have only heard of it but never got to see in person. The crew is quite pleasant and has even helped out around the camp. Sergeant Thibodaux was happy to have the help around the kitchen and got to trade some recipes with the ship's baker.

Corporal Gallegos has learned of RSM Taggart's boy and mine attending Gannon Military Institute next month and has written a story for the Alamo Gazette. I can only imagine what kind of attention that will bring our boys, especially during their first year as a fish. Sorry about that, son!

I think I will fetch Lady V, as she has been playing with those working dogs and maybe stop by the NCO mess to visit RSM Taggart.

[Editors Note: The Alamo Gazette is a military paper written and distributed around all of the Republic's military installations. The paper headquarters in Alamo Square, hence the background for the name. All reporters and staff of the paper are military personnel.]

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