The Bold and Her Valient Crew

[bookity101]

Noel came to attention when he entered the room, but when he say that the Admiral wasn’t to worried about formality .now. He smiled slightly and threw a small salute to the Admiral, then extended a paw to shake his.

“Well sir, I am doing just fine, yes I enjoyed my shore leave,” Noel stepped towards the windows and ran a paw over the woodworking. “And I’m thrilled to be home again” He smiled, then turned towards the Admiral again.

“Where do we begin with new orders Sir?”

[Ladorak]

"Orders you say? Rather an eager meerkat aren't you?" Bonaventure asked with a smile. "My, my. I suppose you can only expect that from a true beast of the sea though, eh?" he asked, nodding. "Very well then, I shall inform you of Rosferia's plans that have been revealed to me thus far."

He swished his tail a bit, brushing away some dust that had gathered since the ship had lain in ordinary. "First of all, as you know it's the middle of winter. No sailing until after the weather clears. But once that does, I intend to take the fleet out at once, and head for Sampetra, which has always proven to be a good staging ground for our fleet. There we are to position ourselves as I see fit, and await the arrival of several convoys expected from the Mossflower region and the Western Mandates. We shall provide escort for them once they near our shores....for we fear that Welkin might try and take a stab at them and gobble them up if they can."

The sable looked Noel in the eyes now. "We mustn't allow that to happen Captain Telious. Rosferia is relying on these shipments to keep itself going for a little while longer. If necessary...I may receive orders to take the fleet across the Ceres Ocean to the Western Mandates, to guard our interests there and also furnish full protection for convoys leaving from there. We would head there later in the year, and make for the safe anchorages among the islands whilst the autumn storms ravage the Ceres. Now then.....there is a chance we may be at war with Welkin soon, and if that happens, we'll be matched up against their Channel Fleet. I'm...not entirely sure I feel like engaging them right away in combat until the fleet gets some time to at sea first. Preserving the fleet is my main priority after all, and protecting those convoys ranks on the top of the list too. Engaging Welkin's Navy is sadly not a priority at the moment unless they decide to launch a direct blockade of Bray, not an easy thing to do granted."

The Admiral was wise, and was playing more of a reactionary game with Welkin here rather than being the aggressor. "There will be a time to engage them in combat, but not right away. That is what I foresee for us in the immediate future. Get ourselves to Sampetra, and either prepare to fully cross the ocean or remain on station there to meet the incoming convoys. Do you follow so far Captain?" Bonaventure asked now, clasping his paws behind his back.

[bookity101]

Noel was checking for a pad of paper and an ink well as the Admiral spoke. He wanted to, no needed to make a list so he could see to everything that was going through his head. He checked through the shelves where he usually kept the writing supplies. Odd, they'd been moved. He looked over at the mention of Sampetra, making note of it but not really caring at this point. He needed to find those papers...

When The Admiral asked whether he was following on what he was saying, he straightened. "Yes Sir," He bent to check a drawer near the floor, no, that was the maps, what were they doing there. He turned again towards the Admiral. "Just as soon as it is safe, we sail for the Sampetra harbors to provide escort service for the supply ships." He checked some more places he occasionally kept the ink. Not there either. He stood in the middle of the room, paw's behind his back as he tried to think of another place where they could be.

"Then we wait for Welkin to commit to open Naval war, then we stop them." He walked around the desk, checking the outer drawers. Ha, there they are, now for the quills. He hadn't seen them during his search so he looked up at Gavin.

"Mr Stryker, you havn't seen my writing quills have you?"

[Ladorak]

"I believe they're in your paw locker sir." was Gavin's response, the zorilla looking over at the padded bench that ran the length of the Captain's stateroom window. Underneath the bench was his paw locker, an extra storage space for whatever really. Odds and ends and navigation equipment mostly, but in this case the striped polecat had seen the stewards deposit the quills in there, perhaps figuring that's where their chief always kept them.

"Yes, yes. Quite so, quite so." Bonaventure said, nodding now. "You've got it down. I anticipate us sailing in oh.....well June at the latest. Probably around May, possibly June. The convoys will be leaving....I've been informed late April or early May, so we need to make sure we're at sea by the time they cross the ocean and come into our waters. I'd say a cruise between Sampetra and Peace Islands will suffice. That should cover enough ocean to meet any of the incoming convoys. Depending on Welkin's strategy we'll be reacting accordingly. If they go for a loose blockade then good for them. We'll slip out of Bray and head to our business. If they go for a tight blockade however....well then we may have to break our way out. One thing for certain is that we can't stay bottled up in harbor this year....the fleet needs to put to sea in order to get it's old bite back. Staying in port only lets the crews get rusty. If Welkin does go to war...and I have little doubt that they will, we should be ready for that contingency."

Shuffling from behind Noel's desk now, the sable offered a smile. "Right....well don't look so tense Captain Telious. Loosen up....we aren't putting to sea just yet." he said, chuckling a bit. "It's good to see you so into your duty, but we'll get through this. I think that's all I needed to say. I'll be heading around to the other ships in the harbor now. Did you have any further questions for myself before I depart?" the Admiral asked, clasping his paws behind his back and standing patiently.

[bookity101]

Noel dent to check his locker, “Ah here they are, good guess Mr Stryker.” Noel looked up at the Admiral again.

“Tense Sir,” He smiled to himself. “If this is tense its how I live.” He set the writing things on the desk. “I also need to deal with the shortage of good shirts and shoes.” He uncapped the ink well and picked up a quill to sharpen.

“The only question I have is if you have an idea on how to remedy this on the largest scale possible.” He looked up at him,
“I can divert some of the supplies needed from my fathers shipping company, but I don’t know how far that will go.”

[Ladorak]

"It's a rather large problem I'm afraid." Bonaventure stated, as Gavin nodded a "you're welcome" to his Captain. "Most of the fleet is suffering from the same thing. It's the blasted Army getting priority for everything right now. Since we haven't been deployed yet they put us lower down on the quartermaster lists. I'm afraid for the moment it's going to be tight until we can get those convoys in. We're sending our ships out now, with lists of everything we need, along with agents to purchase it all when they get there. Once those ships load up, they'll be make their way back, along with some Mossflower ships as well that we'll be contracting. Crossing that blasted ocean doesn't happen overnight after all. It's why we're sending our purchasing agents out now...so that they can get there with enough time before Spring arrives."

"As for how to make do....I can't say Captain." Bonaventure admitted. "It's a fleet wide problem, not just a few ships. By the time we set sail it'll be warm enough that they could go without shirts for a time, but the shoes thing is another matter. Of course storms would make the having no shirts thing a problem too. You mentioned shipping company? That your father owns?" the sable asked with interest.

"That might help. We have a lot of vessels here. It's the whole Ceres fleet after all. All I can tell you is that do the best you can, and we'll have to just make sure we bring those convoys in safe and sound." were his final words on that matter. There were in fact 39 ships of the line at Bray, and supplying them all was turning into a nightmare. Every day the Rosferian armies were growing. Cloth was stretched to the limit, as were shoes. Shoes had be specially made by cobblers, they couldn't be mass produced. When demand skyrocketed, supply was normally left in the dust.

"So that covers that. Anything else Captain?" the sable Admiral asked again.

[bookity101]

Noel had finished drying the ink on the missive when Bonaventure mentioned his father's shipping company.

"Yes sir, My father married into a title and money when he married Mother, and he's only increased on that since then." Noel stodd straight and rubbed a paw across his head. "He's very protective of it, and he deals in just the supplies that are needed, well for the shirts that is and he's rather stingy. Though I may be able to convince him to help out." Noel knew for a fact that there had just recently been a large shipment of raw cotton in and it was getting ready for the process of becoming knitting wool, maybe he could be convinced to changing that order to as many shirts as can be made. "I just don't know about the shoes..." Noel murmered. Noel sat at his desk again, taking up his quill again in an effort to get all of his to-do's in order. For a moment the sound his pen was all that filled the room, till he processed that he had been asked another question.

"Pardon my rudeness sir." He capped the inkwell and wiped the pen off. "I get lost sometimes." Noel stood and ran a paw across chin. "No sir, I believe you have answered all my questions." Noel strode across the room, pawing the missive to Gavin as whemn he reached his luetenant*. The outside said simply 'I wish to meet all of the luetenants and midshipsbeasts as soon as the Admiral is done with his visit.' He turned to face his cammander again,

"I will get back to you as soon as I can with word about the supply matter, Admiral."

(Sorry about the spelling, some words escape and thats one of them )

[Ladorak]

"Very well then Captain Telious. If you need anything send a message or head out to the Terrible, it's currently serving as my flagship." the sable explained. The Terrible was a 110 gun warship in the harbor, though not the largest. For some reason Bonaventure was eschewing the largest of the warships, the 120 gun Mountain, in favor of one of the 110 gunners instead.

Turning on his heel, the Admiral was out the door and heading topside. Captain Noel Telious...an imaginative sort...if not a bit easily distracted. However, Bonaventure felt confident that the meerkat was one of the better and more talented Captains in the fleet.

Nodding and giving a salute, Gavin hesitated before he left the cabin. "Well Captain sir. Most of the Lieutenants are on shore leave, but there should be some here. The Midshipjacks should be about, but once again a lot of them are on leave. We're going to have to get the word out that the fleet is putting to sea soon, though there's still months before we do that. They'll be back and accounted for before that. I'll go and summon what crew is here and we'll get down to business." the striped polecat said, saluting again and excusing himself from the cabin.

Making his way topside, he headed out into the cold air of the main deck. Hailing a departing launch, he pawed the letter off to one of the beasts. "Here get this to the post office when you reach the shore." he ordered, and then made his up to the quarterdeck. This part of the ship was forbidden to any and all crew save for the Lieutenants and those who had explicit permission from the Captain to come up here. It was the Captain's command post, and where he directed the ship from.

Gavin was only using it to count heads, and get an accurate count of who was here and who wasn't. OK....well best make good on this. Heading forward now, off the quarterdeck and back onto the main deck, Gavin approached the bell. Giving the clapper a solid tug, he rang the bell to summon the crew on deck. There was a mad flurry now of those who were on board.

Scrambling up the ladders, beasts appeared everywhere to get onto the main deck. They lined up on the larboard and starboard sides, divided into their watches. From this, Gavin could see that there were about 300 paws present, only about half of the 678 crew that would normally be present on this warship. Not surprising, considering most of the crew was still on leave.

Walking up and down between the beasts, Gavin Stryker waited for his Captain to arrive now.

[bookity101]

Noel waited till he heard the bell summoning the crew to the deck, then followed Gavin up to command post. He was wearing his Captains Hat to keep the sun off of his face. He walked slowly up the hall, rubbing his paw across the walls, remembering his first few years on a ship. His first tour was actually served on the Bold, but he had quickly transferred to another vessel and served for there till he had made Captain. Now he was back. He smiled, poetic justice that was, he surprised himself though, he had caught himself wondering what a certain meerkat maid would think of her, and it was crazy that he would think her opinion mattered. Noel shook his shoulders, time to get to the task at paw.

Soon he was up beside Gavin, looking over at the three-hundred some beasts gathered on the deck. The some of the crew looked rather out of place, without shirts or overcoats. He spotted some that had wrapped their blankets around them.

"Good day, Sailors!" Noel projected his voice to be heard over the sound of the waves. "I am Noel Telious, You Captain." He looked over them, taking note of some of the striplings who were shivering rather violently in the cold. he motioned for Gavin to come closer to him, saying "Mr Stryker, I want to to go to my state room. Mic should have my bags on board by now. I want you to get some of my extra shirts, give them to the youngest crew members that have no shirts." Noel turned away from him, finishing his thought. " I don't want them falling ill in this weather."

"Now I know that the Army is getting most of the supplies right now." He paused, watching for reactions from the crew. "But I also see that you have done well in my absence, and with the shortages you have been faced with." A satisfied smile grew on his face. "I expect this to continue through the coming months and times. Now..." Noel came to attention, "Get back to your work, and stay warm!"

[Ladorak]

"Aye sir." Gavin said softly, though figured it would probably be better to just wait on sailing until the weather improved, though he didn't dare speak this aloud. The Captain had absolute authority in his eyes, and the zorilla would never go against that. The crew saluted, and began going about their duties, the boatswain overseeing their work on the main deck.

Gavin went down to the Captain's cabin, needing to explain to the Marines on duty that he had permission to enter. Looking about the pristine cabin, Gavin located the bags without too much difficulty.

He went through them, looking at the spare shirts the Captain had. So...how many to take and still leave the Captain with an adequate amount? He decided to leave the Captain with two, and took five. It wasn't much, but it would help at least five of the crew. The monumental task of equipping a ship of the line only now dawned on Gavin, and he grew far greater respect for the Purser as he began heading over to said beast.

And just think Gavin....this is happening on all the other ships in this fleet......hopefully this problem could be addressed before they set sail. Winter storms were really slowing down production as well, as the mainland was being rocked by blizzards at least once a week. Winter was just a bad time in general for anything military.

Approaching the Purser's office, the striped polecat pawed over the shirts. "Here you are, compliments of the Captain. Five more shirts to distribute." The Purser, a studious looking ferret, looked down at the shirts contemplatively.

"Really?" he seemed happy at the news. "Glad to hear it! I'll get them out right away sir." he informed the Lieutenant, to which Gavin nodded and returned the salute. Turning away, the zorilla went up to onto the main deck now to look for Noel.